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letra de john steinbeck’s “chapters 1 and 3 (the grapes of wrath)” - ms. callen

chapter 1
to the red country and part of the gray country of oklahoma, the last rains came gently, and they did not cut the scarred earth. the plows crossed and recrossed the rivulet marks. the last rains lifted the corn quickly and scattered weed colonies and gr-ss along the sides of the roads so that the gray country and the dark red country began to disappear under a green cover. in the last part of may the sky grew pale and the clouds that had hung in high puffs for so long in the spring were dissipated. the sun flared down on the growing corn day after day until a line of brown spread along the edge of each green bayonet. the clouds appeared, and went away, and in a while they did not try any more. the weeds grew darker green to protect themselves, and they did not spread any more. the surface of the earth crusted, a thin hard crust, and as the sky became pale, so the earth became pale, pink in the red country and white in the gray country

in the water-cut gullies the earth dusted down in dry little streams. gophers and ant lions started small avalanches. and as the sharp sun struck day after day, the leaves of the young corn became less stiff and erect; they bent in a curve at first, and then, as the central ribs of strength grew weak, each leaf tilted downward. then it was june, and the sun shone more fiercely. the brown lines on the corn leaves widened and moved in on the central ribs. the weeds frayed and edged back toward their roots. the air was thin and the sky more pale; and every day the earth paled

in the roads where the teams moved, where the wheels milled the ground and the hooves of the horses beat the ground, the dirt crust broke and the dust formed. every moving thing lifted the dust into the air: a walking man lifted a thin layer as high as his waist, and a wagon lifted the dust as high as the fence tops, and an automobile boiled a cloud behind it. the dust was long in settling back again

when june was half gone, the big clouds moved up out of texas and the gulf, high heavy clouds, rainheads. the men in the fields looked up at the clouds and sniffed at them and held wet fingers up to sense the wind. and the horses were nervous while the clouds were up. the rainheads dropped a little spattering and hurried on to some other country. behind them the sky was pale again and the sun flared. in the dust there were drop craters where the rain had fallen, and there were clean splashes on the corn, and that was all

a gentle wind followed the rain clouds, driving them on northward, a wind that
softly clashed the drying corn. a day went by and the wind increased, steady
unbroken by gusts. the dust from the roads fluffed up and spread out and fell on the weeds beside the fields, and fell into the fields a little way. now the wind grew strong and hard and it worked at the rain crust in the corn fields. little by little the sky was darkened by the mixing dust, and the wind felt over the earth, loosened the dust, and carried it away. the wind grew stronger. the rain crust broke and the dust lifted up out of the fields and drove gray plumes into the air like sluggish smoke. the corn threshed the wind and made a dry, rushing sound. the finest dust did not settle back to earth now, but disappeared into the darkening sky

the wind grew stronger, whisked under stones, carried up straws and old leaves and even little clods, marking its course as it sailed across the fields. the air and the sky darkened and through them the sun shone redly, and there was a raw sting in the air. during a night the wind raced faster over the land, dug cunningly among the rootlets of the corn, and the corn fought the wind with its weakened leaves until the roots were freed by the prying wind and then each stalk settled wearily sideways toward the earth and pointed the direction of the wind

the dawn came, but no day. in the gray sky a red sun appeared, a dim red circle that gave a little light, like dusk; and as that day advanced, the dusk slipped back toward darkness, and the wind cried and whimpered over the fallen corn

men and women huddled in their houses, and they tied handkerchiefs over their noses when they went out, and wore goggles to protect their eyes

when the night came again it was black night, for the stars could not pierce the dust to get down, and the window lights could not even spread beyond their own yards now the dust was evenly mixed with the air, an emulsion of dust and air. houses were shut tight, and cloth wedged around doors and windows, but the dust came in so thinly that it could not be seen in the air, and it settled like pollen on the chairs and tables, on the dishes. the people brushed it from their shoulders. little lines of dust lay at the door sills

in the middle of that night the wind p-ssed on and left the land quiet. the dust-filled air m-ffled sound more completely than fog does. the people, lying in their beds heard the wind stop. they awakened when the rushing wind was gone. they lay quietly and listened deep into the stillness. then the roosters crowed, and their voices were m-ffled, and the people stirred restlessly in their beds and wanted the morning they knew it would take a long time for the dust to settle out of the air. in the morning the dust hung like fog, and the sun was as red as ripe new blood. all day the dust sifted down from the sky, and the next day it sifted down. an even blanket covered the earth it settled on the corn, piled up on the tops of the fence posts, piled up on the wires; it settled on roofs, blanketed the weeds and trees

the people came out of their houses and smelled the hot stinging air and covered their noses from it. and the children came out of the houses, but they did not run or shout as they would have done after a rain. men stood by their fences and looked at the ruined corn, drying fast now, only a little green showing through the film of dust. the men were silent and they did not move often. and the women came out of the houses to stand beside their men—to feel whether this time the men would break. the women studied the men’s faces secretly, for the corn could go, as long as something else remained. the children stood near by, drawing figures in the dust with bare toes, and the children sent exploring senses out to see whether men and women would break the children peeked at the faces of the men and women, and then drew careful lines in the dust with their toes. horses came to the watering troughs and nuzzled the water to clear the surface dust. after a while the faces of the watching men lost their bemused perplexity and became hard and angry and resistant. then the women knew that they were safe and that there was no break. then they asked, what’ll we do? and the men replied, i don’t know. but it was all right. the women knew it was all right, and the watching children knew it was all right. women and children knew deep in themselves that no misfortune was too great to bear if their men were whole. the women went into the houses to their work, and the children began to play, but cautiously at first. as the day went forward the sun became less red. it flared down on the dust-blanketed land the men sat in the doorways of their houses; their hands were busy with sticks and little rocks. the men sat still—thinking—figuring

[chapter 1 summary]

chapter 3

the concrete highway was edged with a mat of tangled, broken, dry gr-ss, and the gr-ss heads were heavy with oat beards to catch on a dog’s coat, and foxtails to tangle in a horse’s fetlocks, and clover burrs to fasten in sheep’s wool; sleeping life waiting to be spread and dispersed, every seed armed with an appliance of dispersal, twisting darts and parachutes for the wind, little spears and b-lls of tiny th-rns, and all waiting for animals and for the wind, for a man’s trouser cuff or the hem of a woman’s skirt, all p-ssive but armed with appliances of activity, still, but each possessed of the anlage of movement
the sun lay on the gr-ss and warmed it, and in the shade under the gr-ss the insects moved, ants and ant lions to set traps for them, gr-sshoppers to jump into the air and fl!ck their yellow wings for a second, sow bugs like little armadillos, plodding restlessly on many tender feet. and over the gr-ss at the roadside a land turtle crawled, turning aside for nothing, dragging his high-domed sh-ll over the gr-ss: his hard legs and yellow-nailed feet threshed slowly through the gr-ss, not really walking, but boosting and dragging his sh-ll along. the barley beards slid off his sh-ll, and the clover burrs fell on him and rolled to the ground. his h-rny beak was partly open, and his fierce, humorous eyes, under brows like fingernails, stared straight ahead. he came over the gr-ss leaving a beaten trail behind him, and the hill, which was the highway embankment, reared up ahead of him. for a moment he stopped, his head held high. he blinked and looked up and down. at last he started to climb the embankment. front clawed feet reached forward but did not touch. the hind feet kicked his sh-ll along, and it scr-ped on the gr-ss, and on the gravel. as the embankment grew steeper and steeper, the more frantic were the efforts of the land turtle. pushing hind legs strained and slipped, boosting the sh-ll along, and the h-rny head
protruded as far as the neck could stretch. little by little the sh-ll slid up the embankment until at last a parapet cut straight across its line of march, the shoulder of the road, a concrete wall four inches high. as though they worked independently the hind legs pushed the sh-ll against the wall. the head upraised and peered over the wall to the broad smooth plain of cement. now the hands, braced on top of the wall, strained and lifted, and the sh-ll came slowly up and rested its front end on the wall. for a moment the turtle rested. a red ant ran into the sh-ll, into the soft skin inside the sh-ll, and suddenly head and legs snapped in, and the armored tail clamped in sideways. the red ant was crushed between body and legs. and one head of wild oats was clamped into the sh-ll by a front leg. for a long moment the turtle lay still, and then the neck crept out and the old humorous frowning eyes looked about and the legs and tail came out. the back legs went to work, straining like elephant legs, and the sh-ll tipped to an angle so that the front legs could not reach the level cement plain. but higher and higher the hind legs boosted it, until at last the center of balance was reached, the front tipped down, the front legs scratched at the pavement, and it was up. but the head of wild oats was held by its stem around the front legs
now the going was easy, and all the legs worked, and the sh-ll boosted along, waggling from side to side. a sedan driven by a forty-year-old woman approached. she saw the turtle and swung to the right, off the highway, the wheels screamed and a cloud of dust boiled up. two wheels lifted for a moment and then settled. the car skidded back onto the road, and went on, but more slowly. the turtle had jerked into its sh-ll, but now it hurried on, for the highway was burning hot
and now a light truck approached, and as it came near, the driver saw the turtle and swerved to hit it. his front wheel struck the edge of the sh-ll, flipped the turtle like a tiddly-wink, spun it like a coin, and rolled it off the highway. the truck went back to its course along the right side. lying on its back, the turtle was tight in its sh-ll for a long time. but at last its legs waved in the air, reaching for something to pull it over. its front foot caught a piece of quartz and little by little the sh-ll pulled over and flopped upright. the wild oat head fell out and three of the spearhead seeds stuck in the ground. and as the turtle crawled on down
the embankment, its sh-ll dragged dirt over the seeds. the turtle entered a dust road and jerked itself along, drawing a wavy shallow trench in the dust with its sh-ll. the old humorous eyes looked ahead, and the h-rny beak opened a little. his yellow toe nails slipped a fraction in the dust

[chapter 3 summary]

- ms callen

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