The old man woke up in the morning, watching the first glimpses of dawn illuminating the dark ocean. He decided to catch some fish. Preferably a big fish that would allow him to cover his bills and stuff.
He jumped into the boat and swam deep into the ocean where he knew he could catch something. He drifted for a while sunbathing and thinking about stuff. The day was hot and beautiful, and the old man sweated.
After a long period of rumination and relaxation, something pulled at his fishing rod. Measuring the strength of the pull the old man figured that it was a really big fish that could help him to cover his bills and stuff. To pay off his creditors, things like that. So he pulled this fish, and the fish pulled him. And they drifted into the ocean because the fish was younger, stronger and smarter than the old man.
The old man was in despair because they swam deeper and deeper into the ocean and he realized that he wouldn't be able to find the way back, and he had no idea what to do about that fish that kept joyfully towing him and the boat into the ocean. After a half a day of that stuff, the fish eventually got tired and died. The old man was exalted. Eventually, he was able to get home and bring with him this huge fish, sell it and buy some clothes, food, and stuff.
So he rowed his boat unhurriedly toward home, observing the seagulls screaming above his head, various stuff swimming in the ocean and other exotic paraphernalia. Meanwhile, the day came to an end, and after a brief sunset, it became dark. In the darkness, the old man kept looking at the sky and mysteriously twinkling stars and thinking about stuff. Mostly what he thought was related to the fish and to what he saw at that particular moment.
After a while, the old man felt that somebody strong was tugging at the fish which he hauled alongside the boat. The old man was petrified because he realized that it was a shark. And he knew that after the shark would bite the fish and the fish would start bleeding, the smell of this blood would attract many other sharks who would eat the whole fish, him and the boat. This happened exactly like he thought it would. The sharks swarmed around the boat, chewing off the huge chunks of fish, while the old man frantically swung his paddle trying to hit them in the head. The old man was strong and experienced; as a result, many sharks died from the hit in the head with the paddle. Still, there were much more of them than the old man could handle. And, also, his paddle had broken, so he tried to punch sharks with his fists, but it didn't work out that well.
Eventually, the old man resigned, and lied in his boat crying, looking at the stars and thinking about stuff, while the sharks chewed off the remains of the fish. After a while, there remained only the fish's skeleton, and the sharks departed full and content. The old man was alone in the sea, slowly trudging toward home through the night.
When the old man arrived at his village, he left the skeleton of the fish on the bank, went to his hut, drank some powerful stuff and fell asleep. Meanwhile, the villagers came to the bank and saw the skeleton of a huge fish and were impressed. They thought how skillful a fisherman this old guy was and stuff. The old man slept until morning, and with the first glimpses of dawn he went to the bank and saw the people standing around the fish's skeleton with admiration in their eyes. Still, all this did nothing to solve the old man's financial troubles