Summary: Chapter X
Equality 7-2521 and the Golden
One climb up into the mountains so that no one can follow them.
They have hiked for several days when they see what they believe
to be a fire but in actuality is the sun reflecting off the windows
of an abandoned house. It is a two-story house with huge windows.
Equality 7-2521 wonders how the house remains
standing with so little wall to hold it up. They determine that
it must be a house from the Unmentionable Times that was protected
from the weather and time by trees. Equality 7-2521 asks
the Golden One whether she is afraid, but she tells him she is not.
Equality 7-2521 and the Golden
One enter the house, and they are amazed at the house and its technology.
They are astounded by the idea that a house could be so small, such
that it obviously housed no more than a dozen people. They are amazed
by the colors in the house, as well, and are shocked to learn that
houses could be a color other than white, brown, or gray. They discover
mirrors and lightbulbs. They then find the bedroom and discover
that it contains only two beds and they conclude that only two people
lived there, and they are amazed by the privacy.
In the closet, Equality 7-2521 and
the Golden One find clothes, and the Golden One is amazed at the
sight of so many colors. Many of the clothes have turned to dust,
but many survive. Equality 7-2521 also finds
a library with shelves of books, and he is amazed that there are
not manuscripts. He looks through some of the books and discovers
that he knows the language but that there are many words he does
not know. Equality 7-2521 tells the Golden
One that they will move into the house and never leave it. They
will not share it but will live there together until they die. The
Golden One answers, “Your will be done.”
Equality 7-2521 goes out into the
forest around the house, gathers wood and water, and kills a mountain
goat to cook for dinner. The Golden One does not help him because
she cannot be torn away from the mirror, where she stands staring
at her own body. After sunset, the Golden One falls asleep in front
of the mirror amid the finery she has discovered in the house, and
Equality 7-2521 carries her to bed. He then
lights a candle and returns to the library to read through the night,
too excited to sleep.
As he stares out on the night below him and the sky above,
he meditates on his new commandment to live and speak and give meaning
to the world. He seeks guidance in his heart, and stares at his
hands where he sees the history of centuries, both good and evil, and
he is filled with reverence and pity. He wonders what the secret is
that his heart is begging to tell him.
Summary: Chapter XI
“I am. I think. I will.”
See Important Quotations Explained
Equality 7-2521 realizes the meaning
of the word “I” and realizes what has been missing from his world.
He writes about standing at the summit of a mountain and concludes
that he has reached the end of his quest to find the meaning of
things because he is the meaning of things. His eyes’ seeing makes
the earth beautiful, and his ears’ hearing makes the earth sing.
His mind’s searching gives the earth truth. His will is the only
command he respects or should respect. In his new view, the only
three holy words are “I will it!”
