It was cold now in the time before daylight and he pushed against the wood to be warm.
现在正是快要破晓的时分,天气冷飕飕的,他就抵木头取暖。
I can do it as long as he can, he thought.
他想它能撑多久我就能撑多久。
And in the first light the line extended out and down into the water.
天刚蒙蒙亮的时候,钓丝就往外伸,钻进水里去。
The boat moved steadily and when the first edge of the sun rose it was on the old man's right shoulder.
船不住地在走,太阳一出来,光线就落在老头儿的右肩膀上。
"He's headed north," the old man said.
“它往北游去啦,”老头儿说。
The current will have set us far to the eastward, he thought.
海流要把我们远远地带到东方去了。
I wish he would turn with the current.
我希望那条鱼随着海流的方向游去。
That would show that he was tiring.
那就说明它疲倦了。
When the sun had risen further the old man realized that the fish was not tiring.
太阳升得更高的时候,老头儿才知道鱼没有疲倦。
There was only one favorable sign.
只有一个好现象,
The slant of the line showed he was swimming at a lesser depth.
那就是:钓丝的斜度说明了它已经游到较浅的地方来。
That did not necessarily mean that he would jump. But he might.
那并不一定意味着它就要跳,然而它可能跳起来的。
"God let him jump,"
“让它跳起来吧,”
the old man said.
老头儿说。
"I have enough line to handle him."
“我有足够的钓丝可以对付它。”
Maybe if I can increase the tension just a little it will hurt him and he will jump, he thought.
他想:要是我把钓丝稍微拉紧一点儿,也许就会惹得它跳起来。
Now that it is daylight let him jump so that he'll fill the sacks along his backbone with air and then he cannot go deep to die.
现在既然天已经大亮,让它跳一跳吧,那么它的沿着脊骨的液囊里就会充满空气,它也不会钻到海底死去了。
He tried to increase the tension, but the line had been taut up to the very edge of the breaking point since he had hooked the fish and he felt the harshness as he leaned back to pull and knew he could put no more strain on it.
他竭力把钓丝拉紧,但是钓丝自从鱼上了钩到现在已经绷紧到快要折断了,他把身子仰到后面去拉钓丝的时候就觉得硬邦邦地动也不能动,他知道他不能拉得更紧了。
I must not jerk it ever, he thought.
他想:我再也不能够那么猛的一拉了。
Each jerk widens the cut the hook makes and then when he does jump he might throw it.
猛拉一次,就会把鱼钩在嘴里所挂的口子加宽一些,那样,果真它跳起来,它就会把钩子甩掉。
Anyway I feel better with the sun and for once I do not have to look into it.
管它呢,横竖太阳已经不那么刺眼,只要我不直瞪着它就得啦。
There was yellow weed on the line but the old man knew that only made an added drag and he was pleased.
钓丝上挂着黄黄的海藻,老头儿知道那只是增加了一件拖着鱼的东西,所以他很高兴。
It was the yellow Gulf weed that had made so much phosphorescence in the night.
正是这种黄色的马尾藻在黑夜里放出那么多的磷光。
"Fish," he said, "I love you and respect you very much. But I will kill you dead before this day ends."
“鱼啊,”他说。“我爱你,而且十分尊敬你。可是,我要趁着这一天还没有过去的时候把你弄死啊。”
Let us hope so, he thought.
他想:但愿能够这样吧。
A small bird came toward the skiff from the north.
一只小鸟儿从北方朝着小船这边飞来。
He was a warbler and flying very low over the water.
这是一只鸣禽,在水面上飞得很低。
The old man could see that he was very tired.
老头儿看得出它是非常疲倦了。
The bird made the stern of the boat and rested there.
鸟儿飞到船梢上,在那儿歇一口气。
Then he flew around the old man's head and rested on the line where he was more comfortable.
然后它又飞起,在老头儿的头上打着转儿,最后落在钓丝上面,在那儿它显得要舒服些。
"How old are you?"
“你多大了呀?”
the old man asked the bird.
老头儿问鸟儿。
"Is this your first trip?"
“这是你初次的远游吗?”
The bird looked at him when he spoke.
他说话的时候鸟儿直瞪着他。
He was too tired even to examine the line and he teetered on it as his delicate feet gripped it fast.
它太疲倦啦,钓丝稳当不稳当,它连看也不看一下,它的两只细小的脚抓紧了钓丝,在上面晃来晃去。
"It's steady," the old man told him.
“稳当的,” 老头儿对它说。
"It's too steady. You shouldn't be that tired after a windless night. What are birds coming to?"
“太稳当啦。昨晚上没有风,你不应该那么疲倦的。真奇怪,鸟儿们为什么要这样呢?”
The hawks, he thought, that come out to sea to meet them.
他想,是因为老鹰飞到海面上来找它们。
But he said nothing of this to the bird who could not understand him anyway and who would learn about the hawks soon enough.
但是他没对小鸟儿说出来,因为横竖它不会懂得他的话,而且很快它就会知道老鹰的情况了。
"Take a good rest, small bird," he said.
“好好休息一会儿吧,小鸟儿,”他说。
"Then go in and take your chance like any man or bird or fish."
“然后你再试一试你的机会,人、鸟儿、鱼,不都是这样的吗?”
It encouraged him to talk because his back had stiffened in the night and it hurt truly now.
他越讲越兴奋,因为他的脊梁在夜里已经变得硬挺挺的,他真的觉得痛了。
"Stay at my house if you like, bird," he said.
“鸟儿,乐意的话,请住到我家里去吧,”他说。
"I am sorry I cannot hoist the sail and take you in with the small breeze that is rising. But I am with a friend."
“我很抱歉,不能趁着现在刮起小风的时候把帆挂起,把你收容到我家里去。可是我总算有个朋友在一起了。”