动物农场Animal Farm 第8章(11)

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　　一阵哀嚎油然而起。

　　Straw was laid down outside the doors of the farmhouse², and the animals walked on tiptoe.

　　庄主院门外铺着草甸，于是，动物们踮着蹄尖从那儿走过。

　　With tears in their eyes they asked one another what they should do if their Leader were taken away from them.

　　他们眼中含着热泪，相互之间总是询问：要是他们的领袖拿破仑离开了，他们可该怎么办。

　　A rumor³ went round that Snowball had after all contrived⁴ to introduce poison into Napoleon's food.

　　庄园里此刻到处都在风传，说斯诺鲍最终还是设法把毒药掺到拿破仑的食物中了。

　　At eleven o'clock Squealer⁵ came out to make another announcement.

　　十一点，斯奎拉出来发布另一项公告。

　　As his last act upon earth, Comrade Napoleon had pronounced a solemn decree: the drinking of alcohol was to be punished by death.

　　说是拿破仑同志在弥留之际宣布了一项神圣的法令：饮酒者要处死刑。

　　By the evening, however, Napoleon appeared to be somewhat better.

　　可是到了傍晚，拿破仑显得有些好转。

　　And the following morning Squealer was able to tell them that he was well on the way to recovery.

　　次日早上，斯奎拉就告诉他们说拿破仑正在顺利康复。

　　By the evening of that day Napoleon was back at work.

　　即日夜晚，拿破仑又重新开始工作了。

　　And on the next day it was learned that he had instructed Whymper to purchase in Willingdon some booklets on brewing⁶ and distilling⁷.

　　又过了一天，动物们才知道，他早先让温普尔在威灵顿买了一些有关蒸馏及酿造酒类方面的小册子。

　　A week later Napoleon gave orders that the small paddock beyond the orchard⁸,

　　一周后，拿破仑下令，叫把苹果园那边的小牧场耕锄掉。

　　which it had previously⁹ been intended to set aside as a grazing-ground for animals who were past work, was to be ploughed up.

　　那牧场原先是打算为退休动物留作草场用的。

　　It was given out that the pasture was exhausted¹⁰ and needed re-seeding; but it soon became known that Napoleon intended to sow it with barley¹¹.

　　现在却说牧草已耗尽，需要重新耕种；但不久以后便真相大白了，拿破仑准备在那儿播种大麦。

　　About this time there occurred a strange incident which hardly anyone was able to understand.

　　大概就在这时，发生了一件奇怪的事情，几乎每个动物都百思不得其解。

　　One night at about twelve o'clock there was a loud crash in the yard, and the animals rushed out of their stalls.

　　这事发生在一天夜里十二点钟左右，当时，院子里传来一声巨大的跌撞声，动物们都立刻冲出窝棚去看。

　　It was a moonlit night.

　　那个夜晚月光皎洁。

　　At the foot of the end wall of the big barn, where the Seven Commandments were written, there lay a ladder broken in two pieces.

　　在大谷仓一头写着"七诫"的墙角下，横着一架断为两截的梯子。

　　Squealer, temporarily stunned¹², was sprawling¹³ beside it, and near at hand there lay a lantern, a paint-brush, and an overturned pot of white paint.

　　斯奎拉平躺在梯子边上，一时昏迷不醒。他手边有一盏马灯，一把漆刷子，一只打翻的白漆桶。

　　The dogs immediately made a ring round Squealer, and escorted him back to the farmhouse as soon as he was able to walk.

　　狗当即就把斯奎拉围了起来，待他刚刚苏醒过来，马上就护送他回到了庄主院。

　　None of the animals could form any idea as to what this meant, except old Benjamin, who nodded his muzzle¹⁴ with a knowing air, and seemed to understand, but would say nothing.

　　除了本杰明以外，动物们都想不通这是怎么回事。本杰明呶了呶他那长嘴巴，露出一副会意了的神情，似乎看出点眉目来了，但却啥也没说。

　　But a few days later Muriel, reading over the Seven Commandments to herself, noticed that there was yet another of them which the animals had remembered wrong.

　　但是几天后，穆丽尔自己在看到七诫时注意到，又有另外一条诫律动物们都记错了。

　　They had thought the Fifth Commandment was "No animal shall drink alcohol," but there were two words that they had forgotten.

　　他们本来以为，第五条诫律是"任何动物不得饮酒"，但有两个字他们都忘了。

　　Actually the Commandment read: "No animal shall drink alcohol TO EXCESS."

　　实际上那条诫律是"任何动物不得饮酒过度"。

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