Aside from his natural concern for Raych's safety (surely he would hear if something really bad had happened), there was his uneasiness over what might be planned.
It would have to be subtle. A direct attack on the Palace itself was totally out of the question. Security there was far too tight. But if so, what else could be planned that would be sufficiently1 effective?
The whole thing was keeping him awake at night and distracted by day.
The signal light flashed.
"First Minister. Your two o'clock appointment, sir-"
"What two o'clock appointment is this?"
"Mandell Gruber, the gardener. He has the necessary certification."
Seldon remembered. "Yes. Send him in."
This was no time to see Gruber, but he had agreed to it in a moment of weakness-the man had seemed distraught. A First Minister should not have such moments of weakness, but Seldon had been Seldon long before he had become First :Minister.
"Come in, Gruber," he said kindly2.
Gruber stood before him, head ducking mechanically, eyes darting3 this way and that. Seldon was quite certain the gardener had never been in any room as magnificent as this one and he had the bitter urge to say: "Do you like it? Please take it. I don't want it."
But he only said, "What is it, Gruber? Why are you so unhappy"
There was no immediate4 answer; Gruber merely smiled vacantly.
Seldon said, "Sit down, man. Right there in that chair."
"Oh no, First Minister. It would not be fitting. I'll get it dirty."
"If you do, it will be easy to clean. Do as I say. -Good! Now just sit there a minute or two and gather your thoughts. Then, when you are ready, tell me what's the matter."
Gruber sat silent for a moment, then the words came out in a panting rush. "First Minister. It is Chief Gardener I am to be. The blessed Emperor himself told me so."
"Yes, I have heard of that, but that surely isn't what is troubling you. Your new post is a matter of congratulations and I do congratulate you. I may even have contributed to it, Gruber. I have never forgotten your bravery at the time I was nearly killed and you can be sure I mentioned it to His Imperial Majesty5. It is a suitable reward, Gruber, and you would deserve the promotion6 in any case, for it is quite clear from your record that you are fully7 qualified8 for the post. So, now that that's out of the way, tell me what is troubling you."
"First Minister, it is the very post and promotion that's troubling me. It is something I cannot manage, for I am not qualified."
"We are convinced you are."
Gruber grew agitated9. "And is it in an office I will have to sit? I can't sit in an office. I could not go out in the open air and work with the plants and animals. I would be in prison, First Minister."
Seldon's eyes opened wide. "No such thing, Gruber. You needn't stay in the office longer than you have to. You could wander around the grounds freely, supervising everything. You will have all the outdoors you want and you will merely spare yourself the hard work."
"I want the hard work, First Minister, and it's no chance at all they will let me come out of the office. I have watched the present Chief Gardener. He couldn't leave his office, though he wanted to, ever so. There is too much administration, too much bookkeeping. Sure, if he wants to know what is going on, we must go to his office to tell him. He watches things on holovision "-he said with infinite contempt "as though you can tell anything about growing, living things from pictures. It is not for me, First Minister."
"Come, Gruber, be a man. It's not all that bad. You'll get used to it. You'll work your way in slowly."
Gruber shook his head. "First off-at the very first-I will have to deal with all the new gardeners. I'll be buried." Then, with sudden energy, "It is a job I do not want and must not have, First Minister."
"Right now, Gruber, perhaps you don't want the job, but you are not alone. I'll tell you that right now I wish I were not First Minister. This job is too much for me. I even have a notion that there are times when the Emperor himself is tired of his Imperial robes. We're all in this Galaxy10 to do our work and the work isn't always pleasant."
"I understand that, First Minister, but the Emperor must be Emperor, for he was born to that. And you must be First Minister, for there is no one else who can do the job. But in my case, it is just Chief Gardener we are ruminating11 upon. There are fifty gardeners in the place who could do it as well as I could and who wouldn't mind the office. You say that you spoke12 to the Emperor about how I tried to help you. Can't you speak to him again and explain that if he wants to reward me for what I did, he can leave me as I am?"
Seldon leaned back in his chair and said solemnly, "Gruber, I would do that for you if I could, but I must explain something to you and I can only hope that you will understand it. The Emperor, in theory, is absolute ruler of the Empire. In actual fact, there is very little he can do. I run the Empire right now much more than he does and there is very little I can do, too. There are millions and billions of people at all levels of government, all making decisions, all making mistakes, some acting13 wisely and heroically, some acting foolishly and thievishly. There's no controlling them. Do you understand me, Gruber?"
"I do, but what has this to do with my case?"
"Because there is only one place where the Emperor is really absolute ruler-and that is over the Imperial grounds. Here, his word is law and the layers of officials beneath him are few enough for him to handle. For him to be asked to rescind14 a decision he has made in connection with the Imperial Palace grounds would be to invade the only area that he would consider inviolate15. If I were to say, `Take back your decision on Gruber, Your Imperial Majesty,' he would be much more likely to relieve me of my duties than to take back his decision. That might be a good thing for me, but it wouldn't help you any."
Gruber said, "Does that mean there's no way things can be changed?"
"That's exactly what it means. But don't worry, Gruber, I'll help you all I can. I'm sorry. But now I have really spent all the time with you that I am able to spare."
Gruber rose to his feet. In his hands he twisted his green gardening cap. There was more than a suspicion of tears in his eyes. "Thank you, First Minister. I know you would like to help. You're-you're a good man, First Minister."
He turned and left, sorrowing.
Seldon looked after him thoughtfully and shook his head. Multiply Gruber's woes16 by a quadrillion and you would have the woes of all the people of the twenty-five million worlds of the Empire and how was he, Seldon, to work out salvation17 for all of them, when he was helpless to solve the problem of one single man who had come to him for help?
Psychohistory could not save one man. Could it save a quadrillion?
He shook his head again, checked the nature and time of his next appointment, and then suddenly stiffened18. He shouted into his communications wire in sudden wild abandon, quite unlike his usually strict control. "Get that gardener back! Get him back here right now!"
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1
sufficiently
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| adv.足够地，充分地 | |
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2
kindly
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| adj.和蔼的，温和的，爽快的；adv.温和地，亲切地 | |
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3
darting
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| v.投掷，投射( dart的现在分词 )；向前冲，飞奔 | |
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immediate
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| adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的 | |
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majesty
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| n.雄伟，壮丽，庄严，威严；最高权威，王权 | |
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promotion
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| n.提升，晋级；促销，宣传 | |
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7
fully
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| adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地 | |
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8
qualified
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| adj.合格的，有资格的，胜任的，有限制的 | |
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agitated
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| adj.被鼓动的，不安的 | |
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galaxy
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| n.星系；银河系；一群(杰出或著名的人物) | |
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11
ruminating
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| v.沉思( ruminate的现在分词 )；反复考虑；反刍；倒嚼 | |
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12
spoke
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| 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 | |
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13
acting
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| n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的 | |
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14
rescind
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| v.废除，取消 | |
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15
inviolate
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| adj.未亵渎的，未受侵犯的 | |
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16
woes
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| 困境( woe的名词复数 )； 悲伤； 我好苦哇； 某人就要倒霉 | |
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17
salvation
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| n.（尤指基督）救世，超度，拯救，解困 | |
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18
stiffened
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| 加强的 | |
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