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<v Speaker 1>Chapter nine 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 nine. We have

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<v Speaker 1>not written for many days. We did not wish to speak,

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<v Speaker 1>for we needed no words to remember that which has

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<v Speaker 1>happened to us. It was on our second day in

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<v Speaker 1>the forest that we heard steps behind us. We hid

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<v Speaker 1>in the bushes and we waited. The steps came closer,

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<v Speaker 1>and then we saw the fold of a white tunic

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<v Speaker 1>among the trees, and a gleam of gold. We leapt forward.

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<v Speaker 1>We ran to them, and we stood looking upon the

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<v Speaker 1>Golden One. They saw us, and their hands closed into fists,

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<v Speaker 1>and the fists pulled their arms down, as if they

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<v Speaker 1>wished their arms to hold them, while their body swayed,

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<v Speaker 1>and they could not speak. We dared not come too

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<v Speaker 1>close to them. We asked, and our voice trembled, how

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<v Speaker 1>come you to be here, Golden One? But they whispered,

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<v Speaker 1>only we have found you. How come you to be

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<v Speaker 1>in the forest, we asked. They raised their head, and

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<v Speaker 1>there was a great pride in their voice. They answered,

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<v Speaker 1>we have followed you. Then we could not speak, and

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<v Speaker 1>they said, we heard that you had gone to the

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<v Speaker 1>uncharted forest. For the whole city is speaking of it.

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<v Speaker 1>So on the night of the day, when we heard it,

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<v Speaker 1>we ran away from the home of the peasants. We

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<v Speaker 1>found the marks of your feet across the plain where

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<v Speaker 1>no men walk. So we followed them, and we went

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<v Speaker 1>into the forest, and we followed the path where the

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<v Speaker 1>branches were broken by your body. Their white tunic was torn,

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<v Speaker 1>and the branches had cut the skin of their arms.

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<v Speaker 1>But they spoke as if they had never taken notice

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<v Speaker 1>of it, nor of weariness, nor of fear. We have

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<v Speaker 1>followed you, they said, and we shall follow you wherever

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<v Speaker 1>you go. If danger threatens you, we shall face it. Also,

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<v Speaker 1>if it be death, we shall die with you. You

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<v Speaker 1>are damned, and we wished to share your damnation. They

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<v Speaker 1>looked upon us, and their voice was low, but there

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<v Speaker 1>was bitterness and triumph in their voice. Your eyes are

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<v Speaker 1>as a flame, but our brothers have neither hope nor fire.

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<v Speaker 1>Your mouth is cut of granite, but our brothers are

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<v Speaker 1>soft and humble. Your head is high, but our brothers

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<v Speaker 1>cringe you walk, but our brothers crawl. We wish to

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<v Speaker 1>be damned with you, rather than blest with all our brothers.

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<v Speaker 1>Do as you please with us, but do not send

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<v Speaker 1>us away from you. Then they knelt and bowed their

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<v Speaker 1>golden head before us. We had never thought of that

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<v Speaker 1>which we did. We bent to raise the golden one

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<v Speaker 1>to their feet, but when we touched them, it was

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<v Speaker 1>as if madness had stricken us. We seized their body,

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<v Speaker 1>and we pressed our lips to theirs. The golden one

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<v Speaker 1>breathed once, and their breath was a moan, and then

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<v Speaker 1>their arms closed around us. We stood together for a

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<v Speaker 1>long time time, and we were frightened that we had

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<v Speaker 1>lived for twenty one years and had never known what

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<v Speaker 1>joy is possible to men. Then we said, our dearest one,

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<v Speaker 1>fear nothing of the forest. There is no danger in solitude.

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<v Speaker 1>We have no need of our brothers. Let us forget

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<v Speaker 1>their good and our evil. Let us forget all things

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<v Speaker 1>save that we are together, and that there is joy

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<v Speaker 1>as a bond between us. Give us your hand. Look ahead.

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<v Speaker 1>It is our own world, golden one, a strange, unknown world,

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<v Speaker 1>but our own. Then we walked on into the forest. There,

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<v Speaker 1>hand in ours and that night we knew that to

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<v Speaker 1>hold the body of women in our arms is neither

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<v Speaker 1>ugly nor shameful, but the one ecstasy granted to the

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<v Speaker 1>race of men. We have walked for many days. The

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<v Speaker 1>forest has no end, and we seek no end. But

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<v Speaker 1>each day added to the chain of days between us

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<v Speaker 1>and the city is like an added blessing. We have

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<v Speaker 1>made bow and many arrows. We can kill more birds

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<v Speaker 1>than we need for our food. We find water and

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<v Speaker 1>fruit in the forest. At night, we choose a clearing,

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<v Speaker 1>and we build a ring of fires around it. We

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<v Speaker 1>sleep in the midst of that ring, and the beasts

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<v Speaker 1>dare not attack us. We can see their eyes, green

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<v Speaker 1>and yellow as coals, watching us from the tree branches beyond.

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<v Speaker 1>The fires smolder as a crown of jewels around us,

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<v Speaker 1>and smoke stands still in the air in columns made

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<v Speaker 1>blue by the moonlight. We sleep together in the midst

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<v Speaker 1>of the ring, the arms of the Golden One around us,

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<v Speaker 1>their head upon our breast. Some day we shall stop

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<v Speaker 1>and build a house, when we shall have gone far enough.

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<v Speaker 1>But we do not have to hasten. The days before

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<v Speaker 1>us are without end, like the forest. We cannot understand

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<v Speaker 1>this new life which we have found. Yet it seems

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<v Speaker 1>so clear and so simple. When questions come to puzzle us,

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<v Speaker 1>we walk faster, then turn and forget all things as

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<v Speaker 1>we watch the golden one following. The shadows of leaves

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<v Speaker 1>fall upon their arms as they spread the branches apart,

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<v Speaker 1>but their shoulders are in the sun. The skin of

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<v Speaker 1>their arms is like a blue mist, but their shoulders

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<v Speaker 1>are white and glowing, as if the light fell not

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<v Speaker 1>from above, but rose from under their skin. We watch

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<v Speaker 1>the leaf which has fallen upon their shoulder, and it

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<v Speaker 1>lies at the curve of their neck, and a drop

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<v Speaker 1>of dew glistens upon it like a jewel. They approach us,

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<v Speaker 1>and they stop laughing, knowing what we think, and they

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<v Speaker 1>wait obediently without questions, till it pleases us to turn

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<v Speaker 1>and go on. We go on, and we bless the

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<v Speaker 1>earth under our feet. But questions come to us again

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<v Speaker 1>as we walk in silence. If that which we have

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<v Speaker 1>found is the corruption of solitude, then what can men

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<v Speaker 1>wish for save corruption? If this is the great evil

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<v Speaker 1>of being alone, then what is good and what is evil?

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<v Speaker 1>Everything which comes from the many is good, everything which

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<v Speaker 1>comes from one is evil. Thus have we been taught

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<v Speaker 1>with our first breath. We have broken the law, but

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<v Speaker 1>we have never doubted it. Yet now as we walk

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<v Speaker 1>through the forest, we are learning to doubt. There is

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<v Speaker 1>no life for men save in useful toil for the

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<v Speaker 1>good of all their brothers. But we lived not when

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<v Speaker 1>we toiled for our brothers, we were only weary. There

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<v Speaker 1>is no joy for men save the joy shared with

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<v Speaker 1>all our brothers. But the only things which taught us

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<v Speaker 1>joy were the power we created in our wires and

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<v Speaker 1>the Golden One. And both these joys belong to us alone.

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<v Speaker 1>They come from us alone. They bear no relation to

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<v Speaker 1>our brothers, and they do not concern our brothers in

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<v Speaker 1>any way. Thus do we wonder there is some error,

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<v Speaker 1>one frightful error, in the thinking of men. What is

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<v Speaker 1>that error, we do not know. But the knowledge struggles

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<v Speaker 1>within us, struggles to be born to day. The Golden

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<v Speaker 1>One stopped suddenly and said, we love you. But then

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<v Speaker 1>they frowned and shook their head and looked at us helplessly. No,

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<v Speaker 1>they whispered, that is not what we wished to say.

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<v Speaker 1>They were silent. Then they spoke slowly, and their words

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<v Speaker 1>were halting, like the words of a child learning to

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<v Speaker 1>speak for the first time. We are one alone and only,

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<v Speaker 1>and we love you, who are one alone and only.

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<v Speaker 1>We looked into each other's eyes, and we knew that

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<v Speaker 1>the breath of a miracle had touched us, and fled

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<v Speaker 1>and left us groping vainly, and we felt torn, torn

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<v Speaker 1>for some word we could not find. End of Chapter nine.

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<v Speaker 1>Recording by Caden von Klegg The Lunar Island dot blogspot

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<v Speaker 1>dot com