“We are born， we are given just so much food as will keep the breath in our bodies，and those of us who are capable【有能力的】 of it are forced to work to the last atom【原子】 of our strength；and the very instant that our usefulness has come to an end we are slaughtered【屠宰】 with hideous【adj. 可怕的；丑恶的】 cruelty【n. 残酷；残忍；残酷的行为】. No animal in England knows the meaning of happiness or leisure after he is a year old. No animal in England is free. The life of an animal is misery and slavery：that is the plain truth.
“But is this simply part of the order of nature？Is it because this land of ours is so poor that it cannot afford a decent life to those who dwell upon it? No， comrades，a thousand times no！The soil of England is fertile，its climate is good，it is capable of affording food in abundance to an enormously greater number of animals than now inhabit it. This single farm of ours would support a dozen horses，twenty cows，hundreds of sheep—and all of them living in a comfortable and a dignity that are now almost beyond our imagining.
“Why then do we continue in this miserable condition？Because nearly the whole of the produce of our labour is stolen from us by human beings. There， comrades，is the answer to all our problems. It is summed in a single word—Man. Man is the only real enemy we have. Remove men from their scene，and the root of hunger and overwork is abolushed for ever.
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