Chapter 10

Gennaro Mummery was making him wait. It was a studied discourtesy, even insolence¹, but Hari Seldon remained calm.
    After all, Seldon needed Mummery badly and for him to become angry with the Librarian would only hurt himself. Mummery would, in fact, be delighted with an angry Seldon.
    So Seldon kept his temper and waited and eventually Mummery did walk in. Seldon had seen him before-but only at a distance. This was the first time they would be together alone.
    Mummery was short and plump, with a round face and a dark little beard. He wore a smile on his face, but Seldon suspected that smile of being a meaningless fixture³. It revealed yellowish teeth and Mummery's inevitable⁴ hat was of a similar shade of yellow with a brown line snaking around it.
    Seldon felt a touch of nausea⁵. It seemed to him that he would dislike Mummery, even if he had no reason to do so.
    Mummery said, without any preliminaries, "Well, Professor, what can I do for you?" He looked at the time-strip on the wall but made no apology for being late.
    Seldon said, "I would like to ask you, sir, to put an end to your opposition⁶ to my remaining here at the Library."
    Mummery spread his hands. "You've been here for two years. What Opposition are you speaking of?"
    "So far, that portion of the Board represented by you and those who believe as you do have been unable to outvote the Chief Librarian, but there will be another meeting next month and Las Zenow tells me he is uncertain of the result."
    Mummery shrugged⁷. "So am I uncertain. Your lease-if we can call it that-may well be renewed."
    "But I need more than that, Librarian Mummery. I wish to bring in some colleagues. The project in which I am engaged-the establishment of what is needed in the way of the eventual² preparation of a very special Encyclopedia-is not one I can do alone."
    "Surely your colleagues can work wherever they please. Trantor is a large world."
    "We must work in the Library. I am an old man, sir, and I am in a hurry."
    "Who can stay the advance of time? I don't think the Board will allow you to bring in colleagues. The thin edge of the wedge, Professor?"
    (Yes, indeed, thought Seldon, but he said nothing.)
    Mummery said, "I have not been able to keep you out, Professor. Not so far. But I think I can continue to keep out your colleagues."
    Seldon realized that he was getting nowhere. He opened the touch of frankness a notch⁸. He said, "Librarian Mummery, surely your animosity toward me is not personal. Surely you understand the importance of the work I am doing."
    "You mean, your psychohistory. Come, you have been working on it for over thirty years. What has come of it?"
    "That's the point. Something may come of it now."
    "Then let something come of it at Streeling University. Why must it be at the Galactic Library?"
    "Librarian Mummery. Listen to me. What you want is to close the Library to the public. You wish to smash a long tradition. Have you the heart to do that?"
    "It's not heart we need. It's funding. Surely the Chief Librarian has wept on your shoulder in telling you our woes⁹. Appropriations¹⁰ are down, salaries are cut, needed maintenance is absent. What are we to do? We've got to cut services and we certainly can't afford to support you and your colleagues with offices and equipment."
    "Has this situation been put to the Emperor?"
    "Come, Professor, you're dreaming. Isn't it true that your psychohistory tells you that the Empire is deteriorating¹¹? I've heard you referred to as Raven¹² Seldon, something that, I believe, refers to a fabled¹³ bird of ill omen¹⁴."
    "It's true that we are entering bad times."
    "And do you believe the Library is immune to those bad times? Professor, the Library is my life and I want it to continue, but it won't continue unless we can find ways of making our dwindling¹⁵ appropriations do. -And you come here expecting an open Library, with yourself as beneficiary. It won't do, Professor. It just won't do."
    Seldon said desperately¹⁶, "What if I find the credits for you?"
    "Indeed. How?"
    "What if I talk to the Emperor? I was once First Minister. He'll see me and he'll listen to me."
    "And you'll get funding from him?" Mummery laughed.
    "If I do, if I increase your appropriations, may I bring in my colleagues?"
    "Bring in the credits first," said Mummery, "and we'll see. But I don't think you will succeed."
    He seemed very sure of himself and Seldon wondered how often and how uselessly the Galactic Library had already appealed to the Emperor.
    And whether his own appeal would get anywhere at all.

1 insolence   

n.傲慢；无礼；厚颜；傲慢的态度

参考例句：

• I've had enough of your insolence, and I'm having no more. 我受够了你的侮辱，不能再容忍了。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• How can you suffer such insolence? 你怎么能容忍这种蛮横的态度？ 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 eventual   

adj.最后的，结局的，最终的

参考例句：

• Several schools face eventual closure.几所学校面临最终关闭。
• Both parties expressed optimism about an eventual solution.双方对问题的最终解决都表示乐观。

3 fixture   

n.固定设备；预定日期；比赛时间；定期存款

参考例句：

• Lighting fixture must be installed at once.必须立即安装照明设备。
• The cordless kettle may now be a fixture in most kitchens.无绳电热水壶现在可能是多数厨房的固定设备。

4 inevitable   

adj.不可避免的，必然发生的

参考例句：

• Mary was wearing her inevitable large hat.玛丽戴着她总是戴的那顶大帽子。
• The defeat had inevitable consequences for British policy.战败对英国政策不可避免地产生了影响。

5 nausea   

n.作呕，恶心；极端的憎恶(或厌恶)

参考例句：

• Early pregnancy is often accompanied by nausea.怀孕期常有恶心的现象。
• He experienced nausea after eating octopus.吃了章鱼后他感到恶心。

6 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

7 shrugged   

vt.耸肩（shrug的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• Sam shrugged and said nothing. 萨姆耸耸肩膀，什么也没说。
• She shrugged, feigning nonchalance. 她耸耸肩，装出一副无所谓的样子。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 notch   

n.(V字形)槽口，缺口，等级

参考例句：

• The peanuts they grow are top-notch.他们种的花生是拔尖的。
• He cut a notch in the stick with a sharp knife.他用利刃在棒上刻了一个凹痕。

9 woes   

困境( woe的名词复数 )； 悲伤； 我好苦哇； 某人就要倒霉

参考例句：

• Thanks for listening to my woes. 谢谢您听我诉说不幸的遭遇。
• She has cried the blues about its financial woes. 对于经济的困难她叫苦不迭。

10 appropriations   

n.挪用（appropriation的复数形式）

参考例句：

• More commonly, funding controls are imposed in the annual appropriations process. 更普遍的作法是，拨款控制被规定在年度拨款手续中。 来自英汉非文学 - 行政法
• Should the president veto the appropriations bill, it goes back to Congress. 假如总统否决了这项拨款提案，就把它退还给国会。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件

11 deteriorating   

恶化，变坏( deteriorate的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The weather conditions are deteriorating. 天气变得越来越糟。
• I was well aware of the bad morale and the deteriorating factories. 我很清楚，大家情绪低落，各个工厂越搞越坏。

12 raven   

n.渡鸟，乌鸦；adj.乌亮的

参考例句：

• We know the raven will never leave the man's room.我们知道了乌鸦再也不会离开那个男人的房间。
• Her charming face was framed with raven hair.她迷人的脸上垂落着乌亮的黑发。

13 fabled   

adj.寓言中的，虚构的

参考例句：

• For the first week he never actually saw the fabled Jack. 第一周他实际上从没见到传说中的杰克。
• Aphrodite, the Greek goddness of love, is fabled to have been born of the foam of the sea. 希腊爱神阿美罗狄蒂据说是诞生于海浪泡沫之中。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

14 omen   

n.征兆，预兆；vt.预示

参考例句：

• The superstitious regard it as a bad omen.迷信的人认为那是一种恶兆。
• Could this at last be a good omen for peace?这是否终于可以视作和平的吉兆了？

15 dwindling   

adj.逐渐减少的v.逐渐变少或变小( dwindle的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The number of wild animals on the earth is dwindling. 地球上野生动物的数量正日渐减少。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He is struggling to come to terms with his dwindling authority. 他正努力适应自己权力被削弱这一局面。 来自辞典例句

16 desperately   

adv.极度渴望地，绝望地，孤注一掷地

参考例句：

• He was desperately seeking a way to see her again.他正拼命想办法再见她一面。
• He longed desperately to be back at home.他非常渴望回家。