II

1Three nights later old Major died peacefully in his sleep. 2His body was buried at the foot of the orchard.

3This was early in March. 4During the next three months there was much secret activity. 5Major's speech had given to the more intelligent animals on the farm a completely new outlook on life. 6They 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. 7The work of teaching and organising the others fell naturally upon the pigs, who were generally recognised as being the cleverest of the animals. 8Pre-eminent among the pigs were two young boars named Snowball and Napoleon, whom Mr. Jones was breeding up for sale. 9Napoleon 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. 10Snowball was a more vivacious pig than Napoleon, quicker in speech and more inventive, but was not considered to have the same depth of character. 11All the other male pigs on the farm were porkers. 12The best known among them was a small fat pig named Squealer, with very round cheeks, twinkling eyes, nimble movements, and a shrill voice. 13He 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 was somehow very persuasive. 14The others said of Squealer that he could turn black into white.

15These three had elaborated old Major's teachings into a complete system of thought, to which they gave the name of Animalism. 16Several nights a week, after Mr. Jones was asleep, they held secret meetings in the barn and expounded the principles of Animalism to the others. 17At the beginning they met with much stupidity and apathy. 18Some 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. 19If he were gone, we should starve to death." 20Others 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. 21The stupidest questions of all were asked by Mollie, the white mare. 22The very first question she asked Snowball was: "Will there still be sugar after the Rebellion?"

23"No," said Snowball firmly. 24"We have no means of making sugar on this farm. 25Besides, you do not need sugar. 26You will have all the oats and hay you want."

27"And shall I still be allowed to wear ribbons in my mane?" asked Mollie.

28"Comrade," said Snowball, "those ribbons that you are so devoted to are the badge of slavery. 29Can you not understand that liberty is worth more than ribbons? "

30Mollie agreed, but she did not sound very convinced.

31The pigs had an even harder struggle to counteract the lies put about by Moses, the tame raven. 32Moses, who was Mr. Jones's especial pet, was a spy and a tale-bearer, but he was also a clever talker. 33He claimed to know of the existence of a mysterious country called Sugarcandy Mountain, to which all animals went when they died. 34It was situated somewhere up in the sky, a little distance beyond the clouds, Moses said. 35In Sugarcandy Mountain it was Sunday seven days a week, clover was in season all the year round, and lump sugar and linseed cake grew on the hedges. 36The 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.

37Their most faithful disciples were the two cart-horses, Boxer and Clover. 38These 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. 39They 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.

40Now, as it turned out, the Rebellion was achieved much earlier and more easily than anyone had expected. 41In past years Mr. Jones, although a hard master, had been a capable farmer, but of late he had fallen on evil days. 42He had become much disheartened after losing money in a lawsuit, and had taken to drinking more than was good for him. 43For 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. 44His men were idle and dishonest, the fields were full of weeds, the buildings wanted roofing, the hedges were neglected, and the animals were underfed.

45June came and the hay was almost ready for cutting. 46On 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. 47The men had milked the cows in the early morning and then had gone out rabbiting, without bothering to feed the animals. 48When 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. 49At last they could stand it no longer. 50One of the cows broke in the door of the store-shed with her horn and all the animals began to help themselves from the bins. 51It was just then that Mr. Jones woke up. 52The next moment he and his four men were in the store-shed with whips in their hands, lashing out in all directions. 53This was more than the hungry animals could bear. 54With one accord, though nothing of the kind had been planned beforehand, they flung themselves upon their tormentors. 55Jones and his men suddenly found themselves being butted and kicked from all sides. 56The situation was quite out of their control. 57They 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. 58After only a moment or two they gave up trying to defend themselves and took to their heels. 59A 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.

60Mrs. 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. 61Moses sprang off his perch and flapped after her, croaking loudly. 62Meanwhile the animals had chased Jones and his men out on to the road and slammed the five-barred gate behind them. 63And so, almost before they knew what was happening, the Rebellion had been successfully carried through: Jones was expelled, and the Manor Farm was theirs.

64For the first few minutes the animals could hardly believe in their good fortune. 65Their 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. 66The 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. 67The reins, the halters, the blinkers, the degrading nosebags, were thrown on to the rubbish fire which was burning in the yard. 68So were the whips. 69All the animals capered with joy when they saw the whips going up in flames. 70Snowball also threw on to the fire the ribbons with which the horses' manes and tails had usually been decorated on market days.

71"Ribbons," he said, "should be considered as clothes, which are the mark of a human being. 72All animals should go naked."

73When 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.

74In a very little while the animals had destroyed everything that reminded them of Mr. Jones. 75Napoleon then led them back to the store-shed and served out a double ration of corn to everybody, with two biscuits for each dog. 76Then 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.

77But they woke at dawn as usual, and suddenly remembering the glorious thing that had happened, they all raced out into the pasture together. 78A little way down the pasture there was a knoll that commanded a view of most of the farm. 79The animals rushed to the top of it and gazed round them in the clear morning light. 80Yes, it was theirs–everything that they could see was theirs! 81In the ecstasy of that thought they gambolled round and round, they hurled themselves into the air in great leaps of excitement. 82They 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. 83Then 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. 84It was as though they had never seen these things before, and even now they could hardly believe that it was all their own.

85Then they filed back to the farm buildings and halted in silence outside the door of the farmhouse. 86That was theirs too, but they were frightened to go inside. 87After 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. 88They tiptoed from room to room, afraid to speak above a whisper and gazing with a kind of awe at the unbelievable luxury, at the beds with their feather mattresses, the looking-glasses, the horsehair sofa, the Brussels carpet, the lithograph of Queen Victoria over the drawing-room mantelpiece. 89They were lust coming down the stairs when Mollie was discovered to be missing. 90Going back, the others found that she had remained behind in the best bedroom. 91She had taken a piece of blue ribbon from Mrs. Jones's dressing-table, and was holding it against her shoulder and admiring herself in the glass in a very foolish manner. 92The others reproached her sharply, and they went outside. 93Some hams hanging in the kitchen were taken out for burial, and the barrel of beer in the scullery was stove in with a kick from Boxer's hoof,–otherwise nothing in the house was touched. 94A unanimous resolution was passed on the spot that the farmhouse should be preserved as a museum. 95All were agreed that no animal must ever live there.

96The animals had their breakfast, and then Snowball and Napoleon called them together again.

97"Comrades," said Snowball, "it is half-past six 98and we have a long day before us. 99Today we begin the hay harvest. 100But there is another matter that must be attended to first."

101The pigs now revealed that during the past three months they had taught themselves to read and write from an old spelling book which had belonged to Mr. Jones's children and which had been thrown on the rubbish heap. 102Napoleon sent for pots of black and white paint and led the way down to the five-barred gate that gave on to the main road. 103Then Snowball (for it was Snowball who was best at writing) took a brush between the two knuckles of his trotter, painted out MANOR FARM from the top bar of the gate and in its place painted ANIMAL FARM. 104This was to be the name of the farm from now onwards. 105After this they went back to the farm buildings, where Snowball and Napoleon sent for a ladder which they caused to be set against the end wall of the big barn. 106They explained that by their studies of the past three months the pigs had succeeded in reducing the principles of Animalism to Seven Commandments. 107These Seven Commandments would now be inscribed on the wall; they would form an unalterable law by which all the animals on Animal Farm must live for ever after. 108With some difficulty (for it is not easy for a pig to balance himself on a ladder) 109Snowball climbed up and set to work, with Squealer a few rungs below him holding the paint-pot. 110The Commandments were written on the tarred wall in great white letters that could be read thirty yards away. 111They ran thus:

112THE SEVEN COMMANDMENTS

1. 113Whatever goes upon two legs is an enemy.
2. 114Whatever goes upon four legs, or has wings, is a friend.
3. 115No animal shall wear clothes.
4. 116No animal shall sleep in a bed.
5. 117No animal shall drink alcohol.
6. 118No animal shall kill any other animal.
7. 119All animals are equal.

120It was very neatly written, and except that "friend" was written "freind" and one of the "S's" was the wrong way round, the spelling was correct all the way through. 121Snowball read it aloud for the benefit of the others. 122All the animals nodded in complete agreement, and the cleverer ones at once began to learn the Commandments by heart.

123"Now, comrades," cried Snowball, throwing down the paint-brush, "to the hayfield! 124Let us make it a point of honour to get in the harvest more quickly than Jones and his men could do."

125But at this moment the three cows, who had seemed uneasy for some time past, set up a loud lowing. 126They had not been milked for twenty-four hours, and their udders were almost bursting. 127After a little thought, the pigs sent for buckets and milked the cows fairly successfully, their trotters being well adapted to this task. 128Soon there were five buckets of frothing creamy milk at which many of the animals looked with considerable interest.

129"What is going to happen to all that milk?" said someone.

130"Jones used sometimes to mix some of it in our mash," said one of the hens.

131"Never mind the milk, comrades!" cried Napoleon, placing himself in front of the buckets. 132"That will be attended to. 133The harvest is more important. 134Comrade Snowball will lead the way. 135I shall follow in a few minutes. 136Forward, comrades! 137The hay is waiting."

138So the animals trooped down to the hayfield to begin the harvest, and when they came back in the evening it was noticed that the milk had disappeared.