Chapter 2 第二章-双语名著无障碍阅读丛书——《动物农场Animal Farm》

Chapter II Three nights later old Major died peacefully in his sleep.His body was buried at the foot of the orchard. This was early in March.During the next three months there was much secret activity.Major's speech had given to the more intelligent animals on the farm a completely new outlook on life.They did not know when the Rebellion predicted by Major would take place,they had no reason for thinking that it would be within their own lifetime,but they saw clearly that it was their duty to prepare for it.The work of teaching and organising the others fell naturally upon the pigs,who were generally recognised as being the cleverest of the animals. Pre-eminent among the pigs were two young boars named Snowball and Napoleon,whom Mr.Jones was breeding up for sale.Napoleon was a large, rather fierce-looking Berkshire boar,the only Berkshire on the farm,not much of a talker,but with a reputation for getting his own way.Snowball was a more vivacious pig than Napoleon,quicker in speech and more inventive,but was not considered to have the same depth of character.All the other male pigs on the farm were porkers.The best known among them was a small fat pig named Squealer,with very round cheeks,twinkling eyes,nimble movements,and a shrill voice.He was a brilliant talker,and when he was arguing some difficult point he had a way of skipping from side to side and whisking?his tail which ·020· 第二章 三个夜晚之后，少校在睡眠中安详地离世了。他的 遗体掩埋在果园的下面。 那是三月初的事情。随后的三个月当中，秘密活 动不断。少校的一席话给了农场上那些更加聪慧的动 物们极大的鼓舞，让他们对生命有了全新的看法。他 们不知道，少校预言的反抗运动何时会发生。他们没 有理由认为，自己的有生之年内，运动会发生。但是， 他们心里很清楚，为那场运动做准备，这是他们的义 务。教育和组织其他动物的工作自然而然地落到了猪 的肩上，因为动物们普遍认为，他们是所有动物中最 D pre-eminent [pri'eminant] a.优秀的，杰出的 聪颖智慧的。猪当中称得上卓越的是两头名叫雪球和 拿破仑的小公猪。他们是琼斯先生饲养了要去卖的。 拿破仑体形硕大，相貌凶狠，属于伯克郡猪种，是农 场上唯一的伯克郡猪，话不多，但出了名的我行我素。 ②vivacious[vi'veifas]a,活 相对于拿破仑，雪球性情更加活泼，口齿更加伶俐， 泼的 思维更加敏捷，但大家觉得，他性格不那么深沉。农 场上所有别的公猪都是肉猪。他们当中最出名的是一 ③twinkling[twinklin]a.闪 烁的：闪亮的 头名叫尖嗓子的小肥猪，滚瓜溜圆的脸颊，闪闪发亮 ④nimble[nimbl]a.敏捷的 的眼睛，动作敏捷，声音尖细。他说话伶牙俐齿，每 ⑤shril[fril]a.尖声的 ⑥skip[skip]跳来跳去 当针对疑难问题辩论说理时，身子左蹦右跳，尾巴摆 ⑦whisk[hwisk]g挥动 来摆去，让说的话多少显得很有说服力。大家说起尖 ·021· Chapter II was somehow very persuasive.The others said of Squealer that he could turn black into white. These three had elaborated old Major's teachings into a complete system of thought,to which they gave the name of Animalism.Several nights a week, after Mr.Jones was asleep,they held secret meetings in the barn and expounded the principles of Animalism to the others.At the beginning they met with much stupidity and apathy.Some of the animals talked of the duty of loyalty to Mr. Jones,whom they referred to as "Master,"or made elementary remarks such as "Mr.Jones feeds us.If he were gone,we should starve to death."Others asked such questions as"Why should we care what happens after we are dead?" or"If this Rebellion is to happen anyway,what difference does it make whether we work for it or not?",and the pigs had great difficulty in making them see that this was contrary to the spirit of Animalism.The stupidest questions of all were asked by Mollie,the white mare.The very first question she asked Snowball was:"Will there still be sugar after the Rebellion?" “No,”said Snowball firmly.“We have no means of making sugar on this farm.Besides,you do not need sugar.You will have all the oats and hay you want.” "And shall I still be allowed to wear ribbons in my mane?"asked Mollie. "Comrade,"said Snowball,"those ribbons that you are so devoted to are the badge of slavery.Can you not understand that liberty is worth more than ribbons?" Mollie agreed,but she did not sound very convinced. The pigs had an even harder struggle to counteract the lies put about by Moses,the tame raven.Moses,who was Mr.Jones's especial pet,was a spy and a tale-bearer,but he was also a clever talker.He claimed to know of the existence of a mysterious country called Sugarcandy Mountain,to which all animals went when they died.It was situated somewhere up in the sky,a little distance beyond the clouds,Moses said.In Sugarcandy Mountain it was Sunday ·022· 第二章【 嗓子时，都说他能够把黑的说成白的。 上面提到的三头猪殚精竭虑，让老少校的教诲形成 ①elaborate[i'laebareit]g详 了一套完整的思想体系。他们给这个思想体系取名为 尽阐述 “动物思想”。一个星期有几个晚上的时间，等到琼斯先 ②expound[ik'spaund,(详 生睡觉了之后，他们便会在谷仓里举行秘密会议，给其 细)说明，阐明 他动物详细阐述动物思想的原则。刚开始时，听他们讲 解的动物冥顽不化，无动于衷。有些动物还谈到了要履 ③apathy[cpo0ih.无动于 帝 行忠实于琼斯先生的义务，他们把他称为“主人”。他 1elementary [eli'mentari]a. 初级的 们或者说些很没有水平的话，诸如“琼斯先生给我们饭 吃，他若是不在了，我们就得饿死”。另外一些动物提 出种种问题，诸如“我们为何要在意自己死了之后会发 生什么事情呢”或者“假如反抗运动迟早会爆发，我们 是否为之劳作那又有什么关系呢”？因此，几头猪费尽 了口舌，旨在让他们明白，这样的说法是与动物思想的 精髓相违背的。莫莉提出了最愚不可及的问题：“反抗 运动爆发之后，还有糖吃吗？” “没有，”雪球说，语气很坚定，“我们没有办法在 本农场制糖。再说了，你也不需要糖。你可以享用你想 要的燕麦和干草。” “还允许我在鬃毛上系饰带吗？”莫莉问了一声。 “同志啊，”雪球说，“你一门心思迷恋的那些饰带可是 ⑤badge[bed】n.标识，标 奴役的标志啊。你难道就不明白自由的价值远高于饰带 记 吗？” 莫莉表示认同，但说话的声音听起来并不那么心悦 诚服。 那只驯化了的渡鸦摩西满嘴谎言。几头猪要戳穿那 些谎言，需要进行更加艰难的斗争。摩西是琼斯先生格 外宝贝的宠物。他善于刺探信息，搬弄是非，而且还是 个巧言令色的说客。他声称自己知道世界上有个名叫糖 果山的神秘地方，所有动物死后都会去那儿。那地方在 天空中的某处，距离云层不远，摩西就是这么说来着。 糖果山上，一星期七天都是星期日，苜蓿四季常青， ·023· Chapter II seven days a week,clover was in season 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, and the pigs had to argue very hard to persuade them that there was no such place. Their most faithful diseiples were the two cart-horses,Boxer and Clover. These two had great difficulty in thinking anything out for themselves,but having once accepted the pigs as their teachers,they absorbed everything that they were told,and passed it on to the other animals by simple arguments.They were unfailing in their attendance at the secret meetings in the barn,and led the singing of Beasts of England,with which the meetings always ended. Now,as it turned out,the Rebellion was achieved much earlier and more easily than anyone had expected.In past years Mr.Jones,although a hard master,had been a capable farmer,but of late he had fallen on evil days.He had become much disheartened after losing money in a lawsuit,and had taken to drinking more than was good for him.For whole days at a time he would lounge in his Windsor chair in the kitchen,reading the newspapers,drinking, and occasionally feeding Moses on crusts of bread soaked in beer.His 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 hay was almost ready for cutting.On Midsummer's Eve,which was a Saturday,Mr.Jones went into Willingdon and got so drunk at the Red Lion that he did not come back till midday on Sunday.The men had milked the cows in the early morning and then had gone out rabbiting,without bothering to feed the animals.When Mr.Jones got back he immediately went to sleep on the drawing-room sofa with the News of the World over his face, so that when evening came,the animals were still unfed.At last they could stand it no longer.One of the cows broke in the door of the store-shed with ·024· 第二章 ①lump[mp]a.成块状的 道道树篱上长出糖块和亚麻籽饼干1。动物们都很仇视摩 ②linseed["linsi:d]n.亚麻籽 西，因为他好搬弄是非，不干活儿。但是，他们中有一 些相信有“糖果山”这么一处地方。几头猪只好大费口 舌，据理力争，说服他们，并没有这么一处地方。 他们最忠实的信徒是那两匹拉车的马，拳击手和首 ③disciple[di'saipl].信徒 蓿。这两位怎么努力也思考不出属于自己的东西来，但 是，认准了几头猪是自己的老师，他们说什么东西都会 一股脑儿接受，而且会以简单要点的形式传授给其他动 物。谷仓里举行的秘密会议，他们一如既往，从不缺席。 每次会议结束时，他们总是会领唱《英格兰的牲畜》。 然而，事态的发展出乎每一只动物的顶料，反抗运 动爆发得比大家预想的要更加早，成功的取得也更加容 易。过去的岁月中，琼斯先生虽说是位苛刻的主人，却 也是位很有能力的农场主。但是，最近，他可是倒了大 ④of late最近：近来 ⑤fall on evil days倒霉 霉了，惹上了一场官司，赔了钱，弄得够心灰意冷的， 于是喝酒往往超量。有时候，一连数天，他懒洋洋地靠 坐在厨房里的那把温莎椅上，看看报，喝喝酒，还时不 ⑥lounge[laund3]虚度 (光阴) 时地把面包屑浸在啤酒里喂给摩西吃。他手下的那帮人 ⑦crust[krast]m.面包皮 无所事事，欺上瞒下，田地里杂草丛生，牲禽的窝棚顶 部失修漏雨，树篱无人修剪，动物们吃不饱肚子。 8 underfeed [.Ando'fi:d] 六月到了，草料等着收割。施洗约翰节2的前一天 ”没喂饱（过去分词 underfed) 是个星期六，琼斯先生去了威灵登，在“红狮”酒吧喝 得酩酊大醉，所以一直到星期天的中午才回来。他的手 下一大早就挤了牛奶，然后，没有费心思去给动物喂饲 料，便跑去猎野免了。琼斯先生回家后，立刻就在起居 室的沙发上睡着了，脸上盖着一份《世界新闻报》。因此， 到了黄昏时刻，动物们还是饿着肚子。最后，他们无法 忍受下去了。母牛中有一头用角顶开了饲料棚的门，所 有动物都开始从一个个饲料仓里自己吃了起来。就在这 个当儿，琼斯先生醒过来了。片刻之后，他和他的四名 亚麻籽饼干(linseed cake)是一种家畜饲料。 2施洗约翰节(Midsummer'sDay)在每年6月24日. ·025· Chapter II her horn and all the animals began to help themselves from the bins.It was just then that Mr.Jones woke up.The next moment he and his four men were in the store-shed with whips in their hands,lashing out in all directions.This was more than the hungry animals could bear.With one accord,though nothing of the kind had been planned beforehand,they flung themselves upon their tormentors.Jones and his men suddenly found themselves being butted and kicked from all sides.The situation was quite out of their control.They had never seen animals behave like this before,and this sudden uprising of creatures whom they were used to thrashing and maltreating just as they chose,frightened them almost out of their wits.After only a moment or two they gave up trying to defend themselves and took to their heels.A minute later all five of them were in full flight down the cart-track that led to the main road,with the animals pursuing them in triumph. Mrs.Jones looked out of the bedroom window,saw what was happening, hurriedly flung a few possessions into a carpet bag,and slipped out of the farm by another way.Moses sprang off his perch and flapped after her,croaking loudly.Meanwhile the animals had chased Jones and his men out on to the road and slammed the five-barred gate behind them.And so,almost before they knew what was happening,the Rebellion had been successfully carried through:Jones was expelled,and the Manor Farm was theirs. For the first few minutes the animals could hardly believe in their good fortune.Their first act was to gallop in a body right round the boundaries of the farm,as though to make quite sure that no human being was hiding anywhere upon it;then they raced back to the farm buildings to wipe out the last traces of Jones's hated reign.The harness-room at the end of the stables was broken open;the bits,the nose-rings,the dog-chains,the cruel knives with which Mr. Jones had been used to castrate the pigs and lambs,were all flung down the well.The reins,the halters,the blinkers,the degrading nosebags,were thrown on to the rubbish fire which was burning in the yard.So were the whips. All the animals capered with joy when they saw the whips going up in flames. ·026· 第二章 ①bin[bin]n.(贮藏食物的) 员工手里拿着鞭子到了饲料棚，鞭子劈头盖脸从四面八 箱子 方乱抽了过来。忍饥挨饿的动物们无法忍受这样的鞭抽。 虽说动物们事先并无任何计划，但他们一致行动，扑向 ②lash out猛击 向他们施暴的人。琼斯先生和他的手下突然发现自己遭 受着来自四面八方的角项脚踢。局面完全失控了。他们 ③tormentor[ix'menta].折 先前从未见识过动物有如此表现。过去他们对于动物想 磨者 抽打就抽打，想虐待就虐待。而现在动物们奋起反抗了， ④but[bAg猛撞 这一招可把他们给吓得魂飞魄散了。仅仅过了一会儿， 他们便放弃了抵抗，撒腿跑了。又过了一会儿，动物们 ⑤thrash[0re月，（用棍 大获全胜地在后面跟踪追击，他们五个人则顺着通向大 鞭等)痛打 ⑥maltreat[mel'ritg虐待 路的马车道狼狈逃窜。 ⑦out of one'swits不知所措 ⑧take to one's heels迷之天 琼斯太太在卧室的窗户口朝着外面张望，看见了 天 正在发生的一幕，便例忙地把一些财产塞进一个毯制 口袋里，顺着另外一条路溜出了农场。摩西一跃身子 离开了栖息架，拍打着翅膀一路跟随在她后面，嘴里 呱呱地大声叫着。与此同时，动物们追击着琼斯和他 ⑨croak[kruk],发嘎嘎声 的手下到了大路上，砰然关上了有五道门的大门。因此， 动物们几乎还没有来得及弄明白发生了什么情况，反 抗运动已经取得了成功。琼斯被驱逐出了农场，庄园 农场属于他们了。 开始几分钟里，动物们简直不相信自己的好运。他 们的第一个行动就是绕着农场的地界快速跑一圈，好像 是为了搞清楚，确实没有人类藏匿在农场的某处。随后， ⑩gallop[gxlp飞跑， 疾驰 他们跑回农场的窝棚区，清除掉琼斯可恨的统治留下的 一切遗迹。坐落在慨棚一端存放挽具处的房门被撞开了。 嚼子、鼻环、狗链，琼斯先生常常用来宰杀猪羊的那些 残忍刀具，统统被扔到井里面去了。缰绳、笼头、眼罩， ①castrate[ke'streit)阉割 有损尊严的挂在动物颈部的饲料袋，全部当作垃圾扔进 ②blinker[bligko]m.(马的) 了在院子里焚烧的火堆里。还有那些鞭子也扔进去了。 眼罩 degrading [di'greidin]a. 当动物们看见鞭子化为灰烬时，他们高兴得欢呼雀跃。 耻的 ①caper[keipa]k欢跃，雀 雪球把那些平常赶集的日子里系在马鬃和马尾上面的饰 跃 带也扔进了火堆里。 ·027· Chapter II Snowball also threw on to the fire the ribbons with which the horses'manes and tails had usually been decorated on market days. "Ribbons,"he said,"should be considered as clothes,which are the mark of a human being.All animals should go naked." When Boxer heard this he fetched the small straw hat which he wore in summer to keep the flies out of his ears,and flung it on to the fire with the rest. In a very little while the animals had destroyed everything that reminded them of Mr.Jones.Napoleon then led them back to the store-shed and served out a double ration of corn to everybody,with two biscuits for each dog.Then they sang Beasts of England from end to end seven times running,and after that they settled down for the night and slept as they had never slept before. But they woke at dawn as usual,and suddenly remembering the glorious thing that had happened,they all raced out into the pasture together.A little way down the pasture there was a knoll that commanded a view of most of the farm.The animals rushed to the top of it and gazed round them in the clear morning light.Yes,it was theirs-everything that they could see was theirs! In the ecstasy of that thought they gambolled round and round,they hurled themselves into the air in great leaps of excitement.They rolled in the dew, they cropped mouthfuls of the sweet summer grass,they kicked up clods of the black earth and snuffed its rich scent.Then they made a tour of inspection of the whole farm and surveyed with speechless admiration the ploughland,the hayfield,the orchard,the pool,the spinney It was as though they had never seen these things before,and even now they could hardly believe that it was all their own. Then they filed back to the farm buildings and halted in silence outside the door of the farmhouse.That was theirs too,but they were frightened to go inside. After a moment,however,Snowball and Napoleon butted the door open with their shoulders and the animals entered in single file,walking with the utmost care for fear of disturbing anything.They tiptoed from room to room,afraid to speak above a whisper and gazing with a kind of awe at the unbelievable ·028· 第二章 “饰带，”他说，“应该视同衣服，乃人类的标志。 所有动物都是不穿衣服的。” 拳击手听到这么一说后，便去取来了那顶小草帽， 那是他夏日里戴着防止苍蝇侵扰自己的耳朵用的，然后 把帽子和其他东西一道扔进了火堆里。 会儿的工夫，动物们销毁了让他们想起琼斯先生 的一切器物。拿破仑此时领着他们返回了饲料棚，给每 个动物发放了双份饲料，每条狗都拿到了两块饼干。然 后，他们唱起了《英格兰的牲畜》，从头至尾唱了七遍。 那之后，他们安顿下来过夜了，从来没有这么踏实地睡 过。 但是，他们和平常一样在黎明醒来，突然想起了己 ①pasture[pstj句n.牧草地 ②knoll[noul]m.圆丘：土墩 经发生的光荣事件。他们一块儿跑到外面的牧场。牧场 ③command[ka'ma:nd,俯视 那边的不远处，有一个小山丘，站立在那儿几乎可以看 到整座农场的全景。动物们跑到小山丘的顶部，就着清 亮的晨间光线，环顾四周。是啊，这一切都属于他们 ④ecstasy[ekstasi]n.狂喜 ⑤gambol['gaembal]v.跳瑞， 了一他们能够看到的一切都是属于他们的！他们想 雀跃 到这一点便欣喜若狂，一圈又一圈地蹦跳嬉戏着，兴奋 ⑥dew[dju:]n.露水 ⑦clod[klad]n.土块 得向空中蹿起。他们在露水上打滚，嘴里塞满甘甜鲜润 ⑧snuft[snaf门t嗅 ⑨spinney[spini]m.矮林 的复草，把脚下的黑土块踢得四处乱飞，尽情地吸入黑 土散发出的芳香。然后，他们把整座农场巡视了一番， 默默无语地惊慕着跟前的一切：耕地、草料田、果园、 池塘、树丛。他们好像过去从未见过这些东西似的，即 便现在，他们也还难以相信，这一切都是属于他们的了。 然后，他们列队返回农场的窝棚区，并且驻足在农 场主的住宅外面，默默无语。那儿也是属于他们的了， 但是，他们胆战心惊，不敢入内。不过，片刻之后，雪 球和拿破仑用肩膀顶开了房门，动物们这才排成一队进 入了，格外谨慎，生怕惊动了什么东西。他们踮着脚从 一个房间到达另外一个，不敢大声说话，只能轻声细语， ⑩awe[]n.散畏 充满了敬畏，目不转晴，看着眼前的奢华场面：一张张 ·029·