动物农场 Animal Farm 第1章(4)

"Man is the only creature that consumes without producing.

“人是一种最可怜的家伙，什么都产不了，只会挥霍。

He does not give milk, he does not lay eggs, he is too weak to pull the plough, he cannot run fast enough to catch rabbits.

那些家伙产不了奶，也下不了蛋，瘦弱得拉不动犁跑起来也是慢吞吞的，连个兔子都逮不住。

Yet he is lord of all the animals.

可那家伙却是所有动物的主宰。

He sets them to work, he gives back to them the bare minimum that will prevent them from starving, and the rest he keeps for himself.

他驱使他们去干活，给他们报偿却只是一点少得不能再少的草料，仅够他们糊口而已。而他们劳动所得的其余的一切则都被他据为己有。

Our labour tills the soil, our dung fertilises it, and yet there is not one of us that owns more than his bare skin.

是我们流血流汗在耕耘这块土地，是我们的粪便使它肥沃，可我们自己除了这一副空皮囊之外，又得到了什么呢!

You cows that I see before me, how many thousands of gallons of milk have you given during this last year?

你们这些坐在我面前的牛，去年一年里，你们已产过多少加仑的奶呢!

And what has happened to that milk which should have been breeding up sturdy calves?

那些本来可以喂养出许多强壮的牛犊的奶又到哪儿去了呢?

Every drop of it has gone down the throats of our enemies.

每一滴都流进了我们仇敌的喉咙里。

And you hens, how many eggs have you laid in this last year, and how many of those eggs ever hatched into chickens?

还有你们这些鸡、这一年里你们已下了多少只蛋呢?可又有多少孵成了小鸡?

The rest have all gone to market to bring in money for Jones and his men.

那些没有孵化的鸡蛋都被拿到市场上为琼斯和他的伙计们换成了钞票!

And you, Clover, where are those four foals you bore, who should have been the support and pleasure of your old age?

你呢，克拉弗，你的四匹小马驹到哪儿去了?他们本来是你晚年的安慰和寄托!

Each was sold at a year old--you will never see one of them again.

而他们却都在一岁时给卖掉了，你永远也无法再见到他们了。

In return for your four confinements and all your labour in the fields, what have you ever had except your bare rations and a stall?

补偿给你这四次坐月子和在地里劳作的，除了那点可怜的饲料和一间马厩外，还有什么呢?

"And even the miserable lives we lead are not allowed to reach their natural span.

“就是过着这样悲惨的生活，我们也不能被允许享尽天年。

For myself I do not grumble, for I am one of the lucky ones.

拿我自己来说，我无可抱怨，因为我算是幸运的。

I am twelve years old and have had over four hundred children.

我十二岁了，已有四百多个孩子。

Such is the natural life of a pig.

这对一个猪来说就是应有的生活了。

But no animal escapes the cruel knife in the end.

但是，到头来没有一个动物能逃过那残忍的一刀。

You young porkers who are sitting in front of me, every one of you will scream your lives out at the block within a year.

你们这些坐在我面前的小肉猪们，不出一年，你们都将在刀架上嚎叫着断送性命。

To that horror we all must come--cows, pigs, hens, sheep, everyone.

这恐怖就是我们——牛、猪、鸡、羊等等每一位都难逃的结局。