Jaws - Chapter 6-10 (1)
Quint
'What do you think, Harry?' said Brody. 'Can this man Quint help us?'
'We can try him,' said Meadows. 'We don't have anything to lose.'
'I' don't think he can help,' said Hooper. 'This shark.'
'Do you have a better plan?' asked Brody. When Hooper did not answer, Brody picked up a phone book. 'Here it is. There's only one "Quint". And he doesn't have a first name.'
Brody phoned the number.
'Mr Quint, this is Martin Brody from Amity Police. We have a problem.'
'I know.'
'The shark was here again today'.
'Did it kill anybody?'
'No, but it nearly took a boy'.
'It's a big fish. It eats a lot of food.'
'Can you help us?' said Brody. 'This fish is killing people.'
'I'll try to kill it for you,' said Quint. 'But it'll be four hundred dollars a day'.
'That's a lot of money!' said Brody. 'There are other fishermen, you know.'
Quint laughed. 'Yes, you sent somebody out last week. And he's dead.'
'Can you start tomorrow?'
'I must have two men to help me.'
Brody did not want to help. He did not want to go in a boat again. But he said, 'I'll be there.'
Quint laughed again. 'Can you swim?'
'Yes. Why?'
'People sometimes fall overboard. And I want a second man.'
Brody turned to Hooper. 'Do you want to come?'
'Yes,' said Hooper. 'I want to see that fish.'
CHAPTER SEVEN
Meat in the Water
They left at six in the morning. It was a very hot day and they sat out in the sun. Brody slept in a chair with a hat over his face. Hooper dropped food for the shark into the water. Quint sat next to a fishing line and watched the sea.
Suddenly Quint said, 'We've got a visitor.'
The three men stood up. 'Help me pull the line in,' said Quint.
They pulled the line out of the water. There was nothing on it. 'I think that was your friend,' said Quint. 'He broke our line.'
'What do we do now?' said Brody.
'We wait. Perhaps he'll take the other line.'
They waited. Nothing moved on the surface of the water. Then something pulled the second line.
The line stopped moving.
'He did it again,' said Quint. 'We'll try a stronger line.'
Quint dropped a thicker line into the water. 'Come on!' he cried. 'I want to see you.'
'Will he break this line, too?' asked Brody.
'Yes, I think so,' said Quint. 'We can't stop him. I'm trying to bring him to the surface.'
The three men watched the line. Hooper dropped more meat into the water. Suddenly he saw something to his left. 'Look!' he cried.
The head of the shark was above the surface. It was three metres behind the boat and a metre out of the water. The three men saw its two black eyes and its half-open mouth. And they saw its teeth...
'Get a harpoon!' cried Quint.
He moved quickly to get the harpoon. At the same time the shark went back under the water.
'What a fish!' cried Hooper. 'His head was two metres across. How big was he?'
'It's hard to say,' said Quint. 'Perhaps eight metres. Perhaps more.'
'I hope he comes back!' said Hooper.
'Did he smile at us?' said Brody.
'No! His mouth was open,' said Quint. 'Remember, he's only a fish.'
'What do we do now?' asked Brody. 'Do we drop in more fish food for him?'
'No,' said Quint. 'We got him to the surface once. He'll be back.'
Suddenly a noise in the water made Hooper turn.
'Look,' said Quint.
The shark was ten metres from the boat.
'It's attacking the boat!' cried Brody.
'Hand me the harpoon,' said Quint.
The shark came very near. It looked at Hooper with one of its black eyes. Then it swam past below the boat. Quint picked up the harpoon.
'Behind you!' cried Hooper. 'He went under the boat.'
Quint turned and pointed the harpoon. The shark moved away from the boat and began to swim down. Quint sat down and laughed.
'That was lucky,' he said. 'He didn't attack the boat.' He looked at Brody. 'Are you OK?'
'I don't understand it,' said Brody. He thought about the young woman, Chrissie, and the boy, Alex Kintner. 'That thing isn't a fish.'
'It 15 a fish!' said Hooper. There was a smile on his face - he was very happy. 'And what a fish! It's beautiful!'
Do you think he'll come back?' said Brody.
'I don't know,' said Quint. 'You never know what a shark is going to do.'
They waited for three hours, but the fish didn't come back. At five o'clock Quint said, 'Let's finish for today. I don't like to be out in this boat at night.'
Brody smiled. 'Yes, my wife doesn't like me to work at night!' he said.
'I' don't have a wife,' said Quint.
CHAPTER EIGHT
Black Eyes
'You're not putting that thing on my boat,' said Quint.
The boat was ready to go. Quint had his back to it. In front of him Brody and Hooper stood next to a big cage. The cage was over two metres tall and two metres across.
'Why not?' said Hooper.
'It's too big,' said Quint. 'What is it?'
'It's a shark-cage,' said Hooper. 'I want to go down into the water in it. I want to take some pictures of that fish.'
'No,' said Quint. 'Not on my boat.'
'Why not?'
'Because it's too dangerous. The fish will eat that cage for breakfast.'
'I don't think he will. And I want those pictures.'
'He says you can't,' said Brody. 'Forget it. We're going out there to kill that fish.'
'You can't stop me,' said Hooper.
'Oh yes, I can. The town of Amity is paying for this.'
Hooper said to Quint. 'I'll pay you.'
Quint smiled. 'How much?'
'I said no!' said Brody.
But Hooper did not listen to Brody. He said to Quint. 'A hundred dollars.'
Hooper gave Quint the money. Brody was very angry, but he did not want to lose more time. He said to Quint, 'Let's go.'
Quint took the boat out into the sea. Brody sat next to him. 'Are we going back to the same place?' he asked Quint.
'Yes. We'll be there soon.'
Will the fish be there?'
'Who knows?' But it's the only thing we can do. Sharks are not clever.'
Brody remembered the face of the shark. 'I' don't know,' he said. 'That fish was clever yesterday'.
'No. He doesn't know what he's doing. Fish do different things sometimes. But I know everything they can do.'
'Can you catch every fish?'
'No. But not because they're clever. Sometimes they're not hungry. Or you can give them the wrong fish food.'
Quint was quiet for a time. Then he spoke again. 'Once,' he said, 'a shark nearly caught me. It was about twenty years ago. I had a blue shark on the line and he pulled me overboard with him.'
'What did you do?'
'I' came up fast. I was lucky'.
Quint slowed the boat down. Suddenly it was quiet. 'OK, Hooper,' he said. 'Start throwing the fish food overboard.'
By ten o'clock there was a light wind. The men sat and watched the sea. They said nothing. Hooper dropped meat into the sea.
Brody got up to get a drink. Suddenly Quint said, 'There he is.'
Hooper jumped up and said, 'Yes! There he is!'
'Where?' said Brody.
'There,' said Quint. 'Behind you.'
Brody looked out to sea. The shark was forty metres away. 'What are we going to do?'
'Nothing,' said Quint. 'We'll wait. Hooper, drop more fish food in the sea. Let's bring him in here.'
Quint picked up a harpoon. The fish swam round the boat. Then it moved nearer.
'Come here, fish,' said Quint. 'Come here.'
But the fish did not come nearer.
'I don't understand,' said Quint. 'Throw some food into the water. And throw some bottles, too.'
'Why bottles?' asked Brody.
'Perhaps he'll swim towards them. We want him to come nearer.'
They threw things into the water. The shark moved nearer. Ten metres from the boat it stopped. Suddenly its head came up above the surface.
'Fish!' Quint called. 'Come here. We've got something for you!'
For a short time the shark watched them with its black eyes. Then its head went back below the water.
'Where did he go?' said Brody.
'I think he's coming now,' said Quint. 'Come on, fish!' he said. 'Come and get your dinner!' He pointed the harpoon down at the water.
Suddenly the boat moved below them. The three men fell over.
They got up and looked overboard. But there was nothing there.
'Where is he now?' said Brody.
'I don't know,' said Quint. 'But he'll come back.'
'Let's put the cage overboard,' said Hooper.
'No!' said Brody.
'It might bring him out. And I won't go down in it,' said Hooper. 'What do you say, Quint?'
'OK,' said Quint. 'You paid for it.' He put down the harpoon, and he and Hooper pushed the cage overboard. The three men looked into the water.
'Do you think the fish will come up?' said Brody.
'I think he'll come and look at the cage,' said Hooper.
But the shark did not come up. After fifteen minutes, Hooper said, 'I'm going down there. Perhaps that'll bring him up.'
'Wait for the fish,' said Quint. 'He'll come up.'
'I don't want to wait ten years for him, Quint! I don't think you understand this fish.'
Quint looked at Hooper. 'Are you saying I don't know my job?'
'No. But I think I can kill the fish.'
'OK. Go and do it then.'
Brody said, 'We can't let him go down in that thing.'
But Quint did not listen. 'Go on,' he said to Hooper. 'Get in the cage.'
Hooper got into the cage and they dropped it overboard. It stopped two metres below the surface.
Quint picked up the harpoon.
'Will he be OK?' said Brody.
'I don't think he'll live for ten minutes down there.'
'Perhaps you're right. But you never know what these fish will do.'
'I know, but this is different. This is like putting your hand into a fire.'
CHAPTER NINE
Cage
Below the surface Hooper looked for the shark. He knew that Quint was wrong. The shark was not below the boat. It did not 'sit' in any one place. Sharks never stopped moving.
Hooper turned slowly in the cage. He looked but saw nothing. A small fish swam towards his face. He pushed it out of the cage.
He looked down and started to look away. Then suddenly he saw something. The shark swam slowly towards him. Hooper watched it. What a beautiful fish!
It came nearer, and Hooper moved back. The shark's head was now only about a metre from the cage. It turned and began to swim in front of Hooper's eyes.
Hooper put his hand out and touched it. It felt cold and hard.
The shark began to move away from the cage.
'What's he doing down there?' Brody asked.
Quint did not answer. He stood with his harpoon in his hand. He looked down at the water. 'Come up, fish,' he said. 'Come to Quint.'
'Do you see it?' said Brody. 'What's it doing?'
'Nothing.'
Hooper began taking photographs. He watched the shark turn towards him. It moved fast with its mouth open. He waited for the shark to turn again.
But the shark did not turn. It hit the cage and made a hole in it. Hooper fell back.
'It's attacking!' cried Brody. He tried to pull the cage out of the water. 'Throw the harpoon!'
'I' can't throw it! I must get him to the surface first. Come up! Come up!'
The shark moved back out of the cage. Hooper tried to get to the surface. He saw the hole in the cage.