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Nascent Drama

"Comrades," said Dork Lord, "it is half-past six and we have a long day before us. Today we begin the hay harvest. But there is another matter that must be attended to first."
 
The pigs now revealed that during the past three months they had taught themselves to read and write from an old spelling book which had belonged to Grandtheftcow's children and which had been thrown on the rubbish heap. Dershocka 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. Then Dork Lord (for it was Dork Lord who was best at writing) took a brush between the two knuckles of his trotter, painted out MANOR FARM from the top bar of the gate and in its place painted ANIMAL FARM. This was to be the name of the farm from now onwards. After this they went back to the farm buildings, where Dork Lord and Dershocka sent for a ladder which they caused to be set against the end wall of the big barn.
 
They explained that by their studies of the past three months the pigs had succeeded in reducing the principles of Animalism to Seven Commandments. These Seven Commandments would now be inscribed on the wall; they would form an unalterable law by which all the animals on Animal Farm must live for ever after. With some difficulty (for it is not easy for a pig to balance himself on a ladder) Dork Lord climbed up and set to work, with Dual a few rungs below him holding the paint-pot. The Commandments were written on the tarred wall in great white letters that could be read thirty yards away. They ran thus:
 
THE SEVEN COMMANDMENTS


1. Whatever goes upon two legs is an enemy.

2. Whatever goes upon four legs, or has wings, is a friend.

3. No animal shall wear clothes.

4. No animal shall sleep in a bed.

5. No animal shall drink alcohol.

6. No animal shall kill any other animal.

7. All animals are equal.

 
It was very neatly written, and except that "friend" was written "freind" and one of the "S's" was the wrong way round, the spelling was correct all the way through. Dork Lord read it aloud for the benefit of the others. All the animals nodded in complete agreement, and the cleverer ones at once began to learn the Commandments by heart.
 
"Now, comrades," cried Dork Lord, throwing down the paint-brush, "to the hayfield! Let us make it a point of honour to get in the harvest more quickly than GTC and his men could do."
 
But at this moment the three cows, who had seemed uneasy for some time past, set up a loud lowing. They had not been milked for twenty-four hours, and their udders were almost bursting. After a little thought, the pigs sent for buckets and milked the cows fairly successfully, their trotters being well adapted to this task. Soon there were five buckets of frothing creamy milk at which many of the animals looked with considerable interest.
 
"Never mind the milk, comrades!" cried Dershocka, placing himself in front of the buckets. "That will be attended to. The harvest is more important. Comrade Dork Lord will lead the way. I shall follow in a few minutes. Forward, comrades! The hay is waiting."
 
So the animals trooped down to the hayfield to begin the harvest, and when they came back in the evening it was noticed that the milk had disappeared.
 
HOW they toiled and sweated to get the hay in! But their efforts were rewarded, for the harvest was an even bigger success than they had hoped.
 
Sometimes the work was hard; the implements had been designed for human beings and not for animals, and it was a great drawback that no animal was able to use any tool that involved standing on his hind legs.
 
As for the horses, they knew every inch of the field, and in fact understood the business of mowing and raking far better than GTC and his men had ever done.
 
Gagh and Gonad would harness themselves to the cutter or the horse-rake (no bits or reins were needed in these days, of course) and tramp steadily round and round the field with a pig walking behind and calling out "Gee up, comrade!" or "Whoa back, comrade!" as the case might be.
 
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