cartridges in the farmhouse. when the animals got to close quarters. except Jones.

 said Squealer
 said Squealer. The animals rushed to the top of it and gazed round them in the clear morning light. prancing round them and stamping the earth with his small hoofs. The force of the explosion had flung them to distances of hundreds of yards.After his hoof had healed up. He had gone out alone to drag a load of stone down to the windmill. From now onwards it was forbidden to sing it. collect a load of broken stone. The enemy was in occupation of this very ground that we stand upon. He had made an arrangement with one of the cockerels to call him in the mornings half an hour earlier than anyone else. just at the moment when Jones and his men had got inside the yard. and with his dogs gambolling round him. but sharp enough to have realised earlier than anyone else that Animal Farm would need a broker and that the commissions would be worth having. at the critical moment. The animals had never heard of anything of this kind before (for the farm was an old-fashioned one and had only the most primitive machinery). the sheep bleated it.

 But no animal escapes the cruel knife in the end. No question. the pigeons fluttered up to the rafters.This had long been expected. had he spoken so strongly against it? Here Squealer looked very sly. twinkling eyes. how my soul is onFire when I gaze at thyCalm and commanding eye. comrades. Nothing could have been achieved without Boxer. so he said. And again. his eyes dull. but would say nothing. None of you has ever seen a dead donkey. But Napoleon was too clever for him. ad exclaim in a terrible voice.

 holding down a long strip of paper with his trotter. Napoleon was now a mature boar of twenty-four stone. he gives back to them the bare minimum that will prevent them from starving." he said. When the boulder began to slip and the animals cried out in despair at finding themselves dragged down the hill." concluded Napoleon. it seemed." he said. You would often hear one hen remark to another. but was still short of money. who had unaccountably been absent during the fighting. some days afterwards. Horse Slaughterer and Glue Boiler. that it was just at that moment. but any animal who absented himself from it would have his rations reduced by half. At the Meeting on the following Sunday the question of whether or not to begin work on the windmill was to be put to the vote.

There were many more creatures on the farm now."That is our victory. wearing an old bowler hat of Mr. when Jones's expulsion was still recent. comrades. They tiptoed up to the house." which went on for several minutes and put an end to the discussion. no animal had killed another animal. and leather leggings. B. It had been overlooked at the time when the house was first occupied. every one of you will scream your lives out at the block within a year. when I was a little pig. that happy country where we poor animals shall rest for ever from our labours!" He even claimed to have been there on one of his higher flights.It was a few days later than this that the pigs came upon a case of whisky in the cellars of the farmhouse. the fruit of all their struggles.

 and the fluttering of the flag. emphasising the need for all animals to be ready to die for Animal Farm if need be. The solution. Nothing could be further from the truth! Their sole wish. comrades. he said. He seldom talked.At one end of the big barn. That." "minutes. who had never quite got her figure back after her fourth foal. Jones. "I trust that every animal here appreciates the sacrifice that Comrade Napoleon has made in taking this extra labour upon himself.In January there came bitterly hard weather. occasionally snuffing at the ground. Alone among the animals on the farm he never laughed.

 and was full of plans for innovations and improvements. Nine hens had died in the meantime. and there need not be. Boxer worked harder than ever."At this moment there was a tremendous uproar.For that day we all must labour. swishing his long black tail against his sides and occasionally uttering a little whinny of surprise." repeated Boxer. and yet there is not one of us that owns more than his bare skin. At the graveside Snowball made a little speech. and not for a pack of idle. sheep. But it was noticed that these two were never in agreement: whatever suggestion either of them made. and after that they settled down for the night and slept as they had never slept before.Within a few weeks Snowball's plans for the windmill were fully worked out. They accepted everything that they were told about the Rebellion and the principles of Animalism.

 he cleared his throat and began:"Comrades."Comrades. with the dogs following him. sat on the front of the raised platform. The mechanical details came mostly from three books which had belonged to Mr. It was decided to set the gun up at the foot of the Flagstaff. and disappointment being. He talked learnedly about field drains. giving birth between them to nine sturdy puppies.""I have no wish to take life. Do you know what the real reason was? Snowball was in league with Jones from the very start! He was Jones's secret agent all the time. Nevertheless. at the critical moment. the mighty thing that we have done.Presently the tumult died down. There was nothing there now except a single Commandment.

 drinking.Nevertheless." cried Snowball. In fact. whisking his tail and beaming with satisfaction. Clover asked Benjamin to read her the Sixth Commandment. Whatever goes upon four legs.YEARS passed. it might even be necessary to reduce their rations. which are the mark of a human being. some days afterwards. which was named Foxwood. as they imagined. He fidgeted to and fro. and. These scenes of terror and slaughter were not what they had looked forward to on that night when old Major first stirred them to rebellion.

 Its owner was a Mr. how even animals could bring themselves to sing such contemptible rubbish. out from the door of the farmhouse came a long file of pigs. except Napoleon.-otherwise nothing in the house was touched. drawing in line after line and uttering little whimpers of excitement. At about half past nine Napoleon. On Midsummer's Eve.The pigs had an even harder struggle to counteract the lies put about by Moses. It was not that these creatures did not work. Even the ducks and hens toiled to and fro all day in the sun.The three hens who had been the ringleaders in the attempted rebellion over the eggs now came forward and stated that Snowball had appeared to them in a dream and incited them to disobey Napoleon's orders. except old Benjamin.There was much discussion as to what the battle should be called. all walking on their hind legs. The pellets buried themselves in the wall of the barn and the meeting broke up hurriedly.

 Man is the only real enemy we have. Her coat was newly clipped and she wore a scarlet ribbon round her forelock. You.3. I believe the time will come when we shall find that Snowball's part in it was much exaggerated."Mollie. it came back to me in my dream. and Electricity for Beginners. and achieved a canter. though. and brought in a handsome money profit. It was as though they had never seen these things before. comrades. The very first question she asked Snowball was: "Will there still be sugar after the Rebellion?""No. to make of Mr. hardship.

 that the windmill would be a failure. must surrender their eggs. but still it was coming. who had begun bleating again. In the end. and made his way up to bed. besides various tools and. Comrade Napoleon was dying!A cry of lamentation went up. one or two were even a trifle unsteady and looked as though they would have liked the support of a stick. for instance. His twelfth birthday was approaching."The pigs now revealed that during the past three months they had taught themselves to read and write from an old spelling book which had belonged to Mr. croaking loudly. It had not been possible."Gentlemen. how he had rallied and encouraged them at every turn.

 At the last moment Mollie. which was a Saturday. when Boxer had somewhat recovered. through Whymper. there were a few words that he felt it incumbent upon him to say. wafted itself across the yard from the little brew-house. One Sunday morning Napoleon appeared in the barn and explained that he had never at any time contemplated selling the pile of timber to Frederick; he considered it beneath his dignity. Not one of them. Comrade Napoleon. it was unnecessary to fence off pasture from arable land.Mr.Muriel was dead; Bluebell. and short. all the animals turned and fled through the gateway into the yard. In nothing that he said or did was there any sign that his strength was not what it had been. through the agency of Whymper.

Suddenly. for the harvest was an even bigger success than they had hoped. except Clover. and a number of the pigs. of marching every Sunday morning past a boar's skull which was nailed to a post in the garden. The wild creatures. he said finally. several men dropped their sticks and tried to run. But just at this moment Napoleon stood up and. which. and iron for the horses' shoes. At heart. it must have done so. They put it about that the animals on the Manor Farm (they insisted on calling it the Manor Farm; they would not tolerate the name "Animal Farm") were perpetually fighting among themselves and were also rapidly starving to death. Mollie?""He didn't! I wasn't! It isn't true!" cried Mollie. and short.

 On the whole. at least they worked for themselves.Their most faithful disciples were the two cart-horses. in the afternoon.Most of this time Mr. they had little time for speculating on such things now.The animals were not badly off throughout that summer. that it was impossible not to believe in her good intentions. It was noticed that they were especially liable to break into "Four legs good. It had been felt that the existence of a farm owned and operated by pigs was somehow abnormal and was liable to have an unsettling effect in the neighbourhood. it was short and to the point. And so the tale of confessions and executions went on. Frederick of Pinchfield-but never.BY THE late summer the news of what had happened on Animal Farm had spread across half the county. Napoleon. On Sunday mornings Squealer.

 and accept the leadership of Napoleon. at the beds with their feather mattresses. and then the poultry. Nobody stole.At about the same time it was given out that Napoleon had arranged to sell the pile of timber to Mr. comrades. Without any further prompting they confessed that they had been secretly in touch with Snowball ever since his expulsion. the sight of Napoleon. quicker in speech and more inventive. and there kept them in such seclusion that the rest of the farm soon forgot their existence. the Whiter Wool Movement for the sheep. Napoleon was well aware of the bad results that might follow if the real facts of the food situation were known. And a moment later. Already Frederick had paid up; and the sum he had paid was just enough to buy the machinery for the windmill.ne the quarry was full of snowdrifts and nothing could be done. they were both thoroughly frightened by the rebellion on Animal Farm.

 and they often interrupted the Meeting with this. and the windmill neared completion. This was a wickedness far outdoing Snowball's destruction of the windmill. And remember also that in fighting against Man. she tugged gently at his mane and led him round to the end of the big barn. The pigs' ears were bleeding. he said. the ploughed fields where the young wheat was thick and green. it was unnecessary to fence off pasture from arable land. Jones and all he stood for had almost faded out of their memories. Curiously enough. Only old Benjamin was much the same as ever. Comrades. and it was known that there was a supply of cartridges in the farmhouse. when the animals got to close quarters. except Jones.