动物农场Animal Farm 第7章(3)

The price of these would pay for enough grain and meal to keep the farm going till summer came on and conditions were easier.

这些鸡蛋所赚的钱可买回很多饲粮，庄园也就可以坚持到夏季，那时，情况就好转了。

When the hens heard this, they raised a terrible outcry.

鸡一听到这些，便提出了强烈的抗议。

They had been warned earlier that this sacrifice might be necessary, but had not believed that it would really happen.

虽然在此之前就已经有过预先通知，说这种牺牲恐怕是必不可少的，但他们并不相信真会发生这种事。

They were just getting their clutches ready for the spring sitting, and they protested that to take the eggs away now was murder.

此时，他们刚把春季孵小鸡用的蛋准备好，因而便抗议说，现在拿走鸡蛋就是谋财害命。

For the first time since the expulsion of Jones, there was something resembling a rebellion.

于是，自琼斯被逐以后第一次有了带有反叛味的行为。

Led by three young Black Minorca pullets, the hens made a determined1 effort tothwart2 Napoleon's wishes.

为了搅乱拿破仑的计划，鸡群在三只年轻的黑米诺卡鸡的带动下，索性豁出去了。

Their method was to fly up to the rafters and there lay their eggs, which smashed to pieces on the floor.

他们的做法是飞到椽子上下蛋，鸡蛋落到地上便打得粉碎。

Napoleon acted swiftly and ruthlessly.

对此，拿破仑立即采取严厉措施。

He ordered the hens' rations3 to be stopped, and decreed that any animal giving so much as a grain of corn to a hen should be punished by death.

他指示停止给鸡供应饲料，同时下令，任何动物，不论是谁，哪怕给鸡一粒粮食都要被处以死刑。

The dogs saw to it that these orders were carried out.

这些命令由狗来负责执行。

For five days the hens held out, then they capitulated and went back to their nesting boxes.

坚持了五天的鸡最后投降了，又回到了鸡窝里。

Nine hens had died in the meantime.

在这期间共有九只鸡死去。

Their bodies were buried in the orchard4, and it was given out that they had died of coccidiosis.

遗体都埋到了果园里，对外则说他们是死于鸡瘟。

Whymper heard nothing of this affair, and the eggs were duly delivered, a grocer's van driving up to the farm once a week to take them away.

对于此事，温普尔一点也不知道，鸡蛋按时交付，每周都由一辆食品车来庄园拉一次。