Chapter 34

Hari Seldon and Dors Venabili left the University grounds at 0300. Seldon realized that Dors had to be the leader. She knew Trantor better than he did--two years better. She was obviously a close friend of Hummin (how close? the question kept nagging¹ at him) and she understood his instructions. Both she and Seldon were swathed in light swirling² docks with tight-fitting hoods³. The style had been a short-lived clothing fad⁴ at the University (and among young intellectuals, generally) some years back and though right now it might provoke laughter, it had the saving grace of covering them well and of making them unrecognizable--at least at a cursory⁵ glance.
Hummin had said, "Theres a possibility that the event Upperside was completely innocent and that there are no agents after you, Seldon, but lets be prepared for the worst."
Seldon had asked anxiously, "Wont⁶ you come with us?"
"I would like to," said Hummin, "but I must limit my absence from work if I am not to become a target myself. You understand?"
Seldon sighed. He understood.
They entered an Expressway car and found a seat as far as possible from the few who had already boarded. (Seldon wondered why anyone should be on the Expressways at three in the morning--and then thought that it was lucky some were or he and Dors would be entirely⁷ too conspicuous⁸.)
Seldon fell to watching the endless panorama⁹ that passed in review as the equally endless line of coaches moved along the endless monorail on an endless electromagnetic field.
The Expressway passed row upon row of dwelling¹⁰ units, few of them very tall, but some, for all he knew, very deep. Still, if tens of millions of square kilometers formed an urbanized total, even forty billion people would not require very tall structures or very closely packed ones. They did pass open areas, in most of which crops seemed to be growing--but some of which were clearly parklike. And there were numerous structures whose nature he couldnt guess. Factories? Office buildings? Who knew? One large featureless cylinder¹¹ struck him as though it might be a water tank. After all, Trantor had to have a fresh water supply. Did they sluice¹² rain from Upperside, filter and treat it, then store it? It seemed inevitable¹³ that they should. Seldon did not have very long to study the view, however.
Dors muttered, "This is about where we should be getting off." She stood up and her strong fingers gripped his arm.
They were off the Expressway now, standing¹⁴ on solid flooring while Dors studied the directional signs.
The signs were unobtrusive and there were many of them. Seldons heart sank. Most of them were in pictographs and initials, which were undoubtedly¹⁵ understandable to native Trantorians, but which were alien to him.
"This way," said Dors.
"Which way? How do you know?"
"See that? Two wings and an arrow."
"Two wings? Oh." He had thought of it as an upside-down "w," wide and shallow, but he could see where it might be the stylized wings of a bird. "Why dont they use words?" he said sullenly¹⁶.
"Because words vary from world to world. What an air-jet is here could be a soar on Cinna or a swoop¹⁷ on other worlds. The two wings and an arrow are a Galactic symbol for an air vessel¹⁸ and the symbol is understood everywhere. Dont you use them on Helicon?"
"Not much. Helicon is a fairly homogeneous world, culturally speaking, and we tend to cling to our private ways firmly because were overshadowed by our neighbors."
"See?" said Dors. "Theres where your psychohistory might come in. You could show that even with different dialects the use of set symbols, Galaxy-wide, is a unifying¹⁹ force."
"That wont help." He was following her through empty dim alleyways and part of his mind wondered what the crime rate might be on Trantor and whether this was a high-crime area. "You can have a billion rules, each covering a single phenomenon, and you can derive²⁰ no generalizations²¹ from that. Thats what one means when one says that a system might be interpreted only by a model as complex as itself.--Dors, are we heading for an air-jet?"
She stopped and turned to look at him with an amused frown. "If were following the symbols for air-jets, do you suppose were trying to reach a golf course? Are you afraid of air-jets in the way so many Trantorians are?"
"No, no. We fly freely on Helicon and I make use of air-jets frequently. Its just that when Hummin took me to the University, he avoided commercial air travel because he thought we would leave too clear a trail."
"Thats because they knew where you were to begin with, Hari, and were after you already. Right now, it may be that they dont know where you are and were using an obscure port and a private air-jet."
"And wholl be doing the flying?"
"A friend of Hummins, I presume."
"Can he be trusted, do you suppose?"
"If hes a friend of Hummins, he surely can."
"You certainly think highly of Hummin," said Seldon with a twinge of discontent.
"With reason," said Dors with no attempt at coyness. "Hes the best."
Seldons discontent did not dwindle²².
"Theres the air-jet," she said.
It was a small one with oddly shaped wings. Standing beside it was a small man, dressed in the usual glaring Trantorian colors.
Dors said, "Were psycho."
The pilot said, "And Im history."
They followed him into the air-jet and Seldon said, "Whose idea were the passwords?"
"Hummins," said Dors.
Seldon snorted. "Somehow I didnt think Hummin would have a sense of humor. Hes so solemn."
Dors smiled.
Sunmaster
SUNMASTER FOURTEEN-- ... A leader of the Mycogen Sector²³ of ancient Trantor ...
As is true of all the leaders of this ingrown sector, little is known of him. That he plays any role at all in history is due entirely to his interrelationship with Hari Seldon in the course of The Flight ...
ENCYCLOPEDIA GALACTICA

1 nagging   

adj.唠叨的，挑剔的；使人不得安宁的v.不断地挑剔或批评（某人）( nag的现在分词 )；不断地烦扰或伤害（某人）；无休止地抱怨；不断指责

参考例句：

• Stop nagging—I'll do it as soon as I can. 别唠叨了—我会尽快做的。
• I've got a nagging pain in my lower back. 我后背下方老是疼。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 swirling   

v.旋转，打旋( swirl的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Snowflakes were swirling in the air. 天空飘洒着雪花。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• She smiled, swirling the wine in her glass. 她微笑着，旋动着杯子里的葡萄酒。 来自辞典例句

3 hoods   

n.兜帽( hood的名词复数 )；头巾；（汽车、童车等的）折合式车篷；汽车发动机罩v.兜帽( hood的第三人称单数 )；头巾；（汽车、童车等的）折合式车篷；汽车发动机罩

参考例句：

• Michael looked at the four hoods sitting in the kitchen. 迈克尔瞅了瞅坐在厨房里的四条汉子。 来自教父部分
• Eskimos wear hoods to keep their heads warm. 爱斯基摩人戴兜帽使头暖和。 来自辞典例句

4 fad   

n.时尚；一时流行的狂热；一时的爱好

参考例句：

• His interest in photography is only a passing fad.他对摄影的兴趣只是一时的爱好罢了。
• A hot business opportunity is based on a long-term trend not a short-lived fad.一个热门的商机指的是长期的趋势而非一时的流行。

5 cursory   

adj.粗略的；草率的；匆促的

参考例句：

• He signed with only a cursory glance at the report.他只草草看了一眼报告就签了名。
• The only industry mentioned is agriculture and it is discussed in a cursory sentence.实业方面只谈到农业,而且只是匆匆带了一句。

6 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。

7 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。

8 conspicuous   

adj.明眼的，惹人注目的；炫耀的，摆阔气的

参考例句：

• It is conspicuous that smoking is harmful to health.很明显，抽烟对健康有害。
• Its colouring makes it highly conspicuous.它的色彩使它非常惹人注目。

9 panorama   

n.全景，全景画，全景摄影，全景照片[装置]

参考例句：

• A vast panorama of the valley lay before us.山谷的广阔全景展现在我们面前。
• A flourishing and prosperous panorama spread out before our eyes.一派欣欣向荣的景象展现在我们的眼前。

10 dwelling   

n.住宅，住所，寓所

参考例句：

• Those two men are dwelling with us.那两个人跟我们住在一起。
• He occupies a three-story dwelling place on the Park Street.他在派克街上有一幢3层楼的寓所。

11 cylinder   

n.圆筒，柱(面)，汽缸

参考例句：

• What's the volume of this cylinder?这个圆筒的体积有多少？
• The cylinder is getting too much gas and not enough air.汽缸里汽油太多而空气不足。

12 sluice   

n.水闸

参考例句：

• We opened the sluice and the water poured in.我们打开闸门，水就涌了进来。
• They regulate the flow of water by the sluice gate.他们用水闸门控制水的流量。

13 inevitable   

adj.不可避免的，必然发生的

参考例句：

• Mary was wearing her inevitable large hat.玛丽戴着她总是戴的那顶大帽子。
• The defeat had inevitable consequences for British policy.战败对英国政策不可避免地产生了影响。

14 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。

15 undoubtedly   

adv.确实地，无疑地

参考例句：

• It is undoubtedly she who has said that.这话明明是她说的。
• He is undoubtedly the pride of China.毫无疑问他是中国的骄傲。

16 sullenly   

不高兴地，绷着脸，忧郁地

参考例句：

• 'so what?" Tom said sullenly. “那又怎么样呢？”汤姆绷着脸说。
• Emptiness after the paper, I sIt'sullenly in front of the stove. 报看完，想不出能找点什么事做，只好一人坐在火炉旁生气。

17 swoop   

n.俯冲，攫取；v.抓取，突然袭击

参考例句：

• The plane made a swoop over the city.那架飞机突然向这座城市猛降下来。
• We decided to swoop down upon the enemy there.我们决定突袭驻在那里的敌人。

18 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。

19 unifying   

使联合( unify的现在分词 )； 使相同； 使一致； 统一

参考例句：

• In addition, there were certain religious bonds of a unifying kind. 此外，他们还有某种具有一种统一性质的宗教上的结合。
• There is a unifying theme, and that is the theme of information flow within biological systems. 我们可以用一个总的命题，把生物学系统内的信息流来作为这一研究主题。

20 derive   

v.取得；导出；引申；来自；源自；出自

参考例句：

• We derive our sustenance from the land.我们从土地获取食物。
• We shall derive much benefit from reading good novels.我们将从优秀小说中获得很大好处。

21 generalizations   

一般化( generalization的名词复数 )； 普通化； 归纳； 概论

参考例句：

• But Pearlson cautions that the findings are simply generalizations. 但是波尔森提醒人们，这些发现是简单的综合资料。 来自英汉非文学 - 生命科学 - 大脑与疾病
• They were of great service in correcting my jejune generalizations. 他们纠正了我不成熟的泛泛之论，帮了我大忙。

22 dwindle   

v.逐渐变小（或减少）

参考例句：

• The factory's workforce has dwindled from over 4,000 to a few hundred.工厂雇员总数已经从4,000多人减少到几百人。
• He is struggling to come to terms with his dwindling authority.他正努力适应自己权力被削弱这一局面。

23 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。