Animal Farm

George Orwell
I
MR. JONES, of the Manor Farm, had locked the hen-houses for the night, but was too drunk to
remember to shut the oholes. !ith the ring of light from his lantern dancing from side to side,
he lurched across the "ard, kicked off his boots at the back door, drew himself a last glass of
beer from the barrel in the sculler", and made his wa" u to bed, where Mrs. Jones was alread"
snoring.
#s soon as the light in the bedroom went out there was a stirring and a fluttering all through the
farm buildings. !ord had gone round during the da" that old Ma$or, the ri%e Middle !hite boar,
had had a strange dream on the re&ious night and wished to communicate it to the other
animals. 't had been agreed that the" should all meet in the big barn as soon as Mr. Jones was
safel" out of the wa". Old Ma$or (so he was alwa"s called, though the name under which he had
been e)hibited was !illingdon *eaut"+ was so highl" regarded on the farm that e&er"one was
,uite read" to lose an hour-s slee in order to hear what he had to sa".
#t one end of the big barn, on a sort of raised latform, Ma$or was alread" ensconced on his bed
of straw, under a lantern which hung from a beam. .e was twel&e "ears old and had latel"
grown rather stout, but he was still a ma$estic-looking ig, with a wise and bene&olent
aearance in site of the fact that his tushes had ne&er been cut. *efore long the other animals
began to arri&e and make themsel&es comfortable after their different fashions. First came the
three dogs, *luebell, Jessie, and /incher, and then the igs, who settled down in the straw
immediatel" in front of the latform. 0he hens erched themsel&es on the window-sills, the
igeons fluttered u to the rafters, the shee and cows la" down behind the igs and began to
chew the cud. 0he two cart-horses, *o)er and 1lo&er, came in together, walking &er" slowl" and
setting down their &ast hair" hoofs with great care lest there should be some small animal
concealed in the straw. 1lo&er was a stout motherl" mare aroaching middle life, who had
ne&er ,uite got her figure back after her fourth foal. *o)er was an enormous beast, nearl"
eighteen hands high, and as strong as an" two ordinar" horses ut together. # white strie
down his nose ga&e him a somewhat stuid aearance, and in fact he was not of first-rate
intelligence, but he was uni&ersall" resected for his steadiness of character and tremendous
owers of work. #fter the horses came Muriel, the white goat, and *en$amin, the donke".
*en$amin was the oldest animal on the farm, and the worst temered. .e seldom talked, and
when he did, it was usuall" to make some c"nical remark-for instance, he would sa" that 2od
had gi&en him a tail to kee the flies off, but that he would sooner ha&e had no tail and no flies.
#lone among the animals on the farm he ne&er laughed. 'f asked wh", he would sa" that he saw
nothing to laugh at. Ne&ertheless, without oenl" admitting it, he was de&oted to *o)er3 the two
of them usuall" sent their Sunda"s together in the small addock be"ond the orchard, gra%ing
side b" side and ne&er seaking.
0he two horses had $ust lain down when a brood of ducklings, which had lost their mother, filed
into the barn, cheeing feebl" and wandering from side to side to find some lace where the"
would not be trodden on. 1lo&er made a sort of wall round them with her great foreleg, and the
ducklings nestled down inside it and romtl" fell aslee. #t the last moment Mollie, the foolish,
rett" white mare who drew Mr. Jones-s tra, came mincing daintil" in, chewing at a lum of
sugar. She took a lace near the front and began flirting her white mane, hoing to draw
attention to the red ribbons it was laited with. 4ast of all came the cat, who looked round, as
usual, for the warmest lace, and finall" s,uee%ed herself in between *o)er and 1lo&er3 there
she urred contentedl" throughout Ma$or-s seech without listening to a word of what he was
sa"ing.
1
#ll the animals were now resent e)cet Moses, the tame ra&en, who slet on a erch behind
the back door. !hen Ma$or saw that the" had all made themsel&es comfortable and were waiting
attenti&el", he cleared his throat and began5
61omrades, "ou ha&e heard alread" about the strange dream that ' had last night. *ut ' will
come to the dream later. ' ha&e something else to sa" first. ' do not think, comrades, that '
shall be with "ou for man" months longer, and before ' die, ' feel it m" dut" to ass on to "ou
such wisdom as ' ha&e ac,uired. ' ha&e had a long life, ' ha&e had much time for thought as '
la" alone in m" stall, and ' think ' ma" sa" that ' understand the nature of life on this earth as
well as an" animal now li&ing. 't is about this that ' wish to seak to "ou.
6Now, comrades, what is the nature of this life of ours7 4et us face it5 our li&es are miserable,
laborious, and short. !e are born, we are gi&en $ust so much food as will kee the breath in our
bodies, and those of us who are caable of it are forced to work to the last atom of our strength3
and the &er" instant that our usefulness has come to an end we are slaughtered with hideous
cruelt". No animal in England knows the meaning of hainess or leisure after he is a "ear old.
No animal in England is free. 0he life of an animal is miser" and sla&er"5 that is the lain truth.
6*ut is this siml" art of the order of nature7 's it because this land of ours is so oor that it
cannot afford a decent life to those who dwell uon it7 No, comrades, a thousand times no8 0he
soil of England is fertile, its climate is good, it is caable of affording food in abundance to an
enormousl" greater number of animals than now inhabit it. 0his single farm of ours would
suort a do%en horses, twent" cows, hundreds of shee-and all of them li&ing in a comfort and
a dignit" that are now almost be"ond our imagining. !h" then do we continue in this miserable
condition7 *ecause nearl" the whole of the roduce of our labour is stolen from us b" human
beings. 0here, comrades, is the answer to all our roblems. 't is summed u in a single word-
Man. Man is the onl" real enem" we ha&e. Remo&e Man from the scene, and the root cause of
hunger and o&erwork is abolished for e&er.
6Man is the onl" creature that consumes without roducing. .e does not gi&e milk, he does not
la" eggs, he is too weak to ull the lough, he cannot run fast enough to catch rabbits. 9et he is
lord of all the animals. .e sets them to work, he gi&es back to them the bare minimum that will
re&ent them from star&ing, and the rest he kees for himself. Our labour tills the soil, our dung
fertilises it, and "et there is not one of us that owns more than his bare skin. 9ou cows that '
see before me, how man" thousands of gallons of milk ha&e "ou gi&en during this last "ear7 #nd
what has haened to that milk which should ha&e been breeding u sturd" cal&es7 E&er" dro
of it has gone down the throats of our enemies. #nd "ou hens, how man" eggs ha&e "ou laid in
this last "ear, and how man" of those eggs e&er hatched into chickens7 0he rest ha&e all gone to
market to bring in mone" for Jones and his men. #nd "ou, 1lo&er, where are those four foals
"ou bore, who should ha&e been the suort and leasure of "our old age7 Each was sold at a
"ear old-"ou will ne&er see one of them again. 'n return for "our four confinements and all "our
labour in the fields, what ha&e "ou e&er had e)cet "our bare rations and a stall7
6#nd e&en the miserable li&es we lead are not allowed to reach their natural san. For m"self '
do not grumble, for ' am one of the luck" ones. ' am twel&e "ears old and ha&e had o&er four
hundred children. Such is the natural life of a ig. *ut no animal escaes the cruel knife in the
end. 9ou "oung orkers who are sitting in front of me, e&er" one of "ou will scream "our li&es
out at the block within a "ear. 0o that horror we all must come-cows, igs, hens, shee,
e&er"one. E&en the horses and the dogs ha&e no better fate. 9ou, *o)er, the &er" da" that
those great muscles of "ours lose their ower, Jones will sell "ou to the knacker, who will cut
"our throat and boil "ou down for the fo)hounds. #s for the dogs, when the" grow old and
toothless, Jones ties a brick round their necks and drowns them in the nearest ond.
6's it not cr"stal clear, then, comrades, that all the e&ils of this life of ours sring from the
t"rann" of human beings7 Onl" get rid of Man, and the roduce of our labour would be our own.
#:most o&ernight we could become rich and free. !hat then must we do7 !h", work night and
da", bod" and soul, for the o&erthrow of the human race8 0hat is m" message to "ou,
comrades5 Rebellion8 ' do not know when that Rebellion will come, it might be in a week or in a
hundred "ears, but ' know, as surel" as ' see this straw beneath m" feet, that sooner or later
$ustice will be done. Fi) "our e"es on that, comrades, throughout the short remainder of "our
li&es8 #nd abo&e all, ass on this message of mine to those who come after "ou, so that future
generations shall carr" on the struggle until it is &ictorious.
2
6#nd remember, comrades, "our resolution must ne&er falter. No argument must lead "ou
astra". Ne&er listen when the" tell "ou that Man and the animals ha&e a common interest, that
the roserit" of the one is the roserit" of the others. 't is all lies. Man ser&es the interests of
no creature e)cet himself. #nd among us animals let there be erfect unit", erfect
comradeshi in the struggle. #ll men are enemies. #ll animals are comrades.6
#t this moment there was a tremendous uroar. !hile Ma$or was seaking four large rats had
cret out of their holes and were sitting on their hind,uarters, listening to him. 0he dogs had
suddenl" caught sight of them, and it was onl" b" a swift dash for their holes that the rats sa&ed
their li&es. Ma$or raised his trotter for silence.
61omrades,6 he said, 6here is a oint that must be settled. 0he wild creatures, such as rats and
rabbits-are the" our friends or our enemies7 4et us ut it to the &ote. ' roose this ,uestion to
the meeting5 #re rats comrades76
0he &ote was taken at once, and it was agreed b" an o&erwhelming ma$orit" that rats were
comrades. 0here were onl" four dissentients, the three dogs and the cat, who was afterwards
disco&ered to ha&e &oted on both sides. Ma$or continued5
6' ha&e little more to sa". ' merel" reeat, remember alwa"s "our dut" of enmit" towards Man
and all his wa"s. !hate&er goes uon two legs is an enem". !hate&er goes uon four legs, or
has wings, is a friend. #nd remember also that in fighting against Man, we must not come to
resemble him. E&en when "ou ha&e con,uered him, do not adot his &ices. No animal must e&er
li&e in a house, or slee in a bed, or wear clothes, or drink alcohol, or smoke tobacco, or touch
mone", or engage in trade. #ll the habits of Man are e&il. #nd, abo&e all, no animal must e&er
t"rannise o&er his own kind. !eak or strong, cle&er or simle, we are all brothers. No animal
must e&er kill an" other animal. #ll animals are e,ual.
6#nd now, comrades, ' will tell "ou about m" dream of last night. ' cannot describe that dream
to "ou. 't was a dream of the earth as it will be when Man has &anished. *ut it reminded me of
something that ' had long forgotten. Man" "ears ago, when ' was a little ig, m" mother and the
other sows used to sing an old song of which the" knew onl" the tune and the first three words.
' had known that tune in m" infanc", but it had long since assed out of m" mind. 4ast night,
howe&er, it came back to me in m" dream. #nd what is more, the words of the song also came
back-words, ' am certain, which were sung b" the animals of long ago and ha&e been lost to
memor" for generations. ' will sing "ou that song now, comrades. ' am old and m" &oice is
hoarse, but when ' ha&e taught "ou the tune, "ou can sing it better for "oursel&es. 't is called
Beasts of England.6
Old Ma$or cleared his throat and began to sing. #s he had said, his &oice was hoarse, but he
sang well enough, and it was a stirring tune, something between Clementine and La Cucaracha.
0he words ran5
Beasts of England, beasts of Ireland,
Beasts of every land and clime,
Hearken to my oyful tidings
Of the golden future time!
"oon or late the day is coming,
#yrant $an shall be o%erthrown,
&nd the fruitful fields of England
"hall be trod by beasts alone!
'ings shall vanish from our noses,
&nd the harness from our back,
Bit and s(ur shall rust forever,
Cruel whi(s no more shall crack!
'iches more than mind can (icture,
)heat and barley, oats and hay,
Clover, beans, and mangel*wur+els
"hall be ours u(on that day!
Bright will shine the fields of England,
,urer shall its waters be,
"weeter yet shall blow its bree+es
On the day that sets us free!
-or that day we all must labour,
3
#hough we die before it break.
Cows and horses, geese and turkeys,
&ll must toil for freedom%s sake!
Beasts of England, beasts of Ireland,
Beasts of every land and clime,
Hearken well and s(read my tidings
Of the golden future time!
0he singing of this song threw the animals into the wildest e)citement. #lmost before Ma$or had
reached the end, the" had begun singing it for themsel&es. E&en the stuidest of them had
alread" icked u the tune and a few of the words, and as for the cle&er ones, such as the igs
and dogs, the" had the entire song b" heart within a few minutes. #nd then, after a few
reliminar" tries, the whole farm burst out into Beasts of England in tremendous unison. 0he
cows lowed it, the dogs whined it, the shee bleated it, the horses whinnied it, the ducks
,uacked it. 0he" were so delighted with the song that the" sang it right through fi&e times in
succession, and might ha&e continued singing it all night if the" had not been interruted.
;nfortunatel", the uroar awoke Mr. Jones, who srang out of bed, making sure that there was
a fo) in the "ard. .e sei%ed the gun which alwa"s stood in a corner of his bedroom, and let fl" a
charge of number < shot into the darkness. 0he ellets buried themsel&es in the wall of the barn
and the meeting broke u hurriedl". E&er"one fled to his own sleeing-lace. 0he birds $umed
on to their erches, the animals settled down in the straw, and the whole farm was aslee in a
moment.
II
0.REE nights later old Ma$or died eacefull" in his slee. .is bod" was buried at the foot of the
orchard.
0his was earl" in March. =uring the ne)t three months there was much secret acti&it". Ma$or-s
seech had gi&en to the more intelligent animals on the farm a comletel" new outlook on life.
0he" did not know when the Rebellion redicted b" Ma$or would take lace, the" had no reason
for thinking that it would be within their own lifetime, but the" saw clearl" that it was their dut"
to reare for it. 0he work of teaching and organising the others fell naturall" uon the igs,
who were generall" recognised as being the cle&erest of the animals. /re-eminent among the
igs were two "oung boars named Snowball and Naoleon, whom Mr. Jones was breeding u for
sale. Naoleon was a large, rather fierce-looking *erkshire boar, the onl" *erkshire on the farm,
not much of a talker, but with a reutation for getting his own wa". Snowball was a more
&i&acious ig than Naoleon, ,uicker in seech and more in&enti&e, but was not considered to
ha&e the same deth of character. #ll the other male igs on the farm were orkers. 0he best
known among them was a small fat ig named S,uealer, with &er" round cheeks, twinkling
e"es, nimble mo&ements, and a shrill &oice. .e was a brilliant talker, and when he was arguing
some difficult oint he had a wa" of skiing from side to side and whisking his tail which was
somehow &er" ersuasi&e. 0he others said of S,uealer that he could turn black into white.
0hese three had elaborated old Ma$or-s teachings into a comlete s"stem of thought, to which
the" ga&e the name of #nimalism. Se&eral nights a week, after Mr. Jones was aslee, the" held
secret meetings in the barn and e)ounded the rinciles of #nimalism to the others. #t the
beginning the" met with much stuidit" and aath". Some of the animals talked of the dut" of
lo"alt" to Mr. Jones, whom the" referred to as 6Master,6 or made elementar" remarks such as
6Mr. Jones feeds us. 'f he were gone, we should star&e to death.6 Others asked such ,uestions
as 6!h" should we care what haens after we are dead76 or 6'f this Rebellion is to haen
an"wa", what difference does it make whether we work for it or not76, and the igs had great
difficult" in making them see that this was contrar" to the sirit of #nimalism. 0he stuidest
,uestions of all were asked b" Mollie, the white mare. 0he &er" first ,uestion she asked
Snowball was5 6!ill there still be sugar after the Rebellion7 6
6No,6 said Snowball firml". 6!e ha&e no means of making sugar on this farm. *esides, "ou do
not need sugar. 9ou will ha&e all the oats and ha" "ou want.6
6#nd shall ' still be allowed to wear ribbons in m" mane76 asked Mollie.
61omrade,6 said Snowball, 6those ribbons that "ou are so de&oted to are the badge of sla&er".
1an "ou not understand that libert" is worth more than ribbons7 6
4
Mollie agreed, but she did not sound &er" con&inced.
0he igs had an e&en harder struggle to counteract the lies ut about b" Moses, the tame ra&en.
Moses, who was Mr. Jones-s esecial et, was a s" and a tale-bearer, but he was also a cle&er
talker. .e claimed to know of the e)istence of a m"sterious countr" called Sugarcand" Mountain,
to which all animals went when the" died. 't was situated somewhere u in the sk", a little
distance be"ond the clouds, Moses said. 'n Sugarcand" Mountain it was Sunda" se&en da"s a
week, clo&er was in season all the "ear round, and lum sugar and linseed cake grew on the
hedges. 0he animals hated Moses because he told tales and did no work, but some of them
belie&ed in Sugarcand" Mountain, and the igs had to argue &er" hard to ersuade them that
there was no such lace.
0heir most faithful disciles were the two cart-horses, *o)er and 1lo&er. 0hese two had great
difficult" in thinking an"thing out for themsel&es, but ha&ing once acceted the igs as their
teachers, the" absorbed e&er"thing that the" were told, and assed it on to the other animals b"
simle arguments. 0he" were unfailing in their attendance at the secret meetings in the barn,
and led the singing of Beasts of England, with which the meetings alwa"s ended.
Now, as it turned out, the Rebellion was achie&ed much earlier and more easil" than an"one had
e)ected. 'n ast "ears Mr. Jones, although a hard master, had been a caable farmer, but of
late he had fallen on e&il da"s. .e had become much disheartened after losing mone" in a
lawsuit, and had taken to drinking more than was good for him. For whole da"s at a time he
would lounge in his !indsor chair in the kitchen, reading the newsaers, drinking, and
occasionall" feeding Moses on crusts of bread soaked in beer. .is men were idle and dishonest,
the fields were full of weeds, the buildings wanted roofing, the hedges were neglected, and the
animals were underfed.
June came and the ha" was almost read" for cutting. On Midsummer-s E&e, which was a
Saturda", Mr. Jones went into !illingdon and got so drunk at the Red 4ion that he did not come
back till midda" on Sunda". 0he men had milked the cows in the earl" morning and then had
gone out rabbiting, without bothering to feed the animals. !hen Mr. Jones got back he
immediatel" went to slee on the drawing-room sofa with the /ews of the )orld o&er his face,
so that when e&ening came, the animals were still unfed. #t last the" could stand it no longer.
One of the cows broke in the door of the store-shed with her horn and all the animals began to
hel themsel&es from the bins. 't was $ust then that Mr. Jones woke u. 0he ne)t moment he
and his four men were in the store-shed with whis in their hands, lashing out in all directions.
0his was more than the hungr" animals could bear. !ith one accord, though nothing of the kind
had been lanned beforehand, the" flung themsel&es uon their tormentors. Jones and his men
suddenl" found themsel&es being butted and kicked from all sides. 0he situation was ,uite out of
their control. 0he" had ne&er seen animals beha&e like this before, and this sudden urising of
creatures whom the" were used to thrashing and maltreating $ust as the" chose, frightened
them almost out of their wits. #fter onl" a moment or two the" ga&e u tr"ing to defend
themsel&es and took to their heels. # minute later all fi&e of them were in full flight down the
cart-track that led to the main road, with the animals ursuing them in triumh.
Mrs. Jones looked out of the bedroom window, saw what was haening, hurriedl" flung a few
ossessions into a caret bag, and slied out of the farm b" another wa". Moses srang off his
erch and flaed after her, croaking loudl". Meanwhile the animals had chased Jones and his
men out on to the road and slammed the fi&e-barred gate behind them. #nd so, almost before
the" knew what was haening, the Rebellion had been successfull" carried through5 Jones was
e)elled, and the Manor Farm was theirs.
For the first few minutes the animals could hardl" belie&e in their good fortune. 0heir first act
was to gallo in a bod" right round the boundaries of the farm, as though to make ,uite sure
that no human being was hiding an"where uon it3 then the" raced back to the farm buildings to
wie out the last traces of Jones-s hated reign. 0he harness-room at the end of the stables was
broken oen3 the bits, the nose-rings, the dog-chains, the cruel kni&es with which Mr. Jones had
been used to castrate the igs and lambs, were all flung down the well. 0he reins, the halters,
the blinkers, the degrading nosebags, were thrown on to the rubbish fire which was burning in
the "ard. So were the whis. #ll the animals caered with $o" when the" saw the whis going u
in flames. Snowball also threw on to the fire the ribbons with which the horses- manes and tails
had usuall" been decorated on market da"s.
5
6Ribbons,6 he said, 6should be considered as clothes, which are the mark of a human being. #ll
animals should go naked.6
!hen *o)er heard this he fetched the small straw hat which he wore in summer to kee the flies
out of his ears, and flung it on to the fire with the rest.
'n a &er" little while the animals had destro"ed e&er"thing that reminded them of Mr. Jones.
Naoleon then led them back to the store-shed and ser&ed out a double ration of corn to
e&er"bod", with two biscuits for each dog. 0hen the" sang Beasts of England from end to end
se&en times running, and after that the" settled down for the night and slet as the" had ne&er
slet before.
*ut the" woke at dawn as usual, and suddenl" remembering the glorious thing that had
haened, the" all raced out into the asture together. # little wa" down the asture there was
a knoll that commanded a &iew of most of the farm. 0he animals rushed to the to of it and
ga%ed round them in the clear morning light. 9es, it was theirs-e&er"thing that the" could see
was theirs8 'n the ecstas" of that thought the" gambolled round and round, the" hurled
themsel&es into the air in great leas of e)citement. 0he" rolled in the dew, the" croed
mouthfuls of the sweet summer grass, the" kicked u clods of the black earth and snuffed its
rich scent. 0hen the" made a tour of insection of the whole farm and sur&e"ed with seechless
admiration the loughland, the ha"field, the orchard, the ool, the sinne". 't was as though
the" had ne&er seen these things before, and e&en now the" could hardl" belie&e that it was all
their own.
0hen the" filed back to the farm buildings and halted in silence outside the door of the
farmhouse. 0hat was theirs too, but the" were frightened to go inside. #fter a moment,
howe&er, Snowball and Naoleon butted the door oen with their shoulders and the animals
entered in single file, walking with the utmost care for fear of disturbing an"thing. 0he" titoed
from room to room, afraid to seak abo&e a whiser and ga%ing with a kind of awe at the
unbelie&able lu)ur", at the beds with their feather mattresses, the looking-glasses, the horsehair
sofa, the *russels caret, the lithograh of >ueen ?ictoria o&er the drawing-room manteliece.
0he" were lust coming down the stairs when Mollie was disco&ered to be missing. 2oing back,
the others found that she had remained behind in the best bedroom. She had taken a iece of
blue ribbon from Mrs. Jones-s dressing-table, and was holding it against her shoulder and
admiring herself in the glass in a &er" foolish manner. 0he others reroached her sharl", and
the" went outside. Some hams hanging in the kitchen were taken out for burial, and the barrel
of beer in the sculler" was sto&e in with a kick from *o)er-s hoof,-otherwise nothing in the house
was touched. # unanimous resolution was assed on the sot that the farmhouse should be
reser&ed as a museum. #ll were agreed that no animal must e&er li&e there.
0he animals had their breakfast, and then Snowball and Naoleon called them together again.
61omrades,6 said Snowball, 6it is half-ast si) and we ha&e a long da" before us. 0oda" we
begin the ha" har&est. *ut there is another matter that must be attended to first.6
0he igs now re&ealed that during the ast three months the" had taught themsel&es to read
and write from an old selling book which had belonged to Mr. Jones-s children and which had
been thrown on the rubbish hea. Naoleon sent for ots of black and white aint and led the
wa" down to the fi&e-barred gate that ga&e on to the main road. 0hen Snowball (for it was
Snowball who was best at writing+ took a brush between the two knuckles of his trotter, ainted
out M#NOR F#RM from the to bar of the gate and in its lace ainted #N'M#4 F#RM. 0his was
to be the name of the farm from now onwards. #fter this the" went back to the farm buildings,
where Snowball and Naoleon sent for a ladder which the" caused to be set against the end wall
of the big barn. 0he" e)lained that b" their studies of the ast three months the igs had
succeeded in reducing the rinciles of #nimalism to Se&en 1ommandments. 0hese Se&en
1ommandments would now be inscribed on the wall3 the" would form an unalterable law b"
which all the animals on #nimal Farm must li&e for e&er after. !ith some difficult" (for it is not
eas" for a ig to balance himself on a ladder+ Snowball climbed u and set to work, with
S,uealer a few rungs below him holding the aint-ot. 0he 1ommandments were written on the
tarred wall in great white letters that could be read thirt" "ards awa". 0he" ran thus5
THE SEVEN COMMANDMENTS
:. !hate&er goes uon two legs is an enem".
6
@. !hate&er goes uon four legs, or has wings, is a friend.
A. No animal shall wear clothes.
B. No animal shall slee in a bed.
C. No animal shall drink alcohol.
<. No animal shall kill an" other animal.
D. #ll animals are e,ual.
't was &er" neatl" written, and e)cet that 6friend6 was written 6freind6 and one of the 6S-s6 was
the wrong wa" round, the selling was correct all the wa" through. Snowball read it aloud for
the benefit of the others. #ll the animals nodded in comlete agreement, and the cle&erer ones
at once began to learn the 1ommandments b" heart.
6Now, comrades,6 cried Snowball, throwing down the aint-brush, 6to the ha"field8 4et us make
it a oint of honour to get in the har&est more ,uickl" than Jones and his men could do.6
*ut at this moment the three cows, who had seemed uneas" for some time ast, set u a loud
lowing. 0he" had not been milked for twent"-four hours, and their udders were almost bursting.
#fter a little thought, the igs sent for buckets and milked the cows fairl" successfull", their
trotters being well adated to this task. Soon there were fi&e buckets of frothing cream" milk at
which man" of the animals looked with considerable interest.
6!hat is going to haen to all that milk76 said someone.
6Jones used sometimes to mi) some of it in our mash,6 said one of the hens.
6Ne&er mind the milk, comrades86 cried Naoleon, lacing himself in front of the buckets. 60hat
will be attended to. 0he har&est is more imortant. 1omrade Snowball will lead the wa". ' shall
follow in a few minutes. Forward, comrades8 0he ha" is waiting.6
So the animals trooed down to the ha"field to begin the har&est, and when the" came back in
the e&ening it was noticed that the milk had disaeared.
III
.O! the" toiled and sweated to get the ha" in8 *ut their efforts were rewarded, for the har&est
was an e&en bigger success than the" had hoed.
Sometimes the work was hard3 the imlements had been designed for human beings and not for
animals, and it was a great drawback that no animal was able to use an" tool that in&ol&ed
standing on his hind legs. *ut the igs were so cle&er that the" could think of a wa" round e&er"
difficult". #s for the horses, the" knew e&er" inch of the field, and in fact understood the
business of mowing and raking far better than Jones and his men had e&er done. 0he igs did
not actuall" work, but directed and suer&ised the others. !ith their suerior knowledge it was
natural that the" should assume the leadershi. *o)er and 1lo&er would harness themsel&es to
the cutter or the horse-rake (no bits or reins were needed in these da"s, of course+ and tram
steadil" round and round the field with a ig walking behind and calling out 62ee u, comrade86
or 6!hoa back, comrade86 as the case might be. #nd e&er" animal down to the humblest worked
at turning the ha" and gathering it. E&en the ducks and hens toiled to and fro all da" in the sun,
carr"ing tin" wiss of ha" in their beaks. 'n the end the" finished the har&est in two da"s- less
time than it had usuall" taken Jones and his men. Moreo&er, it was the biggest har&est that the
farm had e&er seen. 0here was no wastage whate&er3 the hens and ducks with their shar e"es
had gathered u the &er" last stalk. #nd not an animal on the farm had stolen so much as a
mouthful.
#ll through that summer the work of the farm went like clockwork. 0he animals were ha" as
the" had ne&er concei&ed it ossible to be. E&er" mouthful of food was an acute ositi&e
leasure, now that it was trul" their own food, roduced b" themsel&es and for themsel&es, not
doled out to them b" a grudging master. !ith the worthless arasitical human beings gone,
there was more for e&er"one to eat. 0here was more leisure too, ine)erienced though the
animals were. 0he" met with man" difficulties-for instance, later in the "ear, when the"
har&ested the corn, the" had to tread it out in the ancient st"le and blow awa" the chaff with
their breath, since the farm ossessed no threshing machine-but the igs with their cle&erness
and *o)er with his tremendous muscles alwa"s ulled them through. *o)er was the admiration
of e&er"bod". .e had been a hard worker e&en in Jones-s time, but now he seemed more like
three horses than one3 there were da"s when the entire work of the farm seemed to rest on his
7
might" shoulders. From morning to night he was ushing and ulling, alwa"s at the sot where
the work was hardest. .e had made an arrangement with one of the cockerels to call him in the
mornings half an hour earlier than an"one else, and would ut in some &olunteer labour at
whate&er seemed to be most needed, before the regular da"-s work began. .is answer to e&er"
roblem, e&er" setback, was 6' will work harder86-which he had adoted as his ersonal motto.
*ut e&er"one worked according to his caacit" 0he hens and ducks, for instance, sa&ed fi&e
bushels of corn at the har&est b" gathering u the stra" grains. Nobod" stole, nobod" grumbled
o&er his rations, the ,uarrelling and biting and $ealous" which had been normal features of life in
the old da"s had almost disaeared. Nobod" shirked-or almost nobod". Mollie, it was true, was
not good at getting u in the mornings, and had a wa" of lea&ing work earl" on the ground that
there was a stone in her hoof. #nd the beha&iour of the cat was somewhat eculiar. 't was soon
noticed that when there was work to be done the cat could ne&er be found. She would &anish for
hours on end, and then reaear at meal-times, or in the e&ening after work was o&er, as
though nothing had haened. *ut she alwa"s made such e)cellent e)cuses, and urred so
affectionatel", that it was imossible not to belie&e in her good intentions. Old *en$amin, the
donke", seemed ,uite unchanged since the Rebellion. .e did his work in the same slow
obstinate wa" as he had done it in Jones-s time, ne&er shirking and ne&er &olunteering for e)tra
work either. #bout the Rebellion and its results he would e)ress no oinion. !hen asked
whether he was not haier now that Jones was gone, he would sa" onl" 6=onke"s li&e a long
time. None of "ou has e&er seen a dead donke",6 and the others had to be content with this
cr"tic answer.
On Sunda"s there was no work. *reakfast was an hour later than usual, and after breakfast
there was a ceremon" which was obser&ed e&er" week without fail. First came the hoisting of
the flag. Snowball had found in the harness-room an old green tablecloth of Mrs. Jones-s and
had ainted on it a hoof and a horn in white. 0his was run u the flagstaff in the farmhouse
garden e&er" Sunda" E, morning. 0he flag was green, Snowball e)lained, to reresent the
green fields of England, while the hoof and horn signified the future Reublic of the #nimals
which would arise when the human race had been finall" o&erthrown. #fter the hoisting of the
flag all the animals trooed into the big barn for a general assembl" which was known as the
Meeting. .ere the work of the coming week was lanned out and resolutions were ut forward
and debated. 't was alwa"s the igs who ut forward the resolutions. 0he other animals
understood how to &ote, but could ne&er think of an" resolutions of their own. Snowball and
Naoleon were b" far the most acti&e in the debates. *ut it was noticed that these two were
ne&er in agreement5 whate&er suggestion either of them made, the other could be counted on to
oose it. E&en when it was resol&ed-a thing no one could ob$ect to in itself-to set aside the
small addock behind the orchard as a home of rest for animals who were ast work, there was
a storm" debate o&er the correct retiring age for each class of animal. 0he Meeting alwa"s
ended with the singing of Beasts of England, and the afternoon was gi&en u to recreation.
0he igs had set aside the harness-room as a head,uarters for themsel&es. .ere, in the
e&enings, the" studied blacksmithing, carentering, and other necessar" arts from books which
the" had brought out of the farmhouse. Snowball also busied himself with organising the other
animals into what he called #nimal 1ommittees. .e was indefatigable at this. .e formed the Egg
/roduction 1ommittee for the hens, the 1lean 0ails 4eague for the cows, the !ild 1omrades- Re-
education 1ommittee (the ob$ect of this was to tame the rats and rabbits+, the !hiter !ool
Mo&ement for the shee, and &arious others, besides instituting classes in reading and writing.
On the whole, these ro$ects were a failure. 0he attemt to tame the wild creatures, for
instance, broke down almost immediatel". 0he" continued to beha&e &er" much as before, and
when treated with generosit", siml" took ad&antage of it. 0he cat $oined the Re-education
1ommittee and was &er" acti&e in it for some da"s. She was seen one da" sitting on a roof and
talking to some sarrows who were $ust out of her reach. She was telling them that all animals
were now comrades and that an" sarrow who chose could come and erch on her aw3 but the
sarrows ket their distance.
0he reading and writing classes, howe&er, were a great success. *" the autumn almost e&er"
animal on the farm was literate in some degree.
#s for the igs, the" could alread" read and write erfectl". 0he dogs learned to read fairl" well,
but were not interested in reading an"thing e)cet the Se&en 1ommandments. Muriel, the goat,
could read somewhat better than the dogs, and sometimes used to read to the others in the
8
e&enings from scras of newsaer which she found on the rubbish hea. *en$amin could read
as well as an" ig, but ne&er e)ercised his facult". So far as he knew, he said, there was nothing
worth reading. 1lo&er learnt the whole alhabet, but could not ut words together. *o)er could
not get be"ond the letter =. .e would trace out #, *, 1, =, in the dust with his great hoof, and
then would stand staring at the letters with his ears back, sometimes shaking his forelock, tr"ing
with all his might to remember what came ne)t and ne&er succeeding. On se&eral occasions,
indeed, he did learn E, F, 2, ., but b" the time he knew them, it was alwa"s disco&ered that he
had forgotten #, *, 1, and =. Finall" he decided to be content with the first four letters, and
used to write them out once or twice e&er" da" to refresh his memor". Mollie refused to learn
an" but the si) letters which selt her own name. She would form these &er" neatl" out of
ieces of twig, and would then decorate them with a flower or two and walk round them
admiring them.
None of the other animals on the farm could get further than the letter #. 't was also found that
the stuider animals, such as the shee, hens, and ducks, were unable to learn the Se&en
1ommandments b" heart. #fter much thought Snowball declared that the Se&en
1ommandments could in effect be reduced to a single ma)im, namel"5 6Four legs good, two legs
bad.6 0his, he said, contained the essential rincile of #nimalism. !hoe&er had thoroughl"
grased it would be safe from human influences. 0he birds at first ob$ected, since it seemed to
them that the" also had two legs, but Snowball ro&ed to them that this was not so.
6# bird-s wing, comrades,6 he said, 6is an organ of roulsion and not of maniulation. 't should
therefore be regarded as a leg. 0he distinguishing mark of man is the hand, the instrument with
which he does all his mischief.6
0he birds did not understand Snowball-s long words, but the" acceted his e)lanation, and all
the humbler animals set to work to learn the new ma)im b" heart. FO;R 4E2S 2OO=, 0!O
4E2S *#=, was inscribed on the end wall of the barn, abo&e the Se&en 1ommandments and in
bigger letters !hen the" had once got it b" heart, the shee de&eloed a great liking for this
ma)im, and often as the" la" in the field the" would all start bleating 6Four legs good, two legs
bad8 Four legs good, two legs bad86 and kee it u for hours on end, ne&er growing tired of it.
Naoleon took no interest in Snowball-s committees. .e said that the education of the "oung
was more imortant than an"thing that could be done for those who were alread" grown u. 't
haened that Jessie and *luebell had both wheled soon after the ha" har&est, gi&ing birth
between them to nine sturd" uies. #s soon as the" were weaned, Naoleon took them awa"
from their mothers, sa"ing that he would make himself resonsible for their education. .e took
them u into a loft which could onl" be reached b" a ladder from the harness-room, and there
ket them in such seclusion that the rest of the farm soon forgot their e)istence.
0he m"ster" of where the milk went to was soon cleared u. 't was mi)ed e&er" da" into the
igs- mash. 0he earl" ales were now riening, and the grass of the orchard was littered with
windfalls. 0he animals had assumed as a matter of course that these would be shared out
e,uall"3 one da", howe&er, the order went forth that all the windfalls were to be collected and
brought to the harness-room for the use of the igs. #t this some of the other animals
murmured, but it was no use. #ll the igs were in full agreement on this oint, e&en Snowball
and Naoleon. S,uealer was sent to make the necessar" e)lanations to the others.
61omrades86 he cried. 69ou do not imagine, ' hoe, that we igs are doing this in a sirit of
selfishness and ri&ilege7 Man" of us actuall" dislike milk and ales. ' dislike them m"self. Our
sole ob$ect in taking these things is to reser&e our health. Milk and ales (this has been
ro&ed b" Science, comrades+ contain substances absolutel" necessar" to the well-being of a
ig. !e igs are brainworkers. 0he whole management and organisation of this farm deend on
us. =a" and night we are watching o&er "our welfare. 't is for "our sake that we drink that milk
and eat those ales. =o "ou know what would haen if we igs failed in our dut"7 Jones would
come back8 9es, Jones would come back8 Surel", comrades,6 cried S,uealer almost leadingl",
skiing from side to side and whisking his tail, 6surel" there is no one among "ou who wants to
see Jones come back76
Now if there was one thing that the animals were comletel" certain of, it was that the" did not
want Jones back. !hen it was ut to them in this light, the" had no more to sa". 0he
imortance of keeing the igs in good health was all too ob&ious. So it was agreed without
further argument that the milk and the windfall ales (and also the main cro of ales when
the" riened+ should be reser&ed for the igs alone.
9
IV
*9 0.E late summer the news of what had haened on #nimal Farm had sread across half the
count". E&er" da" Snowball and Naoleon sent out flights of igeons whose instructions were to
mingle with the animals on neighbouring farms, tell them the stor" of the Rebellion, and teach
them the tune of Beasts of England.
Most of this time Mr. Jones had sent sitting in the taroom of the Red 4ion at !illingdon,
comlaining to an"one who would listen of the monstrous in$ustice he had suffered in being
turned out of his roert" b" a ack of good-for-nothing animals. 0he other farmers
s"mathised in rincile, but the" did not at first gi&e him much hel. #t heart, each of them
was secretl" wondering whether he could not somehow turn Jones-s misfortune to his own
ad&antage. 't was luck" that the owners of the two farms which ad$oined #nimal Farm were on
ermanentl" bad terms. One of them, which was named Fo)wood, was a large, neglected, old-
fashioned farm, much o&ergrown b" woodland, with all its astures worn out and its hedges in a
disgraceful condition. 'ts owner, Mr. /ilkington, was an eas"-going gentleman farmer who sent
most of his time in fishing or hunting according to the season. 0he other farm, which was called
/inchfield, was smaller and better ket. 'ts owner was a Mr. Frederick, a tough, shrewd man,
eretuall" in&ol&ed in lawsuits and with a name for dri&ing hard bargains. 0hese two disliked
each other so much that it was difficult for them to come to an" agreement, e&en in defence of
their own interests.
Ne&ertheless, the" were both thoroughl" frightened b" the rebellion on #nimal Farm, and &er"
an)ious to re&ent their own animals from learning too much about it. #t first the" retended to
laugh to scorn the idea of animals managing a farm for themsel&es. 0he whole thing would be
o&er in a fortnight, the" said. 0he" ut it about that the animals on the Manor Farm (the"
insisted on calling it the Manor Farm3 the" would not tolerate the name 6#nimal Farm6+ were
eretuall" fighting among themsel&es and were also raidl" star&ing to death. !hen time
assed and the animals had e&identl" not star&ed to death, Frederick and /ilkington changed
their tune and began to talk of the terrible wickedness that now flourished on #nimal Farm. 't
was gi&en out that the animals there ractised cannibalism, tortured one another with red-hot
horseshoes, and had their females in common. 0his was what came of rebelling against the laws
of Nature, Frederick and /ilkington said.
.owe&er, these stories were ne&er full" belie&ed. Rumours of a wonderful farm, where the
human beings had been turned out and the animals managed their own affairs, continued to
circulate in &ague and distorted forms, and throughout that "ear a wa&e of rebelliousness ran
through the countr"side. *ulls which had alwa"s been tractable suddenl" turned sa&age, shee
broke down hedges and de&oured the clo&er, cows kicked the ail o&er, hunters refused their
fences and shot their riders on to the other side. #bo&e all, the tune and e&en the words of
*easts of England were known e&er"where. 't had sread with astonishing seed. 0he human
beings could not contain their rage when the" heard this song, though the" retended to think it
merel" ridiculous. 0he" could not understand, the" said, how e&en animals could bring
themsel&es to sing such contemtible rubbish. #n" animal caught singing it was gi&en a flogging
on the sot. #nd "et the song was irreressible. 0he blackbirds whistled it in the hedges, the
igeons cooed it in the elms, it got into the din of the smithies and the tune of the church bells.
#nd when the human beings listened to it, the" secretl" trembled, hearing in it a rohec" of
their future doom.
Earl" in October, when the corn was cut and stacked and some of it was alread" threshed, a
flight of igeons came whirling through the air and alighted in the "ard of #nimal Farm in the
wildest e)citement. Jones and all his men, with half a do%en others from Fo)wood and /inchfield,
had entered the fi&e-barred gate and were coming u the cart-track that led to the farm. 0he"
were all carr"ing sticks, e)cet Jones, who was marching ahead with a gun in his hands.
Ob&iousl" the" were going to attemt the recature of the farm.
0his had long been e)ected, and all rearations had been made. Snowball, who had studied
an old book of Julius 1aesar-s camaigns which he had found in the farmhouse, was in charge of
the defensi&e oerations. .e ga&e his orders ,uickl", and in a coule of minutes e&er" animal
was at his ost.
#s the human beings aroached the farm buildings, Snowball launched his first attack. #ll the
igeons, to the number of thirt"-fi&e, flew to and fro o&er the men-s heads and muted uon
10
them from mid-air3 and while the men were dealing with this, the geese, who had been hiding
behind the hedge, rushed out and ecked &iciousl" at the cal&es of their legs. .owe&er, this was
onl" a light skirmishing manoeu&re, intended to create a little disorder, and the men easil"
dro&e the geese off with their sticks. Snowball now launched his second line of attack. Muriel,
*en$amin, and all the shee, with Snowball at the head of them, rushed forward and rodded
and butted the men from e&er" side, while *en$amin turned around and lashed at them with his
small hoofs. *ut once again the men, with their sticks and their hobnailed boots, were too strong
for them3 and suddenl", at a s,ueal from Snowball, which was the signal for retreat, all the
animals turned and fled through the gatewa" into the "ard.
0he men ga&e a shout of triumh. 0he" saw, as the" imagined, their enemies in flight, and the"
rushed after them in disorder. 0his was $ust what Snowball had intended. #s soon as the" were
well inside the "ard, the three horses, the three cows, and the rest of the igs, who had been
l"ing in ambush in the cowshed, suddenl" emerged in their rear, cutting them off. Snowball now
ga&e the signal for the charge. .e himself dashed straight for Jones. Jones saw him coming,
raised his gun and fired. 0he ellets scored blood" streaks along Snowball-s back, and a shee
droed dead. !ithout halting for an instant, Snowball flung his fifteen stone against Jones-s
legs. Jones was hurled into a ile of dung and his gun flew out of his hands. *ut the most
terrif"ing sectacle of all was *o)er, rearing u on his hind legs and striking out with his great
iron-shod hoofs like a stallion. .is &er" first blow took a stable-lad from Fo)wood on the skull
and stretched him lifeless in the mud. #t the sight, se&eral men droed their sticks and tried to
run. /anic o&ertook them, and the ne)t moment all the animals together were chasing them
round and round the "ard. 0he" were gored, kicked, bitten, tramled on. 0here was not an
animal on the farm that did not take &engeance on them after his own fashion. E&en the cat
suddenl" leat off a roof onto a cowman-s shoulders and sank her claws in his neck, at which he
"elled horribl". #t a moment when the oening was clear, the men were glad enough to rush out
of the "ard and make a bolt for the main road. #nd so within fi&e minutes of their in&asion the"
were in ignominious retreat b" the same wa" as the" had come, with a flock of geese hissing
after them and ecking at their cal&es all the wa".
#ll the men were gone e)cet one. *ack in the "ard *o)er was awing with his hoof at the
stable-lad who la" face down in the mud, tr"ing to turn him o&er. 0he bo" did not stir.
6.e is dead,6 said *o)er sorrowfull". 6' had no intention of doing that. ' forgot that ' was
wearing iron shoes. !ho will belie&e that ' did not do this on urose76
6No sentimentalit", comrade86 cried Snowball from whose wounds the blood was still driing.
6!ar is war. 0he onl" good human being is a dead one.6
6' ha&e no wish to take life, not e&en human life,6 reeated *o)er, and his e"es were full of
tears.
6!here is Mollie76 e)claimed somebod".
Mollie in fact was missing. For a moment there was great alarm3 it was feared that the men
might ha&e harmed her in some wa", or e&en carried her off with them. 'n the end, howe&er,
she was found hiding in her stall with her head buried among the ha" in the manger. She had
taken to flight as soon as the gun went off. #nd when the others came back from looking for
her, it was to find that the stable-lad, who in fact was onl" stunned, had alread" reco&ered and
made off.
0he animals had now reassembled in the wildest e)citement, each recounting his own e)loits in
the battle at the to of his &oice. #n imromtu celebration of the &ictor" was held immediatel".
0he flag was run u and Beasts of England was sung a number of times, then the shee who had
been killed was gi&en a solemn funeral, a hawthorn bush being lanted on her gra&e. #t the
gra&eside Snowball made a little seech, emhasising the need for all animals to be read" to die
for #nimal Farm if need be.
0he animals decided unanimousl" to create a militar" decoration, 6#nimal .ero, First 1lass,6
which was conferred there and then on Snowball and *o)er. 't consisted of a brass medal (the"
were reall" some old horse-brasses which had been found in the harness-room+, to be worn on
Sunda"s and holida"s. 0here was also 6#nimal .ero, Second 1lass,6 which was conferred
osthumousl" on the dead shee.
0here was much discussion as to what the battle should be called. 'n the end, it was named the
*attle of the 1owshed, since that was where the ambush had been srung. Mr. Jones-s gun had
been found l"ing in the mud, and it was known that there was a sul" of cartridges in the
11
farmhouse. 't was decided to set the gun u at the foot of the Flagstaff, like a iece of artiller",
and to fire it twice a "ear-once on October the twelfth, the anni&ersar" of the *attle of the
1owshed, and once on Midsummer =a", the anni&ersar" of the Rebellion.
V
#S !'N0ER drew on, Mollie became more and more troublesome. She was late for work e&er"
morning and e)cused herself b" sa"ing that she had o&erslet, and she comlained of
m"sterious ains, although her aetite was e)cellent. On e&er" kind of rete)t she would run
awa" from work and go to the drinking ool, where she would stand foolishl" ga%ing at her own
reflection in the water. *ut there were also rumours of something more serious. One da", as
Mollie strolled blithel" into the "ard, flirting her long tail and chewing at a stalk of ha", 1lo&er
took her aside.
6Mollie,6 she said, 6' ha&e something &er" serious to sa" to "ou. 0his morning ' saw "ou looking
o&er the hedge that di&ides #nimal Farm from Fo)wood. One of Mr. /ilkington-s men was
standing on the other side of the hedge. #nd-' was a long wa" awa", but ' am almost certain '
saw this-he was talking to "ou and "ou were allowing him to stroke "our nose. !hat does that
mean, Mollie76
6.e didn-t8 ' wasn-t8 't isn-t true86 cried Mollie, beginning to rance about and aw the ground.
6Mollie8 4ook me in the face. =o "ou gi&e me "our word of honour that that man was not
stroking "our nose76
6't isn-t true86 reeated Mollie, but she could not look 1lo&er in the face, and the ne)t moment
she took to her heels and galloed awa" into the field.
# thought struck 1lo&er. !ithout sa"ing an"thing to the others, she went to Mollie-s stall and
turned o&er the straw with her hoof. .idden under the straw was a little ile of lum sugar and
se&eral bunches of ribbon of different colours.
0hree da"s later Mollie disaeared. For some weeks nothing was known of her whereabouts,
then the igeons reorted that the" had seen her on the other side of !illingdon. She was
between the shafts of a smart dogcart ainted red and black, which was standing outside a
ublic-house. # fat red-faced man in check breeches and gaiters, who looked like a ublican,
was stroking her nose and feeding her with sugar. .er coat was newl" clied and she wore a
scarlet ribbon round her forelock. She aeared to be en$o"ing herself, so the igeons said.
None of the animals e&er mentioned Mollie again.
'n Januar" there came bitterl" hard weather. 0he earth was like iron, and nothing could be done
in the fields. Man" meetings were held in the big barn, and the igs occuied themsel&es with
lanning out the work of the coming season. 't had come to be acceted that the igs, who were
manifestl" cle&erer than the other animals, should decide all ,uestions of farm olic", though
their decisions had to be ratified b" a ma$orit" &ote. 0his arrangement would ha&e worked well
enough if it had not been for the disutes between Snowball and Naoleon. 0hese two disagreed
at e&er" oint where disagreement was ossible. 'f one of them suggested sowing a bigger
acreage with barle", the other was certain to demand a bigger acreage of oats, and if one of
them said that such and such a field was $ust right for cabbages, the other would declare that it
was useless for an"thing e)cet roots. Each had his own following, and there were some &iolent
debates. #t the Meetings Snowball often won o&er the ma$orit" b" his brilliant seeches, but
Naoleon was better at can&assing suort for himself in between times. .e was eseciall"
successful with the shee. Of late the shee had taken to bleating 6Four legs good, two legs
bad6 both in and out of season, and the" often interruted the Meeting with this. 't was noticed
that the" were eseciall" liable to break into 6Four legs good, two legs bad6 at crucial moments
in Snowball-s seeches. Snowball had made a close stud" of some back numbers of the -armer
and "tockbreeder which he had found in the farmhouse, and was full of lans for inno&ations
and imro&ements. .e talked learnedl" about field drains, silage, and basic slag, and had
worked out a comlicated scheme for all the animals to dro their dung directl" in the fields, at a
different sot e&er" da", to sa&e the labour of cartage. Naoleon roduced no schemes of his
own, but said ,uietl" that Snowball-s would come to nothing, and seemed to be biding his time.
*ut of all their contro&ersies, none was so bitter as the one that took lace o&er the windmill.
'n the long asture, not far from the farm buildings, there was a small knoll which was the
highest oint on the farm. #fter sur&e"ing the ground, Snowball declared that this was $ust the
12
lace for a windmill, which could be made to oerate a d"namo and sul" the farm with
electrical ower. 0his would light the stalls and warm them in winter, and would also run a
circular saw, a chaff-cutter, a mangel-slicer, and an electric milking machine. 0he animals had
ne&er heard of an"thing of this kind before (for the farm was an old-fashioned one and had onl"
the most rimiti&e machiner"+, and the" listened in astonishment while Snowball con$ured u
ictures of fantastic machines which would do their work for them while the" gra%ed at their
ease in the fields or imro&ed their minds with reading and con&ersation.
!ithin a few weeks Snowball-s lans for the windmill were full" worked out. 0he mechanical
details came mostl" from three books which had belonged to Mr. Jones - One #housand 0seful
#hings to 1o &bout the House, Every $an His Own Bricklayer, and Electricity for Beginners.
Snowball used as his stud" a shed which had once been used for incubators and had a smooth
wooden floor, suitable for drawing on. .e was closeted there for hours at a time. !ith his books
held oen b" a stone, and with a iece of chalk gried between the knuckles of his trotter, he
would mo&e raidl" to and fro, drawing in line after line and uttering little whimers of
e)citement. 2raduall" the lans grew into a comlicated mass of cranks and cog-wheels,
co&ering more than half the floor, which the other animals found comletel" unintelligible but
&er" imressi&e. #ll of them came to look at Snowball-s drawings at least once a da". E&en the
hens and ducks came, and were at ains not to tread on the chalk marks. Onl" Naoleon held
aloof. .e had declared himself against the windmill from the start. One da", howe&er, he arri&ed
une)ectedl" to e)amine the lans. .e walked hea&il" round the shed, looked closel" at e&er"
detail of the lans and snuffed at them once or twice, then stood for a little while contemlating
them out of the corner of his e"e3 then suddenl" he lifted his leg, urinated o&er the lans, and
walked out without uttering a word.
0he whole farm was deel" di&ided on the sub$ect of the windmill. Snowball did not den" that to
build it would be a difficult business. Stone would ha&e to be carried and built u into walls, then
the sails would ha&e to be made and after that there would be need for d"namos and cables.
(.ow these were to be rocured, Snowball did not sa".+ *ut he maintained that it could all be
done in a "ear. #nd thereafter, he declared, so much labour would be sa&ed that the animals
would onl" need to work three da"s a week. Naoleon, on the other hand, argued that the great
need of the moment was to increase food roduction, and that if the" wasted time on the
windmill the" would all star&e to death. 0he animals formed themsel&es into two factions under
the slogan, 6?ote for Snowball and the three-da" week6 and 6?ote for Naoleon and the full
manger.6 *en$amin was the onl" animal who did not side with either faction. .e refused to
belie&e either that food would become more lentiful or that the windmill would sa&e work.
!indmill or no windmill, he said, life would go on as it had alwa"s gone on-that is, badl".
#art from the disutes o&er the windmill, there was the ,uestion of the defence of the farm. 't
was full" realised that though the human beings had been defeated in the *attle of the 1owshed
the" might make another and more determined attemt to recature the farm and reinstate Mr.
Jones. 0he" had all the more reason for doing so because the news of their defeat had sread
across the countr"side and made the animals on the neighbouring farms more resti&e than e&er.
#s usual, Snowball and Naoleon were in disagreement. #ccording to Naoleon, what the
animals must do was to rocure firearms and train themsel&es in the use of them. #ccording to
Snowball, the" must send out more and more igeons and stir u rebellion among the animals
on the other farms. 0he one argued that if the" could not defend themsel&es the" were bound to
be con,uered, the other argued that if rebellions haened e&er"where the" would ha&e no need
to defend themsel&es. 0he animals listened first to Naoleon, then to Snowball, and could not
make u their minds which was right3 indeed, the" alwa"s found themsel&es in agreement with
the one who was seaking at the moment.
#t last the da" came when Snowball-s lans were comleted. #t the Meeting on the following
Sunda" the ,uestion of whether or not to begin work on the windmill was to be ut to the &ote.
!hen the animals had assembled in the big barn, Snowball stood u and, though occasionall"
interruted b" bleating from the shee, set forth his reasons for ad&ocating the building of the
windmill. 0hen Naoleon stood u to rel". .e said &er" ,uietl" that the windmill was nonsense
and that he ad&ised nobod" to &ote for it, and romtl" sat down again3 he had soken for
barel" thirt" seconds, and seemed almost indifferent as to the effect he roduced. #t this
Snowball srang to his feet, and shouting down the shee, who had begun bleating again, broke
into a assionate aeal in fa&our of the windmill. ;ntil now the animals had been about e,uall"
13
di&ided in their s"mathies, but in a moment Snowball-s elo,uence had carried them awa". 'n
glowing sentences he ainted a icture of #nimal Farm as it might be when sordid labour was
lifted from the animals- backs. .is imagination had now run far be"ond chaff-cutters and turni-
slicers. Electricit", he said, could oerate threshing machines, loughs, harrows, rollers, and
reaers and binders, besides sul"ing e&er" stall with its own electric light, hot and cold water,
and an electric heater. *" the time he had finished seaking, there was no doubt as to which
wa" the &ote would go. *ut $ust at this moment Naoleon stood u and, casting a eculiar
sidelong look at Snowball, uttered a high-itched whimer of a kind no one had e&er heard him
utter before.
#t this there was a terrible ba"ing sound outside, and nine enormous dogs wearing brass-
studded collars came bounding into the barn. 0he" dashed straight for Snowball, who onl"
srang from his lace $ust in time to escae their snaing $aws. 'n a moment he was out of the
door and the" were after him. 0oo ama%ed and frightened to seak, all the animals crowded
through the door to watch the chase. Snowball was racing across the long asture that led to the
road. .e was running as onl" a ig can run, but the dogs were close on his heels. Suddenl" he
slied and it seemed certain that the" had him. 0hen he was u again, running faster than
e&er, then the dogs were gaining on him again. One of them all but closed his $aws on
Snowball-s tail, but Snowball whisked it free $ust in time. 0hen he ut on an e)tra surt and,
with a few inches to sare, slied through a hole in the hedge and was seen no more.
Silent and terrified, the animals cret back into the barn. 'n a moment the dogs came bounding
back. #t first no one had been able to imagine where these creatures came from, but the
roblem was soon sol&ed5 the" were the uies whom Naoleon had taken awa" from their
mothers and reared ri&atel". 0hough not "et full-grown, the" were huge dogs, and as fierce-
looking as wol&es. 0he" ket close to Naoleon. 't was noticed that the" wagged their tails to
him in the same wa" as the other dogs had been used to do to Mr. Jones.
Naoleon, with the dogs following him, now mounted on to the raised ortion of the floor where
Ma$or had re&iousl" stood to deli&er his seech. .e announced that from now on the Sunda"-
morning Meetings would come to an end. 0he" were unnecessar", he said, and wasted time. 'n
future all ,uestions relating to the working of the farm would be settled b" a secial committee
of igs, resided o&er b" himself. 0hese would meet in ri&ate and afterwards communicate
their decisions to the others. 0he animals would still assemble on Sunda" mornings to salute the
flag, sing Beasts of England, and recei&e their orders for the week3 but there would be no more
debates.
'n site of the shock that Snowball-s e)ulsion had gi&en them, the animals were disma"ed b"
this announcement. Se&eral of them would ha&e rotested if the" could ha&e found the right
arguments. E&en *o)er was &aguel" troubled. .e set his ears back, shook his forelock se&eral
times, and tried hard to marshal his thoughts3 but in the end he could not think of an"thing to
sa". Some of the igs themsel&es, howe&er, were more articulate. Four "oung orkers in the
front row uttered shrill s,ueals of disaro&al, and all four of them srang to their feet and
began seaking at once. *ut suddenl" the dogs sitting round Naoleon let out dee, menacing
growls, and the igs fell silent and sat down again. 0hen the shee broke out into a tremendous
bleating of 6Four legs good, two legs bad86 which went on for nearl" a ,uarter of an hour and ut
an end to an" chance of discussion.
#fterwards S,uealer was sent round the farm to e)lain the new arrangement to the others.
61omrades,6 he said, 6' trust that e&er" animal here areciates the sacrifice that 1omrade
Naoleon has made in taking this e)tra labour uon himself. =o not imagine, comrades, that
leadershi is a leasure8 On the contrar", it is a dee and hea&" resonsibilit". No one belie&es
more firml" than 1omrade Naoleon that all animals are e,ual. .e would be onl" too ha" to
let "ou make "our decisions for "oursel&es. *ut sometimes "ou might make the wrong decisions,
comrades, and then where should we be7 Suose "ou had decided to follow Snowball, with his
moonshine of windmills-Snowball, who, as we now know, was no better than a criminal76
6.e fought bra&el" at the *attle of the 1owshed,6 said somebod".
6*ra&er" is not enough,6 said S,uealer. 64o"alt" and obedience are more imortant. #nd as to
the *attle of the 1owshed, ' belie&e the time will come when we shall find that Snowball-s art in
it was much e)aggerated. =isciline, comrades, iron disciline8 0hat is the watchword for toda".
One false ste, and our enemies would be uon us. Surel", comrades, "ou do not want Jones
back76
14
Once again this argument was unanswerable. 1ertainl" the animals did not want Jones back3 if
the holding of debates on Sunda" mornings was liable to bring him back, then the debates must
sto. *o)er, who had now had time to think things o&er, &oiced the general feeling b" sa"ing5 6'f
1omrade Naoleon sa"s it, it must be right.6 #nd from then on he adoted the ma)im,
6Naoleon is alwa"s right,6 in addition to his ri&ate motto of 6' will work harder.6
*" this time the weather had broken and the sring loughing had begun. 0he shed where
Snowball had drawn his lans of the windmill had been shut u and it was assumed that the
lans had been rubbed off the floor. E&er" Sunda" morning at ten o-clock the animals assembled
in the big barn to recei&e their orders for the week. 0he skull of old Ma$or, now clean of flesh,
had been disinterred from the orchard and set u on a stum at the foot of the flagstaff, beside
the gun. #fter the hoisting of the flag, the animals were re,uired to file ast the skull in a
re&erent manner before entering the barn. Nowada"s the" did not sit all together as the" had
done in the ast. Naoleon, with S,uealer and another ig named Minimus, who had a
remarkable gift for comosing songs and oems, sat on the front of the raised latform, with the
nine "oung dogs forming a semicircle round them, and the other igs sitting behind. 0he rest of
the animals sat facing them in the main bod" of the barn. Naoleon read out the orders for the
week in a gruff soldierl" st"le, and after a single singing of Beasts of England, all the animals
disersed.
On the third Sunda" after Snowball-s e)ulsion, the animals were somewhat surrised to hear
Naoleon announce that the windmill was to be built after all. .e did not gi&e an" reason for
ha&ing changed his mind, but merel" warned the animals that this e)tra task would mean &er"
hard work, it might e&en be necessar" to reduce their rations. 0he lans, howe&er, had all been
reared, down to the last detail. # secial committee of igs had been at work uon them for
the ast three weeks. 0he building of the windmill, with &arious other imro&ements, was
e)ected to take two "ears.
0hat e&ening S,uealer e)lained ri&atel" to the other animals that Naoleon had ne&er in
realit" been oosed to the windmill. On the contrar", it was he who had ad&ocated it in the
beginning, and the lan which Snowball had drawn on the floor of the incubator shed had
actuall" been stolen from among Naoleon-s aers. 0he windmill was, in fact, Naoleon-s own
creation. !h", then, asked somebod", had he soken so strongl" against it7 .ere S,uealer
looked &er" sl". 0hat, he said, was 1omrade Naoleon-s cunning. .e had seemed to oose the
windmill, siml" as a manoeu&re to get rid of Snowball, who was a dangerous character and a
bad influence. Now that Snowball was out of the wa", the lan could go forward without his
interference. 0his, said S,uealer, was something called tactics. .e reeated a number of times,
60actics, comrades, tactics86 skiing round and whisking his tail with a merr" laugh. 0he
animals were not certain what the word meant, but S,uealer soke so ersuasi&el", and the
three dogs who haened to be with him growled so threateningl", that the" acceted his
e)lanation without further ,uestions.
VI
#44 that "ear the animals worked like sla&es. *ut the" were ha" in their work3 the" grudged
no effort or sacrifice, well aware that e&er"thing that the" did was for the benefit of themsel&es
and those of their kind who would come after them, and not for a ack of idle, thie&ing human
beings.
0hroughout the sring and summer the" worked a si)t"-hour week, and in #ugust Naoleon
announced that there would be work on Sunda" afternoons as well. 0his work was strictl"
&oluntar", but an" animal who absented himself from it would ha&e his rations reduced b" half.
E&en so, it was found necessar" to lea&e certain tasks undone. 0he har&est was a little less
successful than in the re&ious "ear, and two fields which should ha&e been sown with roots in
the earl" summer were not sown because the loughing had not been comleted earl" enough.
't was ossible to foresee that the coming winter would be a hard one.
0he windmill resented une)ected difficulties. 0here was a good ,uarr" of limestone on the
farm, and lent" of sand and cement had been found in one of the outhouses, so that all the
materials for building were at hand. *ut the roblem the animals could not at first sol&e was how
to break u the stone into ieces of suitable si%e. 0here seemed no wa" of doing this e)cet with
icks and crowbars, which no animal could use, because no animal could stand on his hind legs.
15
Onl" after weeks of &ain effort did the right idea occur to somebod"-namel", to utilise the force
of gra&it". .uge boulders, far too big to be used as the" were, were l"ing all o&er the bed of the
,uarr". 0he animals lashed roes round these, and then all together, cows, horses, shee, an"
animal that could la" hold of the roe-e&en the igs sometimes $oined in at critical moments-
the" dragged them with deserate slowness u the sloe to the to of the ,uarr", where the"
were toled o&er the edge, to shatter to ieces below. 0ransorting the stone when it was once
broken was comarati&el" simle. 0he horses carried it off in cart-loads, the shee dragged
single blocks, e&en Muriel and *en$amin "oked themsel&es into an old go&erness-cart and did
their share. *" late summer a sufficient store of stone had accumulated, and then the building
began, under the suerintendence of the igs.
*ut it was a slow, laborious rocess. Fre,uentl" it took a whole da" of e)hausting effort to drag
a single boulder to the to of the ,uarr", and sometimes when it was ushed o&er the edge it
failed to break. Nothing could ha&e been achie&ed without *o)er, whose strength seemed e,ual
to that of all the rest of the animals ut together. !hen the boulder began to sli and the
animals cried out in desair at finding themsel&es dragged down the hill, it was alwa"s *o)er
who strained himself against the roe and brought the boulder to a sto. 0o see him toiling u
the sloe inch b" inch, his breath coming fast, the tis of his hoofs clawing at the ground, and
his great sides matted with sweat, filled e&er"one with admiration. 1lo&er warned him
sometimes to be careful not to o&erstrain himself, but *o)er would ne&er listen to her. .is two
slogans, 6' will work harder6 and 6Naoleon is alwa"s right,6 seemed to him a sufficient answer
to all roblems. .e had made arrangements with the cockerel to call him three-,uarters of an
hour earlier in the mornings instead of half an hour. #nd in his sare moments, of which there
were not man" nowada"s, he would go alone to the ,uarr", collect a load of broken stone, and
drag it down to the site of the windmill unassisted.
0he animals were not badl" off throughout that summer, in site of the hardness of their work.
'f the" had no more food than the" had had in Jones-s da", at least the" did not ha&e less. 0he
ad&antage of onl" ha&ing to feed themsel&es, and not ha&ing to suort fi&e e)tra&agant human
beings as well, was so great that it would ha&e taken a lot of failures to outweigh it. #nd in
man" wa"s the animal method of doing things was more efficient and sa&ed labour. Such $obs as
weeding, for instance, could be done with a thoroughness imossible to human beings. #nd
again, since no animal now stole, it was unnecessar" to fence off asture from arable land,
which sa&ed a lot of labour on the ukee of hedges and gates. Ne&ertheless, as the summer
wore on, &arious unforeseen shortages began to make them sel&es felt. 0here was need of
araffin oil, nails, string, dog biscuits, and iron for the horses- shoes, none of which could be
roduced on the farm. 4ater there would also be need for seeds and artificial manures, besides
&arious tools and, finall", the machiner" for the windmill. .ow these were to be rocured, no
one was able to imagine.
One Sunda" morning, when the animals assembled to recei&e their orders, Naoleon announced
that he had decided uon a new olic". From now onwards #nimal Farm would engage in trade
with the neighbouring farms5 not, of course, for an" commercial urose, but siml" in order to
obtain certain materials which were urgentl" necessar". 0he needs of the windmill must o&erride
e&er"thing else, he said. .e was therefore making arrangements to sell a stack of ha" and art
of the current "ear-s wheat cro, and later on, if more mone" were needed, it would ha&e to be
made u b" the sale of eggs, for which there was alwa"s a market in !illingdon. 0he hens, said
Naoleon, should welcome this sacrifice as their own secial contribution towards the building of
the windmill.
Once again the animals were conscious of a &ague uneasiness. Ne&er to ha&e an" dealings with
human beings, ne&er to engage in trade, ne&er to make use of mone"-had not these been
among the earliest resolutions assed at that first triumhant Meeting after Jones was e)elled7
#ll the animals remembered assing such resolutions5 or at least the" thought that the"
remembered it. 0he four "oung igs who had rotested when Naoleon abolished the Meetings
raised their &oices timidl", but the" were romtl" silenced b" a tremendous growling from the
dogs. 0hen, as usual, the shee broke into 6Four legs good, two legs bad86 and the momentar"
awkwardness was smoothed o&er. Finall" Naoleon raised his trotter for silence and announced
that he had alread" made all the arrangements. 0here would be no need for an" of the animals
to come in contact with human beings, which would clearl" be most undesirable. .e intended to
take the whole burden uon his own shoulders. # Mr. !h"mer, a solicitor li&ing in !illingdon,
16
had agreed to act as intermediar" between #nimal Farm and the outside world, and would &isit
the farm e&er" Monda" morning to recei&e his instructions. Naoleon ended his seech with his
usual cr" of 64ong li&e #nimal Farm86 and after the singing of Beasts of England the animals
were dismissed.
#fterwards S,uealer made a round of the farm and set the animals- minds at rest. .e assured
them that the resolution against engaging in trade and using mone" had ne&er been assed, or
e&en suggested. 't was ure imagination, robabl" traceable in the beginning to lies circulated
b" Snowball. # few animals still felt faintl" doubtful, but S,uealer asked them shrewdl", 6#re
"ou certain that this is not something that "ou ha&e dreamed, comrades7 .a&e "ou an" record
of such a resolution7 's it written down an"where76 #nd since it was certainl" true that nothing
of the kind e)isted in writing, the animals were satisfied that the" had been mistaken.
E&er" Monda" Mr. !h"mer &isited the farm as had been arranged. .e was a sl"-looking little
man with side whiskers, a solicitor in a &er" small wa" of business, but shar enough to ha&e
realised earlier than an"one else that #nimal Farm would need a broker and that the
commissions would be worth ha&ing. 0he animals watched his coming and going with a kind of
dread, and a&oided him as much as ossible. Ne&ertheless, the sight of Naoleon, on all fours,
deli&ering orders to !h"mer, who stood on two legs, roused their ride and artl" reconciled
them to the new arrangement. 0heir relations with the human race were now not ,uite the same
as the" had been before. 0he human beings did not hate #nimal Farm an" less now that it was
rosering3 indeed, the" hated it more than e&er. E&er" human being held it as an article of
faith that the farm would go bankrut sooner or later, and, abo&e all, that the windmill would be
a failure. 0he" would meet in the ublic-houses and ro&e to one another b" means of diagrams
that the windmill was bound to fall down, or that if it did stand u, then that it would ne&er
work. #nd "et, against their will, the" had de&eloed a certain resect for the efficienc" with
which the animals were managing their own affairs. One s"mtom of this was that the" had
begun to call #nimal Farm b" its roer name and ceased to retend that it was called the Manor
Farm. 0he" had also droed their chamionshi of Jones, who had gi&en u hoe of getting his
farm back and gone to li&e in another art of the count". E)cet through !h"mer, there was as
"et no contact between #nimal Farm and the outside world, but there were constant rumours
that Naoleon was about to enter into a definite business agreement either with Mr. /ilkington of
Fo)wood or with Mr. Frederick of /inchfield-but ne&er, it was noticed, with both simultaneousl".
't was about this time that the igs suddenl" mo&ed into the farmhouse and took u their
residence there. #gain the animals seemed to remember that a resolution against this had been
assed in the earl" da"s, and again S,uealer was able to con&ince them that this was not the
case. 't was absolutel" necessar", he said, that the igs, who were the brains of the farm,
should ha&e a ,uiet lace to work in. 't was also more suited to the dignit" of the 4eader (for of
late he had taken to seaking of Naoleon under the title of 64eader6+ to li&e in a house than in
a mere st". Ne&ertheless, some of the animals were disturbed when the" heard that the igs not
onl" took their meals in the kitchen and used the drawing-room as a recreation room, but also
slet in the beds. *o)er assed it off as usual with 6Naoleon is alwa"s right86, but 1lo&er, who
thought she remembered a definite ruling against beds, went to the end of the barn and tried to
u%%le out the Se&en 1ommandments which were inscribed there. Finding herself unable to read
more than indi&idual letters, she fetched Muriel.
6Muriel,6 she said, 6read me the Fourth 1ommandment. =oes it not sa" something about ne&er
sleeing in a bed76
!ith some difficult" Muriel selt it out.
6't sa"s, -No animal shall slee in a bed with sheets,6- she announced finall".
1uriousl" enough, 1lo&er had not remembered that the Fourth 1ommandment mentioned
sheets3 but as it was there on the wall, it must ha&e done so. #nd S,uealer, who haened to
be assing at this moment, attended b" two or three dogs, was able to ut the whole matter in
its roer ersecti&e.
69ou ha&e heard then, comrades,6 he said, 6that we igs now slee in the beds of the
farmhouse7 #nd wh" not7 9ou did not suose, surel", that there was e&er a ruling against
beds7 # bed merel" means a lace to slee in. # ile of straw in a stall is a bed, roerl"
regarded. 0he rule was against sheets, which are a human in&ention. !e ha&e remo&ed the
sheets from the farmhouse beds, and slee between blankets. #nd &er" comfortable beds the"
are too8 *ut not more comfortable than we need, ' can tell "ou, comrades, with all the brainwork
17
we ha&e to do nowada"s. 9ou would not rob us of our reose, would "ou, comrades7 9ou would
not ha&e us too tired to carr" out our duties7 Surel" none of "ou wishes to see Jones back76
0he animals reassured him on this oint immediatel", and no more was said about the igs
sleeing in the farmhouse beds. #nd when, some da"s afterwards, it was announced that from
now on the igs would get u an hour later in the mornings than the other animals, no comlaint
was made about that either.
*" the autumn the animals were tired but ha". 0he" had had a hard "ear, and after the sale
of art of the ha" and corn, the stores of food for the winter were none too lentiful, but the
windmill comensated for e&er"thing. 't was almost half built now. #fter the har&est there was a
stretch of clear dr" weather, and the animals toiled harder than e&er, thinking it well worth while
to lod to and fro all da" with blocks of stone if b" doing so the" could raise the walls another
foot. *o)er would e&en come out at nights and work for an hour or two on his own b" the light
of the har&est moon. 'n their sare moments the animals would walk round and round the half-
finished mill, admiring the strength and erendicularit" of its walls and mar&elling that the"
should e&er ha&e been able to build an"thing so imosing. Onl" old *en$amin refused to grow
enthusiastic about the windmill, though, as usual, he would utter nothing be"ond the cr"tic
remark that donke"s li&e a long time.
No&ember came, with raging south-west winds. *uilding had to sto because it was now too wet
to mi) the cement. Finall" there came a night when the gale was so &iolent that the farm
buildings rocked on their foundations and se&eral tiles were blown off the roof of the barn. 0he
hens woke u s,uawking with terror because the" had all dreamed simultaneousl" of hearing a
gun go off in the distance. 'n the morning the animals came out of their stalls to find that the
flagstaff had been blown down and an elm tree at the foot of the orchard had been lucked u
like a radish. 0he" had $ust noticed this when a cr" of desair broke from e&er" animal-s throat.
# terrible sight had met their e"es. 0he windmill was in ruins.
!ith one accord the" dashed down to the sot. Naoleon, who seldom mo&ed out of a walk,
raced ahead of them all. 9es, there it la", the fruit of all their struggles, le&elled to its
foundations, the stones the" had broken and carried so laboriousl" scattered all around. ;nable
at first to seak, the" stood ga%ing mournfull" at the litter of fallen stone Naoleon aced to and
fro in silence, occasionall" snuffing at the ground. .is tail had grown rigid and twitched sharl"
from side to side, a sign in him of intense mental acti&it". Suddenl" he halted as though his
mind were made u.
61omrades,6 he said ,uietl", 6do "ou know who is resonsible for this7 =o "ou know the enem"
who has come in the night and o&erthrown our windmill7 SNO!*#4486 he suddenl" roared in a
&oice of thunder. 6Snowball has done this thing8 'n sheer malignit", thinking to set back our
lans and a&enge himself for his ignominious e)ulsion, this traitor has cret here under co&er
of night and destro"ed our work of nearl" a "ear. 1omrades, here and now ' ronounce the
death sentence uon Snowball. -#nimal .ero, Second 1lass,- and half a bushel of ales to an"
animal who brings him to $ustice. # full bushel to an"one who catures him ali&e86
0he animals were shocked be"ond measure to learn that e&en Snowball could be guilt" of such
an action. 0here was a cr" of indignation, and e&er"one began thinking out wa"s of catching
Snowball if he should e&er come back. #lmost immediatel" the footrints of a ig were
disco&ered in the grass at a little distance from the knoll. 0he" could onl" be traced for a few
"ards, but aeared to lead to a hole in the hedge. Naoleon snuffed deel" at them and
ronounced them to be Snowball-s. .e ga&e it as his oinion that Snowball had robabl" come
from the direction of Fo)wood Farm.
6No more dela"s, comrades86 cried Naoleon when the footrints had been e)amined. 60here is
work to be done. 0his &er" morning we begin rebuilding the windmill, and we will build all
through the winter, rain or shine. !e will teach this miserable traitor that he cannot undo our
work so easil". Remember, comrades, there must be no alteration in our lans5 the" shall be
carried out to the da". Forward, comrades8 4ong li&e the windmill8 4ong li&e #nimal Farm86
VII
'0 !#S a bitter winter. 0he storm" weather was followed b" sleet and snow, and then b" a hard
frost which did not break till well into Februar". 0he animals carried on as best the" could with
18
the rebuilding of the windmill, well knowing that the outside world was watching them and that
the en&ious human beings would re$oice and triumh if the mill were not finished on time.
Out of site, the human beings retended not to belie&e that it was Snowball who had destro"er
the windmill5 the" said that it had fallen down because the walls were too thin. 0he animals
knew that this was not the case. Still, it had been decided to build the walls three feet thick this
time instead of eighteen inches as before, which meant collecting much larger ,uantities of
stone. For a long i.ne the ,uarr" was full of snowdrifts and nothing could be done. Some
rogress was made in the dr" frost" weather that followed, but it was cruel work, and the
animals could not feel so hoeful about it as the" had felt before. 0he" were alwa"s cold, and
usuall" hungr" as well. Onl" *o)er and 1lo&er ne&er lost heart. S,uealer made e)cellent
seeches on the $o" of ser&ice and the dignit" of labour, but the other animals found more
insiration in *o)er-s strength and his ne&er-failing cr" of 6' will work harder8 6
'n Januar" food fell short. 0he corn ration was drasticall" reduced, and it was announced that an
e)tra otato ration would be issued to make u for it. 0hen it was disco&ered that the greater
art of the otato cro had been frosted in the clams, which had not been co&ered thickl"
enough. 0he otatoes had become soft and discoloured, and onl" a few were edible. For da"s at
a time the animals had nothing to eat but chaff and mangels. Star&ation seemed to stare them
in the face.
't was &itall" necessar" to conceal this fact from the outside world. Emboldened b" the collase
of the windmill, the human beings were in&enting fresh lies about #nimal Farm. Once again it
was being ut about that all the animals were d"ing of famine and disease, and that the" were
continuall" fighting among themsel&es and had resorted to cannibalism and infanticide.
Naoleon was well aware of the bad results that might follow if the real facts of the food
situation were known, and he decided to make use of Mr. !h"mer to sread a contrar"
imression. .itherto the animals had had little or no contact with !h"mer on his weekl" &isits5
now, howe&er, a few selected animals, mostl" shee, were instructed to remark casuall" in his
hearing that rations had been increased. 'n addition, Naoleon ordered the almost emt" bins in
the store-shed to be filled nearl" to the brim with sand, which was then co&ered u with what
remained of the grain and meal. On some suitable rete)t !h"mer was led through the store-
shed and allowed to catch a glimse of the bins. .e was decei&ed, and continued to reort to the
outside world that there was no food shortage on #nimal Farm.
Ne&ertheless, towards the end of Januar" it became ob&ious that it would be necessar" to
rocure some more grain from somewhere. 'n these da"s Naoleon rarel" aeared in ublic,
but sent all his time in the farmhouse, which was guarded at each door b" fierce-looking dogs.
!hen he did emerge, it was in a ceremonial manner, with an escort of si) dogs who closel"
surrounded him and growled if an"one came too near. Fre,uentl" he did not e&en aear on
Sunda" mornings, but issued his orders through one of the other igs, usuall" S,uealer.
One Sunda" morning S,uealer announced that the hens, who had $ust come in to la" again,
must surrender their eggs. Naoleon had acceted, through !h"mer, a contract for four
hundred eggs a week. 0he rice of these would a" for enough grain and meal to kee the farm
going till summer came on and conditions were easier.
!hen the hens heard this, the" raised a terrible outcr". 0he" had been warned earlier that this
sacrifice might be necessar", but had not belie&ed that it would reall" haen. 0he" were $ust
getting their clutches read" for the sring sitting, and the" rotested that to take the eggs awa"
now was murder. For the first time since the e)ulsion of Jones, there was something
resembling a rebellion. 4ed b" three "oung *lack Minorca ullets, the hens made a determined
effort to thwart Naoleon-s wishes. 0heir method was to fl" u to the rafters and there la" their
eggs, which smashed to ieces on the floor. Naoleon acted swiftl" and ruthlessl". .e ordered
the hens- rations to be stoed, and decreed that an" animal gi&ing so much as a grain of corn
to a hen should be unished b" death. 0he dogs saw to it that these orders were carried out. For
fi&e da"s the hens held out, then the" caitulated and went back to their nesting bo)es. Nine
hens had died in the meantime. 0heir bodies were buried in the orchard, and it was gi&en out
that the" had died of coccidiosis. !h"mer heard nothing of this affair, and the eggs were dul"
deli&ered, a grocer-s &an dri&ing u to the farm once a week to take them awa".
#ll this while no more had been seen of Snowball. .e was rumoured to be hiding on one of the
neighbouring farms, either Fo)wood or /inchfield. Naoleon was b" this time on slightl" better
terms with the other farmers than before. 't haened that there was in the "ard a ile of timber
19
which had been stacked there ten "ears earlier when a beech sinne" was cleared. 't was well
seasoned, and !h"mer had ad&ised Naoleon to sell it3 both Mr. /ilkington and Mr. Frederick
were an)ious to bu" it. Naoleon was hesitating between the two, unable to make u his mind.
't was noticed that whene&er he seemed on the oint of coming to an agreement with Frederick,
Snowball was declared to be in hiding at Fo)wood, while, when he inclined toward /ilkington,
Snowball was said to be at /inchfield.
Suddenl", earl" in the sring, an alarming thing was disco&ered. Snowball was secretl"
fre,uenting the farm b" night8 0he animals were so disturbed that the" could hardl" slee in
their stalls. E&er" night, it was said, he came creeing in under co&er of darkness and erformed
all kinds of mischief. .e stole the corn, he uset the milk-ails, he broke the eggs, he tramled
the seedbeds, he gnawed the bark off the fruit trees. !hene&er an"thing went wrong it became
usual to attribute it to Snowball. 'f a window was broken or a drain was blocked u, someone
was certain to sa" that Snowball had come in the night and done it, and when the ke" of the
store-shed was lost, the whole farm was con&inced that Snowball had thrown it down the well.
1uriousl" enough, the" went on belie&ing this e&en after the mislaid ke" was found under a sack
of meal. 0he cows declared unanimousl" that Snowball cret into their stalls and milked them in
their slee. 0he rats, which had been troublesome that winter, were also said to be in league
with Snowball.
Naoleon decreed that there should be a full in&estigation into Snowball-s acti&ities. !ith his
dogs in attendance he set out and made a careful tour of insection of the farm buildings, the
other animals following at a resectful distance. #t e&er" few stes Naoleon stoed and
snuffed the ground for traces of Snowball-s footstes, which, he said, he could detect b" the
smell. .e snuffed in e&er" corner, in the barn, in the cow-shed, in the henhouses, in the
&egetable garden, and found traces of Snowball almost e&er"where. .e would ut his snout to
the ground, gi&e se&eral dee sniffs, ad e)claim in a terrible &oice, 6Snowball8 .e has been here8
' can smell him distinctl"86 and at the word 6Snowball6 all the dogs let out blood-curdling growls
and showed their side teeth.
0he animals were thoroughl" frightened. 't seemed to them as though Snowball were some kind
of in&isible influence, er&ading the air about them and menacing them with all kinds of
dangers. 'n the e&ening S,uealer called them together, and with an alarmed e)ression on his
face told them that he had some serious news to reort.
61omrades86 cried S,uealer, making little ner&ous skis, 6a most terrible thing has been
disco&ered. Snowball has sold himself to Frederick of /inchfield Farm, who is e&en now lotting
to attack us and take our farm awa" from us8 Snowball is to act as his guide when the attack
begins. *ut there is worse than that. !e had thought that Snowball-s rebellion was caused
siml" b" his &anit" and ambition. *ut we were wrong, comrades. =o "ou know what the real
reason was7 Snowball was in league with Jones from the &er" start8 .e was Jones-s secret agent
all the time. 't has all been ro&ed b" documents which he left behind him and which we ha&e
onl" $ust disco&ered. 0o m" mind this e)lains a great deal, comrades. =id we not see for
oursel&es how he attemted-fortunatel" without success-to get us defeated and destro"ed at the
*attle of the 1owshed76
0he animals were stuefied. 0his was a wickedness far outdoing Snowball-s destruction of the
windmill. *ut it was some minutes before the" could full" take it in. 0he" all remembered, or
thought the" remembered, how the" had seen Snowball charging ahead of them at the *attle of
the 1owshed, how he had rallied and encouraged them at e&er" turn, and how he had not
aused for an instant e&en when the ellets from Jones-s gun had wounded his back. #t first it
was a little difficult to see how this fitted in with his being on Jones-s side. E&en *o)er, who
seldom asked ,uestions, was u%%led. .e la" down, tucked his fore hoofs beneath him, shut his
e"es, and with a hard effort managed to formulate his thoughts.
6' do not belie&e that,6 he said. 6Snowball fought bra&el" at the *attle of the 1owshed. ' saw
him m"self. =id we not gi&e him -#nimal .ero, first 1lass,- immediatel" afterwards76
60hat was our mistake, comrade. For we know now-it is all written down in the secret documents
that we ha&e found-that in realit" he was tr"ing to lure us to our doom.6
6*ut he was wounded,6 said *o)er. 6!e all saw him running with blood.6
60hat was art of the arrangement86 cried S,uealer. 6Jones-s shot onl" gra%ed him. ' could show
"ou this in his own writing, if "ou were able to read it. 0he lot was for Snowball, at the critical
moment, to gi&e the signal for flight and lea&e the field to the enem". #nd he &er" nearl"
20
succeeded-' will e&en sa", comrades, he would ha&e succeeded if it had not been for our heroic
4eader, 1omrade Naoleon. =o "ou not remember how, $ust at the moment when Jones and his
men had got inside the "ard, Snowball suddenl" turned and fled, and man" animals followed
him7 #nd do "ou not remember, too, that it was $ust at that moment, when anic was sreading
and all seemed lost, that 1omrade Naoleon srang forward with a cr" of -=eath to .umanit"8-
and sank his teeth in Jones-s leg7 Surel" "ou remember that, comrades76 e)claimed S,uealer,
frisking from side to side.
Now when S,uealer described the scene so grahicall", it seemed to the animals that the" did
remember it. #t an" rate, the" remembered that at the critical moment of the battle Snowball
had turned to flee. *ut *o)er was still a little uneas".
6' do not belie&e that Snowball was a traitor at the beginning,6 he said finall". 6!hat he has
done since is different. *ut ' belie&e that at the *attle of the 1owshed he was a good comrade.6
6Our 4eader, 1omrade Naoleon,6 announced S,uealer, seaking &er" slowl" and firml", 6has
stated categoricall"-categoricall", comrade-that Snowball was Jones-s agent from the &er"
beginning-"es, and from long before the Rebellion was e&er thought of.6
6#h, that is different86 said *o)er. 6'f 1omrade Naoleon sa"s it, it must be right.6
60hat is the true sirit, comrade86 cried S,uealer, but it was noticed he cast a &er" ugl" look at
*o)er with his little twinkling e"es. .e turned to go, then aused and added imressi&el"5 6'
warn e&er" animal on this farm to kee his e"es &er" wide oen. For we ha&e reason to think
that some of Snowball-s secret agents are lurking among us at this moment8 6
Four da"s later, in the late afternoon, Naoleon ordered all the animals to assemble in the "ard.
!hen the" were all gathered together, Naoleon emerged from the farmhouse, wearing both his
medals (for he had recentl" awarded himself 6#nimal .ero, First 1lass,6 and 6#nimal .ero,
Second 1lass6+, with his nine huge dogs frisking round him and uttering growls that sent shi&ers
down all the animals- sines. 0he" all cowered silentl" in their laces, seeming to know in
ad&ance that some terrible thing was about to haen.
Naoleon stood sternl" sur&e"ing his audience3 then he uttered a high-itched whimer.
'mmediatel" the dogs bounded forward, sei%ed four of the igs b" the ear and dragged them,
s,uealing with ain and terror, to Naoleon-s feet. 0he igs- ears were bleeding, the dogs had
tasted blood, and for a few moments the" aeared to go ,uite mad. 0o the ama%ement of
e&er"bod", three of them flung themsel&es uon *o)er. *o)er saw them coming and ut out his
great hoof, caught a dog in mid-air, and inned him to the ground. 0he dog shrieked for merc"
and the other two fled with their tails between their legs. *o)er looked at Naoleon to know
whether he should crush the dog to death or let it go. Naoleon aeared to change
countenance, and sharl" ordered *o)er to let the dog go, whereat *o)er lifted his hoof, and the
dog slunk awa", bruised and howling.
/resentl" the tumult died down. 0he four igs waited, trembling, with guilt written on e&er" line
of their countenances. Naoleon now called uon them to confess their crimes. 0he" were the
same four igs as had rotested when Naoleon abolished the Sunda" Meetings. !ithout an"
further romting the" confessed that the" had been secretl" in touch with Snowball e&er since
his e)ulsion, that the" had collaborated with him in destro"ing the windmill, and that the" had
entered into an agreement with him to hand o&er #nimal Farm to Mr. Frederick. 0he" added that
Snowball had ri&atel" admitted to them that he had been Jones-s secret agent for "ears ast.
!hen the" had finished their confession, the dogs romtl" tore their throats out, and in a
terrible &oice Naoleon demanded whether an" other animal had an"thing to confess.
0he three hens who had been the ringleaders in the attemted rebellion o&er the eggs now came
forward and stated that Snowball had aeared to them in a dream and incited them to disobe"
Naoleon-s orders. 0he", too, were slaughtered. 0hen a goose came forward and confessed to
ha&ing secreted si) ears of corn during the last "ear-s har&est and eaten them in the night. 0hen
a shee confessed to ha&ing urinated in the drinking ool-urged to do this, so she said, b"
Snowball-and two other shee confessed to ha&ing murdered an old ram, an eseciall" de&oted
follower of Naoleon, b" chasing him round and round a bonfire when he was suffering from a
cough. 0he" were all slain on the sot. #nd so the tale of confessions and e)ecutions went on,
until there was a ile of corses l"ing before Naoleon-s feet and the air was hea&" with the
smell of blood, which had been unknown there since the e)ulsion of Jones.
!hen it was all o&er, the remaining animals, e)cet for the igs and dogs, cret awa" in a bod".
0he" were shaken and miserable. 0he" did not know which was more shocking-the treacher" of
21
the animals who had leagued themsel&es with Snowball, or the cruel retribution the" had $ust
witnessed. 'n the old da"s there had often been scenes of bloodshed e,uall" terrible, but it
seemed to all of them that it was far worse now that it was haening among themsel&es. Since
Jones had left the farm, until toda", no animal had killed another animal. Not e&en a rat had
been killed. 0he" had made their wa" on to the little knoll where the half-finished windmill
stood, and with one accord the" all la" down as though huddling together for warmth-1lo&er,
Muriel, *en$amin, the cows, the shee, and a whole flock of geese and hens-e&er"one, indeed,
e)cet the cat, who had suddenl" disaeared $ust before Naoleon ordered the animals to
assemble. For some time nobod" soke. Onl" *o)er remained on his feet. .e fidgeted to and
fro, swishing his long black tail against his sides and occasionall" uttering a little whinn" of
surrise. Finall" he said5
6' do not understand it. ' would not ha&e belie&ed that such things could haen on our farm. 't
must be due to some fault in oursel&es. 0he solution, as ' see it, is to work harder. From now
onwards ' shall get u a full hour earlier in the mornings.6
#nd he mo&ed off at his lumbering trot and made for the ,uarr". .a&ing got there, he collected
two successi&e loads of stone and dragged them down to the windmill before retiring for the
night.
0he animals huddled about 1lo&er, not seaking. 0he knoll where the" were l"ing ga&e them a
wide rosect across the countr"side. Most of #nimal Farm was within their &iew-the long
asture stretching down to the main road, the ha"field, the sinne", the drinking ool, the
loughed fields where the "oung wheat was thick and green, and the red roofs of the farm
buildings with the smoke curling from the chimne"s. 't was a clear sring e&ening. 0he grass
and the bursting hedges were gilded b" the le&el ra"s of the sun. Ne&er had the farm-and with a
kind of surrise the" remembered that it was their own farm, e&er" inch of it their own roert"-
aeared to the animals so desirable a lace. #s 1lo&er looked down the hillside her e"es filled
with tears. 'f she could ha&e soken her thoughts, it would ha&e been to sa" that this was not
what the" had aimed at when the" had set themsel&es "ears ago to work for the o&erthrow of
the human race. 0hese scenes of terror and slaughter were not what the" had looked forward to
on that night when old Ma$or first stirred them to rebellion. 'f she herself had had an" icture of
the future, it had been of a societ" of animals set free from hunger and the whi, all e,ual, each
working according to his caacit", the strong rotecting the weak, as she had rotected the lost
brood of ducklings with her foreleg on the night of Ma$or-s seech. 'nstead-she did not know
wh"-the" had come to a time when no one dared seak his mind, when fierce, growling dogs
roamed e&er"where, and when "ou had to watch "our comrades torn to ieces after confessing
to shocking crimes. 0here was no thought of rebellion or disobedience in her mind. She knew
that, e&en as things were, the" were far better off than the" had been in the da"s of Jones, and
that before all else it was needful to re&ent the return of the human beings. !hate&er
haened she would remain faithful, work hard, carr" out the orders that were gi&en to her, and
accet the leadershi of Naoleon. *ut still, it was not for this that she and all the other animals
had hoed and toiled. 't was not for this that the" had built the windmill and faced the bullets of
Jones-s gun. Such were her thoughts, though she lacked the words to e)ress them.
#t last, feeling this to be in some wa" a substitute for the words she was unable to find, she
began to sing Beasts of England. 0he other animals sitting round her took it u, and the" sang it
three times o&er-&er" tunefull", but slowl" and mournfull", in a wa" the" had ne&er sung it
before.
0he" had $ust finished singing it for the third time when S,uealer, attended b" two dogs,
aroached them with the air of ha&ing something imortant to sa". .e announced that, b" a
secial decree of 1omrade Naoleon, Beasts of England had been abolished. From now onwards
it was forbidden to sing it.
0he animals were taken aback.
6!h"76 cried Muriel.
6't-s no longer needed, comrade,6 said S,uealer stiffl". 6Beasts of England was the song of the
Rebellion. *ut the Rebellion is now comleted. 0he e)ecution of the traitors this afternoon was
the final act. 0he enem" both e)ternal and internal has been defeated. 'n Beasts of England we
e)ressed our longing for a better societ" in da"s to come. *ut that societ" has now been
established. 1learl" this song has no longer an" urose.6
22
Frightened though the" were, some of the animals might ossibl" ha&e rotested, but at this
moment the shee set u their usual bleating of 6Four legs good, two legs bad,6 which went on
for se&eral minutes and ut an end to the discussion.
So Beasts of England was heard no more. 'n its lace Minimus, the oet, had comosed another
song which began5
&nimal -arm, &nimal -arm,
/ever through me shalt thou come to harm2
and this was sung e&er" Sunda" morning after the hoisting of the flag. *ut somehow neither the
words nor the tune e&er seemed to the animals to come u to Beasts of England.
VIII
# FE! da"s later, when the terror caused b" the e)ecutions had died down, some of the animals
remembered-or thought the" remembered-that the Si)th 1ommandment decreed 6No animal
shall kill an" other animal.6 #nd though no one cared to mention it in the hearing of the igs or
the dogs, it was felt that the killings which had taken lace did not s,uare with this. 1lo&er
asked *en$amin to read her the Si)th 1ommandment, and when *en$amin, as usual, said that
he refused to meddle in such matters, she fetched Muriel. Muriel read the 1ommandment for
her. 't ran5 6No animal shall kill an" other animal without cause.6 Somehow or other, the last
two words had slied out of the animals- memor". *ut the" saw now that the 1ommandment
had not been &iolated3 for clearl" there was good reason for killing the traitors who had leagued
themsel&es with Snowball.
0hroughout the "ear the animals worked e&en harder than the" had worked in the re&ious "ear
0o rebuild the windmill, with walls twice as thick as before, and to finish it b" the aointed
date, together with the regular work of the farm, was a tremendous labour. 0here were times
when it seemed to the animals that the" worked longer hours and fed no better than the" had
done in Jones-s da". On Sunda" mornings S,uealer, holding down a long stri of aer with his
trotter, would read out to them lists of figures ro&ing that the roduction of e&er" class of
foodstuff had increased b" two hundred er cent, three hundred er cent, or fi&e hundred er
cent, as the case might be. 0he animals saw no reason to disbelie&e him, eseciall" as the"
could no longer remember &er" clearl" what conditions had been like before the Rebellion. #ll
the same, there were da"s when the" felt that the" would sooner ha&e had less figures and
more food.
#ll orders were now issued through S,uealer or one of the other igs. Naoleon himself was not
seen in ublic as often as once in a fortnight. !hen he did aear, he was attended not onl" b"
his retinue of dogs but b" a black cockerel who marched in front of him and acted as a kind of
trumeter, letting out a loud 6cock-a-doodle-doo6 before Naoleon soke. E&en in the
farmhouse, it was said, Naoleon inhabited searate aartments from the others. .e took his
meals alone, with two dogs to wait uon him, and alwa"s ate from the 1rown =erb" dinner
ser&ice which had been in the glass cuboard in the drawing-room. 't was also announced that
the gun would be fired e&er" "ear on Naoleon-s birthda", as well as on the other two
anni&ersaries.
Naoleon was now ne&er soken of siml" as 6Naoleon.6 .e was alwa"s referred to in formal
st"le as 6our 4eader, 1omrade Naoleon,6 and this igs liked to in&ent for him such titles as
Father of #ll #nimals, 0error of Mankind, /rotector of the Shee-fold, =ucklings- Friend, and the
like. 'n his seeches, S,uealer would talk with the tears rolling down his cheeks of Naoleon-s
wisdom the goodness of his heart, and the dee lo&e he bore to all animals e&er"where, e&en
and eseciall" the unha" animals who still li&ed in ignorance and sla&er" on other farms. 't
had become usual to gi&e Naoleon the credit for e&er" successful achie&ement and e&er" stroke
of good fortune. 9ou would often hear one hen remark to another, 6;nder the guidance of our
4eader, 1omrade Naoleon, ' ha&e laid fi&e eggs in si) da"s63 or two cows, en$o"ing a drink at
the ool, would e)claim, 60hanks to the leadershi of 1omrade Naoleon, how e)cellent this
water tastes86 0he general feeling on the farm was well e)ressed in a oem entitled Comrade
/a(oleon, which was comosed b" Minimus and which ran as follows5
-riend of fatherless2
-ountain of ha((iness2
Lord of the swill*bucket2 Oh, how my soul is on
23
-ire when I ga+e at thy
Calm and commanding eye,
Like the sun in the sky,
Comrade /a(oleon2
#hou are the giver of
&ll that thy creatures love,
-ull belly twice a day, clean straw to roll u(on.
Every beast great or small
"lee(s at (eace in his stall,
#hou watchest over all,
Comrade /a(oleon2
Had I a sucking*(ig,
Ere he had grown as big
Even as a (int bottle or as a rolling*(in,
He should have learned to be
-aithful and true to thee,
3es, his first s4ueak should be
5Comrade /a(oleon25
Naoleon aro&ed of this oem and caused it to be inscribed on the wall of the big barn, at the
oosite end from the Se&en 1ommandments. 't was surmounted b" a ortrait of Naoleon, in
rofile, e)ecuted b" S,uealer in white aint.
Meanwhile, through the agenc" of !h"mer, Naoleon was engaged in comlicated negotiations
with Frederick and /ilkington. 0he ile of timber was still unsold. Of the two, Frederick was the
more an)ious to get hold of it, but he would not offer a reasonable rice. #t the same time there
were renewed rumours that Frederick and his men were lotting to attack #nimal Farm and to
destro" the windmill, the building of which had aroused furious $ealous" in him. Snowball was
known to be still skulking on /inchfield Farm. 'n the middle of the summer the animals were
alarmed to hear that three hens had come forward and confessed that, insired b" Snowball,
the" had entered into a lot to murder Naoleon. 0he" were e)ecuted immediatel", and fresh
recautions for Naoleon-s safet" were taken. Four dogs guarded his bed at night, one at each
corner, and a "oung ig named /inke"e was gi&en the task of tasting all his food before he ate
it, lest it should be oisoned.
#t about the same time it was gi&en out that Naoleon had arranged to sell the ile of timber to
Mr. /ilkington3 he was also going to enter into a regular agreement for the e)change of certain
roducts between #nimal Farm and Fo)wood. 0he relations between Naoleon and /ilkington,
though the" were onl" conducted through !h"mer, were now almost friendl". 0he animals
distrusted /ilkington, as a human being, but greatl" referred him to Frederick, whom the" both
feared and hated. #s the summer wore on, and the windmill neared comletion, the rumours of
an imending treacherous attack grew stronger and stronger. Frederick, it was said, intended to
bring against them twent" men all armed with guns, and he had alread" bribed the magistrates
and olice, so that if he could once get hold of the title-deeds of #nimal Farm the" would ask no
,uestions. Moreo&er, terrible stories were leaking out from /inchfield about the cruelties that
Frederick ractised uon his animals. .e had flogged an old horse to death, he star&ed his cows,
he had killed a dog b" throwing it into the furnace, he amused himself in the e&enings b"
making cocks fight with slinters of ra%or-blade tied to their surs. 0he animals- blood boiled
with rage when the" heard of these things beingdone to their comrades, and sometimes the"
clamoured to be allowed to go out in a bod" and attack /inchfield Farm, dri&e out the humans,
and set the animals free. *ut S,uealer counselled them to a&oid rash actions and trust in
1omrade Naoleon-s strateg".
Ne&ertheless, feeling against Frederick continued to run high. One Sunda" morning Naoleon
aeared in the barn and e)lained that he had ne&er at an" time contemlated selling the ile
of timber to Frederick3 he considered it beneath his dignit", he said, to ha&e dealings with
scoundrels of that descrition. 0he igeons who were still sent out to sread tidings of the
Rebellion were forbidden to set foot an"where on Fo)wood, and were also ordered to dro their
former slogan of 6=eath to .umanit"6 in fa&our of 6=eath to Frederick.6 'n the late summer "et
another of Snowball-s machinations was laid bare. 0he wheat cro was full of weeds, and it was
disco&ered that on one of his nocturnal &isits Snowball had mi)ed weed seeds with the seed
24
corn. # gander who had been ri&" to the lot had confessed his guilt to S,uealer and
immediatel" committed suicide b" swallowing deadl" nightshade berries. 0he animals now also
learned that Snowball had ne&er-as man" of them had belie&ed hitherto-recei&ed the order of
6#nimal .eroD First 1lass.6 0his was merel" a legend which had been sread some time after the
*attle of the 1owshed b" Snowball himself. So far from being decorated, he had been censured
for showing cowardice in the battle. Once again some of the animals heard this with a certain
bewilderment, but S,uealer was soon able to con&ince them that their memories had been at
fault.
'n the autumn, b" a tremendous, e)hausting effort-for the har&est had to be gathered at almost
the same time-the windmill was finished. 0he machiner" had still to be installed, and !h"mer
was negotiating the urchase of it, but the structure was comleted. 'n the teeth of e&er"
difficult", in site of ine)erience, of rimiti&e imlements, of bad luck and of Snowball-s
treacher", the work had been finished unctuall" to the &er" da"8 0ired out but roud, the
animals walked round and round their masteriece, which aeared e&en more beautiful in their
e"es than when it had been built the first time. Moreo&er, the walls were twice as thick as
before. Nothing short of e)losi&es would la" them low this time8 #nd when the" thought of how
the" had laboured, what discouragements the" had o&ercome, and the enormous difference that
would be made in their li&es when the sails were turning and the d"namos running-when the"
thought of all this, their tiredness forsook them and the" gambolled round and round the
windmill, uttering cries of triumh. Naoleon himself, attended b" his dogs and his cockerel,
came down to insect the comleted work3 he ersonall" congratulated the animals on their
achie&ement, and announced that the mill would be named Naoleon Mill.
0wo da"s later the animals were called together for a secial meeting in the barn. 0he" were
struck dumb with surrise when Naoleon announced that he had sold the ile of timber to
Frederick. 0omorrow Frederick-s wagons would arri&e and begin carting it awa". 0hroughout the
whole eriod of his seeming friendshi with /ilkington, Naoleon had reall" been in secret
agreement with Frederick.
#ll relations with Fo)wood had been broken off3 insulting messages had been sent to /ilkington.
0he igeons had been told to a&oid /inchfield Farm and to alter their slogan from 6=eath to
Frederick6 to 6=eath to /ilkington.6 #t the same time Naoleon assured the animals that the
stories of an imending attack on #nimal Farm were comletel" untrue, and that the tales about
Frederick-s cruelt" to his own animals had been greatl" e)aggerated. #ll these rumours had
robabl" originated with Snowball and his agents. 't now aeared that Snowball was not, after
all, hiding on /inchfield Farm, and in fact had ne&er been there in his life5 he was li&ing-in
considerable lu)ur", so it was said-at Fo)wood, and had in realit" been a ensioner of /ilkington
for "ears ast.
0he igs were in ecstasies o&er Naoleon-s cunning. *" seeming to be friendl" with /ilkington he
had forced Frederick to raise his rice b" twel&e ounds. *ut the suerior ,ualit" of Naoleon-s
mind, said S,uealer, was shown in the fact that he trusted nobod", not e&en Frederick. Frederick
had wanted to a" for the timber with something called a che,ue, which, it seemed, was a iece
of aer with a romise to a" written uon it. *ut Naoleon was too cle&er for him. .e had
demanded a"ment in real fi&e-ound notes, which were to be handed o&er before the timber
was remo&ed. #lread" Frederick had aid u3 and the sum he had aid was $ust enough to bu"
the machiner" for the windmill.
Meanwhile the timber was being carted awa" at high seed. !hen it was all gone, another
secial meeting was held in the barn for the animals to insect Frederick-s bank-notes. Smiling
beatificall", and wearing both his decorations, Naoleon reosed on a bed of straw on the
latform, with the mone" at his side, neatl" iled on a china dish from the farmhouse kitchen.
0he animals filed slowl" ast, and each ga%ed his fill. #nd *o)er ut out his nose to sniff at the
bank-notes, and the flims" white things stirred and rustled in his breath.
0hree da"s later there was a terrible hullabaloo. !h"mer, his face deadl" ale, came racing u
the ath on his bic"cle, flung it down in the "ard and rushed straight into the farmhouse. 0he
ne)t moment a choking roar of rage sounded from Naoleon-s aartments. 0he news of what
had haened sed round the farm like wildfire. 0he banknotes were forgeries8 Frederick had
got the timber for nothing8
Naoleon called the animals together immediatel" and in a terrible &oice ronounced the death
sentence uon Frederick. !hen catured, he said, Frederick should be boiled ali&e. #t the same
25
time he warned them that after this treacherous deed the worst was to be e)ected. Frederick
and his men might make their long-e)ected attack at an" moment. Sentinels were laced at all
the aroaches to the farm. 'n addition, four igeons were sent to Fo)wood with a conciliator"
message, which it was hoed might re-establish good relations with /ilkington.
0he &er" ne)t morning the attack came. 0he animals were at breakfast when the look-outs came
racing in with the news that Frederick and his followers had alread" come through the fi&e-
barred gate. *oldl" enough the animals sallied forth to meet them, but this time the" did not
ha&e the eas" &ictor" that the" had had in the *attle of the 1owshed. 0here were fifteen men,
with half a do%en guns between them, and the" oened fire as soon as the" got within fift"
"ards. 0he animals could not face the terrible e)losions and the stinging ellets, and in site of
the efforts of Naoleon and *o)er to rall" them, the" were soon dri&en back. # number of them
were alread" wounded. 0he" took refuge in the farm buildings and eeed cautiousl" out from
chinks and knot-holes. 0he whole of the big asture, including the windmill, was in the hands of
the enem". For the moment e&en Naoleon seemed at a loss. .e aced u and down without a
word, his tail rigid and twitching. !istful glances were sent in the direction of Fo)wood. 'f
/ilkington and his men would hel them, the da" might "et be won. *ut at this moment the four
igeons, who had been sent out on the da" before, returned, one of them bearing a scra of
aer from /ilkington. On it was encilled the words5 6Ser&es "ou right.6
Meanwhile Frederick and his men had halted about the windmill. 0he animals watched them, and
a murmur of disma" went round. 0wo of the men had roduced a crowbar and a sledge
hammer. 0he" were going to knock the windmill down.
6'mossible86 cried Naoleon. 6!e ha&e built the walls far too thick for that. 0he" could not
knock it down in a week. 1ourage, comrades86
*ut *en$amin was watching the mo&ements of the men intentl". 0he two with the hammer and
the crowbar were drilling a hole near the base of the windmill. Slowl", and with an air almost of
amusement, *en$amin nodded his long mu%%le.
6' thought so,6 he said. 6=o "ou not see what the" are doing7 'n another moment the" are going
to ack blasting owder into that hole.6
0errified, the animals waited. 't was imossible now to &enture out of the shelter of the
buildings. #fter a few minutes the men were seen to be running in all directions. 0hen there was
a deafening roar. 0he igeons swirled into the air, and all the animals, e)cet Naoleon, flung
themsel&es flat on their bellies and hid their faces. !hen the" got u again, a huge cloud of
black smoke was hanging where the windmill had been. Slowl" the bree%e drifted it awa". 0he
windmill had ceased to e)ist8
#t this sight the animals- courage returned to them. 0he fear and desair the" had felt a
moment earlier were drowned in their rage against this &ile, contemtible act. # might" cr" for
&engeance went u, and without waiting for further orders the" charged forth in a bod" and
made straight for the enem". 0his time the" did not heed the cruel ellets that swet o&er them
like hail. 't was a sa&age, bitter battle. 0he men fired again and again, and, when the animals
got to close ,uarters, lashed out with their sticks and their hea&" boots. # cow, three shee, and
two geese were killed, and nearl" e&er"one was wounded. E&en Naoleon, who was directing
oerations from the rear, had the ti of his tail chied b" a ellet. *ut the men did not go
unscathed either. 0hree of them had their heads broken b" blows from *o)er-s hoofs3 another
was gored in the bell" b" a cow-s horn3 another had his trousers nearl" torn off b" Jessie and
*luebell. #nd when the nine dogs of Naoleon-s own bod"guard, whom he had instructed to
make a detour under co&er of the hedge, suddenl" aeared on the men-s flank, ba"ing
ferociousl", anic o&ertook them. 0he" saw that the" were in danger of being surrounded.
Frederick shouted to his men to get out while the going was good, and the ne)t moment the
cowardl" enem" was running for dear life. 0he animals chased them right down to the bottom of
the field, and got in some last kicks at them as the" forced their wa" through the thorn hedge.
0he" had won, but the" were wear" and bleeding. Slowl" the" began to lim back towards the
farm. 0he sight of their dead comrades stretched uon the grass mo&ed some of them to tears.
#nd for a little while the" halted in sorrowful silence at the lace where the windmill had once
stood. 9es, it was gone3 almost the last trace of their labour was gone8 E&en the foundations
were artiall" destro"ed. #nd in rebuilding it the" could not this time, as before, make use of the
fallen stones. 0his time the stones had &anished too. 0he force of the e)losion had flung them
to distances of hundreds of "ards. 't was as though the windmill had ne&er been.
26
#s the" aroached the farm S,uealer, who had unaccountabl" been absent during the fighting,
came skiing towards them, whisking his tail and beaming with satisfaction. #nd the animals
heard, from the direction of the farm buildings, the solemn booming of a gun.
6!hat is that gun firing for76 said *o)er.
60o celebrate our &ictor"86 cried S,uealer.
6!hat &ictor"76 said *o)er. .is knees were bleeding, he had lost a shoe and slit his hoof, and a
do%en ellets had lodged themsel&es in his hind leg.
6!hat &ictor", comrade7 .a&e we not dri&en the enem" off our soil-the sacred soil of #nimal
Farm7 6
6*ut the" ha&e destro"ed the windmill. #nd we had worked on it for two "ears86
6!hat matter7 !e will build another windmill. !e will build si) windmills if we feel like it. 9ou do
not areciate, comrade, the might" thing that we ha&e done. 0he enem" was in occuation of
this &er" ground that we stand uon. #nd now-thanks to the leadershi of 1omrade Naoleon-
we ha&e won e&er" inch of it back again86
60hen we ha&e won back what we had before,6 said *o)er.
60hat is our &ictor",6 said S,uealer.
0he" limed into the "ard. 0he ellets under the skin of *o)er-s leg smarted ainfull". .e saw
ahead of him the hea&" labour of rebuilding the windmill from the foundations, and alread" in
imagination he braced himself for the task. *ut for the first time it occurred to him that he was
ele&en "ears old and that erhas his great muscles were not ,uite what the" had once been.
*ut when the animals saw the green flag fl"ing, and heard the gun firing again-se&en times it
was fired in all-and heard the seech that Naoleon made, congratulating them on their conduct,
it did seem to them after all that the" had won a great &ictor". 0he animals slain in the battle
were gi&en a solemn funeral. *o)er and 1lo&er ulled the wagon which ser&ed as a hearse, and
Naoleon himself walked at the head of the rocession. 0wo whole da"s were gi&en o&er to
celebrations. 0here were songs, seeches, and more firing of the gun, and a secial gift of an
ale was bestowed on e&er" animal, with two ounces of corn for each bird and three biscuits
for each dog. 't was announced that the battle would be called the *attle of the !indmill, and
that Naoleon had created a new decoration, the Order of the 2reen *anner, which he had
conferred uon himself. 'n the general re$oicings the unfortunate affair of the banknotes was
forgotten.
't was a few da"s later than this that the igs came uon a case of whisk" in the cellars of the
farmhouse. 't had been o&erlooked at the time when the house was first occuied. 0hat night
there came from the farmhouse the sound of loud singing, in which, to e&er"one-s surrise, the
strains of Beasts of England were mi)ed u. #t about half ast nine Naoleon, wearing an old
bowler hat of Mr. Jones-s, was distinctl" seen to emerge from the back door, gallo raidl" round
the "ard, and disaear indoors again. *ut in the morning a dee silence hung o&er the
farmhouse. Not a ig aeared to be stirring. 't was nearl" nine o-clock when S,uealer made his
aearance, walking slowl" and de$ectedl", his e"es dull, his tail hanging liml" behind him, and
with e&er" aearance of being seriousl" ill. .e called the animals together and told them that
he had a terrible iece of news to imart. 1omrade Naoleon was d"ing8
# cr" of lamentation went u. Straw was laid down outside the doors of the farmhouse, and the
animals walked on titoe. !ith tears in their e"es the" asked one another what the" should do if
their 4eader were taken awa" from them. # rumour went round that Snowball had after all
contri&ed to introduce oison into Naoleon-s food. #t ele&en o-clock S,uealer came out to make
another announcement. #s his last act uon earth, 1omrade Naoleon had ronounced a solemn
decree5 the drinking of alcohol was to be unished b" death.
*" the e&ening, howe&er, Naoleon aeared to be somewhat better, and the following morning
S,uealer was able to tell them that he was well on the wa" to reco&er". *" the e&ening of that
da" Naoleon was back at work, and on the ne)t da" it was learned that he had instructed
!h"mer to urchase in !illingdon some booklets on brewing and distilling. # week later
Naoleon ga&e orders that the small addock be"ond the orchard, which it had re&iousl" been
intended to set aside as a gra%ing-ground for animals who were ast work, was to be loughed
u. 't was gi&en out that the asture was e)hausted and needed re-seeding3 but it soon became
known that Naoleon intended to sow it with barle".
#bout this time there occurred a strange incident which hardl" an"one was able to understand.
One night at about twel&e o-clock there was a loud crash in the "ard, and the animals rushed out
27
of their stalls. 't was a moonlit night. #t the foot of the end wall of the big barn, where the
Se&en 1ommandments were written, there la" a ladder broken in two ieces. S,uealer,
temoraril" stunned, was srawling beside it, and near at hand there la" a lantern, a aint-
brush, and an o&erturned ot of white aint. 0he dogs immediatel" made a ring round S,uealer,
and escorted him back to the farmhouse as soon as he was able to walk. None of the animals
could form an" idea as to what this meant, e)cet old *en$amin, who nodded his mu%%le with a
knowing air, and seemed to understand, but would sa" nothing.
*ut a few da"s later Muriel, reading o&er the Se&en 1ommandments to herself, noticed that
there was "et another of them which the animals had remembered wrong. 0he" had thought the
Fifth 1ommandment was 6No animal shall drink alcohol,6 but there were two words that the"
had forgotten. #ctuall" the 1ommandment read5 6No animal shall drink alcohol to e6cess.6
XI
*OFER-S slit hoof was a long time in healing. 0he" had started the rebuilding of the windmill
the da" after the &ictor" celebrations were ended *o)er refused to take e&en a da" off work, and
made it a oint of honour not to let it be seen that he was in ain. 'n the e&enings he would
admit ri&atel" to 1lo&er that the hoof troubled him a great deal. 1lo&er treated the hoof with
oultices of herbs which she reared b" chewing them, and both she and *en$amin urged
*o)er to work less hard. 6# horse-s lungs do not last for e&er,6 she said to him. *ut *o)er would
not listen. .e had, he said, onl" one real ambition left-to see the windmill well under wa" before
he reached the age for retirement.
#t the beginning, when the laws of #nimal Farm were first formulated, the retiring age had been
fi)ed for horses and igs at twel&e, for cows at fourteen, for dogs at nine, for shee at se&en,
and for hens and geese at fi&e. 4iberal old-age ensions had been agreed uon. #s "et no
animal had actuall" retired on ension, but of late the sub$ect had been discussed more and
more. Now that the small field be"ond the orchard had been set aside for barle", it was
rumoured that a corner of the large asture was to be fenced off and turned into a gra%ing-
ground for suerannuated animals. For a horse, it was said, the ension would be fi&e ounds of
corn a da" and, in winter, fifteen ounds of ha", with a carrot or ossibl" an ale on ublic
holida"s. *o)er-s twelfth birthda" was due in the late summer of the following "ear.
Meanwhile life was hard. 0he winter was as cold as the last one had been, and food was e&en
shorter. Once again all rations were reduced, e)cet those of the igs and the dogs. # too rigid
e,ualit" in rations, S,uealer e)lained, would ha&e been contrar" to the rinciles of #nimalism.
'n an" case he had no difficult" in ro&ing to the other animals that the" were not in realit"
short of food, whate&er the aearances might be. For the time being, certainl", it had been
found necessar" to make a read$ustment of rations (S,uealer alwa"s soke of it as a
6read$ustment,6 ne&er as a 6reduction6+, but in comarison with the da"s of Jones, the
imro&ement was enormous. Reading out the figures in a shrill, raid &oice, he ro&ed to them
in detail that the" had more oats, more ha", more turnis than the" had had in Jones-s da", that
the" worked shorter hours, that their drinking water was of better ,ualit", that the" li&ed longer,
that a larger roortion of their "oung ones sur&i&ed infanc", and that the" had more straw in
their stalls and suffered less from fleas. 0he animals belie&ed e&er" word of it. 0ruth to tell,
Jones and all he stood for had almost faded out of their memories. 0he" knew that life nowada"s
was harsh and bare, that the" were often hungr" and often cold, and that the" were usuall"
working when the" were not aslee. *ut doubtless it had been worse in the old da"s. 0he" were
glad to belie&e so. *esides, in those da"s the" had been sla&es and now the" were free, and that
made all the difference, as S,uealer did not fail to oint out.
0here were man" more mouths to feed now. 'n the autumn the four sows had all littered about
simultaneousl", roducing thirt"-one "oung igs between them. 0he "oung igs were iebald,
and as Naoleon was the onl" boar on the farm, it was ossible to guess at their arentage. 't
was announced that later, when bricks and timber had been urchased, a schoolroom would be
built in the farmhouse garden. For the time being, the "oung igs were gi&en their instruction b"
Naoleon himself in the farmhouse kitchen. 0he" took their e)ercise in the garden, and were
discouraged from la"ing with the other "oung animals. #bout this time, too, it was laid down as
a rule that when a ig and an" other animal met on the ath, the other animal must stand
28
aside5 and also that all igs, of whate&er degree, were to ha&e the ri&ilege of wearing green
ribbons on their tails on Sunda"s.
0he farm had had a fairl" successful "ear, but was still short of mone". 0here were the bricks,
sand, and lime for the schoolroom to be urchased, and it would also be necessar" to begin
sa&ing u again for the machiner" for the windmill. 0hen there were lam oil and candles for the
house, sugar for Naoleon-s own table (he forbade this to the other igs, on the ground that it
made them fat+, and all the usual relacements such as tools, nails, string, coal, wire, scra-
iron, and dog biscuits. # stum of ha" and art of the otato cro were sold off, and the contract
for eggs was increased to si) hundred a week, so that that "ear the hens barel" hatched enough
chicks to kee their numbers at the same le&el. Rations, reduced in =ecember, were reduced
again in Februar", and lanterns in the stalls were forbidden to sa&e Oil. *ut the igs seemed
comfortable enough, and in fact were utting on weight if an"thing. One afternoon in late
Februar" a warm, rich, aetising scent, such as the animals had ne&er smelt before, wafted
itself across the "ard from the little brew-house, which had been disused in Jones-s time, and
which stood be"ond the kitchen. Someone said it was the smell of cooking barle". 0he animals
sniffed the air hungril" and wondered whether a warm mash was being reared for their
suer. *ut no warm mash aeared, and on the following Sunda" it was announced that from
now onwards all barle" would be reser&ed for the igs. 0he field be"ond the orchard had alread"
been sown with barle". #nd the news soon leaked out that e&er" ig was now recei&ing a ration
of a int of beer dail", with half a gallon for Naoleon himself, which was alwa"s ser&ed to him
in the 1rown =erb" sou tureen.
*ut if there were hardshis to be borne, the" were artl" offset b" the fact that life nowada"s
had a greater dignit" than it had had before. 0here were more songs, more seeches, more
rocessions. Naoleon had commanded that once a week there should be held something called
a Sontaneous =emonstration, the ob$ect of which was to celebrate the struggles and triumhs
of #nimal Farm. #t the aointed time the animals would lea&e their work and march round the
recincts of the farm in militar" formation, with the igs leading, then the horses, then the cows,
then the shee, and then the oultr". 0he dogs flanked the rocession and at the head of all
marched Naoleon-s black cockerel. *o)er and 1lo&er alwa"s carried between them a green
banner marked with the hoof and the horn and the cation, 64ong li&e 1omrade Naoleon8 6
#fterwards there were recitations of oems comosed in Naoleon-s honour, and a seech b"
S,uealer gi&ing articulars of the latest increases in the roduction of foodstuffs, and on
occasion a shot was fired from the gun. 0he shee were the greatest de&otees of the
Sontaneous =emonstration, and if an"one comlained (as a few animals sometimes did, when
no igs or dogs were near+ that the" wasted time and meant a lot of standing about in the cold,
the shee were sure to silence him with a tremendous bleating of 6Four legs good, two legs
bad86 *ut b" and large the animals en$o"ed these celebrations. 0he" found it comforting to be
reminded that, after all, the" were trul" their own masters and that the work the" did was for
their own benefit. So that, what with the songs, the rocessions, S,uealer-s lists of figures, the
thunder of the gun, the crowing of the cockerel, and the fluttering of the flag, the" were able to
forget that their bellies were emt", at least art of the time.
'n #ril, #nimal Farm was roclaimed a Reublic, and it became necessar" to elect a /resident.
0here was onl" one candidate, Naoleon, who was elected unanimousl". On the same da" it was
gi&en out that fresh documents had been disco&ered which re&ealed further details about
Snowball-s comlicit" with Jones. 't now aeared that Snowball had not, as the animals had
re&iousl" imagined, merel" attemted to lose the *attle of the 1owshed b" means of a
stratagem, but had been oenl" fighting on Jones-s side. 'n fact, it was he who had actuall"
been the leader of the human forces, and had charged into battle with the words 64ong li&e
.umanit"86 on his lis. 0he wounds on Snowball-s back, which a few of the animals still
remembered to ha&e seen, had been inflicted b" Naoleon-s teeth.
'n the middle of the summer Moses the ra&en suddenl" reaeared on the farm, after an
absence of se&eral "ears. .e was ,uite unchanged, still did no work, and talked in the same
strain as e&er about Sugarcand" Mountain. .e would erch on a stum, fla his black wings, and
talk b" the hour to an"one who would listen. 6; there, comrades,6 he would sa" solemnl",
ointing to the sk" with his large beak-6u there, $ust on the other side of that dark cloud that
"ou can see-there it lies, Sugarcand" Mountain, that ha" countr" where we oor animals shall
rest for e&er from our labours86 .e e&en claimed to ha&e been there on one of his higher flights,
29
and to ha&e seen the e&erlasting fields of clo&er and the linseed cake and lum sugar growing on
the hedges. Man" of the animals belie&ed him. 0heir li&es now, the" reasoned, were hungr" and
laborious3 was it not right and $ust that a better world should e)ist somewhere else7 # thing that
was difficult to determine was the attitude of the igs towards Moses. 0he" all declared
contemtuousl" that his stories about Sugarcand" Mountain were lies, and "et the" allowed him
to remain on the farm, not working, with an allowance of a gill of beer a da".
#fter his hoof had healed u, *o)er worked harder than e&er. 'ndeed, all the animals worked
like sla&es that "ear. #art from the regular work of the farm, and the rebuilding of the windmill,
there was the schoolhouse for the "oung igs, which was started in March. Sometimes the long
hours on insufficient food were hard to bear, but *o)er ne&er faltered. 'n nothing that he said or
did was there an" sign that his strength was not what it had been. 't was onl" his aearance
that was a little altered3 his hide was less shin" than it had used to be, and his great haunches
seemed to ha&e shrunken. 0he others said, 6*o)er will ick u when the sring grass comes
on63 but the sring came and *o)er grew no fatter. Sometimes on the sloe leading to the to of
the ,uarr", when he braced his muscles against the weight of some &ast boulder, it seemed that
nothing ket him on his feet e)cet the will to continue. #t such times his lis were seen to form
the words, 6' will work harder63 he had no &oice left. Once again 1lo&er and *en$amin warned
him to take care of his health, but *o)er aid no attention. .is twelfth birthda" was
aroaching. .e did not care what haened so long as a good store of stone was accumulated
before he went on ension.
4ate one e&ening in the summer, a sudden rumour ran round the farm that something had
haened to *o)er. .e had gone out alone to drag a load of stone down to the windmill. #nd
sure enough, the rumour was true. # few minutes later two igeons came racing in with the
news5 6*o)er has fallen8 .e is l"ing on his side and can-t get u86
#bout half the animals on the farm rushed out to the knoll where the windmill stood. 0here la"
*o)er, between the shafts of the cart, his neck stretched out, unable e&en to raise his head. .is
e"es were gla%ed, his sides matted with sweat. # thin stream of blood had trickled out of his
mouth. 1lo&er droed to her knees at his side.
6*o)er86 she cried, 6how are "ou76
6't is m" lung,6 said *o)er in a weak &oice. 6't does not matter. ' think "ou will be able to finish
the windmill without me. 0here is a rett" good store of stone accumulated. ' had onl" another
month to go in an" case. 0o tell "ou the truth, ' had been looking forward to m" retirement. #nd
erhas, as *en$amin is growing old too, the" will let him retire at the same time and be a
comanion to me.6
6!e must get hel at once,6 said 1lo&er. 6Run, somebod", and tell S,uealer what has
haened.6
#ll the other animals immediatel" raced back to the farmhouse to gi&e S,uealer the news. Onl"
1lo&er remained, and *en$aminD who la" down at *o)er-s side, and, without seaking, ket the
flies off him with his long tail. #fter about a ,uarter of an hour S,uealer aeared, full of
s"math" and concern. .e said that 1omrade Naoleon had learned with the &er" deeest
distress of this misfortune to one of the most lo"al workers on the farm, and was alread" making
arrangements to send *o)er to be treated in the hosital at !illingdon. 0he animals felt a little
uneas" at this. E)cet for Mollie and Snowball, no other animal had e&er left the farm, and the"
did not like to think of their sick comrade in the hands of human beings. .owe&er, S,uealer
easil" con&inced them that the &eterinar" surgeon in !illingdon could treat *o)er-s case more
satisfactoril" than could be done on the farm. #nd about half an hour later, when *o)er had
somewhat reco&ered, he was with difficult" got on to his feet, and managed to lim back to his
stall, where 1lo&er and *en$amin had reared a good bed of straw for him.
For the ne)t two da"s *o)er remained in his stall. 0he igs had sent out a large bottle of ink
medicine which the" had found in the medicine chest in the bathroom, and 1lo&er administered
it to *o)er twice a da" after meals. 'n the e&enings she la" in his stall and talked to him, while
*en$amin ket the flies off him. *o)er rofessed not to be sorr" for what had haened. 'f he
made a good reco&er", he might e)ect to li&e another three "ears, and he looked forward to
the eaceful da"s that he would send in the corner of the big asture. 't would be the first time
that he had had leisure to stud" and imro&e his mind. .e intended, he said, to de&ote the rest
of his life to learning the remaining twent"-two letters of the alhabet.
30
.owe&er, *en$amin and 1lo&er could onl" be with *o)er after working hours, and it was in the
middle of the da" when the &an came to take him awa". 0he animals were all at work weeding
turnis under the suer&ision of a ig, when the" were astonished to see *en$amin come
galloing from the direction of the farm buildings, bra"ing at the to of his &oice. 't was the first
time that the" had e&er seen *en$amin e)cited-indeed, it was the first time that an"one had
e&er seen him gallo. 6>uick, ,uick86 he shouted. 61ome at once8 0he"-re taking *o)er awa"86
!ithout waiting for orders from the ig, the animals broke off work and raced back to the farm
buildings. Sure enough, there in the "ard was a large closed &an, drawn b" two horses, with
lettering on its side and a sl"-looking man in a low-crowned bowler hat sitting on the dri&er-s
seat. #nd *o)er-s stall was emt".
0he animals crowded round the &an. 62ood-b"e, *o)er86 the" chorused, 6good-b"e86
6Fools8 Fools86 shouted *en$amin, rancing round them and staming the earth with his small
hoofs. 6Fools8 =o "ou not see what is written on the side of that &an76
0hat ga&e the animals ause, and there was a hush. Muriel began to sell out the words. *ut
*en$amin ushed her aside and in the midst of a deadl" silence he read5
6 -#lfred Simmonds, .orse Slaughterer and 2lue *oiler, !illingdon. =ealer in .ides and *one-
Meal. Gennels Sulied.- =o "ou not understand what that means7 0he" are taking *o)er to the
knacker-s8 6
# cr" of horror burst from all the animals. #t this moment the man on the bo) whied u his
horses and the &an mo&ed out of the "ard at a smart trot. #ll the animals followed, cr"ing out at
the tos of their &oices. 1lo&er forced her wa" to the front. 0he &an began to gather seed.
1lo&er tried to stir her stout limbs to a gallo, and achie&ed a canter. 6*o)er86 she cried. 6*o)er8
*o)er8 *o)er86 #nd $ust at this moment, as though he had heard the uroar outside, *o)er-s
face, with the white strie down his nose, aeared at the small window at the back of the &an.
6*o)er86 cried 1lo&er in a terrible &oice. 6*o)er8 2et out8 2et out ,uickl"8 0he"-re taking "ou to
"our death86
#ll the animals took u the cr" of 62et out, *o)er, get out86 *ut the &an was alread" gathering
seed and drawing awa" from them. 't was uncertain whether *o)er had understood what
1lo&er had said. *ut a moment later his face disaeared from the window and there was the
sound of a tremendous drumming of hoofs inside the &an. .e was tr"ing to kick his wa" out. 0he
time had been when a few kicks from *o)er-s hoofs would ha&e smashed the &an to matchwood.
*ut alas8 his strength had left him3 and in a few moments the sound of drumming hoofs grew
fainter and died awa". 'n deseration the animals began aealing to the two horses which drew
the &an to sto. 61omrades, comrades86 the" shouted. 6=on-t take "our own brother to his
death8 6 *ut the stuid brutes, too ignorant to realise what was haening, merel" set back their
ears and ,uickened their ace. *o)er-s face did not reaear at the window. 0oo late, someone
thought of racing ahead and shutting the fi&e-barred gate3 but in another moment the &an was
through it and raidl" disaearing down the road. *o)er was ne&er seen again.
0hree da"s later it was announced that he had died in the hosital at !illingdon, in site of
recei&ing e&er" attention a horse could ha&e. S,uealer came to announce the news to the
others. .e had, he said, been resent during *o)er-s last hours.
6't was the most affecting sight ' ha&e e&er seen86 said S,uealer, lifting his trotter and wiing
awa" a tear. 6' was at his bedside at the &er" last. #nd at the end, almost too weak to seak, he
whisered in m" ear that his sole sorrow was to ha&e assed on before the windmill was
finished. -Forward, comrades8- he whisered. -Forward in the name of the Rebellion. 4ong li&e
#nimal Farm8 4ong li&e 1omrade Naoleon8 Naoleon is alwa"s right.- 0hose were his &er" last
words, comrades.6
.ere S,uealer-s demeanour suddenl" changed. .e fell silent for a moment, and his little e"es
darted susicious glances from side to side before he roceeded.
't had come to his knowledge, he said, that a foolish and wicked rumour had been circulated at
the time of *o)er-s remo&al. Some of the animals had noticed that the &an which took *o)er
awa" was marked 6.orse Slaughterer,6 and had actuall" $umed to the conclusion that *o)er
was being sent to the knacker-s. 't was almost unbelie&able, said S,uealer, that an" animal
could be so stuid. Surel", he cried indignantl", whisking his tail and skiing from side to side,
surel" the" knew their belo&ed 4eader, 1omrade Naoleon, better than that7 *ut the e)lanation
was reall" &er" simle. 0he &an had re&iousl" been the roert" of the knacker, and had been
31
bought b" the &eterinar" surgeon, who had not "et ainted the old name out. 0hat was how the
mistake had arisen.
0he animals were enormousl" relie&ed to hear this. #nd when S,uealer went on to gi&e further
grahic details of *o)er-s death-bed, the admirable care he had recei&ed, and the e)ensi&e
medicines for which Naoleon had aid without a thought as to the cost, their last doubts
disaeared and the sorrow that the" felt for their comrade-s death was temered b" the
thought that at least he had died ha".
Naoleon himself aeared at the meeting on the following Sunda" morning and ronounced a
short oration in *o)er-s honour. 't had not been ossible, he said, to bring back their lamented
comrade-s remains for interment on the farm, but he had ordered a large wreath to be made
from the laurels in the farmhouse garden and sent down to be laced on *o)er-s gra&e. #nd in a
few da"s- time the igs intended to hold a memorial ban,uet in *o)er-s honour. Naoleon ended
his seech with a reminder of *o)er-s two fa&ourite ma)ims, 6' will work harder6 and 61omrade
Naoleon is alwa"s right6-ma)ims, he said, which e&er" animal would do well to adot as his
own.
On the da" aointed for the ban,uet, a grocer-s &an dro&e u from !illingdon and deli&ered a
large wooden crate at the farmhouse. 0hat night there was the sound of uroarious singing,
which was followed b" what sounded like a &iolent ,uarrel and ended at about ele&en o-clock
with a tremendous crash of glass. No one stirred in the farmhouse before noon on the following
da", and the word went round that from somewhere or other the igs had ac,uired the mone"
to bu" themsel&es another case of whisk".
X
9E#RS assed. 0he seasons came and went, the short animal li&es fled b". # time came when
there was no one who remembered the old da"s before the Rebellion, e)cet 1lo&er, *en$amin,
Moses the ra&en, and a number of the igs.
Muriel was dead3 *luebell, Jessie, and /incher were dead. Jones too was dead-he had died in an
inebriates- home in another art of the countr". Snowball was forgotten. *o)er was forgotten,
e)cet b" the few who had known him. 1lo&er was an old stout mare now, stiff in the $oints and
with a tendenc" to rheum" e"es. She was two "ears ast the retiring age, but in fact no animal
had e&er actuall" retired. 0he talk of setting aside a corner of the asture for suerannuated
animals had long since been droed. Naoleon was now a mature boar of twent"-four stone.
S,uealer was so fat that he could with difficult" see out of his e"es. Onl" old *en$amin was
much the same as e&er, e)cet for being a little gre"er about the mu%%le, and, since *o)er-s
death, more morose and taciturn than e&er.
0here were man" more creatures on the farm now, though the increase was not so great as had
been e)ected in earlier "ears. Man" animals had been born to whom the Rebellion was onl" a
dim tradition, assed on b" word of mouth, and others had been bought who had ne&er heard
mention of such a thing before their arri&al. 0he farm ossessed three horses now besides
1lo&er. 0he" were fine ustanding beasts, willing workers and good comrades, but &er" stuid.
None of them ro&ed able to learn the alhabet be"ond the letter *. 0he" acceted e&er"thing
that the" were told about the Rebellion and the rinciles of #nimalism, eseciall" from 1lo&er,
for whom the" had an almost filial resect3 but it was doubtful whether the" understood &er"
much of it.
0he farm was more roserous now, and better organised5 it had e&en been enlarged b" two
fields which had been bought from Mr. /ilkington. 0he windmill had been successfull" comleted
at last, and the farm ossessed a threshing machine and a ha" ele&ator of its own, and &arious
new buildings had been added to it. !h"mer had bought himself a dogcart. 0he windmill,
howe&er, had not after all been used for generating electrical ower. 't was used for milling
corn, and brought in a handsome mone" rofit. 0he animals were hard at work building "et
another windmill3 when that one was finished, so it was said, the d"namos would be installed.
*ut the lu)uries of which Snowball had once taught the animals to dream, the stalls with electric
light and hot and cold water, and the three-da" week, were no longer talked about. Naoleon
had denounced such ideas as contrar" to the sirit of #nimalism. 0he truest hainess, he said,
la" in working hard and li&ing frugall".
32
Somehow it seemed as though the farm had grown richer without making the animals
themsel&es an" richer-e)cet, of course, for the igs and the dogs. /erhas this was artl"
because there were so man" igs and so man" dogs. 't was not that these creatures did not
work, after their fashion. 0here was, as S,uealer was ne&er tired of e)laining, endless work in
the suer&ision and organisation of the farm. Much of this work was of a kind that the other
animals were too ignorant to understand. For e)amle, S,uealer told them that the igs had to
e)end enormous labours e&er" da" uon m"sterious things called 6files,6 6reorts,6 6minutes,6
and 6memoranda.6 0hese were large sheets of aer which had to be closel" co&ered with
writing, and as soon as the" were so co&ered, the" were burnt in the furnace. 0his was of the
highest imortance for the welfare of the farm, S,uealer said. *ut still, neither igs nor dogs
roduced an" food b" their own labour3 and there were &er" man" of them, and their aetites
were alwa"s good.
#s for the others, their life, so far as the" knew, was as it had alwa"s been. 0he" were generall"
hungr", the" slet on straw, the" drank from the ool, the" laboured in the fields3 in winter the"
were troubled b" the cold, and in summer b" the flies. Sometimes the older ones among them
racked their dim memories and tried to determine whether in the earl" da"s of the Rebellion,
when Jones-s e)ulsion was still recent, things had been better or worse than now. 0he" could
not remember. 0here was nothing with which the" could comare their resent li&es5 the" had
nothing to go uon e)cet S,uealer-s lists of figures, which in&ariabl" demonstrated that
e&er"thing was getting better and better. 0he animals found the roblem insoluble3 in an" case,
the" had little time for seculating on such things now. Onl" old *en$amin rofessed to
remember e&er" detail of his long life and to know that things ne&er had been, nor e&er could be
much better or much worse-hunger, hardshi, and disaointment being, so he said, the
unalterable law of life.
#nd "et the animals ne&er ga&e u hoe. More, the" ne&er lost, e&en for an instant, their sense
of honour and ri&ilege in being members of #nimal Farm. 0he" were still the onl" farm in the
whole count"-in all England8-owned and oerated b" animals. Not one of them, not e&en the
"oungest, not e&en the newcomers who had been brought from farms ten or twent" miles awa",
e&er ceased to mar&el at that. #nd when the" heard the gun booming and saw the green flag
fluttering at the masthead, their hearts swelled with imerishable ride, and the talk turned
alwa"s towards the old heroic da"s, the e)ulsion of Jones, the writing of the Se&en
1ommandments, the great battles in which the human in&aders had been defeated. None of the
old dreams had been abandoned. 0he Reublic of the #nimals which Ma$or had foretold, when
the green fields of England should be untrodden b" human feet, was still belie&ed in. Some da"
it was coming5 it might not be soon, it might not be with in the lifetime of an" animal now li&ing,
but still it was coming. E&en the tune of Beasts of England was erhas hummed secretl" here
and there5 at an" rate, it was a fact that e&er" animal on the farm knew it, though no one would
ha&e dared to sing it aloud. 't might be that their li&es were hard and that not all of their hoes
had been fulfilled3 but the" were conscious that the" were not as other animals. 'f the" went
hungr", it was not from feeding t"rannical human beings3 if the" worked hard, at least the"
worked for themsel&es. No creature among them went uon two legs. No creature called an"
other creature 6Master.6 #ll animals were e,ual.
One da" in earl" summer S,uealer ordered the shee to follow him, and led them out to a iece
of waste ground at the other end of the farm, which had become o&ergrown with birch salings.
0he shee sent the whole da" there browsing at the lea&es under S,uealer-s suer&ision. 'n the
e&ening he returned to the farmhouse himself, but, as it was warm weather, told the shee to
sta" where the" were. 't ended b" their remaining there for a whole week, during which time
the other animals saw nothing of them. S,uealer was with them for the greater art of e&er"
da". .e was, he said, teaching them to sing a new song, for which ri&ac" was needed.
't was $ust after the shee had returned, on a leasant e&ening when the animals had finished
work and were making their wa" back to the farm buildings, that the terrified neighing of a
horse sounded from the "ard. Startled, the animals stoed in their tracks. 't was 1lo&er-s &oice.
She neighed again, and all the animals broke into a gallo and rushed into the "ard. 0hen the"
saw what 1lo&er had seen.
't was a ig walking on his hind legs.
9es, it was S,uealer. # little awkwardl", as though not ,uite used to suorting his considerable
bulk in that osition, but with erfect balance, he was strolling across the "ard. #nd a moment
33
later, out from the door of the farmhouse came a long file of igs, all walking on their hind legs.
Some did it better than others, one or two were e&en a trifle unstead" and looked as though
the" would ha&e liked the suort of a stick, but e&er" one of them made his wa" right round
the "ard successfull". #nd finall" there was a tremendous ba"ing of dogs and a shrill crowing
from the black cockerel, and out came Naoleon himself, ma$esticall" uright, casting haught"
glances from side to side, and with his dogs gambolling round him.
.e carried a whi in his trotter.
0here was a deadl" silence. #ma%ed, terrified, huddling together, the animals watched the long
line of igs march slowl" round the "ard. 't was as though the world had turned uside-down.
0hen there came a moment when the first shock had worn off and when, in site of e&er"thing-
in site of their terror of the dogs, and of the habit, de&eloed through long "ears, of ne&er
comlaining, ne&er criticising, no matter what haened-the" might ha&e uttered some word of
rotest. *ut $ust at that moment, as though at a signal, all the shee burst out into a
tremendous bleating of-
6Four legs good, two legs better8 Four legs good, two legs better8 Four legs good, two legs
better86
't went on for fi&e minutes without stoing. #nd b" the time the shee had ,uieted down, the
chance to utter an" rotest had assed, for the igs had marched back into the farmhouse.
*en$amin felt a nose nu%%ling at his shoulder. .e looked round. 't was 1lo&er. .er old e"es
looked dimmer than e&er. !ithout sa"ing an"thing, she tugged gentl" at his mane and led him
round to the end of the big barn, where the Se&en 1ommandments were written. For a minute
or two the" stood ga%ing at the tatted wall with its white lettering.
6M" sight is failing,6 she said finall". 6E&en when ' was "oung ' could not ha&e read what was
written there. *ut it aears to me that that wall looks different. #re the Se&en 1ommandments
the same as the" used to be, *en$amin76
For once *en$amin consented to break his rule, and he read out to her what was written on the
wall. 0here was nothing there now e)cet a single 1ommandment. 't ran5
#44 #N'M#4S #RE E>;#4
*;0 SOME #N'M#4S #RE MORE E>;#4 0.#N O0.ERS
#fter that it did not seem strange when ne)t da" the igs who were suer&ising the work of the
farm all carried whis in their trotters. 't did not seem strange to learn that the igs had bought
themsel&es a wireless set, were arranging to install a telehone, and had taken out subscritions
to 7ohn Bull, #itBits, and the 1aily $irror. 't did not seem strange when Naoleon was seen
strolling in the farmhouse garden with a ie in his mouth-no, not e&en when the igs took Mr.
Jones-s clothes out of the wardrobes and ut them on, Naoleon himself aearing in a black
coat, ratcatcher breeches, and leather leggings, while his fa&ourite sow aeared in the watered
silk dress which Mrs. Jones had been used to wear on Sunda"s.
# week later, in the afternoon, a number of dogcarts dro&e u to the farm. # deutation of
neighbouring farmers had been in&ited to make a tour of insection. 0he" were shown all o&er
the farm, and e)ressed great admiration for e&er"thing the" saw, eseciall" the windmill. 0he
animals were weeding the turni field. 0he" worked diligentl" hardl" raising their faces from the
ground, and not knowing whether to be more frightened of the igs or of the human &isitors.
0hat e&ening loud laughter and bursts of singing came from the farmhouse. #nd suddenl", at the
sound of the mingled &oices, the animals were stricken with curiosit". !hat could be haening
in there, now that for the first time animals and human beings were meeting on terms of
e,ualit"7 !ith one accord the" began to cree as ,uietl" as ossible into the farmhouse garden.
#t the gate the" aused, half frightened to go on but 1lo&er led the wa" in. 0he" titoed u to
the house, and such animals as were tall enough eered in at the dining-room window. 0here,
round the long table, sat half a do%en farmers and half a do%en of the more eminent igs,
Naoleon himself occu"ing the seat of honour at the head of the table. 0he igs aeared
comletel" at ease in their chairs 0he coman" had been en$o"ing a game of cards but had
broken off for the moment, e&identl" in order to drink a toast. # large $ug was circulating, and
the mugs were being refilled with beer. No one noticed the wondering faces of the animals that
ga%ed in at the window.
34
Mr. /ilkington, of Fo)wood, had stood u, his mug in his hand. 'n a moment, he said, he would
ask the resent coman" to drink a toast. *ut before doing so, there were a few words that he
felt it incumbent uon him to sa".
't was a source of great satisfaction to him, he said-and, he was sure, to all others resent-to
feel that a long eriod of mistrust and misunderstanding had now come to an end. 0here had
been a time-not that he, or an" of the resent coman", had shared such sentiments-but there
had been a time when the resected rorietors of #nimal Farm had been regarded, he would
not sa" with hostilit", but erhas with a certain measure of misgi&ing, b" their human
neighbours. ;nfortunate incidents had occurred, mistaken ideas had been current. 't had been
felt that the e)istence of a farm owned and oerated b" igs was somehow abnormal and was
liable to ha&e an unsettling effect in the neighbourhood. 0oo man" farmers had assumed,
without due en,uir", that on such a farm a sirit of licence and indisciline would re&ail. 0he"
had been ner&ous about the effects uon their own animals, or e&en uon their human
emlo"ees. *ut all such doubts were now diselled. 0oda" he and his friends had &isited #nimal
Farm and insected e&er" inch of it with their own e"es, and what did the" find7 Not onl" the
most u-to-date methods, but a disciline and an orderliness which should be an e)amle to all
farmers e&er"where. .e belie&ed that he was right in sa"ing that the lower animals on #nimal
Farm did more work and recei&ed less food than an" animals in the count". 'ndeed, he and his
fellow-&isitors toda" had obser&ed man" features which the" intended to introduce on their own
farms immediatel".
.e would end his remarks, he said, b" emhasising once again the friendl" feelings that
subsisted, and ought to subsist, between #nimal Farm and its neighbours. *etween igs and
human beings there was not, and there need not be, an" clash of interests whate&er. 0heir
struggles and their difficulties were one. !as not the labour roblem the same e&er"where7
.ere it became aarent that Mr. /ilkington was about to sring some carefull" reared
witticism on the coman", but for a moment he was too o&ercome b" amusement to be able to
utter it. #fter much choking, during which his &arious chins turned urle, he managed to get it
out5 6'f "ou ha&e "our lower animals to contend with,6 he said, 6we ha&e our lower classes86
0his bon mot set the table in a roar3 and Mr. /ilkington once again congratulated the igs on the
low rations, the long working hours, and the general absence of amering which he had
obser&ed on #nimal Farm.
#nd now, he said finall", he would ask the coman" to rise to their feet and make certain that
their glasses were full. 62entlemen,6 concluded Mr. /ilkington, 6gentlemen, ' gi&e "ou a toast5
0o the roserit" of #nimal Farm86
0here was enthusiastic cheering and staming of feet. Naoleon was so gratified that he left his
lace and came round the table to clink his mug against Mr. /ilkington-s before emt"ing it.
!hen the cheering had died down, Naoleon, who had remained on his feet, intimated that he
too had a few words to sa".
4ike all of Naoleon-s seeches, it was short and to the oint. .e too, he said, was ha" that
the eriod of misunderstanding was at an end. For a long time there had been rumours-
circulated, he had reason to think, b" some malignant enem"-that there was something
sub&ersi&e and e&en re&olutionar" in the outlook of himself and his colleagues. 0he" had been
credited with attemting to stir u rebellion among the animals on neighbouring farms. Nothing
could be further from the truth8 0heir sole wish, now and in the ast, was to li&e at eace and in
normal business relations with their neighbours. 0his farm which he had the honour to control,
he added, was a co-oerati&e enterrise. 0he title-deeds, which were in his own ossession,
were owned b" the igs $ointl".
.e did not belie&e, he said, that an" of the old susicions still lingered, but certain changes had
been made recentl" in the routine of the farm which should ha&e the effect of romoting
confidence stiff further. .itherto the animals on the farm had had a rather foolish custom of
addressing one another as 61omrade.6 0his was to be suressed. 0here had also been a &er"
strange custom, whose origin was unknown, of marching e&er" Sunda" morning ast a boar-s
skull which was nailed to a ost in the garden. 0his, too, would be suressed, and the skull had
alread" been buried. .is &isitors might ha&e obser&ed, too, the green flag which flew from the
masthead. 'f so, the" would erhas ha&e noted that the white hoof and horn with which it had
re&iousl" been marked had now been remo&ed. 't would be a lain green flag from now
onwards.
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.e had onl" one criticism, he said, to make of Mr. /ilkington-s e)cellent and neighbourl" seech.
Mr. /ilkington had referred throughout to 6#nimal Farm.6 .e could not of course know-for he,
Naoleon, was onl" now for the first time announcing it-that the name 6#nimal Farm6 had been
abolished. .enceforward the farm was to be known as 60he Manor Farm6-which, he belie&ed,
was its correct and original name.
62entlemen,6 concluded Naoleon, 6' will gi&e "ou the same toast as before, but in a different
form. Fill "our glasses to the brim. 2entlemen, here is m" toast5 0o the roserit" of 0he Manor
Farm8 6
0here was the same heart" cheering as before, and the mugs were emtied to the dregs. *ut as
the animals outside ga%ed at the scene, it seemed to them that some strange thing was
haening. !hat was it that had altered in the faces of the igs7 1lo&er-s old dim e"es flitted
from one face to another. Some of them had fi&e chins, some had four, some had three. *ut
what was it that seemed to be melting and changing7 0hen, the alause ha&ing come to an
end, the coman" took u their cards and continued the game that had been interruted, and
the animals cret silentl" awa".
*ut the" had not gone twent" "ards when the" stoed short. #n uroar of &oices was coming
from the farmhouse. 0he" rushed back and looked through the window again. 9es, a &iolent
,uarrel was in rogress. 0here were shoutings, bangings on the table, shar susicious glances,
furious denials. 0he source of the trouble aeared to be that Naoleon and Mr. /ilkington had
each la"ed an ace of sades simultaneousl".
0wel&e &oices were shouting in anger, and the" were all alike. No ,uestion, now, what had
haened to the faces of the igs. 0he creatures outside looked from ig to man, and from man
to ig, and from ig to man again3 but alread" it was imossible to sa" which was which.
1946
HHHHtHhHeHHHeHnHdHHHH
2eorge Orwell was the en name of an Englishman named Eric *lair. .e was born in *engal in
:IJA, educated at Eton, and after ser&ice with the 'ndian 'merial /olice in *urma, returned to
Euroe to earn his li&ing writing no&els and essa"s. .e was essentiall" a olitical writer who
wrote of his own times, a man of intense feelings and fierce hates. .e hated totalitarianism, and
ser&ed in the 4o"alist forces in the Sanish 1i&il !ar. .e was critical of 1ommunism but was
himself a Socialist. .e distrusted intellectuals, although he was a literar" critic. .e hated cant
and l"ing and cruelt" in life and in literature. .e died at fort"-se&en of a neglected lung ailment,
lea&ing behind a substantial bod" of work, a growing reutation for greatness, and the
con&iction that modern man was inade,uate to coe with the demands of his histor".
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