Chapter 39

THE VERDICT TO BE PASSED on the third planet around Sol was never indoubt. The Old Ones of the fourth planet were not omniscient¹ and in theirway were as provincial² as humans. Grokking by their own local values, evenwith the aid of vastly superior logic³, they were certain in time to perceive anincurable .wrongness“ in the busy, restless, quarrelsome beings of the thirdplanet, a wrongness which would require weeding, once it had been grokkedand cherished and hated.

　　But, by the time that they would slowly get around to it, it would be highlyimprobable approaching impossible that the Old Ones would be able todestroy this weirdly⁴ complex race. The hazard was slight that thoseconcerned with the third planet did not waste a split eon on it.

　　Certainly Foster did not. .Digby!“His assistant looked up. .Yes, Foster?“.I’ll be gone a few eons on a special assignment. Want you to meet your newsupervisor.“ Foster turned and said, .Mike, this is Archangel Digby, yourassistant. He knows where everything is around the studio and you’ll find hima very steady straw boss for anything you conceive.“.Oh, we’ll get along,“ Archangel Michael assured him, and said to Digby,.Haven’t we met before?“Digby answered, .Not that I remember. Of course, out of so many whenwheres“He shrugged⁵.

　　.No matter. Thou art God.“.Thou art God,“ Digby responded.

　　Foster said, .Skip the formalities, please. I’ve left you a load of work and youdon’t have all eternity⁶ to fiddle⁷ with it. Certainly .Thou art God’ -but who isn’t?“He left, and Mike pushed back his halo and got to work. He could see a lot of changes he wanted to make

The End

1 omniscient   

adj.无所不知的；博识的

参考例句：

• He's nervous when trying to potray himself as omniscient.当他试图把自己描绘得无所不知时，内心其实很紧张。
• Christians believe that God is omniscient.基督教徒相信上帝是无所不知的。

2 provincial   

adj.省的，地方的；n．外省人，乡下人

参考例句：

• City dwellers think country folk have provincial attitudes.城里人以为乡下人思想迂腐。
• Two leading cadres came down from the provincial capital yesterday.昨天从省里下来了两位领导干部。

3 logic   

n.逻辑(学)；逻辑性

参考例句：

• What sort of logic is that?这是什么逻辑？
• I don't follow the logic of your argument.我不明白你的论点逻辑性何在。

4 weirdly   

古怪地

参考例句：

• Another special characteristic of Kweilin is its weirdly-shaped mountain grottoes. 桂林的另一特点是其形态怪异的岩洞。
• The country was weirdly transformed. 地势古怪地变了样。

5 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》

6 eternity   

n.不朽，来世；永恒，无穷

参考例句：

• The dull play seemed to last an eternity.这场乏味的剧似乎演个没完没了。
• Finally,Ying Tai and Shan Bo could be together for all of eternity.英台和山伯终能双宿双飞，永世相随。

7 fiddle   

n.小提琴；vi.拉提琴；不停拨弄，乱动

参考例句：

• She plays the fiddle well.她小提琴拉得好。
• Don't fiddle with the typewriter.不要摆弄那架打字机了。