Welcome to the final instalment of our latest Tale for Our Time - George Orwell's ever more timely tale of the day after utopia, Animal Farm. Thank you for all your kind comments about this serialization. Last night's episode, of the hard-working Boxer's reward for a lifetime of service, prompted Robert Bridges, a First Month Founding Member of The Mark Steyn Club from Alaska, to write:
Translated into modern times... would the farm animals feel so badly about Boxer's leaving if they gotten a piece of the action? Just asking for a friend about the money being paid out by CCP to refocus issues about Wuhan and a few stray bats.
Gov. Cuomo retired many older people with less fuss.
Indeed. For sending Boxer to the knacker's yard, Napoleon got a crate of whisky; for sending thousands upon thousands to the knacker's yard, Andrew Cuomo got a book deal and an Emmy.
In tonight's concluding episode, the once hostile farmers come to see Animal Farm as a great business opportunity:
He would end his remarks, he said, by emphasising once again the friendly feelings that subsisted, and ought to subsist, between Animal Farm and its neighbours. Between pigs and human beings there was not, and there need not be, any clash of interests whatever. Their struggles and their difficulties were one. Was not the labour problem the same everywhere? Here it became apparent that Mr. Pilkington was about to spring some carefully prepared witticism on the company, but for a moment he was too overcome by amusement to be able to utter it. After much choking, during which his various chins turned purple, he managed to get it out: "If you have your lower animals to contend with," he said, "we have our lower classes!" This bon mot set the table in a roar; and Mr. Pilkington once again congratulated the pigs on the low rations, the long working hours, and the general absence of pampering which he had observed on Animal Farm.
Gee, it could almost be a meeting between the US Chamber of Commerce and the Chinese Politburo.
Members of The Mark Steyn Club can hear me read the conclusion of Animal Farm simply by clicking here and logging-in. Earlier episodes can be found here.
Thank you so much for your compliments about Tales for Our Time during this time of lockdown and lawlessness. Some like the ripping yarns for boys, some the more genteel social comedy for girls, and some of you even enjoyed last summer's bit of whimsy from yours truly. But of the tales in totality all seem to be in favor. Thank you too for your kind words about our Covid double-mutation of The Mark Steyn Show strain cum Clubland Q&A variant.
If you've yet to hear any of our Tales, you can enjoy four years' worth of audio adventures - by Conan Doyle, Kafka, Conrad, Gogol, Dickens, Baroness Orczy, P G Wodehouse, Louisa May Alcott, Robert Louis Stevenson and more - by joining The Mark Steyn Club. For details on membership, see here - and, if you're seeking the perfect gift for a fan of classic fiction, don't forget our Steyn Club Gift Membership. Sign up that special someone today!
