It was too good to last, he thought. I wish it had been a dream now and that I had never hooked the fish and was alone in bed on the newspapers

But man is not made for defeat," he said. "A man can be destroyed but not defeated." I am sorry that I killed the fish though, he thought. Now the bad time is coming and I do not even have the harpoon. The dentuso is cruel and able and strong and intelligent. But I was more intelligent than he was. Perhaps not,, he thought. Perhaps I was only better armed.

"Don't think, old man," he said aloud. "Sail on this course and take it when it comes."

But I must think (но мне нужно думать), he thought. Because it is all I have left (потому что это все, что у меня осталось). That and baseball (это и бейсбол). I wonder how the great DiMaggio would have liked the way I hit him in the brain (интересно, понравилось бы великому Ди Маджо, как я ударил ее в мозг)? It was no great thing (в этом не было ничего особенного: «это было не великой вещью»), he thought. Any man could do it (любой мог бы сделать это). But do you think my hands were as great a handicap as the bone spurs (но как ты думаешь, были ли мои руки такой же сильной помехой, как и костные шипы)? I cannot know (трудно сказать: «не могу знать»). I never had anything wrong with my heel (у меня никогда не случалось ничего с пяткой) except the time the sting ray stung it (за исключением того раза, когда меня ужалил в нее электрический скат; to sting — жалить; ray — скат) when I stepped on him when swimming (когда я наступил на него во время плавания) and paralyzed the lower leg (и парализовал мне ногу от колена до ступни: «нижнюю ногу») and made the unbearable pain (и причинил невыносимую боль; to bear — нести; сносить).

"Think about something cheerful (подумай о чем-нибудь радостном), old man," he said. "Every minute now you are closer to home (с каждой минутой ты все ближе к дому). You sail lighter for the loss of forty pounds (плывется легче из-за потери сорока фунтов)."

He knew quite well the pattern of what could happen when he reached the inner part of the current (он прекрасно знал, что может случиться, когда он достигнет внутренней части течения; pattern — образец, пример). But there was nothing to be done now (но с этим сейчас ничего нельзя было сделать).

"Yes there is (нет, можно)," he said aloud. "I can lash my knife to the butt of one of the oars (я могу привязать свой нож к рукоятке одного из весел; butt — толстый конец, рукоятка)."

But I must think, he thought. Because it is all I have left. That and baseball. I wonder how the great DiMaggio would have liked the way I hit him in the brain? It was no great thing, he thought. Any man could do it. But do you think my hands were as great a handicap as the bone spurs? I cannot know. I never had anything wrong with my heel except the time the sting ray stung it when I stepped on him when swimming and paralyzed the lower leg and made the unbearable pain.

"Think about something cheerful, old man," he said. "Every minute now you are closer to home. You sail lighter for the loss of forty pounds."