Animal Farm: An Abridged Text

Animal Farm: An Abridged
Text
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Introduction to Animal Farm
‘Animal Farm’ is a novel. It is a famous story. ‘Animal Farm’ was written by George Orwell in 1945. Mr Orwell went to a farm. He saw a boy walking with a horse. Orwell thought if animals could talk what would they think about human beings? He also thought that humans have all the power and treat animals badly. If animals had power and could talk what would they do?
‘Animal Farm’ is an interesting story. In the novel the animals can talk. ‘Animal Farm’ is a metaphor1 for Russia from 1917 to 1991. During this time, Russia was called the Soviet Union or the USSR.
From 1917 to 1991 Communism existed in Russia (the Soviet Union). This means everyone is equal. There are no rich people and there are no poor people. However, there were many problems in the Soviet Union from 1917 to 1991. ‘Animal Farm’ is about these problems.
1 A metaphor is when we use one thing to describe something else.
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Chapter 1
It is evening. Mr Jones is a farmer. He lives at Manor Farm. Mr Jones is not a nice man. Mr Jones is very cruel to his animals. When he falls asleep all the animals at Manor Farm have a meeting.
Major is an old pig. All the animals like him. He is intelligent. Major wants to tell all the animals about a dream he had. All the animals are quiet. They want to listen to Major. He tells the animals that he is old. Major thinks he is going to die soon. Before he dies, Major wants to tell the animals about humans.
Major tells the animals that they have a difficult life. All the animals have to work very hard. They do not get any rewards. Humans eat eggs. They come from animals. Humans eat cheese. That comes from animals. Humans drink milk and that also comes from animals. When animals die humans eat them. Major said that no animal is happy. Humans are the enemy of animals.
Animals are strong. Humans are weak. Why are animals so sad?
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It is because humans are so cruel. Major wants the animals to chase Mr Jones away. If he goes away, all the animals will be happy.
Major talks about his dream. In his dream only animals live on a farm. There are no human beings. All the animals are happy. They are all equal. All animals have a lot to eat. They are never hungry. They do not have to work for humans.
When Major has finished talking about his dream all the animals are happy. They like his dream. The animals want his dream to come true. Major tells the animals:
x What walks on four legs is a friend.
x What has wings is a friend.
x What walks on two legs is an enemy.
Major makes three rules. They are: 1. No animal can live in a house. 2. No animal can sleep in a bed. 3. No animal must kill another animal.
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All the animals are excited. They want Major to carry on talking. Mr Jones wakes up. He goes to the window. He fires his gun. Major has to stop the meeting. All the animals quickly go back to their places. Mr Jones does not know that the animals can talk. He also does not know that they have meetings.
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Chapter 2
Major died on Wednesday. All the animals were very sad. They all remembered Major’s dream. Snowball and Napoleon are two pigs. They are intelligent. Snowball and Napoleon make a plan to chase Mr Jones away from Manor Farm.
Every night the animals have a meeting. Some animals like Mr Jones. They do not want to chase him away. Mollie is a pretty horse. She likes Mr Jones because he gives her
sugar. Moses is a bird. He does not like the pigs. He tells the animals not to believe them.
Mr Jones has become very cruel. He does not feed his animals. One day in June Mr Jones goes to the pub. He comes back to Manor Farm and falls asleep. The animals are hungry. They are also angry. The animals decide to chase Mr Jones away.
Suddenly the animals run into the house. The dogs chase Mr Jones away.
The farm now belongs to the animals. Major’s dream has come true. All the animals are happy. They eat a lot of food. The
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animals are going to turn Mr Jones’s house into a museum. No animal will ever live in the house.
The next morning the animals have a meeting. The pigs can read and write. They change the name of Manor Farm. It is now called Animal Farm. There are going to be seven rules in Animal Farm. They are based on Major’s ideas. The seven rules are:
1. What has got two legs is an enemy. 2. What has got four legs or a wing is a friend. 3. Animals cannot wear clothes. 4. Animals cannot sleep in beds. 5. Animals cannot drink alcohol. 6. No animal can kill another animal. 7. All animals are equal.
These seven rules are never going to change.
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Chapter 3
The animals are very happy. They work very hard. No animals fight. No animals steal anything. There is a lot of food to eat. The pigs do not work. They tell the other animals what to do. The pigs become the leaders of Animal Farm. On Sundays the animals do not work. They have a meeting every Sunday. All the animals get together. All animals are taught how to read and write. The pigs are the most intelligent animals. Some animals cannot remember the seven rules. They are told to remember, “Four legs are good and two legs are bad.”
Napoleon tells the animals that education is very important. He takes nine new puppies away from their mothers. Napoleon said he was going to educate them.
Boxer and Clover are two horses. All the animals really like them. Boxer works very hard. If there is a problem he says, “I will work harder.”
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Not all the animals work as hard as Boxer. Mollie, the pretty horse, gets up late. She does not work hard. The cats disappear when it is time to work and come back at meal times. At the meetings on Sundays the pigs tell the other animals what to do. Snowball and Napoleon are intelligent pigs but they did not agree with each other. Things began to change. Something strange happens. Some milk is missing. It is given to the pigs. Also, all the apples were eaten by the pigs. They tell the other animals that they have to drink the milk and eat the apples because they are intelligent. If the pigs left then Mr Jones would come back. The animals hated Mr Jones. They agreed that the pigs could have all the apples and drink more milk.
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