Modified Fourth Commandment: No animal shall sleep in a bed with sheets

The Fourth Commandment, as originally inscribed on the barn wall, read "No animal shall sleep in a bed." This prohibition came directly from Old Major, who had declared that no animal must ever sleep in a bed, wear clothes, or adopt any of the habits of Man. For the animals, this rule was a cornerstone of the new society, a clear boundary between themselves and their former oppressors.

But as the pigs consolidated their power, the commandments began to undergo subtle alterations. When Clover, troubled by the memory of the rule, asked Muriel to read the Fourth Commandment, she discovered that the words had been changed. It now read: "No animal shall sleep in a bed with sheets." The addition of the two words "with sheets" transformed the meaning, allowing the pigs to sleep in the farmhouse beds while claiming to observe the law. The animals, unable to remember the original wording precisely, accepted this explanation.

This modification was part of a broader pattern of ideological manipulation. The pigs, having taught themselves to read and write, had the power to reinterpret the commandments at will. Squealer, the pig with a gift for persuasive speech, was regularly sent to explain these changes, and the animals always acquiesced. The same technique would later be applied to other commandments, as the original principles were gradually eroded.

By the end of the novel, the erosion was complete. The pigs, now walking on their hind legs, wearing Mr. Jones's clothes, and carrying whips, had become indistinguishable from the humans they had once overthrown. The final scene shows the pigs and human farmers playing cards together, their faces alike, their voices indistinguishable. The modification of the Fourth Commandment was a small but decisive step on this path, a subtle linguistic shift that enabled the pigs to inhabit the very human behaviors they had been sworn to reject.