Скотний двір
Chapter 3
Sofarasheknew,hesaid,therewasnothingworthreading. Cloverlearntthewholealphabet,butcouldnotputwordstogether. BoxercouldnotgetbeyondtheletterD. HewouldtraceoutA,B,C,D,inthedustwithhisgreathoof,andthenwouldstandstaringattheletterswithhisearsback,sometimesshakinghisforelock,tryingwithallhismighttorememberwhatcamenextandneversucceeding. Onseveraloccasions,indeed,hedidlearnE,F,G,H,butbythetimeheknewthem,itwasalwaysdiscoveredthathehadforgottenA,B,C,andD. Finallyhedecidedtobecontentwiththefirstfourletters,andusedtowritethemoutonceortwiceeverydaytorefreshhismemory. Mollierefusedtolearnanybutthesixletterswhichspeltherownname. Shewouldformtheseveryneatlyoutofpiecesoftwig,andwouldthendecoratethemwithaflowerortwoandwalkroundthemadmiringthem.
NoneoftheotheranimalsonthefarmcouldgetfurtherthantheletterA. Itwasalsofoundthatthestupideranimals,suchasthesheep,hens,andducks,wereunabletolearntheSevenCommandmentsbyheart. AftermuchthoughtSnowballdeclaredthattheSevenCommandmentscouldineffectbereducedtoasinglemaxim,namely: "Fourlegsgood,twolegsbad." This,hesaid,containedtheessentialprincipleofAnimalism. Whoeverhadthoroughlygraspeditwouldbesafefromhumaninfluences. Thebirdsatfirstobjected,sinceitseemedtothemthattheyalsohadtwolegs,butSnowballprovedtothemthatthiswasnotso.
"Abird’swing,comrades,"hesaid,"isanorganofpropulsionandnotofmanipulation. Itshouldthereforeberegardedasaleg. ThedistinguishingmarkofmanistheHAND,theinstrumentwithwhichhedoesallhismischief."
