Animal farm / Скотный двор. Уровень 2 - George Orwell

Джордж Оруэлл

Animal farm / Скотный двор. Уровень 2

© Матвеев С.А., адаптация текста, комментарии и словарь

© ООО «Издательство АСТ», 2022

Chapter I

Mr. Jones, of the Manor Farm[1], locked the hen-houses for the night. But he was very drunk and forgot to shut the pop-holes[2]. He took a last glass of beer from the barrel in the scullery. Then he went to bed, where Mrs. Jones slept.

When the light in the bedroom went out[3] there was a fluttering in the farm buildings. Old Major, the prize boar, had a strange dream and wished to tell it the other animals. The animals will meet in the big barn when Mr. Jones goes away. Old Major (his real name was Willingdon Beauty) was a very respectable person on the farm. Everyone was ready to lose an hours sleep in order to listen to him.

At one end of the big barn, on a raised platform, Major had his bed of straw, under a lantern. The lantern hung from a beam. He was twelve years old and was stout. But he was still a mighty pig, with a wise and benevolent appearance. And he had sharp tushes. Soon the other animals began to arrive and sit. First came the three dogs, Bluebell, Jessie, and Pincher, and then the pigs. They sat down in the straw in front of the platform. The hens sat 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. They walked very slowly with great care. Clover was a stout motherly mare. Boxer was an enormous beast. He was nearly eighteen hands high, and he was as strong as two ordinary horses. A white stripe on his nose gave him a stupid appearance. In fact, he was not very intelligent. But he was steady and hard-working.

After the horses came Muriel with Benjamin. Muriel was a white goat, and Benjamin was a donkey. Benjamin was the oldest animal on the farm. He seldom talked. When he talked, he usually made cynical remarks. For instance, he said:

God gave him a tail to keep the flies off[4], but I prefer not to have the tail and the flies.

He never laughed among the animals on the farm. He saw nothing to laugh at. Nevertheless, he was devoted to Boxer. They usually spent their Sundays together in the small paddock beyond the orchard. They grazed side by side and never spoke to each other.

The two horses lay down. After that some ducklings, which lost their mother, came into the barn. They wandered from side to side to find some place. Clover made a wall round them with her great foreleg. So the ducklings sat down inside it and promptly fell asleep.

Soon came Mollie, the foolish, pretty white mare who drew Mr. Joness trap. She chewed some of sugar. She took a place near the front and began to flirt her white mane. She wanted to show her red ribbons.

Last of all came the cat. The cat looked round, as usual, for the warmest place. Finally the cat sat down between Boxer and Clover. There she purred contentedly throughout Majors speech. Actually, she did not listen to a word of his speech.

All the animals were now present except Moses. Moses was the tame raven, who slept on a perch behind the back door. When Major saw that everybody was comfortable, he cleared his throat and began:

Comrades, you heard already about my strange dream last night. But I will talk about that dream later. I have something else to say first. I do not think, comrades, that I shall be with you long. I shall die one day. And it is my duty to give you some wisdom. My life was long. I had much time to think about different things in my stall, when I was alone. I think I can say that I understand the nature of life on this earth. And I want to talk about it.

Now, comrades, what is the nature of our life? Look: our lives are miserable, laborious, and short. The men give us food only to keep the breath in our bodies. The animals who can work must do it all their lives. When they become weak the men slaughter us with hideous cruelty. Which animal in England knows the meaning of happiness or leisure? Nobody! Which animal in England is free? Nobody! The life of an animal is misery and slavery. This is the plain truth.

But is this the law of nature? Is our land poor and cannot give 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 can afford food to many animals, to all of them. Our farm can support a dozen horses, twenty cows, hundreds of sheep-and all of them can live in a comfort and a dignity. But we dont even imagine it at the moment. Why do we live in this miserable condition? Because men steal the results of our labour. There, comrades, is the answer to all our problems. The key is a single word Man. Man is the only our real enemy. Remove Man from the scene, and the hunger and overwork will leave away.

Man is the only creature that eats and does not do anything. He does not give milk, he does not lay eggs. He is very weak and cannot pull the plough. He cannot run fast to catch rabbits. Yet he is lord of all the animals. We work for him all the time, and what do we have? The minimum. Just not to die from hunger. He keeps everything for himself. Our labour tills the soil, our dung fertilises it. But who owns more than his bare skin? Nobody. I see cows before me. How many thousands of gallons of milk did the man give you last year? And what happened to that milk which was for the sturdy calves? Every drop of it went away to the throats of our enemies.

I hens too. How many eggs did you produce last year? How many of those eggs became chickens? Nearly all of them went to market to bring in money for Jones and his family. And you, Clover, where are your four foals? Will they be the support and pleasure of your old age? Jones sold them all you will never see them again! You work for him in the fields all the time, but do you get? Bare rations and a stall?!

And even our miserable lives are not long. As for me, I do not grumble. I am lucky. I am twelve years old. I have four hundred children. But many animals cant escape the cruel knife.

I see young porkers who sit in front of me. Every one of you will die within a year. We all must come to that horror-cows, pigs, hens, sheep, everyone. Even the horses and the dogs have no better fate., Boxer, when your muscles lose their power, Jones will sell you to the knacker. And the knacker will cut your throat. What about the dogs? When they grow old and toothless, Jones will tie a brick round their necks and drown them in the pond.

It is clear, then, comrades, that all the evils of our life come from the tyranny of men. Only get rid of Man, and the produce of our labour will be our own! We can become rich and free. What then must we do? Why, work night and day, to overthrow of the human race! That is my message to you, comrades. Rebellion! I do not know when the Rebellion will come, in a week or in a hundred years. But I know, that sooner or later justice will be done. Think of it, comrades, throughout the short remainder of your lives! And pass my message to those who come after you. Future generations will fight for freedom, the struggle will be victorious!

And remember, comrades, your resolution must never falter. Dont go astray. Never listen when they tell you that Man and the animals have a common interest. Never listen when they tell you that that the prosperity of the man is the prosperity of the animals. This is not true. Man serves the interests of himself. All men are enemies. All animals are comrades!

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] 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. Majors 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 Majors 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 cant 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. Joness 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.