Years passed. The seasons came and went, the short animal lives fled by.
春去秋来,年复一年。随着岁月的流逝,寿命较短的动物都已相继死去。
A time came when there was no one who remembered the old days before the Rebellion, except Clover, Benjamin, Moses the raven, and a number of the pigs.
眼下,除了克拉弗、本杰明、乌鸦摩西和一些猪之外,已经没有一个能记得起义前的日子了。
Muriel was dead; Bluebell, Jessie, and Pincher were dead.
穆丽尔死了,布鲁拜尔、杰西、平彻尔都死了。
Jones too was dead--he had died in an inebriates' home in another part of the country.
琼斯也死了,他死在国内其他一个地方的一个酒鬼家里。
Snowball was forgotten.
斯诺鲍被忘掉了。
Boxer was forgotten, except by the few who had known him.
鲍克瑟也被忘掉了,所不同的是,唯有几个本来就相识的动物还记得。
Clover was an old stout mare now, stiff in the joints and with a tendency to rheumy eyes.
克拉弗如今也老了,她身体肥胖,关节僵硬,眼里总带着一团眼屎。
She was two years past the retiring age, but in fact no animal had ever actually retired.
按退休年龄来说,她的年龄已超过两年了,但实际上,从未有一个动物真正退休。
The talk of setting aside a corner of the pasture for superannuated animals had long since been dropped.
拨出大牧场一角给退休动物享用的话题也早就搁到一边了。
Napoleon was now a mature boar of twenty-four stone.
如今的拿破仑已是一头完全成熟的雄猪,体重三百多磅。
Squealer was so fat that he could with difficulty see out of his eyes.
斯奎拉胖得连睁眼往外看都似乎感到困难。
Only old Benjamin was much the same as ever, except for being a little greyer about the muzzle,
只有老本杰明,几乎和过去一个样,就是鼻子和嘴周围有点发灰,
and, since Boxer's death, more morose and taciturn than ever.
再有一点,自从鲍克瑟死去后,他比以前更加孤僻和沉默寡言。
There were many more creatures on the farm now,
现在,庄园里的牲口比以前多得多了,
though the increase was not so great as had been expected in earlier years.
尽管增长的数目不象早些年所预见的那么大。
Many animals had been born to whom the Rebellion was only a dim tradition, passed on by word of mouth,
很多动物生在庄园,还有一些则来自别的地方。对于那些出生在庄园的动物来说,起义只不过是一个朦朦胧胧的口头上的传说而已;
and others had been bought who had never heard mention of such a thing before their arrival.
而对那些来自外乡的动物来说,他们在来到庄园之前,还从未听说过起义的事。
The farm possessed three horses now besides Clover.
现在的庄园,除了克拉弗之外,另外还有三匹马。
They were fine upstanding beasts, willing workers and good comrades, but very stupid.
他们都是好同志,都很了不起,也都十分温顺,可惜反应都很慢。
None of them proved able to learn the alphabet beyond the letter B.
看起来,他们中间没有一个能学会字母表上“B”以后的字母。
They accepted everything that they were told about the Rebellion and the principles of Animalism,
对于有关起义和动物主义原则的事,凡是他们能听到的,他们都毫无保留地全盘接受,
especially from Clover, for whom they had an almost filial respect.
尤其是对出自克拉弗之口的更是如此。他们对克拉弗的尊敬,已近乎于孝顺。
But it was doubtful whether they understood very much of it.
但是,他们究竟是不是能弄通这些道理,仍然值得怀疑。
The farm was more prosperous now, and better organised.
现在的庄园更是欣欣向荣,也更是井然有序了。
It had even been enlarged by two fields which had been bought from Mr. Pilkington.
庄园里增加了两块地,这两块地是从皮尔金顿先生那里买来的。
The windmill had been successfully completed at last,
风车最终还是成功地建成了,
and the farm possessed a threshing machine and a hay elevator of its own, and various new buildings had been added to it.
庄园里也有了自己的一台打谷机及草料升降机,另外,还加盖了许多种类不一的新建筑。
Whymper had bought himself a dogcart.
温普尔也为自己买了一辆双轮单驾马车。
The windmill, however, had not after all been used for generating electrical power.
不过,风车最终没有用来发电。
It was used for milling corn, and brought in a handsome money profit.
而是用来磨谷子,它为庄园创收了数目可观的利润。