The story begins, as you might expect, with an old man. He is a fisherman who has not caught a fish in 84 days. He is also not eating very much. The two factors are related. We also meet a boy who is dear friends with the old man. The old man taught him to fish when he was young, and the boy brings the old man food. Does our language sound elementary and clipped? That’s because Hemingway’s prose is. His is just eight million times better than ours.