前言：學習英語關鍵是要用，我深以為然，于是試著翻譯一本英語原著。這只是手稿，由于對語法的了解不夠，難免錯誤。另外，對于一些單詞的譯法，我也使用我自己的理解，比如，"beasts of England"，我就思考了很久，“英格蘭之動物”？“英格蘭之野獸”？“英格蘭之獸”？或“英格蘭畜牲”？都感覺不好，于是翻譯成“英格蘭之生靈”，感覺要好一點，請戰友們提出寶貴意見。謝謝。

《動物農場》（第一章譯稿）

翻譯：楊懷玉

第一章

瓊斯先生，曼納農場之主，因天色已晚，已經鎖上了雞棚，但由于太醉而忘了關上里面的小門。借著搖來晃去，叮當作響的馬燈發出的亮光，他踉蹌著穿過院子，在后門踢掉了靴子，從洗碗間的啤酒桶里舀起今天的最后一杯啤酒，一飲而盡，然后一頭倒在床上。此時，床上的瓊斯夫人早已鼾聲如雷。

就在臥室燈光熄滅時，一種躁動不安的情緒彌漫了農場各個角落。因為，有件事白天已傳遍農場：老麥杰，那只了不起的中等白豬，在前一天晚上曾做了一個奇怪的夢，想要與其他動物分享。大家已約定，等瓊斯先生離開了，安全的時候，在窩棚的空地上一起開個會。老麥杰（他經常被這樣稱呼，盡管他被展覽時的名字是“威靈頓美男”）在農場是如此受尊敬，所有動物都完全準備好犧牲一小時睡眠，來聽聽他有什么要說。

在空曠的谷倉盡頭，在一個類似于演講臺的上面，麥杰早已安坐在他的稻草床上，手里提著一只馬燈，燈光里他帶著一絲微笑。他12歲了，最近發福相當厲害，但還是不失為一只風度翩翩的豬，盡管他的獠牙從未割掉，但看起來還是帶著智慧與慈祥的。不久，其他動物陸續來到，以各式各樣的姿式讓自己舒服地呆著。最先來的是三只狗，布魯鮑爾、杰西和皮切，然后是一群豬，他們迅速在臺前安頓下來。母雞們棲于窗臺，鴿子們則飛上了橫梁，綿羊和奶牛臥在豬群的后面開始反芻食物。兩只役馬，布克斯和庫魯娃，一起走了進來，步履緩慢，小心翼翼地放下他們那毛發茂密的馬蹄，以防踩到藏在稻草底下一些小動物。庫魯娃是一只婆婆媽媽的胖母馬，接近中年，生了四只小馬駒后，她從未完全恢復體型。布克斯體型巨大且兇相畢露，接近18手高，如兩匹尋常馬匹合在一起那么強壯。鼻子下一條白紋使他看上去有點呆，事實上他智力就是不怎么樣，但他的固執性格和工作時的精力充沛也是得到公認的。尾隨進來的是莫里奧，一只白山羊，還有本杰明，一只驢子。本杰明是農場里最老的動物，脾氣糟糕，孤言寡語，出語便通常是冷嘲熱諷，比如，他會說上帝給他尾巴驅趕蒼蠅，但他更希望沒有尾巴和蒼蠅。整個農場只有他從來不笑，如果問他為什么，他會說沒見到什么可笑的。然而，沒有公開承認的是，他忠誠于布克斯；他們倆經常一起過周末，在蘋果園邊上的小牧場里，肩并著肩，默默地吃著草。兩匹馬剛剛臥下，一窩失去母親的小鴨魚貫而入，虛弱地唧唧叫著，漫無目的地亂竄，想找一個不會被踩著的地方。庫魯娃伸出一只前腿，象墻一般護著他們，依偎在里面的小鴨們很快進入了夢鄉。最后一刻，莫麗，一只漂亮而愚蠢的白色母馬，她負責拉瓊斯先生的馬車，優雅地扭了進來，嘴里嚼著一塊方糖。她找了一塊靠前的位置坐下，開始擺弄她的白色鬃毛，試圖讓大家注意到她那結在頭上的紅色絲帶。最后，貓大人降臨，象往常一樣，他環顧四周，想找一個最溫暖所在，最后把自己擠進布克斯和庫魯娃之間，在那滿足地咕嚕著，整個麥杰的演講沒聽進一個詞。

除了摩西所有的動物都到了，摩西是一只馴化的烏鴉，睡在后門里的架子上。麥杰看到全部動物都安置妥當，并全神貫注地等著，他清了清嗓子，開始了演講：

同志們，你們已經聽說了我昨晚做的那個奇怪的夢。這事我稍后再提。我想先講一些其他的事。同志們，我不認為，還多少個月能和你們在一起，在我去世之前，我想我有責任將獲得的智慧傳授給你們。我命夠長了，獨自躺在我的圈里，有如此多的時間用來思考，我想，我應該說明白了生命的真諦，那些現在活在這個地球上的動物生命的真諦，這就是我想要對你們說的。

現在，同志們，什么是我們生命的真諦呢？讓我們面對以下這些現實：我們的生命是悲慘的，辛勞的和短暫的。我們生下來，得到如此之少的食物，僅能維持呼吸，但這真的僅僅是命中注定的嗎？是因為土地太貧瘠，以至于我們長期辛勤勞作還是不足以維持體面的生活嗎？不是的，同志們，一千個不！英格蘭土地肥沃，風調雨順，能產出如此多的食物，遠超過生活于此的動物所需。單以我們農場來說，就能支持一打馬匹，二十只奶牛，上百只綿羊——甚至所有的動物過上超乎我們相像的舒適和有尊嚴的生活。那么，為什么我們還是處于悲慘境地呢？原因是我們幾乎所有的勞動成果都被人類掠奪。因此，同志們，這就是我們所有問題的根源所在。所有這些歸結為一個字——“人”。

人類是我們唯一的真正的敵人。把人類從這趕走，饑餓和過度勞作將永遠被廢除。

人類是唯一不事生產而食的生物。他不產奶，他不生蛋，他太弱小而不能拉犁，他跑得不夠快抓不到兔子。他只是所有動物的主人。他驅使他們勞作，回報他們的是少至最低限度，僅防他們餓死的食物，剩下的全部留給自己。我們勞作在這塊土地，我們的糞便使之肥沃，我們之中卻沒有一個能擁有更多的東西，除了這身赤裸的皮毛。你們這些我跟前的奶牛，去年你們貢獻了多少加侖牛奶？這些可以喂養壯大小奶牛的牛奶又怎么樣了呢？每一滴都流入了我們敵人的喉嚨。還有你們這些母雞們，你們下的蛋有多少孵化成了小雞，剩余的全部被送到市場上去為瓊斯他們換取鈔票。還有你，庫魯娃，你生下來的四匹幼馬，他們本是你的晚年的寄托與慰籍，現在在哪呢？每一只都在一歲就被賣掉，你再也沒見到過他們中的任何一個。回報你四次分娩和地頭勞作的，除了微薄的口糧和一個僅能容身的馬廄還有啥呢？

即便是我們過著的這種悲慘生活，也不能盡享天年。對我自己來說，我沒有什么抱怨的，因為我是相當幸運的。我十二歲了，曾有過超過400個孩子。這是一只豬的正常壽命。但沒有動物最后能逃過屠刀。你們這些坐在我前面的肉豬們，一年之內，你們每一個都將在屠宰臺上嚎叫著失去生命。這種恐懼我們全都必須經歷，奶牛們，豬羅們，綿羊們，每一只動物。就是你們這些馬和狗也不會有更好的結局。你，布克斯，有那么一天，你那些強壯的肌肉失去力量，瓊斯會將你賣給屠馬者，他們會割斷你的喉嚨，煮熟，扔給獵狐狗。狗也是一樣，當他們老了，牙齒掉了，瓊斯會在他們脖子上捆塊磚，然后丟進最近的水塘溺死。

這是不是很清楚了？呃，同志們，所有我們精神、我們命運的不幸來源正是人類的殘暴統治。只有趕走人類，我們才能有豐富的勞動成果和自由。那么，我們應該做什么呢？嗨，日夜不停，投入全副身心，為推翻人類的統治而抗爭！這就是我對你們的忠言，同志們：反抗！我不知道這種抗爭何時來臨，可能一周之內或者100年內，但我知道，如同我能看見我腳下的稻草一樣確定，遲早總會到來。

同志們，窮盡你們短暫的余生！用你們的眼睛盯著這個事。尤其是要把我的忠言傳播給你們的后來者，未來的一代又一代將不停地抗爭，直到取得最后的勝利。

記住，同志們，你們的決心永遠不要動搖。不讓任何說法使得你們誤入歧途。永遠不要聽信他們告訴你們的，什么人類和動物存在共同的利益，什么一方的繁榮就是另一方的繁榮。這是徹頭徹尾的謊言。人們只顧為自己獲取利益而罔顧其他動物。我們動物之間要團結一致，建立斗爭中的親密同志關系。所有的人類都是敵人。所有的動物都是同志。

就在這時，傳來一陣嘈雜的喧鬧聲。原來是在麥杰演講時，四只肥大的老鼠爬出它們的洞穴，坐在它們的后半身上，正聆聽著他演講。狗兒突然一眼瞅到了它們，老鼠們為了逃生，迅速沖進洞里。麥杰抬了抬豬腳，示意大家安靜。

同志們，他說，這里有一點必須明確，野生動物，比如老鼠和野兔——他們是我們的朋友還是敵人？讓我們來表決一下，我向大會提議表決：老鼠們是同志嗎？

表決被立即舉行，此決議以壓倒性多數同意老鼠們是同志。只有僅僅四張反對票，三只狗和那只貓，后來發現他們兩邊都投了票。麥杰繼續道：

我還有更多的一點要說。我只想重申，你們永恒的職責是仇恨人類及人類所有的東西。任何兩只腳走路的就是敵人。任何四只腳走路的或者有翅膀的都是朋友。而且記住要為反抗人類而斗爭，我們必須不變成他們那樣。無論何時你們征服了他們，千萬不要染上他們的惡習。所有動物不能住進房屋，或者睡在床上，或者穿上衣服，或者飲食酒精類飲料，或者吸食煙草，或者觸碰金錢，或者參與生意。所有的這些人類習慣都是罪惡的。還有，綜上所述，沒有動物可以壓迫自己的同類。無論羸弱還是強壯，聰慧還是愚笨，我們都是兄弟。所有動物都不能屠殺其他動物。所有的動物都是平等的。

現在，同志們，我將告訴你們我昨晚的夢。我無法向你們描述這個夢境。這是一個在人類消失后，有關這個地球的夢。但是它提醒了我一些長久以來忘卻了的事情。

很多年前，那時我還是一只小豬仔，我媽媽和其他母豬常常吟唱一首古老的歌謠，她們只記得曲調以及開頭三個單詞。我在童年時就知道這個曲調，但在我腦海中消逝已久。然而就在昨晚，它又回到我的夢里。不僅如此，那些歌詞也同時顯現——就是歌詞，我記得千真萬確，動物們在遙遠的過去曾吟唱的歌詞，已經消失在幾代動物記憶里的歌詞。同志們，我現在就要唱起這首歌謠。我年事已邁，聲音沙啞，但只要我教過你們這些旋律，你們就能自己唱得更好。歌謠的名字叫做“英格蘭之生靈”。

老麥杰清了清嗓子，開始歌唱。當如他所說，他的聲音沙啞，但他唱得相當好，曲調激越，旋律介于美國民謠《Clementine》和墨西哥民歌《La Cucaracha》之間。歌詞如下：

英格蘭之生靈，愛爾蘭之生靈，

普天之下眾生靈，

傾聽我傳福音

關乎那金色的未來。

日子過得或緊或慢，

人類暴君終將消亡，

英格蘭那富饒的土地

只有我們留下的足跡。

鎖鏈亦將從鼻上摘除，

連同我們背上的桎梏，

疼痛與馬刺永遠生銹，

殘暴之鞭永不再響起。

富裕的藍圖超乎想象，

小麥大麥燕麥和干草

苜蓿大豆還有那甜菜

那天開始歸我們所有。

陽光普照英格蘭大地，

那里的河水如此純凈，

那里的風兒如此輕柔。

那天起開創自由時代。

為那天我們共同奮斗，

哪怕到來前已經長眠；

奶牛和馬，鵝與火雞

為了自由須不辭辛勞。

英格蘭之生靈，愛爾蘭之生靈，

普天之下眾生靈

傾聽我傳福音

關乎那金色的未來時光。

這首歌謠的合唱將動物們拋入了那種狂熱激動當中。幾乎就在麥杰快要唱到最后的時候，他們開始自發地唱了起來。即使是他們之間最遲鈍的也已經學會了旋律和少量幾個單詞，對于那些聰明的動物們，比如豬和狗，他們只花了幾分鐘就在心里記住了整首歌。然后，經過少量預備試唱后，整個農場爆發出驚人協調一致，齊聲唱起《英格蘭之生靈》，奶牛低吼，狗狗輕嗥，綿羊咩咩，駿馬嘶鳴，鴨子嘎嘎。他們是如此喜歡這首歌謠，僅僅用了五次就成功地把這首歌謠唱得一字不差，如果不被打斷的話，也許他們將會通宵達旦地吟唱這首歌。遺憾的是，喧鬧聲吵醒了瓊斯先生，他跳下床，認為肯定是有一只狐貍鉆進了院子里。他抓起那條經常放在他臥室的角落里槍，朝黑暗里，乒乒乓乓的將滿膛六顆子彈全部射出。彈粒全部射進了谷倉的墻里，。會議迅速被中止。每一只動物都溜回屬于自己睡覺的地方。鳥兒跳上了他們的架子，動物們在他們的窩棚里安頓下來，整個農場霎時風平浪靜。

AnimalFarm

Chapter1

Mr.Jones,of the Manor Farm, had locked the hen-house for the night, but was too drunk toremember to shut the popholes. With the ring light from his lantern dancingfrom side to side, he lurched across the yard, kicked off his boots at the backdoor, drew himself a last glass of beer from the barrel in the scullery, andmade his way up to bed, where Mrs.Jones was already snoring.

Assoon as the light in the bedroom went out there was a stirring and aflutteringall through the farm buildings. Word had gone round during the day that oldMajor, the prize Middle White boar, had had a strange dream on the previousnight and wished to communicate it to the other animals. It had been agreedthat they should all meet in the big barn as soon as Mr.Jones was safe out of theway. Old Major (so he was always called, though the name under which he hadbeen exhibited was Willingdon beauty) was highly regarded on the farm thateveryone was quite ready to lose an hour’s sleep in order to hear what he hadto say.

Atone end of the big barn, on a sort of raised platform, Major was alreadyensconced on his bed of straw, under a lantern which hung from a beam. He wastwelve years old and had lately grown rather stout, but he was still amajestc-looking pig, with a wise and benevolent appearance in spite of the factthat his tushes had never been cut. Before long the other animals began toarrive and make themselves comfortable after their different fashions. Firstcame the three dogs, Bluebell, Jessie, and Pincher, and then the pigs, whosettled down in the straw immediately in front of the platform. The hensperched themselves on the window-sills, the pigeons fluttered up to therafters, the sheep and cows lay down behind the pigs and began to chew the cud.The two cart-horses, Boxer and Clover, came in together, walking very slowlyand setting down their vast hairy hoofs with great care lest there should besome small animal concealed in the straw. Clove was a stout motherly mareapproaching middle life. Who had never quite got her figure back after fourthfoal. Boxer was an enormous beast, nearly eighteen hands high, and as strong asany two ordinary horses put together. A white stripe down his nose gave him asomewhat stupid appearance, and in fact he was not first-rate intelligence, buthe was universally respected for his steadiness of character and tremendouspowers of work. After the horses came Muriel, the white goat, and Benjamin, thedonkey. Benjamin was the oldest animal on the farm, and the worst tempered. Heseldom talked, and when he did, it was usually to make some cynical remark, forinstance, he would say that God had given him a tail to keep the flies off, butthat he would sooner have had no tail and no flies. Alone among the animals onthe farm he never laughed. If asked why, he would say that he saw nothing tolaugh at. Nevertheless, without opening admitting it, he was devoted to Boxer;the two of them usually spent their Sundays together in the small paddockbeyondthe orchard, grazing side by sideand never speaking.

The

two horseshad just lain down when a brood of ducklings, which had lost their

mother, filed into the barn, cheaply feedly and wondering from side to side to

find some place where they would not be trodden on. Clover made a sort of wall

round them with her great foreleg, and the ducklings nestled down inside it and

promptly fell asleep. At the last moment Mollie，the foolish, pretty white mare whodrew Mr.Jones’trap, came mincing daintily in, chewing at alump of sugar. She took a place near thefront and began flirting her white mane, hoping to draw attention to the redribbons it was plaited with. Last of all came the cat, who looked round, asusual, for, the warmest place, and finally squeezed herself in between Boxerand Clover; there she purred contentedly throughout Major’s speech withoutlistening to a word of what he was saying.

Allthe animals were now present except Moses, the tame raven, who slept on a perchbehind the back door. When Major saw that they had all made themselves comfortableand were waiting attentively, he cleared he throat and began:

“comrades, you have heard already about the strange dream that I hadlast night. But I will come to the dream later. I have something else to sayfirst. I do not think, comrades, that I shall be with you for many monthslonger, and before I die, I feel it my duty to pass on to you such wisdom as Ihave acquired. I have a long life, I have had much time for thought as I layalone in my stall, and I think I may say that I understand the nature of lifeon this earth as well as any animal now living. It is about this that I wish tospeak to you.

“Now, comrades, what is the nature of this life of ours? Let us faceit: our lives are miserable, laborious, and short. We are born, we are givenjust so much food as will keep the breath in our bodies, and those of us whoare capable of it are forced to work to the last atom of our strength; and thevery instant that our usefulness has come to an end we are slaughtered withhideous cruelty. No animal in England knows the meaning of happiness or leisureafter he is a year old. No animal in England is free. The life of the animal ismisery and slavery: that is the plain truth.

“But is this simply part of the order of nature? Is it because thisland of ours is so poor that it cannot afford a decent life to those who dwellupon it? No, comrades, a thousand times no! the soil of England is fertile, itsclimate is good, it is capable of affording food in abundance to an enormouslygreater number of animals than now inhabit it. This single farm of ours wouldsupport a dozen horses, twenty cows, hundreds of sheep – and all of them livingin a comfort and a dignity that are now almost beyond our imagining. Why thendo we continue in this miserable condition? Because nearly the whole of theproduce of our labour is stolem from us by human beings. There, comrades, isthe answer to all our problems. It is summed up in a singleword – Man. Man is the only real enemy wehave. Remove Man from the scene, and the root cause of hunger and overwork isabolished forever.

“Man is the only creature that consumes without producing. He doesnot give milk, he does not lay eggs, he is too weak to pull the plough, hecannot run fast enough to catch rabbits. Yet he is lord of all the animals. Hesets them to work, he gives back to them the bare minimum that will preventthem from starving, and the rest he keeps for himself. Our labour tills thesoil, our dung fertilises it, and yet there is not one of us that owns morethan his bare skin. You cows that I see before me, how many thousands ofgallons of milk have you given during this last year? And what has happened tothat milk which should have been breeding up sturdy calves? Every drop of ithas gone down the throats of our enemies.And you hens, how many of those eggs ever hatched into chickens? Therest have all gone to market to bring in money for Jones and his men. And you,Clover, where are those four foals you bore, who should have been the supportand pleasure of your old age? Each was sold at a year old – you will never seeone of them again. In return for your four confinements and all your labour inthe 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 theirnatural span. For myself I do not grumble, for I am one of the lucky ones. I amtwelves years old and have had over four hundred children. Such is the naturallife of a pig. But no animal escapes the cruel knife in the end. You young porkerswho are sitting in front of me, every one of you will scream your lives out atthe block within a year. To that horror we all must come -cows, pigs, 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 willsell you to the knacker, who will cut your throat and boil you down for thefoxhounds. As for the dogs, when they grow old and toothless, Jones tie a brickround their necks and drowns them in the nearest pond.

“Is it not crystal clear, then, comrades, that all the evils of thislife of ours spring from the tyranny of human beings? Only get rid of Man, andthe produce of our labour would become rich and free. What then must we do?Why, work night and day, body and soul, for the overthrow of the human race!That is my message to you, comrades: Rebellion! I do not know when thatRebellion will come, it might 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 justicewill be done.Fix your eyes on that,comrades, throughout the short remainder of your lives! And above all, pass onthis message of mine to those who come after you, so that future generationsshall carry on the struggle until it is victorious.

“And remember, comrades, your resolution must never falter. Noargument must lead you astray. Never listen when they tell you that Man and theanimals have a common interest, that the prosperity of the one is theprosperity of the others. It is all lies. Man serves the interests of nocreature except himself. And among us animals let there be perfect unity,perfect comradeship in the struggle. All men are enemies. All animals arecomrades.”

Atthis moment there was a tremendous uproar. While Major was speaking four largerats had crept out of their holes and were sitting on their hindquarters,listening to him. The dogs had suddenly caught sight of them, and it was onlyby swift dash for their holes that the rats saved their lives. Major raised histrotter for silence.

“Comrades,” he said, “here is a point that must be settled. The wildcreatures, such as rats and rabbits – are they our friends or our enemies? Letus put it to the vote. I propose this question to the meeting: Are ratscomrades?”

Thevote was taken at once, and it was agreed by an overwhelming majority that ratswere comrades. There were only four dissentients, the three dogs and the cat,who was afterwards discovered to have voted both sides. Major continued:

“I have little more to say. I merely repeat, remember always yourduty of enmity towards Man and all his ways. Whatever goes upon two legs is anenemy. Whatever goes upon four legs, or has wings, is a friend. And rememberalso that in fighting against Man, we must not come to resemble him. Even whenyou have conquered him, do not adopt his vices. No animal must ever live in ahouse, or sleep in a bed, or wear clothes, or drink alcohol, or smoke tobacco,or touch money, or engage in trade. All the habits of Man are evil. And, aboveall, no animal must ever tyrannise over his own kind. Weak or strong, clever orsimple, we are all brothers. No animal must ever kill any other animal. Allanimals are equal.

“And now, comrades, I will tell you about my dream of last night. Icannot describe that dream to you. It was a dream of the earth as it will bewhen Man has vanished. But itremindedme of something that I had long forgotten. Many years ago, when I was a littlepig, my mother and the other sows used to sing an old song of which they knewonly the tune and the first three words. I had known that tune in my infancy,but it had long since passed out of my mind. Last night, however, it came backto me in my dream. And what is more, the words of the song also came back –words, I am certain, which were sung by the animals of long ago and have beenlost to memory for generations. I will sing you that song now, comrades. I amold and my voice is hoarse, but when I have taught you the tune, you can singit better for yourselves. It is called beasts of England.”

OldMajor cleared his throat and began to sing. As he had said, his voice washoarse, but he sang well enough, and it was a stirring tune, something betweenClementine and La Cucaracha. The words ran:

Beastsof England, beasts of Ireland,

Beastsof every land and clime,

Hearkento my joyful tidings

Ofthe golden future time.

Soonor late the day is coming,

TyrantMan shall be o’erthrown,

Andthe fruitful fields of England

Shallbe trod by beasts alone.

Ringsshall vanish from our noses,

Andthe harness from our back,

Bitand spur shall rust forever,

cruelwhips no more shall crack.

Richesmore than mind can picture,

Wheatand barley, oats and hay,

Clover,beans, and mangel-wurzels

Shallbe ours upon that day.

Brightwill shine the fields of England,

Purershall its waters be,

sweeteryet shall blow its breezes.

Onthe day that sets us free.

Forthat day we all must labour,

Thoughwe die before it break;

Cowsand horses, geese and turkeys,

Allmust toil for freedom’s sake.

Beastsof England, beasts of Ireland,

Beastsof every land and clime,

Hearkenwell and spread my tidings

Ofthe golden future time.

Thesinging of this song threw the animals into the wildest excitement. Almostbefore Major had reached the end, they had begun singing it for themselves.Even the stupidest of them had already picked up the tune and a few of thewords, and as for the clever ones, such as the pigs and dogs, they had theentire song by heart within a few minutes. And then, after a few preliminarytries, the whole farm burst out into beasts of England in tremendous unison.The cows lowed it, the dogs whined it, the sheep bleated it, the horseswhinnied it, the ducks quacked it. They were so delighted with the song thatthey sang it right through five times in succession, and might have continuedsinging it all night if they had not been interrupted.

Unfortunately,the uproar awoke Mr.Jones, who sprang out of bed, making sure that there was afox in the yard. He seized the gun which always stood in a corner of hisbedroom, and let fly a charge of number 6 shot into the darkness. The pelletsburied themselves in the wall of the barn and the meeting broke up hurriedly.Everyone fled to his own sleeping-place. The birds jumped on to their perches,the animals settled down in the straw, and the whole farm was asleep in amoment.

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