HewasanoldmanwhofishedaloneinaboatintheGulfStreamandhehadgoneeighty-fourdaysnowwithouttakingafish．hithefirstfortydaysaboyhadbeenwithhim．Butaftertonydayswithoutafishtheboy'sparentshadtoldhimthattheoldmanwasnowdefinitelysalaoandhefinallywouldbeso．Theboyhadgoneattheirordersinanotherboatwhichcaughtthreegoodfishthefirstweek．Itmadetheboysadtoseetheoldmancomeineachdaywithhisskiffemptyandhealwayswentdowntohelphimcarryeitherthecoiledlinesorthegaff（鱼钩）andharpoon（鱼叉）andthesailthatwasrolledaroundthemast（桅杆）．Thesailwaspatchedwithflourbagsandrolleditlookedliketneflagofpermanentdefeat．

Theoldmanwasverythinwithdeepwrinklesinthebackofhisneck．Thebrownblotches（斑点）oftheskincancerthesunbringsfromitsreflectiononthetropicseawereonhischeeks．Theblotchesranwelldownthesidesofhisfaceandhishandshadthedeep-creasedscarsfromhandlingheavyfishonthecords．Butnoneofthesescarswerefresh．Theywereasoldaserosionsinafishlessdesert．Everythingabouthimwasoldexcepthiseyesandtheywerethesamecolorastheseaandwerecheerfulandundefeated．

"Santiago"theboysaidtohimastheyclimbedthebankfromwheretheboatwaspulledup．"Icouldgowithyouagain．We'vemadesomemoney．"Theoldmanhadtaughttheboytofishandtheboylovedhim．

"No"theoldmansaid．"You'rewithaluckyboat．Staywiththem."

"Butrememberhowyouwenteighty-sevendayswithoutfishandthenwecaughtbigoneseverydayforthreeweeks．"

"Iremember"theoldmansaid．"Iknowyoudidnotleavemebecauseyoudoubted．"

"Itwaspapawhomademeleave．IamaboyandImustobeyhim．"

"Iknow"theoldmansaid．"Itisquitenormal．"

"Hehasn'tmuchfaith．"

"No"theoldmansaid．"Butwehave．Haven'twe?"

"Yes"theboysaid．"CanIofferyouabeerontheTerraceandthenwe'lltakethestuffhome．"

"Whynot?"saidtheoldman"betweenfishermen．"

1．Theunderlinedword"salao"inthefirstparagraphprobablyme