It helped.
His work consisted largely of what the War Department called "intelligence," the sophisticates, "espionage," and the romanticists, "spy stuff." And, unfortunately, despite the frothy shrillness1 of the televisors, "intelligence," "espionage," and "spy stuff" are at best a sordid2 business of routine betrayal and bad faith. It is excused by society since it is in the "interest of the State," but since philosophy seemed always to lead Captain Pritcher to the conclusion that even in that holy interest, society is much more easily soothed3 than one's own conscience ?he discouraged philosophy.
And now, in the luxury of the mayor's anteroom, his thoughts turned inward despite himself.
Men had been promoted over his head continuously, though of lesser4 ability ?that much was admitted. He had withstood an eternal rain of black marks and official reprimands, and survived it. And stubbornly he had held to his own way in the firm belief that insubordination in that same holy "interest of the State" would yet be recognized for the service it was.
So here he was in the anteroom of the mayor-with five soldiers as a respectful guard, and probably a court-martial awaiting him.
The heavy, marble doors rolled apart smoothly6, silently, revealing satiny walls, a red plastic carpeting, and two more marble doors, metal-inlaid, within. Two officials in the straight-lined costume of three centuries back, stepped out, and called:
"An audience to Captain Han Pritcher of Information."
They stepped back with a ceremonious bow as the captain started forward. His escort stopped at the outer door, and he entered the inner alone.
On the other side of the doors, in a large room strangely simple, behind a large desk strangely angular, sat a small man, almost lost in the immensity,
Mayor Indbur ?successively the third of that name ?was the grandson of the first Indbur, who had been brutal7 and capable; and who had exhibited the first quality in spectacular fashion by his manner of seizing power, and the latter by the skill with which he put an end to the last farcical remnants of free election and the even greater skill with which he maintained a relatively8 peaceful rule.
Mayor Indbur was also the son of the second Indbur, who was the first Mayor of the Foundation to succeed to his post by right of birth ?and who was only half his father, for he was merely brutal.
So Mayor Indbur was the third of the name and the second to succeed by right of birth, and he was the least of the three, for he was neither brutal nor capable ?but merely an excellent bookkeeper born wrong.
Indbur the Third was a peculiar9 combination of ersatz characteristics to all but himself.
To him, a stilted10 geometric love of arrangement was "system," an indefatigable11 and feverish12 interest in the pettiest facets13 of day-to-day bureaucracy was "industry," indecision when right was "caution," and blind stubbornness when wrong, "determination."
And withal he wasted no money, killed no man needlessly, and meant extremely well.
If Captain Pritcher's gloomy thoughts ran along these lines as he remained respectfully in place before the large desk, the wooden arrangement of his features yielded no insight into the fact. He neither coughed, shifted weight, nor shuffled14 his feet until the thin face of the mayor lifted slowly as the busy stylus ceased in its task of marginal notations15, and a sheet of close-printed paper was lifted from one neat stack and placed upon another neat stack.
Mayor Indbur clasped his hands carefully before him, deliberately16 refraining from disturbing the careful arrangement of desk accessories.
He said, in acknowledgment, "Captain Han Pritcher of Information."
And Captain Pritcher in strict obedience17 to protocol18 bent19 one knee nearly to the ground and bowed his head until he heard the words of release.
"Arise, Captain Pritcher!"
The mayor said with an air of warm sympathy, "You are here, Captain Pritcher, because of certain disciplinary action taken against yourself by your superior officer. The papers concerning such action have come, in the ordinary course of events, to my notice, and since no event in the Foundation is of disinterest to me, I took the trouble to ask for further information on your case. You are not, I hope, surprised."
Captain Pritcher said unemotionally, "Excellence20, no. Your justice is proverbial."
"Is it? Is it?" His tone was pleased, and the tinted21 contact lenses he wore caught the light in a manner that imparted a hard, dry gleam to his eyes. Meticulously22, he fanned out a series of metal-bound folders24 before him. The parchment sheets within crackled sharply as he turned them, his long finger following down the line as he spoke25.
"I have your record here, captain ?complete. You are forty-three and have been an Officer of the Armed Forces for seventeen years. You were born in Loris, of Anacreonian parents, no serious childhood diseases, an attack of myo ... well, that's of no importance ... education, premilitary, at the Academy of Sciences, major, hyper-engines, academic standing26 ... hm-mmm, very good, you are to be congratulated ... entered the Army as Under-Officer on the one hundred second day of the 293rd year of the Foundation Era."
He lifted his eyes momentarily as he shifted the first folder23, and opened the second.
"You see," he said, "in my administration, nothing is left to chance. Order! System!"
He lifted a pink, scented27 jelly-globule to his lips. It was his one vice5, and but dolingly indulged in. Witness the fact that the mayor's desk lacked that almost-inevitable28 atom flash for the disposal of dead tobacco. For the mayor did not smoke.
Nor, as a matter of course, did his visitors.
The mayor's voice droned on, methodically, slurringly, mumblingly29 ?now and then interspersed30 with whispered comments of equally mild and equally ineffectual commendation or reproof31.
Slowly, he replaced the folders as originally, in a single neat pile.
"Well, captain," he said, briskly, "your record is unusual. Your ability is outstanding, it would seem, and your services valuable beyond question. I note that you have been wounded in the line of duty twice, and that you have been awarded the Order of Merit for bravery beyond the call of duty. Those are facts not lightly to be minimized."
Captain Pritcher's expressionless face did not soften32. He remained stiffly erect33. Protocol required that a subject honored by an audience with the mayor may not sit down ?a point perhaps needlessly reinforced by the fact that only one chair existed in the room, the one underneath34 the mayor. Protocol further required no statements other than those needed to answer a direct question.
The mayor's eyes bore down hard upon the soldier and his voice grew pointed35 and heavy. "However, you have not been promoted in ten years, and your superiors report, over and over again, of the unbending stubbornness of your character. You are reported to be chronically36 insubordinate, incapable37 of maintaining a correct attitude towards superior officers, apparently38 uninterested in maintaining frictionless39 relationships with your colleagues, and an incurable40 troublemaker41, besides. How do you explain that, captain?"
"Excellence, I do what seems right to me. My deeds on behalf of the State, and my wounds in that cause bear witness that what seems fight to me is also in the interest of the State."
"A soldierly statement, captain, but a dangerous doctrine42. More of that, later. Specifically, you are charged with refusing an assignment three times in the face of orders signed by my legal delegates. What have you to say to that?"
"Excellence, the assignment lacks significance in a critical time, where matters of first importance are being ignored."
"Ah, and who tells you these matters you speak of are of the first importance at all, and if they are, who tells you further that they are ignored?"
"Excellence, these things are quite evident to me. My experience and my knowledge of events ?the value of neither of which my superiors deny ?make it plain."
"But, my good captain, are you blind that you do not see that by arrogating43 to yourself the right to determine Intelligence policy, you usurp44 the duties of your superior?"
"Excellence, my duty is primarily to the State, and not to my superior."
"Fallacious, for your superior has his superior, and that superior is myself, and I am the State. But come, you shall have no cause to complain of this justice of mine that you say is proverbial. State in your own words the nature of the breach45 in discipline that has brought all this on."
"Excellence, my duty is primarily to the State, and not to my living the life of a retired46 merchant mariner47 upon the world of Kalgan. My instructions were to direct Foundation activity upon the planet, perfect an organization to act as check upon the warlord of Kalgan, particularly as regards his foreign policy."
"This is known to me. Continue!"
"Excellence, my reports have continually stressed the strategic positions of Kalgan and the systems it controls. I have reported on the ambition of the warlord, his resources, his determination to extend his domain48 and his essential friendliness49 ?or, perhaps, neutrality ?towards the Foundation."
"I have read your reports thoroughly50. Continue!"
"Excellence, I returned two months ago. At that time, there was no sign of impending51 war; no sign of anything but an almost superfluity of ability to repel52 any conceivable attack. One month ago, an unknown soldier of fortune took Kalgan without a fight. The man who was once warlord of Kalgan is apparently no longer alive. Men do not speak of treason ?they speak only of the power and genius of this strange condottiere ?this Mule53."
"This who?" the mayor leaned forward, and looked offended.
"Excellence, he is known as the Mule. He is spoken of little, in a factual sense, but I have gathered the scraps54 and fragments of knowledge and winnowed55 out the most probable of them. He is apparently a man of neither birth nor standing. His father, unknown. His mother, dead in childbirth. His upbringing, that of a vagabond. His education, that of the tramp worlds, and the backwash alleys56 of space. He has no name other than that of the Mule, a name reportedly applied57 by himself to himself, and signifying, by popular explanation, his immense physical strength, and stubbornness of purpose."
"What is his military strength, captain? Never mind his physique."
"Excellence, men speak of huge fleets, but in this they may be influenced by the strange fall of Kalgan. The territory he controls is not large, though its exact limits are not capable of definite determination. Nevertheless, this man must be investigated."
"Hm-mmm. So! So!" The mayor fell into a reverie, and slowly with twenty-four strokes of his stylus drew six squares in hexagonal arrangements upon the blank top sheet of a pad, which he tore off, folded neatly58 in three parts and slipped into the wastepaper slot at his right hand. It slid towards a clean and silent atomic disintegration59.
"Now then, tell me, captain, what is the alternative? You have told me what 'must' be investigated. What have you been ordered to investigate?"
"Excellence, there is a rat hole in space that, it seems, does not pay its taxes."
"Ah, and is that all? You are not aware, and have not been told that these men who do not pay their taxes, are descendants of the wild Traders of our early days ?anarchists60, rebels, social maniacs61 who claim Foundation ancestry62 and deride63 Foundation culture. You are not aware, and have not been told, that this rat hole in space, is not one, but many; that these rat holes are in greater number than we know; that these rat holes conspire64 together, one with the other, and all with the criminal elements that still exist throughout Foundation territory. Even here, captain, even here!"
The mayor's momentary65 fire subsided66 quickly. "You are not aware, captain?"
"Excellence, I have been told all this. But as servant of the State, I must serve faithfully ?and he serves most faithfully who serves Truth. Whatever the political implications of these dregs of the ancient Traders ?the warlords who have inherited the splinters of the old Empire have the power. The Traders have neither arms nor resources. They have not even unity67. I am not a tax collector to be sent on a child's errand."
"Captain Pritcher, you are a soldier, and count guns. It is a failing to be allowed you up to the point where it involves disobedience to myself. Take care. My justice is not simply weakness. Captain, it has already been proven that the generals of the Imperial Age and the warlords of the present age are equally impotent against us. Seldon's science which predicts the course of the Foundation is based, not on individual heroism68, as you seem to believe, but on the social and economic trends of history. We have passed successfully through four crises already, have we not?"
"Excellence, we have. Yet Seldon's science is known only to Seldon. We ourselves have but faith. In the first three crises, as I have been carefully taught, the Foundation was led by wise leaders who foresaw the nature of the crises and took the proper precautions. Otherwise ?who can say?"
"Yes, captain, but you omit the fourth crisis. Come, captain, we had no leadership worthy69 of the name then, and we faced the cleverest opponent, the heaviest armor, the strongest force of all. Yet we won by the inevitability70 of history."
"Excellence, that is true. But this history you mention became inevitable only after we had fought desperately71 for over a year. The inevitable victory we won cost us half a thousand ships and half a million men. Excellence, Seldon's plan helps those who help themselves."
Mayor Indbur frowned and grew suddenly tired of his patient exposition. It occurred to him that there was a fallacy in condescension72, since it was mistaken for permission to argue eternally; to grow contentious73; to wallow in dialectic. He said, stiffly, "Nevertheless, captain, Seldon guarantees victory over the warlords, and I can not, in these busy times, indulge in a dispersal of effort. These Traders you dismiss are Foundation-derived. A war with them would be a civil war. Seldon's plan makes no guarantee there for us ?since they and we are Foundation. So they must be brought to heel. You have your orders."
"Excellence?
"You have been asked no question, captain. You have your orders. You will obey those orders. Further argument of any sort with myself or those representing myself will be considered treason. You are excused."
Captain Han Pritcher knelt once more, then left with slow, backward steps.
Mayor Indbur, third of his name, and second mayor of Foundation history to be so by fight of birth, recovered his equilibrium74, and lifted another sheet of paper from the neat stack at his left. It was a report on the saving of funds due to the reduction of the quantity of metal-foam edging on the uniforms of the police force. Mayor Indbur crossed out a superfluous75 comma, corrected a misspelling, made three marginal notations, and placed it upon the neat stack at his fight. He lifted another sheet of paper from the neat stack at his left.
Captain Han Pritcher of Information found a Personal Capsule waiting for him when he returned to barracks. It contained orders, terse76 and redly underlined with a stamped "URGENT"' across it, and the whole initialed with a precise, capital "I".
Captain Han Pritcher was ordered to the "rebel world called Haven77" in the strongest terms.
Captain Han Pritcher, alone in his light one-man speedster, set his course quietly and calmly for Kalgan. He slept that night the sleep of a successfully stubborn man.
点击
收听单词发音
收听单词发音 |
1
shrillness
|
|
| 尖锐刺耳 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
|
2
sordid
|
|
| adj.肮脏的，不干净的，卑鄙的，暗淡的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
3
soothed
|
|
| v.安慰( soothe的过去式和过去分词 )；抚慰；使舒服；减轻痛苦 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
4
lesser
|
|
| adj.次要的，较小的；adv.较小地，较少地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
5
vice
|
|
| n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
6
smoothly
|
|
| adv.平滑地，顺利地，流利地，流畅地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
7
brutal
|
|
| adj.残忍的，野蛮的，不讲理的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
8
relatively
|
|
| adv.比较...地，相对地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
9
peculiar
|
|
| adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
10
stilted
|
|
| adj.虚饰的；夸张的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
11
indefatigable
|
|
| adj.不知疲倦的，不屈不挠的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
12
feverish
|
|
| adj.发烧的，狂热的，兴奋的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
13
facets
|
|
| n.（宝石或首饰的）小平面( facet的名词复数 )；（事物的）面；方面 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
14
shuffled
|
|
| v.洗（纸牌）( shuffle的过去式和过去分词 )；拖着脚步走；粗心地做；摆脱尘世的烦恼 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
15
notations
|
|
| 记号，标记法( notation的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
16
deliberately
|
|
| adv.审慎地；蓄意地；故意地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
17
obedience
|
|
| n.服从，顺从 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
18
protocol
|
|
| n.议定书，草约，会谈记录，外交礼节 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
19
bent
|
|
| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
20
excellence
|
|
| n.优秀，杰出，(pl.)优点，美德 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
21
tinted
|
|
| adj. 带色彩的 动词tint的过去式和过去分词 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
22
meticulously
|
|
| adv.过细地，异常细致地；无微不至；精心 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
23
folder
|
|
| n.纸夹，文件夹 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
24
folders
|
|
| n.文件夹( folder的名词复数 )；纸夹；（某些计算机系统中的）文件夹；页面叠 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
25
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： |
|
|
|
|
26
standing
|
|
| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
27
scented
|
|
| adj.有香味的；洒香水的；有气味的v.嗅到(scent的过去分词) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
28
inevitable
|
|
| adj.不可避免的，必然发生的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
29
mumblingly
|
|
| 说话含糊地，咕哝地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
|
30
interspersed
|
|
| adj.[医]散开的；点缀的v.intersperse的过去式和过去分词 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
31
reproof
|
|
| n.斥责，责备 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
32
soften
|
|
| v.(使)变柔软；(使)变柔和 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
33
erect
|
|
| n./v.树立，建立，使竖立；adj.直立的，垂直的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
34
underneath
|
|
| adj.在...下面，在...底下；adv.在下面 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
35
pointed
|
|
| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
36
chronically
|
|
| ad.长期地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
37
incapable
|
|
| adj.无能力的，不能做某事的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
38
apparently
|
|
| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
39
frictionless
|
|
| adj.没有摩擦力的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
40
incurable
|
|
| adj.不能医治的，不能矫正的，无救的；n.不治的病人，无救的人 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
41
troublemaker
|
|
| n.惹是生非者，闹事者，捣乱者 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
42
doctrine
|
|
| n.教义；主义；学说 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
43
arrogating
|
|
| v.冒称，妄取( arrogate的现在分词 )；没来由地把…归属（于） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
44
usurp
|
|
| vt.篡夺，霸占；vi.篡位 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
45
breach
|
|
| n.违反，不履行；破裂；vt.冲破，攻破 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
46
retired
|
|
| adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
47
mariner
|
|
| n.水手号不载人航天探测器，海员，航海者 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
48
domain
|
|
| n.(活动等)领域，范围；领地，势力范围 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
49
friendliness
|
|
| n.友谊，亲切，亲密 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
50
thoroughly
|
|
| adv.完全地，彻底地，十足地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
51
impending
|
|
| a.imminent, about to come or happen | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
52
repel
|
|
| v.击退，抵制，拒绝，排斥 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
53
mule
|
|
| n.骡子，杂种，执拗的人 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
54
scraps
|
|
| 油渣 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
55
winnowed
|
|
| adj.扬净的，风选的v.扬( winnow的过去式和过去分词 )；辨别；选择；除去 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
56
alleys
|
|
| 胡同，小巷( alley的名词复数 )； 小径 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
57
applied
|
|
| adj.应用的；v.应用，适用 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
58
neatly
|
|
| adv.整洁地，干净地，灵巧地，熟练地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
59
disintegration
|
|
| n.分散，解体 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
60
anarchists
|
|
| 无政府主义者( anarchist的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
61
maniacs
|
|
| n.疯子（maniac的复数形式） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
62
ancestry
|
|
| n.祖先，家世 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
63
deride
|
|
| v.嘲弄，愚弄 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
64
conspire
|
|
| v.密谋，（事件等）巧合，共同导致 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
65
momentary
|
|
| adj.片刻的，瞬息的；短暂的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
66
subsided
|
|
| v.（土地）下陷（因在地下采矿）( subside的过去式和过去分词 )；减弱；下降至较低或正常水平；一下子坐在椅子等上 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
67
unity
|
|
| n.团结，联合，统一；和睦，协调 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
68
heroism
|
|
| n.大无畏精神，英勇 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
69
worthy
|
|
| adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
70
inevitability
|
|
| n.必然性 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
71
desperately
|
|
| adv.极度渴望地，绝望地，孤注一掷地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
72
condescension
|
|
| n.自以为高人一等，贬低(别人) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
73
contentious
|
|
| adj.好辩的，善争吵的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
74
equilibrium
|
|
| n.平衡，均衡，相称，均势，平静 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
75
superfluous
|
|
| adj.过多的，过剩的，多余的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
76
terse
|
|
| adj.(说话，文笔)精炼的，简明的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
77
haven
|
|
| n.安全的地方，避难所，庇护所 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
| 欢迎访问英文小说网 |