О дивный новый мир

           TheD.H.C.forCentralLondon alwaysmadeapointofpersonallyconductinghisnewstudentsroundthevariousdepartments. 

           "Justtogiveyouageneralidea,"hewouldexplaintothem. Forofcoursesomesortofgeneralideatheymusthave, iftheyweretodotheirworkintelligently–thoughaslittleofone,iftheyweretobegoodandhappymembersofsociety,aspossible. Forparticulars,aseveryoneknows, makeforvirtueandhappiness;generalitiesareintellectuallynecessaryevils. Notphilosophersbutfret-sawyersandstampcollectorscomposethebackboneofsociety. 

           "To-morrow,"hewouldadd, smilingatthemwithaslightlymenacinggeniality, "you’llbesettlingdowntoseriouswork. Youwon’thavetimeforgeneralities. Meanwhile..." 

           Meanwhile,itwasaprivilege. Straightfromthehorse’smouthintothenotebook. Theboysscribbledlikemad. 

           Tallandratherthinbutupright,theDirectoradvancedintotheroom. Hehadalongchinandbigratherprominentteeth,justcovered,whenhewasnottalking,byhisfull,floridlycurvedlips. Old,young?Thirty?Fifty?Fifty-five? Itwashardtosay. Andanyhowthequestiondidn’tarise;inthisyearofstability,A.F.632, itdidn’toccurtoyoutoaskit. 

           "Ishallbeginatthebeginning,"saidtheD.H.C. andthemorezealousstudentsrecordedhisintentionintheirnotebooks: Beginatthebeginning."These,"hewavedhishand,"aretheincubators." Andopeninganinsulateddoorheshowedthemracksuponracksofnumberedtest-tubes. "Theweek’ssupplyofova.