It you love him, it is not a sin to kill him.
Or is it more?
"You think too much, old man," he said aloud.
But you enjoyed killing the dentuso, he thought. He lives on the live fish as you do. He is not a scavenger nor just a moving appetite as some sharks are. He is beautiful and noble and knows no fear of anything.
"I killed him in self-defense," the old man said aloud. "And I killed him well."
Besides, he thought, everything kills everything else in some way. Fishing kills me exactly as it keeps me alive. The boy keeps me alive, he thought. I must not deceive myself too much.
He leaned over the side and pulled loose a piece of the meat of the fish where the shark had cut him.
He chewed it and noted its quality and its good taste.
It was firm and juicy, like meat, but it was not red.
There was no stringiness in it and he knew that it would bring the highest price in the market.