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Mr Jones, of the Manor Farht, but was too drunk to reht fro from side to side, he lurched across the yard, kicked off his boots at the back door, drew hilass of beer from the barrel in the scullery, and

As soon as the light in the bedrooh the far the day that old Major, the prize Middle White boar, had had a strange dreaht and wished to coreed that they should allbarn as soon as Mr Jones was safely out of the way Old Major (so he was always called, though the nadon Beauty) was so highly regarded on the farm that everyone was quite ready to lose an hour’s sleep in order to hear what he had to say

At one end of the big barn, on a sort of raised platform, Major was already ensconced on his bed of straw, under a lantern which hung frorown rather stout, but he was still a , with a wise and benevolent appearance in spite of the fact that his tushes had never been cut Before long the other anian to arrive and make themselves comfortable after their different fashions First cas, Bluebell, Jessie, and Pincher, and then the pigs, who settled down in the straw immediately in front of the platforeons fluttered up to the rafters, the sheep and cows lay down behind the pigs and began to chew the cudThe two cart-horses, Boxer and Clover, ca down their vast hairy hoofs with great care lest there should be some small animal concealed in the straw Clover was a stout ot her figure back after her fourth foal Boxer was an enor as any two ordinary horses put together A white stripe down his nose gave him a somewhat stupid appearance, and in fact he was not of first-rate intelligence, but he was universally respected for his steadiness of character and tremendous powers of work After the horses caoat, and Benjamin, the donkey Benjamin was the oldest animal on the farm, and the worst tempered He seldom talked, and when he did, it was usually to make soiven him a tail to keep the flies off, but that he would sooner have had no tail and no flies Alone ahed If asked why, he would say that he saw nothing to laugh atNevertheless, without openly ad it, he was devoted to Boxer; the two of theether in the s side by side and never speaking

The two horses had just lain dohen a brood of ducklings, which had lost theirfrom side to side to find some place where they would not be trodden on Clover , and the ducklings nestled down inside it and promptly fell asleep At the last moment Mollie, the foolish, pretty whitedaintily in, chewing at a luan flirting her whiteto draw attention to the red ribbons it was plaited with Last of all came the cat, who looked round, as usual, for the warmest place, and finally squeezed herself in between Boxer and Clover; there she purred contentedly throughout Major’s speech without listening to a word of what he was saying

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

‘Coe dreaht But I will co else to say first I do not think, coer, and before I die, I feel it my duty to pass on to you such wisdo life, I have had ht as I lay alone in my stall, and I think I may say that I understand the nature of life on this earth as well as any ani It is about this that I wish to speak to you

‘Now, comrades, what is the nature of this life of ours? Let us face it: our lives are iven just so much food as will keep the breath in our bodies, and those of us who are capable of it are forced to work to the last atoth; and the very instant that our usefulness has cohtered with hideous cruelty No ani of happiness or leisure after he is a year old No aniland is free The life of an animal is misery and slavery: that is the plain truth

‘But is this simply part of the order of nature? Is it because this land of ours is so poor that it cannot afford a decent life to those ell upon it? No, coland is fertile, its cli food in abundance to an enorreater nule farm of ours would support a dozen horses, twenty cows, hundreds of sheep – and all of thenity that are now al Why then do we continue in this miserable condition? Because nearly the whole of the produce of our labour is stolen fros There, comrades, is the answer to all our problele word – Man Man is the only real enemy we have Reer and overwork is abolished for ever

‘Man is the only creature that consuive h, he cannot run fast enough to catch rabbits Yet he is lord of all the aniives back to the, and the rest he keeps for hi fertilises it, and yet there is not one of us that owns more than his bare skin You cows that I see before iven during this last year? And what has happened to thatup sturdy calves? Every drop of it has gone down the throats of our enes have you laid in this last year, and how s ever hatched into chickens? The rest have all gone toin money for Jones and his men And you, Clover, where are those four foals you bore, who should have been the support and pleasure of your old age? Each was sold at a year old – you will never see one of theain In return for your four confinements and all your labour in the fields, what have you ever had except your bare rations and a stall?

‘And even the miserable lives we lead are not allowed to reach their natural span For rumble, for I am one of the lucky ones I am twelve years old and have had over four hundred children Such is the natural life of a pig But no ani porkers who are sitting in front of me, every one of you will scream your lives out at the block within a year To that horror we all s, hens, sheep, everyone Even the horses and the dogs have no better fate You, Boxer, the very day that those great muscles of yours lose their power, Jones will sell you to the knacker, ill cut your throat and boil you down for the foxhounds As for the dogs, when they grow old and toothless, Jones ties a brick round their necks and drowns them in the nearest pond

‘Is it not crystal clear, then, co froet rid of Man, and the produce of our labour would be our own Alht we could becoht and day, body and soul, for the overthrow of the hue to you, comrades: Rebellion! I do not knohen that Rebellion will coht be in a week or in a hundred years, but I know, as surely as I see this straw beneath my feet, that sooner or later justice will be done Fix your eyes on that, cohout the short ree of enerations shall carry on the struggle until it is victorious