but Clover, who thought she remembered a definite ruling against beds,
went to the end of the barn and tried to puzzle out the Seven Commandments which were inscribed there.
Finding herself unable to read more than individual letters, she fetched Muriel.
“Muriel,” she said, “read me the Fourth Commandment. Does it not say something about never sleeping in a bed?”
With some difficulty Muriel spelt it out. “It says, ‘No animal shall sleep in a bed with sheets,’” she announced finally.
Curiously enough, Clover had not remembered that the Fourth Commandment mentioned sheets; but as it was there on the wall, it must have done so.
And Squealer, who happened to be passing at this moment, attended by two or three dogs, was able to put the whole matter in its proper perspective.
“You have heard then, comrades,” he said, “that we pigs now sleep in the beds of the farmhouse? And why not?
You did not suppose, surely, that there was ever a ruling against beds?
A bed merely means a place to sleep in. A pile of straw in a stall is a bed, properly regarded.
The rule was against sheets, which are a human invention. We have removed the sheets from the farmhouse beds, and sleep between blankets.
And very comfortable beds they are too! But not more comfortable than we need, I can tell you, comrades, with all the brainwork we have to do nowadays.
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