Animal farm / Скотный двор. Уровень 2

Though we die before it break;
Cows and horses, geese and turkeys,
All must toil for freedom’s sake.

Beasts of England, beasts of Ireland,
Beasts of every land and clime,
Hearken well and spread my tidings
Of the golden future time!

The animals sang this wonderful song and became wild and excited. When Major reached the end, they began to sing it again. Even the stupidest animals sang few words, and the clever animals – pigs and dogs – learned the entire song by heart[6 - by heart – наизусть] within a few minutes. And then the whole farm began to sing 'Beasts of England’ in tremendous unison. The cows lowed it, the dogs whined it, the sheep bleated it, the horses whinnied it, the ducks quacked it. They were very delighted with the song and sang it five times.

Unfortunately, the uproar awoke Mr. Jones. He sprang out of bed. He was sure that there was a fox in the yard. He seized the gun which always stood in a corner of his bedroom, and shot six times into the darkness. The pellets flew into the barn and the meeting came to its end hurriedly. Everyone ran to his own sleeping-place. The birds jumped on to their perches, the animals were in the straw, and the whole farm was asleep very quickly.

Chapter II

Three nights later old Major died peacefully. His body was buried in the orchard.

This was March. During the next three months there was secret activity. Major’s speech gave to the more intelligent animals a completely new feeling. When will the Rebellion take place? Maybe not within their own lifetime. But they were sure it was their duty to prepare for it. The pigs began to work on it. Why pigs? The pigs were the cleverest animals there. Especially two young boars – Snowball and Napoleon. Mr. Jones wanted to sell them soon.

Napoleon was a large, fierce Berkshire boar. He was the only Berkshire on the farm. He did not talk much. Snowball was a more vivacious pig than Napoleon. Snowball liked to talk and was more inventive, but did not have the same depth of character. All the other male pigs on the farm were porkers. The best known among them was a small fat pig named Squealer[7 - Squealer – Визгун]. He had very round cheeks, twinkling eyes, nimble movements, and a shrill voice. He was a brilliant talker. When he argued some difficult point he skipped from side to side and whisked his tail. It was very persuasive. They said Squealer was able to turn black into white.

These three pigs elaborated Major’s words into a system of thought. They named it Animalism. Many nights, when Mr. Jones slept, they organized secret meetings in the barn and expounded the principles of Animalism to the others. At the beginning they saw much stupidity and apathy. Some of the animals talked of the loyalty to Mr. Jones, whom they called “Master”. They said “Mr. Jones feeds us. If he goes away, we shall starve to death[8 - we shall starve to death – мы умрём с голоду]”.

Others asked such questions as “Why must we think what happens after we die?” or “If this Rebellion happens anyway, why work for it?” It was very difficult for the pigs to explain the spirit of Animalism. Mollie, the white mare asked the stupidest questions of all. For example, she asked:

“Will there be sugar after the Rebellion?”

“No,” said Snowball firmly. “We can’t make sugar on this farm. Besides, you do not need sugar. You will have your oats and hay.”

“And will I wear ribbons in my mane?” asked Mollie.

“Comrade,” said Snowball, “those ribbons are the badge of slavery. Do you understand that liberty is more important than ribbons?”

Mollie agreed, but she was not convinced.

The pigs had even more difficulties to counteract the words of Moses, the tame raven. Moses, who was Mr. Jones’s pet, was a spy and a tale-bearer. But he was also a clever talker. He knew of the existence of a mysterious country called Sugarcandy Mountain[9 - Sugarcandy Mountain – Леденцовая Гора]. To this country all animals go when they die. It is situated somewhere up in the sky, a little distance beyond the clouds. In Sugarcandy Mountain it was Sunday seven days a week, there was clover all the year round, and lump sugar and linseed cake grew on the hedges. The animals hated Moses because he told tales and did no work. But some of them believed in Sugarcandy Mountain. The pigs knew it was very hard to persuade them that there was no such place.

Their most faithful disciples were the two cart-horses, Boxer and Clover. These two were unable to think at all. But they accepted the pigs as their teachers. They absorbed everything that the pigs told them. These horses retold the principles of Animalism to the other animals. They used simple language. They were the first animals at the secret meetings in the barn which began to sing the hymn 'Beasts of England’.

The Rebellion took place early and easily. In past years Mr. Jones was a good farmer. But now evil days arrived. He became much disheartened. He lost money in a lawsuit, and became a drunker. He liked to do absolutely nothing in his chair in the kitchen. He liked to read the newspapers, drink and occasionally feed Moses. His workers were idle and dishonest. The fields were full of weeds, the buildings ruined, and the animals were hungry.

June came and the hay was almost ready. On Midsummer’s Eve, which was a Saturday, Mr. Jones went into Willingdon and did not come back till midday on Sunday. The workers milked the cows in the early morning and then went out. They did not feed the animals. When Mr. Jones came back he immediately went to sleep on the sofa with the newspaper over his face. When evening came, the animals were still hungry. At last they began to protest.

One of the cows broke in the door of the store-shed with her horn. Then all the animals began to eat from the bins. It was just then that Mr. Jones woke up. The next moment he and his four men stood with whips in their hands. This was too much![10 - This was too much! – Это было уже слишком!]

The hungry animals ran to their tormentors. The animals butted and kicked Jones and his men from all sides. This sudden rebellion of animals frightened the farmer and his workers a lot. Soon the men ran away. A minute later all five of them were in the cart-track that led to the main road. The animals pursued them in triumph.

Mrs. Jones looked out of the bedroom window. She saw what happened, hurriedly took a few bags and slipped out of the farm. Moses flapped after her, he croaked loudly. Meanwhile the animals chased Jones and his men on the road and slammed the five-barred gate behind them. So Jones was expelled, and the Manor Farm was not his anymore.

For the first few minutes the animals did not believe in their good fortune[11 - good fortune – удача]. They ran round the boundaries of the farm to see that no man was there. Then they raced back to the farm buildings to wipe out the last traces of Jones’s reign.

The harness-room at the end of the stables was open. The bits, the nose-rings, the dog-chains, the cruel knives with which Mr. Jones castrated the pigs and lambs, were all on the ground. The animals threw the reins, the halters, the blinkers and the whips into the fire. All the animals moaned when they saw the whips in flames. Snowball also threw into the fire the ribbons with which the horses’ manes and tails were usually decorated on market days.

“Ribbons,” he said, “are the man’s clothes. All animals must go naked.”

Soon the animals destroyed everything that reminded them of Mr. Jones. Napoleon then led them back to the store-shed and gave a double ration of corn to everybody. More over, each dog got two biscuits. Then they sang 'Beasts of England’ seven times, and after that they went to sleep peacefully.

But they woke at dawn as usual, and suddenly remembered the glorious victory. So they all ran to the pasture together. A little way down the pasture there was a knoll. The animals rushed to the top of it. Yes, it was theirs-everything was theirs! In the ecstasy, they gambolled round and round, they hurled themselves into the air. They rolled in the dew, they cropped mouthfuls of the sweet summer grass. They kicked up clods of the black earth. Then they made a tour of inspection of the whole farm. They surveyed the ploughland, the hayfield, the orchard, the pool, the spinney. They did not believe their eyes – everything was theirs!

Then they came back to the farm buildings and halted outside the door of the farmhouse. It was their house too, but they were frightened to go inside. After a moment, however, Snowball and Napoleon opened the door with their shoulders and the animals entered. They tiptoed from room to room. They were afraid to speak loudly. They gazed with awe at the unbelievable luxury, at the beds with their feather mattresses, the looking-glasses, the horsehair sofa, the carpet, the lithograph of Queen Victoria over the mantelpiece. They came down the stairs and saw Mollie.

They went back and found that she was in the best bedroom. She took a piece of blue ribbon from Mrs. Jones’s dressing-table. She held it against her shoulder and admired herself in the mirror. The others reproached her. The animals took some hams from the kitchen to bury them. Boxer’s hoof kicked the barrel of beer in the scullery. They did not touch anything in the house. The farmhouse will be a museum. No animal must live there.

The animals had their breakfast. Then Snowball and Napoleon called them together again.

“Comrades,” said Snowball, “it is half-past six. We have a long day before us. Today we begin the hay harvest. But there is another matter.”

During the past three months the pigs taught themselves to read and write from an old book which belonged to Mr. Jones’s children. Napoleon took the black and white paint and went to the gate. Then Snowball (Snowball was the best writer) took a brush between the two knuckles of his trotter. He paintedout[12 - painted out – закрасил] MANOR FARM from the top of the gate and in its place painted ANIMAL FARM. This was the real name of the farm!

After this they went back to the farm buildings. Snowball and Napoleon sent for a ladder. They set it against the end wall of the big barn. They explained the pigs reduced the principles of Animalism to Seven Commandments. These Seven Commandments will now be written on the wall. They will form an unalterable law for all the animals on Animal Farm.

With some difficulty (for it is not easy for a pig to balance himself on a ladder) Snowball climbed up and began to work. Squealer held the paint-pot[13 - paint-pot – банка с краской]. The Commandments were written on the wall in great white letters:

The Seven Commandments

1. Whatever goes upon two legs is an enemy.

2. Whatever goes upon four legs, or has wings, is a friend.

3. No animal must wear clothes.

4. No animal must sleep in a bed.

5. No animal must drink alcohol.

6. No animal must kill any other animal.

7. All animals are equal.

It was very good. Except that the word “friend” was written “freind” and one of the “S’s” was the wrong way round[14 - was the wrong way round – было развёрнуто в другую сторону], the spelling was correct. Snowball read it aloud. All the animals nodded in agreement. The cleverer animals began to learn the Commandments by heart.

“Now, comrades,” cried Snowball and threw down the paint-brush, “to the hayfield! Let us work more quickly than Jones and his men!”

But at this moment the three cows began to moo. They were not milked for twenty-four hours. After a little thought, the pigs sent for buckets and milked the cows successfully. Soon there were five buckets of milk. Many of the animals looked at the buckets with interest.

“What will happen to that milk?” said someone.

“Jones sometimes mixed some of it in our mash,” said one of the hens.

“Don’t think about the milk, comrades!” cried Napoleon and stood in front of the buckets. “The harvest is more important. Comrade Snowball will lead the way. I shall follow in a few minutes. Forward, comrades! The hay waits for us!”