Старик и море

           Hewasthirstytooandhegotdownonhiskneesand,beingcarefulnottojerkontheline,movedasfarintothebowashecouldgetandreachedthewaterbottlewithonehand. Heopeneditanddrankalittle. Thenherestedagainstthebow. Herestedsittingontheun-steppedmastandsailandtriednottothinkbutonlytoendure. 

           Thenhelookedbehindhimandsawthatnolandwasvisible. Thatmakesnodifference,hethought. IcanalwayscomeinontheglowfromHavana. Therearetwomorehoursbeforethesunsetsandmaybehewillcomeupbeforethat. Ifhedoesn’tmaybehewillcomeupwiththemoon. Ifhedoesnotdothatmaybehewillcomeupwiththesunrise. IhavenocrampsandIfeelstrong. Itishethathasthehookinhismouth. Butwhatafishtopulllikethat. Hemusthavehismouthshuttightonthewire. IwishIcouldseehim.IwishIcouldseehimonlyoncetoknowwhatIhaveagainstme. 

           Thefishneverchangedhiscoursenorhisdirectionallthatnightasfarasthemancouldtellfromwatchingthestars. Itwascoldafterthesunwentdownandtheoldman’ssweatdriedcoldonhisbackandhisarmsandhisoldlegs. Duringthedayhehadtakenthesackthatcoveredthebaitboxandspreaditinthesuntodry. Afterthesunwentdownhetieditaroundhisnecksothatithungdownoverhisbackandhecautiouslyworkeditdownunderthelinethatwasacrosshisshouldersnow. Thesackcushionedthelineandhehadfoundawayofleaningforwardagainstthebowsothathewasalmostcomfortable.