Chapter 15

It had been a long time since Hari Seldon had smiled. He had conducted the Project in the same fashion that he always did: pushing always forward in the development of psychohistory, making plans for the Foundation, studying the Prime Radiant¹.
    But he did not smile. All he did was to force himself through his work without any feeling of impending² success. Rather, there was a feeling of impending failure about everything.
    And now, as he sat in his office at Streeling University, Wanda entered. He looked up at her and his heart lifted. Wanda had always been special. Seldon couldn't put his finger on just when he and the others had started accepting her pronouncements with more than the usual enthusiasm; it just seemed always to have been that way. As a little girl, she had saved his life with her uncanny knowledge of "lemonade death" and all through her childhood she had somehow just known things.
    Although Dr. Endelecki had asserted³ that Wanda's genome was perfectly⁴ normal in every way, Seldon was still positive that his granddaughter possessed⁵ mental abilities far beyond those of average humans. And he was just as sure that there were others like her in the Galaxy-on Trantor, even. If only he could find them, these mentalics, what a great contribution they could make to the Foundation. The potential for such greatness all centered in his beautiful granddaughter. Seldon gazed at her, framed in his office doorway⁶, and he felt as if his heart would break. In a few days, she would be gone.
    How could he bear it? She was such a beautiful girl-eighteen. Long blond⁷ hair, face a little broad but with a tendency to smile. She was even smiling now and Seldon thought, Why not? She's heading for Santanni and for a new life.
    He said, "Well, Wanda, just a few more days."
    "No. I don't think so, Grandpa."
    He stared at her. "What?"
    Wanda approached him and put her arms around him. "I'm not going to Santanni."
    "Have your father and mother changed their minds?"
    "No, they're going."
    "And you're not? Why? Where are you going?"
    "I'm going to stay here, Grandpa. With you." She hugged him. "Poor Grandpa!"
    "But I don't understand. Why? Are they allowing this?"
    "You mean Mom and Dad. Not really. We've been arguing over this for weeks, but I've won out. Why not, Grandpa? They'll go to Santanni and they'll have each other-and they'll have little Bellis, too. But if I go with them and leave you here, you'll have no one. I don't think I could stand that."
    "But how did you get them to agree?"
    "Well, you know-I pushed."
    "What does that mean?"
    "It's my mind. I can see what you have in yours and in theirs and, as time goes on, I can see more clearly. And I can push them to do what I want."
    "How do you do that?"
    "I don't know. But after a while, they get tired of being pushed and they're willing to let me have my way. So I'm going to stay with you."
    Seldon looked up at her with helpless love. "This is wonderful, Wanda. But Bellis-"
    "Don't worry about Bellis. She doesn't have a mind like mine."
    "Are you certain?" Seldon chewed at his lower lip.
    "Quite certain. Besides, Mom and Dad have to have someone, too."
    Seldon wanted to rejoice⁸, but he couldn't do so openly. There were Raych and Manella. What of them?
    He said, "Wanda, what about your parents? Can you be so cold-blooded about them?"
    "I'm not cold-blooded. They understand. They realize I must be with you."
    "How did you manage that?"
    "I pushed," said Wanda simply, "and eventually they came to see it my way.
    "You can do that?"
    "It wasn't easy."
    "And you did it because-" Seldon paused.
    Wanda said, "Because I love you. Of course. And because-"
    "Yes?"
    "I must learn psychohistory. I know quite a bit of it already."
    "How?"
    "From your mind. From the minds of others at the Project, especially from Uncle Yugo before he died. But it's in rags and tatters, so far. I want the real thing. Grandpa, I want a Prime Radiant of my own." Her face lit up and her words came quickly, with passion. "I want to study psychohistory in great detail. Grandpa, you're quite old and quite tired. I'm young and eager. I want to learn all I can, so I can carry on when-"
    Seldon said, "Well, that would be wonderful-if you could do it-but there is no funding anymore. I'll teach you all I can, but-we can't do anything."
    "We'll see, Grandpa. We'll see."
   

1 radiant   

adj.容光焕发的，光芒四射的，辐射的

参考例句：

• He gave a radiant smile when he heard the news.他听到这个消息后露出欣喜的微笑。
• She was radiant with joy.她高兴得容光焕发。

2 impending   

a.imminent, about to come or happen

参考例句：

• Against a background of impending famine, heavy fighting took place. 即将发生饥荒之时，严重的战乱爆发了。
• The king convoke parliament to cope with the impending danger. 国王召开国会以应付迫近眉睫的危险。

3 asserted   

宣称的（尚待证实的）的

参考例句：

• He asserted his dominance over the other party members. 他坚持对其他党员的支配。
• He persistently asserted his right to a share in the heritage. 他始终声称他有分享那笔遗产的权利。

4 perfectly   

adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The witnesses were each perfectly certain of what they said.证人们个个对自己所说的话十分肯定。
• Everything that we're doing is all perfectly above board.我们做的每件事情都是光明正大的。

5 possessed   

adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的

参考例句：

• He flew out of the room like a man possessed.他像着了魔似地猛然冲出房门。
• He behaved like someone possessed.他行为举止像是魔怔了。

6 doorway   

n.门口，(喻)入门；门路，途径

参考例句：

• They huddled in the shop doorway to shelter from the rain.他们挤在商店门口躲雨。
• Mary suddenly appeared in the doorway.玛丽突然出现在门口。

7 blond   

adj.金发的；n.白肤碧眼金发的人

参考例句：

• Her long blond hair spilled down over her shoulders.她那淡黄色的长发披垂在双肩。
• This blond man delivers newspaper every morning.这个白肤金发碧眼的男人每天早晨送报纸。

8 rejoice   

vi.感到高兴，充满喜悦

参考例句：

• We rejoice at every victory won by your people.我们为贵国人民取得的每一个胜利都感到高兴。
• Let us rejoice together on this great occasion!在这样一个盛大的节日里，让我们共同欢庆吧！