Speaker 1: Chapter four of Anthem. This is a LibriVox recording. All
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Speaker 1: Kaden von Klegg Anthem by Einrand, Chapter four. Many days
Speaker 1: passed before we could speak to the Golden One again.
Speaker 1: But then came the day when the sky turned white,
Speaker 1: as if the sun had burst and spread its flame
Speaker 1: in the air, and the fields lay still without breath,
Speaker 1: and the dust of the road was white in the glow.
Speaker 1: So the women of the field were weary, and they
Speaker 1: tarried over their work, and they were far from the
Speaker 1: road when we came. But the Golden One stood alone
Speaker 1: at the hedge, waiting. We stopped, and we saw that
Speaker 1: their eyes, so hard and scornful to the world, were
Speaker 1: looking at us, as if they would obey any word
Speaker 1: we might speak. And we said, we have given you
Speaker 1: a name in our thoughts, liberty five to us three
Speaker 1: zero zero zero. What is our name? They asked the
Speaker 1: Golden One, Nor do we call you equality seven dashed
Speaker 1: two five two one When we think of you? What
Speaker 1: name have you given us? They looked straight into our eyes,
Speaker 1: and they held their head high, and they answered the unconquered.
Speaker 1: For a long time we could not speak. Then we said,
Speaker 1: such thoughts as these are forbidden, Golden One, But you
Speaker 1: think such thoughts as these, and you wish us to
Speaker 1: think them. We looked into their eyes and we could
Speaker 1: not lie. Yes, we whispered, and they smiled, and then
Speaker 1: we said, our dearest one, do not obey us. They
Speaker 1: stepped back, and their eyes were wide, and still speak
Speaker 1: these words. Again they whispered. Which words we asked, but
Speaker 1: they did not answer, and we knew it. Our dearest one,
Speaker 1: we whispered, Never have men said this to women. The
Speaker 1: head of the Golden One bowed slightly, and they stood
Speaker 1: still for us, their arms at their sides, the palms
Speaker 1: of their hands turned to us, as if their body
Speaker 1: were delivered in submission to our eyes. And we could
Speaker 1: not speak. Then they raised their head and they spoke
Speaker 1: simply and gently, as if they wished to forget some
Speaker 1: anxiety of their own. The day is hot, they said,
Speaker 1: and you have worked for many hours, and you must
Speaker 1: be weary. No, we answered, It is cooler in the fields,
Speaker 1: they said, and there is water to drink. Are you thirsty, yes,
Speaker 1: we answered, but we cannot cross the hedge. We shall
Speaker 1: bring the water to you, they said. Then they knelt
Speaker 1: by the moat, they gathered water in their two hands.
Speaker 1: They rose, and they held the water out to our lips.
Speaker 1: We do not know if we drank that water. We
Speaker 1: only knew suddenly that their hands were empty, but we
Speaker 1: were still holding our lips to their hands, and that
Speaker 1: they knew it but did not move. We raised our
Speaker 1: head and stepped back, for we did not understand what
Speaker 1: had made us do this, and we were afraid to
Speaker 1: understand it. And the Golden One stepped back and stood,
Speaker 1: looking upon their hands in wonder. Then the Golden One
Speaker 1: moved away, even though no others were coming. And they moved,
Speaker 1: stepping back as if they could not turn from us,
Speaker 1: their arms bent before them, as if they could not
Speaker 1: lower their hands. End of Chapter four. Recording by Kaden
Speaker 1: von Klegg The Lunar Island dot blogspot dot com