第6章 Tired of the Old Man[第1页/共13页]

He slid the carcass overboard and looked to see if there was any swirl in the water.But there was only the light of its slow descent.He turned then and placed the two flying fish inside the two fillets of fish and putting his knife back in its sheath,he worked his way slowly back to the bow.His back was bent with the weight of the line across it and he carried the fish in his right hand.

“What an excellent fish dolphin is to eat cooked,”he said.“And what a miserable fish raw.I will never go in a boat again without salt or limes.”

I'm learning how to do it,he thought.This part of it anyway.Then too,remember he hasn't eaten since he took the bait and he is huge and needs much food.I have eaten the whole bonito.Tomorrow I will eat the dolphin.He called it dorado.Perhaps I should eat some of it when I clean it.It will be harder to eat than the bonito.But,then,nothing is easy.

I'm clear enough in the head,he thought.Too clear. I am as clear as the stars that are my brothers.Still I must sleep.They sleep and the moon and the sun sleep and even the ocean sleeps sometimes on certain days when there is no current and a flat calm.

He did not truly feel good because the pain from the cord across his back had almost passed pain and gone into a dullness that he mistrusted.But I have had worse things than that,he thought.My hand is only cut a little and the cramp is gone from the other.My legs are all right.Also now I have gained on him in the question of sustenance.