He always thought of the sea as la mar which is what people call her in Spanish when they love her.Sometimes those who love her say bad things of her but they are always said as though she were a woman. Some of the younger fishermen,those who used buoys as floats for their lines and had motorboats,bought when the shark livers had brought much money,spoke of her as el mar which is masculine.They spoke of her as a contestant or a place or even an enemy. But the old man always thought of her as feminine and as something that gave or withheld great favors,and if she did wild or wicked things it was because she could not help them. The moon affects her as it does a woman,he thought.
“Agua mala,”the man said.“ You whore.”
He shipped his oars and brought a small line from under the bow.It had a wire leader and a medium-sized hook and he baited it with one of the sardines.He let it go over the side and then made it fast to a ring bolt in the stern.Then he baited another line and left it coiled in the shade of the bow. He went back to rowing and to watching the long winged black bird who was working,now,low over the water.
“If the others heard me talking out loud they would think that I am crazy,”he said aloud.“But since I am not crazy,I do not care.And the rich have radios to talk to them in their boats and to bring them the baseball.”