Chapter 16

Raych was listening with an agonized¹ impatience² that he was trying not to show. He was sitting in an improvised³ cell, deep in the warrens of Billibotton, having been accompanied through alleys⁴ he no longer remembered. (He, who in the old days could have threaded those same alleys unerringly and lost any pursuer.)
    The man with him, clad in the green of the Joranumite Guard, was either a missionary⁵, a brainwasher, or a kind of theologian-manque. At any rate, he had announced his name to be Sander Nee and he was delivering a long message in a thick Dahlite accent that he had clearly learned by heart.
    "If the people of Dahl want to enjoy equality, they must show themselves worthy⁶ of it. Good rule, quiet behavior, seemly pleasures are all requirements. Aggressiveness and the bearing of knives are the accusations⁷ others make against us to justify⁸ their intolerance. We must be clean in word and-"
    Raych broke in. "I agree with you, Guardsman Nee, every word. But I must see Mr. Joranum."
    Slowly the guardsman shook his head. "You can't 'less you got some appointment, some permission."
    "Look, I'm the son of an important professor at Streeling University, a mathematics professor."
    "Don't know no professor. -I thought you said you was from Dahl."
    "Of course I am. Can't you tell the way I talk?"
    "And you got an old man who's a professor at a big University? That don't sound likely."
    "Well, he's my foster father."
    The guardsman absorbed that and shook his head. "You know anyone in Dahl?"
    "There's Mother Rittah. She'll know me." (She had been very old when she had known him. She might be senile by now-or dead.)
    "Never heard of her."
    (Who else? He had never known anyone likely to penetrate⁹ the dim consciousness of this man facing him. His best friend had been another youngster named Smoodgie-or at least that was the only name he knew him by. Even in his desperation, Raych could not see himself saying: "Do you know someone my age named Smoodgie?")
    Finally he said, "There's Yugo Amaryl."
    A dim spark seemed to light Nee's eyes. "Who?"
    "Yugo Amaryl," said Raych eagerly. "He works for my foster father at the University."
    "He a Dahlite, too? Everyone at the University Dahlites?"
    "Just he and I. He was a heatsinker."
    "What's he doing at the University?"
    "My father took him out of the heatsinks eight years ago."
    "Well- I'll send someone."
    Raych had to wait. Even if he escaped, where would he go in the intricate alleyways of Billibotton without being picked up instantly?
    Twenty minutes passed before Nee returned with the corporal who had arrested Raych in the first place. Raych felt a little hope; the corporal, at least, might conceivably have some brains.
    The corporal said, "Who is this Dahlite you know?"
    "Yugo Amaryl, Corporal, a heatsinker who my father found here in Dahl eight years ago and took to Streeling University with him."
    "Why did he do that?"
    "My father thought Yugo could do more important things than heatsink, Corporal."
    "Like what?"
    "Mathematics. He-"
    The corporal held up his hand. "What heatsink did he work in?"
    Raych thought for a moment. "I was only a kid then, but it was at C-2, I think."
    "Close enough. C-3."
    "Then you know about him, Corporal?"
    "Not personally, but the story is famous in the heatsinks and I've worked there, too. And maybe that's how you've heard of it. Have you any evidence that you really know Yugo Amaryl?"
    "Look. Let me tell you what I'd like to do. I'm going to write down my name on a piece of paper and my father's name. Then I'm going to write down one word. Get in touch-any way you want-with some official in Mr. Joranum's group-Mr. Joranum will be here in Dahl tomorrow-and just read him my name, my father's name, and the one word. If nothing happens, then I'll stay here till I rot, I suppose, but I don't think that will happen. In fact, I'm sure that they will get me out of here in three seconds and that you'll get a promotion¹⁰ for passing along the information. If you refuse to do this, when they find out I am here-and they will-you will be in the deepest possible trouble. After all, if you know that Yugo Amaryl went off with a big-shot mathematician¹¹, just tell yourself that same big-shot mathematician is my father. His name is Hari Seldon."
    The corporal's face showed clearly that the name was not unknown to him.
    He said, "What's the one word you're going to write down?"
    "Psychohistory."
    The corporal frowned. "What's that?"
    "That doesn't matter. Just pass it along and see what happens."
    The corporal handed him a small sheet of paper, torn out of a notebook. "All right. Write it down and we'll see what happens."
    Raych realized that he was trembling. He wanted very much to know what would happen. It depended entirely¹² on who it was that the corporal would talk to and what magic the word would carry with it.

1 agonized   

v.使（极度）痛苦，折磨( agonize的过去式和过去分词 )；苦斗；苦苦思索；感到极度痛苦

参考例句：

• All the time they agonized and prayed. 他们一直在忍受痛苦并且祈祷。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• She agonized herself with the thought of her loss. 她念念不忘自己的损失，深深陷入痛苦之中。 来自辞典例句

2 impatience   

n.不耐烦，急躁

参考例句：

• He expressed impatience at the slow rate of progress.进展缓慢，他显得不耐烦。
• He gave a stamp of impatience.他不耐烦地跺脚。

3 improvised   

a.即席而作的,即兴的

参考例句：

• He improvised a song about the football team's victory. 他即席创作了一首足球队胜利之歌。
• We improvised a tent out of two blankets and some long poles. 我们用两条毛毯和几根长竿搭成一个临时帐蓬。

4 alleys   

胡同，小巷( alley的名词复数 )； 小径

参考例句：

• I followed him through a maze of narrow alleys. 我紧随他穿过一条条迂迴曲折的窄巷。
• The children lead me through the maze of alleys to the edge of the city. 孩子们领我穿过迷宫一般的街巷，来到城边。

5 missionary   

adj.教会的，传教(士)的；n.传教士

参考例句：

• She taught in a missionary school for a couple of years.她在一所教会学校教了两年书。
• I hope every member understands the value of missionary work. 我希望教友都了解传教工作的价值。

6 worthy   

adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的

参考例句：

• I did not esteem him to be worthy of trust.我认为他不值得信赖。
• There occurred nothing that was worthy to be mentioned.没有值得一提的事发生。

7 accusations   

n.指责( accusation的名词复数 )；指控；控告；（被告发、控告的）罪名

参考例句：

• There were accusations of plagiarism. 曾有过关于剽窃的指控。
• He remained unruffled by their accusations. 对于他们的指控他处之泰然。

8 justify   

vt.证明…正当(或有理)，为…辩护

参考例句：

• He tried to justify his absence with lame excuses.他想用站不住脚的借口为自己的缺席辩解。
• Can you justify your rude behavior to me?你能向我证明你的粗野行为是有道理的吗？

9 penetrate   

v.透(渗)入；刺入，刺穿；洞察，了解

参考例句：

• Western ideas penetrate slowly through the East.西方观念逐渐传入东方。
• The sunshine could not penetrate where the trees were thickest.阳光不能透入树木最浓密的地方。

10 promotion   

n.提升，晋级；促销，宣传

参考例句：

• The teacher conferred with the principal about Dick's promotion.教师与校长商谈了迪克的升级问题。
• The clerk was given a promotion and an increase in salary.那个职员升了级，加了薪。

11 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。

12 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。