Page 391 - BRAVE NEW WORLD By Aldous Huxley (1894-1963)

Brave New World By Aldous Huxley

now, he bitterly reproached himself for his

weakness. Loathesome civilized stuff! He had made

up his mind that he would never eat it, even if he

were starving. "That'll teach them," he thought

vindictively. It would also teach him.

He counted his money. The little that

remained would be enough, he hoped, to tide him

over the winter. By next spring, his garden would be

producing enough to make him independent of the

outside world. Meanwhile, there would always be

game. He had seen plenty of rabbits, and there were

waterfowl on the ponds. He set to work at once to

make a bow and arrows.

There were ash trees near the lighthouse

and, for arrow shafts, a whole copse full of

beautifully straight hazel saplings. He began by

felling a young ash, cut out six feet of unbranched

stem, stripped off the bark and, paring by paring,

shaved away the white wood, as old Mitsima had

taught him, until he had a stave of his own height,

stiff at the thickenedcentre, lively and quick at the

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