... Undoubtedly1 the most interesting aspect of the history of the FourKingdoms involves the strange society forced temporarily upon it during theadministration of Salvor Hardin....
ENCYCLOPEDIA2 GALACTICAA deputation!
That Salvor Hardin had seen it coming made it none the more pleasant. Onthe contrary, he found anticipation3 distinctly annoying.
Yohan Lee advocated extreme measures. "I don't see, Hardin," he said, "thatwe need waste any time. They can't do anything till next election ?
legally, anyway ? and that gives us a year. Give them the brush-off."Hardin pursed his lips. "Lee, you'll never learn. In the forty years I'veknown you, you've never once learned the gentle art of sneaking4 up frombehind.""It's not my way of fighting," grumbled5 Lee.
"Yes, I know that. I suppose that's why you're the one man I trust." Hepaused and reached for a cigar. "We've come a long way, Lee, since weengineered our coup6 against the Encyclopedists way back. I'm getting old.
Sixty-two. Do you ever think how fast those thirty years went?"Lee snorted. "I don't feel old, and I'm sixty-six.""Yes, but I haven't your digestion7." Hardin sucked lazily at his cigar. Hehad long since stopped wishing for the mild Vegan tobacco of his youth.
Those days when the planet, Terminus, had trafficked with every part of theGalactic Empire belonged in the limbo8 to which all Good Old Days go. Towardthe same limbo where the Galactic Empire was heading. He wondered who thenew emperor was ?or if there was a new emperor at all ? or any Empire.
Space! For thirty years now, since the breakup of communications here atthe edge of the Galaxy9, the whole universe of Terminus had consisted ofitself and the four surrounding kingdoms.
How the mighty10 had fallen! Kingdoms! They were prefects in the old days,all part of the same province, which in turn had been part of a sector,which in turn had been part of a quadrant, which in turn had been part ofthe allembracing Galactic Empire. And now that the Empire had lost controlover the farther reaches of the Galaxy, these little splinter groups ofplanets became kingdoms ? with comic-opera kings and nobles, and petty,meaningless wars, and a life that went on pathetically among the ruins.
A civilization falling. Nuclear power forgotten. Science fading tomythology ? until the Foundation had stepped in. The Foundation that HariSeldon had established for just that purpose here on Terminus.
Lee was at the window and his voice broke in on Hardin's reverie. "They'vecome," he said, "in a late-model ground car, the young pups." He took a fewuncertain steps toward the door and then looked at Hardin.
Hardin smiled, and waved him back. "I've given orders to have them broughtup here.""Here! What for? You're making them too important.""Why go through all the ceremonies of an official mayor's audience? I'mgetting too old for red tape. Besides which, flattery is useful whendealing with youngsters ? particularly when it doesn't commit you toanything." He winked11. "Sit down, Lee, and give me your moral backing. I'llneed it with this young Sermak.""That fellow, Sermak," said Lee, heavily, "is dangerous. He's got afollowing, Hardin, so don't underestimate him.""Have I ever underestimated anybody?""Well, then, arrest him. You can accuse him of something or otherafterward."Hardin ignored that last bit of advice. "There they are, Lee." In responseto the signal, he stepped on the pedal beneath his desk, and the door slidaside.
They filed in, the four that composed the deputation, and Hardin waved themgently to the armchairs that faced his desk in a semicircle. They bowed andwaited for the mayor to speak first.
Hardin flicked open the curiously12 carved silver lid of the cigar box thathad once belonged to Jord Fara of the old Board of Trustees in thelong-dead days of the Encyclopedists. It was a genuine Empire product fromSantanni, though the cigars it now contained were home-grown. One by one,with grave solemnity, the four of the deputation accepted cigars and lit upin ritualistic fashion.
Sef Sermak was second from the right, the youngest of the young group ?andthe most interesting with his bristly yellow mustache trimmed precisely,and his sunken eyes of uncertain color. The other three Hardin dismissedalmost immediately; they were rank and file on the face of them. It was onSermak that he concentrated, the Sermak who had already, in his first termin the City Council, turned that sedate13 body topsy-turvy more than once,and it was to Sermak that he said:
"I've been particularly anxious to see you, Councilman, ever since yourvery excellent speech last month. Your attack on the foreign policy of thisgovernment was a most capable one."Sermak's eyes smoldered14. "Your interest honors me. The attack may or maynot have been capable, but it was certainly justified15.""Perhaps! Your opinions are yours, of course. Still you are rather young."Dryly. "It is a fault that most people are guilty of at some period oftheir life. You became mayor of the city when you were two years youngerthan I am now."Hardin smiled to himself. The yearling was a cool customer. He said, "Itake it now that you have come to see me concerning this same foreignpolicy that annoys you so greatly in the Council Chamber16. Are you speakingfor your three colleagues, or must I listen to each of you separately?"There were quick mutual glances among the four young men, a slightflickering of eyelids17.
Sermak said grimly, "I speak for the people of Terminus ?a people who arenot now truly represented in the rubberstamp body they call the Council.""I see. Go ahead, then!""It comes to this, Mr. Mayor. We are dissatisfied?
"By 'we' you mean 'the people,' don't you?"Sermak stared hostilely, sensing a trap, and replied coldly, "I believethat my views reflect those of the majority of the voters of Terminus. Doesthat suit you?""Well, a statement like that is all the better for proof, but go on,anyway. You are dissatisfied.""Yes, dissatisfied with the policy which for thirty years had beenstripping Terminus defenseless against the inevitable18 attack from outside.""I see. And therefore? Go on, go on.""It's nice of you to anticipate. And therefore we are forming a newpolitical party; one that will stand for the immediate needs of Terminusand not for a mystic 'manifest destiny' of future Empire. We are going tothrow you and your lick-spittle clique19 of appeasers out of City Hall-andthat soon.""Unless? There's always an 'unless,' you know.""Not much of one in this case: Unless you resign now. I'm not asking you tochange your policies ? I wouldn't trust you that far. Your promises areworth nothing. An outright resignation is all we'll take.""I see." Hardin crossed his legs and teetered his chair back on two legs.
"That's your ultimatum20. Nice of you to give me warning. But, you see, Irather think I'll ignore it.""Don't think it was a warning, Mr. Mayor. It was an announcement ofprinciples and of action. The new party has already been formed, and itwill begin its official activities tomorrow. There is neither room nordesire for compromise, and, frankly, it was only our recognition of yourservices to the City that induced us to offer the easy way out. I didn'tthink you'd take it, but my conscience is clear.
The next election will be a more forcible and quite irresistible21 reminderthat resignation is necessary."He rose and motioned the rest up.
Hardin lifted his arm. "Hold on! Sit down!"Sef Sermak seated himself once more with just a shade too much alacrity22 andHardin smiled behind a straight face. In spite of his words, he was waitingfor an offer.
Hardin said, "In exactly what way do you want our foreign policy changed?
Do you want us to attack the Four Kingdoms, now, at once, and all foursimultaneously?""I make no such suggestion, Mr. Mayor. It is our simple proposition thatall appeasement23 cease immediately. Throughout your administration, you havecarried out a policy of scientific aid to the Kingdoms. You have given themnuclear power. You have helped rebuild power plants on their territories.
You have established medical clinics, chemical laboratories and factories.""Well? And your objection?""You have done this in order to keep them from attacking us. With these asbribes, you have been playing the fool in a colossal24 game of blackmail25, inwhich you have allowed Terminus to be sucked dry ?with the result that nowwe are at the mercy of these barbarians26.""In what way?""Because you have given them power, given them weapons, actually servicedthe ships of their navies, they are infinitely27 stronger than they werethree decades ago. Their demands are increasing, and with their newweapons, they will eventually satisfy all their demands at once by violentannexation of Terminus. Isn't that the way blackmail usually ends?""And your remedy?""Stop the bribes immediately and while you can. Spend your effort instrengthening Terminus itself ?and attack first!"Hardin watched the young fellow's little blond mustache with an almostmorbid interest. Sermak felt sure of himself or he wouldn't talk so much.
There was no doubt that his remarks were the reflection of a pretty hugesegment of the population, pretty huge.
His voice did not betray the slightly perturbed28 current of his thoughts. Ifwas almost negligent29. "Are you finished?""For the moment.""Well, then, do you notice the framed statement I have on the wall behindme? Read it, if you will!"Sermak's lips twitched30. "It says: 'Violence is the last refuge of theincompetent.' That's an old man's doctrine31, Mr. Mayor.""I applied it as a young man, Mr. Councilman ?and successfully. You werebusily being born when it happened, but perhaps you may have read somethingof it in school."He eyed Sermak closely and continued in measured tones, "When Hari Seldonestablished the Foundation here, it was for the ostensible purpose ofproducing a great Encyclopedia, and for fifty years we followed thatwill-of-the-wisp, before discovering what he was really after. By thattime, it was almost too late. When communications with the central regionsof the old Empire broke down, we found ourselves a world of scientistsconcentrated in a single city, possessing no industries, and surrounded bynewly created kingdoms, hostile and largely barbarous. We were a tinyisland of nuclear power in this ocean of barbarism, and an infinitelyvaluable prize.
"Anacreon, then as now, the most powerful of the Four Kingdoms, demandedand later actually established a military base upon Terminus, and the thenrulers of the City, the Encyclopedists, knew very well that this was only apreliminary to taking over the entire planet. That is how matters stoodwhen I ... uh ... assumed actual government. What would you have done?"Sermak shrugged his shoulders. "That's an academic question. Of course, Iknow what you did.""I'll repeat it, anyway. Perhaps you don't get the point. The temptationwas great to muster32 what force we could and put up a fight. It's theeasiest way out, and the most satisfactory to self-respect ?but, nearlyinvariably, the stupidest. You would have done it; you and your talk of'attack first.' What I did, instead, was to visit the three other kingdoms,one by one; point out to each that to allow the secret of nuclear power tofall into the hands of Anacreon was the quickest way of cutting their ownthroats; and suggest gently that they do the obvious thing. That was all.
One month after the Anacreonian force had landed on Terminus, their kingreceived a joint33 ultimatum from his three neighbors. In seven days, thelast Anacreonian was off Terminus.
Now tell me, where was the need for violence?"The young councilman regarded his cigar stub thoughtfully and tossed itinto the incinerator chute. "I fail to see the analogy. Insulin will bringa diabetic to normal without the faintest need of a knife, but appendicitisneeds an operation. You can't help that. When other courses have failed,what is left but, as you put it, the last refuge? It's your fault thatwe're driven to it.""I? Oh, yes, again my policy of appeasement. You still seem to lack graspof the fundamental necessities of our position. Our problem wasn't overwith the departure of the Anacreonians. They had just begun. The FourKingdoms were more our enemies than ever, for each wanted nuclear power-andeach was kept off our throats only for fear of the other three. We arebalanced on the point of a very sharp sword, and the slightest sway in anydirection ? If, for instance, one kingdom becomes too strong; or if twoform a coalition34 ?You understand?""Certainly. That was the time to begin all-out preparations for war.""On the contrary. That was the time to begin all-out prevention of war. Iplayed them one against the other. I helped each in turn. I offered themscience, trade, education, scientific medicine. I made Terminus of morevalue to them as a flourishing world than as a military prize. It workedfor thirty years.""Yes, but you were forced to surround these scientific gifts with the mostoutrageous mummery. You've made half religion, half balderdash out of it.
You've erected35 a hierarchy36 of priests and complicated, meaningless ritual."Hardin frowned. "What of that? I don't see that it has anything to do withthe argument at all. I started that way at first because the barbarianslooked upon our science as a sort of magical sorcery, and it was easiest toget them to accept it on that basis. The priesthood built itself and if wehelp it along we are only following the line of least resistance. It is aminor matter.""But these priests are in charge of the power plants. That is not a minormatter.""True, but we have trained them. Their knowledge of their tools is purelyempirical; and they have a firm belief in the mummery that surrounds them.""And if one pierces through the mummery, and has the genius to brush asideempiricism, what is to prevent him from learning actual techniques, andselling out to the most satisfactory bidder37? What price our value to thekingdoms, then?""Little chance of that, Sermak. You are being superficial. The best men onthe planets of the kingdoms are sent here to the Foundation each year andeducated into the priesthood. And the best of these remain here as researchstudents. If you think that those who are left, with practically noknowledge of the elements of science, or worse, still, with the distortedknowledge the priests receive, can penetrate38 at a bound to nuclear power,to electronics, to the theory of the hyperwarp ? you have a very romanticand very foolish idea of science. It takes lifetimes of training and anexcellent brain to get that far."Yohan Lee had risen abruptly39 during the foregoing speech and left the room.
He had returned now and when Hardin finished speaking, he bent40 to hissuperior's ear. A whisper was exchanged and then a leaden cylinder41. Then,with one short hostile look at the deputation, Lee resumed his chair.
Hardin turned the cylinder end for end in his hands, watching thedeputation through his lashes42. And then he opened it with a hard, suddentwist and only Sermak had the sense not to throw a rapid look at the rolledpaper that fell out.
"In short, gentlemen," he said, "the Government is of the opinion that itknows what it is doing."He read as he spoke43. There were the lines of intricate, meaningless codethat covered the page and the three penciled words scrawled in one comerthat carried the message. He took it in at a glance and tossed it casuallyinto the incinerator shaft44.
"That," Hardin then said, "ends the interview, I'm afraid. Glad to have metyou all. Thank you for coming." He shook hands with each in perfunctoryfashion, and they filed out.
Hardin had almost gotten out of the habit of laughing, but after Sermak andhis three silent partners were well out of earshot, he indulged in a drychuckle and bent an amused look on Lee.
"How did you like that battle of bluffs45, Lee?"Lee snorted grumpily. "I'm not sure that he was bluffing46. Treat him withkid gloves and he's quite liable to win the next election, just as hesays.""Oh, quite likely, quite likely ? if nothing happens first.""Make sure they don't happen in the wrong direction this time, Hardin. Itell you this Sermak has a following. What if he doesn't wait till the nextelection? There was a time when you and I put things through violently, inspite of your slogan about what violence is."Hardin cocked an eyebrow47. "You are pessimistic today, Lee. And singularlycontrary, too, or you wouldn't speak of violence. Our own little putsch wascarried through without loss of life, you remember. It was a necessarymeasure put through at the proper moment, and went over smoothly,painlessly, and all but effortlessly. As for Sermak, he's up against adifferent proposition. You and I, Lee, aren't the Encyclopedists. We standprepared. Order your men onto these youngsters in a nice way, old fellow.
Don't let them know they're being watched ?but eyes open, you understand."Lee laughed in sour amusement. "I'd be a fine one to wait for your orders,wouldn't I, Hardin? Sermak and his men have been under surveillance for amonth now."The mayor chuckled48. "Got in first, did you? All right. By the way," heobserved, and added softly, "Ambassador Verisof is returning to Terminus.
Temporarily, I hope."There was a short silence, faintly horrified49, and then Lee said, "Was thatthe message? Are things breaking already?""Don't know. I can't tell till I hear what Verisof has to say. They may be,though. After all, they have to before election. But what are you lookingso dead about?""Because I don't know how it's going to turn out. You're too deep, Hardin,and you're playing the game too close to your chest.""Even you?" murmured Hardin. And aloud, "Does that mean you're going tojoin Sermak's new party?"Lee smiled against his will. "All right. You win. How about lunch now?"
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1
undoubtedly
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| adv.确实地，无疑地 | |
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encyclopedia
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| n.百科全书 | |
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anticipation
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| n.预期，预料，期望 | |
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sneaking
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| a.秘密的，不公开的 | |
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grumbled
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| 抱怨( grumble的过去式和过去分词 )； 发牢骚； 咕哝； 发哼声 | |
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coup
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| n.政变；突然而成功的行动 | |
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digestion
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| n.消化，吸收 | |
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limbo
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| n.地狱的边缘；监狱 | |
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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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mighty
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| adj.强有力的；巨大的 | |
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winked
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| v.使眼色( wink的过去式和过去分词 )；递眼色（表示友好或高兴等）；（指光）闪烁；闪亮 | |
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curiously
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| adv.有求知欲地；好问地；奇特地 | |
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sedate
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| adj.沉着的，镇静的，安静的 | |
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smoldered
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| v.用文火焖烧，熏烧，慢燃( smolder的过去式 ) | |
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justified
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| a.正当的，有理的 | |
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chamber
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| n.房间，寝室；会议厅；议院；会所 | |
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eyelids
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| n.眼睑( eyelid的名词复数 )；眼睛也不眨一下；不露声色；面不改色 | |
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inevitable
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| adj.不可避免的，必然发生的 | |
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clique
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| n.朋党派系，小集团 | |
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ultimatum
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| n.最后通牒 | |
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irresistible
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| adj.非常诱人的，无法拒绝的，无法抗拒的 | |
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alacrity
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| n.敏捷，轻快，乐意 | |
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appeasement
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| n.平息，满足 | |
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colossal
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| adj.异常的，庞大的 | |
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blackmail
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| n.讹诈，敲诈，勒索，胁迫，恫吓 | |
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barbarians
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| n.野蛮人( barbarian的名词复数 )；外国人；粗野的人；无教养的人 | |
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infinitely
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| adv.无限地，无穷地 | |
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perturbed
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| adj.烦燥不安的v.使（某人）烦恼，不安( perturb的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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negligent
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| adj.疏忽的；玩忽的；粗心大意的 | |
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twitched
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| vt.& vi.（使）抽动，（使）颤动（twitch的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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doctrine
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| n.教义；主义；学说 | |
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muster
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| v.集合，收集，鼓起，激起；n.集合，检阅，集合人员，点名册 | |
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joint
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| adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合 | |
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coalition
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| n.结合体，同盟，结合，联合 | |
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ERECTED
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| adj. 直立的，竖立的，笔直的 vt. 使 ... 直立，建立 | |
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hierarchy
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| n.等级制度；统治集团，领导层 | |
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bidder
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| n.(拍卖时的)出价人，报价人，投标人 | |
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penetrate
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| v.透(渗)入；刺入，刺穿；洞察，了解 | |
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abruptly
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| adv.突然地，出其不意地 | |
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bent
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| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
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cylinder
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| n.圆筒，柱(面)，汽缸 | |
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42
lashes
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| n.鞭挞( lash的名词复数 )；鞭子；突然猛烈的一击；急速挥动v.鞭打( lash的第三人称单数 )；煽动；紧系；怒斥 | |
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43
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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44
shaft
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| n.(工具的)柄，杆状物 | |
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45
bluffs
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| 恐吓( bluff的名词复数 )； 悬崖； 峭壁 | |
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bluffing
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| n. 威吓，唬人 动词bluff的现在分词形式 | |
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47
eyebrow
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| n.眉毛，眉 | |
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48
chuckled
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| 轻声地笑( chuckle的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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49
horrified
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| a.(表现出)恐惧的 | |
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