Animal Farm Reloaded (Part Two)

By Baba Galleh Jallow

Oh yes, Napoleon the pious pig had become a great goat-lover over the past 
several years. Muriel and other local goats were not very much in favor; but 
a new species of goat had surfaced in Animal Farm from other surrounding 
farms, and had been particularly favored by Napoleon, and for good reasons 
too. These goats had exceptionally long beards and had the peculiar custom 
of wearing either oversized gowns or strange animal skins with pieces of 
mirror and cowry shells stitched to them. They profess great spiritual 
knowledge and power and put themselves at the service of the superstitious 
Napoleon. These goats professed an uncanny capacity to see into the future 
and to smell out Napoleon’s actual and potential enemies long before they 
even thought of harming the great pig. Every night, these medicine-goats, 
after a long day of feasting, drinking, and stoking Napoleon’s fat ego, 
would retire to bed with strange objects such as lizard tails, frog 
carcasses, boar teeth, pieces of dry feces, and small animal horns under 
their pillows that would help them scan the distant horizons of the future 
for the great pig. In the morning, they would all meet with Napoleon and 
tell him which animal to be wary of, what sacrifices to offer, on which day 
not to venture too far, and a host of other warnings and advices all geared 
toward the eternal protection of the great and benevolent pig. They also 
told him that he must personally take control of all local animal structures 
because there were some strange rumblings at the local level that might 
cause him some unease.

But whatever they did and whatever powers they possessed, these long-beard 
and strange-clad goats could not help Napoleon against making the lower 
animals so angry that they would fart near his house, sing only 
half-heartedly, poop on his doorstep in the middle of the night, or whisper 
vicious things about the pig who thought he was a god. Neither could they 
protect Napoleon against the birds who deliberately shot small balls of shit 
at Napoleon’s mansion and sometimes on the back of his grand boubous, or the 
chickens who made it a point every dawn to litter Napoleon’s front and 
backyards with hundreds of droppings. The chickens also made sure that they 
dropped a few eggs here and there all over the yards. The appearance of eggs 
at Napoleon’s doorstep every morning was quickly proclaimed as another sign 
of Napoleon’s esteemed status in the divine scheme of things. The droppings 
were of course ignored and surreptitiously removed. “You see,” Squealer the 
Dealer would announce every morning to the traditional assembly of animals; 
“Eggs are now falling from the skies to show you that our beloved leader is 
indeed a favorite of the high powers above! So rejoice, O ye wretched 
animals, for ye have been blessed with a miraculous leader!”

It was one of these long-beard and strange-clad goats who advised Napoleon 
to beware the animals of the red forests and all their talk about animal 
rights and the rule of law. These red animals, this particular goat had told 
Napoleon, were a bunch of thieves and liars who were hatching a mammoth plot 
to drive him out of animal farm and have him replaced by some lowly animal 
of no consequence who would then be compelled to dance to their red tunes. 
Their description of this lowly animal cost many an innocent animal their 
lives. For whichever animal fit the description of this pious goat was made 
to disappear, accused of planning to overthrow Napoleon, or otherwise 
effectively neutralized. This particular long-beard and strange-clad goat 
also told Napoleon that he must befriend the leaders of the animals of the 
brown forests. He must, Napoleon was told, particularly look out for a 
leader whose eyes were squinted because he was one animal who could help him 
fight the treacherous animals of the red forests. And so Napoleon had picked 
Mr. Squinteyes of dubious fame as his favorite colleague and friend among 
the league of animal leaders. Mr. Squinteyes was a vehement critic of the 
red animals and professed a philosophy that sounded very much like a 
combination of Animalism and Pigism combined. Moreover, Mr. Squinteyes ruled 
over a very wealthy forest with lots of milk and apples, Napoleon’s favorite 
foods. It was on account of the ceaseless pouring of milk and apple-aid into 
Animal Farm that Napoleon had grown so fat that he could hardly raise his 
paws.

That Napoleon, Squealer, Napoleon’s dogs, his black cockerel and all the 
other pigs were greatly enjoying themselves had become clear as daylight to 
the lower animals. Napoleon had grown so fat that he could hardly open his 
eyes and spent most of his time sleeping in Jones’ comfortable bed, while 
Squealer directed farm affairs. In addition to ‘Animal hero, first class’, 
‘Animal hero, second class’, ‘Animal hero, third class’ Animal hero all 
classes’ and the Order of the Green Banner, Napoleon created and bestowed 
upon himself many other gallant decorations and titles, all of which he wore 
on his many public appearances. In addition to his titles of The Great 
Leader Comrade Napoleon and Savior of the Animals, Napoleon now took on the 
additional titles of Gallant Benefactor, Grand Master of Wisdom, Benevolent 
Guardian of the Lost, and His Excellency And Most Royal Highness Dr. Ratahal 
Bemutoye of Miracle Tree Fame, Commander of the Faithful and Raiser of the 
Dead. He insisted that on every public appearance, first Squealer and then 
Kokoliko the black cockerel came forward to address him with all his gallant 
titles and make mention of his divinity, his heroic deeds and his 
decorations before his hallowed name itself was pronounced to the unworthy 
ears of the lower animals. After the battle of the Windmill, Napoleon had 
also bestowed upon himself the honorable title of Lord Chancellor of the 
Chequered, as a mark of his gallantry and patriotism.

Not even Moses the raven, who never tired of talking about the mysterious 
Sugar Candy Mountain hidden beyond the distant clouds, failed to see that 
Napoleon had become worse than Farmer Jones. Clearly, Farmer Jones did not 
change the rules at every turn to suit his personal needs; Farmer Jones did 
not drink so much beer and make so much merry as Napoleon did now-a-days; 
Farmer Jones never claimed divine and miraculous powers; and Farmer Jones, 
in spite of all his vices, did not have all the long-beard and strange-clad 
goats of nearby forests flocking to his feet to serve as medicine-goats. 
Like Benjamin, Clover, and Minimus, Moses the raven could not fail to see 
that Napoleon now considered Animal Farm his very own personal property and 
the animals nothing less than his personal slaves. They had heard him say 
that he held the title deeds to Animal Farm and all the animals that lived 
within it. Over and above everything else, they had seen him contradict all 
the rules in the books and all the promises he had ever made by trading with 
humans, sleeping in beds, wearing Jones’ flamboyant tails and ties, walking 
on two legs, and wearing colorful ribbons to his tail, among many other 
outrageous extremes. Eventually, they had seen him abolish “Beasts of 
England” the anthem of the anti-Jones rebellion, and change the name Animal 
Farm back to its original name, the Manor Farm and then to Nap’s Farm. Thus, 
it was from Manor Farm to Manor Farm to Nap’s Farm. The wheel of fortune had 
gone full circle for the lower animals and in spite of themselves, they 
increasingly saw through the gross inconsistencies of Comrade Napoleon and 
his fellow pigs. Happily, Squealer had grown so fat that he was fast losing 
his honey-coated voice and could now only croak “Lort Naple is the beast”, a 
mispronouncement for which he once received a hard slap and a sharp rebuke 
from one of Napoleon’s top dogs.

Unhappily however, some of the lesser pigs and animals had absolutely 
mastered the art of puppetry, their sole occupation in the course of time 
being always to be there when Napoleon delivered his flamboyant exhortations 
on the virtues of sacrifice and squealing and shrieking and clapping and 
crying ‘poleon! at every word. But there were also many angry animals, and 
these expressed their disgust at Napoleon in every imaginable and 
unimaginable manner. Yes, the weak also have their weapons; and when the 
powerful set out to oppress them, they must remember that the weak also have 
their weapons. So sang the birds of Animal Farm. No help from goats!

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