Translate the following extract and comment upon it:
Curley’s wife lay with a half-covering of yellow hay. And the meanness and the plannings and the discontent and the ache for attention were all gone from her face. She was very pretty and simple, and her face was sweet and young. Now her rouged cheeks and her reddened lips made her seem alive and sleeping very lightly. The curls, tiny little sausages, were spread on the hay behind her head, and her lips were parted.
As happens sometimes, a moment settled and hovered and remained for much more than a moment. And sound stopped and movement stopped for much, much more than a moment. Then gradually time awakened again and moved sluggishly on.
Offer the English equivalents for the following words and phrases, reproduce the situations they were used in:
1. он захныкал, и его голос задрожал
2. его глаза застилали слезы
3. послышался шум голосов и топот бегущих ног
4. он рассвирепел
5. А ты, Джордж, держись вместе с нами
6. Тяжело волоча ноги
7. Кэнди cел на корточки
Answer the questions:
1) How have Curley's wife's dreams for her life changed or been lost?
2) Why does Curley's wife tell Lennie about "the letter"? What do you think the letter symbolizes?
3) Does a reader's impression of Curley’s wife differ when she speaks of her past to Lennie?
4) How does Lennie's killing of the puppy parallel his killing of Curley's wife and the mice?
5) How does Candy react to the death of Curley's wife?
6) What options do George and Candy discuss after the discovery of the body?
Chapter 6.
(Track 13 Disk 4 – track 19 Disk 4)
(From “The deep green pool of the Salinas River was still in the late
Afternoon” until ““Now what the hell ya suppose is eatin’ them two guys?”)
I. Listen to the final chapter and find the English equivalents for the following words and phrases:
- напился, припав губами к воде
- птичка затрепыхалась в сухих листьях
- он прислушивался, озираясь
- она была чистая и накрахмаленная
- она встала, подбоченясь
- я говорила тебе слушаться Джорджа
- ты не достоин пятки кроликам лизать
- Ленни воинственно возразил
- кролик юркнул обратно в голову Ленни
- Джордж подошел неуклюже
- это не важно
- Ленни сказал лукаво
- они малость подзаработают, а потом все промотают
- сказал дрогнувшим голосом
- Джордж поднял пистолет и нацелил его
- Он спустил курок
Answer the questions:
1) What is the purpose of George making Lennie think about their "paradise" before he is shot?
2) Does Lennie realize he has done something wrong?
3) Is George being selfish by shooting Lennie? Why or why not?
4) Does Lennie need George more or does George need Lennie more?
5) Why does George claim he acted in self-defense?
6) In what way does Slim show understanding for George's decision? Why does Carlson ask the last question?
7) Did George have to kill Lennie? Often in high school classrooms, mock trials are set up to try George for first or second degree murder-or to pardon him. What would your response be to the killing?
8) Work in groups of four and make a script of an alternative final scene with George and Lennie. Try to answer the questions, "What would happen if George did not shoot Lennie?" or "What happens to George after Steinbeck ends his novel?"
9) Upon completing the novel, describe the major and minor characters in Of Mice and Men. Complete this activity by individually giving a one-word description of a character why you chose a certain word or what made you describe the character from the book the way you did. Other characters can be described such as: Lennie, Aunt Clara, Candy, Curley, Curley's wife, Slim, Carlson, boss, etc.
10) This novel is one of America's most compelling books about friendship. Compare to other texts whose appeal may also be due in large part to the quality of the friendships evoked. Is Lennie and George's dream possible? Why are others attracted to them?
Appendix
1) Some symbolsfound in the text: Rabbit, Mouse, Paradise, The old dog and Lennie, Curley's wife. – What other symbols are present in the book and what do they represent?
2) What are some prevalent themes in the Of Mice and Men. Upon making a list work in groups of four to find evidence to support the recurring themes. Each group will find one piece of evidence for each of the themes. The following is a list of possible themes throughout the book.
Animals (Lennie described as an Animal) "...and he walked heavily, dragging his feet a little, the way a bear drags his paws." Chapter 1.
"You'd drink out of a gutter if you was thirsty." Chapter 1.
"Slowly, like a terrier who doesn't want to bring a ball to its master, Lennie approached, drew back, approached again." Chapter 1.
"Lennie covered his face with huge paws and bleated with terror." Chapter 3.
"Want me to tell ya what'll happen? They'll take ya to the booby hatch. They'll tie ya up with a collar, like a dog." Chapter 4.
"He pawed up the hay until it partly covered her." Chapter 5.
Dreams
They want to be self-reliant: "'Well,' said George, 'we'll have a big vegetable patch and a rabbit hutch and chickens. And when it rains in the winter, we'll just say the hell with goin' to work, and we'll build up a fire in the stove and set around it an' listen to the rain comin' down on the roof...'" Chapter 1.
Whit brings the letter written by Bill Tenner and everyone is impressed but unsure as to whether or not he really wrote it. It would be something if a worker could do this. Some of these men could only dream such a thing. "We could live offa the fatta the lan'." Chapter 3.
"I could build a smoke house like the one gran'pa had..." Chapter 3.
"An' we'd keep a few pigeons to go flyin' around the win'mill like they done when I was a kid." Chapter 3.
Childhood is reflected by George and Crooks.
Curley's wife's dream of being an actress.
George must live life without Lennie trying to fulfill their dreams.
Landscape
Descriptions of nature along the Salinas River begin and end the text. It does not change even though the lives of these two characters change dramatically.
"Evening of a hot day started the little wind to moving among the leaves. The shade climbed up the hills toward the top. On the sand banks the rabbits sat as quietly as little gray, sculptured stones." Chapter 1.
The bunkhouse contrasts the beautiful scenery and description of the outside landscape. "At about ten o'clock in the morning the sun threw a bright dust-laden bar through one of the side windows, and in and out of the beam flies shot like rushing stars." Chapter 2.
"Although there was evening brightness showing through the windows of the bunk house, inside it was dusk." Chapter 3.
"As happens sometimes, a moment settled and hovered and remained for much more than a moment. And sound stopped and movement stopped for much, much more than a moment." Chapter 5.
"Already the sun had left the valley to go climbing up the slopes of the Gabilan mountains, and the hilltops were rosy in the sun." Chapter 6.
"The crash of the shot rolled up the hills and rolled down again." Chapter 6.
The novella Of Mice and Men (1937)
The title is a reference to the Robert Burns poem "To a Mouse." This story of shattered dreams became Steinbeck's first big success. Steinbeck adapted it also into a three-act play, which was produced in 1937. The play was rapidly adapted into a 1939 Hollywood film. In 1992 another version was directed by Gary Sinise and starring John Malkovich.
The story is about two travelling ranch workers, George and Lennie, trying to work up enough money to buy their own farm. It encompasses themes of racism, loneliness, prejudice against the mentally ill, and the struggle for personal independence.
Of Mice and Men is a gem, one of Steinbeck's most endearing texts because, in part, it charts the unlikely friendship of two men of the road (like Natty Bumppo and Chingachgook - also migrants). It is the quality of that friendship that may first attract readers, as it is fully evoked in the first chapter. The two depend on one another rather like husband and wife, father and son-or ego and id, brain and brawn. The interpretations are many. Clearly George has the words and plans, and Lennie has the heart and affection and devotion. Theirs can be seen as a sentimental story - and has been by some critics - but for most readers the bonds of friendship resonate throughout the text.
The characters assembled around these two represent either power or powerlessness. The ranch owner, Curley, and Curley's wife have varying degrees of power. The men in the bunkhouse, on the other hand, have little control over their lives - they are living from job to job, and some cling desperately to their jobs - like old Candy or, exiled to the barn, the black man Crooks. One of the reasons that Lennie and George's relationship is so unusual to the other characters in the novel is that each is in his/her way a loner; and the book is as much about loneliness and isolation as it is about the power of friendship to cut against those conditions.
Of Mice and Men is also about a dream - "livin' off the fatta the land[1]," as Lennie articulates repeatedly. It's a dream of male self-sufficiency, of land ownership, of independence, of a home, of a family re-envisioned. The book suggests the possibilities that have always been inherent in the American experience, and that is one reason for its long popularity.
Vocabulary Notes
To chapter 1
Soledad — г. Соледад; расположен в 130 милях от Сан Франциско.
the Salinas River — p. Салинас протяженностью 150 миль в Западной Калифорнии; в г. Салинас родился Стейнбек, в его доме открыт музей.
drops in close to... — протекает рядом с...
Gabilan mountains — горная цепь в Западной Калифорнии.
makes a great skittering — проносится как молния.
split-wedge — разделенный и клинообразный.
his hat dripped down — c его шляпы капала вода.
That's all you ever can remember is them rabbits. — Ты помнишь только о кроликах.
Murray and Ready's — название фирмы.
Weed — шахтерский городок на севере Калифорнии.
we're set — зд. мы устроены.
They run us outa Weed — Hac выгнали из Уида.
bustin' a gut {амер, разг.) — изо всех сил; to bust = to burst; a gut {амер. разг.) = a stomach.
You ain't puttin' nothing over — зд. я не позволю тебе сжульничать.
a cat house (амер. разг.) — публичный дом.
keep me shovin' (сленг) — заставляешь меня таскаться.
You keep me in hot water (сленг) — Ты меня ставишь в трудное положение.
You get a kick outta that (сленг} — получаешь от этого удовольствие.
work up a stake {сленг) — добыть кучу денег.
they're poundin' their tail {сленг) — тащатся.
that gives a damn about us — кто захочет общаться с нами.
blowin' our jack {сленг} — транжиря наши денежки; во время написания повести также употреблялись такие стилистически окрашенные эквиваленты понятия «деньги»: Almighty Dollar bacon, beans and honey, the bucks, bullets, cabbages, cherries, do-re-mi, the evil, juice, muck, the needful, rubbish, snow, soap, velvet, и т.д.
An' live off the fatta the lan' = And live off the fat of the land (библейская аллюзия).
hobo – хобо, странствующий рабочий
To chapter 2
pushbroom — веник с длинной ручкой.
sore as hell — он был зол как черт.
pants rabbits (сленг) — вши.
Then how come he got graybacks (сленг) — так как же он заработал вшей.
working up a slow anger — медленно разъяряясь.
He was sure burned (сленг) — конечно, он был очень сердит.
I ain't got the poop no more {сленг) — больше я ничего не знаю; роор (сленг) — факты, информация.
Stetson hat — название фасона шляпы, придуманного Дж. Б. Стетсоном в середине б0-х годов XIX в.
a bum steer (сленг) — неверная информация.
We couldn't get no rides in the morning — Мы никак не могли приехать утром.
short two buckers — не хватало двух здоровых парней;
bucker {сленг} — ковбой.
rassel (амер. разг.) = wrestle — зд. бросать, кидать.
swamper — мыть пол.
gang up on — набросятся все вместе.
cockier'n ever — как никогда задиристый.
lay — зд. расклад пасьянса.
purty (диал.) = pretty.
“she got the eye” – она флиртует с другими мужчинами
pants is full of ants — очень нервничает.
jerkline — веревка, которой пользуются вместо поводьев;
set up (сленг) — человек, которого легко провести, также — легкое дело.
we're gonna get the can (сленг) — мы вылетим отсюда.
to plug himself up {сленг) — рекламировать себя.
'em poison — зд. таких ядовитых, т.е. приносящих несчастье.
piece of jail bait (сленг) — особа, которая доведет до тюрьмы.
You leave her be — Оставь ее в покое.
take the rap {сленг) — сесть в тюрьму.
poke (сленг) — кошелек, бумажник, а также карман.
hit a pocket (сленг) — разбогатеть.
the wheeler — зд. мул-коренник.
butt (груб.) — задница, круп.
a blue ball (сленг) — венерическое заболевание.
slang her pups (диал.) — принесла щенков.
To chapter 3
if it don't take no figuring — если не надо долго раздумывать.
string along together — ладите друг с другом.
Auburn — возможно, имеется в виду город в Восточной Калифорнии в 36 милях от Сакраменто.
bust (сленг) — сломать; to bust open (сленг) — взломать.
it jus' works the other way around — бывает и по-другому.
rabbits in (сленг) — бросается и бежит.
the law (сленг) — полиция.
pitch shoes — бросать подковы (в игре под названием Horse Shoe Game).
Carlson was not to be put off — Карлсона было не остановить.
to beat hell — ужасно.
a whing-ding (сленг) — зд. восторг.
get it over with — справиться (с горем).
a Luger — название пистолета.
a looloo {сленг) — «милашка».
You can get a shot for two bits — за пятьдесят центов ты можешь получить порцию виски; а bit — цвадцать пять центов, обычно употребляется в словосочетании two bits.
kewpie — c купидонами.
gettin' burned (сленг) — быть обманутыми.
googoos (сленг) — сумасшедшие.
What's eatin' on (сленг) — что мучает?
hoosegow (сленг) — тюрьма; также существовали сленгизмы: academy, birdhouse, City of Hate, college, grey house, Siberia, stone bag, rest home, man killer, и т.д.
in San Quentin... — выражение использовалось по отношению к кому-то, занимавшемуся амурными делами; ср. San Quentin quail (сленг) — привлекательная, не достигшая совершеннолетия девушка.
' cots = apricots.
them does would = they would; does служит для усиления.
Hat bust (сленг) — совсем пропали; одно из значений bust — «провал», «неудача».
squack — звукоподражание, употреблено для эмфазы.
You lay offa me (груб.) — отстань от меня.
to throw a scare inta — испугать.
Leggo of him = Let him go.
will you get the laugh — ты станешь посмешищем.
lit into (сленг) — пристал, привязался.
To chapter 4
hame — клешня хомута, хомутина.
saddle soap — мягкое мыло для чистки кожи, изготовляемое с добавлением специального масла.
They's no call (сленг) — незачем.
You're crazy as a wedge — Ты совсем спятил.
go blabbin' — зд. сплетничать, болтать.
a busted-back nigger {сленг} — черномазый со сломанной спиной.
took a powder (сленг) — ушел, убежал (обычно, не заплатив по счету).
bored in on him —зд. говорил ему нудным голосом.
booby hatch {сленг) — сумасшедший дом.
Ain't nobody goin' to suppose no hurt to George — Пусть никто не замышляет навредить Джорджу.
rummy — вид карточной игры.
They never get none under their hand — Они никогда ничего не приобретают.
throw off of it — зд. прогнать с нее (земли).
a blackjack game — карточная игра («очко»).
to get something on you (сленг) — причинить тебе зло.
One-two (сленг) — комбинация из двух ударов, один — короткий, внезапный, левой рукой, другой — сильный перекрестный правой (обычно в челюсть противнику).
you're sellin' me (сленг) — ты мне врешь.
bindle bums (сленг) — рабочие-подешцики, переходящие с одного места работы на другое; cp. bindle — одеяло, которое свертывают и несут, перекинув через плечо.
bindle stiffs (сленг) = bindle bums.
a dum-dum (сленг) — глупец, дубина.
floozy (сленг) — идиотский.
two-bit job = two bits job — копеечная работа.
corn (сленг) — спиртное.
suckin' the bottom of the glass (сленг) — надираться, напиваться.
roll your hoop (сленг) — занимайся своим делом.
scatter along (сленг) — дуй отсюда.
I got it doped out (сленг} — я знаю, что делать.
To dope out (сленг) — понять значение, разработать план дальнейших действий.
To chapter 5
four-taloned jackson fork — четырехзубые вилы.
tenement (искаж) = tournament — турнир.
was in pitchers — снималась в кино; pitchers = pictures
made a ringer (сленг) — сделал дубль.
it's all off — все кончено.
in meanness — co зла.
I was in on it — я был в этом замешан.
fat (сленг) — хороший; используется обычно для усиления.
shoot him in the guts — я выпущу из него кишки.
keep smb in — сдержать.
To chapter 6
raised hell — устроил скандал.
sonofabitching well — очень хорошо, sonofabitching — усилительное слово.
stew the b'Jesus outa George (сленг) — надоедаешь Джорджу до чертиков; b'Jesus = blessed Jesus.
jack-pin — штырь для козел.
to ram — зд. загнать.
to jack (диал.) — вытащить.
fambly (диал.) = family.
blow it in — тратить в миг.
that gives a hoot in hell about 'em (разг.) — кто о них позаботится.
jarred — зд. содрогнулся. got to sometimes — иногда приходится.
[1] to have enough money to live in a very comfortable way without having to do much work.
The first citation of the phrase comes from the Bible, Genesis 45:17-18 (King James Version), 1611:
And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, Say unto thy brethren, This do ye: lade your beasts, and go, get you unto the land of Canaan; And take your father and your households, and come unto me: and I will give you the good of the land of Egypt, and ye shall eat the fat of the land.