Then he began to pity the great fish that he had hooked.

然后他可怜起给他钓住的那条大鱼来。

Life is wonderful and strange and who knows how old he is, he thought.

他想：它真了不起，真稀奇，而且谁知道它有几岁呢?

Never have I had such a strong fish nor one who acted so strangely.

我从来没见过这么猛的鱼，也没看过动作这么奇怪的鱼。

Perhaps he is too wise to jump.

也许它太狡猾，不肯跳来跳去的。

He could ruin me by jumping or by a wild rush.

它只消一跳，或者往前猛的一冲，它就可以要了我的命。

But perhaps he has been hooked many times before and he knows that this is how he should make his fight.

但是也许它以前不知给钓住过好多次，它知道这是顶好的一个跟我搏斗的方法。

He cannot know that it is only one man against him, nor that it is an old man.

可是它不知道跟它搏斗的只是孤零零的一个人，而且还是一个老头儿呢。

But what a great fish he is and what will he bring in the market if the flesh is good.

话又说回来，这条鱼多么大，肉要是好的话，它在市场卖的钱可多啦。

He took the bait like a male and he pulls like a male and his fight has no panic in it.

它吃起鱼食来像一条公鱼一样，拖起钓线来也像一条公的，它斗起来不慌不忙。

I wonder if he has any plans or if he is just as desperate as I am?

我不知道它有没有什么主意，还是跟我一样没有一点办法呢?

He remembered the time he had hooked one of a pair of marlin.

他想起了从前他把一对马林鱼钓起一条的时候。

The male fish always let the female fish feed first and the hooked fish, the female, made a wild, panic-stricken, despairing fight that soon exhausted her, and all the time the male had stayed with her, crossing the line and circling with her on the surface.

公鱼总是让母鱼先吃东西，而那条上了钩的鱼——母鱼呢，给钓住以后，就疯狂地、惊慌失措地、没命地挣扎起来，不久就弄得精疲力竭了。那条公鱼一直跟住她，从钓丝旁边穿过去，在水面上跟她一同打着转儿。

He had stayed so close that the old man was afraid he would cut the line with his tail which was sharp as a scythe and almost of that size and shape.

它紧靠在钓丝的旁边，老头儿生怕它用它的尾巴把钓丝一下子劈断，那条尾巴跟大镰刀一般快，大小和形状也差不多跟镰刀一样。

When the old man had gaffed her and clubbed her, holding the rapier bill with its sandpaper edge and dubbing her across the top of her head until her colour turned to a colour almost like the backing of mirrors, and then, with the boy's aid, hoisted her aboard, the male fish had stayed by the side of the boat.

老头儿用鱼叉把她叉上来，用棍子揍她，抓住那长剑似的嘴跟她的砂纸似的边儿，又迎面朝她的头顶上打下去，直打得她身上的颜色差不多变成了跟镜子的背面一样，然后他才和孩子两个人把她抬?船。这时候那条公鱼还是一直待在船旁。

Then, while the old man was clearing the lines and preparing the harpoon, the male fish jumped high into the air beside the boat to see where the female was and then went down deep, his lavender wings, that were his pectoral fins, spread wide and all his wide lavender stripes showing.

然后，当老头儿在收拾钓丝、整理鱼叉的时候，那条公鱼一纵身跳到船旁边的高空里，看一看母鱼在哪儿后，又落下来钻进水深的地方去，它的淡紫色的翅膀——它有胸鳍——张大了开来，它身上的所有淡紫色的宽大的条纹也都露出来了。

He was beautiful, the old man remembered, and he had stayed.

老头儿想起：它真美，它一直是待在那儿的。

That was the saddest thing I ever saw with them, the old man thought.

老头儿想：这是我生平看到的顶伤心的事儿了。

The boy was sad too and we begged her pardon and butchered her promptly.

孩子也非常难过，因此我们请求了她的宽恕，马上动手宰了她。

"I wish the boy was here," he said aloud and settled himself against the rounded planks of the bow and felt the strength of the great fish through the line he held across his shoulders moving steadily toward whatever he had chosen.

“要是孩子在这儿多好啊。”他又大声说，他紧靠在船头圆圆的厚木板上，感觉到从他拽在肩头的钓丝上透过来的那条大鱼的重量，那根钓丝朝着大鱼所选择的方向缓慢地移动了开去。

When once, through my treachery, it had been necessary to him to make a choice, the old man thought.

老头儿想：由于我干下了对不起它的事儿，它也必须要作出一个选择了。

His choice had been to stay in the deep dark water far out beyond all snares and traps and treacheries.

它的选择就是待在一切圈套、引诱和诡计都奈何它不得的黑的深水里。

My choice was to go there to find him beyond all people.

我的选择呢，就是到那什么人也没有去过的地方把它找出来。

Beyond all people in the world.

到那世界上什么人也没有去过的地方去。

Now we are joined together and have been since noon.

现在我跟它碰在一起了，从中午起就碰在一起了。

And no one to help either one of us.

我和它谁也没有个帮手。

Perhaps I should not have been a fisherman, he thought.

他想：也许我不该干打鱼的这一行。

But that was the thing that I was born for.

然而我生来就是干这一行的呀。

I must surely remember to eat the tuna after it gets light.

他一定要记住：不等到天亮就把金枪鱼吃掉。