Гимн
Part Two
”
Wecannotsaywhattheymeant,fortherearenowordsfortheirmeaning,butweknowitwithoutwordsandweknewitthen.
“No,”weanswered,“norareyouoneofoursisters.”
“Ifyouseeusamongscoresofwomen,willyoulookuponus?”
“Weshalllookuponyou,Liberty5-3000,ifweseeyouamongallthewomenoftheearth.”
Thentheyasked:
“AreStreetSweeperssenttodifferentpartsoftheCityordotheyalwaysworkinthesameplaces?”
“Theyalwaysworkinthesameplaces,”weanswered,“andnoonewilltakethisroadawayfromus.”
“Youreyes,”theysaid,“arenotliketheeyesofanyamongmen.”
Andsuddenly,withoutcauseforthethoughtwhichcametous,wefeltcold,coldtoourstomach.
“Howoldareyou?”weasked.
Theyunderstoodourthought,fortheyloweredtheireyesforthefirsttime.
“Seventeen,”theywhispered.
Andwesighed,asifaburdenhadbeentakenfromus,forwehadbeenthinkingwithoutreasonofthePalaceofMating.AndwethoughtthatwewouldnotlettheGoldenOnebesenttothePalace.Howtopreventit,howtobarthewilloftheCouncils,weknewnot,butweknewsuddenlythatwewould.Onlywedonotknowwhysuchthoughtcametous,fortheseuglymattersbearnorelationtousandtheGoldenOne.Whatrelationcantheybear?
Still,withoutreason,aswestoodtherebythehedge,wefeltourlipsdrawntightwithhatred,asuddenhatredforallourbrothermen.AndtheGoldenOnesawitandsmiledslowly,andtherewasintheirsmilethefirstsadnesswehadseeninthem.
