Chapter 8

Raych looked at Hari Seldon after the two politicians had gone and fingered his mustache. It gave him satisfaction to stroke it. Here in the Streeling Sector¹, some men wore mustaches, but they were usually thin despicable things of uncertain color-thin despicable things, even if dark. Most men did not wear them at all and suffered with naked upper lips. Seldon didn't, for instance, and that was just as well. With his color of hair, a mustache would have been a travesty².
    He watched Seldon closely, waiting for him to cease being lost in thought, and then found he could wait no longer.
    "Dad?" he said.
    Seldon looked up and said, "What?" He sounded a little annoyed at having his thoughts interrupted, Raych decided³.
    Raych said, "I don't think it was right for you to see those two guys."
    "Oh? Why not?"
    "Well, the thin guy, whatever his name is, was the guy you made trouble for at the Field. He can't have liked it."
    "But he apologized."
    "He didn't mean it. But the other guy, Joranum-he can be dangerous. What if they had had weapons?"
    "What? Here in the University? In my office? Of course not. This isn't Billibotton. Besides, if they had tried anything, I could have handled both of them together. Easily."
    "I don't know, Dad," said Raych dubiously⁴. "You're getting-"
    "Don't say it, you ungrateful monster," said Seldon, lifting an admonishing⁵ finger. `You'll sound just like your mother and I have enough of that from her. I am not getting old-or, at least, not that old. Besides, you were with me and you're almost as skilled a Twister as I am."
    Raych's nose wrinkled. "Twisting ain't much good." (It was no use. Raych heard himself speak and knew that, even eight years out of the morass⁶ of Dahl, he still slipped into using the Dahlite accent that marked him firmly as a member of the lower class. And he was short, too, to the point where he sometimes felt stunted⁷. -But he had his mustache and no one ever patronized him twice.)
    He said, "What are you going to do about Joranum?"
    "For now, nothing."
    "Well, look, Dad, I saw Joranum on TrantorVision a couple of times. I even made some holotapes of his speeches. -Everyone is talking about him, so I thought I would see what he has to say. And, you know, he makes some kind of sense. I don't like him and I don't trust him, but he does make some kind of sense. He wants all sectors⁸ to have equal rights and equal opportunities-and there ain't nothing wrong with that, is there?"
    "Certainly not. All civilized⁹ people feel that way."
    "So why don't we have that sort of stuff? Does the Emperor feel that way? Does Demerzel?"
    "The Emperor and the First Minister have an entire Empire to worry about. They can't concentrate all their efforts on Trantor itself. It's easy for Joranum to talk about equality. He has no responsibilities. If he were in the position to rule, he would find that his efforts would be greatly diluted¹⁰ by an Empire of twenty-five million planets. Not only that, but he would find himself stopped at every point by the sectors themselves. Each one wants a great deal of equality for itself-but not much equality for others. Tell me, Raych, are you of the opinion that Joranum ought to have a chance to rule, just to show what he can do?"
    Raych shrugged¹¹. "I don't know. I wonder. -But if he had tried anything on you, I would have been at his throat before he could move two centimeters."
    "Your loyalty¹² to me, then, exceeds your concern for the Empire."
    "Sure. You're my dad."
    Seldon looked at Raych fondly, but behind that look he felt a trace of uncertainty¹³. How far could Joranum's nearly hypnotic influence go?

1 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。

2 travesty   

n.歪曲，嘲弄，滑稽化

参考例句：

• The trial was a travesty of justice.这次审判嘲弄了法律的公正性。
• The play was,in their view,a travesty of the truth.这个剧本在他们看来是对事实的歪曲。

3 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

4 dubiously   

adv.可疑地，怀疑地

参考例句：

• "What does he have to do?" queried Chin dubiously. “他有什么心事？”琴向觉民问道，她的脸上现出疑惑不解的神情。 来自汉英文学 - 家（1-26） - 家（1-26）
• He walked out fast, leaving the head waiter staring dubiously at the flimsy blue paper. 他很快地走出去，撇下侍者头儿半信半疑地瞪着这张薄薄的蓝纸。 来自辞典例句

5 admonishing   

v.劝告( admonish的现在分词 )；训诫；（温和地）责备；轻责

参考例句：

• It is waste of time, admonishing you. 劝告你简直是浪费工夫。 来自辞典例句
• To date, the Doctrine of Cheng Fu still exerts its admonishing effect. 时至今日，承负说仍具有警示作用。 来自互联网

6 morass   

n.沼泽，困境

参考例句：

• I tried to drag myself out of the morass of despair.我试图从绝望的困境中走出来。
• Mathematical knowledge was certain and offered a secure foothold in a morass.数学知识是确定无疑的,它给人们在沼泽地上提供了一个稳妥的立足点。

7 stunted   

adj.矮小的；发育迟缓的

参考例句：

• the stunted lives of children deprived of education 未受教育的孩子所过的局限生活
• But the landed oligarchy had stunted the country's democratic development for generations. 但是好几代以来土地寡头的统治阻碍了这个国家民主的发展。

8 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》

9 civilized   

a.有教养的，文雅的

参考例句：

• Racism is abhorrent to a civilized society. 文明社会憎恶种族主义。
• rising crime in our so-called civilized societies 在我们所谓文明社会中日益增多的犯罪行为

10 diluted   

无力的，冲淡的

参考例句：

• The paint can be diluted with water to make a lighter shade. 这颜料可用水稀释以使色度淡一些。
• This pesticide is diluted with water and applied directly to the fields. 这种杀虫剂用水稀释后直接施用在田里。

11 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》

12 loyalty   

n.忠诚，忠心

参考例句：

• She told him the truth from a sense of loyalty.她告诉他真相是出于忠诚。
• His loyalty to his friends was never in doubt.他对朋友的一片忠心从来没受到怀疑。

13 uncertainty   

n.易变，靠不住，不确知，不确定的事物

参考例句：

• Her comments will add to the uncertainty of the situation.她的批评将会使局势更加不稳定。
• After six weeks of uncertainty,the strain was beginning to take its toll.6个星期的忐忑不安后，压力开始产生影响了。