Chapter 10 第十章-双语名著无障碍阅读丛书——《动物农场Animal Farm》

Chapter X Years passed.The seasons came and went,the short animal lives fled by.A time came when there was no one who remembered the old days before the Rebellion,except Clover,Benjamin,Moses the raven,and a number of the pigs. Muriel was dead;Bluebell,Jessie,and Pincher were dead.Jones too was dead-he had died in an inebriates home in another part of the country. Snowball was forgotten.Boxer was forgotten,except by the few who had known him.Clover was an old stout mare now,stiff in the joints and with a tendency to rheumy eyes.She was two years past the retiring age,but in fact no animal had ever actually retired.The talk of setting aside a corner of the pasture for superannuated animals had long since been dropped.Napoleon was now a mature boar of twenty-four stone.Squealer was so fat that he could with difficulty see out of his eyes.Only old Benjamin was much the same as ever, except for being a little greyer about the muzzle,and,since Boxer's death,more morose④and taciturn⑤than ever.. There were many more creatures on the farm now,though the increase was not so great as had been expected in earlier years.Many animals had been born to whom the Rebellion was only a dim tradition,passed on by word of mouth,and others had been bought who had never heard mention of such a thing before their arrival.The farm possessed three horses now besides Clover. ·160· 第十章 岁月流逝，寒来暑往。寿命较短的动物都相继死去 了。终于有那么一天，除了首蓿、本杰明、渡鸦摩西和 一些猪之外，没有任何动物记得反抗运动爆发之前那些 旧日的光景了。 穆里尔去世了。蓝铃、杰西和平彻去世了。琼斯也 ①inebriate[ini:briat]n.酗酒 之徒 已经去世了一他是在本郡另外一处地方的酗酒者收容 所内离世的。雪球被遗忘了。拳击手也被遗忘了，只有 ②joint[d3int]n.关节 极少数熟悉他的动物记得起他。昔蓿已经进入耄整之年， ③rheumy[ru:mi]a.黏湿的 体形肥胖，关节僵硬，双眼总是充满了黏液。她到达退 休年龄已经两年了，但是，事实上，没有任何动物真正 退休过。大牧场的一角预留给高龄动物使用的说法已经 很长时间没有谈起了。拿破仑现在已经长成为一头三百 多磅重的大公猪了。尖嗓子也很肥胖，眼睛看东西都十 分费劲。只有本杰明还和过去一样没有什么变化，只是 ④morose[mo'rous]a.忧郁 面部的毛略微灰白了一些。而且，自从拳击手去世之后， 的 ⑤taciturn[tasitan]a,沉默 他更加闷闷不乐，沉默寡言。 寡言的 现在，农场的动物数量增加了许多，不过，增加 ⑥dim[dim]a.昏暗的 的幅度不如早些年预期的那么大。许多动物在农场出 生，但对他们而言，反抗运动只是个模糊的传说而已， 那也是从动物们的口口相传当中听来的。另外一些动 物则是从别处买来的，他们到达此地之前从未听到有 ·161· ChapterX They were fine upstanding beasts,willing workers and good comrades,but very stupid.None of them proved able to learn the alphabet beyond the letter B.They accepted everything that they were told about the Rebellion and the principles of Animalism,especially from Clover,for whom they had an almost filial respect;but it was doubtful whether they understood very much of it.The farm was more prosperous now,and better organised:it had even been enlarged by two fields which had been bought from Mr.Pilkington.The windmill had been successfully completed at last,and the farm possessed a threshing machine and a hay elevator of its own,and various new buildings had been added to it. Whymper had bought himself a dogcart.The windmill,however,had not after all been used for generating electrical power.It was used for milling corn,and brought in a handsome money profit.The animals were hard at work building yet another windmill;when that one was finished,so it was said,the dynamos would be installed.But the luxuries of which Snowball had once taught the animals to dream,the stalls with electric light and hot and cold water,and the three-day week,were no longer talked about.Napoleon had denounced such ideas as contrary to the spirit of Animalism.The truest happiness,he said,lay in working hard and living frugally. Somehow it seemed as though the farm had grown richer without making the animals themselves any richer,except,of course,for the pigs and the dogs. Perhaps this was partly because there were so many pigs and so many dogs. It was not that these creatures did not work,after their fashion.There was,as Squealer was never tired of explaining,endless work in the supervision and organisation of the farm.Much of this work was of a kind that the other animals were too ignorant to understand.For example,Squealer told them that the pigs had to expend enormous labours every day upon mysterious things called fles,”“reports,”“minutes④，”and“memoranda⑤.，”These were large sheets of paper which had to be closely covered with writing,and as soon as they were so covered,they were burnt in the furnace.This was of the highest importance for the welfare of the farm,Squealer said.But still,neither pigs nor dogs produced ·162· 第十章「 动物提及这样的事情。除了首蓿之外，农场现在还有 三匹马，全是体格健壮的牲口，勤奋干活儿，是些好 同志，但就是十分愚笨。他们认识的字母仅限于头两个， 后面的都不认识。关于反抗运动的情况和动物思想原 ①filial[jala.孝顺的 则，怎么对他们说，他们都一股脑儿地接受。尤其是 首蓿说的，他们对她近乎孝顺，毕恭毕敬。不过，苜 蓿说的话，他们是否听明白了，那倒是值得怀疑。现在， 农场景象更加繁荣，组织更加有序。农场的面积扩大了， 因为他们从皮尔金顿手上买来了两片田地。风车终于 建造完成了。农场上有了一台打谷机，一台干草码垛机， 还新近盖起了各种窝棚。温佩尔给自己购买了一辆轻 便马车。不过，风车没有用来发电，而是用来碾磨谷物， 这样倒是带来了可观的金钱收入。动物们卖力干活儿， 还要再建造一座风车。据说，等到新的风车竣工之后， 他们拟安装发电机组。不过，雪球曾经教导动物们憧 憬的奢华生活情景一窝棚里有电灯，有冷热水，每 星期工作三天一现在再也不谈了。拿破仑谴责这样 ②denounce[dinauns],指 责 的理念有悖动物思想的精神。他说，最真实的幸福生 活在于努力工作，生活简朴。 不知怎么回事，农场虽然看起来更加富裕了，但 动物们自己感觉不到富裕，当然，猪和狗除外。或许 部分原因是，猪和狗的数量过多。这倒并不是说这些 动物没有按照自己的方式劳动。正如尖嗓子不知疲倦 地解释过的那样，农场上的监管和组织工作没完没了。 这一类的工作由于其他动物愚昧无知，无法理解，大 部分都无法胜任。比如，尖嗓子告诉他们说，猪每天 都要把大量的劳动耗费在所谓“档案”“报告”“会议 ③expend[k'spend],花费 ④minute[minit]n.会议记 记录”和“备忘录”等等神秘的事务上。那些都是很 录 5 memoranda [mema'randa] 大的纸张，上面密密麻麻地写满了文字。而等到写满 n.备忘录(memorandum 了之后，便又扔进火炉付之一炬了。为了农场的福祉， 的复数) ⑥furnace['fanis]n.炉子 这一切至关重要，尖嗓子如是说。不过，话说回来， 猪和狗并不凭着自身的劳动生产粮食。而他们的数量 ·163· ChapterX any food by their own labour;and there were very many of them,and their appetites were always good. As for the others,their life,so far as they knew,was as it had always been. They were generally hungry,they slept on straw,they drank from the pool,they laboured in the fields;in winter they were troubled by the cold,and in summer by the flies.Sometimes the older ones among them racked their dim memories and tried to determine whether in the early days of the Rebellion,when Jones's expulsion was still recent,things had been better or worse than now.They could not remember.There was nothing with which they could compare their present lives:they had nothing to go upon except Squealer's lists of figures, which invariably demonstrated that everything was getting better and better. The animals found the problem insoluble;in any case,they had little time for speculating on such things now.Only old Benjamin professed to remember every detail of his long life and to know that things never had been,nor ever could be much better or much worse-hunger,hardship,and disappointment being,so he said,the unalterable law of life. And yet the animals never gave up hope.More,they never lost,even for an instant,their sense of honour and privilege in being members of Animal Farm.They were still the only farm in the whole county in all England-owned and operated by animals!Not one of them,not even the youngest,not even the newcomers who had been brought from farms ten or twenty miles away,ever ceased to marvel at that.And when they heard the gun booming and saw the green flag fluttering at the masthead their hearts swelled with imperishable pride,and the talk turned always towards the old heroic days,the expulsion of Jones,the writing of the Seven Commandments,the great battles in which the human invaders had been defeated.None of the old dreams had been abandoned. The Republic of the Animals which Major had foretold,when the green fields of England should be untrodden by human feet,was still believed in.Some day it was coming:it might not be soon,it might not be with in the lifetime of any animal now living,but still it was coming.Even the tune of Beasts of England ·164· 第十章「 又非常之多，而且胃口一直都很好。 至于其他动物，他们心里清楚，自己的生活还是 如既往，大都处于饥饿状态，还是在干草上睡眠， 在池塘里饮水，在田地里干活儿。冬天里，他们忍受 严寒的痛苦。夏天里，他们饱受蚊虫的侵扰。有时候， ①rack[rek]绞尽脑汁 他们当中年老的动物会绞尽脑汁，想要追忆一些昔日 往事，设法想要弄清楚，反抗运动初期一当时琼斯 刚刚被驱逐出农场—同现在相比，情况更好还是更 坏。他们无法回忆起来。他们无法拿出什么东西同现 在的生活相比。尖嗓子提供的数据总能够说明一切都 在变得越来越好。除了尖嗓子那一串串数据之外，他 2invariably [in'veoriabli]ad. 总是 们没有任何依据。动物们发现，这是个无法说清楚的 问题。无论如何，他们现在也没有闲暇来考虑这些事情。 只有年迈的本杰明声称自己记得漫长一生中的所有细 节，而且知道，今昔相比，情况好不到哪儿，也坏不 到哪儿一正如他说的，饥饿、艰辛、失望是生活中 永不改变的规律。 尽管如此，动物们却从未放弃过希望。尤其是，他 们须臾都没有丧失过自己作为动物农场成员所带来的荣 誉感和优越感。他们所在的农场仍然是全郡全英国唯 一一座一由动物们所有并管理着的农场。所有动物当 中—哪怕是最年幼的，哪怕是那些从十英里或者二十 英里外的农场买来的新来者—没有一个对此不感到惊 ③masthead[masthed]n.桅 叹的。他们听到礼炮鸣响，看到绿色旗帜在旗杆上高高 顶 飘扬。这种时候，他们的心中会产生无法抑制的自豪感。 4imperishable [im'perifabl] a.永存的 大家的话题就总会转向昔日那英雄的时代，琼斯遭到驱 逐，写在墙壁上的“七戒”条文，令人类入侵者屡遭惨 败的一次次场面宏大的战斗。动物们从未放弃过昔日的 梦想。他们仍然相信少校曾经预言过的动物共和国，到 时候，人类不得涉足英格兰郁郁葱葱的田野。有朝一日， 这个目标一定会实现，或许那一天不会很快到来，或许 动物们的有生之年看不到那一天的到来，但一定会到来 ·165· ChapterX was perhaps hummed secretly here and there:at any rate,it was a fact that every animal on the farm knew it,though no one would have dared to sing it aloud. It might be that their lives were hard and that not all of their hopes had been fulfilled;but they were conscious that they were not as other animals.If they went hungry,it was not from feeding tyrannical human beings;if they worked hard,at least they worked for themselves.No creature among them went upon two legs.No creature called any other creature"Master."All animals were equal. One day in early summer Squealer ordered the sheep to follow him,and led them out to a piece of waste ground at the other end of the farm,which had become overgrown with birch saplings.The sheep spent the whole day there browsing at the leaves under Squealer's supervision.In the evening he returned to the farmhouse himself,but,as it was warm weather,told the sheep to stay where they were.It ended by their remaining there for a whole week,during which time the other animals saw nothing of them.Squealer was with them for the greater part of every day.He was,he said,teaching them to sing a new song, for which privacy was needed. It was just after the sheep had returned,on a pleasant evening when the animals had finished work and were making their way back to the farm buildings, that the terrified neighing of a horse sounded from the yard.Startled,the animals stopped in their tracks.It was Clover's voice.She neighed again,and all the animals broke into a gallop and rushed into the yard.Then they saw what Clover had seen. It was a pig walking on his hind legs. Yes,it was Squealer.A little awkwardly,as though not quite used to supporting his considerable bulk in that position,but with perfect balance, he was strolling across the yard.And a moment later,out from the door of the farmhouse came a long file of pigs,all walking on their hind legs.Some did it better than others,one or two were even a trifle unsteady and looked as though they would have liked the support of a stick,but every one of them made his way right round the yard successfully.And finally there was a tremendous baying ·166· 第十章 的。动物们甚至在四处悄悄地哼唱着《英格兰的牲畜》 的曲调。不管怎么说，农场上的所有动物都熟悉这旋 律，这是事实。不过，没有任何动物敢高声唱出来。动 物们的生活可能很艰难，他们的希望可能并非全部都实 ①tyrannical[ti'ranikal]a.专 现了。但是，他们心里很清楚，他们和别的动物不一样。 横的 如果说他们要忍饥挨饿，那并不是因为他们供养了残暴 的人类。如果说他们要拼命干活，他们至少是在替自己 干活。他们中间没有用两条腿走路的，没有任何动物称 其他动物为“主人”。所有动物一律平等。 ②sapling[seplin]n.树描 初夏的一天，尖嗓子吩附绵羊们跟着他，然后领着 他们到了农场另一端的一片荒地，那儿长满了桦树苗。 在尖嗓子的监督下，绵羊们在那儿待了一整天，吃着树 叶。黄昏时分，尖嗓子自个儿返回到了住宅，但是，由 于天气暖和，他告诉绵羊们待在原地。结果，绵羊在那 儿待了整整一个星期，期间，其他动物未见他们的踪 影。尖嗓子每天大部分时间里都和他们待在一块儿。他 说，他在教他们唱一首新歌，为此，他们需要不受打扰 的环境。 绵羊们返回后不久，一个美妙的黄昏，动物们刚收 ③neigh [nei]v.(马)嘶 工，正返回农场的窝棚区。这时候，院落里传来马匹恐 惧的嘶鸣声。动物们惊愕不已，停住了脚步。那是苜蓿 的声音。她再次嘶鸣起来。动物们急忙冲进院落，看到 了苜蓿看到的情形。 那是一头猪在用两条后腿站立着行走。 是啊，那头猪是尖嗓子。动作显得有点笨拙，好像 还不大习惯于用那样的姿势支撑自己相当笨重的躯体。 ④bulk[bAk]n.(尤指肥硕 的)身躯 不过，他还是把身体平衡得十分完美，正大步走过院落。 片刻之后，住宅门口走出长长一大溜猪，全部用两条后 腿走路。有些猪比另外一些走得更加稳健，有一两头走 ⑤atrifle有点儿 路时显得有点摇晃，看上去好像需要拐杖的支撑。不过， 每头猪都成功地绕着院落走了一圈。最后，传来那群狗 疯狂的吠叫，那只黑公鸡尖声的啼鸣。紧接着，拿破仑 ·167· ChapterX of dogs and a shrill crowing from the black cockerel,and out came Napoleon himself,majestically upright,casting haughty glances from side to side,and with his dogs gambolling round him. He carried a whip in his trotter. There was a deadly silence.Amazed,terrified,huddling together,the animals watched the long line of pigs march slowly round the yard.It was as though the world had turned upside-down.Then there came a moment when the first shock had worn off and when,in spite of everything-in spite of their terror of the dogs,and of the habit,developed through long years,of never complaining,never criticising,no matter what happened-they might have uttered some word of protest.But just at that moment,as though at a signal,all the sheep burst out into a tremendous bleating of- "Four legs good,two legs better!Four legs good,two legs better!Four legs good,two legs better!" It went on for five minutes without stopping.And by the time the sheep had quieted down,the chance to utter any protest had passed,for the pigs had marched back into the farmhouse. Benjamin felt a nose nuzzling at his shoulder.He looked round.It was Clover.Her old eyes looked dimmer than ever.Without saying anything,she tugged gently at his mane and led him round to the end of the big barn,where the Seven Commandments were written.For a minute or two they stood gazing at the tarred wall with its white lettering. "My sight is failing,"she said finally."Even when I was young I could not have read what was written there.But it appears to me that that wall looks different.Are the Seven Commandments the same as they used to be, Benjamin?” For once Benjamin consented to break his rule,and he read out to her what was written on the wall.There was nothing there now except a single Commandment.It ran: ·168· 第十章「 现身了，他挺直着身子，耀武扬威，神情傲慢地左右扫 ①haughty[hx:ti]a.傲慢的 视了一番，那群狗蹦跳着簇拥在他周围。 拿破仑的蹄子夹着一根鞭子。 动物群顿时一片寂静。动物们惊愕不已，诚惶诚恐， 挤在一块儿。他们注视着长长一大溜猪绕着院落缓步前 行。世界仿佛颠倒了。随后，动物们从最初的惊愕中慢 慢缓过来了。尽管有种种原因一尽管他们恐惧那群狗， 尽管长期以来，他们养成了习惯，不管发生了什么事情， 从不抱怨，从不批评一但是，他们还是会发出抗议的 声音。不过，就在这个当儿，好像是接收到了什么信号 似的，所有绵羊突然大声咩咩地说出 “四条腿好，两条腿更好！四条腿好，两条腿更 好！四条腿好，两条腿更好！” 声音持续了五分钟，没有停顿过。等到绵羊平静下 来了之后，表示抗议的机会己经失去了，因为那些猪已 经进入到了室内。 本杰明感觉到有哪个动物用鼻子触碰了自己的肩 膀，便扭过头看了看，原来是苜蓿。她的视力比先前越 ②uzle[nwzl山k(用鼻子) 发模糊了。她没有开口说什么，只是轻柔地拽住他的鬃 擦 毛，领着他绕到大谷仓的一侧去，到了写“七戒”的那 堵墙边。有一两分钟的时间，他们伫立在墙边，注视着 ③tug[tg拖曳 柏油上面写着的白颜色的文字。 “我的视力越来越差了，”她最后说，“即便年轻时， 我也认不清这面墙上写了些什么。但是，我寻思着，这 墙上的字好像不一样了。这儿的‘七戒’还跟过去的一 样吗，本杰明？” 本杰明唯有这次愿意打破自己定下的规矩，给首蓿 念出了墙上写着的文字。墙壁上除了“一戒”之外，其 ④consent[kan'sent]y同意 余的都没有了。“一戒”的内容是： ·169·