就让它跳吧，这样它脊骨边上的气囊会充满空气，
Let him jump so that he will fill the sacs along his backbone with air…
就不会沉到深海去死了。
… and then he cannot go deep to die. ”
鱼啊，我喜欢你，也非常尊敬你。
Fish, I love you and I respect you very much…
不过，今天天黑之前，我要杀死你。
…but I will kill you before this day ends.
一只小鸟从北面朝小船飞来。
A small bird came toward the skiff from the north.
是一只刺嘴莺，在水面上飞得很低。
He was a warbler and flying very low over the water.
老人看出它很疲倦。
And the old man could see that he was very tired.
嘿…
Hey…
你多大了？
…how old are you?
头一遭飞到这儿来？
Is this your first trip?
你不该这么累啊。
Why are you so tired?
鸟儿这都怎么啦？
What are birds coming to anyway?
“因为有鹰，”他想，“鹰会飞到海上捕捉鸟儿。”
“The hawks,” he thought, “that come out to sea to meet them. ”
可这话他没说给鸟儿，反正它也听不懂，
But he said nothing of this to the bird, who could not understand him anyway…
而且过不了多久就会领教鹰的厉害。
… and who’d learn about the hawks soon enough.
好好儿歇歇吧，小鸟，
It is all right, small bird.
然后去碰碰运气，
You rest for a minute.
像所有的人或鸟，
But then you must go in, and you must take your chances like every man…
或者鱼一样。
…and every fish and every bird must do.
很抱歉，我不能撑起船帆，趁着正在刮起的微风送你回去。
I wish I could hoist my sail and take you in with the small breeze that’s rising…
可我总算有个伴儿了。
…but I’m with a friend.
它被什么东西刺痛了。
Something hurt him.
鱼啊，现在你也尝到滋味了吧，
You’re feeling it now, fish.
天知道，我也一样。
And so, God knows, am I.
“我怎么能被那鱼猛地一拉就割破了手呢？”老人想。
“How did I let the fish cut me with one pull he made?” the old man thought.
“我准是变得越来越笨了。
“I must be getting very stupid.
这会儿我得专心干自己的活计，
I better pay attention to my work.
然后我得吃下那条金枪鱼，免得力不从心。
And then I must eat the bonito so I will not have a failure of strength.
要是那男孩在这儿，再有点儿盐就好了。
I wish the boy was here to cut up the bonito, and I wish I had some salt.
我觉得我是吃不下一整条的。”
I don’t think I can eat an entire one. ”
这叫什么手啊，
What kind of a hand is that?
随你去抽筋吧。
Go on. Cramp if you want to.
变成爪子好了。这对你可没什么好处。
Make yourself into a claw. It will do you no good.
我得吃下那条金枪鱼，
I must eat the bonito…
免得力不从心。
…not to lose my strength.
不能怪这只手不好，没问题，
Do not blame the hand. It is not the hand’s fault.
你能跟它奉陪到底。
And you have been a long time with fish.
手啊，你感觉怎么样？
How do you feel, hand?
还是为时过早，没法儿知晓？
Or is it too early to know?
也许太阳出来手就能张开了，
Maybe it will open with the sun.
要是我非得用这只手不可，就一定要张开它，
If I have to open it, I will open it.
不惜任何代价。
Cost whatever it cost.
“上帝保佑我，让我别再抽筋了，”他想。
“God help me to have the cramp go,” he thought.
“因为我不知道这鱼还要怎么着。
“Because I don’t know what the fish is going to do.
不过它似乎很平静，好像在按自己的计划行动。可它有什么打算呢？
But he seems calm and following his plan, but what is his plan?
我又有什么打算？
What is mine?
它个头儿大，我必须随机应变，顺应它的计划。
Mine I must improvise to his because of his great size.
如果它跳上来，”他想，“我就能杀死它。”
If he will jump, ” he thought, “I can kill him. ”
它要上来了，手啊，你快点儿啊。快点儿张开吧。
Hand. Come on, hand. He’s coming up. Hand.
它比我的小船还长哪。
He’s longer than the skiff.
哦，这是条大鱼。
Oh, he’s a great fish.
谢天谢地，它们没有我们这些要置它们于死地的人聪明，
Thank God they are not as intelligent as we who kill them.
尽管它们更高贵，
Although they are more noble…
也更能干。
…and more able.
我真搞不懂它刚才为什么跳起来，
I wonder why he jumped.
它那么一跳，简直就是为了让我瞧瞧它的个头儿有多大。
It’s almost as though he jumped just to show me how big he was.
鱼啊，这对你来说可不是好消息。
Bad news for you, fish.
时间已近午后，小船仍旧在稳稳地缓慢行进。
It was getting late in the day now, and the skiff still moved slowly and steadily.
老人感到很舒服，但也很痛苦，
The old man was suffering…
虽然他根本不承认有什么痛苦。
… although he did not admit to suffering at all.
我不是个虔诚的教♥徒♥，
I am not religious…
不过我要念上十遍《天主经》，十遍《圣母经》，好让我逮住这条鱼。
…but I will say 10 Our Fathers and 10 Hail Marys that I may catch this fish.
我保证，如果我能捉住它，一定去朝拜科伯圣母。
I will also make a pilgrimage to the Virgin of Cobre.
我说到做到。
That is a promise.
“我们在天上的父，愿人都尊你的名为圣。”
“Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. ”
他开始刻板地念起祈祷文来，
He commenced to say his prayers mechanically.
有时候竟然累得连祈祷词都忘了，
Sometimes he would be so tired that he could not remember the prayer.
于是他念得很快，这样就能顺口念出来。
Then he would say them so fast, they would come automatically.
“念《圣母经》比念《天主经》容易些，”他想。
“Hail Marys are easier to say than Our Fathers, ” he thought.
老人感到非常疲乏，而且他知道夜晚很快就会来临。
The old man felt very tired, and he knew that the night would come soon…
他努力去想点儿别的什么。
… and he tried to think of other things.
他想到了棒球的两大联赛，
He thought of the big leagues.
用他的话来说就是比赛。
To him, they were the gran ligas.
他知道纽约的扬基队正和底特律的老虎队有一场比赛。
And he knew that the Yankees of New York were playing the Tigers of Detroit.
“联赛已经进入第二天，可我还不知道比赛结果如何，”他想。
“This is the second day now that I do not know the results of the games, ” he thought.
我一定要有信心，
Then, to give himself more confidence…
他想起了那次在卡萨布兰卡的一家小酒馆里，
… he remembered the time in the tavern at Casablanca…
他跟一个从西恩富戈斯来的大块头黑人比手劲，
… when he played the hand game with a Negro from Cienfuegos…
那个黑人是码头上力气最大的。
… who was the strongest man on the docks.
那时候的老人还不是老人，而是正当壮年。
He was not an old man then, but he was in his prime.
整整一天一夜，
He and the Negro had gone one day and night…
他们俩把胳膊肘撑在桌面那道粉笔线上，
… with their elbows on a chalked line on the table.
不少人都下了赌注。整个晚上，两个人风水轮流转，
There was much betting, and the odds changed back and forth all night…
他们每四个小时换一次裁判，
… and they changed the referees every four hours…
好让裁判有时间睡觉。
… so that the referee could get some sleep.
人们把朗姆酒送到那个黑人嘴边，
They fed the Negro rum.
朗姆酒一下肚，那黑人就会拼命使劲儿，
Once, after the rum, the Negro made his all-out bid.
但是老人又把手扳了回来，两人成了平手。
But the old man raised his hand up to dead even again.
当时，他有把握击败黑人，那是个好样的黑人，一个了不起的运动员。
He was sure that he had the Negro, who was a fine man and a great athlete beaten.
天亮时，打赌的人要求把比赛定为平局，
At daylight, when bettors were asking him to call it a draw…
因为他们得到码头上去干活儿，
… because they had to go to work on the docks…
老人用足了力气，
… the old man unleashed his greatest effort.
那个来自西恩富戈斯的黑人被他打垮了自信心。
He knew that he had broken the confidence of the Negro…
他结束了这场角逐，而且是赶在大家必须去干活儿之前。
… and now he finished the bout before anyone had to go to work.
打那以后好一阵子，人人都管他叫“冠军”。
For a long time after that, everyone had called him “the champion. ”
鱼啊，你感觉怎么样？
How do you feel, fish?
我感觉不错，
I feel fine.
左手好多了，
My left hand is better.
鱼啊，你就拖着这条船吧。
Pull the boat, fish.
天快黑的时候，鱼和船经过好大一片马尾藻，
Just before it was dark, as they passed the great island of sargasso weed…
那片马尾藻在微波动荡的海面上飘摇，
… that heaved and swung as though the ocean were making love…
仿佛大海和什么东西在黄色的毯子下面做♥爱♥，
… with something under a yellow blanket…
就在这时，老人那根细钓线被一条鲯鳅咬住了，
… his small line had been taken by a dolphin…
* 他把它弄到了小船上。
… and he had brought it into the skiff.
鲯鳅烧熟了吃味道棒极了，
What an excellent fish dolphin is to eat cooked…
生吃可真糟糕。
…and what a miserable fish raw.
“眼下还是让这鱼安静些好，日落时分最好别太惊扰它。
“I had better keep the fish quiet now and not disturb him too much at sunset.
太阳落下去的时候，所有的鱼都不大好过。
The setting of the sun is a difficult time for all fish. ”
此时，天已经黑了，九月里，太阳一落，天就黑得很快。
It was darker now, as it becomes dark quickly after the sun sets in September.
第一批星星出来了。
The first stars were out.
他不知道其中一颗叫作 Rigel，但他一看到那颗星，
He did not know the name of Rigel, but he saw it…
就知道所有的星星很快全都会露面，
… and knew soon they would be out, …
这些相距遥远的朋友又来和他相伴了。
… and he would have all his distant friends.
“这条鱼也是我的朋友，”他想。
“The fish is my friend too,” he thought.
我从来没见过，也没听说过这样一条鱼。
Never have I seen or heard of such a fish.
不过我必须杀死它。
But I must kill him.
幸亏我们用不着非得杀死那些星星。
I’m glad I do not have to kill the stars.
想想看，要是每天都有人必须设法杀死月亮会怎么样，
Imagine how it would be if, every day, a man had to try to kill the moon.
月亮会逃走的。
The moon runs away.
不过再想想看，要是每天都有人不得已去设法杀死太阳又会怎样？
But think what it would be if, every day, he had to try to kill the sun.
我们生来还算是幸运的。”
We’re born lucky.
“已经过去半天一夜，现在又是一天了，可你一直没睡觉。
“It was half a day and a night, and now another day, and you have not slept.
如果你不睡觉，脑子可能会糊里糊涂。
If you do not sleep, you might become unclear in the head.
老家伙，先歇歇，
Rest now, old man.
让它卖♥♥力气吧，
Let him do the work.
等轮到你上阵的时候再说。”
Until it is time for your next journey. ”
他俯身向前，用整个身子夹住钓线，
He lay forward, cramping himself against the line with his body…
身体的全部重量都落在左手上，接着他就睡着了。
… putting all his weight on his left hand, and he was asleep.
他没有梦见狮子，却梦见了一大群海豚，
He did not dream of the lions, but instead, of a vast school of porpoises…
有八到十英里那么宽广，时值交♥配♥季节，
… that stretched for eight or 10 miles, and it was in the time of their mating.