AnimalFarm（27）

And the behavior of the cat was somewhat peculiar.  It was soon noticed that when there was work to be done the cat could never be found.  She would vanish for hours on end， and then reappear at meal-times， or in the evening after work was over， as though nothing had happened.  But she always made such excellent excuses， and purred【n. （猫发出的）呼噜声；（机器发出的）咕隆声】 so affectionately【adv. 亲切地；挚爱地】，that it was impossible not to believe in her good intentions.

Old Benjamin， the donkey， seemed quite unchanged since the Rebellion.  He did his work at the same slow obstinate【adj. 顽固的；倔强的；难以控制的】 way as he had done it in Jones’s time，never shirking and never volunteering for extra work either.  About the Rebellion and its results he would express no opinion.  When asked whether he was not happier now that Jones was gone，he would say only “Donkeys live a long time. None of you has ever seen a dead donkey，”And the others had to be content with this cryptic【adj. 神秘的，含义模糊的；[动] 隐藏的】 answer.

On sundays there was no work.  Breakfast was an hour later than usual，And after breakfast there was a ceremony which was observed every week without fail.  First came the hoisting of the flag.  Snowball had found in the harness-room an old green tablecloth of Mrs. Jones’s And had painted on in a hoof and a horn in white.  This was run up the flagstaff in the farmhouse garden every sunday morning.