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.
But if I had,and could have lashed it to an oar butt,what a weapon.Then we might have fought them together.What will you do now if they come in the night?What can you do?“Fight them,”he said.“ I'll fight them until I die.”
“Come on,galano.”the old man said.“ Come in again.”
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?
He spat into the ocean and said,“Eat that,Galanos. And make a dream you've killed a man.”
The shark came in a rush and the old man hit him as he shut his jaws.He hit him solidly and from as high up as he could raise the club.This time he felt the bone at the base of the brain and he hit him again in the same place while the shark tore the meat loose sluggishly and slid down from the fish.
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.