The old man still had two drinks of water in the bottle and he used half of one after he had eaten the shrimps.

老人瓶中还有两口水，他吃了虾以后，喝了半口。

The skiff was sailing well considering the handicaps and he steered with the tiller under his arm.

考虑到这小船的不利条件，它行驶得可算好了，他把舵柄挟在胳肢窝里，掌着舵。

He could see the fish and he had only to look at his hands and feel his back against the stern to know that this had truly happened and was not a dream.

他看得见鱼，他只消看看自己的双手，感觉到背脊靠在船梢上，就能知道这是确实发生的事儿，不是一场梦。

At one time when he was feeling so badly toward the end, he had thought perhaps it was a dream.

有一个时期，眼看事情要告吹了，他感到非常难受，以为这也许是一场梦。

Then when he had seen the fish come out of the water and hang motionless in the sky before he fell, he was sure there was some great strangeness and he could not believe it.

等他后来看到鱼跃出水面，在落下前一动不动地悬在半空中的那一刹那，他确信此中准有什么莫大的奥秘，使他无法相信。

Then he could not see well, although now he saw as well as ever.

当时他看不大清楚，尽管眼下他又像往常那样看得很清楚了。

Now he knew there was the fish and his hands and back were no dream.

现在他知道这鱼就在这里，他的双手和背脊都不是梦中的东西。

The hands cure quickly, he thought.

这双手很快就会痊愈的，他想。

I bled them clean and the salt water will heal them.

它们出血出得很多，海水会把它们治好的。

The dark water of the true gulf is the greatest healer that there is.

这真正的海湾中的深暗的水是世上最佳的治疗剂。

All I must do is to keep the head clear.

我只消保持头脑清醒就行。

The hands have done their work and we sail well.

这两只手已经尽了自己的本份，我们航行得很好。

With his mouth shut and his tail straight up and down we sail like brothers.

鱼闭着嘴，尾巴直上直下地竖着，我们像亲兄弟一样航行着。

Then his head started to become a little unclear and he thought, is he bringing me in or am I bringing him in?

接着他的头脑有点儿不清楚了，他竟然想起，是它在带我回家，还是我在带它回家呢?

If I were towing him behind there would be no question.

如果我把它拖在船后，那就毫无疑问了。

Nor if the fish were in the skiff, with all dignity gone, there would be no question either.

如果这鱼丢尽了面子，给放在这小船上，那么也不会有什么疑问。

But they were sailing together lashed side by side and the old man thought, let him bring me in if it pleases him.

可是他们是并排地拴在一起航行的，所以老人想，只要它高兴，让它把我带回家去得了。

I am only better than him through trickery and he meant me no harm.

我不过靠了诡计才比它强的，可它对我并无恶意。

They sailed well and the old man soaked his hands in the salt water and tried to keep his head clear.

他们航行得很好，老人把手浸在盐水里，努力保持头脑清醒。

There were high cumulus clouds and enough cirrus above them so that the old man knew the breeze would last all night.

积云堆聚得很高，上空还有相当多的卷云，因此老人看出这风将刮上整整一夜。

The old man looked at the fish constantly to make sure it was true.

老人时常对鱼望望，好确定真有这么回事。

It was an hour before the first shark hit him.

这时候是第一条鲨鱼来袭击它的前一个钟点。

The shark was not an accident.

这条鲨鱼的出现不是偶然的。

He had come up from deep down in the water as the dark cloud of blood had settled and dispersed in the mile deep sea.

当那一大片暗红的血朝一英里深的海里下沉并扩散的时候，它从水底深处上来了。

He had come up so fast and absolutely without caution that he broke the surface of the blue water and was in the sun.

它窜上来得那么快，全然不顾一切，竟然冲破了蓝色的水面，来到了阳光里。

Then he fell back into the sea and picked up the scent and started swimming on the course the skiff and the fish had taken.

跟着它又掉回海里，嗅到了血腥气的踪迹，就顺着小船和那鱼所走的路线游去。

Sometimes he lost the scent.

有时候它迷失了那气味。

But he would pick it up again, or have just a trace of it, and he swam fast and hard on the course.

但是它总会重新嗅到，或者就嗅到那么一点儿，它就飞快地使劲跟上。