Chapter 25

It was not quite the end of daylight when Dors Venabili sought out Jenarr Leggen. He answered her rather anxious greeting with a grunt¹ and a brief nod. "Well," she said a trifle impatiently. "How was he?"
Leggen, who was entering data into his computer, said, "How was who?"
"My library student Hari. Dr. Hari Seldon. He went up with you. Was he any help to you?"
Leggen removed his hands from the keys of his computer and swivelled about. "That Heliconian fellow? He was of no use at all. Showed no interest whatever. He kept looking at the scenery when there was no scenery to look at. A real oddball. Why did you want to send him up?"
"It wasnt my idea. He wanted to. I cant² understand it. He was very interested. Where is he now?"
Leggen shrugged³. "How would I know? Somewhere around."
"Where did he go after he came down with you? Did he say?"
"He didnt come down with us. I told you he wasnt interested."
"Then when did he come down?"
"I dont know. I wasnt watching him. I had an enormous amount of work to do. There must have been a windstorm and some sort of downpour about two days ago and neither was expected. Nothing our instruments showed offered a good explanation for it or for the fact that some sunshine we were expecting today didnt appear. Now Im trying to make sense of it and youre bothering me."
"You mean you didnt see him go down?"
"Look. He wasnt on my mind. The idiot wasnt correctly dressed and I could see that inside of half an hour he wasnt going to be able to take the cold. I gave him a sweater, but that wasnt going to help much for his legs and feet. So I left the elevator open for him and I told him how to use it and explained that it would take him down and then return automatically. It was all very simple and Im sure he did get cold and he did go down and the elevator did come back and then eventually we all went down."
"But you dont know exactly when he went down?"
"No, I dont. I told you. I was busy. He certainly wasnt up there when we left, though, and by that time twilight⁴ was coming on and it looked as though it might sleet⁵. So he had to have gone down."
"Did anyone else see him go down?"
"I dont know. Clowzia may have. She was with him for a while. Why dont you ask her?"
Dors found Clowzia in her quarters, just emerging from a hot shower.
"It was cold up there," she said.
Dors said, "Were you with Hari Seldon Upperside?"
Clowzia said, eyebrows⁶ lifting, "Yes, for a while. He wanted to wander about and ask questions about the vegetation up there. Hes a sharp fellow, Dors. Everything seemed to interest him, so I told him what I could till Leggen called me back. He was in one of his knock-your-head-off tempers. The weather wasnt working and he--"
Dors interrupted. "Then you didnt see Hari go down in the elevator?"
"I didnt see him at all after Leggen called me over.--But he has to be down here. He wasnt up there when we left."
"But I cant find him anywhere."
Clowzia looked perturbed⁷. "Really?--But hes got to be somewhere down here."
"No, he doesnt have to be somewhere down here," said Dors, her anxiety growing.
"What if hes still up there?"
"Thats impossible. He wasnt. Naturally, we looked about for him before we left. Leggen had shown him how to go down. He wasnt properly dressed and it was rotten weather. Leggen told him if he got cold not to wait for us. He was getting cold. I know! So what else could he do but go down?"
"But no one saw him go down.--Did anything go wrong with him up there?"
"Nothing. Not while I was with him. He was perfectly⁸ fine except that he had to be cold, of course."
Dors, by now quite unsettled, said, "Since no one saw him go down, he might still be up there. Shouldnt we go up and look?"
Clowzia said nervously⁹, "I told you we looked around before we went down. It was still quite light and he was nowhere in sight."
"Lets look anyway."
"But I cant take you up there. Im just an intern¹⁰ and I dont have the combination for the Upperside dome¹¹ opening. Youll have to ask Dr. Leggen."

1 grunt   

v.嘟哝；作呼噜声；n.呼噜声，嘟哝

参考例句：

• He lifted the heavy suitcase with a grunt.他咕噜着把沉重的提箱拎了起来。
• I ask him what he think,but he just grunt.我问他在想什麽，他只哼了一声。

2 cant   

n.斜穿，黑话，猛扔

参考例句：

• The ship took on a dangerous cant to port.船只出现向左舷危险倾斜。
• He knows thieves'cant.他懂盗贼的黑话。

3 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》

4 twilight   

n.暮光，黄昏；暮年，晚期，衰落时期

参考例句：

• Twilight merged into darkness.夕阳的光辉融于黑暗中。
• Twilight was sweet with the smell of lilac and freshly turned earth.薄暮充满紫丁香和新翻耕的泥土的香味。

5 sleet   

n.雨雪；v.下雨雪，下冰雹

参考例句：

• There was a great deal of sleet last night.昨夜雨夹雪下得真大。
• When winter comes,we get sleet and frost.冬天来到时我们这儿会有雨夹雪和霜冻。

6 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。

7 perturbed   

adj.烦燥不安的v.使（某人）烦恼，不安( perturb的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• I am deeply perturbed by the alarming way the situation developing. 我对形势令人忧虑的发展深感不安。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Mother was much perturbed by my illness. 母亲为我的病甚感烦恼不安。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

8 perfectly   

adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The witnesses were each perfectly certain of what they said.证人们个个对自己所说的话十分肯定。
• Everything that we're doing is all perfectly above board.我们做的每件事情都是光明正大的。

9 nervously   

adv.神情激动地，不安地

参考例句：

• He bit his lip nervously,trying not to cry.他紧张地咬着唇，努力忍着不哭出来。
• He paced nervously up and down on the platform.他在站台上情绪不安地走来走去。

10 intern   

v.拘禁，软禁；n.实习生

参考例句：

• I worked as an intern in that firm last summer.去年夏天我在那家商行实习。
• The intern bandaged the cut as the nurse looked on.这位实习生在护士的照看下给病人包扎伤口。

11 dome   

n.圆屋顶，拱顶

参考例句：

• The dome was supported by white marble columns.圆顶由白色大理石柱支撑着。
• They formed the dome with the tree's branches.他们用树枝搭成圆屋顶。