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diff --git a/1250-h/1250-h.htm b/1250-h/1250-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..64a3a14 --- /dev/null +++ b/1250-h/1250-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,2481 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" +"http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en"> +<head> +<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=UTF-8" /> +<meta http-equiv="Content-Style-Type" content="text/css" /> +<title>The Project Gutenberg eBook of Anthem, by Ayn Rand</title> + +<style type="text/css" xml:space="preserve"> + +body { margin-left: 20%; + margin-right: 20%; + text-align: justify; } + +h1, h2, h3, h4, h5 {text-align: center; font-style: normal; font-weight: +normal; line-height: 1.5; margin-top: .5em; margin-bottom: .5em;} + +h1 {font-size: 300%; + margin-top: 0.6em; + margin-bottom: 0.6em; + letter-spacing: 0.12em; + word-spacing: 0.2em; + text-indent: 0em;} +h2 {font-size: 150%; margin-top: 2em; margin-bottom: 1em;} +h3 {font-size: 130%; margin-top: 1em;} +h4 {font-size: 120%;} +h5 {font-size: 110%;} + +.no-break {page-break-before: avoid;} /* for epubs */ + +div.chapter {page-break-before: always; margin-top: 4em;} + +hr {width: 80%; margin-top: 2em; margin-bottom: 2em;} + +p {text-indent: 1em; + margin-top: 0.25em; + margin-bottom: 0.25em; } + +p.letter {text-indent: 0%; + margin-left: 10%; + margin-right: 10%; + margin-top: 1em; + margin-bottom: 1em; } + +a:link {color:blue; text-decoration:none} +a:visited {color:blue; text-decoration:none} +a:hover {color:red} + +</style> + </head> + <body> +<div>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 1250 ***</div> + + <h1> + ANTHEM + </h1> + + <h2 class="no-break"> + by Ayn Rand + </h2> + + <hr /> + +<h2>Contents</h2> + +<table summary="" style=""> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#link2H_PART1"> PART ONE </a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#link2H_PART2"> PART TWO </a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#link2H_PART3"> PART THREE </a>></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#link2H_PART4"> PART FOUR </a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#link2H_PART5"> PART FIVE </a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#link2H_PART6"> PART SIX </a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#link2H_PART7"> PART SEVEN </a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#link2H_PART8"> PART EIGHT </a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#link2H_PART9"> PART NINE </a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#link2H_PART10"> PART TEN </a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#link2H_PART11"> PART ELEVEN </a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#link2H_PART12"> PART TWELVE </a></td> +</tr> + +</table> + + <hr /> + + <div class="chapter"> + + <h2><a name="link2H_PART1" id="link2H_PART1"></a> + PART ONE + </h2> + <p> + It is a sin to write this. It is a sin to think words no others think and + to put them down upon a paper no others are to see. It is base and evil. + It is as if we were speaking alone to no ears but our own. And we know + well that there is no transgression blacker than to do or think alone. We + have broken the laws. The laws say that men may not write unless the + Council of Vocations bid them so. May we be forgiven! + </p> + <p> + But this is not the only sin upon us. We have committed a greater crime, + and for this crime there is no name. What punishment awaits us if it be + discovered we know not, for no such crime has come in the memory of men + and there are no laws to provide for it. + </p> + <p> + It is dark here. The flame of the candle stands still in the air. Nothing + moves in this tunnel save our hand on the paper. We are alone here under + the earth. It is a fearful word, alone. The laws say that none among men + may be alone, ever and at any time, for this is the great transgression + and the root of all evil. But we have broken many laws. And now there is + nothing here save our one body, and it is strange to see only two legs + stretched on the ground, and on the wall before us the shadow of our one + head. + </p> + <p> + The walls are cracked and water runs upon them in thin threads without + sound, black and glistening as blood. We stole the candle from the larder + of the Home of the Street Sweepers. We shall be sentenced to ten years in + the Palace of Corrective Detention if it be discovered. But this matters + not. It matters only that the light is precious and we should not waste it + to write when we need it for that work which is our crime. Nothing matters + save the work, our secret, our evil, our precious work. Still, we must + also write, for—may the Council have mercy upon us!—we wish to + speak for once to no ears but our own. + </p> + <p> + Our name is Equality 7-2521, as it is written on the iron bracelet which + all men wear on their left wrists with their names upon it. We are + twenty-one years old. We are six feet tall, and this is a burden, for + there are not many men who are six feet tall. Ever have the Teachers and + the Leaders pointed to us and frowned and said: + </p> + <p> + “There is evil in your bones, Equality 7-2521, for your body has grown + beyond the bodies of your brothers.” But we cannot change our bones nor + our body. + </p> + <p> + We were born with a curse. It has always driven us to thoughts which are + forbidden. It has always given us wishes which men may not wish. We know + that we are evil, but there is no will in us and no power to resist it. + This is our wonder and our secret fear, that we know and do not resist. + </p> + <p> + We strive to be like all our brother men, for all men must be alike. Over + the portals of the Palace of the World Council, there are words cut in the + marble, which we repeat to ourselves whenever we are tempted: + </p> + +<p class="letter"> + “WE ARE ONE IN ALL AND ALL IN ONE.<br /> + THERE ARE NO MEN BUT ONLY THE GREAT <i>WE</i>,<br /> + ONE, INDIVISIBLE AND FOREVER.” +</p> + <p> + We repeat this to ourselves, but it helps us not. + </p> + <p> + These words were cut long ago. There is green mould in the grooves of the + letters and yellow streaks on the marble, which come from more years than + men could count. And these words are the truth, for they are written on + the Palace of the World Council, and the World Council is the body of all + truth. Thus has it been ever since the Great Rebirth, and farther back + than that no memory can reach. + </p> + <p> + But we must never speak of the times before the Great Rebirth, else we are + sentenced to three years in the Palace of Corrective Detention. It is only + the Old Ones who whisper about it in the evenings, in the Home of the + Useless. They whisper many strange things, of the towers which rose to the + sky, in those Unmentionable Times, and of the wagons which moved without + horses, and of the lights which burned without flame. But those times were + evil. And those times passed away, when men saw the Great Truth which is + this: that all men are one and that there is no will save the will of all + men together. + </p> + <p> + All men are good and wise. It is only we, Equality 7-2521, we alone who + were born with a curse. For we are not like our brothers. And as we look + back upon our life, we see that it has ever been thus and that it has + brought us step by step to our last, supreme transgression, our crime of + crimes hidden here under the ground. + </p> + <p> + We remember the Home of the Infants where we lived till we were five years + old, together with all the children of the City who had been born in the + same year. The sleeping halls there were white and clean and bare of all + things save one hundred beds. We were just like all our brothers then, + save for the one transgression: we fought with our brothers. There are few + offenses blacker than to fight with our brothers, at any age and for any + cause whatsoever. The Council of the Home told us so, and of all the + children of that year, we were locked in the cellar most often. + </p> + <p> + When we were five years old, we were sent to the Home of the Students, + where there are ten wards, for our ten years of learning. Men must learn + till they reach their fifteenth year. Then they go to work. In the Home of + the Students we arose when the big bell rang in the tower and we went to + our beds when it rang again. Before we removed our garments, we stood in + the great sleeping hall, and we raised our right arms, and we said all + together with the three Teachers at the head: + </p> + <p> + “We are nothing. Mankind is all. By the grace of our brothers are we + allowed our lives. We exist through, by and for our brothers who are the + State. Amen.” + </p> + <p> + Then we slept. The sleeping halls were white and clean and bare of all + things save one hundred beds. + </p> + <p> + We, Equality 7-2521, were not happy in those years in the Home of the + Students. It was not that the learning was too hard for us. It was that + the learning was too easy. This is a great sin, to be born with a head + which is too quick. It is not good to be different from our brothers, but + it is evil to be superior to them. The Teachers told us so, and they + frowned when they looked upon us. + </p> + <p> + So we fought against this curse. We tried to forget our lessons, but we + always remembered. We tried not to understand what the Teachers taught, + but we always understood it before the Teachers had spoken. We looked upon + Union 5-3992, who were a pale boy with only half a brain, and we tried to + say and do as they did, that we might be like them, like Union 5-3992, but + somehow the Teachers knew that we were not. And we were lashed more often + than all the other children. + </p> + <p> + The Teachers were just, for they had been appointed by the Councils, and + the Councils are the voice of all justice, for they are the voice of all + men. And if sometimes, in the secret darkness of our heart, we regret that + which befell us on our fifteenth birthday, we know that it was through our + own guilt. We had broken a law, for we had not paid heed to the words of + our Teachers. The Teachers had said to us all: + </p> + <p> + “Dare not choose in your minds the work you would like to do when you + leave the Home of the Students. You shall do that which the Council of + Vocations shall prescribe for you. For the Council of Vocations knows in + its great wisdom where you are needed by your brother men, better than you + can know it in your unworthy little minds. And if you are not needed by + your brother man, there is no reason for you to burden the earth with your + bodies.” + </p> + <p> + We knew this well, in the years of our childhood, but our curse broke our + will. We were guilty and we confess it here: we were guilty of the great + Transgression of Preference. We preferred some work and some lessons to + the others. We did not listen well to the history of all the Councils + elected since the Great Rebirth. But we loved the Science of Things. We + wished to know. We wished to know about all the things which make the + earth around us. We asked so many questions that the Teachers forbade it. + </p> + <p> + We think that there are mysteries in the sky and under the water and in + the plants which grow. But the Council of Scholars has said that there are + no mysteries, and the Council of Scholars knows all things. And we learned + much from our Teachers. We learned that the earth is flat and that the sun + revolves around it, which causes the day and the night. We learned the + names of all the winds which blow over the seas and push the sails of our + great ships. We learned how to bleed men to cure them of all ailments. + </p> + <p> + We loved the Science of Things. And in the darkness, in the secret hour, + when we awoke in the night and there were no brothers around us, but only + their shapes in the beds and their snores, we closed our eyes, and we held + our lips shut, and we stopped our breath, that no shudder might let our + brothers see or hear or guess, and we thought that we wished to be sent to + the Home of the Scholars when our time would come. + </p> + <p> + All the great modern inventions come from the Home of the Scholars, such + as the newest one, which was found only a hundred years ago, of how to + make candles from wax and string; also, how to make glass, which is put in + our windows to protect us from the rain. To find these things, the + Scholars must study the earth and learn from the rivers, from the sands, + from the winds and the rocks. And if we went to the Home of the Scholars, + we could learn from these also. We could ask questions of these, for they + do not forbid questions. + </p> + <p> + And questions give us no rest. We know not why our curse makes us seek we + know not what, ever and ever. But we cannot resist it. It whispers to us + that there are great things on this earth of ours, and that we can know + them if we try, and that we must know them. We ask, why must we know, but + it has no answer to give us. We must know that we may know. + </p> + <p> + So we wished to be sent to the Home of the Scholars. We wished it so much + that our hands trembled under the blankets in the night, and we bit our + arm to stop that other pain which we could not endure. It was evil and we + dared not face our brothers in the morning. For men may wish nothing for + themselves. And we were punished when the Council of Vocations came to + give us our life Mandates which tell those who reach their fifteenth year + what their work is to be for the rest of their days. + </p> + <p> + The Council of Vocations came on the first day of spring, and they sat in + the great hall. And we who were fifteen and all the Teachers came into the + great hall. And the Council of Vocations sat on a high dais, and they had + but two words to speak to each of the Students. They called the Students’ + names, and when the Students stepped before them, one after another, the + Council said: “Carpenter” or “Doctor” or “Cook” or “Leader.” Then each + Student raised their right arm and said: “The will of our brothers be + done.” + </p> + <p> + Now if the Council has said “Carpenter” or “Cook,” the Students so + assigned go to work and they do not study any further. But if the Council + has said “Leader,” then those Students go into the Home of the Leaders, + which is the greatest house in the City, for it has three stories. And + there they study for many years, so that they may become candidates and be + elected to the City Council and the State Council and the World Council—by + a free and general vote of all men. But we wished not to be a Leader, even + though it is a great honor. We wished to be a Scholar. + </p> + <p> + So we awaited our turn in the great hall and then we heard the Council of + Vocations call our name: “Equality 7-2521.” We walked to the dais, and our + legs did not tremble, and we looked up at the Council. There were five + members of the Council, three of the male gender and two of the female. + Their hair was white and their faces were cracked as the clay of a dry + river bed. They were old. They seemed older than the marble of the Temple + of the World Council. They sat before us and they did not move. And we saw + no breath to stir the folds of their white togas. But we knew that they + were alive, for a finger of the hand of the oldest rose, pointed to us, + and fell down again. This was the only thing which moved, for the lips of + the oldest did not move as they said: “Street Sweeper.” + </p> + <p> + We felt the cords of our neck grow tight as our head rose higher to look + upon the faces of the Council, and we were happy. We knew we had been + guilty, but now we had a way to atone for it. We would accept our Life + Mandate, and we would work for our brothers, gladly and willingly, and we + would erase our sin against them, which they did not know, but we knew. So + we were happy, and proud of ourselves and of our victory over ourselves. + We raised our right arm and we spoke, and our voice was the clearest, the + steadiest voice in the hall that day, and we said: + </p> + <p> + “The will of our brothers be done.” + </p> + <p> + And we looked straight into the eyes of the Council, but their eyes were + as cold blue glass buttons. + </p> + <p> + So we went into the Home of the Street Sweepers. It is a grey house on a + narrow street. There is a sundial in its courtyard, by which the Council + of the Home can tell the hours of the day and when to ring the bell. When + the bell rings, we all arise from our beds. The sky is green and cold in + our windows to the east. The shadow on the sundial marks off a half-hour + while we dress and eat our breakfast in the dining hall, where there are + five long tables with twenty clay plates and twenty clay cups on each + table. Then we go to work in the streets of the City, with our brooms and + our rakes. In five hours, when the sun is high, we return to the Home and + we eat our midday meal, for which one-half hour is allowed. Then we go to + work again. In five hours, the shadows are blue on the pavements, and the + sky is blue with a deep brightness which is not bright. We come back to + have our dinner, which lasts one hour. Then the bell rings and we walk in + a straight column to one of the City Halls, for the Social Meeting. Other + columns of men arrive from the Homes of the different Trades. The candles + are lit, and the Councils of the different Homes stand in a pulpit, and + they speak to us of our duties and of our brother men. Then visiting + Leaders mount the pulpit and they read to us the speeches which were made + in the City Council that day, for the City Council represents all men and + all men must know. Then we sing hymns, the Hymn of Brotherhood, and the + Hymn of Equality, and the Hymn of the Collective Spirit. The sky is a + soggy purple when we return to the Home. Then the bell rings and we walk + in a straight column to the City Theatre for three hours of Social + Recreation. There a play is shown upon the stage, with two great choruses + from the Home of the Actors, which speak and answer all together, in two + great voices. The plays are about toil and how good it is. Then we walk + back to the Home in a straight column. The sky is like a black sieve + pierced by silver drops that tremble, ready to burst through. The moths + beat against the street lanterns. We go to our beds and we sleep, till the + bell rings again. The sleeping halls are white and clean and bare of all + things save one hundred beds. + </p> + <p> + Thus have we lived each day of four years, until two springs ago when our + crime happened. Thus must all men live until they are forty. At forty, + they are worn out. At forty, they are sent to the Home of the Useless, + where the Old Ones live. The Old Ones do not work, for the State takes + care of them. They sit in the sun in summer and they sit by the fire in + winter. They do not speak often, for they are weary. The Old Ones know + that they are soon to die. When a miracle happens and some live to be + forty-five, they are the Ancient Ones, and the children stare at them when + passing by the Home of the Useless. Such is to be our life, as that of all + our brothers and of the brothers who came before us. + </p> + <p> + Such would have been our life, had we not committed our crime which + changed all things for us. And it was our curse which drove us to our + crime. We had been a good Street Sweeper and like all our brother Street + Sweepers, save for our cursed wish to know. We looked too long at the + stars at night, and at the trees and the earth. And when we cleaned the + yard of the Home of the Scholars, we gathered the glass vials, the pieces + of metal, the dried bones which they had discarded. We wished to keep + these things and to study them, but we had no place to hide them. So we + carried them to the City Cesspool. And then we made the discovery. + </p> + <p> + It was on a day of the spring before last. We Street Sweepers work in + brigades of three, and we were with Union 5-3992, they of the half-brain, + and with International 4-8818. Now Union 5-3992 are a sickly lad and + sometimes they are stricken with convulsions, when their mouth froths and + their eyes turn white. But International 4-8818 are different. They are a + tall, strong youth and their eyes are like fireflies, for there is + laughter in their eyes. We cannot look upon International 4-8818 and not + smile in answer. For this they were not liked in the Home of the Students, + as it is not proper to smile without reason. And also they were not liked + because they took pieces of coal and they drew pictures upon the walls, + and they were pictures which made men laugh. But it is only our brothers + in the Home of the Artists who are permitted to draw pictures, so + International 4-8818 were sent to the Home of the Street Sweepers, like + ourselves. + </p> + <p> + International 4-8818 and we are friends. This is an evil thing to say, for + it is a transgression, the great Transgression of Preference, to love any + among men better than the others, since we must love all men and all men + are our friends. So International 4-8818 and we have never spoken of it. + But we know. We know, when we look into each other’s eyes. And when we + look thus without words, we both know other things also, strange things + for which there are no words, and these things frighten us. + </p> + <p> + So on that day of the spring before last, Union 5-3992 were stricken with + convulsions on the edge of the City, near the City Theatre. We left them + to lie in the shade of the Theatre tent and we went with International + 4-8818 to finish our work. We came together to the great ravine behind the + Theatre. It is empty save for trees and weeds. Beyond the ravine there is + a plain, and beyond the plain there lies the Uncharted Forest, about which + men must not think. + </p> + <p> + We were gathering the papers and the rags which the wind had blown from + the Theatre, when we saw an iron bar among the weeds. It was old and + rusted by many rains. We pulled with all our strength, but we could not + move it. So we called International 4-8818, and together we scraped the + earth around the bar. Of a sudden the earth fell in before us, and we saw + an old iron grill over a black hole. + </p> + <p> + International 4-8818 stepped back. But we pulled at the grill and it gave + way. And then we saw iron rings as steps leading down a shaft into a + darkness without bottom. + </p> + <p> + “We shall go down,” we said to International 4-8818. + </p> + <p> + “It is forbidden,” they answered. + </p> + <p> + We said: “The Council does not know of this hole, so it cannot be + forbidden.” + </p> + <p> + And they answered: “Since the Council does not know of this hole, there + can be no law permitting to enter it. And everything which is not + permitted by law is forbidden.” + </p> + <p> + But we said: “We shall go, none the less.” + </p> + <p> + They were frightened, but they stood by and watched us go. + </p> + <p> + We hung on the iron rings with our hands and our feet. We could see + nothing below us. And above us the hole open upon the sky grew smaller and + smaller, till it came to be the size of a button. But still we went down. + Then our foot touched the ground. We rubbed our eyes, for we could not + see. Then our eyes became used to the darkness, but we could not believe + what we saw. + </p> + <p> + No men known to us could have built this place, nor the men known to our + brothers who lived before us, and yet it was built by men. It was a great + tunnel. Its walls were hard and smooth to the touch; it felt like stone, + but it was not stone. On the ground there were long thin tracks of iron, + but it was not iron; it felt smooth and cold as glass. We knelt, and we + crawled forward, our hand groping along the iron line to see where it + would lead. But there was an unbroken night ahead. Only the iron tracks + glowed through it, straight and white, calling us to follow. But we could + not follow, for we were losing the puddle of light behind us. So we turned + and we crawled back, our hand on the iron line. And our heart beat in our + fingertips, without reason. And then we knew. + </p> + <p> + We knew suddenly that this place was left from the Unmentionable Times. So + it was true, and those Times had been, and all the wonders of those Times. + Hundreds upon hundreds of years ago men knew secrets which we have lost. + And we thought: “This is a foul place. They are damned who touch the + things of the Unmentionable Times.” But our hand which followed the track, + as we crawled, clung to the iron as if it would not leave it, as if the + skin of our hand were thirsty and begging of the metal some secret fluid + beating in its coldness. + </p> + <p> + We returned to the earth. International 4-8818 looked upon us and stepped + back. + </p> + <p> + “Equality 7-2521,” they said, “your face is white.” + </p> + <p> + But we could not speak and we stood looking upon them. + </p> + <p> + They backed away, as if they dared not touch us. Then they smiled, but it + was not a gay smile; it was lost and pleading. But still we could not + speak. Then they said: + </p> + <p> + “We shall report our find to the City Council and both of us will be + rewarded.” + </p> + <p> + And then we spoke. Our voice was hard and there was no mercy in our voice. + We said: + </p> + <p> + “We shall not report our find to the City Council. We shall not report it + to any men.” + </p> + <p> + They raised their hands to their ears, for never had they heard such words + as these. + </p> + <p> + “International 4-8818,” we asked, “will you report us to the Council and + see us lashed to death before your eyes?” + </p> + <p> + They stood straight all of a sudden and they answered: “Rather would we + die.” + </p> + <p> + “Then,” we said, “keep silent. This place is ours. This place belongs to + us, Equality 7-2521, and to no other men on earth. And if ever we + surrender it, we shall surrender our life with it also.” + </p> + <p> + Then we saw that the eyes of International 4-8818 were full to the lids + with tears they dared not drop. They whispered, and their voice trembled, + so that their words lost all shape: + </p> + <p> + “The will of the Council is above all things, for it is the will of our + brothers, which is holy. But if you wish it so, we shall obey you. Rather + shall we be evil with you than good with all our brothers. May the Council + have mercy upon both our hearts!” + </p> + <p> + Then we walked away together and back to the Home of the Street Sweepers. + And we walked in silence. + </p> + <p> + Thus did it come to pass that each night, when the stars are high and the + Street Sweepers sit in the City Theatre, we, Equality 7-2521, steal out + and run through the darkness to our place. It is easy to leave the + Theatre; when the candles are blown out and the Actors come onto the + stage, no eyes can see us as we crawl under our seat and under the cloth + of the tent. Later, it is easy to steal through the shadows and fall in + line next to International 4-8818, as the column leaves the Theatre. It is + dark in the streets and there are no men about, for no men may walk + through the City when they have no mission to walk there. Each night, we + run to the ravine, and we remove the stones which we have piled upon the + iron grill to hide it from the men. Each night, for three hours, we are + under the earth, alone. + </p> + <p> + We have stolen candles from the Home of the Street Sweepers, we have + stolen flints and knives and paper, and we have brought them to this + place. We have stolen glass vials and powders and acids from the Home of + the Scholars. Now we sit in the tunnel for three hours each night and we + study. We melt strange metals, and we mix acids, and we cut open the + bodies of the animals which we find in the City Cesspool. We have built an + oven of the bricks we gathered in the streets. We burn the wood we find in + the ravine. The fire flickers in the oven and blue shadows dance upon the + walls, and there is no sound of men to disturb us. + </p> + <p> + We have stolen manuscripts. This is a great offense. Manuscripts are + precious, for our brothers in the Home of the Clerks spend one year to + copy one single script in their clear handwriting. Manuscripts are rare + and they are kept in the Home of the Scholars. So we sit under the earth + and we read the stolen scripts. Two years have passed since we found this + place. And in these two years we have learned more than we had learned in + the ten years of the Home of the Students. + </p> + <p> + We have learned things which are not in the scripts. We have solved + secrets of which the Scholars have no knowledge. We have come to see how + great is the unexplored, and many lifetimes will not bring us to the end + of our quest. But we wish no end to our quest. We wish nothing, save to be + alone and to learn, and to feel as if with each day our sight were growing + sharper than the hawk’s and clearer than rock crystal. + </p> + <p> + Strange are the ways of evil. We are false in the faces of our brothers. + We are defying the will of our Councils. We alone, of the thousands who + walk this earth, we alone in this hour are doing a work which has no + purpose save that we wish to do it. The evil of our crime is not for the + human mind to probe. The nature of our punishment, if it be discovered, is + not for the human heart to ponder. Never, not in the memory of the Ancient + Ones’ Ancients, never have men done that which we are doing. + </p> + <p> + And yet there is no shame in us and no regret. We say to ourselves that we + are a wretch and a traitor. But we feel no burden upon our spirit and no + fear in our heart. And it seems to us that our spirit is clear as a lake + troubled by no eyes save those of the sun. And in our heart—strange + are the ways of evil!—in our heart there is the first peace we have + known in twenty years. + </p> + + </div><!--end chapter--> + + <div class="chapter"> + + <h2><a name="link2H_PART2" id="link2H_PART2"></a> + PART TWO + </h2> + <p> + Liberty 5-3000... Liberty five-three thousand ... Liberty 5-3000.... + </p> + <p> + We wish to write this name. We wish to speak it, but we dare not speak it + above a whisper. For men are forbidden to take notice of women, and women + are forbidden to take notice of men. But we think of one among women, they + whose name is Liberty 5-3000, and we think of no others. The women who + have been assigned to work the soil live in the Homes of the Peasants + beyond the City. Where the City ends there is a great road winding off to + the north, and we Street Sweepers must keep this road clean to the first + milepost. There is a hedge along the road, and beyond the hedge lie the + fields. The fields are black and ploughed, and they lie like a great fan + before us, with their furrows gathered in some hand beyond the sky, + spreading forth from that hand, opening wide apart as they come toward us, + like black pleats that sparkle with thin, green spangles. Women work in + the fields, and their white tunics in the wind are like the wings of + sea-gulls beating over the black soil. + </p> + <p> + And there it was that we saw Liberty 5-3000 walking along the furrows. + Their body was straight and thin as a blade of iron. Their eyes were dark + and hard and glowing, with no fear in them, no kindness and no guilt. + Their hair was golden as the sun; their hair flew in the wind, shining and + wild, as if it defied men to restrain it. They threw seeds from their hand + as if they deigned to fling a scornful gift, and the earth was a beggar + under their feet. + </p> + <p> + We stood still; for the first time did we know fear, and then pain. And we + stood still that we might not spill this pain more precious than pleasure. + </p> + <p> + Then we heard a voice from the others call their name: “Liberty 5-3000,” + and they turned and walked back. Thus we learned their name, and we stood + watching them go, till their white tunic was lost in the blue mist. + </p> + <p> + And the following day, as we came to the northern road, we kept our eyes + upon Liberty 5-3000 in the field. And each day thereafter we knew the + illness of waiting for our hour on the northern road. And there we looked + at Liberty 5-3000 each day. We know not whether they looked at us also, + but we think they did. Then one day they came close to the hedge, and + suddenly they turned to us. They turned in a whirl and the movement of + their body stopped, as if slashed off, as suddenly as it had started. They + stood still as a stone, and they looked straight upon us, straight into + our eyes. There was no smile on their face, and no welcome. But their face + was taut, and their eyes were dark. Then they turned as swiftly, and they + walked away from us. + </p> + <p> + But the following day, when we came to the road, they smiled. They smiled + to us and for us. And we smiled in answer. Their head fell back, and their + arms fell, as if their arms and their thin white neck were stricken + suddenly with a great lassitude. They were not looking upon us, but upon + the sky. Then they glanced at us over their shoulder, as we felt as if a + hand had touched our body, slipping softly from our lips to our feet. + </p> + <p> + Every morning thereafter, we greeted each other with our eyes. We dared + not speak. It is a transgression to speak to men of other Trades, save in + groups at the Social Meetings. But once, standing at the hedge, we raised + our hand to our forehead and then moved it slowly, palm down, toward + Liberty 5-3000. Had the others seen it, they could have guessed nothing, + for it looked only as if we were shading our eyes from the sun. But + Liberty 5-3000 saw it and understood. They raised their hand to their + forehead and moved it as we had. Thus, each day, we greet Liberty 5-3000, + and they answer, and no men can suspect. + </p> + <p> + We do not wonder at this new sin of ours. It is our second Transgression + of Preference, for we do not think of all our brothers, as we must, but + only of one, and their name is Liberty 5-3000. We do not know why we think + of them. We do not know why, when we think of them, we feel all of a + sudden that the earth is good and that it is not a burden to live. We do + not think of them as Liberty 5-3000 any longer. We have given them a name + in our thoughts. We call them the Golden One. But it is a sin to give men + names which distinguish them from other men. Yet we call them the Golden + One, for they are not like the others. The Golden One are not like the + others. + </p> + <p> + And we take no heed of the law which says that men may not think of women, + save at the Time of Mating. This is the time each spring when all the men + older than twenty and all the women older than eighteen are sent for one + night to the City Palace of Mating. And each of the men have one of the + women assigned to them by the Council of Eugenics. Children are born each + winter, but women never see their children and children never know their + parents. Twice have we been sent to the Palace of Mating, but it is an + ugly and shameful matter, of which we do not like to think. + </p> + <p> + We had broken so many laws, and today we have broken one more. Today, we + spoke to the Golden One. + </p> + <p> + The other women were far off in the field, when we stopped at the hedge by + the side of the road. The Golden One were kneeling alone at the moat which + runs through the field. And the drops of water falling from their hands, + as they raised the water to their lips, were like sparks of fire in the + sun. Then the Golden One saw us, and they did not move, kneeling there, + looking at us, and circles of light played upon their white tunic, from + the sun on the water of the moat, and one sparkling drop fell from a + finger of their hand held as frozen in the air. + </p> + <p> + Then the Golden One rose and walked to the hedge, as if they had heard a + command in our eyes. The two other Street Sweepers of our brigade were a + hundred paces away down the road. And we thought that International 4-8818 + would not betray us, and Union 5-3992 would not understand. So we looked + straight upon the Golden One, and we saw the shadows of their lashes on + their white cheeks and the sparks of sun on their lips. And we said: + </p> + <p> + “You are beautiful, Liberty 5-3000.” + </p> + <p> + Their face did not move and they did not avert their eyes. Only their eyes + grew wider, and there was triumph in their eyes, and it was not triumph + over us, but over things we could not guess. + </p> + <p> + Then they asked: + </p> + <p> + “What is your name?” + </p> + <p> + “Equality 7-2521,” we answered. + </p> + <p> + “You are not one of our brothers, Equality 7-2521, for we do not wish you + to be.” + </p> + <p> + We cannot say what they meant, for there are no words for their meaning, + but we know it without words and we knew it then. + </p> + <p> + “No,” we answered, “nor are you one of our sisters.” + </p> + <p> + “If you see us among scores of women, will you look upon us?” + </p> + <p> + “We shall look upon you, Liberty 5-3000, if we see you among all the women + of the earth.” + </p> + <p> + Then they asked: + </p> + <p> + “Are Street Sweepers sent to different parts of the City or do they always + work in the same places?” + </p> + <p> + “They always work in the same places,” we answered, “and no one will take + this road away from us.” + </p> + <p> + “Your eyes,” they said, “are not like the eyes of any among men.” + </p> + <p> + And suddenly, without cause for the thought which came to us, we felt + cold, cold to our stomach. + </p> + <p> + “How old are you?” we asked. + </p> + <p> + They understood our thought, for they lowered their eyes for the first + time. + </p> + <p> + “Seventeen,” they whispered. + </p> + <p> + And we sighed, as if a burden had been taken from us, for we had been + thinking without reason of the Palace of Mating. And we thought that we + would not let the Golden One be sent to the Palace. How to prevent it, how + to bar the will of the Councils, we knew not, but we knew suddenly that we + would. Only we do not know why such thought came to us, for these ugly + matters bear no relation to us and the Golden One. What relation can they + bear? + </p> + <p> + Still, without reason, as we stood there by the hedge, we felt our lips + drawn tight with hatred, a sudden hatred for all our brother men. And the + Golden One saw it and smiled slowly, and there was in their smile the + first sadness we had seen in them. We think that in the wisdom of women + the Golden One had understood more than we can understand. + </p> + <p> + Then three of the sisters in the field appeared, coming toward the road, + so the Golden One walked away from us. They took the bag of seeds, and + they threw the seeds into the furrows of earth as they walked away. But + the seeds flew wildly, for the hand of the Golden One was trembling. + </p> + <p> + Yet as we walked back to the Home of the Street Sweepers, we felt that we + wanted to sing, without reason. So we were reprimanded tonight, in the + dining hall, for without knowing it we had begun to sing aloud some tune + we had never heard. But it is not proper to sing without reason, save at + the Social Meetings. + </p> + <p> + “We are singing because we are happy,” we answered the one of the Home + Council who reprimanded us. + </p> + <p> + “Indeed you are happy,” they answered. “How else can men be when they live + for their brothers?” + </p> + <p> + And now, sitting here in our tunnel, we wonder about these words. It is + forbidden, not to be happy. For, as it has been explained to us, men are + free and the earth belongs to them; and all things on earth belong to all + men; and the will of all men together is good for all; and so all men must + be happy. + </p> + <p> + Yet as we stand at night in the great hall, removing our garments for + sleep, we look upon our brothers and we wonder. The heads of our brothers + are bowed. The eyes of our brothers are dull, and never do they look one + another in the eyes. The shoulders of our brothers are hunched, and their + muscles are drawn, as if their bodies were shrinking and wished to shrink + out of sight. And a word steals into our mind, as we look upon our + brothers, and that word is fear. + </p> + <p> + There is fear hanging in the air of the sleeping halls, and in the air of + the streets. Fear walks through the City, fear without name, without + shape. All men feel it and none dare to speak. + </p> + <p> + We feel it also, when we are in the Home of the Street Sweepers. But here, + in our tunnel, we feel it no longer. The air is pure under the ground. + There is no odor of men. And these three hours give us strength for our + hours above the ground. + </p> + <p> + Our body is betraying us, for the Council of the Home looks with suspicion + upon us. It is not good to feel too much joy nor to be glad that our body + lives. For we matter not and it must not matter to us whether we live or + die, which is to be as our brothers will it. But we, Equality 7-2521, are + glad to be living. If this is a vice, then we wish no virtue. + </p> + <p> + Yet our brothers are not like us. All is not well with our brothers. There + are Fraternity 2-5503, a quiet boy with wise, kind eyes, who cry suddenly, + without reason, in the midst of day or night, and their body shakes with + sobs they cannot explain. There are Solidarity 9-6347, who are a bright + youth, without fear in the day; but they scream in their sleep, and they + scream: “Help us! Help us! Help us!” into the night, in a voice which + chills our bones, but the Doctors cannot cure Solidarity 9-6347. + </p> + <p> + And as we all undress at night, in the dim light of the candles, our + brothers are silent, for they dare not speak the thoughts of their minds. + For all must agree with all, and they cannot know if their thoughts are + the thoughts of all, and so they fear to speak. And they are glad when the + candles are blown for the night. But we, Equality 7-2521, look through the + window upon the sky, and there is peace in the sky, and cleanliness, and + dignity. And beyond the City there lies the plain, and beyond the plain, + black upon the black sky, there lies the Uncharted Forest. + </p> + <p> + We do not wish to look upon the Uncharted Forest. We do not wish to think + of it. But ever do our eyes return to that black patch upon the sky. Men + never enter the Uncharted Forest, for there is no power to explore it and + no path to lead among its ancient trees which stand as guards of fearful + secrets. It is whispered that once or twice in a hundred years, one among + the men of the City escape alone and run to the Uncharted Forest, without + call or reason. These men do not return. They perish from hunger and from + the claws of the wild beasts which roam the Forest. But our Councils say + that this is only a legend. We have heard that there are many Uncharted + Forests over the land, among the Cities. And it is whispered that they + have grown over the ruins of many cities of the Unmentionable Times. The + trees have swallowed the ruins, and the bones under the ruins, and all the + things which perished. And as we look upon the Uncharted Forest far in the + night, we think of the secrets of the Unmentionable Times. And we wonder + how it came to pass that these secrets were lost to the world. We have + heard the legends of the great fighting, in which many men fought on one + side and only a few on the other. These few were the Evil Ones and they + were conquered. Then great fires raged over the land. And in these fires + the Evil Ones and all the things made by the Evil Ones were burned. And + the fire which is called the Dawn of the Great Rebirth, was the Script + Fire where all the scripts of the Evil Ones were burned, and with them all + the words of the Evil Ones. Great mountains of flame stood in the squares + of the Cities for three months. Then came the Great Rebirth. + </p> + <p> + The words of the Evil Ones... The words of the Unmentionable Times... What + are the words which we have lost? + </p> + <p> + May the Council have mercy upon us! We had no wish to write such a + question, and we knew not what we were doing till we had written it. We + shall not ask this question and we shall not think it. We shall not call + death upon our head. + </p> + <p> + And yet... And yet... There is some word, one single word which is not in + the language of men, but which had been. And this is the Unspeakable Word, + which no men may speak nor hear. But sometimes, and it is rare, sometimes, + somewhere, one among men find that word. They find it upon scraps of old + manuscripts or cut into the fragments of ancient stones. But when they + speak it they are put to death. There is no crime punished by death in + this world, save this one crime of speaking the Unspeakable Word. + </p> + <p> + We have seen one of such men burned alive in the square of the City. And + it was a sight which has stayed with us through the years, and it haunts + us, and follows us, and it gives us no rest. We were a child then, ten + years old. And we stood in the great square with all the children and all + the men of the City, sent to behold the burning. They brought the + Transgressor out into the square and they led them to the pyre. They had + torn out the tongue of the Transgressor, so that they could speak no + longer. The Transgressor were young and tall. They had hair of gold and + eyes blue as morning. They walked to the pyre, and their step did not + falter. And of all the faces on that square, of all the faces which + shrieked and screamed and spat curses upon them, theirs was the calmest + and the happiest face. + </p> + <p> + As the chains were wound over their body at the stake, and a flame set to + the pyre, the Transgressor looked upon the City. There was a thin thread + of blood running from the corner of their mouth, but their lips were + smiling. And a monstrous thought came to us then, which has never left us. + We had heard of Saints. There are the Saints of Labor, and the Saints of + the Councils, and the Saints of the Great Rebirth. But we had never seen a + Saint nor what the likeness of a Saint should be. And we thought then, + standing in the square, that the likeness of a Saint was the face we saw + before us in the flames, the face of the Transgressor of the Unspeakable + Word. + </p> + <p> + As the flames rose, a thing happened which no eyes saw but ours, else we + would not be living today. Perhaps it had only seemed to us. But it seemed + to us that the eyes of the Transgressor had chosen us from the crowd and + were looking straight upon us. There was no pain in their eyes and no + knowledge of the agony of their body. There was only joy in them, and + pride, a pride holier than is fit for human pride to be. And it seemed as + if these eyes were trying to tell us something through the flames, to send + into our eyes some word without sound. And it seemed as if these eyes were + begging us to gather that word and not to let it go from us and from the + earth. But the flames rose and we could not guess the word.... + </p> + <p> + What—even if we have to burn for it like the Saint of the Pyre—what + is the Unspeakable Word? + </p> + + </div><!--end chapter--> + + <div class="chapter"> + + <h2><a name="link2H_PART3" id="link2H_PART3"></a> + PART THREE + </h2> + <p> + We, Equality 7-2521, have discovered a new power of nature. And we have + discovered it alone, and we alone are to know it. + </p> + <p> + It is said. Now let us be lashed for it, if we must. The Council of + Scholars has said that we all know the things which exist and therefore + the things which are not known by all do not exist. But we think that the + Council of Scholars is blind. The secrets of this earth are not for all + men to see, but only for those who will seek them. We know, for we have + found a secret unknown to all our brothers. + </p> + <p> + We know not what this power is nor whence it comes. But we know its + nature, we have watched it and worked with it. We saw it first two years + ago. One night, we were cutting open the body of a dead frog when we saw + its leg jerking. It was dead, yet it moved. Some power unknown to men was + making it move. We could not understand it. Then, after many tests, we + found the answer. The frog had been hanging on a wire of copper; and it + had been the metal of our knife which had sent the strange power to the + copper through the brine of the frog’s body. We put a piece of copper and + a piece of zinc into a jar of brine, we touched a wire to them, and there, + under our fingers, was a miracle which had never occurred before, a new + miracle and a new power. + </p> + <p> + This discovery haunted us. We followed it in preference to all our + studies. We worked with it, we tested it in more ways than we can + describe, and each step was as another miracle unveiling before us. We + came to know that we had found the greatest power on earth. For it defies + all the laws known to men. It makes the needle move and turn on the + compass which we stole from the Home of the Scholars; but we had been + taught, when still a child, that the loadstone points to the north and + that this is a law which nothing can change; yet our new power defies all + laws. We found that it causes lightning, and never have men known what + causes lightning. In thunderstorms, we raised a tall rod of iron by the + side of our hole, and we watched it from below. We have seen the lightning + strike it again and again. And now we know that metal draws the power of + the sky, and that metal can be made to give it forth. + </p> + <p> + We have built strange things with this discovery of ours. We used for it + the copper wires which we found here under the ground. We have walked the + length of our tunnel, with a candle lighting the way. We could go no + farther than half a mile, for earth and rock had fallen at both ends. But + we gathered all the things we found and we brought them to our work place. + We found strange boxes with bars of metal inside, with many cords and + strands and coils of metal. We found wires that led to strange little + globes of glass on the walls; they contained threads of metal thinner than + a spider’s web. + </p> + <p> + These things help us in our work. We do not understand them, but we think + that the men of the Unmentionable Times had known our power of the sky, + and these things had some relation to it. We do not know, but we shall + learn. We cannot stop now, even though it frightens us that we are alone + in our knowledge. + </p> + <p> + No single one can possess greater wisdom than the many Scholars who are + elected by all men for their wisdom. Yet we can. We do. We have fought + against saying it, but now it is said. We do not care. We forget all men, + all laws and all things save our metals and our wires. So much is still to + be learned! So long a road lies before us, and what care we if we must + travel it alone! + </p> + + </div><!--end chapter--> + + <div class="chapter"> + + <h2><a name="link2H_PART4" id="link2H_PART4"></a> + PART FOUR + </h2> + <p> + Many days passed before we could speak to the Golden One again. But then + came the day when the sky turned white, as if the sun had burst and spread + its flame in the air, and the fields lay still without breath, and the + dust of the road was white in the glow. So the women of the field were + weary, and they tarried over their work, and they were far from the road + when we came. But the Golden One stood alone at the hedge, waiting. We + stopped and we saw that their eyes, so hard and scornful to the world, + were looking at us as if they would obey any word we might speak. + </p> + <p> + And we said: + </p> + <p> + “We have given you a name in our thoughts, Liberty 5-3000.” + </p> + <p> + “What is our name?” they asked. + </p> + <p> + “The Golden One.” + </p> + <p> + “Nor do we call you Equality 7-2521 when we think of you.” + </p> + <p> + “What name have you given us?” They looked straight into our eyes and they + held their head high and they answered: + </p> + <p> + “The Unconquered.” + </p> + <p> + For a long time we could not speak. Then we said: + </p> + <p> + “Such thoughts as these are forbidden, Golden One.” + </p> + <p> + “But you think such thoughts as these and you wish us to think them.” + </p> + <p> + We looked into their eyes and we could not lie. + </p> + <p> + “Yes,” we whispered, and they smiled, and then we said: “Our dearest one, + do not obey us.” + </p> + <p> + They stepped back, and their eyes were wide and still. + </p> + <p> + “Speak these words again,” they whispered. + </p> + <p> + “Which words?” we asked. But they did not answer, and we knew it. + </p> + <p> + “Our dearest one,” we whispered. + </p> + <p> + Never have men said this to women. + </p> + <p> + The head of the Golden One bowed slowly, and they stood still before us, + their arms at their sides, the palms of their hands turned to us, as if + their body were delivered in submission to our eyes. And we could not + speak. + </p> + <p> + Then they raised their head, and they spoke simply and gently, as if they + wished us to forget some anxiety of their own. + </p> + <p> + “The day is hot,” they said, “and you have worked for many hours and you + must be weary.” + </p> + <p> + “No,” we answered. + </p> + <p> + “It is cooler in the fields,” they said, “and there is water to drink. Are + you thirsty?” + </p> + <p> + “Yes,” we answered, “but we cannot cross the hedge.” + </p> + <p> + “We shall bring the water to you,” they said. + </p> + <p> + Then they knelt by the moat, they gathered water in their two hands, they + rose and they held the water out to our lips. + </p> + <p> + We do not know if we drank that water. We only knew suddenly that their + hands were empty, but we were still holding our lips to their hands, and + that they knew it, but did not move. + </p> + <p> + We raised our head and stepped back. For we did not understand what had + made us do this, and we were afraid to understand it. + </p> + <p> + And the Golden One stepped back, and stood looking upon their hands in + wonder. Then the Golden One moved away, even though no others were coming, + and they moved, stepping back, as if they could not turn from us, their + arms bent before them, as if they could not lower their hands. + </p> + + </div><!--end chapter--> + + <div class="chapter"> + + <h2><a name="link2H_PART5" id="link2H_PART5"></a> + PART FIVE + </h2> + <p> + We made it. We created it. We brought it forth from the night of the ages. + We alone. Our hands. Our mind. Ours alone and only. + </p> + <p> + We know not what we are saying. Our head is reeling. We look upon the + light which we have made. We shall be forgiven for anything we say + tonight.... + </p> + <p> + Tonight, after more days and trials than we can count, we finished + building a strange thing, from the remains of the Unmentionable Times, a + box of glass, devised to give forth the power of the sky of greater + strength than we had ever achieved before. And when we put our wires to + this box, when we closed the current—the wire glowed! It came to + life, it turned red, and a circle of light lay on the stone before us. + </p> + <p> + We stood, and we held our head in our hands. We could not conceive of that + which we had created. We had touched no flint, made no fire. Yet here was + light, light that came from nowhere, light from the heart of metal. + </p> + <p> + We blew out the candle. Darkness swallowed us. There was nothing left + around us, nothing save night and a thin thread of flame in it, as a crack + in the wall of a prison. We stretched our hands to the wire, and we saw + our fingers in the red glow. We could not see our body nor feel it, and in + that moment nothing existed save our two hands over a wire glowing in a + black abyss. + </p> + <p> + Then we thought of the meaning of that which lay before us. We can light + our tunnel, and the City, and all the Cities of the world with nothing + save metal and wires. We can give our brothers a new light, cleaner and + brighter than any they have ever known. The power of the sky can be made + to do men’s bidding. There are no limits to its secrets and its might, and + it can be made to grant us anything if we but choose to ask. + </p> + <p> + Then we knew what we must do. Our discovery is too great for us to waste + our time in sweeping the streets. We must not keep our secret to + ourselves, nor buried under the ground. We must bring it into the sight of + all men. We need all our time, we need the work rooms of the Home of the + Scholars, we want the help of our brother Scholars and their wisdom joined + to ours. There is so much work ahead for all of us, for all the Scholars + of the world. + </p> + <p> + In a month, the World Council of Scholars is to meet in our City. It is a + great Council, to which the wisest of all lands are elected, and it meets + once a year in the different Cities of the earth. We shall go to this + Council and we shall lay before them, as our gift, this glass box with the + power of the sky. We shall confess everything to them. They will see, + understand and forgive. For our gift is greater than our transgression. + They will explain it to the Council of Vocations, and we shall be assigned + to the Home of the Scholars. This has never been done before, but neither + has a gift such as ours ever been offered to men. + </p> + <p> + We must wait. We must guard our tunnel as we had never guarded it before. + For should any men save the Scholars learn of our secret, they would not + understand it, nor would they believe us. They would see nothing, save our + crime of working alone, and they would destroy us and our light. We care + not about our body, but our light is... + </p> + <p> + Yes, we do care. For the first time do we care about our body. For this + wire is as a part of our body, as a vein torn from us, glowing with our + blood. Are we proud of this thread of metal, or of our hands which made + it, or is there a line to divide these two? + </p> + <p> + We stretch out our arms. For the first time do we know how strong our arms + are. And a strange thought comes to us: we wonder, for the first time in + our life, what we look like. Men never see their own faces and never ask + their brothers about it, for it is evil to have concern for their own + faces or bodies. But tonight, for a reason we cannot fathom, we wish it + were possible to us to know the likeness of our own person. + </p> + + </div><!--end chapter--> + + <div class="chapter"> + + <h2><a name="link2H_PART6" id="link2H_PART6"></a> + PART SIX + </h2> + <p> + We have not written for thirty days. For thirty days we have not been + here, in our tunnel. We had been caught. It happened on that night when we + wrote last. We forgot, that night, to watch the sand in the glass which + tells us when three hours have passed and it is time to return to the City + Theatre. When we remembered it, the sand had run out. + </p> + <p> + We hastened to the Theatre. But the big tent stood grey and silent against + the sky. The streets of the City lay before us, dark and empty. If we went + back to hide in our tunnel, we would be found and our light found with us. + So we walked to the Home of the Street Sweepers. + </p> + <p> + When the Council of the Home questioned us, we looked upon the faces of + the Council, but there was no curiosity in those faces, and no anger, and + no mercy. So when the oldest of them asked us: “Where have you been?” we + thought of our glass box and of our light, and we forgot all else. And we + answered: + </p> + <p> + “We will not tell you.” + </p> + <p> + The oldest did not question us further. They turned to the two youngest, + and said, and their voice was bored: + </p> + <p> + “Take our brother Equality 7-2521 to the Palace of Corrective Detention. + Lash them until they tell.” + </p> + <p> + So we were taken to the Stone Room under the Palace of Corrective + Detention. This room has no windows and it is empty save for an iron post. + Two men stood by the post, naked but for leather aprons and leather hoods + over their faces. Those who had brought us departed, leaving us to the two + Judges who stood in a corner of the room. The Judges were small, thin men, + grey and bent. They gave the signal to the two strong hooded ones. + </p> + <p> + They tore the clothes from our body, they threw us down upon our knees and + they tied our hands to the iron post. The first blow of the lash felt as + if our spine had been cut in two. The second blow stopped the first, and + for a second we felt nothing, then the pain struck us in our throat and + fire ran in our lungs without air. But we did not cry out. + </p> + <p> + The lash whistled like a singing wind. We tried to count the blows, but we + lost count. We knew that the blows were falling upon our back. Only we + felt nothing upon our back any longer. A flaming grill kept dancing before + our eyes, and we thought of nothing save that grill, a grill, a grill of + red squares, and then we knew that we were looking at the squares of the + iron grill in the door, and there were also the squares of stone on the + walls, and the squares which the lash was cutting upon our back, crossing + and re-crossing itself in our flesh. + </p> + <p> + Then we saw a fist before us. It knocked our chin up, and we saw the red + froth of our mouth on the withered fingers, and the Judge asked: + </p> + <p> + “Where have you been?” + </p> + <p> + But we jerked our head away, hid our face upon our tied hands, and bit our + lips. + </p> + <p> + The lash whistled again. We wondered who was sprinkling burning coal dust + upon the floor, for we saw drops of red twinkling on the stones around us. + </p> + <p> + Then we knew nothing, save two voices snarling steadily, one after the + other, even though we knew they were speaking many minutes apart: + </p> + <p> + “Where have you been where have you been where have you been where have + you been?...” + </p> + <p> + And our lips moved, but the sound trickled back into our throat, and the + sound was only: + </p> + <p> + “The light... The light... The light....” + </p> + <p> + Then we knew nothing. + </p> + <p> + We opened our eyes, lying on our stomach on the brick floor of a cell. We + looked upon two hands lying far before us on the bricks, and we moved + them, and we knew that they were our hands. But we could not move our + body. Then we smiled, for we thought of the light and that we had not + betrayed it. + </p> + <p> + We lay in our cell for many days. The door opened twice each day, once for + the men who brought us bread and water, and once for the Judges. Many + Judges came to our cell, first the humblest and then the most honored + Judges of the City. They stood before us in their white togas, and they + asked: + </p> + <p> + “Are you ready to speak?” + </p> + <p> + But we shook our head, lying before them on the floor. And they departed. + </p> + <p> + We counted each day and each night as it passed. Then, tonight, we knew + that we must escape. For tomorrow the World Council of Scholars is to meet + in our City. + </p> + <p> + It was easy to escape from the Palace of Corrective Detention. The locks + are old on the doors and there are no guards about. There is no reason to + have guards, for men have never defied the Councils so far as to escape + from whatever place they were ordered to be. Our body is healthy and + strength returns to it speedily. We lunged against the door and it gave + way. We stole through the dark passages, and through the dark streets, and + down into our tunnel. + </p> + <p> + We lit the candle and we saw that our place had not been found and nothing + had been touched. And our glass box stood before us on the cold oven, as + we had left it. What matter they now, the scars upon our back! + </p> + <p> + Tomorrow, in the full light of day, we shall take our box, and leave our + tunnel open, and walk through the streets to the Home of the Scholars. We + shall put before them the greatest gift ever offered to men. We shall tell + them the truth. We shall hand to them, as our confession, these pages we + have written. We shall join our hands to theirs, and we shall work + together, with the power of the sky, for the glory of mankind. Our + blessing upon you, our brothers! Tomorrow, you will take us back into your + fold and we shall be an outcast no longer. Tomorrow we shall be one of you + again. Tomorrow... + </p> + + </div><!--end chapter--> + + <div class="chapter"> + + <h2><a name="link2H_PART7" id="link2H_PART7"></a> + PART SEVEN + </h2> + <p> + It is dark here in the forest. The leaves rustle over our head, black + against the last gold of the sky. The moss is soft and warm. We shall + sleep on this moss for many nights, till the beasts of the forest come to + tear our body. We have no bed now, save the moss, and no future, save the + beasts. + </p> + <p> + We are old now, yet we were young this morning, when we carried our glass + box through the streets of the City to the Home of the Scholars. No men + stopped us, for there were none about from the Palace of Corrective + Detention, and the others knew nothing. No men stopped us at the gate. We + walked through empty passages and into the great hall where the World + Council of Scholars sat in solemn meeting. + </p> + <p> + We saw nothing as we entered, save the sky in the great windows, blue and + glowing. Then we saw the Scholars who sat around a long table; they were + as shapeless clouds huddled at the rise of the great sky. There were men + whose famous names we knew, and others from distant lands whose names we + had not heard. We saw a great painting on the wall over their heads, of + the twenty illustrious men who had invented the candle. + </p> + <p> + All the heads of the Council turned to us as we entered. These great and + wise of the earth did not know what to think of us, and they looked upon + us with wonder and curiosity, as if we were a miracle. It is true that our + tunic was torn and stained with brown stains which had been blood. We + raised our right arm and we said: + </p> + <p> + “Our greeting to you, our honored brothers of the World Council of + Scholars!” + </p> + <p> + Then Collective 0-0009, the oldest and wisest of the Council, spoke and + asked: + </p> + <p> + “Who are you, our brother? For you do not look like a Scholar.” + </p> + <p> + “Our name is Equality 7-2521,” we answered, “and we are a Street Sweeper + of this City.” + </p> + <p> + Then it was as if a great wind had stricken the hall, for all the Scholars + spoke at once, and they were angry and frightened. + </p> + <p> + “A Street Sweeper! A Street Sweeper walking in upon the World Council of + Scholars! It is not to be believed! It is against all the rules and all + the laws!” + </p> + <p> + But we knew how to stop them. + </p> + <p> + “Our brothers!” we said. “We matter not, nor our transgression. It is only + our brother men who matter. Give no thought to us, for we are nothing, but + listen to our words, for we bring you a gift such as had never been + brought to men. Listen to us, for we hold the future of mankind in our + hands.” + </p> + <p> + Then they listened. + </p> + <p> + We placed our glass box upon the table before them. We spoke of it, and of + our long quest, and of our tunnel, and of our escape from the Palace of + Corrective Detention. Not a hand moved in that hall, as we spoke, nor an + eye. Then we put the wires to the box, and they all bent forward and sat + still, watching. And we stood still, our eyes upon the wire. And slowly, + slowly as a flush of blood, a red flame trembled in the wire. Then the + wire glowed. + </p> + <p> + But terror struck the men of the Council. They leapt to their feet, they + ran from the table, and they stood pressed against the wall, huddled + together, seeking the warmth of one another’s bodies to give them courage. + </p> + <p> + We looked upon them and we laughed and said: + </p> + <p> + “Fear nothing, our brothers. There is a great power in these wires, but + this power is tamed. It is yours. We give it to you.” + </p> + <p> + Still they would not move. + </p> + <p> + “We give you the power of the sky!” we cried. “We give you the key to the + earth! Take it, and let us be one of you, the humblest among you. Let us + all work together, and harness this power, and make it ease the toil of + men. Let us throw away our candles and our torches. Let us flood our + cities with light. Let us bring a new light to men!” + </p> + <p> + But they looked upon us, and suddenly we were afraid. For their eyes were + still, and small, and evil. + </p> + <p> + “Our brothers!” we cried. “Have you nothing to say to us?” + </p> + <p> + Then Collective 0-0009 moved forward. They moved to the table and the + others followed. + </p> + <p> + “Yes,” spoke Collective 0-0009, “we have much to say to you.” + </p> + <p> + The sound of their voices brought silence to the hall and to beat of our + heart. + </p> + <p> + “Yes,” said Collective 0-0009, “we have much to say to a wretch who have + broken all the laws and who boast of their infamy! + </p> + <p> + “How dared you think that your mind held greater wisdom than the minds of + your brothers? And if the Councils had decreed that you should be a Street + Sweeper, how dared you think that you could be of greater use to men than + in sweeping the streets?” + </p> + <p> + “How dared you, gutter cleaner,” spoke Fraternity 9-3452, “to hold + yourself as one alone and with the thoughts of the one and not of the + many?” + </p> + <p> + “You shall be burned at the stake,” said Democracy 4-6998. + </p> + <p> + “No, they shall be lashed,” said Unanimity 7-3304, “till there is nothing + left under the lashes.” + </p> + <p> + “No,” said Collective 0-0009, “we cannot decide upon this, our brothers. + No such crime has ever been committed, and it is not for us to judge. Nor + for any small Council. We shall deliver this creature to the World Council + itself and let their will be done.” + </p> + <p> + We looked upon them and we pleaded: + </p> + <p> + “Our brothers! You are right. Let the will of the Council be done upon our + body. We do not care. But the light? What will you do with the light?” + </p> + <p> + Collective 0-0009 looked upon us, and they smiled. + </p> + <p> + “So you think that you have found a new power,” said Collective 0-0009. + “Do all your brothers think that?” + </p> + <p> + “No,” we answered. + </p> + <p> + “What is not thought by all men cannot be true,” said Collective 0-0009. + </p> + <p> + “You have worked on this alone?” asked International 1-5537. + </p> + <p> + “Many men in the Homes of the Scholars have had strange new ideas in the + past,” said Solidarity 8-1164, “but when the majority of their brother + Scholars voted against them, they abandoned their ideas, as all men must.” + </p> + <p> + “This box is useless,” said Alliance 6-7349. + </p> + <p> + “Should it be what they claim of it,” said Harmony 9-2642, “then it would + bring ruin to the Department of Candles. The Candle is a great boon to + mankind, as approved by all men. Therefore it cannot be destroyed by the + whim of one.” + </p> + <p> + “This would wreck the Plans of the World Council,” said Unanimity 2-9913, + “and without the Plans of the World Council the sun cannot rise. It took + fifty years to secure the approval of all the Councils for the Candle, and + to decide upon the number needed, and to re-fit the Plans so as to make + candles instead of torches. This touched upon thousands and thousands of + men working in scores of States. We cannot alter the Plans again so soon.” + </p> + <p> + “And if this should lighten the toil of men,” said Similarity 5-0306, + “then it is a great evil, for men have no cause to exist save in toiling + for other men.” + </p> + <p> + Then Collective 0-0009 rose and pointed at our box. + </p> + <p> + “This thing,” they said, “must be destroyed.” + </p> + <p> + And all the others cried as one: + </p> + <p> + “It must be destroyed!” + </p> + <p> + Then we leapt to the table. + </p> + <p> + We seized our box, we shoved them aside, and we ran to the window. We + turned and we looked at them for the last time, and a rage, such as it is + not fit for humans to know, choked our voice in our throat. + </p> + <p> + “You fools!” we cried. “You fools! You thrice-damned fools!” + </p> + <p> + We swung our fist through the windowpane, and we leapt out in a ringing + rain of glass. + </p> + <p> + We fell, but we never let the box fall from our hands. Then we ran. We ran + blindly, and men and houses streaked past us in a torrent without shape. + And the road seemed not to be flat before us, but as if it were leaping up + to meet us, and we waited for the earth to rise and strike us in the face. + But we ran. We knew not where we were going. We knew only that we must + run, run to the end of the world, to the end of our days. + </p> + <p> + Then we knew suddenly that we were lying on a soft earth and that we had + stopped. Trees taller than we had ever seen before stood over us in great + silence. Then we knew. We were in the Uncharted Forest. We had not thought + of coming here, but our legs had carried our wisdom, and our legs had + brought us to the Uncharted Forest against our will. + </p> + <p> + Our glass box lay beside us. We crawled to it, we fell upon it, our face + in our arms, and we lay still. + </p> + <p> + We lay thus for a long time. Then we rose, we took our box and walked on + into the forest. + </p> + <p> + It mattered not where we went. We knew that men would not follow us, for + they never enter the Uncharted Forest. We had nothing to fear from them. + The forest disposes of its own victims. This gave us no fear either. Only + we wished to be away, away from the City and from the air that touches + upon the air of the City. So we walked on, our box in our arms, our heart + empty. + </p> + <p> + We are doomed. Whatever days are left to us, we shall spend them alone. + And we have heard of the corruption to be found in solitude. We have torn + ourselves from the truth which is our brother men, and there is no road + back for us, and no redemption. + </p> + <p> + We know these things, but we do not care. We care for nothing on earth. We + are tired. + </p> + <p> + Only the glass box in our arms is like a living heart that gives us + strength. We have lied to ourselves. We have not built this box for the + good of our brothers. We built it for its own sake. It is above all our + brothers to us, and its truth above their truth. Why wonder about this? We + have not many days to live. We are walking to the fangs awaiting us + somewhere among the great, silent trees. There is not a thing behind us to + regret. + </p> + <p> + Then a blow of pain struck us, our first and our only. We thought of the + Golden One. We thought of the Golden One whom we shall never see again. + Then the pain passed. It is best. We are one of the Damned. It is best if + the Golden One forget our name and the body which bore that name. + </p> + + </div><!--end chapter--> + + <div class="chapter"> + + <h2><a name="link2H_PART8" id="link2H_PART8"></a> + PART EIGHT + </h2> + <p> + It has been a day of wonder, this, our first day in the forest. + </p> + <p> + We awoke when a ray of sunlight fell across our face. We wanted to leap to + our feet, as we have had to leap every morning of our life, but we + remembered suddenly that no bell had rung and that there was no bell to + ring anywhere. We lay on our back, we threw our arms out, and we looked up + at the sky. The leaves had edges of silver that trembled and rippled like + a river of green and fire flowing high above us. + </p> + <p> + We did not wish to move. We thought suddenly that we could lie thus as + long as we wished, and we laughed aloud at the thought. We could also + rise, or run, or leap, or fall down again. We were thinking that these + were thoughts without sense, but before we knew it our body had risen in + one leap. Our arms stretched out of their own will, and our body whirled + and whirled, till it raised a wind to rustle through the leaves of the + bushes. Then our hands seized a branch and swung us high into a tree, with + no aim save the wonder of learning the strength of our body. The branch + snapped under us and we fell upon the moss that was soft as a cushion. + Then our body, losing all sense, rolled over and over on the moss, dry + leaves in our tunic, in our hair, in our face. And we heard suddenly that + we were laughing, laughing aloud, laughing as if there were no power left + in us save laughter. + </p> + <p> + Then we took our glass box, and we went on into the forest. We went on, + cutting through the branches, and it was as if we were swimming through a + sea of leaves, with the bushes as waves rising and falling and rising + around us, and flinging their green sprays high to the treetops. The trees + parted before us, calling us forward. The forest seemed to welcome us. We + went on, without thought, without care, with nothing to feel save the song + of our body. + </p> + <p> + We stopped when we felt hunger. We saw birds in the tree branches, and + flying from under our footsteps. We picked a stone and we sent it as an + arrow at a bird. It fell before us. We made a fire, we cooked the bird, + and we ate it, and no meal had ever tasted better to us. And we thought + suddenly that there was a great satisfaction to be found in the food which + we need and obtain by our own hand. And we wished to be hungry again and + soon, that we might know again this strange new pride in eating. + </p> + <p> + Then we walked on. And we came to a stream which lay as a streak of glass + among the trees. It lay so still that we saw no water but only a cut in + the earth, in which the trees grew down, upturned, and the sky lay at the + bottom. We knelt by the stream and we bent down to drink. And then we + stopped. For, upon the blue of the sky below us, we saw our own face for + the first time. + </p> + <p> + We sat still and we held our breath. For our face and our body were + beautiful. Our face was not like the faces of our brothers, for we felt + not pity when looking upon it. Our body was not like the bodies of our + brothers, for our limbs were straight and thin and hard and strong. And we + thought that we could trust this being who looked upon us from the stream, + and that we had nothing to fear with this being. + </p> + <p> + We walked on till the sun had set. When the shadows gathered among the + trees, we stopped in a hollow between the roots, where we shall sleep + tonight. And suddenly, for the first time this day, we remembered that we + are the Damned. We remembered it, and we laughed. + </p> + <p> + We are writing this on the paper we had hidden in our tunic together with + the written pages we had brought for the World Council of Scholars, but + never given to them. We have much to speak of to ourselves, and we hope we + shall find the words for it in the days to come. Now, we cannot speak, for + we cannot understand. + </p> + + </div><!--end chapter--> + + <div class="chapter"> + + <h2><a name="link2H_PART9" id="link2H_PART9"></a> + PART NINE + </h2> + <p> + We have not written for many days. We did not wish to speak. For we needed + no words to remember that which has happened to us. + </p> + <p> + It was on our second day in the forest that we heard steps behind us. We + hid in the bushes, and we waited. The steps came closer. And then we saw + the fold of a white tunic among the trees, and a gleam of gold. + </p> + <p> + We leapt forward, we ran to them, and we stood looking upon the Golden + One. + </p> + <p> + They saw us, and their hands closed into fists, and the fists pulled their + arms down, as if they wished their arms to hold them, while their body + swayed. And they could not speak. + </p> + <p> + We dared not come too close to them. We asked, and our voice trembled: + </p> + <p> + “How did you come to be here, Golden One?” + </p> + <p> + But they whispered only: + </p> + <p> + “We have found you....” + </p> + <p> + “How did you come to be in the forest?” we asked. + </p> + <p> + They raised their head, and there was a great pride in their voice; they + answered: + </p> + <p> + “We have followed you.” + </p> + <p> + Then we could not speak, and they said: + </p> + <p> + “We heard that you had gone to the Uncharted Forest, for the whole City is + speaking of it. So on the night of the day when we heard it, we ran away + from the Home of the Peasants. We found the marks of your feet across the + plain where no men walk. So we followed them, and we went into the forest, + and we followed the path where the branches were broken by your body.” + </p> + <p> + Their white tunic was torn, and the branches had cut the skin of their + arms, but they spoke as if they had never taken notice of it, nor of + weariness, nor of fear. + </p> + <p> + “We have followed you,” they said, “and we shall follow you wherever you + go. If danger threatens you, we shall face it also. If it be death, we + shall die with you. You are damned, and we wish to share your damnation.” + </p> + <p> + They looked upon us, and their voice was low, but there was bitterness and + triumph in their voice. + </p> + <p> + “Your eyes are as a flame, but our brothers have neither hope nor fire. + Your mouth is cut of granite, but our brothers are soft and humble. Your + head is high, but our brothers cringe. You walk, but our brothers crawl. + We wish to be damned with you, rather than blessed with all our brothers. + Do as you please with us, but do not send us away from you.” + </p> + <p> + Then they knelt, and bowed their golden head before us. + </p> + <p> + We had never thought of that which we did. We bent to raise the Golden One + to their feet, but when we touched them, it was as if madness had stricken + us. We seized their body and we pressed our lips to theirs. The Golden One + breathed once, and their breath was a moan, and then their arms closed + around us. + </p> + <p> + We stood together for a long time. And we were frightened that we had + lived for twenty-one years and had never known what joy is possible to + men. + </p> + <p> + Then we said: + </p> + <p> + “Our dearest one. Fear nothing of the forest. There is no danger in + solitude. We have no need of our brothers. Let us forget their good and + our evil, let us forget all things save that we are together and that + there is joy as a bond between us. Give us your hand. Look ahead. It is + our own world, Golden One, a strange, unknown world, but our own.” + </p> + <p> + Then we walked on into the forest, their hand in ours. + </p> + <p> + And that night we knew that to hold the body of women in our arms is + neither ugly nor shameful, but the one ecstasy granted to the race of men. + </p> + <p> + We have walked for many days. The forest has no end, and we seek no end. + But each day added to the chain of days between us and the City is like an + added blessing. + </p> + <p> + We have made a bow and many arrows. We can kill more birds than we need + for our food; we find water and fruit in the forest. At night, we choose a + clearing, and we build a ring of fires around it. We sleep in the midst of + that ring, and the beasts dare not attack us. We can see their eyes, green + and yellow as coals, watching us from the tree branches beyond. The fires + smoulder as a crown of jewels around us, and smoke stands still in the + air, in columns made blue by the moonlight. We sleep together in the midst + of the ring, the arms of the Golden One around us, their head upon our + breast. + </p> + <p> + Some day, we shall stop and build a house, when we shall have gone far + enough. But we do not have to hasten. The days before us are without end, + like the forest. + </p> + <p> + We cannot understand this new life which we have found, yet it seems so + clear and so simple. When questions come to puzzle us, we walk faster, + then turn and forget all things as we watch the Golden One following. The + shadows of leaves fall upon their arms, as they spread the branches apart, + but their shoulders are in the sun. The skin of their arms is like a blue + mist, but their shoulders are white and glowing, as if the light fell not + from above, but rose from under their skin. We watch the leaf which has + fallen upon their shoulder, and it lies at the curve of their neck, and a + drop of dew glistens upon it like a jewel. They approach us, and they + stop, laughing, knowing what we think, and they wait obediently, without + questions, till it pleases us to turn and go on. + </p> + <p> + We go on and we bless the earth under our feet. But questions come to us + again, as we walk in silence. If that which we have found is the + corruption of solitude, then what can men wish for save corruption? If + this is the great evil of being alone, then what is good and what is evil? + </p> + <p> + Everything which comes from the many is good. Everything which comes from + one is evil. This have we been taught with our first breath. We have + broken the law, but we have never doubted it. Yet now, as we walk through + the forest, we are learning to doubt. + </p> + <p> + There is no life for men, save in useful toil for the good of all their + brothers. But we lived not, when we toiled for our brothers, we were only + weary. There is no joy for men, save the joy shared with all their + brothers. But the only things which taught us joy were the power we + created in our wires, and the Golden One. And both these joys belong to us + alone, they come from us alone, they bear no relation to all our brothers, + and they do not concern our brothers in any way. Thus do we wonder. + </p> + <p> + There is some error, one frightful error, in the thinking of men. What is + that error? We do not know, but the knowledge struggles within us, + struggles to be born. Today, the Golden One stopped suddenly and said: + </p> + <p> + “We love you.” + </p> + <p> + But they frowned and shook their head and looked at us helplessly. + </p> + <p> + “No,” they whispered, “that is not what we wished to say.” + </p> + <p> + They were silent, then they spoke slowly, and their words were halting, + like the words of a child learning to speak for the first time: + </p> + <p> + “We are one... alone... and only... and we love you who are one... + alone... and only.” + </p> + <p> + We looked into each other’s eyes and we knew that the breath of a miracle + had touched us, and fled, and left us groping vainly. + </p> + <p> + And we felt torn, torn for some word we could not find. + </p> + + </div><!--end chapter--> + + <div class="chapter"> + + <h2><a name="link2H_PART10" id="link2H_PART10"></a> + PART TEN + </h2> + <p> + We are sitting at a table and we are writing this upon paper made + thousands of years ago. The light is dim, and we cannot see the Golden + One, only one lock of gold on the pillow of an ancient bed. This is our + home. + </p> + <p> + We came upon it today, at sunrise. For many days we had been crossing a + chain of mountains. The forest rose among cliffs, and whenever we walked + out upon a barren stretch of rock we saw great peaks before us in the + west, and to the north of us, and to the south, as far as our eyes could + see. The peaks were red and brown, with the green streaks of forests as + veins upon them, with blue mists as veils over their heads. We had never + heard of these mountains, nor seen them marked on any map. The Uncharted + Forest has protected them from the Cities and from the men of the Cities. + </p> + <p> + We climbed paths where the wild goat dared not follow. Stones rolled from + under our feet, and we heard them striking the rocks below, farther and + farther down, and the mountains rang with each stroke, and long after the + strokes had died. But we went on, for we knew that no men would ever + follow our track nor reach us here. + </p> + <p> + Then today, at sunrise, we saw a white flame among the trees, high on a + sheer peak before us. We thought that it was a fire and stopped. But the + flame was unmoving, yet blinding as liquid metal. So we climbed toward it + through the rocks. And there, before us, on a broad summit, with the + mountains rising behind it, stood a house such as we had never seen, and + the white fire came from the sun on the glass of its windows. + </p> + <p> + The house had two stories and a strange roof flat as a floor. There was + more window than wall upon its walls, and the windows went on straight + around the corners, though how this kept the house standing we could not + guess. The walls were hard and smooth, of that stone unlike stone which we + had seen in our tunnel. + </p> + <p> + We both knew it without words: this house was left from the Unmentionable + Times. The trees had protected it from time and weather, and from men who + have less pity than time and weather. We turned to the Golden One and we + asked: + </p> + <p> + “Are you afraid?” + </p> + <p> + But they shook their head. So we walked to the door, and we threw it open, + and we stepped together into the house of the Unmentionable Times. + </p> + <p> + We shall need the days and the years ahead, to look, to learn, and to + understand the things of this house. Today, we could only look and try to + believe the sight of our eyes. We pulled the heavy curtains from the + windows and we saw that the rooms were small, and we thought that not more + than twelve men could have lived here. We thought it strange that men had + been permitted to build a house for only twelve. + </p> + <p> + Never had we seen rooms so full of light. The sunrays danced upon colors, + colors, more colors than we thought possible, we who had seen no houses + save the white ones, the brown ones and the grey. There were great pieces + of glass on the walls, but it was not glass, for when we looked upon it we + saw our own bodies and all the things behind us, as on the face of a lake. + There were strange things which we had never seen and the use of which we + do not know. And there were globes of glass everywhere, in each room, the + globes with the metal cobwebs inside, such as we had seen in our tunnel. + </p> + <p> + We found the sleeping hall and we stood in awe upon its threshold. For it + was a small room and there were only two beds in it. We found no other + beds in the house, and then we knew that only two had lived here, and this + passes understanding. What kind of world did they have, the men of the + Unmentionable Times? + </p> + <p> + We found garments, and the Golden One gasped at the sight of them. For + they were not white tunics, nor white togas; they were of all colors, no + two of them alike. Some crumbled to dust as we touched them. But others + were of heavier cloth, and they felt soft and new in our fingers. + </p> + <p> + We found a room with walls made of shelves, which held rows of + manuscripts, from the floor to the ceiling. Never had we seen such a + number of them, nor of such strange shape. They were not soft and rolled, + they had hard shells of cloth and leather; and the letters on their pages + were so small and so even that we wondered at the men who had such + handwriting. We glanced through the pages, and we saw that they were + written in our language, but we found many words which we could not + understand. Tomorrow, we shall begin to read these scripts. + </p> + <p> + When we had seen all the rooms of the house, we looked at the Golden One + and we both knew the thought in our minds. + </p> + <p> + “We shall never leave this house,” we said, “nor let it be taken from us. + This is our home and the end of our journey. This is your house, Golden + One, and ours, and it belongs to no other men whatever as far as the earth + may stretch. We shall not share it with others, as we share not our joy + with them, nor our love, nor our hunger. So be it to the end of our days.” + </p> + <p> + “Your will be done,” they said. + </p> + <p> + Then we went out to gather wood for the great hearth of our home. We + brought water from the stream which runs among the trees under our + windows. We killed a mountain goat, and we brought its flesh to be cooked + in a strange copper pot we found in a place of wonders, which must have + been the cooking room of the house. + </p> + <p> + We did this work alone, for no words of ours could take the Golden One + away from the big glass which is not glass. They stood before it and they + looked and looked upon their own body. + </p> + <p> + When the sun sank beyond the mountains, the Golden One fell asleep on the + floor, amidst jewels, and bottles of crystal, and flowers of silk. We + lifted the Golden One in our arms and we carried them to a bed, their head + falling softly upon our shoulder. Then we lit a candle, and we brought + paper from the room of the manuscripts, and we sat by the window, for we + knew that we could not sleep tonight. + </p> + <p> + And now we look upon the earth and sky. This spread of naked rock and + peaks and moonlight is like a world ready to be born, a world that waits. + It seems to us it asks a sign from us, a spark, a first commandment. We + cannot know what word we are to give, nor what great deed this earth + expects to witness. We know it waits. It seems to say it has great gifts + to lay before us, but it wishes a greater gift for us. We are to speak. We + are to give its goal, its highest meaning to all this glowing space of + rock and sky. + </p> + <p> + We look ahead, we beg our heart for guidance in answering this call no + voice has spoken, yet we have heard. We look upon our hands. We see the + dust of centuries, the dust which hid the great secrets and perhaps great + evils. And yet it stirs no fear within our heart, but only silent + reverence and pity. + </p> + <p> + May knowledge come to us! What is the secret our heart has understood and + yet will not reveal to us, although it seems to beat as if it were + endeavoring to tell it? + </p> + + </div><!--end chapter--> + + <div class="chapter"> + + <h2><a name="link2H_PART11" id="link2H_PART11"></a> + PART ELEVEN + </h2> + <p> + I am. I think. I will. + </p> + <p> + My hands... My spirit... My sky... My forest... This earth of mine.... + What must I say besides? These are the words. This is the answer. + </p> + <p> + I stand here on the summit of the mountain. I lift my head and I spread my + arms. This, my body and spirit, this is the end of the quest. I wished to + know the meaning of things. I am the meaning. I wished to find a warrant + for being. I need no warrant for being, and no word of sanction upon my + being. I am the warrant and the sanction. + </p> + <p> + It is my eyes which see, and the sight of my eyes grants beauty to the + earth. It is my ears which hear, and the hearing of my ears gives its song + to the world. It is my mind which thinks, and the judgement of my mind is + the only searchlight that can find the truth. It is my will which chooses, + and the choice of my will is the only edict I must respect. + </p> + <p> + Many words have been granted me, and some are wise, and some are false, + but only three are holy: “I will it!” + </p> + <p> + Whatever road I take, the guiding star is within me; the guiding star and + the loadstone which point the way. They point in but one direction. They + point to me. + </p> + <p> + I know not if this earth on which I stand is the core of the universe or + if it is but a speck of dust lost in eternity. I know not and I care not. + For I know what happiness is possible to me on earth. And my happiness + needs no higher aim to vindicate it. My happiness is not the means to any + end. It is the end. It is its own goal. It is its own purpose. + </p> + <p> + Neither am I the means to any end others may wish to accomplish. I am not + a tool for their use. I am not a servant of their needs. I am not a + bandage for their wounds. I am not a sacrifice on their altars. + </p> + <p> + I am a man. This miracle of me is mine to own and keep, and mine to guard, + and mine to use, and mine to kneel before! + </p> + <p> + I do not surrender my treasures, nor do I share them. The fortune of my + spirit is not to be blown into coins of brass and flung to the winds as + alms for the poor of the spirit. I guard my treasures: my thought, my + will, my freedom. And the greatest of these is freedom. + </p> + <p> + I owe nothing to my brothers, nor do I gather debts from them. I ask none + to live for me, nor do I live for any others. I covet no man’s soul, nor + is my soul theirs to covet. + </p> + <p> + I am neither foe nor friend to my brothers, but such as each of them shall + deserve of me. And to earn my love, my brothers must do more than to have + been born. I do not grant my love without reason, nor to any chance + passer-by who may wish to claim it. I honor men with my love. But honor is + a thing to be earned. + </p> + <p> + I shall choose friends among men, but neither slaves nor masters. And I + shall choose only such as please me, and them I shall love and respect, + but neither command nor obey. And we shall join our hands when we wish, or + walk alone when we so desire. For in the temple of his spirit, each man is + alone. Let each man keep his temple untouched and undefiled. Then let him + join hands with others if he wishes, but only beyond his holy threshold. + </p> + <p> + For the word “We” must never be spoken, save by one’s choice and as a + second thought. This word must never be placed first within man’s soul, + else it becomes a monster, the root of all the evils on earth, the root of + man’s torture by men, and of an unspeakable lie. + </p> + <p> + The word “We” is as lime poured over men, which sets and hardens to stone, + and crushes all beneath it, and that which is white and that which is + black are lost equally in the grey of it. It is the word by which the + depraved steal the virtue of the good, by which the weak steal the might + of the strong, by which the fools steal the wisdom of the sages. + </p> + <p> + What is my joy if all hands, even the unclean, can reach into it? What is + my wisdom, if even the fools can dictate to me? What is my freedom, if all + creatures, even the botched and the impotent, are my masters? What is my + life, if I am but to bow, to agree and to obey? + </p> + <p> + But I am done with this creed of corruption. + </p> + <p> + I am done with the monster of “We,” the word of serfdom, of plunder, of + misery, falsehood and shame. + </p> + <p> + And now I see the face of god, and I raise this god over the earth, this + god whom men have sought since men came into being, this god who will + grant them joy and peace and pride. + </p> + <p> + This god, this one word: + </p> + <p> + “I.” + </p> + + </div><!--end chapter--> + + <div class="chapter"> + + <h2><a name="link2H_PART12" id="link2H_PART12"></a> + PART TWELVE + </h2> + <p> + It was when I read the first of the books I found in my house that I saw + the word “I.” And when I understood this word, the book fell from my + hands, and I wept, I who had never known tears. I wept in deliverance and + in pity for all mankind. + </p> + <p> + I understood the blessed thing which I had called my curse. I understood + why the best in me had been my sins and my transgressions; and why I had + never felt guilt in my sins. I understood that centuries of chains and + lashes will not kill the spirit of man nor the sense of truth within him. + </p> + <p> + I read many books for many days. Then I called the Golden One, and I told + her what I had read and what I had learned. She looked at me and the first + words she spoke were: + </p> + <p> + “I love you.” + </p> + <p> + Then I said: + </p> + <p> + “My dearest one, it is not proper for men to be without names. There was a + time when each man had a name of his own to distinguish him from all other + men. So let us choose our names. I have read of a man who lived many + thousands of years ago, and of all the names in these books, his is the + one I wish to bear. He took the light of the gods and he brought it to + men, and he taught men to be gods. And he suffered for his deed as all + bearers of light must suffer. His name was Prometheus.” + </p> + <p> + “It shall be your name,” said the Golden One. + </p> + <p> + “And I have read of a goddess,” I said, “who was the mother of the earth + and of all the gods. Her name was Gaea. Let this be your name, my Golden + One, for you are to be the mother of a new kind of gods.” + </p> + <p> + “It shall be my name,” said the Golden One. + </p> + <p> + Now I look ahead. My future is clear before me. The Saint of the pyre had + seen the future when he chose me as his heir, as the heir of all the + saints and all the martyrs who came before him and who died for the same + cause, for the same word, no matter what name they gave to their cause and + their truth. + </p> + <p> + I shall live here, in my own house. I shall take my food from the earth by + the toil of my own hands. I shall learn many secrets from my books. + Through the years ahead, I shall rebuild the achievements of the past, and + open the way to carry them further, the achievements which are open to me, + but closed forever to my brothers, for their minds are shackled to the + weakest and dullest ones among them. + </p> + <p> + I have learned that my power of the sky was known to men long ago; they + called it Electricity. It was the power that moved their greatest + inventions. It lit this house with light which came from those globes of + glass on the walls. I have found the engine which produced this light. I + shall learn how to repair it and how to make it work again. I shall learn + how to use the wires which carry this power. Then I shall build a barrier + of wires around my home, and across the paths which lead to my home; a + barrier light as a cobweb, more impassable than a wall of granite; a + barrier my brothers will never be able to cross. For they have nothing to + fight me with, save the brute force of their numbers. I have my mind. + </p> + <p> + Then here, on this mountaintop, with the world below me and nothing above + me but the sun, I shall live my own truth. Gaea is pregnant with my child. + Our son will be raised as a man. He will be taught to say “I” and to bear + the pride of it. He will be taught to walk straight and on his own feet. + He will be taught reverence for his own spirit. + </p> + <p> + When I shall have read all the books and learned my new way, when my home + will be ready and my earth tilled, I shall steal one day, for the last + time, into the cursed City of my birth. I shall call to me my friend who + has no name save International 4-8818, and all those like him, Fraternity + 2-5503, who cries without reason, and Solidarity 9-6347 who calls for help + in the night, and a few others. I shall call to me all the men and the + women whose spirit has not been killed within them and who suffer under + the yoke of their brothers. They will follow me and I shall lead them to + my fortress. And here, in this uncharted wilderness, I and they, my chosen + friends, my fellow-builders, shall write the first chapter in the new + history of man. + </p> + <p> + These are the things before me. And as I stand here at the door of glory, + I look behind me for the last time. I look upon the history of men, which + I have learned from the books, and I wonder. It was a long story, and the + spirit which moved it was the spirit of man’s freedom. But what is + freedom? Freedom from what? There is nothing to take a man’s freedom away + from him, save other men. To be free, a man must be free of his brothers. + That is freedom. That and nothing else. + </p> + <p> + At first, man was enslaved by the gods. But he broke their chains. Then he + was enslaved by the kings. But he broke their chains. He was enslaved by + his birth, by his kin, by his race. But he broke their chains. He declared + to all his brothers that a man has rights which neither god nor king nor + other men can take away from him, no matter what their number, for his is + the right of man, and there is no right on earth above this right. And he + stood on the threshold of the freedom for which the blood of the centuries + behind him had been spilled. + </p> + <p> + But then he gave up all he had won, and fell lower than his savage + beginning. + </p> + <p> + What brought it to pass? What disaster took their reason away from men? + What whip lashed them to their knees in shame and submission? The worship + of the word “We.” + </p> + <p> + When men accepted that worship, the structure of centuries collapsed about + them, the structure whose every beam had come from the thought of some one + man, each in his day down the ages, from the depth of some one spirit, + such spirit as existed but for its own sake. Those men who survived those + eager to obey, eager to live for one another, since they had nothing else + to vindicate them—those men could neither carry on, nor preserve + what they had received. Thus did all thought, all science, all wisdom + perish on earth. Thus did men—men with nothing to offer save their + great number—lost the steel towers, the flying ships, the power + wires, all the things they had not created and could never keep. Perhaps, + later, some men had been born with the mind and the courage to recover + these things which were lost; perhaps these men came before the Councils + of Scholars. They were answered as I have been answered—and for the + same reasons. + </p> + <p> + But I still wonder how it was possible, in those graceless years of + transition, long ago, that men did not see whither they were going, and + went on, in blindness and cowardice, to their fate. I wonder, for it is + hard for me to conceive how men who knew the word “I” could give it up and + not know what they lost. But such has been the story, for I have lived in + the City of the damned, and I know what horror men permitted to be brought + upon them. + </p> + <p> + Perhaps, in those days, there were a few among men, a few of clear sight + and clean soul, who refused to surrender that word. What agony must have + been theirs before that which they saw coming and could not stop! Perhaps + they cried out in protest and in warning. But men paid no heed to their + warning. And they, these few, fought a hopeless battle, and they perished + with their banners smeared by their own blood. And they chose to perish, + for they knew. To them, I send my salute across the centuries, and my + pity. + </p> + <p> + Theirs is the banner in my hand. And I wish I had the power to tell them + that the despair of their hearts was not to be final, and their night was + not without hope. For the battle they lost can never be lost. For that + which they died to save can never perish. Through all the darkness, + through all the shame of which men are capable, the spirit of man will + remain alive on this earth. It may sleep, but it will awaken. It may wear + chains, but it will break through. And man will go on. Man, not men. + </p> + <p> + Here on this mountain, I and my sons and my chosen friends shall build our + new land and our fort. And it will become as the heart of the earth, lost + and hidden at first, but beating, beating louder each day. And word of it + will reach every corner of the earth. And the roads of the world will + become as veins which will carry the best of the world’s blood to my + threshold. And all my brothers, and the Councils of my brothers, will hear + of it, but they will be impotent against me. And the day will come when I + shall break all the chains of the earth, and raze the cities of the + enslaved, and my home will become the capital of a world where each man + will be free to exist for his own sake. + </p> + <p> + For the coming of that day shall I fight, I and my sons and my chosen + friends. For the freedom of Man. For his rights. For his life. For his + honor. + </p> + <p> + And here, over the portals of my fort, I shall cut in the stone the word + which is to be my beacon and my banner. The word which will not die, + should we all perish in battle. The word which can never die on this + earth, for it is the heart of it and the meaning and the glory. + </p> + <p> + The sacred word: + </p> + <p> + EGO + </p> + + </div><!--end chapter--> + +<div>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 1250 ***</div> +</body> + +</html> + + |