Chapter 3

Hari Seldon surveyed the comfortable suite¹ that had been his personal office at the Galactic Library these past few years. It, like the rest of the Library, had a vague air of decay about it, a kind of weariness-something that had been too long in one place. And yet Seldon knew it might remain here, in the same place, for centuries more-with judicious² rebuildings-for millennia³ even.
    How did he come to be here?
    Over and over again, he felt the past in his mind, ran his mental tendrils along the line of development of his life. It was part of growing older, no doubt. There was so much more in the past, so much less in the future, that the mind turned away from the looming⁴ shadow ahead to contemplate⁵ the safety of what had gone before.
    In his case, though, there was that change. For over thirty years psychohistory had developed in what might almost be considered a straight line-progress creepingly slow but moving straight ahead. Then six years ago there had been a right-angled turn-totally unexpected.
    And Seldon know exactly how it had happened, how a concatenation of events came together to make it possible.
    It was Wanda, of course, Seldon's granddaughter. Hari closed his eyes and settled into his chair to review the events of six years before.
    Twelve-year-old Wanda was bereft⁶. Her mother, Manella, had had another child, another little girl, Bellis, and for a time the new baby was a total preoccupation.
    Her father, Raych, having finished his book on his home sector⁷ of Dahl, found it to be a minor⁸ success and himself a minor celebrity⁹. He was called upon to talk on the subject, something he accepted with alacrity¹⁰, for he was fiercely absorbed in the subject and, as he said to Hari with a grin, "When I talk about Dahl, I don't have to hide my Dahlite accent. In fact, the public expects it of me."
    The net result, though, was that he was away from home a considerable amount of time and when he wasn't, it was the baby he wanted to see.
    As for Dors-Dors was gone-and to Hari Seldon that wound was ever-fresh, ever-painful. And he had reacted to it in an unfortunate manner. It had been Wanda's dream that had set in motion the current of events that had ended with the loss of Dors.
    Wanda had had nothing to do with it-Seldon knew that very well. And yet he found himself shrinking from her, so that he also failed her in the crisis brought about by the birth of the new baby.
    And Wanda wandered disconsolately¹¹ to the one person who always seemed glad to see her, the one person she could always count on. That WAS Yugo Amaryl, second only to Hari Seldon in the development of psychohistory and first in his absolute round-the-clock devotion to it.  Hari had had Dors and Raych, but psychohistory was Yugo's life; he had no wife and children. Yet whenever Wanda came into his presence, something within him recognized her as a child and he dimly felt-for just that moment-a sense of loss that seemed to be assuaged¹² only by showing the child affection. To be sure, he tended to treat her as a rather undersized adult, but Wanda seemed to like that.
    It was six years ago that she had wandered into Yugo's office. Yugo looked up at her with his owlish reconstituted eyes and, as usual, took a moment or two to recognize her.
    Then he said, "Why, it's my dear friend Wanda. -But why do you look so sad? Surely an attractive young woman like you should never feel sad."
    And Wanda, her lower lip trembling, said, "Nobody loves me."
    "Oh come, that's not true."
    "They just love that new baby. They don't care about me anymore."
    "I love you, Wanda."
    "Well, you're the only one then, Uncle Yugo." And even though she could no longer crawl onto his lap as she had when she was younger, she cradled her head on his shoulder and wept.
    Amaryl, totally unaware¹³ of what he should do, could only hug the girl and say, "Don't cry. Don't cry." And out of sheer sympathy and because he had so little in his own life to weep about, he found that tears were trickling¹⁴ down his own cheeks as well.
    And then he said with sudden energy, "Wanda, would you like to see something pretty?"
    "What?" sniffled Wanda.
    Amaryl knew only one thing in life and the Universe that was pretty. He said, "Did you ever see the Prime Radiant?"
    "No. What is it?"
    "It's what your grandfather and I use to do our work. See? It's right here."
    He pointed¹⁵ to the black cube on his desk and Wanda looked at it woefully. "That's not pretty," she said.
    "Not now," agreed Amaryl. "But watch when I turn it on."
    He did so. The room darkened and filled with dots of light and flashes of different colors. "See? Now we can magnify it so all the dots become mathematical symbols."
    And so they did. There seemed a rush of material toward them and there, in the air, were signs of all sorts, letters, numbers, arrows, and shapes that Wanda had never seen before.
    "Isn't it pretty?" asked Amaryl.
    "Yes, it is," said Wanda, staring carefully at the equations that (she didn't know) represented possible futures¹⁶. "I don't like that part, though. I think it's wrong." She pointed at a colorful equation to her left.
    "Wrong? Why do you say it's wrong" said Amaryl, frowning.
    "Because it's not .     pretty. I'd do it a different way."
    Amaryl cleared his throat. "Well, I'll try to fix it up." And he moved closer to the equation in question, staring at it in his owlish fashion.
    Wanda said, "Thank you very much, Uncle Yugo, for showing me your pretty lights. Maybe someday I'll understand what they mean."
    "That's all right," said Amaryl. "I hope you feel better."
    "A little, thanks," and, after flashing the briefest of smiles, she left the room.
    Amaryl stood there, feeling a trifle hurt. He didn't like having the Prime Radiant's product criticized-not even by a twelve-year-old girl who knew no better.
    And as he stood there, he had no idea whatsoever¹⁷ that the psychohistorical revolution had begun.

1 suite   

n.一套(家具)；套房；随从人员

参考例句：

• She has a suite of rooms in the hotel.她在那家旅馆有一套房间。
• That is a nice suite of furniture.那套家具很不错。

2 judicious   

adj.明智的，明断的，能作出明智决定的

参考例句：

• We should listen to the judicious opinion of that old man.我们应该听取那位老人明智的意见。
• A judicious parent encourages his children to make their own decisions.贤明的父亲鼓励儿女自作抉择。

3 millennia   

n.一千年，千禧年

参考例句：

• For two millennia, exogamy was a major transgression for Jews. 两千年来，异族通婚一直是犹太人的一大禁忌。
• In the course of millennia, the dinosaurs died out. 在几千年的时间里，恐龙逐渐死绝了。

4 looming   

n.上现蜃景（光通过低层大气发生异常折射形成的一种海市蜃楼）v.隐约出现，阴森地逼近( loom的现在分词 )；隐约出现，阴森地逼近

参考例句：

• The foothills were looming ahead through the haze. 丘陵地带透过薄雾朦胧地出现在眼前。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Then they looked up. Looming above them was Mount Proteome. 接着他们往上看，在其上隐约看到的是蛋白质组山。 来自英汉非文学 - 生命科学 - 回顾与展望

5 contemplate   

vt.盘算，计议；周密考虑；注视，凝视

参考例句：

• The possibility of war is too horrifying to contemplate.战争的可能性太可怕了，真不堪细想。
• The consequences would be too ghastly to contemplate.后果不堪设想。

6 bereft   

adj.被剥夺的

参考例句：

• The place seemed to be utterly bereft of human life.这个地方似乎根本没有人烟。
• She was bereft of happiness.她失去了幸福。

7 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。

8 minor   

adj.较小(少)的，较次要的；n.辅修学科；vi.辅修

参考例句：

• The young actor was given a minor part in the new play.年轻的男演员在这出新戏里被分派担任一个小角色。
• I gave him a minor share of my wealth.我把小部分财产给了他。

9 celebrity   

n.名人，名流；著名，名声，名望

参考例句：

• Tom found himself something of a celebrity. 汤姆意识到自己已小有名气了。
• He haunted famous men, hoping to get celebrity for himself. 他常和名人在一起, 希望借此使自己获得名气。

10 alacrity   

n.敏捷，轻快，乐意

参考例句：

• Although the man was very old,he still moved with alacrity.他虽然很老，动作仍很敏捷。
• He accepted my invitation with alacrity.他欣然接受我的邀请。

11 disconsolately   

adv.悲伤地，愁闷地；哭丧着脸

参考例句：

• A dilapidated house stands disconsolately amid the rubbles. 一栋破旧的房子凄凉地耸立在断垣残壁中。 来自辞典例句
• \"I suppose you have to have some friends before you can get in,'she added, disconsolately. “我看得先有些朋友才能进这一行，\"她闷闷不乐地加了一句。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹

12 assuaged   

v.减轻( assuage的过去式和过去分词 )；缓和；平息；使安静

参考例句：

• Although my trepidation was not completely assuaged, I was excited. 虽然我的种种担心并没有完全缓和，我还是很激动。 来自互联网
• Rejection (which cannot be assuaged) is another powerful motivator of bullying. （不能缓和的）拒绝是另一个欺负行为的有力动因。 来自互联网

13 unaware   

a.不知道的，未意识到的

参考例句：

• They were unaware that war was near. 他们不知道战争即将爆发。
• I was unaware of the man's presence. 我没有察觉到那人在场。

14 trickling   

n.油画底色含油太多而成泡沫状突起v.滴( trickle的现在分词 )；淌；使)慢慢走；缓慢移动

参考例句：

• Tears were trickling down her cheeks. 眼泪顺着她的面颊流了下来。
• The engine was trickling oil. 发动机在滴油。 来自《简明英汉词典》

15 pointed   

adj.尖的，直截了当的

参考例句：

• He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
• She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。

16 futures   

n.期货，期货交易

参考例句：

• He continued his operations in cotton futures.他继续进行棉花期货交易。
• Cotton futures are selling at high prices.棉花期货交易的卖价是很高的。

17 whatsoever   

adv.（用于否定句中以加强语气）任何；pron.无论什么

参考例句：

• There's no reason whatsoever to turn down this suggestion.没有任何理由拒绝这个建议。
• All things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you,do ye even so to them.你想别人对你怎样，你就怎样对人。