had beeninflicted by Napoleon s teeth
The dogs flanked the procession and at the head of all marchedNapoleon's black cockerel. Boxer and Clover always carriedbetween them a green banner marked with the hoof and the hornand the caption, "Long live Comrade Napoleon!"Afterwards therewere recitations of poems composed in Napoleon's honour, and aspeech by Squealer giving particulars of the latest increases in theproduction of foodstuffs, and on occasion a shot was fired from thegun. The sheep were the greatest devotees of the SpontaneousDemonstration, and if anyone complained (as a few animalssometimes did, when no pigs or dogs were near)that they wastedtime and meant a lot of standing about in the cold, the sheep weresure to silence him with a tremendous bleating of "Four legs goodtwo legs bad!" But by and large the animals enjoyed thesecelebrations. They found it comforting to be reminded that, aftall, they were truly their own masters and that the work theywas for their own benefit. So that. what with the songsprocessions, Squealer's lists of figures, the thunder of the gun, thecrowing of the cockerel, and the fluttering of the flag, they wereable to forget that their bellies were empty, at least part of the timeIn April, Animal Farm was proclaimed a Republic, and it becamenecessary to elect a President. There was only one candidateNapoleon, who was elected unanimously. On the same day it wasgiven out that fresh documents had been discovered whichrevealed further details about Snowballs complicity with Jones. Itnow appeared that Snowball had not, as the animals had previouslyimagined, merely attempted to lose the Battle of the Cowshed bymeans of a stratagem, but had been openly fighting on Jones's sideIn fact, it was he who had actually been the leader of the humanforces, and had charged into battle with the words "long liveHumanity! on his lips. The wounds on Snowballs back, whichfew of the animals still remembered to have seen. had beeninflicted by Napoleon s teeth
In the middle of the summer Moses the raven suddenly reappearedon the farm, after an absence of several years. He was quiteunchanged, still did no work, and talked in the same strain as everabout Sugarcandy Mountain. He would perch on a stump, flap hisblack wings, and talk by the hour to anyone who would listen. "Uphere, comrades, he would say solemnly, pointing to the sky withhis large beak-"up there, just on the other side of that dark cloudhat you can see-there it lies, Sugarcandy mountain, that happycountry where we poor animals shall rest for ever from ourlabours!" He even claimed to have been there on one of his higherflights, and to have seen the everlasting fields of clover and thelinseed cake and lump sugar growing on the hedges. Many of theanimals believed him. Their lives now, they reasoned, were hungryand laborious; was it not right and just that a better world shouldexist somewhere else? A thing that was difficult to determine washe attitude of the pigs towards Moses. They all declaredcontemptuously that his stories about Sugarcandy mountain werelies, and yet they allowed him to remain on the farm, not working.with an allowance of a gill of beer a day.After his hoof had healed up, Boxer worked harder than ever.Indeed, all the animals worked like slaves that year. Apart from theregular work of the farm, and the rebuilding of the windmill, therewas the schoolhouse for the young pigs, which was started inMarch. Sometimes the long hours on insufficient food were hard tobear, but Boxer never faltered In nothing that he said or did wasthere any sign that his strength was not what it had been. It wasonly his appearance that was a little altered; his hide was less shinyhan it had used to be, and his great haunches seemed to haveshrunken. The others said, Boxer will pick up when the springgrass comes on"; but the spring came and Boxer grew no fatterSometimes on the slope leading to the top of the quarry, when hebraced his muscles against the weight of some vast boulder. itseemed that nothing kept him on his feet except the will tocontinue. At such times his lips were seen to form the words, " Iwill work harder. he had no voice left Once again clover andBenjamin warned him to take care of his health, but Boxer paid noattention. His twelfth birthday was approaching. He did not carewhat happened so long as a good store of stone was accumulatedbefore he went on pension
Late one evening in the summer, a sudden rumour ran round thefarm that something had happened to Boxer. He had gone outalone to drag a load of stone down to the windmill. And sureenough, the rumour was true. A few minutes later two pigeonscame racing in with the news: " Boxer has fallen! He is lying on hisside and cant get up!About half the animals on the farm rushed out to the knoll wherethe windmill stood. There lay boxer, between the shafts of the carthis neck stretched out, unable even to raise his head. His eyes wereglazed, his sides matted with sweat. A thin stream of blood hadtrickled out of his mouth. Clover dropped to her knees at his sideBoxer!"she cried, how are you?'It is my lung, said Boxer in a weak voice. "It does not matter. Ithink you will be able to finish the windmill without me. There is apretty good store of stone accumulated. I had only another monthto go in any case. To tell you the truth, I had been looking forwardto my retirement. And perhaps, as Benjamin is growing old too,they will let him retire at the same time and be a companion tome
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