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第1章 The Old Mans Hard Life（第1页）

HewasanoldmanwhofishedaloneinaskiffintheGulfStreamandhehadgoneeighty-fourdaysnowwithouttakingafish。Inthefirstfortydaysaboyhadbeenwithhim。Butafterfortydayswithoutafishtheboysparentshadtoldhimthattheoldmanwasnowdefinitelyandfinallysalao，whichistheworstformofunlucky，andtheboyhadgoneattheirordersinanotherboatwhichcaughtthreegoodfishthefirstweek。Itmadetheboysadtoseetheoldmancomeineachdaywithhisskiffemptyandhealwayswentdowntohelphimcarryeitherthecoiledlinesorthegaffandharpoonandthesailthatwasfurledaroundthemast。Thesailwaspatchedwithfloursacksand，furled，itlookedliketheflagofpermanentdefeat。

Theoldmanwasthinandgauntwithdeepwrinklesinthebackofhisneck。Thebrownblotchesofthebenevolentskincancerthesunbringsfromitsreflectiononthetropicseawereonhischeeks。Theblotchesranwelldownthesidesofhisfaceandhishandshadthedeep-creasedscarsfromhandlingheavyfishonthecords。Butnoneofthesescarswerefresh。Theywereasoldaserosionsinafishlessdesert。

Everythingabouthimwasoldexcepthiseyesandtheywerethesamecolorastheseaandwerecheerfulandundefeated。

“Santiago，”theboysaidtohimastheyclimbedthebankfromwheretheskiffwashauledup。“Icouldgowithyouagain。Wevemadesomemoney。”

Theoldmanhadtaughttheboytofishandtheboylovedhim。

“No，”theoldmansaid。“Yourewithaluckyboat。Staywiththem。”

“Butrememberhowyouwenteighty-sevendayswithoutfishandthenwecaughtbigoneseverydayforthreeweeks。”“Iremember，”theoldmansaid，“Iknowyoudidnotleavemebecauseyoudoubted。”

“Itwaspapamademeleave。IamaboyandImustobeyhim。”

“Iknow，”theoldmansaid。“Itisquitenormal。”

“Hehasntmuchfaith。”

“No，”theoldmansaid。“Butwehave。Haventwe?”“Yes，”theboysaid。“CanIofferyouabeerontheTerraceandthenwelltakethestuffhome。”

“Whynot?”theoldmansaid。“Betweenfishermen。”

TheysatontheTerraceandmanyofthefishermenmadefunoftheoldmanandhewasnotangry。Others，oftheolderfishermen，lookedathimandweresad。Buttheydidnotshowitandtheyspokepolitelyaboutthecurrentandthedepthstheyhaddriftedtheirlinesatandthesteadygoodweatherandofwhattheyhadseen。Thesuccessfulfishermenofthatdaywerealreadyinandhadbutcheredtheirmarlinoutandcarriedthemlaidfullacrosstwoplanks，withtwomenstaggeringattheendofeachplank，tothefishhousewheretheywaitedfortheicetrucktocarrythemtothemarketinHavana。Thosewhohadcaughtsharkshadtakenthemtothesharkfactoryontheothersideofthecovewheretheywerehoistedonablockandtackle，theirliversremoved，theirfinscutoffandtheirhidesskinnedoutandtheirfleshcutintostripsforsalting。

Whenthewindwasintheeastasmellcameacrosstheharborfromthesharkfactory;buttodaytherewasonlythefaintedgeoftheodorbecausethewindhadbackedintothenorthandthendroppedoffanditwaspleasantandsunnyontheTerrace。

“Santiago，”theboysaid。

“Yes，”theoldmansaid。Hewasholdinghisglassandthinkingofmanyyearsago。

“CanIgoouttogetsardinesforyoufortomorrow?”“No。Goandplaybaseball。IcanstillrowandRogeliowillthrowthenet。”

“Iwouldliketogo。IfIcannotfishwithyou，Iwouldliketoserveinsomeway。”

“Youboughtmeabeer，”theoldmansaid。“Youarealreadyaman。”

“HowoldwasIwhenyoufirsttookmeinaboat?”

“FiveandyounearlywerekilledwhenIbroughtthefishintoogreenandhenearlytoretheboattopieces。Canyouremember?”

“Icanrememberthetailslappingandbangingandthethwartbreakingandthenoiseoftheclubbing。Icanrememberyouthrowingmeintothebowwherethewetcoiledlineswereandfeelingthewholeboatshiverandthenoiseofyouclubbinghimlikechoppingatreedownandthesweetbloodsmellalloverme。”

“CanyoureallyrememberthatordidIjusttellittoyou?”

“Iremembereverythingfromwhenwefirstwenttogether。”

Theoldmanlookedathimwithhissunburned，confidentlovingeyes。

“IfyouweremyboyIdtakeyououtandgamble，”hesaid。“Butyouareyourfathersandyourmothersandyouareinaluckyboat。”

“MayIgetthesardines?IknowwhereIcangetfourbaitstoo。”