With one accord they dashed down to the spot. Napoleon,who seldom moved out of a walk,raised ahead of them all. Yes,there it lay,the fruit of all their struggles,levelled to its foundations,the stones they had broken and carried so laboriously scattered all around. Unable at first to speak,they stood gazing mournfully【adv. 悲哀地;凄惨地】 at the litter【n. 垃圾;轿,担架;一窝(动物的幼崽);凌乱】 of fallen stone. Napoleon paced to and fro in silence,occasionally snuffing at the ground. His tail had grown rigid and twitched sharply from side to side,a sign in him for intense mental activity. Suddenly he halted as though his mind were made up.
他们不约而同地冲到现场。很少走出散步的拿破仑,抬起头来,走在大家的前面。是的,它就在那儿,他们一切斗争的成果,已经夷平了地基,他们好不容易弄碎搬来的石头四散在那里。他们一开始说不出话来,只是悲哀地站在那里凝视着落在地上的碎石块。拿破仑默默地来回踱步,偶尔闻闻地面上的气味。它的尾巴变得僵硬了,还急剧地左右抽动着,对它来说,这是紧张的精神活动的标志。突然,他停了下来,仿佛他已经拿定了主意。
“Comrades,”he said quietly,“do you know who is responsible for this?Do you know the enemy who has come in the night and overthrown our windmill?SNOWBALL!”he suddenly roared in a voice of thunder. “Snowball has done this thing!In sheer malignity,thinking to set back our plans and avenge himself for his ignominious explosion,this traitor has crept here under cover of night and destroyed our work of nearly a year. Comrades,here and now I pronounce the death sentence upon Snowball. ’Animal Hero,Second Class,’and half a bushel of apples to any animal who brings him to justice. A full bushel to anyone who captures him alive!”