“Come on,galano.”the old man said.“ Come in again.”
He put his hands in the water again to soak them.It was getting late in the afternoon and he saw nothing but the sea and the sky.There was more wind in the sky than there had been,and soon he hoped that he would see land.
He spat into the ocean and said,“Eat that,Galanos. And make a dream you've killed a man.”
The other shark had been in and out and now came in again with his jaws wide.The old man could see pieces of the meat of the fish spilling white from the corner of his jaws as he bumped the fish and closed his jaws.He swung at him and hit only the head and the shark looked at him and wrenched the meat loose.The old man swung the club down on him again as he slipped away to swallow and hit only the heavy solid rubberiness.
Now it is over, he thought. They will probably hit me again.But what can a man do against them in the dark without a weapon?
I must let the first one get a good hold and hit him on the point of the nose or straight across the top of the head,he thought.
The sharks did not hit him again until just before sunset.
But by midnight he fought and this time he knew the fight was useless.They came in a pack and he could only see the lines in the water that their fins made and their phosphorescence as they threw themselves on the fish.He clubbed at heads and heard the jaws chop and the shaking of the skiff as they took hold below.He clubbed desperately at what he could only feel and hear and he felt something seize the club and it was gone.