Chapter 6 - Anthem

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Episode Transcript

(00:00):
Chapter six. We have not writtenfor thirty days. For thirty 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 uswhen three hours have passed and it's time

(00:22):
to return to the city theater.When we remembered the sand had run out,
we hastened to the theater, butthe big tent stood gray and silent
against the sky. The streets ofthe city lay before us, dark and
empty. If we went back tohide in our tunnel, we would be

(00:43):
found in our light with us.So we walked to the home of the
street sweepers. When the council ofthe home questioned us, we looked upon
the faces of the council, butthere was no curiosity in those faces,
and no anger, and no mercy. So when the oldest of them asked,
where have you been, we thoughtof our glass box and of our

(01:06):
light, and we forgot all else, and we answered, we will not
tell you. The oldest did notquestion us further. They turned to the
two youngest and said, and theirvoice was bored, take our brother.
Equality two five to one to thePalace of Corrective Detention, lash them until

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they tell so. We were takento the stone room under the Palace of
Corrective Detention. This room has nowindows, and it is empty save for
an iron post. Two men stoodby the post, naked for leather aprons
and leather hoods over their faces.Those who had brought us departed, leaving

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us to the two judges who stoodin a corner of the room. The
judges were small, thin men,gray and bent. They gave the signal
to the two strong hooded ones.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 ofthe lash felt as if our spine had

(02:19):
been cut in two. The secondblow stopped the first, and for a
second we felt nothing. Then painstruck 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 thatthe blows were falling upon our back.

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Only we felt nothing upon our backany longer. A flaming grill kept dancing
before our eyes, and we thoughtof nothing save that grill, a grill,
a grill of red squares. Andthen we knew that we were looking
at the squares of the iron grillin the door. And there was also
the squares of the stone on thewalls, and the squares which the lash

(03:07):
was cutting upon our back, crossingand 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 mouthon the withered fingers, And the judge
asked, where have you been?But we jerked our head away, hid

(03:29):
our face upon our tied hands,and bit our lips. The lash whistled
again. We wondered who was sprinklingburning coal dust upon the floor, for
we saw drops of red twinkling onthe stones around us. Then we knew
nothing save two voices, snarling steadily, one after the other, even though

(03:51):
we knew that they were speaking manyminutes apart. Where have you been?
Where have you been? Where haveyou been? Where have you been?
And our lips moved, but thesound trickled back in our throat, and
the sound was only the light,the light, the light. Then we

(04:11):
knew nothing. We opened our eyes, lying on our stomach on the brick
floor of a cell, we lookedupon 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, for we
thought of the light and that wehad not betrayed it. We lay in

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our cell for many days. Thedoor opened twice each day, once for
the men who brought us bread andwater, and once for the judges.
Many judges came to our cell,first the humblest and then the most honored
judges of the city. They stoodbefore us in their white togas, and
they asked, are you ready tospeak? But we shook our head,

(04:58):
lying before them on the floor,and they departed. We counted each day
and each night as it passed.Then tonight we knew that we must escape,
for tomorrow the World Council of Scholarsis to meet in our city.
It was easy to escape from thePalace of Corrective Detention. The locks are
old on the doors, and thereare no guards about. There is no

(05:19):
reason to have guards, for menhave never defied the councils so far as
to escape from whatever place they wereordered to be. Our body is healthy,
and strength returns to it speedily.We lunged against the door, and
it gave way. We stole throughthe dark passages, and through the dark
streets, and down into our tunnel. We lit the candle, and we

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saw that our place had not beenfound, and nothing had been touched,
And our glass box stood before uson the cold oven, as we had
left it. What matter they nowthe scars upon our back. Tomorrow,
in the full light of day,we shall take our box and leave our
tunnel open, and walk through thestreets to the home of the scholars.

(06:04):
We shall put before them the greatestgift ever offered to men. We shall
tell them the truth. We shallhand to them as our confession these pages
we have written. We shall joinour hands to theirs. We shall work
together with the power of the skyfor the glory of mankind. Our blessing

(06:25):
upon you, our brothers. Tomorrowyou will take us back into your fold,
and we shall be an outcast nolonger. Tomorrow. We shall be
one of you again. Tomorrow.End of chapter six