Chapter 22

Yugo Amaryl said, "Here you are again, Dors."
    "Sorry, Yugo. I'm bothering you twice this week. Actually you don't see anyone very often, do you?"
    Amaryl said, "I don't encourage people to visit me, no. They tend to interrupt me and break my line of thought. -Not you, Dors. You're altogether special, you and Hari. There's never a day I don't remember what you two have done for me."
    Dors waved her hand. "Forget it, Yugo. You've worked hard for Hari and any trifling¹ kindness we did for you has long been overpaid. How is the Project going? Hari never talks about it-not to me, anyway."
    Amaryl's face lightened and his whole body seemed to take on an infusion² of life. "Very well. Very well. It's difficult to talk about it without mathematics, but the progress we've made in the last two years is amazing-more than in all the time before that. It's as though, after we've been hammering away and hammering away, things have finally begun to break loose."
    "I've been hearing that the new equations worked out by Dr. Elar have helped the situation."
    "The achaotic equations? Yes. Enormously."
    "And the Electro-Clarifier has been helpful, too. I spoke³ to the woman who designed it."
    "Cinda Monay?"
    "Yes. That's the one."
    "A very clever woman. We're fortunate to have her."
    "Tell me, Yugo- You work at the Prime Radiant virtually all the time, don't you?"
    "I'm more or less constantly studying it. Yes."
    "And you study it with the Electro-Clarifier."
    "Certainly."
    "Don't you ever think of taking a vacation, Yugo?"
    Amaryl looked at her owlishly, blinking slowly. "A vacation?"
    "Yes. Surely you've heard the word. You know what a vacation is."
    "Why should I take a vacation?"
    "Because you seem dreadfully tired to me."
    "A little, now and then. But I don't want to leave the work."
    "Do you feel more tired now than you used to?"
    "A little. I'm getting older, Dors."
    "You're only forty-nine."
    "That's still older than I've ever been before."
    "Well, let it go. Tell me, Yugo-just to change the subject. How is Hari doing at his work? You've been with him so long that no one could possibly know him better than you do. Not even I. At least, as far as his work is concerned."
    "He's doing very well, Dors. I see no change in him. He still has the quickest and brightest brain in the place. Age is having no effect on him -at least, not so far."
    "That's good to hear. I'm afraid that his own opinion of himself is not as high as yours is. He's not taking his age well. We had a difficult time getting him to celebrate his recent birthday. Were you at the festivities, by the way? I didn't see you."
    "I attended part of the time. But, you know, parties of that kind are not the sort of thing I feel at home with."
    "Do you think Hari is wearing out? I'm not referring to his mental brilliance⁴. I'm referring to his physical capacities. In your opinion, is he growing tired-too tired to bear up under his responsibilities?"
    Amaryl looked astonished. "I never gave it any thought. I can't imagine him growing tired."
    "He may be, just the same. I think he has the impulse, now and then, to give up his post and hand the task over to some younger man."
    Amaryl sat back in his chair and put down the graphic⁵ stylus he had been fiddling⁶ with ever since Dors had entered. "What! That's ridiculous! Impossible!"
    "Are you sure?"
    "Absolutely. He certainly wouldn't consider such a thing without discussing it with me. And he hasn't."
    "Be reasonable, Yugo. Hari is exhausted⁷. He tries not to show it, but he is. What if he does decide to retire? What would become of the Project? What would become of psychohistory?"
    Amaryl's eyes narrowed. "Are you joking, Dors?"
    "No. I'm just trying to look into the future."
    "Surely, if Hari retires, I succeed to the post. He and I ran the Project for years before anyone else joined us. He and I. No one else. Except for him, no one knows the Project as I do. I'm amazed you don't take my succession for granted, Dors."
    Dors said, "There's no question in my mind or in anyone else's that you are the logical successor, but do you want to be? You may know everything about psychohistory, but do you want to throw yourself into the politics and complexities⁸ of a large Project and abandon much of your work in order to do so? Actually it's trying to keep everything moving smoothly⁹ that's been wearing Hari down. Can you take on that part of the job?"
    "Yes, I can and it's not something I intend to discuss. -Look here, Dors. Did you come here to break the news that Hari intends to ease me out?"
    Dors said, "Certainly not! How could you think that of Hari! Have you ever known him to turn on a friend?"
    "Very well, then. Let's drop the subject. Really, Dors, if you don't mind, there are things I must do." Abruptly¹⁰ he turned away from her and bent¹¹ over his work once more.
    "Of course. I didn't mean to take up this much of your time."
    Dors left, frowning.
   

1 trifling   

adj.微不足道的；没什么价值的

参考例句：

• They quarreled over a trifling matter.他们为这种微不足道的事情争吵。
• So far Europe has no doubt, gained a real conveniency,though surely a very trifling one.直到现在为止,欧洲无疑地已经获得了实在的便利，不过那确是一种微不足道的便利。

2 infusion   

n.灌输

参考例句：

• Old families need an infusion of new blood from time to time.古老的家族需要不时地注入新鲜血液。
• Careful observation of the infusion site is necessary.必须仔细观察输液部位。

3 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。

4 brilliance   

n.光辉，辉煌，壮丽，（卓越的）才华，才智

参考例句：

• I was totally amazed by the brilliance of her paintings.她的绘画才能令我惊歎不已。
• The gorgeous costume added to the brilliance of the dance.华丽的服装使舞蹈更加光彩夺目。

5 graphic   

adj.生动的，形象的，绘画的，文字的，图表的

参考例句：

• The book gave a graphic description of the war.这本书生动地描述了战争的情况。
• Distinguish important text items in lists with graphic icons.用图标来区分重要的文本项。

6 fiddling   

微小的

参考例句：

• He was fiddling with his keys while he talked to me. 和我谈话时他不停地摆弄钥匙。
• All you're going to see is a lot of fiddling around. 你今天要看到的只是大量的胡摆乱弄。 来自英汉文学 - 廊桥遗梦

7 exhausted   

adj.极其疲惫的，精疲力尽的

参考例句：

• It was a long haul home and we arrived exhausted.搬运回家的这段路程特别长，到家时我们已筋疲力尽。
• Jenny was exhausted by the hustle of city life.珍妮被城市生活的忙乱弄得筋疲力尽。

8 complexities   

复杂性(complexity的名词复数)； 复杂的事物

参考例句：

• The complexities of life bothered him. 生活的复杂使他困惑。
• The complexities of life bothered me. 生活的杂乱事儿使我心烦。

9 smoothly   

adv.平滑地，顺利地，流利地，流畅地

参考例句：

• The workmen are very cooperative,so the work goes on smoothly.工人们十分合作，所以工作进展顺利。
• Just change one or two words and the sentence will read smoothly.这句话只要动一两个字就顺了。

10 abruptly   

adv.突然地，出其不意地

参考例句：

• He gestured abruptly for Virginia to get in the car.他粗鲁地示意弗吉尼亚上车。
• I was abruptly notified that a half-hour speech was expected of me.我突然被通知要讲半个小时的话。

11 bent   

n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的

参考例句：

• He was fully bent upon the project.他一心扑在这项计划上。
• We bent over backward to help them.我们尽了最大努力帮助他们。