О мышах и людях

           Carlsonlaughed.«YouGoddamnpunk,"hesaid.«YoutriedtothrowascareintoSlim,an’youcouldn’tmakeitstick.Slimthrowedascareintoyou.You’reyellaasafrogbelly.Idon’tcareifyou’rethebestwelterinthecountry.Youcomeforme,an’I’llkickyourGoddamnheadoff.»

           Candyjoinedtheattackwithjoy.«Glovefullavaseline,"hesaiddisgustedly.Curleyglaredathim.HiseyesslippedonpastandlightedonLennie;andLenniewasstillsmilingwithdelightatthememoryoftheranch.

           CurleysteppedovertoLennielikeaterrier.«Whatthehellyoulaughin’at?»

           Lennielookedblanklyathim.«Huh?»

           ThenCurley’srageexploded.«Comeon,yabigbastard.Getuponyourfeet.Nobigson-of-a-bitchisgonnalaughatme.I’llshowyawho’syella.»

           LennielookedhelplesslyatGeorge,andthenhegotupandtriedtoretreat.Curleywasbalancedandpoised.HeslashedatLenniewithhisleft,andthensmasheddownhisnosewitharight.Lenniegaveacryofterror.Bloodwelledfromhisnose.«George,"hecried.«Make‘umletmealone,George.»Hebackeduntilhewasagainstthewall,andCurleyfollowed,slugginghimintheface.Lennie’shandsremainedathissides;hewastoofrightenedtodefendhimself.

           Georgewasonhisfeetyelling,«Gethim,Lennie.Don’tlethimdoit.»

           Lenniecoveredhisfacewithhishugepawsandbleatedwithterror.Hecried,«Make‘umstop,George.»ThenCurleyattackedhisstomachandcutoffhiswind.

           Slimjumpedup.«Thedirtylittlerat,"hecried,«I’llget‘ummyself.»