Chapter 42

The Sisters returned about two hours after Hari and Dors had finished lunch. They were smiling, both of them, and Raindrop Forty-Three, the graver one, held up a gray kirtle for Dorss inspection¹.
"It is very attractive," said Dors, smiling widely and nodding her head with a certain sincerity². "I like the clever embroidery³ here."
"It is nothing," twittered Raindrop Forty-Five. "It is one of my old things and it wont⁴ fit very well, for you are taller than I am. But it will do for a while and we will take you out to the very best kirtlery to get a few that will fit you and your tastes perfectly⁵. You will see."
Raindrop Forty-Three, smiling a little nervously⁶ but saying nothing and keeping her eyes fixed⁷ on the ground, handed a white kirtle to Dors. It was folded neatly⁸. Dors did not attempt to unfold it, but passed it on to Seldon.
"From the color I should say its yours, Hari."
"Presumably," said Seldon, "but give it back. She did not give it to me."
"Oh, Hari," mouthed Dors, shaking her head slightly.
"No," said Seldon firmly. "She did not give it to me. Give it back to her and Ill wait for her to give it to me."
Dors hesitated, then made a half-hearted attempt to pass the kirtle back to Raindrop Forty-Three.
The Sister put her hands behind her back and moved away, all life seeming to drain from her face. Raindrop Forty-Five stole a glance at Seldon, a very quick one, then took a quick step toward Raindrop Forty-Three and put her arms about her.
Dors said, "Come, Hari, Im sure that Sisters are not permitted to talk to men who are not related to them. Whats the use of making her miserable⁹? She cant¹⁰ help it."
"I dont believe it," said Seldon harshly. "If there is such a rule, it applies only to Brothers. I doubt very much that shes ever met a tribesman before."
Dors said to Raindrop Forty-Three in a soft voice, "Have you ever met a tribesman before, Sister, or a tribeswoman?"
A long hesitation¹¹ and then a slow negative shake of the head.
Seldon threw out his arms. "Well, there you are. If there is a rule of silence, it applies only to the Brothers. Would they have sent these young women--these Sisters--to deal with us if there was any rule against speaking to tribesmen?"
"It might be, Hari, that they were meant to speak only to me and I to you."
"Nonsense. I dont believe it and I wont believe it. I am not merely a tribesman, I am an honored guest in Mycogen, asked to be treated as such by Chetter Hummin and escorted here by Sunmaster Fourteen himself. I will not be treated as though I do not exist. I will be in communication with Sunmaster Fourteen and I will complain bitterly."
Raindrop Forty-Five began to sob¹² and Raindrop Forty-Three, retaining her comparative impassivity, nevertheless flushed faintly. Dors made as though to appeal to Seldon once again, but he stopped her with a brief and angry outward thrust of his right arm and then stared gloweringly¹³ at Raindrop Forty-Three.
And finally she spoke¹⁴ and did not twitter. Rather, her voice trembled hoarsely¹⁵, as though she had to force it to sound in the direction of a male being and was doing so against all her instincts and desires. "You must not complain of us, tribesman. That would be unjust. You force me to break the custom of our people. What do you want of me?"
Seldon smiled disarmingly at once and held out his hand. "The garment you brought me. The kirtle."
Silently, she stretched out her arm and deposited the kirtle in his hand. He bowed slightly and said in a soft warm voice, "Thank you, Sister." He then cast a very brief look in Dorss direction, as though to say: You see? But Dors looked away angrily.
The kirtle was featureless, Seldon saw as he unfolded it (embroidery and decorativeness¹⁶ were for women, apparently), but it came with a tasseled¹⁷ belt that probably had some particular way of being worn. No doubt he could work it out.
He said, "Ill step into the bathroom and put this thing on. It wont take but a minute, I suppose."
He stepped into the small chamber¹⁸ and found the door would not close behind him because Dors was forcing her way in as well. Only when the two of them were in the bathroom together did the door close.
"What were you doing?" Dors hissed¹⁹ angrily. "You were an absolute brute²⁰, Hari. Why did you treat the poor woman that way?"
Seldon said impatiently, "I had to make her talk to me. Im counting on her for information. You know that. Im sorry I had to be cruel, but how else could I have broken down her inhibitions?" And he motioned her out.
When he emerged, he found Dors in her kirtle too. Dors, despite the bald head the skincap gave her and the inherent dowdiness²¹ of the kirtle, managed to look quite attractive. The stitching on the robe somehow suggested a figure without revealing it in the least. Her belt was wider than his own and was a slightly different shade of gray from her kirtle. Whats more, it was held in front by two glittering blue stone snaps. (Women did manage to beautify themselves even under the greatest difficulty, Seldon thought.)
Looking over at Hari, Dors said, "You look quite the Mycogenian now. The two of us are fit to be taken to the stores by the Sisters."
"Yes," said Seldon, "but afterward²² I want Raindrop Forty-Three to take me on a tour of the microfarms."
Raindrop Forty-Threes eyes widened and she took a rapid step backward.
"Id like to see them," said Seldon calmly.
Raindrop Forty-Three looked quickly at Dors. "Tribeswoman--"
Seldon said, "Perhaps you know nothing of the farms, Sister."
That seemed to touch a nerve. She lifted her chin haughtily²³ as she still carefully addressed Dors. "I have worked on the microfarms. All Brothers and Sisters do at some point in their lives."
"Well then, take me on the tour," said Seldon, "and lets not go through the argument again. I am not a Brother to whom you are forbidden to speak and with whom you may have no dealings. I am a tribesman and an honored guest. I wear this skincap and this kirtle so as not to attract undue²⁴ attention, but I am a scholar and while I am here I must learn. I cannot sit in this room and stare at the wall. I want to see the one thing you have that the rest of the Galaxy²⁵ does not have ... your microfarms. I should think youd be proud to show them."
"We are proud," said Raindrop Forty-Three, finally facing Seldon as she spoke, "and I will show you and dont think you will learn any of our secrets if that is what you are after. I will show you the microfarms tomorrow morning. It will take time to arrange a tour."
Seldon said, "I will wait till tomorrow morning. But do you promise? Do I have your word of honor?"
Raindrop Forty-Three said with clear contempt, "I am a Sister and I will do as I say. I will keep my word, even to a tribesman." Her voice grew icy at the last words, while her eyes widened and seemed to glitter.
Seldon wondered what was passing through her mind and felt uneasy.

1 inspection   

n.检查，审查，检阅

参考例句：

• On random inspection the meat was found to be bad.经抽查，发现肉变质了。
• The soldiers lined up for their daily inspection by their officers.士兵们列队接受军官的日常检阅。

2 sincerity   

n.真诚，诚意；真实

参考例句：

• His sincerity added much more authority to the story.他的真诚更增加了故事的说服力。
• He tried hard to satisfy me of his sincerity.他竭力让我了解他的诚意。

3 embroidery   

n.绣花，刺绣；绣制品

参考例句：

• This exquisite embroidery won people's great admiration.这件精美的绣品，使人惊叹不已。
• This is Jane's first attempt at embroidery.这是简第一次试着绣花。

4 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。

5 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。

6 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。

7 fixed   

adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的

参考例句：

• Have you two fixed on a date for the wedding yet?你们俩选定婚期了吗？
• Once the aim is fixed,we should not change it arbitrarily.目标一旦确定，我们就不应该随意改变。

8 neatly   

adv.整洁地，干净地，灵巧地，熟练地

参考例句：

• Sailors know how to wind up a long rope neatly.水手们知道怎样把一条大绳利落地缠好。
• The child's dress is neatly gathered at the neck.那孩子的衣服在领口处打着整齐的皱褶。

9 miserable   

adj.悲惨的，痛苦的；可怜的，糟糕的

参考例句：

• It was miserable of you to make fun of him.你取笑他，这是可耻的。
• Her past life was miserable.她过去的生活很苦。

10 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。

11 hesitation   

n.犹豫，踌躇

参考例句：

• After a long hesitation, he told the truth at last.踌躇了半天，他终于直说了。
• There was a certain hesitation in her manner.她的态度有些犹豫不决。

12 sob   

n.空间轨道的轰炸机；呜咽，哭泣

参考例句：

• The child started to sob when he couldn't find his mother.孩子因找不到他妈妈哭了起来。
• The girl didn't answer,but continued to sob with her head on the table.那个女孩不回答，也不抬起头来。她只顾低声哭着。

13 gloweringly   

adv.glower（沉着脸，怒视，凝视；皱眉，怒视，怒容；皱眉头）的变形

参考例句：

• He stared gloweringly at this morning's headlines. 他愤怒地盯着今早报纸的大字标题。 来自互联网

14 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。

15 hoarsely   

adv.嘶哑地

参考例句：

• "Excuse me," he said hoarsely. “对不起。”他用嘶哑的嗓子说。
• Jerry hoarsely professed himself at Miss Pross's service. 杰瑞嘶声嘶气地表示愿为普洛丝小姐效劳。 来自英汉文学 - 双城记

16 decorativeness   

参考例句：

17 tasseled   

v.抽穗， （玉米）长穗须( tassel的过去式和过去分词 )；使抽穗， （为了使作物茁壮生长）摘去穗状雄花；用流苏装饰

参考例句：

18 chamber   

n.房间，寝室；会议厅；议院；会所

参考例句：

• For many,the dentist's surgery remains a torture chamber.对许多人来说，牙医的治疗室一直是间受刑室。
• The chamber was ablaze with light.会议厅里灯火辉煌。

19 hissed   

发嘶嘶声( hiss的过去式和过去分词 )； 发嘘声表示反对

参考例句：

• Have you ever been hissed at in the middle of a speech? 你在演讲中有没有被嘘过？
• The iron hissed as it pressed the wet cloth. 熨斗压在湿布上时发出了嘶嘶声。

20 brute   

n.野兽，兽性

参考例句：

• The aggressor troops are not many degrees removed from the brute.侵略军简直象一群野兽。
• That dog is a dangerous brute.It bites people.那条狗是危险的畜牲，它咬人。

21 dowdiness   

参考例句：

• Among assertive, learned, or eloquent people, she seemed to feel her dowdiness and insufficiency. 在这群过分自信，学识渊博，伶牙俐齿的人中间，她总仿佛觉得自己过于懒散，笨头笨脑的。 来自辞典例句

22 afterward   

adv.后来；以后

参考例句：

• Let's go to the theatre first and eat afterward. 让我们先去看戏，然后吃饭。
• Afterward,the boy became a very famous artist.后来，这男孩成为一个很有名的艺术家。

23 haughtily   

adv. 傲慢地, 高傲地

参考例句：

• She carries herself haughtily. 她举止傲慢。
• Haughtily, he stalked out onto the second floor where I was standing. 他傲然跨出电梯，走到二楼，我刚好站在那儿。

24 undue   

adj.过分的；不适当的；未到期的

参考例句：

• Don't treat the matter with undue haste.不要过急地处理此事。
• It would be wise not to give undue importance to his criticisms.最好不要过分看重他的批评。

25 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。