How they toiled and sweated to get the hay in! But their efforts were rewarded, for the harvest was an even bigger success than they had hoped. Sometimes the work was hard; the implements had been designed for human beings and not for animals, and it was a great drawback that no animal was able to use any tool that involved standing on his hind legs. But the pigs were so clever that they could think of a way round every difficulty. As for the horses, they knew every inch of the field, and in fact understood the business of mowing and raking far better than Jones and his men had ever done. The pigs did not actually work, but directed and supervised the others. With their superior knowledge it was natural that they should assume the leadership. Boxer and Clover would harness themselves to the cutter or the horse-rake (no bits or reins were needed in these days, of course) and tramp steadily round and round the field with a pig walking behind and calling out "Gee up, comrade!" or "Whoa back, comrade!" as the case might be. And every animal down to the humblest worked at turning the hay and gathering it. Even the ducks and hens toiled to and fro all day in the sun, carrying tiny wisps of hay in their beaks. In the end they finished the harvest in two days' less time than it had usually taken Jones and his men. Moreover, it was the biggest harvest that the farm had ever seen. There was no wastage whatever; the hens and ducks with their sharp eyes had gathered up the very last stalk. And not an animal on the farm had stolen so much as a mouthful.

All through that summer the work of the farm went like clockwork. The animals were happy as they had never conceived it possible to be. Every mouthful of food was an acute positive pleasure, now that it was truly their own food, produced by themselves and for themselves, not doled out to them by a grudging master. With the worthless parasitical human beings gone, there was more for everyone to eat. There was more leisure too, inexperienced though the animals were. They met with many difficulties--for instance, later in the year, when they harvested the corn, they had to tread it out in the ancient style and blow away the chaff with their breath, since the farm possessed no threshing machine--but the pigs with their cleverness and Boxer with his tremendous muscles always pulled them through. Boxer was the admiration of everybody. He had been a hard worker even in Jones's time, but now he seemed more like three horses than one; there were days when the entire work of the farm seemed to rest on his mighty shoulders. From morning to night he was pushing and pulling, always at the spot where the work was hardest. He had made an arrangement with one of the cockerels to call him in the mornings half an hour earlier than anyone else, and would put in some volunteer labour at whatever seemed to be most needed, before the regular day's work began. His answer to every problem, every setback, was "I will work harder!"--which he had adopted as his personal motto.

But everyone worked according to his capacity The hens and ducks, for instance, saved five bushels of corn at the harvest by gathering up the stray grains. Nobody stole, nobody grumbled over his rations, the quarrelling and biting and jealousy which had been normal features of life in the old days had almost disappeared. Nobody shirked--or almost nobody.

Mollie, it was true, was not good at getting up in the mornings, and had a way of leaving work early on the ground that there was a stone in her hoof. And the behaviour of the cat was somewhat peculiar. It was soon noticed that when there was work to be done the cat could never be found. She would vanish for hours on end, and then reappear at meal-times, or in the evening after work was over, as though nothing had happened. But she always made such excellent excuses, and purred so affectionately, that it was impossible not to believe in her good intentions. Old Benjamin, the donkey, seemed quite unchanged since the Rebellion. He did his work in the same slow obstinate way as he had done it in Jones's time, never shirking and never volunteering for extra work either. About the Rebellion and its results he would express no opinion. When asked whether he was not happier now that Jones was gone, he would say only "Donkeys live a long time. None of you has ever seen a dead donkey," and the others had to be content with this cryptic answer.

On Sundays there was no work. Breakfast was an hour later than usual, and after breakfast there was a ceremony which was observed every week without fail. First came the hoisting of the flag. Snowball had found in the harness-room an old green tablecloth of Mrs. Jones's and had painted on it a hoof and a horn in white. This was run up the flagstaff in the farmhouse garden every Sunday morning. The flag was green, Snowball explained, to represent the green fields of England, while the hoof and horn signified the future Republic of the Animals which would arise when the human race had been finally overthrown. After the hoisting of the flag all the animals trooped into the big barn for a general assembly which was known as the Meeting. Here the work of the coming week was planned out and resolutions were put forward and debated. It was always the pigs who put forward the resolutions. The other animals understood how to vote, but could never think of any resolutions of their own. Snowball and Napoleon were by far the most active in the debates. But it was noticed that these two were never in agreement: whatever suggestion either of them made, the other could be counted on to oppose it. Even when it was resolved--a thing no one could object to in itself--to set aside the small paddock behind the orchard as a home of rest for animals who were past work, there was a stormy debate over the correct retiring age for each class of animal. The Meeting always ended with the singing of 'Beasts of England', and the afternoon was given up to recreation.

The pigs had set aside the harness-room as a headquarters for themselves. Here, in the evenings, they studied blacksmithing, carpentering, and other necessary arts from books which they had brought out of the farmhouse. Snowball also busied himself with organising the other animals into what he called Animal Committees. He was indefatigable at this. He formed the Egg Production Committee for the hens, the Clean Tails League for the cows, the Wild Comrades' Re-education Committee (the object of this was to tame the rats and rabbits), the Whiter Wool Movement for the sheep, and various others, besides instituting classes in reading and writing. On the whole, these projects were a failure. The attempt to tame the wild creatures, for instance, broke down almost immediately. They continued to behave very much as before, and when treated with generosity, simply took advantage of it. The cat joined the Re-education Committee and was very active in it for some days. She was seen one day sitting on a roof and talking to some sparrows who were just out of her reach. She was telling them that all animals were now comrades and that any sparrow who chose could come and perch on her paw; but the sparrows kept their distance. The reading and writing classes, however, were a great success. By the autumn almost every animal on the farm was literate in some degree.

As for the pigs, they could already read and write perfectly. The dogs

learned to read fairly well, but were not interested in reading anything

except the Seven Commandments. Muriel, the goat, could read somewhat

better than the dogs, and sometimes used to read to the others in the

evenings from scraps of newspaper which she found on the rubbish heap.

Benjamin could read as well as any pig, but never exercised his faculty.

So far as he knew, he said, there was nothing worth reading. Clover learnt

It was also found that the stupider animals, such as the sheep, hens, and

ducks, were unable to learn the Seven Commandments by heart. After much

thought Snowball declared that the Seven Commandments could in effect be

reduced to a single maxim, namely: "Four legs good, two legs bad." This,

he said, contained the essential principle of Animalism. Whoever had

thoroughly grasped it would be safe from human influences. The birds at

first objected, since it seemed to them that they also had two legs, but

Snowball proved to them that this was not so.

"A bird's wing, comrades," he said, "is an organ of propulsion and not of

manipulation. It should therefore be regarded as a leg. The distinguishing

mark of man is the HAND, the instrument with which he does all his

mischief."

The birds did not understand Snowball's long words, but they accepted his

explanation, and all the humbler animals set to work to learn the new

maxim by heart. FOUR LEGS GOOD, TWO LEGS BAD, was inscribed on the end

wall of the barn, above the Seven Commandments and in bigger letters When

they had once got it by heart, the sheep developed a great liking for this

maxim, and often as they lay in the field they would all start bleating

"Four legs good, two legs bad! Four legs good, two legs bad!" and keep it

up for hours on end, never growing tired of it.

Napoleon took no interest in Snowball's committees. He said that the

education of the young was more important than anything that could be done

for those who were already grown up. It happened that Jessie and Bluebell

had both whelped soon after the hay harvest, giving birth between them to

nine sturdy puppies. As soon as they were weaned, Napoleon took them away

from their mothers, saying that he would make himself responsible for

their education. He took them up into a loft which could only be reached

by a ladder from the harness-room, and there kept them in such seclusion

that the rest of the farm soon forgot their existence.

The mystery of where the milk went to was soon cleared up. It was mixed

every day into the pigs' mash. The early apples were now ripening, and the

grass of the orchard was littered with windfalls. The animals had assumed

as a matter of course that these would be shared out equally; one day,

however, the order went forth that all the windfalls were to be collected

and brought to the harness-room for the use of the pigs. At this some of

the other animals murmured, but it was no use. All the pigs were in full

agreement on this point, even Snowball and Napoleon. Squealer was sent to

make the necessary explanations to the others.

"Comrades!" he cried. "You do not imagine, I hope, that we pigs are doing

this in a spirit of selfishness and privilege? Many of us actually dislike

milk and apples. I dislike them myself. Our sole object in taking these

things is to preserve our health. Milk and apples (this has been proved by

Science, comrades) contain substances absolutely necessary to the

well-being of a pig. We pigs are brainworkers. The whole management and

organisation of this farm depend on us. Day and night we are watching over

your welfare. It is for YOUR sake that we drink that milk and eat those

apples. Do you know what would happen if we pigs failed in our duty? Jones

would come back! Yes, Jones would come back! Surely, comrades," cried

Squealer almost pleadingly, skipping from side to side and whisking his

tail, "surely there is no one among you who wants to see Jones come back?"

Now if there was one thing that the animals were completely certain of, it

was that they did not want Jones back. When it was put to them in this

light, they had no more to say. The importance of keeping the pigs in good

health was all too obvious. So it was agreed without further argument that

the milk and the windfall apples (and also the main crop of apples when

they ripened) should be reserved for the pigs alone.