"Come on!" "Come on." "Keep moving." "Come on." "Keep looking." "Attaboy." "Attaboy, sniff it out." "Pick it up, boy." "Pick it up." "Come on." "Come on." "Lennie." "Get down." "Hurry up." "Get up there." " George?" " What d'you want?" "Where are we going?" "To get away from here." "I'm all wet." "Come on, let's take off your coat." "Come on." "Come on." "Just lay down and get some rest." "George?" "Go to sleep, Lennie." "I'm sleeping, George." " George, where are we going?" " We're going to a ranch to work." "Come on." "You get off here." "George, wake up." "You're in Soledad." "We're going to the Tyler ranch." "You gotta get off here." "The ranch is down the road." " How far?" " Just down the road a stretch." " Where the hell is it?" " George?" " Yeah?" " Where are we going?" "Jesus Christ, you're a crazy bastard." "I forgot, George." "I tried not to, then I forgot." "I spend all my time telling you things, then you forget 'em." "I remember about the rabbits." "The hell with them rabbits." "That's all you can remember." "OK, listen." "This time don't forget." "We went into Murray and Ready's." " They give us work cards and bus tickets." " George, I remember that now." "But George, I ain't got mine." "I must've lost it." "I got both of 'em." "You think I'd let you carry your own work card?" "I thought I had it in my own pocket." "What did you take out of that pocket?" "There's nothing in the pocket, George." "I know it ain't." "You got it in your hand." "Now, what you got in your hand?" "George, that's just my mouse." "But I didn't kill it, George." "Honest, I found it dead." "Oh, jeez." " Give it here." " George, leave me have it." "Give it here." "What do you want with a dead mouse anyway?" "I was just petting it with the fingers while we was walking along." "Yeah, well, you ain't petting no mice when you walk with me." "You gonna give me that mouse, or am I gonna have to sock you?" "Come on." "Blubbering like a baby, a big guy like you!" "Lennie, I ain't taking it away for meanness." "That mouse ain't fresh, Lennie." "Get another mouse that's fresh, I'll let you keep him." "I don't know where there is no other mouse." "The lady used to give me some, but that lady ain't here no more." "Lady?" "Don't you even remember who that lady was?" "That's your Aunt Clara." "She stopped giving 'em to you." "You was always killing 'em by petting 'em too hard." "I'll tell you what I'll do." "First chance I get, I'll get you a puppy." "Huh?" "That'd be better than mice." "You could pet 'em harder." "OK?" "Huh?" "Hey." "Hey!" "Hey!" "Son of a bitch!" "What did you say, George?" "I said "son of a bitch"." "The bus driver lied to us." "Just too damn lazy to stop at the ranch gate." " Son of a bitch!" "  Son of a bitch!" "Jesus Christ, George, I said it too." " Yeah, I heard you." " George, we wasn't supposed to say that." "Yeah, why not?" "Aunt Clara don't like it." "Yeah, well, she's dead." "Lennie." "Don't drink so much." "Hey." "That's good, George." "You have a drink." "You have a good, big drink." "It's nice here." "I think we'll just spend the night and go to the ranch tomorrow." "Ain't we gonna get no supper?" "Yeah, sure we are." "I got three cans of beans in my bindle." "I like beans with ketchup." "I like beans with ketchup." "We ain't got any." "Go on." "Go get some wood so we can build a fire." " We got enough beans here for four men." " l like 'em with ketchup." "We ain't got any." "Goddamnit!" "Whatever we ain't got, that's what you want." "George?" "George?" " What d'you want?" " George, I was only fooling." "I don't..." "I don't want no ketchup." "If it was here, you could have some." "George, I wouldn't eat no ketchup." "I'd leave it all for you and you could cover your beans with it." "I wouldn't touch none of it." "When I think of the swell time I could have without you, phew, I go nuts." "I never get any peace." "If I was alone, I could live so easy." "I could get a job and work and no trouble." "And when the end of the month come, I could take my 50 bucks, I could go into town, I could get whatever I want." "I could stay in a cathouse all night." "What do I got?" "I got you." "You can't keep a job." "Lose me every job I get." "Keep me shoving' all over the country, all the time." "That ain't the worst." "You get in trouble." "You do bad things and I got to get you out all the time!" "Crazy son of a bitch, you keep me in hot water all the time." "George, you... you want I should go away and leave you alone?" "Where the hell would you go?" "I could go... I could go off in them hills there and find a cave." "Yeah?" "How'd you eat?" "You ain't got sense enough to find nothin' to eat." "I find things. I don't need this nice food with ketchup." "George, if you don't want me, I go off in them hills and get a cave." "And I wouldn't get no mice stole off me either." "Jesus Christ, your Aunt Clara wouldn't like you running off by yourself." "Hey!" "Well, go get some wood so we can build a fire afore it gets dark." " George?" " What?" "Tell me like you done before." " Tell you what?" " About the..." " About the rabbits." " Not tonight." "Come on, George." "Tell like you done before." "Please?" "Please?" "Please?" "You get a kick out of that, don't you?" "OK." "I will." "Guys like us that work on ranches are the loneliest guys in the world." "They ain't go no family and they don't belong no place." " They got nothin' to look ahead to." " But not us, George." "Tell about us now." "Well, we ain't like that." "We got a future." "We got somebody to talk to that gives a damn about us." "If them other guys gets in jail, they can rot for all anybody cares." "But not us, George, because I..." "See, I got you to look after me, but you got me to look after." "But, George, tell about how it's gonna be." "OK." "Someday... we're gonna have us a little house and a couple of acres," " and a cow and a pig and chickens." " Pig and chic..." "We gonna live off the fat of the land, and have rabbits." "And have rabbits." " George, tell what we got in the garden." " OK." "Then tell about the rabbits in winter, and about the stove and, uh..." " how thick the cream was on the milk." " Yeah." " Go ahead, tell it." " Why don't you do it?" "You know all of it." "George, no!" "George, no, it's not the same when I tell it." "That's not the same." "Tell, um, what..." "how I get to tend the rabbits." "We're gonna have a big vegetable patch and we're gonna have a rabbit hutch." " And down in the flat, we'll have a..." ".." "little field of alfalfa for the rabbits." " And I get to tend the rabbits." " Yeah, you get to tend the rabbits." "When it rains in the winter, we'll just say "The hell with going to work,"" "and we'll just build a fire in the stove, and we'll just sit there and we'll listen to the rain." "Lennie, I want you to look around here." "If you get in any trouble, I want you to come right here." " You hide over here in the brush." " Hide in the brush." "You hide in the brush until I come for you." "Can you remember that?" "Sure I can, George." "Hide in the brush till you come for me." "If you do get in trouble, I ain't gonna let you tend the rabbits." "I'm not gonna get into any trouble." "OK." "I can remember, by God." "Let's get some rest." "It'll be nice sleeping here, just looking up at the leaves." "George?" "What do you want?" "I..." "I think we should get them different colour rabbits." "Sure." "Red rabbits and blue rabbits and green rabbits." " Leave 'em alone." " Be quiet, dogs." "Be quiet, goddamnit." "Be quiet!" "Shut up, Smiley!" "Shut up." "Smiley, down." " You fellas looking for something?" " Yeah." "We come here to work." " Where's the boss?" " He's up at the ranch house." "I'm Candy." "Come on, I'll take you up there." "He was expecting you last night." "He was sore as hell that you wasn't here to go out this morning." "He come in when we was having breakfast." "He said "Goddamnit, where the hell is them new men?"" "And he gives the stable buck hell too." "You see, the stable buck's a nigger." "Ah!" "There he goes." "He got a crooked back where a horse kicked him one day." "The boss gives him hell every time he gets mad." "But the stable buck..." "The stable buck don't give a damn about that." "Boss's office in here." "Come in." "These guys just came." "I wrote Murray and Ready..." "for two men to work this morning." "Where's your work slips?" "is my slip in there?" "It wasn't Murray and Ready's fault." "Says right here you were supposed to be ready to work this morning." "Bus driver lied to us." "We had to walk ten miles." "I don't give a damn about that." " What's your name?" " George Milton." " What's yours?" " His name's Lennie Small." " Where you boys been working?" " Up around Weed." " What about you?" " Yeah, him too." "He's not much of a talker, is he?" "No, no, he ain't." "But he's a hell of a good worker." "He's strong as a bull." "Strong as a bull?" "Uh, he can do anything you tell him." "He's a.." "He's a good skinner." "He can wrestle grain bags, drive a cultivator." "Cultivator." "Ah, but... I ain't sayin' he's bright - he ain't." "But he's a... he's a damn good worker." "Say... what you selling?" "What's your stake in this guy?" "Are you taking his pay from him?" "Hell, no." "He's my cousin." "I told his old lady I'd take care of him." "He got kicked in the head by a horse when he was a kid." "All right." "But you'd better not try to put anything over on me." "Now catch your grain teams after dinner." "Well, I wasn't kicked in the head with no horse, George." "Be a damn good thing if you was." "Save everybody a hell of a lot of trouble." "You... you said I was your cousin." "Well, that was a lie. lf l was a relative of yours, I'd shoot myself." "Come on, I'll show you the bunkhouse." "Come on." "Come on, boy." "Come on, come on." "You can take these two bunks right here." "That's a hell of an old dog." "Yeah." "And he's getting older too." "I had him since he was a pup." "God, he was a great sheepdog when he was younger." "Hey... what the hell is this?" "Says "Positively kills lice, roaches and other scourges"." "What the hell kind of beds are you giving us?" "Now, wait a minute there, young fella." "Wait a minute." "Let me see what you're talking about." "Oh, yeah, yeah." "Now I remember." "Last guy that had this bunk was a blacksmith." "He'd squirt this stuff around even if there was no bugs." "He used to... he used to wash his hands even after he ate." "Candy!" " You seen my old man?" " Yeah, he's up at the house." " You the guys the old man's waiting for?" " Yeah, we just came in." " Let the big guy talk." " Suppose he don't wanna talk?" "What the hell you gettin' into this for?" "We travel together." " Oh." "Oh." "So it's that way." " Yeah, it's that way." "And you won't let the big guy talk, is that it?" "We just come in." "Yeah, well, next time you answer when you're spoken to." "Say, what the hell...?" "Lennie didn't do nothing to him." "That's the boss's son." "Curley's pretty handy with his fists." " Done a lot of fighting in the ring." " What's he got against Lennie?" "Well, I'll tell you what." "Curley's like a lot of little guys." "Hates big guys." "Kinda like he's mad at 'em cos he ain't a big guy." "Yeah, yeah." "Well, he better make no mistake about Lennie." "Lennie ain't handy." "This Curley's gonna get hurt if he messes around with Lennie." "Yeah, well." "Hey, come here. I wanna show you something." "Come on." "Come on, boy." "Come here, come here." "I wanna show you something." " You see that glove on his left hand?" " Yeah." " Well, that glove's full of Vaseline." " What the hell for?" "Curley says he's keeping that hand soft for his wife." "That's a real nice thing to tell around." "Come on, boy." "Come on." "Lennie." " Look." "See that guy?" " Yeah." " The one that was just in here?" " Yeah." "He figures he got you scared." "He's gonna take a sock at you first chance he gets." "George, I don't want no trouble." "Don't let him sock at me." "Just try to keep away from him, will ya?" "If he comes in the bunkhouse again, move to the other side of the room." "George..." "George, you ain't mad at me, are you?" "No, I ain't mad." "Just try to keep away from Curley." "Don't let him pull you in." "Sure." "George, I wasn't gonna say a word." "You get in any trouble, you remember what I told you." "If I get in any trouble, I don't get to tend them rabbits." "No, that's not what I mean." "Remember where we slept last night, down by the river?" "I'm looking for Curley." "He was here a minute ago, but he went." "Oh." "Sometimes Curley's in here." "He ain't now." "Well, if he ain't, I guess I better look someplace else." "If I see him, I'll tell him you was lookin' for him." "Nobody can't blame a person for looking." "See ya around." " She's pretty." " Lennie..." " Don't you think she's pretty?" " Listen to me, goddamnit!" " Don't you even look at her." " But... I don't care what she says or does, she's a rat-trap." "But I wasn't doing nothing." "When she was shoving her legs around, you weren't looking the other way neither." "Keep away from her." "I don't like this place." " You the new guys?" " Yeah." "I'm Slim." "You're gonna be on my team." "I'm George Milton." "This here's Lennie Small." " You travel around together?" " Yeah." "There ain't many guys travel around together. I don't know why." "Maybe everybody in the whole damn world's scared of each other." "Maybe." "So, you ever bucked barley before?" "Hell, yes. I ain't nothin' to scream about, but..." "Lennie's strong as a bull." "Good." "I got a pair of punks on my team, they don't know a barley bag from a blue ball." "These guys just came." "I meant to ask you, Slim." "How many puppies your bitch have?" "Well, she slung eight of 'em." "I drowned four right off." "She couldn't feed that many." "I just kept the biggest." "Candy's dog is old and no good." "You oughta get Candy to shoot that dog." "Then you could give him one of the pups." "All right." "George, ask that man, can I have one of his pups?" "Yeah, I will." "Don't worry." "Come on, get up." "You done real good today, Lennie." "You done real good." "OK, I'll ask him now." " Slim." " Yeah?" "George, can I have this white one?" "Well, if that's the one you want." "Can he stay here and hold it awhile?" "Sure." "Lennie, you can't take that pup out of here." " lt's too young to leave the mother." " l ain't going to, George." "Come on." "Ma-ma-ma-ma-ma." "That's it, take it easy." " You talking today?" " Nah, he ain't." "He's too busy working." " ls he a good worker?" " Best I ever had." " What about his partner?" " What about him?" "is he a good worker?" "My old man wants to know." "Yeah, he's a good worker." "Ha!" "Giddap." "Come on, Violet." "Come on, girl." "George, this mule has a sore foot." "Lead her back to the stable" " and ask Crooks to give you another one." " Sure." " Go on, girl." " Come on, girl." "Come on." "Go on, now." "Jake!" "Come on, girl." "Come on." "Attagirl." "Come on." "Come on, now." "Come on." "Come on." "Come on!" "Crooks!" "Can I help?" "No." "I'm looking for Crooks." "This mule's got a hurt foot." "He ain't here." "Nobody's here but me." "And now you." "I feel so lazy today." "You feel lazy?" "No." "I could take a nap right here." "It's nice and cool here in the barn, and quiet." "Everybody out in the fields working in the hot sun." "Here we are in a cool barn." "I got a hurt foot too." "I got mad at Curley last night, kicked at him and missed - kicked a chair instead." "Let go of that old mule and talk to me." "Are you from far away?" "Pretty far." "How far is far away?" "What's the town you came from?" "You wouldn't know it if I told you." "You got a sweetheart back there?" "No." "Did you ever have a sweetheart?" "No." "You never had a sweetheart?" "No." "You're kidding me." "A good-looking guy like you must have had a million sweethearts." "Your name's George, ain't it?" " What the hell you doing out here?" " Nothing." "Just trying to keep cool." " l ain't talking to you." " Who you talking to?" " l'm talking to him." " His name's George." "I know what his name is." "What are you doin' out here?" " Minding my own business." " Yeah." "The last guy I caught out in the barn, I beat the hell out of him and kicked him off my ranch." " Get on back to the house." " You don't own me, Curley." "Shut up." "Get back in the house." "..very high." "About 10,000, 12,000 feet." "How do you like your pup, Lennie?" "I like that puppy. it's white, like I wanted." " Lennie." " Yeah." " l told you not to bring that pup in here." " George, I ain't got no pup in here." "George, give... give..." "Give it to me!" "George, give it to me." "George, I didn't mean no harm." "George, please, I'll take it back to the barn." "I just want to feel him a little bit." "All right." "Don't you take him out no more." "Jesus." "He's still just like a kid, ain't he?" "Either of you guys got a slug of whisky?" " l got a gut ache." " l ain't. I'd drink it myself if I had." "I ain't got no gut ache." "Come here." "God Almighty, that dog of yours stinks, Candy." "He's got no teeth." "He's all stiff from rheumatism." "He ain't no good to ya." "Hell, he ain't no good to hisself." "Why don't you just shoot him, Candy?" "Well!" "I couldn't do that." "I had him too long." "I herded sheep with him." "That poor old dog just suffers hisself all the time." "No." "No." "Look." "Take him out and shoot him right in the back of the head." "Right there." "Hell, he'd never even know what hit him." "Aw... I couldn't do that." "I had him too long." "I'll shoot him for ya." "Then it won't be you that done it." " No." " Slim's bitch has got a litter right now." "I'll bet you Slim would give you one of her pups to raise." "Sure." "You can have any one of them pups you want." "No, no, no." "Carlson's right, Candy." "That dog ain't no good to hisself." "Hey, Slim." "Read this." ""Dear Editor, I read your magazine for six years. lt's the best in the market."" ""l like stories by Peter Rand."" " What you want me to read that for?" " Go on." "Read the name at the bottom." " "Yours for success, William Tanner."" " You met Bill Tanner?" "Yeah." "Bald-headed guy, drove a cultivator." "That's him." "Candy, if you want me to, I'll put that old dog out of his misery right now." "Won't hurt him at all." " Let's wait till tomorrow." " l don't see why." "Let's get it over with." "We can't sleep with that stinking dog in here." "All right." "Take him." "Come on, boy." "Come on." "He won't even feel it." "Come on, boy." "Come on." "Carlson..." " Get a shovel." " Yeah." "Candy." "You can have any one of them pups you want." "Uh..." "Does anybody wanna play a little rummy?" "Yeah." "You deal." "Hey, hey." "Hey, hey." " Slim?" " Yeah." "I can't keep up with that guy. lt'll kill me." "All right." " Jack!" " Yeah." "Take Mike's place." " Aw, Slim." " Just for a while." "Mike, you take Jack's place." "You're on there." "So how long you and Lennie been together, George?" "A long time." "A real long time." "Really?" "Seems kinda funny, you two travelling around together." "What's funny about it?" "Well, a cuckoo like him and a smart guy like you." "Well, I ain't so smart or I wouldn't be bucking barley for my 50 bucks a month." "I guess you're right." "How'd you two meet up?" "Well, I knew his Aunt Clara." "She took him when he was a boy." "She raised him up." "When she died, Lennie just come along with me working." "Uh-huh." "I used to play jokes on him cos he's too damn dumb to take care of himself." "He'd do any damn thing I told him." "Put that on back in here." "One day, a bunch of guys standing around on the Sacramento River, I turns to him and I says "Jump in, Lennie."" "And he jumps." "Couldn't swim a stroke." "He damn near drowned before we could get to him." "He was so damn nice to me for pulling him out, he forgot I told him to jump in." "He's a nice fella." "A guy don't need no sense to be a nice fella." "Yeah." "He gets in trouble all the time cos he's so goddamn dumb." "Like what happened up north in Weed." "What'd he do in Weed?" "He seen this girl, in a red dress, and the dumb bastard that he is, he just..." "He wants to touch everything he likes, so he reaches out to touch this red dress." "So the girl starts screaming, and that gets Lennie all mixed up, so he holds on and he won't let go, cos that's the only thing he can think to do." "So what happened?" "Well, she runs off across the field, screaming." "So me and Lennie take off running." "Pretty soon we hear a bunch of guys with dogs coming after us." "Had to hide in the irrigation ditch until it was safe to get away." "He didn't hurt the girl none?" "Hell, no." "He just scared her." "Well... he ain't mean." "I can tell a mean guy a mile off." "Milton!" "I ain't paying' you to stand around." " Get back to work." " He just come over for a drink of water." "You get back to work." "You get these men moving." "They're way behind." "You men get moving here." "Let's go." "Goddamnit, stop that racket!" "Lennie." "I told you not to bring that pup in here." "I ain't got no pup." " Any of you boys seen my wife?" " She ain't been here." " Where the hell's Slim?" " Went out to the barn." "Carlson, do you think he's gonna find Slim in the barn with his wife?" "Better not tangle with Slim." "Curley's lookin' for a fight." "I gotta see this." "Come on." "No, I'll stay here." "Thanks." " Was Curley's wife in the barn?" " lf she was, I didn't see her." "George." "Both the ends is the same." " Why both the ends is the same?" " lt's just the way they make 'em." "You sure she didn't come in the barn, like she come in here?" "No, she never." "Give me a good whorehouse every time." "A guy can go in, get drunk, get it all out of his system all at once, and no messes." " George." " Yeah?" "How long is it gonna be till we get the little place and live off the fat of the land?" "Gotta get some money together first." "I know a little place where you can get cheap, but they ain't giving it away." "Tell about that place." "It's ten acres." "It's got a windmill." "Got a little shack on it, and a chicken run." "Got rabbits, George?" "I could easily build a few hutches and you could feed 'em alfalfa." "You're damn right." "You're goddamn right I could." "But, George, tell about the house." "Well, we have a little house, and we have a room to ourself." "And we have a little, fat, iron stove, and in the winter we keep a fire going in it." "And rabbits, George." "And that..." "But I tend 'em." "How do I tend them rabbits?" "Well, you go out to the alfalfa field." "You have a sack." "You fill up that sack and you bring it in and you put it in the rabbit cage." "You have a few pigeons that fly around the windmill, like they done when I was a kid." "And it'd be our home." "Nobody could can us." "We don't like a guy, we just say "Get the hell out."" "If a friend come, we'd have an extra bunk." "We'd say "Why don't you spend the night?" and, by God, he would." "We'd have a dog and a couple of cats, but you got to make sure them cats don't get them rabbits." "But... you just let them try." "I'm gonna break them goddamn cats' necks. I smash them cats with a stick." "You know a place like this?" "Suppose l do." "What's it to you?" "How much they want for a place like that?" " Could get it for 600 bucks." " 600." "Old people that owns it is broke." "I ain't much good with only one hand." "That's why they give me a job sweeping." "And they give me $250 cos l lost my hand." "And I got 50 more saved in the bank right now." "That's, uh... 300." "And I got 50 more coming at the end of the month." "Suppose l went in with you fellas." "That'd be $350 that I'd put in." "Now, let me tell you something." "I could cook, and I could tend the chickens, and I could hoe in the garden." "Huh?" " Now, how would that be?" " OK." "I got to think about that." "We was gonna do it by ourselves." "We were gonna do it by ourselves." "Well, now, wait a minute." "I'll tell you what." "I'd make a will and leave my share to you guys in case I kick off." "I ain't got no relatives or nothin'." "You fellas got any money?" "Maybe we can do it now." " We got ten bucks between us." " We got ten bucks." " Ten bucks." " Yeah." "You seen what they done to my dog?" "They said he wasn't no good no more." "I wish somebody'd shoot me when I ain't no good, but they won't do that." "They'll can me, and I ain't gonna have no place to go." "Look, if me and Lennie work a month and we don't spend nothin', we'll have 100 bucks." "And you got 350?" "Yeah, and you can have every cent of it." "That'd be 450." "Jesus Christ, I bet we could get it for that." "You two could get her started." "I'd work and make up the rest." "I'm gonna take that goddamn pup." "Sure, sure, sure." "You know what I'm gonna do?" "I'll write those two old people that we'll take it." "Candy will send $100 to hold it?" "I sure will. I'll have 30 more dollars the time you guys is ready to quit." "I get to tend the rabbits." "Tell him, George." "Tell him he can't do it." "I'll get to hoe in the garden, even if I ain't no good at it?" " They got a nice stove there?" " Yeah, yeah." "They got a real nice stove!" "But I bet that pup will like it there." "We're gonna do it, goddamnit." "We can fix up that little old place and live there." "When we gonna do it?" "One month." "Right smack in one month." "Now, don't tell nobody about it." " Just us three and nobody else." " Don't tell nobody." "George, I ought to have shot that dog myself." "I should not let no stranger shoot my dog." " Shut up. I'm tired of..." " l just asked you!" "You've been asking me too often and I'm damn sick of it." "If you can't look after your goddamn wife, what do you expect me to do about it, huh?" " Lay off me." " Didn't mean nothing by it." " l said lay off." " Just thought you might have seen her." " Tell her to stay home." " You keep out of this." "You goddamn punk." "You're yellow as a frog belly." "You may be the best welterweight in the country," " but I'll kick your goddamn head in." "What the hell you laughing about?" "Huh?" "You!" "Come on, you big bastard, get up." "No big son of a bitch is gonna laugh at me." "Get up." " l'll show you who's yellow." " You got no cause for..." "Get up!" " Come on, Curley!" " Get up and fight." " He didn't do nothing." "Leave him alone." "  l didn't." "Cut it out, Curley." " Fight back." " Make him stop." " Get him, Lennie." "Get him, Lennie!" "Get him!" "Get him off of me!" "Get him off of me!" "Lennie." "Slim, help me." " Lennie." " Oh, God!" "Lennie!" "Lennie!" "Lennie!" "Let go!" "Lennie!" "Let go of his hand." "Let go." "Jesus." "You told me to, George." "You told me to." "I know, I know." "Take it easy now." "Calm down." "We gotta get him to a doctor." "Carlson, get the wagon hitched up." "We'll take him into Soledad to get him fixed up." "I didn't wanna hurt him." "I didn't wanna hurt him." "I know. I know." "It ain't your fault, Lennie." "This punk had it coming to him." "Slim, is Curley's old man gonna can us now?" "Hey, you hear me?" "Huh?" "Hey!" " You hear me?" " Huh?" "I think you got your hand caught in a machine." "Now, if you don't tell nobody what happened, we ain't going to." "But you just tell, and try to get this guy canned, we're gonna tell everybody what really happened." " You got that?" "Huh?" " Uh-huh." "George, you and Whitt, give me a hand." "Come on." "Lift him up." "That's it." "Candy, get the door." "Whitt, you go on into town with Carlson." "George." "Jesus, you look like hell." "Do... do I still get to tend the rabbits?" "Sure, you ain't done nothing wrong." "Thanks a lot. I didn't want no trouble." "It's all right. I know you didn't." "Come on." "You be quiet so I can clean you up." "OK?" "OK?" "Hi, boys." "It's hot out here." "Not cool like in the barn." "I said it's hot out here!" "Why don't you go back to your house now?" "We don't want no trouble." "I ain't giving you no trouble." "Think I don't like to talk to somebody every once in a while?" "You got a husband." "Go talk to him." "Sure, I got a husband." "Swell guy, ain't he?" "Say, what happened to Curley's hand?" "He got his hand caught in a machine." "Baloney!" "What you think you're selling me?" "How'd you get them bruises on your face?" " Who, me?" " Yeah, you." "Got his hand caught in a machine." "Yeah, OK." "Lennie." "I'm gonna go into town with the guys." " Can I stay here?" " Yeah, yeah." "Just stay here for a while and then go back to the bunkhouse." "OK." "Come on, George." "Don't you get in no trouble." "You ain't got no right to come into my room." "Ain't nobody got a right to be in here but me." " l..." "I seen your light." " Yeah, well, I got a right to have a light." "Now, I ain't wanted in those bunkhouses and you ain't wanted in my room." " Why ain't you wanted?" " Because I'm black." "They say I stink." "Well, I'll tell you, all of y'all stink to me." "Everybody went into town." " Well, what you want?" " Nothing. I see..." "I... I seen your light." "Well, come on in and sit awhile if you won't get out of here and leave me alone." "Goddamn your soul." "All the boys go into town?" "All but old Candy." "He just sat in the bunkhouse, figuring about the rabbits." "What rabbits you talkin' about?" "The rabbits we're gonna get, and I get to tend 'em." "You're nuts." "You're crazy as a wedge." "I don't blame that guy you travel with for keeping you out of sight." "No, every word is the truth." "You can ask George." "You travel around with George, don't you?" "Sure." "Me and George go everywhere together." "And sometimes he talk to you and you don't understand what the hell he's talking about." "Ain't that so?" "How long do you think it's gonna be before them puppies are old enough to take away from its mother?" "Boy, I tell you." "A guy can talk to you and be sure you ain't gonna go blabbing." "Uh-uh!" "Just talking and you don't understand nothing." "It don't make no difference if you don't hear or understand, you just... ..talking." "Just talking." "Just being with another guy." "That's all." "Suppose..." "George don't come back no more." "What you do then?" "What?" "I said suppose George go into town tonight and you never heard of him no more." "George would never do nothing like that." "Well, suppose he get hurt or killed and he can't come back." "George can't get killed cos George is careful." "Well, just suppose." "Suppose he don't come back." "What you do then?" "I don't know." "Gee, why are you doing anyways?" " That ain't true." "George ain't hurt." " Shall I tell you what'd happen?" "They'd take you to the booby hatch and lock you up with a collar, like a dog." " Who'll hurt George?" "  Just supposin'." "George ain't hurt." "He's all right." "He's gonna come back." " Then what you supposing for?" " Oh, I..." "Ain't nobody talk no hurt to George." "Just keep calm." "Now, now, George ain't hurt." "Ain't nobody talk no hurt to George." "George'll be back." "All right, all right, all right." "Just sit down." "Calm down." "Go on." "Maybe you can see now." "You got George." "Suppose you ain't got nobody." "Suppose you can't go into the bunkhouse and play rummy because you's black." "Suppose you have to sit out here with the mules and read books." "Books ain't no good." "A guy goes nuts, he ain't got nobody." "I tell ya, a guy gets too lonely, he gets sick." "Maybe George come back already." "Maybe I better go see." "I..." "I didn't mean to scare you." "George gonna come back all right." "I was just talking about myself, that's all." "We're gonna get a little place of land and rabbits and windmill." "You're nuts." "Lennie!" " That's George." "George is back." " Yeah." "I'm in here, George." "You shouldn't be in here." "Yeah, well, I told him, but he come on in anyway." " Why didn't you kick him out?" " Well, I... I guess I didn't care much." "Come on." "Night." "George, I thought you were gonna stay in town." " Well, why'd you think that?" " That nigger told me." "He tell you got hurt." "Hey!" "Did you see Curley in town?" "No." "He went into town." "His old man went into town, too." "Yeah." "I couldn't even play my records tonight." "I got no records left. I had four." ""Am I Blue", "Little by Little", "Button Up Your Overcoat" and "Ten Cents a Dance"." "Curley got mad at me after supper, broke all my records." "I know how you got them bruises on your face." "And how Curley got his hand busted." "He got his hand caught in a machine." "Yeah." "All right." "If you say so." "Someday I'm going into town, and no one's ever gonna see me again." "Not Curley, not his old man, not a damn one of you bindle stiffs!" "George, she's crying." "George, why is she crying?" "I don't know." " l finished the letter." " Oh, that's good." "Good, that's good." "Maybe we should send the binding money?" "No, no." "Let's wait till we hear back from 'em." " Well, I hope they ain't already sold it." " Oh, don't you worry about that." "George, I'll tell you what. I'd feel a lot better sending the money now." "Well, let me think about it." "You know, I could hardly sleep last night, thinking about us getting that farm." "We'll be there before you know it." "Come on, Crooks, put it in." "Oh, good shot." "That's the way." "Still in there." "Why did you get killed?" "You ain't seen so little as the mice." "George is never gonna let me tend my rabbits if he finds out you got killed." "Come on, George." "Put that ringer on." "One of 'em got very close." " OK, Slim, come on." " Shut up, Smiley." " Ringer time." " Ringer time." "What you got there, sonny boy?" "George says I ain't got nothing to do with you." "George giving you orders about everything?" "I ain't gonna talk to you or nothing." "The guys got a horseshoe tournament going on." "None of them guys is gonna leave." "Why can't I talk to you?" "I never get to talk to nobody." "I get awful lonely." "I ain't supposed to talk to you." "You can talk to people, but I can't talk to nobody but Curley, or else he gets mad." "How'd you like not to talk to anybody?" "What you got covered up there?" "I..." "That's the pup." "That's the little pup." "Why, it's dead." "But I was just playin' with him." "Don't you worry none." "He's just a mutt." "You can get another one, easy." "Well, it ain't that so much, but George ain't gonna let me tend them rabbits now." " Why don't he?" " Well, he said when... I did any bad things, then I wouldn't be able to tend them rabbits." "Don't you worry about talking to me." "Listen to the guys yell." "They ain't gonna leave till it's over." "I ain't supposed to talk to you." "George said he'd give me hell." "He told me this." "Well, what's the matter with me?" "Ain't I got a right to talk to nobody?" "George says you get the people in a mess." "Oh, nuts." "What kinda harm am I doing to you?" "I tell ya, I ain't used to living like this." "I could've made something outta myself." "Maybe I will yet." "A show come through Salinas, and I met one of the actors." "He says I could go with the show." "My old lady wouldn't let me, but this guy says I coulda." "If I went, I wouldn't be living like this." "You bet." "Say, we were supposed to get a little place and then get rabbits." "Another time, I met a guy - he was in the pictures." "Went out to the Riverside Dance Palace with him." "He says he was gonna put me in the movies." "He says I was a natural." "As soon as he got back to Hollywood he was gonna write to me about it." "I never did get that letter." "I always thought my old lady stole it, too." "She said no." "So, um..." "I married Curley." "Met him out at the Riverside Dance Palace that same night." " Are you listenin'?" " Sure." "I ain't told this to nobody before." "And maybe I oughtn't to." "I don't like Curley." "He ain't a nice fella." "I could've been in the movies." "Had nice clothes." "This guy said I was a natural." "Maybe if you took this pup and you throwed him away, then George would never know and I'd get to tend them rabbits with no trouble." "What makes you so nuts about rabbits?" "I like to pet nice things with the fingers." "Soft things." "Well, who don't?" "Everybody likes that." "Do you like to feel velvet?" "You bet, by God." "I had me some too." "The lady give me some and then I lost it." "You're nuts." "But you're kinda a nice fella." "Just like a big baby." "Sometimes when I'm doing my hair, I just sit and stroke it cos it's so soft." "Feel right here." "That's nice." "Like it, don't ya?" "I like it too. lt feels nice." "That's nice." "That's nice." "Don't mess it up." "Look out now." "You'll mess it up." "Don't muss it up." "Let go." "Let go." "You let go." " Don't." "Don't." " Let go." " Let go!" " Sssh!" "Sssh!" " Hey, no." "Hey, don't do none of that." "Please, don't you go yelling." "Don't!" "Don't you go yelling." "Don't!" "Don't!" "Don't yell!" "Don't do that!" "George is gonna be mad if you yell." "Don't wanna hurt you, but you're gonna get me in trouble." "You done a bad thing." "I done a bad thing." "I done a really bad thing." "Lennie!" "Lennie!" "Lennie, I got something here to show you." "I didn't know you was out here." "You oughtn't to sleep out here." "Jesus Christ." "Hey!" "Damn." "What are we gonna do now, George?" " We oughta tell the guys." " No, no." "We oughta let him get away." "You don't know that Curley." "Curley's gonna wanna get him lynched." "I ain't gonna let him hurt Lennie." "All right, now, listen." "The guys might think I was in on it." "So I'm gonna go in the bunkhouse, and then you give me a minute, then you come out and tell the guys about her, and then I'll come along and make like I never seen her." "Will you do that?" "Sure, George." "Slim!" "Slim!" "Something happened to Curley's wife." "Come quick." "Come quick." "Come on." "Come on, come on, come on!" " What the hell's going on, Candy?" " Let's go see." "Come on." "Move it." "She ain't moving." "I know who done it." "That little son of a bitch done it." "I'm gonna get him." "I'm gonna get my rifle and I'm gonna kill that son of a bitch myself." " l'll get my gun." " l'll go with you." "Tom, let's get the horses." "I guess Lennie done it, all right." "Her..." "Her neck's bust." "Lennie could've done that?" " Well, I guess we gotta get him." " Couldn't you bring him in... and... and lock him up?" "He's nuts." "He never done this to be mean." "If we could keep Curley in, we might." "But Curley's gonna wanna shoot him." "And suppose they lock him up and strap him down and put him in a cage?" "That ain't no good, George." "Come on, men." "Let's get a move on it." "That bastard stole my gun." "It ain't in my bunk." "Nigger's got a shotgun." "Take his." "Curley, maybe you'd better stay here with your wife." "Oh, no, goddamnit." "I'm gonna kill the son of a bitch myself." "Come on, let's move!" "Whitt, Mike, Carlson, you fellas ride with me." "Anybody finds him, hold him till I get there cos l want the first crack at him." "Slim!" "Take your men south." "I'm gonna take my men north." "Let 'em go." "Come on, move out!" "Move it." "Come on, let's go." "What you gonna do?" "George?" " Find Lennie before they get to him." " Are you gonna help him get away?" "I don't know." "I don't know what I'm gonna do." "Lennie." "Lennie!" "Lennie!" "George." "George, I didn't..." "I didn't forget, George." "I didn't..." "I didn't remember where we was, but I didn't forget." " l just..." "I couldn't find it." " lt's OK." " l couldn't find it." " lt's OK." "OK?" "I didn't forget what you told me." "It's OK." "It's OK." "George?" "Yeah?" "Ain't ya gonna give me hell?" "Like..." "like you done before?" "Like "lf l didn't have you, I'd take my 50 bucks, go into a cathouse..."" "Jesus Christ, Lennie." "You can't remember nothing that happens, but you remember every word I say." "I thought you was mad at me, George." "No." "I ain't mad." "I ain't never been mad." "You ain't gonna leave me, George." "I know you ain't." "Nope." "George, I done..." "I done a bad thing." "It don't make no difference." "George..." "George, where are we gonna go now?" "I don't know." "I..." "I like it here." "George, tell me like you done before." "About them other guys and about us." "George, tell it like you done before." "OK." "OK." "You look over there." "OK?" "I'll tell ya." "So you can almost see it." "OK?" " Where?" " Over there." " OK?" "Over there." " OK." "Guys like us, they got no family." "They ain't got nobody who gives a hoot in hell about 'em." "But not us, George." "That's it, George." "But not us." "Tell about us now." " Not us." " Because..." " Cos I got you." " And I got you, George." "That's what gives a hoot in hell about us." "George, but tell now how it's gonna be." "We're gonna get a little place." "OK." "Yeah." "We're gonna get a little place and we're gonna..." " We're gonna..." "..have..." "We're gonna have a cow, and some pigs, and we're gonna have maybe a chicken." " Down in the flat, we'll have a..." " Field of alfalfa for the rabbits." " For the rabbits..." " And I get to tend the rabbits."