Chapter 17

Hari Seldon watched the raindrops form on the wraparound windows of the Imperial ground-car and a sense of nostalgia¹ stabbed at him unbearably².
    It was only the second time in his eight years on Trantor that he had been ordered to visit the Emperor in the only open land on the planet-and both times the weather had been bad. The first time, shortly after he had arrived on Trantor, the bad weather had merely irritated him. He had found no novelty in it. His home world of Helicon had its share of storms, after all, particularly in the area where he had been brought up.
    But now he had lived for eight years in make-believe weather, in which storms consisted of computerized cloudiness at random³ intervals⁴, with regular light rains during the sleeping hours. Raging winds were replaced by zephyrs⁵ and there were no extremes of heat and cold-merely little changes that made you unzip the front of your shirt once in a while or throw on a light jacket. And he had heard complaints about even so mild a deviation⁶.
    But now Hari was seeing real rain coming down drearily⁷ from a cold sky-and he had not seen such a thing in years-and he loved it; that was the thing. It reminded him of Helicon, of his youth, of relatively⁸ carefree days, and he wondered if he might persuade the driver to take the long way to the Palace.
    Impossible! The Emperor wanted to see him and it was a long enough trip by ground-car, even if one went in a straight line with no interfering⁹ traffic. The Emperor, of course, would not wait.
    It was a different Cleon from the one Seldon had seen eight years before. He had put on about ten pounds and there was a sulkiness about his face. Yet the skin around his eyes and cheeks looked pinched and Hari recognized the results of one too many microadjustments. In a way, Seldon felt sorry for Cleon-for all his might and Imperial sway, the Emperor was powerless against the passage of time.
    Once again Cleon met Hari Seldon alone-in the same lavishly¹⁰ furnished room of their first encounter. As was the custom, Seldon waited to be addressed.
    After briefly¹¹ assessing Seldon's appearance, the Emperor said in an ordinary voice, "Glad to see you, Professor. Let us dispense¹² with formalities, as we did on the former occasion on which I met you."
    "Yes, Sire," said Seldon stiffly. It was not always safe to be informal, merely because the Emperor ordered you to be so in an effusive¹³ moment.
    Cleon gestured imperceptibly and at once the room came alive with automation as the table set itself and dishes began to appear. Seldon, confused, could not follow the details.
    The Emperor said casually¹⁴, "You will dine with me, Seldon?"
    It had the formal intonation¹⁵ of a question but the force, somehow, of an order.
    "I would be honored, Sire," said Seldon. He looked around cautiously. He knew very well that one did not (or, at any rate, should not) ask questions of the Emperor, but he saw no way out of it. He said, rather quietly, trying to make it not sound like a question, "The First Minister will not dine with us?"
    "He will not," said Cleon. "He has other tasks at this moment and I wish, in any case, to speak to you privately¹⁶."
    They ate quietly for a while, Cleon gazing at him fixedly¹⁷ and Seldon smiling tentatively. Cleon had no reputation for cruelty or even for irresponsibility, but he could, in theory, have Seldon arrested on some vague charge and, if the Emperor wished to exert his influence, the case might never come to trial. It was always best to avoid notice and at the moment Seldon couldn't manage it.
    Surely it had been worse eight years ago, when he had been brought to the Palace under armed guard. -This fact did not make Seldon feel relieved, however.
    Then Cleon spoke¹⁸. "Seldon" he said. "The First Minister is of great use to me, yet I feel that, at times, people may think I do not have a mind of my own. Do you think that?"
    "Never, Sire," said Seldon calmly. No use protesting too much.
    "I don't believe you. However, I do have a mind of my own and I recall that when you first came to Trantor you had this psychohistory thing you were playing with."
    "I'm sure you also remember, Sire," said Seldon softly, "that I explained at the time it was a mathematical theory without practical application."
    "So you said. Do you still say so?"
    "Yes, Sire."
    "Have you been working on it since?"
    "On occasion I toy with it, but it comes to nothing. Chaos¹⁹ unfortunately interferes²⁰ and predictability is not-"
    The Emperor interrupted. "There is a specific problem I wish you to tackle. -Do help yourself to the dessert, Seldon. It is very good."
    "What is the problem, Sire?"
    "This man Joranum. Demerzel tells me-oh, so politely-that I cannot arrest this man and I cannot use armed force to crush his followers²¹. He says it will simply make the situation worse."
    "If the First Minister says so, I presume it is so."
    "But I do not want this man Joranum .       At any rate, I will not be his puppet. Demerzel does nothing."
    "I am sure that he is doing what he can, Sire."
    "If he is working to alleviate²² the problem, he certainly is not keeping me informed."
    "That may be, Sire, out of a natural desire to keep you above the fray²³. The First Minister may feel that if Joranum should-if he should-"
    "Take over," said Cleon with a tone of infinite distaste.
    "Yes, Sire. It would not be wise to have it appear that you were personally opposed to him. You must remain untouched for the sake of the stability of the Empire."
    "I would much rather assure the stability of the Empire without Joranum. What do you suggest, Seldon?"
    "I, Sire?"
    "You, Seldon," said Cleon impatiently. "Let me say that I don't believe you when you say that psychohistory is just a game. Demerzel stays friendly with you. Do you think I am such an idiot as not to know that? He expects something from you. He expects psychohistory from you and since I am no fool, I expect it, too. -Seldon, are you for Joranum? The truth!"
    "No, Sire, I am not for him. I consider him an utter danger to the Empire."
    "Very well, I believe you. You stopped a potential Joranumite riot at your University grounds single-handedly, I understand."
    "It was pure impulse on my part, Sire."
    "Tell that to fools, not to me. You had worked it out by psychohistory."
    "Sire!"
    "Don't protest. What are you doing about Joranum? You must be doing something if you are on the side of the Empire."
    "Sire," said Seldon cautiously, uncertain as to how much the Emperor knew. "I have sent my son to meet with Joranum in the Dahl Sector²⁴."
    "Why?"
    "My son is a Dahlite-and shrewd. He may discover something of use to us."
    "May?"
    "Only may, Sire."
    "You'll keep me informed?"
    "Yes, Sire."
    "And, Seldon, do not tell me that psychohistory is just a game, that it does not exist. I do not want to hear that. I expect you to do something about Joranum. What it might be, I can't say, but you must do something. I will not have it otherwise. You may go."
    Seldon returned to Streeling University in a far darker mood than when he had left. Cleon had sounded as though he would not accept failure.
    It all depended on Raych now.
   

1 nostalgia   

n.怀乡病，留恋过去，怀旧

参考例句：

• He might be influenced by nostalgia for his happy youth.也许是对年轻时幸福时光的怀恋影响了他。
• I was filled with nostalgia by hearing my favourite old song.我听到这首喜爱的旧歌，心中充满了怀旧之情。

2 unbearably   

adv.不能忍受地，无法容忍地；慌

参考例句：

• It was unbearably hot in the car. 汽车里热得难以忍受。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• She found it unbearably painful to speak. 她发现开口说话痛苦得令人难以承受。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 random   

adj.随机的；任意的；n.偶然的(或随便的)行动

参考例句：

• The list is arranged in a random order.名单排列不分先后。
• On random inspection the meat was found to be bad.经抽查，发现肉变质了。

4 intervals   

n.[军事]间隔( interval的名词复数 )；间隔时间；[数学]区间；（戏剧、电影或音乐会的）幕间休息

参考例句：

• The forecast said there would be sunny intervals and showers. 预报间晴，有阵雨。
• Meetings take place at fortnightly intervals. 每两周开一次会。

5 zephyrs   

n.和风，微风( zephyr的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• If you but smile, spring zephyrs blow through my spirits, wondrously. 假使你只是仅仅对我微笑，春天的和风就会惊奇的吹过我的心灵间。 来自互联网

6 deviation   

n.背离，偏离；偏差，偏向；离题

参考例句：

• Deviation from this rule are very rare.很少有违反这条规则的。
• Any deviation from the party's faith is seen as betrayal.任何对党的信仰的偏离被视作背叛。

7 drearily   

沉寂地，厌倦地，可怕地

参考例句：

• "Oh, God," thought Scarlett drearily, "that's just the trouble. "啊，上帝！" 思嘉沮丧地想，"难就难在这里呀。
• His voice was utterly and drearily expressionless. 他的声调，阴沉沉的，干巴巴的，完全没有感情。

8 relatively   

adv.比较...地，相对地

参考例句：

• The rabbit is a relatively recent introduction in Australia.兔子是相对较新引入澳大利亚的物种。
• The operation was relatively painless.手术相对来说不痛。

9 interfering   

adj. 妨碍的 动词interfere的现在分词

参考例句：

• He's an interfering old busybody! 他老爱管闲事！
• I wish my mother would stop interfering and let me make my own decisions. 我希望我母亲不再干预，让我自己拿主意。

10 lavishly   

adv.慷慨地，大方地

参考例句：

• His house was lavishly adorned.他的屋子装饰得很华丽。
• The book is lavishly illustrated in full colour.这本书里有大量全彩插图。

11 briefly   

adv.简单地，简短地

参考例句：

• I want to touch briefly on another aspect of the problem.我想简单地谈一下这个问题的另一方面。
• He was kidnapped and briefly detained by a terrorist group.他被一个恐怖组织绑架并短暂拘禁。

12 dispense   

vt.分配，分发；配(药)，发(药)；实施

参考例句：

• Let us dispense the food.咱们来分发这食物。
• The charity has been given a large sum of money to dispense as it sees fit.这个慈善机构获得一大笔钱，可自行适当分配。

13 effusive   

adj.热情洋溢的；感情(过多)流露的

参考例句：

• Every visitor noticed that her effusive welcome was not sincere.所有的客人都看出来她那过分热情的欢迎是不真诚的。
• Her effusive thanks embarrassed everybody.她道谢时非常激动，弄得大家不好意思。

14 casually   

adv.漠不关心地，无动于衷地，不负责任地

参考例句：

• She remarked casually that she was changing her job.她当时漫不经心地说要换工作。
• I casually mentioned that I might be interested in working abroad.我不经意地提到我可能会对出国工作感兴趣。

15 intonation   

n.语调，声调；发声

参考例句：

• The teacher checks for pronunciation and intonation.老师在检查发音和语调。
• Questions are spoken with a rising intonation.疑问句是以升调说出来的。

16 privately   

adv.以私人的身份，悄悄地，私下地

参考例句：

• Some ministers admit privately that unemployment could continue to rise.一些部长私下承认失业率可能继续升高。
• The man privately admits that his motive is profits.那人私下承认他的动机是为了牟利。

17 fixedly   

adv.固定地；不屈地，坚定不移地

参考例句：

• He stared fixedly at the woman in white. 他一直凝视着那穿白衣裳的女人。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The great majority were silent and still, looking fixedly at the ground. 绝大部分的人都不闹不动，呆呆地望着地面。 来自英汉文学 - 双城记

18 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。

19 chaos   

n.混乱，无秩序

参考例句：

• After the failure of electricity supply the city was in chaos.停电后，城市一片混乱。
• The typhoon left chaos behind it.台风后一片混乱。

20 interferes   

vi. 妨碍，冲突，干涉

参考例句：

• The noise interferes with my work. 这噪音妨碍我的工作。
• That interferes with my plan. 那干扰了我的计划。

21 followers   

追随者( follower的名词复数 )； 用户； 契据的附面； 从动件

参考例句：

• the followers of Mahatma Gandhi 圣雄甘地的拥护者
• The reformer soon gathered a band of followers round him. 改革者很快就获得一群追随者支持他。

22 alleviate   

v.减轻，缓和，缓解(痛苦等)

参考例句：

• The doctor gave her an injection to alleviate the pain.医生给她注射以减轻疼痛。
• Nothing could alleviate his distress.什么都不能减轻他的痛苦。

23 fray   

v.争吵；打斗；磨损，磨破；n.吵架；打斗

参考例句：

• Why should you get involved in their fray?你为什么要介入他们的争吵呢？
• Tempers began to fray in the hot weather.大热天脾气烦燥。

24 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。