Chapter 77

The next morning, dressed from the waist down, having washed and shaved, Seldon knocked on the door that led to Dorss adjoining room and said in a moderate voice, "Open the door, Dors."
She did. The short reddish-gold curls of her hair were still wet and she too was dressed only from the waist down.
Seldon stepped back in embarrassed alarm. Dors looked down at the swell¹ of her breasts indifferently and wrapped a towel around her head. "What is it?" she asked.
Seldon said, looking off to his right, "I was going to ask you about Wye."
Dors said very naturally, "About why in connection with what? And for goodness sake, dont make me talk to your ear. Surely, youre not a virgin²."
Seldon said in a hurt tone, "I was merely trying to be polite. If you dont mind, I certainly dont. And its not why about what. Im asking about the Wye Sector³."
"Why do you want to know? Or, if you prefer: Why Wye?"
"Look, Dors, Im serious. Every once in a while, the Wye Sector is mentioned--the Mayor of Wye, actually. Hummin mentioned him, you did, Davan did. I dont know anything about either the sector or the Mayor."
"Im not a native Trantorian either, Hari. I know very little, but youre welcome to what I do know. Wye is near the south pole--quite large, very populous⁴--"
"Very populous at the south pole?"
"Were not on Helicon, Hari. Or on Cinna either. This is Trantor. Everything is underground and underground at the poles or underground at the equator is pretty much the same. Of course, I imagine they keep their day-night arrangements rather extreme--long days in their summer, long nights in their winter--almost as it would be on the surface. The extremes are just affectation; theyre proud of being polar."
"But Upperside they must be cold, indeed."
"Oh yes. The Wye Upperside is snow and ice, but it doesnt lie as thickly there as you might think. If it did, it might crush the dome⁵, but it doesnt and that is the basic reason for Wyes power."
She turned to her mirror, removed the towel from her head, and threw the dry-net over her hair, which, in a matter of five seconds, gave it a pleasant sheen. She said, "You have no idea how glad I am not to be wearing a skincap," as she put on the upper portion of her clothing.
"What has the ice layer to do with Wyes power?"
"Think about it. Forty billion people use a great deal of power and every calorie of it eventually degenerates⁶ into heat and has to be gotten rid of. Its piped to the poles, particularly to the south pole, which is the more developed of the two, and is discharged into space. It [melts] most of the ice in the process and Im sure that accounts for Trantors clouds and rains, no matter how much the meteorology boggins insist that things are more complicated than that."
"Does Wye make use of the power before discharging it?"
"They may, for all I know. I havent the slightest idea, by the way, as to the technology involved in discharging the heat, but Im talking about political power. If Dahl were to stop producing usable energy, that would certainly inconvenience Trantor, but there are other sectors⁷ that produce energy and can up their production and, of course, there is stored energy in one form or another. Eventually, Dahl would have to be dealt with, but there would be time. Wye, on the other hand--"
"Yes?"
"Well, Wye gets rid of at least 90 percent of all the heat developed on Trantor and there is no substitute. If Wye were to shut down its heat emission⁸, the temperature would start going up all over Trantor."
"In Wye too."
"[Yes], but since Wye is at the south pole, it can arrange an influx⁹ of cold air. It wouldnt do much good, but Wye would last longer than the rest of Trantor. The point is, then, that Wye is a very touchy¹⁰ problem for the Emperor and the Mayor of Wye is--or at least can be--extremely powerful."
"And what kind of a person is the present Mayor of Wye?"
"That I dont know. What Ive occasionally heard would make it seem that he is very old and pretty much a recluse¹¹, but hard as a hypership hull¹² and still cleverly maneuvering¹³ for power."
"Why, I wonder? If hes that old, he couldnt hold the power for long."
"Who knows, Hari? A lifelong obsession¹⁴, I suppose. Or else its the game ... the maneuvering for power, without any real longing¹⁵ for the power itself. Probably if he had the power and took over Demerzels place or even the Imperial throne itself, he would feel disappointed because the game would be over. Of course he might, if he was still alive, begin the subsequent game of keeping power, which might be just as difficult and just as satisfying."
Seldon shook his head. "It strikes me that no one could possibly want to be Emperor."
"No sane¹⁶ person would, I [free], but the Imperial wish, as it is frequently called, is like a disease that, when caught, drives out sanity¹⁷. And the closer you get to high office, the more likely you are to catch the disease. With each ensuing promotion--"
"The disease grows still more acute. Yes, I can see that. But it also seems to me that Trantor is so huge a world, so interlocking in its needs and so conflicting in its ambitions, that it makes up the major part of the inability of the Emperor to rule. Why doesnt he just leave Trantor and establish himself on some simpler world?"
Dors laughed. "You wouldnt ask that if you knew your history. Trantor is the Empire through thousands of years of custom. An Emperor who is not at the Imperial Palace is not the Emperor. He is a place, even more than a person." Seldon sank into silence, his face rigid¹⁸, and after a while Dors asked, "Whats the matter, Hari?"
"Im thinking," he said in a muffled¹⁹ voice. "Ever since you told me that hand-on-thigh story, Ive had fugitive²⁰ thoughts that--Now your remark about the Emperor being a place rather than a person seems to have struck a chord."
"What kind of chord?"
Seldon shook his head. "Im still thinking. I may be all wrong." His glance at Dors sharpened, his eyes coming into focus. "In any case, we ought to go down and have breakfast. Were late and I dont think Mistress Tisalver is in a good enough humor to have it brought in for us."
"You optimist," said Dors. "My own feeling is that shes not in a good enough humor to want us to stay--breakfast or not. She wants us out of here."
"That may be, but were paying her."
"Yes, but I suspect she hates us enough by now to scorn our credits."
"Perhaps her husband will feel a bit more affectionate concerning the rent."
"If he has a single word to say, Hari, the only person who would be more surprised than me to hear it would be Mistress Tisalver.--Very well, Im ready."
And they moved down the stairs to the Tisalver portion of the apartment to find the lady in question waiting for them with less than breakfast--and with considerably²¹ more too.

1 swell   

vi.膨胀，肿胀；增长，增强

参考例句：

• The waves had taken on a deep swell.海浪汹涌。
• His injured wrist began to swell.他那受伤的手腕开始肿了。

2 virgin   

n.处女，未婚女子；adj.未经使用的；未经开发的

参考例句：

• Have you ever been to a virgin forest?你去过原始森林吗？
• There are vast expanses of virgin land in the remote regions.在边远地区有大片大片未开垦的土地。

3 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。

4 populous   

adj.人口稠密的，人口众多的

参考例句：

• London is the most populous area of Britain.伦敦是英国人口最稠密的地区。
• China is the most populous developing country in the world.中国是世界上人口最多的发展中国家。

5 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。

6 degenerates   

衰退，堕落，退化( degenerate的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Liberty often degenerates into lawlessness. 自由常常变质为无法无天。
• Her health degenerates rapidly. 她的健康状况迅速恶化。

7 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》

8 emission   

n.发出物，散发物；发出，散发

参考例句：

• Rigorous measures will be taken to reduce the total pollutant emission.采取严格有力措施，降低污染物排放总量。
• Finally,the way to effectively control particulate emission is pointed out.最后，指出有效降低颗粒排放的方向。

9 influx   

n.流入，注入

参考例句：

• The country simply cannot absorb this influx of refugees.这个国家实在不能接纳这么多涌入的难民。
• Textile workers favoured protection because they feared an influx of cheap cloth.纺织工人拥护贸易保护措施，因为他们担心涌入廉价纺织品。

10 touchy   

adj.易怒的；棘手的

参考例句：

• Be careful what you say because he's touchy.你说话小心，因为他容易生气。
• He's a little touchy about his weight.他对自己的体重感到有点儿苦恼。

11 recluse   

n.隐居者

参考例句：

• The old recluse secluded himself from the outside world.这位老隐士与外面的世界隔绝了。
• His widow became a virtual recluse for the remainder of her life.他的寡妻孤寂地度过了余生。

12 hull   

n.船身；(果、实等的)外壳；vt.去(谷物等)壳

参考例句：

• The outer surface of ship's hull is very hard.船体的外表面非常坚硬。
• The boat's hull has been staved in by the tremendous seas.小船壳让巨浪打穿了。

13 maneuvering   

v.移动，用策略( maneuver的现在分词 )；操纵

参考例句：

• This Manstein did, with some brilliant maneuvering under the worse winter conditions. 曼施坦因在最恶劣的严冬条件下，出色地施展了灵活机动的战术，终于完成了任务。 来自辞典例句
• In short, large goals required farsighted policies, not tactical maneuvering. 一句话，大的目标需要有高瞻远瞩的政策，玩弄策略是不行的。 来自辞典例句

14 obsession   

n.困扰，无法摆脱的思想(或情感)

参考例句：

• I was suffering from obsession that my career would be ended.那时的我陷入了我的事业有可能就此终止的困扰当中。
• She would try to forget her obsession with Christopher.她会努力忘记对克里斯托弗的迷恋。

15 longing   

n.（for）渴望

参考例句：

• Hearing the tune again sent waves of longing through her.再次听到那首曲子使她胸中充满了渴望。
• His heart burned with longing for revenge.他心中燃烧着急欲复仇的怒火。

16 sane   

adj.心智健全的，神志清醒的，明智的，稳健的

参考例句：

• He was sane at the time of the murder.在凶杀案发生时他的神志是清醒的。
• He is a very sane person.他是一个很有头脑的人。

17 sanity   

n.心智健全，神智正常，判断正确

参考例句：

• I doubt the sanity of such a plan.我怀疑这个计划是否明智。
• She managed to keep her sanity throughout the ordeal.在那场磨难中她始终保持神志正常。

18 rigid   

adj.严格的，死板的；刚硬的，僵硬的

参考例句：

• She became as rigid as adamant.她变得如顽石般的固执。
• The examination was so rigid that nearly all aspirants were ruled out.考试很严，几乎所有的考生都被淘汰了。

19 muffled   

adj.（声音）被隔的；听不太清的；（衣服）裹严的；蒙住的v.压抑，捂住( muffle的过去式和过去分词 )；用厚厚的衣帽包着（自己）

参考例句：

• muffled voices from the next room 从隔壁房间里传来的沉闷声音
• There was a muffled explosion somewhere on their right. 在他们的右面什么地方有一声沉闷的爆炸声。 来自《简明英汉词典》

20 fugitive   

adj.逃亡的，易逝的；n.逃犯，逃亡者

参考例句：

• The police were able to deduce where the fugitive was hiding.警方成功地推断出那逃亡者躲藏的地方。
• The fugitive is believed to be headed for the border.逃犯被认为在向国境线逃窜。

21 considerably   

adv.极大地；相当大地；在很大程度上

参考例句：

• The economic situation has changed considerably.经济形势已发生了相当大的变化。
• The gap has narrowed considerably.分歧大大缩小了。