動物農場Animal Farm 第8章(11)

A cry of lamentation went up.

一陣哀嚎油然而起。

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

莊主院門外鋪著草甸，于是，動物們踮著蹄尖從那兒走過。

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

他們眼中含著熱淚，相互之間總是詢問：要是他們的領袖拿破侖離開了，他們可該怎么辦。

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

莊園里此刻到處都在風傳，說斯諾鮑最終還是設法把毒藥摻到拿破侖的食物中了。

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

十一點，斯奎拉出來發(fā)布另一項公告。

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

說是拿破侖同志在彌留之際宣布了一項神圣的法令：飲酒者要處死刑。

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

可是到了傍晚，拿破侖顯得有些好轉。

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

次日早上，斯奎拉就告訴他們說拿破侖正在順利康復。

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

即日夜晚，拿破侖又重新開始工作了。

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

又過了一天，動物們才知道，他早先讓溫普爾在威靈頓買了一些有關蒸餾及釀造酒類方面的小冊子。

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

一周后，拿破侖下令，叫把蘋果園那邊的小牧場耕鋤掉。

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

那牧場原先是打算為退休動物留作草場用的。

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.

現(xiàn)在卻說牧草已耗盡，需要重新耕種;但不久以后便真相大白了，拿破侖準備在那兒播種大麥。

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

大概就在這時，發(fā)生了一件奇怪的事情，幾乎每個動物都百思不得其解。

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

這事發(fā)生在一天夜里十二點鐘左右，當時，院子里傳來一聲巨大的跌撞聲，動物們都立刻沖出窩棚去看。

It was a moonlit night.

那個夜晚月光皎潔。

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.

在大谷倉一頭寫著"七誡"的墻角下，橫著一架斷為兩截的梯子。

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.

斯奎拉平躺在梯子邊上，一時昏迷不醒。他手邊有一盞馬燈，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.

狗當即就把斯奎拉圍了起來，待他剛剛蘇醒過來，馬上就護送他回到了莊主院。

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.

除了本杰明以外，動物們都想不通這是怎么回事。本杰明呶了呶他那長嘴巴，露出一副會意了的神情，似乎看出點眉目來了，但卻啥也沒說。

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.

但是幾天后，穆麗爾自己在看到七誡時注意到，又有另外一條誡律動物們都記錯了。

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

他們本來以為，第五條誡律是"任何動物不得飲酒"，但有兩個字他們都忘了。

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

實際上那條誡律是"任何動物不得飲酒過度"。