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<v Speaker 1>Chapter five of Anthem. This is a LibriVox recording. All

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<v Speaker 1>LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information

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<v Speaker 1>or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox dot org. Recording by

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<v Speaker 1>Caden von Klegg Anthem by Einrand, Chapter five. We made it,

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<v Speaker 1>we created it, We brought it forth from the night

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<v Speaker 1>of the ages. We alone, our hands, our mind ours alone,

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<v Speaker 1>and only we know not what we are saying. Our

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<v Speaker 1>head is reeling. We look upon the light which we

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<v Speaker 1>have made. We shall be forgiven for anything we say.

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<v Speaker 1>Tonight to night, after more days and trials than we

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<v Speaker 1>can count, we finished building a strange thing from the

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<v Speaker 1>remains of the unmentionable times, a box of glass, devised

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<v Speaker 1>to give forth the power of the sky, of greater

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<v Speaker 1>strength than we had ever achieved before. And when we

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<v Speaker 1>put our wires to this box, when we closed the current,

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<v Speaker 1>the wire glowed, it came to life, it turned red,

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<v Speaker 1>and a circle of light lay on the stone before us.

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<v Speaker 1>We stood, and we held our head in our hands.

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<v Speaker 1>We could not conceive of that which we had created.

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<v Speaker 1>We had touched no flint, made no fire. Yet here

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<v Speaker 1>was light, Light that came from nowhere, Light from the

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<v Speaker 1>heart of metal. We blew out the candle. Darkness swallowed us.

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<v Speaker 1>There was nothing left around us, nothing save night and

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<v Speaker 1>a thin thread of flame in it, as a crack

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<v Speaker 1>in the wall of a prison. We stretched our hands

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<v Speaker 1>to the wire, and we saw our fingers in the

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<v Speaker 1>red glow. We could not see our body nor feel it,

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<v Speaker 1>And in that moment nothing existed save our two hands

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<v Speaker 1>over a wire, glowing in a black abyss. Then we

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<v Speaker 1>thought of the meaning of that which lay before us.

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<v Speaker 1>We can light our tunnel, and the city, and all

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<v Speaker 1>the cities of the world with nothing save metal and wires.

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<v Speaker 1>We can give our brothers a new light, cleaner and

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<v Speaker 1>brighter than any they have ever known. The power of

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<v Speaker 1>the sky eye can be made to do men's bidding.

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<v Speaker 1>There are no limits to its secrets and its might,

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<v Speaker 1>and it can be made to grant us anything. If

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<v Speaker 1>we but choose to ask, then we knew what we

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<v Speaker 1>must do. Our discovery is too great for us to

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<v Speaker 1>waste our time in sweeping the streets. We must not

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<v Speaker 1>keep our secret to ourselves, nor buried under the ground.

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<v Speaker 1>We must bring it into the sight of men. We

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<v Speaker 1>need all our time. We need the workrooms of the

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<v Speaker 1>Home of Scholars. We want the help of our brother scholars,

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<v Speaker 1>and their wisdom joined to ours. There is so much

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<v Speaker 1>work ahead for all of us, for all the scholars

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<v Speaker 1>of the world. In a month, the World Council of

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<v Speaker 1>Scholars is to meet in our city. It is a

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<v Speaker 1>great council to which the wisest of all lands are elected,

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<v Speaker 1>and it meets once a year in the different cities

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<v Speaker 1>of the earth. We shall go to this council, and

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<v Speaker 1>we shall lay before them as our gift, the glass

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<v Speaker 1>box with the power of the sky. We shall confess

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<v Speaker 1>everything to them. They will see, understand, and forgive, For

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<v Speaker 1>our gift is greater than our transgression. They will explain

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<v Speaker 1>it to the Council of Vocations, and we shall be

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<v Speaker 1>assigned to the Home of the Scholars. This has never

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<v Speaker 1>been done before, but neither has a gift such as

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<v Speaker 1>ours ever been offered to men. We must wait. We

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<v Speaker 1>must guard our tunnel as we had never guarded it before.

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<v Speaker 1>For should any men, save the scholars, learn of our secret,

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<v Speaker 1>they would not understand it, nor would they believe us.

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<v Speaker 1>They would see nothing save our crime of working alone,

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<v Speaker 1>and they would destroy us and our light. We care

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<v Speaker 1>not about our body but our light is yes, we

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<v Speaker 1>do care. For the first time, we do care about

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<v Speaker 1>our body, for this wire is a part of our body,

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<v Speaker 1>as a vein torn from us, glowing with our blood.

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<v Speaker 1>Are we proud of this thread of metal or of

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<v Speaker 1>our hands which made it? Or is there a line

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<v Speaker 1>to divide these two? We stretch out our arms for

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<v Speaker 1>the first time. Do we know how strong our arms are?

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<v Speaker 1>And a strange thought comes to us. We wonder, for

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<v Speaker 1>the first time in our life, what we look like.

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<v Speaker 1>Men never see their own faces and never ask their

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<v Speaker 1>brothers about it, for it is evil to have concern

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<v Speaker 1>for their own faces or bodies. But tonight, for a

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<v Speaker 1>reason we cannot fathom, we wish it were possible to

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<v Speaker 1>us to know the likeness of our own person. End

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<v Speaker 1>of Chapter five. Recording by Caden von Klegg The Lunar

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<v Speaker 1>Island dot blogspot dot com.