But when he demonstrates his invention, they are frightened. They call him an "evil wretch" for daring to think that a lowly Street Sweeper can possess greater wisdom than that of the Council. He has broken all the laws, and must be severely punished. Equality 7-2521 acknowledges that they are right and does not care what happens to him. But the light, he pleads. What will you do with the light? They point out that he is alone in believing that he has invented a great new product — and that what is not believed by all cannot be true. They point out that if he is right, then his discovery will bring ruin to the Department of Candles and confusion to the Plans of the World Council. For it took 50 years to get approval for the candle from all the Councils, and to change the Plans again so soon would be impossible. Their conclusion is unanimous: the The light is an evil thing and must be destroyed.
Before they can seize it, he takes it in his arms, smashes the glass of the window with his fist and leaps through it. He runs through the streets of the city, escaping to the Uncharted Forest. He doesn't know where he is going — indeed there is no place to go — but he must get away. He believes that he will perish in the forest. He accepts that and is not afraid, only he wishes to be away from the city and from "air that touches upon the air of the city." He plunges deeper into the Uncharted Forest.
But he does not die. He awakens on the first day in the forest with a realization of freedom. There is no longer anyone to tell him what to do. The next day, he hears footsteps behind him. He hides in the bushes, but there is no need, for it is the Golden One. She had heard of his escape, because the whole city is speaking of it. On the night that she heard it, she bolted from the Home of the Peasants and followed his trail through the forest. She says she would rather be damned with him than blessed with all her brothers. He takes her in his arms, and that night he discovers that to make love to a woman is "the one ecstasy granted to the race of men." He is frightened only by the realization that he had lived for 21 years and never known what joy is possible to men.
