Snowball's Chance by John Reed

Author:John Reed [Reed, John]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Classics, Neversink Library
ISBN: 9781612191263
Google: 76cUtJL9V-oC
Goodreads: 13572937
Publisher: Melville House
Published: 2002-11-01T05:00:00+00:00

VII

ANIMAL FARM WAS BUILDING A CARNIVAL—a showcase of electric lights, edifying spectacles, and delights to the senses. As effortlessly as the locality had watched the Twin Mills erected, the theme park was going up even easier—even faster. There was no denying it now—Animal Farm was a runaway success. Not only did it have one of the highest standards of living for any farm, it was a farm that promised freedom—and, moreover, with the carnival under way, a thousand opportunities. Clear-cutting the Woodlands for lumber and land—pumping black smoke into the air from the electrical plant that was motored by the Twin Mills—there was industry in the air!

And it was attracting new animals like bees to honey!

There were moles, voles, hedgehog, shrews, mice, rats, squirrels, weasels, rabbits, porcupines, foxes, toads, frogs, lizards, snakes, pigeons, ducks, geese, and the badgers, who, an extremely boisterous lot, were liked by all, except the voles, whose introverted personalities left them at odds with the grub-eating extroverts, whom they considered brusque, loud and foolish. Of course, there were many other types of animals, and there were many other types of feuds and rivalries—some rooted in past grievances, some utterly new. And just as there were animals that were popular, the gregarious badgers, for example, there were animals that were unpopular, such as the rats. No matter how often the Trotter described the farm’s vermin residents as upfront, thorough, and absolutely indispensable to the general clean-up and presentability of the park, the Rattus rattus community could not shake a reputation for being dirty and shiftless.

As for specific animosities, the cows and horses had it in for the snakes. (After that trampling incident in the barn, which had, accidental as it was, nearly cost one innocent snake his life, the hard feelings directed at the snakes by the cows and horses turned mutual—and the snakes directed those feelings back.) The chickens could not forgive the foxes the offenses of their fathers—much as the rabbits could not forgive the dogs the offenses of theirs. For reasons all too obvious, nobody wanted to have much to do with the porcupines, who were likable enough creatures, if you got to know them, but still, not the kind of friend you wanted to cuddle up with. The bats, who worked the night shifts, weren’t too well-regarded either. The beavers, as well, raised a few ears, as private, even standoffish, as those long-toothed creatures were.

Some, as a rule, viewed the newcomers as a shady and angry lot—while others strongly disagreed. The pigs had little to contribute to this debate—they merely reiterated in their regular press releases that, as was continually evidenced by their appointments to official positions, they embraced animal diversity. Nevertheless, it did seem to be an accepted fact that there was a tendency for newcomers to be unfamiliar with the ways of the farm. Although this was only to be expected, many of the farm animals no longer remembered how difficult it had been for them, when they were learning how to walk and wear clothing.

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