IT WAS a bitter winter. The stormy weather was followed by sleet and snow, and then by a hard frost
which did not break till well into February. The animals carried on as best they could with the
rebuilding of the windmill, well knowing that the outside world was watching them and that the
envious human beings would rejoice and triumph if the mill were not finished on time.
Out of spite, the human beings pretended not to believe that it was Snowball who had destroyer the
windmill: they said that it had fallen down because the walls were too thin. The animals knew that
this was not the case. Still, it had been decided to build the walls three feet thick this time instead of
eighteen inches as before, which meant collecting much larger quantities of stone. For a long i.ne the
quarry was full of snowdrifts and nothing could be done. Some progress was made in the dry frosty
weather that followed, but it was cruel work, and the animals could not feel so hopeful about it as
they had felt before. They were always cold, and usually hungry as well. Only Boxer and Clover
never lost heart. Squealer made excellent speeches on the joy of service and the dignity of labour, but
the other animals found more inspiration in Boxer's strength and his never−failing cry of "I will work
harder! "
In January food fell short. The corn ration was drastically reduced, and it was announced that an extra
potato ration would be issued to make up for it. Then it was discovered that the greater part of the
potato crop had been frosted in the clamps, which had not been covered thickly enough. The potatoes
Animal Farm
Animal Farm 20
had become soft and discoloured, and only a few were edible. For days at a time the animals had
nothing to eat but chaff and mangels. Starvation seemed to stare them in the face.
It was vitally necessary to conceal this fact from the outside world. Emboldened by the collapse of
the windmill, the human beings were inventing fresh lies about Animal Farm. Once again it was
being put about that all the animals were dying of famine and disease, and that they were continually
fighting among themselves and had resorted to cannibalism and infanticide. Napoleon was well
aware of the bad results that might follow if the real facts of the food situation were known, and he
decided to make use of Mr. Whymper to spread a contrary impression. Hitherto the animals had had
little or no contact with Whymper on his weekly visits: now, however, a few selected animals, mostly
sheep, were instructed to remark casually in his hearing that rations had been increased. In addition,
Napoleon ordered the almost empty bins in the store−shed to be filled nearly to the brim with sand,
which was then covered up with what remained of the grain and meal. On some suitable pretext
Whymper was led through the store−shed and allowed to catch a glimpse of the bins. He was
