ent to the Home of the
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 what, ever and ever. But we cannot resist it. It whispers to
us that there are great things on this earth of ours, and 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 the 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 reach
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 into 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 wished not to be a Leader, even
though it is a great honor. We wished 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 7-2521." 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 river bed. They were old. They seemed older than the
marble of the Temple