He started to work his way back to the stern on his hands and knees, being careful not to jerk against the fish. He may be half asleep himself, he thought. But I do not want him to rest. He must pull until he dies.

Back in the stern he turned so that his left hand held the strain of the line across his shoulders and drew his knife from its sheath with his right hand. The stars were bright now and he saw the dolphin clearly and he pushed the blade of his knife into his head and drew him out from under the stern. He put one of his feet on the fish and slit him quickly from the vent up to the tip of his lower jaw. Then he put his knife down and gutted him with his right hand, scooping him clean and pulling the gills clear.

He felt the maw（指魚肚） heavy and slippery in his hands and he slit it open. There were two flying fish inside. They were fresh and hard and he laid them side by side and dropped the guts and the gills over the stern. They sank leaving a trail of phosphorescence in the water. The dolphin was cold and a leprous gray-white now in the starlight and the old man skinned one side of him while he held his right foot on the fish's head. Then he turned him over and skinned the other side and cut each side off from the head down to the tail.

He slid the carcass overboard and looked to see if there was any swirl in the water. But there was only the light of its slow descent. He turned then and placed the two flying fish inside the two fillets of fish and putting his knife back in its sheath, he worked his way slowly back to the bow. His back was bent with the weight of the line across it and he carried the fish in his right hand.

他開始靠手和膝蓋挪回船尾，小心翼翼地，避免猛地驚動大魚?！八苍S已經(jīng)半睡半醒了?！彼?，“但我不想讓它休息。它必須繼續(xù)拉著船，一直到死。”

回到船尾，他轉過身，讓左手拉住勒在背上的釣繩，用右手從刀鞘里抽出刀子來。現(xiàn)在星星很明亮，他能清楚地看見鲯鰍，他把刀刃扎進鲯鰍的頭部，把它從船尾下拖出來。他一只腳踩住魚，從魚的肛門往上到下顎尖，很快剖了它。接著，他放下刀，用右手掏出內(nèi)臟，舀水清理了，又把魚鰓扯干凈。

他感覺手中的魚肚又重又滑，就切開了它，里面有兩條飛魚。它們新鮮，硬實，他把飛魚并排放著，把內(nèi)臟和魚鰓扔出船尾。它們沉了下去，在水中留下一道磷光。鲯鰍冷冰冰的，在此刻的星光下，呈現(xiàn)出麻風病那樣的灰白色，老人用右腳踩住魚頭，剝掉了一邊魚皮，又把它翻過來，剝了另一邊的魚皮，然后把兩邊的魚肉從頭到尾切下來。

他把魚骨頭扔到船外，又看了看它有沒有在水里打轉兒，不過只看到了它緩緩沉下的光亮。之后，他轉過身來，把兩條飛魚夾進兩塊魚片里，把刀插回刀鞘，慢慢挪回船頭。他彎著腰，承受著釣繩的重量，右手抓著魚。

Back in the bow he laid the two fillets of fish out on the wood with the flying fish beside them. After that he settled the line across his shoulders in a new place and held it again with his left hand resting on the gunwale. Then he leaned over the side and washed the flying fish in the water, noting the speed of the water against his hand. His hand was phosphorescent from skinning the fish and he watched the flow of the water against it. The flow was less strong and as he rubbed the side of his hand against the planking of the skiff, particles of phosphorus floated off and drifted slowly astern.

"He is tiring or he is resting," the old man said. "Now let me get through the eating of this dolphin and get some rest and a little sleep."

Under the stars and with the night colder all the time he ate half of one of the dolphin fillets and one of the flying fish, gutted and with its head cut off.

"What an excellent fish dolphin is to eat cooked," he said. "And what a miserable fish raw. I will never go in a boat again without salt or limes."

If I had brains I would have splashed water on the bow all day and drying, it would have made salt, he thought. But then I did not hook the dolphin until almost sunset. Still it was a lack of preparation. But I have chewed it all well and I am not nauseated.

回到船頭，他擺了兩片魚肉在木板上，飛魚則放在旁邊。做完這些，他將肩上的釣繩換了換地方，重新用靠在船邊的左手抓住它。之后，身子探出去，在水里把飛魚洗了洗，觀察著水流過手邊的速度。因為剝過魚皮，手上發(fā)著磷光，他能看到水在手邊的流動。水流沒那么快了。他把手的一邊放在船身外板上擦了擦，磷光粒散開了，慢慢向船尾漂去。

“它要么是累了，要么就是在休息，”老人說?！艾F(xiàn)在，我來把鲯鰍吃完，休息一下，睡一會兒吧。”

在星空下，夜越來越冷，他吃了一片鲯鰍肉的一半，還有一條去掉了內(nèi)臟和腦袋的飛魚。

“鲯鰍肉煮熟后那么好吃?！彼f，“可生吃起來真叫人難受。我再也不坐不帶鹽和酸橙的船了。”

“如果我腦子好使，本來可以把水灑在船頭，等上一整天，那樣就有鹽了。”他想，“不過，我是到將近日落時分才釣到鲯鰍的，準備還是不夠。好在，我已經(jīng)把它細嚼慢咽吃下去了，還沒感到惡心?！?/p>