'Animal Farm' by George Orwell (Full Audiobook)

Animal Farm by George Orwell read by Timothy West mr. Jones of the man of thumb had locked the hen houses for the night that was too drunk to remember to shut the pop holes with the ring of light from his lantern dancing from side to side he lurched across the yard kicked off his boots at the backdoor Joe himself a last glass of beer from the barrel in the scullery and made his way up to bed where mrs. Jones was already snoring as soon as the light in the bedroom went out there was a stirring and a fluttering all through the farm buildings word had gone round during the day that old major the prized middle white Moor had had a strange dream on the previous night and wish to communicate it to the other animals it had been agreed that they should all meet in the big bone as soon as mr. Jones was safely out of the way old major so he was always called though the name under which he had been exhibited was Willington beauty was so highly regarded on the thumb that everyone was quite ready to lose an hour's sleep in order to hear what he had to say at one end of the big bomb on a sort of raised platform major was already ensconced on his bed of straw under a lantern which hung from a beam he was twelve years old and had lately grown rather stout but he was still a majestic looking pig were the wise and benevolent appearance in spite of the fact that his tushes had never been cut before long the other animals began to arrive and make themselves comfortable after their different fashions first came the three dogs Bluebell Jesse and pincher and then the pigs who settled down in the straw immediately in front of the platform the hens perched themselves on the window sills the pigeons fluttered up to the rafters the sheep and cows lay down behind the pigs and began to chew the cud the two cart-horses boxer and clover came in together walking very slowly and setting down their vast hairy hoofs with great care lest there should be some small animal concealed in the straw clover was a stout mother lemur approaching middle life who had never quite got her figure back after her fourth foal boxer was an enormous beast nearly 18 hands high and as strong as any to ordinary horses put together a white stripe down his nose gave him a somewhat stupid appearance and in fact he was not of first-rate intelligence but he was universally respected for his steadiness of character and tremendous powers of work after the horses came muriel the white goat and Benjamin the donkey Benjamin was the oldest animal on the farm and the worst tempered he seldom talked and when he did it was usually to make some cynical remark for instance he would say that God had given him a tail to keep the flies off and but that he would sooner have had no tail and no flies alone among the animals on the farm he never laughed if asked why he would say that he saw nothing to laugh at nevertheless without openly admitting it he was devoted to boxer the two of them usually spent their Sundays together in the small pad at beyond the orchard grazing side by side and never speaking the two horses had just lain down when a brood of ducklings which had lost their mother filed into the barn cheeping feebly and wandering from side to side to find some place where they would not be trotting on clover made a sort of wall round them with her great four leg and the ducklings nestled down inside it and promptly fell asleep at the last moment Molly the foolish pretty white mare who drew mr. Jones's trap came mincing daintily in chewing at a lump of sugar she took her place near the front and began flirting her white mane hoping to draw attention to the red ribbons it was petted with last of all came the cat who looked round as usual for the warmest place and finally squeezed herself in between boxer and clover there she purred contentedly throughout major speech without listening to a word of what he was saying all the animals were now present except Moses the tame Raven who slept on a perch behind the back door when major saw that they had all made themselves comfortable and were waiting attentively he cleared his throat and began comrades you have already heard about the strange dream that I had last night but I will come to the dream later I have something else to say first I do not think comrades that I shall be with you for many months longer and before I die I feel it my duty to pass on to you such wisdom as I have acquired I've had a long life I have had much time for thought as I lay alone in my stall and I think I may say that I understand that nature of life on this earth as well as any animal now living it is about this that I wish to speak to you now comrades what is the nature of this life of ours let us face it our lives are miserable laborious and short we are born we are given just so much food as will keep the breath in our bodies and those of us who are capable of it are forced to work to the last atom of our strength and the very instant that our usefulness has come to an end we are slaughtered with hideous cruelty no animal in England knows the meaning of happiness or leisure after he is a year old no animal in England is free the life of an animal is misery and slavery that is the plain proof but is this simply part of the order of nature is it because this land of ours is so poor that it cannot afford a decent life to those who dwell upon it no comrades a thousand times no the soil of England is fertile its climate is good it is capable of affording food in abundance to an enormous league rate a number of animals than now inhabit it this single farm of ours would support a dozen horses 20 cows hundreds of sheep and all of them living in a Comfort Inn dignity that are now almost beyond our imagining why then do we continue in this miserable condition because nearly the whole of the produce of our labor is stolen from us by human beings their comrades is the answer to all our problems it is summed up in a single word man man is the only real enemy we have remove man from the scene and the root cause of hunger and overwork is abolished forever man is the only creature that consumes without producing he does not give milk he does not lay eggs he is too weak to pull the plow he cannot run fast enough to catch rabbits yet he is Lord of all the animals he sets them to work he gives back to them the bare minimum that will prevent them from starving and the rest he keeps for himself our labor tills the soil our dung fertilizes it and yet there is not one of us that owns more than his bare skin you cows that I see before me how many thousands of gallons of milk have you given during this last year and what has happened to that milk which should have been breeding up sturdy calves every drop of it has gone down the throats of our enemies and you hens how many eggs have you laid in this last year and how many of those eggs ever hatched into chickens the rest have all gone to market to bring in money for Jones and his men and you clover where are those four foes you bore who should have been the support and pleasure of your old age each was sold at a year old you will never see one of them again in return for your four confinements and all your labor in the fields what have you ever had except your bare rations and a store and even the miserable lives we lead are not allowed to reach their natural span for myself I do not grumble for I am one of the lucky ones I am twelve years old and have had over 400 children such is the natural life of a pig but no animal escapes the cruel knife in the end you young porkers who were sitting in front of me every one of you will scream your lives out at the block within a year to that horror we all must come cows pigs hens sheep everyone even the horses and the dogs have no better fate you boxer the very day that those great muscles of yours lose their power Jones will sell you to the Necker will cut your throat and boil you down for the fox hounds as for the dogs when they grow old and toothless Jones ties a brick round their necks and drowns them in the nearest pond is it not crystal clear then comrades that all the evils of this life of ours spring from the tyranny of human beings only get rid of man and the produce of our labor would be our own almost overnight we could become rich and free what then must we do why work night and day body and soul for the overthrow of the human race that is my message to you comrades rebellion I do not know when that rebellion will come it might be in a week or in a hundred years but I know as surely as I see this straw beneath my feet that sooner or later justice will be done fix your eyes on that comrades throughout the short remainder of your lives and above all pass on this message of mine to those who come after you so that future generations shall carry on the struggle until it is victorious and remember comrades your resolution must never falter no argument must lead you astray never listen they tell you that man and the animals have a common interest that the prosperity of the one is the prosperity of the others it is all lies man serves the interests of no creature except himself and among us animals let there be perfect unity perfect comradeship in the struggle all men are enemies all animals are comrades at this moment there was a tremendous uproar while major was speaking for large rats have crept out of their holes and was sitting on their hind quarters listening to him the dogs had suddenly caught sight of them and it was anybody - for their holes that the rats saved their lives major raised his Trotter for silence comrades he said here is a point that must be settled the wild creatures such as rats and rabbits are they our friends or enemies let us put it to the vote I propose this question to the meeting ah rats comrades the vote was taken at once and it was agreed by an overwhelming majority of the rats we're comrades there were only four descendants the three dogs and the cat who was afterwards discovered to have voted on both sides major continued I have little more to say I merely repeat remember always your duty of enmity towards man and all his ways whatever goes upon two legs is an enemy whatever goes upon four legs or has wings is a friend and remember also that in fighting against man we must not come to resemble him even when you have conquered him do not adopt his vices no animal must ever live in a house or sleep in a bed or wear clothes or drink alcohol or smoke tobacco or touch money or engage in trade all the habits man are evil and above all no animal must ever tyrannize over his own kind weak or strong clever or simple we are all brothers no animal must ever kill any other animal all animals are equal and now comrades I will tell you about my dream of last night I cannot describe that dream to you it was a dream of the earth as it will be when man has vanished but it reminded me of something that I had long forgotten many years ago when I was a little pig and my mother and the other cells he was to sing an old song of which they knew only the tune and the first three words I had known that tune in my infancy the budget had long since passed out of my mind last night however it came back to me in my dream and what is more the words of the song also came back words I am certain which were sung by the animals of long ago and have been lost to memory for generations I will sing you that song now comets I am old and my voice is hoarse but when I have tortured the tune you can sing it better for yourselves it is called beasts of England old major cleared his throat and began to sing as he had said his voice was hoarse but he sang well enough and it was a stirring tune as something between Clementine and la Cucaracha the words ran beasts of England beasts of Ireland beasts of every land and clime hearken to my joyful tidings of the golden future time soon or late the day is coming tire and man shall be your throne and the fruitful of England shall be charred by beasts alone ring shall vanish from our noses and the harness from our back bit and spur shall rust forever cruel whips no more shall crack riches more than mine can picture wheat and barley oats and hay clover beans and mango weasels shall be ours upon that day rights will shine the fields of England pure a shell its waters be sweeter yet shell blow its breezes on the day that sets us free for that day we all must labor though we die before it break cows and horses geese and turkeys almost 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 singing of the Sun through the animals into the wildest excitement almost before major had reached the end they had begun singing it for themselves even the stupidest of them had already picked up the tomb and a few of the words and as for the clever ones such as the pigs and dogs they had the entire song by heart within a few minutes and then after a few preliminary tries the whole farm burst out into beasts of England in tremendous unison the cows load it the dogs find it the sheep bleat hit it the horses whinnied it the ducks quack 'td they were so delighted with the song that they sang it right through five times in succession and might have continued singing it all night if they had not been interrupted unfortunately the uproar awoke mr. Jones who sprang out of bed making sure that there was a Fox in the yard he seized the gun which had always stood in a corner of his bedroom and let fly a charge of number six shot into the darkness the pellets buried themselves in the wall of the bomb and the meeting broke up hurriedly everyone fled to his own sleeping place the birds jumped onto their perches the animals settled down in the straw and the whole farm was asleep in a moment three nights later old major died peacefully in his sleep his body was buried at the foot of the orchard this was early in March during the next three months there was much secret activity major 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 he was their duty to prepare for it the work of teaching and organizing the others fell naturally upon the pigs who were generally recognized as being the cleverest of the animals preeminent among the pigs were two young paws named snowball and Napoleon who mr. Jones was breeding up for sale Napoleon was a large rather fierce looking Berkshire boar the only boxer on the farm not much of a talker but with a reputation for getting his own way snowball was a more vivacious bait 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 these three had elaborated old majors 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 male the white mare the very first question she asked snowball was will I still be sugar after the rebellion no said snowball firmly we have no means of making sugar on this farm besides you do not need sugar you will have only oats and hay you want and should I still be allowed to wear ribbons in my mane asked Molly 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 Molly agreed but she did not sound very convinced the pigs had an even harder struggled to counteract the lies put about by Moses the tame Raven Moses who was mr. Jones's a special pet was a spy and a tail bearer but he was also a clever talker he claimed to know of the existence of a mysterious country called sugar candy 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 sugar candy 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 sugar candy Mount and the pigs had to argue 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 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 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 the 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 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 to midday on Sunday the men had enough the cows in the early morning and then had gone out rabbiting without bothering to feed the animals where 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 unfit 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 nothing of the kind have 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 now treating just as they chose frightened them almost out of their wit's after only a moment or two they gave up trying to defend themselves and took 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 mrs. Jones looked out of the bedroom window saw what was happening hardly 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 onto 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 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 rain 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 rains the halters the blinkers the degrading nose bags were thrown onto the rubbish fire which was burning in the yard so were the whips all the animals kept on with joy when they saw the whips going up in flames snowball also threw onto the fire the ribbons with which the horse's Mane's and Tails had usually been decorated on market days ribbons he said should be considered as clothes which are the mark of a human being or animals should go naked 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 onto the fire with the rest 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 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 mrs. 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 gambled round and round they hurled themselves into the air in great leaps of excitement they rolled in the do they cropped mouthfuls of the sweet summer grass they kicked up clods of the Black Earth and snuffed it's rich scent then they made a tour of inspection of the whole farm and surveyed with speechless admiration the plough land the hay field 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 then they filed back to the farm buildings and hold it 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 had the unbelievable luxury at the bed's with their feather mattresses for looking glasses the horsehair sofa the Brussels carpet the lithograph of Queen Victoria over the drawing-room mantelpiece they were just coming down the stairs when Molly 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 his 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 boxers 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 one agreed that no animal must never lived there the animals had their breakfast and then snowball and Napoleon called them together again 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 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 four pots of black and white paint and led the way down to the five-barred gate that gave onto 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 manner thumb 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 bomb 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 were now be inscribed on the wall they would form an unalterable law by which all the animals on Animal Farm must live forever after with some difficulty for it is not easy for a pig to balance himself on a ladder snowball climbed up and said to work with Squealer a few rungs below him holding the pink pot the Commandments were written on the tarred wall in great white letters that could be read 30 yards away they ran thus the 7 Commandments one whatever goes upon two legs is an enemy to whatever goes upon four legs or has wings is a friend 3 no animal shall wear clothes 4 no animal shall sleep in a bed 5 no animal shall drink alcohol 6 no animal shall kill any other animal 7 all animals are equal it was very neatly written and except that friend was written F r ii i ND and one of the esses 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 now comrades cried snowball throwing down the paintbrush 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 but at this moment the three cows who had seemed uneasy for some time passed set up a loud lowing they had not been milked for 24 hours and their orders were almost bursting after little thought the pig sent for buckets and milked the cows fairly successfully their trotters being well adapted to this task soon there were five buckets of frothy creamy milk at which many of the animals looked with considerable interest what is going to happen to all that milk said someone Jones used sometimes to mix some of it in our mash said one of the hens nevermind 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 so the animals troop down to the hay field to begin the harvest and when they came back in the evening it was noticed that the milk had disappeared how they toiled and sweated to get the hay in but their efforts were rewarded for the harvest was an even bigger success than they had hoped sometimes the work was hard the implements had been designed for human beings and not for animals and it was a great drawback that no animal was able to use any tool that involved standing on his hind legs but the pigs were so clever that they could think of a way around every difficulty as for the horses they knew every inch of the field and in fact understood the business of mowing and raking far better than Jones and his men had ever done the pigs did not actually work but directed and supervised the others with their superior knowledge it was natural that they should assume the leadership boxer and clover would harness themselves to the cutter or the horse rake no bits or reins were needed in these days of course and steadily round and round the field with a pig walking behind and calling out gee-up comrade or Welbeck comrade as the case might be and every animal down to the humblest worked at turning the hay and gathering it even the Ducks and hens toiled to and fro all day in the Sun carrying tiny wisps of hay in their beaks in the end they finished the harvest in two days less time than it had usually taken Jones and his men moreover it was the biggest harvest that the farm had ever seen there was no wastage whatever the hens and ducks were their sharp eyes had gathered up the very last stalk and not an animal on the thumb had stolen so much as a mouthful all through that summer the work of the farm went like clockwork the animals were happy as they never conceived it possible to be every mouthful of food was an acute positive pleasure now that it was truly their own food produced by themselves and for themselves not doled out to them by a grudging master with the worthless parasitical human beings gone there was more for everyone to eat there was more leisure to than experience that the animals were they met with many difficulties for instance later in the year when they harvested the corn they had to tread it out in the ancient style and blow away the chaff with their breath since the farm possessed no threshing machine but the pigs with their cleverness and boxer with his tremendous muscles always pulled them through boxer was the admiration of everybody he had been a hard worker even in Jones's time but now he seemed more like three horses than one there were days when the entire work of the farm seemed to rest upon his mighty shoulders from morning to night he was pushing and pulling always at the spot where the work was hardest he had made an arrangement with one of the cockerels to call him in the mornings half an hour earlier than anyone else and would put in some volunteer labor at whatever seemed to be most needed before the regular day's work began his answer to every problem every setback was I will work harder which he had adopted as his personal motto but everyone worked according to his capacity the hens and Ducks for instance saved five bushels of corn at the harvest by gathering up the stray grains nobody stole nobody grumbled over his rations the quarreling and biting and jealousy which had been normal features of life in the old days had almost disappeared his shirt or Palmas nobody male it was true was not good at getting up in the mornings and had a way of leaving work early on the ground that there was a stone in her hoof and the behavior of the cat was somewhat peculiar it was soon noticed that when there was work to be done the cat could never be found she would vanish for hours on end and then reappear at mealtimes or in the evening after work was over as though nothing had happened but she always made such excellent excuses and purred so affectionately that it was impossible not to believe in her good intentions old Benjamin the donkey seemed quite unchanged since the rebellion he did his work in the same slow obstinate way as he had done it in Jones's time never shirking and never volunteering for extra work either about the rebellion and its results he would express no opinion when asked whether he was not happier now that Jones was gone he would say Oh named donkeys live a long time none of you has ever seen a dead donkey and the others had to be content with this cryptic answer on Sundays there was no work breakfast was an hour later than usual and after breakfast there was a ceremony which was observed every week without fail first came the hoisting of the flag snowball had found in the harness room an old green tablecloth of mrs. Jones's and had painted on it a hoof and a horn in white this was run up the Flagstaff in the farmhouse garden every Sunday morning the flag was green snowball explained to represent the green fields of England while the hoof and horn signified the future Republic of the animals which would arise when the human race had been finally overthrown after the hoisting of the flag all the animals trooped into the big barn for a general assembly which was known as the meeting here the work of the coming week was planned out and resolutions were put forward and debated it was always the pigs who forward the resolutions the other animals understood had a vote but could never think of any resolutions of their own snowball and Napoleon we're by far the most active in the debates but it was noticed that these two were never in agreement whatever suggestion either of them made the other could be counted on to oppose it even when it was resolved a thing no one could object to in itself to set aside the small pattern behind the orchard as a home of rest for animals who were past work there was a stormy debate over the correct retiring age for each class of animal the meeting always ended with the singing of beasts of England and the afternoon was given up to recreation the pigs had set aside the harness room as a headquarters for themselves here in the evenings they studied blacksmithing carpentering and other necessary arts from books which they had brought out of the farmhouse snowball also busied himself with organizing the other animals into what he called animal committees he was indebted able at this he formed the egg production committee for the hens the clean tails League for the cows the wild comrades reeducation committee the object of this was to tame the rats and rabbits the whiter wool movement for the sheep and various others besides instituting classes in reading and writing on the whole these projects were of failure the attempt to tame the wild creatures for instance broke down almost immediately they continued to behave very much as before and when treated with generosity simply took advantage of it the cat joined the re-education committee and was very active in it for some days she was seen one day sitting on a roof and talking to some sparrows who were just out of her reach she was telling them that all animals were now comrades and that any Sparrow who chose could come and perch on her poor but the sparrows kept their distance the reading and writing classes however were a great success by the autumn almost every animal on the farm was litter in some degree as for the pigs they could already read and write perfectly the dogs learned to read fairly well but were not interested in reading anything except the 7 Commandments Muriel the goat could read somewhat better than the dogs and sometimes used to read to the others in the evenings from scraps of newspaper which she found on the rubbish heap Benjamin could read as well as any Pig but never exercised his faculty so far as he knew he said there was nothing worth reading clover learned the whole alphabet but could not put words together boxer could not get beyond the letter D he would trace out ABCD in the dust with his great hoof and then would stand staring at the letters with his ears back sometimes shaking his forelock trying with all his might to remember what came next and never succeeding on several occasions indeed he did learn e F G H but by the time he knew them it was always discovered that he had forgotten a B C and D finally he decided to be content with the first four letters and used to write them out once or twice every day to refresh his memory Molly refused to learn any but the five letters which spelled her own name she would form these very neatly out of pieces of twig and would then decorate them with the flower or two and walk around them admiring none of the other animals on the farm could get further than the letter A it was also found that the stupider animals such as the sheep hens and ducks who were unable to learn the 7 Commandments by heart after much thought snowball declared that the 7 Commandments could in effect be reduced to a single maxim namely four legs good two legs bad this he said contained the essential principle of animalism whoever had thoroughly grasped it would be safe from human influences the birds that first objected since it seemed to them that they also had two legs but snowball proved to them that this was not so a bird's wing gum reads he said is an organ of propulsion and not of manipulation it should therefore be regarded as a leg the distinguishing mark of man is the hand the instrument with which he does all his mischief the birds did not understand snowballs long words but they accepted his explanation and all the humbler animals said to work to learn than you mechs him by heart four legs good two legs bad was inscribed on the end wall of the barn about the 7 Commandments and in bigger letters when they had once got it by heart the Sheep developed a great liking for this maxim and often as they lay in the field they would all start bleating four legs good two legs bad four legs good two legs bad and keep it up for hours on end never grown tired of it Napoleon took no interest in snowballs committees he said that the education of the young was more important than anything that could be done for those who were already grown up it happened that Jessie and Bluebell had both whelped soon after the hay harvest giving birth between them to nine sturdy puppies as soon as they were weaned Napoleon took them away from their mothers saying that he would make himself responsible for their education he took them up into a loft which could only be reached by a ladder from the harness room and there kept them in such seclusion that the rest of the farm soon forgot their existence the mystery of where the milk went to was soon cleared up it was mixed every day into the pigs mash the early apples were now ripening and the grass of the orchard was littered with windfalls the animals had assumed as a matter of course that these would be shared out equally one day however the order went forth that all the windfalls were to be collected and brought to the harness room for the use of the pigs at this some of the other animals murmured but it was no use all the pigs were in full agreement on this point even snowball and Napoleon squeal was sent to make the necessary explanations to the others comrades he cried you do not imagine I hope that we pigs are doing this in a spirit of selfishness and privilege many of us actually dislike milk and apples I dislike them myself our sole object in taking these things is to preserve our health milk and apples this has been proved by science comrades contain substances absolutely necessary to the well-being of a pig we pigs are brain workers the whole management and organization of this farm depend on us damn night we are watching over your welfare it is for your sake that we drink that milk and eat those apples do you know what would happen if we pigs failed in our duty Jones would come back yes Jones would come back surely comrades cried Squealer almost pleadingly skipping from side to side and risking his tail surely there is no one among you who wants to see Jones come back now if there was one thing that the animals were completely certain of it was that they did not want Jones back when it was putted them in this light they had no more to say the importance of keeping the pigs in good health was all too obvious so it was agreed without further arguments that the milk and the windfall apples and also the main crop of apples when they ripened should be reserved for the pigs alone by the late summer the news of what had happened on Animal Farm had spread across half the county every day snowball and Napoleon sent out flights of pigeons whose instructions were to mingle with the animals on neighboring farms tell him the story of the rebellion and teach them the tune of beasts of England most at this time mr. Jones had spent sitting in the tap room of the red line at Willington and complained to anyone who would listen of the monstrous injustice he had suffered in being turned out of his property by a pack of good-for-nothing animals the other farmers sympathized in principle but they did not at first give him much help at heart each of them was secretly wondering whether he could not somehow turn Jones's misfortune to his own advantage it was lucky that the owners of the two farms which had joined Animal Farm were on permanently bad terms one of them which was named Fox wood was a large neglected old-fashioned farm much overgrown by woodland with all its pastures worn-out and its hedges in a disgraceful condition its owner mr. Pilkington was an easygoing gentleman farmer who spent most of his time in fishing or hunting according to the season the other farm which was called pinch field who was smaller and better kept its owner was a mr. Frederick a tough shrewd man perpetually involved in lawsuits and with a name for driving hard bargains these two disliked each other so much that it was difficult for them to come to any agreement even in defense of their own interests nevertheless they were both thoroughly frightened by the rebellion on Animal Farm and very anxious to prevent their own animals from learning too much about it at first they pretended to laugh to scorn the idea of animals managing of farm for themselves the whole thing would be over in a fortnight they said they put it about that the animals on the Manor Farm they insisted on calling it the manor farm they would not tolerate the name animal farm who are perpetually fighting among themselves and were also rapidly starving to death when time passed and the animals had evidently not starved to death Frederick and Pilkington changed their tune and began to talk of the terrible wickedness that now flourished on animal farm it was given out that the animals there practiced cannibalism tortured one another with redhot horseshoes and had their females in common this was what came of rebelling against the laws of nature Frederick and Pilkington said however these stories were never fully believed rumors of a wonderful farm where the human beings had been turned out and the animals manage their own affairs continued to circulate in vague and distorted forms and throughout that year a wave of rebelliousness ran through the countryside bulls which had always been tractable suddenly turned savage she broke down hedges and devoured the clover cows kicked the pail over hunters refused their fences and shot their riders onto the other side above all the tune and even the words of beasts of England were known everywhere it had spread with astonishing speed the human beings could not contain their rage when they heard this song though they pretended to think it merely ridiculous they could not understand they said how even animals could bring themselves to sing such contemptible rubbish any animal caught singing it was given a flogging on the spot and yet the song was irrepressible the black birds whistled it in the hedges the pigeons coded in the Elms it got into the din of the smithee's and the tune of the church bells and when the human beings listened to it they secretly trembled hearing in it a prophecy of their future doom early in October when the corn was cut and stacked and some of it was already threshed a flight of pigeons came whirling through the air and alighted in the yard of Animal Farm in the wildest excitement Jones and all his men with half a dozen others from fox wood and pynch field had entered the five-barred gate and were coming up the kart track that led to the farm they were all carrying sticks except Jones who was marching ahead with a gun in his hands obviously they were going to attempt the recapture of the farm this had long been expected and all preparations had been made snowball would study in an old book of Julius Caesar's campaigns which he had found in the farmhouse was in charge of the defensive operations he gave his orders quickly and in a couple of minutes every animal was at his post as the human beings approached the farm buildings snowball launched his first attack all the pigeons the number of 35 flowed to and fro over the men's heads and dropped their dung on them from midair and while the men were dealing with this the geese who had been hiding behind the hedge rushed out and picked the the calves of their legs however this was only a light skirmishing maneuver intended to create a little disorder and the men easily drove the geese off with their sticks snowball now launched his second line of attack Muriel Benjamin and all the sheep with snowball at the head of them rushed forward and prodded and butted the men from every side while Benjamin turned round and lashed at them with his small hoofs and once again the men with their sticks and their hobnail boots were too strong for them and suddenly at a squeal from snowball which was the signal for retreat all the animals turned and fled through the gateway into the yard the men gave a shout of triumph they saw as they imagined their enemies in flight and they rushed after them in disorder this was just what snowball had intended as soon as they were well inside the yard the three horses the three cows and the rest of the pigs would be lying in ambush in the cowshed suddenly emerged in their rear cutting them off snowball now gave the signal for the charge he himself dashed straight for Jones Jones saw him coming raised his gun and fired the pellets scored bloody streaks along snowballs back and a sheep dropped dead without halting for an instant snowball flung his fifteen stone against Jones's legs Jones was hurled into a pile of dung and his gun flew out of his hands but the most terrifying spectacle of all was boxer rearing up on his hind legs and striking out with his great iron-shod hoofs like a stallion his very first blow took a stable lad from Foxwood on the skull and stretched him lifeless in the mud at the sight several men dropped their sticks and started to run panic overtook them and the next moment all the animals together were chasing them round and round the yard they were gored kicked bitten trampled on there was not an animal on the farm that did not take vengeance on them after his own fashion even the cat suddenly left off a roof onto a cowman shoulders and sank her claws in his neck at which he yelled horribly at a moment when the opening was clear the men were glad enough to rush out of the yard and make a boat for the main road and so within five minutes of their invasion they were in ignominy retreat by the same way as they had come with a flock of geese hissing after them and picking their calves all the way all the men were gone except one back in the yard boxer was pawing with his hoof at the stable lad who lay facedown in the mud trying to turn him over the boy did not stir is dead said boxer sorrowfully I had no intention of doing that I forgot that I was wearing iron shoes Oh will believe that I did not do this on purpose no sentimentality comrade cried snowball from whose wounds the blood was still dripping war is war the only good human being is a dead one I have no wish to take life not even human life repeated boxer and his eyes were full of tears where is Molly exclaimed somebody Molly in fact was missing for a moment that was great alarm it was feared that the men might have harmed her in some way or even carried her off with them in the end however she was found hiding in her stall with her head buried among the hay in the manger she had taken to flight as soon as the gun went off and when the others came back from looking for her it was to find that the stable lads who in fact was only stunned had already recovered and made off the animals had now reassembled in the wildest excitement each recounting his own exploits in the battle at the top of his voice an impromptu celebration of the victory was held immediately the flag was run up and beasts of England was sung a number of times then the Sheep who had been killed was given a solemn funeral a Hawthorne bush being planted on her grave at the graveside snowball made a little speech emphasizing the need for all animals to be ready to die for Animal Farm if need be the animals decided unanimously to create a military decoration animal hero first class which was conferred there and then on snowball and boxer it consisted of a brass medal they were really some old horse passes which had been found in the harness room to be worn on Sundays and holidays there was also animal hero second class which was conferred posthumously on the dead sheep there was much discussion as to what the battle should be called in the end it was named the Battle of the cowshed since that was where the ambush had been sprung mr. Jones's gun had been found lying in the mud and it was known that there was a supply of cartridges in the farmhouse it was decided to set the gun up at the foot of the Flagstaff like a piece of artillery and to fire it twice a year once on October the 12th the anniversary of the Battle of the cowshed and once on midsummer day the anniversary of the rebellion as winter drew on Molly became more and more troublesome she was late for work every morning and excused herself by saying that she had overslept and she complained of mysterious pains and although her appetite was excellent on every kind of pretext she would run away from work and go to the drinking pool where she would stand foolishly gazing at her own reflection in the water but there were also rumors of something more serious one day as Molly strolled blindly into the yard flirting her long tail and chewing at a stalk of hay clover took her aside Molly she said I have something very serious to say to you this morning I saw you looking over the hedge that divides animal farm from Foxwood one of mr. Pilkington's men was standing on the other side of the hedge and I was a long way away but I'm almost certain I saw this he was talking to you and you were allowing him to stroke your nose what does that mean Molly it didn't that wasn't it isn't true cried Molly beginning to prance about and pour the ground Molly look me in the face do you give me your word of honor that that man was not stroking your nose it isn't true repeated Molly but she could not look clover in the face and the next moment she took to her heels and galloped away into the field a thought struck clover without saying anything to the others she went to Molly's stall and turned over the straw with her hoof hidden under the straw was a little pile of lump sugar and several bunches of ribbon of different colors three days later Molly disappeared for some weeks nothing was known of her whereabouts then the pigeons reported that they had seen her on the other side of Willington she was between the shafts of a smart dog cart painted red and black which was standing outside a public house a fat red-faced man in check breeches and gaiters who look like a publican was stroking her nose and feeding her with sugar a coat was newly clipped and she wore a scarlet ribbon around her forelock she appeared to be enjoying herself so the pigeon said none of the animals ever mentioned Molly again in January they came bitterly hard weather the earth was like iron and nothing could be done in the fields many meetings were held in the big bomb and the pigs occupied themselves with planning out the work of the coming season it had come to be accepted that the pigs who were manifestly cleverer than the other animals should decide all questions of farm policy though their decisions had to be ratified by a majority vote this arrangement would have worked well enough if it had not been for the disputes between snowball and Napoleon these two disagreed at every point where disagreement was possible if one of them suggested sewing a bigger acreage with barley the other was certain to demand a bigger acreage of oats and if one of them said that such and such a field was just right for cabbages the other one declared it was useless for anything except roots each had his own following there were some violent debates at the meetings snowball often won over the majority by his brilliant speeches but Napoleon was better at canvassing support for himself in between times he was especially successful with the Sheep of late the Sheep had taken to bleating for legs good two legs bad both in and out of season and they often interrupted the meeting with this it was noticed that they were especially liable to break him to four legs good two legs bad at crucial moments in snowball speeches snowball had made a close study of some back numbers of the farmer and stock breeder which he had found in the farmhouse and was full of plans for innovations and improvements he talked learnedly about field drains silage and basic slag and had worked out a complicated scheme for all the animals to drop they're done directly in the fields at a different spot every day to save the labor of cottage Napoleon produced no schemes of his own but said quietly that snowballs would come to nothing and seemed to be biding his time but of all their controversies none was so bitter as the one that took place over the windmill in the long pasture not far from the farm buildings there was a small Knoll which was the highest point on the farm after surveying the ground snowball declared that this was just the place for a windmill which could be made to operate a dynamo and supply the farm with electrical power this would light the stalls and warm them in winter and would also run a circular saw a chaff cutter a mango slicer and an electric milking machine the animals had never heard of anything of this kind of fall for the farm was an old-fashioned one and had only the most primitive machinery and they listened in astonishment while snowball conjured up pictures of fantastic machines which would do their work for them while they grazed at their ease in the fields or improve their minds with reading and conversation side to but in a few weeks snowballs plans for the windmill were fully worked-out the mechanical details came mostly from three books which had belonged to mr. Jones 1000 useful things to do about the house every man his own bricklayer and electricity for beginners snowball used as his study a shed which had once been used for incubators and had a smooth wooden floor suitable for drawing on he was closeted there for hours at a time with his books held open by a stone and with a piece of chalk gripped between the knuckles of his Trotter he would move rapidly to and fro drawing in line after line and uttering little whimpers of excitement gradually the plans grew into a complicated mess of cranks and cog wheels covering more than half the floor which the other animals found completely unintelligible but very impressive all of them came to look at snowballs drawings at least once a day even the hens and ducks came and were at pains not to tread on the chalk marks only Napoleon elder louf he had declared himself against the windmill from the start one day however he arrived unexpectedly to examine the plans he walked heavily around the shed looked closely at every detail of the plans and snuffed at them once or twice then stood for a little while contemplating them out of the corner of his eye then suddenly he lifted his leg urinated over the plans and walked out without uttering a word the whole farm was deeply divided on the subject of the windmill snowball did not deny that to build it would be a difficult business stone would have to be quarried and built up into walls and the sails would have to be made and after that there would be need for dynamos and cables how these were to be procured snowball did not say but he maintained that it could all be done in a year and thereafter he declared so much labour would be saved that the animals would only need to work three days a week Napoleon on the other hand argued that the great need of the moment to increase food production and that if they wasted time on the windmill they would all starve to death the animals formed themselves into two factions under the slogans vote for snowball and the three-day week and vote for Napoleon and the full manger Benjamin was the only animal who did not side with either faction he refused to believe either that food would become more plentiful or that the windmill would save work windmill or no windmill he said life would go on as it had always gone on that is badly apart from the disputes over the windmill there was the question of the defense of the farm it was fully realized that though the human beings had been defeated in the Battle of the cowshed they might make another and more determined attempt to recapture the farm and reinstate mr. Jones they had all the more reason for doing so because the news of their defeat had spread across the countryside and made the animals on the neighboring farms more restive than ever as usual snowball and Napoleon were in disagreement according to Napoleon what the animals must do was to procure firearms and trained themselves in the use of them according to snowball they must send out more and more pigeons and stir up rebellion among the animals on the other farms the one argued that if they could not defend themselves they were bound to be conquered the other argued that if rebellions happened everywhere they would have no need to defend themselves the animals listen first to Napoleon then to snowball and could not make up their minds which was right indeed they always found themselves in agreement with the one who was speaking at the moment at last the day came when snowballs plans were completed at the meeting on the following Sunday the question of whether or not to begin work on the windmill was to be put to the vote when the animals had assembled in the big bomb snowball stood up and though occasionally interrupted by bleating from the Sheep set forth his reasons for advocating the building of the windmill then Napoleon stood up to reply he said very quietly that the windmill was nonsense and that he advised nobody to vote for it and promptly sat down again it's spoken for barely 30 seconds and seemed almost indifferent as to the effect he produced at this snowball sprang to his feet and shouting down the sheep who had begun bleating again broke into a passionate appeal in favor of the windmill until now the animals had been about equally divided in their sympathies but in a moment snowballs eloquence had carried them away in glowing sentences he painted a picture of Animal Farm as it might be when sordid labor was lifted from the animals backs his imagination had now run far beyond chaff cutters and turnip slices electricity he said could operate threshing machines plows shadows rollers and Reapers and binders besides supplying every stall with its own electric light hot and cold water and an electric heater by the time he'd finished speaking there was no doubt as to which way the vote would go but just at this moment Napoleon stood up and casting a peculiar sidelong look at snowball uttered a high-pitched whimper of a kind no one had ever heard him utter before and this there was a terrible baying sound outside and nine enormous dogs wearing brass studded collars came bounding into the barn they dashed straight for snowball who only sprang from his place just in time to escape their snapping jaws in a moment he was out of the door and they were after him too amazed and frightened to speak all the animals crowded through the daughter watched the chase snowball was racing across the long pasture that led to the road he was running as only a pig can run but the dogs were close on his heels suddenly he slipped and it seemed certain that they had him then he was up again running faster than ever then the dogs were gaining on him again one of them all but closed his jaws on snowballs tail but snowball whisked it free just in time then he put on an extra spurt and were a few inches to spare slip through a hole in the hedge and was seen no more silent and terrified the animals crept back into the bomb in a moment the dogs came bounding back at first no one had been able to imagine where these creatures came from but the problem was soon solved they were the puppies whom Napoleon had taken away from their mothers and reared privately though not yet full-grown they were huge dogs and as fierce looking as wolves they kept close to Napoleon it was noticed that they wagged their tails to him in the same way as the other dogs had been used to do to mr. Jones Napoleon with the dogs following him now mounted on to the raised portion of the floor where major had previously stood to deliver his speech he announced that from now on the Sunday morning meetings would come to an end they were unnecessary he said and wasted time in future all questions relating to the working of the farm would be settled by a special committee of pigs presided over by himself these would meet in private and afterwards communicate their decisions to the others the animals would still assemble on Sunday mornings to salute the flag sing beasts of England and received their orders for the week but there would be no more debates in spite of the shock that snowballs expulsion had given them the animals were dismayed by this announcement several of them would have protested if they could have found the right arguments even boxer was vaguely troubled he said his ears back shook his forelock several times and tried hard to marshal his thoughts but in the end he could not think of anything to say some of the pigs themselves however were more articulate for young talkers in the front row hearted shrill squeals of disapproval and all four of them sprang to their feet and began speaking at once but suddenly the dog sitting round Napoleon let out deep menacing growls and the pigs fell silent and sent down again then the Sheep broke out into a tremendous bleating of four legs good two legs bad which went on for nearly a quarter of now and put an end to any chance of discussion afterwards Squealer was sent around the farm to explain the new arrangement of the others comrades he said I trust that every animal here appreciates the sacrifice that comrade Napoleon has made in taking this extra labor upon himself to not imagine comrades that leadership is a pleasure on the country it is a deep and heavy responsibility no one believes more firmly than comrade Napoleon that all animals are equal it would be only too happy to let you make your decisions for yourselves but sometimes you might make the wrong decisions comrades and then where should we be suppose you had decided to follow snowball with his moonshine of windmills snowball who as we now know was no better than a criminal he fought bravely in the Battle of the cowshed said somebody bravery is not enough said Squealer loyalty and obedience are more important and after the Battle of the cowshed I believe the time will come when we shall find that snowballs part in it was much exaggerated discipline comets iron discipline that is the watchword for today one full step and our enemies will be upon us surely comrades you do not want Jones back once again this argument was unanswerable certainly the animals did not want Jones back if the holding of debates on Sunday mornings was liable to bring him back then the debates must stop boxer who had now had time to think things over voiced the general feeling by saying if comrade Napoleon says it it must be right and from then on he adopted the maxim Napoleon is always right in addition to his private motto of I will work harder by this time the weather had broken and the spring ploughing had begun the shed where snowball had drawn his plans of the windmill had been shut up and it was assumed that the plans had been rubbed off the floor every Sunday morning at 10 o'clock the animals assembled in the big barn to receive their orders for the week the skull of old major now clean of flesh had been disinterred from the orchard and set up on a stump at the foot of the Fleck stuff beside the gun after the hoisting of the flag the animals were required to file past the skull in a reverent manner before entering the bomb nowadays they did not sit all together as they had done in the past Napoleon with Squealer and another pig named minimus who had a remarkable gift for composing songs and poems sat on the front of the raised platform with the nine young dogs forming a semicircle around them and the other pigs sitting behind the rest of the animals said facing them in the main body of the barn Napoleon read out the orders for the week in a gruff so jealous style and after a single singing of beasts of England all the animals dispersed on the third Sunday after snowballs expulsion the animals were somewhat surprised to hear Napoleon announced that the windmill was to be built after all he did not give any reason for having changed his mind but merely warned the animals that this extra task would mean very hard work it might even be necessary to reduce their rations the plans however had all been prepared down to the last detail a special committee of pigs had been at work upon them for the past three weeks the building of the windmill with various other improvements was expected to take two years that evening Squealer explained privately to the other animals that Napoleon had never in reality been opposed to the windmill on the contrary it was he who had advocated it in the beginning and the plan which snowball had drawn on the floor of the incubator shed had actually been stolen from among the purlins papers the windmill was in fact Napoleon's own creation why then asked somebody had he spoken so strongly against it here Squealer looked very sly that he said was comrade Napoleon's cunning he had seemed to oppose the windmill simply as a maneuver to get rid of snowball who was a dangerous character and a bad influence now that snowball was out of the way the plan could go forward without his interference this said Squealer was something called tactics he repeated a number of times tactics comets tactics skipping round and whisking his tail with a merry laugh the animals were not certain what the word meant that Squealer spoke so persuasively and the three dogs who happened to be with him growled so threatening Lee that they accepted his explanation without further questions all that year the animals work like slaves but they were happy in their work they grudge no effort or sacrifice well aware that everything they did was for the benefit of themselves and those of their kind who would come after them and not for a pack of idle thieving human beings throughout the spring and summer they went to 60-hour week and in august napoleon announced that there would be work on sunday afternoons as well this work was strictly voluntary but any animal who have scented himself from it would have his rations reduced by half even so it was found necessary to leave certain tasks undone the harvest was a little less successful than in the previous year and two fields which should have been sown with the roots in the early summer were not sown because the plowing had not been completed early enough it was possible to foresee that the coming winter would be a hard one the windmill presented unexpected difficulties there was a good quarry of limestone on the farm and plenty of sand and cement had been found in one of the outhouses so that all the materials for building were at hand but the problem the animals could not at first solve was how to break up the stone into pieces of suitable size there seemed no way of doing this except with picks and crowbars which no animal could use because no animal could stand on his hind legs only after weeks of vain effort did the right idea occur to somebody namely to utilize the force of gravity huge boulders far too big to be used as they were were lying all over the bed of the quarry the animals left ropes around these and then all together cows horses sheep any animal that could lay hold of the Rope even the pigs sometimes joined in at critical moments they dragged them with desperate slowness up the slope to the top of the quarry where they were toppled over the edge to shatter to pieces below transporting the stone when it was once broken was comparatively simple the horses carried it off in cart loads the Sheep dragged single blocks even muriel and benjamin yoked themselves into an old governess cart and did their share by late summer a sufficient store of stone had accumulated and then the building began under the superintendence of the pigs but it was a slow laborious process frequently it took a whole day of exhausting effort to drag a single boulder to the top of the quarry and sometimes when it was pushed over the edge it failed to break nothing could have been achieved without boxer whose strength seemed equal to that of all the rest of the animals put together when the boulder began to slip and the animals cried out in despair and finding themselves dragged down the hill it was always boxer who strained himself against the rope and brought the Builder to a stop to see him toiling up the slope inch by inch his breath coming fast the tips of his hooves clawing at the ground and his great sides matted with sweat filled everyone with admiration clover warned him sometimes to be careful not to over strain himself but boxer would never listen to her his two slogans I will work harder and Napoleon is always right seem to him a sufficient answer to war problems he had made arrangements for the cockerel to call him 3/4 of an hour earlier in the mornings instead of half in her and in his spare moments of which there were not many nowadays he would go alone to the quarry collect a load of broken stone and drag it down to the site of the windmill assisted the animals were not badly off throughout that summer in spite of the hardness of their work if they had no more food than they had had in Jones's day at least they did not have less the advantage of only having to feed themselves and not having to support five extravagant human beings as well was so great that it would have taken a lot of failures to outweigh it and in many ways the animal method of doing things was more efficient and saved labour such jobs as weeding for instance could be done with a thoroughness impossible to human beings and again since no animal now stole it was unnecessary to fence off pasture from arable land which saved a lot of labour on the upkeep of hedges and gates nevertheless as the summer wore on various unforeseen shortages began to make themselves felt there was need of paraffin oil nails string dog biscuits and iron for the horses shoes none of which could be produced on the farm later there would also be need for seeds and artificial manures besides various tools and finally the machinery for the windmill how these were to be procured no one was able to imagine one Sunday morning when the animals assembled to receive their orders Napoleon announced that he had decided upon a new policy from now onwards Animal Farm would engage in trade with the neighboring farms not of course for any commercial purpose but simply in order to obtain certain materials which were urgently necessary the needs of the windmill must override everything else he said he was therefore making arrangements to sell a stack of hay and part of the current year's wheat crop and later on if more money were needed it would have to be made up by the sale of eggs for which there was always a market in Willingdon the hens said Napoleon should welcome this sacrifice as their own special contribution towards the building of the windmill once again the animals were conscious of a vague uneasiness never to have any deal things with human beings never to engage in trade never to make use of money had not these been among the earliest resolutions passed at that first triumphant meeting after Jones was expelled all the animals remembered passing such resolutions or at least they thought that they remembered it the four young pigs who had protested when Napoleon abolished the meetings raised their voices timidly but they were promptly silenced by tremendous growling from the dogs then as usual the Sheep broke into four legs good two legs bad and the momentary awkwardness was smoothed over finally Napoleon raised his Trotter for silence and announced that he had already made all the arrangements there would be no need for any of the animals to come into contact with human beings which would clearly be most undesirable he intended to take the whole burden upon his own shoulders a mr. whimper a solicitor living in Willington had agreed to act as intermediary between Animal Farm and the outside world and would visit the farm every Monday morning to receive his instructions Napoleon ended his speech with his usual cry of long live Animal Farm and after the singing of beasts of England the animals were dismissed afterwards Squealer made a round of the farm and set the animals minds at rest he assured them that the resolution against engaging in trade and using money had never been passed or even suggested it was pure imagination probably traceable in the beginning to lies said related by snowball a few animals still felt faintly doubtful but Squealer asked them shrewdly are you certain that this is not something you have dreamed comrades have you any record of such a resolution is it written down anywhere and since it was certainly true that nothing of the kind existed in writing the animals were satisfied that they had been mistaken every Monday mr. whimper visited the farm as had been arranged he was a sly looking little man with side whiskers a solicitor in a very small way of business but sharp enough to have realized earlier than anyone else that animal farm would need a broker and that the Commission's would be worth having the animals watched his coming and going with a kind of dread and avoided him as much as possible nevertheless the sight of Napoleon on all fours delivering orders to whimper who stood on two legs browsed their pride and partly reconciled them to the new arrangement their relations with the human race were now not quite the same as they had been before the human beings did not hate Animal Farm any less now that it was prospering indeed they hated it more than ever every human being held it as an article of faith that the farm would go bankrupt sooner or later and above all that the windmill would be a failure they would meet in the public houses and prove to one another by means of diagrams that the windmill was bound to fall down or that if he did stand up then that it would never work and yet against their will they had developed a certain respect for the efficiency with which the animals were managing their own affairs one symptom of this was that they had begun to call Animal Farm by its proper name and ceased to pretend that it was called the Manor farm they had also dropped their championship of Jones who had given up hope of getting his farm back and gone to live in another part of the county except through whimper there was as yet no contact between Animal Farm and the outside world but there were constant rumors that Napoleon was about to enter into a definite business agreement either with mr. Pilkington the Fox would or with mr. Frederick of pinch field but never it was noticed with both simultaneously it was about this time that the pigs suddenly moved into the farmhouse and took up their residence there again the animals seemed to remember that a resolution against this had been passed in the early days and again Squealer was able to convince them that this was not the case it was absolutely necessary he said that the pigs who were the brains of the farm should have a quiet place to work in it was also more suited to the dignity of the leader four of late he had taken to speaking of Napoleon under the title of leader to live in a house than in a mere sty never than his some of the animals were disturbed when they heard that the pigs not only took their meals in the kitchen and used the drawing-room as a recreation room but also slept in the beds Boxer passed it off as usual with Napoleon is always right but clever who thought she remembered a definite ruling against beds went to the end of the bomb and tried to puzzle out the seven commandments which were inscribed there finding herself unable to read more than individual letters she fetched Muriel Muriel she said read me the fourth commandment does it not say something about never sleeping in a bed with some difficulty muriel spelt it out it says no animals are sleep in a bed with sheets she announced finally curiously enough clover had not remembered that the fourth commandment mentioned sheets but as it was there on the wall it must have done so and Squealer who happened to be passing at this moment attended by two or three dogs was able to put the whole matter in its proper perspective you've heard them comments he said that we pigs now sleep in the beds of the farmhouse and why not you did not suppose surely that there was ever a ruling against beds a bed merely means a place to sleep in a pile of straw in a stall is a bed properly regarded the rule was against sheets which are a human invention we have removed the sheets from the farmhouse beds and sleep between blankets very comfortable beds they are too but not more comfortable than we need I can tell you comments with all the brain work we have to do nowadays it would not rob us of our repose would you commit you would not have us too tired to carry out our duties surely none of you wishes to see Jones back the animals reassured him on this point immediately and no more was said about the pigs sleeping in the farmhouse beds when some days afterwards it was announced that from now on the pigs would get up an hour later in the mornings than the other animals no complaint was made about that either by the autumn the animals were tired but happy they'd had a hard year and after the sale of part of the hay and corn the stores of food for the winter were none too plentiful but the windmill compensated for everything it was almost half milk now after the harvest there was a stretch of clear dry weather and the animals toiled harder than ever thinking it well worthwhile to plod to and fro all day with blocks of stone if by doing so they could raise the walls another foot Boxer would even come out at nights and work for an hour or two on his own by the light of the Harvest Moon in their spare moments the animals would walk round and round the half-finished mill admiring the strength and perpendicularity of its walls and marveling that they should ever have been able to build anything so imposing only old Benjamin refused to grow enthusiastic about the windmill though as usual he would add a nothing beyond the cryptic remark the donkey's live a long time November came with raging southwest winds building had to stop because it was now too wet to mix the cement finally the camer nights when the gale was so violent that the farm buildings rocked on their foundations and several tiles were blown off the roof of the barn the hens woke up squawking with terror because they had all dreamed simultaneously of hearing a gun go off in the distance in the morning the animals came out of their stalls to find that the Flagstaff had been blown down and an elm tree at the foot of the orchard had been plucked up like a radish there just noticed this when a cry of despair broke from every animal's throat a terrible sight admit their eyes the windmill was in ruins with one Accord they dashed down to the spot Napoleon who seldom moved out of a walk raced ahead of them all yes there it lay the fruit of all their struggles leveled to its foundations the stones they had broken and carried so laborious ly scattered all around unable at first to speak they stood gazing mournfully at the litter of fallen stone Napoleon paced to and fro in silence occasionally snuffing at the ground his tail would grow rigid and twitched sharply from side to side assigning him of intense mental activity suddenly he halted as though his mind were made-up comrades he said quietly do you know who is responsible for this do you know the enemy who has come in the night and overthrown our windmill snowball he suddenly roared in a voice of thunder snowball has done this thing in sheer malignantly thinking to set back our plans and avenge himself for his ignominious expulsion this traitor has crept here under cover of night and destroyed our work of nearly a year comrades here and now I pronounce the death sentence upon snowball animal hero second class and half a bushel of apples to any animal who brings him to justice a full bushel to anyone who captures him alive the animals were shocked beyond measure to learn that even snowball could be guilty of such an action there was a cry of indignation and everyone began thinking out ways of catching snowball if he should ever come back almost immediately the footprints of a pig were discovered in the grass at a little distance from the knoll they could only be traced for a few yards but appeared to lead to a hole in the hedge Napoleon snuffed deeply at them and pronounced them to be snowballs he gave it as his opinion that snowball had probably come from the direction of Foxwood farm no more delays comrades cried Napoleon when the footprints had been examined there is work to be done this very morning we begin rebuilding the windmill and we will build all through the winter rain or shine we will teach this miserable traitor that he cannot undo our work so easily remember comrades there must be no alteration in our plans they shall be carried out to the day forwards comrades long live the windmill long live Animal Farm it was a bitter winter the stormy weather was followed by sleet and snow and then by a hard Frost which did not break till well into February the animals carried on as best they could with the rebuilding of the windmill well knowing that the outside world was watching them and that the envious human beings would rejoice and triumph if the mill were not finished on time out of spite the human beings pretended not to believe that it was snowball who had destroyed the windmill they said that it had fallen down because the walls were too thin the animals knew that this was not the case still it had been decided to build the walls three feet thick this time instead of 18 inches as before which meant collecting much larger quantities of stone for a long time the quarry was full of snowdrifts and nothing could be done some progress was made in the dry frosty weather that followed but it was cruel work and the animals could not feel so hopeful about it as they had felt before they were always cold than usually hungry as well only a boxer and clover never lost heart Squealer made excellent speeches on the joy of service and the dignity of labour but the other animals found more inspiration in boxers strength and his never failing cry of I will work harder in January food fell short the corn ration was drastically reduced and it was announced that an extra potato ration would be issued to make up for it then it was discovered that the greater part of the potato crop had been frosted in the clumps which had not been covered thickly enough the potatoes had become soft and discolored and only a few were edible days at a time the animals had nothing to eat but chaff and mangles starvation seemed to stare them in the face it was vitally necessary to conceal this fact from the outside world emboldened by the collapse of the windmill the human beings were inventing fresh lies about animal farm once again it was being put about that all the animals were dying of famine and disease and that they were continually fighting among themselves and had resorted to cannibalism and infanticide Napoleon was well aware of the bad results that might follow if the real facts of the food situation were known and he decided to make use of mr. whimper to spread a contrary impression near the tomb the animals had had little or no contact with whimper on his weekly visits now however a few selected animals mostly sheep were instructed to remark casually in his hearing that rations had been increased in addition Napoleon ordered the almost emptied bins in the store shed to be filled nearly to the brim with sand which was then covered up with what remained of the grain and meal on some suitable pretext whimper was led through the store shed and allowed to catch a glimpse of the bins he was deceived and continued to report the outside world that there was no food shortage on animal farm nevertheless towards the end of January it became obvious that it would be necessary to procure some more grain from somewhere in these days Napoleon rarely appeared in public but spent all his time in the farmhouse which was guarded at each door by theists looking dogs when he did emerge it was in a ceremonial manner with an escort of six dogs who closely surrounded him and growled if anyone came too near frequently he did not even appear on Sunday mornings but issued his orders through one of the other pigs usually Squealer one Sunday morning Squealer announced that the hens who had just come in to lay again must surrender their eggs Napoleon had accepted through Whymper a contract for four hundred eggs a week the price of these would pay for enough grain and meal keep the farm going till summer came on and conditions were easier when the hens heard this they raised a terrible hell cry they had been warned earlier that this sacrifice might be necessary but did not believe that it would really happen they were just getting their clutches ready for the spring sitting and they protested that to take the eggs away now was murder for the first time since the expulsion of Jones there was something resembling a rebellion led by three young black Menaka pullets the hens made a determined effort to thwart Napoleon's wishes their method was to fly up to the rafters and there lay their eggs which smashed to pieces on the floor napoleon acted swiftly and ruthlessly he ordered the hens rations to be stopped and decreed that any animal giving so much as a grain of corn to a hen should be punished by death the dog saw to it that these orders were carried out for five days hens held out then they capitulated and went back to their nesting boxes nine hens had died in the meantime their bodies were buried in the orchard and it was given out that they had died of coccidiosis Quimper heard nothing of this affair and the eggs were duly delivered a grocer's van driving up the farm once a week to take them away all this while no more had been seen of snowball he was rumored to be hiding on one of the neighboring farms either Fox wood or pinch field Napoleon was by this time I'm slightly better terms with the other farmers than before it happened that there was in the yard a pile of timber which had been stacked there ten years earlier when a beach Spinney was cleared it was well seasoned and wimper had advised Napoleon to sell it both mr. Pilkington and mr. Frederick were anxious to buy it Napoleon was hesitating between the two unable to make up his mind it was noticed that whenever he seemed on the point of coming to an agreement with Frederic snowball was declared to be in hiding at Fox Wood while when he inclined towards Pilkington snowball was said to be a pinch field suddenly early in the spring an alarming thing was discovered snowball was secretly frequenting the farm by night the animals were so disturbed that they could have his sleep in their stalls every night it was said he came creeping in under cover of darkness and performed all kinds of mischief he stole the corn he upset the milk pails he broke the eggs he trampled the seed beds he noord the bark of the fruit trees whenever anything went wrong it became usual to attribute it to snowball if a window was broken or a drain was blocked up someone was certain to say that snowball had come in the night and done it and when the key of the store shed was lost the whole farm was convinced that snowball had thrown it down the well curiously enough they went on believing this even after the mislaid key was found under a sack of meal the cows declared unanimously that snowball crept into their stalls and milked them in their sleep the rats which had been troublesome that winter were also said to be in league with snowball napoleon decreed that there should be a full investigation into snowballs activities with his dogs in attendance he set out and made a careful tour of inspection of the farm buildings the other animals following at a respectful distance at every few steps napoleon stopped and snuffed the ground for traces of snowballs footsteps which he said he could detect by the smell he snuffed in every corner in the barn the cowshed in the hen houses in the vegetable garden and found traces of snowball almost everywhere he would put his snout to the ground give several deep sniffs and exclaim in a terrible voice snowball he has been here I can smell him distinctly and at the word snowball all the dogs let out blood-curdling growls and showed their side teeth the animals were thoroughly frightened it seemed to them as though snowball was some kind of invisible influence pervading the air about them and menacing them with all kinds of dangers in the evening Squealer called them together and with an alarmed expression on his face told them that he had some serious news to report comrades cried Squealer making little nervous skips the most terrible thing has been discovered snowball has sold himself to federic of pinch field forum who is even now plotting to attack us and take our farm away from us snowball is to act as his guide when the attack begins but there is worse than that we had thought that snowballs rebellion was caused simply by his vanity and ambition but we were wrong comrades do you know what the real reason was snowball was in league with Jones from the very start he was Jones's secret agent all the time it has all been proved by documents which he left behind him and which we've only just discovered to my mind this explains a great deal comrades did we not see for ourselves how he attempted fortunately without success to get us defeated and destroyed at the Battle of the cowshed the animals were stupefied this was a wickedness far out doing snowballs destruction of the windmill but it was some minutes before they could fully take it in they all remembered all what they remembered how they've seen snowball charging ahead of them at the Battle of the cowshed how he had rallied and encouraged them at every turn and how he'd not pause for an instant even when the pellets from Jones's gun had wounded his back at first it was a little difficult to see how this fitted in with his being on Jones's side even boxer who seldom asked questions was puzzled he lay down tucked his four hoofs beneath him shut his eyes and with a hard effort managed to formulate his thoughts I do not believe that he said snowball fought bravely at the Battle of the cowshed I saw him myself did we not give him animal hero first class immediately afterwards that was our mistake comrade four we know now it is all written down in the secret documents that we have found that in reality he was trying to lure us to our dome but he was wounded said boxer we all saw him running with blood that was part of the arrangement cried Squealer Jones is shot only grazed him I could show you this in his own writing if you were able to read it the plot was for snowball at the critical moment to give the signal for flight and leave the field to the enemy and he very nearly succeeded I would even say comments he would have succeeded if it had not been for our heroic leader comrade Napoleon do you not remember how just at the moment when Jones and his men had got inside the yard snowball suddenly turned and fled and many animals followed him and do not remember to that it was just at that moment when panic was spreading and all seemed lost that comrade Napoleon sprang forward with a cry of death to humanity and sank his teeth in Jones's leg surely you remember that comrades exclaimed Squealer frisking from side to side now when Squealer described the scene so graphically it seemed to the animals that they did remember it at any rate they remembered that at the critical moment of the battle snowball had turned to flee but boxer was still a little uneasy I do not believe that snowball was a traitor at the beginning he said finally what he's done since is different but I believe that at the Battle of the cowshed he was a good comrade ah leader coming at Napoleon and I'm Squealer speaking very slowly and firmly has stated categorically categorically comrade that snowball was Jones's agent from the very beginning yes and from long before the rebellion was ever thought of ah that is different said boxer if comrade Napoleon says it it must be right that is the true spirit commit cried Squealer but it was noticed that he cast a very ugly look at boxer with his little twinkling eyes he turned to go then paused and added impressively I warn every animal on this farm to keep his eyes very wide open for we have reason to think that of snowballs secret agents are lurking among us at this moment four days later in the late afternoon Napoleon ordered all the animals to assemble in the yard when they were all gathered together Napoleon emerged from the farmhouse wearing both his medals before he had recently awarded himself animal hero first-class and animal hero second class with his nine huge dogs frisking around him and uttering growls that sent shivers down all the animals spines they all cowered silently in their places seeming to know in advance that some terrible thing was about to happen Napoleon stood sternly surveying his audience then he uttered a high-pitched whimper immediately the dogs bounded forward seized four of the pigs by the ear and dragged them squealing with pain and terror for Napoleon's feet the pigs ears were bleeding the dogs had tasted blood and for a few moments they appear to go quite mad to the amazement of everybody three of them flung themselves upon boxer boxer saw them coming and put out his great hoof caught a dog in midair and pinned him to the ground the dog shrieked for mercy and the other two fled with their tails between their legs folks have looked at Napoleon to know whether he should crush the dog to death or let it go Napoleon appeared to change countenance and sharply ordered boxer to let the dog go where ad boxer lifted his hoof and the dog slunk away bruised and howling presently that you mult died down the four pigs waited trembling with guilt written on every line of their countenances Napoleon now called upon them to confess their crimes they were the same for pigs as had protested when Napoleon abolished the Sunday meetings without any further prompting they confessed that they had been secretly in touch with snowball ever since his expulsion that they had collaborated with him in destroying the windmill and that they had entered into an agreement with him to hand over animal farm to mr. Frederick they added that snowball had privately admitted to them that he had been Jones's secret agent for years past when they had finished their confession the dogs promptly tore their throats out and in a terrible voice Napoleon demanded whether any other animal had anything to confess the three hens who had been the ringleaders in the attempted rebellion of the eggs now came forward and stated that snowball had appeared to them in a dream and incited them to disobey Napoleon's orders they too were slaughtered then a goose came forward and confessed to having secreted six ears of corn during the last year's harvest and eaten them in the night then a sheep confessed to having urinated in the drinking pool urged to do this so she said by snowball and two other sheep confessed to having murdered an old ram an especially devoted follower of Napoleon by chasing him round and round a bonfire when he was suffering from a cough they were all slain on the spot and so the tale of confessions and executions went on until there was a pile of corpses lying before Napoleon's feet and the air was heavy with the smell of blood which had been unknown there since the expulsion of Jones when it was all over the remaining animals except for the pigs and dogs crept away in a body they were shaken and miserable they did not know which was more shocking treachery of the animals who had lead themselves with snowball or the cruel retribution they had just witnessed in the old days that had often been scenes of bloodshed equally terrible but it seemed to all of them that he was far worse now that he was happening among themselves since Jones had left the farm until today no animal had killed another animal not even a rat had been killed they had made their way onto the little knoll where the half-finished windmill stood and with one Accord they all laid down as though huddling together for warmth clover Muriel Benjamin the cows the sheep and a whole flock of geese and hens everyone indeed except the cat who had suddenly disappeared just before Napoleon ordered the animals to assemble for some time nobody spoke only Boxer remained on his feet he fidgeted to and fro swishing his long black tail against his side's and occasionally uttering a little whinny of surprise finally he said I do not understand it I would not have believed that such things could happen on our farm it must be due to some Fault in ourselves the solution as I sing it is to work hard from now onwards I shall get up a full hour earlier in the mornings and he moved off at his lumbering trot and made for the quarry having got there he collected two successive loads of stone and dragged them down to the windmill before retiring for the night the animals huddled about clover not speaking the knoll where they were lying gave them a wide prospect across the countryside most of animal farm was within their view the long pasture stretching down to the main road the hay field the Spinney the drinking pool the ploughed fields where the young wheat was thick and green and the red roofs of the farm buildings with the smoke curling from the chimneys it was a clear spring evening the grass and the bursting hedges were gilded by the level rays of the Sun never had the farm and with a kind of surprise they remember that it was their own farm every inch of it their own property appeared to the animals so desirable a place as clover looked down the hillside her eyes filled with tears if she could have spoken her thoughts it would have been to say that this was not what they had aimed at when they had set themselves years ago to work for the overthrow of the human race these scenes of terror and slaughter were not what they had looked forward to on that night when old major first stirred them to rebellion if she herself that had any picture of the future it had been of a society of animals set free from hunger and the whip all equal each working according to his capacity the strong protecting the weak as she had protected the lost brood of ducklings with her fore leg on the night of major speech instead she did not know why they had come to a time when no one dared speak his mind when fierce growling dogs roamed everywhere and when you had to watch your comrades torn to pieces after confessing to shocking crimes there was no thought of rebellion or disobedience in her mind she knew that even as things were they were far better off than they had been in the days of Jones and that before all else it was needful to prevent the return of the human beings whatever happened she would remain faithful work hard carry out the orders that were given to her and accept the leadership of Napoleon but still it was not for this that she and all the other animals had hoped and toiled it was not for this that they'd build the windmill and face the tenets of Jones's gun such were her thoughts though she lacked the words to express them at last feeling this to be in some way a substitute for the words she was unable to find she began to sing beasts of England the other animals sitting around her took it up and they sang it three times over then it tuned for him but slowly and mournfully in a way they'd never sung it before they just finished singing it for the third time when Squealer attended by two dogs approached them with the air of having something important to say he announced that by a special degree of comrade Napoleon beasts of England had been abolished from now onwards it was forbidden to sing it the animals were taken aback why cried muriel it is no longer needed comrade said Squealer stiffly beasts of England was the song of the rebellion but the rebellion is now completed the execution of the traitors this afternoon was the final act the enemy both external and internal has been defeated in beasts of England we expressed our longing for a better society in days to come but that society has now been established clearly this song has no longer any purpose frightened though they were some of the animals might possibly have protested but at this moment the Sheep set up their usual bleating of four legs good two legs bad which went on for several minutes and put an end to the discussion so beasts of England was heard no more in its place minimus the poet had composed another song which began an animal farm animal farm never threw me shalt thou come to harm and this was sung every Sunday morning after the hoisting of the flag but somehow neither the words nor the tune ever seemed to the animals to come up to beasts of England a few days later when the terror caused by the executions have died down some of the animals remembered they remembered that the sixth commandment decreed no animal shall kill any other animal and though no one cared to mention it in the hearing of the pigs or the dogs it was felt that the killings which had taken place did not square with this clover ask Benjamin to read her the sixth commandment and when Benjamin as usual said that he refused the middle in such matters she fetched Muriel near you'll read the commandment for her it ran no animal shall kill any other animal without cause somehow or other the last two were had slipped out of the animals memory but they saw now that the Commandant had not been violated for clearly there was good reason for killing the traitors who had lead themselves with snowball throughout that year the animals worked even harder than they'd worked in the previous year to rebuild the windmill with walls twice as thick as before and to finish it by the appointed date together with the regular work of the farm was a tremendous labor there were times when it seemed to the animals that they worked longer hours and fed no better than they had done in Jones's day on Sunday mornings Squealer holding down a long strip of paper with his Trotter would read out to them lists of figures proving that the production of every class of foodstuff had increased by 200% 300% or 500% as the case might be the animals saw no reason to disbelieve him especially as they could no longer remember very clearly what conditions had been like before the rebellion all the same the word days when they felt that they would sooner have had less figures and more food all orders were now issued through Squealer or one of the other pigs Napoleon himself was not seen in public as often as once in a fortnight when he did appear he was attended not only by his retinue of dogs but by a black cockerel who marched in front of him and entered as a kind of trumpeter netting out a loud cockadoodledoo before Napoleon spoke even in the farmhouse it was said Napoleon inhabited separate apartments from the others he took his meals alone with two dogs to wait upon him and always heed from the Crown Derby dinner service which had been in the glass covered in the drawing-room it was also announced that the gun would be fired every year on Napoleon's birthday as well as on the other two anniversaries Napoleon was now never spoken of simply as Napoleon he was always referred to in formal style as our leader comrade Napoleon and the pigs like to invent for him such titles as father of all animals terror of mankind protector of the sheepfold ducklings friend and the like in his speeches would talk with the tears rolling down his cheeks of Napoleon's wisdom the goodness of his heart and the deep love he brought to all animals everywhere even and especially the unhappy animals who still lived in ignorance and slavery on other farms it had become usual to give Napoleon the credit for every successful achievement and every stroke of good fortune you would often hear one hen remark to another under the guidance of our leader comrade Napoleon I have laid five eggs in six days or two cows enjoying a drink at the pool would exclaim thanks to the leadership of comrade Napoleon Oh excellent this water tastes the general feeling on the thumb was expressed in a poem entitled comrade Napoleon but which was composed by minimus and which ran as follows friend of the fatherless fountain of happiness Lord of the swill bucket oh how my soul is on fire when I gaze at thy calm and commanding I like the Sun in the sky comrade Napoleon thou art the giver of all that thy creatures love full belly twice a day clean straw to roll upon every beast great or small sleeps at peace in his stall thou watches over all comrade Napoleon had I a sucking pig ere he had grown as big even as a pint bottle or as a rolling pin he should have learned to be faithful and true to thee yes his first squeak should be comrade Napoleon Napoleon approved of this poem and caused it to be inscribed on the wall of the big bomb at the opposite end from the 7 Commandments it was surmounted by a portrait of Napoleon in profile executed by Squealer in white paint meanwhile through the agency of wimper Napoleon was engaged in complicated negotiations with Frederick and Pilkington the pile of timber was still unsold of the tomb Frederick was the more anxious to get hold of it but he would not offer a reason or price at the same time there were renewed rumors that Frederic and his men were plotting to attack animal farm and to destroy the windmill the building of which had aroused furious jealousy in him snowball was known to be still skulking on pinch field farm in the middle of the summer the animals were alarmed to hear that three hens had come forward and confessed that inspired by snowball they had entered into a plot to murder Napoleon they were executed immediately and fresh precautions for Napoleon's safety were taken for dogs guarded his bed at night one at each corner and a young pig named pink eye was given the task of tasting all his food before he ate it lest it should be poisoned at about the same time it was given out that Napoleon had arranged to sell the pile of timber to mr. Pilkington he was also going to enter into a regular agreement for the exchange of certain products between animal farm and fox wood the relations between the pearly land Pilkington though they were only conducted through whimper were now almost friendly the animals distrusted Pilkington as a human being but greatly preferred him to Frederic whom they both feared and hated as the summer wore on and the windmill neared completion the rumors of an impending treacherous attack grew stronger and stronger Frederic it was said intended to bring against them 20 men all armed with guns and he had already bribed the magistrates and police so that if he could once get hold of the title deeds of Animal Farm they would ask no questions moreover terrible stories were leaking out from pinch field about the cruelties that Frederic practiced upon his animals it flogged an old horse to death he starved his cows he'd killed a dog by throwing it into the furnace he amused himself in the evenings by making fight with splinters of razor blade tied to their Spurs the animals blood boiled with rage when they heard of these things being done to their comrades and sometimes they clamored to be allowed to go out in a body an attack pinch field farm drive out the humans and said the animals free but Squealer counseled them to avoid rash actions and trust in comrade Napoleon strategy les Feeny against Frederick continued to run high one Sunday morning Napoleon appeared in the barn and explained that he had never at any time contemplated selling the pile of timber to Frederick he considered it beneath his dignity he said to have dealings with scoundrels of that description the pigeons who were still sent out to spread tidings of the rebellion were forbidden to set foot anywhere on fox wood and were also ordered to drop their former slogan of death to humanity in favor of death to Frederick in the late summer yet another of snowballs machine Nations was laid bare the wheat crop was full of weeds and it was discovered that on one of his nocturnal visits snowball had mixed weed seeds with the seed corn a gander who had been privy to the plot had confessed his guilt to Squealer and immediately committed suicide by swallowing pen denied shake berries the animals now also learned that snowball had never as many of them had believed hitherto received the order of animal hero first class this was merely a legend which had been spread sometime after the Battle of the cowshed bye snowball himself so far from being decorated he had been censured for showing cowardice in the battle once again some of the animals heard this with a certain bewilderment but Squealer was soon able to convince them that their memories had been at fault side three in the autumn by a tremendous exhausting effort for the harvest had to be gathered at almost the same time the windmill was finished the machinery had still to be installed and wimper was negotiating the purchase of it but the structure was completed in the teeth of every difficulty in spite of inexperience of primitive implements of bad luck and of snowballs treachery the work had been finished punctually to the very day tired out but proud the animals walked round and round their masterpiece which appeared even more beautiful in their eyes than when it had been built the first time moreover the walls were twice as thick as before nothing short of explosives would lay them low this time and when they thought of how they'd labored what discouragements they had overcome and the enormous difference that would be made in their lives when the sails were turning in the dynamos running when they thought of all this their tiredness forsook them and they gambled round and round the windmill uttering cries of triumph Napoleon himself attended by his dogs and his cockerel came down to inspect the completed work he personally congratulated the animals on their achievement and announced that the mill would be named Napoleon mill two days later the animals were called together for a special meeting in the barn they were struck dumb with surprise when napoleon announced that he had sold the pile of timber to frederic tomorrow Frederick's wagons would arrive and begin cutting it away throughout the whole period of his seeming friendship with Pilkington Napoleon had rarely been in secret agreement with Frederick all relations with fox wood had been broken off insulting messages had been sent to Pilkington the pigeons had been told to avoid pinch field farm and to alter their slogan from death to Frederic to death to Pilkington at the same time Napoleon assured the animals that the stories of an impending attack on Animal Farm were completely untrue and that the tales about Frederic's cruelty to his own animals had been greatly exaggerated all these rumors had probably originated with snowball and his agents it now appeared that snowball was not afterall hiding on pinch field farm and in fact had never been there in his life he was living in considerable luxury so it was said at Fox wood and had in reality been a pensioner of Pilkington for years past the pigs were in ecstasy's over Napoleon's cunning by seeming to be friendly with Pilkington he had forced Frederick to raise his price by 12 pounds but the superior quality of Napoleon's mind said Squealer was shown in the fact that he trusted nobody not even Frederick Frederick had wanted to pay for the timber with something called a check which it seemed was a piece of paper with a promise to pay written upon it but Napoleon was too clever for him he had demanded payment in real five-pound notes which were to be handed over before the timber was removed already Frederick and paid-up and the sum he had paid was just enough to buy the machinery for the windmill meanwhile the timber was being carted away at high speed when it was all gone another special meeting was held in the barn for the animals to inspect Frederick's banknotes smiling beatific live and wearing both his decorations napoleon reposed on a bed of straw on the platform with the money at his side neatly piled on a china dish from the farmhouse kitchen the animals filed slowly past and each gazed his film and boxer put out his nose to sniff at the bank notes and the flimsy white things stirred and rustled in his breath three days later there was a terrible hullabaloo whimper his face deadly pale came racing up the path on his bicycle flung it down in the yard and rushed straight into the farmhouse the next moment a choking roar of rage sounded from Napoleon's apartments the news of what had happened spread round the farm like wildfire the banknotes were forgeries Frederick had got the timber for nothing napoleon called the animals together immediately and in a terrible voice pronounced the death sentence upon Frederick when captured he said Frederick should be boiled alive at the same time he warned them that after this treacherous deed the worst was to be expected Frederick and his men might make their long-expected attack at any moment sentinels were placed at all the approaches to the farm in addition four pigeons were sent to Foxwood with a conciliatory message which it was hoped might reestablish good relations with Pilkington the very next morning the attack came the animals were at breakfast when the lookouts came racing in with the news that Frederick and his followers had already come through the five-barred gate boldly enough the animals sallied forth to meet them but this time they did not have the easy victory that they had had in the Battle of the cowshed there were 15 men with half a dozen guns between them and they opened fire as soon as they got within 50 yards the animals could not face the terrible explosions and the stinging pellets and in spite of the efforts of Napoleon and boxer to rally them they were soon driven back a number of them were already wounded they took refuge in the farm buildings and peeped cautiously out from chinks and not holes the whole of the big pasture including the windmill was in the hands of the enemy for the moment even Napoleon seemed at a loss he paced up and down without a word his tail rigid and twitchy wistful glances were sent in the direction of Fox would if Pilkington and his men would help them that they might yet be won but at this moment the four pigeons who had been sent out on the day before returned one of them bearing a scrap of paper from Pilkington on it was penciled the words serves you right meanwhile Frederick and his men had halted about the windmill the animals watched them and a moment of dismay went round two of the men had produced a crowbar and a sledgehammer they were going to knock the windmill down impossible cried Napoleon we have built the walls far too thick for that they could not knock it down in a week courage comrades but Benjamin was watching the movements of the men intently the two were the hammer and the crowbar were drilling a hole near the base of the windmill slowly and with an air almost of amusement benjamin nodded his long muzzle I thought so he said did not see what they're doing in another moment they're going to pack blasting powder into that hole terrified the animals waited it was impossible now to venture out of the shelter of the buildings after a few minutes the men were seen to be running in all directions then there was a deafening roar the pigeons swirled into the air and all the animals except Napoleon flung himself flat on their bellies and hid their faces when they got up again a huge cloud of black smoke was hanging where the windmill had been slowly the breeze drifted it away the windmill had ceased to exist at this site the animals courage returned them the fear and despair they had felt a moment earlier were drowned in their rage against this vile contemptible act a mighty cry for vengeance went up and without waiting for further orders they charged forth in a body and made straight for the enemy this time they did not heed the cruel pellets that swept over the Mike Hale it was a savage bitter battle the men fired again and again and when the animals got to close quarters lashed out with their sticks and their heavy boots a cow three sheep and two geese were killed and nearly everyone was wounded even Napoleon who was directing operations from the rear had the tip of his tail chipped by a pellet but the men did not go unscathed either three of them had their heads broken by blows from boxers hoofs and other was gored in the belly by a cow's horn another had his trousers nearly torn off by Jessie and Bluebell and when the nine dogs of Napoleon's own bodyguard whom he had instructed to make a detour under cover of the hedge suddenly appeared on the men's flank baying ferociously panic overtook them they saw that they were in danger of being surrounded Frederick shouted to his men to get out while the going was good and the next moment the cowardly enemy was running for dear life the animals chased them right down to the bottom of the field and got in some last kicks at them as they forced their way through the thorn hedge they had won but they were weary and bleeding slowly they began to limp back towards the farm the sight of their dead comrades stretched upon the grass moved some of them to tears and for a little while they halted in sorrowful silence at the place where the windmill had once stood yes it was gone almost the last trace of their labour was gone even the foundations were partially destroyed and in rebuilding it they could not this time as before make use of the Fallen stones this time the stones had vanished too the force of the explosion had flung them to distances of hundreds of yards it was as though the windmill had never been as they approached the farm Squealer who had unaccountably been absent during the fighting came skipping towards them whisking his tail and beaming with satisfaction and the animals heard from the direction of the farm buildings the solemn booming of a gun what is that gun firing for said boxer just celebrate our victory cried Squealer what victory said boxer his knees were bleeding it lost a shoe and split his hoof and a dozen pellets had lodged themselves in his hind leg what victim a comrade have we not driven the enemy of our soil the sacred soil of animal farm but they have destroyed the windmill and we'd worked on it for two years what matter we will build another windmill we will build six windmills if we feel like it you do not appreciate calmness the mighty thing that we have done the enemy was in occupation of this very ground that we stand upon and now thanks to the leadership of comrade Napoleon we have won every inch of it back again then we've won back what we had before said boxer that is our victory said Squealer they limped into the yard the pellets under the skin of boxers legs smarted painfully he saw ahead of him the heavy labor of rebuilding the windmill from the foundations and already in imagination he braced himself for the task but for the first time it occurred to him that he was 11 years old and that perhaps his great muscles were not quite what they had once been but when the animals saw the green flag flying and heard the gun firing again seven times it was fired in awe and heard the speech that Napoleon made congratulating them on their conduct it did seem to them after all that they had won a great victory the animals slain in the battle were given a solemn funeral boxer and clover pulled the wagon which served as a hearse and Napoleon himself walked at the head of the procession two whole days were given over to celebrations there were songs speeches and more firing of the gun and a special gift of an apple was bestowed on every animal with two ounces of corn for each bird and three biscuits for each dog it was announced that the battle would be called the Battle of the windmill and the Napoleon had created a new decoration the order of the green banner which he had conferred upon himself in the general rejoicings the unfortunate affair of the banknotes was forgotten it was a few days later than this that the pigs came upon a case of whiskey in the cellars of the farmhouse it had been overlooked at the time when the house was first occupied that night that came from the farmhouse the sound of loud singing in which to everyone surprised the strains of beasts of England were mixed up at about half-past nine Napoleon wearing an old bowler hat of mr. Jones's was distinctly seen to emerge from the back door gallop rapidly around the yard and disappear indoors again but in the morning a deep silence hung over the farmhouse not a pig appeared to be stirring it was nearly nine o'clock when Squealer made his appearance walking slowly and dejectedly his eyes dull his tail hanging limply behind him and with every appearance of being seriously ill he called the animals together and told them that he had a terrible piece of news to impart comrade Napoleon was dying a cry of lamentation went up straw was laid down outside the doors of the farmhouse and the animals walked on tiptoe with tears in their eyes they asked one another what they should do with their leader were taken away from them a rumor went round that snowball had after all contrived to introduce poison into Napoleon's food at eleven o'clock Squealer came out to make another announcement as his last act upon earth comrade Napoleon had pronounced a solemn decree the drinking of alcohol was to be punished by death by the evening however Napoleon appeared to be somewhat better and the following morning Squealer was able to tell them that he was well on the way to recovery by the evening of that day Napoleon was back at work and on the next day it was learned that he'd instructed wimba to purchase in Willingdon some booklets on brewing and distilling a week later Napoleon gave orders that the small paddock beyond the orchard which it had previously been intended to set aside as a grazing ground for animals who were past work was to be ploughed up it was given out that the pasture was exhausted and needed receding but it soon became known that Napoleon intended to sow it with barley about this time there occurred a strange incident which hardly anyone was able to understand one night at about twelve o'clock there was a loud crash in the yard and the animals rushed out of their stalls it was a moonlit night at the foot of the end wall of the big barn where the 7 Commandments were written there lay a ladder broken in two pieces Squealer tymberlee stunt was sprawling decided and near at hand the lay a lantern a paintbrush and an overturned pot of white paint the dogs immediately made a ring round Squealer and escorted him back to the farmhouse as soon as he was able to walk none of the animals could form any ideas to what this meant except old Benjamin who nodded his muzzle with a knowing air and seemed to understand but would say nothing but a few days later Nouriel reading over the 7 Commandments to herself noticed that there was yet another of them which the animals had remembered wrong they had thought that the fifth commandment was no animal shall drink alcohol but there were two words that they'd forgotten actually the commandment read no animal shall drink alcohol to excess boxer split hoof was a long time in healing they had started the rebuilding of the windmill the day after the victory celebrations were ended boxer refused to take even a day off work and made it a point of honor not to let it be seen that he was in pain in the evenings he would admit privately to clover that the hoof troubled him a great deal clover treated the hoof with POTUS 'as of herbs which she prepared by chewing them and both she and Benjamin urged boxer to work less hard the horses lungs do not last forever she sent him but boxer would not listen he had he said only one real ambition left to see the windmill well underway before he reached the age for retirement at the beginning when the laws of Animal Farm were first formulated the retiring age had been fixed for horses and pigs at twelve for cows at fourteen for dogs at nine for sheep at seven and for hens and geese at five liberal old age pensions had been agreed upon as yet no animal had actually retired on pension but of late the subject had been discussed more and more now that the small field beyond the orchard had been set aside for barley it was rumored that a corner of the large pasture was to be fenced off and turned into a grazing ground for superannuated animals for a horse it was said the pension would be five pounds of corn a day and in winter fifteen pounds of hay with a carrot or possibly an apple on public holidays Polk says 12th birthday was due in the late summer of the following year meanwhile life was hard the winter was as cold as the last one had been and food was even shorter once again all rations were reduced except those of the pigs and the dogs a too rigid equality in rations Squealer explained it would have been contrary to the principles of animal ISM in any case he had no difficulty in proving to the other animals that they were not in reality short of food whatever the appearances might be for the time being certainly it had been found necessary to make a readjustment of rations Squealer always spoke of it as a readjustment never as a reduction but in comparison with the days of Jones the improvement was enormous reading out the figures in a shrill rapid voice he proved to them in detail that they had more oats more hay more turnips than they'd had in Jones's day that they worked shorter hours that their drinking water was a better quality that they lived longer that a larger proportion of their young ones survived infancy and that they had more straw in their stalls and suffered less from fleas the animals believed every word of it truth to tell Jones and all he stood for had almost faded out of their memories they knew that life nowadays was harsh and bare then they were often hungry and often cold and that they were usually working when they were not asleep but doubtless it had been worse in the old days they were glad to believe so besides in those days they had been slaves and now they were free and that made all the difference Squealer did not fail to point out there were many more mouths to feed now in the autumn the four sours had all littered about simultaneously producing 31 young pigs between them the young pigs were piebald and as napoleon was the only boar on the farm it was possible to guess at their talent it was announced that later when bricks and timber had been purchased a schoolroom would be built in the farmhouse gone for the time being the young pigs were given their instruction by Napoleon himself in the farmhouse kitchen they took their exercise in the garden and were discouraged from playing with the other young animals about this time too it was laid down as a rule that when a pig and any other animal met on the path the other animal must stand aside and also that all pigs of whatever degree were to have the privilege of wearing green ribbons on their tails on Sundays the farm had had a fairly successful year but was still short of money there were the bricks sand and lime for the schoolroom to be purchased and it would also be necessary to begin saving up again for the machinery for the windmill then there were lamp oil and candles for the house sugar for Napoleon's own table he forbade this to the other pigs on the ground that he made them fat and all the usual replacements such as tools nails string coal wire scrap iron and dog biscuits a stump of hay and part of the potato crop was sold off and the contract for eggs was increased to 600 a week said that that year the hens barely hatched enough chicks to keep their numbers of the same level rations reduced in December were reduced again in February and lanterns in the stalls were forbidden to save oil but the pig seemed comfortable enough and in fact were putting on weight if anything one afternoon in late February a warm rich appetizing scent such as the animals had never smelled before wafted itself across the yard from the little brew house which had been disused in Jones's time and which stood beyond the kitchen some said it was the smell of cooking barley the animals sniffed the air hungrily and wondered whether a warm mash was being prepared for their supper but no one mesh appeared and on the following Sunday it was announced that from now onwards all ballet would be reserved for the pigs the field beyond the orchard had already been sewn with barley and the news soon leaked out that every pig was now receiving a ration of a pint of beer daily with half a gallon for Napoleon himself which was always served to him in the Crown Derby soup tureen but if there were hardships to be born they were partly offset by the fact that life nowadays had a greater dignity than it had had before there were more songs more speeches more processions Napoleon had commanded that once a week there should be held something called a spontaneous demonstration the object of which was to celebrate the struggles and triumphs of Animal Farm at the appointed time the animals would leave their work and march around the precincts of the farm in military formation with the pigs leading then the horses then the cows in the Sheep and then the poultry the dogs flanked the procession and at the head of all marched Napoleon's black cockerel boxer and clover always carried between them a green banner marked with the hoof and the horn and the caption long live comrade Napoleon afterwards there were recitations of poems composed in Napoleon's honor and a speech by Squealer giving particulars of the latest increases in the production of foodstuffs and on occasion a shot was fired from the gun the sheep were the greatest devotees of the spontaneous demonstrations and if anyone complained as a few animals sometimes did when no pigs or dogs were near that they wasted time and meant a lot of standing about in the cold the Sheep was sure to silence him with a tremendous bleating of four legs good two legs bad but by and large the animals enjoyed these celebrations they found it comforting to be reminded that after all they were truly their own masters and that the work they did was for their own benefit so that what would the songs the processions squealers lists of figures the thunder of the gun the crowing of the cockerel and the fluttering of the flag they were able to forget that their bellies were empty at least part of the time in April animal farm was proclaimed a republic and it became necessary to elect a president there was only one candidate Napoleon who was elected unanimously on the same day it was given out that fresh documents had been discovered which revealed further details about snoballs complicity with Jones it now appeared that snowball had not as the animals had previously imagined merely attempted to lose the battle of the cowshed by means of a stratagem but had been openly fighting on Jones's side in fact it was he who had actually been the leader of the human forces and had charged into battle with the words long live humanity on his lips the wounds on snoballs back which a few of the animals still remembered to have seen had been inflicted by Napoleon's teeth in the middle of the summer Moses the Raven suddenly reappeared on the farm after an absence of several years he was quite unchanged still did no work and talked in the same strain as ever about sugar candy mountain he would perch on a stump flap his black wings and talk by the hour to anyone who would listen up their comrades he would say solemnly pointing to the sky with his large beak up there just on the other side in that dark cloud that you can see there it lies sugar candy mountain their epic country where we poor animals shall rest forever from our Labour's he even claimed to have been there on one of his higher flights and have seen the everlasting fields of clover and the linseed cake and lump sugar growing on the edges many of the animals believed him their lives now they reasoned were hungry and laborious was it not right and just that a better world should exist somewhere else the thing that was difficult to determine was the attitude of the pigs towards Moses they all declared contemptuously that his stories about sugar candy mountain were lies and yet they allowed him to remain on the farm not working with an allowance of a Jill of beer a day after his hoof had healed up boxer worked harder than ever indeed all the animals work like slaves that year apart from the regular work of the farm and the rebuilding of the windmill there was the schoolhouse for the young pigs which was started in March sometimes the long hours on insufficient food were hard to bear but boxer never faltered in nothing that he said or did was there any sign that his strength was not what it had been it was only his appearance that was a little altered his hide was less shiny than it used to be and his great haunches seemed to have shrunken the other said doc sir we'll pick up when the spring grass comes on but the spring grass came and boxer grew no fatter sometimes on the slope leading to the top of the quarry when he braced his muscles against the weights of some vast boulder it seemed that nothing kept him on his feet except the will to continue at such times his lips were seen to form the words I will work harder he had no voice left once again clover and Benjamin warned him to take care of his health but boxer paid no attention his twelfth birthday was approaching he did not care what happened so long as a good store of stone was accumulated before he went on pension late one evening in the summer a sudden rumor ran round the farm that something had happened to boxer he had gone out alone to drag a load of stone down to the windmill and sure enough the rumor was true a few minutes later two pigeons came racing in with the news boxer has fallen he's lying on his side and can't get up about half the animals on the farm rushed out to the knoll where the windmill stood there lay boxer between the shafts of the cart his neck stretched out unable even to raise his head his eyes were glazed his sides matted with sweat a thin stream of blood had trickled out of his mouth Cova dropped to her knees at his side boxer she cried how are you and is my lung said boxer in a weak voice it does not matter I think you will be able to finish the windmill without me there is a pretty good store of stone accumulated I had only another month to go in any case to tell you the truth I had been looking forward to my retirement and perhaps as Benjamin is growing old too they will let him retire at the same time and be a companion to me we must get help at once said clover run somebody and tell Squealer what has happened all the other animals immediately raced back to the farmhouse to give Squealer the news only Cova remained and Benjamin who laid down a boxer side and without speaking kept the flies off him with his long tail after about a quarter of an hour Squealer appeared full of sympathy and concern he said that comrade Napoleon had learned with the very deepest distress of this misfortune to one of the most loyal workers on the farm and was already making arrangements to send boxer to be treated in the hospital and Willingdon the animals felt a little uneasy at this except for Molly and snowball no other animal had ever left the farm and they did not like to think of their sick comrade in the hands of human beings however Squealer easily convinced them that the veterinary surgeon in Willingdon could treat boxers case more satisfactorily than could be done on the farm and about half an hour later when boxer had somewhat recovered he was with difficulty got onto his feet and managed to limp back to his stall where clover and Benjamin had prepared a good bed of straw for him for the next two days boxer remained in his stall the pigs had sent out a large bottle of pink medicine which they had found in the medicine chest in the bathroom and clover administered it to boxer twice a day after meals in the evenings she lay in his stall and talked to him while Benjamin kept the flies of him boxer professed not to be sorry for what had happened if he made a good recovery he might expect to live another three years and he looked forward to the peaceful days that he would spend in the corner of the big pasture it would be the first time that he had had leisure to study and improve his mind intended he said to devote the rest of his life to learning the remaining 22 letters of the alphabet however Benjamin and clover could only be with boxer after working hours and it was in the middle of the day when the van came to take him away the animals were all at work weeding turnips under the supervision of a pig when they were astonished to see Benjamin come galloping from the direction of the farm buildings braying at the top of his voice it was the first time that they had ever seen Benjamin excited indeed it was the first time that anyone had ever seen him gallop quick-quick he shouted come at once they're taking bucks an away without waiting for orders from the pig the animals broke off work and raced back to the farm buildings sure enough there in the yard was a large closed van drawn by two horses with lettering on its side and a sly looking man in a low-crowned bowler hat sitting on the driver's seat and box her stall was empty the animals crowded round the van goodbye boxer they coalesced goodbye fools foals shouted benjamin prancing round them and stamping the earth with his small goofs fools do you not see what he's written on the side of that van that gave the animals pause and was a hush muriel began to spell out the words but benjamin pushed her aside and in the midst of a deadly silence he read average simmons horse slaughterer and blue boiler Willingdon dealer in hides and bonemeal kennels supplied do you not understand what that means they are taking boxer to the knackers a cry of horror burst from all the animals at this moment the man on the Box whipped up his horses and the van moved out of the yard at a smart trot all the animals followed crying out at the tops of their voices clover forced her way to the front the van began to gather speed clover tried to stir has stout limbs to a gallop and achieved a canter boxer she cried boxer boxer boxer and just at this moment as though he had heard the uproar outside boxers face with the white stripe down his nose appeared at the small window at the back of the van boxer cried clover in a terrible voice boxer get out get out quickly they had taken UDR death all the animals took up the cry of get out boxer get out but the van was already gathering speed and drawing away from them it was uncertain whether boxer had understood what clover had said but a moment later his face disappeared from the window and there was the sound of a tremendous drumming of hoofs inside the van he was trying to kick his way out the time had beam and a few kicks from boxers hoofs would have smashed the van to matchwood but alas his strength had left him and in a few moments the sound of drumming hoofs grew fainter and died away in desperation the animals began appealing to the two horses which drew the van to stop comrades comrades they shouted don't take your own brother to his death but the stupid brutes too ignorant to realize what was happening merely set back their ears and quickened their pace boxers face did not reappear at the window too late someone thought of racing ahead and shutting the five-barred gate but in another moment the van was through it and rapidly disappearing down the road boxer was never seen again three days later it was announced that he had died in the hospital at Willingdon in spite of receiving every attention a horse could have Squealer came to announce the news to the others he had he said been present during boxers last hours it was the most affecting sight I have ever seen said Squealer lifting his Trotter and wiping away a tear I was at his bedside at the very last and at the end almost too weak to speak he whispered in my ear that his soul sorry was to have passed on before the windmill was finished forward comrades he whispered forward in the name of the rebellion long live Animal Farm long live comrade Napoleon Napoleon is always right there was where his very last words comedies yeah squealers demeanor suddenly changed he fell silent for a moment and his little eyes darted suspicious glances from side to side before he proceeded it had come to his knowledge he said that a foolish and wicked rumor had been circulated at the time of Fox's removal some of the animals had noticed that the van which took boxer away was marked horse slaughterer and had actually jumped the conclusion that boxer was being sent to the knackers it was almost unbelievable said Squealer that any animal could be so stupid surely he cried indignantly whisking his tail and skipping from side to side surely they knew their beloved leader comrade Napoleon better than that that the explanation was really very simple the van had previously been the property of the maca and had been bought by the veterinary surgeon would not yet planted the old name out that was how the mistake had arisen the animals were enormous ly relieved to hear this and when Squealer went on to give further graphic details of boxers deathbed the admirable care he had received and the expensive medicines for which Napoleon had paid without a thought as to the cost their last doubts disappeared and the sorrow that they felt for their comrades death was tempered by the thought that at least he had died happy Napoleon himself appeared at the meeting on the following Sunday morning and pronounced a short oration in boxers honor it had not been possible he said to bring back their lamented comrades remains for interment on the farm but he had ordered a large wreath to be made from the laurels in the farmhouse garden and sent down to be placed on boxes grave and in a few days time the pigs intended to hold a memorial banquet in boxes on her Napoleon ended his speech with a reminder of boxes two favorite Maxim's I will work harder and comrade Napoleon is always right Maxim's he said which every animal would do well to adopt as his own on the day appointed for the banquet a grocer's van drove out from Willingdon and delivered a large wooden crate at the farmhouse that night there was the sound of uproarious singing which was followed by what sounded like a violent quarrel and ended at about eleven o'clock with a tremendous crash of glass no one stirred in the farmhouse before noon on the following day and the word went round that from somewhere or other that pigs had acquired the money to buy themselves another case of whiskey years passed the seasons came and went the short animal lives fled by a time came when there was no one who remembered the old days before the rebellion except clover Benjamin Moses the Raven and a number of the pigs Muriel was dead Bluebell Jessi and Pinchot were dead Joan's too was dead he had died in in Annie Briggs home in another part of the county snowball was forgotten boxer was forgotten except by the few who had known him clover was an old stout mare now stiff in the joints and with a tendency to roomie eyes she was two years past the retiring age but in fact no animal had ever actually retired the talk of setting aside a corner of the pasture for superannuated animals had long since been dropped Napoleon was now a mature born of 24 stone Squealer was so fat that he could be difficult to see out of his eyes only old Benjamin was much the same as ever except for being a little grayer about the muzzle and since box's death more morose and taciturn than ever there were many more creatures on the farm now though the increase was not so great as had been expected in earlier years many animals had been born to whom the rebellion was only a dim tradition passed on by word-of-mouth and others had been bought who had never heard mention of such a thing before their arrival the farm possessed three horses now besides clover they were fine upstanding beasts willing workers and good comrades but very stupid none of them proved able to learn the alphabet beyond the letter B they accepted everything that they were told about the rebellion and the principles of animalism especially from clover for whom they had an almost filial respect but it was doubtful whether they understood very much of it the farm was more prosperous now and better organized it had even been enlarged by two fields which had been bought from mr. Pilkington the windmill had been successfully completed at last and the farm possessed a threshing machine and a hay elevator of its own and various new buildings had been added to it whimper had bought himself a dog cart the windmill however had not after all been used for generating electrical power it was used for milling corn and brought in a handsome money profit the animals were hard at work building yet another windmill when that one was finished so it was said the dynamos would be installed but the luxuries of which snowball had once taught the animals to dream the stalls with electric light and hot and cold water and the three-day week were no longer talked about Napoleon had denounced such ideas as contrary to the spirit of animalism the truest happiness he said lay in working hard and living frugally somehow it seemed as though the farm had grown richer without making the animals themselves any richer except of course for the pigs and the dogs perhaps this was partly because there were so many pigs and so many dogs it was not that these creatures did not work after their fashion there was a Squealer was never tired of explaining endless work in the supervision and organization of the farm much of this work was of a kind that the other animals were too ignorant to understand for example Squealer told them that the pigs had to expend enormous Labour's every day upon mysterious things called thiols reports minutes and memoranda these large sheets of paper which had to be closely covered with writing and as soon as they were so covered they were burnt in the furnace this was of the highest importance for the welfare of the farm Squealer said but still neither pigs nor dogs produced any food by their own labor and there were very many of them and their appetites were always good as for the others their life so far as they knew was as it had always been they were generally hungry they slept on straw they drank from the pool they labored in the fields in winter they were troubled by the cold and in summer butterflies sometimes the older ones among them wrecked their dim memories and tried to determine whether in the early days of the rebellion when Jones's expulsion was still recent things had been better or worse than now they could not remember there was nothing with which they could compare their present lives they had nothing to go upon except squealers lists of figures which invariably demonstrated that everything was getting better and better the animals found the problem insoluble in any case they had little time for speculating on such things now only old Benjamin professed to remember every detail of his long life and to know the things never had been nor ever could be much better or much worse hunger hardship and disappointment being so he said the unalterable law of life and yet the animals never gave up hope more they never lost even for an instant their sense of honour and privilege in being members of an animal farm they were still the only farm in the whole country in all England owned and operated by animals not one of them not even the youngest not even the newcomers who had been brought from farms 10 or 20 miles away ever ceased to marvel at that and when they heard the gun booming and saw the green flag fluttering at the masthead their hearts swelled with imperishable pride and the talk turned always towards the heroic days the expulsion of Jones the writing of the 7 Commandments the great battles in which the human invaders had been defeated none of the old dreams had been abandoned the Republic of the animals which major had foretold when the green fields of England shall be untrodden by human feet was still believed in some day it was coming it might not be soon it might not be within the lifetime of any animal now living but still it was coming even the tune of beasts of England was perhaps come secretly here and there at any rate it was a fact that every animal on the farm knew it though no one would have dared the sing it aloud it might be that their lives were hard and that not all of their hopes had been fulfilled but they were conscious that they were not as other animals if they went hungry it was not from feeding tyrannical human beings if they worked hard at least they worked for themselves no creature among them went up on two legs no creature called any other creature master all animals were equal one day in early summer Squealer ordered the Sheep to follow him and led them out to a piece of waste ground at the other end of the farm which had become overgrown with birch saplings the Sheep spent the whole day there browsing at the leaves under squealers supervision in the evening he returned to the farmhouse himself but as it was warm weather told the Sheep to stay where they were it ended by their remaining there for a whole week during which time the other animals saw nothing of them Squealer was with them for the greater part of every day he was he said teaching them to sing a new song for which privacy was needed it was just after the Sheep had returned on a pleasant evening when the animals had finished work and were making their way back to the farm buildings that the terrified neighing of a horse sounded from the yard startled the animal stopped in their tracks it was kavas voice she made again and all the animals broke into a gallop and rushed into the yard then they saw what clover had seen it was a pig walking on his hind legs yes it was Squealer a little awkward lane as though not quite used to supporting his considerable bulk in that position but with perfect balance he was strolling across the yard and a moment later out from the door of the farmhouse came a long file of pigs all walking on their hind legs some did it better than others one or two were even a trifle unsteady and looked as though they would have liked the support of a stick but every one of them made his way right around the yard successfully and finally there was a tremendous baying of dogs and a shrill crowing from the black cockerel and out came the pole Ian himself majestically upright casting haughty glances from side to side and with his dogs gambling round him he carried off whip in his Trotter there was a deadly silence amazed terrified huddling together the animals watched the long line of pigs marched slowly around the yard it was as though the world had turned upside down then the came a moment when the first shock had worn off and when in spite of everything in spite of the terror of the dogs and of the habit developed through long years of never complaining never criticizing no matter what happened they might have uttered some word of protest but just at that moment as they were to signal all the sheep burst out into a tremendous bleating of four legs good two legs bad four legs good two legs bad four legs good two legs bad uh it went on for five minutes without stopping and by the time the ship had quieten down the chance to utter any protest had passed for the pigs had marched back into the farmhouse benjamin Felton knows nuzzling at his shoulder he looked around it was clover her old eyes looked dimmer than ever without saying anything she tugged gently at his mane and led him round to the end of the big barn where the 7 Commandments were written for a minute or two they stood gazing at the tarred wall with its white lettering my sight is failing she said finally even when I was young I could not have read what was written there but it appears to me that that wall looks different are the 7 Commandments the same as they used to be Benjamin for once Benjamin consented to break his rule and he read out what was written on the wall there was nothing there now except a single commandment it ran all animals are equal but some animals are more equal than others after that it did not seem strange when next day the pigs who were supervising the work of the farm all carried whips in their trotters it did not seem strange to learn that the pigs had bought themselves a wireless set were arranging to install a telephone and had taken out subscriptions to John Bull titbits and the Daily Mirror it did not seem strange when Napoleon was seen strolling in the farmhouse garden with a pipe in his mouth no not even when the pigs took mr. Jones's clothes out of the wardrobes and put them on Napoleon himself appearing in a black coat ratcatcher bridges and leather leggings while his favorite sow appeared in the watered silk dress which mrs. Jones had been used to wear on Sundays a week later in the afternoon a number of dog carts drove up to the farm a deputation of neighboring farmers had been invited to make a tour of inspection action they were shown all over the farm and expressed great admiration for everything they saw especially the windmill the animals were weeding the turnip field they worked diligently hardly raising their faces from the ground and not knowing whether to be more frightened of the pigs or of the human visitors that evening loud laughter and bursts of singing came from the farmhouse and suddenly at the sound of the mingled voices the animals were stricken with curiosity what could be happening in there now that for the first time animals and human beings were meeting on terms of equality with one Accord they began to creep as quietly as possible into the farmhouse garden at the gate that paused half frightened to go on but clover led the way in they tiptoed up to the house and such animals as were tall enough peered in at the dining room window there round the long table said half a dozen farmers and half a dozen of the more eminent pigs Napoleon himself occupying the seat of Honor at the head of the table the pigs appeared completely at ease in their chairs the company had been enjoying a game of cards but had broken off for the moment evidently in order to drink a toast a large jug was circulating and the mugs were being refilled with beer no one noticed the wandering faces of the animals had gazed in at the window mr. Pilkington of Foxwood had stood up his mug in his hand in a moment he said he would ask the present company to drink a toast but before doing so there were a few words that he felt it incumbent upon him to say it was a source of great satisfaction to him he said and he was sure to all others present to feel that a long period of mistrust and misunderstanding had now come to an end there had been a time not that he or any of the present company had shared such sentiments but there had been a time when the respected proprietors of Animal Farm had been regarded he would not say with hostility but perhaps with a certain measure of misgiving by their human neighbors unfortunate incidents had occurred mistaken ideas have been current it had been felt that the existence of a farm owned and operated by pigs was somehow abnormal and was liable to have an unsettling effect in the neighborhood too many farmers had assumed without you inquiry that on such a farm a spirit of license and indiscipline would prevail they had been nervous about the effects upon their own animals or even upon their human employees but all such doubts were now dispelled today he and his friends had visited animal farm and inspected every inch of it with their own eyes and what did they find not only the most up-to-date methods but a discipline and an orderliness which should be an example to all farmers everywhere he believed that he was right in saying that the lower animals on animal farm did more work and receive less food than any animals in the county indeed he and his fellow visitors today had observed many features which they intended to introduce on their own thumbs immediately he would end his remarks he said by emphasizing once again the friendly feelings that subsisted and ought to subsist between Animal Farm and its neighbors between pigs and human beings there was nods and the need not be any clash of interests whatever their struggles and their difficulties were one was not the labor problem the same everywhere here it became apparent that mr. Pilkington was about to spring some carefully prepared witnesses among the company but for a moment he was too overcome by amusement to be able to utter it after much choking during which his various Chin's turned purple he managed to get it out if you have your lower animals to contend with he said we have our little classes this bond MOU said the table in a roar and mr. Pilkington once again congratulated the pigs on the low rations the long working hours and the general absence of tampering she'd observed on Animal Farm and now he said finally he would ask the company to rise to their feet and make certain that their glasses were full gentleman concluded mr. Pilkington gentlemen I give you a toast to the prosperity of Animal Farm there was enthusiastic cheering and stamping feet Napoleon was so gratified that he left his place and came round the table to clink his mug against mr. Pilkington's before emptying it when the cheering had died down Napoleon who had remained on his feet intimated that he too had a few words to say like all of Napoleon's speeches it was short and to the point he too he said was happy that the period of misunderstanding was at an end a long time there had been rumours circulated he had reason to think by some malignant enemy that there was something subversive and even revolutionary in the outlook of himself and his colleagues they had been credited with attempting to stir up rebellion among the animals on neighboring farms nothing could be further from the truth their sole wish now and in the past was to live at peace and in normal business relations with their neighbors this farm which he had the honor to control he added was a cooperative enterprise the title deeds which were in his own possession were owned by the pigs jointly he did not believe he said that any of the old suspicions still lingered but certain changes had been made recently in the routine of the farm which should have the effect of promoting confidence still further hitherto the animals on the farm had had a rather foolish custom of addressing one another as comrade and this was to be suppressed there had also been a very strange custom whose origin was unknown of marching every Sunday morning past a Boar's skull which was nailed to a post in the garden this too would be suppressed and the skull had already been buried his visitors might have observed to the green flag which flew from the masthead if so they would perhaps have noted that the white hoof and horn with which it had previously been marked had now been removed it would be a plain green flag from now onwards he had only one criticism he said to make a mr. Pilkington's excellent and neighborly speech mr. Pilkington had referred throughout to Animal Farm he could not of course know for he Napoleon was only now for the first time announcing it that the name Animal Farm had been abolished henceforward the farm was to be known as the manor farm which he believed was its correct and original name gentlemen concluded Napoleon I will give you the same toasters before but in a different form fill your glasses to the brim gentlemen here is my toast to the prosperity of the manor farm there was the same hearty cheering as before and the mugs were emptied to the dregs but as the animals outside gazed at the scene it seemed to them that some strange thing was happening what was it that had altered in the faces of the pigs clovers old dim eyes flitted from one phase to another some of them had five chins some had four some had three but what was it that seemed to be melting and changing then the applause having come to an end the company took up their cards and continued the game that had been interrupted and the animals crept silently away but they had not gone twenty yards when they stopped short an uproar of voices was coming from the farmhouse they rushed back and looked through the window again yes a violent quarrel was in progress there were shoutings banging's on the table sharp suspicious glances furious denials the source of the trouble appeared to be that Napoleon and mr. Pilkington had each played an ace of spades simultaneously twelve voices were shouting in anger and they were all alike no question now what had happened to the faces of the pigs the creatures outside looked from pig to man from man to Pig and from pig to man again but already it was impossible to say which was which this audiobook was produced and published by Penguin Books limited

Channel: Non Mirage Truth Vision

Views: 724,775

Rating: 4.8516407 out of 5

Keywords: Non, Mirage, Truth, Vision, NM, TV

Id: 1gwJCJ1TD50

Length: 188min 0sec (11280 seconds)

Published: Mon Dec 23 2019