Before it was really light he had his baits out and was drifting with the current.

天还没有大亮的时候，他已经送出他的鱼食，让船随着海流漂去。

One bait was down forty fathoms.

一个鱼食送下四十英寻的深处。

The second was at seventy-five and the third and fourth were down in the blue water at one hundred and one hundred and twenty-five fathoms.

第二个鱼食送下七十五英寻的深处。第三个和第四个鱼食分别送到大海下面一百英寻和一百二十五英寻的海里去了。

Each bait hung head down with the shank of the hook inside the bait fish, tied and sewed solid and all the projecting part of the hook,

每一个鱼食都是头朝下悬着的小鱼，鱼肚里包着一个鱼钩的把子，系得紧紧、缝得牢牢的，

the curve and the point, was covered with fresh sardines.

鱼钩的一切突出部分，钩儿、尖儿，都用新鲜的沙丁鱼遮住了。

Each sardine was hooked through both eyes so that they made a half-garland on the projecting steel.

每一条沙丁鱼都是穿过眼睛挂在钩子上的，在钓钩突出的部分构成了半个花环的模样。

There was no part of the hook that a great fish could feel which was not sweet smelling and good tasting.

不论钓钩的哪一部分，凡是能给大鱼碰到的，都是香喷喷的，挺有滋味的。

The boy had given him two fresh small tunas, or albacores,

孩子给了他两条新鲜的小金枪鱼，或者叫做青花鱼，

which hung on the two deepest lines like plummets and, on the others, he had a big blue runner and a yellow jack that had been used before;

它们像坠子一样挂在两根送得顶深的钓丝上，他在别的钓丝上挂的是以前用过的一条大鲭鱼跟一条黄色的小梭鱼;

but they were in good condition still and had the excellent sardines to give them scent and attractiveness.

那两条鱼依旧保存得很好，而且还有新鲜的沙丁鱼替它们添上了香味，使它们有吸引力。

Each line, as thick around as a big pencil,

每根钩丝都像一根大铅笔那么粗，

was looped onto a green-sapped stick so that any pull or touch on the bait would make the stick dip and each line had two forty-fathom coils which could be made fast to the other spare coils so that,

给拴在一根暗绿色的竿子上，只要大鱼朝鱼食上一拉或者一碰，就会使那根竿子浸在水里，每根钓丝有两个四十英寻长的卷儿，它们可以接在别的多余的卷儿上，

if it were necessary, a fish could take out over three hundred fathoms of line.

必要的时候，一条鱼可以拉出三百多英寻长的钓丝。

Now the man watched the dip of the three sticks over the side of the skiff and rowed gently to keep the lines straight up and down and at their proper depths.

现在老头儿注视着三根竿子都浸在船边的水里，他慢慢地划着，把钓丝送到适当的深处，一上一下的让它成一条直线。

In a moment now the sun would rise.

天大亮了，过不多久太阳就要出来了。

The sun rose thinly from the sea and the old man could see the other boats, low on the water and well in toward the shore, spread out across the current.

淡淡的太阳从海上升起，老头儿看见别的船只低低地伏在水面上，船头都对着海岸，在海流中散开，向着海岸驶去。

Then the sun was brighter and the glare came on the water and then, as it rose clear,

一会儿太阳越来越明亮了，耀眼的光芒射在水面上，随后越上升越红，

the flat sea sent it back at his eyes so that it hurt sharply and he rowed without looking into it.

平滑的海面把太阳的光芒反射到他的脸上，剧烈地刺痛了他的眼睛，因此他就把眼光移到一旁，只管划下去。

He looked down into the water and watched the lines that went straight down into the dark of the water.

他朝水里面看，望着一直伸到暗黑的深水里的钓丝。

He kept them straighter than anyone did, so that at each level in the darkness of the stream there would be a bait waiting exactly where he wished it to be for any fish that swam there.

他把钓丝垂得比什么人都直些，这样，在黑魁魁的暗流的每一层上，都会有一个鱼食恰好在他所希望的地方等待着游到那儿的鱼来吃。

Others let them drift with the current and sometimes they were at sixty fathoms when the fishermen thought they were at a hundred.

别的人呢，就让钓丝随着海流漂去，有时候钓丝实际上在十六英寻的深处，可是那些渔人还以为它们在一百英寻的深处呢。

But, he thought, I keep them with precision.

他想：我把钓丝放在十拿九稳的地方。

Only I have no luck any more. But who knows? Maybe today.

不过我就是没再走好运。可是谁知道呢?也许今天就要走运。

Every day is a new day.

每一天都是新的一天啊。

It is better to be lucky. But I would rather be exact. Then when luck comes you are ready.

走运当然好。但是我宁肯把什么都安排得分毫不差。那么运气来到的时候，你也就有个准备了。