They accepted everything that they were told about the Rebellion and the principles of Animalism, especially from Clover, for whom they had an almost filial respect but it was doubtful whether they understood very much of it. None of them proved able to learn the alphabet beyond the letter B. They were fine upstanding beasts, willing workers and good comrades, but very stupid. The farm possessed three horses now besides Clover. Many animals had been born to whom the Rebellion was only a dim tradition, passed on by word of mouth, and others had been bought who had never heard mention of such a thing before their arrival. There were many more creatures on the farm now, though the increase was not so great as had been expected in earlier years. Only old Benjamin was much the same as ever, except for being a little greyer about the muzzle, and, since Boxer's death, more morose and taciturn than ever. Squealer was so fat that he could with difficulty see out of his eyes. Napoleon was now a mature boar of twenty-four stone. The talk of setting aside a corner of the pasture for superannuated animals had long since been dropped.
She was two years past the retiring age, but in fact no animal had ever actually retired. Clover was an old stout mare now, stiff in the joints and with a tendency to rheumy eyes. Boxer was forgotten, except by the few who had known him. Jones too was dead–he had died in an inebriates' home in another part of the country. Muriel was dead Bluebell, Jessie, and Pincher were dead. A time came when there was no one who remembered the old days before the Rebellion, except Clover, Benjamin, Moses the raven, and a number of the pigs. The seasons came and went, the short animal lives fled by. Animal Farm: A Fairy Story by George Orwell (Chapter 10)
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