When Santiago reaches shore, everyone is in bed, so no one is there to help him. He pulls the skiff up onto the beach as best he can, makes the boat fast to a rock, and then carries the furled mast on his shoulder toward his shack. Looking back, he sees in the reflection from the street light the marlin’s great tail standing up way behind the skiff.
As he starts to climb, Santiago falls. He tries to get up but can’t, so he sits there, with the mast on his shoulder. He watches a cat going about its business. Eventually he gets up again. Five times he falls and has to sit down again before he finally reaches his shack. Finally inside, he leans the mast against a wall and finds the water bottle in the dark and takes a drink. He lies down on the cot, pulls the blanket over himself, and sleeps face down on the newspapers, with his arms straight out and palms up.
Santiago is still asleep the next morning when Manolin comes to the shack to check on him as the young man has done every morning since Santiago put to sea. Manolin has slept late this morning because a strong, blowing wind is keeping the drifting boats from going out. Manolin cries when he sees the old man’s injured hands and quietly goes out to get the old man some coffee.
Outside, many fishermen are gathered around the skiff, and one of them is measuring the marlin’s remains. The fishermen ask Manolin how Santiago is, and Manolin tells them that Santiago is sleeping and not to disturb him. When the fisherman who is measuring the great fish reports that it is 18 feet long, Manolin replies, “I believe it.”
From Martin, the proprietor at the Terrace, Manolin gets coffee with plenty of milk and sugar. Martin says, “What a fish … . There has never been such a fish.” Then he also praises Manolin’s two fish, but the boy isn’t interested. He tells Martin that he’ll be back when he knows what Santiago can eat and that in the meantime, no one should disturb the old man. Martin replies, “Tell him how sorry I am.”
Santiago sleeps so long and hard that Manolin has to go across the road to borrow wood to reheat the coffee. Eventually the old man does awaken, and after he drinks some of the coffee, he tells Manolin, “They beat me.” Manolin responds adamantly that the great fish didn’t beat him, and Santiago explains it was after he caught the fish that he was defeated.
Manolin tells Santiago that Pedrico is taking care of the skiff and the gear and wants to know what Santiago wants done with the fish. Santiago tells Manolin to give Pedrico the head to chop up and use in fish traps and then offers Manolin the spear. Manolin replies that he wants the fish’s spear. When Santiago asks whether anyone searched for him, Manolin tells him they did, with coast guard and planes. Santiago replies that the ocean is very large and the skiff small. He notices how welcome it is to have someone to talk to after three days of talking to himself.
When Santiago asks about Manolin’s catch, Manolin tells the old man that he caught four fish, but now he will fish with Santiago again. Santiago says no, because he is not lucky. But Manolin says to hell with luck; he’ll bring the luck with him. Santiago asks what the young man’s family will say, and Manolin replies that he doesn’t care and still has much to learn from Santiago.
Thinking about the past three days, Santiago tells Manolin that they must have a killing lance, that they can make the blade out of spring leaf from an old Ford, and that they can get it in Guanabacoa and have it ground to make it sharp. He also mentions that his knife broke. Manolin says he’ll get Santiago another knife and then asks the old man how many days of brisa (breeze) are left. When Santiago tells him three days, the young man says he’ll get everything ready, and Santiago only needs to get his hands well. Santiago replies that he knows how to care for the hands but that something broke in his chest. The boy tells him to get his chest well, too.
Manolin says he’s going out to get the old man a clean shirt and some food, and Santiago asks for the newspapers for the time he was gone. Manolin again tells the old man to get well, for there is much the old man can teach him, and then asks how much the old man suffered. Santiago replies that he suffered plenty. Manolin says he’ll also get the old man some medicine for his hands, and Santiago reminds him to give the marlin’s head to Pedrico. As Manolin walks down the road, he cries again.
That afternoon, some tourists at the Terrace see the remains of the marlin—now just so much garbage waiting to go out with the tide—and they ask a waiter what it is. The waiter, trying to explain to the couple what happened to the marlin, says tiburon (shark). Misunderstanding, the tourists remark to one another that they didn’t know sharks had such beautiful tails. Back in his shack, with the boy sitting beside him, Santiago sleeps again and dreams of the lions.
