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

“老鹰真是得力的助手，”老头儿说。

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 tile weight of the small tuna's shivering pull as he held the line firm and commenced to haul it in.

正在这时候，船梢的缆绳在他脚下突然绷紧，因为他在那儿打了一个活疙瘩的缘故，于是他放下了桨。当他把绳抓牢，开始把它拽回来的时候，他感觉到绳给小金枪鱼拉得沉甸甸地直抖。

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.

他越把绳往里拽，绳抖得越厉害，接着他看见水里蓝色的鱼背和金光灿烂的两侧，然后他把它从船舷上拉过来扔到船里去。

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.

鱼躺在船梢太阳下面，它很结实，形状像个子弹，直瞪着两只迟钝的大眼睛，它灵巧的、迅速抖动的尾巴噼噼啪啪地摔在船板上，越抖越快，摔得连一点气力也没有了。老头儿好意地打着它的头，踢着它，它的身子依然在船梢的阴暗处抖动。

"Albacore," he said aloud. "He'll make a beautiful bait. He'll weigh ten pounds."

“大青花鱼，”他嚷起来。“它可当做很好的鱼食。称起来怕有十磅重呢。”

He did not remember when he had first started to talk aloud when he was by himself.

他已经记不起他是在什么时候第一次独自高声说话的了。

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.

往年他曾经独自歌唱，有时候在夜里歌唱，那是轮到他独自在渔船上或者在捉海龟的船上掌舵的时候。

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

当他孤单单的时候，当孩子不跟他在一块儿的时候，大概他才大声说起话来。

But he did not remember.

但是他已经记不起了。

When he and the boy fished together they usually spoke only when it was necessary.

他跟孩子一道打鱼的日子，通常只是有必要才交谈几句。

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

他们的交谈是在更深夜静，在风涛险恶得不能开船的天气里。

It was considered a virtue not to talk unnecessarily at sea and the old man had always considered it so and respected it.

一般人认为，没有必要不在海上交谈是一桩好品德，老头儿也抱这样的看法，因此他就尊重这一桩品德，

But now he said his thoughts aloud many times since there was no one that they could annoy.

可是现在他把他心里想说的话高声说出好多次了，因为没有一个人会受到他的打扰。

"If the others heard me talking out loud they would think that I am crazy," he said aloud.

“要是有人听见我在这儿高声说话，一定会把我当成发了疯，”他提高了嗓子说。

"But since I am not crazy, I do not care.

“但是既然我没有发疯，我就毫不在乎。

And the rich have radios to talk to them in their boats and to bring them the baseball."

有钱的人还可以坐在船上听收音机，可以听到收音机里关于垒球赛的消息呢。”

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

他想：现在不是想垒球赛的时候啊。

Now is the time to think of only one thing that which I was born for.

现在只应该想到一件事。应该想到的是我生来干什么的。

There might be a big one around that school, he thought.

他想：那一个鱼群的周围很可能有一条大鱼。

I picked up only a straggler from the albacore that were feeding.

我拣到的也只是正在喂大鱼的那些大青鱼中间一条失了群的鱼，

But they are working far out and fast.

不过那些鱼游得远，游得快罢了。

Everything that shows on the surface today travels very fast and to the north-east.

今天，凡是露出水面上来的，都游得很快，都游到东北方去了。

Can that be the time of day?

难道会有什么花样吗?

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

或者，这是不是我猜不透的一种天气的征兆呢?