VI

1All that year the animals worked like slaves. 2But they were happy in their work; they grudged no effort or sacrifice, well aware that everything that they did was for the benefit of themselves and those of their kind who would come after them, and not for a pack of idle, thieving human beings.

3Throughout the spring and summer they worked a sixty-hour week, and in August Napoleon announced that there would be work on Sunday afternoons as well. 4This work was strictly voluntary, but any animal who absented himself from it would have his rations reduced by half. 5Even so, it was found necessary to leave certain tasks undone. 6The harvest was a little less successful than in the previous year, and two fields which should have been sown with roots in the early summer were not sown because the ploughing had not been completed early enough. 7It was possible to foresee that the coming winter would be a hard one.

8The windmill presented unexpected difficulties. 9There was a good quarry of limestone on the farm, and plenty of sand and cement had been found in one of the outhouses, so that all the materials for building were at hand. 10But the problem the animals could not at first solve was how to break up the stone into pieces of suitable size. 11There seemed no way of doing this except with picks and crowbars, which no animal could use, because no animal could stand on his hind legs. 12Only after weeks of vain effort did the right idea occur to somebody–namely, to utilise the force of gravity. 13Huge boulders, far too big to be used as they were, were lying all over the bed of the quarry. 14The animals lashed ropes round these, and then all together, cows, horses, sheep, any animal that could lay hold of the rope–even the pigs sometimes joined in at critical moments–they dragged them with desperate slowness up the slope to the top of the quarry, where they were toppled over the edge, to shatter to pieces below. 15Transporting the stone when it was once broken was comparatively simple. 16The horses carried it off in cart-loads, the sheep dragged single blocks, even Muriel and Benjamin yoked themselves into an old governess-cart and did their share. 17By late summer a sufficient store of stone had accumulated, and then the building began, under the superintendence of the pigs.

18But it was a slow, laborious process. 19Frequently it took a whole day of exhausting effort to drag a single boulder to the top of the quarry, and sometimes when it was pushed over the edge it failed to break. 20Nothing could have been achieved without Boxer, whose strength seemed equal to that of all the rest of the animals put together. 21When the boulder began to slip and the animals cried out in despair at finding themselves dragged down the hill, it was always Boxer who strained himself against the rope and brought the boulder to a stop. 22To see him toiling up the slope inch by inch, his breath coming fast, the tips of his hoofs clawing at the ground, and his great sides matted with sweat, filled everyone with admiration. 23Clover warned him sometimes to be careful not to overstrain himself, but Boxer would never listen to her. 24His two slogans, "I will work harder" and "Napoleon is always right," seemed to him a sufficient answer to all problems. 25He had made arrangements with the cockerel to call him three-quarters of an hour earlier in the mornings instead of half an hour. 26And in his spare moments, of which there were not many nowadays, he would go alone to the quarry, collect a load of broken stone, and drag it down to the site of the windmill unassisted.

27The animals were not badly off throughout that summer, in spite of the hardness of their work. 28If they had no more food than they had had in Jones's day, at least they did not have less. 29The advantage of only having to feed themselves, and not having to support five extravagant human beings as well, was so great that it would have taken a lot of failures to outweigh it. 30And in many ways the animal method of doing things was more efficient and saved labour. 31Such jobs as weeding, for instance, could be done with a thoroughness impossible to human beings. 32And again, since no animal now stole, it was unnecessary to fence off pasture from arable land, which saved a lot of labour on the upkeep of hedges and gates. 33Nevertheless, as the summer wore on, various unforeseen shortages began to make them selves felt. 34There was need of paraffin oil, nails, string, dog biscuits, and iron for the horses' shoes, none of which could be produced on the farm. 35Later there would also be need for seeds and artificial manures, besides various tools and, finally, the machinery for the windmill. 36How these were to be procured, no one was able to imagine.

37One Sunday morning, when the animals assembled to receive their orders, Napoleon announced that he had decided upon a new policy. 38From now onwards Animal Farm would engage in trade with the neighbouring farms: not, of course, for any commercial purpose, but simply in order to obtain certain materials which were urgently necessary. 39The needs of the windmill must override everything else, he said. 40He was therefore making arrangements to sell a stack of hay and part of the current year's wheat crop, and later on, if more money were needed, it would have to be made up by the sale of eggs, for which there was always a market in Willingdon. 41The hens, said Napoleon, should welcome this sacrifice as their own special contribution towards the building of the windmill.

42Once again the animals were conscious of a vague uneasiness. 43Never to have any dealings with human beings, never to engage in trade, never to make use of money–had not these been among the earliest resolutions passed at that first triumphant Meeting after Jones was expelled? 44All the animals remembered passing such resolutions: or at least they thought that they remembered it. 45The four young pigs who had protested when Napoleon abolished the Meetings raised their voices timidly, but they were promptly silenced by a tremendous growling from the dogs. 46Then, as usual, the sheep broke into "Four legs good, two legs bad!" 47and the momentary awkwardness was smoothed over. 48Finally Napoleon raised his trotter for silence and announced that he had already made all the arrangements. 49There would be no need for any of the animals to come in contact with human beings, which would clearly be most undesirable. 50He intended to take the whole burden upon his own shoulders. 51A Mr. Whymper, a solicitor living in Willingdon, had agreed to act as intermediary between Animal Farm and the outside world, and would visit the farm every Monday morning to receive his instructions. 52Napoleon ended his speech with his usual cry of "Long live Animal Farm!" 53and after the singing of Beasts of England the animals were dismissed.

54Afterwards Squealer made a round of the farm and set the animals' minds at rest. 55He assured them that the resolution against engaging in trade and using money had never been passed, or even suggested. 56It was pure imagination, probably traceable in the beginning to lies circulated by Snowball. 57A few animals still felt faintly doubtful, but Squealer asked them shrewdly, "Are you certain that this is not something that you have dreamed, comrades? 58Have you any record of such a resolution? 59Is it written down anywhere?" 60And since it was certainly true that nothing of the kind existed in writing, the animals were satisfied that they had been mistaken.

61Every Monday Mr. Whymper visited the farm as had been arranged. 62He was a sly-looking little man with side whiskers, a solicitor in a very small way of business, but sharp enough to have realised earlier than anyone else that Animal Farm would need a broker and that the commissions would be worth having. 63The animals watched his coming and going with a kind of dread, and avoided him as much as possible. 64Nevertheless, the sight of Napoleon, on all fours, delivering orders to Whymper, who stood on two legs, roused their pride and partly reconciled them to the new arrangement. 65Their relations with the human race were now not quite the same as they had been before. 66The human beings did not hate Animal Farm any less now that it was prospering; indeed, they hated it more than ever. 67Every human being held it as an article of faith that the farm would go bankrupt sooner or later, and, above all, that the windmill would be a failure. 68They would meet in the public-houses and prove to one another by means of diagrams that the windmill was bound to fall down, or that if it did stand up, then that it would never work. 69And yet, against their will, they had developed a certain respect for the efficiency with which the animals were managing their own affairs. 70One symptom of this was that they had begun to call Animal Farm by its proper name and ceased to pretend that it was called the Manor Farm. 71They had also dropped their championship of Jones, who had given up hope of getting his farm back and gone to live in another part of the county. 72Except through Whymper, there was as yet no contact between Animal Farm and the outside world, but there were constant rumours that Napoleon was about to enter into a definite business agreement either with Mr. Pilkington of Foxwood or with Mr. Frederick of Pinchfield–but never, it was noticed, with both simultaneously.

73It was about this time that the pigs suddenly moved into the farmhouse and took up their residence there. 74Again the animals seemed to remember that a resolution against this had been passed in the early days, and again Squealer was able to convince them that this was not the case. 75It was absolutely necessary, he said, that the pigs, who were the brains of the farm, should have a quiet place to work in. 76It was also more suited to the dignity of the Leader (for of late he had taken to speaking of Napoleon under the title of "Leader") to live in a house than in a mere sty. 77Nevertheless, some of the animals were disturbed when they heard that the pigs not only took their meals in the kitchen and used the drawing-room as a recreation room, but also slept in the beds. 78Boxer passed it off as usual with "Napoleon is always right!", but Clover, who thought she remembered a definite ruling against beds, went to the end of the barn and tried to puzzle out the Seven Commandments which were inscribed there. 79Finding herself unable to read more than individual letters, she fetched Muriel.

80"Muriel," she said, "read me the Fourth Commandment. 81Does it not say something about never sleeping in a bed?"

82With some difficulty Muriel spelt it out.

83"It says, 'No animal shall sleep in a bed with sheets,'" she announced finally.

84Curiously enough, Clover had not remembered that the Fourth Commandment mentioned sheets; but as it was there on the wall, it must have done so. 85And Squealer, who happened to be passing at this moment, attended by two or three dogs, was able to put the whole matter in its proper perspective.

86"You have heard then, comrades," he said, "that we pigs now sleep in the beds of the farmhouse? 87And why not? 88You did not suppose, surely, that there was ever a ruling against beds? 89A bed merely means a place to sleep in. 90A pile of straw in a stall is a bed, properly regarded. 91The rule was against sheets, which are a human invention. 92We have removed the sheets from the farmhouse beds, and sleep between blankets. 93And very comfortable beds they are too! 94But not more comfortable than we need, I can tell you, comrades, with all the brainwork we have to do nowadays. 95You would not rob us of our repose, would you, comrades? 96You would not have us too tired to carry out our duties? 97Surely none of you wishes to see Jones back?"

98The animals reassured him on this point immediately, and no more was said about the pigs sleeping in the farmhouse beds. 99And when, some days afterwards, it was announced that from now on the pigs would get up an hour later in the mornings than the other animals, no complaint was made about that either.

100By the autumn the animals were tired but happy. 101They had had a hard year, and after the sale of part of the hay and corn, the stores of food for the winter were none too plentiful, but the windmill compensated for everything. 102It was almost half built now. 103After the harvest there was a stretch of clear dry weather, and the animals toiled harder than ever, thinking it well worth while to plod to and fro all day with blocks of stone if by doing so they could raise the walls another foot. 104Boxer would even come out at nights and work for an hour or two on his own by the light of the harvest moon. 105In their spare moments the animals would walk round and round the half-finished mill, admiring the strength and perpendicularity of its walls and marvelling that they should ever have been able to build anything so imposing. 106Only old Benjamin refused to grow enthusiastic about the windmill, though, as usual, he would utter nothing beyond the cryptic remark that donkeys live a long time.

107November came, with raging south-west winds. 108Building had to stop because it was now too wet to mix the cement. 109Finally there came a night when the gale was so violent that the farm buildings rocked on their foundations and several tiles were blown off the roof of the barn. 110The hens woke up squawking with terror because they had all dreamed simultaneously of hearing a gun go off in the distance. 111In the morning the animals came out of their stalls to find that the flagstaff had been blown down and an elm tree at the foot of the orchard had been plucked up like a radish. 112They had just noticed this when a cry of despair broke from every animal's throat. 113A terrible sight had met their eyes. 114The windmill was in ruins.

115With one accord they dashed down to the spot. 116Napoleon, who seldom moved out of a walk, raced ahead of them all. 117Yes, there it lay, the fruit of all their struggles, levelled to its foundations, the stones they had broken and carried so laboriously scattered all around. 118Unable at first to speak, they stood gazing mournfully at the litter of fallen stone Napoleon paced to and fro in silence, occasionally snuffing at the ground. 119His tail had grown rigid and twitched sharply from side to side, a sign in him of intense mental activity. 120Suddenly he halted as though his mind were made up.

121"Comrades," he said quietly, "do you know who is responsible for this? 122Do you know the enemy who has come in the night and overthrown our windmill? 123SNOWBALL!" 124he suddenly roared in a voice of thunder. 125"Snowball has done this thing! 126In sheer malignity, thinking to set back our plans and avenge himself for his ignominious expulsion, this traitor has crept here under cover of night and destroyed our work of nearly a year. 127Comrades, here and now I pronounce the death sentence upon Snowball. 128'Animal Hero, Second Class,' and half a bushel of apples to any animal who brings him to justice. 129A full bushel to anyone who captures him alive!"

130The animals were shocked beyond measure to learn that even Snowball could be guilty of such an action. 131There was a cry of indignation, and everyone began thinking out ways of catching Snowball if he should ever come back. 132Almost immediately the footprints of a pig were discovered in the grass at a little distance from the knoll. 133They could only be traced for a few yards, but appeared to lead to a hole in the hedge. 134Napoleon snuffed deeply at them and pronounced them to be Snowball's. 135He gave it as his opinion that Snowball had probably come from the direction of Foxwood Farm.

136"No more delays, comrades!" cried Napoleon when the footprints had been examined. 137"There is work to be done. 138This very morning we begin rebuilding the windmill, and we will build all through the winter, rain or shine. 139We will teach this miserable traitor that he cannot undo our work so easily. 140Remember, comrades, there must be no alteration in our plans: they shall be carried out to the day. 141Forward, comrades! 142Long live the windmill! 143Long live Animal Farm!"