CHAPTER NINE
Cage
Below the surface Hooper looks for the shark. He knows that Quint is wrong. The shark is not below the boat. It does not “sit” in any one place. Sharks never stop moving.
Hooper turns slowly in the cage. He looks but sees nothing. A small fish swims towards his face. He pushes it out of the cage.
He looks down and starts to look away. Then suddenly he sees something. The shark swims slowly towards him. Hooper watches it. What a beautiful fish!
It comes nearer, and Hooper moves back. The shark's head is now only about a meter from the cage. It turns and begins to swim in front of Hooper's eyes.
Hooper puts his hand out and touches it. It feels cold and hard.
The shark begins to move away from the cage.
"What's he doing down there?" Brody asks.
Quint does not answer. He stands with his harpoon in his hand. He looks down at the water. “Come up, fish," he says. “Come to Quint."
“Do you see it?" asks Brody. "What's it doing?"
“Nothing."
Hooper begins taking photographs. He watches the shark turn towards him. It moves fast with its mouth open. He waits for the shark to turn again.
But the shark does not turn. It hits the cage and makes a hole in it. Hooper falls back.
"It's attacking!” cries Brody. He tries to pull the cage out of the water. “Throw the harpoon!”
"I can't throw it! I have to get him to the surface first. Come up! Come up!”
The shark moves back out of the cage. Hooper tries to get to the surface. He sees the hole in the cage.
The shark pushes its head through the hole again. Hooper moves to the back of the cage. The shark pushes again, and Hooper sees its teeth.
The jaws of the shark close around him. Hooper pushes his hand into the black eye and thinks, "I'm going to die..."
“He's got him!” cries Brody. “Do something!”
“The man is dead," Quint says.
“How do you know?"
“He's dead."
The shark leaves the cage, and drops down a meter. Then it swims up towards the surface.
“He's coming up!” says Brody.
The shark hits the surface five meters from the boat. It carries Hooper in its mouth. Quint throws the harpoon. But the shark begins to swim down into the water, and the harpoon goes over it. The shark drops below the surface.
"What do we do now?" asks Brody.
"We'll go back," says Quint. “For now."
“But why do you want to come back? That fish is too strong for us!”
"I'm going to kill that thing," says Quint.
"I don't think I can get more money for you."
“This is not about money.”
"What are you saying?" Brody looks at Quint.
"I'm going to kill that fish. Do you want to come with me?"
Brody looks into Quint's eyes. They are as dark as the eyes of the shark. "I'll come," says Brody.
Brody arrives home late that night. He tells Ellen about Hooper. She is very sad.
"It's over now," she says.
Brody does not answer for a time. Then he says, "We're going out tomorrow. At six o'clock."
"Why?" cries Ellen. "What can you do?"
"We're going to catch the fish, and kill it."
“Do you think you can?"
"I don't know. But Quint thinks we can. And it's my job to help him."
“But it's not your job!” She is very angry and very afraid. She begins to cry.
Brody says nothing. Then he says, “No, you're right."
“Then why?"
"I don't think I can tell you," says Brody. "I don't think I know."
