動(dòng)物農(nóng)場(chǎng)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(mén)外鋪著草甸，于是，動(dòng)物們踮著蹄尖從那兒走過(guò)。

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(xún)問(wèn)：要是他們的領(lǐng)袖拿破侖離開(kāi)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(fēng)傳，說(shuō)斯諾鮑最終還是設(shè)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(diǎn)，斯奎拉出來(lái)發(fā)布另一項(xiàng)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(shuō)是拿破侖同志在彌留之際宣布了一項(xiàng)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(zhuǎn)。

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(shuō)拿破侖正在順利康復(fù)。

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

即日夜晚，拿破侖又重新開(kāi)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(guò)了一天，動(dòng)物們才知道，他早先讓溫普爾在威靈頓買(mǎi)了一些有關(guān)蒸餾及釀造酒類(lèi)方面的小冊(cè)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(píng)果園那邊的小牧場(chǎng)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(chǎng)原先是打算為退休動(dòng)物留作草場(chǎng)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(shuō)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(zhǔn)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(shí)，發(fā)生了一件奇怪的事情，幾乎每個(gè)動(dòng)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(diǎn)鐘左右，當(dāng)時(shí)，院子里傳來(lái)一聲巨大的跌撞聲，動(dòng)物們都立刻沖出窩棚去看。

It was a moonlit night.

那個(gè)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(cāng)一頭寫(xiě)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(shí)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(dāng)即就把斯奎拉圍了起來(lái)，待他剛剛蘇醒過(guò)來(lái)，馬上就護(hù)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(dòng)物們都想不通這是怎么回事。本杰明呶了呶他那長(zhǎng)嘴巴，露出一副會(huì)意了的神情，似乎看出點(diǎn)眉目來(lái)了，但卻啥也沒(méi)說(shuō)。

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(shí)注意到，又有另外一條誡律動(dòng)物們都記錯(cuò)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(lái)以為，第五條誡律是"任何動(dòng)物不得飲酒"，但有兩個(gè)字他們都忘了。

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

實(shí)際上那條誡律是"任何動(dòng)物不得飲酒過(guò)度"。