The Old Man And The Sea C1

 　　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. In the first forty days a boy had been with him. 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, and the boy had gone at their orders in another boat which caught three good fish the first week. It made the boy sad to see the old man come in each day with his skiff empty 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. The sail was patched with flour sacks and, furled, it looked like the flag of permanent defeat.

　　他是个独自在湾流中一条小船上钓鱼的老人，至今已去了八十四天，一条鱼也没逮住。头四十天里，有个男孩子跟他在一起。可是，过了四十天还没捉到一条鱼，孩子的父母对他说，老人如今准是十足地“倒了血霉”，这就是说，倒霉到了极点，于是孩子听从了他们的吩咐，上了另外一条船，头一个礼拜就捕到了三条好鱼。孩子看见老人每天回来时船总是空的，感到很难受，他总是走下岸去，帮老人拿卷起的钓索，或者鱼钩和鱼叉，还有绕在桅杆上的帆。帆上用面粉袋片打了些补丁，收拢后看来象是一面标志着永远失败的旗子。

　　The old man was thin and gaunt with deep wrinkles in the back of his neck. The brown blotches of the benevolent skin cancer the sun brings from its reflection on the tropic sea were on his cheeks. 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. But none of these scars were fresh. They were as old as erosions in a fishless desert.

　　老人消瘦而憔悴，脖颈上有些很深的皱纹。腮帮上有些褐斑，那是太阳在热带海面上反射的光线所引起的良性皮肤癌变。褐斑从他脸的两侧一直蔓延下去，他的双手常用绳索拉大鱼，留下了刻得很深的伤疤。但是这些伤疤中没有一块是新的。它们象无鱼可打的沙漠中被侵蚀的地方一般古老。

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

　　他身上的一切都显得古老，除了那双眼睛，它们象海水一般蓝，是愉快而不肯认输的。

　　“Santiago,“ the boy said to him as they climbed the bank from where the skiff was hauled up. “I could go with you again. We’ve made some money.“

　　“圣地亚哥，”他们俩从小船停泊的地方爬上岸时，孩子对他说。“我又能陪你出海了。我家挣到了一点儿钱。”

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

　　老人教会了这孩子捕鱼，孩子爱他。

　　“No,“ the old man said. “You’re with a lucky boat. Stay with them.“

　　“不，”老人说。“你遇上了一条交好运的船。跟他们待下去吧。”

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

　　“不过你该记得，你有一回八十七天钓不到一条鱼，跟着有三个礼拜，我们每天都逮住了大鱼。”

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

　　“我记得，”老人说。“我知道你不是因为没把握才离开我的。”

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

　　“是爸爸叫我走的。我是孩子，不能不听从他。”

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

　　“我明白，”老人说。“这是理该如此的。”

　　“He hasn’t much faith.“

　　“他没多大的信心。”

　　“No,“ the old man said. “But we have. Haven’t we?“

　　“是啊，”老人说。“可是我们有。可不是吗？”

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

　　“对，”孩子说。“我请你到露台饭店去喝杯啤酒，然后一起把打鱼的家什带回去。”

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

　　“那敢情好，”老人说。“都是打鱼人嘛。”

　　They sat on the Terrace and many of the fishermen made fun of the old man and he was not angry. Others, of the older fishermen, looked at him and were sad. 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. The successful fishermen of that day were already in and had butchered their marlin out and carried them laid full length across two planks, with two men staggering at the end of each plank, to the fish house where they waited for the ice truck to carry them to the market in Havana. Those who had caught sharks had taken them to the shark factory on the other side of the cove where they were hoisted on a block and tackle, their livers removed, their fins cut off and their hides skinned out and their flesh cut into strips for salting.

　　他们坐在饭店的露台上，不少渔夫拿老人开玩笑，老人并不生气。另外一些上了些年纪的渔夫望着他，感到难受。不过他们并不流露出来，只是斯文地谈起海流，谈起他们把钓索送到海面下有多深，天气一贯多么好，谈起他们的见闻。当天打鱼得手的渔夫都已回来，把大马林鱼剖开，整片儿排在两块木板上，每块木板的一端由两个人抬着，摇摇晃晃地送到收鱼站，在那里等冷藏车来把它们运往哈瓦那的市场。逮到鲨鱼的人们已把它们送到海湾另一边的鲨鱼加工厂去，吊在复合滑车上，除去肝脏，割掉鱼鳍，剥去外皮，把鱼肉切成一条条，以备腌制。

　　When the wind was in the east a smell came across the harbour from the shark factory; but today there was only the faint edge of the odour because the wind had backed into the north and then dropped off and it was pleasant and sunny on the Terrace.

　　刮东风的时候，鲨鱼加工厂隔着海湾送来一股气味；但今天只有淡淡的一丝，因为风转向了北方，后来逐渐平息了，饭店露台上可人心意、阳光明媚。

　　“Santiago,“ the boy said.

　　“圣地亚哥，”孩子说。

　　“Yes,“ the old man said. He was holding his glass and thinking of many years ago.

　　“哦，”老人说。他正握着酒杯，思量好多年前的事儿。

　　“Can I go out to get sardines for you for tomorrow?“

　　“要我去弄点沙丁鱼来给你明天用吗？”

　　“No. Go and play baseball. I can still row and Rogelio will throw the net.“

　　“不。打棒球去吧。我划船还行，罗赫略会给我撒网的。”

　　“I would like to go. If I cannot fish with you, I would like to serve in some way.“

　　“我很想去。即使不能陪你钓鱼，我也很想给你多少做点事。”

　　“You bought me a beer,“ the old man said. “You are already a man.“

　　“你请我喝了杯啤酒，”老人说。“你已经是个大人啦。”

　　“How old was I when you first took me in a boat?“

　　“你头一回带我上船，我有多大？”

　　“Five and you nearly were killed when I brought the fish in too green and he nearly tore the boat to pieces. Can you remember?“

　　“五岁，那天我把一条鲜龙活跳的鱼拖上船去，它差一点把船撞得粉碎，你也差一点给送了命。还记得吗？”

　　“I can remember the tail slapping and banging and the thwart breaking and the noise of the clubbing. I can remember you throwing me into the bow where the wet coiled lines were and feeling the whole boat shiver and the noise of you clubbing him like chopping a tree down and the sweat blood smell all over me.“

　　“我记得鱼尾巴砰砰地拍打着，船上的座板给打断了，还有棍子打鱼的声音。我记得你把我朝船头猛推，那儿搁着湿漉漉的钓索卷儿，我感到整条船在颤抖，听到你啪啪地用棍子打鱼的声音，象有砍一棵树，还记得我浑身上下都是甜丝丝的血腥味儿。”

　　“Can you really remember that or did I just tell it to you?“

　　“你当真记得那回事儿，还是我不久前刚跟你说过？”

　　“I remember everything from when we first went together.“

　　“打从我们头一回一起出海时起，什么事儿我都记得清清楚楚。”

　　The old man looked at him with his sun-burned, confident loving eyes.

　　老人用他那双常遭日晒而目光坚定的眼睛爱怜地望着他。

　　“If you were my boy I’d take you out and gamble,“ he said. “But you are your father’s and your mother’s and you are in a lucky boat.“

　　“如果你是我自己的小子，我准会带你出去闯一下，”他说。“可你是你爸爸和你妈妈的小子，你搭的又是一条交上了好运的船。”

　　“May I get the sardines? I know where I can get four baits too.“

　　“我去弄沙丁鱼来好吗？我还知道上哪儿去弄四条鱼饵来。”

　　“I have mine left from today. I put them in salt in the box.“

　　“我今天还有自个儿剩下的。我把它们放在匣子里腌了。”

　　“Let me get four fresh ones.“

　　“让我给你弄四条新鲜的来吧。”

　　“One,“ the old man said. His hope and his confidence had never gone. But now they were freshening as when the breeze rises.

　　“一条，”老人说。他的希望和信心从没消失过。现在可又象微风初起时那么清新了。

　　“Two,“ the boy said.

　　“两条，”孩子说。

　　“Two,“ the old man agreed. “You didn’t steal them?“

　　“就两条吧，”老人同意了。“你不是去偷的吧？”

　　“I would,“ the boy said. “But I bought these.“

　　“我愿意去偷，”孩子说。“不过这些是买来的。”

　　“Thank you,“ the old man said. He was too simple to wonder when he had attained humility. But he knew he had attained it and he knew it was not disgraceful and it carried no loss of true pride.

　　“谢谢你了，”老人说。他心地单纯，不去捉摸自己什么时候达到这样谦卑的地步。可是他知道这时正达到了这地步，知道这并不丢脸，所以也无损于真正的自尊心。