Hemingway, Ernest Miller: The old man and the sea

from Ernest Hemingway

An old man fished alone in a skiff in the Gulf Stream, but he had gone eighty-four days without taking a fish. In the first forty days a boy had always been with him. But after that the boy`s parents had told him to go with a

nother boat which was luckier. The boy was very sad about it but he had to obey. Each evening he went to the old man to help him carry the lines or the harpoon. The boy called Manolin also made sure that the old man had something to eat and to drink.

When the old man woke up, he dressed and went to wake the boy. Afterwards they walked down the raod carrying the masts of their boats. They lifted the skiff and slid it into the water.

The old man rowed for hours. The sun began to rise and the water was dark and blue.

Suddently he felt a strong pull and he remarked that a huge fish was hanging on the line. The heaviest and biggest fish he had ever seen was caught. The old man held the line against his back but the fish was so strong that he

pulled the whole boat steadily away. The next day and the whole night the old man did not dare to sleep. His hands were stiff and hurt from holding the line but he did not give up. In a big fight the old man was able to kill the hughe fish and with a rope t

he bound him alongside.

When sailing homewards the old man was very proud and happy. But it has not been long as a big shark came to get a piece of the dead fish. With a harpoon and all his strenghts he killed the shark but he knew now that many other

sharks would come. And so it was. When he reached the shore, he had only the giant skeleton of the fish.

He was very disapointed. He had won and lost the biggest fight of his live. But this Struggle has brought him respect from the other fishers.The skeleton of the fish was 18 foots long.

The hands of the old man were in a bad condition and he had lost his harpoons and knives when he fought against the sharks. But at the end Marolin, the young boy, helped the old man and planed to sail again with him.