By Ernest Miller Hemingway,1952
第二次阅读

看完这本书后,我的第一反应是——What a strong and old man! 只身一人去遥远的外海捕鱼，带着已有84天一无所获的心理压力和对自己的坚定信念的出发。然后遇到了一条前所未见的大鱼，他兴奋得不敢相信这一切是真实的。他与这条神奇的大鱼周旋了两天两夜后，终于将其成功制服。可是在回程的路上，大鱼伤口的腥味引来了一轮一轮的鲨鱼，先后是一条dentuso,两条galonos,一条shovelnose,两条galano, 最后是一群sharks。老人与这些鲨鱼进行了殊死搏斗，弄得自己遍体鳞伤，也失去了所有的武器和工具。最终，老人依靠强大的精神意志和智慧返回了海港，即便此时的大鱼已所剩无几。仅是凭借大鱼剩下来的头骨和尾骨架，人们已被深深震撼到了:这原本该是一条如何巨大的马林鱼啊，老人在海上究竟经历了什么，以及他是如何做到了这不可思议的一切。

第二，十分钦佩海明威刻出色的人物刻画能力。全书仅由一个老人，一个小孩，一条大鱼，以及一些鲨鱼，海鸟，飞鱼等构成，但故事读起来，让人感觉一气呵成，节奏紧凑，引人入胜。虽然大部分对白是老人在自言自语，或是老人跟鱼，鸟，还有自己的手说话，却一点也不让人觉得冗长、平淡、乏味，不愧是大师。细节描写相当生动，让人感觉自己仿佛正置身于这个老人的小船上，亲眼看着一切的发生。就像在上一篇《读后-84, Charing Cross Road》里提到的，这是一本“i-was-there”的好书。

第三，除去故事情节，我对老人的某些自言自语非常感兴趣。他对鱼的复杂情感，将鱼视为自己的兄弟；他在遭遇困境时的，表现出来的坚韧意志；老人在海上坦言自己的孤独和他对男孩的情感；还有他对人类和宇宙的思考和反思，尤其是杀鱼意义何在的那部分，甚至对自己所做事情的意义产生了质疑和罪恶感。这些对白，都值得我好好咀嚼品味。

除了精彩故事情节带来的绝妙体验外，这本书也让我积累一些捕鱼词汇，部分整理如下：skiff, coil, gaff, harpoon, cord, shaft, stern, bow, mast, sack, anchor; liver, fin, hide, belly, bait; sardine, swirl, squid, marlin, sharks: dentuso(1),galonos(2),shovelnose(1),galano(2), sharks(a pack); lash, brace, tow。

片段摘录

故事从老人已经有84天没有捕到鱼的背景设置开始。老人对自己的能力和现状十分清楚。
I may not be as strong as I think, but I know many tricks and I have resolution.

老人的梦有着强烈的暗示意义，狮子是重要的象征和意象。
He no longer dreamed of storms, nor of women, nor of great occurences, nor of great fish, nor fightd, nor contests of strength, nor of his wife. He only dreamed of places now and of lions on the beach.

老人对大海的情感是温柔的，是充满爱意的。
He always thought of the sea as la mar which is what people call her in Spanish when they love her…Some of the young fishermen, those who used buyos as floats for their lines and had motor-boats, bought when the shark liver had brought much money, spoke of her as el mar which is masculine. They spoke of her as a contestant or place or even an enemy. But the old man always thought of her as feminine and as something that gave or withheld great favours, and if she did wild or wiked thingd it was because she could not help them. The moon affects her as it does a woman, he thought.

当天中午，他和大鱼相遇。书中动物的指代全部采用人称代词he，而不是物主代词it.
He is wonderful and strange and who knows how old he is, he thought. Never have I had such a strong fish nor one who acted so strangely. Perhaps he is too wise to jump. He could ruin me by jumping or by a wild rush. But perhaps he has been hooked many times before and he knows that is how he should make his fight. He cannot know that it is only one man against him, nor that it is an old man. But what a great fish he is and what he will bring in the market if the flesh is good. He took the bait like a male and he pulls like a male and his fight has no panic in it. I wonder if he has any plans or if he is just as desperate as I am?

在茫茫大海上，老人十分想念男孩。
“I wish the boy was here.”No one should be alone in their old age. But it is unavoidable.”I wish I had the boy.”

老人开始思考他和大鱼的境遇。
His choice had been to stay in the deep dark water far out beyond all snares and traps and treacheries. My choice was to go there to find him beyond all people. Beyond all people in the world. Now we are joined together and have been since noon. And no one to help either one of us.

老人觉得他和大鱼之间有着非常亲密的关系。
There are three things that are brothers: the fish and my two hands.

第一次老人与大鱼正面相见。
I wonder why he jumped, the old man thought. He jumped almost as though to show me how big he was. I know now, anyway, he thought. I wish I could show him what sort of man I am. But then he would see the cramped hand. Let him think I am more than I am and I will be so. I wish I was the fish, he thought, with everything he has against only my will and my intelligence.

由于伤痛的困扰，老人用意志说服自己。
I told the boy I was a strange man. Now is when I must prove it.

老人开始怀疑杀死鱼的意义。
imagine if each day a man must try to kill the moon, he thought. The moon runs away. But imagine if a man each day should have to kill the sun? We were born lucky, he thought.

Then he war sorry for the great fish that had nothing to eat and his determination to kill him never relaxed in his sorrow for him. How many people will he feed, he thought.But are they worthy to eat him? No, of course no. There is no one worthy of eating him from the manner of his behaviour and his great dignity.

I do not understand these things. But it is good that we do not have to try to kill the sun or the moon or the stars. It is enough to live on the sea and kill our true brothers.

老人反思自己的左手。
Why was I not born with two good hands? He thought. Perhaps it was my fault in not training that one properly. But God know he has has enough chances to learn. He did not do so badly in the night, though, and he has only cramped once.

鱼的反抗,老人意志开始屈服。
You are killing me, fish, the old man thought. But you have a right to. Never have I seen a greater, or more beautiful, or a calmer or more noble thing than you, brother. Come on and kill me. I do not care who kills who.

当鱼被鲨鱼咬掉一块后，老人非常难过。
He did not like to look at the fish any more since he had been mutilated, When the fish had been hit it was as though he himself were hit.

老人回家心切，并且产生罪恶感。
Perhaps it was a sin to kill the fish. I suppose it was even though I did it to keep me alive and feed many people. But then everything is a sin… You are born to be a fisherman as the fish was born to be a fish… But he liked to think about all things that he was involved in and since there was nothing to read and he did not have a radio, he thought much and he kept on thinking about sin. You did not kill the fish only to keep alive and to sell for food, he thought. You loved him when he was alive and you loved him after. If you love him, it is not a sin to kill him. Or is it more?

老人埋怨自己本该携带更多的工具出海。
You should have brought many things, he thought. But you did not bring them, old man. Now is no time to think of what you do not have. Think of what you can do with what there is.

几番与鲨鱼的战斗过后，大鱼已经损失一半，老人只想回家。
I cannot be too far out now, he thought. I hope no one has been so worried, There is only the boy to worry, of course. But I am sure he would have confidence. Many of the older fishermen will worry. Many others too, he thought. I live in a good town.

“Half-fish,” he said. “Fish that you were. I am sorry that I went too far out. I ruined us both. But we have killed many sharks, you ansd I, and ruined many others. How many did you ever kill, old fish? You do nor have that spear on your head for nothing.”

最后一群鲨鱼来的时候，老人已经精疲力竭，也没有任何防卫工具了。即使这样，他仍然战斗到了最后一刻，尽其所能。
The old man could hardly breathe now and he felt a strange taste in his mouth. It was coppery and sweet and he was afraid of it for a moment. But there was not much of it.

He spat into the ocean and said，“Eat that, galanos. And make a dream you’ve killed a man.”

He knew he was beaten now finally and without remedy and he went back to the stern and found the jagged end of the tiller would fit in the slot of the rudder well enough for him to steer. He settled the sack around his shoulders and put the skiff on her course. He sailed lightly now and he had no thoughts nor any feelings of any kind. He was past everything now and he sailed the skiff to make his home port as well and as someone might pick up crumbles from the table. The old man paid no attention to them and did not pay any attention to anything except steering. He only noticed how lightly and bow well the skiff sailed now there was no great weight beside her.

结局，最后大鱼只剩下了头和尾骨架。
“What’s that?”she asked a waiter and pointed out the backbone of the great fish that was now just garbage waiting to go out with the tide…The old man was dreaming about the lions.