老人夢見獅子

"Damn my fish," the boy said and he started to cry again.

「去他的我的魚，」男孩說，然後又哭了起來。

"Do you want a drink of any kind?" the proprietor asked.

「你要不要喝點什麼？」老闆問。

"No," the boy said. "Tell them not to bother Santiago. I'll be back."

「不要，」男孩說。「叫他們別去打擾聖狄雅哥。我等一下回來。」

"Tell him how sorry I am."

「跟他說我很難過。」

"Thanks," the boy said.

「謝謝，」男孩說。

The boy carried the hot can of coffee up to the old man's shack and sat by him until he woke.

男孩把那罐熱咖啡端到老人的棚屋，坐在他旁邊，等他醒來。

Once it looked as though he were waking.

有一次他看起來像是要醒了。

But he had gone back into heavy sleep and the boy had gone across the road to borrow some wood to heat the coffee.

可是他又沉沉睡了過去；男孩就穿過馬路去借了些柴，好把咖啡熱一熱。

Finally the old man woke.

最後老人醒了。

"Don't sit up," the boy said. "Drink this."

「別坐起來，」男孩說。「把這個喝了。」

He poured some of the coffee in a glass.

他倒了一些咖啡在一個玻璃杯裡。

The old man took it and drank it.

老人接過來喝了。

"They beat me, Manolin," he said. "They truly beat me."

「他們打敗我了，馬諾林，」他說。「他們真的把我打敗了。」

"He didn't beat you. Not the fish."

「打敗你的不是牠。不是那條魚。」

"No. Truly. It was afterwards."

「不是。真的不是。是後來的事。」

"Pedrico is looking after the skiff and the gear. What do you want done with the head?"

「佩德里科在替你看船和傢伙。那顆頭你想怎麼處理？」

"Let Pedrico chop it up to use in fish traps."

「讓佩德里科把它剁了，拿去做魚籠用。」

"And the spear?"

「那根長吻呢？」

"You keep it if you want it."

「你要的話就留著。」

"I want it," the boy said. "Now we must make our plans about the other things."

「我要，」男孩說。「現在我們得把別的事情計畫一下。」

"Did they search for me?"

「他們有找我嗎？」

"Of course. With coast guard and with planes."

「當然有。海岸防衛隊還有飛機都出動了。」

"The ocean is very big and a skiff is small and hard to see," the old man said.

「海很大，一條小船又小又難找，」老人說。

He noticed how pleasant it was to have someone to talk to instead of speaking only to himself and to the sea.

他注意到，有個人可以說話——而不是只能對自己、對海說話——是多麼舒服的一件事。

"I missed you," he said. "What did you catch?"

「我想你了，」他說。「你抓到什麼？」

"One the first day. One the second and two the third."

「第一天一條。第二天一條，第三天兩條。」

"Very good."

「很好。」

"Now we fish together again."

「現在我們又一起打魚了。」

"No. I am not lucky. I am not lucky anymore."

「不。我不走運了。我再也不走運了。」

"The hell with luck," the boy said. "I'll bring the luck with me."

「去他的運氣，」男孩說。「我會把運氣帶來。」

"What will your family say?"

「你家裡人會怎麼說？」

"I do not care. I caught two yesterday. But we will fish together now for I still have much to learn."

「我不管。我昨天抓到兩條。可是我們現在要一起打魚，因為我還有很多要學。」

"We must get a good killing lance and always have it on board.

「我們得弄一支好的刺魚矛，隨時放在船上。

You can make the blade from a spring leaf from an old Ford.

刀刃你可以拿一片舊福特車的板簧來做。

We can grind it in Guanabacoa.

我們可以拿到瓜納巴科亞去磨。

It should be sharp and not tempered so it will break.

它要磨利，而且不要回火，免得斷掉。

My knife broke."

我的刀斷了。」

"I'll get another knife and have the spring ground. How many days of heavy brisa have we?"

「我再弄一把刀，把那片彈簧拿去磨。我們還有幾天的大風（brisa）？」

"Maybe three. Maybe more."

「大概三天。說不定更久。」

"I will have everything in order," the boy said. "You get your hands well old man."

「我會把一切都弄妥當，」男孩說。「你把手養好，老頭子。」

"I know how to care for them. In the night I spat something strange and felt something in my chest was broken."

「我知道怎麼照顧它們。夜裡我吐出一種奇怪的東西，覺得胸口有什麼斷了。」

"Get that well too," the boy said. "Lie down, old man, and I will bring you your clean shirt. And something to eat."

「那個也要治好，」男孩說。「躺下吧，老頭子，我去把你那件乾淨襯衫拿來。還有點吃的。」

"Bring any of the papers of the time that I was gone," the old man said.

「把我不在的那段時間的報紙都拿來，」老人說。

"You must get well fast for there is much that I can learn and you can teach me everything. How much did you suffer?"

「你得快點好起來，因為我還有好多可以學，而你什麼都能教我。你受了多少苦？」

"Plenty," the old man said.

「很多，」老人說。

"I'll bring the food and the papers," the boy said. "Rest well, old man. I will bring stuff from the drug-store for your hands."

「我去拿吃的和報紙，」男孩說。「好好休息，老頭子。我會從藥房拿些東西回來給你的手。」

"Don't forget to tell Pedrico the head is his."

「別忘了跟佩德里科說，那顆頭是他的。」

"No. I will remember."

「不會忘。我會記得。」

As the boy went out the door and down the worn coral rock road he was crying again.

男孩走出門，沿著那條磨舊了的珊瑚岩路走下去的時候，又哭了起來。

That afternoon there was a party of tourists at the Terrace and looking down in the water among the empty beer cans and dead barracudas a woman saw a great long white spine with a huge tail at the end that lifted and swung with the tide while the east wind blew a heavy steady sea outside the entrance to the harbour.

那天下午，露台酒館來了一群觀光客；一個女人往水裡看，在空啤酒罐和死掉的梭魚中間，看見一條又長又白的巨大脊骨，末端有一條巨大的尾巴，隨著潮水抬起、擺動——而東風正在港口外頭吹起沉重穩定的浪。

"What's that?" she asked a waiter and pointed to the long backbone of the great fish that was now just garbage waiting to go out with the tide.

「那是什麼？」她問一個侍者，指著那條大魚的長脊骨——那東西現在只是垃圾，等著隨潮水漂走。

"Tiburon," the waiter said, "Eshark." He was meaning to explain what had happened.

「Tiburon，」侍者說，「Eshark（鯊魚）。」他本來是想解釋發生過什麼事。

"I didn't know sharks had such handsome, beautifully formed tails."

「我不知道鯊魚有這麼好看、這麼漂亮的尾巴。」

"I didn't either," her male companion said.

「我也不知道，」她的男伴說。

Up the road, in his shack, the old man was sleeping again.

路上頭，在他的棚屋裡，老人又睡著了。

He was still sleeping on his face and the boy was sitting by him watching him.

他還是臉朝下睡著，男孩坐在旁邊看著他。

The old man was dreaming about the lions.

老人正夢見那些獅子。