His men was idle and dishonest,The fields were full of weeds,the buildings wanted roofing,the hedges were neglected,and the animals were underfed.
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June came and the hay was almost ready for cutting. On Midsummer’s Eve,which was a Saturday,Mr. Jones went to Willingdon and got so drunk at the Red Lion that he did not come back till 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. Jones got back he immediately went to sleep on the drawing-room sofa with the News of the World over his face,so that when evening came,the animals were still unfed.
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At last they could stand it no longer. One of the cows broke in the door of the store-shed with her horn and all the animals began to help themselves from the bins. It was just then that Mr. Johns woke up. The next moment he and his four men were in the store-shed with whips in their hands,lashing out in all directions. This was more than the hungry animals could bear. With one accord,though nothing of the kind had been planned beforehands, they flung themselves upon their tormentors【n. 长肉叉;使苦恼的东西;使苦痛的人 [网络] 折磨者;摧残者】. Jones and his men suddenly found themselves being butted and kicked from all sides.
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The situation was quite out of their control. They had never seen animals behave like this before,And this sudden uprising of creatures whom they were used to thrashing【vt. 打;使逆行】 and maltreating【vt. 虐待;滥用;粗暴对待】 just as they chose,frightened them almost out of their wits.
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