Snowball's Chance by John Reed Read Free Book Online Page B

blobs, and one of them was bleeding. Thomas took some needle and thread and stitched it up, so it stopped bleeding,” recalled the amazed rat—
    “And then he stitched the dog closed. And, I think, the dog’s still alive. And he’s gonna stay alive.”
    And as it turned out, Filmont did survive.
    His wound bandaged, the Labrador was given his own stall—where over the next weeks, he was visited by many of the animals, with whom he shared long conversations. Throughout his ordeal, his earnestness, his gentleness, endeared him to the farm animals.
    Under the Pinchfield despot, Mr. Frederick, Filmont’s life had been one hardship after another—and when he spoke of Animal Farm, of how the animals had taken control of their own lives, of the wonder represented by the voting process, of the miracle of education, and of how an animal could rise up, as had Napoleon, as had Snowball … well, he shared a dewy eye with many a creature. With no more than his own optimism, Filmont could renew a sense of Animal Farm greatness in beasts more accustomed to exhaustion. So encouraging, so without pretension (Yes, most animals were equalish!), Filmont could restore dignity to a rat who had not felt pride in his work since the day he switched from river to sewer, for the better hours. Here, in Filmont, was an animal who represented, merely by his arrival, what a glowing beacon Animal Farm was to the village. Andhere, in Filmont, was an animal that allowed all the farm animals, for at least a moment, to put aside their resentments of the newcomers who were digging under the fences to join the farm, and experience in their coming a reawakening of that initial freedom.
    The animals had taken over the farm!
    Ah yes, what glory! What limitless possibility!
    Meanwhile, the re-education classes proceeded as scheduled—everyone was humanized. “Four legs good, two legs better,” a few of the sheep remembered from somewhere. The geese were excused from the fields to work on providing the farm animals with clothing. Reams of cloth were delivered, and the geese took to their seamstress labors fairly capably. By the end of the summer, each male animal had one pair of short pants, one pair of long pants, one long-sleeved shirt, one short-sleeved shirt, and one headcloth—while each female had one short dress, one long dress, one shawl, and two bonnets. After the sewing was completed, the geese took up the laundry—as well as the patching and repairing of any garments that needed attention.
    It was generally agreed that, really, clothing wasn’t so bad—once a critter got used to it. Hot, a little bit, itchy, a little bit—but the animals appreciated the bright colors, and were soon bartering feed and services for more stylish vestments. It was supposed one might express one’s individuality through an innovative bandanna.
    As for the walking, some animals were more successful than others. The birds already had the two-legged gait down pat—and about half the sheep picked it up in the first week. Benjamin the donkey had no trouble—and as much as he complained about a pain in his left hip, hewaddled with the best of them. The three horses, none of whom could recite the alphabet any higher than the letter B, found the task utterly impossible. Norma the cat, in contrast, lent a feline grace to the undertaking. The cows, too, adopted the form of locomotion without undue difficulty—though they did seem to do a good deal of leaning. The dogs, who with equal ease attained the upright position, were nevertheless allowed to remain on all fours most of the time—as they put forth a forceful argument that the bipedal position left them vulnerable and slow.
    Likewise, with the help of Thomas the goat, the plans for the windmills were rapidly becoming a reality. A team of goat engineers had been brought in to fashion tools for animal paws (as opposed to human hands) and with a foundation of poured cement and cement blocks, the construction