← Old Major (so he was always called, though the name under which he had been exhibited was Willingdon Beauty) was so highly regarded on the farm that everyone was quite ready to lose an hour's sleep in order to hear what he had to say. 🔊
← This was more than the hungry animals could bear. With one accord, though nothing of the kind had been planned beforehand, they flung themselves upon their tormentors. 🔊
← For the first few minutes the animals could hardly believe in their good fortune. Their first act was to gallop in a body right round the boundaries of the farm, as though to make quite sure that no human being was hiding anywhere upon it; then they raced back to the farm buildings to wipe out the last traces of Jones's hated reign. 🔊
← It was as though they had never seen these things before, and even now they could hardly believe that it was all their own. 🔊
← She would vanish for hours on end, and then reappear at meal−times, or in the evening after work was over, as though nothing had happened. 🔊
← It had come to be accepted that the pigs, who were manifestly cleverer than the other animals, should decide all questions of farm policy, though their decisions had to be ratified by a majority vote. 🔊
← It was fully realised that though the human beings had been defeated in the Battle of the Cowshed they might make another and more determined attempt to recapture the farm and reinstate Mr. Jones. 🔊
← When the animals had assembled in the big barn, Snowball stood up and, though occasionally interrupted by bleating from the sheep, set forth his reasons for advocating the building of the windmill. 🔊
← Suddenly he halted as though his mind were made up. "Comrades," he said quietly, "do you know who is responsible for this? 🔊
← The animals were thoroughly frightened. It seemed to them as though Snowball were some kind of invisible influence, pervading the air about them and menacing them with all kinds of dangers. 🔊
← They had made their way on to the little knoll where the half−finished windmill stood, and with one accord they all lay down as though huddling together for warmth−Clover, Muriel, Benjamin, the cows, the sheep, and a whole flock of geese and hens−everyone, indeed, except the cat, who had suddenly disappeared just before Napoleon ordered the animals to assemble. 🔊
← And though no one cared to mention it in the hearing of the pigs or the dogs, it was felt that the killings which had taken place did not square with this. 🔊
← It was as though the windmill had never been. As they approached the farm Squealer, who had unaccountably been absent during the fighting, came skipping towards them, whisking his tail and beaming with satisfaction. 🔊
← "Boxer!" she cried. "Boxer! Boxer! Boxer!" And just at this moment, as though he had heard the uproar outside, Boxer's face, with the white stripe down his nose, appeared at the small window at the back of the van. 🔊
← There were many more creatures on the farm now, though the increase was not so great as had been expected in earlier years. 🔊
← Somehow it seemed as though the farm had grown richer without making the animals themselves any richer−except, of course, for the pigs and the dogs. 🔊
← Even the tune of Beasts of England was perhaps hummed secretly here and there: at any rate, it was a fact that every animal on the farm knew it, though no one would have dared to sing it aloud. 🔊
← Some did it better than others, one or two were even a trifle unsteady and looked as though they would have liked the support of a stick, but every one of them made his way right round the yard successfully. 🔊
← It was as though the world had turned upside−down. Then there came a moment when the first shock had worn off and when, in spite of everything−in spite of their terror of the dogs, and of the habit, developed through long years, of never complaining, never criticising, no matter what happened−they might have uttered some word of protest. 🔊
← But just at that moment, as though at a signal, all the sheep burst out into a tremendous bleating of− "Four legs good, two legs better! 🔊