Animal Farm
Chapter 7
At last, feeling this to be in some way/ a substitute for the words /she was unable to find, she began to sing Beasts of England.
The other animals sitting round her took it up, and they sang it three times over, very tunefully, but slowly and mournfully, in a way they had never sung it before.
They had just finished singing it for the third time when Squealer, attended by two dogs, approached them with the air of having something important to say.
He announced that, by a special decree of Comrade Napoleon, Beasts of England had been abolished. From now onwards it was forbidden to sing it.
The animals were taken aback. “Why?” cried Muriel.
“It's no longer needed, comrade,” said Squealer stiffly.
“Beasts of England was the song of the Rebellion. But the Rebellion is now completed.
The execution of the traitors this afternoon was the final act. The enemy both external and internal has been defeated.
In Beasts of England we expressed our longing for a better society in days to come. But that society has now been established. Clearly this song has no longer any purpose.”
Frightened though they were, some of the animals might possibly have protested, but at this moment the sheep set up their usual bleating of “Four legs good, two legs bad,” which went on for several minutes and put an end to the discussion.
So Beasts of England was heard no more.
In its place Minimus, the poet, had composed another song which began: Animal Farm, Animal Farm, Never through me shalt thou come to harm!
And this was sung every Sunday morning after the hoisting of the flag.
But somehow neither the words nor the tune ever seemed to the animals to come up to Beasts of England.
translation
- 最终，她感觉这在某种程度上能够替代那些她难以言表的话语，便开始唱起了《英格兰的野兽》。
- 围坐在她身边的其他动物也跟着唱起来。他们唱了三遍，歌声悠扬，但节奏缓慢、充满哀伤，与以往的唱法截然不同。
- 他们刚唱完第三遍，斯奎拉在两条狗的陪同下朝他们走来，一副有要事相告的样子。
- 他宣称，遵照拿破仑同志的特别法令，《英格兰的野兽》已被取缔。从即日起，禁止演唱这首歌。
- 动物们大吃一惊。“为什么？” 穆丽尔叫道。
- “这首歌不再有必要了，同志。” 斯奎拉生硬地说。
- “《英格兰的野兽》是起义之歌。但如今起义已大功告成。
- 今天下午叛徒的处决便是最后的行动。内敌和外敌都已被击败。
- 在《英格兰的野兽》里，我们表达了对未来美好社会的憧憬。但如今这个社会已然建成。显然，这首歌不再有任何意义。”
- 尽管众动物心怀恐惧，但其中一些或许还是想抗议的。可就在这时，羊群像往常一样咩咩叫起 “四条腿好，两条腿坏”，这叫声持续了好几分钟，打断了讨论。
- 于是，《英格兰的野兽》再也听不到了。
- 取而代之的是，诗人麦尼缪斯创作了另一首歌，开篇为：“动物农场，动物农场，有我守护，你不会受到伤害！”
- 此后，每个周日清晨升完旗，动物们都会唱这首歌。
- 但不知为何，对动物们来说，无论是这首歌的歌词还是曲调，似乎都比不上《英格兰的野兽》。
vocabulary
[
{
"name": "substitute",
"trans": [
"n. 替代品，代替物；（体育比赛中的）替补队员；令人满意的替代物，与之媲美的事物；<苏格兰，法律>副职",
"v. 用……代替；（比赛中）替换（运动员）；代替（某人的工作）；（化）取代（分子中的一个或一组原子，尤指氢原子）",
"adj. 替代性的"
],
"usphone": "'ˈsʌbstɪtuːt'",
"ukphone": "''"
},
{
"name": "tunefully",
"trans": [
"adv. 声音悦耳地",
"和谐地"
],
"usphone": "'ˈtuːnfəli'",
"ukphone": "''"
},
{
"name": "mournfully",
"trans": [
"adv. 悲哀地；凄惨地"
],
"usphone": "'ˈmɔːrnfəli'",
"ukphone": "''"
},
{
"name": "in a way",
"trans": [
"在某种程度上；从某种程度上说；在某点"
],
"usphone": "'ɪn ə weɪ'",
"ukphone": "''"
},
{
"name": "attend by",
"trans": [
"un. 伴随有",
"修理人；员工；参加者"
],
"usphone": "''",
"ukphone": "''"
},
{
"name": "decree",
"trans": [
"n. 法令，政令；裁定，判决",
"v. 裁定，判决，颁布"
],
"usphone": "'dɪˈkriː'",
"ukphone": "''"
},
{
"name": "taken aback",
"trans": [
"感到惊讶或震惊：使某人感到意外或吃惊。"
],
"usphone": "''",
"ukphone": "''"
},
{
"name": "aback",
"trans": [
"adv. 向后；处于顶风位置；向后地；吓了一跳"
],
"usphone": "'əˈbæk'",
"ukphone": "''"
},
{
"name": "stiffly",
"trans": [
"adv. 生硬地；顽固地；呆板地"
],
"usphone": "'ˈstɪfli'",
"ukphone": "''"
},
{
"name": "traitor",
"trans": [
"n. 叛徒，卖国贼"
],
"usphone": "'ˈtreɪtər'",
"ukphone": "''"
},
{
"name": "act",
"trans": [
"n. （戏剧、歌剧等的）一幕；行为，行动；法案；装模作样；一段表演；节目；表演者，演出团体；发现某人正在（做某事）；判决书；<旧>会议记录，公报",
"v. 行动；举动，表现；假装；表演，演出；担任；起作用；代理；（心理分析）行为表现"
],
"usphone": "'ækt'",
"ukphone": "''"
},
{
"name": "longing for",
"trans": [
"渴望：强烈地希望得到某物或某种情感。"
],
"usphone": "''",
"ukphone": "''"
},
{
"name": "in days to come",
"trans": [
"在未来的日子里：表示在将来的某个时间段内。"
],
"usphone": "''",
"ukphone": "''"
},
{
"name": "composed",
"trans": [
"adj. 由……组成（或构成）的；平静的，镇定的；（色拉）码放整齐的",
"v. 组成，构成；作曲；撰写（信、诗或演讲稿）（****** 的过去式和过去分词）"
],
"usphone": "'kəmˈpoʊzd'",
"ukphone": "''"
},
{
"name": "hoist",
"trans": [
"v. 吊起，提升；<非正式>投篮",
"n. 吊升机械，起重机；吊起，升起；旗宽（贴近旗杆的部分）；（一串）信号旗"
],
"usphone": "'hɔɪst'",
"ukphone": "''"
}
]