接上昨天的内容，一条大马林鱼看上了老人的沙丁鱼，开始一次一次地试探。这条大鱼很可能和老人一样，都有些阅历了。它并没有马上吞下鱼饵，相反，而是先游了一圈，然后才开始下一步动作。

单词卡

tighten         ['taɪtn]           v.  绷紧

alternately   [ɔ:l'tɜ:nətlɪ]   adv. 交替地

pivote          ['pɪvət]          v. 在枢轴上转动

tow               [təu]              v.  拖; 拉

brace           [breɪs]           v.  支撑

visible          [ˈvɪzəbl]       adj.  看得见的

01  放钓绳

He was happy feeling the gentle pulling and then he felt something hard and unbelievably heavy. It was the weight of the fish and he let the line slip down, down, down, unrolling off the first of the two reserve coils. As it went down, slipping lightly through the old man's fingers, he still could feel the great weight, though the pressure of his thumb and finger were almost imperceptible（觉察不出的）.

"What a fish," he said. "He has it sideways in his mouth now and he is moving off with it."

Then he will turn and swallow it, he thought. He did not say that because he knew that if you said a good thing it might not happen. He knew what a huge fish this was and he thought of him moving away in the darkness with the tuna held crosswise in his mouth. At that moment he felt him stop moving but the weight was still there. Then the weight increased and he gave more line. He tightened the pressure of his thumb and finger for a moment and the weight increased and was going straight down.

"He's taken it," he said. "Now I'll let him eat it well."

厘米译

这轻轻的一拉让他很高兴，随即，他感觉有什么很结实的东西，重得难以置信。这是鱼的重量。他把钓绳放下去，下去，再下去，两卷备用钓绳中的第一卷已经放出去了。钓绳轻轻地从老人的手指间滑出，他一边放钓绳，一边依然能感觉到那种沉重，尽管他手指上受到的拉力已经几乎感觉不到了。

“好一条大鱼，”他说，“它正把鱼叼在嘴里，带着它走呢。”

“然后，它就会回来，把它吞下去，”他想。他没有把这句话说出来，因为他知道，一旦把好事说出来，就不灵了。他知道这是条多大的鱼，他能想像到，它正在黑暗中斜叼着金枪鱼离开。这时，他感觉它停下了，但重量还在。接着，重量增加了，他跟着又放出一段钓绳。他持续加紧了手指间的力道，重量继续增加，直往下沉。

“它把它吃下去了，”他说，“现在我要让它好好吃一顿。”

02  收钓绳

He let the line slip through his fingers while he reached down with his left hand and made fast the free end of the two reserve coils to the loop of the two reserve coils of the next line. Now he was ready. He had three forty-fathom coils of line in reserve now, as well as the coil he was using.

"Eat it a little more," he said. "Eat it well."

Eat it so that the point of the hook goes into your heart and kills you, he thought. Come up easy and let me put the harpoon into you. All right. Are you ready? Have you been long enough at table?

"Now!" he said aloud and struck hard with both hands, gained a yard of line and then struck again and again, swinging with each arm alternately on the cord with all the strength of his arms and the pivoted weight of his body.

Nothing happened. The fish just moved away slowly and the old man could not raise him an inch. His line was strong and made for heavy fish and he held it against his back until it was so taut that beads of water were jumping from it. Then it began to make a slow hissing sound in the water and he still held it, bracing himself against the thwart and leaning back against the pull. The boat began to move slowly off toward the north-west.

厘米译

他让钓绳从手指间滑出，同时伸出左手，把两卷备用钓绳的一端系在另外一条钓绳的两卷备用钓绳上。现在，他准备好了。除了他手上的那根钓绳，他还有三卷四十英寻长的备用钓绳。

“再多吃点儿，”他说，“好好吃吧。”

“吃了它，让钩尖儿扎进你的心脏，把你杀死。”他想，“乖乖上来，让我把鱼叉插进你的身体。好吧，你准备好了吗？你吃够了吗？”

“时间到！”他大声喊着，双手使劲拉起钓绳来，收了一码，再继续收、继续收，以身体作支撑，拼尽全力，在钓绳上交替着两只胳膊。

什么都没有发生。那条鱼只是慢慢游走了，老人拉不动分毫。他的钓绳很结实，是用来钓大鱼的。他把钓绳转到后背，绷得紧紧的，有水珠从钓绳上跳了下来。紧接着，钓绳开始在水中发出缓缓的嘶嘶声，他依然拉着它，用坐板做支撑，向后仰着，以抵消大鱼的拉力。小船开始慢慢向西北方向移动。

单词精讲：fast

He let the line slip through his fingers while he reached down with his left hand and made fast the free end of the two reserve coils to the loop of the two reserve coils of the next line. 

fast   [fɑːst / fæst]  

make a boat fast

把船系牢

大家心中的 fast 大多表示速度快，既可以用作形容词，也可以用作副词：a fast car（形容词）、run faster（副词）。

《老人与海》中的 fast 用的是另一个意思：牢固、稳固的。可以用来形容绳结等打得牢（具体），也可以用来形容友谊的坚固（抽象），甚至是颜色的“坚固”，即不褪色：

a fast friend

忠实的朋友

The colour of this material is fast.

这种料子不褪色。

和表示“快速”的fast一样，表示“牢固”的fast，也可以用作副词：

be fast asleep 

酣睡（被睡魔牢牢控制着）

The boat was stuck fast in the mud. 

那船深深地陷在泥里。

再给大家分享一个词组：hold fast to sth ，意思是“坚持（某种思想、原则等）”。

明明意思差不多，为什么一定要分什么形容词、副词呢？在英语中，单词的词性一般就决定了单词在句子中的位置和基本用法。

以形容词为例，常常出现在：

（1）名词之前，说明后面的名词是“什么样的”：

a fast friend

（2）系动词后面，说明句子的主语“怎么样”：

The method is fast and easy to be operated.

（3）不定代词后面，说明前面的不定代词是“怎样的”。

You've got to make something good out of something bad.

大家在背单词的时候，一定要关注单词的词性，这样能够省不少功夫。

（例句出自牛津高阶英汉双解词典）

每一个人都需要有人和他开诚布公地谈心。一个人尽管可以十分英勇，但他也可能十分孤独。