I shall be quite frank： even we have not attained the absolute， exact solution of the problem of happiness. Twice a day， from sixteen to seventeen o"clock and from twenty—one to twenty—two， our powerful united organism dissolves into separate cells； these are the personal hours designated by the Tables. During these hours you would see the curtains discreetly drawn in the rooms of some； others march slowly over the pavement of the main avenue or sit at their desks as I sit now. But I firmly believe， let them call me an idealist and a dreamer， I believe that sooner or later we shall somehow find a place in the general formula even for these hours. Somehow， all of the 86，400 seconds will be incorporated in the Tables of Hours.
I have had opportunity to read and hear many improbable things about those times when human beings still lived in the state of freedom， that is， in an unorganized primitive state. One thing has always seemed to me most improbable： how could a government， even a primitive has always seemed to me most improbable： how could a government， even a primitive government， permit people to live without anything like our Tables—without compulsory walks， without precise regulation of the time to eat， for instance？ They would get up and go to bed whenever they liked. Some historians even say that in those days the streets were lighted all night， and all night people went about the streets.
That I cannot understand. True， their minds were rather limited in those days. Yet they should have understood， should they not， that such a life was actually wholesale murder， although slow murder， day after day？ The State （humanitarianism） forbade in those days the murder of one person， but it did not forbid the killing of millions slowly and by inches. To kill one person， that is， to reduce the individual span of human life by fifty years， was considered criminal， but to reduce the general sum of human life by fifty million years was not considered criminal！ Isn"t it droll？ Today this simple mathematical moral problem could easily be solved in half a minute"s time by any ten—year—old Number， yet they couldn"t do it！ All their Immanuel Kants together couldn"t do it！ It didn"t enter the heads of all their Kants to build a system of scientific ethics， that is， ethics based on adding， subtracting， multiplying， and dividing.
Further， is it not absurd that their State （they called it State！） left sexual life absolutely without control？ On the contrary， whenever and as much as they wanted...absolutely unscientific， like beasts！ And like beasts they blindly gave birth to children！ Is it not strange to understand gardening， chicken farming， fishery （we have definite knowledge that they were familiar with all these things）， and not to be able to reach the last step in this logical scale， namely， production of children—not to be able to discover such things as Maternal and Paternal Norms？
It is so droll， so improbable， that while I write this I am afraid lest you， my unknown future readers， should think I am merely a poor jester. I feel almost as if you may think I want simply to mock you and with a very serious face try to relate absolute nonsense to you. But first I am incapable of jesting， for in every joke a lie has its hidden function. And second， the science of the United State contends that the life of the ancients was exactly what I am describing， and the science of the United State does not make mistakes！ Yet how could they have State logic， since they lived in a condition of freedom like beasts， like apes， like herds？ What could one expect of them， since even in our day one hears from time to time， coming from the bottom， the primitive depths， the echo of the apes？
Fortunately it happens only from time to time， very seldom. Happily， it is only a case of small parts breaking； these may easily be repaired without stopping the eternal great march of the whole machine. And in order to eliminate a broken peg we have the skillful heavy hand of the Well-Doer， we have the experienced eyes of the Guardians...
By the way， I just thought of that Number whom I met yesterday， the double—curved one like the letter S； I think I have seen him several times coming out of the Bureau of Guardians. Now I understand why I felt such an instinctive respect for him and a kind of awkwardness when I saw that strange I—330 at his side...I must confess that， that I...they ring the bell， time to sleep， it is twenty-two-thirty. Till tomorrow， then.
