He was an old man who fished alone in a skiff in the Gulf Stream and he had gone eighty-four days now without taking a fish.

他一个老人，划着小船独自在墨西哥湾中捕鱼，接连八十四天，一条鱼也没有捕到。

In the first forty days a boy had been with him.

最初的四十天里，有个孩子跟他在一起。

But after forty days without a fish the boy's parents had told him that the old man was now definitely and finally salao, which is the worst form of unlucky,

可是，过了四十天没有捕到一条鱼，孩子的爸妈就对他说，老人现在一定是“背运”，简直倒霉透顶了。

and the boy had gone at their orders in another boat which caught three good fish the first week.

孩子在父母的命令下，转到了另外一条船上捕鱼，不出一个星期，就捕到了三条大鱼。

It made the boy sad to see the old man come in each day with his skiff empty,

然而，孩子看见老人日复一日划着空荡荡的小船回来，心里非常难过，

and he always went down to help him carry either the coiled lines or the gaff and harpoon and the sail that was furled around the mast.

他总会走下岸去，帮老人拿卷起的绳索，鱼钩，鱼叉，以及绕在桅杆上的帆。

The sail was patched with flour sacks and, furled, it looked like the flag of permanent defeat.

那面帆上补了一些面粉袋，卷起来时，好似一面象征无限失败的旗帜。

The old man was thin and gaunt with deep wrinkles in the back of his neck.

老人后颈上有很深的皱纹，显得又瘦又憔悴。

The brown blotches of the benevolent skin cancer the sun brings from its reflection on the tropic sea were on his cheeks.

从热带海面上反射出来的强烈阳光，在老人的双颊上留下了一块块棕色的斑点。

The blotches ran well down the sides of his face and his hands had the deep-creased scars from handling heavy fish on the cords.

斑点顺着脸的两侧蔓延。因为常用绳拉大鱼的缘故，他的两只手上都留下了很深的伤疤，

But none of these scars were fresh.

这些伤疤中没有一块是新的。

They were as old as erosions in a fishless desert.

它们就如同一个了无生机的沙漠所经历过的侵蚀那样久远。

Everything about him was old except his eyes and they were the same color as the sea and were cheerful and undefeated.

老人是如此的苍老，唯有双眼依旧如海水一样湛蓝，充满了欢愉，毫不沮丧。

"Santiago," the boy said to him as they climbed the bank from where the skiff was hauled up.

“圣地亚哥，”他俩从系船的地方爬上岸时，孩子对他说。

"I could go with you again. We've made some money."

“我又能跟你一道下海啦。我家里已经攒了一些钱。”

The old man had taught the boy to fish and the boy loved him.

老人曾经教导孩子如何捕鱼，而孩子也很敬爱这位老人。

"No," the old man said. "You're with a lucky boat. Stay with them."

“不，”老人说。“你现在跟上的是一条幸运的船，应该好好待在那儿。”

"But remember how you went eighty-seven days without fish and then we caught big ones every day for three weeks."

“但是你可记得，你是怎样接连八十七天一条鱼也没捉到，然后又是怎样接连三个星期每天都捉到大鱼的吗?”

"I remember," the old man said. "I know you did not leave me because you doubted."

“我记得，”老人说。“而且我也知道，你并不是因为对我失去信心而离弃我。”

"It was papa made me leave. I am a boy and I must obey him."

“爸爸叫我离开你。我是个孩子，不能不听他的话。”

"I know," the old man said. "It is quite normal."

“我知道，”老人说。“这是合情合理的。”

"He hasn't much faith."

“他太没有信心了。”

"No," the old man said. "But we have. Haven't we?"

“是的，”老人说。“可是我们有。你说是不是?”

'Yes," the boy said. "Can I offer you a beer on the Terrace and then we'll take the stuff home."

“是的，”孩子说。“我请您在海滨酒店喝一瓶啤酒，然后我们把打鱼的东西带回家去，好吗?”

"Why not?" the old man said. "Between fishermen."

“为什么不好?”老人说。“打鱼的都是一家人啊。”

They sat on the Terrace and many of the fishermen made fun of the old man and he was not angry.

他俩坐在海滨酒店，许多渔夫拿老人开玩笑，老人一点也不生气。

Others, of the older fishermen, looked at him and were sad.

其它一些年纪较长的渔夫只是看着他，为他难过。

But they did not show it and they spoke politely about the current and the depths they had drifted their lines at and the steady good weather and of what they had seen.

不过他们并没有把这份同情表露出来，只是很礼貌地谈论着水流情况、鱼线所垂钓的深度、稳定的好天气，以及在海上的所见所闻。