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r　work　and　play；　but　kleggich；　drudgery。　Defense　workers　manned　the　twelve　old　interplaary　ships；　keeping　them　repaired　and　in　orbit　as　a　guard　work；　maintained　radar　and　radiotelescopic　scans　in　lonesome　places；　did　dull　duty　at　the　Port。　And　yet　they　always　had　a　waitinglist。　However　pragmatic　the　morality　a　young　Anarresti　absorbed；　yet　life　overflowed　in　him；　demanding　altruism；　selfsacrifice；　scope　for　the　absolute　gesture。　　Loneliness；　watchfulness；　danger；　spaceships：　they　offered　the　lure　of　romance。　It　was　pure　romance　that　kept　Shevek　flattening　his　nose　against　the　window　until　the　vacant　Port　had　dropped　away　behind　the　dirigible；　and　that　left　him　disappointed　because　he　had　not　seen　a　grubby　ore　freighter　on　the　pad。

He　yawned　again；　and　stretched；　and　then　looked　out　ahead；　to　see　what　was　to　be　seen。　The　dirigible　was　clearing　the　last　low　ridge　of　the　Ne　Theras。　Before　it　stretching　out　southward　from　the　mountains'　arms；　brilliant　in　the　afternoon　sunlight；　lay　a　great　sloping　bay　of　green。

He　looked　at　it　with　wonder；　as　his　ancestors；　six　thousand　years　ago；　had　looked　at　it。

In　the　third　Millennium　on　Urras　the　astronomerpriests　of　Serdonou　and　Dhun　had　watched　the　seasons　change　the　tawny　brightness　of　the　Otherworid；　and　had　given　mystical　names　to　the　plains　and　ranges　and　sunreflecting　seas。　One　region　that　grew　green　before　all　others　in　the　lunar　new　year　they　called　ADS　Hos；　the　Garden　of　Mind：　the　Eden　of　Anarres。

In　later　millennia　telescopes　had　proved　them　to　be　quite　correct。　Acs　Hos　was　indeed　the　most　favored　spot　on　Anarres；　and　the　first　manned　ship　to　the　Moon　had　e　down　there　in　the　green　place　between　the　mountains　and　the　sea。

But　the　Eden　of　Anarres　proved　to　be　dry；　cold；　and　windy；　and　the　rest　of　the　pla　was　worse。　Life　there　had　not　evolved　higher　than　fish　and　flowerless　plants。　The　air　was　thin；　like　the　air　of　Urras　at　a　very　high　altitude。　The　sun　burned；　the　wind　froze；　the　dust　choked。

For　two　hundred　years　after　the　first　landing　Anarres　was　explored；　mapped；　investigated；　but　not　colonized。　Why　move　to　a　howling　desert　when　there　was　plenty　of　room　in　the　gracious　valleys　of　Urras？

But　it　was　mined。　The　selfplundering　eras　of　the　Ninth　and　early　Tenth　Millennia　had　left　the　lodes　of　Urras　empty；　and　as　rocketry　was　perfected；　it　became　cheaper　to　mine　the　Moon　than　to　extract　needed　metals　from　lowgrade　ores　or　sea　water。　In　the　Urrasti　year　DC738　a　settlement　was　founded　at　the　foot　of　the　Ne　Thera　Mountains；　where　mercury　was　mined；　in　the　old　Ans　Hos。　They　called　the　place　Anarres　Town。　It　was　not　a　town；　there　were　no　women。　Men　signed　on　for　two　or　three　years'　duty　as　miners　or　technicians；　then　went　home　to　the　real　world。

The　Moon　and　its　mines　were　under　the　jurisdiction　of　the　Council　of　World　Governments；　but　around　in　the　Moon's　eastern　hemisphere　the　nation　of　Thu　had　a　little　secret：　a　rocket　base　and　a　settlement　of　goldminers；　with　their　wives　and　children。　They　really　lived　on　the　Moon；　but　nobody　knew　it　except　their　government。　It　was　the　collapse　of　that　government　in　the　year　771　that　led　to　the　proposal；　in　the　Council　of　World　Governments；　of　giving　the　Moon　to　the　International　Society　of　Odonians　—　buying　them　off　with　a　world；　before　they　fatally　undermined　the　authority　of　law　and　national　sovereignty　on　Urras。　Anarres　Town　was　evacuated；　and　from　the　midst　of　the　turmoil　in　Thu　a　couple　of　hasty　final　rockets　were　sent　to　pick　up　the　goldminers。　Not　all　of　them　chose　to　return。　Some　of　them　liked　the　howling　desert。

For　over　twenty　years　the　twelve　ships　granted　to　the　Odonian　Settlers　by　the　Council　of　World　Governments　went　back　and　forth　between　the　worlds；　until　the　million　souls　who　chose　the　new　life　had　all　been　brought　across　the　dry　abyss。　Then　the　port　was　closed　to　immigration　and　left　open　only　to　the　freight　ships　of　the　Trade　Agreement。　By　then　Anarres　Town　held　a　hundred　thousand　people；　and　had　been　renamed　Abbenay；　which　meant；　in　the　new　language　of　the　new　society。　Mind。

Decentralization　had　been　an　essential　element　in　Odo's　plans　for　the　society　she　did　not　live　to　see　founded。　She　had　no　intention　of　trying　to　deurbanize　civilization。　Though　she　suggested　that　the　natural　limit　to　the　size　of　a　munity　lay　in　its　dependence　on　its　own　immediate　region　for　essential　food　and　power；　she　intended　that　all　munities　be　connected　by　munication　and　transportation　works；　so　that　goods　and　ideas　could　get　where　they　were　wanted；　and　the　administration　of　things　might　work　with　speed　and　ease；　and　no　munity　should　be　cut　off　from　change　and　interchange。　But　the　work　was　not　to　be　run　from　the　top　down。　There　was　to　be　no　controlling　center；　no　capital；　no　establishment　for　the　selfperpetuating　machinery　of　bureaucracy　and　the　dominance　drive　of　individuals　seeking　to　bee　captains；　bosses；　chiefs　of　state。

Her　plans；　however；　had　been　based　on　the　generous　ground　of　Urras。　On　arid　Anarres；　the　munities　had　to　scatter　widely　in　search　of　resources；　and　few　of　them　could　be　selfsupporting；　no　matter　how　they　cut　back　their　notions　of　what　is　needed　for　support。　They　cut　back　very　hard　indeed；　but　to　a　minimum　beneath　which　they　would　not　go；　they　would　not　regress　to　preurban；　pretechnologlcal　tribalism。　They　knew　that　their　anarchism　was　the　product　of　a　very　high　civilization；　of　a　plex　diversified　culture；　of　a　stable　economy　and　a　highly　industrialized　technology　that　could　maintain　high　production　and　rapid　transportation　of　goods。　However　vast　the　distances　separating　settlements；　they　held　to　the　ideal　of　plex　anisism。　They　built　the　roads　first；　the　houses　second。　The　special　resources　and　products　of　each　region　were　interchanged　continually　with　those　of　others；　in　an　intricate　process　of　balance：　that　balance　of　diversity　which　is　the　characteristic　of　life；　of　natural　and　social　ecology。　

But；　as　they　said　in　the　analogic　mode；　you　can't　have　a　nervous　system　without　at　least　a　ganglion；　and　preferably　a　brain。　There　had　to　be　a　center。　The　puters　that　coordinated　the　administration　of　things；　the　division　of　labor；　and　the　distribution　of　goods；　and　the　central　federatives　of　most　of　the　work　syndicates；　were　in　Abbenay；　right　from　the　start。　And　from　the　start　the　Settlers　were　aware　that　that　unavoidable　centralization　was　a　lasting　threat；　to　be　countered　by　lasting　vigilance。

O　child　Anarchia；　infinite　promise
infinite　carefulness
I　listen；　listen　in　the　night
by　the　cradle　deep　as　the　night
is　it　well　with　the　child

Pio　Atean；　who　took　the　Pravic　name　Tober；　wrote　that　in　the　fourteenth　year　of　the　Settlement。　The　Odonians'　first　efforts　to　make　their　new　language；　their　new　world；　into　poetry；　were　stiff；　ungainly；　moving。

Abbenay；　the　mind　and　center　of　Anarres；　was　there；　now；　ahead　of　the　dirigible；　on　the　great　green　plain。

That　brilliant；　deep　green　of　the　fields　was　unmistakable：　a　color　not　native　to　Anarres。　Only　here　and　on　the　warm　shores　of　the　Keran　Sea　did　the　Old　World　grains　flourish。　Elsewhere　the　staple　grain　crops　were　groundholum　and　pale　menegrass。

When　Shevek　was　nine　his　afternoon　schoolwork　for　several　months　had　been　caring　for　the　ornamental　plants　in　Wide　Plains　munity　—　delicate　exotics；　that　had　to　be　fed　and　sunned　like　babies。　He　had　assisted　an　old　man　in　the　peaceful　and　exacting　task；　had　liked　him　and　liked　the　plants；　and　the　dirt；　and　the　work。　When　he　saw　the　color　of　the　Plain　of　Abbenay　he　remembered　the　old　man；　and　the　smell　of　fishoil　manure；　and　the　color　of　the　first　leafbuds　on　small　bare　branches；　that　clear　vigorous　green。

He　saw　in　the　distance　among　the　vivid　fields　a　long　Smudge　of　white；　which　broke　into　cubes；　like　spilt　salt；　as　the　dirigible　came　over。

A　cluster　of　dazzling　flashes　at　the　east　edge　of　the　city　made　him　wink　and　see　dark　spots　for　a　moment：　the　big　parabolic　mirrors　that　provided　solar　heat　for　Abbenay's　refineries。

The　dirigible　came　down　at　a　cargo　depot　at　the　south　end　of　town；　and　Shevek　set　off　into　the　streets　of　the　biggest　city　in　the　world。

They　were　wide；　clean　streets。　They　were　shadowless；　for　Abbenay　lay　less　than　thirty　degrees　north　of　the　equator；　and　all　the　buildings　were