2-0-0-4 Chapter 2-4

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Chapter 2_4
    But they woke at dawn as usual, and suddenly remembering the glorious thing that had happened, they all raced out into the pasture together. A little way down the pasture there was a knoll that commanded a view of most of the farm. The animals rushed to the top of it and gazed round them in the clear morning light. Yes, it was theirs - everything that they could see was theirs! In the ecstasy of that thought they gambolled round and round, they hurled themselves into the air in great leaps of excitement. They rolled in the dew, they cropped mouthfuls of the sweet summer grass, they kicked up clods of the black earth and snuffed its rich scent. Then they made a tour of inspection of the whole farm and surveyed with speechless admiration the ploughland, the hayfield, the orchard, the pool, the spinney. It was as though they had never seen these things before, and even now they could hardly believe that it was all their own.

※單字及片語※
at dawn (ph.)在黎明時候
as usual (ph.)一如往常
glorious (adj.)光榮的
race (v.)衝；疾走；全速前進
pasture (n.)放牧場；牧草地
knoll (n.)小丘
command (v.)俯臨；俯瞰
view (n.)景觀；景色
gaze (v.)凝視
round = around (prep.)四周
ecstasy (n.)狂喜
gambol (v.)雀躍；跳躍
round and round (phr.)周而復始；不停地
hurl (v.)投擲；丟
leap (n.)跳；跳躍
dew (n.)露水
crop (v.) (牛羊等)嚙(草等)；咬；咀嚼
mouthful (n.) 一口;少量
clod (n.)塊
earth (n.)泥土
snuff (v.)(動物)嗅;聞
rich (adj.)濃厚的；味濃的
scent (n.)香味
tour (n.)旅行；巡視
inspection (n.)勘查；視察
survey (v.) 檢視(建築物等);檢驗(設備等)；勘查
with speechless admiration : (ph.)（副詞片語，修飾動詞survey表….狀態）以無言的讚賞
speechless (adj.)無言的
admiration (n.)讚賞
ploughland (n.)耕地：田地（= plowland）
hayfield (n.)乾草的田野
orchard (n.)果園
spinney (n.)樹叢；雜樹林
as though = as if (phr.)宛如
had never seen（had + pp.與過去世實相反的假設語氣）似乎從未見過….

    Then they filed back to the farm buildings and halted in silence outside the door of the farmhouse. That was theirs too, but they were frightened to go inside. After a moment, however, Snowball and Napoleon butted the door open with their shoulders and the animals entered in single file, walking with the utmost care for fear of disturbing anything. They tiptoed from room to room, afraid to speak above a whisper and gazing with a kind of awe at the unbelievable luxury, at the beds with their feather mattresses, the looking-glasses, the horsehair sofa, the Brussels carpet, the lithograph of Queen Victoria over the drawing-room mantelpiece. They were lust coming down the stairs when Mollie was discovered to be missing. Going back, the others found that she had remained behind in the best bedroom. She had taken a piece of blue ribbon from Mrs. Jones’s dressing-table, and was holding it against her shoulder and admiring herself in the glass in a very foolish manner. The others reproached her sharply, and they went outside. Some hams hanging in the kitchen were taken out for burial, and the barrel of beer in the scullery was stove in with a kick from Boxer's hoof, otherwise nothing in the house was touched. A unanimous resolution was passed on the spot that the farmhouse should be preserved as a museum. All were agreed that no animal must ever live there.

※單字及片語※
file (v.) 排成縱隊行進
halt (v.)停止（＝stop）
in silence (ph.)無聲的狀態（表動詞halt的狀態）
frightened (adj.) 受驚嚇的
butt (v.) 用頭(或角)猛撞
in single file (ph.)一列縱隊
with… care（with +名詞=副詞）
utmost (adj.)最大的
with utmost care(ph.) = extremely carefully非常小心地
for fear of (ph.)以免
disturb  v. 騷擾；打擾
tiptoe  v. 踮起腳走;躡手躡腳地走
whisper  n.輕聲細語；耳語；私語
with a kind of awe (ph.)以一種敬畏的方式（副詞片語修飾gazing）
gaze at(ph.)注視；看著
unbelievable (adj.) 令人難以置信的
luxury (n.)奢侈
mattress (n.) 褥墊,床墊
looking-glass (n.)鏡子（= mirror）
horsehair(n.) 馬毛;馬鬃
Brussels (n.) 布魯塞爾(比利時首都)
carpet (n.)地毯
lithograph (n.) 平版印刷
mantelpiece (n.) 壁爐架;壁爐臺
dressing-table (n.)梳妝台
admire (v.)欣賞
in….manner (ph.)以…方式
reproach (v.) 責備;斥責
sharply (adv.) 嚴厲地;憤怒地
burial (n.) 埋葬
barrel (n.) (液量單位)桶
scullery (n.) 儲藏室；炊具存放室
stove(v.) (stave的過去式和過去分詞) 擊穿;鑿孔於
hoof (n.)蹄
unanimous (adj.) 無異議的；全體一致的;一致同意的
resolution (n.) 決議
on the spot (ph.)當場
preserve (v.)保留

    The animals had their breakfast, and then Snowball and Napoleon called them together again.
    ‘Comrades,' said Snowball, ‘it is half-past six and we have a long day before us. Today we begin the hay harvest. But there is another matter that must be attended to first.’

※單字及片語※
comrade (n.)同志
harvest (n.) 收成；收割
matter (n.)事情
attend (v.)處理（通常和to連用）