Animal Farm (2022-03-14)

Animal Farm is a satirical allegorical novella by George Orwell, first published in England on 17 August 1945. The book tells the story of a group of farm animals who rebel against their human farmer, hoping to create a society where the animals can be equal, free, and happy.

Name	Breed	Introduction	Character
Old Major	Pig	Twelve years old and had lately grown rather stout, but still majestic-looking.	Wise and benevolent.
Clover	Horse	A stout motherly mare approaching middle life, who had never quite got her figure back after her fourth foal.	N/A
Boxer	Horse	An enormous beast with a white stripe down his nose, nearly eighteen hands high, and as strong as any two ordinary horses put together.	Not of first-rate intelligence, but universally respected for his steadiness of charactore and tremendous powers of work.
Muriel	Goat	White	N/A
Bejamin	Donkey	Oldest. Devoted to Boxer.	Worst tempered. Never laughed and seldom talked and when he did it was usually to make some cynical remark.
Mollie	Mare	White and pretty. Love sugar.	Foolish.
Moses	Raven	N/A	Tame.
Napoleon	Berkshire boar	N/A	Not much of a talker but with a reputation for getting his own way.
Snowball	Boar	Vivacious than Napoleon, quicker in speech and more inventive, but was not considered to have the same depth of character.	N/A
Squealer	Porker	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.

Chapter I

With the ring of light from his lantern dancing from side to side he lurched across the yard, kicked off his boots at the back door, drew 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.

flutter vs. stir verb.
- stir: to mix a liquid or other substance by moving an object such as a spoon in a circular pattern.
- flutter: to make a series of quick delicate movements up and down or from side to side, or to cause something to do this.
Old Major was so highly regarded on the farm.
He was still a majestic-looking pig, with a wise and benevolent apperance 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.
- 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, …, walking very slowly and setting down their vast hairy hoofs with great care.
- A brood of ducklings which had lost their mother filed into the barn, cheeping feebly and wandering from side to side.
- The mare came mincing daintly in, chewing at a lump of sugar.
- The cat, who looked round, as usual, for the warmest place; there she purred contentedly thoughout speech.
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.
Animals
…
For instance he would say that God had given him a tail to keep the flies off, but that he would sooner have had no tail and no flies.
- would sooner = would rather
She took a place near the front and began flirting her white mane, hoping to draw attention to the red ribbons it was plaited with.
flirt verb.
1. behave as if attracted to or trying to attract someone.
2. (of a bird) wave or open and shut (its wins or tail) with a quick flicking motion.
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.
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 (令人惊骇的) cruelty.
Is it because this land of ours is so poor that it cannot afford a decent life to those who dwell (栖息居住) upon it?
No, comrades, a thousand times no!
It is capable of affording food in abundance to an enormously greater number of animals than now inhabit it.
It is summed up in a single word – Man.
Remove Man from the scene, and the root cause of hunger and overwork is abolished for ever.
Our labour tills (耕作) the soil, our dung fertilizes it, and yet there is not one of us owns more than his bare skin.
What has happened to that milk which should have been breeding up sturdy calves?
Who should have been the support and pleasure of your old age?
In return for your four confinements (分娩) and all your labour in the fields, what have you ever had except your bare rations (配给供应) and a stall (畜栏)?
And even the miserable lives we lead are not allowed to reach their natural span.
For myself I do not grumble (发牢骚), for I am one of the lucky ones.
To that horror we all must come – cows, pigs, hens, sheep, everyone.
You, Boxer, the very day that those great muscles of yours lose their power, Jones will sell you to the knacker (屠夫，尤指屠杀不适合食用、无用的牲畜), who will cut your throat and boil you down for the foxhounds.
Is it not crystal clear, then, comrades, that all the evils of this life of ours spring from the tyranny (暴政) of human beings?
Your resolution (决心) must never falter （动摇）. No argument must lead you astray (迷路).
At this moment there was a tremendous uproar (骚动).
While Major was speaking four large rats had crept out of their holes and were sitting on their hindquarters, listening to him.
The dogs had suddenly caught sight of them, and it was only by a swift dash for their holes that the rats saved their lives.
Major raised his trotter（蹄） for silence.
Let us put it to the vote.
There were only four dissentients（持不同政见者）.
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.
I had known that tune in my infancy, but it had long since（早就） passed out of my mind.
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.
The singing of this song threw the animals into the wildest excitement.
After a few preliminary tries, the whole farm burst into ‘Beasts of England’ in tremendous unison （齐唱）.
The cows lowed it, the dogs whined it, the sheep bleated it, the horses whinnied it, the ducks quacked it.
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.
He seized the gun which always stood in a corner of his bedroom, and let fly a charge of（一弹匣） Number 6 shot into the darkness.
The pellets buried themselves in the wall of the barn and the meeting broke up hurriedly.

Chapter II

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 boars named Snowball and Napoleon, whom Mr Jones was breeding for sale.
The others said of Squealer that he could turn black into white.
These three had elaborated old Major’s teachings into a complete system of thought, to which they gave the name of Animalism.
Several nights a week, after Mr Jones was asleep, they held secret meetings in the barn and expounded（论述） the principles of Animalism to the others.
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?’.
The pigs had an even harder struggle to counteract（抵制） the lies put about by Moses, the tame raven.
He claimed to know of the existence of a mysterious country called Sugercandy Mountain, to which all animals went when they died.
In Sugarcandy Mountain it was Sunday seven days a week, clover was in season all the year round, and lump sugar（方糖） and linseed（亚麻籽） cake grew on the hedges.
Their most faithful disciples（信徒） were the two cart-horses, Boxer and Clover.
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.
In past years Mr Jones, although a hard master, had been a capable farmer, but of late he had fallen on a evil days. He had become much disheartened（沮丧的） after losing money in a lawsuit, and had taken to drinking more than was good for him.
For whole days at a time he would lounge in his windsor chair in the kitchen, reading the newspapers, drinking, and occasionally feeding Moses on crusts of bread soaked in beer.
His men were idle and dishonest, the fields were full of weeds, the buildings wanted roofing, the hedges were neglected and the animals were underfed.
The men had milked the cows in the early morning and then had gone out rabbiting, without bothering to feed the animals.
- bother: to make the effort to do something.
… with whips lashing out in all directions.
With one accord, though nothing of the kind had been planned beforehand, they flung themselves upon their tormentors.
- with one accord: people do something together and in complete agreement.
- nothing of the kind: used to emphasize a negative statement.
- flung (fling-flung-flung): to throw something or someone suddenly and with a lot of force.
This sudden uprising of creatures whom they were used to thrashing and maltreating just as they chose, frightened them almost out of their wits.
- uprising: an act of opposition by many people in one area against those who are in power.
- thrash: to hit person or animal hard many times as a punishment.
- wits: practical intelligence or understanding.
After only a moment or two they gave up trying to defend themselves and took to their heels.
- take to one’s heels: to quickly run away.
A minute later all five of them were in full flight down the cart-track.
Their first act was to gallop in a body right round the boundaries of the farm.
- gallop: to run fast
- in a body: do something together as a group.
Then they raced back to the farm buildings to wipe out the last traces of Jones’s hated reign.
The bits, the nose-rings, the dog-chains, the cruel knives used to castrate the pigs and lambs, were all flung down the well. The reins, the halters, the blinkers, the degrading nosebags, were thrown onto the rubbish fire which was burning in the yard. So were the whips.
- castrate: to remove the testicles of a male animal or human
- testicle: male sex organ that produces sperm
All the animals capered with joy when they saw the whips going up in flames.
- caper: to run and jump about in an enegetic, happy way
- go up: to be destroyed in a fire or explosion
Then they sang ‘Beasts of England’ from end to end seven times running.
- from end to end: from start to end
A little way down the pasture there was a knoll that commanded a view of most of the farm.
- pasture: an area of land covered in grass or similar plants.
- knoll: a small low hill with a rounded rop.
- command a view: give a view.
In the ecstasy of that thought they gambolled round and round, they hurled themselves into the air in great leaps of excitement.
- ecstasy: a state of extreme happiness.
- gambol: to run and jump in a happy way.
- hurl: to throw something with a lot of force
They rolled in the dew, they cropped mouthfuls of the sweet summer grass, they kicked up clods of the black earth and snuffed its rich scent.
Then they made a tour of inspection of the whole farm and surveyed with speechless admiration the ploughland, the hayfield, the orchard, the pool, the spinney （灌木丛, 矮林）.
Then they filed back to the farm buildings and halted in silence outside the door of the farmhouse.
- file: to walk in a line
They tiptoed from room to room, afraid to speak above a whisper and gazing with a kind of awe at the unbelievable luxury, …, the lithograph of Queen Victoria over the drawing-room mantelpiece.
- awe: a feeling of great respect mixed with fear or surprise.
- lithograph: a printed picture.
- mantelpiece: a shelf above a fireplace.
The others reproached her sharply.
Some hams hanging in the kitchen were taken out for burial, and the barrel of beer in the scullery was stove in with a kick from Boxer’s hoof, otherwise nothing in the house was touched.
A unanimous resolution was passed on the spot that the farmhouse should be preserved as a museum.