The Old Man And The Sea A childrens story adapted by Riley Sell
Once there was an old fisherman who had not caught a single fish in 84 days. He knew he needed to catch something soon, so he decided he would take his little boat out into deep water the next day to see what he could catch.
The old man left early the next day. With him he took a tiny bit of food, a bottle of water and a knife. Along with his fishing supplies He started to row his little boat into deeper and deeper waters.
The old man set out his poles in hopes of catching a big fish. He first caught a smaller fish, one he could use as bait. He waited a while until suddenly, he saw one of his poles move. After he knew the fish had bitten the hook, he tried to pull the fish into the boat, but he couldn’t. He wondered how big this fish he caught was.
All of a sudden, the fish started to swim faster and faster, using lots of the line. When no line was left, the fish started to drag the boat with the old man inside it behind him! The man had to hold the line so the fish wouldn’t break free. After 2 days of being pulled by the fish,the fish showed no signs of tiring. The man still didn’t know how big the fish was.
The fish suddenly jumped high out of the water, it was a Marlin. “He’s 2 feet longer than my boat!” The old man said. The fish was huge, bigger than any he had ever seen before, and he’d seen lots of very big fish. He knew he had to kill this fish, no matter what. The fish continued to pull the boat for 4 days, the old man was very tired, so tired he could barely see. But he was determined to catch, and kill this huge fish, even if it killed him too.
On the 4th day, the fish finally started so slow down, he was ready to be caught, but not without a fight. The old man was determined to win against the great fish. After hours of fighting with the huge fish, trying to catch it, the old man finally won, he had killed the fish. He tied the fish to the side of his boat and started the long journey home.
It wasn’t long before the first shark came. The old man was ready for it, when the shark took a bite of the fish, the old man hit the shark with his harpoon, but more and more come. He killed many sharks but there was to many, each one took more meat off the fish. Soon there was only the head, bones and tail of the fish left. There was nothing he could do but sail home.
It was late when he finally arrived home, he left the remains of the great fish tied to his boat. He went back to his house and fell asleep. In the morning people gathered around his little boat to see what was left of the fish. They couldn’t believe how big it was, bigger than anything they’d ever seen.
“I can’t believe he caught this by himself!” One said. “He must have been so determined!” Said another. “I guess you can do almost anything if you but your mind to it” Said someone else.
The End
Thank you for reading this simplified version of “The Old Man And The Sea” by Ernest Hemingway This is Riley’s first children's book, she made is for a school English assignment. Riley lives with her mother, father, older sister and two younger brothers. She enjoys working on art projects in her spare time and being with friends.
Jude is Riley’s youngest brother, he is eight years old and has been drawing for years. He enjoys drawing, playing with legos and eating cake and ice cream. This book has been his first opportunity to share his work.