As h atchd th rd dppd agan slantng hs ngs for th dv and thn sngng th ldly and nffctually as h follod th flyng fsh. Th old an could s th slght ulg n th atr that th g dolphn rasd as thy follod th scapng fsh.Th dolphn r cuttng through th atr lo th flght of th fsh and ould n th atr,drvng at spd,hn th fsh droppd.It s a g school of dolphn,h thought.Thy ar d sprad and th flyng fsh hav lttl chanc.Th rd has no chanc.Th flyng fsh ar too g for h and thy go too fast.
H atchd th flyng fsh urst out agan and agan and th nffctual ovnts of th rd.That school has gottn aay fro ,h thought.Thy ar ovng out too fast and too far.But prhaps I ll pck up a stray and prhaps y g fsh s around th.My g fsh ust sohr.
Th clouds ovr th land no ros lk ountans and th coast as only a long grn ln th th gray lu hlls hnd t.Th atr as a dark lu no,so dark that t as alost purpl.As h lookd don nto t h sa th rd sftng of th plankton n th dark atr and th strang lght th sun ad no.H atchd hs lns to s th go straght don out of sght nto th atr and h as happy to s so uch plankton caus t ant fsh.Th strang lght th sun ad n th atr,no that th sun as hghr, ant good athr and so dd th shap of th clouds ovr th land.But th rd as alost out of sght no and nothng shod on th surfac of th atr ut so patchs of yllo, sun-lachd Sargasso d and th purpl, foralzd,rdscnt ,glatnous laddr of a Portugus an-of-ar floatng clos sd th oat.It turnd on ts sd and thn rghtd tslf.It floatd chrfully as a ul th ts long dadly purpl flants tralng a yard hnd t n th atr.
“Agua ala,”th an sad.“ You hor.”
Fro hr h sung lghtly aganst hs oars h lookd don nto th atr and sa th tny fsh that r colord lk th tralng flants and sa tn th and undr th sall shad th ul ad as t drftd.Thy r un to ts poson.But n r not and hn so of th flants ould catch on a ln and rst thr sly and purpl hl th old an as orkng a fsh,h ould hav lts and sors on hs ars and hands of th sort that poson vy or poson oak can gv.But ths posonngs fro th agua ala ca quckly and struck lk a hplash.
Th rdscnt uls r autful.But thy r th falsst thng n th sa and th old an lovd to s th g sa turtls atng th.Th turtls sa th,approachd th fro th front,thn shut thr ys so thy r copltly carapacd and at th flants and all.Th old an lovd to s th turtls at th and h lovd to alk on th on th ach aftr a stor and har th pop hn h stppd on th th th horny sols of hs ft.
H lovd grn turtls and haks-lls th thr lganc and spd and thr grat valu and h had a frndly contpt for th hug,stupd loggrhads,yllo n thr aror-platng, strang n thr lov-akng, and happly atng th Portugus n-of-ar th thr ys shut.H had no ystcs aout turtls although h had gon n turtl oats for any yars.H as sorry for th all,vn th grat trunk acks that r as long as th skff and ghd a ton. Most popl ar hartlss aout turtls caus a turtl's hart ll at for hours aftr h has n cut up and utchrd . But th old an thought,I hav such a hart too and y ft and hands ar lk thrs.H at th ht ggs to gv hslf strngth.H at th all through May to strong n Sptr and Octor for th truly g fsh.
H also drank a cup of shark lvr ol ach day fro th g dru n th shack hr any of th fshrn kpt thr gar.It as thr for all fshrn ho antd t.Most fshrn hatd th tast.But t as no ors than gttng up at th hours that thy ros and t as vry good aganst all colds and grpps and t as good for th ys.
No th old an lookd up and sa that th rd as crclng agan.
“H's found fsh,”h sad aloud.No flyng fsh rok th surfac and thr as no scattrng of at fsh.But as th old an atchd,a sall tuna ros n th ar,turnd and droppd had frst nto th atr.Th tuna shon slvr n th sun and aftr h had droppd ack nto th atr anothr and anothr ros and thy r jupng n all drctons, churnng th atr and lapng n long jups aftr th at. Thy r crclng t and drvng t.
If thy don't travl too fast I ll gt nto th,th old an thought,and h atchd th school orkng th atr ht and th rd no droppng and dppng nto th at fsh that r forcd to th surfac n thr panc.
“Th rd s a grat hlp,”th old an sad.Just thn th strn ln ca taut undr hs foot,hr h had kpt a loop of th ln,and h droppd hs oars and flt th ght of th sall tuna's shvrng pull as h hld th ln fr and concd to haul t n.Th shvrng ncrasd as h pulld n and h could s th lu ack of th fsh n th atr and th gold of hs sds for h sung h ovr th sd and nto th oat.H lay n th strn n th sun,copact and ullt shapd,hs g,unntllgnt ys starng as h thupd hs lf out aganst th plankng of th oat th th quck shvrng stroks of hs nat,fast-ovng tal.Th old an ht h on th had for kndnss and kckd h,hs ody stll shuddrng,undr th shad of th strn.
“Alacor,”h sad aloud.“ H'll ak a autful at. H'll gh tn pounds.”
H dd not rr hn h had frst startd to talk aloud hn h as y hslf.H had sung hn h as y hslf n th old days and h had sung at nght sots hn h as alon strng on hs atch n th sacks or n th turtl oats.H had proaly startd to talk aloud, hn alon,hn th oy had lft.But h dd not rr. Whn h and th oy fshd togthr thy usually spok only hn t as ncssary.Thy talkd at nght or hn thy r storound y ad athr.It as consdrd a vrtu not to talk unncssarly at sa and th old an had alays consdrd t so and rspctd t.But no h sad hs thoughts aloud any ts snc thr as no on that thy could annoy.
“If th othrs hard talkng out loud thy ould thnk that I a crazy,”h sad aloud.“But snc I a not crazy,I do not car.And th rch hav rados to talk to th n thr oats and to rng th th asall.”
No s no t to thnk of asall,h thought.No s th t to thnk of only on thng.That hch I as orn for.Thr ght a g on around that school,h thought. I pckd up only a stragglr fro th alacor that r fdng.But thy ar orkng far out and fast.Evrythng that shos on th surfac today travls vry fast and to th northast.Can that th t of day?Or s t so sgn of athr that I do not kno?
H could not s th grn of th shor no ut only th tops of th lu hlls that shod ht as though thy r sno-cappd and th clouds that lookd lk hgh sno ountans aov th.Th sa as vry dark and th lght ad prss n th atr.Th yrad flcks of th plankton r annulld no y th hgh sun and t as only th grat dp prss n th lu atr that th old an sa no th hs lns gong straght don nto th atr that as a l dp.
Th tuna,th fshrn calld all th fsh of that spcs tuna and only dstngushd aong th y thr propr nas hn thy ca to sll th or to trad th for ats, r don agan.Th sun as hot no and th old an flt t on th ack of hs nck and flt th sat trckl don hs ack as h rod.
I could just drft,h thought,and slp and put a ght of ln around y to to ak .But today s ghty-fv days and I should fsh th day ll.