Hey there, and welcome back to Animal Farm: The Novelization. I have something to ask those viewing this story. Should I include the songs sung by the animals from the 1999 live-action movie? I'll put up a poll and see what you think.
Uploading Date: October 25, 2021
Enjoy!
Chapter 10: Our Leader, Comrade Napoleon
A few mornings after the executions, the animals had woken up to see another rule altered on the side of the barn. Most of the animals tried to read it, even if they had forgotten that they couldn't read.
"Benjamin, I cannot put the words together," Clover told the mentioned donkey. "Can you read what the sixth Commandment says?"
But Benjamin merely snorted. "You know I never meddle in such matters," he replied. "Especially politics."
So Clover had to fetch Muriel, who peered closely at the Commandments. Unlike the white paint that spelled out the other words, two more words were painted red, which looked ominously like blood. Sam felt a shiver run up his spine when he saw the "paint" dripping off the barn wall and to the ground below.
"It says," Muriel read, "'No animal shall kill any other animal without cause.'"
"What does that mean?" asked a cow.
"I guess it means that you can't kill an animal without good reason," explained Muriel. "Maybe my eyes are going bad if that's been there since the beginning."
"Imagine going against Comrade Napoleon!" bleated a sheep. "That's a good enough cause to kill someone."
"The traitors got what they deserved, and so will Snowball," a goose added. "That's what the sixth commandment says, right?"
That was when Sam stepped in. "We don't know if it was Snowball," he tried to reason. "It was only Napoleon who said it was. And why was death needed for - "
But the other animals paid no attention. And to top it off, the sheep decided to break into their mantra of "Four legs good, two legs bad!". Sam had to drop the argument, but he was starting to get very annoyed with the sheep.
...
The animals worked harder on the windmill than they had done the first time. Building the walls thicker was juggled along with regular farm work. Sometimes, the animals felt that they worked longer hours and fed no better than they had done in Jones's day. On Sunday mornings, Squealer - who would be holding down a long strip of paper with his trotter - would read out to them lists of figures proving that the production of food had increased a lot more than they thought and that their stomachs were misleading them. Most of the animals believed him because they could no longer remember clearly what life was like in the days of Jones. All the same, there were days when they felt that they wanted fewer figures and more food.
But Benjamin only scoffed at Squealer's talk...in private, of course. "There are three kinds of lies he's telling," he would tell those he believed still had a brain. "Lies, damned lies, and statistics."
It was clear that Napoleon had taken over every aspect of the farm. Squealer was always sent forth to give out his boss's orders. Napoleon himself didn't appear much in public anymore, perhaps once a week. When he did appear, he would always be chaperoned by the Animal Guard and a black Scots Dumpy rooster that would crow like a trumpeter before Napoleon gave speeches. He ate from a Crown Derby dinner service in the kitchen and slept in a separate room from the other pigs. The shotgun was still fired on the two anniversaries (the expulsion of Jones and the Battle of the Cowshed), but it was now fired on Napoleon's birthday as well.
Napoleon was to be called "our leader, Comrade Napoleon" most of the time; the pigs even invented names for him like Father Of All Animals, Terror Of Mankind, Protector of the Sheepfold, Duckling's Friend, and so on. Squealer preached joyfully about how Napoleon was so wise and kind and loved all animals, even those ignorant of Animalism. Animals were even crediting Napoleon with all things going right, just as Snowball was blamed for all things gone wrong. Sam had heard a hen tell another hen, "Thanks to the leadership of Comrade Napoleon, I've laid five eggs in four days", and a grazing cow had said to another cow, "Thanks to Comrade Napoleon, this grass tastes better than ever!"
Then, as if that wasn't enough, "Animal Farm" was also scrapped as "Beasts of England" had been. In its place was a poem simply titled "Comrade Napoleon", which was put upon the farm wall opposite the Seven Commandments. One day, Sam looked up at the barn wall where it was and read it as thus:
Friend of the fatherless!
Fountain of happiness!
Lord of the swill-bucket! Oh, how my soul is on
Fire when I gaze at thy
Calm and commanding eye,
Like the sun in the sky,
Comrade Napoleon!
Thou art the giver of
All that thy creatures love,
Full belly twice a day, clean straw to roll upon;
Every beast great or small
Sleeps at peace in his stall,
Thou watches over all,
Comrade Napoleon!
Had I a sucking pig,
Ere he had grown as big
Even as a pint bottle or as a rolling pin,
He should have learned to be
Faithful and true to thee,
Yes, his first squeak should be
"Comrade Napoleon!"
Napoleon approved of it and had the poem put beside his portrait on the barn wall; that was the anthem of the farm from now on, he said. But Sam wasn't sure that he liked this even better than "Animal Farm".
...
Meanwhile, Napoleon was involved in difficult compromises with Frederick and Pilkington. There was a pile of timber waiting to be sold. Frederick really wanted to buy it, but he would not offer a reasonable price. At the same time, there were revived rumors that Frederick and his men were plotting to attack Animal Farm and destroy the windmill out of furious envy. Snowball was known to be still lurking at Pinchfield.
On one mid-summer day, several hens came forward with a shocking admission. "We've been plotting against the farm," they wept. "You remember those Minorca hens that wouldn't give up their eggs? They inspired us to try to kill Napoleon in his sleep, thanks to Snowball - "
But they didn't finish, for the dogs of the Animal Guard pounced on the hens and tore them to pieces. Squealer announced that Napoleon's safety must come before any other animal's safety. Four dogs were to guard his bed at night, each in one corner of the bed, and a young pig named Pinkeye was to taste all his food before consumption, to see if the food was poisoned or not.
Around that time, Napoleon was ready to sell the timber pile to Pilkington, ready to agree with trading between Animal Farm and Foxwood. The relations between Napoleon and Pilkington were somewhat friendly thanks to negotiations given by Whymper. The animals distrusted Pilkington because he was a human, but they saw him as the lesser of two evils compared to Frederick. Frederick, they both hated and feared.
As summer wore on, and the windmill was getting closer to being complete, rumors of an attack grew stronger and stronger. Frederick was said to bring twenty men armed with guns against them all. It was even said that he had bribed the judges and police so that if he got hold of the deed of Animal Farm, they would turn a blind eye. Terrible stories were also leaking out from Pinchfield about how Frederick abused his animals. He had flogged an old horse to death, starved his cows, killed a dog by throwing it into the furnace, and amused himself by making roosters fight to the death with razor blades tied to their spurs. The animals' blood boiled with rage when they heard of what was done to their comrades.
"How dare he do such a thing!" quacked a duck.
"Why do animals allow humans to control them?" exclaimed a cow. "We must go over, drive the humans out, and set our comrades free!"
More voices joined in, demanding justice for their comrades. That was when Sam was one of the few animals to try and avoid violence. "Guys, I don't think that'll work," he barked when they were caught ready to invade. "What if Frederick blasts you all before you set foot on his property?"
"Comrade Sam is right," added Squealer. "You must not resort to recklessness. Put all your faith and trust in Comrade Napoleon."
Nevertheless, tensions between Pinchfield and Animal Farm were still high. Napoleon even said that he had never thought of selling the timber pile to Frederick in the first place because he didn't want to deal with such scum. He sent pigeons out to Pinchfield to deliver insulting words, as well as change their slogan from 'Death to Mankind' to 'Death to Frederick'.
In the late summer, yet another of Snowball's tricks struck the farm. The wheat crop was full of weeds, and on one of his nocturnal visits, Snowball had somehow mixed weed seeds with the seed corn. A gander had confessed his sin to Squealer and promptly committed suicide by swallowing toxic yew berries. The animals stepped away from the gander as he slowly died on the ground, his beak frothing with white foam.
It was when the dead gander was taken away to be thrown into the ditch that Squealer had an announcement. "You have heard, comrades," he declared, "that Snowball had been awarded 'Animal Hero, First Class' after the Battle of the Cowshed. Well, he wasn't. Snowball spread this lie to fool all of you."
"We all agreed that he would be rewarded those ranks," said Clover, trying her best to remember.
"No. Your memory is at fault," Squealer scolded her. "Snowball wasn't awarded any ranks at all. He was censured for cowardice and retreating from battle."
When fall arrived and the harvest had to be gathered, the windmill was finally complete. The machinery still needed to be installed, and Whymper was arranging to buy it, but the construction was finished. Tired but proud, the animals walked around and around their treasure, which appeared even more beautiful than the first time it was built. Furthermore, the walls were twice as thick as before, three feet of rock-hard brick. It would have to take the mightiest of explosives to destroy it this time! The animals forgot about their tiredness and frolicked around the windmill, cheering with triumph.
Attended by his dogs and the black rooster, Napoleon came down to inspect the completed work. "Congratulations, comrades," he commended them all. "The windmill stands once more. You should be proud of yourselves."
Sam wagged his tail as he shared tired yet happy looks with the animals. Napoleon was right; after all the hard work and all the discouragement from bad luck to Snowball's tricks, they were proud of their big achievement. But what Napoleon said made Sam angry:
"I think we should call this mill the Napoleon Mill, after myself," declared Napoleon. "Any objections?"
Sam wanted to object. After all, it was all the other animals who worked hard on the windmill, not Napoleon. But due to the Animal Guard growling and the sheep chanting "Four legs good, two legs bad" once again, no one complained out loud. So while the other animals celebrated the completion of the Napoleon Mill, Sam stalked away, his earlier good mood tainted because of Napoleon.
...
Two days later, Napoleon called for a special meeting in the barn. "Comrades, you have heard that I was going to sell the timber pile to Pilkington," he declared. "Well, I've already sold it to Frederick. His wagons will be here tomorrow morning and tow it away."
The animals were struck dumb with surprise when Napoleon made this announcement. "I thought you were friendly with Pilkington," remarked Bluebell.
"Oh no, I was pretending to be friendly with Pilkington," said Napoleon. "I'm allying with Frederick. I've broken off all ties with Pilkington and am sending insulting messages to Pilkington. All pigeons are to avoid sending insults to Pinchfield and start wishing death to Pilkington."
"What about Frederick?" asked Jessie. "We'll have to start preparing once he attacks and starts abusing us. Didn't you say as such?"
"No, we said no such thing," said Napoleon. "Snowball lied about that. He is Pilkington's fellow criminal leader."
But Sam did not believe it. While Napoleon was saying that Snowball was living at Foxwood in luxury and that he was a beneficiary of Pilkington for years, he decided to try and fall asleep during the meeting.
Afterward, the pigs were in raptures over Napoleon's plan. By seeming to be friendly with Pilkington, they bragged among each other, Napoleon had forced Frederick to raise his price by twelve pounds. Squealer even said that Napoleon's best quality was that he trusted no one: not his animals, not Pilkington, not even Frederick. Frederick had wanted to pay for the timber with a check, a piece of paper with a promise to pay written upon it. But Napoleon had demanded payment in real five-pound notes, which were to be handed over before the timber was removed. So Frederick had paid up, and the sum was just enough to buy machinery for the windmill. "Who is as wise and clever as our beloved leader, Comrade Napoleon?" the pigs crowed with cheer.
The next day, Frederick had some men come for the timber and cart it away. When it was gone, Napoleon called the animals to another special meeting so that they could see the banknotes. Napoleon himself was sitting upon a straw bed on the platform, beaming and wearing the war decorations that he had awarded himself. The money was at his side, piled perfectly on a china dish from the farmhouse kitchen. The animals walked slowly past to get their curiosity satisfied, and Boxer even sniffed at the banknotes, the white papers stirring and rustling in his breath.
"Look, don't touch," Napoleon warned him. "I don't want to punish my best worker for ruining those notes."
But three days later, there was a terrible uproar. His face deadly pale, Whymper came racing up the path in his truck, parked it in the driveway, and rushed straight to the farmhouse. "Mr. Napoleon! Mr. Napoleon!" he was yelling, a note in his hand. "You need to see this! We got some bad news!"
He slammed the door shut, and the animals gathered to hear the news. They waited with dread to hear what Whymper had to say. After a few moments, a choking roar of rage sounded from Napoleon's quarters.
"COMRADES!" Napoleon bellowed, calling out from the window. "Get over here right now!"
The animals slowly gathered by the window. When they did, Clover asked, "What's wrong?"
"What's wrong? I'll tell you!" yelled Napoleon, and he threw out the banknotes. "Those notes from Frederick were fakes! He has tricked us all!"
The animals gasped and tried sniffing the fake banknotes. Some of the sheep had taken to eating the fake notes as if they were grass.
Napoleon continued, "Comrades, I hereby place the death sentence upon Frederick. When captured, he shall be cooked alive in boiling oil. Keep your eyes and ears open, comrades. Frederick and his men might make their attack at any moment. I want sentries placed at all ends of the farm. Make sure that no human being or even animal gets by without you noticing. The pigeons will go to Foxwood and see if we can reconcile with Pilkington; they need to avoid Pinchfield at all costs."
The orders were carried out. Animals of each species were sent to be guards, and four pigeons flew off for Foxwood.
It was on the very next morning when the attack finally came. The animals had just gotten their orders for the week when a cow came galloping into the farmyard, a hen riding on her back. Both female animals had looks of terror on their faces.
"They're coming! They're coming!" lowed the cow.
"Who's coming?" demanded Napoleon from the farmhouse.
"Frederick and fourteen of his men!" added the hen. "They're on their way here to destroy us!"
So the animals raced out to fight them, but this battle wasn't as easy as the Battle of the Cowshed. Fifteen men including Frederick were fighting, having six guns between them, and they opened fire as soon as the animals got closer. The animals couldn't stand against the stinging bullets and were already wounded, and despite Boxer and Napoleon rousing them, they had to retreat. They took refuge in the farm buildings and peeped cautiously out from chinks and knot holes, looking on as the enemy gained control of the big pasture, including the windmill.
Even Napoleon seemed at a loss. He paced up and down without a word, his tail twitching, and he cast hopeful glances in the direction of Foxwood. "If Pilkington can help us," he told the animals, "the day might yet be won."
No sooner had he said this than the pigeons had come back from Foxworth. They dropped a piece of paper at Napoleon's trotters, which read: Serves you right.
"He's not coming," Sam muttered. Pilkington was leaving the animals to their fate.
Meanwhile, Frederick and his men had halted about the windmill. The animals watched, and a murmur of alarm went around. Two of the men had pulled out a crowbar and a sledgehammer and stuck them into the side of the windmill.
"They're going to knock the windmill down!" wailed Muriel.
"Impossible!" cried Napoleon. "We have built the walls far too thick for that. They won't knock it down in a week. Courage, comrades! Tyrants will pay for what they've done."
But Benjamin was watching the movements of the men. The two men with the hammer and the crowbar were drilling a hole near the base of the windmill. Slowly, and with an air of amusement, Benjamin nodded his long muzzle. "I thought so," he finally said.
"Thought what?" demanded Napoleon. "Answer me, you old ass!"
"Don't you see what they're doing?" Benjamin told him. "Look to where I'm looking. In another moment, they're going to pack blasting powder into that hole."
Napoleon followed his gaze. "You don't suppose...?"
Benjamin nodded. "Yes, I suppose. They'll blow the windmill up."
The animals looked on and saw that the old donkey was right. The humans were spending a few minutes by the windmill, lighting something with a match. They immediately ran after they had finished what they were doing, looking for somewhere to hide. There was a terrible silence, and the animals awaited in dread for what was going to happen next.
KABLOOM!
An explosion blasted the surrounding field, and when the dust cleared, there was nothing more of the windmill. It was as if the windmill had never existed.
When the shock and fear wore off, the animals' courage returned to them. They were furious that the men had committed this horrible act. So without waiting for orders, they rushed out and met the humans head-on in a fierce battle. Even the bullets didn't scare them into hiding this time.
It was a more savage battle than that from The Battle of the Cowshed, and it was a bitter one too. Bluebell, a cow, two geese, and three sheep were slain in battle, and almost everyone else was wounded. Even Napoleon fought and suffered an injury, the tip of his tail blown off by a gun. But Frederick's forces didn't escape uninjured either. Three men had their skulls cracked by Boxer's hooves, another was gored in the belly by a cow's horn, and another had his trousers nearly torn off by Jessie and Sam. And when the ten dogs of Napoleon's Animal Guard - whom he had instructed to make a detour under the hedges - suddenly appeared while barking ferociously, panic overtook them.
"Men!" shouted Frederick. "It's time to go! Retreat!"
In the next moment, Frederick and his men were running for dear life. The animals chased them right down to the bottom of the field and got in some last kicks at them as they forced their way through the thorn hedge.
The animals had won, but the battle had been costly. Bodies of slain animals littered the ground, and the survivors wept for them. They also wept for the windmill, for it was completely gone; the foundations were partly destroyed, and the broken stones were flung hundreds of yards away.
Exhausted and bleeding, the survivors limped back to the farm. They were greeted by a smiling Squealer, who had been absent from the battle, skipping cheerfully as if nothing bad had happened. And from where the farm buildings were, the animals heard a shotgun booming.
"What's that gun firing for?" asked the confused Boxer.
"To celebrate our victory!" cried Squealer.
"What victory?" Boxer asked. His knees were bleeding, he had lost a shoe and split his hoof, and a dozen bullets were lodged in his hind leg.
"Yeah, what victory?" Sam added with a tired growl. Clumps of his wiry fur had been torn out, and his left shoulder was aching and bleeding.
"What victory, comrades?" repeated Squealer, still with a grin on his face. "I'll tell you what victory. We've defeated the enemy! We've driven them off the sacred soil of Animal Farm!"
Boxer shook his head sadly. "But they've destroyed the windmill. We've worked hard on it for two years!"
Sam limped over and tried licking away the blood from Boxer's knees. "That doesn't sound like a victory to me."
Squealer giggled. "Oh, come now, we'll build another windmill," he scoffed. "Maybe six or thirty-eight or even a hundred and one! Comrades Boxer and Sam, you really should appreciate the mighty thing that we have done today. The enemy had been determined to take the very ground that we stand upon. But thanks to the leadership of our beloved leader, Comrade Napoleon, we have it back!"
"Then we have won back what we had before," said Boxer, though his voice almost sounded deadpan.
"That is our victory," said Squealer.
Sam couldn't help but feel disgusted. He looked again at Boxer limping before looking back to the battlefield where the battle had taken place. A lump of bile caught in his throat when he recognized Bluebell among the fallen, and he joined Jessie in mourning for the dead collie. This is what the pigs call a victory?
Most of the animals cheered, happy about the victory that Napoleon had delivered and forgetting the despair of the destroyed windmill. It was also decided that the battle would be called the Battle of the Windmill. But a few did not join in. Benjamin was his usual morose self, and Sam could not bring himself to cheer. When the animals were given special treats for the occasion (the plant-eating animals got an apple, the birds got a bit of corn, and the dogs got an extra biscuit), Sam felt too upset to accept it. Many of the animals had forgotten their fellow animals dead on the ground, but a few would never forget.
...
A few days after the Battle of the Windmill, Napoleon and the other pigs were starting to act strange. There were lots of noises and singing inside the farmhouse, along with sounds like gulping down a liquid; the animals even swore that they heard parts of "Beasts of England" as well, though the pigs had forbidden the song. Later in the night, Napoleon came running out the back door while wearing a bowler hat, galloped around the yard a few times, and then ran back inside.
"Uh-oh," Benjamin had remarked scornfully. "Looks like someone found the whiskey."
"The whiskey?" asked Jessie. "What whiskey?"
"There are barrels of whiskey in the farmhouse cellar," answered Benjamin. "When we set foot in that house, Boxer and I were able to see the whiskey barrels. There was even a door that connected the cellar with the butcher shop. Guess it was a matter of time before someone would find it."
One night, however, the animals heard a clattering outside. Sam, Jessie, Benjamin, and Clover headed out of the barn to see what the ruckus was about. It was a moonlit night, and they were able to see what had happened. At the barn wall where the Seven Commandments were, there was a ladder on the ground, broken into two pieces. Squealer was sprawled out beside it, dazed, and near him lay a lantern, a paintbrush, and an overturned bucket of white paint.
Pinscher came padding out into the yard to see the fat little porker laying there. "Comrade Squealer, wake up!" the Rottweiler barked. "Wake up. Comrade Napoleon is dying."
"So am I..." Squealer groaned groggily. But he allowed the Animal Guard to come and escort him back into the farmhouse.
The next night, Squealer announced sadly that Napoleon was dying. Many of the animals started to mourn the loss of their leader. They wondered what they would do if they had no leader to watch over them. Squealer also said that Napoleon's last order on earth would be to punish anyone who drank alcohol with death.
But the next morning, Napoleon was feeling better. He didn't die after all, but neither did his newfound love for alcohol. He had even instructed Mr. Whymper to buy him instruction booklets about brewing and distilling alcohol. Then he announced a week later that the enclosure beyond the orchard that was to be set aside for retired animals would instead be plowed up and set aside for barley.
Later on, during that same day, Sam took another look at the Seven Commandments, recalling Squealer's incident. He remembered that one of the Commandments said, "No animal shall drink alcohol". But now he looked up and read aloud: "No animal shall drink alcohol to excess".
To be continued...
