Quote 13
"If you’re not tired, fish," he said aloud, "you must be very strange."
He felt very tired now and he knew the night would come soon and he tried to think of other things. (3.83, 3.84)
The old man uses "strange" as a word to connect himself with the fish. They are strange in their unique ability to endure beyond reasonable limits.
Quote 14
This is the second day now that I do not know the result of the juegos, he thought. But I must have confidence and I must be worthy of the great DiMaggio who does all things perfectly even with the pain of the bone spur in his heel. What is a bone spur? he asked himself. Un espuela de hueso. We do not have them. Can it be as painful as the spur of a fighting cock in one’s heel? I do not think I could endure that or the loss of the eye and of both eyes and continue to fight as the fighting cocks do. Man is not much beside the great birds and beasts. Still I would rather be that beast down there in the darkness of the sea. (3.85)
The old man believes that beasts are superior to man in their ability to endure. This is the opposite of what he previously thought.
Quote 15
The old man is superior to others not because of his strength, but because of his willingness to endure pain and his determination to win.
Although the black man is a better athlete than the old man, the old man is more determined and therefore wins.