 This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information and to find out how you can volunteer, please visit librivox.org Recording by Cherie Terrio Anthem by Anne Ran, Chapter 1. It is a sin to write this. It is a sin to think words. No others think. And to put them down on a paper, no others are to see. It is base and evil. It is as if we are 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. 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. 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. The walls are cracked and water runs upon them and 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 know ears, but our own. Our name is equality 72521. As it is written on the iron bracelet, which all men wear on their left wrist 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 leaders pointed to us and frowned and said, There is evil in your bones, equality 72521, for your body has grown beyond the bodies of your brothers. But we cannot change our bones nor our body. 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. We strive to be like all of our brother men, for all men must be alike. Over the portals of the palace of the world council, there are words cut in marble, which we are required to repeat to ourselves whenever we are tempted. We are one and all and all in one. There are no men, but only the great we. One indivisible and forever. We repeat this to ourselves, but it helps us not. These words were cut long ago. There is a green mold in the grooves of the letters and yellow streaks in the marbles, which come for more years than men could count. And these words are 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. But we must never speak of the times before the great rebirth, else we are sentenced to three years in the palace of corrective tension. It's 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. All men are good and wise. It is only we, equality seven two five two one. 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. 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, safe for one transgression. We fought with our brothers. There were 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. When we were five years old, we were sent to the home of the students, where there were 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 sat all together with the three teachers at the head. 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. Then we slept. The sleeping halls were white and clean and bare of all things, save one hundred beds. We, Equality 72521, were not happy in those years in the home of the students. It's 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. 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 53992, 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 53992, but somehow the teachers knew that we are not. And we were last more often than all the other children. 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 knew 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, dare not choose in your mind the work you would like to do when you leave the home of the students. You shall do what the council of vocation shall prescribe for you, for the council of vocation 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 men, there is no reason for you to burden the earth with your bodies. We knew this well in the years of our childhood, but our curse broke our will. We were guilty, and we confessed it here. We were guilty of the great transgression of preference. We preferred some work and some lessons to others. We did not listen well to the history of 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. 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 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. 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 shutter 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. All of the great modern inventions come from the home of 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 scholars, we could learn from these also. We could ask questions of these, for they do not forbid questions. And questions give us no rest. We know not why our curse makes us seek we know not whatever and ever, but we cannot resist it. It whispers to us that there are great things on this earth of ours, 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. So we wished to be sent to the home of 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 reached their fifteenth year what their work is to be for the rest of their days. The Council of Vocations came in 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. Now if the Council said Carpenter or Cook, the students so assigned go to work and do not study any further. But if the Council has said, Leader, then those students go to 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 wish not to be a Leader, even though it is a great honor, we wish to be a Scholar. So we awaited our turn in the Great Hall, and then we heard the Council of Vocations call our name, Equality 72521. 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 riverbed. 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. 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. For we were happy and proud of ourselves and of the 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, the will of our brothers be done. And we looked straight into the eyes of the Council, but their eyes were as cold as blue glass buttons. So we went into the home of the Street Sweepers. It is a grey house on a narrow street. There is a sundial in the 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 arise from our beds. The sky is green and cold in our windows to the east, and 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 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, 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 theater 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. Thus we have 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 someone lives to be forty-five, they are the ancient ones. And 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. Such would have been our life had we not committed our crime, which has 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 brothers street sweepers, safe 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. It was on a day of the spring before last. We street sweepers worked in brigades of three, and we were with Union 53992, they of the half brain, and with International 48818. Now Union 53992 were a sickly lad, and sometimes they were stricken with convulsions. When their mouth froths and their eyes turn white, but International 48818 are different. They are tall, strong, youth, and in their eyes are like fireflies, for there is laughter in their eyes. We cannot look upon International 48818 and not smile in answer. For this, they were not liked in the home of the students, as it were 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 artist which are permitted to draw pictures. So International 48818 were sent to the home of the street sweepers, like ourselves. International 48818 and we are friends. This is an evil thing to say, for it is a great 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 of our friends. So International 48818 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. So on that day of the spring before last, Union 53992 were stricken with convulsions on the edge of the city, near the city theater. We left them to lie in the shade of the theater tent and we went with International 48818 to finish our work. We came together to the great ravine behind the theater. It is empty, safe for trees and weeds. Behind the ravine there is a plain and behind the plain there lies the uncharted forest, about which men must not think. We were gathering the papers and the rags which the wind had blown from the theater 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 48818 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. International 48818 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. We shall go down, we said to International 48818. It is forbidden, they answered. We said, the council does not know of this hole, so it cannot be forbidden. And they answered, since the council does not know of this hole, there could be no law permitting to enter it. And everything which is not permitted by law is forbidden. But we said, we shall go none the less. They were frightened, but they stood by and watched us go. 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 and we could not believe what we saw. No man 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 wasn't 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. 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 to 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. We returned to the earth. International 48818 looked upon us and stepped back. Equality 72521, they said, your face is white. But we could not speak. And we stood looking upon them. 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, we shall report our fine to the city council and both of us will be rewarded. And then we spoke. Our voice was hard and there was no mercy in our voice. We said, we shall not report our fine to the city council. We shall not report it to any men. They raised their hands to their ears for never had they heard such words as these. International 48818 we asked, will you report us to the council and see us lash to death before your eyes? They stood straight, of a sudden, and they answered, rather would we die? Then we said, keep silent. This place is ours. This place belongs to us. Equality 72521 and to no other men on earth. And if we ever surrender it, we shall surrender our life with it also. Then we saw that the eyes of International 48818 were full to the lids with tears that dared not drop. They whispered and their voice trembled so that their words lost all shape. 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. Then we walked away together and back to the home of the street sweepers and we walked in silence. Thus did it come to pass that each night when the stars are high and the street sweepers sit in the city theater. We, Equality 72521, steal out and run through the darkness to our place. It is easy to leave the theater when the candles are blown 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 nine next to International 48818 as the column leaves the theater. 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 that we have piled upon the iron grill to hide it from men. Each night for three hours we are under the earth alone. 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 the blue shadows dance upon the walls and there is no sound of men to disturb us. 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 at the home of the students. 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 how many lifetimes will not bring us to the end of 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 hawks and clearer than the rock crystal. 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 the 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 free for the human heart to ponder. Never, not in the memory of the ancient ones, ancients never have men done what we are doing. 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. End of chapter one. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information and to find out how you can volunteer please visit librivox.org. Recording by Cherie Terrio. Anthem by Anne Rand chapter two. Liberty five three thousand. Liberty five three thousand. Liberty five three thousand. 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. Whose name is Liberty five three thousand. And we think of no others. The woman 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 for the first mile post. There is a hedge along the road and beyond the hedge lies the fields. The fields are black and plowed and they lie like a great fan before us. 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 seagulls beating over the black soil. And there it was that we saw Liberty five three thousand 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 hands as if they were designed to fling a scornful gift and the earth was a beggar under their feet. We stood still for the first time we knew fear and then pain. And we stood still that we might not spill this pain more precious than pleasure. Then we heard a voice from the others call their name Liberty five three thousand 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. And the following day as we came to the northern road we kept our eyes upon Liberty five three thousand 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 five three thousand each day. We knew 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 in our eyes. There was no smile on their face and no welcome but their face was taught and their eyes were dark. Then they turned to swiftly and they walked away from us. But the following day when we came to the road they smiled. They smiled to us and for us and we smiled an 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 and we felt as if a hand had touched our body slipping softly from our lips to our feet. 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 saving 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 towards Liberty five three thousand. Had the others seen it they would have guessed nothing for it looked only as if we were shading our eyes for the sun. But Liberty five three thousand saw it and understood. They raised their hand to their forehead and moved it as we had. Thus each day we greet Liberty five three thousand and they answer and no men can suspect. We do not wonder at this new sin of ours. It is our second transgression of preference for we do not think of all of the brothers as we must but only of one and their name is Liberty five three thousand. We do not think of why we think of them. We do not know why when we think of them we feel 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 five three thousand 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 other names which distinguished 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. And we take no heed of the law which says that men may not think of women save 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. We had broken so many laws and today we have broken one more. Today we spoke to the golden one. 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 along 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. 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 48818 would not betray us and Union 53992 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 you are beautiful Liberty 53000. Their face did not move and they did not avert their eyes. Only their eyes grew wider and there was a triumph in their eyes. And it was not triumph over us but over things we could not guess. Then they asked what is your name? Equality 72521 we answered. You are not one of our brothers equality 72521 for we do not wish you to be. We cannot say what they meant for there are no words for their meaning but we knew it without words and we knew it then. No we answered nor are you one of our sisters. If you could see among scores of women will you look upon us? We shall look upon you Liberty 53000 if we see you among all the women of the earth. Then they asked are street sweepers sent to different parts of the city or do they always work in the same places? They always work in the same places we answered and no one will take this road away from us. Your eyes they said are not like the eyes of any among men. And suddenly without cause for the thought which came to us we felt cold cold to our stomach. How old are you? We asked. They understood our thought for they lowered their eyes for the first time. 17 they whispered. And we sighed as if a burden had been taken from us before he 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 borrow 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 in the golden one. What relation can they bear? 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 slow 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. 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. 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. We are singing because we are happy we answered the one of the home council who reprimanded us. Indeed you are happy they answered. How else can men be when they live for their brothers? 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. 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 the 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. There is a fear hanging in the air of the sleeping halls and in the air of the streets fear walks through our city fear without name without shape all men feel it and none dare to speak. We feel it also and 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. Our body is betraying us for the counsel 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 seven two five two one are glad to be living if this is a vice then we wish no virtue yet our brothers are not like us all is not well with our brothers there are fraternity two five five oh three a quiet boy with wise kind eyes who cries suddenly without reason and in the midst of the day or night and their body shakes with sob so they cannot explain there are solidarity nine six three four seven who are 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 nine six three four seven and as we all undress at night in the dim light of 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 so they fear to speak and they are glad when the candles are blown for the night and we equality seven two five two one 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 plane and beyond the plane black upon the black sky there lies the uncharted forest 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 stands 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 into the uncharted forest without call or reason these men do not return they perish from hunger and from the claws of the wild beasts that roam the forest but our council say this is only a legend we have heard that there are many uncharted forests over the lands 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 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 flames stood in the squares of the city for three months then came the great rebirth the words of the evil ones the words of the unmentionable times what are the words which we have lost 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 and yet and yet there is some word one single word which is not in the language of men but which has 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 are 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 we have seen one of such men burned alive in the square of the city and it was a site 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 led them into 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 of blue as morning they walked to the pyre and their step did not falter and of all the faces in that square of all the faces which shrieked and screamed and spat curses upon them theirs was the calmest and happiest face 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 the saints of the councils the saints of the great rebirth but we had never seen a saint nor would 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 of the transgressor of the unspeakable word 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 it 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 let it go from us and from the earth but the flames rose and we could not guess the word what? we had to burn for it like the saint of the pyre what is the unspeakable word? end of chapter 2 this is a LibriVox recording all LibriVox recordings are in the public domain for more information and to find out how you can volunteer please visit LibriVox.org recording by Sheree Terrio Anthem by Anne Ran chapter 3 we equality 72521 have discovered a new power of nature and we have discovered it alone and we are to know it it is said now let us be last for it if we must the council of scholars has said that we all know the things which exist and therefore all 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 only for those who will seek them we know for we have found a secret unknown to all our brothers we know not what this power is nor whence it comes but we know it is 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 a 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 watched a wire to them and there under our fingers was a miracle which had never occurred before a new miracle and a new power 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 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 house of scholars but we had been taught when still a child that the lodestone points to the north and 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 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 we have built strange things with this discovery of ours we used it for the copper wires which we found here under the ground we have walked the length of our tunnel with the candle lighting the way we could go no further than a 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 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 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 this is the end of chapter 3 this is a LibriVox recording all LibriVox recordings are in the public domain for more information and to find out how you can volunteer please visit l-i-b-r-i-v-o-x dot org recording by Cheritario Anthem by Anne Rand chapter 4 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 and we said we have given you a name in our thoughts Liberty 53000 what is our name? they asked the golden one nor do we call you equality 72521 when we think of you what name have you given us? they looked straight into our eyes and they held their head high and they answered and they conquered for a long time we could not speak then we said such thoughts are forbidden golden one but you think such thoughts as these and you wish us to think them we looked into their eyes and we could not lie yes we whispered and they smiled and then we said our dearest one do not obey us they stepped back and their eyes were wide and still and they whispered which words we asked but they did not answer and we knew it our dearest one we whispered never have men said this to women 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 to speak then they raised their head and they spoke simply and gently as if they wished us to forget some anxiety of their own the day is hot they said and you have worked for many hours and you must be weary no we answered it is cooler in the fields they said and there is water to drink are you thirsty yes we answered but we cannot cross the hedge we shall bring the water to you they said then they knelt by the moat they gathered water into their two hands they rose and they held the water out to our lips we did 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 we raised our head and stepped back or we did not understand what had made us do this and we were afraid to understand it 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 end of chapter 4 this is a LibraVox recording all LibraVox recordings are in the public domain for more information and to find out how you can volunteer please visit LibraVox.org recording by Cherie Terrio Anthem by Anne Rand Chapter 5 we made it we created it we brought it forth from the night of the ages we alone our hands ours alone and only we know not what we are saying our head is reeling we look upon the light which we had made we shall be forgiven for anything we say tonight tonight after more days and trials than we can count we finish building a strange thing from the remains of the Imentional 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 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 yet there was light light that came from nowhere light from the heart of metal we blew out the candle darkness swallowed us and there was nothing left around us nothing saved the 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 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 then we knew what we must do our discovery is too great for us to waste our time in sweeping 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 the wisdom joined to ours there was so much work ahead for all of us for all the scholars of the world 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 the 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 has ever been offered to men we must wait we must guard our tunnel as we have 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 yes we do care for the first time we do care about our body for this wire is a part of our body as a vein torn from us glowing with our blood we are proud of this thread of metal or of our hands which made it or is there a line to divide these two 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 lightness of our own person end of chapter 5 this is a LibriVox recording all LibriVox recordings are in the public domain for more information and to find out how you can volunteer please visit LibriVox.org LibriVox.org recording by Sheree Terrio Anthem by Anne Ran Chapter 6 we have not written for 30 days for 30 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 and the glass which tells us when three hours have passed and it is time to return to the city theater when we remembered the sand had run out we hastened to the theater but the big tent stood gray 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 in our light with us so we walked to the home of the street sweepers 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 where have you been we thought of our glass box and of our light but we forgot all else and we answered we will not tell you the oldest did not question us further they turned to the two youngest and said and their voice was bored take our brother equality 2521 to the palace of corrective detention lash them until they tell so we were taken to the stone room under the palace of corrective detention this room has no windows and it is empty safe for an iron post two men stood by the post naked 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 gray and bent they gave the signal they tore our 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 pain struck us in our throat and fire ran in our lungs without air but we did not cry out 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 saved that 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 was also the squares of the stone on the walls and the squares which the lash was cutting upon our back crossing and recrossing itself in our flesh 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 where have you been but we jerked our head away hit our face upon our tied hands and bit our lips the lash whistled again we wondered who was sprinkling burning cold dust upon the floor but we saw drops of red twinkling on the stones around us then we knew nothing saved two voices snarling steadily one after the other even though we knew that they were speaking many minutes apart where have you been where have you been where have you been but the sound trickled back in our throat and the sound was only the light, the light, the light then we knew nothing we opened our eyes lying on our stomach on the brick floor of a cell we looked upon two hands lying 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 and that we had not portrayed it 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 are you ready to speak but we shook our head lying before them on the floor 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 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 council so far as to escape from whatever place they are ordered to be our body is healthy our 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 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 tomorrow in the full light of day we take our glass 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 we shall work together with the power of the sky for the glory of mankind our blessing upon you our brothers in your fold and we shall be an outcast no longer tomorrow we shall be one of you again tomorrow end of chapter 6 this is a LibriVox recording all LibriVox recordings are in the public domain for more information and to find out how you can volunteer please visit LibriVox.org recording by Shari Terrio Anthem by Anne Ran Chapter 7 it is dark here in the forest 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 we are old now yet we were young this morning we walked through the streets of the city to the home of the scholars no men stopped us for there were none about the palace of corrective detention and the others knew nothing no men stopped us at the gate we walked through the empty passages and into the great hall where the world council of scholars sat in solemn meeting we saw nothing as we entered save the sky in the great windows blue and glowing then we saw the scholars they were as shapeless clouds huddled at the rise of a great sky there were the 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 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 our greeting to you are honored brothers of the world council of scholars then collective 00009 the oldest and wisest of the council spoke and asked who are you our brother for you do not look like a scholar our name is equality 72521 we answered and we are a street sweeper of this city then it was as if a great wind had struck in the hall for all the scholars spoke at once and they were angry and frightened 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 but we knew how to stop them 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 has never been brought to men listen to us for we hold the future of mankind in our hands then they listened we placed our glass box on 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 watching and we stood still our eyes upon the wire slowly as a flush of blood a red flame trembled in the wire then the wire glowed but terror struck the men of the council they leaped to their feet they ran from the table they stood pressed against the wall huddled together seeking the warmth of one another's bodies to give them courage then we found them and we laughed and said 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 still they would not move 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 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 but they looked upon us and suddenly we were afraid for their eyes were still and small and evil our brothers we cried have you nothing to say to us then collective zero zero zero nine moved forward they moved to the table and the others followed yes spoke collective zero zero zero zero nine we have much to say to you the sound of their voice brought silence to the hall and to the beat of our heart yes said collective zero zero zero zero nine we have much to say and we have much to say to you who have broken all the laws and who boast of their infamy how dared you think that your mind held greater wisdom than the minds of your brothers and if the council had to agree that you be a street sweeper how dared you think that you could be of greater use to men than in sweeping the streets how dared you gutter cleaner spoke fraternity nine three four five two to hold yourself as one alone and with thoughts of one and not of many me? You shall be burned at the stake," said Democracy 4.6998. No, there should be last," said unanimity. 7.3304, till there is nothing left under the lashes. No, said Collective 00009. 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. We looked upon them and we pleaded, Our brothers, you're right. Let the will of the council be done upon our body. We did not care. But the light? What will you do with the light? Collective 00009 looked upon us and they smiled. So you think you have found a new power? Said Collective 00009. Do you think all your brothers think that? No, we answered. What is not thought by all men cannot be true? Said Collective 00009. You have worked on this alone? Asked International 15537. Yes, we answered. What is not done collectively cannot be good? Said International 15537. Many men in the homes of the scholars have had strange new ideas in the past. Said Solidarity 81164. But when the majority of their brother scholars voted against them, they abandoned their ideas, as all men must. This box is useless. Said Alliance 67349. Should it be what they claim of it? Said Harmony 92642. 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. This would wreck the plans of the World Council. Said unanimity 29913. 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 refit the plan so as to make the candles instead of the torches. This touched upon thousands and thousands of men working in scores of states. We cannot alter the plans again so soon. And if this should lighten the toil of men, said similarity 50306, then it is a great evil, for men have no cause to exist save in toiling for other men. One collective 00009 rose and pointed at her box. This thing, they said, must be destroyed. And all the others cried as one. It must be destroyed. Then we leapt to the table. 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 is not fit for humans to know, choked our voice in our throat. You fools, we cried. You fools, you thrice-damned fools. We swung our fists through the window pane and we leapt out in a ringing rain of glass. We fell, but we never let the box fall from our hands. Then we ran, we ran blindly, and men and houses streak past us in a torrent without shape. And the roads 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. 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 a 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. Our glass box lay beside us. We crawled to it, we fell upon it, our face in our arms and we lay still. We layed us for a long time. Then we rose. We took our box and walked on into the forest. It mattered not where we went. We knew that men would not follow us, for they never entered 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 from the city and air that touches upon the air of the city. So we walked on, our box and our arms, our heart empty. 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. We know these things, but we do not care. We care for nothing on earth. We are tired. Only the glass box in our arms is like 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. It is 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. 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. End chapter 7. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information and to find out how you can volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. L-I-B-R-I-V-O-X.org. Recording by Cherie Terrio. Anthem by Anne Rand. Chapter 8. It has been a day of wonder this our first day in the forest. We awoke when a ray of sunlight fell across our face. We wanted to leap to our feet as we have had to leap to our feet every morning of our life. But we remembered suddenly that no bell had rung and 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. We did not wish to move. We thought suddenly that we could lie thus as long as we wished and we laughed loud at the thought. We could also rise or run or leap or fall down again. We were thinking that these were things 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 saved the wonder of learning the stretch 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 and our hair and our face. And we heard suddenly that we were laughing, laughing aloud, laughing as if there were no power left in us save laughter. Then we took our glass box and we went into the forest. We went on cutting through the branches and it was 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 on 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 saved the song of our body. We stopped when we felt hunger. We saw birds in the tree branches and flying from under our footsteps. We picked a stone and sent it as an arrow at a bird. It fell before us. We made a fire, we cooked the bird, we ate it and no meal had ever tasted better to us. And we thought suddenly that there was this great satisfaction to be found in the food which we need and obtained by our own hand. And we wished to be hungry again and soon that we might know again the strange new pride in eating. 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 in the sky at the bottom. We knelt by the stream and we bent down to drink. Then we stopped. For upon the blue of the sky below us we saw our own face for the first time. 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 no pity when we looked 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 from this being. We walked on until 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. 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. End Chapter 8. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information and to find out how you can volunteer please visit LibriVox.org. Recording by Cherie Terrio. Anthem by Anne Rand. Chapter 9. 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. It was our second day in the forest that we heard steps behind us. We hid in 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. We leapt forward. We ran to them and we stood looking upon the golden one. 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. We dare not come too close to them. We asked and our voice trembled. How come you to be here golden one? But they whispered only. We have found you. How came you to be in the forest? We asked. They raised their head and there was a great pride in their voice. They answered, We have followed you. Then we could not speak. And they said, 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. 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. 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. They looked upon us and their voice was low, but there was bitterness and triumph in their voice. 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 be blessed with all of our brothers. Do as you please with us, but do not send us away from you. Then they knelt and bowed their golden head before us. 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. We stood together for a long time and we were frightened that we had lived for 21 years and had never known what joy is possible to men. Then we said, Our dearest one, fear nothing of the forest. There is no danger and 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 between us. Give us your hand. Look ahead. It is our own world golden one, a strange unknown world but our own. Then we walked on into the forest their hand and ours and that night we knew that to hold the body of a woman in our arms is neither ugly nor shameful, but the one that looks to see granted to the race of men. 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. 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 fire smolder as a crown of jewels around us and smoke stands still in the air and 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. Someday 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. 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 the 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 question till it pleases us to turn and go on. We go on and we bless the earth under our feet but questions come to us again as we walk in silence. If that 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? Everything which comes from the many is good. Everything which comes from one is evil. Thus we have been taught with our first breath. We have broken the law but we have never doubted it yet now as we walk the forest we are learning to doubt. There is no life for men save in useful toil for the good of their brothers but we live 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 created in our wires and the golden one. And both these joys belong to us alone. They came from us alone. They bear no relation to our brothers and they do not concern our brothers in any way. Thus do we wonder. 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 we love you but then they frowned and shook their head and looked at us helplessly. No they whispered. That is not what we wish to say. 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. We are one alone and only and we love you who are one alone and only. 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. And we felt torn. Torn for some word we could not find. End chapter 9. This is the LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information and to find out how you can volunteer please visit LibriVox.org. Recording by Cheritario. Anthem by Anne Rand. Chapter 10. We are sitting at a table. We were 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. We came upon it today at sunrise. For many days we have 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 forest 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. 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. 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 we stopped but the flame was unmoving yet blinding as liquid metal. So we climbed towards 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. 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 house kept standing we could not guess. The walls were hard and smooth of that stone unlike stone which we had seen in our tunnel. 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 are you afraid? 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. 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 man had been permitted to build a house for only twelve. Never had we seen rooms so full of light. The sunrays danced upon the colors, colors and more colors than we thought possible. We who had seen no houses save the white ones, the brown ones and the gray. 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. 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 man of the unmentionable times? 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 color, 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. 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 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. When we had seen all the rooms of the house we looked at the golden one and we knew the thought in our minds. 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 and we share not our joy with them nor our love nor our hunger so be it to the end of our days. Your will be done they said. 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. 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. 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. And now we look upon the earth and the sky. The spread of naked rock and peaks and moonlight is like a world ready to be born. 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. We are to speak. We are to give its goal its highest meaning to all this glowing space of rock and sky. 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 dusts of centuries. The dusts which hid great secrets and perhaps great evils and yet it stirs no fear within our heart but only silent reverence and pity. May knowledge come to us. What is this 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. End chapter 10. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain for more information and to find out how you can volunteer please visit LibriVox.org. Reading by Cheritario. Anthem by Anne Ran. Chapter 11. I am. I think. I will. 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. 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 wish to know the meaning of things. I am the meaning. I wish 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. 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 judgment 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. Many words have been granted me and some are wise and some are false. But only three are holy. I will it. Whatever road I take the guiding star is within me. The guiding star and the lodestone which point the way. They point in but one direction. They point to me. I know not if this earth on which I stand is the core of the universe or if it is 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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 or by who may wish to claim it. I honour men with my love but honour is a thing to be earned. I shall choose friends among men but neither slave nor masters and I shall choose only such as please me and then 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 for the word we must never be spoken saved 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 an unspeakable lie 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 gray of it and it is the word by which the depraved steal the virtue of the good by which the weak steal the might of the strong and by which the fools steal the wisdom of the sages 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 impotent are my masters what is my life if I am but to bow to agree and to obey but I am done with this creed of corruption I am done with the monster of we the word of serfdom of plunder of misery and falsehood and shame and now I see the face of God and I raise this God over the earth and this God whom men have sought since men came into being this God who will grant them joy and peace and pride this God this one word I end chapter 11