Chapter 2

It was evening of  the same day, and in Jorane Sutt's bachelor apartment onthe twenty-first  floor of  the Hardin Building, Publis  Manlio was sippingwine slowly.
It was  Publis Manlio in whose slight, aging  body were fulfilled two greatoffices of the Foundation. He was Foreign Secretary in the mayor's cabinet,and to  all the outer suns, barring only the  Foundation itself, he was, inaddition, Primate¹  of the Church, Purveyor² of the  Holy Food, Master of theTemples,  and  so  forth  almost  indefinitely in  confusing  but  sonoroussyllables.
He was  saying, "But  he agreed to  let you send  out that trader.  It is apoint.""But such  a small  one," said Sutt.  "It gets us  nothing immediately. Thewhole business  is the crudest sort  of stratagem³, since we  have no way offoreseeing it  to the end.  It is a mere  paying out of rope  on the chancethat somewhere along the length of it will be a noose⁴.""True. And this Mallow  is a capable man. What if he is not an easy prey⁵ todupery?""That  is a  chance that  must be  run. If  there is  treachery, it  is thecapable men  that are implicated⁶. If  not, we need a  capable man to detectthe   truth.  And   Mallow  will   be  guarded.   Your  glass   is  empty.""No, thanks. I've had enough."Sutt filled his own glass and patiently endured the other's uneasy reverie.
Of whatever  the reverie consisted, it  ended indecisively, for the primatesaid   suddenly,  almost   explosively,  "Sutt,   what's  on   your  mind?""I'll tell  you, Manlio." His thin  lips parted, "We're in  the middle of aSeldon crisis."Manlio stared,  then said softly, "How do you  know? Has Seldon appeared inthe Time Vault⁷ again?""That much,  my friend,  is not necessary.  Look, reason it  out. Since theGalactic Empire  abandoned the Periphery⁸, and threw us  on our own, we havenever had an opponent who possessed⁹ nuclear power. Now, for the first time,we  have one. That  seems significant even  if it  stood by itself.  And itdoesn't. For  the first time in  over seventy years, we  are facing a majordomestic political  crisis. I  should think the synchronization  of the twocrises, inner and outer, puts it beyond all doubt."Manlio's eyes  narrowed, "If that's  all, it's not enough.  There have beentwo Seldon  crises so far, and  both times the Foundation  was in danger ofextermination.  Nothing can be  a third  crisis till that  danger returns."Sutt never  showed impatience¹⁰, "That danger is coming.  Any fool can tell acrisis when  it arrives. The real  service to the state  is to detect it inembryo. Look,  Manlio, we're  proceeding¹¹ along a  planned history. We  knowthat Hari Seldon worked  out the historical probabilities of the future. Weknow  that some day we're  to rebuild the Galactic Empire. We  know that itwill take a thousand years or thereabouts. And we know that in the intervalwe will face certain definite crises.
"Now  the first  crisis  came fifty  years after  the establishment  of theFoundation,  and   the  second,  thirty  years   later  than  that.  Almostseventy-five  years  have  gone  since.  It's  time,  Manlio,  it's  time."Manlio rubbed  his nose  uncertainly, "And you've  made your plans  to meetthis crisis?"Sutt nodded.
"And I," continued Manlio, "am to play a part in it?"Sutt nodded again, "Before  we can meet the foreign threat of atomic power,we've got to put our own house in order. These traders?
"Ah!" The primate stiffened¹², and his eyes grew sharp.
"That's right.  These traders. They are  useful, but they are  too strong ?
and too uncontrolled. They are Outlanders, educated apart from religion. Onthe  one hand,  we put  knowledge into  their hands,  and on the  other, weremove our strongest hold upon them.""If we can prove treachery?""If  we could,  direct  action would  be  simple and  sufficient. But  thatdoesn't signify  in the  least. Even if  treason among them  did not exist,they would form an uncertain element in our society. They wouldn't be boundto  us by  patriotism¹³ or common  descent, or  even by religious  awe¹⁴. Undertheir secular¹⁵ leadership, the  outer provinces, which, since Hardin's time,look to us as the Holy Planet, might break away.""I see all that, but the cure?
"The cure  must come  quickly, before the  Seldon Crisis becomes  acute. Ifnuclear weapons are without  and disaffection within, the odds¹⁶ might be toogreat."  Sutt put  down the  empty glass  he had  been fingering,  "This isobviously your job.""Mine?""I can't  do it. My office is appointive  and has no legislative¹⁷ standing¹⁸.""The mayor?
"Impossible. His personality is  entirely¹⁹ negative. He is energetic only inevading  responsibility.  But  if an  independent  party  arose that  mightendanger re-election, he might allow himself to be led.""But, Sutt, I lack the aptitude²⁰ for practical politics.""Leave  that to  me.  Who knows,  Manlio? Since  Salvor Hardin's  time, theprimacy and the mayoralty  have never been combined in a single person. Butit might happen now ?if your job were well done."

1 primate   

n.灵长类（目）动物，首席主教；adj.首要的

参考例句：

• 14 percent of primate species are highly endangered.14%的灵长类物种处于高度濒危状态。
• The woolly spider monkey is the largest primate in the Americas.绒毛蛛猴是美洲最大的灵长类动物。

2 purveyor   

n.承办商，伙食承办商

参考例句：

• Silence, purveyor of gossip, do not spread that report. 快别那样说，新闻记者阁下，别散布那个消息。 来自互联网
• Teaching purpose: To comprehensively understand the role function and consciousness composition of a news purveyor. 教学目的：全面深入的理解新闻传播者的角色功能和意识构成。 来自互联网

3 stratagem   

n.诡计，计谋

参考例句：

• Knit the brows and a stratagem comes to mind.眉头一皱，计上心来。
• Trade discounts may be used as a competitive stratagem to secure customer loyalty.商业折扣可以用作维护顾客忠诚度的一种竞争策略。

4 noose   

n.绳套，绞索（刑）；v.用套索捉；使落入圈套；处以绞刑

参考例句：

• They tied a noose round her neck.他们在她脖子上系了一个活扣。
• A hangman's noose had already been placed around his neck.一个绞刑的绳圈已经套在他的脖子上。

5 prey   

n.被掠食者，牺牲者，掠食；v.捕食，掠夺，折磨

参考例句：

• Stronger animals prey on weaker ones.弱肉强食。
• The lion was hunting for its prey.狮子在寻找猎物。

6 implicated   

adj.密切关联的；牵涉其中的

参考例句：

• These groups are very strongly implicated in the violence. 这些组织与这起暴力事件有着极大的关联。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Having the stolen goods in his possession implicated him in the robbery. 因藏有赃物使他涉有偷盗的嫌疑。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

7 vault   

n.拱形圆顶，地窖，地下室

参考例句：

• The vault of this cathedral is very high.这座天主教堂的拱顶非常高。
• The old patrician was buried in the family vault.这位老贵族埋在家族的墓地里。

8 periphery   

n.(圆体的)外面；周围

参考例句：

• Geographically, the UK is on the periphery of Europe.从地理位置上讲，英国处于欧洲边缘。
• The periphery of the retina is very sensitive to motion.视网膜的外围对运动非常敏感。

9 possessed   

adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的

参考例句：

• He flew out of the room like a man possessed.他像着了魔似地猛然冲出房门。
• He behaved like someone possessed.他行为举止像是魔怔了。

10 impatience   

n.不耐烦，急躁

参考例句：

• He expressed impatience at the slow rate of progress.进展缓慢，他显得不耐烦。
• He gave a stamp of impatience.他不耐烦地跺脚。

11 proceeding   

n.行动，进行，(pl.)会议录，学报

参考例句：

• This train is now proceeding from Paris to London.这次列车从巴黎开往伦敦。
• The work is proceeding briskly.工作很有生气地进展着。

12 stiffened   

加强的

参考例句：

• He leaned towards her and she stiffened at this invasion of her personal space. 他向她俯过身去，这种侵犯她个人空间的举动让她绷紧了身子。
• She stiffened with fear. 她吓呆了。

13 patriotism   

n.爱国精神，爱国心，爱国主义

参考例句：

• His new book is a demonstration of his patriotism.他写的新书是他的爱国精神的证明。
• They obtained money under the false pretenses of patriotism.他们以虚伪的爱国主义为借口获得金钱。

14 awe   

n.敬畏，惊惧；vt.使敬畏，使惊惧

参考例句：

• The sight filled us with awe.这景色使我们大为惊叹。
• The approaching tornado struck awe in our hearts.正在逼近的龙卷风使我们惊恐万分。

15 secular   

n.牧师，凡人；adj.世俗的，现世的，不朽的

参考例句：

• We live in an increasingly secular society.我们生活在一个日益非宗教的社会。
• Britain is a plural society in which the secular predominates.英国是个世俗主导的多元社会。

16 odds   

n.让步，机率，可能性，比率；胜败优劣之别

参考例句：

• The odds are 5 to 1 that she will win.她获胜的机会是五比一。
• Do you know the odds of winning the lottery once?你知道赢得一次彩票的几率多大吗？

17 legislative   

n.立法机构，立法权；adj.立法的，有立法权的

参考例句：

• Congress is the legislative branch of the U.S. government.国会是美国政府的立法部门。
• Today's hearing was just the first step in the legislative process.今天的听证会只是展开立法程序的第一步。

18 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

19 entirely   

ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
• His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。

20 aptitude   

n.(学习方面的)才能，资质，天资

参考例句：

• That student has an aptitude for mathematics.那个学生有数学方面的天赋。
• As a child,he showed an aptitude for the piano.在孩提时代，他显露出对于钢琴的天赋。