Give a brief account of the old man’s encounter with the sharks?

Give a brief account of the old man’s encounter with the sharks?
OR

Describe briefly Santiago’s struggle against the sharks that wanted to eat the big fish hooked by him?

OR

Relate briefly how Santiago failed to protect his hooked fish from the attack of the sharks?

The Old Man and the Sea is the story of an old and experienced fisherman who after a bad luck of three months succeeded in hooking a big marlin in the open sea. The baited fish put up a tough resistance for two days and nights and continued swimming in the deep sea here and there, dragging the boat and the fisherman after it. Finally the fish felt exhausted and rose to the surface to enable the fisherman to kill it with a harpoon. The fish was so enormous in size that it could not be accommodated in the small boat. It was longer than the boat by two feet at least. The old man guessed that the fish might be more than one thousand five hundred pounds heavy. He decided to tie the fish along side his boat. It was an uphill task for a tired old man like him, but he had to do it. Then he hoisted the sail and started on homeward voyage. Luckily the trade wind was blowing which made him drift at a smooth pace. He felt inward happiness at the crowning achievement of his long fishing career. He dangled his hands in the sea water to cure the deep cuts they had received. He felt that he was worthy of his baseball hero Di-Maggio who always came to the top in spite of the bone-spur in his heel. He wondered whether the majestic fish tied to his boat was a reality or a dream.

The old man’s sense of elation could not last much longer. After an hour of rest and relaxation, he was required to face a new challenge. The blood oozing from the body of the marlin had spread over miles in the sea. Its smell attracted sharks who came to eat the flesh of the dead fish. Santiago considered it his moral duty to defend his “brother” against these fierce invaders. The fish shark that appeared was a Mako, advancing fastly with its sharp inter-lockig teeth. It fell upon the tail of the marlin and tore off a huge chunk of meat from the carcass. The old man took up his harpoon and thrust it into the brain of the Marko. The shark was killed but it took away the harpoon along with the rope tied to it. Late in the evening came two more sharks attached by the scent. They attacked the dead marlin at different parts and tore away its valuable meat. Santiago succeeded in repulsing them with a knife tied to the end of an oar. But he regretted to see that these three invaders had deprived him of almost one fourth of his booty. What was worse, the marlin was now bleeding profusely all over. He thought that the scent of her blood would surely attract other sharks. When the sharks attacked his fish he felt that his own flesh was being torn away. He wished that he had never hooked that marvelous marlin.

Late in the evening the fourth shark appeared advancing to the dead marlin. Santiago faced it with his knife tied to an oar. He struck the knife violently that the blade of his knife was snapped and lost. Now the old man was left with nothing to defend his marlin except two oars, a gaff and short club. Just before sunset two more sharks came to get their share of the marlin’s meat. The old man had to struggle hard to club them to death. In spite of his best efforts one half of the marlin had been eaten away. After the fall of night he felt all the more incapacitated. Sharks attacked his marlin in hordes but he could do nothing except to beat them blindly with his club. One of the sharks seized the club and swam away. Then he had to use the oars to fight against cruel invaders, but these were also broken. After mid-night the attacks of the sharks ceased as there was nothing left of the great marlin but its bare skeleton. Then he sailed on peacefully, regretting of having killed the marlin. He repented that he had ventured too far into the open sea and had brought calamity on the fish and himself. His hands had been badly bruised and his whole body ached. He coughed out a little blood, which he spat into the sea to get mixed with the blood of the marvelous fish he had caught and lost.