Скотный двор

           Withhisbooksheldopenbyastone,andwithapieceofchalkgrippedbetweentheknucklesofhistrotter,hewouldmoverapidlytoandfro,drawinginlineafterlineandutteringlittlewhimpersofexcitement. Graduallytheplansgrewintoacomplicatedmassofcranksandcog-wheels,coveringmorethanhalfthefloor,whichtheotheranimalsfoundcompletelyunintelligiblebutveryimpressive. AllofthemcametolookatSnowball’sdrawingsatleastonceaday. Eventhehensandduckscame,andwereatpainsnottotreadonthechalkmarks. OnlyNapoleonheldaloof. Hehaddeclaredhimselfagainstthewindmillfromthestart. Oneday,however,hearrivedunexpectedlytoexaminetheplans. Hewalkedheavilyroundtheshed,lookedcloselyateverydetailoftheplansandsnuffedatthemonceortwice,thenstoodforalittlewhilecontemplatingthemoutofthecornerofhiseye;thensuddenlyheliftedhisleg,urinatedovertheplans,andwalkedoutwithoututteringaword. 

           Thewholefarmwasdeeplydividedonthesubjectofthewindmill. Snowballdidnotdenythattobuilditwouldbeadifficultbusiness. Stonewouldhavetobecarriedandbuiltupintowalls,thenthesailswouldhavetobemadeandafterthattherewouldbeneedfordynamosandcables. (Howtheseweretobeprocured,Snowballdidnotsay.) Buthemaintainedthatitcouldallbedoneinayear. Andthereafter,hedeclared,somuchlabourwouldbesavedthattheanimalswouldonlyneedtoworkthreedaysaweek. Napoleon,ontheotherhand,arguedthatthegreatneedofthemomentwastoincreasefoodproduction,andthatiftheywastedtimeonthewindmilltheywouldallstarvetodeath. Theanimalsformedthemselvesintotwofactionsundertheslogan,"VoteforSnowballandthethree-dayweek"and"VoteforNapoleonandthefullmanger." Benjaminwastheonlyanimalwhodidnotsidewitheitherfaction. Herefusedtobelieveeitherthatfoodwouldbecomemoreplentifulorthatthewindmillwouldsavework.