“He took about forty pounds,” the old man said aloud. He took my harpoon2 too and all the rope, he thought, and now my fish bleeds again and there will be others.
He did not like to look at the fish anymore since he had been mutilated3. When the fish had been hit it was as though he himself were hit.
But I killed the shark that hit my fish, he thought. And he was the biggest dentuso4 that I have ever seen.
It was too good to last, he thought. I wish it had been a dream now and that I had never hooked5 the fish and was alone in bed on the newspapers.
“But man is not made for defeat,” he said. “A man can be destroyed but not defeated." I am sorry that I killed the fish though, he thought. Now the bad time is coming and I do not even have the harpoon. The dentuso is cruel and able and strong and intelligent. But I was more intelligent than he was. Perhaps not, he thought. Perhaps I was only better armed.
“Don't think, old man,” he said aloud. “Sail on this course6 and take it when it comes.”
“Think about something cheerful, old man,” he said. “Every minute now you are closer to home. You sail lighter for the loss of forty pounds.”
He knew quite well the pattern of what could happen when he reached the inner part of the current7. But there was nothing to be done now.
“Yes, there is,” he said aloud. “I can lash8 my knife to the butt9 of one of the oars10 .”
So he did that with the tiller11 under his arm and the sheet12 of the sail under his foot.
“Now,” he said. “I am still an old man. But I am not unarmed.”
The breeze was fresh now and he sailed on well. He watched only the forward part of the fish and some of his hope returned.
It is silly not to hope, he thought. Besides I believe it is a sin. Do not think about sin, he thought. There are enough problems now without sin. Also I have no understanding of it. I have no understanding of it and I am not sure that I believe in it. Perhaps it was a sin to kill the fish. I suppose it was even I did it to keep me alive and feed many people. But then everything is a sin. Do not think about sin. It is much too late for that and there are people who are paid to do it. Let them think about it. You were born to be a fisherman as the fish was born to be a fish.
But he liked to think about all things that he was involved in and since there was nothing to read and he did not have a radio, he thought much and he kept on thinking about sin. You did not kill the fish only to keep alive and to sell for food, he thought. You killed him for the pride and because you are a fisherman. You loved him when he was alive and you loved him after. If you love him, it is not a sin to kill him. Or is it more?
“You think too much, old man,” he said aloud.
But you enjoyed killing the dentuso, he thought. He lives on the live fish as you do. He is not a scavenger13 nor just a moving appetite14 as some sharks are. He is beautiful and noble and knows no fear of anything.
“I killed him in self-defense,” the old man said aloud. “And I killed him well.”
Besides, he thought, everything kills else in some way. Fishing kills me exactly as it keeps me alive. The boy keeps me alive, he thought. I must not deceive myself too much.
“它抢走了大概有40磅的鱼肉。”老人高声说。“它还把我的鱼叉连同所有绳子都带走了，”老人想，“现在我的鱼又在流血，还会有别的鲨鱼过来的。”
他不忍朝死鱼多看一眼，因为它已经给咬得残缺不全了。当鱼被攻击的时候，他真觉得犹如自己被攻击一般。
“但是我已经把咬我的鱼的那条鲨鱼杀啦。”他想，“我从来没见过这么大的鲨鱼。”
他想，“人生美好的一切总是那么短暂。真希望现在的一切都是梦，希望我没钓到这条鱼，希望我独自一人躺在铺着报纸的床上。”
“可一个人并不是生来就要给打败的，”他说，“一个男子汉可以被消灭，但永远不能被打垮。” “不过这条鱼被我杀死了，我倒是过意不去。”他想，“现在艰难的时刻就要来临，而我却连鱼叉都没了。那鲨鱼残忍、神勇、强壮又聪明，可我比它更聪明。也许不是，也许只不过是我装备比它要好。”
“别想啦，老家伙，”他大声地说，“沿着这条航线航行吧，一切听天由命好啦。”
“老家伙！想点开心的事吧。”他说，“从现在起每过一分钟，你就离家更近一点。少了40磅的肉，你航行起来就轻快多了。”
他很清楚他把船开到海流中间，会发生什么事情。可是现在已经没办法预先做准备了。
“有了，有办法啦，”他大声地说，“我可以把我的刀子绑在一支木桨的柄上。”
于是他赶紧把舵柄夹在腋下，把帆脚索踩在脚底。
“现在，”他说，“虽然我还是个老头儿，但我不是手无寸铁了。”
这会儿微风凉爽地吹着，他航行得很顺利。他只注视着鱼的前半部分，又寻回一些希望。
“不抱希望的人太蠢了。”他想，“而且我确信，那是一种罪过。别去想罪过，这会儿不谈罪过，事情已经够多啦。何况我也搞不懂这些。我不懂得这种事儿，我也不怎么相信。也许我杀死这条大鱼是一桩罪过。我想，应该是的，即使我杀它是为了生存，也是为了让许多人有鱼吃。但是这样说的话，什么都成了罪过。别想罪过了。现在想也太迟了，而且有些人就是专门干这行的，让他们去想吧。你生来就是个渔夫，就像鱼生来就是条鱼一样。”
但是他总喜欢去思索所有跟他有关联的事情，而且因为没有书可看，也没有收音机，他便想得很多，尤其是不停地想着有关罪过的事。“你杀这条鱼并不仅仅是为了生存，也不是为了要卖掉去换取食物。”他想，“你杀它完全是为了个人的骄傲，因为你是一个渔夫。当它活着的时候，你爱它；它死了以后，你还是爱它。如果你爱它，杀了它就不算是一种罪过。或者是更深的罪过?”
他大声说：“老头子，你想得太多了。”
“但是你杀死那条鲨鱼，感觉就很痛快。”他想，“它也靠捕食活鱼为生，跟你一样。它也不吃腐肉，也不像有些鲨鱼，游到哪儿，吃到哪儿。它美丽又高贵，无所畏惧。”
“我杀它是为了保护自己。”老头儿又高声说，“而且手法很高明。”
他想，“况且说到究竟，总是一物降一物，只是方式不同而已。捕鱼差点要了我的命，但同样也维持了我的生命。是那男孩使我得以活下去，我不能太自欺欺人了。”
1. 欧内斯特·海明威（1899-1961），美国著名小说家。曾参加第一次世界大战，后又以记者身份参加了二战和西班牙内战。晚年患多种疾病，精神抑郁， 1961年自杀。他的小说《太阳照样升起》（1927）、《永别了，武器》（1927）成为表现美国 "迷惘的一代"的主要代表作。
2. harpoon n. （捕鲸用的）鱼叉
3. mutilate v. 毁坏
4. dentuso 西班牙语，意为"牙齿锋利的"，这是当地对灰鲭鲨的俗称。
5. hook [huk] v. 钓到；勾住
6. course n. 航线
7. current n. 水流，气流
8. lash v. 捆，扎
9. butt n. 工具较粗的一端
10. oar n. 桨，橹
11. tiller n. 舵柄
12. sheet n. 帆脚索，系在帆下角的金属环上，借以控制帆的角度。
13. scavenger n. 食腐动物
14. appetite n. 食欲，胃口