动物农场Animal Farm 第2章(7)

All were agreed that no animal must ever live there.

大家全都赞成：任何动物都不得在此居住。

The animals had their breakfast, and then Snowball and Napoleon called them together again.

动物们用完早餐，斯诺鲍和拿破仑再次召集起他们。

"Comrades," said Snowball, "it is half-past six and we have a long day before us.

“同志们”，斯诺鲍说道，“现在是六点半，下面还有整整一天。

Today we begin the hay harvest. But there is another matter that must be attended to first."

今天我们开始收割牧草，不过，还有另外一件事情得先商量一下。”

The pigs now revealed that during the past three months they had taught themselves to read and write from an old spelling book

这时，大家才知道猪在过去的三个月中，从一本旧的拼读书本上自学了阅读和书写。

which had belonged to Mr. Jones's children and which had been thrown on the rubbish heap.

那本书曾是琼斯先生的孩子的，早先被扔到垃圾堆里。

Napoleon sent for pots of black and white paint and led the way down to the five-barred gate that gave on to the main road.

拿破仑叫拿来几桶黑漆和白漆，带领大家来到朝着大路的五栅门。

Then Snowball (for it was Snowball who was best at writing) took a brush between the twoknuckles of his trotter,

接着，斯诺鲍(正是他才最擅长书写)用蹄子的双趾捏起一支刷子，

painted out MANOR FARM from the top bar of the gate and in its place painted ANIMAL FARM.

涂掉了栅栏顶的木牌上的“曼纳庄园”几个字，又在那上面写上“动物庄园”。

This was to be the name of the farm from now onwards.

这就是庄园以后的名字。

After this they went back to the farm buildings, where Snowball and Napoleon sent for a ladder which they caused to be set against the end wall of the big barn.

写完后，他们又回到窝棚那里，斯诺鲍和拿破仑又叫拿来一架梯子，并让把梯子支在大谷仓的墙头。

They explained that by their studies of the past three months the pigs had succeeded in reducing the principles of Animalism to Seven Commandments.

他们解释说，经过过去三个月的研讨，他们已经成功地把动物主义的原则简化为“七戒”。

These Seven Commandments would now be inscribed on the wall.

这“七戒”将要题写在墙上。

They would form an unalterable law by which all the animals on Animal Farm must live for ever after.

它们将成为不可更改的法律，所有动物庄园的动物都必须永远遵循它生活。

With some difficulty (for it is not easy for a pig to balance himself on a ladder)

斯诺鲍好不容易才爬了上去(因为猪不易在梯子上保持平衡)

Snowball climbed up and set to work, with Squealer a few rungs below him holding the paint-pot.

并开始忙活起来，斯奎拉在比他低几格的地方端着油漆桶。

The Commandments were written on the tarred wall in great white letters that could be read thirty yards away.

在刷过柏油的墙上，用巨大的字体写着“七诫”。字是白色的，在三十码以外清晰可辨。

They ran thus: THE SEVEN COMMANDMENTS

它们是这样写的：七诫

1. Whatever goes upon two legs is an enemy.

1. 凡靠两条腿行走者皆为仇敌;