The Old Man and the Sea Page #5

... that took so long to pass the boat

that he couldn't believe its length.

He can't be that big.

But he was that big.

He felt faint again.

"I moved him," he thought.

"Maybe this time I can get him over."

Pull, hands.

Hold on, legs.

"I must get him alongside this time,"

the old man thought.

Next time I'll pull him over.

He tried it once more.

And he felt himself going

when he turned the fish.

"I will try it again," the old man promised,

and he could only see well in flashes.

Fish, you're going to die anyway.

Do you have to kill me too?

He took all his pain and what was left

of his strength and his long-gone pride...

... and he put it against the fish's agony.

"I must get him close, close,"

he thought.

"I mustn't try for the head,

I must get the heart. "

Now I have killed this fish

who was my brother.

Now I must do the slave work.

Get to work, old man.

The old man did not need a compass

to tell him where southwest was.

He only needed the feel of the trade wind

and drawing of the sail.

He could see the fish.

And he had only to look at his hands

and feel his back against the stern...

... to know this had truly happened

and was not a dream.

"The hands cure quickly," he thought.

"I've bled them clean.

The salt water will heal them.

The dark water of the gulf

is the greatest healer that there is. "

Then his head started to become unclear,

and he asked himself:

"Is he bringing me in,

or am I bringing him in?"

They were sailing together,

lashed side by side.

And the old man thought,

"Let me bring him in, if it pleases him.

I am only better than him through trickery,

and he meant me no harm. "

They sailed well.

The old man soaked his hands in the water

and tried to keep his head clear.

He looked at the fish constantly

to make sure it was true.

It was an hour

before the first shark hit him.

He was a very big mako shark...

... built to swim as fast

as the fastest fish of the sea.

Now he speeded up

as he smelled the fresher scent...

... and his blue dorsal fin cut the water.

When the old man saw him coming,

he knew this shark had no fear at all...

... and would do exactly what he pleased.

It's too good to be true.

Might just as well have been a dream.

Mako.

Now my fish bleeds again,

and there will be others.

It was too good to be true.

The old man did not look

at the fish anymore...

... since it had been mutilated.

When the fish had been hit,

it was as if he himself had been hit.

"But I killed the shark that hit my fish,"

he thought.

"He was the biggest dentuso

I have ever seen.

It was too good to last. "

He knew that each of the jerking bumps

of the shark...

... had been meat torn away...

... and that the fish now made

a trail of blood for all sharks...

... as wide as a highway through the sea.

He knew quite well the pattern

of what could happen...

... when he reached the inner part

of the current...

... but there was nothing to be done now.

"Yes, there is," he thought.

"I can lash my knife

to the butt of one of the oars. "

"I should've brought a stone for the knife,"

he thought.

"You should've brought many things,

but did not. Now is no time to think...

... of what you do not have. Think what

you can do with what you have. "

"You give me good counsel," he thought.

"I'm tired of it."

I am still an old man,

but I will not be unarmed.

Come on, galanos!

Come on. Come on, galanos!

Come on. Come on.

I went out too far, fish.

No good for you, nor for me.

I'm sorry, fish.

I still have almost half of him left.

Maybe I will have the luck to bring

that much of him in.

I should have some luck.

No.

No, you violated your luck

when you went too far out.

Don't be silly.

Stay awake and steer.

You still may have some luck.

I would like to buy some...

...if there is a place where they sell it.

What would I buy it with?

A lost harpoon? A broken knife?

Two bad hands?

You might.

You tried to buy it with 84 days...

...at sea.

They almost sold it to you too.

Must not think such nonsense.

Luck is a thing that comes in many forms.

Who can recognize her?

I wish I could see the lights of Havana.

I wish for too many things.

But that is what I wish now.

He saw the reflected glare of the light

of the city at around 10:00 at night.

He was stiff and sore now...

... and his wounds and all of

the strained parts of his body hurt.

He could not talk to the fish anymore,

because the fish had been ruined too badly.

Then something came into his head.

Half fish.

Fish that you were.

I am sorry I went out too far.

Ruined us both.

But we have killed many sharks,

you and I...

...and ruined many more.

How many have you ever killed, old fish?

You do not have that spear for nothing.

"What will you do now if they come

in the night?" he thought.

What will I do if they come in the night?

I'll fight them.

I'll fight them until I die.

"Oh, but I hope I do not

have to fight again, " he thought.

"I hope so much I do not

have to fight again. "

But he fought again, and this time

he knew the fight was useless.

Come on.

Come on!

Come on.

Come on, galanos!

Come on, galanos! Come on.

Come on, galanos! Come on!

He knew he was beaten now,

finally and without remedy.

I'm sorry, fish.

He could feel he was inside

the current now...

... and he could see the lights

of the beach colonies along the shore.

He knew where he was now,

and it was nothing to get home.

"The wind is our friend anyway,"

he thought.

Then he added, "Sometimes."

"And the great sea with our friends

and our enemies and bed.

Bed is my friend, just bed.

Bed will be a great thing. "

It is easy when you are beaten.

What beat you?

Nothing. I just went out too far.

Man is not made for defeat.

Man can be destroyed,

but not defeated.

It was quiet in the harbor.

And he sailed up onto the little patch

of shingle below the rocks.

There was no one to help him.

He unstepped the mast,

furled the sail...

... shouldered the mast,

and started to climb.

It was then he knew

the depth of his tiredness.

He had to sit down five times

before he reached the shack.

In the morning,

it was blowing so hard...

... that the boats

would not be going out.

And the boy had slept late and then

had come to the old man's shack...

... as he had come each morning

while the old man was gone.

The old man was asleep,

and the boy saw that he was breathing.

And then he saw the old man's hands,

and he started to cry.

He went out to bring some coffee, and

all the way down the road, he was crying.

Many fishermen were around the skiff,

looking at what was beside it.

And one was in the water, his trousers

rolled up, measuring the skeleton...

... preparing to take off

the head and the bill.

The boy did not go down.

He had been there before.

Martin.

A can of coffee with plenty of milk

and sugar in it.

What a fish that was.

There has never been such a fish.

Those were two fine fish

Rate this script:5.0 / 1 vote