老人捕捉到大鱼并把大鱼绑在船舷上，开始返航。但直到这时，老人甚至还不敢确信自己捕捉了大鱼。原文中有这样的句子：The old man looked at the fish constantly to make sure it was true. 翻译成汉语，这句话的意思是：老人不停地向鱼望去，以确信自己真的捕捉到了他。
但是，一个小时之后，老人的噩梦开始了。
一条鲨鱼闻到了血腥味，从深水里杀出来。这是一条无所畏惧的鲨鱼，它紧紧地追寻着血腥味而来，没谁能阻挡它：
He had come up from deep down in the water as the dark cloud of blood had settled and dispersed in the mile-deep sea. He had come up so fast and absolutely without caution that he broke the surface of the blue water and was in the sun. Then he fell back into the sea and picked up the scent and started swimming on the course the skiff and the fish had taken.
(随着鱼血形成的黑云向一英里深的海水下沉并扩散，他从水底深处游了上来。他游得飞快而果决，毫无顾忌地跃出蓝色的海水，暴露在阳光下。当他落回海里，他再次嗅出血腥味，开始沿着小船和鱼经过的路线游过来。)
读者本来已经开始平静的心，到此，又被海明威的描写激发得不能不有些紧张。鲨鱼来了，而且是一副我是流氓我怕谁的派头。加上前文已经交代过，老人与大鱼已经拼搏了两天两夜，正处于精力匮乏的极限，接下来老人怎么办？老人能对付得了一条穷凶极恶的鲨鱼吗？
《老人与海》的最精彩部分，即老人在几乎弹尽粮绝的状态下如何与鲨鱼决一死战的场面，到这里全面拉开帷幕：
This was a fish built to feed on all the fisehes in the sea, that were so fast and strong and well armed that they had no other enemy.
(这种鲨鱼从体格上生来就以其他鱼类为食。他们不仅快速、强壮，而且装备齐全，在海上根本就没有对手。)
面对强盗，老人只有强打精神，奋力拼搏：
The shark closed fast atern and when he hit the fish the old man saw his mouth open and his strange eyes and the clicking chop of the teeth as he drove forward in the meat just above the tail. The shark's head was out of water and his back was coming out and the old man could hear the noise of skin and flesh ripping on the big fish when he rammed the harpoon down onto the shark's head at a spot where the line between his eyes intersected with the line that ran straight back from his nose.
(鲨鱼很快追到了船尾，开始袭击大鱼。老人看见他张开的嘴巴，看见他诡异的眼神。当他进一步向前，咬住鱼尾上方的鱼肉时，老人听到了鲨鱼牙齿的咔哒声。鲨鱼的头从水里露出来，鲨鱼的背也随之露出水面。老人听着鱼皮和鱼肉的撕裂声，把鱼叉刺向了鲨鱼的脑袋，正扎在他的两眼之间与从鼻子到脊背的交汇线上。)
第一场与鲨鱼的搏斗没有持续多久，以老人的胜利结束。这本来应该是一件令人满意的事，但是，海明威在此设置了伏笔，让读者在为老人击败鲨鱼感到释然的同时，又开始为老人接下的归程担心：
'He took about forty pounds,' the old man sai aloud. He took my harpoon too and all the rope, he thought, and now my fish bleeds again and there will be others.
(“他拿走了大约四十磅肉，”老人大声说。一边思忖着，他把我的鱼叉也带走了，还有全部的绳索。现在鱼又流血了，别的鲨鱼肯定会再追上来。)
果然，没用多久，别的鲨鱼就出现了。而且不是一条，是两条：
They came. One turned and went out of sight under the skiff and the old man could feel the skiff shake as he jerked and pulled on the fish. The other watched the old man with his slitted yellow eyes and then came in fast with his half circle of jaws wide to hit the fish where he he had already been bitten. The line showed clearly on the top of his brown head and back where the brain joined the spinal cord and the old man drove the knife on oar into the juncture, withdrew it, and drove it in again into the shark's yellow cat-like eyes. The shark let go of the fish and slid down, swallowing what he had taken as he died.
(他们来了。其中一条转了个身，消失在小船下面。他猛推猛拽大鱼，使老人感觉到小船的晃动。另一条鲨鱼眯着黄眼瞅着老人，然后飞快地靠近，张大半圆形的上下颚，朝鱼身上被咬过的地方咬去。他褐色的头顶和背部大脑与脊髓的连接处有条清晰的纹路，老人把捆绑在船桨上的刀子朝准那个连接处扎进去，拔出来，然后扎进鲨鱼那猫一般的黄眼。鲨鱼松开了鱼，往下滑，一边吞食着嘴里的鱼肉一边死去。)
如果说老人对于大鱼一直心存尊敬，那么对于鲨鱼，老人则是满腔愤恨。在老人眼里，鲨鱼就是敌人，就是抢夺他的胜利果实的强盗。
对于读者而言，读到有关老人与大鱼斗智斗勇的部分会感受到审美的满足，但读到老人与鲨鱼的搏斗时，则体验出情绪的发泄。有读者曾这样说，看完《老人与海》后印象最深的就是老人与鲨鱼的搏斗，在老人痛杀鲨鱼的过程中体验出报仇雪恨般的快感。
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