Animal Farm | Page 7

gate that gave
on to the main road. Then 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. This was to be the name of the farm from now onwards. After 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. They explained that by their studies of the past three months the pigs had succeeded in reducing
the principles of Animalism to Seven Commandments. These 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. With some difficulty (for it is not easy for a pig to balance himself on a ladder) Snowball climbed up
and set to work, with Squealer a few rungs below him holding the paint-pot. The Commandments were
written on the tarred wall in great white letters that could be read thirty yards away. They ran thus:

THE SEVEN COMMANDMENTS

1. Whatever goes upon two legs is an enemy.
2. Whatever goes upon four legs, or has wings, is a friend.
3. No animal shall wear clothes.
4. No animal shall sleep in a bed.
5. No animal shall drink alcohol.
6. No animal shall kill any other animal.
7. All animals are equal.
It 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. Snowball read it aloud for the benefit of the others.
All the animals nodded in complete agreement, and the cleverer ones at once began to learn the
Commandments by heart.

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

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

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

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

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Animal Farm

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

So 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.

III

HOW they toiled and sweated to get the hay in! But their efforts were rewarded, for the harvest was an even
bigger success than they had hoped.

Sometimes the work was hard; the implements had been designed for human beings and not for animals, and
it was a great drawback that no animal was able to use any tool that involved standing on his hind legs. But
the pigs were so clever that they could think of a way round every difficulty. As for the horses, they knew
every inch of the field, and in fact understood the business of mowing and raking far better than Jones and his
men had ever done. The pigs did not actually work, but directed and supervised the others. With their
superior knowledge it was natural that they should assume the leadership. Boxer and Clover would harness
themselves to the cutter or the horse-rake (no bits or reins were needed in these days, of course) and tramp
steadily round and round the field with a pig walking behind and calling out "Gee up, comrade!" or "Whoa
back, comrade!" as the case might be. And every animal down to the humblest worked at turning the hay and
gathering it. Even the ducks and hens toiled to and fro all day in the sun, carrying tiny wisps of hay in their
beaks. In the end they finished the harvest in two days' less time than it had usually taken Jones and his men.
Moreover, it was the biggest harvest that the farm had ever seen. There was no wastage whatever; the hens
and ducks with their sharp