it came back to me in my dream. And the words of the song also came back. The animals sang these words many years ago, I am certain. I will sing you that song now, comrades. I am old and my voice is hoarse. But when I teach you, you can sing it better. It is called 'Beasts of England’.”
Old Major cleared his throat and began to sing. He sang well, and it was a wonderful song – something between 'Clementine’ and 'La Cucaracha’. Here are the words:
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,
Tyrant Man will be overthrown,
And the fruitful fields of England
Will be trod by beasts alone.
Rings will vanish from our noses,
And the harness from our back,
Bit and spur will rust forever,
Cruel whips no more will crack.
Riches more than mind can picture,
Wheat and barley, oats and hay,
Clover, beans, and mangel-wurzels[5]
Will be ours upon that day.
Bright will shine the fields of England,
Purer will its waters be,
Sweeter yet will blow its breezes
On the day that sets us free.
For that day we all must labour,
Though we die before it break;
Cows and horses, geese and turkeys,
All must toil for freedom’s sake.
Beasts of England, beasts of Ireland,
Beasts of every land and clime,
Hearken well and spread my tidings
Of the golden future time!
The animals sang this wonderful song and became wild and excited. When Major reached the end, they began to sing it again. Even the stupidest animals sang few words, and the clever animals – pigs and dogs – learned the entire song by heart[6] within a few minutes. And then the whole farm began to sing 'Beasts of England’ in tremendous unison. The cows lowed it, the dogs whined it, the sheep bleated it, the horses whinnied it, the ducks quacked it. They were very delighted with the song and sang it five times.
Unfortunately, the uproar awoke Mr. Jones. He sprang out of bed. He was sure that there was a fox in the yard. He seized the gun which always stood in a corner of his bedroom, and shot six times into the darkness. The pellets flew into the barn and the meeting came to its end hurriedly. Everyone ran to his own sleeping-place. The birds jumped on to their perches, the animals were in the straw, and the whole farm was asleep very quickly.
Chapter II
Three nights later old Major died peacefully. His body was buried in the orchard.
This was March. During the next three months there was secret activity. Major’s speech gave to the more intelligent animals a completely new feeling. When will the Rebellion take place? Maybe not within their own lifetime. But they were sure it was their duty to prepare for it. The pigs began to work on it. Why pigs? The pigs were the cleverest animals there. Especially two young boars – Snowball and Napoleon. Mr. Jones wanted to sell them soon.
Napoleon was a large, fierce Berkshire boar. He was the only Berkshire on the farm. He did not talk much. Snowball was a more vivacious pig than Napoleon. Snowball liked to talk and was more inventive, but did not have the same depth of character. All the other male pigs on the farm were porkers. The best known among them was a small fat pig named Squealer[7]. He had very round cheeks, twinkling eyes, nimble movements, and a shrill voice. He was a brilliant talker. When he argued some difficult point he skipped from side to side and whisked his tail. It was very persuasive. They said Squealer was able to turn black into white.
These three pigs elaborated Major’s words into a system of thought. They named it Animalism. Many nights, when Mr. Jones slept, they organized secret meetings in the barn and expounded the principles of Animalism to the others. At the beginning they saw much stupidity and apathy. Some of the animals talked of the loyalty to Mr. Jones, whom they called “Master”. They said “Mr. Jones feeds us. If he goes away, we shall starve to death[8]”.
Others asked such questions as “Why must we think what happens after we die?” or “If this Rebellion happens anyway, why work for it?” It was very difficult for the pigs to explain the spirit of Animalism. Mollie, the white mare asked the stupidest questions of all. For example, she asked:
“Will there be sugar after the Rebellion?”
“No,” said Snowball firmly. “We can’t make sugar on this farm. Besides, you do not need sugar. You will have your oats and hay.”
“And will I wear ribbons in my mane?” asked Mollie.
“Comrade,” said Snowball, “those ribbons are the badge of slavery. Do you understand that liberty is more important than ribbons?”
Mollie agreed, but she was not convinced.
The pigs had even more difficulties to counteract the words of Moses, the tame raven. Moses, who was Mr. Jones’s pet, was a spy and a tale-bearer. But he was also a clever talker. He knew of the existence of a mysterious country called Sugarcandy Mountain[9]. To this country all animals go when they die. It is situated somewhere up in the sky, a little distance beyond the clouds. In Sugarcandy Mountain it was Sunday seven days a week, there was clover all the year round, and lump sugar and linseed cake grew on the hedges. The animals hated Moses because he told tales and did no work. But some of them believed in Sugarcandy Mountain. The pigs knew it was very hard to persuade them that there was no such place.
Their most faithful disciples were the two cart-horses, Boxer and Clover. These two were unable to think at all. But they accepted the pigs as their teachers. They absorbed everything that the pigs told them. These horses retold the principles of Animalism to the other animals. They used simple language. They were the first animals at the secret meetings in the barn which began to sing the hymn 'Beasts of England’.
The Rebellion took place early and easily. In past years Mr. Jones was a good farmer. But now evil days arrived. He became much disheartened. He lost money in a lawsuit, and became a drunker. He liked to do absolutely nothing in his chair in the kitchen. He liked to read the newspapers, drink and occasionally feed Moses. His workers were idle and dishonest. The fields were full of weeds, the buildings ruined, and the animals were hungry.
June came and the hay was almost ready. On Midsummer’s Eve, which was a Saturday, Mr. Jones went into Willingdon and did not come back till midday on Sunday. The workers milked the cows in the early morning and then went out. They did not feed the animals. When Mr. Jones came back he immediately went to sleep on the sofa with the newspaper over his face. When evening came, the animals were still hungry. At last they began to protest.
One of the cows broke in the door of the store-shed with her horn. Then all the animals began to eat from the bins. It was just then that Mr. Jones woke up. The next moment he and his four men stood with whips
mangel-wurzels – кормовая свёкла
by heart – наизусть
Squealer – Визгун
we shall starve to death – мы умрём с голоду
Sugarcandy Mountain – Леденцовая Гора
