The native who had spoken the day before moved forward a little. "We're very sorry," he said gently. Kirk felt his heart sinking. "We realize that you have worked very hard in what you consider to be our interests. We hoped you would come up with something more acceptable than these mines. But we cannot put the plans for mining these gems3 of yours into operation. We are very sorry," he said again, "but the Council has voted against it."
"The Council!" Kirk stared at him. He fought to control his voice. "You know perfectly4 well that the power of my command is supreme5 over any local councils of whatever nature." He stiffened6. "But that isn't the point. I guess I haven't made things clear to you somehow. These gems—which you refer to as if they were a child's baubles—can make this insignificant7 planet a power in the galaxy8. They can make the name of Nemar respected throughout the whole Galactic union. You can trade them." He spoke2 each word slowly and carefully as if he were explaining to a child. "I'm not having expensive machinery9 constructed and sending you down hundreds of feet into the ground so that your women can wear these jewels. They're extremely pretty, but you probably feel the flowers the girls pluck and put in their hair do just as well for ornaments10, and perhaps you're right."
He paused, trying to hold on to his temper. "It will be dark and dusty and uncomfortable down in those mines, as I told you yesterday when you asked about it. It will be hard work, and I know you're not fond of hard work." He could not keep the sarcasm11 out of his voice. "But I assure you, it will be worth it. A really good specimen12 of one of these little gems (he underlined the word) can buy half the cargo13 of a spaceship. These jewels can make it worthwhile for the great trading ships to swarm14 through space out to this isolated15 fragment of the cosmos16. You can acquire the technologies of other planets with them. The evolution of this planet can be speeded up a dozen times. You can become of importance in the scheme of things, leave this backward, primitive17 way of life behind you."
As he paused for breath, one of the Nemarians spoke quietly. "We don't want to push ahead that fast." He looked at Kirk serenely18. "We are interested in improving conditions here, of course. We want to acquire things that will make our lives more pleasant and luxurious19. Some day we wish to become a highly developed society, technologically20. We wish growth and change—but only very slowly, very carefully. We want to be very, very sure we do not bring in pain when we bring in new pleasures. We need to study each new change to see what it might mean." He paused. "In this case, it took very little study. This mining project would mean the young men would be put to backbreaking labor21 in underground, unhealthy conditions. There might be circumstances which could justify22 such a thing. But not for jewels which are intrinsically worthless."
"Worthless! I just told you—"
"I mean they are not valuable in themselves. You can make cheap, synthetic23 jewels that are almost as beautiful, can't you?"
"Yes, of course, but—"
"So they are only valuable because they are rare, because you call them valuable, because they show the people who buy them have enough money to buy them. Wearing them is really a way of saying, I'm rich, to everyone who sees you." He shrugged24. "We don't care about that sort of thing here."
Kirk clenched25 his fists in frustration26. Maybe he should have specialized27 in alien psychology28. He made another try. "I know you don't. That's not the point. The point is that you can trade them for other things, for—"
The older native who had announced the Council decision broke in again. "As you said, the mining is very hard, disagreeable work. We feel that when you begin to do disagreeable things for an end that is not valuable in itself, you are beginning to tread a dangerous path. There is no telling where it will end. One such situation leads to another. We might end up cooped up in a room all day, shut away from the sun and air, turning bolts on an assembly line to make machines, as we have heard often happens on Terra." He looked slightly shocked at the picture. "Being surrounded by technical conveniences isn't worth that." He looked at Kirk patiently, as though this should be self-evident. "On Terra and on most of the other planets we have had word of, people seem to spend their time making all kinds of things that have no value in themselves, because they can be sold or traded. Other people spend their time trying to persuade people to buy these useless things. Still other people spend all day making records of how many of these things have been sold. No! This path is not for us." He shook his head. "We don't know how it came about that all these people spend their time at these unpleasant, useless things. They can't have wanted it that way. No human being could want to spend his time doing silly, pointless things. How could you believe in yourself? How could you walk proudly? How could you explain it to your children? We must be careful not to make the mistake of taking the first step in that direction."
Kirk felt hopelessly confused. The reasoning was all wrong, but how could he explain it to them?
He began slowly, from another angle....
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1
discomfort
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| n.不舒服，不安，难过，困难，不方便 | |
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2
spoke
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| n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说 | |
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3
gems
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| growth； economy； management； and customer satisfaction 增长 | |
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4
perfectly
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| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
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5
supreme
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| adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的 | |
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6
stiffened
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| 加强的 | |
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7
insignificant
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| adj.无关紧要的，可忽略的，无意义的 | |
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8
galaxy
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| n.星系；银河系；一群(杰出或著名的人物) | |
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9
machinery
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| n.(总称)机械，机器；机构 | |
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10
ornaments
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| n.装饰( ornament的名词复数 )；点缀；装饰品；首饰v.装饰，点缀，美化( ornament的第三人称单数 ) | |
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11
sarcasm
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| n.讥讽，讽刺，嘲弄，反话 （adj.sarcastic） | |
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12
specimen
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| n.样本，标本 | |
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13
cargo
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| n.(一只船或一架飞机运载的)货物 | |
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14
swarm
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| n.(昆虫)等一大群；vi.成群飞舞；蜂拥而入 | |
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15
isolated
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| adj.与世隔绝的 | |
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16
cosmos
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| n.宇宙；秩序，和谐 | |
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17
primitive
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| adj.原始的；简单的；n.原(始)人，原始事物 | |
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18
serenely
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| adv.安详地，宁静地，平静地 | |
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19
luxurious
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| adj.精美而昂贵的；豪华的 | |
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technologically
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| ad.技术上地 | |
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21
labor
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| n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦 | |
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22
justify
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| vt.证明…正当(或有理)，为…辩护 | |
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23
synthetic
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| adj.合成的，人工的；综合的；n.人工制品 | |
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24
shrugged
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| vt.耸肩（shrug的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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clenched
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| v.紧握，抓紧，咬紧( clench的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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frustration
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| n.挫折，失败，失效，落空 | |
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27
specialized
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| adj.专门的，专业化的 | |
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28
psychology
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| n.心理，心理学，心理状态 | |
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