動(dòng)物農(nóng)場Animal Farm 第6章(1)

All that year the animals worked like slaves. But they were happy in their work.

那一年，動(dòng)物們干起活來就像奴隸一樣但他們樂在其中。

They grudged no effort or sacrifice, well aware that everything that they did was for the benefit of themselves and those of their kind who would come after them,

流血流汗甚至犧牲也心甘情愿，因?yàn)樗麄兩钌畹匾庾R(shí)到：他們干的每件事都是為他們自己和未來的同類的利益，

and not for a pack of idle, thieving human beings.

而不是為了那幫游手好閑、偷摸成性的人類。

Throughout the spring and summer they worked a sixty-hour week.

從初春到夏末這段時(shí)間里，他們每周工作六十個(gè)小時(shí)。

And in August Napoleon announced that there would be work on Sunday afternoons as well.

到了八月，拿破侖又宣布，星期天下午也要安排工作。

This work was strictly voluntary, but any animal who absented himself from it would have his rations reduced by half.

這項(xiàng)工作完全是自愿性的，不過，無論哪個(gè)動(dòng)物缺勤，他的口糧就要減去一半。

Even so, it was found necessary to leave certain tasks undone.

即使這樣，大家還是發(fā)覺，有些活就是干不完。

The harvest was a little less successful than in the previous year,

收獲比去年要差一些，

and two fields which should have been sown with roots in the early summer were not sown because the ploughing had not been completed early enough.

而且，因?yàn)楦鳑]有及早完成，本來應(yīng)該在初夏播種薯類作物的兩快地也沒種成。

It was possible to foresee that the coming winter would be a hard one.

可以預(yù)見，來冬將是一個(gè)艱難的季節(jié)。

The windmill presented unexpected difficulties.

風(fēng)車的事引起了意外的難題。

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There was a good quarry of limestone on the farm,

按說，莊園里就有一個(gè)質(zhì)地很好的石灰石礦，

and plenty of sand and cement had been found in one of the outhouses, so that all the materials for building were at hand.

又在一間小屋里發(fā)現(xiàn)了大量的沙子和水泥，這樣，所有的建筑材料都已齊備。

But the problem the animals could not at first solve was how to break up the stone into pieces of suitable size.

但問題是，動(dòng)物們剛開始不知道如何才能把石頭弄碎到適用的規(guī)格。

There seemed no way of doing this except with picks and crowbars, which no animal could use, because no animal could stand on his hind legs.

似乎除了動(dòng)用十字鎬和撬棍外，沒有別的辦法?？墒?，動(dòng)物們都不能用后腿站立，也就無法使用鎬和撬棍。

Only after weeks of vain effort did the right idea occur to somebody-namely, to utilize the force of gravity.

在他們徒勞幾個(gè)星期之后，才有動(dòng)物想出了一個(gè)好主意，就是利用重力的作用。

Huge boulders, far too big to be used as they were, were lying all over the bed of the quarry.

再看那些巨大的圓石，雖然大都無法直接利用，但整個(gè)采石場上到處都是。

The animals lashed ropes round these, and then all together, cows, horses, sheep, any animal that could lay hold of the rope.

于是，動(dòng)物們用繩子綁住石頭，然后，由牛、馬、羊以及所有能抓住繩子的動(dòng)物合在一起。

Even the pigs sometimes joined in at critical moments.

甚至豬有時(shí)也在關(guān)鍵時(shí)刻搭個(gè)幫手。

They dragged them with desperate slowness up the slope to the top of the quarry, where they were toppled over the edge, to shatter to pieces below.

一起拖著石頭，慢慢地、慢慢地沿著坡拖到礦頂。到了那兒，把石頭從邊上堆下去，在底下就摔成了碎塊。