Jones feeds us. If he were gone, we sho uld starve to death." Others asked such questions as "Why should we care what happens after we are dead?" or "If this Rebel ion is to happen anyway, what difference does it make whether we work for it or not?", and the pigs had great difficulty in making them see that this was contrary to the spirit of Animalism. The stupidest questions of al were asked by Mol ie, the white mare. The very first question she asked Snowbal was: "Wil there stil be sugar after the Rebel ion? "

"No," said Snowbal firmly. "We have no means of making sugar on this farm. Besides, you do not need sugar. You wil have al the oats and hay you want."

"And shal I stil be al owed to wear ribbons in my mane?" asked Mol ie.

"Comrade," said Snowbal , "those ribbons that you are so devoted to are the badge of slavery. Can you not understand that liberty is worth more than ribbons? " Mol ie agreed, but she did not sound very convinced.

The pigs had an even harder struggle to counteract the lies put about by Moses, the tame raven. Moses, who was Mr. Jones's especial pet, was a spy and a tale-bearer, but he was also a clever talker. He claimed to know of the existence of a mysterious country cal ed Sugarcandy Mountain, to which al animals went when they died. It was situated somewhere up in the sky, a little distance beyond the clouds, Moses said. In Sugarcandy Mountain it was Sunday seven days a week, clover was in season al the year round, and lump sugar and linseed cake grew on the hedges. The animals hated Moses because he told tales and did no work, but some of them believed in Sugarcandy Mountain, and the pigs had to argue very hard to persuade them that there was no such place. Their most faithful disciples were the two cart-horses, Boxer and Clover. These two had great difficulty in thinking anything out for themselves, but having once accepted the pigs as their teachers, they absorbed everything that they were told, and passed it on to the other animals by simple arguments. They were unfailing in their attendance at the secret meetings in the barn, and led the singing of Beasts of England, with which the meetings always ended.

Now, as it turned out, the Rebel ion was achieved much earlier and more easily than anyone had expected. In past years Mr. Jones, although a hard master, had been a capable farmer, but of late he had fal en on evil days. He had become much disheartened after losing money in a lawsuit, and had taken to drinking more than was good for him. For whole days at a time he would lounge in his Windsor chair in the kitchen, reading the newspapers, drinking, and occasional y feeding Moses on crusts of bread soaked in beer. His men were idle and dishonest, the fields were ful of weeds, the buildings wanted roofing, the hedges were neglected, and the animals were underfed. June came and the hay was almost ready for cutting. On Midsummer's Eve, which was a Saturday, Mr. Jones went into Wil ingdon and got so drunk at the Red Lion that he did not come back til midday on Sunday. The men had milked the cows in the early morning and then had gone out rabbiting, without bothering to feed the animals. When Mr.