It happened that Jessie and Bluebell had both whelpped【vi. 下崽】 soon after the hay harvest，giving birth between them to nine sturdy【adj. 坚定的；强健的；健全的】 puppies. As soon as they were weaned【vt. 使断奶；使断念；使放弃】， Napoloen took them away from their mothers，saying that he would make himself responsible for their education. He took them up into a loft which could only be reached by a ladder from the harness-room， and there kept them in such seclusion【n. 隐居；与世隔绝的地方】 that there rest of the farm soon forgot their existence.
The mystery of where the milk went to was soon cleared up. It was mixed everyday into the pigs’ mash. The early apples were now ripening【v. （使）成熟，催熟（ripen 的现在分词）】， and the grass of the orchard was littered with windfalls. The animals had assumed as a matter of course that these would be shared out equally；one day， however， the order went forth that all the windfalls were to be collected and brought to the harness-room for the use of the pigs.
At this some of the other animals murmured【vi. 低声说；私下抱怨；发出轻柔持续的声音】， but it was no use. All the pigs were in full agreement on this point， even Snowball and Napoloen. Squealer was sent to make the necessary explanation to the others.
“Comrades！”he cried. “You do not imagine， I hope， that we pigs are doing this in a spirit of selfishness and privilege. Many of us actually dislike milk and apples. I dislike them myself. Our sole object in taking these things is to preserve our health. Milk and apples（this has been proved by Science， comrades）contain substances absolutely necessary to the well-being of a pig.
We pig are brainworkers. The hole management and organisation of this farm depend on us. Day and night we are watching over your welfare. It is for your sake that we drink that milk and eat those apples. Do you know what would happen if we pigs failed in our duty？Jones would come back！ Yes， Jones would come back！Surely，comrades，”cried Squealer almost pleadingly，skipping from side to side and whisking his tail，“surely there is no one among you who wants to see Jones come back？”
Now if there was one thing that the animals were completely certain of， it was that they did not want Jones back. When it was put to them in this light， there had no more to say. The importance of keeping the pigs in good health was all too obvious. So it was agreed without further argument that the milk and the windfall apples（and also the main crop of apples when they ripened）should be reserved for the pigs alone.
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