【電子書】Animal Farm

Animal Farm, published in 1945, is a satirical novel by British novelist and essayist George Orwell (1903-1950), pseud. of Eric Arthur Blair. Orwell is best known for Animal Farm and Nineteen Eighty-Four (1949). As a socialist, he was a keen critic of imperialism, fascism, Stalinism, and capitalism. His works are concerned with the sociopolitical conditions of his time.

Animal Farm, with great critical and popular success, is a witty, satirical allegory about the failure of Soviet totalitarianism. Some events in the book are based on events from the Soviet Union during the Stalin era.

This novel is ostensibly about a group of animals who oust the humans from the farm and run it themselves, only to have it corrupted into a brutal tyranny on its own. This idea of a revolution betraying its supposed aims is a chief issue of Animal Farm.

故事簡介

No animal must ever tyrannise over his own kind. Weak or strong, clever or simple, we are all brothers. No animal must ever kill any other animal. All animals are equal.

任何動物都不能去欺壓自己的同類。
動物不管是強是弱，是智是愚，大家四海之內皆兄弟。
任何動物都不得殺害其他動物，所有動物一律平等。

“All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others.”

所有動物一律平等，
不過，有些動物比其他動物更加平等。

《動物農莊》是喬治．歐威爾（George Orwell, 1903-1950）最受歡迎的小說，也是政治諷刺小說的世界文學經典之作。故事中有幽默、溫馨的筆觸，卻赤裸裸地揭露冷漠而殘酷的極權主義。作者才華洋溢，充滿創意，另一方面別具洞見，對人性與政治有極精彩卻殘酷的洞察與描繪。這本書首度出版問世後，便佳評如潮，奠定了歐威爾在世界文壇的地位。

本書故事內容，以一群住在農莊裡的動物為主人翁。這些本來被人類所蓄養的動物，後來向人類起義，成功從人類手中奪下農莊，脫離了人類的「統治」，並將農莊改名為「動物農莊」。動物們期待打造一個新世界，他們努力奮鬥，盼望實踐「所有動物，一律平等」的崇高理想。然而，殘酷的是，他們辛勞地耕耘這片園地，但農莊卻逐漸形成另一種更恐怖的專制獨裁統治……。