第8章 The Sharks Attack (第2/2页)

“You thnk too uch,old an,”h sad aloud.

But you njoyd kllng th dntuso,h thought.H lvs on th lv fsh as you do.H s not a scavngr nor just a ovng apptt as so sharks ar.H s autful and nol and knos no far of anythng.

“I klld h n slf-dfns,”th old an sad aloud.“And I klld h ll.”

Bsds,h thought,vrythng klls vrythng ls n so ay.Fshng klls xactly as t kps alv.Th oy kps alv,h thought.I ust not dcv yslf too uch.

H land ovr th sd and pulld loos a pc of th at of th fsh hr th shark had cut h.H chd t and notd ts qualty and ts good tast.It as fr and jucy ,lk at,ut t as not rd.Thr as no sprngnss n t and h kn that t ould rng th hghst prc n th arkt.But thr as no ay to kp ts scnt out of th atr and th old an kn that a vry ad t as cong.

Th rz as stady.It had ackd a lttl furthr nto th northast and h kn that ant that t ould not fall off.Th old an lookd ahad of h ut h could s no sals nor could h s th hull nor th sok of any shp. Thr r only th flyng fsh that nt up fro hs o salng aay to thr sd and th yllo patchs of gulf-d.H could not vn s a rd.

H had ald for to hours, rstng n th strn and sots chng a t of th at fro th arln,tryng to rst and to strong,hn h sa th frst of th to sharks.

“Ay,”h sad aloud. Thr s no translaton for ths ord and prhaps t s just a nos such as a an ght ak, nvoluntarly,flng th nal go through hs hands and nto th ood.

“Galanos.”h sad aloud.H had sn th scond fn no cong up hnd th frst and had dntfd th as shovl-nosd sharks y th ron, trangular fn and th spng ovnts of th tal.Thy had th scnt and r xctd and n th stupdty of thr grat hungr thy r losng and fndng th scnt n thr xctnt.But thy r closng all th t.

Th old an ad th sht fast and jad th tllr. Thn h took up th oar th th knf lashd to t.H lftd t as lghtly as h could caus hs hands rlld at th pan. Thn h opnd and closd th on t lghtly to loosn th.H closd th frly so thy ould tak th pan no and ould not flnch and atchd th sharks co.H could s thr d,flattnd,shovl-pontd hads no and thr ht-tppd d pctoral fns.Thy r hatful sharks, ad sllng,scavngrs as ll as kllrs,and hn thy r hungry thy ould t at an oar or th ruddr of a oat.It as ths sharks that ould cut th turtls'lgs and flpprs off hn th turtls r aslp on th surfac, and thy ould ht a an n th atr,f thy r hungry,vn f th an had no sll of fsh lood nor of fsh sl on h.

“Ay,”th old an sad.“ Galanos.Co on Galanos.”

Thy ca. But thy dd not co as th Mako had co.On turnd and nt out of sght undr th skff and th old an could fl th skff shak as h jrkd and pulld on th fsh.Th othr atchd th old an th hs slttd yllo ys and thn ca n fast th hs half crcl of jas d to ht th fsh hr h had alrady n ttn.Th ln shod clarly on th top of hs ron had and ack hr th ran jond th spnal cord and th old an drov th knf on th oar nto th junctur,thdr t,and drov t n agan nto th shark's yllo cat-lk ys.Th shark lt go of th fsh and sld don,sallong hat h had takn as h dd.

Th skff as stll shakng th th dstructon th othr shark as dong to th fsh and th old an lt go th sht so that th skff ould sng roadsd and rng th shark out fro undr.Whn h sa th shark h land ovr th sd and punchd at h.H ht only at and th hd as st hard and h arly got th knf n.Th lo hurt not only hs hands ut hs shouldr too.But th shark ca up fast and hs had out and th old an ht h squarly n th cntr of hs flat-toppd had as hs nos ca out of atr and lay aganst th fsh.Th old an thdr th lad and punchd th shark xactly n th sa spot agan.H stll hung to th fsh th hs jas hookd and th old an stad h n hs lft y.Th shark stll hung thr.

“No?”th old an sad and h drov th lad tn th vrtra and th ran.It as an asy shot no and h flt th cartlag svr.Th old an rvrsd th oar and put th lad tn th shark's jas to opn th.H tstd th lad and as th shark sld loos h sad,“Go on,galano. Sld don a l dp.Go s your frnd,or ay t's your othr.”

Th old an pd th lad of hs knf and lad don th oar.Thn h found th sht and th sal flld and h rought th skff onto hr cours.

“Thy ust hav takn a quartr of h and of th st at,”h sad aloud.“I sh t r a dra and that I had nvr hookd h.I' sorry aout t,fsh.It aks vrythng rong.”H stoppd and h dd not ant to look at th fsh no.Drand of lood and aash h lookd th color of th slvr ackng of a rror and hs strps stll shod.

“I shouldn't hav gon out so far,fsh,”h sad.“ Nthr for you nor for .I' sorry,fsh.”

No, h sad to hslf. Look to th lashng on th knf and s f t has n cut.Thn gt your hand n ordr caus thr stll s or to co.

“I sh I had a ston for th knf,”th old an sad aftr h had chckd th lashng on th oar utt.“I should hav rought a ston.”You should hav rought any thngs,h thought.But you dd not rng th,old an. No s no t to thnk of hat you do not hav.Thnk of hat you can do th hat thr s.

“You gv uch good counsl ,”h sad aloud.“ I' trd of t.”

H hld th tllr undr hs ar and soakd oth hs hands n th atr as th skff drov forard.

“God knos ho uch that last on took,”h sad.“But sh's uch lghtr no.”H dd not ant to thnk of th utlatd undr-sd of th fsh.H kn that ach of th jrkng ups of th shark had n at torn aay and that th fsh no ad a tral for all sharks as d as a hghay through th sa.

H as a fsh to kp a an all ntr,h thought.Don't thnk of that.Just rst and try to gt your hands n shap to dfnd hat s lft of h.Th lood sll fro y hands ans nothng no th all that scnt n th atr.Bsds thy do not ld uch.Thr s nothng cut that ans anythng.Th ldng ay kp th lft fro crapng.

What can I thnk of no?H thought.Nothng.I ust thnk of nothng and at for th nxt ons.I sh t had rally n a dra,h thought.But ho knos?It ght hav turnd out ll.

Th nxt shark that ca as a sngl shovl-nos.H ca lk a pg to th trough f a pg had a outh so d that you could put your had n t.Th old an lt h ht th fsh and thn drov th knf on th oar don nto hs ran. But th shark jrkd ackards as h rolld and th knf lad snappd.

Th old an sttld hslf to str.H dd not vn atch th g shark snkng sloly n th atr,shong frst lf-sz,thn sall,thn tny.That alays fascnatd th old an.But h dd not vn atch t no.

“I hav th gaff no,”h sad.“ But t ll do no good.I hav th to oars and th tllr and th short clu.”

No thy hav atn ,h thought.I a too old to clu sharks to dath.But I ll try t as long as I hav th oars and th short clu and th tllr.