Animal Farm（118）

And yet the animals never gave up hope. More，they never lost，even for an instant，their sense of honour and privilege in being members of Animal Farm. They were still the only farm in the whole country—in all England！—owned and operated by animals.  Not one of them，not even the youngest，not even the newcomers who had been brought from farms ten or twenty miles away，even ceased to marvel at that.  And when they heard the gun booming【v. 发出巨响，轰鸣；增长，繁荣（boom 的现在分词）】 and saw the green flag fluttering at the masthead【n. 桅顶；发行人栏；桅顶观望人；报头】，their hearts swelled with imperishable【adj. 不朽的；不灭的】 pride，and the talk turned always towards the old heroic days，the expulsion of Jones，the writing of the Seven Commandments，the great battles in which the human invaders【n. 侵略者（invader的复数）；侵入种】 had been defeated. None of the old dreams had been abandoned. The Republic of the Animals which Major had foretold，when the green fields of England should be untrodden by human feet，was still believed in. Some day it was coming：it might not be soon，it might not be written the lifetime of any animal now living，but still it was coming.  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. It might be that their lives were hard and that not all of their hopes have been fulfilled；but there were conscious that they were not as other animals.

然而动物们从未放弃希望。更重要的是，作为动物庄园的一员，他们从来没有失去过荣誉感和特权，哪怕是一瞬间。他们仍然是整个国家——整个英国——唯一的农场!——由动物拥有和经营。他们中没有一个人，即使是最年轻的，甚至那些从十英里或二十英里外的农场搬来的新来者，都对这一点感到惊奇。当他们听到隆隆的炮声，看到桅顶上的绿旗在飘扬。他们的心中充满了永不磨灭的自豪感，谈话的话题总是转到过去那些英勇的日子，驱逐琼斯，书写“七诫”，打败人类侵略者的伟大战役。以前的梦想没有一个被抛弃。梅杰预言过的动物共和国，即英国的绿色田野将不再被人践踏的时候，仍然是人们所相信的。总有一天它会到来:它可能不会很快到来，也可能不会被任何现存动物的一生所记载，但它仍然会到来。甚至《英格兰兽》的曲调也许也在这里或那里秘密地哼唱着，不管怎么说，庄园里的每一只动物都知道这首曲子，虽然没有人敢大声唱出来。也许他们的生活很艰难，他们的希望并没有全部实现，但他们很清楚，他们和其他动物不一样。