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<v Speaker 1>Chapter eight 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 eight. It has

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<v Speaker 1>been a day of wonder, this our first day in

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<v Speaker 1>the forest. We awoke when a ray of sunlight fell

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<v Speaker 1>across our face. We wanted to leap to our feet,

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<v Speaker 1>as we have had to leap every morning of our life.

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<v Speaker 1>But we remembered suddenly that no bell had rung, and

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<v Speaker 1>that there was no bell to ring anywhere. We lay

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<v Speaker 1>on our back. We threw our arms out, and we

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<v Speaker 1>looked up at the sky. The leaves had edges of

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<v Speaker 1>silver that trembled and rippled like a river of green

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<v Speaker 1>and fire flowing high above us. We did not wish

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<v Speaker 1>to move. We thought suddenly that we could lie thus

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<v Speaker 1>as long as we wished, and we laughed aloud at

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<v Speaker 1>the thought. We could also rise, or run, or leap

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<v Speaker 1>or fall down again. We were thinking that these were

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<v Speaker 1>thoughts without sense, But before we knew it, our body

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<v Speaker 1>had risen in one leap. Our arms stretched out of

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<v Speaker 1>their own will, and our body whirled and whirled till

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<v Speaker 1>it raised a wind to rustle through the leaves of

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<v Speaker 1>the bushes. Then our hands seized a branch and swung

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<v Speaker 1>us high into a tree, with no aim save the

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<v Speaker 1>wonder of learning the strength of our body. The branch

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<v Speaker 1>snapped under us, and we fell upon the moss that

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<v Speaker 1>was soft as a cushion. Then our body, losing all sense,

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<v Speaker 1>rolled over and over on the moss, dry leaves in

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<v Speaker 1>our tunic, in our hair, in our face, and we

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<v Speaker 1>heard suddenly that we were laughing, laughing aloud, laughing, as

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<v Speaker 1>if there were no power left in us save laughter.

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<v Speaker 1>Then we took our glass box and we went on

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<v Speaker 1>into the forest. We went on, cutting through the branches,

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<v Speaker 1>and it was as if we were swimming through a

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<v Speaker 1>of leaves, with the bushes as waves rising and falling

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<v Speaker 1>and rising around us, and flinging their green sprays high

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<v Speaker 1>to the tree tops. The trees parted before us, calling

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<v Speaker 1>us forward. The forest seemed to welcome us. We went

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<v Speaker 1>on without thought, without care, with nothing to feel save

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<v Speaker 1>the song of our body. We stopped when we felt hunger.

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<v Speaker 1>We saw birds in the tree branches and flying from

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<v Speaker 1>under our footsteps. We picked a stone, and we scent

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<v Speaker 1>it as an arrow at a bird. It fell before us.

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<v Speaker 1>We made a fire, we cooked the bird, and we

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<v Speaker 1>ate it, and no meal had ever tasted better to us.

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<v Speaker 1>And we thought suddenly that there was a great satisfaction

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<v Speaker 1>to be found in the food which we need and

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<v Speaker 1>obtain by our own hand. And we wished to be

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<v Speaker 1>hungry again, and soon that we might know again this

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<v Speaker 1>strange new pride in eating. Then we walked on, and

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<v Speaker 1>we came to a stream which lay as a streak

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<v Speaker 1>of glass among the trees. It lay so still that

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<v Speaker 1>we saw no water, but only a cut in the

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<v Speaker 1>earth in which the trees grew down, upturned, and the

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<v Speaker 1>sky lay at the bottom. We knelt by the stream,

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<v Speaker 1>and we bent down to drink. And then we stopped,

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<v Speaker 1>for upon the blue of the sky below us, we

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<v Speaker 1>saw our own face for the first time. We sat still,

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<v Speaker 1>and we held our breath, for our face and our

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<v Speaker 1>body were beautiful. Our face was not like the faces

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<v Speaker 1>of our brothers, for we felt no pity when looking

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<v Speaker 1>upon it. Our body was not like the bodies of

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<v Speaker 1>our brothers. For our limbs were straight and thin, and

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<v Speaker 1>hard and strong. And we thought that we could trust

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<v Speaker 1>this being who looked upon us from the stream, and

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<v Speaker 1>that we had nothing to fear with this being. We

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<v Speaker 1>walked on till the sun had set, When the shadows

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<v Speaker 1>gathered among the trees, we stopped in a hollow between

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<v Speaker 1>the roots, where we shall sleep to night. And suddenly,

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<v Speaker 1>for the first time this day, we remembered that we

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<v Speaker 1>are the damned. We remembered it, and we laughed. We

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<v Speaker 1>are writing this on the paper we had hidden in

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<v Speaker 1>our tunic, together with the written pages we had brought

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<v Speaker 1>for the World Council of Scholars, but never given to them.

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<v Speaker 1>We have much to speak of to ourselves, and we

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<v Speaker 1>hope we shall find the words for it in the

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<v Speaker 1>days to come. Now we cannot speak, for we cannot understand.

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<v Speaker 1>End of chapter eight. Recording by Caden von Clegg The

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<v Speaker 1>Lunar Island dot blogspot dot com.