Extract A: "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. And then from the direction of the highway came the sound of footsteps on crisp sycamore leaves. The rabbits hurried noiselessly for cover. A stilted heron labored up into the air and pounded down river. For a moment the place was lifeless, and then two men emerged from the path and came into the opening by the green pool. They had walked in single file down the path, and even in the open one stayed behind the other. Both were dressed in denim trousers and in denim coats with brass buttons. Both wore black, shapeless hats and both carried tight blanket rolls slung over their shoulders. The first man was small and quick, dark of face, with restless eyes and sharp, strong features. Every part of him was defined: small, strong hands, slender arms, a thin and bony nose. Behind him walked his opposite, a huge man, shapeless of face, with large, pale eyes, with wide, sloping shoulders; and he walked heavily, dragging his feet a little, the way a bear drags his paws. His arms did not swing at his sides, but hung loosely. The first man stopped short in the clearing, and the follower nearly ran over him. He took off his hat and wiped the sweat-band with his forefinger and snapped the moisture off. His huge companion dropped his blankets and flung himself down and drank from the surface of the green pool; drank with long gulps, snorting into the water like a horse. The small man stepped nervously beside him. 'Lennie!' he said sharply. 'Lennie, for God' sakes don't drink so much.' Lennie continued to snort into the water. The small man leaned over and shook him by the shoulder. 'Lennie. You gonna be sick like you was last night.' Lennie dipped his whole head under, hat and all, and then he sat up on the bank and his hat dripped down on his blue coat and ran down his back. 'That's good,' he said. 'You drink some, George. You take a good big drink.' He smiled happily."

Extract B: "George unslung his bindle and dropped it gently on the bank. 'I ain't sure it's good water,' he said. 'Looks kinda scummy.' Lennie dabbled his big paw in the water and wiggled his fingers so the water arose in little splashes; rings widened across the pool to the other side and came back again. Lennie watched them go. 'Look, George. Look what I done.' George knelt beside the pool and drank from his hand with quick scoops. 'Tastes all right,' he admitted. 'Don't really seem to be running, though. You never oughta drink water when it ain't running, Lennie,' he said hopelessly. 'You'd drink out of a gutter if you was thirsty.' He threw himself down and lay on his side, propping himself on one elbow. Lennie, who had been watching, imitated George exactly. They lay looking across the pool to the other side where the trees were mirrored. George looked at Lennie, and then shook his head. 'God, you're a lot of trouble,' said George. 'I could get along so easy and so nice if I didn't have you on my tail. I could live so easy and maybe have a girl.' Lennie was delighted. 'We gonna work on a ranch, George.' 'All right. You got that. But we're gonna sleep here because I got a reason.' The day was going fast now. Only the tops of the Gabilan mountains flamed with the light of the sun that had gone from the valley. A water snake slipped along on the pool, its head held up like a little periscope. The reeds jerked slightly in the current. Far off toward the highway a man shouted something, and another man shouted back. The sycamore limbs rustled under a little wind that died immediately. 'George—why ain't we goin' on to the ranch and get some supper? They got supper at the ranch.' George rolled on his side. 'No reason at all for you. I like it here. Tomorra we're gonna go to work. I seen thrashin' machines on the way down. That means we'll be bucking grain bags, bustin' a gut. Tonight I'm gonna lay right here and look up. I like it.' Lennie got up on his knees and looked down at George. 'Ain't we gonna have no supper?' 'Sure we are, if you gather up some dead willow sticks. I got three cans of beans in my bindle. You get a fire ready. I'll give you a match when you get the sticks together. Then we'll heat the beans and have supper.' Lennie said, 'I like beans with ketchup.' 'Well, we ain't got no ketchup. You go get wood. An' don't you fool around. It'll be dark before long.' Lennie lumbered to his feet and disappeared in the brush. George lay where he was and whistled softly to himself. There were sounds of splashings down the river in the direction Lennie had taken. George stopped whistling and listened. 'Poor bastard,' he said softly, and then went on whistling again."

Extract C: "George stared morosely at the water. The rims of his eyes were red with sun glare. He said angrily, 'We could just as well of rode clear to the ranch if that bastard bus driver knew what he was talking about. 'Jes' a little stretch down the highway,' he says. 'Jes' a little stretch.' God damn near four miles, that's what it was! Didn't wanta stop at the ranch gate, that's what. Too God damn lazy to pull up. Wonder he isn't too damn good to stop in Soledad at all. Kicks us out and says, 'Jes' a little walk down the road.' I bet it was more than four miles. Damn hot day.' Lennie looked timidly over to him. 'George?' 'Yeah, what ya want?' 'Where we goin', George?' The little man jerked down the brim of his hat and scowled over at Lennie. 'So you forgot that awready, did you? I gotta tell you again, do I? Jesus Christ, you're a crazy bastard!' 'I forgot,' Lennie said softly. 'I tried not to forget. Honest to God I did, George.' 'O.K.—O.K. I'll tell ya again. I ain't got nothing to do. Might jus' as well spen' all my time tellin' you things and then you forget 'em, and I tell you again.' 'Tried and tried,' said Lennie, 'but it didn't do no good. I remember about the rabbits, George.' 'The hell with the rabbits. That's all you ever can remember is them rabbits. O.K.! Now you listen and this time you got to remember so we don't get in no trouble. You remember settin' in that gutter on Howard street and watchin' that blackboard?' Lennie's face broke into a delighted smile. 'Why sure, George. I remember that... but... what'd we do then? I remember some girls come by and you says... you says...' 'The hell with what I says. You remember about us goin' into Murray and Ready's, and they give us work cards and bus tickets?' 'Oh, sure, George. I remember that now.' His hands went quickly into his side coat pockets. He said gently, 'George... I ain't got mine. I musta lost it.' He looked down at the ground in despair. 'You never had none, you crazy bastard. I got both of 'em here. Think I'd let you carry your own work card?' Lennie grinned with relief. 'I... I thought I put it in my side pocket.' His hand went into the pocket again. George looked sharply at him. 'What'd you take outa that pocket?' 'Ain't a thing in my pocket,' Lennie said cleverly. 'I know there ain't. You got it in your hand. What you got in your hand—hide it!' 'I ain't got nothin', George. Honest.' 'Come on, give it here.' Lennie held his closed hand away from George's direction. 'It's on'y a mouse, George.' 'A mouse? A live mouse?' 'Uh-uh. Jus' a dead mouse, George. I didn't kill it. Honest! I found it. I found it dead.' 'Give it here!' said George. 'Aw, leave me have it, George.' 'Give it here!' Lennie's closed hand slowly obeyed. George took the mouse and threw it across the pool to the other side, among the brush. 'What you want of a dead mouse, anyways?' 'I could pet it with my thumb while we walked along,' said Lennie. 'Well, you ain't petting no mice while you walk with me. You remember where we're goin' now?' Lennie looked startled and then in embarrassment hid his face against his knees. 'I forgot again.' 'Jesus Christ,' George said resignedly. 'Well—look, we're gonna work on a ranch like the one in Weed.' 'Like the one in Weed?' Lennie asked. 'That's right. 'Cept we're gonna bust a gut buckin' barley ten hours a day.' 'We gonna buck barley, George?' 'Sure, we are, if we don't srew up. This is a nice place. A guy could live here. But not us. We gotta keep goin'. We got a job to do.' Suddenly Lennie's eyes centered and grew quiet, and mad. He stood up and walked dangerously over to George. 'An' why? Because... because I got you to look after me, and you got me to look after you, and that's why.' He laughed delightedly. 'Go on now, George!' 'You crazy son-of-a-bitch. You keep me in hot water all the time.' George was quiet for a moment, and then he said, 'Well, he seen this girl in a red dress. Dumb bastard like he is, he wants to touch everything he likes. Just wants to feel it. So he reaches out to feel this red dress an' the girl lets out a squawk, and that gets Lennie all mixed up, and he holds on 'cause that's the only thing he can think to do. Well, this girl rabbits in an' tells the law she been raped. The guys in Weed start a party out to lynch Lennie. So we sit in a irrigation ditch under water all the rest of that day. Got on'y our heads stickin' outa water, an' up under the grass that sticks out from the side of the ditch. An' that night we scrammed outa there.'"

Extract D: "Lennie broke in. 'But not us! An' why? Because... because I got you to look after me, and you got me to look after you, and that's why.' He laughed delightedly. 'Go on now, George!' 'You got it by heart. You can do it yourself.' 'No, you. I forget some a' the things. Tell about how it's gonna be.' 'O.K. Someday—we're gonna get the jack together and we're gonna have a little house and a couple of acres an' a cow and some pigs and—' 'An' live off the fatta the lan',' Lennie shouted. 'An' have rabbits. Go on, George! Tell about what we're gonna have in the garden and about the rabbits in the cages and about the rain in the winter and the stove, and how thick the cream is on the milk like you can hardly cut it. Tell about that, George.' 'Why'n't you do it yourself? You know all of it.' 'No... you tell it. It ain't the same if I tell it. Go on... George. How I get to tend the rabbits.' '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—Nuts!' He took out his pocket knife. 'I ain't got time for no more.' He drove his knife through the top of one of the bean cans, sawed out the top and passed the can to Lennie. Then he opened a second can. From his side pocket he brought out two spoons and passed one of them to Lennie. They sat by the fire and filled their mouths with beans and chewed mightily. A few beans slipped out of the side of Lennie's mouth. George gestured with his spoon. 'What you gonna say tomorrow when the boss asks you questions?' Lennie stopped chewing and swallowed. His face was concentrated. 'I... I ain't gonna... say a word.' 'Good boy! That's fine, Lennie! Maybe you're gettin' better. When we get the coupla acres I can let you tend the rabbits all right. 'Specially if you remember as good as that.' Lennie choked with pride. 'I can remember,' he said. 'Well, look. Lennie—if you jus' happen to get in trouble like you always done before, I want you to come right here an' hide in the brush.' 'Hide in the brush,' Lennie said slowly. 'Hide in the brush till I come for you. Can you remember that?' 'Sure I can, George. Hide in the brush till you come.' 'But you ain't gonna get in no trouble, because if you do, I won't let you tend them rabbits.' He threw his empty bean can off into the brush. 'I won't get in no trouble, George. I ain't gonna say a word.' 'O.K. Bring your bindle over here by the fire. It's gonna be nice sleepin' here. Lookin' up, and the leaves. Don't build up no more fire. We'll let her die down.'"

Key Events to Include Based on Extracts A-D Above:
• Arriving at the pool and drinking water
• The incident with the dead mouse
• George telling him about the trouble in Weed
• The dream about the farm and rabbits
• George's instructions about hiding in the brush
• Remember Lennie's simple, childlike way of speaking and thinking from the dialogue above