12 高三 The Old Man and the Sea

The Old Man and the Sea The other shark now came in again with his jaws wide. The old man could see pieces of the meat of the fish spilling white from the corner of his jaws. He swung at him and hit only the head, and the shark looked at him and tore the meat loose. The old man swung the club down on him again. “Come on, galano,” said the old man. “Come in again.” The shark came in and the old man hit him as he shut his jaws. He hit him solidly and from as high up as he could raise the club. This time he felt the bone at the base of the brain and he hit him again in the same place. The old man watched but none shark returned. He didn’t want to look at the fish. He knew that half of it had been destroyed. The sun had gone down while he had been fighting the sharks. “It will be dark soon,” he said. “Then I should see the glow of Havana. If I am too far to the east, I will see the lights of the new beaches.” He couldn’t talk to the fish anymore because the fish had been ruined too badly. Then something came into his head. “Half-fish,” he said. “Fish that you were, I am sorry that I went too far out. I ruined us both. But we have killed many sharks, you and I, and ruined many others.” “I have half of you,” he thought. “Maybe I’ll have the luck to bring the forward half in. I should have some luck.” “No,” he said. “You violated your luck when you went too far outside.” “Don’t be silly,” he said aloud. “You may have much luck yet. I’d like to buy some if there were any places they sell it.” “What could I buy it with?” he asked himself. “Could I buy it with a lost harpoon and a broken knife and two bad hands?” “You might,” he said. “You tried to buy it with 84 days at sea. They nearly sold it to you, too.” He saw the reflected glare of the lights of the city at what must have been around 10 o’clock at night. He steered inside of the glow and he thought that now, soon, he must hit the edge of the stream. “Now, it is over,” he thought. “They will probably hit me again, but what can a man do against them in the dark without a weapon? I hope that I don’t have to fight again.” But by midnight, he fought and this time he knew the fight was useless. They came in a pack. He clubbed desperately at what he could only feel and hear and he felt something seize the club and it was gone. He jerked the tiller free from the rudder and beat and chopped with it, holding it in both hands and driving it down again and again.