He did not remember when he had first started to talk aloud when he was by himself. He had sung when was by himself in the old days and he had sung at night sometimes when he was alone steering on his watch in the smacks of the turtle boats. He had probably started to talk aloud, when alone, when the boy had left. But he did not remember. When he and the boy fished together they usually spoke only when it was necessary. They talked at night or when they were storm-bound by bad weather. It was considered a virtue not to talk unnecessarily at sea and the old man always considered it so and respected it. But now he said his thoughts aloud many times since there was no one that they could annoy.
The Old Man reminds me of my father.
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