双语阅读老人与海

双语阅读老人与海

《老人与海》是海明威于1951年在古巴写的一篇中篇小说，于1952年出版。是海明威最著名的作品之一。它围绕一位老年古巴渔夫，与一条巨大的马林鱼在离岸很远的湾流中搏斗而展开故事的讲述。它奠定了海明威在世界文学中的突出地位，这篇小说相继获得了1953年美国普利策奖和1954年诺贝尔文学奖。

Chapter 1

He was an old man who fished alone in a skiff in the Gulf

Stream and he had gone eighty-four days now without taking a

fish. In the first forty days a boy had been with him. But after forty

days without a fish the boy’s parents had told him that the old

man was now definitely and finally salao, which is the worst form

of unlucky, and the boy had gone at their orders in another boat

which caught three good fish the first week. It made the boy sad

to see the old man come in each day with his skiff empty and he

always went down to help him carry either the coiled lines or the

gaff and harpoon and the sail that was furled around the mast.

The sail was patched with flour sacks and, furled, it looked like

the flag of permanent defeat.

他是个独自在湾流中一条小船上钓鱼的老人，至今已去了八十四天，一条鱼也没逮住。头四十天里，有个男孩子跟他在一起。可是，

过了四十天还没捉到一条鱼，孩子的父母对他说，老人如今准是十足地“倒了血霉”，这就是说，倒霉到了极点，于是孩子听从了他们的吩咐，上了另外一条船，头一个礼拜就捕到了三条好鱼。孩子看见老人每天回来时船总是空的，感到很难受，他总是走下岸去，帮老人拿卷起的钓索，或者鱼钩和鱼叉，还有绕在桅杆上的帆。帆上用面粉袋片打了些补丁，收拢后看来象是一面标志着永远失败的旗子。

The old man was thin and gaunt with deep wrinkles in the

back of his neck. The brown blotches of the benevolent skin

cancer the sun brings from its reflection on the tropic sea were

on his cheeks. The blotches ran well down the sides of his face

and his hands had the deep-creased scars from handling heavy

fish on the cords. But none of these scars were fresh. They were

as old as erosions in a fishless desert.

老人消瘦而憔悴，脖颈上有些很深的皱纹。腮帮上有些褐斑，那是太阳在热带海面上反射的光线所引起的良性皮肤癌变。褐斑从他脸的两侧一直蔓延下去，他的双手常用绳索拉大鱼，留下了刻得很深的伤疤。但是这些伤疤中没有一块是新的。它们象无鱼可打的沙漠中被侵蚀的地方一般古老。

Everything about him was old except his eyes and they were

the same color as the sea and were cheerful and undefeated.

他身上的一切都显得古老，除了那双眼睛，它们象海水一般蓝，是愉快而不肯认输的。

“Santiago,“ the boy said to him as they climbed the bank

from where the skiff was hauled up. “I could go with you again.

We’ve made some money.“

“圣地亚哥，”他们俩从小船停泊的地方爬上岸时，孩子对他说。“我又能陪你出海了。我家挣到了一点儿钱。”

The old man had taught the boy to fish and the boy loved

him.

老人教会了这孩子捕鱼，孩子爱他。

“No,“ the old man said. “You’re with a lucky boat. Stay

with them.“

“不，”老人说。“你遇上了一条交好运的船。跟他们待下去吧。”

“But remember how you went eighty-seven days without

fish and then we caught big ones every day for three weeks.“

“不过你该记得，你有一回八十七天钓不到一条鱼，跟着有三个礼拜，我们每天都逮住了大鱼。”

“I remember,“ the old man said. “I know you did not leave

me because you doubted.“

“我记得，”老人说。“我知道你不是因为没把握才离开我的。”

“It was papa made me leave. I am a boy and I must obey

him.“

“是爸爸叫我走的。我是孩子，不能不听从他。”

“I know,“ the old man said. “It is quite normal.“

“我明白，”老人说。“这是理该如此的。”

“He hasn’t much faith.“

“他没多大的信心。”

“No,“ the old man said. “But we have. Haven’t we?“

“是啊，”老人说。“可是我们有。可不是吗？”

“Yes,“ the boy said. “Can I offer you a beer on the Terrace

and then we’ll take the stuff home.“

“对，”孩子说。“我请你到露台饭店去喝杯啤酒，然后一起把打鱼的家什带回去。”

“Why not?“ the old man said. “Between fishermen.“

“那敢情好，”老人说。“都是打鱼人嘛。”

They sat on the Terrace and many of the fishermen made fun

of the old man and he was not angry. Others, of the older

fishermen, looked at him and were sad. But they did not show it

and they spoke politely about the current and the depths they

had drifted their lines at and the steady good weather and of

what they had seen. The successful fishermen of that day were

already in and had butchered their marlin out and carried them

laid full length across two planks, with two men staggering at the

end of each plank, to the fish house where they waited for the

ice truck to carry them to the market in Havana. Those who had

caught sharks had taken them to the shark factory on the other

side of the cove where they were hoisted on a block and tackle,

their livers removed, their fins cut off and their hides skinned out

and their flesh cut into strips for salting.

他们坐在饭店的露台上，不少渔夫拿老人开玩笑，老人并不生气。另外一些上了些年纪的渔夫望着他，感到难受。不过他们并不流露出来，只是斯文地谈起海流，谈起他们把钓索送到海面下有多深，天气一贯多么好，谈起他们的见闻。当天打鱼得手的渔夫都已回来，把大马林鱼剖开，整片儿排在两块木板上，每块木板的一端由两个人抬着，摇摇晃晃地送到收鱼站，在那里等冷藏车来把它们运往哈瓦那的市场。

逮到鲨鱼的人们已把它们送到海湾另一边的鲨鱼加工厂去，吊在复合滑车上，除去肝脏，割掉鱼鳍，剥去外皮，把鱼肉切成一条条，以备腌制。

When the wind was in the east a smell came across the

harbour from the shark factory; but today there was only the faint

edge of the odour because the wind had backed into the north

and then dropped off and it was pleasant and sunny on the

Terrace.

刮东风的时候，鲨鱼加工厂隔着海湾送来一股气味；但今天只有淡淡的一丝，因为风转向了北方，后来逐渐平息了，饭店露台上可人心意、阳光明媚。

“Santiago,“ the boy said.

“圣地亚哥，”孩子说。

“Yes,“ the old man said. He was holding his glass and

thinking of many years ago.

“哦，”老人说。他正握着酒杯，思量好多年前的事儿。

“Can I go out to get sardines for you for tomorrow?“

“要我去弄点沙丁鱼来给你明天用吗？”

“No. Go and play baseball. I can still row and Rogelio will

throw the net.“

“不。打棒球去吧。我划船还行，罗赫略会给我撒网的。”

“I would like to go. If I cannot fish with you, I would like to

serve in some way.“

“我很想去。即使不能陪你钓鱼，我也很想给你多少做点事。”

“You bought me a beer,“ the old man said. “You are

already a man.“

“你请我喝了杯啤酒，”老人说。“你已经是个大人啦。”

“How old was I when you first took me in a boat?“

“你头一回带我上船，我有多大？”

“Five and you nearly were killed when I brought the fish in

too green and he nearly tore the boat to pieces. Can you

remember?“

“五岁，那天我把一条鲜龙活跳的鱼拖上船去，它差一点把船撞得粉碎，你也差一点给送了命。还记得吗？”

“I can remember the tail slapping and banging and the

thwart breaking and the noise of the clubbing. I can remember

you throwing me into the bow where the wet coiled lines were

and feeling the whole boat shiver and the noise of you clubbing

him like chopping a tree down and the sweat blood smell all over

me.“

“我记得鱼尾巴砰砰地拍打着，船上的座板给打断了，还有棍子打鱼的声音。我记得你把我朝船头猛推，那儿搁着湿漉漉的钓索卷儿，我感到整条船在颤抖，听到你啪啪地用棍子打鱼的声音，象有砍一棵树，还记得我浑身上下都是甜丝丝的血腥味儿。”

“Can you really remember that or did I just tell it to you?“

“你当真记得那回事儿，还是我不久前刚跟你说过？”

“I remember everything from when we first went together.“

“打从我们头一回一起出海时起，什么事儿我都记得清清楚楚。”

The old man looked at him with his sun-burned, confident

loving eyes.

老人用他那双常遭日晒而目光坚定的眼睛爱怜地望着他。

“If you were my boy I’d take you out and gamble,“ he said.

“But you are your father’s and your mother’s and you are in

a lucky boat.“

“如果你是我自己的小子，我准会带你出去闯一下，”他说。“可你是你爸爸和你妈妈的小子，你搭的又是一条交上了好运的船。”

“May I get the sardines? I know where I can get four baits

too.“

“我去弄沙丁鱼来好吗？我还知道上哪儿去弄四条鱼饵来。”

“I have mine left from today. I put them in salt in the box.“

“我今天还有自个儿剩下的。我把它们放在匣子里腌了。”

“Let me get four fresh ones.“

“让我给你弄四条新鲜的来吧。”

“One,“ the old man said. His hope and his confidence had

never gone. But now they were freshening as when the breeze

rises.

“一条，”老人说。他的希望和信心从没消失过。现在可又象微风初起时那么清新了。

“Two,“ the boy said.

“两条，”孩子说。

“Two,“ the old man agreed. “You didn’t steal them?“

“就两条吧，”老人同意了。“你不是去偷的吧？”

“I would,“ the boy said. “But I bought these.“

“我愿意去偷，”孩子说。“不过这些是买来的。”

“Thank you,“ the old man said. He was too simple to

wonder when he had attained humility. But he knew he had

attained it and he knew it was not disgraceful and it carried no

loss of true pride.

“谢谢你了，”老人说。他心地单纯，不去捉摸自己什么时候达到这样谦卑的地步。可是他知道这时正达到了这地步，知道这并不丢脸，所以也无损于真正的自尊心。

“Tomorrow is going to be a good day with this current,“ he

said.

“看这海流，明儿会是个好日子，”他说。

“Where are you going?“ the boy asked.

“你打算上哪儿？”孩子问。

“Far out to come in when the wind shifts. I want to be out

before it is light.“

“驶到远方，等转了风才回来。我想天亮前就出发。”

“I’ll try to get him to work far out,“ the boy said. “Then

if you hook something truly big we can come to your aid.“

“我要想法叫船主人也驶到远方，”孩子说。“这样，如果你确实钓到了大鱼，我们可以赶去帮你的忙。”

“He does not like to work too far out.“

“他可不会愿意驶到很远的地方。”

“No,“ the boy said. “But I will see something that he

cannot see such as a bird working and get him to come out after

dolphin.“

“是啊，”孩子说。“不过我会看见一些他看不见的东西，比如说有只鸟儿在空中盘旋，我就会叫他赶去追鲯鳅的。”

“Are his eyes that bad?“

“他眼睛这么不行吗？”

“He is almost blind.“

“简直是个瞎子。”

“It is strange,“ the old man said. “He never went turtle-ing. That is what kills the eyes.“

“这可怪了，”老人说。“他从没捕过海龟。这玩艺才伤眼睛哪。”

“But you went turtle-ing for years off the Mosquito Coast

and your eyes are good.“

“你可在莫斯基托海岸外捕了好多年海龟，你的眼力还是挺好的嘛。”

“I am a strange old man.“

“我是个不同寻常的老头儿。”

“But are you strong enough now for a truly big fish?“

“不过你现在还有力气对付一条真正大的鱼吗？”

“I think so. And there are many tricks.“

“我想还有。再说有不少窍门可用呢。”

“Let us take the stuff home,“ the boy said. “So I can get

the cast net and go after the sardines.“

“我们把家什拿回家去吧，”孩子说。“这样我可以拿了鱼网去逮沙丁鱼。”

They picked up the gear from the boat. The old man carried

the mast on his shoulder and the boy carried the wooden box

with the coiled, hard-braided brown lines, the gaff and the

harpoon with its shaft. The box with the baits was under the stern

of the skiff along with the club that was used to subdue the big

fish when they were brought alongside. No one would steal from

the old man but it was better to take the sail and the heavy lines

home as the dew was bad for them and, though he was quite

sure no local people would steal from him, the old man thought

that a gaff and a harpoon were needless temptations to leave in

a boat.

他们从船上拿起打鱼的家什。老人把桅杆扛上肩头，孩子拿着内放编得很紧密的褐色钓索卷儿的木箱、鱼钩和带杆子的鱼叉。盛鱼饵的匣子给藏在小船的船梢下面，那儿还有那根在大鱼被拖到船边时用来收服它们的棍子，谁也不会来偷老人的东西，不过还是把桅杆和那些粗钓索带回家去的好，因为露水对这些东西不利，再说，尽管老人深信当地不会有人来偷他的东西，但他认为，把一把鱼钩和一支鱼叉留在船上实在是不必要的引诱。

They walked up the road together to the old man’s shack

and went in through its open door. The old man leaned the mast

with its wrapped sail against the wall and the boy put the box

and the other gear beside it. The mast was nearly as long as the

one room of the shack. The shack was made of the tough

budshields of the royal palm which are called guano and in it

there was a bed, a table, one chair, and a place on the dirt floor

to cook with charcoal. On the brown walls of the flattened,

overlapping leaves of the sturdy fibered guano there was a

picture in color of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and another of the

Virgin of Cobre. These were relics of his wife. Once there had

been a tinted photograph of his wife on the wall but he had taken

it down because it made him too lonely to see it and it was on

the shelf in the corner under his clean shirt.

他们顺着大路一起走到老人的窝棚，从敞开的门走进去。老人把绕着帆的桅杆靠在墙上，孩子把木箱和其他家什搁在它的旁边。桅杆跟这窝棚内的单间屋子差不多一般长。窝棚用大椰子树的叫做“海鸟粪”的坚韧的苞壳做成，里面有一张床、一张桌子、一把椅子和泥地上一处用木炭烧饭的地方。在用纤维结实的 “海鸟粪”展平了叠盖而成的褐色墙壁上，有一幅彩色的耶稣圣心图和另一幅科布莱圣母图。这是他妻子的遗物。墙上一度挂着幅他妻子的着色照，但他把它取下了，因为看了觉得自己太孤单了，它如今在屋角搁板上，在他的一件干净衬衫下面。

“What do you have to eat?“ the boy asked.

“有什么吃的东西？”

“A pot of yellow rice with fish. Do you want some?“

“有锅鱼煮黄米饭。要吃点吗？”

“No. I will eat at home. Do you want me to make the fire?“

“不。我回家去吃。要我给你生火吗？”

“No. I will make it later on. Or I may eat the rice cold.“

“不用。过一会儿我自己来生。也许就吃冷饭算了。”

“May I take the cast net?“

“我把鱼网拿去好吗？”

“Of course.“

“当然好。”

There was no cast net and the boy remembered when they

had sold it. But they went through this fiction every day. There

was no pot of yellow rice and fish and the boy knew this too.

实在并没有鱼网，孩子还记得他们是什么时候把它卖掉的。然而他们每天要扯一套这种谎话。也没有什么鱼煮黄米饭，这一点孩子也知道。

“Eighty-five is a lucky number,“ the old man said. “How

would you like to see me bring one in that dressed out over a

thousand pounds?“

“八十五是个吉利的数目，”老人说。“你可想看到我逮住一条去掉了下脚有一千多磅重的鱼？”

“I’ll get the cast net and go for sardines. Will you sit in the

sun in the doorway?“

“我拿鱼网捞沙丁鱼去。你坐在门口晒晒太阳可好？”

“Yes. I have yesterday’s paper and I will read the baseball.“

“好吧。我有张昨天的报纸，我来看看棒球消息。”

The boy did not know whether yesterday’s paper was

fiction too. But the old man brought it out from under the bed.

孩子不知道昨天的报纸是不是也是乌有的。但是老人把它从床下取出来了。

“Perico gave it to me at the bodega,“ he explained.

“佩里科在杂货铺里给我的，”他解释说。

“I’ll be back when I have the sardines. I’ll keep yours and

mine together on ice and we can share them in the morning.

When I come back you can tell me about the baseball.“

“我弄到了沙丁鱼就回来。我要把你的鱼跟我的一起用冰镇着，明儿早上就可以分着用了。等我回来了，你告诉我棒球消息。”

“The Yankees cannot lose.“

“扬基队不会输。”

“But I fear the Indians of Cleveland.“

“可是我怕克利夫兰印第安人队会赢。”

“Have faith in the Yankees my son. Think of the great

DiMaggio.“

“相信扬基队吧，好孩子。别忘了那了不起的迪马吉奥。”

“I fear both the Tigers of Detroit and the Indians of

Cleveland.“

“我担心底特律老虎队，也担心克利夫兰印第安人队。”

“Be careful or you will fear even the Reds of Cincinnati and

the White Sox of Chicago.“

“当心点，要不然连辛辛那提红队和芝加哥白短袜队，你都要担心啦。”

“You study it and tell me when I come back.“

“你好好儿看报，等我回来了给我讲讲。”

“Do you think we should buy a terminal of the lottery with

an eighty-five? Tomorrow is the eighty-fifth day.“

“你看我们该去买张末尾是八五的彩票吗？明儿是第八十五天。”

“We can do that,“ the boy said. “But what about the

eighty-seven of your great record?“

“这样做行啊，”孩子说。“不过你上次创纪录的是八十七天，这怎么说？”

“It could not happen twice. Do you think you can find an

eighty-five?“

“这种事儿不会再发生。你看能弄到一张末尾是八五的吗？”

“I can order one.“

“我可以去订一张。”

“One sheet. That’s two dollars and a half. Who can we

borrow that from?“

“订一张。这要两块半。我们向谁去借这笔钱呢？”

“That’s easy. I can always borrow two dollars and a half.“

“这个容易。我总能借到两块半的。”

“I think perhaps I can too. But I try not to borrow. First you

borrow. Then you beg.“

“我看没准儿我也借得到。不过我不想借钱。第一步是借钱。下一步就要讨饭啰。”

“Keep warm old man,“ the boy said. “Remember we are

in September.“

“穿得暖和点，老大爷，”孩子说。“别忘了，我们这是在九月里。”

“The month when the great fish come,“ the old man said.

“Anyone can be a fisherman in May.“

“正是大鱼露面的月份，”老人说。“在五月里，人人都能当个好渔夫的。”

“I go now for the sardines,“ the boy said.

“我现在去捞沙丁鱼，”孩子说。

When the boy came back the old man was asleep in the chair

and the sun was down. The boy took the old army blanket off the

bed and spread it over the back of the chair and over the old

man’s shoulders. They were strange shoulders, still powerful

although very old, and the neck was still strong too and the

creases did not show so much when the old man was asleep and

his head fallen forward. His shirt had been patched so many

times that it was like the sail and the patches were faded to many

different shades by the sun. The old man’s head was very old

though and with his eyes closed there was no life in his face. The

newspaper lay across his knees and the weight of his arm held it

there in the evening breeze. He was barefooted.

等孩子回来的时候，老人在椅子上熟睡着，太阳已经下去了。孩

子从床上捡起一条旧军毯，铺在椅背上，盖住了老人的双肩。这两个肩膀挺怪，人非常老迈了，肩膀却依然很强健，脖子也依然很壮实，而且当老人睡着了，脑袋向前耷拉着的时候，皱纹也不大明显了。他的衬衫上不知打了多少次补丁，弄得象他那张帆一样，这些补丁被阳光晒得褪成了许多深浅不同的颜色。老人的头非常苍老，眼睛闭上了，脸上就一点生气也没有。报纸摊在他膝盖上，在晚风中，靠他一条胳臂压着才没被吹走。他光着脚。

The boy left him there and when he came back the old man

was still asleep.

孩子撇下老人走了，等他回来时，老人还是熟睡着。

“Wake up old man,“ the boy said and put his hand on one

of the old man’s knees.

“醒来吧，老大爷，”孩子说，一手搭上老人的膝盖。

The old man opened his eyes and for a moment he was

coming back from a long way away. Then he smiled.

老人张开眼睛，他的神志一时仿佛正在从老远的地方回来。随后他微笑了。

“What have you got?“ he asked.

“你拿来了什么？”他问。

“Supper,“ said the boy. “We’re going to have supper.“

“晚饭，”孩子说。“我们就来吃吧。”

“I’m not very hungry.“

“我肚子不大饿。”

“Come on and eat. You can’t fish and not eat.“

“得了，吃吧。你不能只打鱼，不吃饭。”

“I have,“ the old man said getting up and taking the

newspaper and folding it.

“我这样干过，”老人说着，站起身来，拿起报纸，把它折好。

Then he started to fold the blanket.

跟着他动手折叠毯子。

“Keep the blanket around you,“ the boy said. “You’ll not

fish without eating while I’m alive.“

“把毯子披在身上吧，”孩子说。“只要我活着，你就决不会不吃饭就去打鱼。”

“Then live a long time and take care of yourself,“ the old

man said. “What are we eating?“

“这么说，祝你长寿，多保重自己吧，”老人说。“我们吃什么？”

“Black beans and rice, fried bananas, and some stew.“

“黑豆饭、油炸香蕉，还有些纯菜。”

The boy had brought them in a two-decker metal container

from the Terrace. The two sets of knives and forks and spoons

were in his pocket with a paper napkin wrapped around each set.

孩子是把这些饭菜放在双层饭匣里从露台饭店拿来的。他口袋里有两副刀叉和汤匙，每一副都用纸餐巾包着。

“Who gave this to you?“

“这是谁给你的。”

“Martin. The owner.“

“马丁。那老板。”

“I must thank him.“

“我得去谢谢他。”

“I thanked him already,“ the boy said. “You don’t need

to thank him.“

“我已经谢过啦，”孩子说。“你用不着去谢他了。”

“I’ll give him the belly meat of a big fish,“ the old man

said. “Has he done this for us more than once?“

“我要给他一块大鱼肚子上的肉，”老人说。“他这样帮助我们不止一次了？”

“I think so.“

“我想是这样吧。”

“I must give him something more than the belly meat then.

He is very thoughtful for us.“

“这样的话，我该在鱼肚子肉以外，再送他一些东西。他对我们真关心。”

“He sent two beers.“

“他还送了两瓶啤酒。”

“I like the beer in cans best.“

“我喜欢罐装的啤酒。”

“I know. But this is in bottles, Hatuey beer, and I take back

the bottles.“

“我知道。不过这是瓶装的，阿图埃牌啤酒，我还得把瓶子送回去。”

“That’s very kind of you,“ the old man said. “Should we

eat?“

“你真周到，”老人说。“我们就吃好吗？”

“I’ve been asking you to,“ the boy told him gently. “I

have not wished to open the container until you were ready.“

“我已经问过你啦，”孩子温和地对他说。“不等你准备好，我是不愿打开饭匣子的。”

“I’m ready now,“ the old man said. “I only needed time

to wash.“

“我准备好啦，”老人说。“我只消洗洗手脸就行。”

Where did you wash? the boy thought. The village water

supply was two streets down the road. I must have water here for

him, the boy thought, and soap and a good towel. Why am I so

thoughtless? I must get him another shirt and a jacket for the

winter and some sort of shoes and another blanket.

你上哪儿去洗呢？孩子想。村里的水龙头在大路上第二条横路的转角上。我该把水带到这儿让他用的，孩子想，还带块肥皂和一条干净毛巾来。我为什么这样粗心大意？我该再弄件衬衫和一件茄克衫来让他过冬，还要一双什么鞋子，并且再给他弄条毯子来。

“Your stew is excellent,“ the old man said.

“这炖菜呱呱叫，”老人说。

“Tell me about the baseball,“ the boy asked him.

“给我讲讲棒球赛吧，”孩子请求他说。

“In the American League it is the Yankees as I said,“ the old

man said happily.

“在美国联赛中，总是扬基队的天下，我跟你说过啦，”老人兴高采烈地说。

“They lost today,“ the boy told him.

“他们今儿个输了，”孩子告诉他。

“That means nothing. The great DiMaggio is himself

again.“

“这算不上什么，那了不起的迪马吉奥恢复他的本色了。”

“They have other men on the team.“

“他们队里还有别的好手哪。”

“Naturally. But he makes the difference. In the other league,

between Brooklyn and Philadelphia I must take Brooklyn. But

then I think of Dick Sisler and those great drives in the old park.“

“这还用说。不过有了他就不同了。在另一个联赛中，拿布鲁克林队和费拉德尔菲亚队来说，我相信布鲁克林队。不过话得说回来，我没有忘记迪克·西斯勒和他在那老公园里打出的那些好球。”

“There was nothing ever like them. He hits the longest ball

I have ever seen.“

“这些好球从来没有别人打过。我见过的击球中，数他打得最

远。”

“Do you remember when he used to come to the Terrace? I

wanted to take him fishing but I was too timid to ask him. Then I

asked you to ask him and you were too timid.“

“你还记得他过去常来露台饭店吗？我想陪他出海钓鱼，可是不敢对他开口。所以我要你去说，可你也不敢。”

“I know. It was a great mistake. He might have gone with us.

Then we would have that for all of our lives.“

“我记得。我们真大大地失算了。他满可能跟我们一起出海的。这样，我们可以一辈子回味这回事了。”

“I would like to take the great DiMaggio fishing,“ the old

man said. “They say his father was a fisherman. Maybe he was

as poor as we are and would understand.“

“我满想陪那了不起的迪马吉奥去钓鱼，”老人说。“人家说他父亲也是个打鱼的。也许他当初也象我们这样穷，会领会我们的心意的。”

“The great Sisler’s father was never poor and he, the father,

was playing in the Big Leagues when he was my age.“

“那了不起的西斯勒的爸爸可没过过穷日子，他爸爸象我这样年纪的时候就在联赛里打球了。”

“When I was your age I was before the mast on a square

rigged ship that ran to Africa and I have seen lions on the beaches

in the evening.“

“我象你这样年纪的时候，就在一条去非洲的方帆船上当普通水手了，我还见过狮子在傍晚到海滩上来。”

“I know. You told me.“

“我知道。你跟我谈起过。”

“Should we talk about Africa or about baseball?“

“我们来谈非洲还是谈棒球？”

“Baseball I think,“ the boy said. “Tell me about the great

John J. McGraw.“ He said Jota for J.

“我看谈棒球吧，”孩子说。“给我谈谈那了不起的约翰·Ｊ·麦格劳的情况。”他把这个Ｊ念成了“何塔”。

“He used to come to the Terrace sometimes too in the older

days. But he was rough and harsh-spoken and difficult when he

was drinking. His mind was on horses as well as baseball. At least

he carried lists of horses at all times in his pocket and frequently

spoke the names of horses on the telephone.“

“在过去的日子里，他有时候也常到露台饭店来。可是他一喝了酒，就态度粗暴，出口伤人，性子别扭。他脑子里想着棒球，也想着赛马。至少他老是口袋里揣着赛马的名单，常常在电话里提到一些马儿的名字。”

“He was a great manager,“ the boy said. “My father thinks

he was the greatest.“

“他是个伟大的经理，”孩子说。“我爸爸认为他是顶伟大的。”

“Because he came here the most times,“ the old man said.

“If Durocher had continued to come here each year your father

would think him the greatest manager.“

“这是因为他来这儿的次数最多，”老人说。“要是多罗彻继续

每年来这儿，你爸爸就会认为他是顶伟大的经理了。”

“Who is the greatest manager, really, Luque or Mike

Gonzalez?“

“说真的，谁是顶伟大的经理，卢克还是迈克·冈萨雷斯？”

“I think they are equal.“

“我认为他们不相上下。”

“And the best fisherman is you.“

“顶好的渔夫是你。”

“No. I know others better.“

“不。我知道有不少比我强的。”

“Que va,“ the boy said. “There are many good fishermen

and some great ones. But there is only you.“

“哪里！”孩子说。“好渔夫很多，还有些很了不起的。不过顶呱呱的只有你。”

“Thank you. You make me happy. I hope no fish will come

along so great that he will prove us wrong.“

“谢谢你。你说得叫我高兴。我希望不要来一条挺大的鱼，叫我对付不了，那样就说明我们讲错啦。”

“There is no such fish if you are as strong as you say.“

“这种鱼是没有的，只要你还是象你说的那样强壮。”

“I may not be as strong as I think,“ the old man said. “But

I know many tricks and I have resolution.“

“我也许不象我自以为的那样强壮了，”老人说。“可是我懂得不少窍门，而且有决心。”

“You ought to go to bed now so that you will be fresh in the

morning. I will take the things back to the Terrace.“

“你该就去睡觉，这样明儿早上才精神饱满。我要把这些东西送回露台饭店。”

“Good night then. I will wake you in the morning.“

“那么祝你晚安。早上我去叫醒你。”

“You’re my alarm clock,“ the boy said.

“你是我的闹钟，”孩子说。

“Age is my alarm clock,“ the old man said. “Why do old

men wake so early? Is it to have one longer day?“

“年纪是我的闹钟，”老人说。“为什么老头儿醒得特别早？难道是要让白天长些吗？”

“I don’t know,“ the boy said. “All I know is that young

boys sleep late and hard.“

“我说不上来，”孩子说。“我只知道少年睡得沉，起得晚。”

“I can remember it,“ the old man said. “I’ll waken you in

time.“

“我记在心上，”老人说。“到时候会去叫醒你的。”

“I do not like for him to waken me. It is as though I were

inferior.“

“我不愿让船主人来叫醒我。这样似乎我比他差劲了。”

“I know.“

“我懂。”

“Sleep well old man.“

“安睡吧，老大爷。”

The boy went out. They had eaten with no light on the table

and the old man took off his trousers and went to bed in the dark.

He rolled his trousers up to make a pillow, putting the newspaper

inside them. He rolled himself in the blanket and slept on the

other old newspapers that covered the springs of the bed.

孩子走出屋去。他们刚才吃饭的时候，桌子上没点灯，老人就脱了长裤，摸黑上了床。他把长裤卷起来当枕头，把那张报纸塞在里头。他用毯子裹住了身子，在弹簧垫上铺着的其他旧报纸上睡下了。

He was asleep in a short time and he dreamed of Africa when

he was a boy and the long golden beaches and the white beaches,

so white they hurt your eyes, and the high capes and the great

brown mountains. He lived along that coast now every night and

in hi s dreams he heard the surf roar and saw the native boats

come riding through it. He smelled the tar and oakum of the deck

as he slept and he smelled the smell of Africa that the land breeze

brought at morning.

他不多久就睡熟了，梦见小时候见到的非洲，长长的金色海滩和白色海滩，白得耀眼，还有高耸的海岬和褐色的大山。他如今每天夜里都回到那道海岸边，在梦中听见拍岸海浪的隆隆声，看见土人驾船穿浪而行。他睡着时闻到甲板上柏油和填絮的气味，还闻到早晨陆地上刮来的风带来的非洲气息。

Usually when he smelled the land breeze he woke up and

dressed to go and wake the boy. But tonight the smell of the land

breeze came very early and he knew it was too early in his dream

and went on dreaming to see the white peaks of the Islands rising

fro m the sea and then he dreamed of the different harbours and

roadsteads of the Canary Islands.

通常一闻到陆地上刮来的风，他就醒来，穿上衣裳去叫醒那孩子。然而今夜陆地上刮来的风的气息来得很早，他在梦中知道时间尚早，就继续把梦做下去，看见群岛的白色顶峰从海面上升起，随后梦见了加那利群岛的各个港湾和锚泊地。

He no longer dreamed of storms, nor of women, nor of great

occurrences, nor of great fish, nor fights, nor contests of strength,

nor of his wife. He only dreamed of places now and of the lions

on the beach. They played like young cats in the dusk and he l

oved them as he loved the boy. He never dreamed about the boy.

He simply woke, looked out the open door at the moon and

unrolled his trousers and put them on. He urinated outside the

shack and then went up the road to wake the boy. He was

shivering with t he morning cold. But he knew he would shiver

himself warm and that soon he would be rowing.

他不再梦见风暴，不再梦见妇女们，不再梦见伟大的事件，不再梦见大鱼，不再梦见打架，不再梦见角力，不再梦见他的妻子。他如今只梦见一些地方和海滩上的狮子。它们在暮色中象小猫一般嬉耍着，他爱它们，如同爱这孩子一样。他从没梦见过这孩子。他就这么醒过来，望望敞开的门外边的月亮，摊开长裤穿上。他在窝棚外撒了尿，然后顺着大路走去叫醒孩子。他被清晨的寒气弄得直哆嗦。但他知道哆嗦了一阵后会感到暖和，要不了多久他就要去划船了。

The door of the house where the boy lived was unlocked and

he opened it and walked in quietly with his bare feet. The boy

was asleep on a cot in the first room and the old man could see

him clearly with the light that came in from the dying moon. He

took hold of one foot gently and held it until the boy woke and

turned and looked at him. The old man nodded and the boy took

his trousers from the chair by the bed and, sitting on the bed,

pulled them on.

孩子住的那所房子的门没有上铺，他推开了门，光着脚悄悄走进去。孩子在外间的一张帆布床上熟睡着，老人靠着外面射进来的残月的光线，清楚地看见他。他轻轻握住孩子的一只脚，直到孩子给弄醒了，转过脸来对他望着。老人点点头，孩子从床边椅子上拿起他的长裤，坐在床沿上穿裤子。

The old man went out the door and the boy came after him.

He was sleepy and the old man put his arm across his shoulders

and said, “I am sorry.“

老人走出门去，孩子跟在他背后。他还是昏昏欲睡，老人伸出胳臂搂住他的肩膀说：“对不起。”

“Que va,“ the boy said. “It is what a man must do.“

“哪里！”孩子说。“男子汉就该这么干。”

They walked down the road to the old man’s shack and all

along the road, in the dark, barefoot men were moving, carrying

the masts of their boats.

他们顺着大路朝老人的窝棚走去，一路上，黑暗中有些光着脚的男人在走动，扛着他们船上的桅杆。

When they reached the old man’s shack the boy took the

rolls of line in the basket and the harpoon and gaff and the old

man carried the mast with the furled sail on his shoulder.

他们走进老人的窝棚，孩子拿起装在篮子里的钓索卷儿，还有鱼叉和鱼钩，老人把绕着帆的桅杆扛在肩上。

“Do you want coffee?“ the boy asked.

“想喝咖啡吗？”孩子问。

“We’ll put the gear in the boat and then get some.“

“我们把家什放在船里，然后喝一点吧。”

They had coffee from condensed milk cans at an early

morning place that served fishermen.

他们在一家供应渔夫的清早就营业的小吃馆里，喝着盛在炼乳听里的咖啡。

“How did you sleep old man?“ the boy asked. He was

waking up now although it was still hard for him to leave his sleep.

“你睡得怎么样，老大爷？”孩子问。他如今清醒过来了，尽管要他完全摆脱睡魔还不大容易。

“Very well, Manolin,“ the old man said. “I feel confident

today.“

“睡得很好，马诺林，”老人说。“我感到今天挺有把握。”

“So do I,“ the boy said. “Now I must get your sardines and

mine and your fresh baits. He brings our gear himself. He never

wants anyone to carry anything.“

“我也这样，”孩子说。“现在我该去拿你我用的沙丁鱼，还有给你的新鲜鱼饵。那条船上的家什总是他自己拿的。他从来不要别人帮他拿东西。”

“We’re different,“ the old man said. “I let you carry

things when you were five years old.“

“我们可不同，”老人说。“你还只五岁时我就让你帮忙拿东西来着。”

“I know it,“ the boy said. “I’ll be right back. Have another

coffee. We have credit here.“

“我记得，”孩子说。“我马上就回来。再喝杯咖啡吧。我们在这儿可以挂帐。”

He walked off, bare-footed on the coral rocks, to the ice

house where the baits were stored.

他走了，光着脚在珊瑚石铺的走道上向保藏鱼铒的冷藏库走去。

The old man drank his coffee slowly. It was all he would have

all day and he knew that he should take it. For a long time now

eating had bored him and he never carried a lunch. He had a

bottle of water in the bow of the skiff and that was all he needed

fo r the day.

老人慢腾腾地喝着咖啡。这是他今儿一整天的饮食，他知道应该把它喝了。好久以来，吃饭使他感到厌烦，因此他从来不带吃食。他在小船的船头上放着一瓶水，一整天只需要这个就够了。

The boy was back now with the sardines and the two baits

wrapped in a newspaper and they went down the trail to the skiff,

feeling the pebbled sand under their feet, and lifted the skiff and

slid her into the water.

孩子带着沙丁鱼和两份包在报纸里的鱼饵回来了，他们顺着小径走向小船，感到脚下的沙地里嵌着鹅卵石，他们抬起小船，让它溜进

水里。

“Good luck old man.“

“祝你好运，老大爷。”

“Good luck,“ the old man said. He fitted the rope lashings

of the oars onto the thole pins and, leaning forward against the

thrust of the blades in the water, he began to row out of the

harbour in the dark. There were other boats from the other

beaches go ing out to sea and the old man heard the dip and

push of their oars even though he could not see them now the

moon was below the hills.

“祝你好运，”老人说。他把桨上的绳圈套在桨座的钉子上，身子朝前冲，抵消桨片在水中所遇到的阻力，在黑暗中动手划出港去。其他那些海滩上也有其他船只在出海，老人听到他们的桨落水和划动的声音，尽管此刻月亮已掉到了山背后，他还看不清他们。

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Chapter 2

Sometimes someone would speak in a boat. But most of the

boats were silent except for the dip of the oars. They spread apart

after they were out of the mouth of the harbour and each one

headed for the part of the ocean where he hoped to find fish. The

old man knew he was going far out and he left the smell of the

land behind and rowed out into the clean early morning smell of

the ocean. He saw the phosphorescence of the Gulf weed in the

water as he rowed over the part of the ocean that the fishermen

cal led the great well because there was a sudden deep of seven

hundred fathoms where all sorts of fish congregated because of

the swirl the current made against the steep walls of the floor of

the ocean. Here there were concentrations of shrimp and bait fish

and sometimes schools of squid in the deepest holes and these

rose close to the surface at night where all the wandering fish fed

on them.

偶尔有条船上有人在说话。但是除了桨声外，大多数船只都寂静无声。它们一出港口就分散开来，每一条驶向指望能找到鱼的那片海面。老人知道自己要驶向远方，所以把陆地的气息抛在后方，划进清晨的海洋的清新气息中。他划过海里的某一片水域，看见果囊马尾藻闪出的磷光，渔夫们管这片水域叫“大井”，因为那儿水深突然达到七百英寻，海流冲击在海底深渊的峭壁上，激起了旋涡，种种鱼儿都聚集在那儿。那儿集中着海虾和作鱼饵用的小鱼，在那些深不可测的水底洞穴里，有时还有成群的柔鱼，它们在夜间浮到紧靠海面的地方，所有在那儿转游的鱼类都拿它们当食物。

In the dark the old man could feel the morning coming and

as he rowed he heard the trembling sound as flying fish left the

water and the hissing that their stiff set wings made as they

soared away in the darkness. He was sorry for the birds, especially

the small delicate dark terns that were always flying and looking

and almost never finding, and he thought, the birds have a harder

life than we do except for the robber birds and the heavy strong

ones. Why did they make birds so delicate and fine as those sea

swallows when the ocean can be so cruel? She is kind and very

beautiful. But she can be so cruel and it comes so suddenly and

such birds that fly, dipping and hunting, with their small sad

voices are made too delicately for the sea.

老人在黑暗中感觉到早晨在来临，他划着划着，听见飞鱼出水时的颤抖声，还有它们在黑暗中凌空飞翔时挺直的翅膀所发出的咝咝声。他非常喜爱飞鱼，拿它们当作他在海洋上的主要朋友。他替鸟儿伤心，尤其是那些柔弱的黑色小燕鸥，它们始终在飞翔，在找食，但几乎从

没找到过，于是他想，乌儿的生活过得比我们的还要艰难，除了那些猛禽和强有力的大鸟。既然海洋这样残暴，为什么象这些海燕那样的鸟儿生来就如此柔弱和纤巧？海洋是仁慈并十分美丽的。然而她能变得这样残暴，又是来得这样突然，而这些飞翔的鸟儿，从空中落下觅食，发出细微的哀鸣，却生来就柔弱得不适宜在海上生活。

He always thought of the sea as la mar which is what people

call her in Spanish when they love her. Sometimes those who

lover her say bad things of her but they are always said as though

she were a woman. Some of the younger fishermen, those who

used buoys as floats for their lines and had motorboats, bought

when the shark livers had brought much money, spoke of her as

el mar which is masculine. They spoke of her as a contestant or a

place or even an enemy. But the old man always thought of her

as feminine and as something that gave or withheld great favours,

and if she did wild or wicked things it was because she could not

help them. The moon affects her as it does a woman, he thought.

他每想到海洋，老是称她为ｌａｍａｒ，这是人们对海洋抱着好感时用西班牙语对她的称呼。有时候，对海洋抱着好感的人们也说她的坏话，不过说起来总是拿她当女性看待的。有些较年轻的渔夫，用浮标当钓索上的浮子，并且在把鲨鱼肝卖了好多钱后置备了汽艇，都管海洋叫ｅｌｍａｒ，这是表示男性的说法。他们提起她时，拿她当做一个竞争者或是一个去处，甚至当做一个敌人。可是这老人总是拿海洋当做女性，她给人或者不愿给人莫大的恩惠，如果她干出了任性或缺德的事儿来，那是因为她由不得自己。月亮对她起着影响，如同对一个女人那样，他想。

He was rowing steadily and it was no effort for him since he

kept well within his speed and the surface of the ocean was flat

except for the occasional swirls of the current. He was letting the

current do a third of the work and as it started to be light he saw

he was already further out than he had hoped to be at this hour.

他从容地划着，对他说来并不吃力，因为他保持在自己的最高速度以内，而且除了偶尔水流打个旋儿以外，海面是平坦无浪的。他正让海流帮他千三分之一的活儿，这时天渐渐亮了，他发现自己已经划到比预期此刻能达到的地方更远了。

I worked the deep wells for a week and did nothing, he

thought. Today I‘ll work out where the schools of bonito and

albacore are and maybe there will be a big one with them.

我在这海底的深渊上转游了一个礼拜，可是一无作为，他想。今天，我要找到那些鲣鱼和长鳍金枪鱼群在什么地方，说不定还有条大鱼跟它们在一起呢。

Before it was really light he had his baits out and was drifting

with the current. One bait was down forty fathoms. The second

was at seventy-five and the third and fourth were down in the

blue water at one hundred and one hundred and twenty-five

fathoms. Each bait hung head down with the shank of the hook

inside the bait fish, tied and sewed solid and all the projecting

part of the hook, the curve and the point, was covered with fresh

sardines. Each sardine was hooked through both eyes so that

they made a half-garland on the projecting steel. There was no

part of the hook that a great fish could feel which was not sweet

smelling and good tasting.

不等天色大亮，他就放出了一个个鱼饵，让船随着海流漂去。有个鱼饵下沉到四十英寻的深处。第二个在七十五英寻的深处，第三个和第四个分别在蓝色海水中一百英寻和一百二十五英寻的深处。每个由新鲜沙丁鱼做的鱼饵都是头朝下的，钓钩的钩身穿进小鱼的身子，扎好，缝牢，钓钩的所有突出部分，弯钩和尖端，都给包在鱼肉里。

每条沙丁鱼都用钓钩穿过双眼，这样鱼的身子在突出的钢钩上构成了半个环形。不管一条大鱼接触到钓钩的哪一部分，都是喷香而美味的。

The boy had given him two fresh small tunas, or albacores,

which hung on the two deepest lines like plummets and, on the

others, he had a big blue runner and a yellow jack that had been

used before; but they were in good condition still and had the

excell ent sardines to give them scent and attractiveness. Each

line, as thick around as a big pencil, was looped onto a green-sapped stick so that any pull or touch on the bait would make

the stick dip and each line had two forty-fathom coils which

could be mad e fast to the other spare coils so that, if it were

necessary, a fish could take out over three hundred fathoms of

line.

孩子给了他两条新鲜的小金枪鱼，或者叫做长鳍金枪鱼，它们正象铅垂般挂在那两根最深的钓索上，在另外两根上，他挂上了一条蓝色大鲹鱼和一条黄色金银鱼，它们已被使用过，但依然完好，而且还有出色的沙丁鱼给它们添上香味和吸引力。每根钓索都象一支大铅笔那么粗，一端给缠在一根青皮钓竿上，这样，只要鱼在鱼饵上一拉或一碰，就能使钓竿朝下落，而每根钓索有两个四十英寻长的卷儿，它们可以牢系在其他备用的卷儿上，这一来，如果用得着的话，一条鱼可以拉出三百多英寻长的钓索。

Now the man watched the dip of the three sticks over the

side of the skiff and rowed gently to keep the lines straight up

and down and at their proper depths. It was quite light and any

moment now the sun would rise.

这时老人紧盯着那三根挑出在小船一边的钓竿，看看有没有动静，一边缓缓地划着，使钓索保持上下笔直，停留在适当的水底深处。天相当亮了，太阳随时会升起来。

The sun rose thinly from the sea and the old man could see

the other boats, low on the water and well in toward the shore,

spread out across the current. Then the sun was brighter and the

glare came on the water and then, as it rose clear, the flat sea se

nt it back at his eyes so that it hurt sharply and he rowed without

looking into it. He looked down into the water and watched the

lines that went straight down into the dark of the water. He kept

them straighter than anyone did, so that at each level in the

darkness of the stream there would be a bait waiting exactly

where he wished it to be for any fish that swam there. Others let

them drift with the current and sometimes they were at sixty

fathoms when the fishermen thought they were at a hundred.

淡淡的太阳从海上升起，老人看见其他的船只，低低地挨着水面，离海岸不远，和海流的方向垂直地展开着。跟着太阳越发明亮了，耀眼的阳光射在水面上，随后太阳从地平线上完全升起，平坦的海面把阳光反射到他眼睛里，使眼睛剧烈地刺痛，因此他不朝太阳看，顾自划着。他俯视水中，注视着那几根一直下垂到黑魆魆的深水里的钓索。他把钓索垂得比任何人更直，这样，在黑魆魆的湾流深处的几个不同的深度，都会有一个鱼饵刚好在他所指望的地方等待着在那儿游动的鱼来吃。别的渔夫让钓索随着海流漂去，有时候钓索在六十英寻的深处，他们却自以为在一百英寻的深处呢。

But, he thought, I keep them with precision. Only I have no

luck any more. But who knows? Maybe today. Every day is a new

day. It is better to be lucky. But I would rather be exact. Then

when luck comes you are ready.

不过，他想，我总是把它们精确地放在适当的地方的。问题只在于我的运气就此不好了。可是谁说得准呢？说不定今天就转运。每一天都是一个新的日子。走运当然是好。不过我情愿做到分毫不差。这

样，运气来的时候，你就有所准备了。

The sun was two hours higher now and it did not hurt his

eyes so much to look into the east. There were only three boats

in sight now and they showed very low and far inshore.

两小时过去了，太阳如今相应地升得更高了，他朝东望时不再感到那么刺眼了。眼前只看得见三条船，它们显得特别低矮，远在近岸的海面上。

All my life the early sun has hurt my eyes, he thought. Yet

they are still good. In the evening I can look straight into it

without getting the blackness. It has more force in the evening

too. But in the morning it is painful.

我这一辈子，初升的太阳老是刺痛我的眼睛，他想。然而眼睛还是好好的。傍晚时分，我可以直望着太阳，不会有眼前发黑的感觉。阳光的力量在傍晚也要强一些。不过在早上它叫人感到眼痛。

Just then he saw a man-of-war bird with his long black wings

circling in the sky ahead of him. He made a quick drop, slanting

down on his back-swept wings, and then circled again.

就在这时，他看见一只长翅膀的黑色军舰鸟在他前方的天空中盘旋飞翔。它倏地斜着后掠的双翅俯冲，然后又盘旋起来。

"He‘s got something," the old man said aloud. "He‘s not

just looking."

“它逮住了什么东西啦，”老人说出声来。“它不光是找找罢了。”

He rowed slowly and steadily toward where the bird was

circling. He did not hurry and he kept his lines straight up and

down. But he crowded the current a little so that he was still

fishing correctly though faster than he would have fished if he

was not trying to use the bird.

他慢慢划着，直朝鸟儿盘旋的地方划去。他并不匆忙，让那些钓索保持着上下笔直的位置。不过他还是挨近了一点儿海流，这样，他依然在用正确的方式捕鱼，尽管他的速度要比他不打算利用鸟儿来指路时来得快。

The bird went higher in the air and circled again, his wings

motionless. Then he dove suddenly and the old man saw flying

fish spurt out of the water and sail desperately over the surface.

军舰鸟在空中飞得高些了，又盘旋起来，双翅纹丝不动。它随即猛然俯冲下来，老人看见飞鱼从海里跃出，在海面上拚命地掠去。

"Dolphin," the old man said aloud. "Big dolphin."

“鲯鳅，”老人说出声来。“大鲯鳅。”

He shipped his oars and brought a small line from under the

bow. It had a wire leader and a medium- sized hook and he baited

it with one of the sardines. He let it go over the side and then

made it fast to a ring bolt in the stern. Then he baited another

line and left it coiled in the shade of the bow. He went back to

rowing and to watching the long-winged black bird who was

working, now, low over the water.

他把双桨从桨架上取下，从船头下面拿出一根细钓丝。钓丝上系着一段铁丝导线和一只中号钓钩，他拿一条沙丁鱼挂在上面。他把钓丝从船舷放下水去，将上端紧系在船梢一只拳头螺栓上。跟着他在另一根钓丝上安上了鱼饵，把它盘绕着搁在船头的阴影里。他又划起船来，注视着那只此刻正在水面上低低地飞掠的长翅膀黑鸟。

As he watched the bird dipped again slanting his wings for

the dive and then swinging them wildly and ineffectually as he

followed the flying fish. The old man could see the slight bulge

in the water that the big dolphin raised as they followed the

escaping fish. The dolphin were cutting through the water below

the flight of the fish and would be in the water, driving at speed,

when the fish dropped. It is a big school of dolphin, he thought.

They are widespread and the flying fish have little chance. The

bird has no chance. The flying fish are too big for him and they

go too fast.

他看着看着，那鸟儿又朝下冲，为了俯冲，把翅膀朝后掠，然后猛地展开，追踪着飞鱼，可是没有成效。老人看见那些大鲯鳅跟在那脱逃的鱼后面，把海面弄得微微隆起。鲯鳅在飞掠的鱼下面破水而行，只等飞鱼一掉下，就飞快地钻进水里。这群鲯鳅真大啊，他想。它们分布得很广，飞鱼很少脱逃的机会。那只鸟可没有成功的机会。飞鱼对它来说个头太大了，而且又飞得太快。

He watched the flying fish burst out again and again and the

ineffectual movements of the bird. That school has gotten away

from me, he thought. They are moving out too fast and too far.

But perhaps I will pick up a stray and perhaps my big fish is

around them. My big fish must be somewhere.

他看着飞鱼一再地从海里冒出来，看着那只鸟儿的一无效果的行动。那群鱼从我附近逃走啦，他想。它们逃得太快，游得太远啦。不过说不定我能逮住一条掉队的，说不定我想望的大鱼就在它们周围转游着。我的大鱼总该在某处地方啊。

The clouds over the land now rose like mountains and the

coast was only a long green line with the gray blue hills behind

it. The water was a dark blue now, so dark that it was almost

purple. As he looked down into it he saw the red sifting of the

plankton in the dark water and the strange light the sun made

now. He watched his lines to see them go straight down out of

sight into the water and he was happy to see so much plankton

because it meant fish. The strange light the sun made in the water,

now that the sun was higher, meant good weather and so did the

shape of the clouds over the land. But the bird was almost out of

sight now and nothing showed on the surface of the water but

some patches of yellow, sun-bleached Sargasso weed and the

purple, formalized, iridescent, gelatinous bladder of a

Portuguese man-of-war floating close beside the boat. It turned

on its side and then righted itself. It floated cheerfully as a bubble

with its long deadly purple filaments trailing a yard behind it in

the water.

陆地上空的云块这时象山岗般耸立着，海岸只剩下一长条绿色的线，背后是些灰青色的小山。海水此刻呈深蓝色，深得简直发紫了。他仔细俯视着海水，只见深蓝色的水中穿梭地闪出点点红色的浮游生物，阳光这时在水中变幻出奇异的光彩。他注视着那几根钓索，看见它们一直朝下没入水中看不见的地方，他很高兴看到这么多浮游生物，因为这说明有鱼。太阳此刻升得更高了，阳光在水中变幻出奇异的光彩，说明天气晴朗，陆地上空的云块的形状也说明了这一点。可是那只鸟儿这时几乎看不见了，水面上没什么东西，只有几摊被太阳晒得发白的黄色马尾藻和一只紧靠着船舷浮动的僧帽水母，它那胶质的浮囊呈紫色，具有一定的外形，闪现出彩虹般的颜色。它倒向一边，然后又竖直了身子。它象个大气泡般高高兴兴地浮动着，那些厉害的紫色长触须在水中拖在身后，长达一码。

"Agua mala," the man said. "You whore."

“Ａｇｕａｍａｌａ，”老人说。“你这婊子养的。”

From where he swung lightly against his oars he looked

down into the water and saw the tiny fish that were coloured like

the trailing filaments and swam between them and under the

small shade the bubble made as it drifted. They were immune to

its poison. But men were not and when some of the filaments

would catch on a line and rest there slimy and purple while the

old man was working a fish, he would have welts and sores on

his arms and hands of the sort that poison ivy or poison oak can

give. But these poisonings from the agua mala came quickly and

struck like a whiplash.

他从坐着轻轻荡桨的地方低头朝水中望去，看见一些颜色跟那些拖在水中的触须一样的小鱼，它们在触须和触须之间以及浮囊在浮动时所投下的一小摊阴影中游着。它们对它的毒素是不受影响的。可是人就不同了，当老人把一条鱼拉回船来时，有些触须会缠在钓丝上，紫色的黏液附在上面，他的胳臂和手上就会出现伤痕和疮肿，就象被毒漆树或栎叶毒漆树感染时一样。但是这水母的毒素发作得更快，痛得象挨鞭子抽一般。

The iridescent bubbles were beautiful. But they were the

falsest thing in the sea and the old man loved to see the big sea

turtles eating them. The turtles saw them, approached them from

the front, then shut their eyes so they were completely carapaced

and ate them filaments and all. The old man loved to see the

turtles eat them and he loved to walk on them on the beach after

a storm and hear them pop when he stepped on them with the

horny soles of his feet.

这些闪着彩虹般颜色的大气泡很美。然而它们正是海里最欺诈成性的生物，所以老人乐意看到大海龟把它们吃掉。海龟发现了它们，就从正面向它们进逼，然后闭上了眼睛，这样，从头到尾完全被龟背所保护着，把它们连同触须一并吃掉。老人喜欢观看海龟把它们吃掉，

喜欢在风暴过后在海滩上遇上它们，喜欢听到自己用长着老茧的硬脚掌踩在上面时它们啪地爆裂的声音。

He loved green turtles and hawk-bills with their elegance and

speed and their great value and he had a friendly contempt for

the huge, stupid loggerheads, yellow in their armour-plating,

strange in their lovemaking, and happily eating the Portuguese

men-of-war with their eyes shut.

他喜欢绿色的海龟和玳瑁，它们形态优美，游水迅速，价值很高，他还对那又大又笨的蠵龟抱着不怀恶意的轻蔑，它们的甲壳是黄色的，做爱的方式是奇特的，高高兴兴地吞食僧帽水母时闭上了眼睛。

He had no mysticism about turtles although he had gone in

turtle boats for many years. He was sorry for them all, even the

great trunk backs that were as long as the skiff and weighed a

ton. Most people are heartless about turtles because a turtle‘s

heart will beat for hours after he has been cut up and butchered.

But the old man thought, I have such a heart too and my feet and

hands are like theirs. He ate the white eggs to give himself

strength. He ate them all through May to be strong in September

and October for the truly big fish.

他对海龟并不抱着神秘的看法，尽管他曾多年乘小船去捕海龟。他替所有的海龟伤心，甚至包括那些跟小船一样长、重达一吨的大梭龟。人们大都对海龟残酷无情，因为一只海龟给剖开、杀死之后，它的心脏还要跳动好几个钟点。然而老人想，我也有这样一颗心脏，我的手脚也跟它们的一样。他吃白色的海龟蛋，为了使身子长力气。他在五月份连吃了整整一个月，使自己到九、十月份能身强力壮，去逮地道的人鱼。

He also drank a cup of shark liver oil each day from the big

drum in the shack where many of the fishermen kept their gear.

It was there for all fishermen who wanted it. Most fishermen

hated the taste. But it was no worse than getting up at the hours

that they rose and it was very good against all colds and grippes

and it was good for the eyes.

他每天还从不少渔夫存放家什的棚屋中一只大圆桶里舀一杯鲨鱼肝油喝。这桶就放在那儿，想喝的渔夫都可以去。大多数渔夫厌恶这种油的味道。但是也并不比摸黑早起更叫人难受，而且它对防治一切伤风流感都非常有效，对眼睛也有好处。

Now the old man looked up and saw that the bird was

circling again.

老人此刻抬眼望去，看见那只鸟儿又在盘旋了。

"He‘s found fish," he said aloud. No flying fish broke the

surface and there was no scattering of bait fish. But as the old

man watched, a small tuna rose in the air, turned and dropped

head first into the water. The tuna shone silver in the sun and

after he had dropped back into the water another and another

rose and they were jumping in all directions, churning the water

and leaping in long jumps after the bait. They were circling it and

driving it.

“它找到鱼啦，”他说出声来，这时没有一条飞鱼冲出海面，也没有小鱼纷纷四处逃窜。然而老人望着望着，只见一条小金枪鱼跃到空中，一个转身，头朝下掉进水里。这条金枪鱼在阳光中闪出银白色的光，等它回到了水里，又有些金枪鱼一条接着一条跃出水面，它们是朝四面八方跳的，搅得海水翻腾起来，跳得很远地捕食小鱼。它们正绕着小鱼转，驱赶着小鱼。

If they don‘t travel too fast I will get into them, the old man

thought, and he watched the school working the water white and

the bird now dropping and dipping into the bait fish that were

forced to the surface in their panic.

要不是它们游得这么快，我可以赶到它们中间去的，老人想，他注视着这群鱼把水搅得泛出白色的水沫，还注视着那鸟儿这时正俯冲下来，扎进在惊慌中被迫浮上海面的小鱼群中。

"The bird is a great help," the old man said. Just then the

stern line came taut under his foot, where he had kept a loop of

the line, and he dropped his oars and felt the weight of the small

tuna‘s shivering pull as he held the line firm and commenced to

haul it in. The shivering increased as he pulled in and he could

see the blue back of the fish in the water and the gold of his sides

before he swung him over the side and into the boat. He lay in

the stern in the sun, compact and bullet shaped, his big,

unintelligent eyes staring as he thumped his life out against the

planking of the boat with the quick shivering strokes of his neat,

fast-moving tail. The old man hit him on the head for kindness

and kicked him, his body still shuddering, under the shade of the

stern.

“这只鸟真是个大帮手，”老人说。就在这当儿，船梢的那根细钓丝在他脚下绷紧了，原来他在脚上绕了一圈，于是他放下双桨，紧紧抓住细钓丝，动手往回拉，感到那小金枪鱼在颤巍巍地拉着，有点儿分量。他越往回拉，钓丝就越是颤巍，他看见水里蓝色的鱼背和金色的两侧，然后把钓丝呼的一甩，使鱼越过船舷，掉在船中。鱼躺在船梢的阳光里，身子结实，形状象颗子弹，一双痴呆的大眼睛直瞪着，动作干净利落的尾巴敏捷、发抖地拍打着船板，砰砰有声，逐渐耗尽了力气。老人出于好意，猛击了一下它的头，一脚把它那还在抖动的身子踢到船梢背阴的地方。

"Albacore," he said aloud. "He‘ll make a beautiful bait.

He‘ll weigh ten pounds."

“长鳍金枪鱼，”他说出声来。“拿来钓大鱼倒满好。它有十磅重。”

He did not remember when he had first started to talk aloud

when he was by himself. He had sung when he was by himself in

the old days and he had sung at night sometimes when he was

alone steering on his watch in the smacks or in the turtle boats.

He had probably started to talk aloud, when alone, when the boy

had left. But he did not remember. When he and the boy fished

together they usually spoke only when it was necessary. They

talked at night or when they were storm-bound by bad weather.

It was considered a virtue not to talk unnecessarily at sea and the

old man had always considered it so and respected it. But now

he said his thoughts aloud many times since there was no one

that they could annoy.

他记不起他是什么时候第一次开始在独自待着的当儿自言自语的了。往年他独自待着时曾唱歌来着，有时候在夜里唱，那是在小渔船或捕海龟的小艇上值班掌舵时的事。他大概是在那孩子离开了他、他独自待着时开始自言自语的。不过他记不清了。他跟孩子一块儿捕鱼时，他们一般只在有必要时才说话。他们在夜间说话来着，要不，碰到坏天气，被暴风雨困在海上的时候。没有必要不在海上说话，被认为是种好规矩，老人一向认为的确如此，始终遵守它。可是这会儿他把心里想说的话说出声来有好几次了，因为没有旁人会受到他说话的打扰。

"If the others heard me talking out loud they would think

that I am crazy," he said aloud. "But since I am not crazy, I do not

care. And the rich have radios to talk to them in their boats and

to bring them the baseball."

“要是别人听到我在自言自语，会当我发疯了，”他说出声来。“不过既然我没有发疯，我就不管，还是要说。有钱人在船上有收音机对他们谈话，还把棒球赛的消息告诉他们。”

Now is no time to think baseball, he thought. Now is the time

to think of only one thing. That which I was born for. There might

be a big one around that school, he thought. I picked up only a

straggler from the albacore that were feeding. But they are

working far out and fast. Everything that shows on the surface

today travels very fast and to the north-east. Can that be the time

of day? Or is it some sign of weather that I do not know?

现在可不是思量棒球赛的时刻，他想。现在只应该思量一桩事。就是我生来要干的那桩事。那个鱼群周围很可能有一条大的，他想。我只逮住了正在吃小鱼的金枪鱼群中一条失散的。可是它们正游向远方，游得很快。今天凡是在海面上露面的都游得很快，向着东北方向。难道一天的这个时辰该如此吗？要不，这是什么我不懂得的天气征兆？

He could not see the green of the shore now but only the

tops of the blue hills that showed white as though they were

snow-capped and the clouds that looked like high snow

mountains above them. The sea was very dark and the light made

prisms in the water. The myriad flecks of the plankton were

annulled now by the high sun and it was only the great deep

prisms in the blue water that the old man saw now with his lines

going straight down into the water that was a mile deep.

他眼下已看不见海岸的那一道绿色了，只看得见那些青山的仿佛积着白雪的山峰，以及山峰上空象是高耸的雪山般的云块。海水颜色深极了，阳光在海水中幻成彩虹七色。那数不清的斑斑点点的浮游生物，由于此刻太阳升到了头顶上空，都看不见了，眼下老人看得见的

仅仅是蓝色海水深处幻成的巨大的七色光带，还有他那几根笔直垂在有一英里深的水中的钓索。

The tuna, the fishermen called all the fish of that species tuna

and only distinguished among them by their proper names when

they came to sell them or to trade them for baits, were down

again. The sun was hot now and the old man felt it on the back

of his neck and felt the sweat trickle down his back as he rowed.

渔夫们管所有这种鱼都叫金枪鱼，只有等到把它们卖出，或者拿来换鱼饵时，才分别叫它们各自的专用名字。这时它们又沉下海去了。阳光此刻很热，老人感到脖颈上热辣辣的，划着划着，觉得汗水一滴滴地从背上往下淌。

I could just drift, he thought, and sleep and put a bight of

line around my toe to wake me. But today is eighty-five days and

I should fish the day well.

我大可随波逐流，他想，管自睡去，预先把钓索在脚趾上绕上一圈，有动静时可以把我弄醒。不过今天是第八十五天，我该一整天好好钓鱼。

Just then, watching his lines, he saw one of the projecting

green sticks dip sharply.

就在这时，他凝视着钓索，看见其中有一根挑出在水面上的绿色钓竿猛地往水中一沉。

"Yes," he said. "Yes," and shipped his oars without bumping

the boat. He reached out for the line and held it softly between

the thumb and forefinger of his right hand. He felt no strain nor

weight and he held the line lightly. Then it came again. This time

it was a tentative pull, not solid nor heavy, and he knew exactly

what it was. One hundred fathoms down a marlin was eating the

sardines that covered the point and the shank of the hook where

the hand-forged hook projected from the head of the small tuna.

“来啦，”他说。“来啦，”说着从桨架上取下双桨，没有让船颠簸一下。他伸手去拉钓索，把它轻轻地夹在右手大拇指和食指之间。他感到钓索并不抽紧，也没什么分量，就轻松地握着。跟着它又动了一下。这回是试探性的一拉，拉得既不紧又不重，他就完全明白这是怎么回事了。在一百英寻的深处有条大马林鱼正在吃包住钓钩尖端和钩身的沙丁鱼，这个手工制的钓钩是从一条小金枪鱼的头部穿出来的。

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.

老人轻巧地攥着钓索，用左手把它从竿子上轻轻地解下来。他现在可以让它穿过他手指间滑动，不会让鱼感到一点儿牵引力。

This far out, he must be huge in this month, he thought. Eat

them, fish. Eat them. Please eat them. How fresh they are and you

down there six hundred feet in that cold water in the dark. Make

another turn in the dark and come back and eat them.

在离岸这么远的地方，它长到本月份，个头一定挺大了，他想。吃鱼饵吧，鱼啊。吃吧。请你吃吧。这些鱼饵多新鲜，而你啊，待在这六百英尺的深处，在这漆黑黑的冷水里。在黑暗里再绕个弯子，拐回来把它们吃了吧。

He felt the light delicate pulling and then a harder pull when

a sardine‘s head must have been more difficult to break from

the hook. Then there was nothing.

他感到微弱而轻巧地一拉，跟着较猛烈地一拉，这时准是有条沙丁鱼的头很难从钓钩上扯下来。然后没有一丝动静了。

"Come on," the old man said aloud. "Make another turn. Just

smell them. Aren‘t they lovely? Eat them good now and then

there is the tuna. Hard and cold and lovely. Don‘t be shy, fish.

Eat them."

“来吧，”老人说出声来。“再绕个弯子吧。闻闻这些鱼饵。它们不是挺鲜美吗？趁它们还新鲜的时候吃了，回头还有那条金枪鱼。又结实，又凉快，又鲜美。别怕难为情，鱼儿。把它们吃了吧。”

He waited with the line between his thumb and his finger,

watching it and the other lines at the same time for the fish might

have swum up or down. Then came the same delicate pulling

touch again.

他把钓索夹在大拇指和食指之间等待着。同时盯着它和其他那几根钓索，因为这鱼可能已游到了高一点的地方或低一点的地方。跟着又是那么轻巧地一拉。

"He‘ll take it," the old man said aloud. "God help him to

take it."

“它会咬饵的，”老人说出声来。“求天主帮它咬饵吧。”

He did not take it though. He was gone and the old man felt

nothing.

然而它没有咬饵。它游走了，老人没感到有任何动静。

"He can‘t have gone," he said. "Christ knows he can‘t have

gone. He‘s making a turn. Maybe he has been hooked before

and he remembers something of it."

“它不可能游走的，”他说。“天知道它是不可能游走的。它正在绕弯子呐。也许它以前上过钩，还有点儿记得。”

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

跟着他感到钓索轻轻地动了一下，他高兴了。

"It was only his turn," he said. "He‘ll take it."

“它刚才不过是在转身，”他说。“它会咬饵的。”

He was happy feeling the gentle pulling and then he felt

something hard and unbelievably heavy. It was the weight of the

fish and he let the line slip down, down, down, unrolling off the

first of the two reserve coils. As it went down, slipping lightly th

rough the old man‘s fingers, he still could feel the great weight,

thought the pressure of his thumb and finger were almost

imperceptible.

感到这轻微的一拉，他很高兴，接着他感到有些猛拉的感觉，很有份量，叫人难以相信。这是鱼本身的重量造成的，他就松手让钓索朝下溜，一直朝下，朝下溜，从那两卷备用钓索中的一卷上放出钓索。它从老人的指间轻轻地滑下去的时候，他依旧感到很大的分量，尽管他的大拇指和食指施加的压力简直小得觉察不到。

"What a fish," he said. "He has it sideways in his mouth now

and he is moving off with it."

“多棒的鱼啊，”他说。“它正把鱼饵斜叼在嘴里，带着它在游走呐。”

Then he will turn and swallow it, he thought. He did not say

that because he knew that if you said a good thing it might not

happen. He knew what a huge fish this was and he thought of

him moving away in the darkness with the tuna held crosswise in

his mouth. At that moment he felt him stop moving but the