第4章 The Big Fish Bit the Hook[第2页/共9页]

He did not take it though.He was gone and the old man felt nothing.

What I will do if he decides to go down,I don't know. What I'll do if he sounds and dies I don't know.But I'll do something.There are plenty of things I can do.

Just then,watching his lines,he saw one of the projecting green sticks dip sharply.

The old man held the line delicately,and softly,with his left hand,unleashed it from the stick.Now he could let it run through his fingers without the fish feeling any tension .

Then he felt the gentle touch on the line and he was happy.

When once,through my treachery,it had been necessary to him to make a choice,the old man thought.

Once he stood up and urinated over the side of the skiff and looked at the stars and checked his course.The line showed like a phosphorescent streak in the water straight out from his shoulders.They were moving more slowly now and the glow of Havana was not so strong,so that he knew the current must be carrying them to the eastward.If I lose the glare of Havana we must be going more to the eastward, he thought.For if the fish's course held true I must see it for many more hours.I wonder how the baseball came out in the grand leagues today,he thought.It would be wonderful to do this with a radio.Then he thought,think of it always.Think of what you are doing.You must do nothing stupid.