双语有声阅读：老人与海(4)

Then he felt the gentle touch on the line and he was happy.

 

跟着他感到钓索轻轻地动了一下，他高兴了。

"It was only his turn," he said. "He'll take it."

“它刚才不过是在转身，”他说。“它会咬饵的。”

He was happy feeling the gentle pulling and then he felt something hard and unbelievably heavy. It was the weight of the fish and he let the line slip down, down, down, unrolling off the first of the two reserve coils². As it went down, slipping lightly th rough the old man's fingers, he still could feel the great weight, thought the pressure of his thumb and finger were almost imperceptible.

感到这轻微的一拉，他很高兴，接着他感到有些猛拉的感觉，很有份量，叫人难以相信。这是鱼本身的重量造成的，他就松手让钓索朝下溜，一直朝下，朝下溜，从那两卷备用钓索中的一卷上放出钓索。它从老人的指间轻轻地滑下去的时候，他依旧感到很大的分量，尽管他的大拇指和食指施加的压力简直小得觉察不到。

"What a fish," he said. "He has it sideways in his mouth now and he is moving off with it."

“多棒的鱼啊，”他说。“它正把鱼饵斜叼在嘴里，带着它在游走呐。”

 

Then he will turn and swallow it, he thought. He did not say that because he knew that if you said a good thing it might not happen. He knew what a huge fish this was and he thought of him moving away in the darkness with the tuna held crosswise in his mouth. At that moment he felt him stop moving but the weight was still there. Then the weight increased and he gave more line. He tightened³ the pressure of his thumb and finger for a moment and the weight increased and was going straight down.

 

它就会掉过头来把饵吞下去的，他想。他没有把这句话说出声来，因为他知道，一桩好事如果说破了，也许就不会发生了。他知道这条鱼有多大，他想象到它嘴里横衔着金枪鱼，在黑暗中游走。这时他觉得它停止不动了，可是分量还是没变。跟着分量越来越重了，他就再放出一点钓索。他一时加强了大拇指和食指上的压力，于是钓索上的分量增加了，一直传到水中深处。

"He's taken it," he said. "Now I'll let him eat it well."

“它咬饵啦，”他说。“现在我来让它美美地吃一顿。”

He let the line slip through his fingers while he reached down with his left hand and made fast the free end of the two reserve coils to the loop⁴ of the two reserve coils of the next line. Now he was ready. He had three forty-fathom coils of line in reserve now, as well as the coil¹ he was using.

他让钓索在指间朝下溜，同时伸出左手，把两卷备用钓索的一端紧系在旁边那根钓索的两卷备用钓索上。他如今准备好了。他眼下除了正在使用的那钓索卷儿，还有三个四十英寻长的卷儿可供备用。

1 coil   

n.(一)卷，(一)圈；线圈；vt.卷，盘绕

参考例句：

• He turned off the water and began to coil the hose.他关掉水龙头，开始盘水管。
• We suspected that something was wrong with the coil.我们疑心线圈有毛病。

2 coils   

n.镀锡卷板，卷带马口铁；（一）卷( coil的名词复数 )；盘卷之物；线圈；一圈（绳索、金属线等）v.将…卷[盘]成圈或螺旋形( coil的第三人称单数 )；（使）缠绕，盘绕

参考例句：

• Magnetic coils focus the electron beams into fine spots. 磁线圈把电子束聚焦成微小的点。 来自辞典例句
• Now he had six reserve coils of line. 他现在有六卷备用钓索了。 来自英汉文学 - 老人与海

3 tightened   

收紧( tighten的过去式和过去分词 )； （使）变紧； （使）绷紧； 加紧

参考例句：

• The rope holding the boat suddenly tightened and broke. 系船的绳子突然绷断了。
• His index finger tightened on the trigger but then relaxed again. 他的食指扣住扳机，然后又松开了。

4 loop   

n.圈，环(状物)；回路，循环；v.(使)成环

参考例句：

• Loop the curtains up.把窗帘卷起来。
• He bends a wire into a loop.他将铁线弯成圆圈。