双语美文之似水流年 （94）老人与海(7)
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 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.
老人凭着观察天上的星斗，看出那鱼整整一夜始终没有改变它的路线和方向。太阳下去后，天气转凉了，老人的背脊、胳膊和衰老的腿上的汗水都干了，感到发冷。白天里，他曾把盖在鱼饵匣上的麻袋取下，摊在阳光里晒干。太阳下去了，他把麻袋系在脖子上，让它披在背上，他并且小心地把它塞在如今正挂在肩上的钓索下面。有麻袋垫着钓索，他就可以弯腰向船头靠去，这样简直可说很舒服了。这姿势实在只能说是多少叫人好受一点儿，可是他自以为简直可说很舒服了。
I can do nothing with him and he can do nothing with me, he thought. Not as long as keeps this up.
我拿它一点没办法，它也拿我一点没办法，他想。只要它老是这样干下去，双方都一点没办法。
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 base ball 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.
他有一回站起身来，隔着船舷撒尿，然后抬眼望着星斗，核对他的航向。钓索从他肩上一直钻进水里，看来象一道磷光。鱼和船此刻行动放慢了。哈瓦那的灯火也不大辉煌，他于是明白，海流准是在把他们双方带向东方。如果我就此看不见哈瓦那炫目的灯光，我们一定是到了更东的地方，他想。因为，如果这鱼的路线没有变的话，我准会好几个钟点看得见灯光。不知今天的棒球大联赛结果如何，他想。干这行当有台收音机才美哪。接着他想，老是惦记着这玩意儿。想想你正在干的事情吧。你哪能干蠢事啊。
欧内斯特·米勒尔·海明威
美国作家和记者，被认为是20世纪最著名的小说家之一。出生于美国伊利诺伊州芝加哥市郊区的奥克帕克，晚年在爱达荷州凯彻姆的家中自杀身亡。海明威一生中的感情错综复杂，先后结过四次婚，是美国“迷惘的一代”（Lost Generation）作家中的代表人物，作品中对人生、世界、社会都表现出了迷茫和彷徨。
在海明威一生之中曾荣获不少奖项。他在第一次世界大战期间被授予银制勇敢勋章;1953年，他以《老人与海》一书获得普利策奖[4] ；1954年，《老人与海》又为海明威夺得诺贝尔文学奖。2001年，海明威的《太阳照样升起》（The Sun Also Rises）与《永别了，武器》两部作品被美国现代图书馆列入“20世纪中的100部最佳英文小说”中。
海明威一向以文坛硬汉著称，他是美利坚民族的精神丰碑。海明威的作品标志着他独特创作风格的形成，在美国文学史乃至世界文学史上都占有重要地位。
1.smack v. 掴；用掌击
I don’t smack them, but I sometimes think I should, because the elder two have so much attitude.
我不打他们，但有时我真觉得我该打他们，因为那两个大的非常不听管教。
I focus totally on human responses to things; if you smack someone in the face, what would they do?
我关注的完全是人类对事物的反应；如果你掴了某人一巴掌，他们会怎么办？
2.fathom n. 英寻
It is, in general, hard to fathom what he sees or thinks, which is both the point and a bit of a problem.
总之，很难参透他到底在看什么或是想什么，这既是影片的重点却也带来一点问题。
If that’s tough to fathom, consider one of the features already built into the device. Say the wearer goes to the grocery store and picks up a box of cereal from the shelf.
如果这样很难彻底了解，那么请设想一下这套装置已有的一种功能——我们说如果一个使用者到食品店买东西，他从架子上挑了一盒谷类食品。
3.coil n. 线圈；卷
The burnt coil should be renewed.
烧穿的线圈应换新的。
Boil the oil soiled by the coil in the toilet lest it spoil.
把被盥洗室里的线圈弄脏的油煮开,免得它变质。
4.skiff n. 小艇；小型帆船
First we have the “Pilot of some small night-founder’d Skiff,” and the pilot stands ab extra, from outside, in the simile.
首先我们有这句“迷茫深夜中，轻舟的导航人“,并且这个导航人在明喻中，体现为从诗句之外向内眺望。
All lights were out when he sailed into the little harbor and beached his skiff.
当他划进小港，让小船冲上沙滩时，岸上的灯火都已灭了。