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- Джон Стейнбек
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- И проиграли бой
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- Стр. 1/317
And we lost the fight
At
last
it
was
evening
.
The
lights
in
the
street
outside
came
on
,
and
the
Neon
restaurant
sign
on
the
corner
jerked
on
and
off
,
exploding
its
hard
red
light
in
the
air
.
Into
Jim
Nolan
’
s
room
the
sign
threw
a
soft
red
light
.
For
two
hours
Jim
had
been
sitting
in
a
small
,
hard
rocking
-
chair
,
his
feet
up
on
the
white
bedspread
.
Now
that
it
was
quite
dark
,
he
brought
his
feet
down
to
the
floor
and
slapped
the
sleeping
legs
.
For
a
moment
he
sat
quietly
while
waves
of
itching
rolled
up
and
down
his
calves
;
then
he
stood
up
and
reached
for
the
unshaded
light
.
The
furnished
room
lighted
up
—
the
big
white
bed
with
its
chalk
-
white
spread
,
the
golden
-
oak
bureau
,
the
clean
red
carpet
worn
through
to
a
brown
warp
.
Jim
stepped
to
the
washstand
in
the
corner
and
washed
his
hands
and
combed
water
through
his
hair
with
his
fingers
.
Looking
into
the
mirror
fastened
across
the
corner
of
the
room
above
the
washstand
,
he
peered
into
his
own
small
grey
eyes
for
a
moment
.
From
an
inside
pocket
he
took
a
comb
fitted
with
a
pocket
clip
and
combed
his
straight
brown
hair
,
and
parted
it
neatly
on
the
side
.
He
wore
a
dark
suit
and
a
grey
flannel
shirt
,
open
at
the
throat
.
With
a
towel
he
dried
the
soap
and
dropped
the
thin
bar
into
a
paper
bag
that
stood
open
on
the
bed
.
A
Gillette
razor
was
in
the
bag
,
four
pairs
of
new
socks
and
another
grey
flannel
shirt
.
He
glanced
about
the
room
and
then
twisted
the
mouth
of
the
bag
closed
.
For
a
moment
more
he
looked
casually
into
the
mirror
,
then
turned
off
the
light
and
went
out
the
door
.
He
walked
down
narrow
,
uncarpeted
stairs
and
knocked
at
a
door
beside
the
front
entrance
.
It
opened
a
little
.
A
woman
looked
at
him
and
then
opened
the
door
wider
—
a
large
blonde
woman
with
a
dark
mole
beside
her
mouth
.
She
smiled
at
him
.
"
Mis
-
ter
Nolan
,
"
she
said
.
"
I
’
m
going
away
,
"
said
Jim
.
"
But
you
’
ll
be
back
,
you
’
ll
want
me
to
hold
your
room
?
"
"
No
.
I
’
ve
got
to
go
away
for
good
.
I
got
a
letter
telling
me
.
"
"
You
didn
’
t
get
no
letters
here
,
"
said
the
woman
suspiciously
.
"
No
,
where
I
work
.
I
won
’
t
be
back
.
I
’
m
paid
a
week
in
advance
.
"
Her
smile
faded
slowly
.
Her
expression
seemed
to
slip
toward
anger
without
any
great
change
.
"
You
should
of
give
me
a
week
’
s
notice
,
"
she
said
sharply
.
"
That
’
s
the
rule
.
I
got
to
keep
that
advance
because
you
didn
’
t
give
me
no
notice
.
"
