Once upon a time, on a farm far, far away, there lived a group of animals who were treated very badly by the farmers who owned the land. The animals lived in dirty, cramped conditions, and were given very little food or water. They were worked hard every day, and never given a chance to rest or play.
The animals on the farm were fed up with the way they were being treated, and they decided to do something about it. They began to plot a revolution, with the goal of overthrowing the farmer’s regime and running the farm themselves.
One day, when the farmer forgot to feed the animals, they saw their chance. They rose up and chased the farmer off the farm, and took control for themselves. At first, the rebellion was a success. The animals cooperated, and they all lived happily together, with clear rules and fair treatment for everyone.
The pigs, who were the most intelligent animals on the farm, became the leaders. They worked hard to make sure that the animals had enough food and water, and that everyone was treated equally.
However, one of the pigs, named Napoleon, was very power hungry. He started giving himself and his pig friends more food than the other animals, and convinced the others that pigs were always right in their decisions because they were the most intelligent.
As time went on, the pigs let the other animals work harder and harder, while doing less and less themselves. They also started giving the animals less food and eating more themselves. They bent the rules in their own benefit, and introduced a new law: “All animals are equal, but some are more equal than others.”
Within months, the state of the farm had become worse than it was when the farmer was in charge. The other animals were overworked and underfed, and they realized that they had been tricked by Napoleon and the other pigs. They knew they needed to do something to fix the situation, but they didn’t know what…
Credits
Ririro is the in-house author and editorial team behind many of the original and adapted stories published on Ririro.com. This version of Animal Farm is a short, accessible retelling that distils the story's core themes of power, equality, and betrayal into a form younger readers can follow and reflect on.
