31. 到今伊跳十外改

31. Kàu taⁿ i thiàu cha̍p-gōa kái

Che sī lán teh tán ê sî-chūn lah, i siūⁿ. Taⁿ lán lâi piàⁿ lah. Kiò i pôe góa ê soh-á, i siūⁿ. Kiò i pôe. I khòaⁿ bē tio̍h hî thiàu, kan-ta thiaⁿ tio̍h hái-chúi po̍k-hoat kap hî siàng-lo̍h ê chúi siaⁿ. Soh-á liu ê sok-tō͘ hō͘ i siang-chhiú chin thiàⁿ, i chá tō chai ē án-ne, i chīn-liōng iōng kiat-lan ê só͘-chāi hō͘ soh-á lù, mài khì lù tio̍h chhiú-sim a̍h-sī koah tio̍h chéng-thâu-á.

Gín-á nā tī chia, i ē kā soh-á khún ak-chúi, i siūⁿ. Sī ah. Gín-á nā lâi tō hó ah. I nā lâi tō hó ah.

Soh-á it-ti̍t chhut-khì, chhut-khì, chhut-khì, taⁿ khah bān ah, i sàng hō͘ hî boeh ài ê múi chi̍t ìnchì ê soh-á. I ê thâu í-keng bô kha̍p tio̍h pang, lī-khui chhùi-phoé chiⁿ tio̍h ê hî-liau. I kūi tio̍h, koh bān-bān khiā khí-lâi. I iáu teh pàng soh-á, m̄-koh lú-lâi lú-bān. I sóa-tńg kàu hit-ê  só͘-chāi, tī hia i iōng kha thàm ē-tio̍h soh-á khún, chí-sī ba̍k-chiu khòaⁿ bô. Iáu ū chin chē soh-á, taⁿ hî ài ke chhut-la̍t khiú soh-á tī chúi ni̍h ê mô͘-chhat.

Hó lah, i siūⁿ. Kàu taⁿ i thiàu cha̍p-gōa kái, kha-chiah lāi ê khì-lông í-keng koàn moá khong-khì, bô hoat-tō͘ koh tîm lo̍h-khì, khì sí tī góa khiú bē tio̍h ê só͘-chāi. I ē khai-sí se̍h kho͘-á, góa ài lâi tùi-hù i. M̄-chai sī án-chóaⁿ i hut-jiân khí chheⁿ-kông. Sī iau-kah khí-siáu, a̍h-sī àm-sî hō͘ siáⁿ heh-tio̍h? Hoān-sè i hiông-hiông kiaⁿ-tio̍h. M̄-koh i sī léng-chēng, ióng-chòng ê hî, siáⁿ-mi̍h lóng m̄-kiaⁿ, koh ū sìn-sim. Si̍t-chāi kî-koài.

"Lí chòe-hó ka-tī mài-kiaⁿ, ū sìn-sim, lāu--ê," i kóng. "Lí khan tio̍h i, m̄-koh lí khiú bē lâi. Chin kín i tō boeh se̍h kho͘-á."

Lāu lâng iōng tò-chhiú kap siang-keng phāiⁿ soh-á, oan io iōng chiàⁿ-chhiú khat chúi sé i bak-tio̍h hái-ti-bah ê bīn. I khióng-kiaⁿ he ē hāi i thâu-hîn, áu-thò͘, tō ē sún-sit thé-la̍t. Bīn sé liáu, i tī chûn-piⁿ chúi ni̍h sé chiàⁿ-chhiú, chhiú khǹg tī chúi ni̍h, hit-sî khòaⁿ tio̍h ji̍t-chhut í-chêng ê tē-it tō phú-kng. I chha-put-to sī ǹg tang, i siūⁿ. Tō sī kóng, hî thiám lah, sūn hái-lâu teh kiâⁿ. Chin kín i ē se̍h kho͘-á. Góan boeh khai-kang lah.

I kó͘-kè i ê chiàⁿ-chhiú tī chúi ni̍h ū-kàu kú ah, tō kā kiu tńg-lâi, khòaⁿ khòaⁿ leh.

"Bē bái," i kóng. "Thiàⁿ tùi cha-po͘-kiáⁿ bô siáⁿ."

I sió-sim hōaⁿ soh-á, mài khì kha̍p tio̍h sin ê khang-chhùi, jiân-āu tiâu-chéng tiōng-sim, hō͘ tò-chhiú ē-tàng tī chûn ê pa̍t-pêng chhun-ji̍p hái.

"Lí tú-chiah piáu-hiān bē-bái," i kā tò-chhiú kóng. "M̄-koh ū chi̍t-chūn góa chhōe bô lí."

Sī án-chóaⁿ góa thian-seng bô nn̄g ki hó chhiú? i siūⁿ. Khó-lêng sī góa m̄-tio̍h, bô kā hùn-liān hó. Thiⁿ-kong ah, i ū chin chē ki-hōe ē-sái o̍h ah. Chóng-sī, àm-sî i ê piáu-hiān bē-bái, i kan-ta kiù-kin chi̍t-kái. I nā koh kiù-kin, khì hō͘ soh-á koah-tn̄g hó lah.

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31. 到今伊跳十外改

這是咱 teh 等 ê 時陣 lah, 伊想. 今咱來拚 lah. 叫伊賠我 ê 索仔, 伊想. 叫伊賠. 伊看袂著魚跳, 干焦聽著海水爆發 kap 魚 siàng 落 ê 水聲. 索仔溜 ê 速度予伊雙手真疼, 伊早 tō 知會 án-ne, 伊盡量用 kiat-lan ê 所在予索仔 lù, 莫去 lù 著手心抑是割著指頭仔.

囡仔若 tī 遮, 伊會 kā 索仔捆沃水, 伊想. 是 ah. 囡仔若來 tō 好 ah. 伊若來 tō 好 ah.

索仔一直出去, 出去, 出去, 今較慢 ah, 伊送予魚欲愛 ê 每一 ìnchì ê 索仔. 伊 ê 頭已經無磕著枋, 離開喙䫌 chiⁿ 著 ê 魚 liau. 伊跪著, koh 慢慢徛起來. 伊猶 teh 放索仔, 毋過愈來愈慢. 伊徙轉到 hit-ê 所在, tī 遐伊用跤探會著索仔捆, 只是目睭看無. 猶有真濟索仔, 今魚愛加出力搝索仔 tī 水 ni̍h ê 摩擦.

好 lah, 伊想. 到今伊跳十外改, 尻脊內 ê 氣囊已經灌滿空氣, 無法度 koh 沉落去, 去死 tī 我搝袂著 ê 所在. 伊會開始 se̍h 箍仔, 我愛來對付伊. 毋知是按怎伊忽然起青狂. 是 iau 甲起痟, 抑是暗時予啥嚇著? 凡勢伊雄雄驚著. 毋過伊是冷靜, 勇壯 ê 魚, 啥物攏毋驚, koh 有信心. 實在奇怪.

"你最好家己莫驚, 有信心, 老 ê," 伊講. "你牽著伊, 毋過你搝袂來. 真緊伊 tō 欲 se̍h 箍仔."

老人用倒手 kap 雙肩揹索仔, 彎腰用正手 khat 水洗伊沐著海豬肉 ê 面. 伊恐驚彼會害伊頭眩, 嘔吐, tō 會損失體力. 面洗了, 伊 tī 船邊水 ni̍h 洗正手, 手囥 tī 水 ni̍h, 彼時看著日出以前 ê 第一道殕光. 伊差不多是 ǹg 東, 伊想. 就是講, 魚 thiám lah, 順海流 teh 行. 真緊伊會 se̍h 箍仔. 阮欲開工 lah.

伊估計伊 ê 正手 tī 水 ni̍h 有夠久 ah, tō kā kiu 轉來, 看看 leh.

"袂䆀," 伊講. "疼對查埔囝無啥."

伊小心扞索仔, 莫去磕著新 ê 空喙, 然後調整重心, 予倒手會當 tī 船 ê 別爿伸入海.

"你拄才表現袂䆀," 伊 kā 倒手講. "毋過有一陣我揣無你."

是按怎我天生無兩支好手? 伊想. 可能是我毋著, 無 kā 訓練好. 天公 ah, 伊有真濟機會會使學 ah. 總是, 暗時伊 ê 表現袂䆀, 伊干焦糾筋一改. 伊若 koh 糾筋, 去予索仔割斷好 lah.

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31.

This is what we waited for, he thought. So now let us take it. Make him pay for the line, he thought. Make him pay for it. He could not see the fish’s jumps but only heard the breaking of the ocean and the heavy splash as he fell. The speed of the line was cutting his hands badly but he had always known this would happen and he tried to keep the cutting across the calloused parts and not let the line slip into the palm nor cut the fingers.

If the boy was here he would wet the coils of line, he thought. Yes. If the boy were here. If the boy were here.

The line went out and out and out but it was slowing now and he was making the fish earn each inch of it. Now he got his head up from the wood and out of the slice of fish that his cheek had crushed. Then he was on his knees and then he rose slowly to his feet. He was ceding line but more slowly all the time. He worked back to where he could feel with his foot the coils of line that he could not see. There was plenty of line still and now the fish had to pull the friction of all that new line through the water.

Yes, he thought. And now he has jumped more than a dozen times and filled the sacks along his back with air and he cannot go down deep to die where I cannot bring him up. He will start circling soon and then I must work on him. I wonder what started him so suddenly? Could it have been hunger that made him desperate, or was he frightened by something in the night? Maybe he suddenly felt fear. But he was such a calm, strong fish and he seemed so fearless and so confident. It is strange.

“You better be fearless and confident yourself, old man,” he said. “You’re holding him again but you cannot get line. But soon he has to circle.”

The old man held him with his left hand and his shoulders now and stooped down and scooped up water in his right hand to get the crushed dolphin flesh off of his face. He was afraid that it might nauseate him and he would vomit and lose his strength. When his face was cleaned he washed his right hand in the water over the side and then let it stay in the salt water while he watched the first light come before the sunrise. He’s headed almost east, he thought. That means he is tired and going with the current. Soon he will have to circle. Then our true work begins.

After he judged that his right hand had been in the water long enough he took it out and looked at it.

“It is not bad,” he said. “And pain does not matter to a man.”

He took hold of the line carefully so that it did not fit into any of the fresh line cuts and shifted his weight so that he could put his left hand into the sea on the other side of the skiff.

“You did not do so badly for something worthless,” he said to his left hand. “But there was a moment when I could not find you.”

Why was I not born with two good hands? he thought. Perhaps it was my fault in not training that one properly. But God knows he has had enough chances to learn. He did not do so badly in the night, though, and he has only cramped once. If he cramps again let the line cut him off.

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