昨天我们读到，整个下午，老人都被大鱼拖着在海面上移动。太阳快下山了，老人没打算放弃这条鱼，相反，他一定要看这鱼一眼，哪怕等到月亮升起，等到第二天日出。

单词卡

streak        [strɪːk]              n.  条纹,斑纹

spoil           [spɔɪl]              v.  变坏, 腐败

ruin            ['rʊɪn]               v.  使毁灭

exhaust     [ɪg'zɔːst]           v. 耗尽

lavender    [ˈlævəndə(r)]   n.  淡紫色

promptly    [ˈprɒmptli]      adv. 迅速地

01  哈瓦那的灯光

The fish never changed his course nor his direction all that night as far as the man could tell from watching the stars. It was cold after the sun went down and the old man's sweat dried cold on his back and his arms and his old legs. During the day he had taken the sack（麻袋）that covered the bait box and spread it in the sun to dry. After the sun went down he tied it around his neck so that it hung down over his back and he cautiously worked it down under the line that was across his shoulders now. The sack cushioned the line and he had found a way of leaning forward against the bow so that he was almost comfortable. The position actually was only somewhat less intolerable; but he thought of it as almost comfortable.

I can do nothing with him and he can do nothing with me, he thought. Not as long as he keeps this up.

Once he stood up and urinated over the side of the skiff and looked at the stars and checked his course. The line showed like a phosphorescent streak in the water straight out from his shoulders. They were moving more slowly now and the glow of Havana was not so strong, so that he knew the current must be carrying them to the eastward. If I lose the glare of Havana we must be going more to the eastward, he thought. For if the fish's course held true I must see it for many more hours. I wonder how the baseball came out in the grand leagues today, he thought. It would be wonderful to do this with a radio. Then he thought, think of it always. Think of what you are doing. You must do nothing stupid.

Then he said aloud, "I wish I had the boy. To help me and to see this."

厘米译

整个晚上，根据老人对星空的观测，大鱼都没有改变它的路线或方向。太阳下山后，天气转凉。老人后背、胳膊和他那双老腿上的汗都干了，生起一阵阵寒意。白天的时候，他把盖在鱼饵盒上的麻袋，在阳光下展开晒干了。太阳下山后，他把它绕脖子系着，垂在后背上。他小心地把麻袋塞到肩上的钓绳下面。麻袋缓冲了钓绳的摩擦，这样他就能向前靠在船头上，舒服点了。这样坐其实只是稍微不那么难受而已，但他觉得这简直算得上舒适了。

“我拿它没办法，它也拿我没办法。”他想，“只要它继续这样下去。”

有一次，他起身在小船边上小便，望着星星，检查他的航向。钓绳像一道磷光一样，从他肩上笔直伸入水中。他们这会儿移动得慢些了，哈瓦那的灯光也不那么刺眼了。根据这些，他知道，湾流肯定正带着他们往东去。“如果哈瓦那的灯光不再刺眼，我们一定是往东边走，”他想，“如果大鱼的路线不变，这灯光我还能再看上几个钟头。”“不知道今天大联盟的棒球比赛结果怎么样，”他想，“要是有收音机就好了。”他继续想着，“老是想这些，想想你在做什么，别做什么蠢事。”

接着，他说出了声来：“要是那男孩在就好了，能帮上我，还能见识到这些。”

02  两只鼠海豚

No one should be alone in their old age, he thought. But it is unavoidable. I must remember to eat the tuna before he spoils in order to keep strong. 

Remember, no matter how little you want to, that you must eat him in the morning. Remember, he said to himself.

During the night two porpoises came around the boat and he could hear them rolling and blowing. He could tell the difference between the blowing noise the male made and the sighing blow of the female.

"They are good," he said. "They play and make jokes and love one another. They are our brothers like the flying fish."

Then he began to pity the great fish that he had hooked. 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 this 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 will he 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?

厘米译

“人老了，就不应该一个人待着。”他想，“但这是不可避免的。我得记住，在金枪鱼腐败之前把它吃掉，这样才能保持体力。记住，不管你多么不想吃，都必须在早上吃掉它。记住。”老人对自己说。

夜里，有两只鼠海豚游到船边，老人听到了它们翻腾、喷水的声音。他能分辨出雄海豚嘈杂的喷水声和雌海豚叹息一般的喷水声。

“它们很棒，”他说。“它们嬉戏打闹，彼此相爱。它们是我们的兄弟，就像飞鱼那样。”

然后，他开始可怜他钓到的那条大鱼。“它很厉害，也很古怪，谁知道它多大年纪了呢，”他想，“我从来没有碰到过这么强壮的鱼，也没有遇到过行为这么古怪的鱼。也许它太聪明了，不肯跳。只要跳一跳，或者猛地一冲，它就能把我搞垮。不过，也可能它之前已经上过好几次钩了，所以知道这样才是正确的战斗方式。它不可能知道它的对手只有一个人，还是一个老人。不过，它真是一条大鱼啊，如果肉质好的话，在市场上能卖多大一笔钱啊。它咬饵的方式像一条雄鱼，它拖钓绳的方式也像一条雄鱼，它的抗争不带一丝慌张。我在想，它是有什么计划呢，还是说就跟我一样孤注一掷？”

▲ 鼠海豚（摄影：Ecomare/Salko de Wolf Den Hoorn Texel - Ecomare，CC BY-SA 4.0）  

单词精讲：somewhat

The position actually was only somewhat less intolerable; but he thought of it as almost comfortable.

somewhat   [ˈsʌmwɔt]  

I was somewhat surprised to see him. 

见到他我有点吃惊。

somewhat 这个词很好用，作为副词，意思是“某种程度上、有点……”，相当于 to some degree，可以放在形容词前面（比如说在《老人与海》原句中的用法），还可以放在副词的前面：

He answered somewhat nervously. 

他回答时有些局促不安。

网上有些句子，somewhat 还可以放在动词的前面，这个用法在牛津高阶词典中没有看到，也放一个例子供大家参考：

The experience of being in prison has changed him somewhat.

坐牢的经历使他有了点改变。

要注意的是，somewhat 表示的程度不是那么高，只是“有点儿”而已。

somewhat有一个兄弟叫somehow，也是一个副词，意思是“以某种方式”，或者“由于某种原因”，常放在句首或句尾：

（1）We must stop him from seeing her somehow. 我们得想个办法不能让他再跟她来往。（以某种方式）

（2）Somehow, I don't feel I can trust him. 

不知什麽缘故, 我觉得不能信任他。

（例句出自牛津高阶英汉双解词典）

偏执是件古怪的东西。偏执的人必然绝对相信自己是正确的，而克制自己，保持正确思想，正是最能助长这种自以为正确和正直的看法。