О мышах и людях

           Caughtinamachine—baloney!Why,heain’tgivenobodythegoodol’one-twosincehegothishan’bust.Whobusthim?»

           Candyrepeatedsullenly,«Gotitcaughtinamachine.»

           «Awright,"shesaidcontemptuously.«Awright,cover‘imupifyawanta.WhattaIcare?Youbindlebumsthinkyou’resodamngood.WhattayathinkIam,akid?ItellyaIcouldofwentwithshows.Notjus’one,neither.An’aguytol’mehecouldputmeinpitchers...»Shewasbreathlesswithindignation.«—Sat’idaynight.Ever’bodyoutdoin’som’pin’.Ever’body!An’whatamIdoin’?Standin’heretalkin’toabunchofbindlestiffs—aniggeran’adum-dumandalousyol’sheep—an’likin’itbecausetheyain’tnobodyelse.»

           Lenniewatchedher,hismouthhalfopen.CrookshadretiredintotheterribleprotectivedignityoftheNegro.ButachangecameoveroldCandy.Hestoodupsuddenlyandknockedhisnailkegoverbackward.«Ihadenough,"hesaidangrily.«Youain’twantedhere.Wetoldyouyouain’t.An’Itellya,yougotfloozyidearsaboutwhatusguysamountsto.Youain’tgotsenseenoughinthatchickenheadtoevenseethatweain’tstiffs.S’poseyougetuscanned.S’poseyoudo.Youthinkwe’llhitthehighwayan’lookforanotherlousytwo-bitjoblikethis.Youdon’tknowthatwegotourownranchtogoto,an’ourownhouse.Weain’tgottostayhere.Wegottahouseandchickensan’fruittreesan’aplaceahunderdtimeprettierthanthis.An’wegotfren’s,that’swhatwegot.Maybetherewasatimewhenwewasscaredofgettin’canned,butweain’tnomore.Wegotourownlan’,andit’sours,an’wec’ngotoit.»

           Curley’swifelaughedathim.«Baloney,"shesaid.«Iseentoomanyyouguys.Ifyouhadtwobitsintheworl’,whyyou’dbeingettin’twoshotsofcornwithitandsuckin’thebottomoftheglass.Iknowyouguys.»