Chapter 3

And at the other end of town, in homelier surroundings, Hober Mallow kept asecond appointment. He had listened long, and now he said cautiously, "Yes,I've heard  of your campaigns to get  trader representation in the council.
But why me, Twer?"Jaim Twer, who would  remind you any time, asked or unasked, that he was inthe first group of Outlanders to receive a lay education at the Foundation,beamed.
"I  know what I'm  doing," he said.  "Remember when  I met you  first, lastyear.""At the Trader's Convention.""Right. You ran the meeting. You had those red-necked oxen planted in theirseats,  then put  them in your  shirtpocket and  walked off with  them. Andyou're all  right with the Foundation masses, too. You've  got glamor¹ ?or,at  any  rate,  solid   adventure-publicity,  which  is  the  same  thing.""Very good," said Mallow, dryly. "But why now?"'Because now's our chance.  Do you know that the Secretary of Education hashanded in  his resignation? It's not out in the open  yet, but it will be.""How do you know?""That ? never mind?  He waved a  disgusted hand. "It's  so. The Actionistparty is splitting wide  open, and we can murder it right now on a straightquestion  of equal  rights  for traders;  or, rather,  democracy,  pro- andanti-."Mallow lounged  back in his chair and stared  at his thick fingers, "Uh-uh.
Sorry, Twer. I'm leaving  next week on business. You'll have to get someoneelse."Twer stared, "Business? What kind of business?""Very super-secret. Triple-A priority.  All that, you know. Had a talk withthe mayor's own secretary.""Snake  Sutt?" Jaim  Twer grew  excited. "A  trick. The  son-of-a-spacer isgetting rid of you. Mallow?
"Hold on!" Mallow's hand  fell on the other's balled fist. "Don't go into ablaze². If  it's a  trick, I'll be  back some day  for the  reckoning. if itisn't,  your snake,  Sutt,  is playing  into our  hands. Listen,  there's aSeldon crisis coming up."Mallow waited for a reaction but it never came. Twer merely stared. "What'sa Seldon crisis?""Galaxy³!" Mallow exploded angrily  at the anticlimax⁴, "What the blue blazesdid  you do  when you went  to school? What  do you  mean anyway by  a foolquestion like that?"The elder man frowned, "If you'll explain?
There was  a long  pause, then, "I'll explain."  Mallow's eyebrows⁵ lowered,and he  spoke⁶ slowly. "When the Galactic Empire began  to die at the edges,and when  the ends  of the Galaxy  reverted⁷ to barbarism  and dropped away,Hari Seldon and his band of psychologists planted a colony, the Foundation,out here in the middle of the mess, so that we could incubate art, science,and   technology,   and   form  the   nucleus   of   the  Second   Empire.""Oh, yes, yes?
"I'm  not finished,"  said the  trader, coldly.  "The future course  of theFoundation  was plotted  according  to the  science of  psychohistory, thenhighly developed, and conditions  arranged so as to bring about a series ofcrises that  will force us most  rapidly along the route  to future Empire.
Each  crisis, each  Seldon  crisis, marks  an epoch  in our  history. We'reapproaching one now ?our third."Twer shrugged⁸.  "I suppose this was mentioned in  school, but I've been outof school a long time ?longer than you.""I suppose so. Forget  it. What matters is that I'm being sent out into themiddle of the development of this crisis. There's no telling what I'll havewhen  I   come  back,  and  there  is   a  council  election  every  year."Twer looked up, "Are you on the track of anything?""No.""You have definite plans?""Not the faintest inkling of one.""Well?
"Well,  nothing.   Hardin  once  said:  'To   succeed,  planning  alone  isinsufficient.   One    must   improvise⁹   as    well.'   I'll   improvise."Twer shook  his head  uncertainly, and they  stood, looking at  each other.
Mallow said, quite suddenly,  but quite matter-of-factly, "I tell you what,how about coming with me? Don't stare, man. You've been a trader before youdecided  them  was  more   excitement  in  politics.  Or  so  I've  heard.""Where are you going? Tell me that."Towards the  Whassallian Rift¹⁰. I can't  be more specific till  we're out inspace. What do you say?"Suppose Sutt decides he wants me where he can see"Not likely.  If he's  anxious to get  rid of me,  why not of  you as well?
Besides which, no trader  would hit space if he couldn't pick his own crew.
I take whom I please."There was  a queer glint in the older man's eyes,  "All right. I'll go." Heheld   out  his   hand,  "It'll   be  my   first  trip  in   three  years."Mallow grasped  and shook the other's hand, "Good!  All fired good! And nowI've got  to round up the  boys. You know where the Far  Star docks, don 'tyou? Then show up tomorrow. Good-by."

1 glamor   

n.魅力，吸引力

参考例句：

• His performance fully displayed the infinite glamor of Chinese dance.他的表演充分展示了中华舞蹈的无穷魅力。
• The glamor of the East was brought to international prominence by the Russion national school.俄罗斯民族学派使东方的魅力产生了国际性的影响。

2 ablaze   

adj.着火的，燃烧的；闪耀的，灯火辉煌的

参考例句：

• The main street was ablaze with lights in the evening.晚上，那条主要街道灯火辉煌。
• Forests are sometimes set ablaze by lightning.森林有时因雷击而起火。

3 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。

4 anticlimax   

n.令人扫兴的结局；突降法

参考例句：

• Travelling in Europe was something of an anticlimax after the years he'd spent in Africa.他在非洲生活了多年，到欧洲旅行真是有点太平淡了。
• It was an anticlimax when they abandoned the game.他们放弃比赛，真是扫兴。

5 eyebrows   

眉毛( eyebrow的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Eyebrows stop sweat from coming down into the eyes. 眉毛挡住汗水使其不能流进眼睛。
• His eyebrows project noticeably. 他的眉毛特别突出。

6 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。

7 reverted   

恢复( revert的过去式和过去分词 )； 重提； 回到…上； 归还

参考例句：

• After the settlers left, the area reverted to desert. 早期移民离开之后，这个地区又变成了一片沙漠。
• After his death the house reverted to its original owner. 他死后房子归还给了原先的主人。

8 shrugged   

vt.耸肩（shrug的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• Sam shrugged and said nothing. 萨姆耸耸肩膀，什么也没说。
• She shrugged, feigning nonchalance. 她耸耸肩，装出一副无所谓的样子。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 improvise   

v.即兴创作；临时准备，临时凑成

参考例句：

• If an actor forgets his words，he has to improvise.演员要是忘记台词，那就只好即兴现编。
• As we've not got the proper materials,we'll just have to improvise.我们没有弄到合适的材料，只好临时凑合了。

10 rift   

n.裂口，隙缝，切口；v.裂开，割开，渗入

参考例句：

• He was anxious to mend the rift between the two men.他急于弥合这两个人之间的裂痕。
• The sun appeared through a rift in the clouds.太阳从云层间隙中冒出来。