Mr. Jones, of the Manor Farm, had locked the hen-houses for the night
but he was too drunk to remember to shut the hen-house
he lurched across the yard, back to the house
the ring of light from his lantern danced from side to side
he kicked off his boots at the back door
he poured himself a last glass of beer
and then he made his way up to bed
Mrs. Jones was already in bed snoring
finally, the light in the bedroom went out
but then the farm buildings seemed to come alive
a stirring and fluttering of animals could be heard
old Major, the prize Middle White boar, had had a strange dream
word had gone around that he wanted to tell the other animals about it
but first they had to wait for Mr. Jones
he had to be safely out of the way
Old Major was highly regarded on the farm
so everyone was quite ready to lose an hour’s sleep

At one end of the big barn was a raised platform
Major was already ensconced on his bed of straw
he was under a lantern, which hung from a beam
He was twelve years old and had lately grown rather stout
but he was still a majestic-looking pig
and he had a wise and benevolent appearance
even though his tushes had never been cut
Before long the other animals began to arrive
each of them made themselves comfortable in their own way
First came the three dogs; Bluebell, Jessie, and Pincher
and then came the pigs of the farm
they settled down in the straw immediately in front of the platform
The hens perched themselves on the window-sills
the pigeons fluttered up to the rafters
the sheep and cows lay down behind the pigs
and they soon began to chew the cud
The two cart-horses, Boxer and Clover, came in together
they walked through the barn very slowly
and they set down their vast hairy hoofs with great care
there could always be some small animal concealed in the straw
Clover was a stout motherly mare approaching middle life
she had never quite got her figure back after her fourth foal
Boxer was an enormous horse, nearly eighteen hands high
and he was as strong as any two ordinary horses put together
A white stripe down his nose gave him a somewhat stupid appearance
in fact he was not of first-rate intelligence
but he was universally respected for his steadiness of character
and his tremendous powers of work also earned him respect
After the horses came Muriel, the white goat
then came Benjamin, the donkey
Benjamin was the oldest animal on the farm
and he was the worst tempered
He seldom talked to the other animals
when he did talk it was usually something cynical
he would say that God had given him a tail to keep the flies off
but he said he would rather there had been no flies at all
Alone among the animals on the farm he never laughed
If asked why, he would say that he saw nothing to laugh at
Nevertheless, without openly admitting it, he was devoted to Boxer
the two of them usually spent their Sundays together
they got to go in the small paddock beyond the orchard
there they grazed side by side, never speaking
The two horses had just lain down
then a brood of ducklings entered
they had lost their mother somewhere outside
the little ducklings cheeped feebly and wandered from side to side
maybe they could find some place where they would not be trodden on
Clover made a sort of wall around them with her great foreleg
and the ducklings nestled down in the cover
there they promptly fell asleep
At the last moment Mollie came wandering in
she was a foolish, pretty white mare
on the weekends she pulled Mr. Jones’s carriage
but now she was chewing at a lump of sugar
She took a place near the front of the stage
and she began flirting with her white mane
she had hoped to draw attention to the red ribbons in her mane
Last of all came the cat, prancing into the barn
she who looked round, as usual, for the warmest place
finally she squeezed herself in between Boxer and Clover
there she purred contentedly throughout Major’s speech
although she didn’t listen to a word of what he was saying
All the animals were now present except Moses
Moses was the tame raven of the farm
he slept on a perch behind the back door
Major saw that they had all made themselves comfortable
and he could see they were waiting attentively
he cleared his throat and began to speak
“Comrades, you have heard about the strange dream I had last night”
“But I will talk of the dream later”
“I have something else to say first”
“I do not think, comrades, that I shall be with you much longer”
“before I die there is something that I want to share with all of you”
“I feel it my duty to pass on some of the wisdom I have acquired”
“I have had the pleasure of a long and good life”
“I have had much time for thought as I lay alone in my stall”
“I think I can say I somewhat understand the nature of life on this earth”
“It is about this that I wish to speak to you”
“Now, comrades, what is the nature of this life of ours?”
“Let’s face it: our lives are miserable, laborious, and short”
“We are born into a cruel and uncaring world”
“we are given just enough food to keep the breath in our bodies”
“those able to are forced to work to the last atom of our strength”
“as soon as our usefulness comes to an end we are slaughtered”
“and this is done with hideous cruelty”
“No animal in England knows the meaning of happiness”
“after he is a year old there is no more time for leisure”
“No animal in England knows what it means to be free”
“The life of an animal is misery and slavery”
“that is the plain truth of our lives”
“But is this simply part of the order of nature?”
“Is it because this land of ours is so poor?”
“can the land not provide a decent life to those who dwell upon it?”
“No, comrades, a thousand times no!”
“The soil of England is fertile and its climate is good”
“it is capable of affording food in abundance”
“an enormously greater number of animals could live well from it”
“This single farm of ours could support a dozen horses”
“twenty cows, hundreds of sheep, thousands of hens”
“all of them could live in a comfort and dignity beyond our imagining”
“Why then do we continue in this miserable condition?”
“Because nearly the whole of the produce of our labour is stolen”
“the human beings take nearly everything we work for”
“There, comrades, is the answer to all our problems”
“It is summed up in a single word; ‘Man'”
“Man is the only real enemy we have”
“Remove Man from the scene, and our problems are solved
“the root cause of hunger and overwork would be abolished for ever”
“Man is the only creature that consumes without producing”
“He does not give milk, nor lay eggs”
“he is too weak to pull the plough”
“nor can he run fast enough to catch rabbits”
“Yet, despite his weaknesses, he is lord of all the animals”
“He sets them out to do his work”
“and he gives back to them the bare minimum”
“barely enough to prevent them from starving”
“and the rest he keeps for himself”
“Our labour tills the soil, while our dung fertilises it”
“and yet there is not one of us that owns more than his bare skin”
he addressed the cows sitting in front of him
“how many thousands of gallons of milk have you given this last year?”
“And what has happened to that milk?”
“milk which should have been breeding up sturdy calves”
“Every drop of it has gone down the throats of our enemies”
“And you hens, how many eggs have you laid in this last year?”
“and how many of those eggs ever hatched into chickens?”
“The rest of the eggs have all gone to market”
“Jones and his men collect the money for your work”
“And you, Clover, where are those four foals you bore?”
“they should have been the support and pleasure of your old age”
“Each foal was sold at a year old”
“you will never see any of them again”
“what have you received for your labour in the fields?
“what have you ever had except your bare rations and a stall?”
“and are our miserable lives allowed to reach their natural span?
“For myself I do not grumble”
“I am one of the lucky ones”
“I am twelve years old and have had over four hundred children”
“Such is the natural life of a pig”
“But no animal escapes the cruel knife in the end”
he addressed young porkers sitting in front of him
“every one of you will scream your lives out within a year”
“To that horror we all must come”
“cows, pigs, hens, sheep, everyone”
“Even the horses and the dogs have no better fate”
“one day even your great muscles, Boxer, will lose their power”
“on that day Jones will sell you to the knackers”
“he will cut your throat and boil you down for the foxhounds”
“As for the dogs, one day you will grow old and toothless”
“on that day Jones will tie a brick around your necks”
“and he will drown you in the nearest pond”

“Is it not crystal clear, then, comrades, where the evil springs from?”
“is the tyranny of human beings not at the heart of all our troubles?”
“get rid of Man, and the produce of our labour would be our own”
“Almost overnight we could become rich and free”
“What then must we do to free ourselves?”
“we must work night and day, body and soul”
“we must dedicate everything to the overthrow of the human race!”
“That is my message to you, comrades: Rebellion!”
“I do not know when that Rebellion will come”
“nothing says it can’t be in a week from now”
“or it could come in a hundred years”
“I can see it as clearly as I see the straw beneath my feet”
“sooner or later justice will be done”
“Fix your eyes on that goal, comrades”
“remember it for all of the short remainder of your lives!”
“And above all, do not let this message of mine die out here”
“pass this message on to those who come after you”
“then future generations shall carry on the struggle”
“they will fight on until our kind is victorious”
“And remember, comrades, your resolution must never falter”
“No argument must allow you to be led astray”
“Man and the animals have no common interest”
“Never listen to anyone who tries to convince you otherwise”
“the prosperity of the one is never the prosperity of the others”
“Man serves the interests of no creature except himself”
“And among us animals let there be perfect unity”
“let there be perfect comradeship in the struggle”
“all men are enemies, and all animals are comrades”
At this moment there was a tremendous uproar
While Major was speaking, four large rats had crept out of their holes
they were sitting on their hindquarters, listening to him
The dogs had suddenly caught sight of them
by a swift dash for their holes the rats saved their lives
Major raised his trotter for silence
“Comrades,” he said, “here is a point that must be settled”
“The wild creatures, such as rats and rabbits”
“are they our friends or our enemies?”
“Let us put it to the vote” Old Major suggested
“I propose this question to the meeting: Are rats comrades?”
The vote was taken at once
and it was agreed by an overwhelming majority that rats were comrades
There were only four dissentients; the three dogs and the cat
afterwards it was discovered she had voted on both sides
Major continued: “I have little more to say”
“but let me repeat what I have said”
“remember always your duty of enmity towards Man and all his ways”
“Whatever goes upon two legs is an enemy”
“Whatever goes upon four legs, or has wings, is a friend”
“but do not be led astray by the battle that is ahead of us”
“in fighting against Man, we must never come to resemble him”
“Even when you have conquered him, do not adopt his vices”
“No animal must ever live in a house”
“no animal must ever sleep in a bed”
“never wear clothes, or drink alcohol”
“don’t smoke tobacco, or touch money, or engage in trade”
“All the habits of Man are evil”
“And, above all, no animal must ever tyrannise over his own kind”
“Weak or strong, clever or simple, we are all brothers”
“No animal must ever kill any other animal”
“All animals are equal” Old Major concluded

“And now, comrades, I will tell you about my dream last night”
“I cannot describe that dream to you”
“It was a dream of the earth as it will be when Man has vanished”
“But it reminded me of something that I had long forgotten”
“Many years ago I was just a little pig”
“my mother and the other sows used to sing an old song”
“they knew only the tune and the first three words”
“I had known that tune in my infancy”
“but it had long since passed out of my mind”
“Last night, however, it came back to me in my dream”
“And I believe something of a miracle happened that night”
“the other words of the song also came back”
“these words I am certain were sung by the animals of long ago”
“but they have been lost to memory for generations”
“I will sing you that song now, comrades”
“I am old and my voice is hoarse”
“but I will teach you the tune”
“and then you can sing it better for yourselves”
“It is called beasts of England”
Old Major cleared his throat and began to sing
As he had said, his voice was hoarse
but all the animals found that he sang well
and it was truly a stirring tune
something between ‘Clementine’ and ‘La Cucaracha’
The words ran as follows:

Beasts of England, beasts of Ireland,
Beasts of every land and clime,
Hearken to my joyful tidings,
Of the golden future time.

Sooner or later the day is coming,
Tyrant Man shall be overthrown,
And the fruitful fields of England,
they shall be trod by beasts alone.

Rings shall vanish from our noses,
And the harness shall vanish from our back,
Bit and spur shall rust forever,
Cruel whips no more shall crack.

Riches more than mind can picture,
Wheat and barley, oats and hay,
Clover, beans, and mangel-wurzels
they shall be ours upon that day.

Bright will shine the fields of England,
Purer shall its waters be,
Sweeter yet shall blow its breezes
On the day that sets us free.

For that day we all must labour,
Though we die before it break;
Cows and horses, geese and turkeys,
All must toil for freedom’s sake.

Beasts of England, beasts of Ireland,
Beasts of every land and clime,
Hearken well and spread my tidings
tidings of the golden future time.

The song threw the animals into the wildest excitement
Old Major had hardly reached the end of the song
soon the animals had begun singing it by themselves
Even the stupidest of them had already picked up the tune
and they could even remember a few of the words
the dogs and pigs had the entire song by heart within a few minutes
all the animals had a few preliminary tries at singking it together
and then the whole farm burst out into singing beasts of England
The cows mooed it and the dogs howled it
the sheep bleated it and the horses neighed it
the ducks quacked it and the cat miowed it
They were delighted with everything about the song
and they sang it right through five times in succession
they would have continued singing it all night
but their celebrations were interrupted
Unfortunately, the uproar awoke Mr. Jones
he sprang out of bed to see what all the noise was
he thought there might have been a fox in the yard
He seized the gun which always stood in a corner of his bedroom
and he shot wildly into the darkness
The pellets buried themselves in the wall of the barn
and the meeting broke up hurriedly
Everyone fled to his own sleeping-place
The birds jumped on to their perches
the animals settled down in the straw
and the whole farm was asleep in a moment