Animal Farm
Chapter 8
By the evening, however, Napoleon appeared to be somewhat better, and the following morning Squealer was able to tell them that he was well on the way to recovery.
By the evening of that day Napoleon was back at work, and on the next day it was learned that he had instructed Whymper to purchase in Willingdon some booklets on brewing and distilling.
A week later Napoleon gave orders that the small paddock beyond the orchard, which it had previously been intended to set aside as a grazing-ground for animals who were past work, was to be ploughed up.
It was given out that the pasture was exhausted and needed re-seeding; but it soon became known that Napoleon intended to sow it with barley.
About this time there occurred a strange incident which hardly anyone was able to understand.
One night at about twelve o'clock there was a loud crash in the yard, and the animals rushed out of their stalls.
It was a moonlit night. 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.
Squealer, temporarily stunned, was sprawling beside it, and near at hand there lay a lantern, a paint-brush, and an overturned pot of white paint.
The dogs immediately made a ring round Squealer, and escorted him back to the farmhouse as soon as he was able to walk.
None of the animals could form any idea as to what this meant, except old Benjamin, who nodded his muzzle with a knowing air, and seemed to understand, but would say nothing.
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.
They had thought the Fifth Commandment was “No animal shall drink alcohol,” but there were two words that they had forgotten.
Actually the Commandment read: “No animal shall drink alcohol to excess.”
translation
- 然而，到了傍晚，拿破仑的情况似乎有所好转。第二天早晨，斯奎拉便向大家宣布，拿破仑正朝着痊愈的方向顺利进展。
- 到了那天傍晚，拿破仑就回到了工作岗位上。第二天，大家得知他已经指示温珀去威灵顿购买一些有关酿造和蒸馏的小册子。
- 一周后，拿破仑下令将果园另一边的那片小牧场翻耕。此前，这片小牧场原本是打算留出来，作为供那些已无法工作的动物们放牧的牧场。
- 对外宣称的理由是牧场地力已经耗尽，需要重新播种；但很快大家就知道了，拿破仑打算在那片地上播种大麦。
- 大约就在这个时候，发生了一件奇怪的事情，几乎没人能弄明白是怎么回事。
- 一天夜里大约十二点的时候，院子里传来一声巨响，动物们都从自己的棚舍里冲了出来。
- 那是一个月色皎洁的夜晚。在写着 “七诫” 的大谷仓尽头墙壁脚下，有一架断成两截的梯子。
- 那些狗立刻在斯奎拉周围围成一圈，等他能站起来走路时，就护送着他回到了农场主的房子里。
- 没有一只动物能明白这是怎么回事，只有老本杰明除外。老本杰明带着一副心领神会的神情点了点鼻子，似乎明白了是怎么回事，但却什么也没说。
- 但几天后，穆丽尔独自反复读着 “七诫”，注意到其中还有一条戒律，动物们记错了。
- 他们原以为第五条戒律是 “任何动物不得饮酒”，但有两个词他们给忘了。
- 实际上，这条戒律写的是：“任何动物不得过度饮酒。”
vocabulary
[
{
"name": "better",
"trans": [
"adj. （健康状况）好转的，康复的；较好的，更好的；能力更强的，更熟练的；更合适的，更得体的",
"adv. 较好地，更好地；更，更大程度上；更妥，更恰当",
"n. 更好的事物，较好者；更好的表现，更好的待遇；<旧>上司，比自己能力强的人；打赌者（=bettor）",
"v. 超过，胜过；改善，改进",
"pron. 更大成就，更好待遇，更好行为"
],
"usphone": "'ˈbetər'",
"ukphone": "''"
},
{
"name": "booklet",
"trans": [
"n. 小册子"
],
"usphone": "'ˈbʊklət'",
"ukphone": "''"
},
{
"name": "brewing",
"trans": [
"n. 酿造；酝酿；计划",
"v. 酿造；策划阴谋（***** 的 ing 形式）"
],
"usphone": "'ˈbruːɪŋ'",
"ukphone": "''"
},
{
"name": "distilling",
"trans": [
"v. 蒸馏；用蒸馏法制造（酒等）；提炼；（通过加热）去除……；（诗、文）散发；提纯（****** 的现在分词）"
],
"usphone": "'dɪˈstɪlɪŋ'",
"ukphone": "''"
},
{
"name": "paddock",
"trans": [
"n. 围场；小牧场"
],
"usphone": "'ˈpædək'",
"ukphone": "''"
},
{
"name": "previously",
"trans": [
"adv. 以前地，先前地"
],
"usphone": "'ˈpriːviəsli'",
"ukphone": "''"
},
{
"name": "set aside",
"trans": [
"搁置；"
],
"usphone": "''",
"ukphone": "''"
},
{
"name": "grazing",
"trans": [
"n. 放牧；牧草",
"v. 擦过；抓伤（***** 的现在分词）"
],
"usphone": "'ˈɡreɪzɪŋ'",
"ukphone": "''"
},
{
"name": "plough up",
"trans": [
"犁地、翻土或翻耕"
],
"usphone": "''",
"ukphone": "''"
},
{
"name": "exhausted",
"trans": [
"adj. 耗尽的，枯竭的；筋疲力尽的；",
"v. 使精疲力尽；耗尽；详尽讨论（***** 的过去式和过去分词形式）"
],
"usphone": "'ɪɡˈzɔːstɪd'",
"ukphone": "''"
},
{
"name": "barley",
"trans": [
"n. 大麦"
],
"usphone": "'ˈbɑːrli'",
"ukphone": "''"
},
{
"name": "stunned",
"trans": [
"adj. （受重击后）无法正常行动的，昏倒的；（因惊讶、震惊而）目瞪口呆的；",
"v. 使震惊，使惊讶；使昏迷，（尤指）打昏；给（某人）以深刻印象，使深深感动（**** 的过去式和过去分词）"
],
"usphone": "'stʌnd'",
"ukphone": "''"
},
{
"name": "sprawling",
"trans": [
"v. 伸开四肢坐、躺或倒下；蔓延，杂乱无序地拓展（***** 的现在分词）",
"adj. 蔓延的，杂乱延伸的"
],
"usphone": "'ˈsprɔːlɪŋ'",
"ukphone": "''"
},
{
"name": "near at hand",
"trans": [
"近在手边：足够近，容易够到。"
],
"usphone": "''",
"ukphone": "''"
},
{
"name": "overturned",
"trans": [
"adj. 倾覆的，倒转的",
"v. （使）翻倒，（使）倾覆；推翻，撤销（判决等）；颠覆，破坏（政府或体系）（******n 的过去式和过去分词）"
],
"usphone": "'ˌoʊvərˈtɜːrnd'",
"ukphone": "''"
},
{
"name": "escort",
"trans": [
"v. 押送；护送，护卫",
"n. 护送者，护卫队，护航舰；（通常指异性的）社交聚会陪伴者，伴游；陪护，护送"
],
"usphone": "'ˈeskɔːrt'",
"ukphone": "''"
},
{
"name": "air",
"trans": [
"n. 神态，氛围；大气，空气；空中，天空；乘坐飞机，航空；曲调，旋律；装腔作势，做作；空气媒质；气，风",
""
],
"usphone": "'er'",
"ukphone": "''"
},
{
"name": "read over",
"trans": [
"仔细阅读"
],
"usphone": "''",
"ukphone": "''"
},
{
"name": "yet another",
"trans": [
"又一个"
],
"usphone": "''",
"ukphone": "''"
},
{
"name": "excess",
"trans": [
"n. 超过，过量；越轨行为，暴行；无节制，无度；（保险中的）免赔额",
"adj. 过多的，超额的；额外的，附加的"
],
"usphone": "'ɪkˈses'",
"ukphone": "''"
}
]