•
METROPOLIS ..... WeI" "Who are the squanderers?" ". .. The mastersl The masters of the machines I"
"What are you?" "... Slavesl"
- Nol-wha~, are your
... Dogsl "Nol-what are your ". , . Tell usl-tell us I" "You are foolsi Blockheadsl Blockheadsl Throughout your morning, your midday, your evening, your night, the ma-
chine howls for food, for food, for food-I You are the foodl You are the living foodl-The machine devours you like fodder and then spews you up again! Why do you batten the machines with your bodies?- Why do you oil the joints of the machines with your brains?-Why do you not let the machines starve, you fools?- Why do you not let them perish, hlockheads--? Why do you feed them-I The more you feed them the more they greed for your 8esh, for your bones, {or your brains. You are ten thousandl You are a hundred thousand!. Why do you not throw yourselves-a hundred thousand murdering fists-upon the machines and strike them dead-? You are the masters of the machinesyou! Not the others who walk in their white silk-I Turn the world ahout-I Stand the world on its head-I Murder the living and the dea,d-I Take the inheritance from living and
dead-I You have waited long enough-I The hour has come'" A voice shouted from among the multitude: "Lead us on, Maria-I"
A mighty wave-an the heads hroke forward. The hloodred mouth of the girl laughed and flamed. The eyes ahove it Hamed, huge and greenish black. She raised her arms with an......unspeakably difficult, burdenMraising, sweet, mad
gesture. The slim body grew and stretched itself up. The girl's hands touched above her hairMparting. Over her shoulders, her breasts, her hips, her knees, there fan an incessant, a barely perceptible tr~mbling. It was as though the girl
149
