第6章 Tired of the Old Man[第9页/共14页]

The old man unhooked the fish,rebaited the line with another sardine and tossed it over.Then he worked his way slowly back to the bow.He washed his left hand and wiped it on his trousers.Then he shifted the heavy line from his right hand to his left and washed his right hand in the sea while he watched the sun go into the ocean and the slant of the big cord.

Once in the afternoon the line started to rise again.But the fish only continued to swim at a slightly higher level.The sun was on the old man's left arm and shoulder and on his back.So he knew the fish had turned east of north.

“With so much flying fish there should be dolphin,”he said,and leaned back on the line to see if it was possible to gain any on his fish.But he could not and it stayed at the hardness and waterdrop shivering that preceded breaking. The boat moved ahead slowly and he watched the airplane until he could no longer see it.