О мышах и людях

           WhentheycanmehereIwishtsomebody’dshootme.Buttheywon’tdonothinglikethat.Iwon’thavenoplacetogo,an’Ican’tgetnomorejobs.I’llhavethirtydollarsmorecomin’,timeyouguysisreadytoquit.»

           Georgestoodup.«We’lldoher,"hesaid.«We’llfixupthatlittleoldplacean’we’llgolivethere.»Hesatdownagain.Theyallsatstill,allbemusedbythebeautyofthething,eachmindwaspoppedintothefuturewhenthislovelythingshouldcomeabout.

           Georgesaidwonderingly,«S’posetheywasacarnivaloracircuscometotown,oraballgame,oranydamnthing.»OldCandynoddedinappreciationoftheidea.«We’djustgotoher,"Georgesaid.«Wewouldn’tasknobodyifwecould.Jus’say,‘We’llgotoher,’an’wewould.Jus’milkthecowandslingsomegraintothechickensan’gotoher.»

           «An’putsomegrasstotherabbits,"Lenniebrokein.«Iwouldn’tneverforgettofeedthem.Whenwegon’tadoit,George?»

           «Inonemonth.Rightsquackinonemonth.KnowwhatI’mgon’tado?I’mgon’tawritetothemoldpeoplethatownstheplacethatwe’lltakeit.An’Candy’llsendahunderddollarstobindher.»

           «Surewill,"saidCandy.«Theygotagoodstovethere?»

           «Sure,gotanicestove,burnscoalorwood.»

           «I’mgonnatakemypup,"saidLennie.«IbetbyChristhelikesitthere,byJesus.»

           Voiceswereapproachingfromoutside.Georgesaidquickly,«Don’ttellnobodyaboutit.Jus’usthreean’nobodyelse.Theyli’bletocanussowecan’tmakenostake.