George Orwell - Animal farm / Скотный двор. Уровень 2

At this moment there was a tremendous uproar. Four large rats crept out of their holes and sat on their hindquarters. They listened to him. The dogs suddenly saw the rats, and tried to catch them. The rats dashed for their holes very fast and saved their lives.

“Comrades,” Major said, “listen to me. The wild creatures, such as rats and rabbits – are they our friends or our enemies? Let us vote. Let us decide: are rats comrades?”

They voted. The majority said that rats were comrades. Only four animals disagreed: the three dogs and the cat. But afterwards it was discovered that the cat voted on both sides.

Major continued:

“I have something more to say. I merely repeat: remember always your duty of enmity towards Man and all his decisions. He who goes upon two legs is an enemy. He who goes upon four legs, or has wings, is a friend. And remember also that when we fight against Man, we must not resemble him. Even when you conquer him, do not adopt his vices. No animal must 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 of Man are evil. And, above all, no animal must ever tyrannise animals. We are all brothers – weak or strong, clever or simple. No animal must kill any other animal. All animals are equal.

And now, comrades, I will tell you about my dream. I cannot describe that dream to you. It was a dream of the future earth when Man vanishes. But it reminded me of something. Many years ago, when I was a little pig, my mother and the other sows sang an old song. Last night, 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:

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] by heart – наизусть 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.

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] Squealer – Визгун . 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] we shall starve to death – мы умрём с голоду ”.

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] Sugarcandy Mountain – Леденцовая Гора . 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’.