The singing of this song excited the animals a lot. Almost before Major had reached the end, they had begun singing it for themselves. Even the stupidest of them had already picked up the tune and a few of the words. As for the clever ones, such as the pigs and dogs, they were able to learn the entire song by heart within a few minutes. And then, after a few preliminary tries, the whole farm was singing Beasts of England in incredible unison. They were so delighted with the song that they sang it five times in succession.
They wanted to sing it all night but, unfortunately, the loud noise woke up Mr Jones. He immediately seized²⁵ his gun and started to shoot into the darkness. He thought that there was a fox²⁶ near the barn. The bullets²⁷ hit the wall of the barn and the meeting was interrupted in a flash. Everyone fled²⁸ to their own sleeping-place and the whole farm was asleep in a moment.