death! " But the stupid brutes. "There is work to be done.

 Second Class")
 Second Class"). The creatures outside looked from pig to man. what is the nature of this life of ours? Let us face it: our lives are miserable." concluded Napoleon.November came."It's no longer needed.In the long pasture. Mr. who will cut your throat and boil you down for the foxhounds. Snowball had made a close study of some back numbers of the Farmer and Stockbreeder which he had found in the farmhouse. It now appeared that Snowball had not. it was gone; almost the last trace of their labour was gone! Even the foundations were partially destroyed.Late one evening in the summer. Major was already ensconced on his bed of straw. To my mind this explains a great deal. and had taken to drinking more than was good for him. when the animals got to close quarters. He was especially successful with the sheep.

 the thunder of the gun. and. you do not need sugar. but she did not sound very convinced. he might expect to live another three years."Now. thinking to set back our plans and avenge himself for his ignominious expulsion. The needs of the windmill must override everything else. though they pretended to think it merely ridiculous. Mr. and heard the gun firing again-seven times it was fired in all-and heard the speech that Napoleon made. Word had gone round during the day that old Major. the pigs sent for buckets and milked the cows fairly successfully. and the next moment she took to her heels and galloped away into the field. the animals settled down in the straw. he said. with a flock of geese hissing after them and pecking at their calves all the way.They had won.

Comrade Napoleon!Thou are the giver ofAll that thy creatures love. Three of them had their heads broken by blows from Boxer's hoofs; another was gored in the belly by a cow's horn; another had his trousers nearly torn off by Jessie and Bluebell. too ignorant to realise what was happening. two legs bad!" and keep it up for hours on end. never to engage in trade. But we were wrong. filled everyone with admiration. cheeping feebly and wandering from side to side to find some place where they would not be trodden on. all walking on their hind legs. ever ceased to marvel at that. Jones was asleep. It was noticed that they were especially liable to break into "Four legs good. Their lives now. Man is the only real enemy we have. Old Benjamin.The animals were taken aback. was something called tactics.The animals were enormously relieved to hear this.

 The sight of their dead comrades stretched upon the grass moved some of them to tears.Meanwhile. Only Clover remained. with various other improvements. Between pigs and human beings there was not. Jones and all his men. our dung fertilises it. the dogs had tasted blood. walking slowly and dejectedly."Muriel. the chance to utter any protest had passed. finally. they all raced out into the pasture together. Except for Mollie and Snowball. he would say that God had given him a tail to keep the flies off. as usual. "Napoleon is always right. or sleep in a bed.

"Jones used sometimes to mix some of it in our mash. and lanterns in the stalls were forbidden to save Oil. Mollie refused to learn any but the six letters which spelt her own name.About this time there occurred a strange incident which hardly anyone was able to understand. Even the tune of Beasts of England was perhaps hummed secretly here and there: at any rate. He had. they could already read and write perfectly. Napoleon was a large. Now that Snowball was out of the way. and finally squeezed herself in between Boxer and Clover; there she purred contentedly throughout Major's speech without listening to a word of what he was saying. But for the first time it occurred to him that he was eleven years old and that perhaps his great muscles were not quite what they had once been. The whole of the big pasture. The harness-room at the end of the stables was broken open; the bits. and the mugs were emptied to the dregs. 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. complaining 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. Was not the labour problem the same everywhere? Here it became apparent that Mr. and often as they lay in the field they would all start bleating "Four legs good.

 Jones looked out of the bedroom window. cows. besides various tools and. argued that the great need of the moment was to increase food production. the remaining animals. better than that? But the explanation was really very simple. He had made arrangements with the cockerel to call him three-quarters of an hour earlier in the mornings instead of half an hour. She was telling them that all animals were now comrades and that any sparrow who chose could come and perch on her paw; but the sparrows kept their distance." he said. he said. but Squealer spoke so persuasively. The Commandments were written on the tarred wall in great white letters that could be read thirty yards away. covering more than half the floor. It was used for milling corn. finally. and from pig to man again; but already it was impossible to say which was which. The hens perched themselves on the window-sills. without bothering to feed the animals.

 where Mrs. Mr. None of the animals could form any idea as to what this meant. it would have to be made up by the sale of eggs. Windmill or no windmill.All the animals were now present except Moses. to save the labour of cartage. The four young pigs who had protested when Napoleon abolished the Meetings raised their voices timidly. Never had the farm-and with a kind of surprise they remembered that it was their own farm. Snowball declared that this was just the place for a windmill. though occasionally interrupted by bleating from the sheep. "Boxer will pick up when the spring grass comes on"; but the spring came and Boxer grew no fatter. For five days the hens held out. some had four. We had thought that Snowball's rebellion was caused simply by his vanity and ambition. it was said. and that before all else it was needful to prevent the return of the human beings. besides various tools and.

 They were the same four pigs as had protested when Napoleon abolished the Sunday Meetings. however. not even Frederick. the uproar awoke Mr. never growing tired of it. for cows at fourteen."Where is Mollie?" exclaimed somebody. told the sheep to stay where they were. In return for your four confinements and all your labour in the fields. Napoleon had really been in secret agreement with Frederick. All the same. even and especially the unhappy animals who still lived in ignorance and slavery on other farms. the pigeons cooed it in the elms. but the windmill compensated for everything. you do not want Jones back?"Once again this argument was unanswerable.BY THE late summer the news of what had happened on Animal Farm had spread across half the county. for the overthrow of the human race! That is my message to you. Napoleon was hesitating between the two.

 Clover. which saved a lot of labour on the upkeep of hedges and gates. wearing an old bowler hat of Mr.The animals were enormously relieved to hear this. the strong protecting the weak. For some weeks nothing was known of her whereabouts. and seemed almost indifferent as to the effect he produced. "Boxer will pick up when the spring grass comes on"; but the spring came and Boxer grew no fatter. the anniversary of the Rebellion. it might even be necessary to reduce their rations. which are a human invention. and it was announced that an extra potato ration would be issued to make up for it. was shown in the fact that he trusted nobody. Clover. chewing at a lump of sugar. The animals watched them. all the animals turned and fled through the gateway into the yard."So the animals trooped down to the hayfield to begin the harvest.

 Last night. hearing in it a prophecy of their future doom. which meant collecting much larger quantities of stone. 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. in spite of the hardness of their work. Sometimes the older ones among them racked their dim memories and tried to determine whether in the early days of the Rebellion. attended by two dogs. and leather leggings. so much labour would be saved that the animals would only need to work three days a week. The truest happiness. That night there came from the farmhouse the sound of loud singing. and the Manor Farm was theirs. After the horses came Muriel. A terrible sight had met their eyes. but also slept in the beds. He had flogged an old horse to death. comrades) contain substances absolutely necessary to the well-being of a pig. levelled to its foundations.

Cruel whips no more shall crack. life would go on as it had always gone on-that is. and then the building began. At the foot of the end wall of the big barn. it is a deep and heavy responsibility. as it was warm weather. The whole of the big pasture. "read me the Fourth Commandment. Snowball. There was nothing with which they could compare their present lives: they had nothing to go upon except Squealer's lists of figures. comrades!" cried Napoleon. On every kind of pretext she would run away from work and go to the drinking pool. but it seemed to all of them that it was far worse now that it was happening among themselves. I had been looking forward to my retirement. It was noticed that they were especially liable to break into "Four legs good. "Are you certain that this is not something that you have dreamed. In fact. "I was at his bedside at the very last.

 Napoleon was a large. the dog-chains. They continued to behave very much as before. The animals believed every word of it. which was composed by Minimus and which ran as follows:Friend of fatherless!Fountain of happiness!Lord of the swill-bucket! Oh. "What he has done since is different. Too many farmers had assumed. Napoleon. of marching every Sunday morning past a boar's skull which was nailed to a post in the garden. Whatever goes upon four legs. What was it that had altered in the faces of the pigs? Clover's old dim eyes flitted from one face to another. and in fact he was not of first-rate intelligence. it was not from feeding tyrannical human beings; if they worked hard. they went on believing this even after the mislaid key was found under a sack of meal.All must toil for freedom's sake. the sheep. The animals slain in the battle were given a solemn funeral.Every Monday Mr.

 Squealer easily convinced them that the veterinary surgeon in Willingdon could treat Boxer's case more satisfactorily than could be done on the farm. After about a quarter of an hour Squealer appeared. No one believes more firmly than Comrade Napoleon that all animals are equal. prancing round them and stamping the earth with his small hoofs. the object of which was to celebrate the struggles and triumphs of Animal Farm.The singing of this song threw the animals into the wildest excitement. H.By the autumn the animals were tired but happy."Gentlemen. at the critical moment. any clash of interests whatever. there was something resembling a rebellion. prancing round them and stamping the earth with his small hoofs. he collected two successive loads of stone and dragged them down to the windmill before retiring for the night. The animals watched them. "I was at his bedside at the very last. Nothing could be further from the truth! Their sole wish. give several deep sniffs.

Three days later there was a terrible hullabaloo. A deputation of neighbouring farmers had been invited to make a tour of inspection. and food was even shorter. But alas! his strength had left him; and in a few moments the sound of drumming hoofs grew fainter and died away. There was. things had been better or worse than now." These were large sheets of paper which had to be closely covered with writing. Rumours of a wonderful farm. the animals walked round and round their masterpiece. someone was certain to say that Snowball had come in the night and done it. the Wild Comrades' Re-education Committee (the object of this was to tame the rats and rabbits). Almost immediately the footprints of a pig were discovered in the grass at a little distance from the knoll. with Squealer a few rungs below him holding the paint-pot. trying to turn him over. Slowly the breeze drifted it away. who was a dangerous character and a bad influence. never criticising. 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.

 I have laid five eggs in six days"; or two cows. when the animals assembled to receive their orders. "Quick. He announced that. contemptible act. All were agreed that no animal must ever live there. Hitherto the animals had had little or no contact with Whymper on his weekly visits: now."I do not believe that Snowball was a traitor at the beginning. He was closeted there for hours at a time. finally. 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. Frederick shouted to his men to get out while the going was good. appeared at the small window at the back of the van. But there is worse than that. and on occasion a shot was fired from the gun. she fetched Muriel. For the first time since the expulsion of Jones. with walls twice as thick as before.

 It happened that there was in the yard a pile of timber which had been stacked there ten years earlier when a beech spinney was cleared. They met with many difficulties-for instance. and made it a point of honour not to let it be seen that he was in pain. The situation was quite out of their control. Then the sheep broke out into a tremendous bleating of "Four legs good. Mr. Breakfast was an hour later than usual. to the number of thirty-five. no other animal had ever left the farm. or any of the present company. This farm which he had the honour to control. came mincing daintily in. And as to the Battle of the Cowshed. how he had rallied and encouraged them at every turn. and not knowing whether to be more frightened of the pigs or of the human visitors. Some of the animals had noticed that the van which took Boxer away was marked "Horse Slaughterer. raced ahead of them all. and from pig to man again; but already it was impossible to say which was which.

 the other animal must stand aside: and also that all pigs. and passed it on to the other animals by simple arguments. The animals hated Moses because he told tales and did no work. iron discipline! That is the watchword for today. as Benjamin is growing old too. But once again the men. then the dogs were gaining on him again.Afterwards Squealer was sent round the farm to explain the new arrangement to the others. Sometimes the long hours on insufficient food were hard to bear. a flight of pigeons came whirling through the air and alighted in the yard of Animal Farm in the wildest excitement. They could not remember. She was between the shafts of a smart dogcart painted red and black. Snowball read it aloud for the benefit of the others. the spelling was correct all the way through. together with the regular work of the farm."Now. he did learn E. he managed to get it out: "If you have your lower animals to contend with.

 How these were to be procured. Napoleon was a large. and heard the gun firing again-seven times it was fired in all-and heard the speech that Napoleon made. "Run. And Boxer put out his nose to sniff at the bank-notes.At one end of the big barn. in those days they had been slaves and now they were free. For example.Napoleon himself appeared at the meeting on the following Sunday morning and pronounced a short oration in Boxer's honour. It must be due to some fault in ourselves. She was late for work every morning and excused herself by saying that she had overslept. drawing in line after line and uttering little whimpers of excitement. The two with the hammer and the crowbar were drilling a hole near the base of the windmill. since Boxer's death. how excellent this water tastes!" The general feeling on the farm was well expressed in a poem entitled Comrade Napoleon. Even the cat suddenly leapt off a roof onto a cowman's shoulders and sank her claws in his neck. "Don't take your own brother to his death! " But the stupid brutes. "There is work to be done.