Buch lesen: «Animal farm / Скотный двор. Уровень 2»

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

© ООО «Издательство АСТ», 2022

Chapter I

Mr. Jones, of the Manor Farm¹, locked the hen-houses for the night. But he was very drunk and forgot to shut the pop-holes². He took a last glass of beer from the barrel in the scullery. Then he went to bed, where Mrs. Jones slept.

When the light in the bedroom went out³ there was a fluttering in the farm buildings. Old Major, the prize boar, had a strange dream and wished to tell it the other animals. The animals will meet in the big barn when Mr. Jones goes away. Old Major (his real name was Willingdon Beauty) was a very respectable person on the farm. Everyone was ready to lose an hour’s sleep in order to listen to him.

At one end of the big barn, on a raised platform, Major had his bed of straw, under a lantern. The lantern hung from a beam. He was twelve years old and was stout. But he was still a mighty pig, with a wise and benevolent appearance. And he had sharp tushes. Soon the other animals began to arrive and sit. First came the three dogs, Bluebell, Jessie, and Pincher, and then the pigs. They sat down in the straw in front of the platform. The hens sat on the window-sills, the pigeons fluttered up to the rafters. The sheep and cows lay down behind the pigs and began to chew the cud.

The two cart-horses, Boxer and Clover, came in together. They walked very slowly with great care. Clover was a stout motherly mare. Boxer was an enormous beast. He was nearly eighteen hands high, and he was as strong as two ordinary horses. A white stripe on his nose gave him a stupid appearance. In fact, he was not very intelligent. But he was steady and hard-working.

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

“God gave him a tail to keep the flies off⁴, but I prefer not to have the tail and the flies”.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

But is this the law of nature? Is our land poor and cannot give a decent life to those who dwell upon it? No, comrades, a thousand times no! The soil of England is fertile, its climate is good. It can afford food to many animals, to all of them. Our farm can support a dozen horses, twenty cows, hundreds of sheep-and all of them can live in a comfort and a dignity. But we don’t even imagine it at the moment. Why do we live in this miserable condition? Because men steal the results of our labour. There, comrades, is the answer to all our problems. The key is a single word – Man. Man is the only our real enemy. Remove Man from the scene, and the hunger and overwork will leave away.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Major continued:

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

And now, comrades, I will tell you about my dream. I cannot describe that dream to you. It was a dream of the future earth when Man vanishes. But it reminded me of something. Many years ago, when I was a little pig, my mother and the other sows sang an old song. Last night, it came back to me in my dream. And the words of the song also came back. The animals sang these words many years ago, I am certain. I will sing you that song now, comrades. I am old and my voice is hoarse. But when I teach you, you can sing it better. It is called 'Beasts of England’.”

Old Major cleared his throat and began to sing. He sang well, and it was a wonderful song – something between 'Clementine’ and 'La Cucaracha’. Here are the words:

 
Beasts of England, beasts of Ireland,
Beasts of every land and clime,
Hearken to my joyful tidings
Of the golden future time.
 
 
Soon or late the day is coming,
Tyrant Man will be overthrown,
And the fruitful fields of England
Will be trod by beasts alone.
 
 
Rings will vanish from our noses,
And the harness from our back,
Bit and spur will rust forever,
Cruel whips no more will crack.
 
 
Riches more than mind can picture,
Wheat and barley, oats and hay,
Clover, beans, and mangel-wurzels⁵
Will be ours upon that day.
 
 
Bright will shine the fields of England,
Purer will its waters be,
Sweeter yet will blow its breezes
On the day that sets us free.
 
 
For that day we all must labour,
Though we die before it break;
Cows and horses, geese and turkeys,
All must toil for freedom’s sake.
 
 
Beasts of England, beasts of Ireland,
Beasts of every land and clime,
Hearken well and spread my tidings
Of the golden future time!
 

The animals sang this wonderful song and became wild and excited. When Major reached the end, they began to sing it again. Even the stupidest animals sang few words, and the clever animals – pigs and dogs – learned the entire song by heart⁶ within a few minutes. And then the whole farm began to sing 'Beasts of England’ in tremendous unison. The cows lowed it, the dogs whined it, the sheep bleated it, the horses whinnied it, the ducks quacked it. They were very delighted with the song and sang it five times.

Unfortunately, the uproar awoke Mr. Jones. He sprang out of bed. He was sure that there was a fox in the yard. He seized the gun which always stood in a corner of his bedroom, and shot six times into the darkness. The pellets flew into the barn and the meeting came to its end hurriedly. Everyone ran to his own sleeping-place. The birds jumped on to their perches, the animals were in the straw, and the whole farm was asleep very quickly.

Chapter II

Three nights later old Major died peacefully. His body was buried in the orchard.

This was March. During the next three months there was secret activity. Major’s speech gave to the more intelligent animals a completely new feeling. When will the Rebellion take place? Maybe not within their own lifetime. But they were sure it was their duty to prepare for it. The pigs began to work on it. Why pigs? The pigs were the cleverest animals there. Especially two young boars – Snowball and Napoleon. Mr. Jones wanted to sell them soon.

Napoleon was a large, fierce Berkshire boar. He was the only Berkshire on the farm. He did not talk much. Snowball was a more vivacious pig than Napoleon. Snowball liked to talk and was more inventive, but did not have the same depth of character. All the other male pigs on the farm were porkers. The best known among them was a small fat pig named Squealer⁷. He had very round cheeks, twinkling eyes, nimble movements, and a shrill voice. He was a brilliant talker. When he argued some difficult point he skipped from side to side and whisked his tail. It was very persuasive. They said Squealer was able to turn black into white.

These three pigs elaborated Major’s words into a system of thought. They named it Animalism. Many nights, when Mr. Jones slept, they organized secret meetings in the barn and expounded the principles of Animalism to the others. At the beginning they saw much stupidity and apathy. Some of the animals talked of the loyalty to Mr. Jones, whom they called “Master”. They said “Mr. Jones feeds us. If he goes away, we shall starve to death⁸”.

Others asked such questions as “Why must we think what happens after we die?” or “If this Rebellion happens anyway, why work for it?” It was very difficult for the pigs to explain the spirit of Animalism. Mollie, the white mare asked the stupidest questions of all. For example, she asked:

“Will there be sugar after the Rebellion?”

“No,” said Snowball firmly. “We can’t make sugar on this farm. Besides, you do not need sugar. You will have your oats and hay.”

“And will I wear ribbons in my mane?” asked Mollie.

“Comrade,” said Snowball, “those ribbons are the badge of slavery. Do you understand that liberty is more important than ribbons?”

Mollie agreed, but she was not convinced.

The pigs had even more difficulties to counteract the words of Moses, the tame raven. Moses, who was Mr. Jones’s pet, was a spy and a tale-bearer. But he was also a clever talker. He knew of the existence of a mysterious country called Sugarcandy Mountain⁹. To this country all animals go when they die. It is situated somewhere up in the sky, a little distance beyond the clouds. In Sugarcandy Mountain it was Sunday seven days a week, there was clover all the year round, and lump sugar and linseed cake grew on the hedges. The animals hated Moses because he told tales and did no work. But some of them believed in Sugarcandy Mountain. The pigs knew it was very hard to persuade them that there was no such place.

Their most faithful disciples were the two cart-horses, Boxer and Clover. These two were unable to think at all. But they accepted the pigs as their teachers. They absorbed everything that the pigs told them. These horses retold the principles of Animalism to the other animals. They used simple language. They were the first animals at the secret meetings in the barn which began to sing the hymn 'Beasts of England’.

The Rebellion took place early and easily. In past years Mr. Jones was a good farmer. But now evil days arrived. He became much disheartened. He lost money in a lawsuit, and became a drunker. He liked to do absolutely nothing in his chair in the kitchen. He liked to read the newspapers, drink and occasionally feed Moses. His workers were idle and dishonest. The fields were full of weeds, the buildings ruined, and the animals were hungry.

June came and the hay was almost ready. On Midsummer’s Eve, which was a Saturday, Mr. Jones went into Willingdon and did not come back till midday on Sunday. The workers milked the cows in the early morning and then went out. They did not feed the animals. When Mr. Jones came back he immediately went to sleep on the sofa with the newspaper over his face. When evening came, the animals were still hungry. At last they began to protest.

One of the cows broke in the door of the store-shed with her horn. Then all the animals began to eat from the bins. It was just then that Mr. Jones woke up. The next moment he and his four men stood with whips in their hands. This was too much!¹⁰

The hungry animals ran to their tormentors. The animals butted and kicked Jones and his men from all sides. This sudden rebellion of animals frightened the farmer and his workers a lot. Soon the men ran away. A minute later all five of them were in the cart-track that led to the main road. The animals pursued them in triumph.

Mrs. Jones looked out of the bedroom window. She saw what happened, hurriedly took a few bags and slipped out of the farm. Moses flapped after her, he croaked loudly. Meanwhile the animals chased Jones and his men on the road and slammed the five-barred gate behind them. So Jones was expelled, and the Manor Farm was not his anymore.

For the first few minutes the animals did not believe in their good fortune¹¹. They ran round the boundaries of the farm to see that no man was there. Then they raced back to the farm buildings to wipe out the last traces of Jones’s reign.

The harness-room at the end of the stables was open. The bits, the nose-rings, the dog-chains, the cruel knives with which Mr. Jones castrated the pigs and lambs, were all on the ground. The animals threw the reins, the halters, the blinkers and the whips into the fire. All the animals moaned when they saw the whips in flames. Snowball also threw into the fire the ribbons with which the horses’ manes and tails were usually decorated on market days.

“Ribbons,” he said, “are the man’s clothes. All animals must go naked.”

Soon the animals destroyed everything that reminded them of Mr. Jones. Napoleon then led them back to the store-shed and gave a double ration of corn to everybody. More over, each dog got two biscuits. Then they sang 'Beasts of England’ seven times, and after that they went to sleep peacefully.

But they woke at dawn as usual, and suddenly remembered the glorious victory. So they all ran to the pasture together. A little way down the pasture there was a knoll. The animals rushed to the top of it. Yes, it was theirs-everything was theirs! In the ecstasy, they gambolled round and round, they hurled themselves into the air. They rolled in the dew, they cropped mouthfuls of the sweet summer grass. They kicked up clods of the black earth. Then they made a tour of inspection of the whole farm. They surveyed the ploughland, the hayfield, the orchard, the pool, the spinney. They did not believe their eyes – everything was theirs!

Then they came back to the farm buildings and halted outside the door of the farmhouse. It was their house too, but they were frightened to go inside. After a moment, however, Snowball and Napoleon opened the door with their shoulders and the animals entered. They tiptoed from room to room. They were afraid to speak loudly. They gazed with awe at the unbelievable luxury, at the beds with their feather mattresses, the looking-glasses, the horsehair sofa, the carpet, the lithograph of Queen Victoria over the mantelpiece. They came down the stairs and saw Mollie.

They went back and found that she was in the best bedroom. She took a piece of blue ribbon from Mrs. Jones’s dressing-table. She held it against her shoulder and admired herself in the mirror. The others reproached her. The animals took some hams from the kitchen to bury them. Boxer’s hoof kicked the barrel of beer in the scullery. They did not touch anything in the house. The farmhouse will be a museum. No animal must live there.

The animals had their breakfast. Then Snowball and Napoleon called them together again.

“Comrades,” said Snowball, “it is half-past six. We have a long day before us. Today we begin the hay harvest. But there is another matter.”

During the past three months the pigs taught themselves to read and write from an old book which belonged to Mr. Jones’s children. Napoleon took the black and white paint and went to the gate. Then Snowball (Snowball was the best writer) took a brush between the two knuckles of his trotter. He paintedout¹² MANOR FARM from the top of the gate and in its place painted ANIMAL FARM. This was the real name of the farm!

After this they went back to the farm buildings. Snowball and Napoleon sent for a ladder. They set it against the end wall of the big barn. They explained the pigs reduced the principles of Animalism to Seven Commandments. These Seven Commandments will now be written on the wall. They will form an unalterable law for all the animals on Animal Farm.

With some difficulty (for it is not easy for a pig to balance himself on a ladder) Snowball climbed up and began to work. Squealer held the paint-pot¹³. The Commandments were written on the wall in great white letters:

The Seven Commandments

1. Whatever goes upon two legs is an enemy.

2. Whatever goes upon four legs, or has wings, is a friend.

3. No animal must wear clothes.

4. No animal must sleep in a bed.

5. No animal must drink alcohol.

6. No animal must kill any other animal.

7. All animals are equal.

It was very good. Except that the word “friend” was written “freind” and one of the “S’s” was the wrong way round¹⁴, the spelling was correct. Snowball read it aloud. All the animals nodded in agreement. The cleverer animals began to learn the Commandments by heart.

“Now, comrades,” cried Snowball and threw down the paint-brush, “to the hayfield! Let us work more quickly than Jones and his men!”

But at this moment the three cows began to moo. They were not milked for twenty-four hours. After a little thought, the pigs sent for buckets and milked the cows successfully. Soon there were five buckets of milk. Many of the animals looked at the buckets with interest.

“What will happen to that milk?” said someone.

“Jones sometimes mixed some of it in our mash,” said one of the hens.

“Don’t think about the milk, comrades!” cried Napoleon and stood in front of the buckets. “The harvest is more important. Comrade Snowball will lead the way. I shall follow in a few minutes. Forward, comrades! The hay waits for us!”

So the animals went to the hayfield to begin to work. When they came back in the evening the milk disappeared.