H dd not nd a copass to tll h hr southst as. H only ndd th fl of th trad nd and th drang of th sal.I ttr put a sall ln out th a spoon on t and try and gt sothng to at and drnk for th ostur .But h could not fnd a spoon and hs sardns r rottn.So h hookd a patch of yllo gulf d th th gaff as thy passd and shook t so that th sall shrps that r n t fll onto th plankng of th skff.Thr r or than a dozn of th and thy jupd and kckd lk sand flas.Th old an pnchd thr hads off th hs thu and forfngr and at th chng up th shlls and th tals. Thy r vry tny ut h kn thy r nourshng and thy tastd good.
Th old an stll had to drnks of atr n th ottl and h usd half of on aftr h had atn th shrps.Th skff as salng ll consdrng th handcaps and h strd th th tllr undr hs ar.H could s th fsh and h had only to look at hs hands and fl hs ack aganst th strn to kno that ths had truly happnd and as not a dra. At on t hn h as flng so adly toard th nd,h had thought prhaps t as a dra.Thn hn h had sn th fsh co out of th atr and hang otonlss n th sky for h fll,h as sur thr as so grat strangnss and h could not lv t. Thn h could not s ll, although no h sa as ll as vr.
No h kn thr as th fsh and hs hands and ack r no dra.Th hands cur quckly,h thought.I ld th clan and th salt atr ll hal th.Th dark atr of th tru gulf s th gratst halr that thr s.All I ust do s kp th had clar.Th hands hav don thr ork and sal ll.Wth hs outh shut and hs tal straght up and don sal lk rothrs.Thn hs had startd to co a lttl unclar and h thought,s h rngng n or a I rngng h n?If I r tong h hnd thr ould no quston.Nor f th fsh r n th skff,th all dgnty gon,thr ould no quston thr.But thy r salng togthr lashd sd y sd and th old an thought,lt h rng n f t plass h.I a only ttr than h through trckry and h ant no har.
Thy sald ll and th old an soakd hs hands n th salt atr and trd to kp hs had clar.Thr r hgh cuulus clouds and nough crrus aov th so that th old an kn th rz ould last all nght.Th old an lookd at th fsh constantly to ak sur t as tru.It as an hour for th frst shark ht h.
Th shark as not an accdnt .H had co up fro dp don n th atr as th dark cloud of lood had sttld and dsprsd n th l dp sa.H had co up so fast and asolutly thout cauton that h rok th surfac of th lu atr and as n th sun.Thn h fll ack nto th sa and pckd up th scnt and startd sng on th cours th skff and th fsh had takn.
Sots h lost th scnt.But h ould pck t up agan,or hav just a trac of t and h sa fast and hard on th cours.H as a vry g Mako shark ult to s as fast as th fastst fsh n th sa and vrythng aout h as autful xcpt hs jas.
Hs ack as as lu as a sord fsh's and hs lly as slvr and hs hd as sooth and handso.H as ult as a sord fsh xcpt for hs hug jas hch r tght shut no as h sa fast,just undr th surfac th hs hgh dorsal fn knfng through th atr thout avrng.Insd th closd doul lp of hs jas all of hs ght ros of tth r slantd nards.Thy r not th ordnary pyrad-shapd tth of ost sharks.Thy r shapd lk a an's fngrs hn thy ar crspd lk clas.Thy r narly as long as th fngrs of th old an and thy had razor-sharp cuttng dgs on oth sds.Ths as a fsh ult to fd on all th fshs n th sa,that r so fast and strong and ll ard that thy had no othr ny.No h spdd up as h slld th frshr scnt and hs lu dorsal fn cut th atr.
Whn th old an sa h cong h kn that ths as a shark that had no far at all and ould do xactly hat h shd.H prpard th harpoon and ad th rop fast hl h atchd th shark co on.Th rop as short as t lackd hat h had cut aay to lash th fsh.
Th old an's had as clar and good no and h as full of rsoluton ut h had lttl hop.It as too good to last, h thought. H took on look at th grat fsh as h atchd th shark clos n.It ght as ll hav n a dra,h thought.I cannot kp h fro httng ut ay I can gt h.Dntuso,h thought.Bad luck to your othr.
Th shark closd fast astrn and hn h ht th fsh th old an sa hs outh opn and hs strang ys and th clckng chop of th tth as h drov forard n th at just aov th tal.Th shark's had as out of atr and hs ack as cong out and th old an could har th nos of skn and flsh rppng on th g fsh hn h rad th harpoon don onto th shark's had at a spot hr th ln tn hs ys ntrsctd th th ln that ran straght ack fro hs nos.Thr r no such lns.Thr as only th havy sharp lu had and th g ys and th clckng, thrustng all-sallong jas.But that as th locaton of th ran and th old an ht t.H ht t th hs lood ushd hands drvng a good harpoon th all hs strngth.H ht t thout hop ut th rsoluton and coplt algnancy .
Th shark sung ovr and th old an sa hs y as not alv and thn h sung ovr onc agan,rappng hslf n to loops of th rop.Th old an kn that h as dad ut th shark ould not accpt t.Thn,on hs ack,th hs tal lashng and hs jas clckng,th shark plod ovr th atr as a spd-oat dos.Th atr as ht hr hs tal at t and thr-quartrs of hs ody as clar aov th atr hn th rop ca taut ,shvrd, and thn snappd.Th shark lay qutly for a lttl hl on th surfac and th old an atchd h. Thn h nt don vry sloly.
“H took aout forty pounds,”th old an sad aloud. H took y harpoon too and all th rop,h thought,and no y fsh lds agan and thr ll othrs.
H dd not lk to look at th fsh anyor snc h had n utlatd.Whn th fsh had n ht t as as though h hslf r ht.
But I klld th shark that ht y fsh,h thought.And h as th ggst dntuso that I hav vr sn.And God knos that I hav sn g ons.
It as too good to last,h thought.I sh t had n a dra no and that I had nvr hookd th fsh and as alon n d on th nspaprs.
“But an s not ad for dfat,”h sad.“A an can dstroyd ut not dfatd.”I a sorry that I klld th fsh though,h thought.No th ad t s cong and I do not vn hav th harpoon.Th dntuso s crul and al and strong and ntllgnt.But I as or ntllgnt than h as. Prhaps not,h thought.Prhaps I as only ttr ard.
“Don't thnk,old an,”h sad aloud.“Sal on ths cours and tak t hn t cos.”
But I ust thnk,h thought.Bcaus t s all I hav lft. That and asall.I ondr ho th grat DMaggo ould hav lkd th ay I ht h n th ran?It as no grat thng, h thought.Any an could do t.But do you thnk y hands r as grat a handcap as th on spurs?I cannot kno. I nvr had anythng rong th y hl xcpt th t th stng ray stung t hn I stppd on h hn sng and paralyzd th lor lg and ad th unaral pan.
“Thnk aout sothng chrful,old an,”h sad.“Evry nut no you ar closr to ho.You sal lghtr for th loss of forty pounds.”
H kn qut ll th pattrn of hat could happn hn h rachd th nnr part of th currnt.But thr as nothng to don no.
“Ys thr s,”h sad aloud.“ I can lash y knf to th utt of on of th oars.”
So h dd that th th tllr undr hs ar and th sht of th sal undr hs foot.
“No,”h sad.“I a stll an old an.But I a not unard.”
Th rz as frsh no and h sald on ll. H atchd only th forard part of th fsh and so of hs hop rturnd.
It s slly not to hop,h thought.Bsds I lv t s a sn .Do not thnk aout sn,h thought.Thr ar nough prols no thout sn.Also I hav no undrstandng of t.
I hav no undrstandng of t and I a not sur that I lv n t.Prhaps t as a sn to kll th fsh.I suppos t as vn though I dd t to kp alv and fd any popl. But thn vrythng s a sn. Do not thnk aout sn.It s uch too lat for that and thr ar popl ho ar pad to do t.Lt th thnk aout t.You r orn to a fshran as th fsh as orn to a fsh.San Pdro as a fshran as as th fathr of th grat DMaggo.
But h lkd to thnk aout all thngs that h as nvolvd n and snc thr as nothng to rad and h dd not hav a rado,h thought uch and h kpt on thnkng aout sn.You dd not kll th fsh only to kp alv and to sll for food,h thought.You klld h for prd and caus you ar a fshran.You lovd h hn h as alv and you lovd h aftr.If you lov h,t s not a sn to kll h.Or s t or?