At the beginning when the laws of Animal Farm were first formulated， the retiring age had been fixed for horses and pigs at twelve，for cows at fourteen，for dogs at nine，for sheep at seven，and for hens and geese at five. Liberal【adj. 自由主义的；慷慨的；不拘泥的；宽大的】 old-age pensions【n. 退休金，抚恤金；津贴；膳宿费】 had been agreed upon. As yet no animal had actually retired on pension，but of late the subject had been discussed more and more. Now that the small field beyond the orchard had been set aside for barley【n. 大麦】，it was rumoured that a corner of the large pasture was to be fenced off and turned into a grazing-ground for superannuated【adj. 过时的；退休的；老朽的】 animals. For a horse，it was said，the pension would be five pounds of corn a day and，in winter，fifteen pounds of hay，with of a carrot or possibly an apple on public holidays. Boxer's twelfth birthday was due in the late summer of the following year.
在最初制定动物庄园法律的时候，退休年龄是:马和猪十二岁，牛十四岁，狗九岁，羊七岁，鸡和鹅五岁。丰裕的老年抚恤金已经商定。到目前为止，还没有一只动物真正地去领退休金，只是近来这个话题讨论得越来越多了。现在，果园那边的那一小块地已经被用来种大麦了，有传言说，大牧场的一角要用栅栏围起来，变成年老的动物的牧场。据说，养一匹马的退休金是每天五磅玉米，到了冬天，再加上十五磅干草，在公共假日里还可以得到一根胡萝卜，或者一个苹果。鲍克瑟的十二岁生日将在第二年夏末到来。
Meanwhile life was hard. The winter was as cold as the last one had been，and food was even shorter. Once again all rations were reduced，except those of the pigs and the dogs. A too rigid equality in rations，Squealer explained，would have been contrary to the principles of Animalism. In any case he had no difficulty in proving to the other animals that they were not in reality short of food，whatever the appearance might be. For the time being，certainly，it had been found necessary to make a readjustment of rations（Squealer always spoke of it as a “readjustment，” never as a “reduction”），but in comparison with the days of Jones，the improvement was enormous.
与此同时，生活很艰难。这个冬天和上一个冬天一样寒冷，食物更少了。所有的口粮都减少了，除了猪和狗。斯奎拉解释说，在口粮上过于严格的平等是与动物主义的原则相违背的。无论如何，他毫不费力地向其他动物证明，他们实际上并不缺食物，不管表现出来是什么样的。当然，目前有必要调整一下口粮(斯奎拉总是说这是“调整”，而不是“减少”)，但与琼斯时代相比，进步是巨大的。
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