Anthem

I.
|It is a sin to write this. It is a sin to think words no others think and to put them down upon a paper no others are to see. It is |
|base and evil. It is as if we were 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 Vocationsbid 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 toprovide 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 isnothing 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 in 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 thePalace 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 no ears but ourown. |
|Our name is Equality 7-2521, as it is written on the iron bracelet which all men wear on their left wrists 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 the Leaders pointed to us and frowned and said: "There is evil inyour bones, Equality 7-2521, 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 toresist it. This is our wonder and our secret fear, that |
|we know and do not resist. |
|We strive to be like all our brother men, for all men must be alike. Over the portals of the Palace of the World Council, there are |
|words cut in the marble, which we repeat to ourselves whenever weare tempted: |
|"We are one in 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 green mould in the grooves of the letters and yellow streaks on the marble, which come from |
|more years than men could count. And these words...