H kn h as atn no fnally and thout rdy and h nt ack to th strn and found th jaggd nd of th tllr ould ft n th slot of th ruddr ll nough for h to str.H sttld th sack around hs shouldrs and put th skff on hr cours. H sald lghtly no and h had no thoughts nor any flngs of any knd.H as past vrythng no and h sald th skff to ak hs ho port as ll and as ntllgntly as h could.In th nght sharks ht th carcass as soon ght pck up crus fro th tal.Th old an pad no attnton to th and dd not pay any attnton to anythng xcpt strng.H only notcd ho lghtly and ho ll th skff sald no thr as no grat ght sd hr.
Sh's good,h thought.Sh s sound and not hard n any ay xcpt for th tllr.That s asly rplacd .
H could fl h as nsd th currnt no and h could s th lghts of th ach colons along th shor.H kn hr h as no and t as nothng to gt ho.
Th nd s our frnd,anyay,h thought.Thn h addd,sots.And th grat sa th our frnds and our ns.And d,h thought.Bd s y frnd.Just d, h thought.Bd ll a grat thng.It s asy hn you ar atn,h thought.I nvr kn ho asy t as.And hat at you,h thought.
“Nothng,”h sad aloud.“ I nt out too far.”
Whn h sald nto th lttl haror th lghts of th Trrac r out and h kn vryon as n d.Th rz had rsn stadly and as long strongly no.It as qut n th haror though and h sald up onto th lttl patch of shngl lo th rocks.Thr as no on to hlp h so h pulld th oat up as far as h could.Thn h stppd out and ad hr fast to a rock.
H unstppd th ast and furld th sal and td t. Thn h shouldrd th ast and startd to cl.It as thn h kn th dpth of hs trdnss.H stoppd for a ont and lookd ack and sa n th rflcton fro th strt lght th grat tal of th fsh standng up ll hnd th skff's strn.H sa th ht nakd ln of hs ackon and th dark ass of th had th th projctng ll and all th nakdnss tn.
H startd to cl agan and at th top h fll and lay for so t th th ast across hs shouldr.
H trd to gt up.But t as too dffcult and h sat thr th th ast on hs shouldr and lookd at th road.A cat passd on th far sd gong aout ts usnss and th old an atchd t.Thn h just atchd th road.
Fnally h put th ast don and stood up.H pckd th ast up and put t on hs shouldr and startd up th road.H had to st don fv ts for h rachd hs shack.
Insd th shack h land th ast aganst th all.In th dark h found a atr ottl and took a drnk.Thn h lay don on th d.H pulld th lankt ovr hs shouldrs and thn ovr hs ack and lgs and h slpt fac don on th nspaprs th hs ars out straght and th pals of hs hands up.
H as aslp hn th oy lookd n th door n th ornng.It as long so hard that th drftng-oats ould not gong out and th oy had slpt lat and thn co to th old an's shack as h had co ach ornng.Th oy sa that th old an as rathng and thn h sa th old an's hands and h startd to cry.H nt out vry qutly to go to rng so coff and all th ay don th road h as cryng.
Many fshrn r around th skff lookng at hat as lashd sd t and on as n th atr,hs trousrs rolld up,asurng th sklton th a lngth of ln.
Th oy dd not go don.H had n thr for and on of th fshrn as lookng aftr th skff for h.
“Ho s h?”on of th fshrn shoutd.
“Slpng,”th oy calld.H dd not car that thy sa h cryng.“ Lt no on dstur h.”
“H as ghtn ft fro nos to tal,”th fshran ho as asurng h calld.
“I lv t,”th oy sad.
H nt nto th Trrac and askd for a can of coff.
“Hot and th plnty of lk and sugar n t.”
“Anythng or?”
“No.Aftrards I ll s hat h can at.”
“What a fsh t as,”th proprtor sad.“Thr has nvr n such a fsh.Thos r to fn fsh you took ystrday too.”
“Dan y fsh,”th oy sad and h startd to cry agan.
“Do you ant a drnk of any knd?”th proprtor askd.
“No,”th oy sad.“Tll th not to othr Santago. I'll ack.”
“Tll h ho sorry I a.”
“Thanks,”th oy sad.
Th oy carrd th hot can of coff up to th old an's shack and sat y h untl h ok.Onc t lookd as though h r akng.But h had gon ack nto havy slp and th oy had gon across th road to orro so ood to hat th coff.
Fnally th old an ok.
“Don't st up.”th oy sad.“Drnk ths.”H pourd so of th coff n a glass.
Th old an took t and drank t.
“Thy at , Manoln,”h sad.“Thy truly at .”
“H ddn't at you.Not th fsh.”