我愛你，也要把你弄死

"God let him jump," the old man said. "I have enough line to handle him."

「求上帝讓牠跳吧，」老人說。「我有足夠的線對付牠。」

Maybe if I can increase the tension just a little it will hurt him and he will jump, he thought.

說不定我只要把張力加大一點點，就會弄疼牠，牠就會跳，他想。

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.

現在天亮了，讓牠跳吧，這樣牠脊椎旁邊那些氣囊就會灌滿空氣，然後牠就沒辦法潛到深處去死。

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.

他試著加大張力，可是從他鉤上這條魚起，那條線就一直繃在斷裂邊緣；他往後仰著拉的時候感覺到那股僵硬，知道自己再也不能給它更多壓力了。

I must not jerk it ever, he thought.

我絕對不能猛扯它，他想。

Each jerk widens the cut the hook makes and then when he does jump he might throw it.

每猛扯一次，鉤子弄出來的傷口就擴大一點，等牠真的跳的時候，就可能把鉤子甩掉。

Anyway I feel better with the sun and for once I do not have to look into it.

不管怎麼說，有太陽我覺得舒服些，而且這一回我不必迎著它看。

There was yellow weed on the line but the old man knew that only made an added drag and he was pleased.

線上有黃色的海藻，可是老人知道那只會增加一點阻力，他反而高興。

It was the yellow Gulf weed that had made so much phosphorescence in the night.

那正是夜裡發出那麼多磷光的黃色馬尾藻。

"Fish," he said, "I love you and respect you very much. But I will kill you dead before this day ends."

「魚啊，」他說，「我愛你，也非常尊敬你。可是今天結束以前，我要把你弄死。」

Let us hope so, he thought.

但願如此，他心裡想。

A small bird came toward the skiff from the north.

一隻小鳥從北邊朝小船飛過來。

He was a warbler and flying very low over the water.

那是一隻鶯，貼著水面飛得很低。

The old man could see that he was very tired.

老人看得出牠累壞了。

The bird made the stern of the boat and rested there.

那鳥飛到船尾，落下來歇著。

Then he flew around the old man's head and rested on the line where he was more comfortable.

接著牠繞著老人的頭飛了一圈，停到釣線上——那裡牠比較舒服。

"How old are you?" the old man asked the bird. "Is this your first trip?"

「你幾歲了？」老人問那隻鳥。「這是你第一次遠行嗎？」

The bird looked at him when he spoke.

他一開口，那鳥就看著他。

He was too tired even to examine the line and he teetered on it as his delicate feet gripped it fast.

牠累得連檢查一下那條線都沒力氣，只是在上頭搖搖晃晃地站著，一雙纖細的腳緊緊抓住它。

"It's steady," the old man told him. "It's too steady. You shouldn't be that tired after a windless night. What are birds coming to?"

「它很穩，」老人對牠說。「穩過頭了。沒有風的一夜之後，你不該累成這樣。鳥都變成什麼樣了？」

The hawks, he thought, that come out to sea to meet them.

是那些鷹，他想，那些飛到海上來迎擊牠們的鷹。

But he said nothing of this to the bird who could not understand him anyway and who would learn about the hawks soon enough.

可是他沒對那鳥說這些——反正牠也聽不懂，而且牠很快就會自己認識那些鷹了。

"Take a good rest, small bird," he said. "Then go in and take your chance like any man or bird or fish."

「好好歇一歇，小鳥，」他說。「然後進去碰碰你的運氣，跟任何人、鳥或魚一樣。」

It encouraged him to talk because his back had stiffened in the night and it hurt truly now.

說話讓他打起精神，因為他的背在夜裡僵掉了，這會兒是真的疼。

"Stay at my house if you like, bird," he said. "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."

「你要願意就住我家吧，小鳥，」他說。「可惜我不能升起帆來，趁著這點正在起來的微風把你載回去。因為我跟一個朋友在一起。」

Just then the fish gave a sudden lurch that pulled the old man down onto the bow and would have pulled him overboard if he had not braced himself and given some line.

就在這時那魚猛地一竄，把老人拉得撲倒在船頭上；要不是他撐住了、又放了些線，牠會把他扯到海裡去。

The bird had flown up when the line jerked and the old man had not even seen him go.

線一抽動那鳥就飛走了，老人甚至沒看見牠什麼時候走的。

He felt the line carefully with his right hand and noticed his hand was bleeding.

他用右手小心地摸了摸線，發現手在流血。

"Something hurt him then," he said aloud and pulled back on the line to see if he could turn the fish.

「剛才有什麼東西弄疼牠了，」他出聲說，一面往回拉線，看能不能讓那魚轉向。

But when he was touching the breaking point he held steady and settled back against the strain of the line.

可是拉到快碰上斷裂點的時候，他就穩住不動，重新往後靠著抵住線的拉力。

"You're feeling it now, fish," he said. "And so, God knows, am I."

「你現在感覺到了吧，魚，」他說。「上帝知道，我也是。」

He looked around for the bird now because he would have liked him for company.

他這會兒四下找那隻鳥，因為他很想有牠作伴。

The bird was gone.

鳥已經走了。

You did not stay long, the man thought.

你沒待多久，那人想。

But it is rougher where you are going until you make the shore.

可是你要去的那條路，在你上岸以前更難走。

How did I let the fish cut me with that one quick pull he made?

我怎麼會讓那魚隨手一拉就把我割傷了？

I must be getting very stupid.

我一定是變得很笨了。

Or perhaps I was looking at the small bird and thinking of him.

要不然就是我剛才在看那隻小鳥、想著牠的事。

Now I will pay attention to my work and then I must eat the tuna so that I will not have a failure of strength.

現在我要專心做我的事，然後我得把那條鮪魚吃了，免得力氣不夠用。

"I wish the boy were here and that I had some salt," he said aloud.

「我希望男孩在這裡，也希望我有點鹽，」他出聲說。

Shifting the weight of the line to his left shoulder and kneeling carefully he washed his hand in the ocean and held it there, submerged, for more than a minute watching the blood trail away and the steady movement of the water against his hand as the boat moved.

他把線的重量挪到左肩上，小心地跪下來，把手伸進海裡洗，就那樣泡著，泡了一分多鐘，看著血絲飄散開去，也感覺著船前進時海水穩定地沖著他的手。

"He has slowed much," he said.

「牠慢了很多，」他說。

The old man would have liked to keep his hand in the salt water longer but he was afraid of another sudden lurch by the fish and he stood up and braced himself and held his hand up against the sun.

老人很想把手在鹹水裡多泡一會兒，可是他怕那魚又猛地一竄，於是站起來撐好，把手舉起來對著太陽看。

It was only a line burn that had cut his flesh.

只不過是釣線灼傷把肉割開了。

But it was in the working part of his hand.

可是傷在他這隻手要出力的地方。

He knew he would need his hands before this was over and he did not like to be cut before it started.

他知道這件事完結之前他會需要這雙手，而他不喜歡在真正開始之前就先受了傷。

"Now," he said, when his hand had dried, "I must eat the small tuna. I can reach him with the gaff and eat him here in comfort."

「好了，」等手乾了他說，「我得把那條小鮪魚吃了。我可以用搭鉤把牠勾過來，舒舒服服地在這裡吃。」

He knelt down and found the tuna under the stern with the gaff and drew it toward him keeping it clear of the coiled lines.

他跪下來，用搭鉤在船尾底下找到那條鮪魚，把牠拖過來，一面留神別碰到那些盤好的線。

Holding the line with his left shoulder again, and bracing on his left hand and arm, he took the tuna off the gaff hook and put the gaff back in place.

他又用左肩扛住線，靠左手和左臂撐著，把鮪魚從搭鉤上取下來，再把搭鉤放回原位。

He put one knee on the fish and cut strips of dark red meat longitudinally from the back of the head to the tail.

他用一邊膝蓋壓住那條魚，從後腦一路到尾巴，縱向切下一條條深紅色的肉。

They were wedge-shaped strips and he cut them from next to the back bone down to the edge of the belly.

那是一條條楔形的肉，他從緊貼脊骨的地方一直切到腹部邊緣。

When he had cut six strips he spread them out on the wood of the bow, wiped his knife on his trousers, and lifted the carcass of the bonito by the tail and dropped it overboard.

切了六條之後，他把它們攤在船頭的木板上，在褲子上把刀擦乾淨，然後抓著尾巴把那條鰹魚的骨架提起來，丟進海裡。

"I don't think I can eat an entire one," he said and drew his knife across one of the strips.

「我大概吃不下一整條，」他說，一面用刀把其中一條肉切開。

He could feel the steady hard pull of the line and his left hand was cramped.

他感覺得到線上那股穩定而沉重的拉力，而他的左手抽筋了。

It drew up tight on the heavy cord and he looked at it in disgust.

它在那條粗線上緊緊縮成一團，他厭惡地看著它。

"What kind of a hand is that," he said. "Cramp then if you want. Make yourself into a claw. It will do you no good."

「這算什麼手，」他說。「你要抽筋就抽吧。把你自己變成一隻爪子。反正對你沒好處。」

Come on, he thought and looked down into the dark water at the slant of the line.

來吧，他想，一面低頭看著暗水裡那條線的斜度。

Eat it now and it will strengthen the hand.

現在就吃，吃了手會有力氣。

It is not the hand's fault and you have been many hours with the fish.

這不是手的錯，何況你跟這條魚耗了好幾個鐘頭了。

But you can stay with him forever.

可是你能跟牠永遠耗下去。

Eat the bonito now.

現在把鰹魚吃了。

He picked up a piece and put it in his mouth and chewed it slowly.

他拿起一塊放進嘴裡，慢慢地嚼。

It was not unpleasant.

味道不算難吃。

Chew it well, he thought, and get all the juices.

好好嚼，他想，把汁都嚼出來。

It would not be bad to eat with a little lime or with lemon or with salt.

要是配一點萊姆或檸檬或鹽，也不會難吃。

"How do you feel, hand?" he asked the cramped hand that was almost as stiff as rigor mortis. "I'll eat some more for you."

「你覺得怎麼樣，手？」他問那隻抽筋的手——它僵得幾乎像屍僵了。「我再多吃一點給你。」

He ate the other part of the piece that he had cut in two.

他把切成兩半的那塊肉的另一半也吃了。

He chewed it carefully and then spat out the skin.

他仔細地嚼，然後把皮吐掉。

"How does it go, hand? Or is it too early to know?"

「怎麼樣了，手？還是太早，還不知道？」

He took another full piece and chewed it.

他又拿了一整塊，嚼了起來。

"It is a strong full-blooded fish," he thought. "I was lucky to get him instead of dolphin. Dolphin is too sweet. This is hardly sweet at all and all the strength is still in it."

「這是條強壯、血氣足的魚，」他想。「我運氣好，抓到的是牠而不是鬼頭刀。鬼頭刀太甜了。這條幾乎一點都不甜，力氣還全在裡頭。」

There is no sense in being anything but practical though, he thought.

不過話說回來，除了實際一點也沒別的道理，他想。

I wish I had some salt.

我真希望有點鹽。

And I do not know whether the sun will rot or dry what is left, so I had better eat it all although I am not hungry.

而且我不知道太陽會把剩下的曬壞還是曬乾，所以我最好全部吃掉，雖然我並不餓。

The fish is calm and steady.

那魚很平靜，很穩。

I will eat it all and then I will be ready.

我要全部吃完，然後我就準備好了。