Chapter 8

For a long while, they sat silently as the taxi whined¹ through the hundredsof miles of worm-like tunnels toward the University. And then Gaal stirred.
He said:
"Was what you told  the Commissioner² true? Would your execution have reallyhastened the Fall?"Seldon said, "I never  lie about psychohistoric findings. Nor would it haveavailed me in  this case. Chen knew I spoke³ the truth.  He is a very cleverpolitician and  politicians by the very  nature of their work  must have aninstinctive feeling for the truths of psychohistory.""Then  need you  have accepted  exile," Gaal  wondered, but Seldon  did notanswer.
When they burst out upon the University grounds, Gaal's muscles took actionof their own; or rather, inaction. He had to be carried, almost, out of thetaxi.
All the  University was a blaze of light. Gaal  had almost forgotten that asun could exist.
The  University  structures  lacked  the hard  steel-gray  of  the rest  ofTrantor. They were silvery, rather. The metallic⁴ luster⁵ was almost ivory incolor.
Seldon said, "Soldiers, it seems.""What?" Gaal  brought his eyes to  the prosaic⁶ ground and  found a sentinelahead of them.
They  stopped before  him, and  a soft-spoken  captain materialized  from anear-by doorway⁷.
He said, "Dr. Seldon?""Yes.""We have  been waiting for you. You and your men  will be under martial⁸ lawhenceforth. I  have been instructed to  inform you that six  months will beallowed you for preparations to leave for Terminus.""Six months!"  began Gaal,  but Seldon's fingers  were upon his  elbow withgentle pressure.
"These are my instructions," repeated the captain.
He  was gone,  and Gaal  turned to Seldon,  "Why, what  can be done  in sixmonths? This is but slower murder.""Quietly. Quietly. Let us reach my office."It  was  not  a  large  office,  but  it  was  quite  spy-proof  and  quiteundetectably so.  Spy-beams trained  upon it received  neither a suspicioussilence  nor  an even  more  suspicious  static. They  received, rather,  aconversation constructed at random⁹ out of a vast stock of innocuous phrasesin various tones and voices.
"Now,"   said  Seldon,  at   his  ease,   "six  months  will   be  enough.""I don't see how.""Because, my boy, in a plan such as ours, the actions of others are bent¹⁰ toour needs. Have I  not said to you already that Chen's temperamental makeuphas been subjected to greater scrutiny¹¹ than that of any other single man inhistory.  The   trial  was  not  allowed  to   begin  until  the  time  andcircumstances   were  fight   for   the  ending   of  our   own  choosing.""But could you have arranged?
"杢o be exiled to  Terminus? Why not?" He put his fingers on a certain spoton his desk and a small section of the wall behind him slid aside. Only hisown  fingers could have  done so,  since only his  particular print-patterncould have activated¹² the scanner beneath.
"You  will find  several  microfilms inside,"  said Seldon.  "Take  the onemarked with the letter, T."Gaal  did so  and waited  while Seldon  fixed¹³ it  within the  projector¹⁴ andhanded the  young man a pair of eyepieces.  Gaal adjusted them, and watchedthe film unroll before his eyes.
He said, "But then?
Seldon said, "What surprises you?""Have you been preparing to leave for two years?""Two  and a  half. Of  course, we  could not  be certain  that it  would beTerminus he  would choose, but we hoped it might be  and we acted upon thatassumption?
"But why, Dr. Seldon? If you arranged the exile, why? Could not events befar better controlled here on Trantor?""Why, there are some reasons. Working on Terminus, we will have Imperialsupport without ever rousing fears that we would endanger Imperial safety."Gaal said, "But you aroused those fears only to force exile. I still do notunderstand.""Twenty thousand families would not travel to the end of the Galaxy¹⁵ oftheir own will perhaps.""But why should they be forced there?" Gaal paused, "May I not know?"Seldon said, "Not yet. It is enough for the moment that you know that ascientific refuge will be established on Terminus. And another will beestablished at the other end of the Galaxy, let us say," and he smiled, "atStar's End. And as for the rest, I will die soon, and you will see morethan I. 朜o, no. Spare me your shock and good wishes. My doctors tell methat I cannot live longer than a year or two. But then, I have accomplishedin life what I have intended and under what circumstances may one betterdie.""And after you die, sir?""Why, there will be successors ?perhaps even yourself. And thesesuccessors will be able to apply the final touch in the scheme andinstigate the revolt on Anacreon at the right time and in the right manner.
Thereafter, events may roll unheeded.""I do not understand.""You will." Seldon's lined face grew peaceful and tired, both at once,"Most will leave for Terminus, but some will stay. It will be easy toarrange. 朆ut as for me," and he concluded in a whisper, so that Gaal couldscarcely hear him, "I am finished."

1 whined   

v.哀号( whine的过去式和过去分词 )；哀诉，诉怨

参考例句：

• The dog whined at the door, asking to be let out. 狗在门前嚎叫着要出去。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• He whined and pouted when he did not get what he wanted. 他要是没得到想要的东西就会发牢骚、撅嘴。 来自辞典例句

2 commissioner   

n.（政府厅、局、处等部门）专员，长官，委员

参考例句：

• The commissioner has issued a warrant for her arrest.专员发出了对她的逮捕令。
• He was tapped for police commissioner.他被任命为警务处长。

3 spoke   

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

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

4 metallic   

adj.金属的；金属制的；含金属的；产金属的；像金属的

参考例句：

• A sharp metallic note coming from the outside frightened me.外面传来尖锐铿锵的声音吓了我一跳。
• He picked up a metallic ring last night.昨夜他捡了一个金属戒指。

5 luster   

n.光辉；光泽，光亮；荣誉

参考例句：

• His great books have added luster to the university where he teaches.他的巨著给他任教的大学增了光。
• Mercerization enhances dyeability and luster of cotton materials.丝光处理扩大棉纤维的染色能力，增加纤维的光泽。

6 prosaic   

adj.单调的，无趣的

参考例句：

• The truth is more prosaic.真相更加乏味。
• It was a prosaic description of the scene.这是对场景没有想象力的一个描述。

7 doorway   

n.门口，(喻)入门；门路，途径

参考例句：

• They huddled in the shop doorway to shelter from the rain.他们挤在商店门口躲雨。
• Mary suddenly appeared in the doorway.玛丽突然出现在门口。

8 martial   

adj.战争的，军事的，尚武的，威武的

参考例句：

• The sound of martial music is always inspiring.军乐声总是鼓舞人心的。
• The officer was convicted of desertion at a court martial.这名军官在军事法庭上被判犯了擅离职守罪。

9 random   

adj.随机的；任意的；n.偶然的(或随便的)行动

参考例句：

• The list is arranged in a random order.名单排列不分先后。
• On random inspection the meat was found to be bad.经抽查，发现肉变质了。

10 bent   

n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的

参考例句：

• He was fully bent upon the project.他一心扑在这项计划上。
• We bent over backward to help them.我们尽了最大努力帮助他们。

11 scrutiny   

n.详细检查，仔细观察

参考例句：

• His work looks all right,but it will not bear scrutiny.他的工作似乎很好，但是经不起仔细检查。
• Few wives in their forties can weather such a scrutiny.很少年过四十的妻子经得起这么仔细的观察。

12 activated   

adj. 激活的 动词activate的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• The canister is filled with activated charcoal.蒸气回收罐中充满了活性炭。

13 fixed   

adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的

参考例句：

• Have you two fixed on a date for the wedding yet?你们俩选定婚期了吗？
• Once the aim is fixed,we should not change it arbitrarily.目标一旦确定，我们就不应该随意改变。

14 projector   

n.投影机，放映机，幻灯机

参考例句：

• There is a new projector in my office.我的办公室里有一架新的幻灯机。
• How long will it take to set up the projector?把这个放映机安放好需要多长时间？

15 galaxy   

n.星系；银河系；一群(杰出或著名的人物)

参考例句：

• The earth is one of the planets in the Galaxy.地球是银河系中的星球之一。
• The company has a galaxy of talent.该公司拥有一批优秀的人才。