第7章 The Old Mans Victory[第1页/共17页]

It was a great temptation to rest in the bow and let the fish make one circle by himself without recovering any line. But when the strain showed the fish had turned to come toward the boat,the old man rose to his feet and started the pivoting and the weaving pulling that brought in all the line he gained.

Then the fish came alive,with his death in him,and rose high out of the water showing all his great length and width and all his power and his beauty.He seemed to hang in the air above the old man in the skiff.Then he fell into the water with a crash that sent spray over the old man and over all of the skiff.

After that he began to dream of the long yellow beach and he saw the first of the lions come down onto it in the early dark and then the other lions came and he rested his chin on the wood of the bows where the ship lay anchored with the evening off-shore breeze and he waited to see if there would be more lions and he was happy.

I must hold his pain where it is,he thought.Mine does not matter.I can control mine.But his pain could drive him mad.

He kneeled against the bow and,for a moment,slipped the line over his back again.I'll rest now while he goes out on the circle and then stand up and work on him when he comes in,he decided.