動物莊園：Chapter 3

How they toiled and sweated to get the hay in! But their efforts were rewarded, for the harvest was an even bigger success than they had hoped.

收割牧草時，他們干得多賣力!但他們的汗水并沒有白流，因為這次豐收比他們先前期望的還要大。

Sometimes the work was hard; the implements had been designed for human beings and not for animals, and it was a great drawback that no animal was able to use any tool that involved standing on his hind legs. But the pigs were so clever that they could think of a way round every difficulty. As for the horses, they knew every inch of the field, and in fact understood the business of mowing and raking far better than Jones and his men had ever done. The pigs did not actually work, but directed and supervised the others. With their superior knowledge it was natural that they should assume the leadership. Boxer and Clover would harness themselves to the cutter or the horse-rake (no bits or reins were needed in these days, of course) and tramp steadily round and round the field with a pig walking behind and calling out "Gee up, comrade!" or "Whoa back, comrade!" as the case might be. And every animal down to the humblest worked at turning the hay and gathering it. Even the ducks and hens toiled to and fro all day in the sun, carrying tiny wisps of hay in their beaks. In the end they finished the harvest in two days' less time than it had usually taken Jones and his men. Moreover, it was the biggest harvest that the farm had ever seen. There was no wastage whatever; the hens and ducks with their sharp eyes had gathered up the very last stalk. And not an animal on the farm had stolen so much as a mouthful.

這些活時常很艱難：農(nóng)具是為人而不是為動物設(shè)計的，沒有一個動物能擺弄那些需要靠兩條后腿站著才能使用的器械，這是一個很大的缺陷。但是，豬確實聰明，他們能想出排除每個困難的辦法。至于馬呢，他們這些田地了如指掌，實際上，他們比瓊斯及其伙計們對刈草和耕地精通得多。豬其實并不干活，只是指導(dǎo)和監(jiān)督其他動物。他們憑著非凡的學(xué)識，很自然地承擔(dān)了領(lǐng)導(dǎo)工作。鮑克瑟和克拉弗情愿自己套上割草機(jī)或者馬拉耙機(jī)(當(dāng)然，這時候根本不會用嚼子或者韁繩)，邁著沉穩(wěn)的步伐，堅定地一圈一圈地行進(jìn)，豬在其身后跟著，根據(jù)不同情況，要么吆喝一聲“吁、吁，同志!”要么就是“喔、喔，同志!”在搬運(yùn)和堆積牧草時，每個動物無不盡力服從指揮。就連鴨子和雞也整天在大太陽下，辛苦地用嘴巴銜上一小撮牧草來來回回忙個不停。最后，他們完成了收獲，比瓊斯那伙人過去干的活的時間提前了整整兩天!更了不起的是，這是一個莊園里前所未有的大豐收。沒有半點(diǎn)遺落;雞和鴨子憑他們敏銳的眼光竟連非常細(xì)小的草梗草葉也沒有放過。也沒有一個動物偷吃哪怕一口牧草。

All through that summer the work of the farm went like clockwork. The animals were happy as they had never conceived it possible to be. Every mouthful of food was an acute positive pleasure, now that it was truly their own food, produced by themselves and for themselves, not doled out to them by a grudging master. With the worthless parasitical human beings gone, there was more for everyone to eat. There was more leisure too, inexperienced though the animals were. They met with many difficulties--for instance, later in the year, when they harvested the corn, they had to tread it out in the ancient style and blow away the chaff with their breath, since the farm possessed no threshing machine--but the pigs with their cleverness and Boxer with his tremendous muscles always pulled them through. Boxer was the admiration of everybody. He had been a hard worker even in Jones's time, but now he seemed more like three horses than one; there were days when the entire work of the farm seemed to rest on his mighty shoulders. From morning to night he was pushing and pulling, always at the spot where the work was hardest. He had made an arrangement with one of the cockerels to call him in the mornings half an hour earlier than anyone else, and would put in some volunteer labour at whatever seemed to be most needed, before the regular day's work began. His answer to every problem, every setback, was "I will work harder!"--which he had adopted as his personal motto.

整個夏季，莊園里的工作象時鐘一樣運(yùn)行得有條有理，動物也都幸福愉快，而這一切，是他們從前連想都不敢想的。而今，既然所有食物都出自他們自己勞作，自己生產(chǎn)，而不是吝嗇的主人施舍的嗟來之食，因而他們吃的是自己所有的食物，每嚼一口都是一種無比的享受。盡管他們還沒有什么經(jīng)驗，但隨著寄生的人的離去，每一個動物便有了更多的食物，也有了更多的閑暇。他們遇到過不少麻煩，但也都順利解決了。比如，這年年底，收完玉米后，因為莊園里沒有打谷機(jī)和脫粒機(jī)，他們就有那種古老的方式，踩來踩去地把玉米粒弄下來，再靠嘴巴把秣殼吹掉。面對困難，豬的機(jī)靈和鮑克瑟的力大無比總能使他們順利度過難關(guān)。動物們對鮑克瑟贊嘆不已。即使在瓊斯時期，鮑克瑟就一直是個勤勞而持之以恒的好勞力，而今，他更是一個頂三個，那一雙強(qiáng)勁的肩膀，常常象是承擔(dān)了莊園里所有的活計。從早到晚，他不停地拉呀推呀，總是出現(xiàn)在工作最艱苦的地方。他早就和一只小公雞約好，每天早晨，小公雞提前半小時叫醒他，他就在正式上工之前先干一些志愿活，而這些活看起來也是最急需的。無論遇到什么困難和挫折，鮑克瑟的回答總是：“我要更加努力工作”，這句話也是他一直引用的座右銘。

But everyone worked according to his capacity The hens and ducks, for instance, saved five bushels of corn at the harvest by gathering up the stray grains. Nobody stole, nobody grumbled over his rations, the quarrelling and biting and jealousy which had been normal features of life in the old days had almost disappeared. Nobody shirked--or almost nobody. Mollie, it was true, was not good at getting up in the mornings, and had a way of leaving work early on the ground that there was a stone in her hoof. And the behaviour of the cat was somewhat peculiar. It was soon noticed that when there was work to be done the cat could never be found. She would vanish for hours on end, and then reappear at meal-times, or in the evening after work was over, as though nothing had happened. But she always made such excellent excuses, and purred so affectionately, that it was impossible not to believe in her good intentions. Old Benjamin, the donkey, seemed quite unchanged since the Rebellion. He did his work in the same slow obstinate way as he had done it in Jones's time, never shirking and never volunteering for extra work either. About the Rebellion and its results he would express no opinion. When asked whether he was not happier now that Jones was gone, he would say only "Donkeys live a long time. None of you has ever seen a dead donkey," and the others had to be content with this cryptic answer.

但是，每個動物都只能量力而行，比如雞和鴨子，收獲時單靠他們撿拾零落的谷粒，就節(jié)約了五蒲式耳的玉米。沒有誰偷吃，也沒有誰為自己的口糧抱怨，那些過去習(xí)以為常的爭吵、咬斗和嫉妒也幾乎一掃而光。沒有或者說幾乎沒有動物開小差逃工。不過，倒真有這樣的事：莫麗不太習(xí)慣早晨起來，她還有一個壞毛病，常常借故蹄子里夾了個石子，便丟下地里的活，早早溜走了。貓的表現(xiàn)也多少與眾不同。每當(dāng)有活干的時候，大家就發(fā)現(xiàn)怎么也找不到貓了。她會連續(xù)幾小時不見蹤影，直到吃飯時，或者收工后，才若無其事一般重新露面。可是她總有絕妙的理由，咕咕嚕嚕地說著，簡直真誠得叫誰也沒法懷疑她動機(jī)良好。老本杰明，就是那頭驢，起義后似乎變化不大。他還是和在瓊斯時期一樣，慢條斯理地干活，從不開小差，也從不支援承擔(dān)額外工作。對于起義和起義的結(jié)果，他從不表態(tài)。誰要問他是否為瓊斯的離去而感到高興，他就只說一句：“驢都長壽，你們誰都沒有見過死驢呢”。面對他那神秘的回答，其他動物只好就此罷休。

On Sundays there was no work. Breakfast was an hour later than usual, and after breakfast there was a ceremony which was observed every 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 painted on it a hoof and a horn in white. This was run up the flagstaff in the farmhouse garden every Sunday morning. The flag was green, Snowball explained, to represent the green fields of England, while the hoof and horn signified the future Republic of the Animals which would arise when the human race had been finally overthrown. After the hoisting of the flag all the animals trooped into the big barn for a general assembly which was known as the Meeting. Here the work of the coming week was planned out and resolutions were put forward and debated. It was always the pigs who put forward the resolutions. The other animals understood how to vote, but could never think of any resolutions of their own. Snowball and Napoleon were by far the most active in the debates. But it was noticed that these two were never in agreement: whatever suggestion either of them made, the other could be counted on to oppose it. Even when it was resolved--a thing no one could object to in itself--to set aside the small paddock behind the orchard as a home of rest for animals who were past work, there was a stormy debate over the correct retiring age for each class of animal. The Meeting always ended with the singing of 'Beasts of England', and the afternoon was given up to recreation.

星期天沒有活，早餐比平時晚一個小時，早餐之后，有一項每周都要舉行的儀式，從不例外。先是升旗。這面旗是斯諾鮑以前在農(nóng)具室里找到的一塊瓊斯夫人的綠色舊臺布，上面用白漆畫了一個蹄子和犄角，它每星期天早晨在莊主院花園的旗桿上升起。斯諾鮑解釋說，旗是綠色的，象征綠色的英格蘭大地。而蹄子和犄角象征著未來的動物共和國，這個共和國將在人類最終被鏟除時誕生。升旗之后，所有動物列隊進(jìn)入大谷倉，參加一個名為“大會議”的全體會議。在這里將規(guī)劃出有關(guān)下一周的工作，提出和討論各項決議。別的動物知道怎樣表決，但從未能自己提出任何議題。而斯諾鮑和拿破侖則分別是討論中最活躍的中心。但顯而易見，他們兩個一直合不來，無論其中一個建議什么，另一個就準(zhǔn)會反其道而行之。甚至對已經(jīng)通過的議題，比如把果園后面的小牧場留給年老體衰的動物，這一個實際上誰都不反對的議題，他們也是同樣如此。為各類動物確定退休年齡，也要激烈爭論一番。大會議總是隨著“英格蘭獸”的歌聲結(jié)束，下午留作娛樂時間。

The pigs had set aside the harness-room as a headquarters for themselves. Here, in the evenings, they studied blacksmithing, carpentering, and other necessary arts from books which they had brought out of the farmhouse. Snowball also busied himself with organising the other animals into what he called Animal Committees. He was indefatigable at this. He formed the Egg Production Committee for the hens, the Clean Tails League for the cows, the Wild Comrades' Re-education Committee (the object of this was to tame the rats and rabbits), the Whiter Wool Movement for the sheep, and various others, besides instituting classes in reading and writing. On the whole, these projects were a failure. The attempt to tame the wild creatures, for instance, broke down almost immediately. They continued to behave very much as before, and when treated with generosity, simply took advantage of it. The cat joined the Re-education Committee and was very active in it for some days. She was seen one day sitting on a roof and talking to some sparrows who were just out of her reach. She was telling them that all animals were now comrades and that any sparrow who chose could come and perch on her paw; but the sparrows kept their distance.

豬已經(jīng)把農(nóng)具室當(dāng)作他們自己的指揮部了。一到晚上，他們就在這里，從那些在莊主院里拿來的書上學(xué)習(xí)打鐵、木工和其他必備的技藝。斯諾鮑自己還忙于組織其他動物加入他所謂的“動物委員會”。他為母雞設(shè)立了“產(chǎn)蛋委員會”，為牛設(shè)立了“潔尾社”，還設(shè)立了“野生同志再教育委員會”(這個委員會目的在于馴化耗子和兔子)，又為羊發(fā)起了“讓毛更白運(yùn)動”等等。此外，還組建了一個讀寫班。為這一切，他真是不知疲倦。但總的來說。這些活動都失敗了，例如，馴化野生動物的努力幾乎立即流產(chǎn)。這些野生動物仍舊一如既往，要是對他們寬宏大量，他們就公然趁機(jī)鉆空子。貓參加了“再教育委員會”，很活躍了幾天。有動物看見她曾經(jīng)有一天在窩棚頂上和一些她夠不著的麻雀交談。她告訴麻雀說，動物現(xiàn)在都是同志，任何麻雀，只要他們愿意，都可以到她的爪子上來，并在上面休息，但麻雀們還是對她敬而遠(yuǎn)之。

The reading and writing classes, however, were a great success. By the autumn almost every animal on the farm was literate in some degree.

然而，讀書班卻相當(dāng)成功。到了秋季，莊園里幾乎所有的動物都不同程度地掃了盲。

As for the pigs, they could already read and write perfectly. The dogs learned to read fairly well, but were not interested in reading anything except the Seven Commandments. Muriel, the goat, could read somewhat better than the dogs, and sometimes used to read to the others in the evenings from scraps of newspaper which she found on the rubbish heap. Benjamin could read as well as any pig, but never exercised his faculty. So far as he knew, he said, there was nothing worth reading. Clover learnt the whole alphabet, but could not put words together. Boxer could not get beyond the letter D. He would trace out A, B, C, D, in the dust with his great hoof, and then would stand staring at the letters with his ears back, sometimes shaking his forelock, trying with all his might to remember what came next and never succeeding. On several occasions, indeed, he did learn E, F, G, H, but by the time he knew them, it was always discovered that he had forgotten A, B, C, and D. Finally he decided to be content with the first four letters, and used to write them out once or twice every day to refresh his memory. Mollie refused to learn any but the six letters which spelt her own name. She would form these very neatly out of pieces of twig, and would then decorate them with a flower or two and walk round them admiring them.

對豬來說，他們已經(jīng)能夠十分熟練地讀寫。狗的閱讀能力也練得相當(dāng)不錯，可惜他們只對讀“七誡”有興趣。山羊穆麗爾比狗讀得還要好，她還常在晚上把從垃圾堆里找來的剪報念給其他動物聽。本杰明讀得不比任何豬遜色，但從不運(yùn)用發(fā)揮他的本領(lǐng)。他說，據(jù)他所知，迄今為止，還沒有什么值得讀的東西。克拉弗學(xué)會了全部字母，可是就拼不成單詞。鮑克瑟只能學(xué)到字母D，他會用碩大的蹄子在塵土上摹寫出A、B、C、D，然后，站在那里，翹著耳朵，目不轉(zhuǎn)睛地盯著，而且還不時抖動一下額毛，竭盡全力地想下一個字母，可總是想不起來。有好幾次，真的，他確實學(xué)到了E、F、G、H，但等他學(xué)會了這幾個，又總是發(fā)現(xiàn)他已經(jīng)忘了A、B、C、D。最后，他決定滿足于頭四個字母，并在每天堅持寫上一兩遍，以加強(qiáng)記憶。莫麗除了那六個拼出她自己名字的字母Mollie外，再也不肯學(xué)點(diǎn)別的。她會用幾根細(xì)嫩的樹枝，非常靈巧地拼出她的名字，然后用一兩支鮮花裝飾一下，再繞著它們走幾圈，贊嘆一番。

None of the other animals on the farm could get further than the letter A. It was also found that the stupider animals, such as the sheep, hens, and ducks, were unable to learn the Seven Commandments by heart. After much thought Snowball declared that the Seven Commandments could in effect be reduced to a single maxim, namely: "Four legs good, two legs bad." This, he said, contained the essential principle of Animalism. Whoever had thoroughly grasped it would be safe from human influences. The birds at first objected, since it seemed to them that they also had two legs, but Snowball proved to them that this was not so.

莊園里的其他動物都只學(xué)會了一個字母A。另外還有一點(diǎn)，那些比較遲鈍的動物，如羊、雞、鴨子等，還沒有學(xué)會熟記“七誡”。于是，斯諾鮑經(jīng)過反復(fù)思忖，宣布“七誡”實際上可以簡化為一條準(zhǔn)則，那就是“四條腿好，兩條腿壞”。他說，這條準(zhǔn)則包含了動物主義的基本原則，無論是誰，一旦完全掌握了這個準(zhǔn)則，便免除了受到人類影響的危險。起初，禽鳥們首先表示反對，因為他們好像也只有兩條腿，到斯諾鮑向他們證明這其實不然。

"A bird's wing, comrades," he said, "is an organ of propulsion and not of manipulation. It should therefore be regarded as a leg. The distinguishing mark of man is the HAND, the instrument with which he does all his mischief."

“同志們”，他說道，“禽鳥的翅膀，是一種推動行進(jìn)的器官，而不是用來操作和控制的，因此，它和腿是一回事。而人的不同特點(diǎn)是手，那是他們作惡多端的器官。”

The birds did not understand Snowball's long words, but they accepted his explanation, and all the humbler animals set to work to learn the new maxim by heart. FOUR LEGS GOOD, TWO LEGS BAD, was inscribed on the end wall of the barn, above the Seven Commandments and in bigger letters When they had once got it by heart, the sheep developed a great liking for this maxim, and often as they lay in the field they would all start bleating "Four legs good, two legs bad! Four legs good, two legs bad!" and keep it up for hours on end, never growing tired of it.

對這一番長篇大論，禽鳥們并沒有弄懂，但他們接受了斯諾鮑的解釋。同時，所有這類反應(yīng)較慢的動物，都開始鄭重其事地在心里熟記這個新準(zhǔn)則。“四 條 腿 好，兩條 腿 壞”還題寫在大谷倉一端的墻上，位于“七誡”的上方，字體比“七誡”還要大。羊一旦在心里記住了這個準(zhǔn)則之后，就愈發(fā)興致勃勃。當(dāng)他們躺在地里時，就經(jīng)常咩咩地叫著：“四條腿好，兩條腿壞!四條腿好，兩條腿壞!”一叫就是幾個小時，從不覺得厭煩。

Napoleon took no interest in Snowball's committees. He said that the education of the young was more important than anything that could be done for those who were already grown up. It happened that Jessie and Bluebell had both whelped soon after the hay harvest, giving birth between them to nine sturdy puppies. As soon as they were weaned, Napoleon took them away from their mothers, saying that he would make himself responsible for their education. He took them up into a loft which could only be reached by a ladder from the harness-room, and there kept them in such seclusion that the rest of the farm soon forgot their existence.

拿破侖對斯諾鮑的什么委員會沒有半點(diǎn)興趣。他說，比起為那些已經(jīng)長大成型的動物做的事來說，對年輕一代的教育才更為重要。趕巧，在收割牧草后不久，杰西和布魯拜爾都崽了，生下了九條強(qiáng)壯的小狗。等這些小狗剛一斷奶，拿破侖說他愿意為他們的教育負(fù)責(zé)，再把它們從母親身邊帶走了。他把他們帶到一間閣樓上，那間閣樓只有從農(nóng)具室搭著梯子才能上去。他們處于這樣的隔離狀態(tài)中，莊園里其他動物很快就把他們忘掉了。

The mystery of where the milk went to was soon cleared up. It was mixed every day into the pigs' mash. The early apples were now ripening, and the grass of the orchard was littered with windfalls. The animals had assumed as a matter of course that these would be shared out equally; one day, however, the order went forth that all the windfalls were to be collected and brought to the harness-room for the use of the pigs. At this some of the other animals murmured, but it was no use. All the pigs were in full agreement on this point, even Snowball and Napoleon. Squealer was sent to make the necessary explanations to the others.

牛奶的神秘去向不久就弄清了。原來，它每天被摻到豬飼料里。這時，早茬的蘋果正在成熟，果園的草坪上遍布著被風(fēng)吹落的果子。動物們以為把這些果子平均分配乃是理所當(dāng)然。然而，有一天，發(fā)布了這樣一個指示，說是讓把所有被風(fēng)吹落下來的蘋果收集起來，帶到農(nóng)具室去供豬食用。對此，其他有些動物嘟嘟囔囔地直發(fā)牢騷，但是，這也無濟(jì)于事。所有的豬對此都完全贊同，甚至包括斯諾鮑和拿破侖在內(nèi)。斯奎拉奉命對其他動物作些必要的解釋。

"Comrades!" he cried. "You do not imagine, I hope, that we pigs are doing this in a spirit of selfishness and privilege? Many of us actually dislike milk and apples. I dislike them myself. Our sole object in taking these things is to preserve our health. Milk and apples (this has been proved by Science, comrades) contain substances absolutely necessary to the well-being of a pig. We pigs are brainworkers. The whole management and organisation of this farm depend on us. Day and night we are watching over your welfare. It is for YOUR sake that we drink that milk and eat those apples. Do you know what would happen if we pigs failed in our duty? Jones would come back! Yes, Jones would come back! Surely, comrades," cried Squealer almost pleadingly, skipping from side to side and whisking his tail, "surely there is no one among you who wants to see Jones come back?"

“同志們”，他大聲嚷道，“你們不會把我們豬這樣做看成是出于自私和特權(quán)吧?我希望你們不。實際上，我們中有許多豬根本不喜歡牛奶和蘋果。我自己就很不喜歡。我們食用這些東西的唯一目的是要保護(hù)我們的健康。牛奶和蘋果(這一點(diǎn)已經(jīng)被科學(xué)所證明，同志們)包含的營養(yǎng)對豬的健康來說是絕對必需的。我們豬是腦力勞動者。莊園的全部管理和組織工作都要依靠我們。我們夜以繼日地為大家的幸福費(fèi)盡心機(jī)。因此，這是為了你們，我們才喝牛奶，才吃蘋果的。你們知道吧，萬一我們豬失職了，那會發(fā)生什么事情呢?瓊斯會卷土重來!是的，瓊斯會卷土重來!真的，同志們!”斯奎拉一邊左右蹦跳著，一邊甩動著尾巴，幾乎懇求地大喊道：“真的，你沒有誰想看到瓊斯卷土重來吧?”

Now if there was one thing that the animals were completely certain of, it was that they did not want Jones back. When it was put to them in this light, they had no more to say. The importance of keeping the pigs in good health was all too obvious. So it was agreed without further argument that the milk and the windfall apples (and also the main crop of apples when they ripened) should be reserved for the pigs alone.

此時，如果說還有那么一件事情動物們能完全肯定的話，那就是他們不愿意讓瓊斯回來。當(dāng)斯奎拉的見解說明了這一點(diǎn)以后，他們就不再有什么可說的了。使豬保持良好健康的重要性再也清楚不過了。于是，再沒有繼續(xù)爭論，大家便一致同意：牛奶和被風(fēng)吹落的蘋果(并且還有蘋果成熟后的主要收獲)應(yīng)當(dāng)單獨(dú)分配給豬。