The old man rubbed the cramped hand against his trousers and tried to ease the
Fingers. But the hand would not open. May it will open with the sun, he thought.
He looked across the sea and knew how alone he was now. The clouds were
Building up for the trade wind and he looked ahead and saw a flight of wild ducks
against the sky over the wáter, and he knew that no man was ever alone on the sea. 5
He thought of how some men feared being out of sight of land in small boat
and knew they were right in months of sudden bad weather. But now they were in
hurricane months and, when there are no hurricanes, the weather of these months
is the best of all the year. If there is a hurricane you always see the signs of it in the
sky for days ahead, if you are at sea. They do not see it ashore because they do not 10
know to look for, he thought.But we have no hurricane coming now. He
looked at the sky and saw the White cumulus clouds built like friendly piles of ice
cream and high above were the thin feathers of the cirrus against the high
September sky. “Better weather for me than for you, fish,” he said.
His left hand was still cramped, but he was unkotting it slowly. I hate a cramp. 15
he thought. It is a treacxhery of one´s own body and it humiliates oneself specially
when one is alone. If the boy were here he could rub it for me and loosen it down
from the forearm, he thought. But it will loosen up. Then, with his right hand he felt
the difference in the pull of the line. As he leaned against the line and slapped his
left hand hard and fast against his thigh he saw it slanting slowly upward. He´s 20
coming up,” he said. “come on hand. Please come on”.
The line rose slowly and steadily and then the Surface of the ocean bulged ahead
of the boat and the fish came out. He cameo ut unendingly and wáter poured from
his sides. He was bright in the sun and his head and back were dark purple and in
the sun the stripes on his sides showed wide and a light lavender. His sword was as 25
long as baseball bat and he rose full-length from the wáter and then re-entered it,
smoothly, like a diver and the old man saw the great blade of his tail go under and
the line started to race out.
He is a great fish and I must convince him, he thought. I must never let him
learn his strength nor what he could do if he made his run. If I were him I would 30
put in everything now and go until something broke. But, thank God, they are not
as intelligent as we who kill them; although they are more noble and more able.
The old man had seen many great fish. He had seen many that weighed more
than a thousand pounds and he had caught two of that size in his life, but never
alone. Now alone, and out of sight of land, he was fast to the biggest fish he had 35
ever seen and bigger than he had ever heard of, and his left hand was still as tight
as the gripped claws of an eagle.
It will uncramp thought, he trought. Surely it will uncramp to help my right
hand. There are three things that are brothers: the fish and my two hands. It must
uncramp. It is unworthy of it to be cramped. The fish had slowed again and was 40
going at his usual pace.
I wonder why he jumped, the old man thought. He jumped almost as thought to
show me how big he was. I know now, anyway, he thought. I wish I could show him
what sort of man I am. But then he would see my cramped hand. Let him think I
am more man than I am and I will be so. 45
1. How did the old man feel about being out at sea?
A. He enjoyed it because he had time to himself.
B. He didn’t mind as there were creatures around him.
C. He realised how dang ous his work was.
D. He wasn’t happy at being out of sight of land.
2. Why was he sure the weather would stay fair?
A. It was not the right time of year for hurricanes.
B. Bad weather had not been forecast ashore.
C. He could see no trace of an approaching hurricane.
D. There are more fish during good weather.
3. What does ´it´ refer to in line 20?
A. His boat
B. The line
C. His hand
D. The fish
4. What does the old man worry about after seeing the fish?
A. The fish is too powerful for his boat.
B. He isn’t as clever as the fish.
C. He doesn’t have enough line.
D. The fish could escape if it swam fast.
5. What does the writer mean when he says the old man was
‘fast to the biggest fish he had ever seen’ in line 35?
A. He was joined to the fish by his line.
B. He was attracted by such a big fish.
C. He was chasing the fish in his boat.
D. He was surprised to see the fish’s size.
6. The old man didn’t want the fish to see that he was
A. Alone in the boat.
B. So small.
C. Too tired.
D. In some difficulty.
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