动物农场Animal Farm 第8章(6)

 　　A few days later, when the terror caused by the executions had died down, some of the animals remembered--

　　几天以后，这次行刑引起的恐慌已经平息下来后，有些动物才想起了

　　or thought they remembered--that the Sixth Commandment decreed "No animal shall kill any other animal."

　　第六条诫律中已经规定："任何动物不得伤害其他动物"，至少他们自以为记得有这条规定。

　　And though no one cared to mention it in the hearing of the pigs or the dogs, it was felt that the killings² which had taken place did not square with this.

　　尽管在提起这个话题时，谁也不愿让猪和狗听见，但他们还是觉得这次杀戮与这一条诫律不相符。

　　Clover asked Benjamin to read her the Sixth Commandment, and when Benjamin, as usual, said that he refused to meddle³ in such matters, she fetched Muriel.

　　克拉弗请求本杰明给她念一下第六条诫律，而本杰明却像往常一样说他不愿介入这类事情。她又找来穆丽尔。

　　Muriel read the Commandment for her.

　　穆丽尔就给她念了这条诫律。

　　It ran: "No animal shall kill any other animal WITHOUT CAUSE."

　　上面写着："任何动物不得伤害其他动物而无缘无故"。

　　Somehow or other, the last two words had slipped out of the animals' memory.

　　对后面这五个字，动物们不知怎么回事就是不记得了。

　　But they saw now that the Commandment had not been violated; for clearly there was good reason for killing¹ the traitors⁴ who had leagued themselves with Snowball.

　　但他们现在却清楚地看到，杀掉那些与斯诺鲍串通一气的叛徒是有充分根据的，它并没有违犯诫律。

　　Throughout the year the animals worked even harder than they had worked in the previous year.

　　整整这一年，动物们比前些年干得更加卖力。

　　To rebuild the windmill, with walls twice as thick as before, and to finish it by the appointed date, together with the regular work of the farm, was a tremendous labor⁵.

　　重建风车，不但要把墙筑得比上一次厚一倍，还要按预定日期完成；再加上庄园里那些日常性活计，这两项合在一起，任务十分繁重。

　　There were times when it seemed to the animals that they worked longer hours and fed no better than they had done in Jones's day.

　　对动物来说，他们已经不止一次感觉到，现在干活时间比琼斯时期长，吃得却并不比那时强。

　　On Sunday mornings Squealer⁶, holding down a long strip of paper with his trotter,

　　每到星期天早上，斯奎拉蹄子上就捏着一张长纸条，

　　would read out to them lists of figures proving that the production of every class of foodstuff⁷ had increased by two hundred per cent, three hundred per cent,

　　向他们发布各类食物产量增加的一系列数据，根据内容分门别类，有的增加了百分之二百，

　　or five hundred per cent, as the case might be.

　　有的增加了百分之三百或者百分之五百。

　　The animals saw no reason to disbelieve him, especially as they could no longer remember very clearly what conditions had been like before the Rebellion.

　　动物们觉得没有任何理由不相信他，尤其是因为他们再也记不清楚起义前的情形到底是什么样了。

　　All the same, there were days when they felt that they would sooner have had less figures and more food.

　　不过，他们常常觉得，宁愿要这些数字少一些，而吃得更多些。

1 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

2 killings   

谋杀( killing的名词复数 )； 突然发大财，暴发

参考例句：

• His statement was seen as an allusion to the recent drug-related killings. 他的声明被视为暗指最近与毒品有关的多起凶杀案。
• The government issued a statement condemning the killings. 政府发表声明谴责这些凶杀事件。

3 meddle   

v.干预，干涉，插手

参考例句：

• I hope he doesn't try to meddle in my affairs.我希望他不来干预我的事情。
• Do not meddle in things that do not concern you.别参与和自己无关的事。

4 traitors   

卖国贼( traitor的名词复数 )； 叛徒； 背叛者； 背信弃义的人

参考例句：

• Traitors are held in infamy. 叛徒为人所不齿。
• Traitors have always been treated with contempt. 叛徒永被人们唾弃。

5 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

6 squealer   

发出尖叫声的人；雏鸽；小松鸡；小鹌鹑

参考例句：

• Trust us, if you at their pictures long enough, you're bound to become another squealer. 相信我们，如果你盯着这些照片看上一段时间，必定会成为另一个尖叫粉丝。 来自互联网

7 foodstuff   

n.食料，食品

参考例句：

• They handled groceries and foodstuff.他们经营食品杂货。
• Construct a international foodstuff promotion and exhibition trade center.建成国际食品会展经贸中心。