Then he began to pity the great fish that he had hooked. He is wonderful and strange and who knows how old he is, he thought.Never have I had such a strong fish nor one who acted so strangely.Perhaps he is too wise to jump.He could ruin me by jumping or by a wild rush.But perhaps he has been hooked many times before and he knows that this is how he should make his fight.He cannot know that it is only one man against him,nor that it is an old man.But what a great fish he is and what he will bring in the market if the flesh is good.He took the bait like a male and he pulls like a male and his fight has no panic in it.I wonder if he has any plans or if he is just as desperate as I am?
“He can't have gone,”he said.“Christ knows he can't have gone.He's making a turn.Maybe he has been hooked before and he remembers something of it.”
“He'll take it,”the old man said aloud.“God help him to take it.”
“Eat it a little more,”he said.“ Eat it well.”
“He's taken it,”he said.“ Now I'll let him eat it well.”