the knoll

The knoll stood in the long pasture, the highest point on the farm, commanding a view of most of the property. On the morning after the Rebellion, the animals rushed to its top and gazed round in the clear light. Every field, orchard, and building they could see was now theirs. In the ecstasy of that discovery they gambolled, leaped into the air, rolled in the dew, cropped the sweet grass, and kicked up clods of the black earth, snuffing its rich scent. It was as though they had never seen these things before.

Later, Snowball declared the knoll the ideal site for a windmill. A dynamo would light and warm the stalls, run a circular saw, a chaff-cutter, a mangel-slicer, and an electric milking machine. The animals listened in astonishment as Snowball described machines that would work while they grazed. After the storm destroyed the first windmill, Napoleon led the animals to the knoll and, sniffing at footprints in the grass a short distance away, pronounced them to be Snowball's, claiming the traitor had crept from Foxwood to wreck their work.

After the mass executions of the animals accused of collaborating with Snowball, the survivors – Clover, Muriel, Benjamin, the cows, the sheep, the geese, the hens, and everyone except the cat – made their way to the knoll where the half-finished windmill still stood. With one accord they lay down as though huddling together for warmth. No one spoke. Only Boxer remained on his feet, fidgeting and occasionally uttering a little whinny of surprise. The knoll, which had been a place of triumph and hope, now bore witness to their bewilderment and grief.

The last scene on the knoll came when Boxer, exhausted from overwork, collapsed between the shafts of a cart. Half the animals rushed to the knoll and found him lying on his side, his neck stretched out, unable to raise his head. His eyes were glazed, his sides matted with sweat, a thin stream of blood trickling from his mouth. Clover dropped to her knees beside him. The knoll, once the summit of their aspirations, had become the place where the strongest and most loyal animal met his end.