The Old Man and the Sea Chapter 06

Chapter 6 The Final Battle He had been sailing for two hours when he saw the first of the two sharks Galanos he said aloud He took up the oar with the knife lashed to it He lifted it as lightly as he could because his hands rebelled at the pain and he watched the sharks come They were hateful sharks bad-smelling scavengers as well as killers and when they were hungry they would bite at an oar or the rudder of Hi the old man said Galanos Come on galanos 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 yellow eyes and then came in fast to hit the fish where he had already Have you been at 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 the oar into the brain withdrew it and drove it in again into the shark's yellow cat-like eyes The The shark let go of the fish and slid down what he had taken as he died When he saw the other shark he leaned over the side and punched him The blow hurt his hands and his shoulder But the shark came up fast with his head out and the old man hit him squarely in the center of his flat-topped head The head The old man withdrew the blade and punched the shark exactly in the same spot again The old man stabbed him in his left eye but the shark still hung there No the old man said and he drove the blade between the vertebrae and the brain and he felt the cartilage break Go on galano Slide down mile Go and see your friend or maybe it's your mother The old man wiped the blade of his knife and laid down the oar Then he brought the skiff onto her course They must have taken quarter of him and of the best meat he said aloud wish it were dream and that had never hooked him I'm sorry about it fish It makes everything wrong He stopped and he did not want to look at the fish now shouldn't have gone out so far fish he said Neither for you nor for me I'm sorry fish God knows how much that last one took he continued But she's much lighter now He did not want to think of the mutilated under-side of the fish He was fish to keep man all winter he thought Don't think of that Just rest and try to get your hands in shape to defend what is left of him The next shark that came was single shovel-nose He came like pig to the trough if pig had mouth so wide that you could put your head in it The old man let him hit the fish and then drove the knife on the oar down into his brain But tire shark jerked backwards As he slept and the knife blade snapped The old man did not even watch the big shark sinking slowly in the water have the gaff now he said But it will do no good have the two oars and the tiller and the short dub Now they have beaten me he thought am too old to club sharks to death But will try it as long as have the oars and the short club and the It was getting late in the afternoon and he saw nothing but the sea and the sky am tired old man he said You're tired inside The sharks did not hit him again until just before sunset He blocked the tiller and reached under the stern for the club It was an oar handle from broken oar The two sharks closed together and as he saw the one nearest him open his jaws and sink them into the silver was the weight of the fish he raised the club high and brought it down heavy on the top of the shark's broad He struck the shark once more hard across the point of the nose as he slid down from the fish The other shark now came in again with his jaws wide The old man could see pieces of the meat of the fish spilling white from the corner of his jaws He swung at him and hit only the head and the shark looked at him and tore the meat loose The old man swung the club down on him again Come on and the old man said in again The shark came in and the old man hit him as he shut that his cheek He hit him solidly and front as high up as he could raise the club This time he felt the bone at the base of the brain and he hit him again in the same place The old man watched but neither shark returned he did not want to look at the fish He knew that half of him had been destroyed The sun had gone down while he had been fighting the sharks It will be dark soon he said Then should see the glow of Havana If am too far to the east will see the lights of one of the new beaches He could not talk to the fish anymore because the fish had been ruined too badly Then something came into his head fish he said Fish that you were am sorry that killed the fish though ruined us both But we have killed many sharks you and and ruined many others How many did you ever kill old fish You do not have that spear on your head for nothing have half of him he thought Maybe I'll have the luck to bring the forward half in should have some luck No he said You violated your luck when you went too far outside Don't be silly he said aloud You may have much luck yet I'd like to buy some if there were any place they sell it he said What could buy it with he asked himself Could buy it with lost harpoon and broken knife and two bad hands you might he said You tried to buy it with eighty-four days at sea They nearly sold it to you too He saw the reflected glare of the lights of the city at what must have been around ten o'clock at He steered inside of the glow and he thought that now soon he must hit the edge of the stream Now it is over he thought They will probably hit me again But what can man do against them in the dark without weapon hope do not have to fight again he thought But by midnight he fought and this time he knew the fight was useless They came in pack He dubbed desperately at what he could only feel and hear and he felt something seize the dub and it was gone He jerked the tiller free from the rudder and beat and chopped with it holding it in both hands and driving it down again and again One came finally against the head itself and he knew that it was over He swung the tiller across the shark's head He swung it once and twice and again The shark let go and rolled away That was the last shark of the pack that came There was nothing more for them to eat The old man could hardly breathe now and he felt strange taste in his mouth it was furled it looked and he was afraid of it for moment He spat into the ocean and said Eat that galanos He knew he was beaten now finally and without remedy He put the sack around his shoulders and put the skiff on her course He had no thoughts nor any feelings of any kind He only noticed how lightly and how well the skiff sailed now that there was no great weight beside her He could feel he was inside the current now and he could see the lights of the beach along the shore When he sailed into the little harbor the lights of the Terrace were out and he knew everyone was in bed He pulled the boat up and then he stepped out and tied her to rock He took the mast out of its step and furled the sail and tied Then he put the mast on his shoulder and started to climb it was then that he knew the depth of his tiredness He stopped and looked back and saw the white naked line of the fish's backbone and the dark mass of the head with the bill and all the nakedness in between He started to climb again and at the top he fell and lay for some time with the mast across his shoulder He tried to get up But it was too difficult and he sat there with the mast on his shoulder Finally he put the mast down and stood up He picked the mast up and put it on his shoulder and started up the road He had to sit down five times before he reached his shack Inside the shack he leaned the mast against the wall In the dark he found water bottle and took Then he lay down on the bed He pulled the blanket over his body and he slept face down on the newspapers with his arms out straight and the palms of his hands up He was asleep when the boy looked in the door in the morning The boy saw the old man's hands and he started to cry He went out very quietly to get some coffee and all the way down the road he was crying Many fishermen were around the skiff looking at what was lashed beside it and one was in the water his trousers rolled up measuring the skeleton The boy did not go down He had been there before and one of the fishermen was looking after the skiff for him How is he one of the fishermen shouted sleeping the boy called He did not care that they saw him crying Let no one disturb him He was eighteen feet from nose to tail the fisherman who was measuring him called believe it the boy said He went into the Terrace and asked for can of coffee Hot and with plenty of milk and sugar in it Anything more No Afterwards will see what he can eat What fish it was the proprietor said There has never been such fish Tell him how sorry am Thanks the boy said The boy carried the hot can of coffee up to the old man's shack and sat by him until he Finally the old man woke Don't sit up the boy said Drink this He poured some of the coffee in glass The old man took it and drank it They beat me Manolin he said They truly beat me He didn't beat you Not the fish No truly It was afterwards Pedrico is looking after the skiff and the gear What do you want done with the head head Let Pedrico chop it up to use in And the spear You keep it if you want want it the boy said Now we must make our plans about the other things Did they search for me Of course With coast guard and with planes The ocean is very big and skiff is small and hard to see the old man said He noticed how pleasant it was to have someone to talk to instead of speaking only to himself and to the sea missed you he said What did you catch One the first day day One the second and two the third Very good Now we can fish together again No am not lucky am not lucky anymore The hell with luck the boy said I'll bring the luck with me What will your family say do not care caught two yesterday But we will fish together now for still have much to learn You get your hands well old man know how to care for them In the night spat something strange felt something in my chest was broken Get that well too the boy said Lie down old man will bring you your clean shirt And something to eat Bring any of the papers of the time that was gone the old man said You must get well fast for there is much that can learn and you can teach me everything How much did you suffer Comanche the old man said I'll bring the food and the papers the boy said Rest well old man will bring something front the drugstore for your hands As the boy went out the door and down the road he was crying again That afternoon there was party of tourists at the Terrace and looking down in the water among the empty beer cans and dead barracudas woman saw great long white spine with huge tail at the end that lifted and swung with the tide What's that she asked waiter and pointed to the long backbone of the great fish that was now just garbage waiting to go out with the tide Tim Burton the waiter said is the He wanted to explain what had happened didn't know sharks had such handsome beautifully formed tails didn't either her male companion said Up the road in his shack the old man was sleeping again He was still sleeping on his face and the boy was sitting by him watching him The old man was dreaming about the lions