of mice and men
... In front of the low horizontal limb of a giant sycamore there is an ash pile made by many fires; the limb is worn smooth by men who have sat on it. ... For a moment the place was lifeless, and then two men emerged from the path and came into the opening by the green pool. ... “Well, you ain’t petting no mice while you walk with me. ... An’ you ain’t to be trusted with no live mice. ... “There’s enough beans for four men,” George said. ... I wisht I could put you in a cage with about a million mice an’ let you have fun. ... Trouble with mice is you always kill ‘em. ... That’d be better than mice. ... An’ I won’t get no mice stole from me. ... And these shelves were loaded with little articles, soap and talcum powder, razors and those Western magazines ranch men love to read and scoff at and secretly believe. ... Come right in when we was eatin’ breakfast and says, ‘Where the hell’s them new men? ... “I wrote Murray and Ready I wanted two men this morning. ... ” He turned abruptly and went to the door, but before he went out he turned and looked for a long moment at the two men. ... His eyes passed over the new men and he stopped. ... Men were calling back and forth from the teams. ... ” Both men glanced up, for the rectangle of sunshine in the doorway was cut off. ... Outside, there was a burst of voices as a group of men went by. ... All the men except Candy watched him. ... He rippled the edge of the deck nervously, and the little snapping noise drew the eyes of all the men in the room, so that he stopped doing it. ... There came a little gnawing sound from under the floor and all the men looked down toward it gratefully. ... The men looked quickly at the old man. ... And scattered about the floor were a number of personal possessions; for, being alone, Crooks could leave his things about, and being a stable buck and a cripple, he was more permanent than the other men, and he had accumulated more possessions than he could carry on his back. ... “I seen hunderds of men come by on the road an’ on the ranches, with their bindles on their back an’ that same damn thing in their heads. ... ” The three men went out of the door. ... From outside came the clang of horseshoes on the playing peg and the shouts of men, playing, encouraging, jeering. ... You ain’t so little as mice. ... You ain’t so little as mice. ... Sometimes I’ve even pet mice, but not when I couldn’t get nothing better. ... From outside the barn came a cry of men and the double clang of shoes on metal. ... Even the clang of the pitched shoes, even the voices of the men in the game, seemed to grow more quiet. ... Outside, the men’s voices became louder and clearer. ... There was a rise of voices in question, a drum of running feet and the men burst into the barn. ... The men raced around the last stall. ... When he stood up the men crowded near and the spell was broken. ... The sound of the men grew fainter. ... From the distance came the sound of men shouting to one another. ... And the shouts of men sounded again, this time much closer than before.