By the autumn the animals were tired but happy. They had had a hard year，and after the sale of part of the hay and corn，the store of food for the winter were none too plentiful，but the windmill compensated for everything.  It was almost half built now.  After the harvest there was a stretch of clear dry weather，and the animals toiled harder than ever，thinking it well worth while to plod and fro all day with blocks of stone if by doing so they could raise the walls another foot.  Boxer would ever come out at nights and work for an hour or two on his own but the light of the harvest moon.  In their spare moments the animals would walk round and round the half-finished mill，admiring the strength and perpendicularity【n. 垂直；直立】 of its walls and marvelling【对…感到惊奇】 that they should ever have been able to build anything so imposing.  Only old Benjamin refused to grow enthusiastic about the windmill，though，as usual，he would utter nothing beyond the cryptic remark that donkeys live a long time.

到了秋天，动物们都累了，但很开心。他们过了艰难的一年，卖掉了一部分干草和玉米后，贮备过冬的粮食就不够用了，但是风车补偿了他们所有的损失。现在已经建了一半了。收获之后，天气晴朗，天气干燥，动物们干得比以前更勤快了。他们整天拖着石块，吃力地走来走去，心想这样一来，他们就能把墙又加高一英尺了。鲍克瑟总会在夜晚出来，借着秋月的月光，独自干上一两个小时。动物们在闲暇时，就在完成了一半的工厂周围转来转去，对它墙壁的坚固性和垂直度赞叹不已，并为自己竟能建造出如此宏伟的建筑而感到惊奇。只有老本杰明拒绝对风车产生热情，尽管他像往常一样，除了说驴很长寿这句神秘的话外，他什么也不说。

November came，with raging south-west winds. Building had to stop because it was now too wet to mix the cement.  Finally there came a night when the gale was so violent that the farm buildings rocked on their foundations and several tiles blown off the roof of the barn.  The hens woke up squawking with terror because they had all dreamed simultaneously of hearing a gun go off in the distance. In the morning the animals came out of the stall to find that the flagstaff had been blown down and an elm tree at the foot of the orchard had been plucked up like a radish.  They had just noticed this when a cry of despair broke from every animal's throat. A terrible sight had met their eyes. The windmill was in ruins.

11月来了，伴着猛烈的西南风。建筑不得不停止，因为现在太湿了，不能和水泥混合。最后，有一天晚上，狂风大作，庄园里的窝棚都从地基上摇了起来，大谷仓顶上的几块瓦片也被刮掉了。鸡群惊恐地嘎嘎叫着醒来，因为他们在梦中同时听见远处在打枪。第二天早晨，动物们走出马厩，发现旗杆已被风吹倒，果园脚下的一棵榆树也像萝卜一样被连根拔起。他们刚刚注意到这一点，就在这时，从每一个动物的喉咙里发出了一声绝望的叫声。可怕的景象映入他们的眼帘。风车成了废墟。