Chapter 30

That evening Jenarr Leggen came to visit. It was after dinner and he looked from Dors to Seldon several times, as though wondering what to say. Neither offered to help him, but both waited patiently.
He had not impressed either of them as being a master of small talk.
Finally he said to Seldon, "Ive come to see how you are."
"Perfectly¹ well," said Seldon, "except that Im a little sleepy. Dr. Venabili tells me that the treatment will keep me tired for a few days, presumably so Im sure of getting needed rest." He smiled. "Frankly², I dont mind."
Leggen breathed in deeply, let it out, hesitated, and then, almost as though he was forcing the words out of himself, said, "I wont³ keep you long. I perfectly understand you need to rest. I do want to say, though, that I am sorry it all happened. I should not have assumed--so casually--that you had gone down by yourself. Since you were a tyro⁴, I should have felt more responsible for you. After all, I had agreed to let you come up. I hope you can find it in your heart to ... forgive me. Thats really all I wish to say."
Seldon yawned, putting his hand over his mouth. "Pardon me.--Since it seems to have turned out well, there need be no hard feelings. In some ways, it was not your fault. I should not have wandered away and, besides, what happened was--"
Dors interrupted. "Now, Hari, please, no conversation. Just relax. Now, I want to talk to Dr. Leggen just a bit before he goes. In the first place, Dr. Leggen, I quite understand you are concerned about how repercussions⁵ from this affair will affect you. I told you there would be no follow-up if Dr. Seldon recovered without ill effects. That seems to be taking place, so you may relax--for now. I would like to ask you about something else and I hope that this time I will have your free cooperation."
"I will try, Dr. Venabili," said Leggen stiffly.
"Did anything unusual happen during your stay Upperside?"
"You know it did. I lost Dr. Seldon, something for which I have just apologized."
"Obviously Im not referring to that. Did anything else unusual happen?"
"No, nothing. Nothing at all."
Dors looked at Seldon and Seldon frowned. It seemed to him that Dors was trying to check on his story and get an independent account. Did she think he was imagining the search vessel⁶? He would have liked to object heatedly, but she had raised a quieting hand at him, as though she was preventing that very eventuality. He subsided⁷, partly because of this and partly because he really wanted to sleep. He hoped that Leggen would not stay long.
"Are you certain?" said Dors. "Were there no intrusions from outside?"
"No, of course not. Oh--"
"Yes, Dr. Leggen?"
"There was a jet-down."
"Did that strike you as peculiar⁸?"
"No, of course not."
"Why not?"
"This sounds very much as though Im being cross-examined, Dr. Venabili. I dont much like it."
"I can appreciate that, Dr. Leggen, but these questions have something to do with Dr. Seldons misadventure. It may be that this whole affair is more complicated than I had thought."
"In what way?" A new edge entered his voice. "Do you intend to raise new questions, requiring new apologies? In that case, I may find it necessary to withdraw."
"Not, perhaps, before you explain how it is you do not find a hovering⁹ jet-down a bit peculiar."
"Because, my dear woman, a number of meteorological stations on Trantor possess jet-downs for the direct study of clouds and the upper atmosphere. Our own meteorological station does not."
"Why not? It would be useful."
"Of course. But were not competing and were not keeping secrets. We will report on our findings; they will report on theirs. It makes sense, therefore, to have a scattering¹⁰ of differences and specializations. It would be foolish to duplicate efforts completely. The money and manpower we might spend on jet-downs can be spent on mesonic refractometers, while others will spend on the first and save on the latter. After all, there may be a great deal of competitiveness and ill feeling among the sectors¹¹, but science is one thing--only thing--that holds us together. You know that, I presume," he added ironically.
"I do, but isnt it rather coincidental that someone should be sending a jet-down right to your station on the very day you were going to use the station?"
"No coincidence at all. We announced that we were going to make measurements on that day and, consequently, some other station thought, very properly, that they might make simultaneous nephelometric measurements--clouds, you know. The results, taken together, would make more sense and be more useful than either taken separately."
Seldon said suddenly in a rather blurred¹³ voice, "They were just measuring, then?" He yawned again.
"Yes" said Leggen. "What else would they possibly be doing?"
Dors blinked her eyes, as she sometimes did when she was trying to think rapidly. "That all makes sense. To which station did this particular jet-down belong?"
Leggen shook his head. "Dr. Venabili, how can you possibly expect me to tell?"
"I thought that each meteorological jet-down might possibly have its stations markings on it."
"Surely, but I wasnt looking up and studying it, you know. I had my own work to do and I let them do theirs. When they report, Ill know whose jet-down it was."
"What if they dont report?"
"Then I would suppose their instruments failed. That happens sometimes." His right fist was clenched¹⁴. "Is that all, then?"
"Wait a moment. Where do you suppose the jet-down might have come from?"
"It might be any station with jet-downs. On a days notice--and they got more than that--one of those vessels¹⁵ can reach us handily from anyplace on the planet."
"But who most likely?"
"Hard to say: Hestelonia, Wye, Ziggoreth, North Damiano. Id say one of these four was the most likely, but it might be any of forty others at least."
"Just one more question, then. Just one. Dr. Leggen, when you announced that your group would be Upperside, did you by any chance say that a mathematician¹⁶, Dr. Hari Seldon, would be with you."
A look of apparently¹⁷ deep and honest surprise crossed Leggens face, a look that quickly turned contemptuous. "Why should I list names? Of what interest would that be to anyone?"
"Very well," said Dors. "The truth of the matter, then, is that Dr. Seldon saw the jet-down and it disturbed him. I am not certain why and apparently his memory is a bit fuzzy on the matter. He more or less ran away from the jet-down, got himself lost, didnt think of trying to return--or didnt dare to--till it was well into twilight¹⁸, and didnt quite make it back in the dark. You cant¹⁹ be blamed for that, so lets forget the whole incident on both sides.
"Agreed," said Leggen. "Good-bye!" He turned on his heel and left.
When he was gone, Dors rose, pulled off Seldons slippers²⁰ gently, straightened him in his bed, and covered him. He was sleeping, of course.
Then she sat down and thought. How much of what Leggen had said was true and what might possibly exist under the cover of his words?
She did not know.
Mycogen
MYCOGEN-- ... A sector¹² of ancient Trantor buried in the past of its own legends. Mycogen made little impact on the planet. Self-satisfied and self-separated to a degree ...
ENCYCLOPEDIA GALACTICA

1 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。

2 frankly   

adv.坦白地，直率地；坦率地说

参考例句：

• To speak frankly, I don't like the idea at all.老实说，我一点也不赞成这个主意。
• Frankly speaking, I'm not opposed to reform.坦率地说，我不反对改革。

3 wont   

adj.习惯于；v.习惯；n.习惯

参考例句：

• He was wont to say that children are lazy.他常常说小孩子们懒惰。
• It is his wont to get up early.早起是他的习惯。

4 tyro   

n.初学者；生手

参考例句：

• She is a tyro in the art of writing poetry.她是一名诗歌创作艺术的初学者。
• I am a veritable tyro at the game.我玩这个是新手。

5 repercussions   

n.后果，反响( repercussion的名词复数 )；余波

参考例句：

• The collapse of the company will have repercussions for the whole industry. 这家公司的垮台将会给整个行业造成间接的负面影响。
• Human acts have repercussions far beyond the frontiers of the human world. 人类行为所产生的影响远远超出人类世界的范围。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 vessel   

n.船舶；容器，器皿；管，导管，血管

参考例句：

• The vessel is fully loaded with cargo for Shanghai.这艘船满载货物驶往上海。
• You should put the water into a vessel.你应该把水装入容器中。

7 subsided   

v.（土地）下陷（因在地下采矿）( subside的过去式和过去分词 )；减弱；下降至较低或正常水平；一下子坐在椅子等上

参考例句：

• After the heavy rains part of the road subsided. 大雨过后，部分公路塌陷了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• By evening the storm had subsided and all was quiet again. 傍晚， 暴风雨已经过去，四周开始沉寂下来。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

8 peculiar   

adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的

参考例句：

• He walks in a peculiar fashion.他走路的样子很奇特。
• He looked at me with a very peculiar expression.他用一种很奇怪的表情看着我。

9 hovering   

鸟( hover的现在分词 )； 靠近（某事物）； （人）徘徊； 犹豫

参考例句：

• The helicopter was hovering about 100 metres above the pad. 直升机在离发射台一百米的上空盘旋。
• I'm hovering between the concert and the play tonight. 我犹豫不决今晚是听音乐会还是看戏。

10 scattering   

n.[物]散射；散乱，分散；在媒介质中的散播adj.散乱的；分散在不同范围的；广泛扩散的；（选票）数量分散的v.散射(scatter的ing形式)；散布；驱散

参考例句：

• The child felle into a rage and began scattering its toys about. 这孩子突发狂怒，把玩具扔得满地都是。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The farmers are scattering seed. 农夫们在播种。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 sectors   

n.部门( sector的名词复数 )；领域；防御地区；扇形

参考例句：

• Berlin was divided into four sectors after the war. 战后柏林分成了4 个区。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Industry and agriculture are the two important sectors of the national economy. 工业和农业是国民经济的两个重要部门。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

12 sector   

n.部门，部分；防御地段，防区；扇形

参考例句：

• The export sector will aid the economic recovery. 出口产业将促进经济复苏。
• The enemy have attacked the British sector.敌人已进攻英国防区。

13 blurred   

v.（使）变模糊( blur的过去式和过去分词 )；（使）难以区分；模模糊糊；迷离

参考例句：

• She suffered from dizziness and blurred vision. 她饱受头晕目眩之苦。
• Their lazy, blurred voices fell pleasantly on his ears. 他们那种慢吞吞、含糊不清的声音在他听起来却很悦耳。 来自《简明英汉词典》

14 clenched   

v.紧握，抓紧，咬紧( clench的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He clenched his fists in anger. 他愤怒地攥紧了拳头。
• She clenched her hands in her lap to hide their trembling. 她攥紧双手放在腿上，以掩饰其颤抖。 来自《简明英汉词典》

15 vessels   

n.血管( vessel的名词复数 )；船；容器；（具有特殊品质或接受特殊品质的）人

参考例句：

• The river is navigable by vessels of up to 90 tons. 90 吨以下的船只可以从这条河通过。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• All modern vessels of any size are fitted with radar installations. 所有现代化船只都有雷达装置。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

16 mathematician   

n.数学家

参考例句：

• The man with his back to the camera is a mathematician.背对着照相机的人是位数学家。
• The mathematician analyzed his figures again.这位数学家再次分析研究了他的这些数字。

17 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。

18 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。

19 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。

20 slippers   

n. 拖鞋

参考例句：

• a pair of slippers 一双拖鞋
• He kicked his slippers off and dropped on to the bed. 他踢掉了拖鞋，倒在床上。