They picked up the gear from the boat. The old man carried the mast on his shoulder and the boy carried the wooden box with the coiled, hard-braided brown lines, the gaff and the harpoon with its shaft. The box with the baits was under the stern of the skiff along with the club that was used to subdue the big fish when they were brought alongside. No one would steal from the old man but it was better to take the sail and the heavy lines home as the dew was bad for them and, though he was quite sure no local people would steal from him, the old man thought that a gaff and a harpoon were needless temptations to leave in a boat.

　　他们从船上拿起打鱼的家什。老人把桅杆扛上肩头，孩子拿着内放编得很紧密的褐色钓索卷儿的木箱、鱼钩和带杆子的鱼叉。盛鱼饵的匣子给藏在小船的船梢下面，那儿还有那根在大鱼被拖到船边时用来收服它们的棍子，谁也不会来偷老人的东西，不过还是把桅杆和那些粗钓索带回家去的好，因为露水对这些东西不利，再说，尽管老人深信当地不会有人来偷他的东西，但他认为，把一把鱼钩和一支鱼叉留在船上实在是不必要的引诱。

　　They walked up the road together to the old man’s shack and went in through its open door. The old man leaned the mast with its wrapped sail against the wall and the boy put the box and the other gear beside it. The mast was near** as long as the one room of the shack. The shack was made of the tough budshields of the royal palm which are called guano and in it there was a bed, a table, one chair, and a place on the dirt floor to cook with charcoal. On the brown walls of the flattened, overlapping leaves of the sturdy fibered guano there was a picture in color of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and another of the Virgin of Cobre. These were relics of his wife. Once there had been a tinted photograph of his wife on the wall but he had taken it down because it made him too lone** to see it and it was on the shelf in the corner under his clean shirt.

　　他们顺着大路一起走到老人的窝棚，从敞开的门走进去。老人把绕着帆的桅杆靠在墙上，孩子把木箱和其他家什搁在它的旁边。桅杆跟这窝棚内的单间屋子差不多一般长。窝棚用大椰子树的叫做“海鸟粪”的坚韧的苞壳做成，里面有一张床、一张桌子、一把椅子和泥地上一处用木炭烧饭的地方。在用纤维结实的“海鸟粪”展平了叠盖而成的褐色墙壁上，有一幅彩色的耶稣圣心图和另一幅科布莱圣母图。这是他妻子的遗物。墙上一度挂着幅他妻子的着色照，但他把它取下了，因为看了觉得自己太孤单了，它如今在屋角搁板上，在他的一件干净衬衫下面。

　　“What do you have to eat?“ the boy asked.

　　“有什么吃的东西？”

　　“A pot of yellow rice with fish. Do you want some?“

　　“有锅鱼煮黄米饭。要吃点吗？”

　　“No. I will eat at home. Do you want me to make the fire?“

　　“不。我回家去吃。要我给你生火吗？”

　　“No. I will make it later on. Or I may eat the rice cold.“

　　“不用。过一会儿我自己来生。也许就吃冷饭算了。”

　　“May I take the cast net?“

　　“我把鱼网拿去好吗？”

　　“Of course.“

　　“当然好。”

　　There was no cast net and the boy remembered when they had sold it. But they went through this fiction every day. There was no pot of yellow rice and fish and the boy knew this too.

　　实在并没有鱼网，孩子还记得他们是什么时候把它卖掉的。然而他们每天要扯一套这种谎话。也没有什么鱼煮黄米饭，这一点孩子也知道。

　　“Eighty-five is a lucky number,“ the old man said. “How would you like to see me bring one in that dressed out over a thousand pounds?“

　　“八十五是个吉利的数目，”老人说。“你可想看到我逮住一条去掉了下脚有一千多磅重的鱼？”

　　“I’ll get the cast net and go for sardines. Will you sit in the sun in the doorway?“

　　“我拿鱼网捞沙丁鱼去。你坐在门口晒晒太阳可好？”

　　“Yes. I have yesterday’s paper and I will read the baseball.“

　　“好吧。我有张昨天的报纸，我来看看棒球消息。”

　　The boy did not know whether yesterday’s paper was fiction too. But the old man brought it out from under the bed.

　　孩子不知道昨天的报纸是不是也是乌有的。但是老人把它从床下取出来了。

　　“Perico gave it to me at the bodega,“ he explained.

　　“佩里科在杂货铺里给我的，”他解释说。

　　“I’ll be back when I have the sardines. I’ll keep yours and mine together on ice and we can share them in the morning. When I come back you can tell me about the baseball.“

　　“我弄到了沙丁鱼就回来。我要把你的鱼跟我的一起用冰镇着，明儿早上就可以分着用了。等我回来了，你告诉我棒球消息。”

　　“The Yankees cannot lose.“

　　“扬基队不会输。”

　　“But I fear the Indians of Cleveland.“

　　“可是我怕克利夫兰印第安人队会赢。”

　　“Have faith in the Yankees my son. Think of the great DiMaggio.“

　　“相信扬基队吧，好孩子。别忘了那了不起的迪马吉奥。”

　　“I fear both the Tigers of Detroit and the Indians of Cleveland.“

　　“我担心底特律老虎队，也担心克利夫兰印第安人队。”

　　“Be careful or you will fear even the Reds of Cincinnati and the White Sox of Chicago.“

　　“当心点，要不然连辛辛那提红队和芝加哥白短袜队，你都要担心啦。”

　　“You study it and tell me when I come back.“

　　“你好好儿看报，等我回来了给我讲讲。”

　　“Do you think we should buy a terminal of the lottery with an eighty-five? Tomorrow is the eighty-fifth day.“

　　“你看我们该去买张末尾是八五的吗？明儿是第八十五天。”

　　“We can do that,“ the boy said. “But what about the eighty-seven of your great record?“

　　“这样做行啊，”孩子说。“不过你上次创纪录的是八十七天，这怎么说？”

　　“It could not happen twice. Do you think you can find an eighty-five?“

　　“这种事儿不会再发生。你看能弄到一张末尾是八五的吗？”

　　“I can order one.“

　　“我可以去订一张。”

　　“One sheet. That’s two dollars and a half. Who can we borrow that from?“

　　“订一张。这要两块半。我们向谁去借这笔钱呢？”

　　“That’s easy. I can always borrow two dollars and a half.“

　　“这个容易。我总能借到两块半的。”

　　“I think perhaps I can too. But I try not to borrow. First you borrow. Then you beg.“

　　“我看没准儿我也借得到。不过我不想借钱。第一步是借钱。下一步就要讨饭啰。”

　　“Keep warm old man,“ the boy said. “Remember we are in September.“

　　“穿得暖和点，老大爷，”孩子说。“别忘了，我们这是在九月里。”

　　“The month when the great fish come,“ the old man said. “Anyone can be a fisherman in May.“

　　“正是大鱼露面的月份，”老人说。“在五月里，人人都能当个好渔夫的。”

　　“I go now for the sardines,“ the boy said.

　　“我现在去捞沙丁鱼，”孩子说。