208.Chapter Eighteen（9）

「pain』sadelusion。」

「oh，isit？」saidthesavageand，pickingupathickhazelswitch，strodeforward。

themanfromthefordiansciencemonitormadeadashforhishelicopter。

afterthatthesavagewasleftforatimeinpeace。afewhelicopterscameandhoveredinquisitivelyroundthetower。heshotanarrowintotheimportunatelynearestofthem。itpiercedthealuminumfloorofthecabin；therewasashrillyell，andthemachinewentrocketingupintotheairwithalltheaccelerationthatitssuper-chargercouldgiveit。theothers，infuture，kepttheirdistancerespectfully。ignoringtheirtiresomehumming（helikenedhimselfinhisimaginationtooneofthesuitorsofthemaidenofmátsaki，unmovedandpersistentamongthewingedvermin），thesavagedugatwhatwastobehisgarden。afteratimetheverminevidentlybecameboredandflewaway；forhoursatastretchtheskyabovehisheadwasemptyand，butforthelarks，silent。

theweatherwasbreathlesslyhot，therewasthunderintheair。hehaddugallthemorningandwasresting，stretchedoutalongthefloor。andsuddenlythethoughtofleninawasarealpresence，nakedandtangible，saying「sweet！」and「putyourarmsroundme！」–inshoesandsocks，perfumed。impudentstrumpet！butoh，oh，herarmsroundhisneck，theliftingofherbreasts，hermouth！eternitywasinourlipsandeyes。lenina…no，no，no，no！hesprangtohisfeetand，halfnakedashewas，ranoutofthehouse。attheedgeoftheheathstoodaclumpofhoaryjuniperbushes。heflunghimselfagainstthem，heembraced，notthesmoothbodyofhisdesires，butanarmfulofgreenspikes。sharp，withathousandpoints，theyprickedhim。hetriedtothinkofpoorlinda，breathlessanddumb，withherclutchinghandsandtheunutterableterrorinhereyes。poorlindawhomhehadsworntoremember。butitwasstillthepresenceofleninathathauntedhim。leninawhomhehadpromisedtoforget。eventhroughthestabandstmgofthejuniperneedles，hiswincingfieshwasawareofher，unescapablyreal。「sweet，sweet…andifyouwantedmetoo，whydidn』tyou…」