動(dòng)物莊園：Chapter 2

Three nights later old Major died peacefully in his sleep. His body was buried at the foot of the orchard.

三天之后，老麥哲在安睡中平靜地死去。遺體埋在蘋果園腳下。

This was early in March.

這是三月初的事。

During the next three months there was much secret activity. Major's speech had given to the more intelligent animals on the farm a completely new outlook on life. They did not know when the Rebellion predicted by Major would take place, they had no reason for thinking that it would be within their own lifetime, but they saw clearly that it was their duty to prepare for it. The work of teaching and organising the others fell naturally upon the pigs, who were generally recognised as being the cleverest of the animals. Pre-eminent among the pigs were two young boars named Snowball and Napoleon, whom Mr. Jones was breeding up for sale. Napoleon was a large, rather fierce-looking Berkshire boar, the only Berkshire on the farm, not much of a talker, but with a reputation for getting his own way. Snowball was a more vivacious pig than Napoleon, quicker in speech and more inventive, but was not considered to 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, with very round cheeks, twinkling eyes, nimble movements, and a shrill voice. He was a brilliant talker, and when he was arguing some difficult point he had a way of skipping from side to side and whisking his tail which was somehow very persuasive. The others said of Squealer that he could turn black into white.

從此以后的三個(gè)月里，有很多秘密活動(dòng)。麥哲的演講給莊園里那些比較聰明的動(dòng)物帶來了一個(gè)全新的生活觀念。他們不知道麥哲預(yù)言的造反什么時(shí)候才能發(fā)生，他們也無法想象造反會(huì)在他們有生之年內(nèi)到來。但他們清楚地曉得，為此作準(zhǔn)備就是他們的責(zé)任。訓(xùn)導(dǎo)和組織其他動(dòng)物的工作，自然地落在豬的身上，他們被一致認(rèn)為是動(dòng)物中最聰明的。而其中最杰出的是兩頭名叫斯諾鮑和拿破侖的雄豬，他們是瓊斯先生為出售喂養(yǎng)的。拿破侖是頭伯克夏雄豬，也是莊園中唯一的伯克夏種，個(gè)頭挺大，看起來很兇，說話不多，素以固執(zhí)而出名。相比之下，斯諾鮑要伶俐多了，口才好，也更有獨(dú)創(chuàng)性，但看起來個(gè)性上沒有拿破侖那么深沉。莊園里其他的豬都是肉豬。他們中最出名的是一頭短小而肥胖的豬，名叫斯奎拉。他長著圓圓的面頰，炯炯閃爍的眼睛，動(dòng)作敏捷，聲音尖細(xì)，是個(gè)不可多得的演說家。尤其是在闡述某些艱深的論點(diǎn)時(shí)，他習(xí)慣于邊講解邊來回不停地蹦跳，同時(shí)還甩動(dòng)著尾巴。而那玩意兒不知怎么搞地就是富有蠱惑力。別的動(dòng)物提到斯奎拉時(shí)，都說他能把黑的說成白的。

These three had elaborated old Major's teachings into a complete system of thought, to which they gave the name of Animalism. Several nights a week, after Mr. Jones was asleep, they held secret meetings in the barn and expounded the principles of Animalism to the others. At the beginning they met with much stupidity and apathy. Some of the animals talked of the duty of loyalty to Mr. Jones, whom they referred to as "Master," or made elementary remarks such as "Mr. Jones feeds us. If he were gone, we should starve to death." Others asked such questions as "Why should we care what happens after we are dead?" or "If this Rebellion is to happen anyway, what difference does it make whether we work for it or not?", and the pigs had great difficulty in making them see that this was contrary to the spirit of Animalism. The stupidest questions of all were asked by Mollie, the white mare. The very first question she asked Snowball was: "Will there still be sugar after the Rebellion?"

這三頭豬把老麥哲的訓(xùn)導(dǎo)用心琢磨，推敲出一套完整的思想體系，他們稱之為“動(dòng)物主義”。每周總有幾個(gè)夜晚，等瓊斯先生入睡后，他們就在大戶倉里召集秘密會(huì)議，向其他動(dòng)物詳細(xì)闡述動(dòng)物主義的要旨。起初，他們針對(duì)的是那些遲鈍和麻木的動(dòng)物。這些動(dòng)物中，有一些還大談什么對(duì)瓊斯先生的忠誠的義務(wù)，把他視為“主人”，提出很多淺薄的看法，比如“瓊斯先生喂養(yǎng)我們，如果他走了，我們會(huì)餓死的”。等等。還有的問到這樣的問題：“我們干嘛要關(guān)心我們死后才能發(fā)生的事情?”或者問：“如果造反注定要發(fā)生，我們干不干又有什么關(guān)系?”因而，為了教他們懂得這些說法都是與動(dòng)物主義相悖離的，豬就下了很大的功夫。這愚蠢的問題是那匹白雌馬莫麗提出來的，她向斯諾鮑最先問的問題是：“造反以后還有糖嗎?”

"No," said Snowball firmly. "We have no means of making sugar on this farm. Besides, you do not need sugar. You will have all the oats and hay you want."

“沒有”，斯諾鮑堅(jiān)定地說，“我們沒有辦法在莊園制糖，再說，你不需要糖，而你想要的燕麥和草料你都會(huì)有的”。

"And shall I still be allowed to wear ribbons in my mane?" asked Mollie.

“那我還能在鬃毛上扎飾帶嗎?”莫麗問。

"Comrade," said Snowball, "those ribbons that you are so devoted to are the badge of slavery. Can you not understand that liberty is worth more than ribbons?"

“同志”，斯諾鮑說，“那些你如此鐘愛的飾帶全是奴隸的標(biāo)記。你難道不明白自由比飾帶更有價(jià)值嗎?”

Mollie agreed, but she did not sound very convinced.

莫麗同意了，但聽起來并不十分肯定。

The pigs had an even harder struggle to counteract the lies put about by Moses, the tame raven. Moses, who was Mr. Jones's especial pet, was a spy and a tale-bearer, but he was also a clever talker. He claimed to know of the existence of a mysterious country called Sugarcandy Mountain, to which all animals went when they died. It was situated somewhere up in the sky, a little distance beyond the clouds, Moses said. In Sugarcandy Mountain it was Sunday seven days a week, clover was in season 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, and the pigs had to argue very hard to persuade them that there was no such place.

豬面對(duì)的更困難的事情，是對(duì)付那只馴順了的烏鴉摩西散布的謊言。摩西這個(gè)瓊斯先生的特殊寵物，是個(gè)尖細(xì)和饒舌的家伙，還是個(gè)靈巧的說客。他聲稱他知道有一個(gè)叫做“蜜糖山”的神秘國度，那里是所有動(dòng)物死后的歸宿。它就在天空中云層上面的不遠(yuǎn)處。摩西說，在蜜糖山，每周七天，天天都是星期天，一年四季都有苜蓿，在那里，方糖和亞麻子餅就長在樹籬上。動(dòng)物們?cè)鲪耗ξ?，因?yàn)樗庹f閑話而不干活，但動(dòng)物中也有相信蜜糖山的。所以，豬不得不竭力爭(zhēng)辯，教動(dòng)物們相信根本就不存在那么一個(gè)地方。

Their most faithful disciples were the two cart-horses, Boxer and Clover. These two had great difficulty in thinking anything out for themselves, but having once accepted the pigs as their teachers, they absorbed everything that they were told, and passed it on to the other animals by simple arguments. They were unfailing in their attendance at the secret meetings in the barn, and led the singing of 'Beasts of England', with which the meetings always ended.

他們最忠實(shí)的追隨者是那兩匹套貨車的馬，鮑克瑟和克拉弗。對(duì)他們倆來說，靠自己想通任何問題都很困難。而一旦把豬認(rèn)作他們的導(dǎo)師，他們便吸取了豬教給他們的一切東西，還通過一些簡單的討論把這些道理傳授給其他的動(dòng)物。大谷倉中的秘密會(huì)議，他們也從不缺席。每當(dāng)會(huì)議結(jié)束要唱那首“英格蘭獸”時(shí)，也由他們帶頭唱起。

Now, as it turned out, the Rebellion was achieved much earlier and more easily than anyone had expected. In past years Mr. Jones, although a hard master, had been a capable farmer, but of late he had fallen on evil days. He had become much disheartened after losing money in a lawsuit, and had taken to drinking more than was good for him. For whole days at a time he would lounge in his Windsor chair in the kitchen, reading the newspapers, drinking, and occasionally feeding Moses on crusts of bread soaked in beer. His men were idle and dishonest, the fields were full of weeds, the buildings wanted roofing, the hedges were neglected, and the animals were underfed.

這一陣子，就結(jié)果而言，造反之事比任何一個(gè)動(dòng)物所預(yù)期的都要來得更早也更順利。在過去數(shù)年間，瓊斯先生盡管是個(gè)冷酷的主人，但不失為一位能干的莊園主，可是近來，他正處于背運(yùn)的時(shí)候，打官司中賠了錢，他更沮喪沉淪，于是拼命地喝酒。有一陣子，他整日呆在廚房里，懶洋洋地坐在他的溫莎椅上，翻看著報(bào)紙，喝著酒，偶爾把干面包片在啤酒里沾一下喂給摩西。他的伙計(jì)們也無所事事，這不守職。田地里長滿了野草，窩棚頂棚也漏了，樹籬無人照管，動(dòng)物們饑腸轆轆。

June came and the hay was almost ready for cutting. On Midsummer's Eve, which was a Saturday, Mr. Jones went into Willingdon and got so drunk at the Red Lion that he did not come back till midday on Sunday. The men had milked the cows in the early morning and then had gone out rabbiting, without bothering to feed the animals. When Mr. Jones got back he immediately went to sleep on the drawing-room sofa with the News of the World over his face, so that when evening came, the animals were still unfed. At last they could stand it no longer. One of the cows broke in the door of the store-shed with her horn and all the animals began to help themselves from the bins. It was just then that Mr. Jones woke up. The next moment he and his four men were in the store-shed with whips in their hands, lashing out in all directions. This was more than the hungry animals could bear. With one accord, though nothing of the kind had been planned beforehand, they flung themselves upon their tormentors. Jones and his men suddenly found themselves being butted and kicked from all sides. The situation was quite out of their control. They had never seen animals behave like this before, and this sudden uprising of creatures whom they were used to thrashing and maltreating just as they chose, frightened them almost out of their wits. After only a moment or two they gave up trying to defend themselves and took to their heels. A minute later all five of them were in full flight down the cart-track that led to the main road, with the animals pursuing them in triumph.

六月，眼看到了收割牧草的時(shí)節(jié)。在施洗約翰節(jié)的前夕，那一天是星期六，瓊斯先生去了威靈頓，在雷德蘭喝了個(gè)爛醉，直到第二天，也就是星期天的正午時(shí)分才趕回來。他的伙計(jì)們一大早擠完牛奶，就跑出去打兔子了，沒有操心給動(dòng)物添加草料。而瓊斯先生一回來，就在客廳里拿了一張《世界新聞》報(bào)蓋在臉上，在沙發(fā)上睡著了。所以一直到晚上，動(dòng)物們還沒有給喂過。他們終于忍受不住了，有一頭母牛用角撞開了貯藏棚的門，于是，所有的動(dòng)物一擁而上，自顧自地從飼料箱里搶東西。就在此刻，瓊斯先生醒了。不一會(huì)兒，他和他的四個(gè)伙計(jì)手里拿著鞭子出現(xiàn)在貯藏棚，上來就四處亂打一氣。饑餓的動(dòng)物哪里還受到了這個(gè)，盡管毫無任何預(yù)謀，但都不約而同地，猛地?fù)湎蜻@些折磨他們的主人。瓊斯先生一伙忽然發(fā)現(xiàn)他們自己正處在四面被圍之中。被犄角抵，被蹄子踢，形勢(shì)完全失去了控制。他們從前還沒有見到動(dòng)物這樣的舉動(dòng)，他們?cè)?jīng)是怎樣隨心所欲的鞭笞和虐待這一群畜牲!而這群畜牲們的突然暴動(dòng)嚇得他們幾乎不知所措。轉(zhuǎn)眼工夫，他們放棄自衛(wèi)，拔腿便逃。又過了個(gè)把分鐘，在動(dòng)物們勢(shì)如破竹的追趕下，他們五個(gè)人沿著通往大路的車道倉皇敗逃。

Mrs. Jones looked out of the bedroom window, saw what was happening, hurriedly flung a few possessions into a carpet bag, and slipped out of the farm by another way. Moses sprang off his perch and flapped after her, croaking loudly. Meanwhile the animals had chased Jones and his men out on to the road and slammed the five-barred gate behind them. And so, almost before they knew what was happening, the Rebellion had been successfully carried through: Jones was expelled, and the Manor Farm was theirs.

瓊斯夫人在臥室中看到窗外發(fā)生的一切，匆忙拆些細(xì)軟塞進(jìn)一個(gè)毛氈手提包里，從另一條路上溜出了莊園。摩西從他的架子上跳起來，撲撲騰騰地尾隨著瓊斯夫人，呱呱地大聲叫著。這時(shí)，動(dòng)物們已經(jīng)把瓊斯一伙趕到外面的大路上，然后砰地一聲關(guān)上五柵門。就這樣，在他們幾乎還沒有反應(yīng)過來時(shí)，造反已經(jīng)完全成功了：瓊斯被驅(qū)逐了，曼納莊園成了他們自己的。

For the first few minutes the animals could hardly believe in their good fortune. Their first act was to gallop in a body right round the boundaries of the farm, as though to make quite sure that no human being was hiding anywhere upon it; then they raced back to the farm buildings to wipe out the last traces of Jones's hated reign. The harness-room at the end of the stables was broken open; the bits, the nose-rings, the dog-chains, the cruel knives with which Mr. Jones had been used to castrate the pigs and lambs, were all flung down the well. The reins, the halters, the blinkers, the degrading nosebags, were thrown on to the rubbish fire which was burning in the yard. So were the whips. All the animals capered with joy when they saw the whips going up in flames. Snowball also threw on to the fire the ribbons with which the horses' manes and tails had usually been decorated on market days.

起初，有好大一會(huì)，動(dòng)物們簡直不敢相信他們的好運(yùn)氣。他們做的第一件事就是沿著莊園奔馳著繞了一圈，仿佛是要徹底證實(shí)一下再也沒有人藏在莊園里了。接著，又奔回窩棚中，把那些屬于可憎的瓊斯統(tǒng)治的最后印跡消除掉。馬廄端頭的農(nóng)具棚被砸開了，嚼子、鼻環(huán)、狗用的項(xiàng)圈，以及瓊斯先生過去常為閹豬、閹羊用的殘酷的刀子，統(tǒng)統(tǒng)給丟進(jìn)井里。韁繩、籠頭、眼罩和可恥的掛在馬脖子上的草料袋，全都與垃圾一起堆到院中，一把火燒了。鞭子更不例外。動(dòng)物們眼看著鞭子在火焰中燒起，他們?nèi)寂d高采烈的歡呼雀躍起來。斯諾鮑還把飾帶也扔進(jìn)火里，那些飾帶是過去常在趕集時(shí)扎在馬鬃和馬尾上用的。

"Ribbons," he said, "should be considered as clothes, which are the mark of a human being. All animals should go naked."

“飾帶”，他說道，“應(yīng)該視同衣服，這是人類的標(biāo)記。所有的動(dòng)物都應(yīng)該一絲不掛”。

When Boxer heard this he fetched the small straw hat which he wore in summer to keep the flies out of his ears, and flung it on to the fire with the rest.

鮑克瑟聽到這里，便把他夏天戴的一頂小草帽也拿出來，這頂草帽本來是防止蠅蟲鉆入耳朵才戴的，他也把它和別的東西一道扔進(jìn)了人火中。

In a very little while the animals had destroyed everything that reminded them of Mr. Jones. Napoleon then led them back to the store-shed and served out a double ration of corn to everybody, with two biscuits for each dog. Then they sang 'Beasts of England' from end to end seven times running, and after that they settled down for the night and slept as they had never slept before.

不大一會(huì)兒，動(dòng)物們便把所有能引起他們聯(lián)想到瓊斯先生的東西全毀完了。然后，拿破侖率領(lǐng)他們回到貯藏棚里，給他們分發(fā)了雙份玉米，給狗發(fā)了雙份餅干。接著，他們從頭至尾把“英格蘭獸”唱了七遍。然后安頓下來，而且美美睡了一夜，好象他們還從來沒有睡過覺似的。

But they woke at dawn as usual, and suddenly remembering the glorious thing that had happened, they all raced out into the pasture together. A little way down the pasture there was a knoll that commanded a view of most of the farm. The animals rushed to the top of it and gazed round them in the clear morning light. Yes, it was theirs--everything that they could see was theirs! In the ecstasy of that thought they gambolled round and round, they hurled themselves into the air in great leaps of excitement. They rolled in the dew, they cropped mouthfuls of the sweet summer grass, they kicked up clods of the black earth and snuffed its rich scent. Then they made a tour of inspection of the whole farm and surveyed with speechless admiration the ploughland, the hayfield, the orchard, the pool, the spinney. It was as though they had never seen these things before, and even now they could hardly believe that it was all their own.

但他們還是照常在黎明時(shí)醒來，轉(zhuǎn)念想起已經(jīng)發(fā)生了那么了不起的事情，他們?nèi)寂艹鰜?，一起沖向大牧場(chǎng)。通向牧場(chǎng)的小路上，有一座小山包，在那里，可以一覽整個(gè)莊園的大部分景色。動(dòng)物們沖到小山包頂上，在清新的晨曦中四下注視。是的，這是他們的——他們目光所及的每一件東西都是他們的!在這個(gè)念頭帶來的狂喜中，他們兜著圈子跳呀、蹦呀，在噴涌而來的極度激動(dòng)中，他們猛地蹦到空中。他們?cè)诼端洗驖L，咀嚼幾口甜潤的夏草;他們踢開黑黝黝的田土，使勁吮吸那泥塊中濃郁的香味。然后，他們巡視莊園一周，在無聲的贊嘆中查看了耕地、牧場(chǎng)、果樹園、池塘和樹叢。仿佛他們以前還從沒有見到過這些東西似的。而且，就是在這個(gè)時(shí)刻，他們還是不敢相信這些都是他們自己的。

Then they filed back to the farm buildings and halted in silence outside the door of the farmhouse. That was theirs too, but they were frightened to go inside. After a moment, however, Snowball and Napoleon butted the door open with their shoulders and the animals entered in single file, walking with the utmost care for fear of disturbing anything. They tiptoed from room to room, afraid to speak above a whisper and gazing with a kind of awe at the unbelievable luxury, at the beds with their feather mattresses, the looking-glasses, the horsehair sofa, the Brussels carpet, the lithograph of Queen Victoria over the drawing-room mantelpiece. They were lust coming down the stairs when Mollie was discovered to be missing. Going back, the others found that she had remained behind in the best bedroom. She had taken a piece of blue ribbon from Mrs. Jones's dressing-table, and was holding it against her shoulder and admiring herself in the glass in a very foolish manner. The others reproached her sharply, and they went outside. Some hams hanging in the kitchen were taken out for burial, and the barrel of beer in the scullery was stove in with a kick from Boxer's hoof, otherwise nothing in the house was touched. A unanimous resolution was passed on the spot that the farmhouse should be preserved as a museum. All were agreed that no animal must ever live there.

后來，他們列隊(duì)向莊園的窩棚走去，在莊主院門外靜靜地站住了。這也是他們的，可是，他們卻惶恐得不敢進(jìn)去。過一會(huì)兒，斯諾鮑和拿破侖用肩撞開門，動(dòng)物們才魚貫而入，他們小心翼翼地走著，生怕弄亂了什么。他們踮起蹄子尖一個(gè)屋接一個(gè)屋地走過，連比耳語大一點(diǎn)的聲音都不敢吱一下，出于一種敬畏，目不轉(zhuǎn)睛地盯著這難以置信的奢華，盯著鏡子、馬鬃沙發(fā)和那些用他們的羽絨制成的床鋪，還有布魯塞爾毛圈地毯，以及放在客廳壁爐臺(tái)上的維多利亞女王的平版肖像。當(dāng)他們拾級(jí)而下時(shí)，發(fā)現(xiàn)莫麗不見了。再折身回去，才見她呆在后面一間最好的臥室里。她在瓊斯夫人的梳妝臺(tái)上拿了一條藍(lán)飾帶，傻下唧唧地在鏡子前面貼著肩臭美起來。在大家嚴(yán)厲的斥責(zé)下，她這才又走了出來。掛在廚房里的一些火腿也給拿出去埋了，洗碗間的啤酒桶被鮑克瑟踢了個(gè)洞。除此之外，房屋里任何其他東西都沒有動(dòng)過。在莊主院現(xiàn)場(chǎng)一致通過了一項(xiàng)決議：莊主院應(yīng)保存起來作為博物館。大家全都贊成：任何動(dòng)物都不得在次居住。

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

動(dòng)物們用完早餐，斯諾鮑和拿破侖再次召集起他們。

"Comrades," said Snowball, "it is half-past six and we have a long day before us. Today we begin the hay harvest. But there is another matter that must be attended to first."

“同志們”，斯諾鮑說道，“現(xiàn)在是六點(diǎn)半，下面還有整整一天。今天我們開始收割牧草，不過，還有另外一件事情得先商量一下”。

The pigs now revealed that during the past three months they had taught themselves to read and write from an old spelling book which had belonged to Mr. Jones's children and which had been thrown on the rubbish heap. Napoleon sent for pots of black and white paint and led the way down to the five-barred gate that gave on to the main road. Then Snowball (for it was Snowball who was best at writing) took a brush between the two knuckles of his trotter, painted out MANOR FARM from the top bar of the gate and in its place painted ANIMAL FARM. This was to be the name of the farm from now onwards. After this they went back to the farm buildings, where Snowball and Napoleon sent for a ladder which they caused to be set against the end wall of the big barn. They explained that by their studies of the past three months the pigs had succeeded in reducing the principles of Animalism to Seven Commandments. These Seven Commandments would now be inscribed on the wall; they would form an unalterable law by which all the animals on Animal Farm must live for ever after. With some difficulty (for it is not easy for a pig to balance himself on a ladder) Snowball climbed up and set to work, with Squealer a few rungs below him holding the paint-pot. The Commandments were written on the tarred wall in great white letters that could be read thirty yards away. They ran thus:

這時(shí)，大家才知道豬在過去的三個(gè)月中，從一本舊的拼讀書本上自學(xué)了閱讀和書寫。那本書曾是瓊斯先生的孩子的，早先被扔到垃圾堆里。拿破侖叫拿來幾桶黑漆和白漆，帶領(lǐng)大家來到朝著大路的五柵門。接著，斯諾鮑(正是他才最擅長書寫)用蹄子的雙趾捏起一支刷子，涂掉了柵欄頂?shù)哪九粕系?ldquo;曼納莊園”幾個(gè)字，又在那上面寫上“動(dòng)物莊園”。這就是莊園以后的名字。寫完后，他們又回到窩棚那里，斯諾鮑和拿破侖又叫拿來一架梯子，并讓把梯子支在大谷倉的墻頭。他們解釋說，經(jīng)過過去三個(gè)月的研討，他們已經(jīng)成功地把動(dòng)物主義的原則簡化為“七戒”，這“七戒”將要題寫在墻上，它們將成為不可更改的法律，所有動(dòng)物莊園的動(dòng)物都必須永遠(yuǎn)遵循它生活。斯諾鮑好不容易才爬了上去(因?yàn)樨i不易的梯子上保持平衡)并開始忙乎起來，斯奎拉在比他低幾格的地方端著油漆桶。在刷過柏油的墻上，用巨大的字體寫著“七誡”。字是白色的，在三十碼以外清晰可辨。它們是這樣寫的：

THE SEVEN COMMANDMENTS

七　　誡

1. Whatever goes upon two legs is an enemy.

1. 凡靠兩條腿行走者皆為仇敵;

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

2. 凡靠四肢行走者，或者長翅膀者，皆為親友;

3. No animal shall wear clothes.

3. 任何動(dòng)物不得著衣;

4. No animal shall sleep in a bed.

4. 任何動(dòng)物不得臥床;

5. No animal shall drink alcohol.

5. 任何動(dòng)物不得飲酒;

6. No animal shall kill any other animal.

6. 任何動(dòng)物不得傷害其他動(dòng)物;

7. All animals are equal.

7. 所有動(dòng)物一律平等。

It was very neatly written, and except that "friend" was written "freind" and one of the "S's" was the wrong way round, the spelling was correct all the way through. Snowball read it aloud for the benefit of the others. All the animals nodded in complete agreement, and the cleverer ones at once began to learn the Commandments by heart.

寫得十分瀟灑，除了把親友“friend”寫成了“freind”，以及其中有一處“S”寫反之外，全部拼寫得很正確。斯諾鮑大聲念給別的動(dòng)物聽，所有在場(chǎng)的動(dòng)物都頻頻點(diǎn)頭，表示完全贊同。較為聰明一些的動(dòng)物立即開始背誦起來。

"Now, comrades," cried Snowball, throwing down the paint-brush, "to the hayfield! Let us make it a point of honour to get in the harvest more quickly than Jones and his men could do."

“現(xiàn)在，同志們”，斯諾鮑扔下油漆刷子說道，“到牧場(chǎng)上去!我們要爭(zhēng)口氣，要比瓊斯他們一伙人更快地收完牧草”。

But at this moment the three cows, who had seemed uneasy for some time past, set up a loud lowing. They had not been milked for twenty-four hours, and their udders were almost bursting. After a little thought, the pigs sent for buckets and milked the cows fairly successfully, their trotters being well adapted to this task. Soon there were five buckets of frothing creamy milk at which many of the animals looked with considerable interest.

就在這時(shí)刻，早已有好大一會(huì)顯得很不自在的三頭母牛發(fā)出振耳的哞哞聲。已經(jīng)二十四小時(shí)沒有給她們擠奶了。她們的奶子快要脹破了。豬稍一尋思，讓取來奶桶，相當(dāng)成功地給母牛擠了奶，他們的蹄子十分適于干這個(gè)活。很快，就擠滿了五桶冒著沫的乳白色牛奶，許多動(dòng)物津津有味地瞧著奶桶中的奶。

"What is going to happen to all that milk?" said someone.

“這些牛奶可怎么辦呢?”有一個(gè)動(dòng)物問答。

"Jones used sometimes to mix some of it in our mash," said one of the hens.

“瓊斯先生過去常常給我們的谷糠飼料中摻一些牛奶”，有只母雞說道。

"Never mind the milk, comrades!" cried Napoleon, placing himself in front of the buckets. "That will be attended to. The harvest is more important. Comrade Snowball will lead the way. I shall follow in a few minutes. Forward, comrades! The hay is waiting."

“別理會(huì)牛奶了，同志們!”站在奶桶前的拿破侖大聲喊道，“牛奶會(huì)給照看好的，收割牧草才更重了，斯諾鮑同志領(lǐng)你們?nèi)?，我隨后就來。前進(jìn)，同志們!牧草在等待著!”

So the animals trooped down to the hayfield to begin the harvest, and when they came back in the evening it was noticed that the milk had disappeared.

于是，動(dòng)物們成群結(jié)隊(duì)地走向大牧場(chǎng)，開始了收割。當(dāng)他們晚上收工回來的時(shí)候，大家注意的：牛奶已經(jīng)不見了。