Sots soon ould spak n a oat.But ost of th oats r slnt xcpt for th dp of th oars.Thy sprad apart aftr thy r out of th outh of th haror and ach on hadd for th part of th ocan hr h hopd to fnd fsh.Th old an kn h as gong far out and h lft th sll of th land hnd and rod out nto th clan arly ornng sll of th ocan. H sa th phosphorscnc of th Gulf d n th atr as h rod ovr th part of th ocan that th fshrn calld th grat ll caus thr as a suddn dp of svn hundrd fathos hr all sorts of fsh congrgatd caus of th srl th currnt ad aganst th stp alls of th floor of th ocan.Hr thr r concntratons of shrp and at and sots schools of squd n th dpst hols and ths ros clos to th surfac at nght hr all th andrng fsh fd on th.
In th dark th old an could fl th ornng cong and as h rod h hard th trlng sound as flyng fsh lft th atr and th hssng that thr stff st ngs ad as thy soard aay n th darknss.H as vry fond of flyng fsh as thy r hs prncpal frnds on th ocan.H as sorry for th rds,spcally th sall dlcat dark trns that r alays flyng and lookng and alost nvr fndng,and h thought,“Th rds hav a hardr lf than do xcpt for th ror rds and th havy strong ons.Why dd thy ak rds so dlcat and fn as thos sa sallos hn th ocan can so crul?Sh s knd and vry autful.But sh can so crul and t cos so suddnly and such rds that fly,dppng and huntng,th thr sall sad vocs ar ad too dlcatly for th sa.”
H alays thought of th sa as la ar hch s hat popl call hr n Spansh hn thy lov hr.Sots thos ho lov hr say ad thngs of hr ut thy ar alays sad as though sh r a oan. So of th youngr fshrn,thos ho usd uoys as floats for thr lns and had otoroats,ought hn th shark lvrs had rought uch ony,spok of hr as l ar hch s asculn.Thy spok of hr as a contstant or a plac or vn an ny. But th old an alays thought of hr as fnn and as sothng that gav or thhld grat favors,and f sh dd ld or ckd thngs t as caus sh could not hlp th. Th oon affcts hr as t dos a oan,h thought.
H as rong stadly and t as no ffort for h snc h kpt ll thn hs spd and th surfac of th ocan as flat xcpt for th occasonal srls of th currnt.H as lttng th currnt do a thrd of th ork and as t startd to lght h sa h as alrady furthr out than h had hopd to at ths hour.
I orkd th dp lls for a k and dd nothng,h thought.Today I'll ork out hr th schools of onta and alacor ar and ay thr ll a g on th th.
Bfor t as rally lght h had hs ats out and as drftng th th currnt.On at as don forty fathos. Th scond as at svnty-fv and th thrd and fourth r don n th lu atr at on hundrd and on hundrd and tnty-fv fathos.Each at hung had don th th shank of th hook nsd th at fsh,td and sd sold and all th projctng part of th hook,th curv and th pont,as covrd th frsh sardns.Each sardn as hookd through oth ys so that thy ad a half-garland on th projctng stl.Thr as no part of th hook that a grat fsh could fl hch as not st sllng and good tastng.
Th oy had gvn h to frsh sall tunas, or alacors,hch hung on th to dpst lns lk pluts and,on th othrs,h had a g lu runnr and a yllo jack that had n usd for;ut thy r n good condton stll and had th xcllnt sardns to gv th scnt and attractvnss.Each ln,as thck around as a g pncl,as loopd onto a grn-sappd stck so that any pull or touch on th at ould ak th stck dp and ach ln had to forty-fatho cols hch could ad fast to th othr spar cols so that,f t r ncssary,a fsh could tak out ovr thr hundrd fathos of ln.
No th an atchd th dp of th thr stcks ovr th sd of th skff and rod gntly to kp th lns straght up and don and at thr propr dpths.It as qut lght and any ont no th sun ould rs.
Th sun ros thnly fro th sa and th old an could s th othr oats,lo on th atr and ll n toard th shor,sprad out across th currnt.Thn th sun as rghtr and th glar ca on th atr and thn,as t ros clar,th flat sa snt t ack at hs ys so that t hurt sharply and h rod thout lookng nto t.H lookd don nto th atr and atchd th lns that nt straght don nto th dark of th atr.H kpt th straghtr than anyon dd,so that at ach lvl n th darknss of th stra thr ould a at atng xactly hr h shd t to for any fsh that sa thr.Othrs lt th drft th th currnt and sots thy r at sxty fathos hn th fshrn thought thy r at a hundrd.
But,h thought,I kp th th prcson.Only I hav no luck any or.But ho knos?May to day.Evry day s a n day.It s ttr to lucky.But I ould rathr xact.Thn hn luck cos you ar rady.
Th sun as to hours hghr no and t dd not hurt hs ys so uch to look nto th ast.Thr r only thr oats n sght no and thy shod vry lo and far nshor.
All y lf th arly sun has hurt y ys,h thought. Yt thy ar stll good. In th vnng I can look straght nto t thout gttng th lacknss.It has or forc n th vnng too.But n th ornng t s panful.
Just thn h sa a an-of-ar rd th hs long lack ngs crclng n th sky ahad of h. H ad a quck drop,slantng don on hs ackspt ngs,and thn crcld agan.
“H's got sothng,”th old an sad aloud.“H's not just lookng.”
H rod sloly and stadly toard hr th rd as crclng.H dd not hurry and h kpt hs lns straght up and don.But h crodd th currnt a lttl so that h as stll fshng corrctly though fastr than h ould hav fshd f h as not tryng to us th rd.
Th rd nt hghr n th ar and crcld agan,hs ngs otonlss.Thn h dov suddnly and th old an sa flyng fsh spurt out of th atr and sal dspratly ovr th surfac.
“Dolphn,”th old an sad aloud.“ Bg dolphn.”
H shppd hs oars and rought a sall ln fro undr th o.It had a r ladr and a du-szd hook and h atd t th on of th sardns.H lt t go ovr th sd and thn ad t fast to a rng olt n th strn.Thn h atd anothr ln and lft t cold n th shad of th o. H nt ack to rong and to atchng th long ngd lack rd ho as orkng,no,lo ovr th atr.