Preface Dustjacket information: ------------------------- For nearly fifty years, Isaac Asimov thrilled millions of readers with his internationally bestselling Foundation Series, a spell-binding tale of the future that spans hundreds of years and dozens of worlds. Here, now, is Forward the Foundation, the seventh and final volume in the series. Completed just before his death, it is the Grand Master's last gift to his legions of admirers. Here, at last, is the story Asimov fans have been waiting for, an exciting tale of danger, intrigue, and suspense that chronicles the second half of hero Hari Seldon's life as he struggles to perfect his revolutionary Theory of Psychohistory and establish the means by which the survival of humanity will be ensured: Foundation. For, as Seldon and his loyal band of followers know, the mighty Galactic Empire is crumbling, and its inevitable destruction will wreak havoc Galaxy-wide ... A resounding tour de force, Forward the Foundation brings full circle Asimov's renowned Foundation epic. It is the crowning achievement of a great writer's life, and a stunning testament to the creative genius of Isaac Asimov. Isaac Asimov began his Foundation Series at the age of twenty-one, not realizing that it would one day be considered a cornerstone of science fiction. During his legendary career, Asimov penned over 470 books on subjects ranging from science to Shakespeare to history, though he was most loved for his award-winning science fiction sagas, which include the Robot, Empire, and Foundation series. Named a Grand Master of Science Fiction by the Science Fiction Writers of America, Asimov entertained and educated readers of all ages for close to five decades. He died, at the age of seventy-two, in April 1997. ----------------------------------------------------- --- Back Cover information: -------------------------- "I could not have written this book forty-or thirty, twenty, or even tenyears ago. That is because, piece by piece, over the years, I have been working back to Foundation's source: Hari Seldon. Today I enjoy the gift given to me by time: Experience (some might call it wisdom, but I will refrain from such bald self-aggrandizement). For it is only now that I am able to give my readers Hari Seldon during the most crucial, creative years of his life ...You see, over time, Hari Seldon has evolved into my alter ego... In my earlier books Hari Seldon was the stuff of legend-with Forward the Foundation I have made him real." -Isaac Asimov, June 1991 ------------------------------------------------------ DEMERZEL, ETO- . While there is no question that Eto Demerzel was the real power in the government during much of the reign of Emperor Cleon I, historians are divided as to the nature of his rule. The classic interpretation is that he was another in the long line of strong and ruthless oppressors in the last century of the undivided Galactic Empire, but there are revisionist views that have surfaced and that insist his was, if a despotism, a benevolent one. Much is made, in this view, of his relationship with Hari Seldon though that remains forever uncertain, particularly during the unusual episode of Laskin Joranum, whose meteoric rise- ENCYCLOPEDIA GALACTICA * * All quotations from the Encyclopedia Galactica here reproduced are taken from the 116th Edition, published 1,020 F.E. by the Encyclopedia Galactica Publishing Co., Terminus, with permission of the publishers. 内容提要 在克里昂一世统治下，第一银河帝国勉强维持最后的统一与繁荣；但帝国国势仍持续衰落。这主要是帝国的政治、经济盘根错节的因素所导致，并非当时任何人所能解决的。克里昂的第二任首相哈里•谢顿发展出能预测未来的心理史学，为拯救帝国，他在群星 尽头建立起第二基地，与第一基地互为呼应。哈里•谢顿、铎丝•凡纳比里、婉达•谢顿等人身上充满着传奇色彩，情节的发展匪夷 所思……但敌对的力量异常强大，鹿死谁手实难预料。他们能使银河帝国复兴吗……?结局如何？看来我们只有迈向基地，才能探测个中奥秘。 第一部 伊图•丹莫茨尔 伊图•丹莫茨尔……尽管科学家一致认为，在克里昂大帝一世在位大半期间，伊图•丹莫茨尔无疑是政府中真正的掌权者，但关于他的统治方式却众说纷纭。根据传统的诠释，丹莫茨尔是银河帝国分裂前最后一世纪，一贯强势而无情的压迫者之一。但如今已有一些修正主义观点，坚持丹莫茨尔即使独裁，也是开明专制。根据此一观点，他与哈里•谢顿的关系 常被大做文章。不过真相永远无法确定。尤其是在拉斯金•久瑞南事件那段非常时期。久瑞 南的昙花一现…… —— 《银河百科全书》① ___________________ ①本书所引用的《银河百科全书》数据，皆取自基地纪元一○二○年出版的第一百一十六版。发行者为端点星银河百科全书出版公司， 作者承蒙发行者授权引用。 Part 1 ETO DEMERZEL Chapter 1 Hari," said Yugo Amaryl, "that your friend Demerzel is in deep trouble." He emphasized the word "friend" very lightly and with unmistakable air of distaste. Hari Seldon detected the sour note and ignored it. He looked up from his tricomputer and said, "I tell you again, Yugo, that that's nonsense." And then-with a trace of annoyance, just a trace-he added, "Why are you taking up my time by insisting?" "Because I think it's important." Amaryl sat down defiantly. It was a gesture that indicated he was not going to be moved easily. Here he was and here he would stay. Eight years before, he had been a heatsinker in the Dahl Sector-as low on the social scale as it was possible to be. He had been lifted out of that position by Seldon made into a mathematician and an intellectual-more than that, into a psychohistorian. Never for one minute did he forget what he had been and who he was now and to whom he owed the change. That meant that if he had to speak harshly to Hari Seldon-for Seldon's own good-no consideration of respect and love for the older man and no regard for his own career would stop him. He owed such harshness-and much more-to Seldon. "Look, Hari," he said, chopping at the air with his left hand, "for some reason that is beyond my understanding, you think highly of this Demerzel, but I don't. No one whose opinion I respect-except you-thinks well of him. I don't care what happens to him personally, Hari, but as long as I think you do, I have no choice but to bring this to your attention." Seldon smiled, as much at the other's earnestness as at what he considered to be the uselessness of his concern. He was fond of Yugo Amaryl-more than fond. Yugo was one of the four people he had encountered during that short period of his life when he was in flight across the face of the planet Trantor-Eto Demerzel, Dors Venabili, Yugo Amaryl, and Raych-four, the likes of which he had not found since. In a particular and, in each case, different way, these four were indispensable to him-Yugo Amaryl, because of his quick understanding of the principles of psychohistory and of his imaginative probings into new areas. It was comforting to know that if anything happened to Seldon himself before the mathematics of the field could be completely worked out-and how slowly it proceeded, and how mountainous the obstacles there would at least remain one good mind that would continue the research. He said, "I'm sorry, Yugo. I don't mean to be impatient with you or to reject out of hand whatever it is you are so anxious to make me understand. It's just this job of mine; it's this business of being a department head-" Amaryl found it his turn to smile and he repressed a slight chuckle. "I'm sorry, Hari, and I shouldn't laugh, but you have no natural aptitude for the position." "As well I know, but I'll have to learn. I have to seem to be doing something harmless and there is nothing-nothing-more harmless than being the head of the Mathematics Department at Streeling University. I can fill my day with unimportant tasks, so that no one need know or ask about the course of our psychohistorical research, but the trouble is, I do fill my day with unimportant tasks and I have insufficient time to-" His eyes glanced around his office at the material stored in computers to which only he and Amaryl had the key and which, even if anyone else stumbled upon them, had been carefully phrased in an invented symbology that no one else would understand. Amaryl said, "Once you work your way further into your duties, you'll begin to delegate and then you'll have more time." "I hope so," said Seldon dubiously. "But tell me, what is it about Eto Demerzel that is so important?" "Simply that Eto Demerzel, our great Emperor's First Minister, is busily creating an insurrection." Seldon frowned. "Why would he want to do that?" "I didn't say he wants to. He's simply doing it-whether he knows it or not-and with considerable help from some of his political enemies. That's all right with me, you understand. I think that, under ideal conditions, it would be a good thing to have him out of the Palace, off Trantor . beyond the Empire, for that matter. But you think highly of him, as I've said, and so I'm warning you, because I suspect that you are not following the recent political course of events as closely as you should." "There are more important things to do," said Seldon mildly. "Like psychohistory. I agree. But how are we going to develop psychohistory with any hope of success if we remain ignorant of politics? 1 mean, present-day politics. Now-now-is the time when the present is turning into the future. We can't just study the past. We know what happened in the past. It's against the present and the near future that we can check our results." "It seems to me," said Seldon, "that I have heard this argument before." "And you'll hear it again. It doesn't seem to do me any good to explain this to you." Seldon sighed, sat back in his chair, and regarded Amaryl with a smile. The younger man could be abrasive, but he took psychohistory seriously-and that repaid all. Amaryl still had the mark of his early years as a heatsinker. He had the broad shoulders and the muscular build of one who had been used to hard physical labor. He had not allowed his body to turn flabby and that was a good thing, for it inspired Seldon to resist the impulse to spend all of his time at the desk as well. He did not have Amaryl抯 sheer physical strength, but he still had his own talents as a Twister-for all that he had just turned forty and could not keep it up forever. But for now, he would continue. Thanks to his daily workouts, his waist was still trim, his legs and arms firm. He said, "This concern for Demerzel cannot be purely a matter of his being a friend of mine. You must have some other motive." "There's no puzzle to that. As long as you're a friend of Demerzel, your position here at the University is secure and you can continue to work on psychohistorical research." "There you are. So I do have a reason to be friends with him. It isn't beyond your understanding at all." "You have an interest in cultivating him. That, I understand. But as for friendship-that, I don't understand. However-if Demerzel lost lower, quite apart from the effect it might have on your position, then Cleon himself would be running the Empire and the rate of its decline would increase. Anarchy might then be upon us before we have worked out all the implications of psychohistory and made it possible for the science to save all humanity." "I see. -But, you know, I honestly don't think that we're going to work out psychohistory in time to prevent the Fall of the Empire." "Even if we could not prevent the Fall, we could cushion the effects, couldn't we?" "Perhaps." "There you are, then. The longer we have to work in peace, the greater the chance we will have to prevent the Fall or, at least, ameliorate the effects. Since that is the case, working backward, it may be necessary to save Demerzel, whether we-or, at least, I-like it or not." "Yet you just said that you would like to see him out of the Palace and away from Trantor and beyond the Empire." "Yes, under ideal conditions, I said. But we are not living under ideal conditions and we need our First Minister, even if he is an instrument of repression and despotism." "I see. But why do you think the Empire is so close to dissolution that the loss of a First Minister will bring it about?" "Psychohistory." "Are you using it for predictions? We haven't even gotten the framework in place. What predictions can you make?" "There's intuition, Hari." "There's always been intuition. We want something more, don't we? We want a mathematical treatment that will give us probabilities of specific future developments under this condition or that. If intuition suffices to guide us, we don't need psychohistory at all." "It's not necessarily a matter of one or the other, Hari. I'm talking about both: the combination, which may be better than either-at least until psychohistory is perfected." "If ever," said Seldon. "But tell me, where does this danger to Demerzel arise? What is it that is likely to harm him or overthrow him? Are we talking about Demerzel's overthrow?" "Yes," said Amaryl and a grim look settled on his face. "Then tell me. Have pity on my ignorance." Amaryl flushed. "You're being condescending, Hari. Surely you've heard of Jo-Jo Joranum." "Certainly. He's a demagogue- Wait, where's he from? Nishaya, right? A very unimportant world. Goat herding, I think. High-quality cheeses." "That's it. Not just a demagogue, however. He commands a strong following and it's getting stronger. He aims, he says, for social justice and greater political involvement by the people." "Yes," said Seldon. "I've heard that much. His slogan is: `Government belongs to the people.'" "Not quite, Hari. He says: `Government is the people.'" Seldon nodded. "Well, you know, I rather sympathize with the thought." "So do I. I'm all for it-if Joranum meant it. But he doesn't, except as a stepping-stone. It's a path, not a goal. He wants to get rid of Demerzel. After that it will be easy to manipulate Cleon. Then Joranum will take the throne himself and he will be the people. You've told me yourself that there have been a number of episodes of this sort in Imperial history-and these days the Empire is weaker and less stable than it used to be. A blow which, in earlier centuries, merely staggered it might now shatter it. The Empire will welter in civil war and never recover and we won't have psychohistory in place to teach us what must be done." "Yes, I see your point, but surely it's not going to be that easy to get rid of Demerzel." "You don't know how strong Joranum is growing." "It doesn't matter how strong he's growing." A shadow of thought seemed to pass over Seldon's brow. "I wonder that his parents came to name him Jo-Jo. There's something juvenile about that name." "His parents had nothing to do with it. His real name is Laskin, a very common name on Nishaya. He chose Jo-Jo himself, presumably from the first syllable of his last name." "The more fool he, wouldn't you say?" "No, I wouldn't. His followers shout it Jo . JJJJJJJJJJo . JJ'-over and over. It's hypnotic." "Well," said Seldon, making a move to return to his tricomputer and adjust the multidimensional simulation it had created, "we'll see what happens." "Can you be that casual about it? I'm telling you the danger is imminent." "No, it isn't," said Seldon, eyes steely, his voice suddenly hardening. "You don't have all the facts." "What facts don't I have?" "We'll discuss that another time, Yugo. For now, continue with your work and let me worry about Demerzel and the state of the Empire." Amaryl's lips tightened, but the habit of obedience to Seldon was strong. "Yes, Hari." But not overwhelmingly strong. He turned at the door and said, "You're making a mistake, Hari." Seldon smiled slightly. "I don't think so, but I have heard your warning and I will not forget. Still, all will be well." And as Amaryl left, Seldon's smile faded. -Would, indeed, all be well? 第一章 　　“我再跟你讲一遍，哈里——”雨果•阿马瑞尔说：“你的朋友丹莫茨尔麻烦大了。”他非常轻微地强调了“朋友”二字，带着明显的嫌恶神态。 哈里•谢顿察觉到话里的酸味，却未加理会。他从三用电脑前抬起头来，“我再跟你讲 一遍，雨果，这太荒唐了。”然后，他带着一点厌烦——一点而已——补充道：你为什么要坚持这件事，来浪费我的时间？” “因为我认为这很重要。”阿马瑞尔以挑战的架势坐下。这表示他不会轻易动摇。他人在这里，而且不准备离开。 八年前，他只是达尔区的一个热闾工，社会阶级低得不能再低，是谢顿将他从那个阶级拉拔出来，使他成为一名数学家与知识分子——甚至，还成为一名心理史学家。 阿马瑞尔时刻谨记过去与现在的分际，以及这转变是拜何人之賜。这就意味着，虽然他对谢顿这位老大哥万分敬爱，虽然他顾及自己的前途，但若为了谢顿好，有必要时他仍会对谢顿直言不讳。他亏欠谢顿太多太多，这份疾言厉色只是其中之一。 “听我说，哈里，”他左手猛地一挥，“由于某种我无法理解的原因，你对这个丹莫茨尔 评价颇高，但我可不然。除你之外，那些我尊重他们意见的人，都对他没什么好感。我不在乎他这个人发生了什么事，哈里，可是一想到你在乎，我就不得不向你报告这件事。”谢顿微微一笑，一半是因为阿马瑞尔的热忱，一半是认为他的关心毫无用处。他很喜欢雨果•阿马瑞尔，甚至不只是喜欢。他一生中有一段短暂时期，曾在川陀行星的表面四处逃 亡。雨果便是他当时结识的四个人之一。另外三人是伊图•丹莫茨尔、铎丝•凡纳比里以及芮奇。后来，谢顿再也没有遇到过像他们一样的人。 这四个人各因不同的特殊点，成为他生命中不可或缺的角色，就雨果•阿马瑞尔而言， 是由于他对心理史学原理的敏捷领悟力，并且在探索新领域时，充满想像力。谢顿相当安慰， 因为他知道，如果在这个领域的数学尚未发展完善之前（它的进展那么缓慢，过程困难重重），自己就是有什么三长两短，至少还有个优秀的头脑可以继续这项研究。 他说：“很抱歉，雨果，我不是有意对你不耐烦，或是对你急着了解的事不屑一顾。只是我手头的工作，身为一位系主任……”这回轮到阿马瑞尔露出笑容，他赶紧压下一声轻笑。很抱歉，哈里，我不该笑的，但你实在没有担任那个职位的天分。” “我了解，但我必须学习。我必须看起来像在做些无害的事才行，而没有什么比在川陀大学数学系当个系主任更无害的事了。我可以让琐事占满我整天作息，这样一来，就没人会知道或问及我们心理史学研究的进展。可是问题在于，琐事的确占满了我整天作息，我没有足够的时间……”他环顾一下这间研究室，目光掠过贮藏在电脑中的资料。这些电脑资料只有他与阿马瑞尔能够开启，而且刻意以自创的符号记述，即使外人误打误撞闯进去，也无法理解那些符号的意义。 阿马瑞尔说：“一旦你进入情况，就能开始分配职责，到时，你便会有较多的时间了。” “但愿如此。”谢顿仍然半信半疑，“别管了，说吧，什么跟伊图•丹莫茨尔有关的事那么重要？” “只不过是伊图•丹莫茨尔，伟大吾皇的首相，正忙着制造一场叛变。” 谢顿皱起眉头。“他为什么要制造叛变？” “我不是说他要，只是他正在那样做——不论他自不自觉，他的一些政敌还帮了不少忙。 我是不在乎丹莫茨尔怎么样，这你也了解。我甚至认为，在理想的情况下，将他赶出皇宫，逐出川陀——甚至逼他远离帝国会是件好事。可是正如我刚才所说，你对他评价颇高，所以我才来警告你，因为我怀疑你根本不清楚最近的政治趋势。” “我还有许多更重要的事要做。”谢顿温和地说。“比如心理史学，我同意。可是如果对政治始终无知，心理史学怎会有发展成功的希望？ 我所谓的政治是指当今的政治，此刻、当下，才是现在转变成未来的时刻。我们不能光研究过去，我们知道过去发生过什么，我们能用来检验研究成果的，是现在与不久的将来。” “在我的感觉中，”谢顿说，“我以前好像听过这番论述。” “以后你还会听到，向你解释这点对我可没什么好处。” 谢顿叹了口气，靠问椅背，带着微笑凝视阿马瑞尔。这个小老弟也许满身是刺，可是他对心理史学极其认真，而这就胜于一切。阿马瑞尔仍有早年当热闾工的本色。他拥有宽阔的肩膀，以及惯于重度劳动的魁梧体格。 他没让身体松软下来倒是件好事，它对谢顿是个激励，帮助他抗拒把所有时间花在书桌前的冲动。谢顿体力虽没有阿马瑞尔那么好，但他仍保有一名角力士的技能——尽管他已年过四十，不可能永远保有。不过目前，他还能继续维持如此的状态。拜每日勤练之赐，谢顿的腰身没有一丝赘肉，双腿与双臂也结实依旧。 他说：“你对丹莫茨尔的关切，不可能纯粹由于他是我的朋友，你一定还有别的动机。” “没错，只要你是丹莫茨尔的朋友，你在这所大学的职位便有保障，你就能继续从事心理史学的研究。” “这就对了。所以我的确有个与他为友的理由，你不是不能理解嘛。” “你有必要去结交他，这点我能理解嘛。我不能理解是你们之间的友谊。无论如何，假如丹莫茨尔丧失权力，姑且不论对你的职位会造成什么影响，届时克里昂将自己掌理帝国，这就会加速帝国的衰落。在我们发展出心理史学的所有细节，使它成为拯救全体人类的科学之前，整个帝囯可能已陷入无政府状态。” “我懂了。但是，你可知道，我实在认为我们无法及时发展出心理史学，以阻止帝国的衰亡。” “即使无法阻止，我们至少能缓冲这个效应，对不对？” “或许吧。” “那么，这就对了。我们在安定中工作的时间越长，我们能阻止衰亡或至少减轻冲击的机会就越大。既然情况如此，那么倒推回来，拯救丹莫茨尔也许就有必要，不论我们——或至少我自己——喜不喜欢这样做。”“但你刚才还说，你希望见到他被赶出皇宫，逐出川陀，甚至远离帝国。” “没错，我是说，在理想的情况下。但我们不是处于理想的情况，所以我们需要我们的首相，即使他是个压迫与专制的工具。”“我懂了。可是你为什么认为，失去一位首相就会引发整个帝国的崩溃呢？”“心理史学。” “你用它预测？我们甚至连骨架都没搭好，你怎么预测？”“别忘了有直觉这回事，哈里。” “直觉自古就有，我们要的不只是它，对不对？我们要的是个数学方法，能够在各种不同的条件下，估算出未来某种特定发展的机率。假使直觉足以引导我们，我们根本不需要心理史学。” “这未必是个二选一的情况，哈里，我的意思是兼容并蓄，结合二者。这也许比两者任一都好，至少在心理史学完备前是如此。” “倘若真能完成。”谢顿说，“别管了，告诉我，丹莫茨尔的危机是从哪来的？可能伤害 他或推翻他的又是什么？我们是不是在讨论丹莫茨尔可能被推翻？”“是的。”阿马瑞尔绷起脸来。“那么告诉我吧，可怜可怜我的无知。”阿马瑞尔面红耳赤。“你太谦虚了，哈里。你一定听说过九九•久瑞南。”“当然，他是个群众煽动家——慢着，他是打哪儿来的？尼沙亚，是吗？一个微不足道的世界，居民牧羊为生，出产髙品质的乳酪，我记得。” “对了。然而，他不只是个群众煽动家。他统率一个强大的党派，而且势力越来越大。他说，他的目标是争取社会公平，以及扩大人民的参政权。” "没错。”谢顿说，这些我还听说过，他的口号是：政府属于人民’。” “不完全对，哈里。他说的是：‘政府即人民’。” 谢顿点了点头。“嗯，你可知道，我相当认同这个想法。”“我也是，我全心全意赞成——假使久瑞南真是这个意思。但其实不是，他只是拿它当踏脚石。那是个手段，而不是目的。他要把丹莫茨尔赶下台，接下来，控制克里昂一世就很简单。然后久瑞南自己会坐上皇位，到时他就成了人民。是你自己告诉我的，在帝国历史上这种事件比比皆是。而如今帝国已大不如前，变得衰弱而不稳定。在过去几世纪仅会动摇帝国的打击，现在可能会把它击得粉碎。帝国将陷于无止无休的内战，我们却没有心理史学指导我们该怎么做。” “我明白你的意思。可是想要除掉丹莫茨尔，也绝不是件容易的事。” “你不清楚久瑞南的势力成长得有多么迅速。” “他成长得多么迅速并不重要。”谢顿眉宇间似乎掠过一个念头，我不懂他父母为何替他取名九九，这名字听来有些幼稚。” “他的父母和这件事无关。他真名叫拉斯金，那是尼沙亚上很普通的名字。九九是他自己取的，想必是源自他姓氏的第一个字。” “那他就更傻了，你不这样认为吗？” “不，我可不会。他的追随者总是喊着：‘九……九……九……九……’一遍又一遍，颇有催眠作用。” “好吧，”谢顿再度俯身面对他的三用电脑，开始调整它的多维仿真，“我们静观其变。”“你怎能这样不当一回事？危险已经迫在眉睫。”“不，不会的。”谢顿答道，他的双眼如钢铁般冷酷，声音也变得强硬。“你只知其一， 不知其二。” “我不知道什么？” “我们改天再讨论这个问题，雨果。现在，继续做你的研究吧，让我来担心丹莫茨尔和帝国的局势。” 阿马瑞尔嘴唇紧抿，不过他已经很习惯服从谢顿的话。“好的，哈里。” 但也不是完全没有异议。他在门口转过头来，说道：“你在铸成一个错误，哈里。” 谢顿露出浅浅的微笑。“我可不这么想，不过我听到你的警告了，我不会忘记的。无论如何，一切都会平安无事。” 阿马瑞尔离去后，谢顿的笑容随即消失。真的，一切都会平安无事吗？ Chapter 2 But Seldon, while he did not forget Amaryl's warning, did not think of it with any great degree of concentration. His fortieth birthday came and went-with the usual psychological blow. Forty! He was not young any longer. Life no longer stretched before him as a vast uncharted field, its horizon lost in the distance. He had been on Trantor for eight years and the time had passed quickly. Another eight years and he would be nearly fifty. Old age would be looming. And he had not even made a decent beginning in psychohistory? Yugo Amaryl spoke brightly of laws and worked out his equations by making daring assumptions based on intuition. But how could one possibly test those assumptions? Psychohistory was not yet an experimental science. The complete study of psychohistory would require experiments that would involve worlds of people, centuries of time-and a total lack of ethical responsibility. It posed an impossible problem and he resented having to spend any time whatever on departmental tasks, so he walked home at the end of the day in a morose mood. Ordinarily he could always count on a walk through the campus to rouse his spirits. Streeling University was high-domed and the campus gave the feeling of being out in the open without the necessity of enduring the kind of weather he had experienced on his one (and only) visit to the Imperial Palace. There were trees, lawns, walks, almost as though he were on the campus of his old college on his home world of Helicon. The illusion of cloudiness had been arranged for the day with the sunlight (no sun, of course, just sunlight) appearing and disappearing at odd intervals. And it was a little cool, just a little. It seemed to Seldon that the cool days came a little more frequently than they used to. Was Trantor saving energy? Was it increasing inefficiency? Or (and he scowled inwardly as he thought it) was he getting old and was his blood getting thin? He placed his hands in his jacket pockets and hunched up his shoulders. Usually he did not bother guiding himself consciously. His body knew the way perfectly from his offices to his computer room and from there to his apartment and back. Generally he negotiated the path with his thoughts elsewhere, but today a sound penetrated his consciousness. A sound without meaning. "Jo . JJJJJJJJJJo . JJ . " It was rather soft and distant, but it brought back a memory. Yes, Amaryl's warning. The demagogue. Was he here on campus? His legs swerved without Seldon's making a conscious decision and brought him over the low rise to the University Field, which was used for calisthenics, sports, and student oratory. In the middle of the Field was a moderate-sized crowd of students who were chanting enthusiastically. On a platform was someone he didn't recognize, someone with a loud voice and a swaying rhythm. It wasn't this man, Joranum, however. He had seen Joranum on holovision a number of times. Since Amaryl's warning, Seldon had paid close attention JJranum was large and smiled with a kind of vicious camaraderie. He had thick sandy hair and light blue eyes. This speaker was small, if anything-thin, wide-mouthed, dark-haired, and loud. Seldon wasn't listening to the words, though he did hear the phrase "power from the one to the many" and the many-voiced shout in response. Fine, thought Seldon, but just how does he intend to bring this about -and is he serious? He was at the outskirts of the crowd now and looked around far someone he knew. He spotted Finangelos, a pret-math undergraduate. Not a bad young man, dark and woolly-haired. "Finangelos," he called out. "Professor Seldon" said Finangelos after a moment of staring as though unable to recognize Seldon without a keyboard at his fingertips he trotted over. "Did you come to listen to this guy?" "I didn't come for any purpose but to find out what the noise was. Who is he?" "His name is Namarti, Professor. He's speaking for Jo-Jo " "I hear that, " said Seldon as he listened to the chant again It began each time the speaker made a telling point, apparently. "But who is this Namarti? I don't recognize the name. What department is he in?" "He's not a member of the University, Professor. He's one of Jo-Jo's men " "If he's not a member of the University, he has no right to speak here without a permit. Does he have one, do you suppose?" "I wouldn't know, Professor " "Well then, let's find out " Seldon started into the crowd, but Finangelos caught his sleeve. "Don't start anything, Professor. He's got goons with him " There were six young men behind the speaker, spaced rather widely, legs apart, arms folded, scowling. "Goons?" "For rough stuff, in case anyone tries anything funny " "Then he's certainly not a member of the University and even a permit wouldn't cover what you call his `goons'. -Finangelos, signal through to the University security officers. They should have been here by now without a signal " "I guess they don't want trouble," muttered Finangelos. "Please, Professor, don't try anything If you want me to get the security officers, I will, but you just wait till they come " "Maybe I can break this up before they come " He began pushing his way through It wasn't difficult. Some of those present recognized him and all could see the professorial shoulder patch He reached the platform, placed his hands on it, and vaulted up the three feet with a small grunt. He thought, with chagrin, that he could have done it with one hand ten years before and without the grunt. He straightened up. The speaker had stopped talking and was looking at him with wary and ice-hard eyes. Seldon said calmly, "Your permit to address the students, sir." "Who are you?" said the speaker. He said it loudly, his voice carrying. "I'm a member of the faculty of this University," said Seldon, equally loudly. "Your permit, sir?" "I deny your right to question me on the matter." The young men behind the speaker had gathered closer. "If you have none, I would advise you to leave the University grounds immediately." "And if I don't?" "Well, for one thing, the University security officers are on their way." He turned to the crowd. "Students," he called out, "we have the right of free speech and freedom of assembly on this campus, but it can be taken away from us if we allow outsiders, without permits, to make unauthorized-" A heavy hand fell on his shoulder and he winced. He turned around and found it was one of the men Finangelos had referred to as "goons." The man said, with a heavy accent whose provenance Seldon could not immediately identify, "Get out of here fast. " "What good will that do?" said Seldon. "The security officers will be here any minute." "In that case," said Namarti with a feral grin, "there'll be a riot. That doesn't scare us." "Of course it wouldn't," said Seldon. "You'd like it, but there won't be a riot. You'll all go quietly." He turned again to the students and shrugged off the hand on his shoulder. "We'll see to that, won't we?" Someone in the crowd shouted, "That's Professor Seldon! He's all right! Don't pound him!" Seldon sensed ambivalence in the crowd. There would be some, he knew, who would welcome a dust-up with the University security officers, just on general principles. On the other hand, there had to be some who liked him personally and still others who did not know him but who would not want to see violence against a member of the faculty. A woman's voice rang out. "Watch out, Professor!" Seldon sighed and regarded the large young men he faced. He didn't know if he could do it, if his reflexes were quick enough, his muscles sturdy enough, even given his prowess at Twisting. One goon was approaching him, overconfidently of course. Not quickly, which gave Seldon a little of the time his aging body would need. The goon held out his arm confrontationally, which made it easier. Seldon seized the arm, whirled, and bent, arm up, and then down (with a grunt why did he have to grunt?), and the goon went flying through the air, propelled partly by his own momentum. He landed with a thump on the outer edge of the platform, his right shoulder dislocated. There was a wild cry from the audience at this totally unexpected development. Instantly an institutional pride erupted. "Take them, Prof!" a lone voice shouted. Others took up the cry. Seldon smoothed back his hair, trying not to puff. With his foot he shoved the groaning fallen goon off the platform. "Anyone else?" he asked pleasantly. "Or will you leave quietly?" He faced Namarti and his five henchmen and as they paused irresolutely, Seldon said, "I warn you. The crowd is on my side now. If you try to rush me, they'll take you apart. -Okay, who's next? Let's go. One at a time." He had raised his voice with the last sentence and made small come-hither motions with his fingers. The crowd yelled its pleasure. Namarti stood there stolidly. Seldon leaped past him and caught his neck in the crook of his arm. Students were climbing onto the platform now, shouting "One at a time! One at a time!" and getting between the bodyguards and Seldon. Seldon increased the pressure on the other's windpipe and whispered in his ear, "There's a way to do this, Namarti, and I know how: I've practiced it for years. If you make a move and try to break away, I'll ruin your larynx so that you'll never talk above a whisper again. If you value your voice, do as I say. When I let up, you tell your bunch of bullies to leave. If you say anything else, they'll be the last words you'll say normally. And if you ever come back to this campus again, no more Mr. Nice Guy. I'll finish the job." He released the pressure momentarily. Namarti said huskily, "All of you. Get out." They retreated rapidly, helping their stricken comrade. When the University security officers arrived a few moments later, Seldon said, "Sorry, gentlemen. False alarm." He left the Field and resumed his walk home with more than a little chagrin. He had revealed a side of himself he did not want to reveal. He was Hari Seldon, mathematician, not Hari Seldon, sadistic twister. Besides, he thought gloomily, Dors would hear of this. In fact, he'd better tell her himself, lest she hear a version that made the incident seem worse than it really was. She would not be pleased. 第二章 　　可是，谢顿虽然没有忘记阿马瑞尔的警告，却也未曾特别用心想过。他的四十岁生日倏来倏去，带着如常的心理打击。四十岁！他已不再年轻。生命不再像眼前浩瀚的末知领域，地平线不再隐没在遥远的尽头。他来到川陀一转眼已有八年。再过八年，他就将近五十岁；老年岁月即将来临。 而在心理史学研究上，他甚至尚未做出一个好的开始。雨果•阿马瑞尔总是兴致勃勃地谈论一些定律，并且根据直觉提出大胆的假设，再根据 假设导出方程式。但怎有可能测试那些假设呢？心理史学还不是个实验性科学，成熟的心理史学研究所需的实验，将牵涉到许多世界的民众、数个世纪的时间，同时完全不能顾及任何道德责任。 这是个无解的难题，而花在系务工作上的每分每秒都令他心痛，所以，这天傍晚，谢顿怀着忧郁的心情走回家去。 通常只要在校园走一趟，就能令他精神振奋。川陀大学的穹顶很高，整个校园给人置身露天的感觉，却不必忍受像他上次（也是唯一一次）造访皇宫时遇到的那种天气。这儿有许多树木、草坪、步道，他仿佛回到母星赫利肯的那个旧日学院。今日的天气设定为阴天，阳光（当然没有太阳，有的只是阳光）不定时地或隐或现，空气中带着些许凉意。 在谢顿感觉中，天凉的日子似乎较过去频繁了些。是川陀在节约能源吗？或是越来越缺乏效率？还是他年纪渐长，体力越发虚弱（想到这里，他在心中皱了一下眉头）。他将双手插进外套口袋，缩了缩脖子。 通常他不必靠意识引导自己前进，从研究室到电脑房到他的寓所，或是相反的路径，他的身体都十分熟悉。在一般情况下，他总是边走边想别的事。但是今天，一个声音贯穿他的意识，那是一个没有意义的声音。 “啾……啾……啾……啾……” 那个声音相当轻柔而且遥远，但是它唤起了一段记忆。没错，阿马瑞尔的警告，那个群众煽动家。此时他在校园里吗？在意识尚未做出决定之前，谢顿的双腿便突然转向，带他爬过了小丘，向大学运动场前进。那里是学生做柔软体操、各项运动，以及大放厥词的场所。运动场中央聚集着一群学生，正狂热地齐声呐喊。讲演台上站着一个他不认识的人，那人声音洪亮，身体有节奏地摇摆着。然而，这不是久瑞南，他曾在全讯电视上看过久瑞南几次。自从听到阿马瑞尔的警告，谢顿便特别留意。久瑞南身材高大，微笑时带着一种不怀好意的友爱。他有着浓密的灰色头发，以及一对浅蓝色眼珠。 这个演讲者则是个小个子，瘦弱、宽嘴、黑头发，大嗓门。谢顿并未注意听他说些什么， 不过还是听到一句“权力由一人转移至众人”，接着便有许多人高声附和。 说得好！谢顿心想。可是他打算怎么做呢？他是认真的吗？现在他来到了群众外围，正在四下寻找熟人。他发现了芬南格罗斯，一个数学系大学部的学生。他是个不错的年轻人，有着黝黑的皮肤与蓬乱的头发。“芬南格罗斯。”他喊道。 “谢顿教授。”芬南格罗斯望了一会儿才应声，仿佛认不出手边没有键盘的谢顿。芬南格罗斯快步走过来。“您来听这家伙演讲吗？” “我来这儿只是要找出喧嚣的来源，没有其他目的。他是谁。”“他叫纳马提，教授，他在替九九发表演说。” “原来如此。"谢顿答道，此时那些呐喊再度响起。显然，每当演讲者提出一个强有力 的论点，听众就会开始呐喊。但这个纳马提到底是谁？我没听过这个名字。“他是哪个系的？”“他不是这所大学的成员，教授，他是九九的人。” “如果他不是这所大学的成员，那么没有许可证的话，他无权在此演讲。他有许可证吗？”“我不知道，教授。” “好吧，那我们来弄清楚。” 谢顿正要走入人群，芬南格罗斯却一把拉住他的袖子。“别采取任何行动，教授，他带着几名打手。” 演讲者身后站着六个年轻人，彼此间隔着一段距离。他们双腿张开开，两臂交抱，脸色阴沉。 “打手？” “以防有人想做什么傻事。” “那么他绝不是这所大学的成员，即使他有许可证，也不能带着你所谓的‘打手’进来。 芬南格罗斯，发讯号给大学安全警卫。就算没人发讯号，他们现在也该来了。” “我想他们不愿惹麻烦。”芬南格罗斯喃喃道，“拜托，教授，什么也别做。如果您要我 去找安全警卫，我这就去，但请您等他们来了再说。”“也许在他们来之前，我就能把这群人驱散。” 他开始往里面挤。这并不太难，人群中有些人认识他，其他人也看得到他的教授肩章。他走到演讲台前，双手搭在上面，轻哼一声，纵身跳上近一米髙的台子。他暗自懊恼，十年以前，他用单手哼都不哼就能办到。他在演讲台上站直身子。那演讲者早已住口，正以机警、冰冷的目光望着他。谢顿平静地说：“请出示对学生演讲的许可证，阁下。” “你是谁？”那演讲者道。他故意说得很大声，声音传遍全场。“我是这所大学的教员。”谢顿同样大声地回道，“你的许可证，阁下？” “我不认为你有权质疑我。”演讲者说，他身后的年轻人聚了过来。“如果你没有许可证，我劝你马上离开大学校园。” “如果我拒绝呢？” “那么，后果之一，大学安全警卫已在半途。”他转身面对群众喊道，“同学们，我们有 自由发表言论的权利，也有在这个校园集会的自由，但如果我们允许没有许可证的外人，进行未经批准的——” 一只大手落在他肩膀上，谢顿怔了一下。他转过身去，发现那是芬南格罗斯称之为“打手”的几个人之一。 那人说：“快滚！”那人的口音很重，谢顿一时听不出他是哪里人。“我走对你们也没好处。”谢顿说，“安全警卫随时会到。” “那么，”纳马提凶狠地咧嘴一笑，“就会有场暴动，那可吓不倒我们。” “当然吓不倒你们。”谢顿说，“你们希望引发暴动，可惜不会如愿，你们乖乖离开这里。” 他甩掉搭在肩上的那只手，再度转身面对学生，我们都会看着他们走的，对吧？”群众中有人高声喊道：“那是谢顿教授！他是好人！别揍他！”谢顿察觉群众出现了矛盾心态。他知道，有些人正幸灾乐祸地等着看大学安全警卫引发骚动，而也有人则对他心存好感，还有些人虽然不认识他，却不希望见到一名教授受到暴力攻击。 此时响起一名女子的声音：“小心，教授！”谢顿叹口气，转身紧盯着面前几个高大的年轻人。他不知道自己是否应付得了。他的反射动作是否够快、他的肌肉是否够结实——即使他是个角力高手。 一名打手充满自信地逼近谢顿，动作不快，这给了谢顿一点时间，正是他步入中年的身体所需要的，那打手面向谢顿出拳，使得拆招更显容易。 谢顿抓住那只手臂，一个回旋、弯腰、抬手，再向下一拉（伴随着一下哼声。他为什么一定要哼一声？），那名打手便顺势飞了出去，重重一声落在演讲台外缘，右肩显然已经脱臼。 观众见到这个完全出乎意料的发展，全都狂呼叫好，一股集体的骄傲感立时迸发出来。“解决他们，教授！”一个声音喊道，其他人马上响应。 谢顿向后抚平头发，尽量不大口喘气。然后，他一脚将那个还在呻吟的打手踢下演讲台。 “还有谁要上？”他得意地问道，“或是你们准备滚蛋了？” 纳马提与他的五名党羽踌躇不定地僵在那里。谢顿说：我警告你们，群众现在站在我这边。如果你们试图攻击我，他们会把你们撕烂。好了，下个是谁？来吧，一次一个。”他将最后一句话的音量提高，同时手指做出放马过来的动作。群众随即发出兴奋的呐喊。 纳马提木然站在原地。谢顿纵身前扑，手臂箍住他的脖子。此时学生纷纷爬上演讲台，喊道：“一次一个！一次一个！”并在那些保镖与谢顿之间筑起了一道人墙。谢顿加重压在纳马提喉管上的力道，同时在他耳旁悄声说：纳马提，接下来该怎么做，我很清楚。我练了好多年，只要你动一动，试图挣脱，我就毁了你的喉咙，让你以后永远得哑着声音说话。如果你想保住声音，就照我的话做。等我一松手，就叫你那群流氓快滚——要是你说句别的，那将是你最后一次用正常声音说话。倘若你再回到这个校园，可不会再有好好先生，我会跟你一起算清楚。”他微微松松手，纳马提立刻哑声道：“你们全都滚开。”那些人迅速撤退，扶着受伤的同 伴一块离去。 大学安全警卫不久之后抵达，谢顿说：“抱歉，诸位，虚惊一场。”他离开运动场，带着懊恼的心情，继续踏上回家的路途。他显露了自己不愿显露的一面。 他是数学家哈里•谢顿，不是有虐待狂的角力士哈里•谢顿。 此外，他还沮丧地想到，铎丝会听到这件事的。事实上，他最好自己告诉她，免得她从别处听来的版本，将这事说得比实际情况更糟。 她不会髙兴的。 Chapter 3 She wasn't. Dors was waiting for him at the door of their apartment in an easy stance, hand on one hip, looking very much as she had when he had first met her at this very University eight years before: slim, shapely, with curly reddish-gold hair-very beautiful in his eyes but not very beautiful in any objective sense, though he had never been able to assess her objectively after the first few days of their friendship. Dors Venabili! That's what he thought when he saw her calm face. There were many worlds, even many sectors on Trantor where it would have been common to call her Dors Seldon, but that, he always thought, would put the mark of ownership on her and he did not wish it, even though the custom was sanctioned by existence back into the vague mists of the pre-Imperial past. Dors said, softly and with a sad shake of her head that barely disturbed her loose curls, "I've heard, Hari. Just what am I going to do with you?" "A kiss would not be amiss." "Well, perhaps, but only after we probe this a little. Come in." The door closed behind them. "You know, dear, I have my course and my research. I'm still doing that dreadful history of the Kingdom of Trantor, which you tell me is essential to your own work. Shall I drop it all and take to wandering around with you, protecting you? It's still my job, you know. It's more than ever my job, now that you're making progress with psychohistory." "Making progress? I wish I were. But you needn't protect me." "Needn't I? I sent Raych out looking for you. After all, you were late and I was concerned. You usually tell me when you're going to be late. I'm sorry if that makes me sound as though I'm your keeper, Hari, but I am your keeper." "Does it occur to you, Keeper Dors, that every once in a while I like to slip my leash?" "And if something happens to you, what do I tell Demerzel?" "Am I too late for dinner? Have we clicked for kitchen service?" "No. I was waiting for you. And as long as you're here, you click it. You're a great deal pickier than I am when it comes to food. And don't change the subject." "Didn't Raych tell you that I was all right? So what's there to talk about?" "When he found you, you were in control of the situation and he got back here first, but not by much. I didn't hear any details. Tell me-What-were-you-doing?" Seldon shrugged. "There was an illegal gathering, Dors, and I broke it up. The University could have gotten a good deal of trouble it didn't need if I hadn't." "And it was up to you to prevent it? Hari. you're not a Twister anymore. You're an-" He put in hastily, "An old man?" "For a Twister, yes. You're forty. How do you feel?" "Well- A little stiff." "I can well imagine. And one of these days, when you try to pretend you're a young Heliconian athlete, you'll break a rib. -Now tell me about it." "Well, I told you how Amaryl warned me that Demerzel was in trouble because of the demagoguery of Jo-Jo Joranum." "Jo-Jo. Yes, I know that much. What don't I know? What happened today?" "There was a rally at the Field. A Jo-Jo partisan named Namarti was addressing the crowd-" "Namarti is Gambol Deen Namarti, Joranum's right-hand man." "Well, you know more about it than I do. In any case, he was addressing a large crowd and he had no permit and I think he was hoping there would be some sort of riot. They feed on these disorders and if he could close down the University even temporarily, he would charge Demerzel with the destruction of academic freedom. I gather they blame him for everything. So I stopped them. -Sent them off without a riot." "You sound proud." "Why not? Not bad for a man of forty." "Is that why you did it? To test your status at forty?" Seldon thoughtfully clicked the dinner menu. Then he said, "No. I really was concerned that the University would get into needless trouble. And I was concerned about Demerzel. I'm afraid that Yugo's tales of danger had impressed me more than I realized. That was stupid, Dors, because I know that Demerzel can take care of himself. I couldn't explain that to Yugo or to anyone but you." He drew in a deep breath. "It's amazing what a pleasure it is that I can at least talk to you about it. You know and I know and Demerzel knows and no one else knows-at least, that I know of-that Demerzel is untouchable." Dors touched a contact on a recessed wall panel and the dining section of their living quarters lit up with a soft peach-colored glow. Together, she and Hari walked to the table, which was already set with linen, crystal, and utensils. As they sat, the dinner began to arrive-there was never any long delay at this time of evening-and Seldon accepted it quite casually. He had long since grown accustomed to the social position that made it unnecessary for them to patronize the faculty dinners. Seldon savored the seasonings they had learned to enjoy during their stay at Mycogen-the only thing about that strange, male-dominated, religion-permeated, living-in-the-past sector they had not detested. Dors said softly, "How do you mean, `untouchable'?" "Come, dear, he can alter emotions. You haven't forgotten that. If Joranum really became dangerous, he could be"-he made a vague gesture with his hands- `altered: made to change his mind." Dors looked uncomfortable and the meal proceeded in an unusual silence. It wasn't until it was over and the remains-dishes, cutlery, and all-swirled down the disposal chute in the center of the table (which then smoothly covered itself over) that she said, "I'm not sure I want to talk about this, Hari, but I can't let you be fooled by your own innocence." "Innocence?" He frowned. "Yes. We've never talked about this. I never thought it would come up, but Demerzel has shortcomings. He is not untouchable, he may be harmed, and Joranum is indeed a danger to him." "Are you serious?" "Of course I am. You don't understand robots-certainly not one as complex as Demerzel. And I do." 第三章 　　她的确不髙兴。 铎丝在他们的寓所门口等他。她单手叉腰，摆出一个轻松的姿势，那模样跟八年前在这所大学里，他第一次见到她时一模一样：身材苗条、凹凸有致，一头卷曲的金红色头发——在他眼里非常美丽，但就任何客观角度而言则未必如此。不过，在他们相识几天后，他就再也无法对她做出客观评价。 铎丝•凡纳比里！当谢顿看到她平静的面容，心里浮现的是这个名字。在许多世界上， 甚至在川陀许多行政区中，一般习惯称她为铎丝•谢顿。可是，谢顿总认为这会在她身上贴 上所有权的标签，尽管在虚无缥缈的前帝国时代，改夫姓已是约定俗成的惯例，但他仍不愿接受。 铎丝悲伤地摇揺头，险些弄乱了她蓬松的卷发。“我听说了，哈里”她柔声道，“我究竟 该拿你怎么办？” “亲一下不会错的。” “或许吧，但我们得先研究一下这件事，进来再说。”大门在他们身后关上。“亲爱的， 你该知道，我有我自己的课，还有自己的研究。我仍在钻研可怕的川陀王国历史，你告诉我那对你的工作绝对有帮助。我是不是该搁下这一切，专门在你身边晃来晃去好保护你？你知道，保护你仍是我的工作。如今你在心理史学上逐渐有些进展，我更责无旁贷必须保护你。” “进展？我倒希望真有。可是你不需要保护我。”“不需要吗？我刚才叫芮奇出去找你。你过了时间还没到家，我有些担心。通常你要晚回家时，都会事先告诉我——假如这使我听来像是你的守护者，那很抱歉，哈里，但我的确是你的守护者。” “你有没有想过，守护者铎丝，偶尔我也会想挣脱一下锁链？”“万一你发生了什么事，我怎么向丹莫茨尔交代？” “我是不是误了晚饭？我们点了外卖没有？”“没有，我一直在等你。既然你回来了，就由你来点吧。在饮食这方面，你要比我挑剔得多。可是，不要改变话题。”“有什么好谈的呢？芮奇没告诉你我没事吗？” “芮奇找到你的时候，你已经控制了局面。于是他先回家来，但没比你早多少，我还没听到细节。告诉我——你究竟在做什么？” 谢顿耸了耸肩。“校园里有个非法集会，铎丝，我把它驱散了。要是不那样做，学校可能惹上不必要的麻烦。” “只有你能阻止吗？哈里，你不再是个角力士，你是个——” “一个老头？”他插嘴道。 ‘对一个角力士而言，是没错——你已经四十岁了。你现在有什么感觉？” “呃——有点僵硬。” “不难想像。假如你继续扮演年轻的赫利肯运动家，总有一天会折断肋骨。现在，把经过情形告诉我。” “好吧。我跟你提过阿马瑞尔的警告，说那个九九•久瑞南的群众运动给丹莫茨尔带来 麻烦。” “九九。是的，这些我知道。我不知道的那些呢？今天发生了什么事？”“学校的运动场聚集了一些群众，九九的一个党羽，叫纳马提的，在那里发表演说……” “纳马提就是坎伯尔•丁恩•纳马提，久瑞南的左右手。”“你比我还清楚嘛。好，不管他是谁，反正他对着大批群众演说，却没申请许可证。我猜他是想借此引发暴动。他们靠这些骚乱壮大，如果他能让大学关闭，哪怕只是暂时关闭，他就能指控丹莫茨尔破坏学术自由。我猜，他们把每件事都怪在他头上。所以我阻止了他们——在未引发暴动的情况下，把他们赶走。”“听来你很引以为傲。” “有何不可？对一个四十岁的人来说，我表现得不差。” “这就是你那么做的理由？测验你四十岁的身体状况？” 谢顿若有所思地敲敲晚餐菜单。“不，我的确担心这所大学会惹上不必要的麻烦，而且我还为丹莫茨尔担心。只怕雨果的那番危机论，在我心中留下的影响超乎我的想像。其实这样担心很傻，铎丝，因为我知道丹莫茨尔能照顾白己。除了你，我无法对雨果或其他人解释这一点。” 他深深吸了口气。“真庆幸我还可以跟你谈。就我所知，除了你、我，以及丹莫茨尔自己，再也没有人知道丹莫茨尔是打不倒的。”铎丝碰了一下壁板凹槽上的开关，餐厅便亮起柔和的桃色光芒。她与哈里一同走向餐桌。 餐桌上已经铺好亚麻桌布，摆上水晶杯与各式餐具。他们坐定后，晚餐开始送达——在傍晚这个时刻，晚餐总是供应迅速，谢顿将这点视为理所当然。他们没有必要再惠顾教员餐厅，而他也已习惯这样的社会地位。谢顿在食物中加了些调味品，那是他们在麦曲生学到的做法。麦曲生区是个怪异、男性至上、宗教主宰一切、永远活在过去的地方，调味品是他俩唯一不厌恶的麦曲生特产。铎丝柔声道：“你说‘打不倒的’是什么意思？”“得了吧，亲爱的，记得丹莫茨尔能改造人的情感吧？一旦久瑞南的存在造成威胁，他就会被——”他比了个含糊的动作，“改造。” 铎丝显得心神不宁，晚餐在反常的沉默中进行。直到晚餐结束，剩菜、碗盘、餐具等等全部卷人餐桌中央的废物处理槽（然后桌面又平稳地自动合拢），她才再度打破沉默。“我不 确定是否要跟你谈这件事，哈里，但我不能让你被自己的天真愚弄了。”“天真？”他皱起眉头。 “是的，我们始终没讨论过这件事，我从未想到会有这一天。可是丹莫茨尔也有弱点，他不是打不倒的，他也可能受到伤害，而久瑞南对他的确是个威胁。” “你说的是真的吗？” “当然。你不了解机器人，至少不了解像丹莫茨尔那么复杂的，而我不同。” Chapter 4 There was a short silence again, but only because thoughts are silent. Seldon's were tumultuous enough. Yes, it was true. His wife did seem to have an uncanny knowledge of robots. Hari had wondered about this so often over the years that he had finally given up, tucked it away in the back of his mind. If it hadn't been for Eto Demerzel-a robot-Hari would never have met Dors. For Dors worked for Demerzel; it was Demerzel who "assigned" Dors to Hari's case eight years ago to protect him during his flight throughout the various sectors of Trantor. Even though now she was his wife, his help-meet, his "'better half," Hari still occasionally wondered about Dors's strange connection with the robot Demerzel. It was the only area of Dors's life where Hari truly felt he did not belong-nor welcome. And that brought to mind the most painful question of all: Was it out of obedience to Demerzel that Dors stayed with Hari or was it out of love for him? He wanted to believe the latter-and yet . His life with Dors Venabili was a happy one, but it was so at a cost, at a condition. The condition was all the more stringent, in that it had been settled not through discussion or agreement but by a mutual unspoken understanding. Seldon understood that he found in Dors everything he would have wanted in a wife. True, he had no children, but he had neither expected any, nor, to tell the truth, had greatly wanted any. He had Raych, who was as much a son of his emotionally as if he had inherited the entire Seldonian genome-perhaps more so. The mere fact that Dors was causing him to think about the matter was breaking the agreement that had kept them in peace and comfort all these years and he felt a faint but growing resentment at that. But he pushed those thoughts, the questions, away again. He had learned to accept her role as his protector and would continue to do so. After all, it was he with whom she shared a home, a table, and a bed-not Eto Demerzel. Dors's voice brought him out of his reverie. "I said- Are you sulking, Hari?" He started slightly, for there was the sound of repetition in her voice, and he realized he had been shrinking steadily deeper into his mind and away from her. "I'm sorry, dear. I'm not sulking. -Not deliberately sulking. I'm just wondering how I ought to respond to your statement." "About robots?" She seemed quite calm as she said the word. "You said I don't know as much about them as you do. How do I respond to that?" He paused, then added quietly (knowing he was taking a chance), "That is, without offense." "I didn't say you didn't know about robots. If you're going to quote me, do so with precision. I said you didn't understand about robots. I'm sure that you know a great deal, perhaps more than I do, but to know is not necessarily to understand." "Now, Dors, you're deliberately speaking in paradoxes to be annoying. A paradox arises only out of an ambiguity that deceives either unwittingly or by design. I don't like that in science and I don't like it in casual conversation, either, unless it is meant humorously, which I think is not the case now." Dors laughed in her particular way, softly, almost as though amusement were too precious to be shared in an overliberal manner. "Apparently the paradox has annoyed you into pomposity and you are always humorous when you are pompous. However, I'll explain. It's not my intention to annoy you." She reached over to pat his hand and it was to Seldon's surprise (and slight embarrassment) that he found that he had clenched his hand into a fist. Dors said, "You talk about psychohistory a great deal. To me, at any rate. You know that?" Seldon cleared his throat. "I throw myself on your mercy as far as that's concerned. The project is secret-by its very nature. Psychohistory won't work unless the people it affects know nothing about it, so I can talk about it only to Yugo and to you. To Yugo, it is all intuition. He's brilliant, but he is so apt to leap wildly into darkness that I must play the role of caution, of forever pulling him back. But I have my wild thoughts, too, and it helps me to be able to hear them aloud, even"-and he smiled- "when I have a pretty good notion that you don't understand a word I'm saying." "I know I'm your sounding board and I don't mind. -I really don't mind, Hari, so don't begin making inner resolutions to change your behavior. Naturally I don't understand your mathematics. I'm just a historian-and not even a historian of science. The influence of economic change on political development is what is taking up my time now-" "Yes, and I'm your sounding board on that or hadn't you noticed? I'll need it for psychohistory when the time comes, so I suspect you'll be an indispensable help to me." "Good! Now that we've settled why you stay with me-I knew it couldn't be for my ethereal beauty-let me go on to explain that occasionally, when your discussion veers away from the strictly mathematical aspects, it seems to me that I get your drift. You have, on a number of occasions, explained what you call the necessity of minimalism. I think I understand that. By it, you mean-" "I know what I mean." Dors looked hurt. "Less lofty, please, Hari. I'm not trying to explain to you. I want to explain it to myself. You say you're my sounding board, so act like one. Turnabout is fair play, isn't it?" "Turnabout is fine, but if you're going to accuse me of loftiness when I say one little-" ``Enough! Shut up! -You have told me that minimalism is of the highest importance in applied psychohistory; in the art of attempting to change an undesired development into a desired one or, at any rate, a toss undesired one. You have said that a change must be applied that is as minute, as minimal, as possible-" "Yes," said Seldon eagerly, "that is because-" "No, Hari. I'm trying to explain. We both know that you understand it. You must have minimalism because every change, any change, has a myriad of side effects that can't always be allowed for. If the change is side effects too many, then it becomes certain that the outcome will be far removed from anything you've planned and that it would be entirely unpredictable." "Right," said Seldon. "That's the essence of a chaotic- effect. The problem is whether any change is small enough to make the consequence reasonably predictable or whether human history is inevitably and unalterably chaotic in every respect. It was that which, at the start, made me think that psychohistory was not-" "I know, but you're not letting me make my point. Whether any change would be small enough is not the issue. The point is that any change greater than the minimal is chaotic. The required minimum may be zero, but if it is not zero, then it is still very small-and it would be a major problem to find some change that is small enough and yet is significantly greater than zero. Now, that, I gather, is what you mean by the necessity of minimalism." "More or less," said Seldon. "Of course, as always, the matter is expressed more compactly and more rigorously in the language of mathematics. See here-" "Save me," said Dors. "Since you know this about psychohistory, Hari, you ought to know it about Demerzel, too. You have the knowledge but not the understanding, because it apparently doesn't occur to you to apply the rules of psychohistory to the Laws of Robotics." To which Seldon replied faintly, "Now I don't see what you're getting at. "He requires minimality, too, doesn't he, Hari? By the First Law of Robotics, a robot can't harm a human being. That is the prime rule for the usual robot, but Demerzel is something quite unusual and for him, the Zeroth Law is a reality and it takes precedence even over the First Law. The Zeroth Law states that a robot can't harm humanity as a whole. But that puts Demerzel into the same bind in which you exist when you labor at psychohistory. Do you see?" "I'm beginning to." "I hope so. If Demerzel has the ability to change minds, he has to do so without bringing about side effects he does not wish-and since he is the Emperor's First Minister, the side effects he must worry about are numerous, indeed." "And the application to the present case?" "Think about it! You can't tell anyone-except me, of course-that Demerzel is a robot, because he has adjusted you so that you can't. But how much adjustment did that take? Do you want to tell people that he is a robot? Do you want to ruin his effectiveness when you depend on him for protection, for support of your grants, for influence quietly exerted on your behalf? Of course not. The change he had to make then was a very tiny one, just enough to keep you from blurting it out in a moment of excitement or carelessness. It is so small a change that there are no particular side effects. That is how Demerzel tries to run the Empire generally." "And the case of Joranum?" "Is obviously completely different from yours. He is, for whatever motives, unalterably opposed to Demerzel. Undoubtedly, Demerzel could change that, but it would be at the price of introducing a considerable wrench in Joranum's makeup that would bring about results Demerzel could not predict. Rather than take the chance of harming Joranum, of producing side effects that would harm others and, possibly, all of humanity, he must leave Joranum alone until he can find some small change-some small change-that will save the situation without harm. That is why Yugo is right and why Demerzel is vulnerable." Seldon had listened but did not respond. He seemed lost in thought. Minutes passed before he said, "If Demerzel can do nothing in this matter, then I must." "If he can do nothing, what can you do?" "The case is different. I am not bound by the Laws of Robotics. I need not concern myself obsessively with minimalism. -And to begin with, I must see Demerzel." Dors looked faintly anxious. "Must you? Surely it wouldn't be wise to advertise a connection between the two of you." "We have reached a time where we can't make a fetish of pretending there is no connection. Naturally I won't go to see him behind a flourish of trumpets and an announcement on holovision, but I must see him." 第四章 　　又是一段短暂的沉默，伹这只是因为思想是无声的。谢顿的内心其实正喧嚣沸腾着。 是的，这是事实。他的妻子似乎的确对机器人有惊人的认识。过去许多年来，谢顿始终将这点深藏进心灵暗角。若非伊图•丹莫茨尔——一个机器人——谢顿永远不会遇见铎丝， 因为铎丝为丹莫茨尔工作。八年前，当谢顿在川陀各区间辗转逃亡时，是丹莫茨尔“指派”铎丝保护他。即使现在，铎丝成了他的妻子、他的配偶、他的“另一半”，谢顿仍不时纳闷， 铎丝与机器人丹莫茨尔之间，究竟有什么奇妙的联系。在铎丝的生命中，这是谢顿唯一真正感到既不属于他，也不欢迎他的一处。这就引出了最残酷的一个问题：铎丝留在谢顿身边，是出于对丹莫茨尔的服从，还是出于对谢顿的爱？他想相信后者，然而…… 他与铎丝•凡纳比里在一起的日子很快乐，但那是有代价、有条件的。这条件并非由讨 论或协议所定，而是双方未曾言明的一种默契，因此反倒更显严格。谢顿了解，自己心目中理想妻子的各项优点，铎丝身上都有。的确，他是没有儿女，但他一来从未期待过，二来，说老实话，也没多大渴求。他拥有芮奇，在情感上，芮奇就是他的儿子，仿佛芮奇继承了整个谢顿家族的基因组，或许比亲生儿子还亲。现在铎丝使他想到这个问题，等于打破了多年来让他们相安无事的默契。他模模糊糊感到一股怨气，越来越强。 但他将这些想法、这些问题再度抛置到脑后。他已经学会接受铎丝是自己的保护者，今后也不会有任何改变。毕竟，与她共享一个家、一张餐桌、一张床的是他自己，而不是伊图•丹 莫茨尔。 铎丝的声音将他从冥想中拉回现实。“哈里，我在问你——你是不是不开心？” 他有点吃惊，因为铎丝的口气像是问过好几遍了，谢顿这才警觉到自己刚才深陷在思绪里，完全忽略了铎丝的存在。 “对不起，亲爱的，我不是不开心——不是有意闷闷不乐。我只是在想，我该如何回答你刚才的话。” “关于机器人吗？”她说出这个字眼时似乎相当冷静。“你说，我对机器人知道得不如你多。我该如何回答这句话？”他顿了一下，再以平静的口吻补充道（他知道是在碰运气），“而不至于冒犯你。” “我没说你不知道机器人。假如你要引用我的话，那就引用得准确点。我说的是，你不了解机器人。我确信你知道机器人，也许比我还多，可是，知道不一定代表了解。” “好了，铎丝，别用诡辩来混淆我，不论你是有意还是无心，诡辩都是一种似是而非的言论。我不喜欢在科学中见到这种言论，日常谈话也不例外，除非本意是幽默——而我认为现在并非如此。” 铎丝以她特有的方式温柔地笑了笑，仿佛欢乐过于珍贵，不能恣意与他人分享。“这个诡辩显然已经困扰，让你变得夸张，而你在夸张时总是相当幽默。无论如何，我会解释的，我没有打算混淆你。”她拍拍他的手背，谢顿这才惊觉（还有点不好意思地）自己拳头握得紧紧的。 铎丝说：“你常常就心理史学高谈阔论，至少对我如此。你知道吗？” 谢顿清了清喉咙。“这我得求你大发慈悲。计划必须秘密进行——除非受心理史学作用的人群对它一无所知，否则心理史学根本无效。所以我只能找雨果和你谈。雨果很杰出，但他全凭直觉行事，太容易一头栽进未知的领域，因而我必须扮演谨慎的角色，不断将他拉回来。但我也有疯狂的想法，听到自己说出来对我有帮助，即使——”他微微一笑，“我心里非常明白，我说的话你一个字也听不懂。” “我知道我是你的共鸣板，而我不在乎——我真的不在乎，哈里，所以请不要私下决定改变行为。我是个历史学家，自然不懂数学，我的本行甚至不是科学史。现在，我所有的时间又都花在研究经济变动对政治发展的影响——”“瞧，这次我就成了你的共鸣板，难道你没注意到吗？心理史学总有用到它的一天，所以我觉得你对我会有不可或缺的助益。”“很好！既然我们找到你和我在一起的原因——我早知道不可能是因为我美若天仙——让我继续解释。当你的讨论偶尔脱离纯粹的数学领域时，我似乎也能了解你的意思。有好几次，你解释过你所谓的极简主义之必要性，我想我能了解。所谓的极简主义，你是指——”“我知道我指的是什么。” 铎丝显得有些难过。“拜托，哈里，别那么自大。我不是试图对你解释，而是想对自己解释。你说你是我的共鸣板，那就请言行一致。礼尚往来是公平的，对不对？” “礼尚往来没有错，但如果我稍微回嘴，你就要给我扣上自大的帽子——” “够了！听我说！哈里！你告诉过我，极简主义是应用心理史学中最重要的一环。若试图将不理想的历史发展修改得理想，或至少比较理想，极简主义是不可或缺的工具。你曾经说过，人为的变动必须尽可能微小、简单——” “是的，”谢顿热切地说，“那是因为——”“别插嘴，哈里，你明知现在是我在解释。你必须谨守极简主义，因为任何一项变动，都会带来无数的副作用，我们不可能全盘照收。假如变动规模太大、副作用太多，结果必定会和你原先的计划大相径庭，终至完全无法预测。” “没错，”谢顿说，“那是混沌效应的本质。问题在于，我们是否能把所有变动都控制得 够小，使结果可以充分预测——抑或在每一方面，人类历史根本就是无从改变的混沌现象？最初就是因为这个问题，我才认为心理史学不是——” “我知道，可是能不能麻烦你让我表达自己的观点！问题的症结不在于变动够不够小，而是任何大于极小的变动都会带来混沌。需要的极小值也许是零，或者趋近于零。找出某个大于零又足够小的变动，将是主要的难题。好，我想，这就是你所指的极简主义之必要性。” “差不多就是这样。”谢顿说，“当然，跟其他理论一样，用数学语言能做出更简练、更 严密的叙述。听我说——” “饶了我吧。”铎丝说，“既然你知道心理史学中的极简主义，哈里，你就该知道如何用 它解释丹莫茨尔的处境。你拥有足够的知识，可是你仍不了解，因为你显然没想到将这一条法则用到机器人法则上。” 谢顿有气无力地答道：“这回我不懂你要说什么了。”“哈里，丹莫茨尔也需要极简法则。根据机器人第一法则，机器人不得伤害人类，那是普通机器人的最高指导原则。可是丹莫茨尔不是普通机器人，对他而言，还有第零法则的存在，而它甚至位于第一法则之上。第零法则说机器人不得伤害人类整体，这点便将丹莫茨尔套牢，正如你被心理史学法则套牢一样。你懂了吗？”“我开始懂了。” “但愿如此。假如丹莫茨尔有能力改变人类心灵，他同时也必须避免引发他不愿见到的副作用。由于他是皇上的首相，他必须担心的副作用一定多得数不清。”“所以呢？” “想想看吧！你无法告诉任何人丹莫茨尔是机器人——我自然例外——是因为他调整过你。可是他需要调整到什么程度呢？你会想告诉别人他是机器人吗？你仰赖他的保护、仰赖他的支持、仰赖他默默发挥影响力来帮助你，你会想毁掉他的影响力吗？当然不会。因此，当年他只需要稍微做些变动，防止你在兴奋或不留神时脱口而出。那个变动微小到不会有特别的副作用，这正是丹莫茨尔治理帝国所试图采用的一般模式。” “对于久瑞南呢？” “显然和你的情况不同。不论久瑞南的动机为何，他势必反对丹莫茨尔到底。毫无疑问， 丹莫茨尔能改变这点，但那样做的代价是在久瑞南的脑部组织中引起可观的震荡，如此所导致的结果是丹莫茨尔无法预测的。他不愿冒险伤害久瑞南，以免引发的副作用伤及无辜，甚至波及全人类。他必须暂且放过久瑞南，直到他能找到某种微小变动——小到足以挽救局势， 却不会造成伤害。这就是为什么雨果是对的，以及丹莫茨尔也有弱点的原因。” 谢顿一直仔细聆听，没有回应，似乎陷入了沉思。过了好几分钟，他才重新开口。“如果丹莫茨尔对这件事束手无策，那我必须挺身而出。”“如果连他都束手无策，你又能做什么？” “这件事不一样。我没受到机器人法则的束缚，我不需要强迫自己遵循极简主义。首先， 我必须去见丹莫茨尔。” 铎丝显得有点不安。“你非去不可吗？宣扬你们之间的关系，绝对不是明智的做法。”“事到如今，我们不能再假装亳无瓜葛。自然，我不会大张旗鼓去见他，不会在全视上大肆宣传，可是我必须见他一面。” Chapter 5 Seldon found himself raging at the passage of time. Eight years ago, when he had first arrived on Trantor, he could take instant action. He had only a hotel room and its contents to forsake and he could range through the sectors of Trantor at will. Now he found himself with department meetings, with decisions to make, with work to do. It was not so easy to dash off at will to see Demerzel-and if he could, Demerzel also had a --full schedule of his own. To find a time when they both could meet would not be easy. Nor was it easy to have Dors shake her head at him. "I don't know what you intend to do, Hari." And he answered impatiently, "I don't know what I intend to do, either, Dors. I hope to find out when I see Demerzel." "Your first duty is to psychohistory. He'll tell you so." "Perhaps. I'll find out." And then, just as he had arranged a time for the meeting with the First Minister, eight days hence, he received a message on his department office wall screen in slightly archaic lettering. And to match that was the more than slightly archaic message: I CRAVE AN AUDIENCE WITH PROFESSOR HARI SELDON. Seldon stared at it with astonishment. Even the Emperor was not addressed in quite that centuries-old turn of phrase. Nor was the signature printed as it usually was for clarity. It was scripted with a flourish that left it perfectly legible and yet gave it the aura of a careless work of art dashed off by a master. The signature was: LASKIN JORANUM. -It was Jo-Jo himself, craving an audience. Seldon found himself chuckling. It was clear why the choice of words -and why the script. It made what was a simple request a device for stimulating curiosity. Seldon had no great desire to meet the man-or would have had none ordinarily. But what was worth the archaism and the artistry? He wanted to find out. He had his secretary set the time and the place of the appointment. It would be in his office, certainly not in his apartment. A business conversation, nothing social. And it would come before the projected meeting with Demerzel. Dors said, "It's no surprise to me, Hari. You hurt two of his people, one of them his chief aide; you spoiled a little rally he was holding; and you made him, in the person of his representatives, seem foolish. He wants to take a look at you and I think I had better be with you." Seldon shook his head. "I'll take Raych. He knows all the tricks I know and he's a strong and active twenty-year-old. Although I'm sure there'll be no need for protection." "How can you be sure?" "Joranum is coming to see me on the University grounds. There will be any number of youngsters in the vicinity. I'm not exactly an unpopular figure with the student body and I suspect that Joranum is the kind of man who does his homework and knows that I'll be safe on home territory. I'm sure that he will be perfectly polite-completely friendly." "Hmph," said Dors with a light twist of one corner of her lip. "And quite deadly," Seldon finished. 第五章 　　谢顿察觉到时光的流逝。八年前刚到川陀时，他无牵无绊，凡事说做就做。当时他只拥有一个旅馆房间、一些随手可丢的行李，能随意来往川陀各个行政区。 现在的他，每天忙着系务会议，忙着制定决策，忙着做不完的工作。想抽空见丹莫茨尔一面不是简单的事，即使他抽得出空，丹莫茨尔的时间表也早已排满。要找个两人都有空的时候，可还真不容易。 而要铎丝不对他摇头，也同样是件不容易的事。“我不知道你打算做什么，哈里。” 他不耐烦地答道：“我也不知道我打算做什么，铎丝。我希望见到丹莫茨尔时能找出答案。” “他会告诉你，你的首要职责是心理史学。”“或许吧，我会找出答案。” 当谢顿刚与首相约好八天后见面，他收到一封信。那封信出现在他研究室的荧幕墙上，字体稍嫌古老。而配合这些古老字体的，则是颇有古风的文句：“敝人乞求谒见哈里•谢顿 教授。” 谢顿惊讶地瞪着这行字。如今即使上书皇帝，也不会用这种几世纪前的文体。信末的署名也很特别，不是一般清晰的印刷字体，而是一个龙飞凤舞的签名，虽然可以清楚辨识，却透出艺术大师即兴挥毫的韵味。那个签名是“拉斯金•久瑞南”——是九九自 己，乞求谒见谢顿。 谢顿不觉笑出声来。对方为何选用这种字句，为何亲笔签名，意图实在明显。它使一个简单的请求成为激发好奇心的工具，谢顿并非十分渴望与此人见面，或者说，原先并无此意。 可是究竟有什么事，值得用古文体与艺术字？他倒想弄清楚。 他让秘书安排了会面的时间。地点当然是在研究室，而不是他的寓所。这将是公务会谈， 没有任何社交成分。 时间安排在与丹莫茨尔的会面之前。铎丝说：“我一点也不惊讶，哈里。你打伤了他两个手下，其中之一还是他的首席助理。 你破坏了他的小小集会，还羞辱他的代表，使他当众丢脸。他当然想看看谢顿是何许人物，我最好跟你一道去。” 谢顿摇了摇头。“我会带着芮奇。我知道的招数他都知道，而且他身强体壮、精力充沛。 不过，我确定没有特别防范的必要。” “你怎能如此确定？” “校园里有很多年轻人。在学生心目中，我还不算不受欢迎。此外我不认为久瑞南会贸然行动，他知道我在大本营中将平安无事。我确定他会非常客气，绝对友善。” “嗯。”铎丝微微撇了撇嘴。 “而且相当可怕。”谢顿补充道。 Chapter 6 Hari Seldon kept his face expressionless and bent his head just sufficiently to allow a sense of reasonable courtesy. He had taken the trouble to look up a variety of holographs of Joranum, but, as is often the case, the real thing, unguarded, shifting constantly in response to changing conditions, is never quite the same as a holograph-however carefully prepared. Perhaps, thought Seldon, it is the response of the viewer to the "real thing" that makes it different. Joranum was a tall man-as tall as Seldon, at any rate-but larger in other directions. It was not due to a muscular physique, for he gave the impression of softness, without quite being fat. A rounded face, a thick head of hair that was sandy rather than yellow, light blue eyes. He wore a subdued coverall and his face bore a half-smile that gave the illusion of friendliness, while making it clear, somehow, that it was only an illusion. "Professor Seldon"-his voice was deep and under strict control, an orator's voice-"I am delighted to meet you. It is kind of you to permit this meeting. I trust you are not offended that I have brought a companion, my right-hand man, with me, although I have not cleared that with you in advance. He is Gambol Deen Namarti-three names, you notice. I believe you have met him." "Yes, I have. I remember the incident well." Seldon looked at Namarti with a touch of the sardonic. At the previous encounter, Namarti had been speaking at the University Field. Seldon viewed him carefully now-under relaxed conditions. Namarti was of moderate height, with a thin face, sallow complexion, dark hair, and a wide mouth. He did not have Joranum's half-smile or any noticeable expression-except for a sense of cautious wariness. "My friend Dr. Namarti-his degree is in ancient literature-has come at his own request," said Joranum, his smile intensifying a bit, "to apologize." Joranum glanced quickly at Namarti-and Namarti, his lips tightening just at first, said in a colorless voice, "I am sorry, Professor, for what happened at the Field. I was not quite aware of the strict rules governing University rallies and I was a little carried away by my own enthusiasm." "Understandably so," said Joranum. "Nor was he entirely aware of your identity. I think we may all now forget the matter." "I assure you, gentlemen," said Seldon, "that I have no great desire to remember it. This is my son, Raych Seldon, so you see I have a companion, too." Raych had grown a mustache, black and abundant-the masculine mark of the Dahlite. He had had none when he first met Seldon eight years before, when he was a street boy, ragged and hungry. He was short but lithe and sinewy and his expression was the haughty one he had adopted in order to add a few spiritual inches to his physical height. "Good morning, young man," said Joranum. "Good morning, sir," said Raych. "Please sit down, gentlemen," said Seldon. "May I offer you something to eat or drink?" Joranum held up his hands in polite refusal. "No, sir. This is not a social call." He seated himself in the place indicated. "Though I hope there will be many such calls in the future." "If this is to be about business, then let's begin." "The news reached me, Professor Seldon, of the little incident that you have so kindly agreed to forget and I wondered why you took the chance of doing what you did. It was a risk, you must admit." "I didn't think so, actually." "But I did. So I took the liberty of finding out everything I could about you, Professor Seldon. You're an interesting man. From Helicon, I discovered." "Yes, that's where I was born. The records are clear." "And you've been here on Trantor for eight years." "That is also a matter of public record." "And you made yourself quite famous at the start by delivering a mathematical paper on-what do you call it?-psychohistory?" Seldon shook his head very slightly. How often he had regretted that indiscretion. Of course, he had had no idea at the time that it was an indiscretion. He said, "A youthful enthusiasm. It came to nothing." "Is that so?" Joranum looked around him with an air of pleased surprise. "Yet here you are, the head of the Mathematics Department at one of Trantor's greatest Universities, and only forty years old, I believe. -I'm forty-two, by the way, so I don't look upon you as very old at all. You must be a very competent mathematician to be in this position." Seldon shrugged. "I wouldn't care to make a judgment in that matter." "Or you must have powerful friends." "We would all like to have powerful friends, Mr. Joranum, but I think you will find none here. University professors rarely have powerful friends or, I sometimes think, friends of any kind." He smiled. And so did Joranum. "Wouldn't you consider the Emperor a powerful friend, Professor Seldon?" "I certainly would, but what has that to do with me?" "I am under the impression that the Emperor is a friend of yours." "I'm sure the records will show, Mr. Joranum, that I had an audience with His Imperial Majesty eight years ago. It lasted perhaps an hour or less and I saw no signs of any great friendliness in him at the time. Nor have I spoken to him since--or even seen him-except on holovision, of course." "But, Professor, it is not necessary to see or speak to the Emperor to have him as a powerful friend. It is sufficient to see or speak to Eto Demerzel, the Emperor's First Minister. Demerzel is your protector and, since he is, we may as well say the Emperor is." "Do you find First Minister Demerzel's supposed protection of me anywhere in the records? Or anything at all in the records from which you can deduce that protection?" "Why search the records when it is well known that there is a connection between the two of you. You know it and I know it. Let us take it then as given and continue. And please"-he raised his hands-"do not take the trouble to give me any heartfelt denials. It's a waste of time." "Actually," said Seldon, "I was going to ask why you should think that he would want to protect me. To what end?" "Professor? Are you trying to hurt me by pretending to think I am a monster of naivete? I mentioned your psychohistory, which Demerzel wants." "And I told you that it was a youthful indiscretion that came to nothing." "You may tell me a great many things, Professor. I am not compelled to accept what you tell me. Come, let me speak frankly. I have read your original paper and have tried to understand it with the help of some mathematicians on my staff. They tell me it is a wild dream and quite impossible-" "I quite agree with them," said Seldon. "But I have the feeling that Demerzel is waiting for it to be developed and put to use. And if he can wait, so can I. It would be more useful to you, Professor Seldon, to have me wait." "Why so?" "Because Demerzel will not endure in his position for much longer. Public opinion is turning against him steadily. It may be that when the Emperor wearies of an unpopular First Minister who threatens to drag the throne down with him, he will find a replacement. It may even be my poor self whom the Emperor's fancy will seize upon. And you will still need a protector, someone who can see to it that you can work in peace and with ample funds for whatever you need in the way of equipment and assistants." "And would you be that protector?" "Of course-and for the same reason that Demerzel is. I want a successful psychohistoric technique so that I can rule the Empire more efficiently." Seldon nodded thoughtfully, waited a moment, then said, "But in that case, Mr. Joranum, why must I concern myself in this? I am a poor scholar, living a quiet life, engaged in out-of-the-way mathematical and pedagogical activities. You say that Demerzel is my present protector and that you will be my future protector. I can go quietly about my business, then. You and the First Minister may fight it out. Whoever prevails, I have a protector still-or, at least, so you tell me." Joranum's fixed smile seemed to fade a bit. Namarti, at his side, turned his dour face toward Joranum and made as though to say something, but Joranum's hand moved slightly and Namarti coughed and did not speak. Joranum said, "Dr. Seldon. Are you a patriot?" "Why, of course. The Empire has given humanity millennia of peace -mostly peace, at any rate-and fostered steady advancement." "So it has-but at a slower pace in the last century or two." Seldon shrugged. "I have not studied such matters." "You don't have to. You know that, politically, the last century or two has been a time of turmoil. Imperial reigns have been short and sometimes have been shortened further by assassination-" "Even mentioning that," put in Seldon, "is close to treason. I'd rather you didn't-" "Well, there." Joranum threw himself back in his seat. "See how insecure you are. The Empire is decaying. I'm willing to say so openly. Those who follow me do so because they know only too well it is. We need someone at the Emperor's right hand who can control the Empire, subdue the rebellious impulses that seem to be arising everywhere, give the armed forces the natural leadership they should have, lead the economy-" Seldon made an impatient stopping motion with his arm. "And you're the one to do it, are you?" "I intend to be the one. It won't be an easy job and I doubt there would be many volunteers-for good reason. Certainly Demerzel can't do it. Under him, the decline of the Empire is accelerating to a total breakdown." "But you can stop it?" "Yes, Dr. Seldon. With your help. With psychohistory." "Perhaps Demerzel could stop the breakdown with psychohistory-if psychohistory existed." Joranum said calmly, "It exists. Let us not pretend it does not. But its existence does not help Demerzel. Psychohistory is only a tool. It needs a brain to understand it and an arm to wield it." "And you have those, I take it?" "Yes. I know my own virtues. I want psychohistory." Seldon shook his head. "You may want it all you please. I don't have it. "You do have it. I will not argue the point." Joranum leaned closer as though wishing to insinuate his voice into Seldon's ear, rather than allowing the sound waves to carry it there. "You say you are a patriot. I must replace Demerzel to avoid Imperial destruction. However, the manner of replacement might itself weaken the Empire desperately. I do not wish that. You can advise me how to achieve the end smoothly, subtly, without harm or damage-for the sake of the Empire." Seldon said, "I cannot. You accuse me of knowledge I do not possess. I would like to be of assistance, but I cannot." Joranum stood up suddenly. "Well, you know my mind and what it is I want of you. Think about it. And I ask you to think about the Empire. You may feel you owe Demerzel-this despoiler of all the millions of planets of humanity-your friendship. Be careful. What you do may shake the very foundation of the Empire. I ask you to help me in the name of the quadrillions of human beings who fill the Galaxy. Think of the Empire." His voice had dropped to a thrilling and powerful half-whisper. Seldon felt himself almost trembling. "I will always think of the Empire," he said. Joranum said, "Then that is all I ask right now. Thank you for consenting to see me." Seldon watched Joranum and his companion leave as the office doors slid open noiselessly and the men strode out. He frowned. Something was bothering him-and he was not sure what it was. 第六章 　　哈里•谢顿面无表情，只是礼貌性地点了点头。他先前特别花了番功夫，看过久瑞南的 多张全息相片 。可是，正如通常的情形，真人总有松懈的时候，会随着外界状况做出种种 反应，因此不论多么小心应付，看来绝不会跟全息相片一模一样。或许，谢顿心想，这种差异是观察者对“真人”的主观反应所造成的。久瑞南是个高个子，至少与谢顿一样高，但身材各方面都比常人大一号。这并非由于他体格强壮，而是因为他虽不算胖，却给人一种松软的印象。他有一张圆脸、浅蓝色眼珠，和一头与其说黄色不如说沙色的浓密头发。他穿着一件冷色的连身工作服，脸上带着似笑非笑的表情，令人产生友善的错觉——他也明摆着那只是一种错觉。“谢顿教授，”他的声音低沉，控制极其精准，是演说家特有的声音。“我很高兴见到你，非常感谢你应允这次会晤。虽然我未事先言明，但我确信你不会介意我带了个同伴：我的左右手，坎伯尔•丁恩•纳马提——他的名字有三个部分，你该注意到了。我相信你曾经见过他。” “是的，我见过，那次事件我记得很清楚。”谢顿略带嘲讽地望着纳马提。上次相遇时， 纳马提正在大学运动场演讲，此时，在轻松的情况下，谢顿仔细打量了他一番。纳马提身高中等、脸庞消瘦、面色蜡黄，有着黑色头发，嘴形颇宽。他不像久瑞南那样似笑非笑，也没露出任何明显的表情，谨慎中透露出几许机警。 “我的朋友纳马提博士——他专攻古代文学——要求与我同来。”久瑞南的笑容加深了些，“他是来道歉的。” 久瑞南瞥了纳马提一眼。纳马提起初撅着嘴，但随即以平板的声音说：“对于在运动场发生的事，教授，我很抱歉。我不太清楚有关校园集会的严格规定，又有点被自己的激情冲昏了头。” “这是可以理解的。”久瑞南说，“他当时也不完全清楚你的身份。我想，我们现在大可 忘掉这场不愉快。” “我向你们保证，两位先生，”谢顿说：“我没多想记住这件事。这是我的儿子，芮奇•谢 顿，所以你们看，我也有个同伴。”二十岁的芮奇已经蓄起两撇又黑又浓的八字胡，那是达尔人的男性象征。八年前他初次遇到谢顿时，脸上一根毛也没有；那时他是个野孩子，衣衫褴褛、饥肠辘辘。现在的他个子不高，但身形柔软、肌肉发达，而且刻意表露出几分高傲的神色，好在肉体身高上增加几分精神高度。 “早安，年轻人。”久瑞南说。“早安，阁下。”芮奇答道。 “请坐，两位先生。”谢顿说，“两位想吃点或喝点什么吗？”久瑞南举起双手做个婉拒的手势。“不了，阁下，这不是个社交的拜会。”他在谢顿指示 的位置坐下来，“不过我希望，将来能常有那样的拜会。”“如果有公事要谈，那我们就开始吧。”“谢顿教授，当初我听到你宽宏大量答应忘掉的这桩小意外时，很纳闷你为何要冒险那样做。你必须承认，那是相当危险的事。” “事实上，我不这么认为。” “但我认为如此。所以我冒昧地尽我所能，查出一切有关你的资料。谢顿教授，你是个很有意思的人，我发现你来自赫利肯。”“是的，我在那里出生，纪录上写得很清楚。” “而你在川陀已经待了八年。”“那也是一项公开的纪录。” “而你一开始就借着一篇数学论文，使自己声名大噪，那是……你称它什么？心理史学是吗？” 谢顿微微摇了摇头。对于当初轻率的举动，他不知道隔多久就要后悔一次。当然，他当时绝不认为那是个轻率的举动。那是年少时的轻狂，”他说，“结果一事无成。”“是吗？”久瑞南环顾四周，隐约露出一丝惊喜的神态。“但现在的你，是川陀著名大学的数学系系主任。而且我相信，你只有四十岁。顺便提一下，我今年四十二，所以我根本不认为你有多老。你一定是个非常优秀的数学家，才能胜任这个职位。”谢顿耸了耸肩。“我对这个问题不愿置评。”“或者，你一定有些有权有势的朋友。”“我们都希望结交有权有势的朋友，久瑞南先生，可是我想你在这里找不到半个。大学教授儿乎不可能结交有权有势的朋友，有时我甚至想，任何种类的朋友都交不到。”他微微一笑。 久瑞南也露出微笑。“难道你不认为皇上该算是位有权有势的朋友吗，谢顿教授？” “当然算，可是那跟我有什么关系？” “在我的印象中，皇上是你的朋友。” “我确定那些纪录会告诉你，久瑞南先生，八年前我晋见过皇帝陛下一次。前后大概顶多一小时，当时他看起来实在称不上热络。后来我也没再跟他说过话，除了在全息电视上，我甚至没再见过他。” “但是，教授，不一定非得跟皇上见面或说话，才能攀上这位有权有势的朋友。只要能跟伊图•丹莫茨尔，皇上的首相，见面或说话就够了，丹莫茨尔是你的保护者，既然他和你 有这重关系，我们当然能说皇上和你也有这重关系。”“有任何纪录明载着首相是我的保护者吗？你又是凭什么导出这个结论？” “你们之间有关联是众所周知的事，我又何必去搜寻纪录呢？这件事你知、我知，就让我们将它当作已知数，继续讨论下去。还有，拜托，”他举起双手，“别花工夫否认，那样只 会浪费时间。” “实际上，”谢顿说，“我正准备问，为什么你会认为他想保护我。有什么目的？” “教授！你这是故意把我当成老天真来羞辱我吗？我刚才提到心理史学，丹莫茨尔要的就是它。” “我告诉过你，那只是年轻时的轻率之作，结果一事无成。” “你可以告诉我许多许多事，教授，但我没有义务全盘接受。好了，让我坦白讲吧。在我手下一些数学家的帮助下，我读了一遍你的原始论文，并试图了解它的内容。他们告诉我， 那是个疯狂的梦想，而且相当不可能——” “我相当同意他们的说法。”谢顿道。 “可是我有一种感觉，丹莫茨尔在等它发展成功并派上用场。如果他能等，那我也能等。 由我来等，谢顿教授，对你会比较有用。” “为什么？” “因为丹莫茨尔不会在他的位子上再待多久，反对他的舆论正逐步高涨。当皇上厌倦这个不受欢迎的首相时，就可能会找人取而代之，以免受到牵连、失去阜位。皇上的宠爱甚至可能降临不才的在下。而你仍将需要一位保护者，他要能确保你得以在安定中工作，而且拥有充足的经费，来负担你所需要的设备和助理。”“而你会是那位保护者？” “当然，而且我的理由和丹莫茨尔一样，我想要一个成功的心理史学技术，好让我能更有效地治理帝国。” 谢顿若有所思地点点头，等了一会儿，然后说：“如果真照你说的，久瑞南先生，那我何必关心这件事呢？我是个穷学者，过着平静的生活，埋头于与世无争的数学和教育工作。你说丹莫茨尔是我现在的保护者，而你将是我未来的保护者，那我继续默默从事自己的工作就行了，你和首相大可去分个胜负，不论谁胜谁负，我仍有个保护者——至少你是这么说的。”久瑞南僵硬的笑容似乎敛去点。坐在他身旁的纳马提，一脸阴沉地转向久瑞南，仿佛想说些什么。但久瑞南轻轻摆了摆手，纳马提便轻咳一声，什么也没说。 久瑞南道：“谢顿博士，你爱国吗？” “啊，当然啦。帝国已为人类带来数千年的和平——至少，大半岁月如此——而且促进了人类稳定的发展。” “话是没错，可是过去一两个世纪，发展的步调却减缓了。” 谢顿耸了耸肩。“这方面我没有研究。”“你不必有研究。你知道的，在政治上，过去一两个世纪是个动乱的时代。皇帝在位的时间都很短，有时还因为遇刺而缩得更短……” “光是提到这种事，”谢顿插嘴道：“就已经接近叛国。我宁可你不——” “你看吧，”久瑞南上半身靠向椅背，“看你多没安全感。帝国正在衰败，我愿意公开这 么说。那些跟随我的人也这么说，因为他们看得太清楚了。我们需要换一个人在皇上身边，这人要能控制帝国、压制到处浮现的反叛冲动、赋予军队应有的领导权、引导经济——” 谢顿不耐烦地抬手打断他。“而你就是那个人，对吧？” “我是这么打算。这些工作可不简单，而且显然不会有太多志愿者。丹莫茨尔当然做不好，在他手中，帝国正加速走向崩溃。”“而你有办法阻止？” “是的，谢顿博士。借着你的帮助，借着心理史学。”“借着心理史学，或许丹莫茨尔也能阻止帝国的崩溃——假使心理史学真的存在。” 久瑞南心平气和地说：“它的确存在，我们别再假装了——但它的存在帮不了丹莫茨尔。 心理史学只是个工具，它还需要一个了解它的头脑，以及一双懂得如何使用它的手。”“而你恰好两者兼具，是吗？”“是的，我了解自己的长处。我要心理史学。” 谢顿摇摇头。“你爱要什么都可以，但我可没有东西给你。” “绝对有，我不跟你争论这点。”久瑞南倾身凑近谢顿，仿佛想将声音灌进谢顿耳里，“你说你很爱国。为了避免帝国毁灭，我必须取代丹莫茨尔。然而，取代的过程本身就可能 大大削弱帝国的元气。我不希望有这种结果。你可以指导我如何顺利地、巧妙地完成目标，不至造成伤害或破坏——看在帝国的分上。”谢顿说：“我办不到，你这是指控我拥有我所没有的知识。我很愿意效劳，可是我办不到。” 久瑞南突然站起来。“好吧，你知道了我的心意，也知道我想跟你要什么。好好想一想， 也请为帝国想一想。你或许觉得应该忠于你的朋友——丹莫茨尔——这个全银河人类的掠夺者。但是小心点，你所做的有可能动摇帝国的根本。我以银河中万兆人类的名义求你帮助我， 请想想帝国吧。” 久瑞南的声音变成强而有力的低语，令人毛骨悚然，谢顿几乎忍不住发抖，他说：“我随时都想着帝国。” 久瑞南说：“那正是我所要求的。谢谢你应允见我。”研究室的门无声无息地滑开，久瑞南与他的同伴大步离去，谢顿默默望着他们两人的背影。 他皱起眉头，有件事困扰着他，但他不确定那究竟是什么。 Chapter 7 Namarti's dark eyes remained fixed on Joranum as they sat in their carefully shielded office in the Streeling Sector. It was not an elaborate headquarters; they were as yet weak in Streeling, but they would grow stronger. It was amazing how the movement was growing. It had started from nothing three years back and now its tentacles stretched-in some places more thickly than others, of course-throughout Trantor. The Outer Worlds were as yet largely untouched. Demerzel had labored mightily to keep them content, but that was his mistake. It was here on Trantor that rebellions were dangerous. Elsewhere, they could be controlled. Here, Demerzel could be toppled. Odd that he should not realize that, but Joranum had always held to the theory that Demerzel's reputation was overblown, that he would prove an empty shell if anyone dared oppose him, and that the Emperor would destroy him quickly if his own security seemed at stake. So far, at least, all of Joranum's predictions had come to pass. He had never once lost his way except in minor matters, such as that recent rally at Streeling University in which this Seldon fellow had interfered. That might be why Joranum had insisted on the interview with him. Even a minor toe stub must be taken care of. Joranum enjoyed the feeling of infallibility and Namarti had to admit that the vision of a constant string of successes was the surest way of ensuring the continuation of success. People tended to avoid the humiliation of failure by joining the obviously winning side even against their own opinions. But had the interview with this Seldon been a success or was it a second stub of the toe to be added to the first? Namarti had not enjoyed having been brought along in order to be made to humbly apologize and he didn't see that it had done any good. Now Joranum sat there, silent, obviously lost in thought, gnawing at the edge of one thumb as though trying to draw some sort of mental nourishment from it. "Jo-Jo," said Namarti softly. He was one of the very few people who could address Joranum by the diminutive that the crowds shouted out endlessly in public. Joranum solicited the love of the mob in this way, among others, but he demanded respect from individuals in private, except for those special friends who had been with him from the start. "Jo-Jo," he said again. Joranum looked up. "Yes, G.D., what is it?" He sounded a little testy. "What are we going to do about this Seldon fellow, Jo-Jo?" "Do? Nothing right now. He may join us." "Why wait? We can put pressure on him. We can pull a few strings at the University and make life miserable for him." "No no. So far, Demerzel has been letting us go our way. The fool is overconfident. The last thing we want to do,. though, is to push him into action before we are quite ready. And a heavy-handed move against Seldon may do it. I suspect Demerzel places enormous importance on Seldon." "Because of this psychohistory you two talked about?" "Indeed." "What is it? I have never heard of it." "Few people have. It's a mathematical way of analyzing human society that ends by predicting the future." Namarti frowned and felt his body move slightly away from Joranum. Was this a joke of Joranum's? Was this intended to make him laugh? Namarti had never been able to work out when or why people expected him to laugh. He had never had an urge to. He said, "Predict the future? How?" "Ah? If I knew that, what need would I have of Seldon?" "Frankly I don't believe it, Jo-Jo. How can you foretell the future? It's fortune-telling." "I know, but after this Seldon broke up your little rally, I had him looked into. All the way. Eight years ago, he came to Trantor and presented a paper on psychohistory at a convention of mathematicians and then the whole thing died. It was never referred to again by anyone. Not even by Seldon." "It sounds as though there were nothing to it, then." "Oh no, just the reverse. If it had faded slowly, if it had been subjected to ridicule, I would have said there was nothing to it. But to be cut off suddenly and completely means that the whole thing has been placed in the deepest of freezes. That is why Demerzel may have been doing nothing to stop us. Perhaps he is not being guided by a foolish overconfidence; perhaps he is being guided by psychohistory, which must be predicting something that Demerzel plans to take advantage of at the right time. If so, we might fail unless we can make use of psychohistory ourselves." "Seldon claims it doesn't exist." "Wouldn't you if you were he?" "I still say we ought to put pressure on him." "It would be useless, G.D. Didn't you ever hear the story of the Ax of Venn?" "No." "You would if you were from Nishaya. It's a famous folktale back home. In brief, Venn was a woodcutter who had a magic ax that, with a single light blow, could chop down any tree. It was enormously valuable, but he never made any effort to hide it or preserve it-and yet it was never stolen, because no one could lift or swing the ax but Venn himself. "Well, at the present moment, no one can handle psychohistory but Seldon himself. If he were on our side only because we had forced him, we could never be certain of his loyalty. Might he not urge a course of action that would seem to work in our favor but would be so subtly drawn that, after a while, we found ourselves quite suddenly destroyed. No, he must come to our side voluntarily and labor for us because he wishes us to win." "But how can we bring him around?" "There's Seldon's son. Raych, I think he's called. Did you observe him?" "Not particularly." "G.D., G.D., you miss points if you don't observe everything. That young man listened to me with his heart in his eyes. He was impressed. I could tell. If there's one thing I can tell, it is just how I impress others. I know when I have shaken a mind, when I have edged someone toward conversion." Joranum smiled. It was not the pseudowarm ingratiating smile of his public demeanor. It was a genuine smile this time-cold, somehow, and menacing. "We'll see what we can do with Raych," he said, "and if, through him, we can reach Seldon." 第七章 　　纳马提的黑眼珠紧盯着久瑞南。此时，他们坐在川陀的办公室中。作为总部，这里不算精致，而且经过刻意伪饰，他们在川陀势力还弱，但一定会逐渐壮大。 这个运动的成长相当惊人。三年前它还一无所有，如今触须已延伸至川陀各个角落。当然，各处的势力大小不一，而外围世界则大多尚未触及。丹莫茨尔花了很大力气安抚外围世界，但那正是他的错误。因为只有川陀上的叛乱才真正具有危险性，其他地区的叛乱不难控制，而在这里，丹莫茨尔可能因此垮台。奇怪的是他自己竟然不了解。久瑞南始终坚信丹莫茨尔的声誉是名过其实，只要有人敢反对他，便能证明他只是个空壳子，而皇上若发觉自身安全难保，就会立刻铲除这个首相。至少，目前为止，久瑞南的预测都一一应验，除了一些小事——例如最近在川陀大学被谢顿这家伙破坏的那场集会——他从没有走错路。也许就是由于这个原因，久瑞南坚持要见他一面。即使脚趾上的一根小肉刺也必须处理掉，久瑞南喜欢这种绝不犯错的感觉。而纳马提不得不承认，对未来一连串的乐观展望是保持成功的最佳保证。为避免失败的羞辱，人们总是倾向加入明显占上风的一方，即使如此有违自己的心意。 但是，这次与谢顿的会晤算是成功吗？或者这又是脚趾上的另一根肉刺？纳马提不喜欢硬被拉去，向对方低声下气地道歉，他看不出那样做有什么好处。 现在久瑞南坐在那里，沉默不语，显然是陷入沉思。他轻咬着拇指指尖，仿佛试图从中吸取某种心灵的养分。 “九九。”纳马提轻声唤道。群众在公开场合拼命呐喊的这个昵称，只有少数几人能用来称呼久瑞南，纳马提便是其中之一。久瑞南用这种方法赚取群众的爱戴，但在私下场合，除了那些跟着他开疆辟土的特殊战友，他要求每个人都对他毕恭毕敬。 “九九。”纳马提再度唤道。 久瑞南抬起头来。“啊，坎•丁，什么事？”他的声音听来有点暴躁。“我们要怎样对付谢顿这家伙？” “对付？现在什么都别做，他可能会加入我们。”“为什么要等？我们可以对他施压；我们可以拉动大学里的几根线，让他日子不好过。” “不，不。目前为止，丹莫茨尔那个过度自信的傻子一直放任我们发展。不过，我们绝不能做的一件事，就是在准备好之前就逼得他采取行动。如果我们以鲁莽的手段对付谢顿，就可能导致那种结果。我觉得丹莫茨尔对谢顿极为重视。” “因为你们两人谈到的那个心理史学？”“正是。” “那是什么东西？我从没听说过。”“很少有人听说过。那是一种分析人类社会的数学方法，最终的目标是预测未来。” 纳马提皱起眉头，发现自己不知不觉离久瑞南远了一点。久瑞南在开玩笑吗？是为了想让他发笑吗？纳马提向来弄不清楚别人何时或为何指望他发笑，他从来没有想笑的冲动。 他问：“预测未来？如何预测？” 久瑞南答道：“啊！如果我知道，我还需要谢顿做什么？”“坦白讲，九九，我不相信。人怎么可能预知未来？那是算命嘛。” “我知道。但在这个谢顿打散你的小小集会后，我彻底调查过他。八年前他来到川陀，在一个数学家会议中，发表了一篇有关心理史学的论文。但之后整个东西就销声匿迹，再也没有任何人提到，甚至包括谢顿自己。” “听来好像一文不值。” “喔，不，正好相反。假使心理史学是慢慢地消失，或是被斥为无稽之谈，那我会说它一文不值；但突然间完全销声匿迹，代表它整个被放进了冰窖最深处。这也许就是丹莫茨尔根本没有阻止我们的原因。说不定指引他的不是愚蠢的过度自信，而是心理史学，它一定预测了某些东西，能让丹莫茨尔在适当时机得利。若真如此，我们就有可能失败，除非我们自己也能利用心理史学。” “谢顿声称它不存在。” “换了你，你不会这么说吗？”“我会说，我们应该对他施压。” “那没有用，坎•丁，你可听过文恩的斧头这个故事？”“没有。” “假使你是尼沙亚人，就一定听过，那是我家乡很有名的民间故事。简单地说，文恩是个伐木工，他有一把神奇的斧头，只要轻轻一挥，就能砍倒任何树木。这把斧头珍贵无比，可是他从来不必花工夫收藏或保管，斧头也始终没被偷走。因为除了文恩自己，没有人能举起或挥动这把斧头。 “而目前，除了谢顿自己，没人处理得了心理史学。假使他是因为受到强迫，才站到我们这边，那我们永远都无法确定他是否忠诚。他难道不会力陈某种行动方针，表面看来似乎对我们有利，但其实却经过巧妙设计，以致一段时日后，我们才发现自己一夕之间被摧毁了。 不行，他必须因为希望我们获胜，而自愿投入我们的阵营，为我们效力”“可是怎么说服他呢？” “谢顿有个儿子，我记得他叫芮奇。你有没有注意到他？”“没有特别注意。” “坎•丁，坎•丁，如果你不注意每一件事，你就会错过重点。那年轻人听我说话的时候全神贯注，他的眼睛透露出他的心意。他被打动了，我看得出来。若说有哪件事是我看得出来的，那就是我打动他人的程度。当我摇撼了某个心灵，或是驱使某人回心转意时，我心里都会很清楚。” 久瑞南微微一笑，那不是他在公开场合展现的假惺惺、逢迎的笑容。这是一个衷心的微笑，令人不寒而栗。 “看看能对芮奇下什么工夫，”他说，“或许透过他，我们可以得到谢顿。” Chapter 8 Raych looked at Hari Seldon after the two politicians had gone and fingered his mustache. It gave him satisfaction to stroke it. Here in the Streeling Sector, some men wore mustaches, but they were usually thin despicable things of uncertain color-thin despicable things, even if dark. Most men did not wear them at all and suffered with naked upper lips. Seldon didn't, for instance, and that was just as well. With his color of hair, a mustache would have been a travesty. He watched Seldon closely, waiting for him to cease being lost in thought, and then found he could wait no longer. "Dad?" he said. Seldon looked up and said, "What?" He sounded a little annoyed at having his thoughts interrupted, Raych decided. Raych said, "I don't think it was right for you to see those two guys." "Oh? Why not?" "Well, the thin guy, whatever his name is, was the guy you made trouble for at the Field. He can't have liked it." "But he apologized." "He didn't mean it. But the other guy, Joranum-he can be dangerous. What if they had had weapons?" "What? Here in the University? In my office? Of course not. This isn't Billibotton. Besides, if they had tried anything, I could have handled both of them together. Easily." "I don't know, Dad," said Raych dubiously. "You're getting-" "Don't say it, you ungrateful monster," said Seldon, lifting an admonishing finger. `You'll sound just like your mother and I have enough of that from her. I am not getting old-or, at least, not that old. Besides, you were with me and you're almost as skilled a Twister as I am." Raych's nose wrinkled. "Twisting ain't much good." (It was no use. Raych heard himself speak and knew that, even eight years out of the morass of Dahl, he still slipped into using the Dahlite accent that marked him firmly as a member of the lower class. And he was short, too, to the point where he sometimes felt stunted. -But he had his mustache and no one ever patronized him twice.) He said, "What are you going to do about Joranum?" "For now, nothing." "Well, look, Dad, I saw Joranum on TrantorVision a couple of times. I even made some holotapes of his speeches. -Everyone is talking about him, so I thought I would see what he has to say. And, you know, he makes some kind of sense. I don't like him and I don't trust him, but he does make some kind of sense. He wants all sectors to have equal rights and equal opportunities-and there ain't nothing wrong with that, is there?" "Certainly not. All civilized people feel that way." "So why don't we have that sort of stuff? Does the Emperor feel that way? Does Demerzel?" "The Emperor and the First Minister have an entire Empire to worry about. They can't concentrate all their efforts on Trantor itself. It's easy for Joranum to talk about equality. He has no responsibilities. If he were in the position to rule, he would find that his efforts would be greatly diluted by an Empire of twenty-five million planets. Not only that, but he would find himself stopped at every point by the sectors themselves. Each one wants a great deal of equality for itself-but not much equality for others. Tell me, Raych, are you of the opinion that Joranum ought to have a chance to rule, just to show what he can do?" Raych shrugged. "I don't know. I wonder. -But if he had tried anything on you, I would have been at his throat before he could move two centimeters." "Your loyalty to me, then, exceeds your concern for the Empire." "Sure. You're my dad." Seldon looked at Raych fondly, but behind that look he felt a trace of uncertainty. How far could Joranum's nearly hypnotic influence go? 第八章 　　两位反对派人士走后，芮奇望着谢顿，同时摸着自己的八字胡。这两撇胡子带给他一种满足感。在川陀区，虽然也有些男人留八字胡，但通常都是稀疏的次等货，而时色泽不明显——就算色泽深浓，仍是稀疏的次等货。大多数男人根本不留，只好让上唇裸露在外。例如谢顿就没有，不过那样也好，从他的头发颜色看来，他配上两撇胡子的模样一定很滑稽。 芮奇凝视着谢顿，等他从沉思中回过神来，但最后发觉自己实在等不下去。 “爸！”他唤道。 谢顿抬起头来。”什么事？”他的声音带着些许恼怒，芮奇想这是因为他的沉思被打断了。 芮奇说：“我认为你根本不该见那两个家伙。” “哦？为什么？” “嗯，那个瘦子——不管他叫什么名字——就是你在运动场找他碴的那个家伙，那件事他一定很不高兴。” “可是他道歉了。” "他不是真心的。而另一个，久瑞南，可危险得很。万一他们带着武器呢？” “什么？在这所大学？在我的研究室？怎么可能，这里又不是脐眼。再说，如果他们轻举妄动，我能同时收拾他们两个，轻而易举。” “这我可不敢说，爸，”芮奇透着怀疑的口气，“你越来越——” “别说出来，你这忘恩负义的小子。”谢顿说着伸出手指头做训诫状。“同样的话你母亲 已经说过了，而我不想再听第二遍。我不老，或者，至少还没有你们想像的那么老。而且，我还有你在身边，你和我一样擅长角力。” 芮奇皱了一下鼻子。“角力没啥好耍。”（没有用的！芮奇听到自己内心的声音。他很清 楚，即使离开达尔那个泥沼已有八年，他的达尔腔仍会脱口而出，这明显标示着他仍是低下阶层的一员。而且他个子很矮，有时几乎会觉得自已发育不良。但他蓄着八字胡，没人敢用施舍的目光看他第二眼。） 他说：“你准备怎样对付久瑞南？”“目前，什么也不做。” “嗯……听我说，爸，我在川陀全视上看过久瑞南几回，我甚至把他的演讲录到全息影带上。大家都在谈论他，所以我想我该看看他到底说些什么。你知道，我不喜欢他，也不相信他，可是他的话确有几分道理，他希望各区拥有平等的权利和平等的机会，那没啥不对，是吧？” “当然没错，所有文明人都这么想。” “那为什么我们事实上并不是这样？皇上是这么想的吗？丹莫茨尔呢？”“皇上和首相要操心整个帝国，他们无法把心力全集中在川陀上。久瑞南口头谈谈平等当然容易，他肩上又没有责任。假使他处于统治者的地位，便将发觉他的心力会被帝国两千五百万颗行星大大分散。非但如此，他还会发觉川陀各区在每方面都跟他作对；每一区都想为自己争取更多权利，却不希望别区获得太多。告诉我，芮奇，你认为应该给久瑞南一次执政的机会吗，只为让他证明他做得到什么？”芮奇耸了耸肩。“我不知道，我存疑，但如果他刚才想对你怎么样，在他移动两厘米之前，我就会抵住他的喉咙。” “那么，你对我的忠心，超过了你对帝国的关怀。” “当然，你是我爸。” 谢顿以怜爱的目光望着芮奇，但在这目光背后，他心里却浮起一丝不确定感，久瑞南近乎催眠的影响力会有多深远？ Chapter 9 Hari Seldon sat back in his chair, the vertical back giving as he did so and allowing him to assume a half-reclining position. His hands were behind his head and his eyes were unfocused. His breathing was very soft, indeed. Dors Venabili was at the other end of the room, with her viewer turned off and the microfilms back in place. She had been through a rather concentrated period of revision of her opinions on the Florina Incident in early Trantorian history and she found it rather restful to withdraw for a few moments and to speculate on what it was that Seldon was considering. It had to be psychohistory. It would probably take him the rest of his life, tracking down the byways of this semichaotic technique, and he would end with it incomplete, leaving the task to others (to Amaryl, if that young man had not also worn himself out on the matter) and breaking his heart at the need to do that. Yet it gave him a reason for living. He would live longer with the problem filling him from end to end-and that pleased her. Someday she would lose him, she knew, and she found that the thought afflicted her. It had not seemed it would at the start, when her task had been the simple one of protecting him for the sake of what he knew. When had it become a matter of personal need? How could there be so personal a need? What was there about the man that caused her to feel uneasy when he was not in her sight, even when she knew he was safe so that the deeply ingrained orders within her were not called into action? His safety was all that she had been ordered to be concerned with. How did the rest intrude itself? She had spoken of it to Demerzel long before, when the feeling had made itself unmistakable. He had regarded her gravely and said, `'You are complex, Dors, and there are no simple answers. In my life there have been several individuals whose presence made it easier for me to think, pleasanter to make my responses. I have tried to judge the ease of my responses in their presence and the unease of my responses in their final absence to see whether I was the net gainer or loser. In the process, one thing became plain. The pleasantness of their company outweighed the regret of their passing. On the whole, then, it is better to experience what you experience now than not to." She thought: Hari will someday leave a void, and each day that someday is closer, and I must not think of it. It was to rid herself of the thought that she finally interrupted him. "What are you thinking of, Hari?" "What?" Seldon focused his eyes with an apparent effort. "Psychohistory, I assume. I imagine you've traced another blind pathway." "Well now. That's not on my mind at all." He laughed suddenly. "Do you want to know what I'm thinking of? -Hair!" "Hair? Whose?" "Right now, yours." He was looking at her fondly. "Is there something wrong with it? Should I dye it another color? Or perhaps, after all these years, it should go gray." "Come! Who needs or wants gray in your hair. -But it's led me to other things. Nishaya, for instance." "Nishaya? What's that?" "It was never part of the pre-Imperial Kingdom of Trantor, so I'm not surprised you haven't heard of it. It's a world, a small one. Isolated. Unimportant. Overlooked. I only know anything at all about it because I've taken the trouble to look it up. Very few worlds out of twenty-five million can really make much of a sustained splash, but I doubt that there's another one as insignificant as Nishaya. Which is very significant, you see." Dors shoved her reference material to one side and said, "What is this new penchant you have for paradox, which you always tell me you detest? What is this significance of insignificance?" "Oh, I don't mind paradoxes when I perpetrate them. You see, Joranum comes from Nishaya." "Ah, it's Joranum you're concerned with." "Yes. I've been viewing some of his speeches-at Raych's insistence. They don't make very much sense, but the total effect can be almost hypnotic. Raych is very impressed by him." "I imagine that anyone of Dahlite origins would be, Hari. Joranum's constant call for sector equality would naturally appeal to the downtrodden heatsinkers. You remember when we were in Dahl?" "I remember it very well and of course I don't blame the lad. It just bothers me that Joranum comes from Nishaya." Dors shrugged. "Well, Joranum has to come from somewhere and, conversely, Nishaya, like any other world, must send its people out at times, even to Trantor." "Yes, but, as I've said, I've taken the trouble to investigate Nishaya. I've even managed to make hyperspatial contact with some minor official which cost a considerable quantity of credits that I cannot, in good conscience, charge to the department." "And did you find anything that was worth the credits?" "I rather think so. You know, Joranum is always telling little stories to make his points, stories that are legends on his home planet of Nishaya. That serves a good purpose for him here on Trantor, since it makes him appear to be a man of the people, full of homespun philosophy. Those tales litter his speeches. They make him appear to be from a small world, to have been brought up on an isolated farm surrounded by an untamed ecology. People like it, especially Trantorians, who would rather die than be trapped somewhere in an untamed ecology but who love to dream about one just the same." "But what of it all?" "The odd point is that not one of the stories was familiar to the person I spoke to on Nishaya." "That's not significant, Hari. It may be a small world, but it's a world. What is current in Joranum's birth section of the world may not be current in whatever place your official came from." "No no. Folktales, in one form or another, are usually worldwide. But aside from that, I had considerable trouble in understanding the fellow. He spoke Galactic Standard with a thick accent. I spoke to a few others on the world, just to check, and they all had the same accent." "And what of that?" "Joranum doesn't have it. He speaks a fairly good Trantorian. It's a lot better than mine, actually. I have the Heliconian stress on the letter `r.' He doesn't. According to the records, he arrived on Trantor when he was nineteen. It is just impossible, in my opinion, to spend the first nineteen years of your life speaking that barbarous Nishayan version of Galactic Standard and then come to Trantor and lose it. However long he's been here, some trace of the accent would have remained- Look at Raych and the way he lapses into his Dahlite way of speaking on occasion." "What do you deduce from all this?" "What I deduce-what I've been sitting here all evening, deducing like a deduction machine-is that Joranum didn't come from Nishaya at all. In fact, I think he picked Nishaya as the place to pretend to come from, simply because it is so backwoodsy, so out-of-the-way, that no one would think of checking it. He must have made a thorough computer search to find the one world least likely to allow him to be caught in a lie." "But that's ridiculous, Hari. Why should he want to pretend to be from a world he did not come from? It would mean a great deal of falsification of records." "And that's precisely what he has probably done. He probably has enough followers in the civil service to make that possible. Probably no one person has done as much in the way of revision and all of his followers are too fanatical to talk about it." "But still- Why?" "Because I suspect Joranum doesn't want people to know where he really comes from." "Why not? All worlds in the Empire are equal, both by laws and by custom." "I don't know about that. These high-ideal theories are somehow never borne out in real life." "Then where does he come from? Do you have any idea at all?" "Yes. Which brings us back to this matter of hair." "What about hair?" "I sat there with Joranum, staring at him and feeling uneasy, without knowing why I was feeling uneasy. Then finally I realized that it was his hair that made me uneasy. There was something about it, a life, a gloss . a perfection to it that I've never seen before. And then I knew. His hair is artificial and carefully grown on a scalp that ought to be innocent of such things." "Ought to be?" Dors's eyes narrowed. It was clear that she suddenly understood. "Do you mean-" "Yes, I do mean. He's from the past-centered, mythology-ridden Mycogen Sector of Trantor. That's what he's been laboring to hide." 第九章 　　哈里•谢顿在座椅上向后仰靠，椅背立刻倾斜。他保持着斜倚的坐姿，两手垫在脑后， 双眼没有任何焦点，呼吸非常轻缓。铎丝•凡纳比里待在房间另一端，她刚关掉阅读镜，并将微缩胶卷放回原位。刚才她花 了好一段时间，专心修订她对早期川陀历史中“弗罗伦纳事件”的论点。她发觉暂停一下，猜猜谢顿在思考什么，会是个蛮恰当的休息。一定是心理史学。他也许要花掉后半生所有的时间，探寻这个半混沌技术的各种蹊径。很可能他一辈子也无法完成，最后得将这项工作留给别人（假如阿马瑞尔这年轻人没有同样被耗得油尽灯枯)，这种不得已的结果会使谢顿伤透了心。然而这也给了谢顿一个活下去的理由。始终拥抱着这项工作，会让他活得更久，这使铎丝感到欣慰。但她心里明白，总有一天自已会失去谢顿。这想法经常困扰着她，这是铎丝始料未及的事。刚开始，她的任务十分单纯，只是为了谢顿拥有的知识而保护他。 这任务是在何时转变成私密的需要？又怎会有如此私密的需要呢？这男人究竟有什么 魅力，使她看不到他的时候就心神不宁——即使他安然无事，即使根深蒂固的命令未曾叫她采取行动？根据那些命令，她该关切的只有他的安全。其他的情绪是怎么闯进来的？ 很久以前，当那些情绪明显浮现之际，她曾对丹莫茨尔提起。 当时，丹莫茨尔表情严肃地望着她，说道：“你的心思很复杂，铎丝，这个问题只怕没有简单的答案。在我的生命中，曾经出现过一些人，他们的存在使我更容易思考，使我做出反应时更加愉快。我曾经试图衡量，他们存在时与消失之后，我做反应的难易变化，看看我究竟是得是失。在这个过程中，我明白了一件事——他们出现所带来的快乐胜过他们逝去后留下的遗憾。所以说，整体而言，体验你现在所体验的总比放弃要好。”铎丝心想：哈里总有一天会从她身边消失，而每过一天，那一天就更接近，我不能去想这件事。 为了抛开这念头，她终于决定打断他的思绪。“你在想什么，哈里？” “什么？”谢顿显然花了番工夫，才将目光重重聚焦。“一定是心理史学，我猜你又在探索另一条行不通的死路。” “这个嘛，我心里根本没有那件事。”谢顿哈哈大笑，“你想知道我在想什么吗？头发！”“头发？谁的？” “此时此刻，是你的。”他温柔地望着她。 “有什么不对劲吗？我该染成别的颜色？还是说，过了这么多年，也许该出现许多白发了？” “得了！谁需要、谁想要你的头发变白？只不过头发使我联想到其他事，比如说尼沙亚。”“尼沙亚？那是什么？” “前帝国时代的川陀王国始终没有涵盖它，所以你没听过我一点也不惊讶。它是一个很小的世界，遗世独立，微不足道，乏人问津。我对它稍有了解，只是因为我不厌其烦地查过资料。在二干五百万个世界中，只有少数几个能长久名扬星际，但我怀疑还有哪个会像尼沙亚那么不重要，而这点就相当重要，你懂了吧。”铎丝将她的参考资料推到一旁，说道：你总是告诉我说你厌恶诡辩，什么时候你也有了这个新嗜好？这个不重要的重要性又是什么？” “嘿，当我自己制造诡辩时，我倒是不在乎。你可知道，久瑞南是从尼沙亚来的。” “啊，原来你关心的是久瑞南。” “没错，芮奇坚持要我看他的演讲。我看了一些，内容乏善可陈，但整个听下来，却有种近乎催眠的效应，芮奇就被他打动了。” “我猜任何出身达尔的人都会被打动，哈里，久瑞南对各区平等的一贯诉求，自然会吸引受压迫的热闾工。你记得我们在达尔的所见所闻吗？” “我记得非常清楚，我当然不会怪这孩子。我担心的是久瑞南来自尼沙亚。”铎丝耸了耸肩。“嗯，久瑞南总得来自某处，再说，尼沙亚也跟其他世界一样，总会有人移民出来，甚至移民到川陀。” “没错，可是，正如我所说，我花了番工夫调查尼沙亚。我甚至设法和当地某个低层官员做过超空间接触，花了好大一笔信用点——我不好意思报公账。”“有任何值得花费这些信用点的发现吗？” “我想有。你可知道，久瑞南总是喜欢讲些尼沙亚的小故事来阐明他的论点。在川陀上， 这样做对他有很大的好处，让他看起来一副平易近人、满脑子朴素的哲学家的样子。他演说中充斥的这些尼沙亚传说，让人觉得他来自一个小世界，在一个与世隔绝的农场长大，周围是一片原始的生态环境。人们喜欢这一点，尤其是川陀人，他们宁死不愿困在原始的环境里， 却喜欢梦想这种地方。” “可是这有什么不对劲呢？” “奇怪的是，跟我谈话的那个尼沙亚官员，对那些故事一个也不熟悉。” “这不代表什么，哈里。尼沙亚或许是个小世界，但它总是个世界。久瑞南出生地所流行的故事，在那个官员的家乡不一定流行。”“不，不。民间故事通常都是世界性的，顶多只是面貌稍有不同。不过除了这点之外，那人说的银河标准语有浓重的腔调，很不容易听懂。为求确定，我还跟其他几个尼沙亚人谈过，结果他们都有同样的腔调。” “那又怎么样？” “久瑞南没有那种腔调，他讲的银河标准语相当纯正。实际上，说得比我好多了，我还带着赫利肯方言的腔调，而他一点腔调也没有。记录显示他十九岁来到川陀，在我看来，一生最初十九年说的都是粗俗的尼沙亚式银河标准语，一来川陀腔调就完全消失，简直是不可能的事。不论他在这里待了多久，总会残留一点口音。看看芮奇吧，他偶尔还会脱口说出达尔的独特用语。” “从这一切你推论出什么来？”“我推论出的是——我整晚坐在这里，像个机器似的反复推论，得到的结论是——久瑞南根本不是从尼沙亚来的。事实上，我想他挑选尼沙亚，声称那是他的故乡，只是因为它与世隔绝、位置偏僻遥远，没人会想要去查证。他一定利用电脑彻底搜寻过，才找到这样一个最不可能被人抓到他说谎的世界。”“这太荒谬了，哈里。他为什么要假称来自某个世界？这得篡改大量的纪录才行。” “也许他已经那么做了。或许他在内政部有够多的追随者，足以让他顺利达到目的。或许每个人做的更改都微乎其微，根本算不上篡改。而他的追随者又都太狂热，没人会谈论到这一点。” “但问题还是——为什么？” “我怀疑，久瑞南不希望人们知道他真正的出身。” “为什么？不论根据法律或是惯例，帝国中所有世界都是一律平等的。”“这我就不敢说了，这些高度理想化的理论从未在真实人生中实现。” “那么他是从哪里来的？你有任何答案吗？”“有的，这就把我们带回头发这个话题。” “跟头发有什么关系？” “我坐在久瑞南对面，越看他越觉得不对劲，却不知道为什么。后来我终于了解，问题出在他的头发。它具有某种特质……一种生命、一种光泽……一种我从未见过的完美。然后 我明白了，他的头发是以人工仔细种植在头皮上的，他头上本来不该有那种头发。” “不该有？”铎丝眯起双眼，显然她突然领悟了。你的意思是……”“没错，你猜对了。他来自那个活在过去、受神话支配的川陀麦曲生区，那就是他一直努力掩饰的事实。” Chapter 10 Dors Venabili thought coolly about the matter. It was her only mode of thought-cool. Not for her the hot flashes of emotion. She closed her eyes to concentrate. It had been eight years since she and Hari had visited Mycogen and they hadn't been there long. There had been little to admire there except the food. The pictures arose. The harsh, puritanical, male-centered society; the emphasis on the past; the removal of all body hair, a painful process deliberately self-imposed to make themselves different so that they would "know who they were"; their legends; their memories (or fancies) of a time when they ruled the Galaxy, when their lives were prolonged, when robots existed. Dors opened her eyes and said, "Why, Hari?" "Why what, dear?" "Why should he pretend not to be from Mycogen?" She didn't think he would remember Mycogen in greater detail than she; in fact, she knew he wouldn't, but his mind was better than hers-different, certainly. Hers was a mind that only remembered and drew the obvious inferences in the fashion of a mathematic line of deduction. He had a mind that leaped unexpectedly. Seldon liked to pretend that intuition was solely the province of his assistant, Yugo Amaryl, but Dors was not fooled by that. Seldon liked to pose as the unworldly mathematician who stared at the world out of perpetually wondering eyes, but she was not fooled by that, either. "Why should he pretend not to be from Mycogen?" she repeated as he sat there, his eyes lost in an inward look that Dors always associated with his attempt to squeeze one more tiny drop of usefulness and validity out of the concepts of psycho-history. Seldon said finally, "It's a harsh society, a limiting society. There are always those who chafe over its manner of dictating every action and every thought. There are always those who find they cannot entirely be broken to the harness, who want the greater liberties available in the more secular world outside. It's understandable." "So they force the growth of artificial hair?" "No, not generally. The average Breakaway-that's what the Mycogenians call the deserters and they despise them, of course-wears a wig. It's much simpler but much less effective. Really serious Breakaways grow false hair, I'm told. The process is difficult and expensive but is almost unnoticeable. I've never come across it before, though I've heard of it. I've spent years studying all eight hundred sectors of Trantor, trying to work out the basic rules and mathematics of psychohistory. I have little enough to show for it, unfortunately, but I have learned a few things." "But why, then, do the Breakaways have to hide the fact that they're from Mycogen? They're not persecuted that I know of." "No, they're not. In fact, there's no general impression that Mycogenians are inferior. It's worse than that. The Mycogenians aren't taken seriously. They're intelligent-everyone admits that-highly educated, dignified, cultured, wizards with food, almost frightening in their capacity to keep their sector prosperous-but no one takes them seriously. Their beliefs strike people outside Mycogen as ridiculous, humorous, unbelievably foolish. And that view clings even to Mycogenians who are Breakaways. A Mycogenian attempt to seize power in the government would be crushed by laughter. Being feared is nothing. Being despised, even, can be lived with. But being laughed at-that's fatal. Joranum wants to be First Minister, so he must have hair, and, to be comfortable, he must represent himself as having been brought up on some obscure world as far from Mycogen as he can possibly manage." "Surely there are some people who are naturally bald." "Never as completely depilated as Mycogenians force themselves to be. On the Outer Worlds, it wouldn't matter much. But Mycogen is a distant whisper to the Outer Worlds. The Mycogenians keep themselves so much to themselves that it is a rare one, indeed, who has ever left Trantor. Here on Trantor, though, it's different. People might be bald, but they usually have a fringe of hair that advertises them as nonMycogenian-or they grow facial hair. Those very few who are completely hairless-usually a pathological condition-are out of luck. I imagine they have to go around with a doctor's certificate to prove they are not Mycogenians." Dors, frowning slightly, said, "Does this help us any?" "I'm not sure." "Couldn't you let it be known that he is a Mycegonian?" "I'm not sure that could be done easily. He must have covered his tracks well and even if it could be done-" "Yes?" Seldon shrugged. "I don't want to invite an appeal to bigotry. The social situation on Trantor is bad enough without running the risk of loosing passions that neither I nor anyone else could then control. If I do have to resort to the matter of Mycogen, it will only be as a last resort." "Then you want minimalism, too." "Of course." "Then what will you do?" "I made an appointment with Demerzel. He may know what to do." Dors looked at him sharply. "Hari, are you falling into the trap of expecting Demerzel to solve every problem for you?" "No, but perhaps he'll solve this one." "And if he doesn't?" "Then I'll have to think of something else, won't I?" "Like what?" A look of pain crossed Seldon's face. "Dors, I don't know. Don't expect me to solve every problem, either." 第十章 　　铎丝•凡纳比里冷静地思考这个问题。那是她唯一的思考模式——冷静；她向来没有炽 烈的情绪。 她闭起双眼，集中精神。她与谢顿造访麦曲生已是八年前的事，而且他们在那里并未停留太久。除了食物之外，那里实在乏善可陈。心中的影像逐渐清晰。麦曲生是个严苛、禁欲、男性中心的社会，崇尚过去，所有人都接受全身脱毛手术——那是一种心甘情愿的痛苦过程，好让他们与众不同，好让他们“知道自己是什么人”。她还想到他们的种种传说，他们对过去的记忆（或幻想）——当时他们统治银河，拥有超长的寿命，与机器人生活在一起。铎丝张开眼睛，问道：“为什么，哈里？” “什么为什么，亲爱的？” “为什么他要假装不是麦曲生人？”铎丝不认为谢顿对麦曲生的记忆会比自己详尽，事实上，她知道这不可能；但他的心灵比她优越，至少绝对不同。她自己的心灵只能记忆，以及根据演绎的数学程序推出明显结论； 谢顿的心灵则能做出意料之外的跃升。谢顿喜欢假装直觉是他的助手雨果•阿马瑞尔的专利，可是这点瞒不过铎丝。谢顿还喜欢摆出一副超然数学家的姿态，透过一双永远存疑的眼睛观察这个世界，而这点同样瞒不过她。“为什么他要假装不是麦曲生人？”她重复这个问题的时候，谢顿坐在那里，目光仿佛聚焦于自己内心深处。每当他透出这种眼神，铎丝总联想到他是试图从心理史学中，再榨出一小滴用处与效力。 谢顿终于开口：“那是个严苛的社会，充满了各种规范限制。但总是有些人会不满这种控制一切思想言行的方式；总是有些人无法驯服地被套上缰索，而向往世俗外界中更大的自由。这是可以理解的。” “所以他们培植人工毛发？” “不，通常不会，一般的‘脱缰者’会戴假发——脱缰者是麦曲生人对那些背离人士的称呼，当然，他们鄙视那些人——戴假发比较省事，但效果也差得多。听说真正下定决心的脱缰者会培植人工毛发；培植过程既困难又昂贵，但几乎可以乱真。我虽然听说过，但从未真正见过这种人。我花了许多年时间研究川陀上的八百个区，试图整理出心理史学的基本法则和数学模式。虽然很遗憾，我累积的成果实在太少，但我还是学到了一些东西。” “可是脱缰者为何要隐藏真实身份？据我所知，他们并没有遭到迫害。”“没错，他们没有遭到迫害。事实上，一般人并不认为麦曲生人是劣等民族。然而实际情况更糟，没有人把麦曲生人当一回事。大家都承认他们很聪明，教育水准高，尊贵、文明、 精于饮食，他们保持该区繁荣的本事简直吓人，但就是没有人把他们当一回事。在外人眼中， 他们的信仰荒唐、滑稽，而旦愚蠢得难以置信，这种刻板烙印甚至连麦曲生的脱缰者也甩脱不掉。一个试图在政府中掌权的麦曲生人，会在众人的哄笑声中垮台。让人害怕没有关系，甚至受人轻视也能安然无事，但是被人嘲笑——则注定完蛋。久瑞南想当首相，所以他必须有头发；而为了髙枕无忧，他得假称自己来自某个偏远的世界，而且那个世界离麦曲生越远越好。” “可是也有人是天生秃头。” “但绝不会秃得像麦曲生人那么彻底。出身麦曲生，在外围世界并不会造成太大影响——对他们而言，麦曲生只是个遥远的传说；麦曲生如此封闭，离开过川陀的人实在少之又少。 不过，在川陀上则不同。有些人虽然禿头，但通常还有一圈头发，或者会留着胡须，表示他们不是麦曲生人。少数因病完全没有毛发的运气就不好了，我猜他们必须随身携带医生证明书，证明自己不是麦曲生人。”铎丝微微皱着眉头说：“这点对我们有帮助吗？”“我还不确定。” “你不能揭穿他是麦曲生人吗？” “我不确定这容不容易。他一定将狐狸尾巴藏得很好，而即使能揭穿……” “怎么样？” 谢顿耸了耸肩。“我不想诉诸种族偏见，即使不冒险煽动谁都无法控制的激情，川陀现在的情势也已够糟了。如果非得拿麦曲生当筹码，那也会是我最后的选择。”“所以说，你也采取了极简主义。”“当然。” “那你要怎么做？” “我已经约丹莫茨尔见面，他也许知道该怎么做。” 铎丝以严厉的目光望着他：“哈里，你是不是越来越依赖丹莫茨尔能为你解决所有的问题？” “没有，但他或许能解决这个问题。” “假如他不能呢？” “那么我必须想别的办法，对不对？” “比如说？” 谢顿的脸庞掠过一丝痛苦表情。“铎丝，我不知道，你也别指望我能解决所有问题。” Chapter 11 Eto Demerzel was not frequently seen, except by the Emperor Cleon. It was his policy to remain in the background for a variety of reasons, one of which was that his appearance changed so little with time. Hari Seldon had not seen him over a period of some years and had not spoken to him truly in private since the days of his early time on Trantor. In light of Seldon's recent unsettling meeting with Laskin Joranum, both Seldon and Demerzel felt it would be best not to advertise their relationship. A visit by Hari Seldon to the First Minister's office at the Imperial Palace would not go unnoticed, and so for reasons of security they had decided to meet in a small yet luxuriously appointed suite at the Dome's Edge Hotel, just outside the Palace grounds. Seeing Demerzel now brought back the old days achingly. The mere fact that Demerzel still looked exactly as he always had made the ache sharper. His face still had its strong regular features. He was still tall and sturdy-looking, with the same dark hair with the hint of blond. He was not handsome, but was gravely distinguished. He looked like someone's ideal picture of what an Imperial First Minister ought to look like, not at all like any such official in history before his time ever had. It was his appearance, Seldon thought, that gave him half his power over the Emperor, and therefore over the Imperial Court, and therefore over the Empire. Demerzel advanced toward him, a gentle smile curving his lips without altering in any way the gravity of his countenance. "Hart," he said. "It is pleasant to see you. I was half-afraid you would change your mind and cancel." "I was more than half-afraid you would, First Minister." "Eto-if you fear using my real name." "I couldn't. It won't come out of me. You know that." "It will to me. Say it. I would rather like to hear it." Seldon hesitated, as though he couldn't believe his lips could frame the words or his vocal cords sound them. "Daneel," he said at length. "R. Daneel Olivaw," said Demerzel. "Yes. You will dine with me, Hari. If I dine with you, I won't have to eat, which will be a relief." "Gladly, though one-way eating is not my idea of a convivial time. Surely a bite or two-" "To please you-" "Just the same," said Seldon, "I can't help but wonder if it is wise to spend too much time together." "It is. Imperial orders. His Imperial Majesty wants me to." "Why, Daneel?" "In two more years the Decennial Convention will be meeting again. -You look surprised. Have you forgotten?" "Not really. I just haven't thought about it." "Were you not going to attend? You were a hit at the last one." "Yes. With my psychohistory. Some hit." "You attracted the attention of the Emperor. No other mathematician did." "It was you who were initially attracted, not the Emperor. Then I had to flee and stay out of the Imperial notice until such time as I could assure you that I had made a start on my psychohistorical research, after which you allowed me to remain in safe obscurity." "Being the head of a prestigious Mathematics Department is scarcely obscurity." "Yes, it is, since it hides my psychohistory." "Ah, the food is arriving. For a while, let's talk about other things as befits friends. How is Dors?" "Wonderful. A true wife. Hounds me to death with her worries over my safety." "That is her job." "So she reminds me-frequently. Seriously, Daneel, I can never be sufficiently grateful to you for bringing us together." "Thank you, Hari, but, to be truthful, I did not foresee married happiness for either of you, especially not Dors-" "Thank you for the gift just the same, however short of the actual consequences your expectations were." "I'm delighted, but it is a gift, you will find, that may be of dubious further consequence-as is my friendship." To this, Seldon could make no reply and so, at a gesture from Demerzel, he turned to his meal. After a while, he nodded at the morsel of fish on his fork and said, "I don't actually recognize the organism, but this is Mycogenian cooking." "Yes, it is. I know you are fond of it." "It's the Mycogenians' excuse for existence. Their only excuse. But they have special meaning to you. I mustn't forget that." "The special meaning has come to an end. Their ancestors, long, long ago, inhabited the planet of Aurora. They lived three hundred years and more and were the lords of the Fifty Worlds of the Galaxy. It was an Auroran who first designed and produced me. I don't forget that; I remember it far more accurately-and with less distortion-than their Mycogenian descendants do. But then, long, long ago, I left them. I made my choice as to what the good of humanity must be and I have followed it, as best I could, all this time." Seldon said with sudden alarm, "Can we be overheard?" Demerzel seemed amused. "If you have only thought of that now, it is far too late. But fear not, I have taken the necessary precautions. Nor have you been seen by too many eyes when you came. Nor will you be seen by too many when you leave. And those who do see you will not be surprised. I am well known to be an amateur mathematician of great pretensions but of little ability. That is a source of amusement to those at the court who are not entirely my friends and it would not surprise anyone here that I should be concerned about laying the groundwork for the forthcoming Decennial Convention. It is about the convention that I wish to consult you." "I don't know that I can help. There is only one thing I could possibly talk about at the convention-and I can't talk about it. If I attend at all, it will only be as part of the audience. I do not intend to present any papers." "I understand. Still, if you would like to hear something curious, His Imperial Majesty remembers you." "Because you have kept me in his mind, I suppose." "No. I have not labored to do so. However, His Imperial Majesty occasionally surprises me. He is aware of the forthcoming convention and he apparently remembers your talk at the earlier one. He remains interested in the matter of psychohistory and more may come of it, I must warn you. It is not beyond the bounds of possibility that he may ask to see you. The court will surely consider it a great honor-to receive the Imperial call twice in a single lifetime." "You're joking. What could be served by my seeing him?" "In any case, if you are called to an audience, you can scarcely refuse. -How are your young proteg6s, Yugo and Raych?" "Surely you know. I imagine you keep a close eye on me." "Yes, I do. On your safety but not on every aspect of your life. I am afraid my duties fill much of my time and I am not all-seeing." "Doesn't Dors report?" "She would in a crisis. Not otherwise. She is reluctant to play the role of spy in nonessentials." Again the small smile. Seldon grunted. "My boys are doing well. Yugo is increasingly difficult to handle. He's more of a psychohistorian than I am and I think he feels I hold him back. As for Raych, he's a lovable rascal-always was. He won me over when he was a dreadful street urchin and what's more surprising is that he won over Dors. I honestly believe, Daneel, that if Dors grew sick of me and wanted to leave me, she would stay on anyway for her love of Raych." Demerzel nodded and Seldon continued somberly. "If Rashelle of Wye hadn't found him lovable, I would not be here today. I would have been shot down-" He stirred uneasily. "I hate to think of that, Daneel. It was such an entirely accidental and unpredictable event. How could psychohistory have helped in any way?" "Have you not told me that, at best, psychohistory can deal only in probabilities and with vast numbers, not with individuals?" "But if the individual happens to be crucial-" "I suspect you will find that no individual is ever truly crucial. Not even I-or you." "Perhaps you're right. I find that, no matter how I work away under these assumptions, I nevertheless think of myself as crucial, in a kind of supernormal egotism that transcends all sense. -And you are crucial, too, which is something I have come here to discuss with you-as frankly as possible. I must know." "Know what?" The remains of the meal had been cleared away by a porter and the room's lighting dimmed somewhat so that the walls seemed to close in and give a feeling of great privacy. Seldon said, "Joranum." He bit off the word, as though feeling the mention of the name alone should be sufficient. "Ah Yes." "You know about him?" "Of course. How could I not know?" "Well, I want to know about him, too." "What do you want to know?" "Come, Daneel, don't play with me. Is he dangerous?" "Of course he is dangerous. Do you have any doubt of that?" "I mean, to you? To your position as First Minister?" "That is exactly what I mean. That is how he is dangerous." "And you allow it?" Demerzel leaned forward, placing his left elbow on the table between them. "There are things that don't wait for my permission, Hari. Let us be philosophical about it. His Imperial Majesty, Cleon, First of that Name, has now been on the throne for eighteen years and for all that time I have been his Chief of Staff and then his First Minister, having served in scarcely lesser capacities during the last years of the reign of his father. It is a long time and First Ministers rarely remain that long in power." "You are not the ordinary First Minister, Daneel, and you know it. You must remain in power while psychohistory is being developed. Don't smile at me. It's true. When we first met, eight years ago, you told me the Empire was in a state of decay and decline. Have you changed your mind about that?" "No, of course not." "In fact, the decline is more marked now, isn't it?" "Yes, it is, though I labor to prevent that." "And without you, what would happen? Joranum is raising the Empire against you." "Trantor, Hari. Trantor. The Outer Worlds are solid and reasonably contented with my deeds so far, even in the midst of a declining economy and lessening trade." "But Trantor is where it counts. Trantor-the Imperial world we're living on, the capital of the Empire, the core, the administrative center- is what can overthrow you. You cannot keep your post if Trantor says no. "I agree." "And if you go, who will then take care of the Outer Worlds and what will keep the decline from being precipitate and the Empire from degenerating rapidly into anarchy?" "That is a possibility, certainly." "So you must be doing something about it. Yugo is convinced that you are in deadly danger and can't maintain your position. His intuition tells him so. Dors says the same thing and explains it in terms of the Three Laws or Four of-of-" "Robotics," put in Demerzel. "Young Raych seems attracted to Joranum's doctrines-being of Dahlite origin, you see. And I-I am uncertain, so I come to you for comfort, I suppose. Tell me that you have the situation well in hand." "I would do so if I could. However, I have no comfort to offer. I am in danger." "Are you doing nothing?" "No. I'm doing a great deal to contain discontent and blunt Joranum's message. If I had not done so, then perhaps I would be out of office already. But what I'm doing is not enough." Seldon hesitated. Finally he said, "I believe that Joranum is actually a Mycogenian." "Is that so?" "It is my opinion. I had thought we might use that against him, but I hesitate to unleash the forces of bigotry." "You are wise to hesitate. There are many things that might be done that have side effects we do not want. You see, Hari, I don't fear leaving my post-if some successor could be found who would continue those principles that I have been using to keep the decline as slow as possible. On the other hand, if Joranum himself were to succeed me, then that, in my opinion, would be fatal." "Then anything we can do to stop him would be suitable." "Not entirely. The Empire can grow anarchic, even if Joranum is destroyed and I stay. I must not, then, do something that will destroy Joranum and allow me to stay-if that very deed promotes the Fall of the Empire. I have not yet been able to think of anything I might do that would surely destroy Joranum and just as surely avoid anarchy." "Minimalism,?whispered Seldon. "Pardon me?" "Dors explained that you would be bound by minimalism." "And so I am." "Then my visit with you is a failure, Daneel." "You mean that you came for comfort and didn't get it." "I'm afraid so." "But I saw you because I sought comfort as well." "From me?" "From psychohistory, which should envision the route to safety that I cannot." Seldon sighed heavily. "Daneel, psychohistory has not yet been developed to that point." The First Minister looked at him gravely. "You've had eight years, Hari." "It might be eight or eight hundred and it might not be developed to that point. It is an intractable problem." Demerzel said, "I do not expect the technique to have been perfected, but you may have some sketch, some skeleton, some principle that you can use as guidance. Imperfectly, perhaps, but better than mere guesswork." "No more than I had eight years ago," said Seldon mournfully. "Here's what it amounts to, then. You must remain in power and Joranum must be destroyed in such a way that Imperial stability is maintained as long as possible so that I may have a reasonable chance to work out psychohistory. This cannot be done, however, unless I work out psychohistory first. Is that it?" "It would seem so, Hari." "Then we argue in a useless circle and the Empire is destroyed." "Unless something unforeseen happens. Unless you make something unforeseen happen." "I? Daneel, how can I do it without psychohistory?" "I don't know, Hari." And Seldon rose to go-in despair. 第十一章 　　伊图•丹莫茨尔不常露面，只有在克里昂大帝面前例外。隐身幕后是他的一贯作风，原 因不一而足，其中之一是岁月几乎不曾在他的外表留下痕迹。 除了刚到川陀那段日子，哈里•谢顿已有好几年未曾见过丹莫茨尔，更遑论与他私下交谈。 鉴于拉斯金•久瑞南最近那次示威性拜会，谢顿与丹莫茨尔一致认为最好别张扬两人的 关系。若造谢顿造访位于皇宫的首相办公室，极可能引人注目。因此基于安全考虑，他们将会面地点定在邻近御苑的穹缘旅馆，一间虽小但设备豪华的套房中。这次与丹莫茨尔的会面，沉痛地勾起谢顿的昔日回忆。单是丹莫茨尔看来跟过去一模一样这个事实，便使谢顿心中一痛。丹莫茨尔的脸庞仍保有棱角分明的特征，身材仍然高大壮硕，铜色头发依旧略显金黄。他不算英俊，但看来威严而高贵，完全符合人们心目中一位帝国首相应有的理想形象，与过去历史上的首相完全不同。单凭外貌，谢顿心想，就足以使丹莫茨尔拥有驾驭皇上的一半权力，进而能控制宫廷，以至于整个帝国。 丹莫茨尔向他走来，严肃的表情并没因嘴角浅浅的笑容而改变。“哈里，”他说，“很髙兴见到你。我还担心你会改变心意，取消这次会面。” “担心的是我啊，首相。” “叫我伊图——假如你不敢用我的真名。” “我可不能叫你的真名，你知道的，我说不出口。” “对我可以。说吧，我很乐意听你叫我的真名。” 谢顿犹豫了一下，仿佛无法相信他的嘴唇能说出那几个字，或是他的声带能发出那几个音。“丹尼尔。”他终于说了出来。“机•丹尼尔•奥利瓦。”丹莫茨尔说，“待会儿我们将一块用餐，哈里。如果能不必吞 下任何东西，对我会是一大解脱。”“乐于从命，虽然我觉得单方面进食没什么进餐气氛。尝一两口当然……” “只要让你高兴……” “我还是有点担心，”谢顿道，“会面时间太长会不会是不太明智之举？” “别担心，这是圣命，皇帝陛下要我这样做。” “为什么，丹尼尔？” “再过两年，十年会议又要召开了。你看来很惊讶，难道你忘了？”“不，不是，我只是没想到。”“你不准备参加吗？七次你可是热门人物。”“没错。我的心理史学，是有点热门。”“你吸引了皇上的注意，其他数学家没有同样能耐。”“一开始被吸引的人是你，不是皇上。然后我就不得不东躲西藏，远离皇上的注意，直到我能向你保证，我在心理史学上的研究已迈出第一步。从此以后，你便让我待在安全隐蔽的角落。” “在一个举世闻名的数学系当系主任，可不算是待在隐蔽的角落。”“不，正是如此，因为它隐藏了我的心理史学。”“啊，餐点送来了。先谈点别的吧！谈点老友该谈的东西。铎丝好吗？”“好极了。他是个再称职不过的妻子，无时无刻不担心我的安危，有时还真让我受不了。”“那是她的工作。” “她也常这么提醒我。不过说正经的，丹尼尔，我真的很感激你撮合我们。”“别客气。可是，老实说，当时我对你们的婚姻并不乐观，尤其是铎丝……” “无论你当初心里是怎么想，我都很感谢你。” “我很高兴。可是，你也许知道，将来还是个未知数——正如同我的友谊。”对于这句话，谢顿根本无从回答，因此（在丹莫茨尔示意下）他开始进餐。 过了一会儿，他朝叉子上的一块鱼肉点了点头，说道：“我不确定这是什么肉，但这是麦曲生料理。” “没错，我知道你会喜欢。” “这就是麦曲生人活着的唯一的理由，但他们对你有特殊意义，这点我不能忘记。” “这个特殊意义已经不存在了。”很久很久以前，麦曲生人的祖先住在奥罗拉行星上。他们至少能活三百年，是银河‘五十外世界’的领袖。最初设计制造我的是个奥罗拉人，这点我没忘记；与他们的麦曲生后裔比起来，我的记忆正确得多。可是后来——仍然是很久、很久以前——我离开了奥罗拉人。我为人类福祉选择了该做的事，而我尽可能遵循这个原则， 长久以来一直如此。” 谢顿突然惊觉道：“我们会不会被窃听？” 丹莫茨尔似乎被逗乐了：“如果你现在才想到不是太迟了吗？别担心，我已经做好必要的预防措施。不会有多少人看到你来这个地方。就算有人看到你也不会太惊讶，因为我是个出了名自负却十分平庸的业余数学家。宫廷中那些不尽然是我朋友的人，总是把这件事当笑话。我为即将来临的十年会议做些准备工作，不会有人大惊小怪。而我希望跟你讨论的，就是有关这次会议的问题。” “我不知道能帮得上什么忙。我只有一样东西值得在会议上讨论，但它却又是我绝对不能讨论的。就算我参加了，也只打算当名听众，我不准备发表论文。” “我了解。话说回来，有一件新鲜事你可能想知道，皇帝陛下还记得你。” “我想是因为你一直在提醒他。” “不，我从没花这个工夫。然而，皇帝陛下偶尔会注意到一些我以为他不会注意的事。他注意到十年会议即将召开，显然也记得你在上届发表的演说。我必须警告你，他对心理史学这玩意仍有兴趣，而且兴趣可能还越来越浓。他要求见你的可能性不是不存在。一生中接到两次圣召，廷臣一定会将此视为莫大的荣耀。”“你在开玩笑，我见他能有什么贡献？”“无论如何，假如你接到觐见的传召，你恐怕不能拒绝。好了，你那两个年轻伙伴，雨果和芮奇，他们怎么样？” “你当然知道，我猜你盯我盯得很紧。”“是的，没错。但仅限于你的安全，而不是你生活中的各个层面。只怕我的职务占掉我太多时间，使我无法面面顾到。” “铎丝不向你报告吗？” “除非有危机出现，否则她不愿无端扮演间谍。”他又露出浅浅的微笑。谢顿轻哼一声。“我的小朋友都不错。雨果越来越难驾驭，他比我更像一名心理史学家， 我想他觉得我老是在牵制他。至于芮奇，他是个可爱的小鬼——一向如此——当他还是个不好惹的街头顽童时，就已经赢得我的好感，更令人惊讶的是他还蠃得铎丝的心。我真的相信， 丹尼尔，如果哪天铎丝对我生厌想离开，最后也会为了芮奇留下来。” 丹莫茨尔点了点头。接着，谢顿口气一转，变得阴沉：“当年在卫荷，要不是芮喜尔觉得芮奇可爱，我早就被轰掉了……”他不安地欠了欠身，“我不愿回忆这件事，丹尼尔，这事完全出于偶然而且无法预测。心理史学怎么可能帮得上忙？”“你不是告诉过我，心理史学至多只能以几率处理庞大的数目，而无法处理单独个人？” “但如果那个人刚好是关键……” “没有任何人会是真正的关键，甚至包括你我。”“也许你是对的。但我发现，不论我如何服膺这些假设，我却仍然认为自己是关键人物。 这是一种超常的自我夸张，超越了一切理智。而你也是个关键人物，这正是我来这儿要跟你讨论的事，请尽可能开诚布公。我一定要知道。”“知道什么？”服务生已将餐桌收拾干净。室内的照明暗了几分，四周墙壁因而显得逼近不少，带来一种极其隐秘的感觉。“久瑞南。”谢顿只说了三个字，仿佛光提到这个名字就够了。“啊，他啊。” “你知道他？” 丹尼尔答道：“当然，我怎能不知道？”“好，我也想知道有关他的事。” “你想知道什么？” “得了吧，丹尼尔，别跟我装蒜。他是个危险人物吗？” “他当然是个危险人物。你对这点有任何怀疑吗？” “我的意思是，对你而言？对你这个首相职位而言？”“我正是那个意思，那正是他所以危险的原因。”“你却允许这种事？” 丹莫茨尔身子前倾，左肘靠在他们之间的桌上。“有些事是不会等我批准的，哈里，我们得看开点。皇帝陛下，克里昂大帝一世，在位至今已有十八年，这段期间，我一直是他的行政首长，也就是他的首相。而在他父亲在位的最后几年，我就掌握着几乎相同的权力。这是一段很长的时间，历来鲜有掌权这么久的首相。” “你不是普通的首相，丹尼尔，你自己明白。心理史学发展完成之前，你一定得继续掌权——别冲着我笑，这是实话。八年前，我们初次相遇时，你告诉我帝国正处于衰败与没落的状态。难道你的看法改变了？” “不，当然没有。” “事实上，如今衰落的迹象更明显了，不是吗？”“是的，没错，尽管我在努力阻止。” “要是没有你，会发生什么事？久瑞南正在煽动整个帝国和你作对。” “川陀，哈里，只在川陀而已。目前外围世界仍然相当稳固，他们对我的政绩也还算满意，即使经济和贸易活动都不断衰退。”“但只有川陀具有决定性影响：只有这个我们安身立命的京畿世界，帝国的首都、核心与行政中心——能让你垮台。如果川陀说不，你的职位就保不住。”“我同意。” “而你若是离开了，谁来照顾外围世界？又有什么办法能防止衰落加速，不使帝国迅速沦落至无政府状态？” “没错，帝国是有可能变成无政府状态。” “所以你一定要做些什么。雨果深信这个危机将使你地位不保，他的直觉这么告诉他。铎丝也说过同样的话，还用什么三大、四大法则来解释。”“机器人法则。”丹莫茨尔接口道。 “小芮奇似乎被久瑞南的主张深深吸引——他出身达尔，你知道。而我，我不能确定，也许这是我来找你的原因，我得求个心安。告诉我，情势完全在你掌握之中。” “假使可以，我会这样说。然而，我无法让你心安，我的确身处险境。”“你什么都不做吗？” “不，我正在做许多事，以化解不满的情绪、削弱久瑞南的宣传。假使我没这么做，也许我已经下台了，可是我做得还不够。”谢顿犹豫了一下，最后终于说：“我相信久瑞南其实是麦曲生人。”“是吗？” “这是我个人的看法，我曾经想用这点来对付他，但我又不想诉诸种族偏见。我有点迟疑。” “你的迟疑是明智的，有很多事虽然做得到，却会产生我们不想要的副作用。你可了解， 哈里，我不怕离开我的职位——只要能找到一位继任者，能继续遵循我用以减缓帝国衰落的那些原则。反之，假如久瑞南这个人接替我的位置，那么我看，帝国就万劫不复了。”“如此，只要能阻止他，我们怎么做都可以。” “并不尽然。即使久瑞南被消灭，我留了下来，帝国仍有可能变作一盘散沙。所以说，假如某项行动会加速帝国的衰亡，我就不能用它对付久瑞南、保住我自己。我还想不到有什么办法，既可确保消灭久瑞南，又可确保帝国不至陷入无政府状态。” “极简主义。”谢顿悄声道。 “你说什么？” “铎丝曾对我解释，说你会受制于极简主义。” “的确如此。” “那么我今天的造访一无所获，丹尼尔。” “你是指你来想求个心安，却没有得到。” “只怕就是这样。” “可是我和你见面，也是因为我想求个心安。” “从我这儿？” “从心理史学，应该能找到一条我找不到的安全之道。” 谢顿重重叹了口气。“丹尼尔，心理史学还没发展到那个程度。” 首相严肃地望着他。“你已经花了八年的时间，哈里。” “就算得花上另一个八年或八百年，也没法发展到那个程度；这是个很棘手的事！” 丹莫茨尔说：“我并未指望这项技术臻于完美，但你也许有了某种蓝图、骨架或者原则， 可以当作指导方针。它或许不完美，但总比纯粹臆测要好。” “我现在并不比八年前掌握得更多。”谢顿悲伤地说：“那么，这就是我们的结论：你必 须继续掌权，久瑞南必须被消灭，如此帝国才得以尽可能维持稳定，我也才有发展出心理史学的机会。然而，除非我先发展出心理史学，否则无法做到这点。对不对？”“似乎就是这样，哈里。” “这么说，我们只是在做无用的循环论证，而帝国已注定毁灭。” “除非发生意料不到的事——除非你让意外发生。” “我？丹尼尔，没有心理史学的帮助，我怎么办得到？” “我也不知道，哈里。” 于是谢顿起身离去——满怀绝望。 Chapter 12 For days thereafter Hari Seldon neglected his departmental duties to use his computer in its news-gathering mode. There were not many computers capable of handling the daily news from twenty-five million worlds. There were a number of them at Imperial headquarters, where they were absolutely necessary. Some of the larger Outer World capitals had them as well, though most were satisfied with hyperconnection to the Central Newspost on Trantor. A computer at an important Mathematics Department could, if it were sufficiently advanced, be modified as an independent news source and Seldon had been careful to do that with his computer. It was, after all, necessary for his work on psychohistory, though the computer's capabilities were carefully ascribed to other, exceedingly plausible reasons. Ideally the computer would report anything that was out of the ordinary on any world of the Empire. A coded and unobtrusive warning light would make itself evident and Seldon could track it down easily. Such a light rarely showed, for the definition of "out of the ordinary" was tight and intense and dealt with large-scale and rare upheavals. What one did in its absence was to ring in various worlds at random -not all twenty-five million, of course, but some dozens. It was a depressing and even debilitating task, for there were no worlds that didn't have their daily relatively minor catastrophes. A volcanic eruption here, a flood there, an economic collapse of one sort or another yonder, and, of course, riots. There had not been a day in the last thousand years that there had not been riots over something or other on each of a hundred or more different worlds. Naturally such things had to be discounted. One could scarcely worry about riots any more than one could about volcanic eruptions when both were constants on inhabited worlds. Rather, if a day should come in which not one riot was reported anywhere, that might be a sign of something so unusual as to warrant the gravest concern. Concern was what Seldon could not make himself feel. The Outer Worlds, with all their disorders and misfortunes, were like a great ocean on a peaceful day, with a gentle swell and minor heavings-but no more. He found no evidence of any overall situation that clearly showed a decline in the last eight years or even in the last eighty. Yet Demerzel (in Demerzel's absence, Seldon could no longer think of him as Daneel) said the decline was continuing and he had his finger on the Empire's pulse from day to day in ways that Seldon could not duplicate-until such time as he would have the guiding power of psychohistory at his disposal. It could be that the decline was so small that it was unnoticeable till some crucial point was reached-like a domicile that slowly wears out and deteriorates, showing no signs of that deterioration until one night when the roof collapses. When would the roof collapse? That was the problem and Seldon had no answer. And on occasion, Seldon would check on Trantor itself. There, the news was always considerably more substantial. For one thing, Trantor was the most highly populated of all the worlds, with its forty billion people. For another, its eight hundred sectors formed a mini-Empire all its own. For a third, there were the tedious rounds of governmental functions and the doings of the Imperial family to follow. What struck Seldon's eyes, however, was in the Dahl Sector. The elections for the Dahl Sector Council had placed five Joranumites into office. This was the first time, according to the commentary, that Joranumites had achieved sector office. It was not surprising. Dahl was a Joranumite stronghold if any sector was, but Seldon found it a disturbing indication of the progress being made by the demagogue. He ordered a microchip of the item and took it home with him that evening. Raych looked up from his computer as Seldon entered and apparently felt the need to explain himself. "I'm helping Mom on some reference material she needs," he said. "What about your own work?" "Done, Dad. All done." "Good. -Look at this." He showed Raych the chip in his hand before slipping it into the microprojector. Raych glanced at the news item hanging in the air before his eyes and said, "Yes, I know." "You do?" "Sure. I usually keep track of Dahl. You know, home sector and all." "And what do you think about it?" "I'm not surprised. Are you? The rest of Trantor treats Dahl like dirt. Why shouldn't they go for Joranum's views?" "Do you go for them also?" "Well-" Raych twisted his face thoughtfully. "I got to admit some things he says appeal to me. He says he wants equality for all people. What's wrong with that?" "Nothing at all-if he means it. If he's sincere. If he isn't just using it as a ploy to get votes." "True enough, Dad, but most Dahlites probably figure: What's there to lose? We don't have equality now, though the laws say we do." "It's a hard thing to legislate." "That's not something to cool you off when you're sweating to death." Seldon was thinking rapidly. He had been thinking since he had come across this item. He said, "Raych, you haven't been in Dahl since your mother and I took you out of the sector, have you?" "Sure I was, when I went with you to Dahl five years ago on your visit there." "Yes yes"-Seldon waved a hand in dismissal-"but that doesn't count. We stayed at an intersector hotel, which was not Dahlite in the least, and, as I recall, Dors never once let you out on the streets alone. After all, you were only fifteen. How would you like to visit Dahl now, alone, in charge of yourself-now that you're fully twenty?" Raych chuckled. "Mom would never allow that." "I don't say that I enjoy the prospect of facing her with it, but I don't intend to ask her permission. The question is: Would you be willing to do this for me?" "Out of curiosity? Sure. I'd like to see what's happened to the old place." "Can you spare the time from your studies?" "Sure. I'll never miss a week or so. Besides, you can tape the lectures and I'll catch up when I get back. I can get permission. After all, my old man's on the faculty-unless you've been fired, Dad." "Not yet. But I'm not thinking of this as a fun vacation." "I'd be surprised if you did. I don't think you know what a fun vacation is, Dad. I'm surprised you know the phrase." "Don't be impertinent. When you go there, I want you to meet with Laskin Joranum." Raych looked startled. "How do I do that? I don't know where he's gonna be." "He's going to be in Dahl. He's been asked to speak to the Dahl Sector Council with its new Joranumite members. We'll find out the exact day and you can go a few days earlier." "And how do I get to see him, Dad? I don't figure he keeps open house." "I don't, either, but I'll leave that up to you. You would have known how to do it when you were twelve. I hope your keen edge hasn't blunted too badly in the intervening years." Raych smiled. "I hope not. But suppose I do see him. What then?" "Well, find out what you can. What's he's really planning. What he's really thinking." "Do you really think he's gonna tell me?" "I wouldn't be surprised if he does. You have the trick of inspiring confidence, you miserable youngster. Let's talk about it." And so they did. Several times. Seldon's thoughts were painful. He was not sure where all this was leading to, but he dared not consult Yugo Amaryl or Demerzel or (most of all) Dors. They might stop him. They might prove to him that his idea was a poor one and he didn't want that proof. What he planned seemed the only gateway to salvation and he didn't want it blocked. But did the gateway exist at all? Raych was the only one, it seemed to Seldon, who could possibly manage to worm himself into Joranum's confidence, but was Raych the proper tool for the purpose? He was a Dahlite and sympathetic to Joranum. How far could Seldon trust him? Horrible? Raych was his son-and Seldon had never had occasion to mistrust Raych before. 第十二章 　　其后几天，哈里•谢顿暂时搁下系上事务，将计算机设定在新闻搜集模式。很少有计算机能处理，来自二千五百万个世界的每日新闻。基于绝对需要，帝国的大本营设有不少这种计算机。此外，某些较大外围世界的首都也有。不过，大多数首都仅与川陀上的中央新闻站维持超波联系，如此便已足敷需要。 一个重要数学系里的计算机，若是足够先进，就能改装成独立的新闻站。谢顿的计算机便早已仔细改装过，毕竟，这是他发展心理史学必需的工具。不过，他小心地将改装原因归于其他更堂而皇之的理由。 在理想状况下，帝国中任何世界若发生异常状况，这台计算机都能立即传述。一个不起眼的警告灯会发出密码闪光，谢顿便能轻易找出这条新闻。这种灯很少亮起，因为“异常状况”的定义十分严格，仅限于少见的大型动乱。 在没有异常状况的时候，使用者该做的是随机选取十个世界，而非将二千五百万个世界一网打尽。这是个令人沮丧、消沉甚至焦头烂额的工作，因为每个世界每天总有些小灾难。这里一场火山爆发，那里一场洪水泛滥，某处则有某种形式的经济崩溃，此外当然少不了暴动。过去一千年来，每天至少有上百个世界，会发生由各种原因所引起的暴动。 自然，使用者对这些事必须见怪不怪，几乎没有人会把暴动看得比火山爆发严重。反之， 假使哪一天，银河各地都没有暴动的报道，那才可能是个极不寻常的征兆，必须以最严肃的态度严阵以待。 谢顿从不觉得有什么需要严阵以待。外围世界就像风和日丽的汪洋，接连不断的混乱与灾祸不过是其中轻微浪涛与小小波动而已。过去八年间，甚至过去八十年间，他都找不到任何明白显示帝国衰落的整体情势。然而丹莫茨尔（在丹莫茨尔背后，谢顿无法再将他想成丹尼尔）说过，帝国正日渐衰落，他天天都在为帝国把脉，他用的方法谢顿无法模仿，除非有一天，谢顿掌握了心理史学的指导能力。可能是衰落的程度太过微小，在达到某个临界点前无从察觉。就像慢慢毁朽的宅邸，在屋顶垮掉之前，根本不会显出腐朽的征兆。 帝国的屋顶何时会垮呢？这是个关键问题， 而谢顿没有答案。有些时候，谢顿会检查川陀本身的动态。此地新闻的价值一向比外围世界高。原因之一， 川陀有四百亿居民，是所有世界中人口最多的。原因之二，川陀共有八百个区，本身便是个微型帝国。原因之三，政府的无聊活动与皇室的一言一行都是新闻。然而，此时吸引谢顿目光的却是达尔区。达尔区在刚结束的议会选举中，有五名九九派议员进入议会。根据新闻评论，这是九九派首次取得区议会的席次。这并不令人惊讶。毕竟达尔区是久瑞南的根据地。但谢顿觉得这是个令人忧心的指针，标示着那位群众煽动家的进展。他命令电脑将这则新闻输进微芯片，当天傍晚便将那个芯片带回家。 谢顿进门时，芮奇正埋头使用电脑，他抬起头来，显然感到有必要解释自己在做什么。“我在帮妈査些她需要的参考资料。”他说。 “你自己的功课呢？” “做完了，爸。” “很好，看看这玩意。”谢顿扬了扬手中的芯片，然后将它插进微投影机。 芮奇瞥了一眼出现在空中的新闻，说：“这我知道。”“你知道？” “当然，达尔的时事我都很留意。你知道的，故乡就是故乡。”“你对这件事有什么看法？” “我并不惊讶。你呢？川陀人一直将达尔视同粪土，达尔人为何不该赞同久瑞南的观点？” “你也赞同吗？” “这——”芮奇皱起眉头，显得若有所思，“我必须承认他有些话很合我胃口。他说他希望人人平等，这有什么不对？” “完全正确——只要他是真心的，是有诚意的，而非用这些话骗取选票。” “很有道理，爸，可是大多数达尔人也许会想，又有什么好损失的呢？反正我们现在就得不到平等，虽然法律说得那么好听。”“这种事很难立法保障。” “对于热得快死的人，法律根本没法帮他降温。”谢顿心念电转，他看到这则新闻后脑子便没有停过。“芮奇，自从你母亲和我带你离开达尔，你就再也没回去过，对不对？” “我当然回去过。五年前，你访问达尔的时候，我跟你们一块去了。” “没错，没错。”谢顿挥了挥手，表示无需讨论，“但那次不算。我们住在一家区际旅馆，里面一点也不像达尔。而且我记得，铎丝根本不准你单独上街。毕竟，你当时只有十五岁。现在，既然你已经满二十岁，你想不想再次造访达尔，单独前往，一切自己做主？” 芮奇咯咯笑起来：“妈绝不会准的。” “我可没说我喜欢说服她。我不打算征得她的同意。现在的问题是，你愿不愿意为我做这件事？” “出于好奇吗？当然。我很想看看老家发生什么变化。” “你从课业中抽得出时间吗？”“当然，耽误一周不算什么。何况，你可以把讲课内容录下，等我回来再补上。请假也不成问题，毕竟我老爸是一名教授——除非你被开除了，爸。”“还没有，伹这不是度假喔。” “假如你真那么想，我才觉得奇怪呢。我认为你根本不知道什么是度假，爸，你知道这两个字真让我惊讶。” “别没大没小的。到那里之后，我要你去找拉斯金•久瑞南。” 芮奇吃了一惊。“怎么找？我又不知道他在哪里。” “他正准备到达尔去。达尔区议会选出的几个九九派新议员，准备邀请他去发表演说。我们会查出确切日期，你可以提早几天出发。” "我怎样才能见到他呢，爸？我不认为他会随时候教。”“我想也不会，但这个问题留给你解决。你十二岁时就已经知道如何做这种事，我希望你的机灵这几年没给磨得太钝。” 芮奇微微一笑。“我希望没有。可是假定我真见到他，下一步该做什么？” “尽可能打探各种情报。他真正的计划是什么，真正的想法是什么。” “你真以为他会告诉我吗？”“如果他那样做，我也不会惊讶。你这个机灵的小鬼，自有办法博取他的信任。来吧，我们讨论一下细节。” 此后，两人陆续商议了好几次。谢顿内心相当痛苦。他不确定这一切会导致什么结果，但他不敢找雨果•阿马瑞尔、丹 莫茨尔，或（尤其是）铎丝交换意见。他们可能会阻止他，可能会证明他出的是个馊主意，而他不想要那种证明。他的计划似乎是拯救帝国的唯一途径，他不希望有任何阻挠。 但这个途径果真存在吗？在谢顿看来，似乎只有芮奇可能赢得久瑞南的信任。但芮奇是适当的工具吗？他出身达尔，而且赞同久瑞南。谢顿能够信任他几分？ ——真可怕！芮奇是他儿子，谢顿以前从来没怀疑过芮奇。 Chapter 13 If Seldon doubted the efficacy of his notion, if he feared that it might explode matters prematurely or move them desperately in the wrong direction, if he was filled with an agonizing doubt as to whether Raych could be entirely trusted to fulfill his part suitably, he nevertheless had no doubt-no doubt whatever-as to what Dors's reaction would be when presented with the fait accompli. And he was not disappointed-if that was quite the word to express his emotion. Yet, in a manner, he was disappointed, for Dors did not raise her voice in horror as he had somehow thought she would, as he had prepared himself to withstand. But how was he to know? She was not as other women were and he had never seen her truly angry. Perhaps it was not in her to be truly angry -or what he would consider to be truly angry. She was merely cold-eyed and spoke with low-voiced bitter disapproval. "You sent him to Dahl? Alone?" Very softly. Questioningly. For a moment Seldon quailed at the quiet voice. Then he said firmly, "I had to. It was necessary." "Let me understand. You sent him to that den of thieves, that haunt of assassins, that conglomeration of all that is criminal?" "Dors! You anger me when you speak like that. I would expect only a bigot to use those stereotypes." "You deny that Dahl is as I have described?" "Of course. There are criminals and slums in Dahl. I know that very well. We both know that. But not all of Dahl is like that. And there are criminals and slums in every sector, even in the Imperial Sector and in Streeling." "There are degrees, are there not? One is not ten. If all the worlds are crime-ridden, if all the sectors are crime-ridden, Dahl is among the worst, is it not? You have the computer. Check the statistics." "I don't have to. Dahl is the poorest sector on Trantor and there is a positive correlation between poverty, misery, and crime. I grant you that." "You grant me that! And you sent him alone? You might have gone with him, or asked me to go with him, or sent half a dozen of his schoolmates with him. They would have welcomed a respite from their work, I'm sure." "What I need him for requires that he be alone." "And what do you need him for?" But Seldon was stubbornly silent about that. Dors said, "Has it come to this? You don't trust me?" "It's a gamble. I alone dare take the risk. I can't involve you or anyone else." "But it's not you taking the risk. It's poor Raych." "He's not taking any risk," said Seldon impatiently. "He's twenty years old, young and vigorous and as sturdy as a tree-and I don't mean the saplings we have here under glass on Trantor. I'm talking about a good solid tree in the Heliconian forests. And he's a twister, which the Dahlites aren't." "You and your twisting," said Dors, her coldness not thawing one whit. "You think that's the answer to everything. The Dahlites carry knives. Every one of them. Blasters, too, I'm sure." "I don't know about blasters. The laws are pretty strict when it comes to blasters. As for knives, I'm positive Raych carries one. He even carries a knife on campus here, where it's strictly against the law. Do you think he won't have one in Dahl?" Dors remained silent. Seldon was also silent for a few minutes, then decided it might be time to placate her. He said, "Look, I'll tell you this much. I'm hoping he'll see Joranum, who will be visiting Dahl." "Oh? And what do you expect Raych to do? Fill him with bitter regrets over his wicked politics and send him back to Mycogen?" "Come. Really. If you're going to take this sardonic attitude, there's no use discussing it." He looked away from her, out the window at the blue-gray sky under the dome. "What I expect him to do"-and his voice faltered for a moment "is save the Empire." "To be sure. That would be much easier." Seldon's voice firmed. "It's what I expect. You have no solution. Demerzel himself has no solution. He as much as said that the solution rests with me. That's what I'm striving for and that's what I need Raych for in Dahl. After all, you know that ability of his to inspire affection. It worked with us and I'm convinced it will work with Joranum. If I am right, all may be well." Dors's eyes widened a trifle. "Are you now going to tell me that you are being guided by psychohistory?" "No. I'm not going to lie to you. I have not reached the point where I can be guided in any way by psychohistory, but Yugo is constantly talking about intuition-and I have mine." "Intuition! What's that? Define it!" "Easily. Intuition is the art, peculiar to the human mind, of working out the correct answer from data that is, in itself, incomplete or even, perhaps, misleading." "And you've done it." And Seldon said with firm conviction, "Yes, I have." But to himself, he thought what he dared not share with Dors. What if Raych's charm were gone? Or, worse, what if the consciousness of being a Dahlite became too strong for him? 第十三章 　　就算谢顿怀疑自己的计划，害怕这样会让事件过早引爆，使对方狗急跳墙；就算他心中充满痛苦的疑虑，不知可否百分之百信任芮奇能圆满达成任务——但他从未怀疑，当他将这个既成事实告知铎丝，她的反应会是怎样。 而他没有失望，若是这两个字能用来形容他此刻的情绪。 然而，就某方面而言，他还是失望了。他早已准备承受铎丝的反应，但铎丝并未像他预期中那样，惊骇地提高嗓门。 可是他又怎么能知道呢？铎丝与其他女子不同，他从未见过她真正生气。说不定她根本没法真正生气，或是发不出她眼中真正的怒气。 她只是透着冰冷的目光，严苛地低声责备道：“你送他到达尔去？一个人？”声音非常轻柔，带着诧异的口气。 一时之间，这平静的语调令谢顿语塞，然后他坚定地说：“我必须如此，这样做是必要的。” “让我弄明白点。你把他送到那个贼窝，那个刺客的巢穴，那个一切罪恶的大本营？”“铎丝！你怎么那样说？我以为只有偏执狂才有这种刻板观念。” “难道你否认达尔不是我描述的那样？”“当然，达尔是有罪犯和贫民窟。这点我清楚，我们俩都很清楚。但并非整个达尔是如此——每一区都有罪犯和贫民窟，就连皇区和川陀也不例外。”“总有程度上的差别吧？一不等于十。即使每个世界都充斥着罪恶，即使每一区都充斥着罪恶，达尔也是名列前茅，不是吗？你有计算机，查查统计数据。” “我不需要査数据。达尔是川陀上最贫穷的一区，而贫穷、不幸和犯罪有明显的关联，这点我承认。” “这点你承认！而你还是让他单独去？你可以跟他一起去，或是由我或五六个他的同学与他同行。他们会喜欢暂时搁下课业喘口气，我确定。” “他必须单独前往。” “你到底需要他做什么？” 但谢顿坚决地不肯说。 铎丝问：“已经到了这地步吗？你连我都不相信了？”“这是一场赌博。我只敢一个人冒这个险，我不能把你或其他人牵扯进来。”“但冒险的不是你，而是可怜的芮奇。”“我没让他冒什么险，”谢顿不耐烦地说。“他今年二十岁，年轻、有活力，还壮得像棵 树——我不是指川陀玻璃温室里的树苗，我说的是赫利肯森林里那种高大结实的树木。再说他还是个角力士，而没有一个达尔人会角力。” “你的角力真了不起。”铎丝的冰冷一点也没有解冻，“你以为那可以解决一切问题？达 尔人个个身上带着刀，而且还有手铳，我确定。”“我不知道有没有手铳，法律对手铳的管制是相当严的。至于刀嘛，我肯定芮奇也带着一把。他甚至在这儿的校园里都带着刀，那可是违法的。你以为他到达尔去会不带着吗？”铎丝沉默不语。 谢顿也沉默了几分钟，然后判断该是安抚她的时候了。“听我说，我只能告诉你这么多了——我希望他见到即将访问达尔的久瑞南。” “哦？你指望芮奇做些什么？使久瑞南对自己邪恶的政治手段悔恨不已，然后送他回麦曲生去？” "够了，真是的。如果你一定要这么尖酸刻薄，那就没什么好谈的。”他将目光从她身上移开，望向窗外穹顶下的青灰色天空。“我指望他做的——”他支吾了一下，“是拯救帝国。”“那还容易得多呢。” 谢顿以坚定的声音说：”我正是如此指望。你没有解决之道，丹莫茨尔也没有，他甚至说如何解决全看我了。而这就是我努力的目标，就是我要芮奇到达尔去的目的。毕竟，你也知道他很擅长博取别人的好感，我们就体验过，我相信这在久瑞南身上也同样有效。如果我是对的，一切可能圆满解决。”铎丝稍稍睁大了眼睛。“你的意思是说，你开始运用心理史学了。”“不，我不准备对你说谎。我尚未达到那一步，还无法真正运用心理史学。可是雨果不断谈论直觉，而我也有我的直觉。”“直觉！那是什么？定义一下！” “很简单，直觉是人类心灵特有的能力。能根据不完整，甚至可能造成误导的资料，归结出正确的答案，这种艺术就是直觉。”“而你做到了。” 谢顿坚定地说：“是的，我做到了。” 但他心头却盘桓着不敢与铎丝分享的话。万一芮奇的魅力消失了怎么办？或者更糟——万一芮奇的达尔意识窜升得太强，那又该怎么办？ Chapter 14 Billibotton was Billibotton-dirty, sprawling, dark, sinuous Billibotton-exuding decay and yet full of a vitality that Raych was convinced was to be found nowhere else on Trantor. Perhaps it was to be found nowhere else in the Empire, though Raych knew nothing, firsthand, of any world but Trantor. He had last seen Billibotton when he was not much more than twelve, but even the people seemed to be the same; still a mixture of the hangdog and the irreverent; filled with a synthetic pride and a grumbling resentment; the men marked by their dark rich mustaches and the women by their sacklike dresses that now looked tremendously slatternly to Raych's older and more worldly wise eyes. How could women with dresses like that attract men? -But it was a foolish question. Even when he was twelve, he had had a pretty clear idea of how easily and quickly they could be removed. So he stood there, lost in thought and memory, passing along a street of store windows and trying to convince himself that he remembered this particular place or that and wondering if, among them all, there were people he did remember who were now eight years older. Those, perhaps, who had been his boyhood friends-and he thought uneasily of the fact that, while he remembered some of the nicknames they had pinned on each other, he could not remember any real names. In fact, the gaps in his memory were enormous. It was not that eight years was such a long time, but it was two fifths of the lifetime of a twenty-year-old and his life since leaving Billibotton had been so different that all before it had faded like a misty dream. But the smells were there. He stopped outside a bakery, low and dingy, and smelled the coconut icing that reeked through the air-that he had never quite smelled elsewhere. Even when he had stopped to buy tarts with coconut icing, even when they were advertised as "Dahl-style," they had been faint imitations-no more. He felt strongly tempted. Well, why not? He had the credits and Dors was not there to wrinkle her nose and wonder aloud how clean-or, more likely, not clean-the place might be. Who worried about clean in the old days? The shop was dim and it took a while for Raych's eyes to acclimate. There were a few low tables in the place, with a couple of rather insubstantial chairs at each, undoubtedly where people might have a light repast, the equivalent of moka and tarts. A young man sat at one of the tables, an empty cup before him, wearing a once-white T-shirt that probably would have looked even dirtier in a better light. The baker or, in any case, a server stepped out from a room in the rear and said in a rather surly fashion, "What'll ya have?" "A coke-icer," said Raych in just as surly a fashion (he would not be a Billibottoner if he displayed courtesy), using the slang term he remembered well from the old days. The term was still current, for the server handed him the correct item, using his bare fingers. The boy, Raych, would have taken that for granted, but now the man, Raych, felt taken slightly aback. "You want a bag?" "No," said Raych, "I'll eat it here." He paid the server and took the coke-icer from the other's hand and bit into its richness, his eyes half closing as he did so. It had been a rare treat in his boyhood-sometimes when he had scrounged the necessary credit to buy one with, sometimes when he had received a bite from a temporarily wealthy friend, most often when he had lifted one when nobody was watching. Now he could buy as many as he wished. "Hey," said a voice. Raych opened his eyes. It was the man at the table, scowling at him. Raych said gently, "Are you speaking to me, bub?" "Yeah. What'chuh Join'?" "Eatin' a coke-icer. What's it to ya?" Automatically he had assumed the Billibotton way of talking. It was no strain at all. "What'chuh doin' in Billibotton?" "Born here. Raised here. In a bed. Not in a street, like you." The insult came easily, as though he had never left home. "That so? You dress pretty good for a Billibottoner. Pretty fancy-dancy. Got a perfume stink about ya." And he held up a little finger to imply effeminacy. "I won't talk about your stink. I went up in the world." "Up in the world? La-dee-da. " Two other men stepped into the bakery. Raych frowned slightly, for he wasn't sure whether they had been summoned or not. The man at the table said to the newcomers, "This guy's gone up in the world. Says he's a Billibottoner." One of the two newcomers shambled a mock salute and grinned with no appearance of amiability. His teeth were discolored. "Ain't that nice? It's always good to see a Billibottoner go up in the world. Gives 'em a chance to help their poor unfor'chnit sector people. Like, credits. You can always spare a credit or two for the poor, hey?" "How many you got, mister?" said the other, the grin disappearing. "Hey," said the man behind the counter. "All you guys get out of my store. I don't want no trouble in here." "There'll be no trouble," said Raych. "I'm leaving." He made to go, but the seated man put a leg in his way. "Don't go, pal. We'd miss yer company." (The man behind the counter, clearly fearing the worst, disappeared into the rear.) Raych smiled. He said, "One time when I was in Billibotton, guys, I was with my old man and old lady and there were ten guys who stopped us. Ten. I counted them. We had to take care of them." "Yeah?" said the one who had been speaking. "Yer old man took care of ten?" "My old man? Nah. He wouldn't waste his time. My old lady did. And I can do it better than she can. And there are only three of you. So, if you don't mind, out of the way." "Sure. Just leave all your credits. Some of your clothes, too." The man at the table rose to his feet. There was a knife in his hand. "There you are," said Raych. "Now you're going to waste my time." He had finished his coke-icer and he half-turned. Then, as quickly as thought, he anchored himself to the table, while his right leg shot out and the point of his toe landed unerringly in the groin of the man with the knife. Down he went with a loud cry. Up went the table, driving the second man toward the wall and keeping him there, while Raych's right arm flashed out, with the edge of the palm striking hard against the larynx of the third, who coughed and went down. It had taken two seconds and Raych now stood there with a knife in each hand and said, "Now which one of you wants to move?" They glared at him but remained frozen in place and Raych said, "In that case, I will now leave." But the server, who had retreated to the back room, must have summoned help, for three more men had now entered the store, while the server screeched, "Troublemakers! Nothing but troublemakers!" The newcomers were dressed alike in what was obviously a uniform-but one that Raych had never seen. Trousers were tucked into boots, loose green T-shirts were belted, and odd semispherical hats that looked vaguely comic were perched on top of their heads. On the front of the left shoulder of each T-shirt were the letters Jc. They had the Dahlite look about them but not quite the Dahlite mustache. The mustaches were black and thick, but they were carefully trimmed at lip level and were kept from luxuriating too widely. Raych allowed himself an internal sneer. They lacked the vigor of his own wild mustache, but he had to admit they looked neat and clean. The leader of these three men said, "I'm Corporal Quinber. What's been going on here?" The defeated Billibottoners were scrambling to their feet, clearly the worse for wear. One was still doubled over, one was rubbing his throat, and the third acted as though one of his shoulders had been wrenched. The corporal stared at them with a philosophic eye, while his two men blocked the door. He turned to Raych-the one man who seemed untouched. "Are you a Billibottoner, boy?" "Born and bred, but I've lived elsewhere for eight years." He let the Billibotton accent recede, but it was still there, at least to the extent that it existed in the corporal's speech as well. There were other parts of Dahl aside from Billibotton and some parts with considerable aspirations to gentility. Raych said, "Are you security officers? I don't seem to recall the uniform you're-" "We're not security officers. You won't find security officers in Billibotton much. We're the Joranum Guard and we keep the peace here. We know these three and they've been warned. We'll take care of them. You're our problem, buster. Name. Reference number." Raych told them. "And what happened here?" Raych told them. "And your business here?" Raych said, "Look here. Do you have the right to question me? If you're not security officers-" "Listen," said the corporal in a hard voice, "don't you question rights. We're all there is in Billibotton and we have the right because we take the right. You say you beat up these three men and I believe you. But you won't beat us up. We're not allowed to carry blasters-" And with that, the corporal slowly pulled out a blaster. "Now tell me your business here." Raych sighed. If he had gone directly to a sector hall, as he should have done-if he had not stopped to drown himself in nostalgia for Billibotton and coke-icers- He said, "I have come on important business to see Mr. Joranum, and since you seem to be part of his organi-' "To see the leader?" "Yes, Corporal." "With two knives on you?" "For self-defense. I wasn't going to have them on me when I saw Mr. Joranum." "So you say. We're taking you into custody, mister. We'll get to the bottom of this. It may take time, but we will." "But you don't have the right. You're not the legally const " "Well, find someone to complain to. Till then, you're ours." And the knives were confiscated and Raych was taken into custody. 第十四章 　　脐眼就是脐眼。肮脏、杂乱、阴暗、弯弯曲曲的脐眼，散发着腐朽的气味，却又有着生命力。芮奇深信，川陀其他地方绝对找不到这种生命力，说不定帝国其他各处也找不到。不过除了川陀，芮奇对其他世界根本没有任何直接认识。 当初离开脐眼，他才刚满十二岁。但现在再回到这里，似乎连居民也没什么改变，仍然一样的低贱粗野，充满着强装出来的骄傲与不平的怨恨。男性的标志是深浓的八字胡，女性则是有如布袋的服装，看在芮奇较成熟世故的眼中，后者实在邋遢到极点。 穿着这种服装的女人怎能吸引男人？不过这是个蠢问题。即使在十二岁时，他也已经十分清楚，知道有多容易、多迅速就能脱掉那些衣服。 芮奇陷入沉思与回忆，他一面走过满是橱窗的街道，一面试图说服自己的确认得某某地方，同时寻思着，人群中是否有他认识的人；不过这些人现在都大了八岁。说不定，那些人就是他的儿时玩伴。他不安地想到，虽然他记得他们互相取的绰号，却不记得任何一个真实姓名。 事实上，他记忆中的断层十分巨大。八年虽然不算长，却也不算太短，而且自从离开脐眼，他的生命有了重大改变，过去的一切早已淡出，就像一场迷蒙的梦境。 不过脐眼的气味仍记忆犹新。他在一间低矮、污黑的糕饼店外停下脚步，嗅闻着弥漫空气中的椰子糖霜味——他从未在别处闻过同样味道——即使他在别处买到以“达尔风味”为号召、涂着椰子糖霜的蛋塔，那气味也顶多只有一两分相似。 他受到强烈诱惑。嗯，有何不可？他身上有信用点，而铎丝又不在这里，不会皱起鼻子髙声质疑这地方有多干净——或更可能是说多么不干净。在以前那些日子，谁去在乎什么干不干净？ 店内相当昏暗，芮奇的眼睛花了点时间才适应。里面有几张矮桌，每张桌旁有几把不太坚固的椅子，供顾客在此用些简便的食物，譬如咖啡与蛋塔之类。其中一张桌旁坐着个年轻人，面前的杯子早已饮空，那人穿着一件脏了的白短衫；如果灯光较亮些，看来或许会更脏。 烘焙师——或至少是个侍者——从后面房间走出来，粗声粗气问道：“你要吃啥？” “椰子霜。”芮奇的口气同样粗鲁（他若表现礼貌就不是脐眼人了），说的是他还清楚记 得的脐眼俗称。 这个名称仍然通用，因为侍者没拿错东西，不过却用手递给他。若是过去那个小男孩芮奇，会将这件事视为理所当然，但成年的芮奇却稍稍吃了一惊。“你要袋子吗？” “不，”芮奇说，“我就在这儿吃。”他付了账，从侍者手中接过椰子霜，立刻咬下了一 口，香浓的滋味令他满足得双眼半闭起来。在他孩提时代，椰子霜是难得的享受。他只要弄 到足够信用点就会去买一个；偶尔也能从有意外之财的朋友那里分一口；而最常见的情形，则是在没人注意的时候偷一个。如今，他想要多少就能买多少。“嘿。”一个声音喊道。 芮奇张开眼睛，坐在桌旁的那个人正对着他横眉竖目。芮奇和气地问：“你在和我说话吗，小弟？”“是啊，你在干啥？” “吃个椰子霜，跟你有啥相干？”芮奇自然而然用起脐眼的说话方式，丝亳没有困难。“你在脐眼干啥？” “生在这儿，长在这儿。生在床上，不是在街上，和你不一样。”侮辱的话语脱口即出， 仿佛他从未离开家乡。 “是吗？就一个脐眼人来说，你穿得蛮体面，挺威风喔，身上还带着股香水的骚味。”他举起小指，暗示芮奇娘娘腔。“我还没嫌你身上的骚味。我出人头地了。”“出人头地？又——怎——样？”又有两名男子走进糕饼店。芮奇微微皱起眉头，他不确定他们是不是被召来的。坐在桌旁那人对刚进来的两人说：“这哥儿们出人头地了，他说他是个脐眼人。”刚进来的两人之一，吊儿郎当、虚情假意地行了个礼，同时咧嘴笑了笑，没表现出丝毫亲切，倒是露出一口黄板牙。“那不好吗？看到脐眼人出人头地总是好事，让他们有机会帮助贫穷不幸的本区同胞。比方说，信用点，你随时可施舍一两个信用点给穷人， 对吧？” “你有多少，先生？”另外一人说，脸上的笑容消失了。 “嘿。”柜台后面那个侍者说，“你们全滚出我的店去，我这里可不想惹啥麻烦。” “不会有麻烦的，”芮奇说，“我要走了。”他正准备离去，坐着的那人却伸脚拦住他的路。“别走，兄弟，我们会想念你的。” (柜台后面那人钻到后头去了，显然害怕会出现最糟的情况。) 芮奇微微一笑：“哥儿们，有一回我在脐眼，跟我老爸老妈一块儿，被十个哥儿们拦住， 十个，我数过。我们不得不收拾他们。”“是吗？”一直说话的那人又说：“你老爸收拾了十个人？” “我老爸？才不呢，他不会浪费这个时间，是我老妈干的。我能做得比她更好，而且现在只有你们三个。所以说，如果你不介意，赶紧给我闪开。” “当然行，只要留下你所有的信用点，还有身上几件衣服。” 桌旁那人站了起来，手中握着一把刀。 “你来真的，”芮奇说。“你非要浪费我的时间不可。”他已经吃完那个椰子霜，半转过 身来。接着，说时迟那时快，他身子撑住桌缘，右腿猛然踢出，脚尖不偏不倚落在持刀那人的鼠蹊。 芮奇大吼一声，身形一矮，用桌子将另一人直堵到墙边，同时右手闪电般挥出，掌缘重重击在第三个人的喉节，那人一阵呛咳，随即仆倒在地。 前后只是两秒钟的事。此时芮奇站在那里，双手各握着一把刀，“现在你们谁还想动？” 他们愤愤地瞪着他，却都僵在原处。芮奇又说：“这样的话，我可要走了。”可是，这时又有三名男子走进店里。一定是刚才躲到后面的侍者发出了求救讯号，他一看见那三人就髙声叫道：“一群捣蛋鬼！不折不扣的捣蛋鬼！”进来的三个人都穿着相同的服装，显然是某种芮奇从未见过的制服。他们的裤子塞在皮靴里，宽松的绿色短衫以皮带束紧，头上罩着一顶古怪的半球形帽子，模样有点滑稽。此外， 每件短衫的左肩都有“久卫”两个字。 他们的样子看来像达尔人，脸上的八字胡却不太像。那两撇胡子又黑又密，但嘴都整整齐齐地修到嘴唇上缘。芮奇内心窃笑着——与他自己狂野的八字胡比起来，他们的胡子缺乏生气，但他必须承认那看来较干净清爽。三人当中带头的那个说：我是昆柏下士，这里到底发生了什么事？”几个落败的脐眼人连滚带爬挣扎地站起来，显然都伤得不轻。其中一人仍直不起腰，另外一人揉着喉咙，第三个的肩膀仿佛扭伤了。下士以沉着的目光瞪着他们，他的两名手下则堵住门口。他又转向芮奇——唯一似乎毫发无损的人。“你是脐眼人吗，孩子？”“生在这儿，长在这儿，但我在别处住了八年。”他不再用脐眼腔调说话，似仍带着点口音，至少与下士的口音差不多。达尔不只脐眼一处，某些地方的人仍十分渴望做个上流人士。 芮奇说：“你们是保安官吗？我似乎不认得你们的制服——” “我们不是保安官，在脐眼找不到几个保安官。我们是久瑞南卫队，负责维持此地的治安。这几个我们认识，他们早就受过警告，我们自会处置他们。你才是我们的麻烦，小子，你的名字和识别号码？” 芮奇对他们说了。 “这里发生了什么事？” 芮奇也照实说了。 “你在这里干什么？” 芮奇说：“嘿，你有权利质问我吗？如果你不是保安官……” “听着。”下士厉声道，“你少来质问什么权利，脐眼就只有我们，我们的权利是我们争 取来的。你说你打倒了这三个人，我相信你，可是你打不倒我们。携带手铳是违法的——”说到这里，下士缓缓抽出一柄手铳。“现在告诉我，你在这里干什么？”芮奇叹了口气。假使他依原定计划直接前往区政厅；假使他没有停下来让自己沉湎于脐眼与椰子霜的旧日情怀…… 他说：“我来是有重要公事求见久瑞南先生，既然你们似乎是他的人……” “求见领导人？” “是的，下士。” “身上带着两把刀？” “这是自卫用的。我去见久瑞南先生时，不会把它们带在身上。” “你当然这么说。 我们要把你拘留起来，先生。我们会彻底调查这件事，这也许得花点时间，但我们不在乎。” “可是你们没有这个权利，你们不是合法的警——” “好啦，去找别人抱怨吧。在此之前，你在我们手上。” 于是两把刀被没收了，而芮奇则遭到拘留。 Chapter 15 Cleon was no longer quite the handsome young monarch that his holographs portrayed. Perhaps he still was-in the holographs-but his mirror told a different story. His most recent birthday had been celebrated with the usual pomp and ritual, but it was his fortieth just the same. The Emperor could find nothing wrong with being forty. His health was perfect. He had gained a little weight but not much. His face would perhaps look older, if it were not for the microadjustments that were made periodically and that gave him a slightly enameled look. He had been on the throne for eighteen years-already one of the longer reigns of the century-and he felt there was nothing that might necessarily keep him from reigning another forty years and perhaps having the longest reign in Imperial history as a result. Cleon looked at the mirror again and thought he looked a bit better if he did not actualize the third dimension. Now take Demerzel-faithful, reliable, necessary, unbearable Demerzel. No change in him. He maintained his appearance and, as far as Cleon knew, there had been no microadjustments, either. Of course, Demerzel was so close-mouthed about everything. And he had never been young. There had been no young look about him when he first served Cleon's father and Cleon had been the boyish Prince Imperial. And there was no young look about him now. Was it better to have looked old at the start and to avoid change afterward? Change! It reminded him that he had called Demerzel in for a purpose and not just so that he might stand there while the Emperor ruminated. Demerzel would take too much Imperial rumination as a sign of old age. "Demerzel," he said. "Sire?" "This fellow Joranum. I tire of hearing of him." "There is no reason you should hear of him, Sire. He is one of those phenomena that are thrown to the surface of the news for a while and then disappears." "But he doesn't disappear." "Sometimes it takes a while, Sire." "What do you think of him, Demerzel?" "He is dangerous but has a certain popularity. It is the popularity that increases the danger." "If you find him dangerous and if I find him annoying, why must we wait? Can't he simply be imprisoned or executed or something?" "The political situation on Trantor, Sire, is delicate-" "It is always delicate. When have you told me that it is anything but delicate?" "We live in delicate times, Sire. It would be useless to move strongly against him if that would but exacerbate the danger." "I don't like it. I may not be widely read-an Emperor doesn't have the time to be widely read-but I know my Imperial history, at any rate. There have been a number of cases of these populists, as they are called, that have seized power in the last couple of centuries. In every case, they reduced the reigning Emperor to a mere figurehead. I do not wish to be a figurehead, Demerzel." "It is unthinkable that you would be, Sire." "It won't be unthinkable if you do nothing." "I am attempting to take measures, Sire, but cautious ones." "There's one fellow, at least, who isn't cautious. A month or so ago, a University professor-a professor-stopped a potential Joranumite riot single-handedly. He stepped right in and put a stop to it." "So he did, Sire. How did you come to hear of it?" "Because he is a certain professor in whom I am interested. How is it that you didn't speak to me of this?" Demerzel said, almost obsequiously, "Would it be right for me to trouble you with every insignificant detail that crosses my desk?" "Insignificant? This man who took action was Hari Seldon." "That was, indeed, his name." "And the name was a familiar one. Did he not present a paper, some years ago, at the last Decennial Convention that interested us?" "Yes, Sire." Cleon looked pleased. "As you see, I do have a memory. I need not depend on my staff for everything. I interviewed this Seldon fellow on the matter of his paper, did I not?" "Your memory is indeed flawless, Sire." "What happened to his idea? It was a fortune-telling device. My flawless memory does not bring to mind what he called it." "Psychohistory, Sire. It was not precisely a fortune-telling device but a theory as to ways of predicting general trends in future human history." "And what happened to it?" "Nothing, Sire. As I explained at the time, the idea turned out to be wholly impractical. It was a colorful idea but a useless one." "Yet he is capable of taking action to stop a potential riot. Would he have dared do this if he didn't know in advance he would succeed? Isn't that evidence that this-what?-psychohistory is working?" "It is merely evidence that Hari Seldon is foolhardy, Sire. Even if the psychohistoric theory were practical, it would not have been able to yield results involving a single person or a single action." "You're not the mathematician, Demerzel. He is. I think it is time I questioned him again. After all, it is not long before the Decennial Convention is upon us once more." "It would be a useless-" "Demerzel, I desire it. See to it." "Yes, Sire." 第十五章 　　克里昂已不再是全息相片中那位年轻英俊的君主。或许全息相片中的变化不大，但镜子 告诉他的则是另一回事。他最近的一次寿辰，如常地在盛大游行与仪式典礼中欢度，却遮掩不了那是四十大寿的事实。 皇上并不觉得年届四十有何不妥，他的健康状况极佳，体重增加了一些，但不算太多。当然，若非定期的微调保养使他的面容稍显光滑细嫩，他看来或许会苍老些。他在位已有十八年，算是本世纪在位较长的皇帝之一。而他觉得没有任何必然的理由，会阻止他再坐四十年皇位。说不定，最后他会成为帝国历史上在位最久的皇帝。 克里昂又照了照镜子，想到如果消掉第三维，自己看来会更好看一点。 而丹莫茨尔——忠诚、可靠、不可或缺、令人难以忍受的丹莫茨尔，却没有任何改变，他的外表一如往昔。克里昂从没听说丹莫茨尔做过任何微调手术，不过，话说回来，丹莫茨尔对每件事都守口如瓶。丹莫茨尔从未年轻过，当他开始侍奉克里昂的父亲，而克里昂还是稚幼的皇太子时，他看来就已经不年轻。如今，他看来同样不年轻。那么，是不是年轻时便显得老成，以免日后发生变化会比较好呢？ 变化！ 这提醒了他，他召来丹莫茨尔是有目的的。他不是要丹莫茨尔站在那里陪着自己沉思默想。皇上若是沉思太久，会被丹莫茨尔视为老迈的征兆。 “丹莫茨尔。”他说。 “陛下？” “久瑞南这家伙，我已经听得烦了。” “您根本没有必要听到他，陛下。他不过是那些起哄的新闻之一，过一阵子就会自动消失。” “可是他没有消失。” “有些事急不得，陛下。” “你对他有什么看法，丹莫茨尔？”“他是个危险人物，但拥有一定的民望，就是这些民望增加了他的危险性。”“如果你觉得他有危险，而我觉得他很烦人，我们还等什么？不能就这么把他下狱或处决，或是做些什么吗？” “陛下，川陀的政治情势相当敏感——” “敏感，又是敏感。你说过哪些事是不敏感的？”“我们生在敏感的时代，陛下，假如以强硬的手段对付他，只会使危机恶化，一点帮助也没有。” “我不喜欢这样。或许我不够博学，当个皇帝根本没时间变得博学，可是我起码还知道帝国的历史。过去几世纪间，曾有许多这些所谓民望分子掌权的例子。在所有例子中，在位的皇帝都被他们贬成傀儡。我可不希望当傀儡，丹莫茨尔。” “很难想像您会变成那样，陛下。”“如果你什么都不做，那就不难想像了。” “我正试图采取对策，陛下，不过是谨慎的对策。” “但至少有个人并不谨慎。差不多一个月前，一个大学教授，一个教授！他独力阻止了—场可能的九九派暴动。他就那么挺身而出，适时将它制止。”“的确是这样，陛下，您是怎么听到这消息的？”“因为他是某个我感兴趣的教授，你怎么没把这件事告诉我？”丹莫茨尔以近乎谄媚的口吻说：我怎能把每件送到办公桌上的小事都拿来烦您呢，陛 下？” “小事？这个采取行动的人是哈里•谢顿。” “这的确是那个人的名字。” “而且是个熟悉的名字。几年前，在上届十载会议中，他不是提出一篇引起我们注意的论文吗？” “是的，陛下。” 克里昂看来很高兴。“你看，我的记性还不差，我不需要事事都依赖幕僚。我曾经为这个谢顿的论文约见过他，对不对？”“您的记性真是完美无缺，陛下。”“他的构想怎么样了？那好像是种算命的门道，我完美无缺的记性想不起来他管它叫什么。” “心理史学，陛下。严格说来，那不是算命的门道，而是一种理论，探讨的是预测人类未来历史趋势的方法。” “它后来怎么样？” “一事无成，陛下。正如我当时解释的，结果证明那个构想完全不切实际。它是个生动的构想，可是毫无用处。” “但他却能采取行动，阻止一场可能发生的暴动。如果事先不知道自己会成功，他敢这样做吗？这不就证明那个……那个心理史学在发挥功效？”“那只不过证明了哈里•谢顿是个有勇无谋的人，陛下。即使心理史学理论实际可行， 也无法针对个人或某项具体行动做出预测。”“你不是数学家，丹莫茨尔，他才是，我想是该再询问他的时候了，毕竟，距离十载会议再度召开的日子也不远了。”“那毫无用处——” “别再谈了，丹莫茨尔，照我的话做。”“遵命，陛下。” Chapter 16 Raych was listening with an agonized impatience that he was trying not to show. He was sitting in an improvised cell, deep in the warrens of Billibotton, having been accompanied through alleys he no longer remembered. (He, who in the old days could have threaded those same alleys unerringly and lost any pursuer.) The man with him, clad in the green of the Joranumite Guard, was either a missionary, a brainwasher, or a kind of theologian-manque. At any rate, he had announced his name to be Sander Nee and he was delivering a long message in a thick Dahlite accent that he had clearly learned by heart. "If the people of Dahl want to enjoy equality, they must show themselves worthy of it. Good rule, quiet behavior, seemly pleasures are all requirements. Aggressiveness and the bearing of knives are the accusations others make against us to justify their intolerance. We must be clean in word and-" Raych broke in. "I agree with you, Guardsman Nee, every word. But I must see Mr. Joranum." Slowly the guardsman shook his head. "You can't 'less you got some appointment, some permission." "Look, I'm the son of an important professor at Streeling University, a mathematics professor." "Don't know no professor. -I thought you said you was from Dahl." "Of course I am. Can't you tell the way I talk?" "And you got an old man who's a professor at a big University? That don't sound likely." "Well, he's my foster father." The guardsman absorbed that and shook his head. "You know anyone in Dahl?" "There's Mother Rittah. She'll know me." (She had been very old when she had known him. She might be senile by now-or dead.) "Never heard of her." (Who else? He had never known anyone likely to penetrate the dim consciousness of this man facing him. His best friend had been another youngster named Smoodgie-or at least that was the only name he knew him by. Even in his desperation, Raych could not see himself saying: "Do you know someone my age named Smoodgie?") Finally he said, "There's Yugo Amaryl." A dim spark seemed to light Nee's eyes. "Who?" "Yugo Amaryl," said Raych eagerly. "He works for my foster father at the University." "He a Dahlite, too? Everyone at the University Dahlites?" "Just he and I. He was a heatsinker." "What's he doing at the University?" "My father took him out of the heatsinks eight years ago." "Well- I'll send someone." Raych had to wait. Even if he escaped, where would he go in the intricate alleyways of Billibotton without being picked up instantly? Twenty minutes passed before Nee returned with the corporal who had arrested Raych in the first place. Raych felt a little hope; the corporal, at least, might conceivably have some brains. The corporal said, "Who is this Dahlite you know?" "Yugo Amaryl, Corporal, a heatsinker who my father found here in Dahl eight years ago and took to Streeling University with him." "Why did he do that?" "My father thought Yugo could do more important things than heatsink, Corporal." "Like what?" "Mathematics. He-" The corporal held up his hand. "What heatsink did he work in?" Raych thought for a moment. "I was only a kid then, but it was at C-2, I think." "Close enough. C-3." "Then you know about him, Corporal?" "Not personally, but the story is famous in the heatsinks and I've worked there, too. And maybe that's how you've heard of it. Have you any evidence that you really know Yugo Amaryl?" "Look. Let me tell you what I'd like to do. I'm going to write down my name on a piece of paper and my father's name. Then I'm going to write down one word. Get in touch-any way you want-with some official in Mr. Joranum's group-Mr. Joranum will be here in Dahl tomorrow-and just read him my name, my father's name, and the one word. If nothing happens, then I'll stay here till I rot, I suppose, but I don't think that will happen. In fact, I'm sure that they will get me out of here in three seconds and that you'll get a promotion for passing along the information. If you refuse to do this, when they find out I am here-and they will-you will be in the deepest possible trouble. After all, if you know that Yugo Amaryl went off with a big-shot mathematician, just tell yourself that same big-shot mathematician is my father. His name is Hari Seldon." The corporal's face showed clearly that the name was not unknown to him. He said, "What's the one word you're going to write down?" "Psychohistory." The corporal frowned. "What's that?" "That doesn't matter. Just pass it along and see what happens." The corporal handed him a small sheet of paper, torn out of a notebook. "All right. Write it down and we'll see what happens." Raych realized that he was trembling. He wanted very much to know what would happen. It depended entirely on who it was that the corporal would talk to and what magic the word would carry with it. 第十六章 　　芮奇坐在一间临时牢房中，听着面前的人说话，努力压抑着不耐烦的情绪。这间牢房深藏在龙蛇混杂的脐眼住宅区，他不记得自己被押着穿过多少巷道才进到这里。在以前，他能准确无误地穿梭于同样的巷道，甩掉任何追赶他的人。） 面前那人身穿久瑞南卫队的绿色制服，如果不是个传道士，便是名洗脑员，否则就是某种失败的神学家。无论如何，他自称桑德•尼，这时正用浓重的达尔口音，传述一段他熟记 在心的冗长福音。 “达尔的人民如果想要享有平等，他们必须证明自己值得。良好的规矩、温文的行为、得体的娱乐都是必要条件。其他人总是指控我们具有侵略性和携带刀械，以此合理化他们的褊狭心态。我们必须谈吐文雅，而且——” 芮奇插嘴道：“我同意你的话，尼卫士，每一句都同意。可是我必须见久瑞南先生。”桑德尼缓缓摇了摇头。“除非你事先约好，并获得批准，否则你见不到。” “听好，我父亲是川陀大学一位重量级教授，一位数学教授。”“我不认识什么教授不教授，我只记得你说过自己是达尔人。” 5 “我当然是，你听不出我的口音吗？” “而你老子却是名大学教授？听来不大可能。” “他是我养父。” 桑德尼仍然摇摇头。“你在达尔认识什么人吗？”“有个瑞塔嬷嬷，她会认得我。”（瑞塔嬷嬷认识他的时候已经很老了，现在她可能行将 就木，或是已经去世了。） “没听过她这个人。” (还有谁呢？他以前认识的那些人，都不太可能打进面前这个人的糨糊脑袋。他当年最 好的朋友叫死木积——芮奇只知道他这个绰号。但即使在如今走投无路之际，芮奇也绝不可能说：“你认识一个和我同年、叫作死木积的人吗？”） 最后他终于说：“有个叫雨果•阿马瑞尔的。”桑德尼的眼睛似乎微微一亮。“谁？” “雨果•阿马瑞尔。”芮奇急切地说，他在大学里为我的养父工作。”“他也是达尔人吗？那所大学里每个人都是达尔人吗？” “只有他和我，他以前是热闾工。”“他在那所大学干什么？” “八年前，我父亲把他从热闾带出去。”“好吧——我去找个人。” 芮奇只能等在那儿。即使他逃跑，在脐眼错综复杂的巷道中，要跑到哪里才不会被立刻逮住？ 过了二十分钟，桑德尼带来当初逮捕芮奇的那位下士。芮奇心中燃起一线希望，至少这位下士应该有点头脑。 下士说：“你认识的那个达尔人是谁？”“雨果•阿马瑞尔，下士。八年前我父亲在达尔遇到这名热闾工，就把他带到川陀大学去了。” “他为什么那么做？” “我父亲认为，雨果能做比热闾工更重要的工作。” “比如说？” “在数学上，他——” 下士举起手打断他的话。“他当初在哪个热闾工作？”芮奇想了一下。“我当时还小，不过我想是C 。” “很接近了，是C 。” “这么说你认识他，下士？” “不认识他本人，但他的故事在热闾间流传甚广，而我在那里工作过，或许你也是那样听来的。你有证据证明你认识雨果•阿马瑞尔吗？”“听好，让我告诉你我准备怎么做。我会把我和我父亲的名字写在纸上，另外加上一个词。久瑞南先生明天会到达尔来，随便你用什么方法联络他的手下。你只要把我的名字、我父亲的名字，还有那个词念给他听就好。如果起不了任何作用，我想我就得待在这儿等到老死，可是我相信这种事不会发生。事实上，我确定他们在三秒之内就会把我弄出去，而你会因为传达这项讯息获得升迁机会。如果你拒绝这么做，一旦他们发现我在这儿——他们一定会的——你就麻烦大了。总而言之，如果你知道雨果•阿马瑞尔是随一位大名鼎鼎的数学家 离去，那让我告诉你，我父亲正是那位大名鼎鼎的数学家，哈里•谢顿。”下士的表情明白显示他听过这个名字。 他说：“你要写的那个名词是什么？” “心理史学。” 下士皱了皱眉头。“那是什么。” “这无关紧要。只要把它传上去，看看会有什么结果。” 下士从笔记本中撕下一小张纸，递给芮奇。“好吧，你写，我们看看会有什么结果。”芮奇发觉自己正在发抖，他很想知道会有什么结果。而结果将完全取决于下士找到什么人，以及这个词有何等神奇的力量。 Chapter 17 Hari Seldon watched the raindrops form on the wraparound windows of the Imperial ground-car and a sense of nostalgia stabbed at him unbearably. It was only the second time in his eight years on Trantor that he had been ordered to visit the Emperor in the only open land on the planet-and both times the weather had been bad. The first time, shortly after he had arrived on Trantor, the bad weather had merely irritated him. He had found no novelty in it. His home world of Helicon had its share of storms, after all, particularly in the area where he had been brought up. But now he had lived for eight years in make-believe weather, in which storms consisted of computerized cloudiness at random intervals, with regular light rains during the sleeping hours. Raging winds were replaced by zephyrs and there were no extremes of heat and cold-merely little changes that made you unzip the front of your shirt once in a while or throw on a light jacket. And he had heard complaints about even so mild a deviation. But now Hari was seeing real rain coming down drearily from a cold sky-and he had not seen such a thing in years-and he loved it; that was the thing. It reminded him of Helicon, of his youth, of relatively carefree days, and he wondered if he might persuade the driver to take the long way to the Palace. Impossible! The Emperor wanted to see him and it was a long enough trip by ground-car, even if one went in a straight line with no interfering traffic. The Emperor, of course, would not wait. It was a different Cleon from the one Seldon had seen eight years before. He had put on about ten pounds and there was a sulkiness about his face. Yet the skin around his eyes and cheeks looked pinched and Hari recognized the results of one too many microadjustments. In a way, Seldon felt sorry for Cleon-for all his might and Imperial sway, the Emperor was powerless against the passage of time. Once again Cleon met Hari Seldon alone-in the same lavishly furnished room of their first encounter. As was the custom, Seldon waited to be addressed. After briefly assessing Seldon's appearance, the Emperor said in an ordinary voice, "Glad to see you, Professor. Let us dispense with formalities, as we did on the former occasion on which I met you." "Yes, Sire," said Seldon stiffly. It was not always safe to be informal, merely because the Emperor ordered you to be so in an effusive moment. Cleon gestured imperceptibly and at once the room came alive with automation as the table set itself and dishes began to appear. Seldon, confused, could not follow the details. The Emperor said casually, "You will dine with me, Seldon?" It had the formal intonation of a question but the force, somehow, of an order. "I would be honored, Sire," said Seldon. He looked around cautiously. He knew very well that one did not (or, at any rate, should not) ask questions of the Emperor, but he saw no way out of it. He said, rather quietly, trying to make it not sound like a question, "The First Minister will not dine with us?" "He will not," said Cleon. "He has other tasks at this moment and I wish, in any case, to speak to you privately." They ate quietly for a while, Cleon gazing at him fixedly and Seldon smiling tentatively. Cleon had no reputation for cruelty or even for irresponsibility, but he could, in theory, have Seldon arrested on some vague charge and, if the Emperor wished to exert his influence, the case might never come to trial. It was always best to avoid notice and at the moment Seldon couldn't manage it. Surely it had been worse eight years ago, when he had been brought to the Palace under armed guard. -This fact did not make Seldon feel relieved, however. Then Cleon spoke. "Seldon" he said. "The First Minister is of great use to me, yet I feel that, at times, people may think I do not have a mind of my own. Do you think that?" "Never, Sire," said Seldon calmly. No use protesting too much. "I don't believe you. However, I do have a mind of my own and I recall that when you first came to Trantor you had this psychohistory thing you were playing with." "I'm sure you also remember, Sire," said Seldon softly, "that I explained at the time it was a mathematical theory without practical application." "So you said. Do you still say so?" "Yes, Sire." "Have you been working on it since?" "On occasion I toy with it, but it comes to nothing. Chaos unfortunately interferes and predictability is not-" The Emperor interrupted. "There is a specific problem I wish you to tackle. -Do help yourself to the dessert, Seldon. It is very good." "What is the problem, Sire?" "This man Joranum. Demerzel tells me-oh, so politely-that I cannot arrest this man and I cannot use armed force to crush his followers. He says it will simply make the situation worse." "If the First Minister says so, I presume it is so." "But I do not want this man Joranum . At any rate, I will not be his puppet. Demerzel does nothing." "I am sure that he is doing what he can, Sire." "If he is working to alleviate the problem, he certainly is not keeping me informed." "That may be, Sire, out of a natural desire to keep you above the fray. The First Minister may feel that if Joranum should-if he should-" "Take over," said Cleon with a tone of infinite distaste. "Yes, Sire. It would not be wise to have it appear that you were personally opposed to him. You must remain untouched for the sake of the stability of the Empire." "I would much rather assure the stability of the Empire without Joranum. What do you suggest, Seldon?" "I, Sire?" "You, Seldon," said Cleon impatiently. "Let me say that I don't believe you when you say that psychohistory is just a game. Demerzel stays friendly with you. Do you think I am such an idiot as not to know that? He expects something from you. He expects psychohistory from you and since I am no fool, I expect it, too. -Seldon, are you for Joranum? The truth!" "No, Sire, I am not for him. I consider him an utter danger to the Empire." "Very well, I believe you. You stopped a potential Joranumite riot at your University grounds single-handedly, I understand." "It was pure impulse on my part, Sire." "Tell that to fools, not to me. You had worked it out by psychohistory." "Sire!" "Don't protest. What are you doing about Joranum? You must be doing something if you are on the side of the Empire." "Sire," said Seldon cautiously, uncertain as to how much the Emperor knew. "I have sent my son to meet with Joranum in the Dahl Sector." "Why?" "My son is a Dahlite-and shrewd. He may discover something of use to us." "May?" "Only may, Sire." "You'll keep me informed?" "Yes, Sire." "And, Seldon, do not tell me that psychohistory is just a game, that it does not exist. I do not want to hear that. I expect you to do something about Joranum. What it might be, I can't say, but you must do something. I will not have it otherwise. You may go." Seldon returned to Streeling University in a far darker mood than when he had left. Cleon had sounded as though he would not accept failure. It all depended on Raych now. 第十七章 　　哈里•谢顿望着雨滴落在皇家地面车车窗上，一股难忍的乡愁刺痛了他的心。 他来川陀已有八年，奉命前往这颗行星唯一的露天地表觐见皇上，这还是第二次，而两次的天气都很糟。第一次他刚到川陀不久，恶劣的天气只令他生厌，不觉得有任何新奇之处。 毕竟他的故乡世界赫利肯也有暴风雨，尤其是他生长的那一个地区。可是如今，他在人工气候下生活了八年。暴风雨在这里仅仅是随机间隔的电脑化云量和睡眠时间里的规律细雨。肆虐的强风为和风所取代。气温没有极端的冷热——有的只是轻微的变化，偶尔会让人拉开衬衫拉链，或者披上一件轻便的外套。但即使是如此温和的变化，他还是听过有人抱怨。 然而此时，谢顿见到真正的雨水从寒冷的天空凄凉地落下。他有好多年没见过这景象，他十分兴奋，因为雨是老朋友！雨水使他想起赫利肯，想起他的少年时代，想起那些无忧无虑的日子。他不禁想到，不知应不应该怂恿司机绕个远路。不可能！皇上想见他，而搭地面车已经很花时间，即使他们沿直线行走，途中又碰上任何交通阻碍。当然，皇上是不会等人的。克里昂看来与八年前很不一样。他胖了大约五公斤，而且脸上多了一重阴霾。眼圏与双颊的皮肤好像特别紧绷，哈里看得出那是微调过度的结果。就某方面而言，谢顿为克里昂感到难过——纵使拥有统辖帝国的权势，这位皇帝对时光的流逝仍无可奈何。 克里昂仍是单独会见哈里•谢顿，仍是在上次那间陈设豪奢的房间。谢顿谨遵惯例，等 待皇上先开口。 克里昂打量了一下谢顿的外表，以平常的口吻说：“很高兴见到你，教授。让我们免除一切形式，就像上次见面时那样。”“是的，陛下。”谢顿生硬地说。仅仅因为皇上一时兴起，下令一切不拘形式，就乖乖遵命，并不见得是安全。 克里昂做了个难以察觉的动作，整个房间立刻活起来，餐桌自动摆好，杯盘一个个出现。 谢顿眼花缭乱，无法看清所有细节。皇上随口道：“你和我一同进餐吧，谢顿？”这句话的语调完全属于问句，但其中的力量使它成为命令。“这是我的荣幸，陛下。”谢顿谨慎地环顾四周。他非常明白臣民不会（或说绝对不该） 向皇上发问，但他实在忍不住。于是，他尽可能以平静的口气，试图让这句话听来不像是个问题：“首相不跟我们一起用餐？”“他不会来。”克里昂说，“此刻他正在忙别的事。而且，无论如何，我希望和你私下谈谈。” 他们默默吃了一会儿，克里昂定睛凝视着他，谢顿则试着微笑响应。克里昂没有残酷的恶名，甚至没有不负责任的传闻，但在理论上，他能以莫须有的罪名逮捕谢顿。而只要他想动用影响力，这案子或许永远得不到审判。能避开他的注意是上上策，但此时此刻，谢顿已经是避不掉了。 不用说，比起八年前，现在的情况要好多了，那次他可是由武装卫士带进宫的。然而，这并未使谢顿感到轻松。 然后克里昂开口了。“谢顿，”他说，“首相对我帮助极大，但有时候我觉得百姓也许认 为我没有主见。你会这么想吗？” “从来不会，陛下。”谢顿冷静地回答，过分的辩白反倒多余。“我不相信你。无论如何，我的确有自己的主见。我记得你刚到川陀时，正在搞一个叫心理史学的东西。” “我确信您一定也记得，陛下，”谢顿柔声道，“当时我解释过，那只是个数学理论，并 不能实际应用。” “你是那么说的。现在你还是这么坚持吗？”“是的，陛下。” “你没有继续研究？” “偶尔我会玩一玩，可是一无所获。非常遗憾，混沌总是产生干扰，而可预测性不——” 皇上打断他：“有个特定问题，我希望你着手研究一下——你一定要尝尝这些甜点，谢顿，很不错的。” “什么问题，陛下？” “久瑞南这个人，丹莫茨尔告诉我——喔，你太客气了——说我不能逮捕此人，也不能派军队消灭他的党羽，他说那样只会使情势恶化。” “如果首相这么说，我想应该就是如此。” “可是我不想被久瑞南……无论如何，我不要当他的傀儡。丹莫茨尔什么也不做。” “我确信他正在尽力，陛下。”“如果他正在为缓和局势而努力，他显然没有随时向我报告。” “那或许是出自一种自然的心愿，陛下，他希望让您远离这场纷争。首相或许觉得，万一久瑞南竟然……万一他竟然……”“取代了我。”克里昂以无比嫌恶的语气说。“是的，陛下。您个人不能表态反对他，否则就是不智之举。为了帝国的稳定，您必须保持中立。” “我宁可除掉久瑞南以确保帝国的稳定。你有什么建议，谢顿？” “我，陛下？” “你，谢顿。”克里昂不耐烦地说，“我直接讲，当你说心理史学只是个游戏的时候，我 并不相信。丹莫茨尔和你一直保持友好关系，你以为我那么白痴，连这件事都不知道吗？他指望你能贡献些什么，指望你发展出心理史学。既然我不是傻瓜，我当然也指望这玩意。谢顿，你支持久瑞南吗？说实话！” “不，陛下，我不支持他，我认为他对帝国绝对是个威胁。” “很好，我相信你。你曾在大学校园里独力阻止了一场潜在的九九派暴动，我晓得这事。”“那纯粹是我一时的冲动，陛下。”“去对傻瓜说吧，别跟我来这一套。你是用心理史学做到的。”“陛下！” “别抗议了，你究竟准备怎么对付久瑞南？如果你站在帝国这边，你一定已经有所行动。”“陛下，”谢顿谨慎地说，他不确定皇上知道多少。“我已经派小儿去达尔区见久瑞南。”“为什么？” “小儿是达尔人，而且很机灵，他也许会发现什么对我们有用的情报。”“也许？” “只是也许，陛下。” “你会随时向我报告吗？” “会的，陛下。” “还有，谢顿，别再告诉我心理史学只是个游戏，也别再说它不存在，我不要听这些。我指望你对久瑞南做点什么，该怎么做我不敢说，但你必须有所行动，我不要见到别的结果。 你可以走了。” 谢顿回到川陀大学，心情比出发时更沉重。克里昂的口气听来毫无妥协余地，他绝不会接受失败。 现在，一切都得看芮奇的表现了。 Chapter 18 Raych sat in the anteroom of a public building in Dahl into which he had never ventured-never could have ventured-as a ragamuffin youth. He felt, in all truth, a little uneasy about it now, as though he were trespassing. He tried to look calm, trustworthy, lovable. Dad had told him that this was a quality he carried around with him, but he had never been conscious of it. If it came about naturally, he would probably spoil it by trying too hard to seem to be what he really was. He tried relaxing while keeping an eye on the official who was manipulating a computer at the desk. The official was not a Dahlite. He was, in fact, Gambol Deen Namarti, who had been with Joranum at the meeting with Dad that Raych had attended. Every once in a while, Namarti would look up from his desk and glance at Raych with a hostile glare. This Namarti wasn't buying Raych's lovability. Raych could see that. Raych did not try to meet Namarti's hostility with a friendly smile. It would have seemed too artificial. He simply waited. He had gotten this far. If Joranum arrived, as he was expected to, Raych would have a chance to speak to him. Joranum did arrive, sweeping in, smiling his public smile of warmth and confidence. Namarti's hand came up and Joranum stopped. They spoke together in low voices while Raych watched intently and tried in vain to seem as if he wasn't. It seemed plain to Raych that Namarti was arguing against the meeting and Raych bridled a bit at that. Then Joranum looked at Raych, smiled, and pushed Namarti to one side. It occurred to Raych that, while Namarti was the brains of the team, it was Joranum who clearly had the charisma. Joranum strode toward him and held out a plump, slightly moist hand. "Well well. Professor Seldon's young man. How are you?" "Fine, thank you, sir." "You had some trouble getting here, I understand." "Not too much, sir." "And you've come with a message from your father, I trust. I hope he is reconsidering his decision and has decided to join me in my great crusade." "I don't think so, sir." Joranum frowned slightly. "Are you here without his knowledge?" "No, sir. He sent me." "I see. -Are you hungry, lad?" "Not at the moment, sir." "Then would you mind if I eat? I don't get much time for the ordinary amenities of life," he said, smiling broadly. "It's all right with me, sir." Together, they moved to a table and sat down. Joranum unwrapped a sandwich and took a bite. His voice slightly muffled, he said, "And why did he send you, son?" Raych shrugged. "I think he thought I might find out something about you that he could use against you. He's heart and soul with First Minister Demerzel." "And you're not?" "No, sir. I'm a Dahlite." "I know you are, Mr. Seldon, but what does that mean?" "It means I'm oppressed, so I'm on your side and I want to help you. Of course, I wouldn't want my father to know." "There's no reason he should know. How do you propose to help me?" He glanced quickly at Namarti, who was leaning against his desk, listening, with his arms folded and his expression lowering. "Do you know anything about psychohistory?" "No, sir. My father don't talk to me about that-and if he did, I wouldn't get it. I don't think he's getting anywhere with that stuff." "Are you sure?" "Sure I'm sure. There's a guy there, Yugo Amaryl, also a Dahlite, who talks about it sometimes. I'm sure nothing is happening." "Ah! And can I see Yugo Amaryl sometime, do you suppose?" "I don't think so. He ain't much for Demerzel, but he's all for my father. He wouldn't cross him." "But you would?" Raych looked unhappy and he muttered stubbornly, "I'm a Dahlite." Joranum cleared his throat. "Then let me ask you again. How do you propose to help me, young man?" "I've got something to tell you that maybe you won't believe." "Indeed? Try me. If I don't believe it, I will tell you so." "It's about First Minister Eto Demerzel." "Well?" Raych looked around uneasily. "Can anyone hear me?" "Just Namarti and myself." "All right, then listen. This guy Demerzel ain't a guy. He's a robot." "What!" exploded Joranum. Raych felt moved to explain. "A robot is a mechanical man, sir. He ain't human. He's a machine." Namarti broke out passionately, "Jo-Jo, don't believe that. It's ridiculous." But Joranum held up an admonitory hand. His eyes were gleaming. "Why do you say that?" "My father was in Mycogen once. He told me all about it. In Mycogen they talk about robots a lot." "Yes, I know. At least, I have heard so." "The Mycogenians believe that robots were once very common among their ancestors, but they were wiped out." Namarti's eyes narrowed. "But what makes you think that Demerzel is a robot? From what little I have heard of these fantasies, robots are made out of metal, aren't they?" "That's so," said Raych earnestly. "But what I heard is that there were a few robots that look just like human beings and they live forever-" Namarti shook his head violently. "Legends! Ridiculous legends! JoJo, why are we listening-" But Joranum cut him off quickly. "No, G.D. I want to listen. I've heard these legends, too." "But it's nonsense, Jo-Jo." "Don't be in such a rush to say `nonsense.' And even if it were, people live and die by nonsense. It's not what is so much as what people think is. -Tell me, young man, putting legends to one side, what makes you think Demerzel is a robot? Let's suppose that robots exist. What is it, then, about Demerzel that makes you say he is a robot? Did he tell you so?" "No, sir," said Raych. "Did your father tell you so?" asked Joranum. "No, sir. It's just my own idea, but I'm sure of it." "Why? What makes you so sure?" "It's just something about him. He doesn't change. He doesn't get older. He doesn't show emotions. Something about him looks like he's made of metal." Joranum sat back in his chair and looked at Raych for an extended time. It was almost possible to hear his thoughts buzzing. Finally he said, "Suppose he is a robot, young man. Why should you care? Does it matter to you?" "Of course it matters to me," said Raych. "I'm a human being. I don't want no robot in charge of running the Empire." Joranum turned to Namarti with a gesture of eager approval. "Do you hear that, G.D.? `I'm a human being. I don't want no robot in charge of running the Empire.' Put him on holovision and have him say it. Have him repeat it over and over till it's drummed into every person on Trantor-" "Hey," said Raych, finally catching his breath. "I can't say that on holovision. I can't let my father find out-" "No, of course not," said Joranum quickly. "We couldn't allow that. We'll just use the words. We'll find some other Dahlite. Someone from each of the sectors, each in his own dialect, but always the same message: `I don't want no robot in charge of running the Empire.'" Namarti said, "And what happens when Demerzel proves he's not a robot?" "Really," said Joranum. "How will he do that? It would be impossible for him to do so. Psychologically impossible. What? The great Demerzel, the power behind the throne, the man who has twitched the strings attached to Cleon I all these years and those attached to Cleon抯 father before him? Will he climb down now and whine to the public that he is, too, a human being? That would be almost as destructive to him as being a robot. G.D., we have the villain in a no-win situation and we owe it all to this fine young man here." Raych flushed. Joranum said, "Raych is your name, isn't it? Once our party is in a position to do so, we won't forget. Dahl will be treated well and you will have a good position with us. You're going to be Dahl's sector leader someday, Raych, and you're not going to regret you've done this. Are you, now?" "Not on your life," said Raych fervently. "In that case, we'll see that you get back to your father. You let him know that we intend him no harm, that we value him greatly. You can tell him you found that out in any way you please. And if you find anything else you think we might be able to use-about psychohistory, in particular, you let us know." "You bet. But do you mean it when you say you'll see to it that Dahl gets some breaks?" "Absolutely. Equality of sectors, my boy. Equality of worlds. We'll have a new Empire with all the old villainies of privilege and inequality wiped out." And Raych nodded his head vigorously. "That's what I want." 第十八章 　　芮奇坐在达尔一栋公共建筑的前厅中。当他还是个衣衫褴缕的少年时，他从未到过这个地方探险——从来不可能到此探险。现在，他感到有点不安，仿佛他是非法侵入此地。他试着表现得镇定、值得信赖，而且惹人怜爱。 爸爸告诉过他，可爱是他与生俱来的一种特质，但他自己从未意识到。假如这种特质会自然而然流露出来，那么他若是太努力表现，或许反而会弄巧成拙。芮奇一面试着放松心情，一面望着坐在桌前操作电脑的官员。那官员不是达尔人，事实上，他就是坎伯尔•丁恩•纳马提，他曾陪同久瑞南拜见爸爸，当时芮奇也在场。每隔一会儿，伏案的纳马提便抬起头来，以充满敌意的目光瞪芮奇一眼。这位纳马提并不欣赏他的可爱，这点芮奇看得出来。 芮奇并未试图以友善的笑容面对纳马提的敌意，那样会显得太做作。他只是默默等待。他已经走到这一步，只要久瑞南如预期所料来到这里，芮奇便有机会跟他说话。 久瑞南果真来了。他大摇大摆走进来，脸上挂着他在公众面前惯有的笑容，热情洋溢且信心十足。纳马提举起手拦住久瑞南。他们开始低声交谈，芮奇则在一旁细心观察，试图表现出一副若无其事的样子，只是不怎么成功。情势很明显，纳马提反对这次会晤，芮奇有点担心但没有行动。 稍后久瑞南望向芮奇，微微一笑，并将纳马提推到一旁。芮奇突然想通了，虽然纳马提是这个组织的头脑，但拥有领袖魅力的显然是久瑞南。久瑞南大步向他走来，伸出一只丰满、稍嫌潮湿的手掌。稀客稀客，谢顿教授的公子。你好吗？” “很好，谢谢你，阁下。 “我了解你在途中遇到了些麻烦。” “不太严重，阁下。” “而我相信，你来这里是为令尊送口信的。我希望他在重新考虑之后，已决定在这场圣战中加入我方阵营。” “我并不这么想，阁下。” 久瑞南微微皱起眉头。“你是背着他来这里的吗？” “不，阁下，是他派我来的。”“我懂了。你饿不饿，小伙子？” “现在不饿，阁下。” “那么你介不介意我吃点东西？我没多少时间留给生活上的普通享受。”他露出灿烂的笑容。 “当然不介意，阁下。” 两人走到餐桌旁，坐了下来。久瑞南打开个三明治，咬了一口，以有些含糊的声音说：“他为什么派你来呢，孩子？” 芮奇耸了耸肩。“我想他以为我能发现你的什么秘密，好让他用来对付你。他全心全意忠于丹莫茨尔首相。” “而你不是？” “不是，阁下，我是达尔人。”“我知道你是，孩子，但你这句话是什么意思？”“意思是我受到压迫，所以我站在你这边，我想帮助你。当然，我不希望我父亲知道。” “没有理由让他知道。你打算怎样帮我？”久瑞南瞥了纳马提一眼，后者正倚在电脑桌旁倾听这场对话，双臂交抱，脸拉得老长。“你懂心理史学吗？” “完全不懂，阁下。我父亲从不跟我谈这东西——即使他提起，我也听不懂，我不认为他在那方面会搞出什么名堂。”“你确定吗？” “当然确定。我们那里还有个哥儿们，雨果•阿马瑞尔，也是达尔人，他有时会提到这 事，我确定什么结果都没有。” “啊！在你看来，改天我能见见雨果•阿马瑞尔吗？” “我看不行，他不怎么向着丹莫茨尔，可是他死心塌地向着我父亲，他是不会出卖我父亲的。” “而你会？” 芮奇看来很不髙兴，他倔强地喃喃道：“我是达尔人。” 久瑞南清了清喉咙。“那么我再问你一遍，你打算怎样帮我，年轻人？”“我可以告诉你一件事，但你不见得会相信。” “是吗？说说看。如果我不相信，我会坦白告诉你。”“是关于首相伊图•丹莫茨尔的事。”“什么事？” 芮奇不安地四下张望。“我的话会被人听到吗？”“只有纳马提和我。” “好吧，那么听好。丹莫茨尔这哥儿们不是个哥儿们，他是个机器人。”“什么？” 芮奇觉得需要解释一番。“机器人就是人形机器，阁下。丹莫茨尔不是人类，他是个机器。” 纳马提突然激动地喊道：“九九，别信他，简直是胡扯。”但久瑞南举手示意他住口，双眼还闪闪发亮。“你为何这样说？” “我父亲曾到过麦曲生，他把在那里的所有经历都告诉了我。在麦曲生，人们常常谈论机器人。” “是的，我知道。至少，我也那么听说过。”“麦曲生人相信，机器人在他们祖先的年代曾经一度非常普遍，可是后来被消灭了。”纳马提眯起眼睛。你凭什么认为丹莫茨尔是机器人？我听过的奇幻故事全都说机器人是金属制造的，不是吗？” “没错。”芮奇一本正经地说，“可是根据我听过的故事，有些机器人看来跟人类一模一 样，而且他们长生不死——” 纳马提猛摇头。“传说！无稽的传说！九九，我们为什么要听——”但久瑞南迅速制止他的话。“不，坎•丁，我要听下去，这些传说我以前也听说过。” “但这实在太荒谬了，九九。”“别这么急着说‘荒谬’。即使真是如此，人们还不是在荒谬中生生死死。事实不算什么，重要的是众人心中怎么想。告诉我，年轻人，先不管那些传说，你为什么认为丹莫茨尔是机器人？姑且假设机器人的确存在，你凭哪一点认定丹莫茨尔是个机器人？是他自己告诉你的吗？” “不是的，阁下。”芮奇答道。“是你父亲告诉你的吗？”久瑞南又问。“不是的，阁下。这只是我自已的想法，但我确定自己没有猜错。”“为什么？是什么使你如此确定？”“就是根据他的一些言行举止啊。他的样子不会改变，他不会衰老，他从不表现情绪，外表还有些特征看起来像是金属制的。”久瑞南靠回椅背，久久凝视着芮奇，几乎可以听见他的心思在飞快运转着。 最后他终于说：“假设他真是机器人，年轻人，你又何必在乎？这跟你有关系吗？” “当然有关系。”芮奇说，我是人类，我不要啥机器人来治理帝国。” 久瑞南转向纳马提，双手做出赞成的手势。听到了吗，坎•丁？‘我是人类，我不要啥 机器人来治理帝国。’让他上全息电视，一遍又一遍重复这句话，直到敲响川陀上每个人的耳膜……” “嘿，”芮奇轻呼一声，“我不能在全息电视上说那句话，我不能让我父亲发现……”“不，当然不会。”久瑞南立即接口道。“我们不会那么做，我们只是要利用这句话。我 们会另外找个达尔人，在每一区都找个人，让他们用自己的方言来说同样的这句话：‘我不要啥机器人来治理帝国。’” 纳马提说：“如果丹莫茨尔证明他不是机器人，那怎么办？” “真是的。”久瑞南说，“他要怎么证明？他想也不敢想那么做。伟大的丹莫茨尔，皇帝 身后的掌权者，这些年来一直在幕后操纵着克里昂一世，在此之前则操纵着克里昂的父亲，现在他会放下身段，当众哭诉他也是人类吗？那样做对他而言，几乎跟他真是机器人具有同样的杀伤力。坎•丁，这个家伙这回输定了，而这都要归功于眼前这位优秀的年轻人。”芮奇面红耳赤。 久瑞南说：“你的名字是芮奇，对吗？一旦我党得以执政，我们不会忘记你的。达尔会受到良好的待遇，你会在我们这里有个好职位。总有一天，你将成为达尔区的领袖，芮奇，你不会后悔曾经这么做。你现在后悔吗？” “打死我也不后悔。”芮奇热切地说。 “既然如此，我们要确保你回到你父亲身边。你要让他知道，我们很重视他，不打算伤害他。告诉他这就是你的发现，随你爱编什么故事都行。从今以后，如果你发现任何对我们可能有用的事，尤其是关于心理史学的，立刻通知我们。”"没问题。但是，你说你保证达尔有翻身的机会，这是真心的吗？” “当然，孩子。我们要各区平等，各个世界平等。我们会有个崭新的帝国，所有旧日特权与不平等的罪恶将连根拔除。” 芮奇使劲点了点头：“那正是我想要的。” Chapter 19 Cleon, Emperor of the Galaxy, was walking hurriedly through the arcade that led from his private quarters in the Small Palace to the offices of the rather tremendous staff that lived in the various annexes of the Imperial Palace, which served as the nerve center of the Empire. Several of his personal attaches walked after him, with looks of the deepest concern on their faces. The Emperor did not walk to others. He summoned them and they came to him. If he did walk, he never showed signs of haste or emotional trauma. How could he? He was the Emperor and, as such, far more a symbol of all the worlds than a human being. Yet now he seemed to be a human being. He motioned everyone aside with an impatient wave of his right hand. In his left hand he held a gleaming hologram. "The First Minister," he said in an almost strangled voice, not at all like the carefully cultivated tones he had painstakingly assumed along with the throne. "Where is he?" And all the high functionaries who were in his way fumbled and gasped and found it impossible to manage coherence. He brushed past them angrily, making them all feel, undoubtedly, as though they were living through a waking nightmare. Finally he burst into Demerzel's private office, panting slightly, and shouted-literally shouted- "Demerzel!" Demerzel looked up with a trace of surprise and rose smoothly to his feet, for one did not sit in the presence of the Emperor unless specifically invited to. "Sire?" he said. And the Emperor slammed the hologram down on Demerzel's desk and said, "What is this? Will you tell me that?" Demerzel looked at what the Emperor had given him. It was a beautiful hologram, sharp and alive. One could almost hear the little boy-perhaps ten years old-speaking the words that were included in the caption: "I don't want no robot in charge of running the Empire." Demerzel said quietly, "Sire, I have received this, too." "And who else has?" "I am under the impression, Sire, that it is a flier that is being widely spread over Trantor." "Yes, and do you see the person at whom that brat is looking?" He tapped his Imperial forefinger at it. "Isn't that you?" "The resemblance is striking, Sire." "Am I wrong in supposing that the whole intent of this flier, as you call it, is to accuse you of being a robot?" "That does seem to be its intention, Sire." "And stop me if I'm wrong, but aren't robots the legendary mechanical human beings one finds in-in thrillers and children's stories?" "The Mycogenians have it as an article of faith, Sire, that robots-" "I'm not interested in the Mycogenians and their articles of faith. Why are they accusing you of being a robot?" "Merely a metaphorical point, I'm sure, Sire. They wish to portray me as a man of no heart, whose views are the conscienceless calculations of a machine." "That's too subtle, Demerzel. I'm no fool." He tapped the hologram again. "They're trying to make people believe you are really a robot." "We can scarcely prevent it, Sire, if people choose to believe that." "We cannot afford it. It detracts from the dignity of your office. Worse than that, it detracts from the dignity of the Emperor, The implication is that I-I would choose as my First Minister a mechanical man. That is impossible to endure. See here, Demerzel, aren't there laws that forbid the denigration of public officers of the Empire?" "Yes, there are-and quite severe ones, Sire, dating back to the great Law Codes of Aburamis." "And to denigrate the Emperor himself is a capital offense, is it not?" "Death is the punishment, Sire. Yes." "Well, this not only denigrates you, it denigrates me-and whoever did it should be executed forthwith. It was this Joranum, of course, who is behind it." "Undoubtedly. Sire, but proving it might be rather difficult." "Nonsense! I have proof enough! I want an execution." "The trouble is, Sire, that the laws of denigration are virtually never enforced. Not in this century, certainly." "And that is why society is becoming so unstable and the Empire is being shaken to its roots. The laws are still in the books, so enforce them." Demerzel said, "Consider, Sire, if that would be wise. It would make you appear to be a tyrant and a despot. Your rule has been a most successful one through kindness and mildness-" "Yes and see where that got me. Let's have them fear me for a change, rather than love me-in this fashion." "I strongly recommend that you not do so, Sire. It may be the spark that will start a rebellion." "What would you do, then? Go before the people and say, `Look at me. I am no robot."' "No, Sire, for as you say that would destroy my dignity and, worse yet, yours." "Then?" "I am not certain, Sire. I have not yet thought it through." "Not yet thought it through? -Get in touch with Seldon." "Sire?" "What is so difficult to understand about my order? Get in touch with Seldon!" "You wish me to summon him to the Palace, Sire?" "No, there's no time for that. I presume you can set up a sealed communication line between us that cannot be tapped." "Certainly, Sire." "Then do so. Now!" 第十九章 　　克里昂，银河的共主，此时正匆匆忙忙走过拱廊。这道拱廊连接偏殿的寝宫与庞大的官署，而官员则散居皇宫各个别馆，因此整个皇宫无疑就是帝国的神经中枢。 克里昂的几名贴身侍从紧跟在后，全都一副忧心忡忡的模样。按常理，皇上很少移驾找人，他只需召唤一声，对方便会赶来见他。若他真移驾走动，也绝不会露出焦急或情感受创的样子。他怎么能呢？身为皇帝，他与其说是个人，不如说更像全宇宙的一个象征。 但他现在似乎就是个普通人。他不耐烦地挥挥右手，示意众人退到一旁。他的左手里握着一张闪闪发光的全息像。 “首相呢？”他的声音像是被掐住了脖子，完全不像平时训练有素的声调（它与皇位同样是他身上的重担）。“他在哪里？” 一路跟来的高级官员全都不知所措，他们纷纷喘着气，思绪一片混乱。皇上气呼呼地疾步离去，群臣都觉得仿佛活在一场白日噩梦中。 最后皇上终于冲进丹莫茨尔的个人办公室，他微微喘着气，大声喝道：“丹莫茨尔！” 丹莫茨尔带着一丝惊讶抬起头来，接着不急不徐地起身，因为除非受到特别恩准，任何人在皇上面前都不能坐着。“陛下？” 皇上将全息像甩到丹莫茨尔桌上。“你告诉我，这是什么？” 丹莫茨尔看了看皇上扔过来的东西。那是一张美丽的全息像，鲜明而生动，让人几乎可以听见相片里那名十岁左右的小男孩，正说着一旁印的话：“我不要啥机器人来治理帝国。” 丹莫茨尔平静地说：“陛下，我也收到了。”“还有谁收到了？” “陛下，我想这份传单正在川陀各处广为流传。”“没错，你有没有看到这小鬼望着什么人？”他伸出尊贵的食指，轻轻敲了敲那个人像。 “那不是你吗？” “确是十分相似，陛下。” “这份你所谓的传单，唯一的意图就是指控你是机器人，我有没有猜错？” “那似乎的确是它的意图，陛下。”“我要是说错了，立刻纠正我。机器人是否就是传说中的人形机器，在……在惊险影片和儿童故事中才有的那种东西？” “麦曲生人将它当成信仰的对象，陛下。机器人——”“我对麦曲生人和他们信仰的对象没兴趣。他们为什么指控你是机器人？” “我确定那只是比喻，陛下。他们想影射我是一个没有心肠的人，暗示我的观点缺乏良知，只是出自一台机器的计算。” “这个比喻太隐晦了，丹莫茨尔，我可不是傻瓜。”他又轻轻敲了敲那张全息像，“他们 试图让百姓相信你真是个机器人。”“假如百姓要相信，陛下，我们根本无法阻止。”“我们承受不起。它有损你这个首相的尊严，更糟的是，它还有损我这个皇帝的尊严。那暗示的是我，我，竟然会选个机器人当首相。这实在令人无法忍受。听好，丹莫茨尔，法律不是有明文规定，禁止诋毁帝国官员吗？”“的确有，陛下，而且相当严苛，可以追溯到伟大的《亚布拉米斯法典》。” “而诋毁皇帝本人就是犯了死罪，对不对？”“没错，是唯一死刑，陛下。”“好，这不只诋毁你，还诋毁了我。无论是谁干的，都该立即处决。这件事幕后主使者一定就是那个久瑞南。” “毫无疑问，陛下，但要证明这点可能相当困难。” “荒谬！我有足够的证据！我要处决他。” “问题是，陛下，诋毁罪实际上从未执行过。至少本世纪绝对没有。” “这就是为什么社会变得如此不稳定，而帝国的根本也开始动摇的原因。那些法律仍是白纸黑字，所以赶快执行！” 丹莫茨尔说：“请您务必三思，陛下。那会使您像个暴君与独裁者。您仁慈与和善的统治，一向是最成功的——” “没错，但是看看我得到了什么。不如换个方式，叫他们开始怕我，而不是以这种方式敬爱我。” “请千万别这么做，陛下，这可能会引发叛变。”“那你要怎么做？走到百姓面前说：‘看看我，我不是机器人。’”“不，陛下。正如您所说，那样会毁掉我的尊严，更糟的是，也会毁掉您的尊严。” “那该怎么办？” “我不确定，陛下，我还没仔细想过。”“还没仔细想过？去联络谢顿。” “陛下？” “听不懂我的命令吗？去联络谢顿！” “您是指召他进宫，陛下？” “不，没时间了。我相信你能架设一条密封通讯线路，无法窃听的那种。” “当然，陛下。” “那就快去办吧！” Chapter 20 Seldon lacked Demerzel's self-possession, being, as he was, only flesh and blood. The summons to his office and the sudden faint glow and tingle of the scrambler field was indication enough that something unusual was taking place. He had spoken by sealed lines before but never to the full extent of Imperial security. He expected some government official to clear the way for Demerzel himself. Considering the slowly mounting tumult of the robot flier, he could expect nothing less. But he did not expect anything more, either, and when the image of the Emperor himself, with the faint glitter of the scramble field outlining him, stepped into his office (so to speak), Seldon fell back in his seat, mouth wide open, and could make only ineffectual attempts to rise. Cleon motioned him impatiently to keep his seat. "You must know what's going on, Seldon." "Do you mean about the robot flier, Sire?" "That's exactly what I mean. What's to be done?" Seldon, despite the permission to remain seated, finally rose. "There's more, Sire. Joranum is organizing rallies all over Trantor on the robot issue. At least, that's what I hear on the newscasts." "It hasn't reached me yet. Of course not. Why should the Emperor know what is going on?" "It is not for the Emperor to be concerned, Sire. I'm sure that the First Minister-" "The First Minister will do nothing, not even keep me informed. I turn to you and your psychohistory. Tell me what to do. " "Sire?" "I'm not going to play your game, Seldon. You've been working on psychohistory for eight years. The First Minister tells me I must not take legal action against Joranum. What, then, do I do?" Seldon stuttered. "S-sire! Nothing!" "You have nothing to tell me?" "No, Sire. That is not what I mean. I mean you must do nothing. Nothing! The First Minister is quite right if he tells you that you must not take legal action. It will make things worse." "Very well. What will make things better?" "For you to do nothing. For the First Minister to do nothing. For the government to allow Joranum to do just as he pleases." "How will that help?" And Seldon said, trying to suppress the note of desperation in his voice, "That will soon be seen." The Emperor seemed to deflate suddenly, as though all the anger and indignation had been drawn out of him. He said, "Ah! I understand! You have the situation well in hand!" "Sire! I have not said that-" "You need not say. I have heard enough. You have the situation well in hand, but I want results. I still have the Imperial Guard and the armed forces. They will be loyal and, if it comes to actual disorders, I will not hesitate. But I will give you your chance first." His image flashed out and Seldon sat there, simply staring at the empty space where the image had been. Ever since the first unhappy moment when he had mentioned psychohistory at the Decennial Convention eight years before, he had had to face the fact that he didn't have what he had incautiously talked about. All he had was the wild ghost of some thoughts-and what Yugo Amaryl called intuition. 第二十章 　　谢顿欠缺丹莫茨尔那份泰然自若，他毕竟只是血肉之躯。传到研究室的那些召唤，以及扰乱场突然生出的微弱光芒与咝咝噪音，处处显示发生了不寻常的事。他以前也曾使用过密封线路通话，但从未逾越帝国的安全标准。 他原以为会有某个官员来为丹莫茨尔传话。那份机器人传单掀起如此骚动，谢顿预期官方的反应不会低于这点。 但他的预期也并未超过这点，因此，当皇上本人的影像，环绕着扰乱场的微弱闪光，跨进（姑且这么说）他的研究室时，谢顿跌回座椅中，嘴巴张得老大，他试图起身，却怎么也站不起来。 克里昂做个不耐烦的手势，示意他继续坐着。“你一定知道发生了什么事，谢顿。” “您是指那份机器人传单，陛下？”“我正是指那份传单。现在该怎么办？”尽管皇上恩准他维续坐着，谢顿终究还是站了起来。“还不只这个，陛下。久瑞南正拿机器人这个题目大做文章，在川陀各地发动示威活动。至少，我听新闻幕上是这么说的。”“这消息倒还没传到我耳朵里。当然没有，皇上何必知道发生了什么事？” “这种事不劳皇上操心，陛下。我确信首相——”“首相什么也不会做，甚至不会向我报告最新状况。现在我向你和你的心理史学求助——告诉我怎么办。” “陛下？” “我不想跟你玩游戏，谢顿，你在心理史学上已经花了八年时间。首相说我绝不能采取法律行动对付久瑞南，那么，你告诉我怎么办？”谢顿结结巴巴地说：“陛……陛下！什么也别做！” “你什么也不能告诉我吗？” “不，陛下，我不是这个意思。我是指您绝对不能做任何事。不能做什么，什么都别做！ 首相说得很对，千万不能采取法律行动，那只会使情况更糟。” “好。怎么做才能使情况变好呢？”“您和首相什么事也别做，让久瑞南去做他想做的。”“那会有什么帮助？” 谢顿尽量压抑声音中的绝望语调，说：“结果很快就会见分晓。” 皇上突然像是消了气的气球，仿佛所有的怒意与愤慨都被抽出体外。“啊！我懂了！你完全掌握了局势！” “陛下！我没那么说——” “你不必说，我已经听够了。虽然一切都在你掌握之中，但我要的是结果。我仍拥有禁卫军和武装部队，他们可是忠心耿耿。倘若情势真的混乱起来，我绝不会犹豫。但在那之前， 我会给你一个机会。” 他的影像一闪即逝，谢顿坐在那里，楞楞瞪着显像消逝后的空洞空间。 八年前，他在十载会议中首度提到心理史学，从那个不幸的时刻开始，他就必须面对一个事实：他根本没有自己脱口而出的那个东西。 他有的只是些虚无缥缈的疯狂想法，以及雨果•阿马瑞尔所谓的直觉。 Chapter 21 In two days Joranum had swept Trantor, partly by himself, mostly through his lieutenants. As Hari muttered to Dors, it was a campaign that had all the marks of military efficiency. "He was born to be a war admiral in the old days," he said. "He's wasted on politics." And Dors said, "Wasted? At this rate, he's going to make himself First Minister in a week and, if he wishes, Emperor in two weeks. There are reports that some of the military garrisons are cheering him." Seldon shook his head. "It will collapse, Dors." "What? Joranum's party or the Empire?" "Joranum's party. The story of the robot has created an instant stir, especially with the effective use of that flier, but a little thought, a little coolness, and the public will see it for the ridiculous accusation it is." "But, Hari," said Dors tightly, "you needn't pretend with me. It is not a ridiculous story. How could Joranum possibly have found out that Demerzel is a robot?" "Oh, that.' Why, Raych told him so." "Raych!" "That's right. He did his job perfectly and got back safely with the promise of being made Dahl's sector leader someday. Of course he was believed. I knew he would be." "You mean you told Raych that Demerzel was a robot and had him pass on the news to Joranum?" Dors looked utterly horrified. "No, I couldn't do that. You know I couldn't tell Raych-or anyone-that Demerzel was a robot. I told Raych as firmly as I could that Demerzel was not a robot-and even that much was difficult. But I did ask him to tell Joranum that he was. He is under the firm impression that he lied to Joranum." "But why, Hari? Why?" "It's not psychohistory, I'll tell you that. Don't you join the Emperor in thinking I'm a magician. I just wanted Joranum to believe that Demerzel was a robot. He's a Mycogenian by birth, so he was filled from youth with his culture's tales of robots. Therefore, he was predisposed to believe and he was convinced that the public would believe with him." "Well, won't they?" "Not really. After the initial shock is over, they will realize that it's madcap fiction-or they will think so. I've persuaded Demerzel that he must give a talk on subetheric holovision to be broadcast to key portions of the Empire and to every sector on Trantor. He is to talk about everything but the robot issue. There are enough crises, we all know, to fill such a talk. People will listen and will hear nothing about robots. Then, at the end, he will be asked about the flier and he need not answer a word. He need only laugh." "Laugh? I've never known Demerzel to laugh. He almost never smiles." "This time, Dors, he'll laugh. It is the one thing that no one ever visualizes a robot doing. You've seen robots in holographic fantasies, haven't you? They're always pictured as literal-minded, unemotional, inhuman- That's what people are sure to expect. So Demerzel need merely laugh. And on top of that- Do you remember Sunmaster Fourteen, the religious leader of Mycogen?" "Of course I do. Literal-minded, unemotional, inhuman. He's never laughed, either." "And he won't this time. I've done a lot of work on this Joranum matter since I had that little set-to at the Field. I know Joranum's real name. I know where he was born, who his parents were, where he had his early training, and all of it, with documentary proof, has gone to Sunmaster Fourteen. I don't think Sunmaster likes Breakaways." "But I thought you said you don't wish to spark off bigotry." "I don't. If I had given the information to the holovision people, I would have, but I've given it to Sunmaster, where, after all, it belongs." "And he'll start off the bigotry." "Of course he won't. No one on Trantor would pay any attention to Sunmaster-whatever he might say." "Then what's the point?" "Well, that's what we'll see, Dors. I don't have a psychohistorical analysis of the situation. I don't even know if one is possible. I just hope that my judgment is right." 第二十一章 　　短短两天内，久瑞南的示威活动横扫整个川陀，小部分由他亲自出马，大部分由他的代理人领导。正如谢顿对铎丝抱怨的，这次行动极具军事效率。“若是在古代，他会是名大将。”谢顿说，“他的天分浪费在政治上了。”铎丝则说：“浪费？照这个速度，他能在一周内当上首相，而他若是有心，两周内就能当上皇帝。根椐报道，已经有些戍卫部队声援他了。”谢顿摇了摇头：“会瓦解的，铎丝。” “什么？久瑞南的政党还是帝国。”“久瑞南的政党。机器人的说法能造成一时轰动，尤其是他们那么有效地利用了那份传单。但是稍微冷静一点深思一下，民众就会看出那是个多么无稽的指控。” “可是，哈里，”铎丝坚定地说，“在我面前你不必装假，那可不是无稽的说法。久瑞南 怎么可能发现丹莫茨尔是机器人？” “噢，那件事！哈，芮奇告诉他的。” “芮奇！” “没错。他圆满完成任务，已经平安归来，他们还承诺让他成为达尔区的领袖。芮奇一定博得了他们的信任，我早知道他做得到。”“你是说，你告诉芮奇丹莫茨尔是机器人，并要他将这消息传给久瑞南？”铎丝看来吓坏了。 “不，我不可能那么做。你知道我无法告诉芮奇，或是任何人，说丹莫茨尔是机器人。我以坚定的口吻告诉芮奇，丹莫茨尔绝不是机器人——对我而言，就连那样说也不容易。但我的确要他告诉久瑞南，说丹莫茨尔是个机器人。芮奇深信他自己骗了久瑞南。”“可是为什么呢？哈里，你为什么要这么做？” “与心理史学无关，这点我要说清楚，你别跟皇上一样，以为我是魔法师。我只是要久瑞南相信丹莫茨尔是机器人。他是麦曲生人，小时候一定常听机器人的民间故事，因此，他很容易就会相信这种事，而且深信民众也会和他一样。” “怎么，难道不是吗？” “不见得。等到初期的震撼消失，民众就会了解那只是狂人的幻想。我已经说服丹莫茨尔，他必须透过全息电视发表一场演说，广播到川陀各区和帝国各个重镇。他可以谈各种问题，唯独不提机器人这档事。大家都知道，如今危机重重，所以这种演说不会冷场，人们会凝神聆听，却听不到跟机器人有关的事。然后，到了最后，自然会有人问起那份传单。他一个字也不必回答，只需要哈哈大笑。” “哈哈大笑？我从来不知道丹莫茨尔会哈哈大笑，他甚至几乎不曾微笑。” “这一回他会的，铎丝。从来没人看过机器人做这种事。你在全息奇幻节目中看过机器人吧？他们总是被塑造成死板、无情、缺乏人性的样子，那是人们预期中机器人必然的形象。 所以丹莫茨尔只需要大笑几声就够了。此外，你还记得日主十四，那位麦曲生的宗教领袖吗？”“我当然记得。死板、无情、缺乏人性，他也从来不发笑。” “这回他还是笑不出来。自从我在运动场和九九派的人比划过之后，我对久瑞南这个人做了许多研究。我知道久瑞南的真实姓名，知道他生在何处，双亲的身份，他早年在哪里接受训练。所有这些资料，连同证明文件，都已经送到日主十四手上。我想日主是不会喜欢脱缰者的。” “可是我记得你说过，你不希望点燃种族偏见的火种。” “我当然不希望。假如我把资料交给全息电视台，就会发生那种事。但我是将它交给日主；毕竟，那些资料原本就是从那里来的。”“而他将点燃这个火种。” “他不会。无论日主说什么，川陀上不会有任何人注意。”“那你的用意何在？” “嗯，这点我们等着瞧，铎丝。我还无法以心理史学分析时局，甚至不知道有没有可能做得到，我只希望我的判断是正确的。” Chapter 22 Eto Demerzel laughed. It was not the first time. He sat there, with Hari Seldon and Dors Venabili in a tap-free room, and, every once in a while, at a signal from Hari, he would laugh. Sometimes he leaned back and laughed uproariously, but Seldon shook his head. "That would never sound convincing." So Demerzel smiled and then laughed with dignity and Seldon made a face. "I'm stumped," he said. "It's no use trying to tell you funny stories. You get the point only intellectually. You will simply have to memorize the sound." Dors said, "Use a holographic laughtrack." "No! That would never be Demerzel. That's a bunch of idiots being paid to yak. It's not what I want. Try again, Demerzel." Demerzel tried again until Seldon said, "All right, then, memorize that sound and reproduce it when you're asked the question. You've got to look amused. You can't make the sound of laughing, however proficient, with a grave face. Smile a little, just a little. Pull back the corner of your mouth." Slowly Demerzel's mouth widened into a grin. "Not bad. Can you make your eyes twinkle?" "What do you mean, 'twinkle,"' said Dors indignantly. "No one makes their eyes twinkle. That's a metaphorical expression." "No, it's not," said Seldon. "There's the hint of tears in the eye-sadness, joy, surprise, whatever-and the reflection of light from that hint of fluid is what does it." "Well, do you seriously expect Demerzel to produce tears?" And Demerzel said, matter-of-factly, "My eyes do produce tears for general cleansing-never in excess. Perhaps, though, if I imagine my eyes to be slightly irritated-" "Try it," said Seldon. "It can't hurt." And so it was that when the talk on subetheric holovision was over and the words were streaking out to millions of worlds at thousands of times the effective speed of light words that were grave, matter-of-fact, informative, and without rhetorical embellishment-and that discussed everything but robots-Demerzel declared himself ready to answer questions. He did not have to wait long. The very first question was: "Mr. First Minister, are you a robot?" Demerzel simply stared calmly and let the tension build. Then he smiled, his body shook slightly, and he laughed. It was not a loud uproarious laugh, but it was a rich one, the laugh of someone enjoying a moment of fantasy. It was infectious. The audience tittered and then laughed along with him. Demerzel waited for the laughter to die down and then, eyes twinkling, said, "Must I really answer that? Is it necessary to do so?" He was still smiling as the screen darkened. 第二十二章 　　伊图•丹莫茨尔笑了。 这并非第一次，他与谢顿、铎丝此刻正同坐在一间防窃听的房间中。每隔一会儿，只要谢顿做个手势，他便开始发笑，有次他仰靠在椅背上，发出刺耳的大笑声，但谢顿摇摇头。“这样听来毫无说服力。” 于是丹莫茨尔微微一笑，发出威严的笑声，结果换来谢顿一个鬼脸。“我认输了，”他说，” 跟你讲滑稽故事也没用，你只能了解故事的知识面。我看你得把那种笑声记住才行。”铎丝说：“用全息笑声轨带。”“不！那只是一个为了赚钱而笑个不停的白痴，绝不是丹莫茨尔，那不是我要的。再试一遍，丹莫茨尔。” 丹莫茨尔试了又试，最后谢顿终于说：“好，就记住这个声音，有人问你那个问题时就再复制一遍。你一定得表现出被逗乐的样子，而且不论笑得多么熟练，你也不能板着脸孔笑。 露出一点笑容，一点就好，把嘴角向后拉。”丹莫茨尔的嘴已慢慢咧开，形成一个笑容。“不 坏，你能让双眼闪烁吗？” “你所谓‘闪烁’是什么意思？”铎丝愤愤地说，“没人能让自己的眼睛闪烁，那只是种比喻的说法。” “不，不是的。”谢顿说，“有时眼里会有一点泪水，可能是因为悲伤、喜悦或惊讶，那 一点液体反射光线就造成闪烁。” “你指望丹莫茨尔能制造眼泪？” 丹莫茨尔一本正经地说：“我的眼睛的确能制造泪水，那是为了一般性的清洗，绝不会过量。不过，我若想像眼睛受到轻微的刺激，说不定……” “试试看，”谢顿说，“不会有害的。”于是，丹莫茨尔在次以太全息电视上发表演说，实况以有效光速的数千倍、风驰电掣般地奔向数百万个世界，内容平实严肃、就事论事，没有任何华丽的修饰，而且几乎无所不谈——除了机器人之外。演说结束后，丹莫茨尔宣布他开始接受发问。他不需要等多久，第一个问题就是：“首相先生，您是机器人吗？”丹莫茨尔只是冷静地凝视现场现众，等待紧张的情绪升高。突然他微微一笑，身体轻微晃动，接着便笑出声来。那不是过分刺耳的大笑声，但声音相当嘹亮，意味着他被某个古怪念头逗乐了。而这是有传染性的，观众先是吃吃窃笑，不久便变成哄堂大笑。丹莫茨尔一直等到笑声平息，才透着闪烁的目光说：“我必须回答这个问题吗？真有必要回答吗？”屏幕转趋漆黑之际，他脸上仍带着笑容。 23 “一定有效。”谢顿说，“自然，情势不会马上逆转，那需要时间，但事情已经趋向正轨。当我在大学运动场打断纳马提演讲时，我就注意到了这点。听众本来站在他那边，但当我挺身而出，显现以寡敌众的勇气后，听众马上改变立场。” “你认为如今的情势可依此类推吗？”铎丝疑惑地问。“当然，即使没有心理史学，我想，我还能用类推法，以及老天爷给我的智能。看看我们的首相，遭到来自四面八方的围剿，而他用一个笑容，一下笑声就化解了。这是他能做到的最不像机器人的事，这笑容本身就问答了那个问题。群众必定会开始同情他，任何力量都阻止不了。但这只是个开始，我们还得等日主十四的消息，得听听他怎么说。” “你对他也有信心吗？” “百分之百。” Chapter 23 "I'm sure it worked," said Seldon. "Naturally we won't have a complete reversal instantly. It takes time. But things are moving in the right direction now. I noticed that when I stopped Namarti's talk at the University Field. The audience was with him until I faced him and showed spunk against odds. The audience began to change sides at once." "Do you think this is an analogous situation?" asked Dors dubiously. "Of course. If I don't have psychohistory, I can use analogy-and the brains I was born with, I suppose. There was the First Minister, beleaguered on all sides with the accusation, and he faced it down with a smile and a laugh, the most nonrobot thing he could have done, so that in itself was an answer to the question. Of course sympathy began to slide to his side. Nothing would stop that. But that's only the beginning. We have to wait for Sunmaster Fourteen and hear what he has to say." "Are you confident there, too?" "Absolutely." 第二十三章 “一定有效。”谢顿说，“自然，情势不会马上逆转，那需要时间，但事情已经趋向正轨。当我在大学运动场打断纳马提演讲时，我就注意到了这点。听众本来站在他那边，但当我挺身而出，显现以寡敌众的勇气后，听众马上改变立场。” “你认为如今的情势可依此类推吗？”铎丝疑惑地问。“当然，即使没有心理史学，我想，我还能用类推法，以及老天爷给我的智能。看看我们的首相，遭到来自四面八方的围剿，而他用一个笑容，一下笑声就化解了。这是他能做到的最不像机器人的事，这笑容本身就问答了那个问题。群众必定会开始同情他，任何力量都阻止不了。但这只是个开始，我们还得等日主十四的消息，得听听他怎么说。” “你对他也有信心吗？” “百分之百。” Chapter 24 Tennis was one of Hari's favorite sports, but he preferred to play rather than watch others. He watched with impatience, therefore, as the Emperor Cleon, dressed in sports fashion, loped across the court to return the ball. It was Imperial tennis, actually, so-called because it was a favorite of Emperors, a version of the game in which a computerized racket was used that could alter its angle slightly with appropriate pressures on the handle. Hari had tried to develop the technique on several occasions but found that mastering the computerized racket would take a great deal of practice-and Hari Seldon's time was far too precious for what was clearly a trivial pursuit. Cleon placed the ball in a nonreturnable position and won the game. He trotted off the court to the careful applause of the functionaries who were watching and Seldon said to him, "Congratulations, Sire. You played a marvelous game." Cleon said indifferently, "Do you think so, Seldon? They're all so careful to let me win. I get no pleasure out of it." 5eldon said, "In that case, Sire, you might order your opponents to play harder." "It wouldn't help. They'd be careful to lose anyway. And if they did win, I would get even less pleasure out of losing than out of winning meaninglessly. Being an Emperor has its woes, Seldon. Joranum would have found that out-if he had ever succeeded in becoming one." He disappeared into his private shower facility and emerged in due time, scrubbed and dried and dressed rather more formally. "And now, Seldon" he said, waving all the others away, "the tennis court is as private a place as we can find and the weather is glorious, so let us not go indoors. I have read the Mycogenian message of this Sunmaster Fourteen. Will it do?" "Entirely, Sire. As you have read, Joranum was denounced as a Mycogenian Breakaway and is accused of blasphemy in the strongest terms." "And does that finish him?" "It diminishes his importance fatally, Sire. There are few who accept the mad story of the First Minister's robothood now. Furthermore, Joranum is revealed as a liar and a poseur and, worse, one who was caught at it." "Caught at it, yes," said Cleon thoughtfully. "You mean that merely to be underhanded is to be sly and that may be admirable, while to be caught is to be stupid and that is never admirable." "You put it succinctly, Sire." "Then Joranum is no longer a danger." "We can't be certain of that, Sire. He may recover, even now. He still has an organization and some of his followers will remain loyal. History yields examples of men and women who have come back after disasters as great as this one-or greater." "In that case, let us execute him, Seldon." Seldon shook his head. "That would be inadvisable, Sire. You would not want to create a martyr or to make yourself appear to be a despot." Cleon frowned. "Now you sound like Demerzel. Whenever I wish to take forceful action, he mutters the word `despot.' There have been Emperors before me who have taken forceful action and who have been admired as a result and have been considered strong and decisive." "Undoubtedly, Sire, but we live in troubled times. Nor is execution necessary. You can accomplish your purpose in a way that will make you seem enlightened and benevolent." "Seem enlightened?" "Be enlightened, Sire. I misspoke. To execute Joranum would be to take revenge, which might be regarded as ignoble. As Emperor, however, you have a kindly-even paternal-attitude toward the beliefs of all your people. You make no distinctions, for you are the Emperor of all alike." "What is it you're saying?" "I mean, Sire, that Joranum has offended the sensibilities of the Mycogenians and you are horrified at his sacrilege, he having been born one of them. What better can you do but hand Joranum over to the Mycogenians and allow them to take care of him? You will be applauded for your proper Imperial convern." "And the Mycogenians will execute him, then?" "They may, Sire. Their laws against blasphemy are excessively severe. At best, they will imprison him for life at hard labor." Cleon smiled. "Very good. I get the credit for humanity and tolerance and they do the dirty work." "They would, Sire, if you actually handed Joranum over to them. That would, however, still create a martyr." "Now you confuse me. What would you have me do?" "Give Joranum the choice. Say that your regard for the welfare of all the people in your Empire urges you to hand him over to the Mycogenians for trial but that your humanity fears the Mycogenians may be too severe. Therefore, as an alternative, he may choose to be banished to Nishaya, the small and secluded world from which he claimed to have come, to live the rest of his life in obscurity and peace. You'll see to it that he's kept under guard, of course." "And that will take care of things?" "Certainly. Joranum would be committing virtual suicide if he chose to be returned to Mycogen-and he doesn't strike me as the suicidal type. He will certainly choose Nishaya, and though that is the sensible course of action, it is also an unheroic one. As a refugee in Nishaya, he can scarcely lead any movement designed to take over the Empire. His following is sure to disintegrate. They could follow a martyr with holy zeal, but it would be difficult, indeed, to follow a coward." "Astonishing! How did you manage all this, Seldon?" There was a distinct note of admiration in Cleon's voice. Seldon said, "Well, it seemed reasonable to suppose-" "Never mind," said Cleon abruptly. "I don't suppose you'll tell me the truth or that I would understand you if you did, but I'll tell you this much. Demerzel is leaving office. This last crisis has proved to be too much for him and I agree with him that it is time for him to retire. But I can't do without a First Minister and, from this moment onward, you are he." "Sire.'" exclaimed Seldon in mingled astonishment and horror. "First Minister Hari Seldon." said Cleon calmly. "The Emperor wishes it." 第二十四章 　　网球是谢顿最喜爱的运动之一，但他的喜爱并不包括当个观众。因此，当穿着运动装的克里昂大帝，慢步穿梭于球场接球之际，谢顿坐在观众席中、十分不耐烦。这是所谓的皇家网球，因为这个名称使历代皇帝钟爱这种运动。球员使用的球拍已经电脑化，只要在握把上略施压力，便能改变拍面的角度。谢顿曾试图改用这种球拍，但他发现得花上大量时间练习， 才能纯熟地使用电脑化球拍。而谢顿的时间太宝贵了，不能浪费在无意义的小事上。 克里昂将球打到一个对方无法救回的位置，赢了这场球赛。他快步走出球场，迎向现众席中大小官员谨慎的掌声。谢顿对他说：“恭喜，陛下，您这场球打得好极了。” 克里昂淡然道：你真这么想吗，谢顿？他们全都小心翼翼让我赢球，我赢得一点乐趣都没有。” 谢顿说：“这样的话，陛下，您可以命令您的对手更卖力些。”“没有用的，他们无论如何会刻意输给我。而他们要是真赢了，那我而言比赢得毫无意义更没乐趣。身为皇帝自有其悲哀，谢顿。假如久瑞南成功当上皇帝，他也会发现这点。”克里昂说完，便走入御用沐浴间。他再重新出现时，全身已经洗净蒸干，并换上较正式的服装。 “现在，谢顿，他挥手逐退所有的人，“再也没有比网球场更隐秘的地方了，而且天气又这么好，所以我们就待在这里，别进屋去。我读过麦曲生那个日主十四的来信，那样行得通吗？” “完全行得通，陛下。正如您读到的，他们谴责久瑞南是一名麦曲生的脱缰者，而且控以最严重的亵渎罪。” “那能了结他吗？” “这次打击使他的声势一落千丈，陛下。如今，没有多少人还相信首相是机器人的疯狂说法。久瑞南如今不但被当成一个装模作样的骗子，更糟的是，他被逮个正着。”“逮个正着，没错。”克里昂若有所思地说，“你的意思是，光耍阴谋只能算狡猾，或许 还值得佩服，但被逮个正着就是愚蠢，绝对不会有人钦佩。” “您真是一针见血，陛下。” “那么，久瑞南不再是威胁了。” “这点我们还不能确定，陛下。即使是现在，他也可能东山再起。久瑞南的组织仍然存在，他仍然有些死心塌地的追随者。曾有人在遭逢比这更大的打击后仍卷土重来，历史上这样的例子不少。” “这样，我们处决他吧，谢顿。” 谢顿揺摇头。“那恐伯是不智之举，陛下。您不会想成就一名烈士，或是让您自己像个独裁者吧。”克里昂皱起眉头。“你现在的口气和丹莫茨尔一模一样。每当我想采取强硬行动 时，他就会嘀咕‘独裁者’三个字。在我之前就曾有皇帝采取强硬行动，结果却赢得强势与果决的赞誉。” “话是没错，陛下，但我们处于动荡的时代，而且确实没有必要处决他。您能用别的方式达到目的，同时显得开明而仁厚。” “显得开明？” “您本来就很开明，陛下，是我一时失言。处决久瑞南等于是在报复，可能会有人认为这种做法卑鄙。身为皇上，对所有子民的信仰，您都必须抱持着仁爱——甚至慈父般的态度。 您对他们一视同仁，因为您是所有子民的皇上。”“你在说什么？” “我的意思是，陛下，久瑞南碰触了麦曲生人的痛处，而您对他的亵渎行为甚为震怒。他生来就是他们的一分子，还有什么办法，会比把久瑞南交给麦曲生人、让他们来处置更好呢？您会由于皇恩浩荡而受世人喝彩。”“然后，麦曲生人会处决他？”“有可能，陛下，他们惩罚亵渎罪的法律极其严酷。就算最好的情况，久瑞南也将被终生囚禁于苦役监狱中。” 克里昂微微一笑。“好极了，我得到人道与宽容的美名，而由麦曲生人当刽子手。” “他们绝对做得到，陛下，假使您真将久瑞南交给他们。然而，那样仍会使他成为名烈士。” “这回你把我搞糊涂了，你究竟要我怎么做？” “让久瑞南自己选择，就说您因为顾虑帝国黎民的福祉，而想将他交给麦曲生人，但您的人道胸怀深恐麦曲生人可能太严酷。因此，您决定给他另一个选择：流放到尼沙亚、在那里默默平静地度过余生。毕竟，那个与世隔绝的小世界，正是他对外声称的故乡。当然，您会将他置于监视之下。” “那样就能解决一切吗？” “当然，选择问麦曲生无疑是自杀，我觉得久瑞南不是那种会自杀的人，他必然会选择尼沙亚。不过这做法虽然合乎常理，却不是英维好汉的行径。在尼沙亚当个流亡者，几乎不可能领导什么反帝国运动。他的追随者必定作鸟兽散，他们能以神圣的狂热追随一名烈士，但实在很难追随一个懦夫。” “妙透了！你是怎么想出这一切的，谢顿？”克里昂的声音中充满了钦佩。 谢顿说：“我只是觉得这么假设似乎很合理……”“算了。”克里昂突然说，“我想你不会告诉我实话，即使你说了，我也不认为我会了解。但我要提醒你一点，丹莫茨尔即将离职。这次的危机证明他已无力继续佐政，而我也同意让他退休，但帝国不能没有首相，从此刻起，你就是首相。” “陛下！”谢顿高声喊道，夹杂着惊愕与惶恐。 “哈里•谢顿首相，”克里昂平静地说，“这是帝国皇帝的旨意。” Chapter 25 "Don't be alarmed," said Demerzel. "It was my suggestion. I've been here too long and the succession of crises has reached the point where the consideration of the Three Laws paralyzes me. You are the logical successor." "I am not the logical successor," said Seldon hotly. "What do I know about running an Empire? The Emperor is foolish enough to believe that I solved this crisis by psychohistory. Of course I didn't." "That doesn't matter, Hari. If he believes you have the psychohistorical answer, he will follow you eagerly and that will make you a Good First Minister." "He may follow me straight into destruction." "I feel that your good sense-or intuition-will keep you on target . with or without psychohistory." "But what will I do without you-Daneel?" "Thank you for calling me that. I am Demerzel no more, only Daneel. As to what you will do without me- Suppose you try to put into practice some of Joranum's ideas of equality and social justice? He may not have meant them-he may have used them only as ways of capturing allegiance-but they are not bad ideas in themselves. And find ways of having Raych help you in that. He clung to you against his own attraction to Joranum's ideas and he must feel torn and half a traitor. Show him he isn't. In addition, you can work all the harder on psychohistory, for the Emperor will be there with you, heart and soul." "But what will you do, Daneel?" "I have other things in the Galaxy to which I must attend. There is still the Zeroth Law and I must labor for the good of humanity, insofar as I can determine what that might be. And, Hari-" "Yes, Daneel." "You still, have Dors." Seldon nodded. "Yes, I still have Dors." He paused for a moment before grasping Daneel's firm hand with his own. "Good-bye, Daneel." "Good-bye, Hari," Daneel replied. And with that, the robot turned, his heavy First Minister's robe rustling as he walked away, head up, back ramrod straight, along the Palace hallway. Seldon stood there for a few minutes after Daneel had gone, lost in thought. Suddenly he began moving in the direction of the First Minister's apartment. Seldon had one more thing to tell Daneel-the most important thing of all. Seldon hesitated in the softly lit hallway before entering. But the room was empty. The dark robe was draped over a chair. The First Minister's chambers echoed Hari's last words to the robot: "Good-bye, my friend." Eto Demerzel was gone; R. Daneel Olivaw had vanished. 第二十五章 　　“不必惊慌，”丹莫茨尔说，"这是我的建议。我在这里已经待得太久，而且一连串的危 机累积到这个程度，三大法则的考虑已使我寸步难行。你是合理的继任人选。” “我不是合理的继任人选，”谢顿激动地说，“我不知道如何治理帝国。皇上蠢到相信我 是用心理史学解决这场危机，但我的确不是！” “没关系，哈里。皇上相信你握有心理史学的答案，他会诚心诚意跟随你，那就会使你成为一位好首相。” “他会跟随我一路走向毁灭。”“我觉得你的判断力，或是直觉，会让你走在正确的道路上……不论有没有心理史学。” “可是没有你，我该怎么做——丹尼尔？” “谢谢你这么称呼我。我将不再是丹莫茨尔，而只是丹尼尔。至于你该怎么做……何不放手实现久瑞南对平等与社会公义的构想？他提出这些构想或许不是出于真心，或许只是想借以笼络人心，但这些构想本身并不坏。让芮奇在这方面助你一臂之力——他不顾久瑞南对他的吸引，坚决对你效忠，现在他一定很无奈，认为自己是半个叛徒。对他证明他没做错。此外，你还可以加倍努力研究心理史学，因为皇上会支持你，全心全意支持你。”“你自己准备做什么呢，丹尼尔？”“银河浩瀚，仍有许多事需要我照顾。别忘了第零法则，我必须在我能明确决定的范围内，为整个人类的福祉努力。还有，哈里——” “怎么样，丹尼尔？” “你还有铎丝。” 谢顿点了点头：“是的，我还有铎丝。”他犹豫了一下，伸手握住丹尼尔结实的手掌。“再见，丹尼尔。” “再见，哈里。”丹尼尔答道。说完，这位机器人便转身离去。他昂首阔步，腰杆笔直，沿着皇宫走廊渐行渐远，厚重的首相长袍拖出沙沙的声响。丹尼尔离去后，谢顿呆立原处，默想了几分钟。然后，他突然 朝首相寓所的方向走去，他还有件事要告诉丹尼尔——一件最重要的事。开门之前，谢顿在光线柔和的走廊中迟疑了一下。但房间里已空无一人，只有那件黑袍披在一把椅子上。 “别了，我的朋友。”首相房间里，回荡着谢顿对机器人说的最后一句话。伊图•丹莫 茨尔走了，机•丹尼尔•奥利瓦消失了。 Chapter 1 PART II CLEON I CLEON I- . Though often receiving panegyrics for being the last Emperor under whom the First Galactic Empire was reasonably united and reasonably prosperous, the quarter-century reign of Cleon I was one of continuous decline. This cannot be viewed as his direct responsibility, for the Decline of the Empire was based on political and economic factors too strong for anyone to deal with at the time. He was fortunate in his selection of First Ministers-Eto Demerzel and then Hari Seldon, in whose development of psychohistory the Emperor never lost faith. Cleon and Seldon, as the objects of the final Joranumite Conspiracy, with its bizarre climax- ENCYCLOPEDIA GALACTICA Chapter 1 Mandell Gruber was a happy man. He seemed so to Hari Seldon, certainly. Seldon stopped his morning constitutional to watch him. Gruber, perhaps in his late forties, a few years younger than Seldon, was a bit gnarled from his continuing work in the Imperial Palace grounds, but he had a cheerful, smoothly shaven face, topped by a pink skull, not much of which was hidden by his thin sandy hair. He whistled softly to himself as he inspected the leaves of the bushes for any signs of insect infestation. He was not the Chief Gardener, of course. The Chief Gardener of the Imperial Palace grounds was a high functionary who had a palatial office in one of the buildings of the enormous Imperial complex, with an army of men and women under him. The chances are he did not inspect the Palace grounds more often than once or twice a year. Gruber was but one of that army. His title, Seldon knew, was Gardener First-Class and it had been well earned, with thirty years of faithful service. Seldon called to him as he paused on the perfectly level crushed gravel walk, "Another marvelous day, Gruber." Gruber looked up and his eyes twinkled. "Yes, indeed, First Minister, and it's sorry I am for those who be cooped up indoors." "You mean as I am about to be." "There's not much about you, First Minister, for people to sorrow over, but if you're disappearing into those buildings on a day like this, it's a bit of sorrow that we fortunate few can feel for you." "I thank you for your sympathy, Gruber, but you know we have forty billion Trantorians under the dome. Are you sorry for all of them?" "Indeed, I am. I am grateful I am not of Trantorian extraction myself so that I could qualify as a gardener. There be few of us on this world that work in the open, but here I be, one of the fortunate few."' "The weather isn't always this ideal." "That is true. And I have been out here in the sluicing rains and the whistling winds. Still, as long as you dress fittingly . Look-" And Gruber spread his arms open, wide as his smile, as if to embrace the vast expanse of the Palace grounds. "I have my friends-the trees and the lawns and all the animal life forms to keep me company-and growth to encourage in geometric form, even in the winter. Have you ever seen the geometry of the grounds, First Minister?" "I am looking at it right now, am I not?" "I mean the plans spread out so you can really appreciate it all-and marvelous it is, too. It was planned by Tapper Savand, over a hundred years ago, and it has been little changed since. Tapper was a great horticulturist, the greatest-and he came from my planet." "That was Anacreon, wasn't it?" "Indeed. A far-off world near the edge of the Galaxy, where there is still wilderness and life can be sweet. I came here when I was still an earwet lad, when the present Chief Gardener took power under the old Emperor. Of course, now they're talking of redesigning the grounds." Gruber sighed deeply and shook his head. "That would be a mistake. They are just right as they are now properly proportioned, well balanced, pleasing to the eye and spirit. But it is true that in history, the grounds have occasionally been redesigned. Emperors grow tired of the old and are always seeking the new, as if new is somehow always better. Our present Emperor, may he live long, has been planning the redesign with the Chief Gardener. At least, that is the word that runs from gardener to gardener." This last he added quickly, as if abashed at spreading Palace gossip. "It might not happen soon." "I hope not, First Minister. Please, if you have the chance to take some time from all the heart-stopping work you must be after doing, study the design of the grounds. It is a rare beauty and, if I have my way, there should not be a leaf moved out of place, nor a flower, nor a rabbit, anywhere in all these hundreds of square kilometers." Seldon smiled. "You are a dedicated man, Gruber. I would not be surprised if someday you were Chief Gardener." "May Fate protect me from that. The Chief Gardener breathes no fresh air, sees no natural sights, and forgets all he has learned of nature. He lives there"-Gruber pointed scornfully-"and I think he no longer knows a bush from a stream unless one of his underlings leads him out and places his hand on one or dips it into the other." For a moment it seemed as though Gruber would expectorate his scorn, but he could not find any place on which he could bear to spit. Seldon laughed quietly. "Gruber, it's good to talk to you. When I am overcome with the duties of the day, it is pleasant to take a few moments to listen to your philosophy of life." "Ah, First Minister, it is no philosopher I am. My schooling was very sketchy." "You don't need schooling to be a philosopher. Just an active mind and experience with life. Take care, Gruber. I just might have you promoted." "If you but leave me as I am, First Minister, you will have my total gratitude." Seldon was smiling as he moved on, but the smile faded as his mind turned once more to his current problems. Ten years as First Minister-and if Gruber knew how heartily sick Seldon was of his position, his sympathy would rise to enormous heights. Could Gruber grasp the fact that Seldon's progress in the techniques of psychohistory showed the promise of facing him with an unbearable dilemma? 第一章 　　曼德尔•葛鲁柏是个无忧无虑的人，至少在哈里•谢顿眼中是如此。这时，谢顿暂停了晨间运动，驻足望着他。 葛鲁柏的年纪大约坐四望五，比谢顿年轻几岁。由于长期在御苑工作，皮肤显得有点粗糙，但他总又笑口常开，脸上永远刮得干干净净。他的沙色头发所剩无几，露出头顶一块粉红色头皮。这时他一面轻吹口哨，一面检查灌木丛的树叶，看看是否有昆虫出没的迹象。 他当然不是园丁长。御苑的园丁长是位高级官员，在巨大的皇宫建筑群中拥有一间富丽堂皇的办公室，手下有一大群男女园丁。他亲自检视御苑的机会，每年大概不会超过两次。葛鲁柏只不过是园丁长手下的一员。谢顿知道，他的头衔是一品园丁，那是他三十年的忠实服务所赢得的荣衔。 谢顿在碎石小径上停下脚步，与他打招呼：“又是美好的一天，葛鲁柏。” 葛鲁柏抬起头来，双眼透着闪烁的目光。“是啊，首相，天气真好。我真为那些关在房子里的人难过。” “你的意思是，例如我。” “至于您嘛，首相，还不至于让人太惋惜。但如果您准备在这种好天气下，钻进那些房子里，我们这些幸运的少数，还真会有点为您难过呢。” “谢谢你的同情，葛鲁柏。但你也如道，四百亿川陀人都生活在穹顶下，难道你替他们每个人难过吗？” “没错，首相。还好我没川陀血统，所以才能当园丁。这个世界只有极少数人能在露天中工作，而我就在这儿，我是少数的幸运儿之一。” “天气并非总是这么理想。” “那倒是真的，我在这外头也碰过倾盆大雨和飕飕鸣叫的强风。不过话说回来，只要你穿得恰当，看——”葛鲁柏将双臂伸展得与他的笑容一样开，仿佛要拥抱这片广大的御苑。“我有许多朋友。树木、草地，和所有的动物都是我的好伙伴，看到排成几何图形的植物也 让我开心，就算在冬天也一样。您看过御苑的几何形状吗，首相？”“近在眼前，不是吗？” “我是指一览无遗的鸟瞰图，可以让您真正欣赏整体的美感——实在是无与伦比。那是一百多年前，泰柏•沙万德设计的，这些年来只改变了一点点。泰柏是位伟大的园艺家，有 史以来最伟大的，他也是来自我的行星。” “安纳克瑞昂，对不对？” “没错，一个靠近银河边缘的遥远世界，那里还有大片荒野，日子过得可逍遥了。我来这儿的时候还只是个乳臭未干的小伙子，现任园丁长才刚接受老皇帝的任命。但现在他们已在讨论重新设计御苑了。”葛鲁柏深深叹了口气，摇摇头，“那将是个错误。御苑现在的样子 再好不过，比例恰当、构图均衡，对视觉和精神都是一大享受。不过，历史上的确有重新设计御苑的先例。皇帝们总是喜新厌旧，好像新的就是好的。当今的皇上——愿他长命百岁——一直在和园丁长计划要重新设计。至少，园丁间是这么流传的。”他很快补充了最后一句， 仿佛为自己散布宫内流言感到难为情。 “也许这事不会说改就改。” “希望不会，首相。如果您有机会从累得半死的工作中抽点时间，拜托，请您一定要研究一下御苑的设计。它有一种罕见的美感，如果我有办法，谁也别想移走这几百平方公里内的任何一片树叶、一朵花或一只兔子。”谢顿微微一笑。“你很敬业，葛鲁柏。哪天你当上园丁长，我不会惊讶的。”“老天保佑我不会。园丁长呼吸不到新鲜空气，见不到自然景观，还会将他从大自然学到的一切忘得一干二净。他住在那里——”葛鲁柏轻蔑地指指远方，“我看他已经分不清灌木和小溪的差别，除非哪个下属带他出来，把他的手放在树上或浸入溪中。”一时之间，葛鲁柏仿佛想吐出心中的轻蔑，却找不到一处忍心吐痰的地方。 谢顿轻轻笑了几声。“葛鲁柏，跟你聊天真好。我每天被重担压得几乎透不过气，花几分钟听听你的人生哲学真是愉快。”“啊，首相，我不是什么哲学家，我没受过什么教育。” “不一定要受过教育才能成为哲学家，哲学家只需要灵敏的心灵，和对生命的体验。保重，葛鲁柏，我很可能会让你晋升。” “您只要让我保持原状，首相，我就感激不尽了！” 谢顿带着微笑迈开步伐。但当他的心思再度回到原先的问题，他的笑容随即消失。当了十年首相——假如葛鲁柏知道谢顿对这个职位打心底感到多厌倦，他的同情心会升高许多倍。 如今，谢顿在心理史学技术上的进展，显示他即将面临一个无法承受的两难局面。葛鲁柏能了解这个事实吗？ Chapter 2 Seldon's thoughtful stroll across the grounds was the epitome of peace. It was hard to believe here, in the midst of the Emperor's immediate domain, that he was on a world that, except for this area, was totally enclosed by a dome. Here, in this spot, he might be on his home world of Helicon or on Gruber's home world of Anacreon. Of course, the sense of peace was an illusion. The grounds were guarded-thick with security. Once, a thousand years ago, the Imperial Palace grounds-much less palatial, much less differentiated from a world only beginning to construct domes over individual regions-had been open to all citizens and the Emperor himself could walk along the paths, unguarded, nodding his head in greeting to his subjects. No more. Now security was in place and no one from Trantor itself could possibly invade the grounds. That did not remove the danger, however, for that, when it came, came from discontented Imperial functionaries and from corrupt and suborned soldiers. It was within the grounds that the Emperor and his staff were most in danger. What would have happened if, on that occasion, nearly ten years before, Seldon had not been accompanied by Dors Venabili? It had been in his first year as First Minister and it was only natural, he supposed (after the fact), that there would be jealous heart-burning over his unexpected choice for the post. Many others, far better qualified in training-in years of service and, most of all, in their own eyes-could view the appointment with anger. They did not know of psychohistory or of the importance the Emperor attached to it and the easiest way to correct the situation was to corrupt one of the sworn protectors of the First Minister. Dors must have been more suspicious than Seldon himself was. Or else, with Demerzel's disappearance from the scene, her instructions to guard Seldon had been strengthened. The truth was that, for the first few years of his First Ministership, she was at his side more often than not. And on the late afternoon of a warm sunny day, Dors noted the glint of the westering sun-a sun never seen under Trantor's dome-on the metal of a blaster. "Down, Hari!" she cried suddenly and her legs crushed the grass as she raced toward the sergeant. "Give me that blaster, Sergeant," she said tightly. The would-be assassin, momentarily immobilized by the unexpected sight of a woman running toward him, now reacted quickly, raising the drawn blaster. But she was already at him, her hand enclosing his right wrist in a steely grip and lifting his arm high. "drop it," she said through clenched teeth. The sergeant's face twisted as he attempted to yank his arm loose. "Don't try, Sergeant," said Dors. "My knee is three inches from your groin and, if you so much as blink, your genitals will be history. So just freeze. That's right. Okay, now open your hand. If you don't drop the blaster right now, I will shatter your arm." A gardener came running up with a rake. Dors motioned him away. The sergeant dropped the blaster to the ground. Seldon had arrived. "I'll take over, Dors." "You will not. Get in among those trees and take the blaster with you. Others may be involved-and ready to act." Dors had not loosened her grip on the sergeant. She said, "Now, Sergeant, I want the name of whoever it was who persuaded you to make an attempt on the First Minister's life-and the name of everyone else ho is in this with you." The sergeant was silent. "Don't be foolish," said Dors. "Speak!" She twisted his arm and he sank down to his knees. She put her shoe on his neck. "If you think silence becomes you, I can crush your larynx and you will be silent forever. And even before that, I am going to damage you badly-t won't (cave one bone unbroken. You had better talk." The sergeant talked. Later Seldon had said to her, "How could you do that, Dors? I never believed you capable of such . violence. " Dors said coolly, "I did not actually hurt him much, Hari. The threat was sufficient. In any case, your safety was paramount." "You should have let me take care of him." "Why? To salvage your masculine pride? You wouldn't have been fast enough, for one thing. Secondly, no matter what you would have succeeded in doing, you are a man and it would have been expected. I am a woman and women, in popular thought, are not considered as ferocious its men and most, in general, do not have the strength to do what I did. The story will improve in the telling and everyone will be terrified of me. No one will dare to try to harm you for fear of me." "For fear of you and for fear of execution. The sergeant and his cohorts are to be killed, you know." At this, an anguished look clouded Dors's usually composed visage, as if she could not stand the thought of the traitorous sergeant being put to death, even though he would have cut down her beloved Hari without a second thought. "But," she exclaimed, "there is no need to execute the conspirators. Exile will do the job." "No, it won't," said Seldon. "It's too late. Cleon will hear of nothing but executions. I can quote him-if you wish." "You mean he's already made up his mind?" "At once. I told him that exile or imprisonment would be all that was necessary, but he said no. He said, `Every time I try to solve a problem by direct and forceful action, first Demerzel and then you talk of "despotism" and "tyranny." But this is my Palace. These are my grounds. These are my guardsmen. My safety depends on the security of this place and the loyalty of my people. Do you think that any deviation from absolute loyalty can be met with anything but instant death? How else would you be safe? How else would I be safe?' "I said there would have to be a trial. `Of course,' he said, `a short military trial and I don't expect a single vote for anything but execution. I shall make that quite clear.' " Dors looked appalled. "You're taking this very quietly. Do you agree with the Emperor?" Reluctantly Seldon nodded. "I do." "Because there was an attempt on your life. Have you abandoned your principles for mere revenge?" "Now, Dors, I'm not a vengeful person. However, it was not myself alone at risk or even the Emperor. If there is anything that the recent history of the Empire shows us, it is that Emperors come and go. It is psychohistory that must be protected. Undoubtedly, even if something happens to me, psychohistory will someday be developed, but the Empire is falling fast and we cannot wait-and only I have advanced far enough to obtain the necessary techniques in time." "Then you should teach what you know to others," said Dors gravely. "I'm doing so. Yugo Amaryl is a reasonable successor and I have gathered a group of technicians who will someday be useful, but they won't be as-" He paused. "They won't be as good as you-as wise, as capable? Really?" "I happen to think so," said Seldon. "And I happen to be human. Psychohistory is mine and, if I can possibly manage it, I want the credit." "Human," sighed Dors, shaking her head almost sadly. The executions went through. No such purge had been seen in over a century. Two Ministers, five officials of lower ranks, and four soldiers, including the hapless sergeant, met their deaths. Every guardsman who could not withstand the most rigorous investigation was relieved of duty and exiled to the remote Outer Worlds. Since then, there had been no whisper of disloyalty and so notorious had become the care with which the First Minister was guarded, to say nothing of the terrifying woman-called "The Tiger Woman" by many-who watched over him, that it was no longer necessary for Dors to accompany him everywhere. Her invisible presence was an adequate shield and the Emperor Cleon enjoyed nearly ten years of quiet and absolute security. Now, however, psychohistory was finally reaching the point where predictions, of a sort, could be made and, as Seldon crossed the grounds in his passage from his office (First Minister) to his laboratory (psychohistorian), he was uneasily aware of the likelihood that this era of peace might be coming to an end. 第二章 　　谢顿在御苑中若有所思地漫步，这景象是太平盛世的一个缩影。站在这个地方，他实在很难相信除了帝国京畿中心的这块土地之外，整个川陀都包在芎顶中。他站在这里，就奵像回到了自己的故乡世界赫利肯，或置身于葛鲁柏的故乡世界安纳克瑞昂。当然，太平的感觉只是个错觉。御苑有警卫戍守，而且戒备森严。 一千年前，皇宫周围的御苑还不如今天的宏伟壮丽，在一个刚开始四处兴建穹顶的世界上毫不特殊。御苑当时曾对外开放，皇帝能在里面散步，对他的子民点头答礼，身边没有任何护卫。 然而今非昔比。现在的御苑警卫重重，没有人能闯得进来。但如此仍无法保证绝对安全， 因为危险总是来自不满的帝国官员，以及受人收买，自甘堕落的军人。事实上，对皇上及其幕僚而言，最危险的地方莫过于御苑。比方大约十年前的那次事件，倘若当时铎丝•凡纳比 里不在谢顿身边，不知会发生什么结果。那是谢顿担任首相的第一年。事后他才想通，他这匹黑马大爆冷门，自然会令某些人妒火中烧。有许多人不论在学识上、年资上，最重要的是在他们自己眼中，都要比他有资格得多，因此对这项任命愤愤不平。他们不晓得什么是心理史学，也不知道皇上赋予它多大的使命。而扳回局势最简单的办法，就是买通某个宣誓效忠首相的贴身侍卫。当年铎丝一定比谢顿自己更为警觉。也有可能，是丹莫茨尔在退隐之际，加强了她保护谢顿的指令。实际的情况是，在他担任首相的前几年，她大部分时间都跟在他身边。 一个温暖晴朗的下午，约摸黄昏光景，铎丝注意到西下的阳光——在川陀穹顶下从来见不到的太阳——反映在一柄手铳的金属表面上。 “趴下，哈里！”她大喊，同时踩过草坪冲向一名侍卫。 “把手铳给我，侍卫。”她厉声喊道。 看到一名女子出乎意料地冲过来，这名未得逞的刺客愣了一下，但随即举起那柄已抽出的手铳。 然而铎丝已来到他面前，一手钢箍般紧扣住他右腕，向上扳举。“丢下。”铎丝紧闭的齿 缝间迸出这两个字。 那名侍卫扭曲着脸孔，试图挣脱她的掌握。 “别动，侍卫。”铎丝说，“我的膝盖离你的鼠蹊不超过十秒钟，只要敢眨一眨眼，就别 想传宗接代。聪明点就别动……这就对了，现在扔掉手铳，不然我就拗断你的手。” 一名园丁抓着耙子跑了过来，铎丝示意他站开。那侍卫将手铳丢到地上。谢顿也赶到了。“我来接手，铎丝。” “你别过来。快捡起手铳、躲进树丛。他可能还有同伙躲在暗处伺机而动。”铎丝始终没松开那名侍卫。“听好，侍卫，是谁怂恿你谋害首相，我要知道他的名字。此外我要知道，你还有哪些同伙。”侍卫沉默不语。 “别充英雄了，说！”铎丝用力一扭，侍卫立刻屈膝跪下，铎丝一脚踏在他的脖子上。“假如你认为沉默是金，我可以踩碎你的喉节，让你永远保持沉默。但在那之前，我还会好 好折磨你一顿，让你全身上下找不到一根好骨头。你说不说？”侍卫一五一十招了。 事后谢顿问她：“你是怎么做到的，铎丝？很难相信你这么……勇武。”铎丝淡淡地说：实际上我没有真的伤害他，哈里，口头威胁就够了。无论如何，你的安全是首要考虑。” “你该让我对付他。” “为什么？抢救你的男性自尊吗？你的动作根本不够快。再说，你是个男人，不论你出手多漂亮，都会在对方预料之中；而我是个女人，通常人们料不到女人会这么凶猛，而且普通女人也没力气做出我那些动作。这件事一宣扬开来，再经过添油加醋，从此人人都会怕我。 而由于对我心存畏惧，以后就不会再有人敢企图伤害你。”"对你心存畏惧——同时也对处决心存畏惧。那名侍卫和他的同谋会被处死，你该知道。” 铎丝一听到这点，镇定的面容立刻蒙上痛苦阴影，仿佛无法承受那名反叛的侍卫将被处决的事实，即使他差点毫不犹豫地杀了她挚爱的哈里。“可是，”她高声道，“没有必要处决这些谋反者。放逐就够了。”“不，不够。”谢顿说，“太迟了。除了处决之外，克里昂听不进别的建议。如果你想听，我可以引用他的话。” “你是说他已经决定了？” "毫不犹豫。我告诉他只需要放逐或下狱就够了，但他断然拒绝。他说：以前是丹莫茨 尔，现在是你，每次我要用强硬的手段直接解决问题，你们就会提到独裁和暴虐。但这是我的皇宫，我的御苑，我的卫士。我的平安全赖于此地的安全，以及下属的忠贞。你认为任何偏离绝对忠贞的行为，能用就地正法之外的方式处置吗？不这样做你怎能安然无事？不这样做我怎能高枕无忧？” “我说，总该有个审判才行。‘当然。’他说，‘会有一场简短的军事审判。除了处决， 我不要见到其他判决。我会清楚地表明这个立场。’”钎丝显得不寒而栗：“你竟然说得这么若无其事，难道你同意皇上的做法？”谢顿勉强点了点头：“我同意。” “只因为有人想谋杀你。为了报复，就放弃自己的原则？”“我不是个有仇必报的人，铎丝。然而，安全受到威胁的并不是我，甚至不是皇上——若说帝国近代史对我们有何启示，那就是皇帝总是来来去去——我们必须保护的是心理史学。 毫无疑问，即使我有什么不测，心理史学也总有发展成功的一天。但是帝国正迅速衰落，我们不能等，而能及时发展出必需技术的，只有我一个人。”“那你就该把自己知道的教给别人。”铎丝严肃地说。“我是在这样做。雨果•阿马瑞尔是当然的继任人选，另外，我也网罗了一群技术人员，总有一天他们会派上用场。可是他们不会像——”他突然打住。“不会像你这么优秀——这么聪明，这么能干，是吧？” “我正巧这么想。”谢顿说，“而且我正巧是个凡人。心理史学是我的，如果我有可能发 展出来，我想要这份荣耀。” “人啊。”铎丝叹了口气，同时近乎悲痛地摇了摇头。处决执行了。一个多世纪以来，从未见过如此规模的整肃。两名部长、五名较低阶官员， 以及四名军人——包括那个倒霉的侍卫——一起被押至刑场。所有无法通过严格调査的卫士， 都遭到解职处分，放逐到遥远的外围世界。 从此，再也没有任何谋反的传闻。首相受到的保护被渲染得人尽皆知，至于守着他的那个可怕女人——许多人口中的“虎女”——就更不用说了。因此，铎丝不必再随时陪着他，她的无形威势就是足够的屏障。克里昂大帝安享了将近十年的平静与安全。 如今，心理史学终于达到勉强能做出预测的阶段。然而，当谢顿穿过御苑，从首相办公室来到心理史学实验室，他不安地意识到，这段太平岁月或许即将结束。 Chapter 3 Yet, even so, Hari Seldon could not repress the surge of satisfaction that he felt as he entered his laboratory. How things had changed. It had begun twenty years earlier with his own doodlings on his second-rate Heliconian computer. It was then that the first hint of what was to become parachaotic math came to him in a cloudy fashion. Then there were the years at Streeling University, when he and Yugo Amaryl, working together, attempted to renormalize the equations, get rid of the inconvenient infinities, and find a way around the worst of the chaotic effects. They made very little progress, indeed. But now, after ten years as First Minister, he had a whole floor of the latest computers and a whole staff of people working on a large variety of problems. Of necessity, none of his staff-except for Yugo and himself, of course-could really know much more than the immediate problem they were dealing with. Each of them worked with only a small ravine or outcropping on the gigantic mountain range of psychohistory that only Seldon and Amaryl could see as a mountain range-and even they could see it only dimly, its peaks hidden in clouds, its slopes veiled by mist. Dors Venabili was right, of course. He would have to begin initiating his people into the entire mystery. The technique was getting well beyond what only two men could handle. And Seldon was aging. Even if he could look forward to some additional decades, the years of his most fruitful breakthroughs were surely behind him. Even Amaryl would be thirty-nine within a month and, though that was still young, it was perhaps not overly young for a mathematician-and he had been working on the problem almost as long as Seldon himself. His capacity for new and tangential thinking might be dwindling, too. Amaryl had seen him enter and was now approaching. Seldon watched him fondly. Amaryl was as much a Dahlite as Seldon's foster son, Raych, was, and yet Amaryl, despite his muscular physique and short stature, did not seem Dahlite at all. He lacked the mustache, he lacked the accent, he lacked, it would seem, Dahlite consciousness of any kind. He had even been impervious to the lure of Jo-Jo Joranum, who had appealed so thoroughly to the people of Dahl. It was as though Amaryl recognized no sectoral patriotism, no planetary patriotism, not even Imperial patriotism. He belonged-completely and entirely-to psychohistory. Seldon felt a twinge of insufficiency. He himself remained conscious of his first two decades on Helicon and there was no way he could keep from thinking of himself as a Heliconian. He wondered if that consciousness was not sure to betray him by causing him to skew his thinking about psychohistory. Ideally, to use psychohistory properly, one should be above worlds and sectors and deal only with humanity in the faceless abstract-and this was what Amaryl did. And Seldon didn't, he admitted to himself, sighing silently. Amaryl said, "We are making progress, Hari, I suppose." "You suppose, Yugo? Merely suppose?" "I don't want to jump into outer space without a suit." He said this quite seriously (he did not have much of a sense of humor, Seldon knew) and they moved into their private office. It was small, but it was also well shielded. Amaryl sat down and crossed his legs. He said, "Your latest scheme for getting around chaos may be working in part-at the cost of sharpness, of course." "Of course. What we gain in the straightaway, we lose in the roundabouts. That's the way the Universe works. We've just got to fool it somehow." "We've fooled it a little bit. It's like looking through frosted glass." "Better than the years we spent trying to look through lead." Amaryl muttered something to himself, then said, "We can catch glimmers of light and dark." "Explain!" "I can't, but I have the Prime Radiant, which I've been working on like a-a-" "Try lamec. That's an animal-a beast of burden-we have on Helicon. It doesn't exist on Trantor." "If the lamec works hard, then that is what my work on the Prime Radiant has been like." He pressed the security keypad on his desk and a drawer unsealed and slid open noiselessly. He took out a dark opaque cube that Seldon scrutinized with interest. Seldon himself had worked out the Prime Radiant抯 circuitry, but Amaryl had put it together-a clever man with his hands was Amaryl. The room darkened and equations and relationships shimmered in the air. Numbers spread out beneath them, hovering just above the desk surface, as if suspended by invisible marionette strings. Seldon said, "Wonderful. Someday, if we live long enough, we'll have the Prime Radiant produce a river of mathematical symbolism that will chart past and future history. In it we can find currents and rivulets and work out ways of changing them in order to make them follow other currents and rivulets that we would prefer." "Yes," said Amaryl dryly, "if we can manage to live with the knowledge that the actions we take, which we will mean for the best, may turn out to be for the worst." "Believe me, Yugo, I never go to bed at night without that particular thought gnawing at me. Still, we haven't come to it yet. All we have is this -which, as you say, is no more than seeing light and dark fuzzily through frosted glass." "True enough." "And what is it you think you see, Yugo?" Seldon watched Amaryl closely, a little grimly. He was gaining weight, getting just a bit pudgy. He spent too much time bent over the computers (and now over the Prime Radiant)-and not enough in physical activity. And, though he saw a woman now and then, Seldon knew, he had never married. A mistake! Even a workaholic is forced to take time off to satisfy a mate, to take care of the needs of children. Seldon thought of his own still-trim figure and of the manner in which Dors strove to make him keep it that way. Amaryl said, "What do I see? The Empire is in trouble." "The Empire is always in trouble." "Yes, but it's more specific. There's a possibility that we may have trouble at the center." "At Trantor?" "I presume. Or at the Periphery. Either there will be a bad situation here-perhaps civil war-or the outlying Outer Worlds will begin to break away." "Surely it doesn't take psychohistory to point out these possibilities." "The interesting thing is that there seems a mutual exclusivity. One or the other. The likelihood of both together is very small. Here! Look! It's your own mathematics. Observe!" They bent over the Prime Radiant display for a long time. Seldon said finally, "I fail to see why the two should be mutually exclusive." "So do I, Hari, but where's the value of psychohistory if it shows us only what we would see anyway? This is showing us something we wouldn't see. What it doesn't show us is, first, which alternative is better, and second, what to do to make the better come to pass and depress the possibility of the worse." Seldon pursed his lips, then said slowly, "I can tell you which alternative is preferable. Let the Periphery go and keep Trantor." "Really?" "No question. We must keep Trantor stable, if for no other reason than that we're here." "Surely our own comfort isn't the decisive point." "No, but psychohistory is. What good will it do us to keep the Periphery intact if conditions on Trantor force us to stop work on psychohistory? I don't say that we'll be killed, but we may be unable to work. The development of psychohistory is on what our fate will depend. As for the Empire, if the Periphery secedes it will only begin a disintegration that may take a long time to reach the core." "Even if you're right, Hari, what do we do to keep Trantor stable?" "To begin with, we have to think about it." A silence fell between them and then Seldon said, "Thinking doesn't make me happy. What if the Empire is altogether on the wrong track and has been for all its history? I think of that every time I talk to Gruber." "Who's Gruber?" "Mandell Gruber. A gardener." "Oh. The one who came running up with the rake to rescue you at the time of the assassination attempt?" "Yes. I've always been grateful to him for that. He had only a rake against possibly other conspirators with blasters. That's loyalty. Anyhow, talking to him is like a breath of fresh air. I can't spend all my time talking to court officials and to psychohistorians." "Thank you." "Come! You know what I mean. Gruber likes the open. He wants the wind and the rain and the biting cold and everything else that raw weather can bring to him. I miss it myself sometimes." "I don't. I wouldn't care if I never go out there." "You were brought up under the dome-but suppose the Empire consisted of simple unindustrialized worlds, living by herding and farming, with thin populations and empty spaces. Wouldn't we all be better off?" "It sounds horrible to me." "I found some spare time to check it as best I could. It seems to me it's a case of unstable equilibrium. A thinly populated world of the type I describe either grows moribund and impoverished, falling off into an uncultured near-animal level-or it industrializes. It is standing on a narrow point and topples over in either direction and, as it just so happens, almost every world in the Galaxy has fallen over into industrialization." "Because that's better." "Maybe. But it can't continue forever. We're watching the results of the overtoppling now. The Empire cannot exist for much longer because it has-it has overheated. I can't think of any other expression. What will Follow we don't know. If, through psychohistory, we manage to prevent the Fall or, more likely, force a recovery after the Fall, is that merely to ensure another period of overheating? Is that the only future humanity has, to push the boulder, like Sisyphus, up to the top of a hill, only to see it roll to the bottom again?" "Who's Sisyphus?" "A character in a primitive myth. Yugo, you must do more reading." Amaryl shrugged. "So I can learn about Sisyphus? Not important. Perhaps psychohistory will show us a path to an entirely new society, one altogether different from anything we have seen, one that would be stable and desirable." "I hope so," sighed Seldon. "I hope so, but there's no sign of it yet. For the near future, we will just have to labor to let the Periphery go. That will mark the beginning of the Fall of the Galactic Empire." 第三章 　　但即使如此，当哈里•谢顿走进实验室时，心中仍禁不住涌起一股澎湃的满足感。 变化多么大啊！ 一切开始于二十年前，他在自己那台二流赫利肯计算机上信手作出的草稿。就是在那个时候，“仲混沌数学”的第一个念头，首度模糊地在他脑中浮现。 接着是在川陀大学的那几年。他与雨果•阿马瑞尔一同工作，试图“重整”那些方程式，除去构成阻碍的无限大，寻找迂回之道绕过最麻烦的混沌效应。事实上，他们的进展非常小。 而现在，担任十年首相之后，他拥有一整楼最新型的计算机，以及一整组研究各方面问题的工作人员。出于必要，除了雨果与他自己之外，研究人员只能了解各人直接负责的问题， 而无法涉及其他部分。在心理史学这座巨大的山脉中，他们每个人仅在某个小峡谷或小山头工作，唯有谢顿与阿马瑞尔能窥见整座山脉。但他们两人也只能隐约看出梗概，它的顶峰藏入云端，斜坡则被浓雾遮掩。 铎丝说得对，他必须开始引领研究人员深入整个神秘的国度。心理史学技术发展到这种程度，已不再是两个人所能掌握的。而且他渐渐上了年纪，即使能再活几十年，他的黄金岁月也早已不再。 就连阿马瑞尔下个月也将满三十九岁。这年纪对一般人来说也许仍算年轻，对一位数学家而言却不尽然。而且他硏究心理史学的历史与谢顿一样久，他的直觉与创造力或许也在走下坡。 阿马瑞尔看到谢顿走进实验室，起身向他走去。谢顿以慈爱的眼光望着他。阿马瑞尔与谢顿的养子芮奇一样，都是达尔人，然而，尽管拥有强壮的体格与矮短的身材，阿马瑞尔似乎一点也不像达尔人。他不再蓄着八字胡，也没有达尔口音，他几乎没有一点达尔意识。他甚至对九九•久瑞南的诱惑无动于衷，而久瑞南曾经彻底打动过达尔区民。仿佛阿马瑞尔并不认同对母区、对母星甚至帝国的爱。他只属于心理史学——完完全全、 百分之百。 谢顿不禁自责，自己居然比不上阿马瑞尔。他一直没忘记，自己的成长岁月是在赫利肯上度过的。他无法不把自己当赫利肯人。谢顿不知道这种心态会不会蒙蔽自己，使他在心理史学上误入歧途。在理想状况下，运用心理史学应有超越所有世界与行政区的胸怀，只处理抽象而非特定的人类群体。这点阿马瑞尔做到了。而谢顿做不到，他暗自承认，默默叹了口气。阿马瑞尔说：“我猜，我们就要有些进展了，哈里。”“你猜，雨果？只是猜想而已？” “我可不想没穿宇宙飞行服就跳进外层空间。”雨果认真地说（谢顿知道，他没有多少幽默感〉。说完两人便走进他们的私人研究室，房间很小，但有极佳的屏蔽。阿马瑞尔坐下，跷起二郎腿。“你最新提出的那个回避混沌的方案，也许一部分行得通。 当然，付出锐度作代价。” “那当然。以直接方法能获得的结果，以迂回之道便得不到。这就是宇宙运作的方式，我们只好睁一只眼、闭一只眼。” “我们已经睁一只眼、闭一只眼了，我们现在就像从毛玻璃望出去一样。” “总比以前从铅板望的日子好多了。” 阿马瑞尔低声嘀咕了几句，然后说：“我们已能捕捉到隐约的光影。” “解释一下！” “我无法解释，但是我有元光体，为了制作这玩意，我累得像……像个……”“像只瘸驮吗？那是赫利肯特有的动物，一种负重的兽类，川陀上见不到。”“如果瘸驮会夜以继日埋头苦干，那元光体的确让我累得像只瘸驮。” 他按下书桌上的保全键版，一个抽屉便无声地滑开。他从里面取出一个不透明的深色方块，谢顿立刻兴致勃勃地接过来查看一番。元光体的线路是谢顿自己设计的，但完成拼装工作的则是阿马瑞尔。阿马瑞尔就是这样一个巧手的聪明人。房间暗了下来，方程式与关系式在空中微微发光。许多数字在他们眼前展开，翱翔于书桌正上方，仿佛一条条悬着的丝线。“太棒了。”谢顿说，“只要我们活得够长，总有一天能让元光体产生一条数学符号构成 的河流，画出过去与未来的历史。我们可以在里面找到许多支流与小河，并研究出改变它们的方法，将它们导入我们预期的方向。” “没错。”阿马瑞尔冷淡地说，“但任何善意的行动，都可能导致最糟的结果。知道了这 点，我们还能若无其事地活着吗？”“相信我，雨果，每天夜里这个想法都在折磨我。话说回来，我们尚未达到那个阶段。我们有的只是——正如你说的，顶多像是透过毛玻璃看到模糊的光影。”“够真实了。” ‘你认为自己看到了什么，雨果？”谢顿仔细打量阿马瑞尔，眼神有些严厉。近来阿马瑞尔越来越胖，变得有点臃肿。他俯身计算机前的时间太长（如今则是在元光体前），四肢的活动实在不够。而且，虽然他偶尔会与某位女子约会，这点谢顿知道，他却一直没有结婚。 这样是不对的！即使是工作狂，也应该有婚姻生活，满足孩子们的需要。谢顿想到自己仍然结实的身材，以及锌丝如何想尽办法要他维持身材。 “我看到了什么？”阿马瑞尔应道，“我看到帝国有了麻烦。”“帝国一向都有麻烦。” “没错，但这次比较特别，问题可能岀现在核心。” “在川陀？” “我是这么想，但也可能是在银河外缘。若不是川陀的局势恶化，比方说发生内战，就是偏远的外围世界开始四分五裂。”“指出这两种可能还用不到心理史学吧。” “有趣的是这两种可能似乎有互斥性，两者并存的可能性非常小。瞧，就在这儿！这是你自己的数学，好好看看吧！”他们倾身面对元光体显现的内容，注视良久。最后谢顿终于说：“我看不出两者为何会互斥。”“我也一样，哈里，但心理史学若只能显示出一目了然的结果，还有什么价值可言？它现在所显示的，是某种我们无法预测的东西。它并没有告诉我们：一，哪种情况比较好；二， 我们要怎么做，才能引发较好的情况，减低较坏情况发生的可能性。” 谢顿抿起嘴唇沉思了一会儿，才缓缓道：“我能告诉你哪个情况比较好——放弃外缘、保住川陀。” “真的？” “毫无疑问。我们必须保持川陀的稳定，就算不为其他原因，也要想想我们是住在这里。”“我们自身的安危不应该是首要的考虑。” “当然不是，但心理史学是。如果川陀的情势迫使我们终止研究，保持银河外缘对我们又有什么意义？川陀失控，我们不一定会有生命危险，但却可能因此无法工作；心理史学的发展和我们的命运已是一体。至于帝国，外缘的正式脱离只会是帝国分裂的开始，可能要花很长时间才会达到核心。” “就算你是对的，哈里，我们要怎么做，才能维持川陀的稳定？” “首先，我们得好好想清楚。”两人沉默下来。 “思考并不会让我感到快乐。”谢顿又开口道，“如果帝国完全偏离正轨，而且自开国以 来就已如此，那该怎么办？每次和葛鲁柏聊天，我都会想到这一点。” “葛鲁柏是谁？” “曼德尔•葛鲁柏，一个园丁。”“喔，就是那次行刺事件中，拿着耙子跑来救你的那个人？” “是的，由于那件事，我对他一直心存感激。剌客有手铳，而他只有一支耙子，这才叫忠心。总之，和他聊天就像呼吸清新的空气，我不能把所有时间花在跟宫廷官员或心理史学家谈话上。” “谢谢你啊。” “得了吧！你知道我的意思。葛鲁柏喜欢露天的环境，他喜欢接触风雨、刺骨的冷空气， 以及自然气候所带给他的一切，而我自己有时也怀念这些。” “我可不。即使一辈子都待在室内，我也不在乎。” “因为你是在穹顶下长大的。”谢顿说，“但假设帝国是由简单的、未工业化的世界组成，居民靠放牧与农耕为生，空间开阔，人口稀少，大家的日子会不会更好过？”“听起来很恐怖。” “我曾经利用空闲时间，尽我所能思索这个假设。在我看来，它似乎是个不稳定的状况。 那种地广人稀的世界，要不是逐渐工业化，就是变得奄奄一息、荒芜贫瘠，退化到毫无文化、 近乎禽兽的层次。它就像根竖起的针，必然会朝一方倾倒。而实际上，几乎每个世界都会倒向工业化这边。” “因为那是较好。” “也许，但工业化不可能无止境地持续下去。如今，我们正在目睹倾倒过度的结果，帝国已经濒临毁灭，因为它已经……已经过热了，我想不出更好的形容词。其后的发展我们还不知道，就算我们能借着心理史学，设法阻止这场衰亡——较可能的情况是在衰亡之后强行复兴——会不会只是开始另一个过热周期？这是人类唯一的未来吗？就像薛西弗斯那样，将圆石推到山顶，然后眼睁睁地看它再滚回山脚，如此周而复始？” “薛西弗斯是谁？” “原始神话里的一个人物。你该多读点书，雨果。” 阿马瑞尔耸了耸肩。好了解薛西弗斯的故事？那有什么重要的？说不定，心理史学能指引我们走向一个崭新的社会，一个稳定而令人向往的社会，和以往完全不同。” “但愿如此。”谢顿叹了口气，“但愿如此，但至今还没有它的踪影。在可见的未来，我 们只好努力设法使外缘世界脱离，那将标示着银河帝国衰亡的开始。” Chapter 4 "And so I said," said Hari Seldon. " `That will mark the beginning of the Fall of the Galactic Empire.' And so it will, Dors." Dors listened, tight-lipped. She accepted Seldon's First Ministership as she accepted everything-calmly. Her only mission was to protect him and his psychohistory, but that task, she well knew, was made harder by his position. The best security was to go unnoticed and, as long as the Spaceship-and-Sun, the symbol of the Empire, shone down upon Seldon, all of the physical barriers in existence would be unsatisfactory. The luxury in which they now lived-the careful shielding from spy beams, as well as from physical interference; the advantages to her own historical research of being able to make use of nearly unlimited funds-did not satisfy her. She would gladly have exchanged it all for their old quarters at Streeling University. Or, better yet, for a nameless apartment in a nameless sector where no one knew them. "That's all very well, Hari dear," she said, "but it's not enough." "What's not enough?" "The information you're giving me. You say we might lose the Periphery. How? Why?" Seldon smiled briefly. "How nice it would be to know, Dors, but psychohistory is not yet at the stage where it could tell us." "In your opinion, then. Is it the ambition of local faraway governors to declare themselves independent?" "That's a factor, certainly. It's happened in past history-as you know far better than I-but never for long. Maybe this time it will be permanent." "Because the Empire is weaker?" "Yes, because trade flows less freely than it once did, because communications are stiffer than they once were, because the governors in the Periphery are, in actual fact, closer to independence than they have ever been. If one of them arises with particular ambitions-" "Can you tell which one it might be?" "Not in the least. All we can force out of psychohistory at this stage is the definite knowledge that if a governor of unusual ability and ambition arises, he would find conditions more suitable for his purposes than he would have in the past. It could be other things, too-some great natural disaster or some sudden civil war between two distant Outer World coalitions. None of that can be precisely predicted as of now, but we can tell that anything of the sort that happens will have more serious consequences than it would have had a century ago." "But if you don't know a little more precisely what will happen in the Periphery, how can you so guide actions as to make sure the Periphery goes, rather than Trantor?" "By keeping a close eye on both and trying to stabilize Trantor and not trying to stabilize the Periphery. We can't expect psychohistory to order events automatically without much greater knowledge of its workings, so we have to make use of constant manual controls, so to speak. In days to come, the technique will be refined and the need for manual control will decrease." "But that," said Dors, "is in days to come. Right?" "Right. And even that is only a hope." "And just what kind of instabilities threaten Trantor-if we hang on to the Periphery?" "The same possibilities-economic and social factors, natural disasters, ambitious rivalries among high officials. And something more. I have described the Empire to Yugo as being overheated-and Trantor is the most overheated portion of all. It seems to be breaking down. The infrastructure-water supply, heating, waste disposal, fuel lines, everything-seems to be having unusual problems and that's something I've been turning my attention to more and more lately." "What about the death of the Emperor?" Seldon spread his hands. "That happens inevitably, but Cleon is in good health. He's only my age, which I wish was younger, but he isn't too old. His son is totally inadequate for the succession, but there will be enough claimants. More than enough to cause trouble and make his death distressing, but it might not prove a total catastrophe-in the historic sense." "Let's say his assassination, then." Seldon looked up nervously. "Don't say that. Even if we're shielded, don't use the word." "Hari, don't be foolish. It's an eventuality that must be reckoned with. There was a time when the Joranumites might have taken power and, if they had, the Emperor, one way or another-" "Probably not. He would have been more useful as a figurehead. And in any case, forget it. Joranum died last year on Nishaya, a rather pathetic figure." "He had followers." "Of course. Everyone has followers. Did you ever come across the Globalist party on my native world of Helicon in your studies of the early history of the Kingdom of Trantor and of the Galactic Empire?" "No, I haven't. I don't want to hurt your feelings, Hari, but I don't recall coming across any piece of history in which Helicon played a role." "I'm not hurt, Dors. Happy the world without a history, I always say. -In any case, about twenty-four hundred years ago, there arose a group of people on Helicon who were quite convinced that Helicon was the only inhabited globe in the Universe. Helicon was the Universe and beyond it there was only a solid sphere of sky speckled with tiny stars." "How could they believe that?" said Dors. "They were part of the Empire, I presume." "Yes, but Globalists insisted that all evidence to the effect that the Empire existed was either illusion or deliberate deceit, that Imperial emissaries and officials were Heliconians playing a part for some reason. They were absolutely immune to reason." "And what happened?" "I suppose it's always pleasant to think that your particular world is the world. At their peak, the Globalists may have persuaded 10 percent of the population of the planet to be part of the movement. Only 10 percent, but they were a vehement minority that drowned out the indifferent majority and threatened to take over." "But they didn't, did they?" "No, they didn't. What happened was that Globalism caused a diminishing of Imperial trade and the Heliconian economy slid into the doldrums. When the belief began to affect the pocketbooks of the population, it lost popularity rapidly. The rise and fall puzzled many at the time, but psychohistory, I'm sure, would have shown it to be inevitable and would have made it unnecessary to give it any thought." "I see. But, Hari, what is the point of this story? I presume there's some connection with what we were discussing." "The connection is that such movements never completely die, no matter how ridiculous their tenets may seem to sane people. Right now, on Helicon, right now there are still Globalists. Not many, but every once in a while seventy or eighty of them get together in what they call a Global Congress and take enormous pleasure in talking to each other about Globalism. -Well, it is only ten years since the Joranumite movement seemed such a terrible threat on this world and it would not be at all surprising if there weren't still some remnants left. There may still be some remnants a thousand years from now." "Isn't it possible that a remnant may be dangerous?" "I doubt it. It was Jo-Jo's charisma that made the movement dangerous-and he's dead. He didn't even die a heroic death or one that was in any way remarkable; he just withered away and died in exile, a broken man." Dors stood up and walked the length of the room quickly, swinging her arms at her sides and clenching her fists. She returned and stood before the seated Seldon. "Hari," she said, "let me speak my mind. If psychohistory points to the possibility of serious disturbances on Trantor, then if there are Joranumites still left, they may still be plotting the Emperor's death." Seldon laughed nervously. "You jump at shadows, Dors. Relax." But he found that he could not dismiss what she had said quite that easily. 第四章 　　“我告诉阿马瑞尔，”谢顿道，“‘那将标示着银河帝国衰亡的开始。’而事实的确如此，铎丝。” 铎丝紧抿嘴唇，专心聆听着。 当初，她以一贯的平常心接受了谢顿的首相任命，她唯一的任务是保护谢顿与他的心理史学，而她十分明白，谢顿的新职位将使这项任务更加艰巨。最佳的安全防范是避免引起一切注意，而且，只要帝国的“星舰与太阳”标志仍映照在谢顿身上，世上一切有形的屏障都无法让人放心。 他们现在的生活十分豪华，有完善的屏蔽来对付间谍波束与有形的干扰；铎丝有几乎无限的经费可运用，这对她自己的历史研究有莫大助益——但她宁可放弃这一切，只求换回川陀大学原来那间宿舍，或是到某个没人认识的不知名的行政区，找一间不知名的寓所。“这都很有道理，哈里，”她说，“但是还不够。” “什么不够？” "你提供的信息不够。你说我们可能失去银河外缘——为什么？”谢顿浅浅一笑。“但愿我知道，铎丝，但是心理史学尚未发展到能回答这些问题。” “那么，依你看，是不是那些遥远的地方总督有独立的野心？”“当然，那会是原因之一。历史上不乏地方总督宣布独立的先例——这点你比我清楚得多——但都维持不久。然而这次也许会是永久性的。”“因为帝国变弱了？” “是的，现在贸易不像以前那么顺畅，沟通变得比过去困难，而且事实上，外缘的总督比以往更有自主权。如果其中有人图谋不轨……”“你能判断是哪种可能吗？” “没办法。现阶段的心理史学只能让我们确知一点，若有个能力与野心非凡的总督崛起， 他将发现叛变的各种条件都比过去有利。或者也可能发生其他状况——巨大的天然灾害，或是两个遥远的外围世界联盟突然爆发战争。目前为止，心理史学对这些事件都还无法精确预测，但我们能断言，这类状况若真发生，将会导致比一世纪前更严重的后果。” “但如果你无法更精确知道外缘会发生什么，又怎能确定你采取的行动是会使外缘脱离， 而不是使川陀崩溃？” “我会密切注意这两者的变化，试着稳定川陀，而非外缘。我们在对心理史学的运作了解有限的情况下，不能指望心理史学会自动指挥各个事件，所以必须不断用手动控制——姑且这样比方。在未来的日子里，心理史学技术将慢慢精进，手动控制的需要会逐年降低。”“但是，”铎丝说，“那是在未来，对吗？”“没错，甚至这也只是个希望。” “假如我们选择死守外缘，那么威胁川陀的会是什么因素？” “仍然是经济和社会因素、天然灾害、高层官员间的野心倾轧等等。我曾对雨果打过比方说帝国正处于过热状态，而川陀是最热的部分。它似乎即将解体，基本公共设施——供水、 暖气、废物处理、燃料管线——一切的一切，似乎都有不寻常的问题。最近，我越来越注意这方面的问题。” “皇上驾崩呢？” 谢顿摊摊手。“那是早晚的事，不过克里昂目前健康状况良好，他和我同年，虽然我希望自己能更年轻些，但我们也不算太老。克里昂的儿子完全没有能力继承皇位，在他后面排队的人可多得很，多到足以引起纷争，因此克里昂一世驾崩，将会出现危机。不过就历史角度来看，那或许不至于造成太大的灾难。” “那么，假如他遇剌呢？” 谢顿紧张地抬起头来。小心点，即使我们有屏蔽，也别用那个字眼。” “哈里，这一点不能避而不谈。九九派曾差点取得政权，假如他们当初成功了，皇上早就……” “或许不会，把皇上当傀儡会更有用。无论如何，忘掉这件事吧。久瑞南去年已经死在尼沙亚了，一个可悲的人。” “他还有追随者。” “当然，每个人都有追随者。你研究川陀王国和银河帝国早期历史时，有没有读过我故乡赫利肯上的星球党？” “没有，我没读过。我不想伤你的心，哈里，但我不记得读过任何与赫利肯有关的历史事件。” “我不会伤心，铎丝。没有历史的世界是快乐的，我总是这么说。言归正传，大约二千四百年前，赫利肯上出现一群人，深信赫利肯是宇宙中唯一的住人星球。对他们而言，赫利肯就是宇宙，天空只是一层固体球壳，上面缀着许多小光点。”“他们怎能相信这种事？”铎丝说，“他们当时应该已是帝国的一部分。” “是的，但星球党人坚持，一切有关帝国的证据不是幻觉便是蓄意欺骗，而帝国的使者和官员，则是赫利肯人基于某种原因假扮的。他们完全不可理喻。”“后来呢？” “我想，认为自己的世界是唯一的世界，总是很令人愉快的。在星球党的全盛期，他们至少说动了全球百分之十的人。这些人虽然只有百分之十，但却非常狂热，因而淹没了冷漠的多数人，险些就要接掌政权。” “但他们并没有成功，对不对？” “没错。后来的发展是，星球主义导致星际贸易锐减，赫利肯的经济滑落谷底，当信仰影响到民众的信用点时，很快就不再受欢迎了。当时许多人对星球党的大起大落十分不解，可是我确定，心理史学会证明这是必然的现象。”“我懂了。可是，哈里，这个故事的意义何在？我猜它和我们刚才讨论的题目有些关联吧？” “关联就是这类运动绝不会完全消失，不论他们的主张在头脑清醒的人看来多么无稽。直到现在——直到现在——赫利肯仍然有星球党人！为数不多，但每隔一段时间，就会有七八十个这样的人聚在一起，开他们所谓的星球议会，彼此畅谈星球主义，从中获得极大的乐 趣。话说回来，九九派运动严重威胁这个世界只不过是十年前的事，如果今天还有余党残存， 我一点也不意外；即使过了一千年，它仍可能有残余势力。” “这些余党难道不会构成危险吗？”“应该不会。当初是九九的领袖魅力，使这运动具有危险性，但现在他已经死了，甚至死得一点也不轰轰烈烈，只是在潦倒落魄的放逐生涯中逐渐凋零。”铎丝站起来，急步走到房间另一端，双手紧握成拳。然后她踱回来，站在坐着的谢顿面前。 “哈里，”她说，“我要说出我的看法。假如心理史学指出川陀有发生严重动乱的可能， 那么只要九九派依然存在，他们就可能仍会图谋刺杀皇上。” 谢顿不自然地笑了几声。“你是庸人自扰，铎丝，放轻松点。”但铎丝这番话却萦绕在他脑海。 Chapter 5 The Wye Sector had a tradition of opposition to the Entun Dynasty of Cleon I that had been ruling the Empire for over two centuries. The opposition dated back to a time when the line of Mayors of Wye had contributed members who had served as Emperor. The Wyan Dynasty had neither lasted long nor had it been conspicuously successful, but the people and rulers of Wye found it difficult to forget that they had once been-however imperfectly and temporarily-supreme. The brief period when Rashelle, as the self-appointed Mayor of Wye, had challenged the Empire, eighteen years earlier, had added both to Wye's pride and to its frustration. All this made it reasonable that the small band of leading conspirators should feel as safe in Wye as they would feel anywhere on Trantor. Five of them sat around a table in a room in a run-down portion of the sector. The room was poorly furnished but well shielded. In a chair which, by its marginal superiority in quality to the others, sat the man who might well be judged to be the leader. He had a thin face, a sallow complexion, and a wide mouth with lips so pale as to be nearly invisible. There was a touch of gray in his hair, but his eyes burned with an inextinguishable anger. He was staring at the man seated exactly opposite him-distinctly older and softer, his hair almost white, his plump cheeks tending to quiver when he spoke. The leader said sharply, "Well? It is quite apparent that you have done nothing. Explain that!" The older man said, "I am an old Joranumite, Namarti. Why do I have to explain my actions?" Gambol Deen Namarti, once the right-hand man of Laskin "Jo-Jo" Joranum, said, "There are many old Joranumites. Some are incompetent, some are soft, some have forgotten. Being an old Joranumite may mean no more than that one is an old fool." The older man sat back in his chair. "Are you calling me an old fool? Me? Kaspal Kaspalov? I was with Jo-Jo when you had not yet joined the party, when you were a ragged nothing in search of a cause." "I am not calling you a fool," said Namarti sharply. "I say simply that some old Joranumites are fools. You have a chance now to show me that you are not one of them." "My association with Jo-Jo-" "Forget that. He's dead!" "I should think his spirit lives on." "If that thought will help us in our fight, then his spirit lives on. But to others-not to us. We know he made mistakes." "I deny that." "Don't insist on making a hero out of a mere man who made mistakes. He thought he could move the Empire by the strength of oratory alone, by words-" "History shows that words have moved mountains in the past." "Not Joranum's words, obviously, because he made mistakes. He hid his Mycogenian origins far too clumsily. Worse, he let himself be tricked into accusing First Minister Eto Demerzel of being a robot. I warned him against that accusation, but he wouldn't listen-and it destroyed him. Now let's start fresh, shall we? Whatever use we make of Joranum's memory for outsiders, let us not ourselves be transfixed by it." Kaspalov sat silent. The other three transferred their gaze from Namarti to Kaspalov and back, content to let Namarti carry the weight of the discussion. "With Joranum's exile to Nishaya, the Joranumite movement fell apart and seemed to vanish," said Namarti harshly. "It would, indeed, have vanished-but for me. Bit by bit and rubble by rubble, I rebuilt it into a network that extends over all of Trantor. You know this, I take it." "I know it, Chief," mumbled Kaspalov. The use of the title made it plain that Kaspalov was seeking reconciliation. Namarti smiled tightly. He did not insist on the title, but he always enjoyed hearing it used. He said, "You're part of this network and you have your duties." Kaspalov stirred. He was clearly debating with himself internally and finally he said slowly, "You tell me, Chief, that you warned Joranum against accusing the old First Minister of being a robot. You say he didn't listen, but at least you had your say. May I have the same privilege of pointing out what I think is a mistake and have you listen to me as Joranum listened to you, even if, like him, you don't take the advice given you?" "Of course you can speak your piece, Kaspalov. You are here in order that you might do so. What is your point?" "These new tactics of ours, Chief, are a mistake. They create disruption and do damage." "Of course! They are designed to do that." Namarti stirred in his seat, controlling his anger with an effort. "Joranum tried persuasion. It didn't work. We will bring Trantor down by action." "For how long? And at what cost?" "For as long as it takes-and at very little cost, actually. A power stoppage here, a water break there, a sewage backup, an air-conditioning halt. Inconvenience and discomfort-that's all it means." Kaspalov shook his head. "These things are cumulative." "Of course, Kaspalov, and we want public dismay and resentment to be cumulative, too. Listen, Kaspalov. The Empire is decaying. Everyone knows that. Everyone capable of intelligent thought knows that. The technology will fail here and there, even if we do nothing. We're just helping it along a little." "It's dangerous, Chief. Trantor's infrastructure is incredibly complicated. A careless push may bring it down in ruins. Pull the wrong string and Trantor may topple like a house of cards." "It hasn't so far." "It may in the future. And what if the people find out that we are behind it? They would tear us apart. There would be no need to call in the security establishment or the armed forces. Mobs would destroy us." "How would they ever learn enough to blame us? The natural target for the people's resentment will be the government-the Emperor's advisers. They will never look beyond that." "And how do we live with ourselves, knowing what we have done?" This last was asked in a whisper, the old man clearly moved by strong emotion. Kaspalov looked pleadingly across the table at his leader, the man to whom he had sworn allegiance. He had done so in the belief that Namarti would truly continue to bear the standard of freedom passed on by Jo-Jo Joranum; now Kaspalov wondered if this is how Jo-Jo would have wanted his dream to come to pass. Namarti clucked his tongue, much as a reproving parent does when confronting an errant child. "Kaspalov, you can't seriously be turning sentimental on us, are you? Once we are in power, we will pick up the pieces and rebuild. We will gather in the people with all of Joranum's old talk of popular participation in government, with greater representation, and when we are firmly in power we will establish a more efficient and forceful government. We will then have a better Trantor and a stronger Empire. We will set up some sort of discussion system whereby representatives of other worlds can talk themselves into a daze-but we will do the governing." Kaspalov sat there, irresolute. Namarti smiled joylessly. "You are not certain? We can't lose. It's been working perfectly and it will continue working perfectly. The Emperor doesn't know what's going on. He hasn't the faintest notion. And his First Minister is a mathematician. He ruined Joranum, true, but since then he has done nothing." "He has something called-called-" "Forget it. Joranum attached a great deal of importance to it, but it was a part of his being Mycogenian, like his robot mania. This mathematician has nothing-" "Historical psychoanalysis or something like that. I heard Joranum once say-" "Forget it. Just do your part. You handle the ventilation in the Anemoria Sector, don't you? Very well, then. Have it misfunction in a manner of your choosing. It either shuts down so that the humidity rises or it produces a peculiar odor or something else. None of this will kill anyone, so don't get yourself into a fever of virtuous guilt. You will simply make people uncomfortable and raise the general level of discomfort and annoyance. Can we depend on you?" "But what would only be discomfort and annoyance to the young and healthy may be more than that to infants, the aged, and the sick . " "Are you going to insist that no one at all must be hurt?" Kaspalov mumbled something. Namarti said, "It's impossible to do anything with a guarantee that no one at all will be hurt. You just do your job. Do it in such a way that you hurt as few as possible-if your conscience insists upon it-but do it!" Kaspalov said, "Look! I have one thing more to say, Chief." "Then say it," said Namarti wearily. "We can spend years poking at the infrastructure. The time must come when you take advantage of gathering dissatisfaction to seize the government. How do you intend to do that?" "You want to know exactly how we'll do it?" "Yes. The faster we strike, the more limited the damage, the more efficiently the surgery is performed." Namarti said slowly, "I have not yet decided on the nature of this `surgical strike.' But it will come. Until then, will you do your part?" Kaspalov nodded his head in resignation. "Yes, Chief." "Well then, go," said Namarti with a sharp gesture of dismissal. Kaspalov rose, turned, and left. Namarti watched him go. He said to the man at his right, "Kaspalov is not to be trusted. He has sold out and it's only so that he can betray us that he wants to know my plans for the future. Take care of him " The other nodded and all three left, leaving Namarti alone in the room. He switched off the glowing wall panels, leaving only a lonely square in the ceiling to provide the light that would keep him from being entirely in the darkness. He thought: Every chain has weak links that must be eliminated. We have had to do this in the past and the result is that we have an organization that is untouchable. And in the dimness, he smiled, twisting his face into a kind of feral joy. After all, the network extended even into the Palace itself-not quite firmly, not quite reliably, but it was there. And it would be strengthened. 第五章 　　恩腾皇朝统治帝国已超过两世纪，而卫荷区一向有反恩腾皇朝的传统，这种心态可远溯到卫苘区长出任皇帝的时代。卫荷皇朝并未持续多久，也没有出色的政绩，可是卫荷人民与统治者都忘不了他们曾经拥有过至尊的地位——尽管没有显赫政绩，而且历时极短。十八年前，自命卫荷区长的芮喜尔挑战帝国的短命行动，既激起卫荷的自尊心，又加重了他们的挫折感。 基于上述事实，不难了解在一小撮阴谋主谋者的感觉中，卫荷是川陀上安全的藏身处之一。 此时卫荷区某间废弃的屋子里，五个阴谋分子正围桌而坐。这间屋子陈设简陋，但屏蔽功能极佳。 其中一张椅子比其他几张来得精致，显示坐在上面的那名男子是领导者。他的面容瘦削、 脸色蜡黄，有一张宽嘴，嘴唇苍白得几乎看不见。他的头发已转灰白，但双眼燃烧着浇不熄的怒火。 他瞪着坐在对面的人。这人年纪显然较大，而且和蔼得多。他的头发几乎全白，说话时， 下垂的双颊不住颤动。 那领导者厉声道：“怎么样？很明显，你什么事也没做，解释一下！” 那位年长者说：“纳马提，我是老九九派的。我为什么要解释我的行动？” 8 一度是拉斯金•“九九”•久瑞南左右手的坎伯尔•丁恩•纳马提答道：“老九九派多的 是。有些无能，有些软弱，有些忘了自己的身份。一个老九九派片不比一个老笨蛋更有意义。”年长者靠回椅背。“你骂我笨蛋？我，卡斯帕•卡斯帕洛夫是笨蛋？我追随九九的时候，你甚至还没入党，只是个可怜的无名小辈，正四处瞎摸，寻求信仰。” “我不是骂你笨蛋，”纳马提厉声道，“我只是说有些老九九派是笨蛋。你现在就有个机 会证明你不是。” “我和九九的关系……” “别提啦，他已经死了！” “我可认为他的精神长存。” “如果这种想法对我们的斗争有帮助，那就让他的精神长存——不过是对别人，而不是对我们，我们知道他犯了一些错误。” “我否认。” “别硬把一个犯了错的普通人塑造成英雄。他以为光逞口舌之能，光靠语言，就能摇撼帝国——” “历史证明语言的确能摇撼山岳。”“但那显然不是久瑞南说的话，因为他犯了错误。他掩藏他麦曲生出身的手法极其拙劣； 更糟的是，他让自己中了圈套，竟然指控首相伊图•丹莫茨尔是机器人。我警告过他不要提 出那种指控，但他不听，结果被整垮了。现在我们为什么不重新开始？不论我们对外如何利用久瑞南的精神，自己可别被它钉死了。” 卡斯帕洛夫坐在椅子上，一言不发。其他三人的目光在纳马提与卡斯帕洛夫身上徘徊，默许让纳马提主导这场讨论。 “自从久瑞南被放逐，九九派运动四分五裂，眼看就要烟消云散。”纳马提粗声道。“事 实上，要是没有我，这运动早就消失无踪。我一点一滴、一砖一瓦，将它重建成一个广布川陀各处的网络。我相信你知道这点。” “我知道，首领。”卡斯帕洛夫喃喃道。他用这个头衔称呼对方，明白显示他在寻求和解。 纳马提不自然地笑了笑。他不坚持这个头衔，但还是挺乐意听到别人这么称呼。他说：“身为这个网络的一环，你有你的责任。” 卡斯帕洛夫不安地挪动身子，显然内心正在交战。最后，他缓缓说道：首领，你说你曾 反对久瑞南指控老首相是机器人，虽然他没听进去，但至少你表达了反对意见。我是否能有同样权利，指出我看到的错误，请你像当初久瑞南一样——即使你同样不接受我的忠告？”“你当然可以说出你的意，卡斯帕洛夫。你到这里来，不就是为了这件事。你要说什么？”“首领，我们采用的新战术是个错误。它会导致瘫痪，造成破坏。” “当然！那正是我们的目的。”纳马提努力控制着满腔怒火，“久瑞南用宣传说服的方式，结果彻底失败， 现在我们要以实际行动打垮川陀。”“需要多久？要付什么代价？”“该多久就多久，至于代价嘛，其实微乎其微。这里一场停电、那里一场断水，污水淤塞、空调停摆……只会造成不方便和不舒适，如此而已。”卡斯帕洛夫摇了摇头。“这种事是会累积的。” “当然，卡斯帕洛夫，而且我们要大众的沮丧和愤怒也同样累积。你听好，帝国正在衰落，这点每个人都知道，每个有思考能力的人都知道。即使我们什么都不做，科技也会到处出问题，我们只是帮忙加点速而已。” “那样做很危险，首领。川陀的公共设施复杂得不可思议，乱推一通可能令它瓦解。要是拉错了线，川陀会像积木屋一样垮掉。” “目前为止还没有。” “将来可能就会。而且，万一人们发现是我们动的手脚怎么办？他们会把我们撕烂。不必召来保安部门或武装部队，暴民就会消灭我们。” “他们怎么知道该找我们算账？民怨的箭靶当然会是政府，是皇上的那些幕僚，他们不会找其他目标。” ‘知道自己干了这种事，我们怎么能活得心安理得？”最后这句话低得近乎耳语，显然受到强烈的情绪驱使。这位老者以恳求的眼神，望着桌子对面的领导者。他曾宣誓效忠，相信纳马提会真正继承九九•久瑞南的作风，坚守自由的 理想。现在卡斯帕洛夫不禁怀疑，九九是否会希望他的梦想通过这种手段实现。 纳马提啧啧两声，像训诫犯错子女的家长。 “卡斯帕洛夫，不要这么感情用事。一旦我们掌权，我们会收拾残局，重建川陀。我们将遵照久瑞南的遗训，让大众参与政府，增加民意代表，号召人民加入我们的行列。当政权巩固后，我们会建立一个更有效、更有力的政府。然后一个更好的川陀，一个更强大的帝国就会诞生。我们会设立一种论坛制度，让其他世界的代表畅所欲言，但唯一的统治者将是我们。” 卡斯帕洛夫默不吭声，心中犹豫不决。 纳马提冷笑一声。你怀疑？我们不会输的。目前为止一切十分顺利，今后仍会十分顺利。 皇上不会晓得发生了什么事，他一点概念也没有。而他的首相是个数学家，没错，他毁了久瑞南，但之后他却没什么作为。” “他有个东西叫……叫作……”“别提了。久瑞南认为那玩意很重要，就像他的机器人狂热一样，但那是由于他来自麦曲生，那数学家的玩意根本没——”“历史分析，还是什么心理分析之类的，有一次我听久瑞南说——”“别提了！只要做好你分内的事。你负责安纳摩瑞亚区的通风系统，对不对？很好，很好。随便你让它出什么毛病——让它停转使湿度升髙，或是发出怪味，还是其他什么手段都好。这些都害不死人，你不必觉得自己有什么罪大恶极。它只会使人们不舒服，升高大众不快与恼怒的程度。我们能信赖你吗？” “可是，会让年轻和健康的人不快与恼怒的事，对婴儿、老人、病人也或许有极大的——” "你是坚持任何人都不能受到伤害吗？” 卡斯帕洛夫咕哝了几句。 纳马提说：“不论做任何事，都无法保证不会有人受到伤害，你只要做好分内的工作就行。让受到伤害的人越少越好——如果你的良心坚持如此——但该做的工作要给我做到！”卡斯帕洛夫说：“首领，我还有一件事要说。” “说吧。”纳马提不耐烦地答道。 “我们是能花许多年时间让基本公共设施不断出毛病，但总有一天，你会利用累积起来的不满情绪夺取政权。你打算怎么进行？” “你想知道我们究竟要怎么做？” “是的。我们行动的时间越短，破坏的程度就越小，这手术也就越有效率。”纳马提慢条斯理地说：“我尚未决定采取哪种‘手术式攻击’，但我总会决定的。在此之 前，你会做好分内工作吗？” 卡斯帕洛夫顺从地点了点头。“会的，首领。” “好，那就走吧。”纳马提做了个表示解散的明快手势。 卡斯帕洛夫起身走了出去。纳马提目送他的背影，开口吩咐右侧的人说：“卡斯帕洛夫不能信任了，他已经成了叛徒。他探询未来的计划，是为了出卖我们。去把他解决掉。” 那人点了点头，与其他两人一同离去，留下纳马提单独坐在屋内。他关掉发出光芒的壁板，只留下天花板上一小方光源，使他不至于完全置身黑暗中。每条铁链都有必须剔除的脆弱环节，他想，过去我们必须这样做，而结果是我们有了一个牢不可破的组织。 他在昏暗中露出微笑，表情扭曲出一种野蛮的喜悦。这个网络甚至延伸到了皇宫——虽然不太巩固可靠，但的确存在，而且今后还会增强。 Chapter 6 The weather was holding up over the undomed area of the Imperial Palace grounds-warm and sunny. It didn't often happen. Hari remembered Dors telling him once how this particular area with its cold winters and frequent rains had been chosen as the site. "It wasn't actually chosen, " she said. "It was a family estate of the Morovian family in the early days of the Kingdom of Trantor. When the Kingdom became an Empire, there were numerous sites where the Emperor could live-summer resorts, winter places, sports lodges, beach properties. And, as the planet was slowly domed, one reigning Emperor, living here, liked it so much that it remained undomed. And, just because it was the only area left undomed, it became special-a place apart-and that uniqueness appealed to the next Emperor . and the next . and the next. . And so, a tradition was born." And as always, when hearing something like that, Seldon would think: And how would psychohistory handle this? Would it predict that one area would remain undomed but be absolutely unable to say which area? Could it go even so far? Could it predict that several areas would remain undomed or none-and be wrong? How could it account for the personal likes and dislikes of an Emperor who happened to be on the throne at the crucial time and who made a decision in a moment of whimsy and nothing more. That way lay chaos-and madness. Cleon I was clearly enjoying the good weather. "I'm getting old, Seldon," he said. "I don't have to tell you that. We're the same age, you and I. Surely it's a sign of age when I don't have the impulse to play tennis or go fishing, even though they've newly restocked the lake, but am willing to walk gently over the pathways." He was eating nuts as he spoke, which resembled what on Seldon's native world of Helicon would have been called pumpkin seeds, but which were larger and a little less delicate in taste. Cleon cracked them gently between his teeth, peeled the thin shells and popped the kernels into his mouth. Seldon did not like the taste particularly but, of course, when he was offered some by the Emperor, he accepted them and ate a few. The Emperor had a number of shells in his hand and looked vaguely around for a receptacle of some sort that he could use for disposal. He saw none, but he did notice a gardener standing not far away, his body at attention (as it should be in the Imperial presence) and his head respectfully bowed. Cleon said, "Gardener!" The gardener approached quickly. "Sire!" "Get rid of these for me," he said, tapping the shells into the gardener's hand. "Yes, Sire." Seldon said, "I have a few, too, Gruber." Gruber held out his hand and said, almost shyly, "Yes, First Minister." He hurried away and the Emperor looked after him curiously. "Do you know the fellow, Seldon?" "Yes, indeed, Sire. An old friend." "The gardener is an old friend? What is he? A mathematical colleague fallen on hard times?" "No, Sire. Perhaps you remember the story. It was the time when"-he cleared his throat, searching for the most tactful way to recall the incident-"the sergeant threatened my life shortly after I was appointed to my present post through your kindness." "The assassination attempt." Cleon looked up to heaven, as though seeking patience. "I don't know why everyone is so afraid of that word." "Perhaps," said Seldon smoothly, slightly despising himself for the ease with which he had become able to flatter, "the rest of us are more perturbed at the possibility of something untoward happening to our Emperor than you yourself are." Cleon smiled ironically. "I dare say. And what has this to do with Gruber? Is that his name?" "Yes, Sire. Mandell Gruber. I'm sure you will recall, if you cast your mind back, that there was a gardener who came rushing up with a rake to defend me against the armed sergeant." "Ah yes. Was that fellow the gardener who did that?" "He was the man, Sire. I've considered him a friend ever since and I meet him almost every time I am on the grounds. I think he watches for me, feels proprietary toward me. And, of course, I feel kindly toward him." "I don't blame you. -And while we're on the subject, how is your formidable lady, Dr. Venabili? I don't see her often." "She's a historian, Sire. Lost in the past." "She doesn't frighten you? She'd frighten me. I've been told how she treated that sergeant. One could almost be sorry for him." "She grows savage on my behalf, Sire, but has not had occasion to do so lately. It's been very quiet." The Emperor looked after the disappearing gardener. "Have we ever rewarded that man?" "I have done so, Sire. He has a wife and two daughters and I have arranged that each daughter will have a sum of money put aside for the education of any children she may have." "Very good. But he needs a promotion, I think. -Is he a good gardener?" "Excellent, Sire." "The Chief Gardener, Malcomber-I'm not quite sure I remember his name-is getting on and is, perhaps, not up to the job anymore. He is well into his late seventies. Do you think this Gruber might be able to take over?" "I'm certain he can, Sire, but he likes his present job. It keeps him out in the open in all kinds of weather." "A peculiar recommendation for a job. I'm sure he can get used to administration and I do need someone for some sort of renewal of the grounds. Hmmm. I must think upon this. Your friend Gruber may be just the man I need. -By the way, Seldon, what did you mean by saying it's been very quiet?" "I merely meant, Sire, that there has been no sign of discord at the Imperial Court. The unavoidable tendency to intrigue seems to be as near a minimum as it is ever likely to get." "You wouldn't say that if you were Emperor, Seldon, and had to contend with all these officials and their complaints. How can you tell me things are quiet when reports seem to reach me every other week of some serious breakdown here and there on Trantor?" "These things are bound to happen." "I don't recall such things happening so frequently in previous years." "Perhaps that was because they didn't, Sire. The infrastructure grows older with time. To make the necessary repairs properly would take time, labor, and enormous expense. This is not a time when a rise in taxes will be looked on favorably." "There's never any such time. I gather that the people are experiencing serious dissatisfaction over these breakdowns. It must stop and you must see to it, Seldon. What does psychohistory say?" "It says what common sense says, that everything is growing older." "Well, all this is quite spoiling the pleasant day for me. I leave it in your hands, Seldon." "Yes, Sire," said Seldon quietly. The Emperor strode off and Seldon thought that it was all spoiling the pleasant day for him, too. This breakdown at the center was the alternative he didn't want. But how was he to prevent it and switch the crisis to the Periphery? Psychohistory didn't say. 第六章 　　没有穹顶遮盖的露天御苑，这天仍如昨日一般温暖晴朗。 这样的天气并不常见。谢顿记得铎丝曾告诉他，这个冬季寒冷、终年多雨的地区是如何获选为皇宫所在地。 “其实不是被选上的。”她说，“在川陀王国早期，这里本是莫洛夫家族的属地。当王国 变成帝国时，有有许多地方可供皇帝居住，夏日避暑胜地、冬季避寒山庄、狩猎暂憩小屋、海滨度假别墅。后来这颗行星逐渐被穹顶笼罩，而当时一位皇帝住在这里，由于太喜欢此地， 所以让它一直保持露天。于是，只因为这里是唯一没有建造穹顶的地方，所以显得特别与众不同。这独一无二的特点吸引了下一任皇帝……然后下一任……再下一任……传统就这样诞生了。” 一如往常，谢顿听到类似的话总会想到：心理史学会如何处理这种现象？它能预测出某处将没有穹顶遮盖，却说不出是哪里吗？它能预测到这种程度吗？它会不会预测错误，指出川陀将有几处或没有一处保持露天？在关键时刻刚好在位的、在突发奇想之下做出决定的那位皇帝，心理史学要如何解释他个人的好恶……这样想下去只会让人陷入混沌疯狂。 克里昂一世显然喜欢好天气。 “我老了，谢顿。”他说，“这点我实在不必跟你说，我们两人同龄嘛。我没有打网球或 钓鱼的兴致——即使他们刚在湖中放生。我只想在小径上悠闲地漫步，当然，这是上了年纪的征兆。 他一面说一面吃着坚果，一种类似谢顿的故乡赫利肯上称为番瓜子的食物，不过体积较大，味道没那么可口。克里昂将它们轻轻咬开，剥掉薄薄的外壳，再将果仁丢进嘴里。 谢顿不怎么喜欢那种口味，不过，当皇上赏一些给他的时候，他还是接了过来，吃了几颗。 皇上手中握着些坚果壳，正四下张望，想找个可当垃圾桶的容器。他没找着，却注意到不远处站着一名园丁。那园丁正立定站好（在皇上面前理应如此），而且恭敬地低着头。 “园丁！”克里昂说。 那名园丁迅速走过来。“陛下！” “帮我把这些丢掉。”他说着将坚果壳放到园丁手上。“是的，陛下。” 谢顿说：“这儿也有一些，葛鲁柏。” 葛鲁柏伸出手，怯怯地说：“是的，首相。”葛鲁柏随即退下，皇上却好奇地望着他的背影。“你认识这个人，谢顿？” “认识，陛下。一个老朋友。”‘那个园丁是你的老朋友？他是什么人？一个落魄的数学家？”“不是的，陛下。或许您还记得那件事，那是在——”他清了清喉咙，寻思一个最技巧的叙述方式。“在您恩赐我首相这个职位后不久，有个侍卫威胁到我的性命。” “企图行刺。”克里昂抬头望向天空，仿佛在压抑不耐烦。“我不知道为何人人都那么害 怕用这个字眼。” “也许，”谢顿脱口便说，“川陀上下对于吾皇遭遇不幸事件的可能性，要远比您自己更 感忧心。”奉承话说得如此流利，谢顿不禁有点瞧不起自己。 克里昂露出嘲讽的笑容。“我想是吧。这跟葛鲁柏又有什么关系？那是他的名字吗？”“是的，陛下，曼德尔•葛鲁柏。只要您稍微回想，一定就会想起来，当时有个园丁拎 着耙子冲过来救我，勇敢地面对手持武器的刺客。” “啊，对。他就是那个园丁吗？” “就是他，陛下。从此以后，我一直把他当成朋友，而我每次到御苑来几乎都会碰到他。 我想他是在守护我，觉得有责任保护我。当然，对于他的守护，我是衷心感激。”“既然我们谈起这件事，你那位可怕的夫人，凡纳比里博士好吗？我不常见到她。” “她是个历史学家，陛下，迷失于过去的岁月中。” “你不怕她吗？她倒吓到了我。我听说过她如何对付那个侍卫，人们几乎不禁要替他难过。” “她是为了保护我才这么拼命，陛下，但她最近不太需要那么做，如今非常平静。” 皇帝的视线回到那名逐渐远去的园丁。“我们是否奖赏过此人？” “有的，陛下。他有妻子和两个女儿，我已经做好安排，为每个女儿都存了一笔钱，作为将来她们子女的教育费用。”“很好。可是，我想还需要给他升官。他是个好园丁吗？”“非常优秀，陛下。” “现任园丁长，莫康博——我不太确定他的名字——已经快八十岁了，说不定早已无法胜任那份工作。你认为这个葛鲁柏有能力接替他吗？”“我确信葛鲁柏有能力，陛下，可是他喜欢目前的工作。这让他能待在露天环境，接触各式各样的天气。” “他对工作的要求倒很特别。我确定他能习惯行政工作，而且我实在需要找个人，把御苑改头换面一番。嗯，我得好好想一想，你的朋友葛鲁柏可能正是适当人选。对啦，谢顿，你说如今非常平静是什么意思？” “陛下，我不过是指宫廷中没有任何不和的迹象。无可避免的倾轧斗争，似乎降到有史以来的最低点。” “谢顿，假使你是皇上，必须应付所有官员和他们的牢骚，你就不会这么说了。最近几乎每隔一周，我就会收到川陀某处发生某种公共设施严重故障的报告，你怎么能告诉我一切平静？” “发生这些事是很平常的。” “我不记得过去这类意外发生得那么频繁。”“也许因为事实正是如此，陛下。基本公共设施随着时间逐渐耗损，想要切实做好必要的修理，需要时间、人力，以及巨额经费。如今这年头，人民是不会欣然接受加税的。” “从来没有那样的年头。在我看来，这些故障必定引起百姓极度的不满。绝对不能继续下去，你必须负责解决，谢顿。心理史学怎么解释这事？” “和常识的判断一样，陛下，每样东西都会逐渐老化。” “好啦，这种事把我原本愉快的一天都破坏了，就交给你处理了，谢顿。” “是的，陛下。”谢顿平静地说。 皇帝大步离去后，谢顿心想，这种事也破坏了他原本愉快的一天，这发生在核心的崩溃， 正是他不愿见到的，可是该怎么做才能将危机转移到银河外缘？心理史学没有说明。 Chapter 7 Raych Seldon felt extraordinarily contented, for it was the first dinner en famille that he had had in some months with the two people he thought of as his father and mother. He knew perfectly well that they were not his parents in any biological sense, but it didn't matter. He merely smiled at them with complete love. The surroundings were not as warm as they had been at Streeling in the old days, when their home had been small and intimate, a virtual gem in the larger setting of the University. Now, unfortunately, nothing could hide the grandeur of the First Minister's Palace suite. Raych sometimes stared at himself in the mirror and wondered how it could be. He was not tall, only 163 centimeters in height, distinctly shorter than either parent. He was rather stocky but muscular-and not fat, with black hair and the distinctive Dahlite mustache that he kept as dark and as thick as possible. In the mirror he could still see the street urchin he had once been before the chanciest of great chances had dictated his meeting with Hari and Dors. Seldon had been much younger then and his appearance now made it plain that Raych himself was almost as old now as Seldon had been when they met. Amazingly, Dors had hardly changed at all. She was as sleek and fit as the day Raych had first showed Hari and Dors the way to Mother Rittah's in Billibotton. And he, Raych, born to poverty and misery, was now a member of the civil service, a small cog in the Ministry of Population. Seldon said, "How are things going at the Ministry, Raych? Any progress?" "Some, Dad. The laws are passed. The court decisions are made. Speeches are pronounced. Still, it's difficult to move people. You can preach brotherhood all you want, but no one feels like a brother. What gets me is that the Dahlites are as bad as any of the others. They want to be treated as equals, they say, and so they do, but, given a chance, they have no desire to treat others as equals." Dors said, "It's all but impossible to change people's minds and hearts, Raych. It's enough to try and perhaps eliminate the worst of the injustices." "The trouble is," said Seldon, "that through most of history, no one's been working on this problem. Human beings have been allowed to fester in the delightful game of I'm-better-than-you and cleaning up that mess isn't easy. If we allow things to follow their own bent and grow worse for a thousand years, we can't complain if it takes, say, a hundred years to work an improvement." "Sometimes, Dad," said Raych, "I think you gave me this job to punish me." Seldon's eyebrows raised. "What motivation could I have had to punish you?" "For feeling attracted to Joranum's program of sector equality and for greater popular representation in government." "I don't blame you for that. These are attractive suggestions, but you know that Joranum and his gang were using it only as a device to gain power. Afterward-" "But you had me entrap him, despite my attraction to his views." Seldon said, "it wasn't easy for me to ask you to do that." "And now you keep me working at the implementation of Joranum's program, just to show me how hard the task is in reality." Seldon said to Dors, "How do you like that, Dors? The boy attributes to me a kind of sneaky underhandedness that simply isn't part of my character." "Surely," said Dors with the ghost of a smile playing at her lips, "you are attributing no such thing to your father." "Not really. In the ordinary course of life, there's no one straighter than you, Dad. But if you have to, you know you can stack the cards. Isn't that what you hope to do with psychohistory?" Seldon said sadly, "So far, I've done very little with psychohistory." "Too bad. I keep thinking that there is some sort of psychohistorical solution to the problem of human bigotry." "Maybe there is, but, if so, I haven't found it." When dinner was over, Seldon said, "You and I, Raych, are going to have a little talk now." "Indeed?" said Dors. "I take it I'm not invited." "Ministerial business, Dors." "Ministerial nonsense, Hari. You're going to ask the poor boy to do something I wouldn't want him to do." Seldon said firmly, "I'm certainly not going to ask him to do anything he doesn't want to do." Raych said, "It's all right, Mom. Let Dad and me have our talk. I promise I'll tell you all about it afterward." Dors's eyes rolled upward. "You two will plead `state secrets.' I know "As a matter of fact," said Seldon firmly, "that's exactly what I must discuss. And of the first magnitude. I'm serious, Dors." Dors rose, her lips tightening. She left the room with one final injunction. "Don't throw the boy to the wolves, Hari." And after she was gone, Seldon said quietly, "I'm afraid that throwing you to the wolves is exactly what I'll have to do, Raych." 第七章 　　芮奇•谢顿今天感到格外满足，这是几个月以来，他第一次与自己视为父母亲的两个人，享受一顿全家团圆的晚餐。他心里十分明白，就任何生物学的角度而言，这两人都不是他的双亲，可是那不重要。他只是怀着满腔的敬爱，微笑着面对他们。 此地环境不如昔日在川陀时那么温馨，他们那时的房子很小，但充满家的味道，像是镶在大学里的一颗宝石。如今，首相官邸处处显露出的豪华气派令他十分不适应。 芮奇有时会瞪着镜中的自己，怀疑这一切是怎么来的。他个子不高，只有一米六三，比他的双亲矮很多。他的身材相当粗短，但结实健壮。他有一头黑发，蓄着达尔人特有的八字胡，并尽可能将两撇胡子保养得又黑又密。 在镜子里，他仍看得见当年那个街头顽童的影子。直到天大的幸运降临，让他巧遇谢顿 与铎丝，他才脱离那种环境。当时谢顿年轻多了，而芮奇现在的样子几乎已跟当年的谢顿一样大。奇怪的是，铎丝几乎一点也没变。她依然那么光鲜、那么苗条，和芮奇带他们去找脐眼的瑞塔嬷嬷时一模一样。而他自己，出身穷苫的芮奇，如今已是政府的一员，是人口部里的一个小齿轮。 谢顿问：“部里的事怎么样？有进展吗？” “有一点，爸。法律通过了，法院裁定了，宣导也进行了。话说回来，要说服民众实在很困难。尽管你怎么鼓吹手足之爱，可没人觉得和你是手足。我的观点是达尔人和其他人一样坏，他们希望受到平等待遇，他们也得到了，可是有机会的时候，他们却不愿平等对待别人。” 铎丝说：“芮奇，想改变一般人的观念和心理，几乎是不可能的事。只要试着消除最不公平的情况，也就够了。” “困难在于，”谢顿说，“有史以来，几乎没有人试过解决这个问题。人类一向沉溺在‘天下我最大’的心态中不肯反省，要收拾这个烂摊子可不容易。如果说，人类放任事态自行发展，已经持续恶化了一千年，那么即使现在得花上一百年才能改善状况，也没什么好抱怨的。” “爸，有时我会觉得，”芮奇说，“你给我这个工作是要惩罚我。”谢顿扬起眉毛。“我为什么要惩罚你？”“因为我被久瑞南的政治主张吸引，例如各区平等，以及在政府中增加民意代表等等。” “这件事我不怪你，那些都是很吸引人的政见。但你也知道，久瑞南和他的同党只是用这当夺权工具，后来——” “尽管我被他的论点吸引，你仍然派我去骗他自投罗网。”谢顿说：“那样做对我而言可不容易。”“现在，你又让我替久瑞南履行他的政治主张，只为了让我了解要将理想付诸实行有多困难。” 谢顿对铎丝说：你怎么说，铎丝？这孩子给我扣上卑鄙阴险的帽子，我根本不是那种人。”“这还用说。”铎丝的嘴角挂着一抹飘忽的笑容，“芮奇，你不该那样说你父亲。” “并不尽然。爸，在平常生活中，没有比你更正直的人。但如果有必要，你会不择手段。 这不正是你发展心理史学时可能会做到的事吗？”谢顿感叹道：‘只可惜心理史学的进展仍然微乎其微。” “真糟。我一直以为，对于人类冥颃不灵这个问题，心理史学或许能提出某种解答呢。” “或许吧。但就算有答案，我也还没找到。”晚餐结束后，谢顿说：“我有事要和你商量，芮奇。”“哦？”铎丝说，“你们似乎把我忘了。” “部里的公事，铎丝。” “部里才没事，哈里。你是要这可怜的孩子做些我不希望他做的事。” 谢顿坚定地说：“我当然不会强迫他做他不想做的事。” 芮奇说：“没关系，妈。让爸和我谈一谈，我保证事后会全告诉你。” 铎丝翻了翻白眼。“我知道，你们要讨论‘国家机密’。” “事实上，”谢顿又以坚定的口吻说，“我的确要和他谈国家机密，而且是非常重要的事。我没开玩笑，铎丝。” 铎丝抿着嘴，起身准备离开房间。临走前，她还不忘丢下一句告诫：“别再把这孩子往狼群里丢，哈里。” 她走了之后，谢顿平静地说：“只怕，我不得不把你往狼群里丢，芮奇。” Chapter 8 They faced each other in Seldon's private office, his "thinking place," as he called it. There, he had spent uncounted hours trying to think his way past and through the complexities of Imperial and Trantorian government. He said, "Have you read much about the recent breakdowns we've been having in planetary services, Raych?" "Yes," said Raych, "but you know, Dad, we've got an old planet here. What we gotta do is get everyone off it, dig the whole thing up, replace everything, add the latest computerizations, and then bring everyone back-or at least half of everyone. Trantor would be much better off with only twenty billion people." "Which twenty billion?" asked Seldon smiling. "I wish I knew," said Raych darkly. "The trouble is, we can't redo the planet, so we just gotta keep patching." "I'm afraid so, Raych, but there are some peculiar things about it. Now I want you to check me out. I have some thoughts about this." He brought a small sphere out of his pocket. "What's that?" asked Raych. "It's a map of Trantor, carefully programmed. Do me a favor, Raych, and clear off this tabletop." Seldon placed the sphere more or less in the middle of the table and placed his hand on a keypad in the arm of his desk chair. He used his thumb to close a contact and the light in the room went out while the tabletop glowed with a soft ivory light that seemed about a centimeter deep. The sphere had flattened and expanded to the edges of the table. The light slowly darkened in spots and took on a pattern. After some thirty seconds, Raych said in surprise, "It is a map of Trantor." "Of course. I told you it was. You can't buy anything like this at a sector mall, though. This is one of those gadgets the armed forces play with. It could present Trantor as a sphere, but a planar projection would more clearly show what I want to show." "And what is it you want to show, Dad?" "Well, in the last year or two, there have been breakdowns. As you say, it's an old planet and we've got to expect breakdowns, but they've been coming more frequently and they would seem, almost uniformly, to be the result of human error." "Isn't that reasonable?" "Yes, of course. Within limits. This is true, even where earthquakes are involved." "Earthquakes? On Trantor?" "I admit Trantor is a fairly nonseismic planet-and a good thing, too, because enclosing a world in a dome when the world is going to shake itself badly several times a year and smash a section of that dome would be highly impractical. Your mother says that one of the reasons Trantor, rather than some other world, became the Imperial capital is that it was geologically moribund-that's her unflattering expression. Still, it might be moribund, but it's not dead. There are occasional minor earthquakes -three of them in the last two years." "I wasn't aware of that, Dad." "Hardly anyone is. The dome isn't a single object. It exists in hundreds of sections, each one of which can be lifted and set ajar to relieve tensions and compressions in case of an earthquake. Since an earthquake, when one does occur, lasts for only ten seconds to a minute, the opening endures only briefly. It comes and goes so rapidly that the Trantorians beneath are not even aware of it. They are much more aware of a mild tremor and a faint rattling of crockery than of the opening and closing of the dome overhead and the slight intrusion of the outside weather-whatever it is." "That's good, isn't it?" "It should be. It's computerized, of course. The onset of an earthquake anywhere sets off the key controls for the opening and closing of that section of the dome so that it opens just before the vibration becomes strong enough to do damage." "Still good." "But in the case of the three minor earthquakes over the last two years, the dome controls failed in each case. The dome never opened and, in each case, repairs were required. It took some time, it took some money, and the weather controls were less than optimum for a considerable period of time. Now, what, Raych, are the chances that the equipment would have failed in all three cases?" "Not high?" "Not high at all. Less than one in a hundred. One can suppose that someone had gimmicked the controls in advance of an earthquake. Now, about once a century, we have a magma leak, which is far more difficult to control-and I'd hate to think of the results if it went unnoticed until it was too late. Fortunately that hasn't happened and isn't likely to, but consider- Here on this map you will find the location of the breakdowns that have plagued us over the past two years and that seem to be attributable to human error, though we haven't once been able to tell to whom each might be attributed." "That's because everyone is busy protecting his back." "I'm afraid you're right. That's a characteristic of any bureaucracy and Trantor's is the largest in history. -But what do you think of the locations?" The map had lit up with bright little red markings that looked like small pustules covering the land surface of Trantor. "Well," said Raych cautiously, "they seem to be evenly spread." "Exactly- and that's what's interesting. One would expect that the older sections of Trantor, the longest-domed sections, would have the most decayed infrastructure and would be more liable to events requiring quick human decision and laying the groundwork for possible human error. -I'll superimpose the older sections of Trantor on the map in a bluish color and you'll notice that the breakdowns don't seem to be taking place any oftener on the blue areas." "And?" "And what I think it means, Raych, is that the breakdowns are not of natural origin but are deliberately caused and spread out in this fashion to affect as many people as possible, thus creating a dissatisfaction that is as widespread as possible." "It don't seem likely." "No? Then let's look at the breakdowns as spread through time rather than through space." The blue areas and the red spots disappeared and, for a time, the map of Trantor was blank-and then the markings began to appear and disappear one at a time, here and there. "Notice," said Seldon, "that they don't appear in clumps in time, either. One appears, then another, then another, and so on, almost like the steady ticking of a metronome." "Do ya think that's on purpose, too?" "It must be. Whoever is bringing this about wants to cause as much disruption with as little effort as possible, so there's no use doing two at once, where one will partially cancel the other in the news and in the public consciousness. Each incident must stand out in full irritation." The map went out and the lights went on. Seldon returned the sphere, shrunken back to its original size, to his pocket. Raych said, "Who would be doing all this?" Seldon said thoughtfully, "A few days ago I received a report of a murder in Wye Sector." "That's not unusual," said Raych. "Even though Wye isn't one of your really lawless sectors, there must be lots of murders there every day." "Hundreds," said Seldon, shaking his head. "We've had bad days when the number of deaths by violence on Trantor as a whole approaches the million-a-day mark. Generally there's not much chance of finding every culprit, every murderer. The dead just enter the books as statistics. This one, however, was unusual. The man had been knifed-but unskillfully. He was still alive when found, just barely. He had time to gasp out one word before he died and that word was `Chief.' "That roused a certain curiosity and he was actually identified. He works in Anemoria and we don't know what he was doing in Wye. But some worthy officer managed to dig up the fact that he was an old Joranumite. His name was Kaspal Kaspalov and he is well known to have been one of the intimates of Laskin Joranum. And now he's deadknifed." Raych frowned. "Do you suspect another Joranumite Conspiracy, Dad? There aren't any Joranumites around anymore." "It wasn't long ago that your mother asked me if I thought that the Joranumites were still active and I told her that any odd belief always retained a certain cadre, sometimes for centuries. They're usually not very important, just splinter groups that simply don't count. Still, what if the Joranumites have kept up an organization, what if they have retained a certain strength, what if they are capable of killing someone they consider a traitor in their ranks, and what if they are producing these breakdowns as a preliminary to seizing control?" "That's an awful lot of `what if 's,' Dad." "I know that. And I might be totally wrong. The murder happened in Wye and, as it so happens, there have been no infrastructure breakdowns in Wye." "What does that prove?" "It might prove that the center of the conspiracy is in Wye and that the conspirators don't want to make themselves uncomfortable, only the rest of Trantor. It also might mean that it's not the Joranumites at all but members of the old Wyan family who still dream of ruling the Empire once again." "Oh boy, Dad. You're building all this on very little." "I know. Now suppose it is another Joranumite Conspiracy. Joranum had, as his right-hand man, Gambol Deen Namarti. We have no record of Namarti's death, no record of his having left Trantor, no record of his life over the last decade or so. That's not terribly surprising. After all, it's easy to lose one person among forty billion. There was a time in my life when I tried to do just that. Of course, Namarti may be dead. That would be the easiest explanation, but he may not be." "What do we do about it?" Seldon sighed. "The logical thing would be to turn to the security establishment, but I can't. I don't have Demerzel's presence. He could cow people; I can't. He had a powerful personality; I'm just a-mathematician. I shouldn't be First Minister at all; I'm not cut out for it. And I wouldn't be-if the Emperor weren't fixated on psychohistory to a far greater extent than it deserves." "You're kinda whipping yourself, ain't you, Dad?" "Yes. I suppose I am, but I have a picture of myself going to the security establishment, for instance, with what I have just shown you on the map"-he pointed to the now-empty tabletop-"and arguing that we were in great danger of some conspiracy of unknown consequence and nature. They would listen solemnly and, after I had left, they would laugh among themselves about `the crazy mathematician'-and then do nothing.' "Then what do we do about it?" said Raych, returning to the point. "It's what you will do about it, Raych. I need more evidence and I want you to find it for me. I would send your mother, but she won't leave me under any circumstances. I myself can't leave the Palace grounds at this time. Next to Dors and myself, I trust you. More than Dors and myself, in fact. You're still quite young, you're strong, you're a better Heliconian Twister than I ever was, and you're smart. "Mind you, now, I don't want you to risk your life. No heroism, no derring-do. I couldn't face your mother if anything happened to you. Just find out what you can. Perhaps you'll find that Namarti is alive and operating-or dead. Perhaps you'll find out that the Joranumites are an active group-or moribund. Perhaps you'll find out that the Wyan ruling family is active-or not. Any of that would be interesting-but not vital. What I want you to find out is whether the infrastructure breakdowns are of human manufacture, as I think they are, and, far more important still, if they are deliberately caused, what else the conspirators plan to do. It seems to me they must have plans for some major coup and, if so, I must know what that will be." Raych said cautiously, "Do you have some kinda plan to get me started?" "Yes indeed, Raych. I want you to go down to the area of Wye where Kaspalov was killed. Find out if you can if he was an active Joranumite and see if you can't join a Joranumite cell yourself." "Maybe that's possible. I can always pretend to be an old Joranumite. It's true that I was pretty young when Jo-Jo was sounding off, but I was very impressed by his ideas. It's even sorta true." "Well yes, but there's one important catch. You might be recognized. After all, you're the son of the First Minister. You have appeared on holovision now and then and you have been interviewed concerning your views on sector equality." "Sure, but-" "No buts, Raych. You'll wear elevated shoes to add three centimeters to your height and we'll have someone show you how to change the shape of your eyebrows and make your face fuller and change the timbre of your voice." Raych shrugged. "A lotta trouble for nothing." "And," said Seldon with a distinct quaver, "you will shave off your mustache." Raych's eyes widened and for a moment he sat there in appalled silence. Finally he said in a hoarse whisper, "Shave my mustache?" "Clean as a whistle. No one would recognize you without it." "But it can't be done. Like cutting off your- Like castration." Seldon shook his head. "It's just a cultural curiosity. Yugo Amaryl is as Dahlite as you are and he wears no mustache." "Yugo is a nut. I don't think he's alive at all, except for his mathematics." "He's a great mathematician and the absence of a mustache does not alter that fact. Besides, it's not castration. Your mustache will grow back in two weeks." "Two weeks! It'll take two years to reach this-this-" He put his hand up, as though to cover and protect it. Seldon said inexorably, "Raych, you have to do it. It's a sacrifice you must make. If you act as my spy with your mustache, you may-come to harm. I can't take that chance." "I'd rather die," said Raych violently. "Don't be melodramatic," said Seldon severely. "You would not rather die and this is something you must do. However"-and here he hesitated-"don't say anything about it to your mother. I will take care of that." Raych stared at his father in frustration and then said in a low and despairing tone, "All right, Dad." Seldon said, "I will get someone to supervise your disguise and then you will go to Wye by air-jet. -Buck up, Raych, it's not the end of the world." Raych smiled wanly and Seldon watched him leave, a deeply troubled look on his face. A mustache could easily be regrown, but a son could not. Seldon knew perfectly well that he was sending Raych into danger. 第八章 　　他们面对面坐在谢顿的私人研究室。谢顿将此处称为他的“思考空间”，他曾在这里待了无数个钟头，思考如何解决帝国与川陀政府种种复杂的问题。他说：“你晓得川陀的行星设施最近频频故障的消息吗，芮奇？” “晓得，”芮奇说，”但你也知道，爸，川陀是一个老行星。最好的办法是把所有人撤离，把所有东西都挖出来，一样一样换新、加上最新的计算机化设备，然后再把大家带回来，或者带回一半。如果人口只有两百亿，川陀的情况会好得多。” “哪两百亿？”谢顿带着微笑说。 “但愿我晓得。”芮奇黯然道，“问题是，我们不能翻新这颗行星，所以只好不停修修补 补。” “只怕就是如此，芮奇，可是这里头有些蹊跷。我对这件事有些想法，现在我要你帮我确定一下。” 他从口袋里掏出一个小球体。 “这是什么？”芮奇问。 “川陀地图，里面有精密的程序。帮个忙，芮奇，把桌面清一下。”谢顿将球体放在桌面中央的位置，再按下座椅扶手上的键版开关。室内光线暗下来，桌面发出柔和的乳白色光芒，约有一厘米厚。那球体已摊成平面，一直伸展到书桌边缘。多处光芒开始变暗，逐渐形成一个图案。一会儿之后，芮奇惊讶地说：“这是一张川陀地图。” “是啊，我刚说过了。不过在购物中心买不到这种东西，这是武装部队的装置。它能以球面表现川陀外观，但我想跟你说明的事，用平面投影会看得更清楚。”“你想说明什么，爸？” “这个嘛……过去一两年来，各地设施发生了许多故障。正如你说的，这是个老行星，故障在所难免，可是故障的次数越来越频繁，而且好像都是人为错误造成的。” “这不合理吗？” “当然合理，但总有个限度。即使是和地震有关的意外也一样。” “地震？在川陀？” “我承认川陀是个少地震的行星。这是件好事，因为整个世界都包在穹顶下，如果每年剧烈摇晃好几次，震坏一部分穹顶，那穹顶这种设计就太不实际了。你母亲常说，帝国定都在川陀而非其他世界，原因之一就是它在地质上死气沉沉——这是她不加修饰的说法。话说回来，它或许死气沉沉，但却没有真的死去，有时也会有些小型地震，过去两年就发生了三次。” “我没有察觉，爸。” “几乎没有人察觉。穹顶不是单一的结构，而是由好几百个部分组成，如果发生地震，每一部分都会掀起形成缝隙，以舒解拉张力与压缩力。地震顶多持续十秒至一分钟，因此穹顶打开的时间很短。整个过程来得急去得快，底下的川陀人甚至不会有任何感觉。比起头顶的穹顶开启关闭，以及少许闯入的外界气候——不论是冷是热——他们对身旁的轻微震动，以及器皿的微弱声响要敏感得多。”“那样很好啊，不是吗？” “应该是的，这一切都由计算机控制，任何地方一有地震，便会触动控制当地穹顶开阖的主控器，在震动强到造成破坏前，穹顶便已开启。”“这还是很好。” “可是在过去两年的三次小型地震，穹顶控制器每次都失灵。穹顶并没有打开，因此事后都得修理。修理穹顶不但耗费时间、金钱，而且会使气候控制有好长一段时间无法达到最佳标准。想想，芮奇，控制器三次都碰巧失灵的几率有多高？”“不高吧？” “一点也不高，不到百分之一。我们可以假设，在地震发生前，控制器已被人动了手脚。 另外，大约每隔一世纪会有一次岩浆泄漏，这种意外更难控制。如果岩浆泄漏发生时我们未能及早察觉，我不敢想像那会造成什么后果。幸好这种事没有真的发生过，而且不大可能。在这张地图上，你可以看到过去两年间可能是人为错误引发的故障地点——虽然我们一直无法判断应该归咎于什么人。” “那是因为每个人都忙着踢皮球。” “只怕你的说法没错。那是所有官僚体系的共同特征，而川陀的官僚体系又是有史以来最庞大的。言归正传，你对那些地点有什么看法？” 地图上亮着许多小红光点，看来像是散布在川陀地表的小脓包。“嗯，”芮奇谨慎地说，“这些点似乎分散得很均匀。” “没错，这正是有意思的地方。在我们的想像中，川陀上较古老的区域、加盖穹顶最久的区域，基础公共设施应该最老旧，比较容易发生需要人为迅速决断的事件，因此也最容易发生人为错误。我把川陀较古老的区域罩上蓝色，你会发现，蓝色部分中的故障似乎没有比较频繁。” “所以说？”“所以说我认为，这表明这些故障不是自然意外，而是蓄意破坏。它的分布方式像是要尽可能影响最多的人，尽可能散布不满的情绪。”“似乎不太像。” “不像吗？那么让我们看看，这些故障在时间上的分布又如何。” 突然间，蓝色部分与红点同时消失，这张川陀地图成了一片空白。接着红色记号开始逐个在各处出现又消失。 “注意，”谢顿说，“它们也没有同时出现过。先出现一个，然后另一个，接着再一个， 几乎就像节拍器稳定的滴答声。” “你认为这也是故意的？” “一定是。不论是谁干的，他是想以最小力气导致最大限度的瘫痪。所以同时干两桩根本没用，因为若同时发生，两件意外的新闻价值和大众关注都会互相抵消一部分。也就是说， 必须让每次事件突显于群众的盛怒中。”地图的光芒熄灭，室内照明重新开启，谢顿将缩回原来大小的球体放回口袋。芮奇说：“这一切会是谁干的？” 谢顿若有所思地说：“几天前，我接到一份卫荷区的凶杀案报告。”“那没什么不寻常。”芮奇说，“就算卫荷不算在那些无法无天的区域里面，每天一定也 有许多凶杀案发生。” “好几百间。”谢顿一面说一面摇头，“川陀还经历过一段非常混乱的时期，一天之内死 的总人数就逼近百万大关。一般说来，每个罪犯都被抓到的机会并不大。凶杀事件往往只是登记在案，成了统计数据。然而，这一宗非比寻常。被害人是死于刀杀，但凶手手法不熟练， 被害人被发现时还奄奄一息，在咽气前，他吐出两个字：‘首领’。” 9 “这点引起办案人员的好奇。他们査出死者是在安纳摩瑞亚工作，为了不明原因到卫荷去。有个杰出的警官锲而不舍地挖出了死者底细。他的名字叫卡斯帕•卡斯帕洛夫，是个老 九九派，众所皆知他曾是拉斯金•久瑞南的亲信之一。”芮奇皱起眉头。“你怀疑又有一次九九派阴谋，爸？现在已经没有任何九九派了。” “不久前，你母亲还问我是否认为九九派仍在积极活动。我告诉她，任何古怪信仰总是会有一些死忠分子，有些组织甚至能撑上数世纪。他们通常只是一些零星的集团，不太重要， 也起不了什么作用。但话说回来，万一九九派仍然维持组织的形式，万一他们保有一定的力量，万一他们有办法杀害一个他们视为叛徒的人，万一他们制造这些故障，是为了夺权，那该怎么办？” “爸，你的‘万一’可真不少。” “我知道，但也许我全猜错了。那宗凶杀案发生在卫荷，而无巧不巧，卫荷从未发生过基本公共设施故障的事件。” “这又证明什么？” “或许证明阴谋的中心就在卫荷，那些主谋者只想让其他人受罪，不想让自己不舒服。但也可能意味着一切根本和九九派无关，而是古老的卫荷家族成员干的，他们又在梦想统治帝国。” “噢，天啊，爸，你这个长篇大论的根据实在很薄弱。” “我知道。现在，姑且假设这是九九派的阴谋。久瑞南曾有个左右手，叫作坎伯尔•丁 恩•纳马提。我们找不到纳马提死亡的纪录，找不到他离开川陀或他过去十年下落的纪录。 这没什么大不了，毕竟在四百亿人口中，弄丟一个人是很容易的——我过去曾有段时期也企图让自己消失。当然，纳马提或许死了，那是最简单的解释，但他也可能没死。”“那我们该怎么做呢？" 谢顿叹了口气。“最合理的做法，就是交给保安部门处理，但我做不到。我没有丹莫茨尔的风采，他能震慑众人，我却不行。他有强势性格，而我只是个数学家。我根本不该当首相，我天生就不适合。若非皇上过分迷信心理史学，我也不会当上首相。” “你太苛求了吧，对不对，爸？” “也许是吧。但如果我直接带着地图前往保安部门，照我刚才的推论。”他指了指己经腾空的桌面，“向他们解释我们正面临一桩极其危险的阴谋，而它的目的和性质我们一无所知。我可以想像，他们会一本正经地听我说完，然后在我离去后笑成一团，笑我是个‘疯狂数学家’，接着什么也不做。” “那我们要做什么呢？”芮奇又回到原来的话题。“是你要做什么，芮奇。我需要更多的证据，而我要你帮我找出来。本来应该是你母亲去，但她在任何情况下都不会离开我，而此时此刻我又离不开皇宫。除了铎丝和我自己，你是我最信任的人，事实上，我对你的信任还超过我对铎丝和我自己的信任。你年轻，身强体壮，是个比我更优秀的赫利肯角力士，而且你很聪明。“仔细听好，我不要你冒生命危险。别充英雄，别逞匹夫之勇。你若有个三长两短，我没脸面对你母亲。你只要尽力打探，看看纳马提是否还活着，是否仍然继续活跃，看看九九派是否仍然积极活动，或者已经沉寂，还有卫荷的统治家族是否依然活跃等等。任何这类情报都有价值，但不是最重要的。我真正要你査清楚的是，基本公共设施的故障究竟是否如我推测，是人为的。而更重要的是，如果真是蓄意的破坏，那些主谋者还计划做些什么。在我看来，他们一定有某些主要行动计划，如果是这样，我必须知道计划的内容。” 芮奇细心地问：“我该如何着手？”“芮奇，我要你前往卫荷，到卡斯帕洛夫遇害的地方。如果可能，查出他是不是积极的九九派，并试试看能否混入九九派的基层组织。”“那应该不难，假扮老九九派对我来说是轻而易举的事。虽然九九人发议论的时候我还年轻，但他的理念深深打动了我。我甚至不用编谎话骗人。” “不过，还有个重要的问题，你可能被人认出来，毕竟，你是首相的儿子，不时在全息电视上出现，而且你接受过访问，谈论对各区平等的观点。” “当然，可是——” “没什么可是，芮奇。你要穿上增髙鞋，让身高增加三厘米。我们还要找个人来，修改你眉毛的形状，使你的脸型变宽，还要改变你的音色。” 芮奇耸了耸肩。“一大堆无谓的麻烦。”“还有！”谢顿的声音明显抖动起来，“你要剃掉你的八字胡。” 芮奇双眼张得老大，一时之间，他瘫坐在惊骇的沉默中。最后，他嘶哑地悄声道：“剃掉我的八字胡？” “剃得干干净净，这样就没人会认出你。” “我办不到，这就像割掉你的……就像阉割一样。” 谢顿摇了摇头。“那只不过是一种文化癖性。雨果•阿马瑞尔跟你一样是达尔人，他就 没留八字胡。” “雨果是个怪人。除了他的数学，我根本不认为他还活着。” “他是伟大的数学家，少了八字胡不会改变这个事实。何况，这也不是什么阉割。你的胡子两个星期就会长回来。” “两个星期！需要两年才能达到这样的……这样的……” 他举起手，仿佛要遮住并保护那两撇胡子。 谢顿无动于衷地说：“芮奇，你一定要这么做，这是你必须做的牺牲。如果你带着八字胡做我的间谍，你可能会——被伤害，我不能让你冒险。”“我宁可死。”芮奇激动地说。“别那么戏剧化。”谢顿口气变得严厉。“你才不想死，这是你必须做的牺牲。不管怎么 样——”说到这里，他犹豫了一下。“什么也别对你母亲说，我会设法安抚她。”芮奇满怀挫折地瞪着父亲，绝望地低声道：“好吧。”谢顿说：“我会找个人来指导你化装，然后你搭乘喷射机到卫荷去。振作点，芮奇，这不是世界末日。” 芮奇露出无力的微笑，走了出去。 谢顿目送他离去，脸上挂着深刻的愁容。两撇胡子再长出来很容易，可是儿子不能。谢顿心中十分清楚，他正将芮奇往虎穴里推。 Chapter 9 We all have our small illusions and Cleon-Emperor of the Galaxy, King of Trantor, and a wide collection of other titles that on rare occasions could be called out in a long sonorous roll-was convinced that he was a person of democratic spirit. It always angered him when he was warned off a course of action by Demerzel (or, later, by Seldon) on the grounds that such action would be looked on as "tyrannical" or "despotic." Cleon was not a tyrant or despot by disposition, he was certain; he only wanted to take firm and decisive action. He spoke many times with nostalgic approval of the days when Emperors could mingle freely with their subjects, but now, of course, when the history of coups and assassinations-actual or attempted-had become a dreary fact of life, the Emperor had, of necessity, been shut off from the world. It is doubtful that Cleon, who had never in his life met with people except under the most constricted of conditions, would really have felt at home in offhand encounters with strangers, but he always imagined he would enjoy it. He was excited, therefore, for the rare chance of talking to one of the underlings on the grounds, to smile and to doff the trappings of Imperial rule for a few minutes. It made him feet democratic. There was this gardener whom Seldon had spoken of, for instance. It would be fitting, even a pleasure, to reward him belatedly for his loyalty and bravery-and to do so himself, rather than leaving it to some functionary. He therefore arranged to meet the fellow in the spacious rose garden, which was in full bloom. That would be appropriate, Cleon thought, but, of course, they would have to bring the gardener there first. It was unthinkable for the Emperor to be made to wait. It is one thing to be democratic, quite another to be inconvenienced. The gardener was waiting for him among the roses, his eyes wide, his lips trembling. It occurred to Cleon that it was possible that no one had told the man the exact reason for the meeting. Well, he would reassure him in kindly fashion-except that, now he came to think of it, he could not remember the fellow's name. He turned to one of the officials at his side and said, "What is the gardener's name?" "Sire, it is Mandell Gruber. He has been a gardener here for thirty years." The Emperor nodded and said, "Ah, Gruber. How glad I am to meet a worthy and hardworking gardener." "Sire," mumbled Gruber, his teeth chattering. "I am not a man of many talents, but it is always my best I try to do on behalf of your gracious self." "Of course, of course," said the Emperor, wondering if the gardener suspected him of sarcasm. These men of the lower class lacked the finer feelings that came with refinement and manners, which always made any attempt at democratic display difficult. Cleon said, "I have heard from my First Minister of the loyalty with which you once came to his aid and of your skill in taking care of the grounds. The First Minister tells me that he and you are quite friendly." "Sire, the First Minister is most gracious to me, but I know my place. I never speak to him unless he speaks first." "Quite, Gruber. That shows good manners on your part, but the First Minister, like myself, is a man of democratic impulses and I trust his judgment of people." Gruber bowed low. The Emperor said, "As you know, Gruber, Chief Gardener Malcomber is quite old and longs to retire. The responsibilities are becoming greater than even he can bear." "Sire, the Chief Gardener is much respected by all the gardeners. May he be spared for many years so that we can all come to him for the benefit of his wisdom and judgment." "Well said, Gruber," said the Emperor carelessly, "but you very well know that that is just mumbo-jumbo. He is not going to be spared, at least not with the strength and wit necessary for the position. He himself requests retirement within the year and I have granted him that. It remains to find a replacement." "Oh, Sire, there are fifty men and women in this grand place who could be Chief Gardener." "I dare say," said the Emperor, "but my choice has fallen upon you." The Emperor smiled graciously. This was the moment he had been waiting for. Gruber would now, he expected, fall to his knees in an ecstasy of gratitude. He did not and the Emperor frowned. Gruber said, "Sire, it is an honor that is too great for me-entirely." "Nonsense," said Cleon, offended that his judgment should be called into question. "It is about time that your virtues are recognized. You will no longer have to be exposed to weather of all kinds at all times of the year. You will have the Chief Gardener's office, a fine place, which I will have redecorated for you, and where you can bring your family. -You do have a family, don't you, Gruber?" "Yes, Sire. A wife and two daughters. And a son-in-law." "Very good. You will be very comfortable and you will enjoy your new life, Gruber. You will be indoors, Gruber, and out of the weather, like a true Trantorian." "Sire, consider that I am an Anacreonian by upbringing-" "I have considered, Gruber. All worlds are alike to the Emperor. It is done. The new job is what you deserved." He nodded his head and stalked off. Cleon was satisfied with this latest show of his benevolence. Of course, he could have used a little more gratitude from the fellow, a little more appreciation, but at least the task was done. And it was much easier to have this done than to settle the matter of the failing infrastructure. Cleon had, in a moment of testiness, declared that whenever a breakdown could be attributed to human error, the human being in question should forthwith be executed. "Just a few executions," he said, "and it will be remarkable how careful everyone will become." "I'm afraid, Sire," Seldon had said, "that this type of despotic behavior would not accomplish what you wish. It would probably force the workers to go on strike-and if you try to force them back to work, there would then be an insurrection-and if you try to replace them with soldiers, you will find they do not know how to control the machinery, so that breakdowns will begin to take place much more frequently." It was no wonder that Cleon turned to the matter of appointing a Chief Gardener with relief. As for Gruber, he gazed after the departing Emperor with the chill of sheer horror. He was going to be taken from the freedom of the open air and condemned to the constriction of four walls. -Yet how could one refuse the Emperor? 第九章 　　每个人都会有小小的幻想，而克里昂——银河之帝、川陀之王，或其他一大串在特殊场合能高声宣诵许久的头衔——则深信自己是个具有民主精神的人。 每当丹莫茨尔（以及后来的谢顿）以唯恐招来“暴虐”与“独裁”的恶名为由，对他要采取的行动提出劝阻时，克里昂总是气愤难平。 他确定自己并非暴君或独夫，他只是想坚定、果断地解决问题，如此而已。 他曾多次以怀旧的口吻，称赞过去皇帝与子民打成一片的日子。而如今，随着（成功的或未遂的）政变与行刺的历史成为真实生活中的可怕威胁，皇帝只好与世隔绝。 克里昂一生只在最严格保护的场合里才接见外人。假如在毫无准备的情况下遇到陌生人， 很难相信他会真正自在，但他总是幻想自己会喜欢。因此，若能有个机会在御苑跟下属谈谈， 尽情微笑，将皇家规范暂时抛掉几分钟，他会十分兴奋。那使他觉得自己很民主。 比如说，谢顿提到过的那个园丁就是个好人选。克里昂准备亲自褒奖他的忠心与英勇（虽 然那已是陈年往事），而非草草交代某个官员来执行。这将很合适他亲民的风范，甚至会是一件乐事。 因此，在这个玫瑰盛开的季节，他安排在广阔的玫瑰园中接见这个人。这样很适当，克里昂心想，可是，当然，那个园丁必须先被带到那里。让皇上等待简直匪夷所思，民主是一回事，不便则是另一回事。 那名园丁正站在玫瑰丛中等他，双眼睁得老大，嘴唇直打哆嗦。克里昂这才想到，可能还没人告诉园丁皇上亲自召见他的确实理由。好吧，他将以和蔼亲切的方式安抚他。只不过， 他叫什么名字呢？克里昂发觉自己完全没有印象。他转头问身旁的官员：“这园丁叫什么名字？” “陛下，他叫曼德尔•葛鲁柏，已经在这里当了三十年的园丁。”皇上点了点头。“啊，葛鲁柏，我多么高兴接见一个杰出而努力的园丁。” “陛下，”葛鲁柏讲话含糊不清，牙齿打战，“我不是个聪明能干的人，但我总是竭尽全 力为仁厚的陛下办事。” “当然，当然。”皇上嘴上这样说，心里不禁怀疑这个园丁是否以为自己在讽刺他。咳， 这些低下阶层的人，缺乏气质与礼貌，当然也不会有敏锐的心思，总是使他难以展现民主作风。 克里昂说：“我从首相那里，听到你当初冒死拯救他的忠心，以及你照顾御苑的技艺。首相还说，你和他相当友好。”“陛下，首相对我很和气，可是我知道自己的身份，除非他先开口，我绝不会主动跟他说话。” “很好，葛鲁柏，这显示出你的好规矩。言归正传，首相和我一样，是具有民主素养的人，而我信任他对人的判断。”葛鲁柏深深鞠了一躬。 皇上说：“葛鲁柏，你也知道，园丁长莫康博相当老了，一直渴望退休。他已经不能承担那么重的责任了。” “陛下，园丁长深受全体园丁的尊敬。愿他长命百岁，好让我们能领受他的智慧和见识。”“说得好，葛鲁柏。”皇上漫不经心地说，“可是你心里明白，那不过是句废话。他不会 长命百岁，至少不会一直保有这个职位所需的精力和智力。他已经请求在今年退休，而我批 准了，剩下的问题是找个替代人选。” “喔，陛下，在御苑中有五十个男女园丁能出任园丁长这个职位。”“我想是吧。”皇上说，“但我的选择落在你身上。”皇上露出优雅亲善的笑容。这是他 一直等待的时刻，在他的期待中，葛鲁柏这时会感激涕零得双膝落地。 葛鲁柏没那么做，皇上皱起眉头。 葛鲁柏说：“陛下，这么大的荣耀，我实在担当不起。” “胡说八道。”他的判断竟受到质疑，令克里昂深感不快。“该是你的美德得到褒扬的时 候了。你再也不必经年累月暴露在各种天气中，你将坐镇园丁长的办公室。那是个好地方，我会替你重新装潢，你可以全家搬过来。你有家人，对不对，葛鲁柏？”“是的，陛下。有个妻子和两个女儿，还有一个女婿。” “很好，你会过得很舒服，会喜欢你的新生活，葛鲁柏。你将待在室内，远离室外的天气，像个真正的川陀人。” “陛下，念在我本是安纳克瑞昂人——”“我想过，葛鲁柏，所有的世界在我眼中一视同仁。就这么决定了，这个新工作是你应得的。” 克里昂点了点头，便昂首阔步走了。对于刚刚这场施恩的表演，他替自己打了满分。当然，他本来还能从此人身上多赚取一点感激和谢意，但至少这件工作算是完成了。比起解决基本公共设施故障的问题，这件事要容易多了。 克里昂曾在一时暴怒中，宣称只要哪个故障可能归咎于人为错误，就立即处决犯错的人。 “只要处决几个人。”他说，“你无法想像其他人会变得多么谨慎。” “只怕，陛下，”谢顿则说，‘这类独裁的行为不会达到您预期的结果，反而会迫使工人 罢工。您若强迫他们复工就会引发叛乱，而如果您试图以军人取代他们，将发现军人不懂如何操作那些机器，故障反而会更加频繁。” 难怪克里昂转而处理园丁长的任命案，并视其为一大解脱。至于葛鲁柏，他望着逐渐走远的皇上，在极度惊恐中发着冷栗。他将从此失去呼吸新鲜空气的自由，一辈子囚禁在被四面墙壁封死的牢房中。然而，有谁敢拒绝皇上的旨意？ Chapter 10 Raych looked in the mirror of his Wye hotel room somberly (it was a pretty run-down hotel room, but Raych was not supposed to have too many credits). He did not like what he saw. His mustache was gone; his sideburns were shortened; his hair was clipped at the sides and back. He looked-plucked. Worse than that. As a result of the change in his facial contours, he looked baby-faced. It was disgusting. Nor was he making any headway. Seldon had given him the security reports on Kaspal Kaspalov's death, which he had studied. There wasn't much there. Just that Kaspalov had been murdered and that the local security officers had come up with nothing of importance in connection with that murder. It seemed quite clear that the security officers attached little or no importance to it, anyway. That was not surprising. In the last century, the crime rate had risen markedly in most worlds, certainly in the grandly complex world of Trantor, and nowhere were the local security officers up to the job of doing anything useful about it. In fact, the security establishment had declined in numbers and efficiency everywhere and (while this was hard to prove) had become more corrupt. It was inevitable this should be so, with pay refusing to keep pace with the cost of living. One must pay civil officials to keep them honest. Failing that, they would surely make up for their inadequate salaries in other ways. Seldon had been preaching this doctrine for some years now, but it did no good. There was no way to increase wages without increasing taxes and the populace would not sit still for increased taxes. It seemed they would rather lose ten times the credits in graft. It was all part (Seldon had said) of the general deterioration of Imperial society over the previous two centuries. Well, what was Raych to do? He was here at the hotel where Kaspalov had lived during the days immediately before his murder. Somewhere in the hotel there might be someone who had something to do with that-or who knew someone who had. It seemed to Raych that he must make himself conspicuous. He must show an interest in Kaspalov's death and then someone would get interested in him and pick him up. It was dangerous, but if he could make himself sound harmless enough, they might not attack him immediately. Well- Raych looked at his timeband. There would be people enjoying their predinner aperitifs in the bar. He might as well join them and see what would happen-if anything. 第十章 　　在卫荷一家旅馆的房间中，芮奇照着镜子，满面愁容。(这是一间相当残破的房间，芮 奇此刻的身份使他不能拥有太多信用点。）他不喜欢镜中的影像，他的八字胡没了，鬓角剃短了，两侧与脑后的头发也经过修剪。 他看来好像——被拔了毛。 更糟的是，由于脸型轮廓的改变，他成了娃娃脸。真恶心！ 他的任务毫无进展。谢顿给了他一份卡斯帕•卡斯帕洛夫的命案报告，芮奇硏究过了。 里面没写什么，只提到卡斯帕洛夫是死于他杀。当地保安官并未查出这宗凶案有其他重大牵连，一副毫不重视的态度。 这不令人惊讶。过去一世纪以来，大多数世界的犯罪率都明显上升，川陀这个极度复杂的世界当然不例外，却没有一处的保安官有心解决这个问题。事实上，不论就数量或效率而言，各处的保安部门都在走下坡，而且越来越腐败（虽然这点难以证明）。既然待遇跟不上物质上涨的幅度，这种现象自然无可避免。想要公务员保持清廉，必须喂饱他们才行，若做不到这点，他们一定会用其他方式补贴不足的薪资。 谢顿鼓吹这点已有好些年，却收不到任何成效。调整薪资不可能不加税，而民众对加税绝不会乖乖就范，他们似乎宁可在行贿上损失十倍的信用点。 谢顿曾经说过，这是过去两个世纪以来，帝国社会整体恶化的一部分。 好了，芮奇想，该怎么做呢？他现在下榻的这家旅馆，就是卡斯帕洛夫遇害前住的那一家。在这里，或许会有某个人与这宗谋杀案有牵连，或知道谁是关系人。在芮奇想来，他必须使自己十分显眼。他必须看起来对卡斯帕洛夫的死非常关切，然后才会有人对他关切，进而找上门来。这样做很危险，但他若能使自己看来没有恶意，那些人或许不会立刻发动攻击。 好吧…… 芮奇看了看计时带。现在酒吧中应该已经有人在享受晚餐前的开胃酒，他最好加入他们， 看看会发生什么事——若真有什么事的话。 Chapter 11 In some respects, Wye could be quite puritanical. (This was true of all the sectors, though the rigidity of one sector might be completely different from the rigidity of another.) Here, the drinks were not alcoholic but were synthetically designed to stimulate in other ways. Raych did not like the taste, finding himself utterly unused to it, but it meant that he could sip his drink slowly and look around. He caught the eye of a young woman several tables away and had difficulty in looking away. She was attractive and it was clear that Wye's ways were not puritanical in every fashion. After a few moments, the young woman smiled slightly and rose. She drifted toward Raych's table, while Raych watched her speculatively. He could scarcely (he thought with marked regret) afford a side adventure just now. She stopped for a moment when she reached Raych and then let herself slide smoothly into an adjacent chair. "Hello," she said. "You don't look like a regular here." Raych smiled. "I'm not. Do you know all the regulars?" "Just about," she said, unembarrassed. "My name is Manella. What's yours?" Raych was more regretful than ever. She was quite tall, taller than he himself was without his heels-something he always found attractive-had a milky complexion, and long, softly wavy hair that had distinct glints of dark red in it. Her clothing was not too garish and she might, if she had tried a little harder, have passed as a respectable woman of the not-too-hardworking class. Raych said, "My name doesn't matter. I don't have many credits." "Oh. Too bad." Manella made a face. "Can't you get a few?" "I'd like to. I need a job. Do you know of any?" "What kind of job?" Raych shrugged. "I don't have any experience in anything fancy, but I ain't proud." Manella looked at him thoughtfully. "I'll tell you what, Mr. Nameless. Sometimes it doesn't take any credits at all." Raych froze at once. He had been successful enough with women, but with his mustache-his mustache. What could she see in his baby face? He said, "Tell you what. I had a friend living here a couple of weeks ago and I can't find him. Since you know all the regulars, maybe you know him. His name is Kaspalov." He raised his voice slightly. "Kaspal Kaspalov." Manella stared at him blankly and shook her head. "I don't know anybody by that name." "Too bad. He was a Joranumite and so am L" Again, a blank look. "Do you know what a Joranumite is?" She shook her head. "N-no. I've heard the word, but I don't know what it means. Is it some kind of job?" Raych felt disappointed. He said, "It would take too long to explain." It sounded like a dismissal and, after a moment of uncertainty, Manella rose and drifted away. She did not smile and Raych was a little surprised that she had remained as long as she did. (Well, Seldon had always insisted that Raych had the capacity to inspire affection-but surely not in a businesswoman of this sort. For them, payment was the thing.) His eyes followed Manella automatically as she stopped at another table, where a man was seated by himself. He was of early middle age, with butter-yellow hair, slicked back. He was very smooth-shaven, but it seemed to Raych that he could have used a beard, his chin being too prominent and a bit asymmetric. Apparently Manella had no better luck with this beardless one. A few words were exchanged and she moved on. Too bad, but surely it was impossible for her to fail often. She was unquestionably desirable. Raych found himself thinking, quite involuntarily, of what the upshot would be if he, after all, could- And then Raych realized that he had been joined by someone else. It was a man this time. It was, in fact, the man to whom Manella had just spoken. He was astonished that his own preoccupation had allowed him to be thus approached and, in effect, caught by surprise. He couldn't very well afford this sort of thing. The man looked at him with a glint of curiosity in his eyes. "You were just talking to a friend of mine." Raych could not help smiling broadly. "She's a friendly person." "Yes, she is. And a good friend of mine. I couldn't help overhearing what you said to her." "Wasn't nothing wrong, I think." "Not at all, but you called yourself a Joranumite." Raych's heart jumped. His remark to Manella had hit dead-center after all. It had meant nothing to her, but it seemed to mean something to her "friend." Did that mean he was on the road now? Or merely in trouble? 第十一章 　　就某些方面而言，卫荷可说是谨行禁欲的地方。（每一区皆是如此，只不过各区之间的严格规定可能完全不同）在此地，酒类中不含酒精，而是以合成配方达到提神的目的。芮奇 不喜欢这种口味，完全无法适应，但这使他能慢慢呷着酒，同时观察四下的动静。隔着数张桌子之遥，坐着一名年轻女子。接触到她的目光后，芮奇的视线就转不开了。她相当吸引人，显然卫荷并非在所有方面都同样禁欲。过了一会儿，这位年轻女子浅浅一笑，站了起来，款步走向芮奇。芮奇望着她，心中百味杂陈。此时此刻（他万分遗憾地想），他绝不能节外生枝了。她来到芮奇身边，站了一会儿，然后轻巧地滑进芮奇身旁的椅子。 “嗨，”她说，“你看来不像这儿的常客。”芮奇微微一笑。“我不是。你认识所有的常客吗？” “差不多。”她一点也没有不好意思，“我叫玛妮拉，你呢？” 芮奇此时更感遗憾。 她个子相当髙，比自己没垫高鞋跟时更髙（这一向是吸引他的特点），肌肤白皙，一头微卷长发散发着醒目的深红色光泽，衣着不是很鲜艳。假使她再努力一点，应该能让自己像个有闲阶级的体面女子。 芮奇说：“我的名字不重要，我没多少信用点。”“喔，太可惜了。”玛妮拉做个鬼脸，“你不能弄些吗？”“想啊。我需要一份差事，你知道有什么机会吗？” “什么样的差事？” 芮奇耸了耸肩。“我没有什么特别不凡的工作经验，但我的要求也不太高。”玛妮拉若有所思地望着他。“告诉你一件事，无名氏先生，有些时候根本不必任何信用点。” 芮奇立刻愣住了。过去他对异性相当有办法，但那是脸上还蓄着八字胡的时候。现在，她能在他的娃娃脸上看到什么？他说：“告诉你一件事。几星期以前，我有个朋友住在这里，但我现在找不到他。既然你认识所有的常客，或许你会认识他。他叫卡斯帕洛夫，”他稍微提高音量，“卡斯帕•卡斯帕洛夫。” 玛妮拉茫然瞪着他，摇了摇头。“没听过。”“太可惜了。他是我九九派的同志。”她又是一脸茫然。芮奇忍不住问：“你知道九九派吗？” 她又摇了摇头。“不知道。我听过这个词，但不知道是什么意思。那是某种工作吗？”芮奇觉得很失望。 他说：“那说来话可就长了。”这话听来像是要打发她走。迟疑一下之后，玛妮拉便起身飘然离去，这回没再露出笑容。 她竟然待了那么久，芮奇不禁有点惊讶。（虽然，谢顿始终坚持芮奇有讨人喜欢的本事，但他指的当然不是这一类上班女郎！对她们而言，酬劳才是一切。） 他的目光自然而然跟着玛妮拉，看到她停在另一张桌旁。一名中年男子独坐在那里，一头乳黄色头发平滑地向后梳，脸刮得非常干净。但芮奇觉得那人应该留一把络腮胡子，因为他的下巴太突出，而且有点不对称。显然玛妮拉也没能在那名男子身上捞到什么。他们交谈几句，她便走开了。运气真差，但她绝不可能常常失败，她无疑是那种引人遐思的女子。 芮奇发现自己不自觉地想着，假使他能和她搭讪，会有什么样的结局？然后，芮奇察觉又有人来到身边，这回是个男的——就是玛妮拉刚才攀谈的那个人。芮奇十分震惊，自已竟然想得出神，让人不知不觉挨近，还冷不防被自己吓了一跳。他实在担不起这种闪失。那名男子望着他，眼中露出好奇的光芒。“你刚刚在跟我的朋友聊天。”芮奇随即露出灿烂的笑容。“她挺友善的。”“是啊，而旦她是我的好朋友，我忍不住偷听了你们说的话。”“没啥不对劲吧。” “一点也没有，但我听到你自称是个九九派。” 芮奇的心几乎跳出来。他对玛妮拉说的那番话，终究还是正中红心。那些话对她毫无意义，但对她的“朋友”似乎不然。 这表示他找到了门路吗？或者只是找到麻烦？ Chapter 12 Raych did his best to size up his new companion, without allowing his own face to lose its smooth naivete. The man had sharp greenish eyes and his right hand clenched almost threateningly into a fist as it rested on the table. Raych looked owlishly at the other and waited. Again, the man said, "I understand you call yourself a Joranumite." Raych did his best to look uneasy. It was not difficult. He said, "Why do you ask, mister?" "Because I don't think you're old enough." "I'm old enough. I used to watch Jo-Jo Joranum's speeches on holovision." "Can you quote them?" Raych shrugged. "No, but I got the idea." "You're a brave young man to talk openly about being a Joranumite. Some people don't like that." "I'm told there are lots of Joranumites in Wye." "That may be. Is that why you came here?" "I'm looking for a job. Maybe another Joranumite would help me." "There are Joranumites in Dahl, too. Where are you from?" There was no question that he recognized Raych's accent. That could not be disguised. He said, "I was born in Millimaru, but I lived mostly in Dahl when I was growing up." "Doing what?" "Nothing much. Going to school some." "And why are you a Joranumite?" Raych let himself heat up a bit. He couldn't have lived in downtrodden, discriminated-against Dahl without having obvious reasons for being a Joranumite. He said, "Because I think there should be more representative government in the Empire, more participation by the people, and more equality among the sectors and the worlds. Doesn't anyone with brains and a heart think that?" "And you want to see the Emperorship abolished?" Raych paused. One could get away with a great deal in the way of subversive statements, but anything overtly anti-Emperor was stepping outside the bounds. He said, "I ain't saying that. I believe in the Emperor, but ruling a whole Empire is too much for one man." "It isn't one man. There's a whole Imperial bureaucracy. What do you think of Hari Seldon, the First Minister?" "Don't think nothing about him. Don't know about him." "All you know is that people should be more represented in the affairs of government. Is that right?" Raych allowed himself to look confused. "That's what Jo-Jo Joranum used to say. I don't know what you call it. I heard someone once call it `democracy,' but I don't know what that means." "Democracy is something that some worlds have tried. Some still do. I don't know that those worlds are run better than other worlds. So you're a democrat?" "Is that what you call it?" Raych let his head sink, as if in deep thought. "I feel more at home as a Joranumite." "Of course, as a Dahlite-" "I just lived there awhile." "-you're all for people's equalities and such things. The Dahlites, being an oppressed group, would naturally think in that fashion." "I hear that Wye is pretty strong in Joranumite thinking. They're not oppressed." "Different reason. The old Wye Mayors always wanted to be Emperors. Did you know that?" Raych shook his head. "Eighteen years ago," said the man, "Mayor Rashelle nearly carried through a coup in that direction. So the Wyans are rebels, not so much Joranumite as anti-Cleon." Raych said, "I don't know nothing about that. I ain't against the Emperor." "But you are for popular representation, aren't you? Do you think that some sort of elected assembly could run the Galactic Empire without bogging down in politics and partisan bickering? Without paralysis?" Raych said, "Huh? I don't understand." "Do you think a great many people could come to some decision quickly in times of emergency? Or would they just sit around and argue?" "I don't know, but it doesn't seem right that just a few people should have all the say over all the worlds." "Are you willing to fight for your beliefs? Or do you just like to talk about them?" "No one asked me to do any fighting," said Raych. "Suppose someone did. How important do you think your beliefs about democracy-or Joranumite philosophy-are?" "I'd fight for them-if I thought it would do any good." "There's a brave lad. So you came to Wye to fight for your beliefs." "No," said Raych uncomfortably, "I can't say I did. I came to look for a job, sir. It ain't easy to find no jobs these days-and I ain't got no credits. A guy's gotta live." "I agree. What's your name?" The question shot out without warning, but Raych was ready for it. "Planchet, sir." "First or last name?" "Only name, as far as I know." "You have no credits and, I gather, very little education." "Afraid so." "And no experience at any specialized job?" "I ain't worked much, but I'm willing." "All right. I'll tell you what, Planchet." He took a small white triangle out of his pocket and pressed it in such a way as to produce a printed message on it. Then he rubbed his thumb across it, freezing it. "I'll tell you where to go. You take this with you and it may get you a job." Raych took the card and glanced at it. The signals seemed to fluoresce, but Raych could not read them. He looked at the other man warily. "What if they think I stole it?" "It can't be stolen. It has my sign on it and now it has your name." "What if they ask me who you are?" "They won't. -You say you want a job. There's your chance. I don't guarantee it, but there's your chance." He gave him another card. "This is where to go." Raych could read this one. "Thank you," he mumbled. The man made little dismissing gestures with his hand. Raych rose and left-and wondered what he was getting into. 第十二章 　　芮奇一面仔细打量这位新朋友，一面尽可能维持自己满脸的纯真。此人有一对锐利的淡绿色眼睛，右手握拳放在桌上，几乎令人感到威胁。 芮奇睁大眼睛望着对方，默默等待。那人又说：“我听到你自称是九九派。”芮奇尽量显得坐立不安，这倒不难，他说：“你为何这么说，先生？” “我觉得你年纪不够。” “我够大了，我以前常在全息电视上看九九•久瑞南的演讲。” “你能引述几句吗？” 芮奇耸了耸肩。“不能，但我知道他的意思。” “你真是个勇敢的年轻人，竟然敢公然宣称是九九派，有些人不喜欢听到这种事。” “我听说卫荷有许多九九派。”“有可能。这就是你来这里的原因吗？”“我在找一份差事，也许其他九九派可以帮我。”“达尔也有些九九派。你是从哪里来的？” 毫无疑问，他听出了芮奇的口音，这是无法伪装的。 芮奇说：“我生在千丸，但十几岁的时候几乎都住在达尔。” “做些什么？” “没做什么，上上学什么的。”“你为什么是九九派？” 芮奇让自己变得激动些。他既然住在饱受压迫与歧视的达尔，不可能没有成为九九派的明显理由。他说：“因为我认为帝国该有个更能代表民意的政府，开放给更多的民众参与，而区与区、世界与世界间应该更平等。任何有头脑、有良心的人不都该这么想吗？” “你赞成废除皇帝制度吗？” 芮奇顿了顿。发表再多颠覆性言论或许都能没事，但任何公然反帝的言论则不在此列。于是他说：“我可没那么讲。我信任皇上，可是整个帝国不是一个人治理得了的。” “不是他一个人在治理，还有整个帝国官僚体系。你对首相哈里•谢顿有什么看法？” “没啥看法，我对他并不清楚。” “你只知道政府事务应该更反映民意，对不对？”芮奇让自己露出一副困惑的模样。“那是九九•久瑞南以前常说的。我不知道你管它叫 什么，我听过有人管它叫‘民主’，但我不知道那是什么意思。” “民主是某些世界尝试过的一种制度，有些世界仍在尝试，但我没听说那些世界治理得比其他世界好。这样说来，你是民主人士喽？” “这是你用的称呼吗？”芮奇故意垂下头来，仿佛陷入沉思，“我觉得称九九派自在多了。” “当然，身为达尔人——” “我只不过在那里住过一阵子。” “但你完全赞成人人平等这类的事。达尔人身为被压迫的一群，自然会有这种想法。”“我听说卫荷人对九九思想也十分热衷，他们可没受到压迫。”“理由不同。历任卫荷区长总是想当皇帝，你知道这件事吗？”芮奇摇了揺头。 “十八年前，”那人继续说，“芮喜尔区长差点发动一场成功的政变。所以与其说卫荷人 是九九派，不如说他们是反克里昂派。”芮奇说：“我对这种事啥也不了解，我可不反对皇上。” “但你赞成伸张民意，对不对？你是否认为某种民选的议会能治理银河帝国，而不至于陷入政党冲突？甚至瘫痪帝国？” 芮奇说：“啥？我听不懂。” “你是否认为在紧要关头，一大群人能很快做出决定？或是他们只会坐在一块，争论不休？” “我不知道。可是只有少数人有决定权，似乎不太合理。”“你愿意为你的信仰而战吗？或者你只是喜欢随口说说？”“没人要我去跟谁战斗。”芮奇答道。 “假设有人要你这么做，你认为自己对民主——或是对九九哲学的信仰有多坚定？” “我会为它而战，只要我认为这样做是对的。” “好个勇敢的小伙子。所以说，你来卫荷是准备为信仰而战。”“不，”芮奇不自在地说，“不能这么讲。我是来找一份差事，先生。这年头，找份差事 可不容易。而且我没啥信用点，人总得活下去。”“我同意。你叫什么名字？” 对于这个毫无预警的问题，芮奇早有准备。“普朗什，先生。”“是名还是姓？” “我就只知道这么个名字。” “你没有信用点，而且我猜，受的教育也很少吧。” “只怕就是这样。” “没有任何专业工作经验？” “我没做过啥事，但我愿意做。” “好。我告诉你怎么办，普朗什。”他从口袋里掏出一个三角形的白色物件，按了几下， 上面便出现一行字。然后他用拇指擦了擦，将那行字固定住。“我会告诉你该到哪里去，这东西能帮你得到一份工作。” 芮奇接过卡片，瞄了一眼。那行字迹似乎会发出荧光，但芮奇读不懂。他机警地望向对方，问道：“万一他们以为是我偷来的呢？”“这东西是没法偷的。上面有我的标志，现在又有你的名字。”“万一他们问我你是谁呢？” “不会的。你就说你要找工作。这是一个机会，我不能保证什么，但这是你的机会。”他又递出一张卡片，“这是你该去的地方。”这回芮奇看懂了上面的字。“谢谢你。”他咕哝道。 那人轻松做了一个打发他走的手势。 芮奇起身离去，不知道自己将碰到什么。 Chapter 13 Up and down. Up and down. Up and down. Gleb Andorin watched Gambol Deen Namarti trudging up and down. Namarti was obviously unable to sit still under the driving force of the violence of his passion. Andorin thought: He's not the brightest man in the Empire or even in the movement, not the shrewdest, certainly not the most capable of rational thought. He has to be held back constantly-but he's driven as none of the rest of us are. We would give up, let go, but he won't. Push, pull, prod, kick. -Well, maybe we need someone like that. We must have someone like that or nothing will ever happen. Namarti stopped, as though he felt Andorin's eyes boring into his back. He turned around and said, "If you're going to lecture me again on Kaspalov, don't bother." Andorin shrugged lightly. "Why bother lecturing you? The deed is done. The harm-if any-has been done." "What harm, Andorin? What harm? If I had not done it, then we would have been harmed. The man was on the edge of being a traitor. Within a month, he would have gone running " "I know. I was there. I heard what he said." "Then you understand there was no choice. No choice. You don't think I liked to have an old comrade killed, do you? I had no choice." "Very well. You had no choice." Namarti resumed his tramping, then turned again. "Andorin, do you believe in gods?" Andorin stared, "In what?" "In gods." "I never heard the word. What is it?" Namarti said, "It's not Galactic Standard. Supernatural influences. How's that?" "Oh, supernatural influences. Why didn't you say so? No, I don't believe in that sort of thing. By definition, something is supernatural if it exists outside the laws of nature and nothing exists outside the laws of nature. Are you turning into a mystic?" Andorin asked it as though he were joking, but his eyes narrowed with sudden concern. Namarti stared him down. Those blazing eyes of his could stare anyone down. "Don't be a fool. I've been reading about it. Trillions of people believe in supernatural influences." "I know," said Andorin. "They always have." "They've done so since before the beginning of history. The word 'gods' is of unknown origin. It is, apparently, a hangover from some primeval language of which no trace any longer exists, except that word. -Do you know how many different varieties of beliefs there are in various kinds of gods?" "Approximately as many as the varieties of fools among the Galactic population, I should say." Namarti ignored that. "Some people think the word dates back to the time when all humanity existed on but a single world." "Itself a mythological concept. That's just as lunatic as the notion of supernatural influences. There never was one original human world." "There would have to be, Andorin," said Namarti, annoyed. "Human beings can't have evolved on different worlds and ended as a single species." "Even so, there's no effective human world. It can't be located, it can't he defined, so it can't be spoken of sensibly, so it effectively doesn't exist." "These gods," said Namarti, continuing to follow his own line of thought, "are supposed to protect humanity and keep it safe or at least to care for those portions of humanity that know how to make use of the gods. At a time when there was only one human world, it makes sense to suppose they would be particularly interested in caring for that one tiny world with a few people. They would care for such a world as though they were big brothers-or parents." "Very nice of them. I'd like to see them try to handle the entire Empire." "What if they could? What if they were infinite?" "What if the Sun were frozen? What's the use of `what if?" "I'm just speculating. Just thinking. Haven't you ever let your mind wander freely? Do you always keep everything on a leash?" "I should imagine that's the safest way, keeping it on a leash. What does your wandering mind tell you, Chief?" Namarti's eyes flashed at the other, as though he suspected sarcasm, but Andorin's face remained good-natured and blank. Namarti said, "What my mind is telling me is this- If there are gods, they must be on our side." "Wonderful-if true. Where's the evidence?" "Evidence? Without the gods, it would just be a coincidence, I suppose, but a very useful one." Suddenly Namarti yawned and sat down, looking exhausted. Good, thought Andorin. His galloping mind has finally wound itself down and he may talk sense now. "This matter of internal breakdown of the infrastructure-" said Namarti, his voice distinctly lower. Andorin interrupted. "You know, Chief, Kaspalov was not entirely wrong about this. The longer we keep it up, the greater the chance that Imperial forces will discover the cause. The whole program must, sooner or later, explode in our faces." "Not yet. So far, everything is exploding in the Imperial face. The unrest on Trantor is something I can feel." He raised his hands, rubbing his fingers together. "I can feel it. And we are almost through. We are ready for the next step." Andorin smiled humorlessly. "I'm not asking for details, Chief. Kaspalov did and look where that got him. I am not Kaspalov." "It's precisely because you're not Kaspalov that I can tell you. And because I know something now I didn't then." "I presume," said Andorin, only half-believing what he was saying, "that you intend a strike on the Imperial Palace grounds." Namarti looked up. "Of course. What else is there to do? The problem, however, is how to penetrate the grounds effectively. I have my sources of information there, but they are only spies. I'll need men of action on the spot." "To get men of action into the most heavily guarded region in all the galaxy will not be easy." "Of course not. That's what has been giving me an unbearable headache till now-and then the gods intervened." Andorin said gently (it was taking all his self-restraint to keep from showing his disgust), "I don't think we need a metaphysical discussion. What has happened-leaving the gods to one side?" "My information is that His Gracious and Ever to Be Beloved Emperor Cleon I has decided to appoint a new Chief Gardener. This is the first new appointee in nearly a quarter of a century." "And if so?" "Do you see no significance?" Andorin thought for a moment. "I am not a favorite of your gods. I don't see any significance." "If you have a new Chief Gardener, Andorin, the situation is the same as having a new administrator of any other type-the same as if you had a new First Minister or a new Emperor. The new Chief Gardener will certainly want his own staff. He will force into retirement what he considers dead wood and will hire younger gardeners by the hundreds." "That's possible." "It's more than possible. It's certain. Exactly that happened when the present Chief Gardener was appointed and the same when his predecessor was appointed and so on. Hundreds of strangers from the Outer Worlds-" "Why from the Outer Worlds?" "Use your brains-if you have any, Andorin. What do Trantorians know about gardening when they've lived under domes all their lives, tending potted plants, zoos, and carefully arranged crops of grains and fruit trees? What do they know about life in the wild?" "Ahhh. Now I understand." "So there will be these strangers flooding the grounds. They will be carefully checked, I presume, but they won't be as tightly screened as they would be if they were Trantorians. And that means, surely, that we should be able to supply just a few of our own people, with false identifications, and get them inside. Even if some are screened out, a few might make it-a few must make it. Our people will enter, despite the supertight security established since the failed coup in the early days of First Minister Seldon." (He virtually spat out the name, as he always did.) "We'll finally have our chance." Now it was Andorin who felt dizzy, as if he'd fallen into a spinning vortex. "It seems odd for me to say so, Chief, but there is something to this `gods' business after all, because I have been waiting to tell you something that I now see fits in perfectly." Namarti stared at the other suspiciously and looked around the room, as though he suddenly feared for security. But such fear was groundless. The room was located deep in an old-fashioned residential complex and was well shielded. No one could overhear and no one, even with detailed directions, could find it easily-nor get through the layers of protection provided by loyal members of the organization. Namarti said, "What are you talking about?" "I've found a man for you. A young man-very naive. A quite likable fellow, the kind you feel you can trust as soon as you see him. He's got an open face, wide-open eyes; he's lived in Dahl; he's an enthusiast for equality; he thinks Joranum was the greatest thing since Dahlite cokeicers; and I'm sure we can easily talk him into doing anything for the cause." "For the cause?" said Namarti, whose suspicions were not in the least alleviated. "Is he one of us?" "Actually, he's not one of anything. He's got some vague notions in his head that Joranum wanted sector equality." "That was his lure. Sure." "It's ours, too, but the kid believes it. He talks about equality and popular participation in government. He even mentioned democracy." Namarti snickered. "In twenty thousand years, democracy has never been used for very long without falling apart." "Yes, but that's not our concern. It's what drives the young man and I tell you, Chief, I knew we had our tool just about the moment I saw him, but I didn't know how we could possibly use him. Now I know. We can get him onto the Imperial Palace grounds as a gardener." "How? Does he know anything about gardening?" "No. I'm sure he doesn't. He's never worked at anything but unskilled labor. He's operating a hauler right now and I think that he had to be taught how to do that. Still, if we can get him in as a gardener's helper, if he just knows how to hold a pair of shears, then we've got it." "Got what?" "Got someone who can approach anyone we wish-and do so without raising the flutter of a suspicion-and get close enough to strike. I'm telling you he simply exudes a kind of honorable stupidity, a kind of foolish virtue that inspires confidence." "And he'll do what we tell him to do?" "Absolutely." "How did you meet this person?" "It wasn't I. It was Manella who really spotted him." "Who?" "Manella. Manella Dubanqua." "Oh. That friend of yours." Namarti's face twisted into a look of prissy disapproval. "She's the friend of many people," said Andorin tolerantly. "That's one of the things that makes her so useful. She can weigh a man quickly and with very little to go on. She talked to this fellow because she was attracted to him at sight-and I assure you that Manella is not one who is usually attracted by anything but the bottom line-so, you see, this man is rather unusual. She talked to this fellow-his name is Planchet, by the way-and then told me, `I have a live one for you, Gleb.' I'll trust her on the matter of live ones any day of the week." Namarti said slyly, "And what do you think this wonderful tool of yours would do once he had the run of the grounds, eh, Andorin?" Andorin took a deep breath. "What else? If we do everything right, he will dispose of our dear Emperor Cleon, First of that Name, for us." Namarti's face blazed into anger. "What? Are you mad? Why should we want to kill Cleon? He's our hold on the government. He's the facade behind which we can rule. He's our passport to legitimacy. Where are your brains? We need him as a figurehead. He won't interfere with us and we'll be stronger for his existence." Andorin's fair face turned blotchy red and his good humor finally exploded. "What do you have in mind, then? What are you planning? I'm getting tired of always having to second-guess." Namarti raised his hand. "All right. All right. Calm down. I meant no harm. But think a bit, will you? Who destroyed Joranum? Who destroyed our hopes ten years ago? It was that mathematician. And it is he who rules the Empire now with his idiotic talk about psychohistory. Cleon is nothing. It is Hari Seldon we must destroy. It is Hari Seldon whom I've been turning into an object of ridicule with these constant breakdowns. The miseries they entail are placed at his doorstep. It is all being interpreted as his inefficiency, his incapacity." There was a trace of spittle in the corners of Namarti's mouth. "When he's cut down, there will be a cheer from the Empire that will drown out every holovision report for hours. It won't even matter if they know who did it." He raised his hand and let it drop, as if he were plunging a knife into someone's heart. "We will be looked upon as heroes of the Empire, as saviors. -Eh? Eh? Do you think your youngster can cut down Hari Seldon?" Andorin had recovered his sense of equanimity-at least outwardly. "I'm sure he would," he said with forced lightness. "For Cleon, he might have some respect; the Emperor has a mystical aura about him, as you know." (He stressed the "you" faintly and Namarti scowled.) "He would have no such feelings about Seldon." Inwardly, however, Andorin was furious. This was not what he wanted. He was being betrayed. 第十三章 　　来来回回，来来回回，来来回回…… 葛列布•安多闰望着坎伯尔•丁恩•纳马提步伐沉重地走来走去，在狂烈情绪的驱使下，纳马提显然无法安坐。 安多闰心想：纳马提不是帝国中、甚至不是这个运动中最聪明的人。他既不是最机灵的也绝非最理智的人，必须时时有人抓住他——但他的自我驱策是组织里其他人比不上的。我们会放弃，会罢手，而他不会，推、拉、刺、踢都无法阻止他。嗯，也许我们需要一个像这样的人。我们一定得有个像这样的人，否则终将一事无成。纳马提停下脚步，仿佛感到安多闰的目光如芒刺在背。他转过身来。“如果你是要为卡斯帕洛夫的事教训我，那就省省吧。” 安多闰微微耸了耸肩。“教训你有什么用？事情做都做了，如果有什么伤害，也无法挽回了。” “伤害？安多闰，什么伤害？假使我没那样做，我们才会受到伤害。那人眼看就要成为叛徒，不出一个月，他就会跑去——” “我知道。当时我在场，我听到他说的话。”“那么你更该了解我别无选择，你总不会认为我喜欢杀害老同志吧？我别无选择。” “很好，你别无选择。” 纳马提再度迈开沉重的步伐，旋又转身道：“安多闰，你相信神吗？” 安多闰双眼圆睁：“相信什么？” “神！” “我从来没听过这个字眼，那是什么？”纳马提说：“那不是银河标准语。它的意思是超自然影响力，懂了吗？”“噢，超自然影响力，你干吗不直接说呢？呃，我不相信那种事。顾名思义，所谓超自然指的是存在于自然律之外的事物，但没有任何事物是存在于自然律之外的。怎么，你变成神秘论者啦？”安多闰问得像在开玩笑，但他的眼睛却眯了起来，透出一丝令人意外的关切。 1 纳马提将他的目光逼退回去，他那对冒火的眼睛一向令人无法直视。“别傻了，我一直在读这方面的资料，好几兆人都相信超自然影响力。”“我知道，”安多闰说，“人们总是这样。”“早在人类有历史之前，这种信仰就已经存在了。‘神’这个字出处不详，显然源自某种原始语言，除了这个字，那种语言早已失传了。你知道对于各种神的各式信仰有多少吗？” “我敢说，大约和银河人口中各式各样的傻瓜种类一样多。” 纳马提没加理会。“有些人认为，这个字可远溯至所有人类都在单一世界上的时代。”“单一世界本身就是个神话，和超自然影响力的想法一样疯狂。从来就没有什么人类的起源世界。” “一定有的，安多闰。”纳马提有点恼怒，“人类这单一物种不可能是从不同的世界上演化出来的。” “即使如此，实际上还是没有什么起源世界。既没人找到过，也没人能说清楚它是什么玩意，所以它实际上并不存在。” “这些神，”纳马提自顾自地说下去，“据说会保护人类，庇佑他们平安——至少会照顾 懂得崇拜神的那些人。在只有一个人类世界的时代，神明对这一群人特别眷顾，似乎蛮合理的。这些人就像老大哥或父母似的照顾这个小世界。”“他们可真好心，我倒想看看他们如何应付整个帝国。” “如果他们做得到呢？如果他们是万能的呢？” “如果太阳冻结了呢？‘如果怎样’这种说法根本不实际。” “我只是在臆测，只是在想。你从来不让自己的心灵自由翱翔吗？你都这么死脑筋吗？” “对我而言，死脑筋最安全。你那翱翔的心灵告诉你些什么，首领？” 纳马提狠狠瞪向安多闰，仿佛嗅到一股讽刺意味。但安多闰依旧一脸纯真无辜。 纳马提说：“我的心灵告诉我——如果真有神，他们一定站在我们这边。” “很好——如果是真的。证据在哪儿？”“证据？假如没有神，我想就只是巧合，不过是个非常有用的巧合。”纳马提突然打了个呵欠，坐了下来，显得十分疲倦。 很好，安多闰心想。纳马提疾驰的心灵终于减速，现在比较不会语无伦次了。“至于川陀基本公共设施故障这件事——”纳马提压低了声音。安多闰打断他：“首领，卡斯帕洛夫对这事的看法并非没有道理。计划拖得越久，帝国军警发现真相的机会就越大。整个计划迟早会在我们面前引爆。” “还不会。目前为止，每件事都是在皇上面前引爆。我已清楚感觉到川陀的不安。”他揉着手，“我感觉得到。我们就要大功告成了，随时可以跨出下一步。”安多闰冷笑一声。“我不是在问你细节，首领。卡斯帕洛夫问过你细节，看看他现在哪儿去了，我可不是卡斯帕洛夫。” “正因为你不是卡斯帕洛夫，所以我可以告诉你。也因为我刚获得一个消息，是我当时不知道的。” “我猜，”安多闰推测道，“你的下一个目标是皇宫御苑。” 纳马提抬起头来。“当然，不然会是哪里？问题是必须有人先渗透进御苑。我在那里有情报来源，但他们只是间谍，我需要行动人员潜入那里。”“要潜入全银河防卫最森严的地区可不容易。” “当然不容易，那正是长久以来我最头痛的问题。现在，神来帮助我们了。”安多闰温和地说（他得极力克制自己，才不会显露出他的厌恶）：我认为我们不需要做形而上的讨论，把那些神搁在一边吧——究竟发生了什么事？”“我获得的情报是，仁慈温厚、永受兆民爱戴的克里昂大帝一世，已经决定任命一名新园丁长。这是近四分之一世纪以来，御苑第一次重大的人事变动。”“那又怎样？” “你看不出其中的玄机吗？” 安多闰想了一下。“我不是你那些神的宠儿，我看不出任何玄机。”“如果有新园丁长上任，安多闰，情形就跟任何新行政官、新首相或新皇帝上任一样。新园丁长当然会想巩固自己的班底，他会强迫他眼中的朽木退休，转而雇用年轻的园丁。”“有可能。” “不只有可能，是一定会。现任园丁长刚上任时就发生过这种事，他的前任，以及之前每一任都一样。来自外围世界的几百个陌生面孔——” “为何来自外围世界？” “动动你的脑筋吧，安多闰。川陀人一辈子住在穹顶下，照顾的是盆栽植物、笼中动物， 以及排得整整齐齐的谷类作物和果树，他们对园艺、对野生世界知道些什么？” “噢，我懂了。” “所以即将有一群陌生面孔涌进御苑。据我推测，他们会接受严格的审查，但如果他们是川陀人，受到的审查就不会那么严格。不用说，这就表示我们可以派几个自己人用假身份混进去。就算有些被剔出来，还是可能有几个成功——非得有人成功不可。尽管在‘谢顿首相’就任不久（正如以往一样，他简直是啐出这个名字来的）那场失败的暗杀行动之后，皇宫建立起极度严密的安全体系，我们的人仍将前进御苑。我们终于等到了机会。”现在轮到安多闰觉得头昏眼花，好像掉进漩涡里。“我有件事要告诉你，首领，它听起来有点奇怪，可是跟‘神’这档子事还真有些关联，我一直等着要说——现在我发现这一切配合得真是天衣无缝。” 纳马提狐疑地看着对方，又扫视了一遍房间，仿佛突然担心起安全问题。但这种担忧毫无道理，这房子深藏在老式的住宅建筑群中，并有完备的屏蔽，没人能窃听他们的谈话。而且即使有详细的路线指示，也没人能轻易找到此地，更何况还有组织的忠贞成员的重重守卫。 “你在说些什么？”纳马提问。“我帮你找到一个人，一个非常天真的年轻人。他是个讨人喜欢的小伙子，是你一看就觉得可以信任的那种人，有一张正直的面孔，一双精明的大眼睛。他住在达尔，对平等思想很狂热，认为久瑞南的伟大只有达尔椰子霜才比得上。而且我确定，我们能轻易说服他为政治信仰做任何事。” “为政治信仰？”纳马提的疑心丝毫未减，他是我们的一分子吗？”“他不属于任何组织。他的脑袋里只有点模糊的概念，知道久瑞南提倡各区平等。” “当然，那是久瑞南的诱饵。”“也是我们的，但这小子可是真心相信。他大谈平等以及民众参与政府的主张，他甚至提到了民主。” 纳马提冷笑几声。“两万年以来，民主从来没有维持长久过，而且结局总是四分五裂。” “没错，但那与我们无关，重要的是它是那个年轻人的原动力。我告诉你，首领，几乎就在看到他的那一刻，我就知道我们找到了工具，只是不知道要怎么用他。现在我知道了，我们可以把他扮成园丁，送他进御苑。” “怎么送？他懂园艺吗” “没有，我确定没有。除了靠劳力赚钱，他没做过别的工作。目前，他负责操作一架牵引机，我想他连这个工作都得有人教。但如果我们能让他以园丁助手的身份混进去，只要他懂得怎么拿大剪刀，我们就成功了。” “成功什么？” “成功地送一个人进去啊。这个人能接近我们要的任何目标，而不至于引起怀疑，而且能在近距离发动攻击。我告诉你，他全身散发着一种正直的憨态，一种傻乎乎的美德，可以博取任何人的信任。” “而他会遵照我们的指示行事？” “绝对没问题。” “你怎么遇到这个人的？” “不是我，发掘他的是玛妮拉。” “谁？” “玛妮拉，玛妮拉•杜邦夸。” “噢，你那个朋友。”纳马提的脸神经质地扭成一副不以为然的表情。 “她是许多人的朋友，”安多闰这么说等于默认了，“那是她这么有用的原因之一。只要 浅谈几句，她便能衡量一个人的分量。玛妮拉会跟这个人攀谈，是因为一眼就被他吸引。我向你保证，一般货色还吸引不了他。所以你可以知道，此人颇不寻常。她跟这个人谈了一阵子——对啦，他叫普朗什——然后告诉我：‘我帮你找到个活生生的，葛列布。’对于活生生 这一点，我绝对信任她。” 纳马提狡猾地说：“一旦你这个绝佳的工具能在御苑自由行动，你认为他能做些什么，啊，安多闰？” 安多闰深深吸了一口气。“还能做什么？顺利的话，他就会为我们除掉亲爱的克里昂大帝一世。” 纳马提的脸孔蓦地一沉。什么？你疯了？我们为什么要杀克里昂？他是我们掌握政府的握柄，是我们统治帝国的包装，是我们通向正统的通行证。用用你的大脑！我们需要这个傀儡，他不会阻碍我们，我们却会因为他而更加强大。”安多闰压抑的情绪终于爆发，苍白的脸庞一阵青一阵红。“那你心里到底在想什么？到底在计划什么？我厌烦了跟在你后面放马后炮。” 纳马提举起手。“好啦，好啦，冷静下来，我没有恶意。可是你动动脑筋好不好？是谁毁掉久瑞南？是谁十年前毁掉我们的希望？是那个数学家。而现在，打着那愚蠢的心理史学招牌统治帝国的也是他。克里昂不算什么，我们的目标是哈里•谢顿。我不断制造那些故障，正是要让哈里•谢顿成为众人的笑柄，让山一样高的灾难堆在他家门口。一切都会被解释成 是因为他既无效率又无能力。”纳马提的嘴角冒出几丝唾沫，“等他被打倒，帝国会响起一片欢呼，淹没所有的全息报道，到时就算人们知道是谁干的也无所谓了。”他又举起手，作势一戳，仿佛将一把刀刺入某人的心脏。“我们会被视为帝国的英雄、帝国的救星。啊？你认为你那小子能打倒哈里•谢顿吗？” 安多闰已经恢复平静，至少表面上如此。“我确定他能。”他故作轻松的口吻说，“对克里昂，他或许有几分尊敬；皇上周围总有 一圏神秘的光环，这你也知道。”他稍微加重了“你”这个字，纳马提立刻绷起脸来。）“而 对谢顿则不会有这样的感觉。”然而同时，安多闰的心里却怒火中烧。这不是他要的，他被出卖了。 Chapter 14 Manella brushed the hair out of her eyes and smiled up at Raych. "I told you it wouldn't cost you any credits." Raych blinked and scratched at his bare shoulder. "But are you going to ask me for some now?" She shrugged and smiled rather impishly. "Why should I?" "Why shouldn't you?" "Because I'm allowed to take my own pleasure sometimes." "With me?" "There's no one else here." There was a long pause and then Manella said soothingly, "Besides, you don't have that many credits anyway. How's the job?" Raych said, "Ain't much but better than nothing. Lots better. Did you tell that guy to get me one?" Manella shook her head slowly. "You mean Gleb Andorin? I didn't tell him to do anything. I just said he might be interested in you." "Is he going to be annoyed because you and I-" "Why should he? None of his business. And none of yours, either." "What's he do? I mean, what does he work at?" "I don't think he works at anything. He's rich. He's a relative of the old Mayors." "Of Wye?" "Right. He doesn't like the Imperial government. None of those old Mayor people do. He says Cleon should-" She stopped suddenly and said, "I'm talking too much. Don't you go repeating anything I say." "Me? I ain't heard you say nothing at all. And I ain't going to." "All right." "But what about Andorin? Is he high up in Joranumite business? Is tae an important guy there?" "I wouldn't know." "Don't he ever talk about that kind of stuff?" "Not to me." "Oh," said Raych, trying not to sound annoyed. Manella looked at him shrewdly. "Why are you so interested?" "I want to get in with them. I figure I'll get higher up that way. Better job. More credits. You know." "Maybe Andorin will help you. He likes you. I know that much." "Could you make him like me more?" "I can try. I don't know why he shouldn't. I like you. I like you more than I like him." "Thank you, Manella. I like you, too. -A lot." He ran his hand down the side of her body and wished ardently that he could concentrate more on her and less on his assignment. 第十四章 　　玛妮拉拨开额前的刘海，抬头对芮奇微微一笑。“我告诉过你，不会花你任何信用点的。”芮奇眨眨眼睛，又搔了搔自己赤裸的肩膀。“但你现在准备跟我要吗？”她耸耸肩，露出顽皮的笑容：“我为什么要？” “为什么不要？” “有时我也可以为自己找点乐子。”“和我？” “这儿没有别人。” 芮奇沉默不语，玛妮拉便改以抚慰的口吻说：“反正你也拿不出那么多信用点。你的工作如何？” 芮奇说：“不怎么样，但总比啥也没有强多了。是你要那哥儿们帮我找份差事的？” 玛妮拉缓缓摇了摇头。你是说葛列布•安多闰？我没要他做任何事，我只说他也许会对 你有兴趣。” “他会不会恼羞成怒，因为你和我……”“为什么他会？这根本与他无关，而且也与你无关。”“他是干啥的？我的意思是说，他做什么样的工作？”“我看他什么工作也不用做。他很有钱，是历任区长的亲戚。”“卫荷的区长？” “没错，安多闰不喜欢帝国政府，老区长身边的人都不喜欢。他曾说克里昂应该……”她突然停下来，改口道：我说得太多了，你可别把我说的话传出去。” “我？我根本啥也没听到你说，我也啥都不要听。” “很好。” “可是安多闰是怎样的人？他在九九派里的地位是不是很高？他是不是里面重要的哥 儿们？” “我怎么知道？” “他从来没提过吗？” “没对我提过。” “哦。”芮奇尽量不让自己透出懊恼的口气。玛妮拉机灵地望着他。“你为什么那么感兴趣？”“我想要接近他们，我觉得这样能爬得更髙，会有更好的差事、更多的信用点，你知道的。” “也许安多闰会帮你，他喜欢你，这点我还知道。” “你能让他更喜欢我一点吗？”“我可以试试，我看不出他有不肯的理由。而且我挺喜欢你的，我喜欢你胜过喜欢他。” “谢谢你，玛妮拉，我也喜欢你，非常喜欢。”芮奇一只手沿着她身体一侧向下滑，衷心希望自己能多放些心思在她身上，而不是在他的任务上。 Chapter 15 "Gleb Andorin," said Hari Seldon wearily, rubbing his eyes. "And who is he?" asked Dors Venabili, her mood as cold as it had teen every day since Raych had left. "Until a few days ago I never heard of him," said Seldon. "That's the trouble with trying to run a world of forty billion people. You never hear of anyone, except for the few who obtrude themselves on your notice. With all the computerized information in the world, Trantor remains a planet of anonymities. We can drag up people with their reference numbers and their statistics, but whom do we drag up? Add twenty-five million Outer Worlds and the wonder is that the Galactic Empire has remained a working phenomenon for all these millennia. Frankly I think it has existed only because it very largely runs itself. And now it is finally running down." "So much for philosophizing, Hari," said Dors. "Who is this Andorin?" "Someone I admit I ought to have known about. I managed to cajole the security establishment into calling up some files on him. He's a member of the Wyan Mayoralty family-the most prominent member, in fact -so the security people have kept tabs on him. They think he has ambitions but is too much of a playboy to do anything about them." "And is he involved with the Joranumites?" Seldon made an uncertain gesture. "I'm under the impression that the security establishment knows nothing about the Joranumites. That may mean that the Joranumites no longer exist or that, if they do, they are of no importance. It may also mean that the security establishment just isn't interested. Nor is there any way in which I can force it to be interested. I'm only thankful the officers give me any information at all. And I am the First Minister." "Is it possible that you're not a very good First Minister?" said Dors, dryly. "That's more than possible. It's probably been generations since there's been an appointee less suited to the job than myself. But that has nothing to do with the security establishment. It's a totally independent arm of the government. I doubt that Cleon himself knows much about it, though, in theory, the security officers are supposed to report to him through their director. Believe me, if we only knew more about the security establishment, we'd be trying to stick its actions into our psychohistorical equations, such as they are." "Are the security officers on our side, at least?" "I believe so, but I can't swear to it." "And why are you interested in this what's-his-name?" "Gleb Andorin. Because I received a roundabout message from Raych." Dors's eyes flashed. "Why didn't you tell me? Is he all right?" "As far as I know, but I hope he doesn't try any further messages. If he's caught communicating, he won't be all right. In any case, he has made contact with Andorin." "And the Joranumites, too?" "I don't think so. It would sound unlikely, for the connection is not something that would make sense. The Joranumite movement is predominantly lower-class-a proletarian movement, so to speak. And Andorin is an aristocrat of aristocrats. What would he be doing with the Joranumites?" "If he's of the Wyan Mayoralty family, he might aspire to the Imperial throne, might he not?" "They've been aspiring for generations. You remember Rashelle, I trust. She was Andorin's aunt." "Then he might be using the Joranumites as a stepping-stone, don't you think?" "If they exist. And if they do-and if a stepping-stone is what Andorin wants-I think he'd find himself playing a dangerous game. The Joranumites-if they exist-would have their own plans and a man like Andorin may find he's simply riding a greti-" "What's a greti?" "Some extinct animal of a ferocious type, I think. It's just a proverbial phrase back on Helicon. If you ride a greti, you find you can't get off, for then it will eat you." Seldon paused. "One more thing. Raych seems to be involved with a woman who knows Andorin and through whom, he thinks, he may get important information. I'm telling you this now so that you won't accuse me afterward of keeping anything from you." Dors frowned. "A woman?" "One, I gather, who knows a great many men who will talk to her unwisely, sometimes, under intimate circumstances." "One of those." Her frown deepened. "I don't like the thought of Raych-" "Come, come. Raych is thirty years old and undoubtedly has much experience. You can leave this woman-or any woman, I think-safely to Raych's good sense." He turned toward Dors with a look so worn, so weary, and said, "Do you think I like this? Do you think I like any of this?" And Dors could find nothing to say. 第十五章 　　“葛列布•安多闰。”谢顿一面说，一面疲倦地揉着眼睛。 “他是谁？”铎丝问。自从芮奇走后，她的心情每天都是阴沉沉的。 “几天前我还没听过这个人。”谢顿道，“治理一个四百亿人口的世界，就有这种麻烦。 除了少数硬要引起你注意的人之外，你不会听到任何人的名字。整个世界的资料都已计算机化，但川陀仍然充满了无名氏。我们可以査出一个人的识别号码和统计资料，但却无法了解他是什么样的人。而在川陀之外，还有二千五百万个外围世界，银河帝国竟然能维持运作，长达数千年，真是一项奇迹。坦白讲，我认为帝国能维系不坠的唯一原因，是因为它几乎都在自我运作。如今，它的步调终于慢下来……” “好了，哈里，收起你的长篇大论吧。”铎丝道，“这个安多闰究竟是谁？”“一个我早该知道的人。我费尽唇舌哄过保安部门，调出了他的档案。他是卫荷区长家族的一员，事实上，是最引人注目的一位，所以安全人员一直在留意他。他们认为安多闰虽有野心，却是个十足的花花公子，所以认定他没什么危险。” “他是不是和九九派有勾结？”谢顿做个不确定的手势。“我的印象是保安部门对九九派一无所知。这也许代表九九派已经不存在了，或是虽然存在，但已无足轻重。这也可能只是代表保安部门对九九派不感兴趣，而我没办法强迫他们产生兴趣；那些官员提供我一点情报，我就该感激了。我可是首相啊。” “有没有可能你不是个很好的首相？”铎丝语带讽刺地说。“不只有可能而已。不过比我更不适任首相的，历代以来只怕大有人在。但这跟保安部门亳无关系，它是政府中完全独立的一支。虽然理论上，保安官应该通过长官向皇上提出报告，但我怀疑克里昂自己对它都不太清楚。相信我，假使我们对保安部门了解多点，它的行动也许可以纳入心理史学方程式。”“保安官至少站在我们这边吧？” “我相信是，但不敢保证。” “你为何对这个人有兴趣？他叫什么名字？”“葛列布•安多闰。因为我收到芮奇辗转传来的一封电讯。”铎丝眼睛一亮。“你为什么没告诉我？他还好吗？” “据我所知还好，但我希望他别再传任何讯息给我。假使在通讯时被人逮到，那他就糟了。总之，他和安多闰有了接触。”“还有那些九九派？” “我想没有。这不大可能，因为安多闰和九九派应该没什么关联。九九派运动的成员绝大多数是低下阶层，可说是个无产阶级运动，而安多闰则是贵族中的贵族，他跟九九派在一起做什么？” “他既然是卫荷区长家族的一员，或许会觊觎皇位，不是吗？”“他们觊觎皇位很久啦。你一定记得芮喜尔吧？她是安多闰的姑母。” “那你不认为他可能在利用九九派作踏脚石吗？”“如果还有九九派的话。而如果九九派真的存在，又如果安多闰真想拿他们当踏脚石，那他就是在玩火。那些九九派会有他们自己的计划，安多闰终将发现他已经骑狻难下……”“狻是什么？” “一种绝种的猛兽吧。那是赫利肯上的一句成语，只要你骑上一只狻，你就下不来了，因为一下来就会被它吃掉。” 谢顿停了一下，又继续说：“还有一件事。芮奇似乎跟一个女人在一起，她认识安多闰， 芮奇认为通过她，或许能得到重要情报。我现在告诉你这件事，免得你以后怪我有什么瞒着你。” 铎丝皱起眉头。“一个女人？”“我猜，是那种认识很多男人的女人，有时在亲密的情况下，男人会对她们说一些不该说的事。” “那种女人。”她眉头锁得更深，“我不喜欢芮奇……” “好啦，好啦。芮奇三十岁了，已经有不少经验。你大可放心让芮奇应付这个女人，或是任何女人。”他看着铎丝，露出十分疲惫困倦的神情。“你以为我喜欢这样吗？你以为我喜 欢这种事吗？” 铎丝无言以对。 Chapter 16 Gambol Deen Namarti was not, at even the best of times, noted for his politeness and suavity-and the approaching climax of a decade of planning had left his disposition sour. He rose from his chair with some agitation and said, "You've taken your time getting here, Andorin." Andorin shrugged. "But I'm here." "And this young man of yours-this remarkable tool that you're touting. Where is he?" "He'll be here eventually." "Why not now?" Andorin's rather handsome head seemed to sink a bit, as though he were lost in thought or coming to a decision, and then he said abruptly, "I don't want to bring him until I know where I stand." "What does that mean?" "Simple words in Galactic Standard. How long has it been your aim to get rid of Hari Seldon?" "Always! Always! Is that so hard to understand? We deserve revenge for what he did to Jo-Jo. Even if he hadn't done that, since he's the First Minister, we'd have to put him out of the way." "But it's Cleon-Cleon-who must be brought down. If not only he, then at least he, in addition to Seldon." "Why does a figurehead concern you?" "You weren't born yesterday. I've never had to explain my part in this because you're not so ignorant a fool as not to know. What can I possibly care about your plans if they don't include a replacement on the throne?" Namarti laughed. "Of course. I've known for a long time that you look upon me as your footstool, your way of climbing up to the Imperial throne." "Would you expect anything else?" "Not at all. I will do the planning, take the chances, and then, when all is quite done, you gather in the reward. It makes sense, doesn't it?" "Yes, it does make sense, for the reward will be yours, too. Won't you become the First Minister? Won't you be able to count on the full support of a new Emperor, one who is filled with gratitude? Won't I be?and his face twisted with irony as he spat out the words-"the new figurehead?" "Is that what you plan to be? A figurehead?" "I plan to be the Emperor. I supplied advances of credit when you had none. I supplied the cadre when you had none. I supplied the respectability you needed to build a large organization here in Wye. I can still withdraw everything I've brought in." "I don't think so." "Do you want to risk it? Don't think you can treat me the way you treated Kaspalov, either. If anything happens to me, Wye will become uninhabitable for you and yours-and you will find that no other sector will supply you with what you need." Namarti sighed. "Then you insist on having the Emperor killed." "I didn't say `killed.' I said `brought down.' The details I leave to you." This last statement was accompanied with an almost dismissive wave of the hand, a flick of the wrist, as if Andorin were already sitting on the Imperial throne. "And then you'll be Emperor?" "Yes." "No, you won't. You'll be dead-and not at my hands, either. Andorin, let me teach you some of the facts of life. If Cleon is killed, then the matter of the succession comes up and, to avoid civil war, the Imperial Guard will at once kill every member of the Wyan Mayoral family they can find-you first of all. On the other hand, if only the First Minister is killed, you will be safe." "Why?" "A First Minister is only a First Minister. They come and go. It is possible that Cleon himself may have grown tired of him and arranged the murder. Certainly we would see to it that rumors of this sort are spread. The Imperial Guard would hesitate and would give us a chance to put the new government into place. Indeed, it is quite possible that they themselves would be grateful for the end of Seldon." "And with the new government in place, what am I to do? Keep on waiting? Forever?" "No. Once I'm First Minister, there will be ways of dealing with Cleon. I may even be able to do something with the Imperial Guard-and even with the security establishment-and use them all as my instruments. I will then manage to find some safe way of getting rid of Cleon and replacing him with you." Andorin burst out, "Why should you?" Namarti said, "What do you mean, why should I?" "You have a personal grudge against Seldon. Once he is gone, why should you run unnecessary risks at the highest level? You will make your peace with Cleon and I will have to retire to my crumbling estate and my impossible dreams. And perhaps, to play it safe, you will have me killed." Namarti said, "No! Cleon was born to the throne. He comes from several generations of Emperors-the proud Entun Dynasty. He would he very difficult to handle, a plague. You, on the other hand, would come to the throne as a member of a new dynasty, without any strong ties to tradition, for the previous Wyan Emperors were, you will admit, totally undistinguished. You will be seated on a shaky throne and will need someone to support you-me. And I will need someone who is dependent upon me and whom I can therefore handle you. -Come, Andorin, ours is not a marriage of love, which fades in a year; it is a marriage of convenience, which can last as long as we both live. Let us trust each other." "You swear I will be Emperor." "What good would swearing do if you couldn't trust my word? Let us say I would find you an extraordinarily useful Emperor and I would want you to replace Cleon as soon as that can safely be managed. Now introduce me to this man you think will be the perfect tool for your purposes." "Very well. And remember what makes him different. I have studied him. He's a not-very-bright idealist. He will do what he's told, unconcerned by danger, unconcerned by second thoughts. And he exudes a kind of trustworthiness so that his victim will trust him, even if he has a blaster in his hand." "I find that impossible to believe." "Wait till you meet him," said Andorin. 第十六章 　　即使在最得意的时侯，坎伯尔•丁恩•纳马提也不曾礼貌和气地对待他人。此时，十年的经营面临转折点，他的性情变得更加乖戾。 他有点焦躁地站了起来。“你是一路闲晃过来的吗，安多闰？”安多闰耸了耸肩。“但我还是到了。” “那个年轻人——你极力推荐的那个非凡工具，他在哪里？” “他迟早会来。” “为什么不是现在？” 安多闰英俊的脸孔似乎微微下垂，仿佛陷入沉思或即将下定决心，接着他突然说：“在我搞清楚自己的地位之前，我不想把他带来。” “这话什么意思？” “一句简单的银河标准语。你想除掉哈里•谢顿的计划酝酿多久了？”“打一开始这就是我的目标！这有那么难懂吗？我们应该报复他对九九所做的一切。就算他没那样做，既然他是当今首相，我们就得铲掉这个障碍。”“但克里昂一定要下台！如果你们原来的目标并不是他，那么现在，除了谢顿，我要求至少也要包括他。” “你何必那么在乎一个傀儡？”“你不是昨天才出生的婴儿。我从来不必解释我扮演的角色，因为你不是笨蛋，不会不知道。若不是你的计划包括改朝换代，我怎么可能关心？”纳马提哈哈大笑。“当然。我早就知道你把我当作脚凳，好帮你爬上皇位。”“你指望别的吗？” “绝对没有。我负责计划，负责冒险，然后大功告成之际，你就能坐享其成。相当合理， 不是吗？” “没错，相当合理，因为功劳也有你一份。难道你不会当上首相吗？新皇帝将满怀感激， 难道你不会得到他百分之百的支持？难道我不会是‘新的傀儡’吗？”啐出最后几个字的同时，安多闰满脸讽刺的表情。 “那就是你计划的目标？当个傀儡？” “我计划当皇帝。当你一文不名时，我提供信用点让你预支，你手下无人时，我提供干 部供你差遣。此外，我还一手建立起你的社会地位，让你在卫荷建立一个庞大的组织。现在， 我还是可以把给你的一切收回来。”“未必吧。” “你要试试看吗？你别以为能用对付卡斯帕洛夫的手段对付我。如果我出了什么事，你和你的手下就别想在卫荷待下去了，你还将发觉，没有别的区会同样让你有求必应。”纳马提叹了口气。“你坚持一定要把皇上杀掉？”“我没说‘杀掉’，我是说‘赶下台’，细节部分我就留给你了。”安多闰说着，轻慢地 一挥手，仿佛他已经坐在皇位上。 “然后你就成了皇帝。” “没错。” “不，你不会。你会死掉，但不是死在我手里。安多闰，让我教你一些生命的真实面。克里昂一死，首先浮上台面的便是继位问题，为了避免内战，禁卫军会杀掉他们找得到的每个卫荷区长家族成员，而你，会是头号目标。反之，如果只是首相被杀，你却能安然无事。” “为什么？” “首相只不过是首相，来来去去毫不稀奇。安排谋刺宰相的有可能是克里昂自己，动机是对首相感到厌烦。当然，我们努力散播这类谣言，如此禁卫军就会犹豫不决，我们就会有机会组成新政府。我绝对相信，他们自己甚至可能会为谢顿时代的结束额手称庆。” “新政府组成后呢？我又该怎么做？继续等待？直到永远？” “不。一旦我当上首 相，对付克里昂就更容易了。我也许有办法和禁卫军搭上线，甚至保安部门也不例外。一旦他们都成为我的工具，我就会找个安全的办法除掉克里昂，让你取代他的位置。”“你何必那样做？”安多闰突然问。“什么意思？” “你和谢顿有私人宿怨。一旦他完了，你何必还要冒不必要的风险犯滔天大罪？到时你将与克里昂和平共处，而我不得不退隐，回到我那破碎的属地，拥抱我那不可能的梦想。而且说不定，你为了安全起见，会把我给杀了。” 纳马提说道：‘不！克里昂生来就坐在皇位上。他的家族——高傲的恩腾皇朝——出了好几代皇帝。他将很难应付，会是我的眼中钉。反之，你若登上皇位，则会出现一个没有传统束缚的新皇朝，你得承认，过去的卫荷皇朝实在微不足道。你的皇位会坐得危危战战，需要一个人来支持，那人就是我，而我也需要一个依赖我，我能应付的人，那就是你。好啦，安多闰，你我的关系不是因爱结合的婚姻——那在一年内便会褪色——而是因互利而结合的 婚姻，在我们有生之年都能持续不坠。我们要互相信任。”“你保证我会当上皇帝？” “如果你不相信我，保证有什么用？让我们这样说，我认为你会是个非常有用的皇帝，一旦一切安排得万无一失，我马上会让你取代克里昂。现在，为我介绍你那个完美的工具吧。”“好。可别忘了使他与众不同的地方。我曾经研究过他，他是个脑袋不怎么灵光的理想主义者，十分听话，不在乎危险，不会三思而行。而且他散发出一种值得信赖的气质，即使他手中握着一柄手铳，他的猎物也会信任他。” “简直难以置信。” “等你见到他再说吧。”安多闰道。 Chapter 17 Raych kept his eyes down. He had taken a quick look at Namarti and it was all he needed. He had met the man ten years before, when Raych had been sent to lure Jo-Jo Joranum to his destruction, and one look was more than enough. Namarti had changed little in ten years. Anger and hatred were still the dominant characteristics one could see in him-or that Raych could see in him, at any rate, for he realized he was not an impartial witness-and those seemed to have marinated him into leathery permanence. His face was a trifle more gaunt, his hair was flecked with gray, but his thin-lipped mouth was set in the same harsh line and his dark eyes were as brilliantly dangerous as ever. That was enough and Raych kept his eyes averted. Namarti, he felt, was not the type of person who would take to someone who could stare lm straight in the face. Namarti seemed to devour Raych with his own eyes, but the slight sneer his face always seemed to wear remained. He turned to Andorin, who stood uneasily to one side, and said, quite ;is though the subject of conversation were not present, "This is the man, then." Andorin nodded and his lips moved in a soundless "Yes, Chief." Namarti said to Raych abruptly, "Your name." "Planchet, sir." "You believe in our cause?" "Yes, sir." He spoke carefully, in accordance with Andorin's instructions. "I am a democrat and want greater participation of the people in the governmental process." Namarti's eyes flicked in Andorin's direction. "A speechmaker." He looked back at Raych. "Are you willing to undertake risks for the cause?" "Any risk, sir." "You will do as you are told? No questions? No hanging back?" "I will follow orders." "Do you know anything about gardening?" Raych hesitated. "No, sir." "You're a Trantorian, then? Born under the dome?" "I was born in Millimaru, sir, and I was brought up in Dahl." "Very well," said Namarti. Then to Andorin, "Take him out and deliver him temporarily to the men waiting there. They will take good care of him. Then come back, Andorin. I want to speak to you." When Andorin returned, a profound change had come over Namarti. Ibis eyes were glittering and his mouth was twisted into a feral grin. "Andorin," he said, "the gods we spoke of the other day are with us to an extent I couldn't have imagined." "I told you the man was suitable for our purposes." "Far more suitable than you think. You know, of course, the tale of how Hari Seldon our revered First Minister, sent his son-or foster son, rather-to see Joranum and to set the trap into which Joranum, against my advice, fell." "Yes," said Andorin, nodding wearily, "I know the story." He said it with the air of one who knew the story entirely too well. "I saw that boy only that once, but his image burned into my brain. Do you suppose that ten years' passage and false heels and a shaved mustache could fool me? That Planchet of yours is Raych, the foster son of Hari Seldon." Andorin paled and held his breath for a moment. He said, "Are you sure of that, Chief?" "As sure as I am that you're standing here in front of me and that you have introduced an enemy into our midst." "I had no idea-" "Don't get nervous," said Namarti. "I consider it the best thing you have ever done in your idle aristocratic life. You have played the role that the gods have marked out for you. If I had not known who he was, he might have fulfilled the function for which he was undoubtedly intended: to be a spy in our midst and an informant of our most secret plans. But since I know who he is, it won't work that way. Instead, we now have everything. " Namarti rubbed his hands together in delight and, haltingly, as if he realized how far out of character it was for him, he smiled-and laughed. 第十七章 　　芮奇保持目光低垂。他只瞥了纳马提一眼，就已确定是他。十年前，谢顿派芮奇去引诱九九•久瑞南自投罗网时，他曾经见过纳马提。十年了，纳马提没改变多少。谁都看得出来，支配他的仍是愤怒与仇恨（至少芮奇认为如此，他了解自己并非毫无偏见），而他的外表似乎因此定型，永远不再改变。他的脸孔更加瘦削，头发也已斑白，但两片薄唇仍拉出同样冷酷的线条，黑眼珠仍射出往昔的危险光芒。 这就够了，于是芮奇一直低着头。在他的感觉中，纳马提这种人不会喜欢别人面对面瞪着他。 纳马提似乎要用双眼吞噬芮奇，那副总是挂在脸上的冷笑并未消失。他转向不安地站在一旁的安多闰，开口道：所以说，就是这个人了。”他的口气仿佛芮奇并不在场。 安多闰点了点头，以口型无声地表示：“是的，首领。” “你的名字。”纳马提突然对芮奇说。 “普朗什，阁下。” “你相信我们的理念？” “是的，阁下。”芮奇依照安多闰先前的指示，谨慎地对答。“我是个民主人士，我希望 人民进一步参与政府的运作。” 纳马提的目光扫向安多闰。“好个演说家。”他再度望着芮奇，问道：“你愿意为政治信仰冒险吗？” “任何危险都愿意，阁下。” “你会遵照指示行事吗？毫无异议？决不退缩？”“我会听从命令。” “你懂园艺吗？” 芮奇犹豫了一下。“不懂，阁下。”“那么你是川陀人？生在穹顶内的？” “我在千丸出生，阁下，而在达尔长大。” “很好。”接着，纳马提又对安多闰说：“把他带出去，暂时交给等在外面的人，他们会 好好照顾他。然后回来这里，安多闰，我要跟你谈谈。” 安多闰回来时，纳马提整个人有了一百八十度的转变。他双眼闪动着异样的光芒，露出狰狞的笑容。 “安多闰，”纳马提说，“前些日子我们谈到的神，对我们的眷顾简直超出想像。” “我告诉过你，这个人绝对是合适人选。” “合适得超乎你的想像。你一定知道，哈里•谢顿，我们可敬的首相，曾经派他儿子— —或者该说养子——去见久瑞南，设计害他，而久瑞南不听我劝告，结果中了圈套。”“我知道，”安多闰不耐烦地点着头，“我知道这个故事。”他说话的神态明白表示他对 这个故事了如指掌。 “我只有那次仔细看过那孩子，但他的样子深深烙在我脑海里。你以为十年的岁月、假的脚后跟，以及剃掉八字胡能骗得过我吗？你那个普朗什就是芮奇，就是哈里•谢顿的养子！” 安多闰顿时面无血色。“你确定吗，首领？”他屏息问。 “就和我确定你站在我面前一样。我确定你引了一个敌人到我们窝里来了。”“我完全不晓得……” “别紧张。”纳马提说，“我看，你在游手好闲的贵族生涯中，恐怕没做过比这更好的事， 你扮演的角色正是神指派给你的。假使我不知道他是谁，他便极可能卧底成功，窃走我们最秘密的计划。但既然我知道他的身份，情况就不一样了。”现在情势完全逆转，一切都掌握在我们手里。”纳马提兴奋得猛搓双手，却又有点不太自然，仿佛意识到自己的失态。他先是微微一笑，然后哈哈大笑起来。 Chapter 18 Manella said thoughtfully, "I guess I won't be seeing you anymore, Planchet." Raych was drying himself after his shower. "Why not?" "Gleb Andorin doesn't want me to." "Why not?" Manella shrugged her smooth shoulders. "He says you have important work to do and no more time to fool around. Maybe he means you'll get a better job." Raych stiffened. "What kind of work? Did he mention anything in particular?" "No, but he said he would be going to the Imperial Sector." "Did he? Does he often tell you things like that?" "You know how it is, Planchet. When a fellow's in bed with you, he talks a lot." "I know," said Raych, who was always careful not to. "What else does he say?" "Why do you ask?" She frowned a bit. "He always asks about you, too. I noticed that about men. They're curious about each other. Why is that, do you suppose?" "What do you tell him about me?" "Not much. Just that you're a very decent sort of guy. Naturally I don't tell him that I like you better than I like him. That would hurt his feelings-and it might hurt me, too." Raych was getting dressed. "So it's good-bye, then." "For a while, I suppose. Gleb may change his mind. Of course, I'd like to go to the Imperial Sector-if he'd take me. I've never been there." Raych almost slipped, but he managed to cough, then said, "I've never been there, either." "It's got the biggest buildings and the nicest places and the fanciest restaurants-and that's where the rich people live. I'd like to meet some rich people-besides Gleb, I mean." Raych said, "I suppose there's not much you can get out of a person like me." "You're all right. You can't think of credits all the time, but you've got to think of them some of the time. Especially since I think Gleb is getting tired of me." Raych felt compelled to say, "No one could get tired of you," and then found, a little to his own confusion, that he meant it. Manella said, "That's what men always say, but you'd be surprised. Anyway, it's been good, you and I, Planchet. Take care of yourself and, who knows, we may see each other again." Raych nodded and found himself at a loss for words. There was no way in which he could say or do anything to express his feelings. He turned his mind in other directions. He had to find out what the Namarti people were planning. If they were separating him from Manella, the crisis must be rapidly approaching. All he had to go on was that odd question about gardening. Nor could he get any further information back to Seldon. He had been kept under close scrutiny since his meeting with Namarti and all avenues of communication were cut off-surely another indication of an approaching crisis. But if he were to find out what was going on only after it was done-and if he could communicate the news only after it was no longer news-he would have failed. 第十八章 　　玛妮拉若有所思地说：“我猜我再也见不到你了，普朗什。” 芮奇刚淋完浴，正在吹干身子。“为什么？”“葛列布•安多闰要我别再见你。” “为什么？” 玛妮拉耸了耸柔滑的肩膀。“他说你有重要的事要做，没有时间再瞎混了，也许他是指你会有个更好的工作。” 芮奇愣住了。“什么重要的事？他特别提到过什么吗？” “没有，但他说他要到皇区去。” “他说的吗？他常常告诉你这一类的事？” “你也晓得是怎么回事，普朗什，男人在床上总是说个不停。”“我晓得。”芮奇说，他自己则总是小心翼翼。“他还说了些什么？” “你问这干嘛？”她微微皱起眉头，“他也老是问起你。我注意到男人总是对彼此感到好奇。为什么会这样呢？” “你跟他说了我什么？” “没说什么，只说你是非常高尚的人。我当然不会告诉他，说我喜欢你胜过喜欢他。那样会伤他的心，也可能伤害到我。”芮奇开始穿衣服。“所以，我们得说再见喽。” “暂时吧，我想说不定葛列布会改变心意，当然，我很想到皇区去——如果他肯带我同行，我从来没到过那里。” 芮奇差点说溜了嘴，但他及时咳嗽一声。“我也没到过那里。” “那里有最高大的建筑、最引人的名胜，还有最高级的餐厅。那里是有钱人住的地方。我很想碰见些有钱人，我是指除了葛列布之外。”芮奇说：“我想从我这种人身上，你得不到什么东西。” “你人很好。做人不能时时刻刻想着信用点，但也不能完全不想到它。尤其是，我觉得葛列布已经开始厌倦我。” 芮奇感到不得不说一句：“没有人会厌倦你！”然后发觉自己竟是出自真心，不禁有些困 惑。 玛妮拉说：“男人总是这么讲，但结果会令你意外的。无论如何，我们处得很好，普朗什。好好保重，我们也许会再见面，谁知道呢？”芮奇发觉自己无言以对，只得点点头。他无法说些或做些什么，此时此刻，他不能表达自己的感情。 他将心思转到别的方向。他必须查出纳马提的人在计划什么，若是他们要玛妮拉与他分开，那么危机一定迫在眉睫。他手头唯一的线索，就是有关园艺的那个怪问题。 他也无法再传任何情报给谢顿。自从见过纳马提，他便受到严密的监视，所有通讯管道都被切断。不用说，这是危机迫近的另一个征兆。但假如他事后才查出事实真相，假如他在新闻不再是新闻时才将消息传出去，那他就已注定失败。 Chapter 19 Hari Seldon was not having a good day. He had not heard from Raych since his first communique; he had no idea what was happening. Aside from his natural concern for Raych's safety (surely he would hear if something really bad had happened), there was his uneasiness over what might be planned. It would have to be subtle. A direct attack on the Palace itself was totally out of the question. Security there was far too tight. But if so, what else could be planned that would be sufficiently effective? The whole thing was keeping him awake at night and distracted by day. The signal light flashed. "First Minister. Your two o'clock appointment, sir-" "What two o'clock appointment is this?" "Mandell Gruber, the gardener. He has the necessary certification." Seldon remembered. "Yes. Send him in." This was no time to see Gruber, but he had agreed to it in a moment of weakness-the man had seemed distraught. A First Minister should not have such moments of weakness, but Seldon had been Seldon long before he had become First :Minister. "Come in, Gruber," he said kindly. Gruber stood before him, head ducking mechanically, eyes darting this way and that. Seldon was quite certain the gardener had never been in any room as magnificent as this one and he had the bitter urge to say: "Do you like it? Please take it. I don't want it." But he only said, "What is it, Gruber? Why are you so unhappy" There was no immediate answer; Gruber merely smiled vacantly. Seldon said, "Sit down, man. Right there in that chair." "Oh no, First Minister. It would not be fitting. I'll get it dirty." "If you do, it will be easy to clean. Do as I say. -Good! Now just sit there a minute or two and gather your thoughts. Then, when you are ready, tell me what's the matter." Gruber sat silent for a moment, then the words came out in a panting rush. "First Minister. It is Chief Gardener I am to be. The blessed Emperor himself told me so." "Yes, I have heard of that, but that surely isn't what is troubling you. Your new post is a matter of congratulations and I do congratulate you. I may even have contributed to it, Gruber. I have never forgotten your bravery at the time I was nearly killed and you can be sure I mentioned it to His Imperial Majesty. It is a suitable reward, Gruber, and you would deserve the promotion in any case, for it is quite clear from your record that you are fully qualified for the post. So, now that that's out of the way, tell me what is troubling you." "First Minister, it is the very post and promotion that's troubling me. It is something I cannot manage, for I am not qualified." "We are convinced you are." Gruber grew agitated. "And is it in an office I will have to sit? I can't sit in an office. I could not go out in the open air and work with the plants and animals. I would be in prison, First Minister." Seldon's eyes opened wide. "No such thing, Gruber. You needn't stay in the office longer than you have to. You could wander around the grounds freely, supervising everything. You will have all the outdoors you want and you will merely spare yourself the hard work." "I want the hard work, First Minister, and it's no chance at all they will let me come out of the office. I have watched the present Chief Gardener. He couldn't leave his office, though he wanted to, ever so. There is too much administration, too much bookkeeping. Sure, if he wants to know what is going on, we must go to his office to tell him. He watches things on holovision "-he said with infinite contempt "as though you can tell anything about growing, living things from pictures. It is not for me, First Minister." "Come, Gruber, be a man. It's not all that bad. You'll get used to it. You'll work your way in slowly." Gruber shook his head. "First off-at the very first-I will have to deal with all the new gardeners. I'll be buried." Then, with sudden energy, "It is a job I do not want and must not have, First Minister." "Right now, Gruber, perhaps you don't want the job, but you are not alone. I'll tell you that right now I wish I were not First Minister. This job is too much for me. I even have a notion that there are times when the Emperor himself is tired of his Imperial robes. We're all in this Galaxy to do our work and the work isn't always pleasant." "I understand that, First Minister, but the Emperor must be Emperor, for he was born to that. And you must be First Minister, for there is no one else who can do the job. But in my case, it is just Chief Gardener we are ruminating upon. There are fifty gardeners in the place who could do it as well as I could and who wouldn't mind the office. You say that you spoke to the Emperor about how I tried to help you. Can't you speak to him again and explain that if he wants to reward me for what I did, he can leave me as I am?" Seldon leaned back in his chair and said solemnly, "Gruber, I would do that for you if I could, but I must explain something to you and I can only hope that you will understand it. The Emperor, in theory, is absolute ruler of the Empire. In actual fact, there is very little he can do. I run the Empire right now much more than he does and there is very little I can do, too. There are millions and billions of people at all levels of government, all making decisions, all making mistakes, some acting wisely and heroically, some acting foolishly and thievishly. There's no controlling them. Do you understand me, Gruber?" "I do, but what has this to do with my case?" "Because there is only one place where the Emperor is really absolute ruler-and that is over the Imperial grounds. Here, his word is law and the layers of officials beneath him are few enough for him to handle. For him to be asked to rescind a decision he has made in connection with the Imperial Palace grounds would be to invade the only area that he would consider inviolate. If I were to say, `Take back your decision on Gruber, Your Imperial Majesty,' he would be much more likely to relieve me of my duties than to take back his decision. That might be a good thing for me, but it wouldn't help you any." Gruber said, "Does that mean there's no way things can be changed?" "That's exactly what it means. But don't worry, Gruber, I'll help you all I can. I'm sorry. But now I have really spent all the time with you that I am able to spare." Gruber rose to his feet. In his hands he twisted his green gardening cap. There was more than a suspicion of tears in his eyes. "Thank you, First Minister. I know you would like to help. You're-you're a good man, First Minister." He turned and left, sorrowing. Seldon looked after him thoughtfully and shook his head. Multiply Gruber's woes by a quadrillion and you would have the woes of all the people of the twenty-five million worlds of the Empire and how was he, Seldon, to work out salvation for all of them, when he was helpless to solve the problem of one single man who had come to him for help? Psychohistory could not save one man. Could it save a quadrillion? He shook his head again, checked the nature and time of his next appointment, and then suddenly stiffened. He shouted into his communications wire in sudden wild abandon, quite unlike his usually strict control. "Get that gardener back! Get him back here right now!" 第十九章 　　谢顿这一天很不好过。芮奇发了一封电汛之后便毫无音讯，他完全不清楚发生了什么事。 除了对芮奇的安危自然而然的关切（若发生什么不幸，他一定会听到消息），令他坐立不安的还有潜存的阴谋。 对方的阴谋一定十分狡猾，直接攻击皇宫是绝不可能的，那里的安全防范极为严密。但除此之外，还有更具破坏性的方法吗？ 整件事使他夜里辗转难眠，白天则心神不宁。讯号灯闪了一下。 “首相，您两点钟的约会……”“是要见谁？” “曼德尔•葛鲁柏，那名园丁，他有求见证明。” 谢顿记起来了。“好，让他进来。”现在不是见葛鲁柏的时候，但当时葛鲁柏似乎心乱如麻，他一时心软便答应见他。首相不该有心软的时候，但谢顿早在当上首相前便已是谢顿。 “进来，葛鲁柏。”他和颜悦色地说。 葛鲁柏站在他面前，机械性地点着头，两眼忍不住东张西望。谢顿相当确定，这名园丁从未置身过如此富丽堂皇的房间。他突然有股恶毒的冲动，想说：你喜欢吗？请拿去吧，我根本不想要。 但他只是说：“什么事，葛鲁柏？你为何这么沮丧？”葛鲁柏并未立即回答，只恍惚地笑了一下。 “坐吧，老兄，就坐那张椅子。”谢顿说。 “噢，不，首相。那可不合适，我会把它弄脏。”“没关系的，这椅子没这么难清理，你就照我的话做。先坐一会儿，整理整理思绪。等你准备好了，再告诉我是怎么回事。” 葛鲁柏静静坐了一会儿，然后突然喘着气说：“首相，我就要当园丁长了，皇上亲自告诉我的。” “嗯，我听说了，但你不是在烦恼这件事吧？你升官是件值得恭喜的事，我还没恭喜你呢。这事的功劳说不定我也能算一份，葛鲁柏。我从来没忘记当年我险些遇害时，你英勇的表现我也对皇帝陛下提过。这次晋升是个适当的奖赏，葛鲁柏，而且你当之无愧，因为你的记录明白显示你绝对胜任。好，既然这点说清楚了，现在告诉我是什么事让你这么烦恼吧。” “首相，我烦恼的正是这次晋升。这工作我应付不来，我根本无法胜任。” “我们相信你能胜任。” 葛鲁柏变得焦躁不安。我是不是得坐在办公室里？我不能坐在办公室里，那样我就不能走到露天的空气中，不能在植物和动物的陪伴下工作。那简直就像要我坐牢，首相。”谢顿睁大眼睛。“没这回事，葛鲁柏，你不需要成天待在办公室里。你随时可以到户外走动，亲自在御苑里巡视监督，还不用整日辛苦工作。” “我就是要做辛苦的工作，首相。他们根本不会让我走出办公室，我观察过现任的园丁长，他就离不开办公室，虽然他也想，想得不得了，但有太多的行政工作，太多的簿记资料要他处理。当然啦，如果他想知道发生了什么事，我们得去他的办公室向他报告。他从全息电视上观看外界——”他以极度轻蔑的口吻说：“好像从画面中能看出动植物生长的一切。我可不要这样，首相。” “好了，葛鲁柏，像个男子汉。事情没有那么糟，你会习惯的，你会慢慢克服的。” 葛鲁柏摇了摇头。“头一件事我就得面对所有的新园丁，我会吃不消的。”接着他突然一 鼓作气说道：“我不想要也绝不能要这份工作，首相。” “呃，葛鲁柏，你说你不想要这份工作，但有这种想法的并不只你一个人。我可以告诉你，我也希望我现在不是首相，这份工作超出我的能力范围。我甚至有种想法，有些时候连皇上自己也想脱下身上的皇袍。在这银河中，每个人都有自己的工作，而工作不会总是愉快的。” “这点我懂，首相。可是皇上必须当皇上，因为他生来注定当皇上。而您必须当首相，因为再也没有别人能胜任这份工作。可是我的情形不同，我们讨论的只是当个园丁长。御苑里有五十名园丁，他们都能做得跟我一样好，却不在乎关在办公室里。您说您曾经告诉皇上我如何试图救您。您就不能再跟他解释一下，如果他要为那件事奖赏我，大可让我继续当个园丁？” 谢顿靠回椅背，严肃地说：“葛鲁柏，假使我有办法，我会这么做。但我希望你能了解一件事，理论上，皇上是帝国的绝对统治者，但实际上，他能做的事非常少；我治理帝国事务的程度远超过他，而我能做的也非常有限。政府各阶层中有百千万亿的人，大家都在做决定，都在犯错误，有些行事睿智、光明磊落，有些行事愚蠢、偷偷摸摸，根本没法控制。你懂我的意思吗，葛鲁柏？” “我懂，但这跟我有什么关系？” “因为只有在一个地方，皇上才是真正的绝对统治者，那就是皇宫御苑。在这里，他的话就是法律，而且底下的官员层级少，他足以应付得来。既然他已对御苑中的事做出决定，若请求他撤回，就等于侵犯他唯一的堡垒。假使我对他说：‘皇上，请收回您对葛鲁柏的决定。’他非但不会接受，甚至很可能解除我的职务。那对我而言未必不是好事，但对你毫无帮助。” 葛鲁柏说：“你的意思是说，不可能改变了？” “是的。不过别担心，葛鲁柏，我会尽全力帮你。我很抱歉，我时间不多，没法再跟你多谈了。” 葛鲁柏站了起来，双手扭着他那顶绿色园丁帽，泪水差点就要掉下来。“谢谢您，首相。 我知道您很想帮我，您——您是个大好人，首相。” 他转身离去，一副悲伤不已的样子。 谢顿若有所思地望着他的背影，摇了摇头。将葛鲁柏的悲伤乘上万兆倍，便等于帝国中二千五百万个世界上所有人民的悲伤。而他，谢顿，连对一个向他求助的人都爱莫能助，又怎能救万兆人脱离苦海？ ——心理史学救不了一个人，能拯救万兆人吗？ 他摇了摇头，开始查阅下个约会的性质与时间，却突然愣住。接着一反平日严谨的言行， 对着通话线大吼道：“把那园丁找回来！马上找回来！” Chapter 20 "What's this about new gardeners?" exclaimed Seldon. This time he did not ask Gruber to sit down. Gruber's eyes blinked rapidly. He was in a panic at having been recalled so unexpectedly. "N-new g-gardeners?" he stammered. "You said `all the new gardeners.' Those were your words. What new gardeners?" Gruber was astonished. "Sure, if there is a new Chief Gardener, there will be new gardeners. It is the custom." "I have never heard of this." "The last time we had a change of Chief Gardeners, you were not First Minister. It is likely you were not even on Trantor." "But what's it all about?" "Well, gardeners are never discharged. Some die. Some grow too old and are pensioned off and replaced. Still, by the time a new Chief Gardener is ready for his duties, at least half the staff is aged and beyond their best years. They are all pensioned off generously and new gardeners are brought in." "For youth." "Partly and partly because by that time there are usually new plans for the gardens and it is new ideas and new schemes we must have. There are almost five hundred square kilometers in the gardens and parklands and it usually takes some years to reorganize it and it is myself who will have to supervise it all. Please, First Minister." Gruber was gasping. "Surely a clever man like your own self can find a way to change the blessed Emperor's mind." Seldon paid no attention. His forehead was creased in concentration. "Where do the new gardeners come from?" "There are examinations on all the worlds-there are always people waiting to serve as replacements. They'll be coming in by the hundreds in a dozen batches. It will take me a year, at the least-" "From where do they come? From where?" "From any of a million worlds. We want a variety of horticultural knowledge. Any citizen of the Empire can qualify." "From Trantor, too?" "No, not from Trantor. There is no one from Trantor in the gardens." His voice grew contemptuous. "You can't get a gardener out of Trantor. The parks they have here under the dome aren't gardens. They are potted plants and the animals are in cages. Trantorians, poor specimens that they are, know nothing about open air, free water, and the true balance of nature." "All right, Gruber. I will now give you a job. It will be up to you to get me the names of every new gardener scheduled to arrive over the coming weeks. Everything about them. Name. World. Reference number. Education. Experience. Everything. I want it all here on my desk just as quickly as possible. I'm going to send people to help you. People with machines. What kind of a computer do you use?" "Only a simple one for keeping track of plantings and species and things like that." "All right. The people I send will be able to do anything you can't do. I can't tell you how important this is." "If I should do this-" "Gruber, this is not the time to make bargains. Fail me and you will not be Chief Gardener. Instead, you will be discharged without a pension." Alone again, Seldon barked into his communication wire, "Cancel all appointments for the rest of the afternoon." He then let his body flop in his chair, feeling every bit of his fifty years and feeling his headache worsen. For years, for decades, security had been built up around the Imperial Palace grounds, thicker, more solid, more impenetrable, as each new layer and each new device was added. -And every once in a while, hordes of strangers were let into the grounds. No questions asked, probably, but one: "Can you garden?" The stupidity involved was too colossal to grasp. And he had barely caught it in time. Or had he? Was he, even now, too late? 第二十章 　　“那些新园丁是怎么回事？”谢顿吼道，这回他没有请葛鲁柏坐下。葛鲁柏猛眨眼睛。这么突然被叫回来，他到现在还在喘气。“新……新园……园丁？”他结结巴巴地说。 “你刚才说‘面对所有旳新园丁’，你自己说的。究竟是什么新园丁？”葛鲁柏吃了一惊。当然啦，如果有个新园丁长，就会有一批新园丁。这是惯例。”“我从没听过这种事。” “上回我们更换园丁长时，您还没当上首相，甚至可能还没到川陀来呢。” “但这究竟是怎么回事？” “这个嘛，园丁是终身职。有些死于任上，有些年纪大了，就领一笔退休金回家养老，换人替代他。一般说来，新园丁长准备就任时，至少一半的园丁都已年老，到了该退休的时候。他们会领到一笔丰厚的退休金，由一批新园丁接替他们的工作。” “因为他们年轻。” “那是原因之一。此外这时候通常也都会有新的造园计划，我们必须找些新构想和新方案。苑囿占地将近五百平方公里，通常要好几年才能全部改头换面，而我必须亲自监督一切。 求求您，首相，”葛鲁柏喘着气哀求，“像您这么聪明的人，一定有法子改变皇上的心意。” 谢顿并未响应，他的前额因为深思皱成一团。“新园丁从哪里来？”“所有的世界都会举行考试，随时有人排队等待递补。他们会分十几个梯次来，总共有好几百人，那至少要花我一年的时间——” “他们从哪里来？哪里？” “任何一个世界都有可能。我们需要各式各样的园艺知识，帝国任何公民都有资格。”“也有从川陀来的？” “不，没有从川陀来的，花园里没有川陀人。”葛鲁柏的口气转趋轻蔑，“你在川陀找不 到一个园丁。他们那些穹顶下的公园只有盆栽植物，称不上花园，而动物都关在笼子里。可怜的川陀人，他们对露天的空气、奔放的流水，以及自然界真正的平衡根本一无所知。” “好，葛鲁柏。我现在给你一件差事，你要负责帮我搜集未来几周预定到达的新园丁名单。要包括他们的一切资料，姓名、世界、识别号码、教育水准、经历，一切的一切。我要全部资料尽快交到我桌上。我会派人带着必要的计算机去帮你。你用什么样的计算机？” “只是一台很简单的，用来记录植物的栽培、品种以及诸如此类的资料。” “好，你若有任何问题，我派去的人能一一帮你解决，我无法向你解释这件事有多么重要。” “假使要我做这——” “葛鲁柏，现在不是讨价还价的时侯。要是让我失望，你非但做不成园丁长，还会被解雇，领不到半点退休金。” 葛鲁柏离去后，谢顿对着通话线吼道：“取消今天下午其他所有约会！”他瘫进椅子里，头痛加剧，他感到自己的的确确已经五十岁了。这数十年来，御苑周围的安全防范一层层加强，新型装置不断增设，变得越来越坚实，越来越牢不可破。然而每隔一段时间，竟然就会有大群陌生人涌进御苑。甚至什么都不会多问，除了一句： “你懂园艺吗？” 愚蠢！简直愚蠢得难以想像。 总算千钧一发，让他及时发觉。然而他真的及时察觉了吗？会不会一切都已经太迟了？ Chapter 21 Gleb Andorin gazed at Namarti through half-closed eyes. He never liked the man, but there were times when he liked him less than he usually did and this was one of those times. Why should Andorin, a Wyan of royal birth (that's what it amounted to, after all) have to work with this parvenu, this near-psychotic paranoid? Andorin knew why and he had to endure, even when Namarti was once again in the process of telling the story of how he had built up the movement during a period of ten years to its present pitch of perfection. Did he tell this to everyone, over and over? Or was it just Andorin who was his chosen vessel? Namarti's face seemed to shine with malignant glee as he said, in an odd singsong, as though it were a matter of rote, "Year after year. I worked on those lines, even through hopelessness and uselessness, building an organization, chipping away at confidence in the government, creating and intensifying dissatisfaction. When there was the banking crisis and the week of the moratorium, I-" He paused suddenly. "I've told you this many times and you're sick of hearing it, aren't you?" Andorin's lips twitched in a brief dry smile. Namarti was not such an idiot as not to know what a bore he was; he just couldn't help it. Andorin said, "You've told me this many times." He allowed the remainder of the question to hang in the air, unanswered. The answer, after all, was an obvious affirmative. There was no need to face him with it. A slight flush crossed Namarti's sallow face. He said, "But it could have gone on forever-the building, the chipping, without ever coming to a point-if I hadn't had the proper tool in my hands. And without any effort on my part, the tool came to me." "The gods brought you Planchet," said Andorin neutrally. "You're right. There will be a group of gardeners entering the Imperial Palace grounds soon." He paused and seemed to savor the thought. "Men and women. Enough to serve as a mask for the handful of our operatives who will accompany them. Among them will be you-and Planchet. And what will make you and Planchet unusual is that you will be carrying blasters." "Surely," said Andorin with deliberate malice behind a polite expression, "we'll be stopped at the gates and held for questioning. Bringing an illicit blaster onto the Palace grounds-" "You won't be stopped," said Namarti, missing the malice. "You won't be searched. That's been arranged. You will all be greeted as a matter of course by some Palace official. I don't know who would ordinarily be in charge of that task-the Third Assistant Chamberlain in Charge of Grass and Leaves, for all I know-but in this case, it will be Seldon himself. The great mathematician will hurry out to greet the new gardeners and welcome them to the grounds." "You're sure of that, I suppose." "Of course, I am. It's all been arranged. He will learn, at more or less the last minute, that his foster son is among those listed as new gardeners and it will be impossible for him to refrain from coming out to see him. And when Seldon appears, Planchet will raise his blaster. Our people will raise the cry of `Treason!' In the confusion and hurly-burly, Planchet will kill Seldon and then you will kill Planchet. You will then drop your blaster and leave. There are those who will help you leave. It's been arranged." "Is it absolutely necessary to kill Planchet?" Namarti frowned. "Why? Do you object to one killing and not to another? When Planchet recovers, do you wish him to tell the authorities all he knows about us? Besides, this is a family feud we are arranging. Don't forget that Planchet is, in actual fact, Raych Seldon. It will look as though the two had fired simultaneously-or as though Seldon had given orders that if his son made any hostile move, he was to be shot down. We will see to it that the family angle will be given full publicity. It will be reminiscent of the bad old days of the Bloody Emperor Manowell. The people of Trantor will surely be repelled by the sheer wickedness of the deed. That, piled on top of all the inefficiencies and breakdowns they've been witnessing and living through, will raise the cry for a new government-and no one will be able to refuse them, least of all the Emperor. And then we'll step in." "Just like that?" "No, not just like that. I don't live in a dream world. There is likely to be some interim government, but it will fail. We'll see to it that it fails and we'll come out in the open and revive the old Joranumite arguments that the Trantorians have never forgotten. And in time-in not too much time-I will be First Minister." "And I?" "Will eventually be the Emperor." Andorin said, "The chance of all this working is small. -This is arranged. That is arranged. The other thing is arranged. All of it has to come together and mesh perfectly or it will fail. Somewhere, someone is bound to mess up. It's an unacceptable risk." "Unacceptable? For whom? For you?" "Certainly. You expect me to make certain that Planchet will kill his father and you expect me to then kill Planchet. Why me? Aren't there tools worth less than I who might more easily be risked?" "Yes, but to choose anyone else would make failure certain. Who but you has so much riding on this mission that there is no chance you will turn back in a fit of vapors at the last minute?" "The risk is enormous." "Isn't it worth it to you? You're playing for the Imperial throne." "And what risk are you taking, Chief? You will remain here, quite comfortable, and wait to hear the news." Namarti's lip curled. "What a fool you are, Andorin! What an Emperor you will make! Do you suppose I take no risk because I will be here? If the gambit fails, if the plot miscarries, if some of our people are taken, do you think they won't tell everything they know? If you were somehow caught, would you face the tender treatment of the Imperial Guard without ever telling them about me? "And with a failed assassination attempt at hand, do you suppose they won't comb Trantor to find me? Do you suppose that in the end they will fail to find me? And when they do find me, what do you suppose I will have to face at their hands? -Risk? I run a worse risk than any of you, just sitting here doing nothing. It boils down to this, Andorin. Do you or do you not wish to be Emperor?" Andorin said in a low voice, "I wish to be Emperor." And so things were set in motion. 第二十一章 　　葛列布•安多闰眼睛半闭地盯着纳马提。他向来不喜欢这个人，有时还会比平常更讨厌 他，譬如现在。他，安多闰，堂堂一位卫荷王室成员（这样说一点也不为过)，为何需要跟这个政治暴发户，这个近乎神经病的妄想狂合作？安多闰知道为什么，而他必须忍受，即使是纳马提又再重复那个老故事的时候。纳马提老爱提这十年来他如何重整组织，而组织运动又如何终于开花结果……他对每个人都这么一遍遍说吗？或者他只是选择安多闰当发泄的对象？ 纳马提的脸上仿佛闪耀着邪恶的喜悦，声音单调而古怪，他只是机械性地念诵着：“这么多年来，我为主义献身，甚至在毫无希望的情况下仍然继续奋中。我一手建立起组织，削弱人民对政府的信心，制造并强化不满的情绪。在出现金融危机、银行延期偿付的那一周，我——” 他突然停下来。“这些我已经对你讲过许多次，你听得不耐烦了，对不对？”安多闰的嘴角抽动了一下，扯出一个生硬的微笑。纳马提不是白痴，不会不明白自己多惹人厌，他只是控制不住自己。安多闰说：“你是已经讲过很多遍了。”他没回答后半段的问 题。毕竟，答案显然是肯定的，不过没必要那样顶他。纳马提蜡黄的脸孔微微涨红。“但假使我手中没有适当的工具，这样的状况就可能一直持续下去——建立组织、削弱信心，却始终一事无成。如今我不费吹灰之力，这个工具就自动送上门来。” “神为你带来普朗什。”安多闰中肯地说。 “你说对了。很快就会有一批园丁进入皇宫御苑，”他顿了顿，似乎沉浸在这个想法里。 “有男有女，足以掩护我们少数的行动人员。你和普朗什就混在他们中间，不同的是，你们 两人会带着手铳。” “不用说，”安多闰礼貌的措辞中带着刻意的敌意，“我们在宫门就会被拦下，抓起来接 受盘问。携带手铳进入皇宫御苑——” “你们不会被拦下，”纳马提没注意到对方语里的敌意，“也不会被搜身，我已经安排好 了。当然，会有某个宫中官员来欢迎你们，我不知道通常是谁负责这项工作，大概是‘第三助理总管’之类的吧。但这一次，谢顿将亲自出马。那位伟大的数学家会出来迎接新园丁，欢迎他们来到御苑。” “我想，这点你很确定。” “我当然确定，全都安排好了。最后谢顿终将发觉他的养子在新园丁名单上，一定会忍不住出来看看他。谢顿一出现，普朗什便会举起手铳，我们的人则会髙喊‘叛变！’在混乱和骚动中，普朗什会杀掉谢顿，然后你杀掉普朗什；接着你就丢下手铳，离开现场，自会有人掩护你逃脱，这也安排好了。” “有必要杀掉普朗什吗？” 纳马提皱起眉头。“为什么不？你不反对一宗谋杀，却反对另一宗？你希望普朗什在复原后，向有关单位供出一切吗？何况，我们的目的是安排一场家族纷争。别忘了，普朗什就是芮奇•谢顿，这看来会像是父子同时开火，或像是谢顿曾经下令，若他儿子一有反叛行动，就立刻制服他。我们一定要把他们父子反目的说法渲染得人尽皆知，使人们联想到血腥皇帝马诺威尔统治下的那段凄惨岁月。这种丑恶的行径一定会令川陀人民厌恶，在亲眼目睹、亲 身经历效率低落和故障频仍之后，再加上这一点，川陀人民会齐声要求一个新政府。没有人能拒绝他们，尤其是皇上。然后，就换我们上场了。”“就这样？” “不，当然不是，我可不是活在梦幻世界里。到时很可能会先出现一个临时政府，但它注定会失败；我们一定要让它失败，然后我们再公开现身。川陀人始终没忘记久瑞南当年的主张，而我们将重新举起这个大旗。等到时机成熟——不会等太久——我就会当上首相。”“我呢？” “你终究会当上皇帝。” 安多闰说：“每一个环节都顺利的机会实在很小。这点安排好，那点安排好了，其他事也安排好了。所有环节都得串联得很完美，才有可能成功。万一某个地方出了纰漏怎么办？我们承受不起这种风险。” “承受不起？对谁而言？你吗？” “当然。你指望我确保普朗什会杀掉他父亲，又指望我事后杀掉普朗什。为什么是我？难道没有比我更不值钱、更适合拿去冒险的工具吗？”“没错，但其他人选必定会使行动失败。除了你，还有谁这么在乎这项任务，不会为了任何风吹草动而临阵缩手？” “风险太大了。” “不值得吗？你可是为了皇位冒险。” “而你呢，首领大人？就这么舒舒服服留在这里，等我们的好消息？” 纳马提撇了撇嘴。“你真是傻瓜，安多闰，还想当什么皇帝！你以为我待在这里就不担风险吗？万一这个策略失败，计划流产，万一我们有人被捕，你认为他们不会把知道的一切都招出来吗？要是你被抓到，面对禁卫军的大刑侍候，你会不把我供出来？ “为了一桩未遂的行刺案，你以为他们不会翻遍川陀把我揪出来吗？你以为我能躲一辈子吗？而当一旦落在对方手里，你以为他们会怎么对我？风险？哼！光是坐在这里什么也不做，我担的风险就比你们任何人都大。总而言之，安多闰，说吧，你到底是想还是不想当皇帝？” 安多闰以低沉的声音说：“我希望当皇帝。”于是，他们的行动便展开了。 Chapter 22 Raych had no trouble seeing that he was being treated with special care. The whole group of would-be gardeners was now quartered in one of the hotels in the Imperial Sector, although not one of the prime hotels, of course. The gardeners were an odd lot, from fifty different worlds, but Raych had little chance to speak to any of them. Andorin, without being too obvious about it, had managed to keep him apart from the others. Raych wondered why. It depressed him. In fact, he had been feeling somewhat depressed since he had left Wye. It interfered with his thinking process and he fought it-but not with entire success. Andorin was himself wearing rough clothes and was attempting to look like a workman. He would be playing the part of a gardener as a way of running the "show"-whatever the "show" might be. Raych felt ashamed that he had not been able to penetrate the nature of that "show." They had closed in on him and prevented all communication, so he hadn't even had the chance to warn his father. They might be doing this for every Trantorian who had been pushed into the group, for all he knew, just as an extreme precaution. Raych estimated that there might be a dozen Trantorians among them, all of them Namarti's people, of course, men and women both. What puzzled him was that Andorin treated him with what was almost affection. He monopolized him, insisted on having all his meals with him, treated him quite differently from the way in which he treated anyone else. Could it be because they had shared Manella? Raych did not know enough about the mores of the Wye Sector to be able to tell whether there might not be a polyandrous touch to their society. If two men shared a woman, did that make them, in a way, fraternal? Did it create a bond? Raych had never heard of such a thing, but he knew better than to suppose he had a grasp of even a tiny fraction of the infinite subtleties of galactic societies-even of Trantorian societies. But now that his mind had brought him back to Manella, he dwelled on her for a while. He missed her terribly and it occurred to him that missing her might be the cause of his depression, though, to tell the truth, what he was feeling now, as he was finishing lunch with Andorin, was almost despair-though he could think of no cause for it. Manella! She had said she wanted to visit the Imperial Sector and presumably she could wheedle Andorin to her liking. He was desperate enough to ask a foolish question. "Mr. Andorin, I keep wondering if maybe you brought Miss Dubanqua along with you. Here, to the Imperial Sector." Andorin looked utterly astonished. Then he laughed gently. "Manella? Do you see her doing any gardening? Or even pretending she could? No no, Manella is one of those women invented for our quiet moments. She has no function at all, otherwise." Then "Why do you ask, Planchet?" Raych shrugged. "I don't know. It's sort of dull around here. I sort of thought-" His voice trailed away. Andorin watched him carefully. Finally he said, "Surely you're not of the opinion that it matters much which woman you are involved with? I assure you it doesn't matter to her which man she's involved with. Once this is over, there will be other women. Plenty of them." "When will this be over?" "Soon. And you're going to be part of it in a very important way." Andorin watched Raych narrowly. Raych said, "How important? Aren't I gonna be just-a gardener?" His voice sounded hollow and he found himself unable to put a spark in it. "You'll be more than that, Planchet. You'll be going in with a blaster." "With a what?" "A blaster." "I never held a blaster. Not in my whole life." "There's nothing to it. You lift it. You point it. You close the contact and someone dies." "I can't kill anyone." "I thought you were one of us, that you would do anything for the cause." "I didn't mean-kill." Raych couldn't seem to collect his thoughts. Why must he kill? What did they really have in mind for him? And how would he be able to alert the Imperial Guard before the killing would be carried out? Andorin's face hardened suddenly, an instant conversion from friendly interest to stern decision. He said, "You must kill." Raych gathered all his strength. "No. I ain't gonna kill nobody. That's final." Andorin said, "Planchet, you will do as you are told." "Not murder." "Even murder." "How you gonna make me?" "I shall simply tell you to." Raych felt dizzy. What made Andorin so confident? He shook his head. "No." Andorin said, "We've been feeding you, Planchet, ever since you left Wye. I made sure you ate with me. I supervised your diet. Especially the meal you just ate." Raych felt the horror rise within him. He suddenly understood. "Desperance!" "Exactly," said Andorin. "You're a sharp devil, Planchet." "It's illegal." "Yes, of course. So's murder." Raych knew about desperance. It was a chemical modification of a perfectly harmless tranquilizer. The modified form, however, did not produce tranquillity but despair. It had been outlawed because of its use in mind control, though there were persistent rumors that the Imperial Guard used it. Andorin said, as though it were not hard to read Raych's mind, "It's called desperance because that's an old word meaning `hopelessness.' I think you're feeling hopeless." "Never," whispered Raych. "Very resolute of you, but you can't fight the chemical. And the more hopeless you feel, the more effective the drug." "No chance." "Think about it, Planchet. Namarti recognized you at once, even without your mustache. He knows you are Raych Seldon and, at my direction, you are going to kill your father." Raych muttered, "Not before I kill you." He rose from his chair. There should be no problem at all in this. Andorin might be taller, but he was slender and clearly no athlete. Raych would break him in two with one arm-but he swayed as he rose. He shook his head, but it wouldn't clear. Andorin rose, too, and backed away. He drew his right hand from where it had been resting within his left sleeve. He was holding a weapon. He said pleasantly, "I came prepared. I have been informed of your prowess as a Heliconian Twister and there will be no hand-to-hand combat." He looked down at his weapon. "This is not a blaster," he said. "I can't afford to have you killed before you accomplish your task. It's a neuronic whip. Much worse, in a way. I will aim at your left shoulder and, believe me, the pain will be so excruciating that the world's greatest stoic would not be able to endure it." Raych, who had been advancing slowly and grimly, stopped abruptly. He had been twelve years old when he had had a taste-a small one-of a neuronic whip. Once struck, no one ever forgets the pain, however long he lives, however full of incidents his life is. Andorin said, "Moreover, I will use full strength so that the nerves in your upper arms will be stimulated first into unbearable pain and then damaged into uselessness. You will never use your left arm again. I will spare the right so you can handle the blaster. -Now if you sit down and accept matters, as you must, you may keep both arms. Of course, you must eat again so your desperance level increases. Your situation will only worsen." Raych felt the drug-induced despair settle over him and that despair served, in itself, to deepen the effect. His vision was turning double and he could think of nothing to say. Raych only knew that he would have to do what Andorin would tell him to do. He had played the game and he had lost. 第二十二章 　　芮奇不难看出自己受到特别照顾。现在，整组园丁候选者都住在皇区一家旅馆内，不过， 当然不是什么一流旅馆。 这群园丁是个古怪的组合，分别来自五十个不同的世界。芮奇很少有机会与其他人说话， 因为安多闰一直很技巧地将他与其他人隔开。芮奇十分纳闷，也很沮丧。事实上，自从离开卫荷，他就一直有些沮丧。这干扰了他的思绪，他虽然力图振作，却不成功。安多闰穿着一套粗布衣，试图打扮得像个工人。在他导演的这出“戏”中，他将扮演一个园丁的角色。 芮奇感到惭愧，因为他始终没能摸清这出“戏”的脚本。他们一直严密监视他，他没法做任何形式的通讯，甚至没机会警告父亲。据他所知，同行的每个川陀人可能都受到这样的监控，这只是非常的防范措施。芮奇估计这群园丁中可能有十二个川陀人，男女都有，而且毫无疑问都是纳马提的手下。 令芮奇不解的是，安多闰对待他的态度可谓关爱备至。他一个人霸占了自己所有的时间， 坚持要跟自己共进每一餐。换句话说，他对待自己的方式与其他人完全不同。会不会是因为他们曾经共享玛妮拉？芮奇对卫荷区的风俗知道得不多，无法判断他们是否有一妻多夫的倾向。假如两个男人共享一个女人，是否会使他们产生某种兄弟之情？这会形成一种情谊吗？ 芮奇从未听过这种事，但他至少明白，在银河各个社会，甚至川陀各个社会中，存在着无数不可思议的习俗，他知道自己了解的不多。 他的心思一回到玛妮拉身上，便不禁思念起她来。他非常想念玛妮拉，芮奇突然想到，这可能就是使他沮丧的主因。但现在，与安多闰共进的午餐即将结束，他的感觉却近乎绝望， 他不知道是为什么。 玛妮拉！ 她曾说她想造访皇区，安多闰说不定会被她的甜言蜜语说动。绝望的情绪越来越浓，芮奇脱口问了一个蠢问题：安多闰先生，我一直在想，不知道你有没有带杜邦夸小姐同行。我是说到皇区这里。” 安多闰看来大吃一惊，然后轻声笑了笑。“玛妮拉？你看她种过花吗？还是你以为她会？ 不，不，玛妮拉那种女人生来是给男人解闷的。除此之外，她没有任何功用。”接着他又说： “你问这做什么，普朗什？” 芮奇耸了耸肩。“我不知道。这里有点无聊，我有点儿想……”他的声音逐渐消失。 安多闰审视着他，最后终于开口：“不用说，你不会在意是哪个女人陪你吧？我向你保证，玛妮拉可不在意是哪个男人陪她。这件事一旦办完，你自然会有别的女人，很多的女人。”“这件事什么时候能办完？” “快了，而你将扮演一个重要的角色。”安多闰仔细盯着芮奇。“有多重要？我不是只要当个——园丁吗？”芮奇的声音空洞无力，而他发觉自己一点也提不起劲。 “你要做的不只这样，普朗什，你要带一柄手铳进去。” “带什么？” “一柄手铳。” “我从来没拿过手铳，这辈子从没碰过。” “没什么大不了的。你举起来，瞄准，按一下开关，然后某人就死了。”“我不能杀人。” “我以为你是我们的一分子，愿意为政治信仰做任何事。”“我不是指……杀人。”芮奇似乎很难集中思绪。为何要他杀人？他们真正的目的是什么？而在他被迫杀人之前，要如何才能及时警告禁卫军……安多闰的脸孔突然绷紧，友善的关怀瞬间转变成断然的坚决。他说：“你必须杀人。”芮奇使尽全力说：“不，我啥人也不杀，没啥好讲的。” 安多闰说：“普朗什，你会照着我们的话去做。”“不包括谋杀。” “当然包括谋杀。” “你要怎样让我做到？” “我只要叫你做就行。” 芮奇觉得一阵昏眩。安多闰为何如此自信？ 他摇了摇头。“不。” 安多闰说：“我们一直在喂你，普朗什。离开卫荷后，我坚持和你一起进餐，监督你的饮食——尤其是刚刚那一顿。”一阵恐惧感瞬间贯穿芮奇全身，他突然明白了。“是‘丧气’！” “完全正确。”安多闰说，“你是个精明的小鬼，普朗什。” “那是非法的。” “是的，当然，谋杀也是。” 芮奇知道“丧气”是什么。它原来是一种完全无害的镇静剂，然而经过改造后，它产生的就不再是镇静作用，而是绝望的感觉。由于它能用来控制心灵，因此早已列为法定禁药，不过一直有谣言传说禁卫军在使用这种药物。安多闰仿佛看穿芮奇的心思。“它叫做‘丧气’，因为那是代表‘绝望’的古老词汇，我 想你现在就有这种感觉。” “才没有。”芮奇细声道。 “嗯，非常坚决，但你无法和化学药剂对抗。你越感到绝望，药效就越强。”“休想。” “想想看吧，普朗什。虽然你剃掉了八字胡，纳马提还是一眼就认出你来，他知道你是芮奇•谢顿。而在我的指示下，你将杀掉你的父亲。” 芮奇喃喃道：“我先杀了你。”芮奇说着站起身来。解决对方应该毫无问题，安多闰或许比较髙，但身材细瘦，而且动作显然并不灵活。芮奇单手就能将他撕成两半——但他起身时却摇摇晃晃站不稳脚。他甩了甩头，却无法清醒。 安多闰也站起来，向后退了几步，右手从左手袖口中抽出一柄武器。他得意地说：“我可是有备而来。我早就有情报，知道你有赫利肯角力士的功夫，我不会跟你徒手搏斗。” 他看了一眼手中的武器。这不是手铳，”他说，在你完成任务之前，我可不敢杀掉你。这是神经鞭，就某方面而言，它远比手铳可怕。我要瞄准你的左肩，相信我，那种锥心刺骨的疼痛，世界上最伟大的苦行僧也无法忍受。” 原本缓慢凶狠地向前进逼的芮奇，此时突然停下脚步。他十二岁时曾经尝过神经鞭的滋味。虽然那次只是受到轻轻—击，但只要受过一击，不论活到多大年纪，不论人生经历多丰富，没有人忘得了那种痛楚。 安多闰说：“非但如此，我还会使用最大强度，让你的上臂神经受到无法忍受的痛苦，你的左手将从此动弹不得。我会放过你的右臂，好让你使用手铳。现在，如果你坐下来，乖乖认输——这也是你唯一的选择——你就能保住两只手臂。当然，你必须继续服药，好让你的沮丧程度增加。你的情况只会越来越糟。”芮奇觉得药物导致的绝望深入骨髓，而绝望本身又加深了药物的作用。眼前的一切变得涣散，他说不出一句话。 芮奇只知道，自己从此必须听从安多闰的每一句话。在这场游戏中，他已彻底惨败。 Chapter 23 "No!" Hari Seldon was almost violent. "I don't want you out there, Dors." Dors Venabili stared back at him with an expression as firm as his own. "Then I won't let you go, either, Hari." "I must be there." "It is not your place. It is the Gardener First-Class who must greet these new people." "So it is. But Gruber can't do it. He's a broken man." "He must have an assistant of some sort. Or let the old Chief Gardener do it. He holds the office till the end of the year." "The old Chief Gardener is too ill. Besides"-Seldon hesitated-攖here are ringers among the gardeners. Trantorians. They're here, for some reason. I have the names of every one of them." "Have them taken into custody, then. Every last one of them. It's simple. Why are you making it so complex?" "Because we don't know why they're here. Something's up. I don't see what twelve gardeners can do, but- No, let me rephrase that. I can see a dozen things they can do, but I don't know which one of those things they've planned. We will, indeed, take them into custody, but I must know more about everything before it's done. "We have to know enough to winkle out everyone in the conspiracy from top to bottom and we must know enough of what they're doing to be able to make the proper punishment stick. I don't want to get twelve men and women on what is essentially a misdemeanor charge. They'll plead desperation, the need for a job. They'll complain that it isn't fair for Trantorians to be excluded. They'll get plenty of sympathy and we'll be left looking like fools. We must give them a chance to convict themselves of more than that. Besides-" There was a long pause and Dors said wrathfully, "Well, what's the new `besides'?" Seldon's voice lowered. "One of the twelve is Raych, using the alias Planchet." "What?" "Why are you surprised? I sent him to Wye to infiltrate the Joranumite movement and he's succeeded in infiltrating something. I have every faith in him. If he's there, he knows why he's there and he must have some sort of plan to put a spoke in the wheel. But I want to be there, too. I want to see him. I want to be in a position to help him if I can." "If you want to help him, have fifty guards of the Palace standing shoulder to shoulder on either side of your gardeners." "No. Again, we'll end up with nothing. The Imperial Guard will be in place but not in evidence. The gardeners in question must think they have a clear hand to do whatever it is they plan to do. Before they can do so, but after they have made it quite plain what they intend-we'll have them." "That's risky. It's risky for Raych." "Risks are something we have to take. There's more riding on this than individual lives." "That is a heartless thing to say." "You think I have no heart? Even if it broke, my concern would have to be with psycho-" "Don't say it." She turned away, as if in pain. "I understand," said Seldon, "but you mustn't be there. Your presence would be so inappropriate that the conspirators will suspect we know too much and will abort their plan. I don't want their plan aborted." He paused, then said softly, "Dors, you say your job is to protect me. That comes before protecting Raych and you know that. I wouldn't insist on it, but to protect me is to protect psychohistory and the entire human species. That must come first. What I have of psychohistory tells me that 1, in turn, must protect the center at all costs and that is what I am trying to do. -Do you understand?" Dors said, "I understand," then turned away from him. Seldon thought: And I hope I'm right. If he weren't, she would never forgive him. Far worse, he would never forgive himself-psychohistory or not. 第二十三章 　　“不行！”谢顿粗声道，“我不准你去，铎丝。”铎丝顶回他的目光，脸上的表情与他同样坚决。“那你也不准去，哈里。” “我必须到场。” “那不是你分内的事，迎接这些新人的应该是一品园丁。”“话是没错。可是葛鲁柏办不到，他现在失魂落魄。”“他一定有个助理什么的。不然就让老园丁长出马，他要到今年年底才正式退休。” “老园丁长身体太差了。何况——”谢顿迟疑 一下，“那些园丁中有川陀人混充的冒 牌货，他们到这里的原因并不单纯。我手中握有名单。” “那就把他们全部拘留起来，一个也别漏掉。这么简单的事，你为什么弄得这么复杂？” “因为我们不知道他们来的目的，有阴谋正在酝酿，我看不出十二个园丁能做什么，但——不，我收回刚才的话。我可以看出很多可能性，但我不知道他们计划的究竟是哪件。我们当然会拘留他们，但是在此之前，我必须把一切弄清楚。“我们一定要知道得够多，才能把阴谋分子从上到下全揪岀来，而且我们必须确实掌握他们的所做所为，才能依法制裁他们。我不要那十二名男女仅仅受到行为不检的指控。他们会辩称是走投无路，需要一份工作；他们会抱怨排除川陀人是不公平的，然后会得到舆论同情，而使我们看来像是傻子。我们必须给他们一个机会，让他们犯下真正的罪行。何况——” 谢顿沉默了一段时间，铎丝气呼呼地说：“好啦，又‘何况’什么？” 谢顿低声道：“那十二个人中包括了芮奇，他化名叫普朗什。”“什么？” “有什么好惊讶的？我派他去卫荷渗透进九九派，而他成功地渗透进去了。我对他有信心，如果他在里面，他一定知道自己为何身在其中，而且他必定有所计划，足以破坏他们的好事。但我希望自己在场，我想见他，我要尽我所能帮助他。”“假如你想帮助他，就叫五十名宫中侍卫在那些园丁两旁围成两堵人墙。” “不行。那样我们仍将一无所获。禁卫军会部署在周围，但不会是明哨。一定要让那些假园丁以为有机可乘，可以依计划行事。一旦他们的企图暴露，我们就会在他们得逞之前把他们一举成擒。” “那很危险，对芮奇会有危险。” “危险是我们必须承担的，这里面的价值超过个人性命。”“你真是铁石心肠。” “你以为我是铁石心肠？难道你不知道，就算我再伤心，我还是得关切——”“别说了。”铎丝别过头去，仿佛十分痛苦。“我了解，”谢顿说，“可是你一定不能在场。你的出现会太突兀，那些阴谋分子会疑心 我们知道内情，而中止计划。我可不要他们半途缩手。” 他顿了顿，又轻声道：“铎丝，你说你的工作是保护我，这比保护芮奇还重要，你自己也明白。我不会坚持这点，但保护我等于保护心理史学及全体人类，这必须是第一优先，而心理史学告诉我的是，必须不计一切代价保护帝国的中心，这正是我现在试图做的事。你了解吗？” “我了解。”铎丝的眼光不再望着谢顿。谢顿心想：希望我是对的。 假如他弄错了，铎丝永远不会原谅他。更糟的是，他永远不会原谅自已，不论是不是为了心理史学。 Chapter 24 They were lined up beautifully, feet spread apart, hands behind their hacks, every one in a natty green uniform, loosely fitted and with wide pockets. There was very little gender differential and one could only guess that some of the shorter ones were women. The hoods covered whatever hair they had, but then, gardeners were supposed to clip their hair quite short-either sex-and there could be no facial hair. Why that should be, one couldn't say. The word "tradition" covered it all, as it covered so many things, some useful, some foolish. Facing them was Mandell Gruber, flanked on either side by an assistant. Gruber was trembling, his wide-opened eyes glazed. Hari Seldon's lips tightened. If Gruber could but manage to say, "The Emperor's gardeners greet you all," that would be enough. Seldon himself would then take over. His eyes swept over the new contingent and he located Raych. His heart jumped a bit. It was the mustacheless Raych in the front row, standing more rigid than the rest, staring straight ahead. His eyes did not move to meet Seldon's; he showed no sign of recognition, however subtle. Good, thought Seldon. He's not supposed to. He's giving nothing away. Gruber muttered a weak welcome and Seldon jumped in. He advanced with an easy stride, putting himself immediately before Gruber, and said, "Thank you, Gardener First-Class. Men and women, gardeners of the Emperor, you are to undertake an important task. You will be responsible for the beauty and health of the only open land on our great world of Trantor, capital of the Galactic Empire. You will see to it that if we don't have the endless vistas of open undomed worlds, we will have a small jewel here that will outshine anything else in the Empire. "You will all be under Mandell Gruber, who will shortly become Chief Gardener. He will report to me, when necessary, and I will report to the Emperor. This means, as you can all see, that you will be only three levels removed from the Imperial presence and you will always be under his benign watch. I am certain that even now he is surveying us from the Small Palace, his personal home, which is the building you see to the right-the one with the opal-layered dome-and that he is pleased with what he sees. "Before you start work, of course, you will all undertake a course of training that will make you entirely familiar with the grounds and its needs. You will-? He had, by this time, moved, almost stealthily, to a point directly in front of Raych, who still remained motionless, unblinking. Seldon tried not to look unnaturally benign and then a slight frown crossed his face. The person directly behind Raych looked familiar. He might have gone unrecognized if Seldon had not studied his hologram. Wasn't that Gleb Andorin of Wye? Raych's patron in Wye, in fact? What was he doing here? Andorin must have noticed Seldon's sudden regard, for he muttered something between scarcely opened lips and Raych's right arm, moving forward from behind his back, plucked a blaster out of the wide pocket of his green doublet. So did Andorin. Seldon felt himself going into near-shock. How could blasters have been allowed onto the grounds? Confused, he barely heard the cries of "'Treason!" and the sudden noise of running and shouting. All that really occupied Seldon's mind was Raych's blaster pointing directly at him and Raych looking at him without any sign of recognition. Seldon抯 mind filled with horror as he realized that his son was going to shoot and that he himself was only seconds from death. 第二十四章 　　新园丁以稍息的姿势排着整齐队形，双手背在身后。每个人都穿着宽松整齐的绿色制服， 上面有许多大口袋。这些人几乎看不出性别，只能猜测其中几个较矮的是女性。他们的头发全被兜帽遮住，看不出发型，不过话说回来，园丁无论男女，一律得将头发剪得很短，而且不准留胡须。 为什么有这规定，谁也说不上来。“传统”是唯一的解释，就像许多事也常拿它当借口， 不过有些说得通，有些则愚不可及。曼德尔•葛鲁柏面对着新园丁，左右各站着一名助理，他浑身发抖，张大的眼睛呆滞无神。 哈里•谢顿紧抿嘴唇。只要葛鲁柏能说出“欢迎诸位加入御用园丁的行列”，谢顿自己 便会接手。 他目光扫过这支新队伍，不久便发现芮奇。 谢顿的心跳微微加剧。剃掉胡子的芮奇站在最前排，站得比其他人都挺，两眼直视前方。 他没有将目光转向谢顿，仿佛并不认识他。 很好，谢顿心想。他完全没有暴露底细。葛鲁柏喃喃说了声欢迎，谢顿便赶紧上场。 他以轻快的步伐走过去，停在葛鲁柏的正前方，谢谢你，一品园丁。”他说：“各位先生 女士，御用园丁们，你们将接下一份重要的工作。我们伟大的川陀，银河帝国的首都，它上面唯一一片露天地表的美丽与健康，将交由你们负责。这里虽然没有无顶露天世界上辽阔的风光，但却是一颗珍贵的宝石，使它成为帝国最灿烂的地方，将是你们努力的目标。 “曼德尔•葛鲁柏即将成为园丁长，你们都将是他的手下。必要的时候他会向我报告， 而我转而禀告皇上。这就意味着，你们与圣上的距离只有三级，他关爱的眼神将随时注视着你们。我确定即使是现在，他也正在偏殿中遥望我们——偏殿就是你们右手边那栋有蛋白石圆顶的建筑，那就是皇上的家——而他会很喜欢此刻他所见到的这一幕。“当然，你们在投入工作之前，都要接受一段训练课程，好让你们完全熟悉御苑的环境和工作内容。你们将……” 他一直不动声色地移动脚步，最后来到芮奇前方。芮奇仍然直直站着，连眼睛也不眨一下。 谢顿尽量避免露出不自然的亲切，但他突然皱了一下眉头。芮奇正后方那人很眼熟，如果谢顿没仔细看过他的全息相片，可能就认不出来。那不是卫荷的葛列布•安多闰吗？他不 就是芮奇在卫荷的雇主吗？他来这里做什么？安多闰必定注意到谢顿突然注视自己，因为他几乎闭着的嘴巴喃喃动了动，接着芮奇右 手便从背后伸回、从绿上衣的大口袋中掏出一柄手铳，而安多闰也做出同样的动作。 谢顿吓呆了。怎么会有人把手铳带进御苑？极度的困惑使他几乎没听见有人高喊“叛变！”和四周突发的尖叫与狂奔。 谢顿脑海里只有一个念头——芮奇的手铳正瞄准自己，而且芮奇望着他的眼神形同陌路。 谢顿了解他的儿子就要发射，自己距离死亡只有几秒，内心顿时充满恐惧。 Chapter 25 A blaster, despite its name, does not "blast" in the proper sense of the term. It vaporizes and blows out an interior and-if anything-causes an implosion. There is a soft sighing sound, leaving what appears to be a "blasted" object. Hari Seldon did not expect to hear that sound. He expected only death. It was, therefore, with surprise that he heard the distinctive soft sighing sound and he blinked rapidly as he looked down at himself, slackjawed. He was alive? (He thought it as a question, not a statement.) Raych was still standing there, his blaster pointing forward, his eyes glazed. He was absolutely motionless, as though some motive power had ceased. Behind him was the crumpled body of Andorin, fallen in a pool of blood, and standing next to him, blaster in hand, was a gardener. The hood had slipped away; the gardener was clearly a woman with freshly clipped hair. She allowed herself a glance at Seldon and said, "Your son knows me as Manella Dubanqua. I'm a security officer. Do you want my reference number, First Minister?" "No," said Seldon faintly. Imperial Guard had converged on the scene. "My son! What's wrong with my son?" "Desperance, I think," said Manella. "That can be washed out eventually." She reached forward to take the blaster out of Raych's hand. "I'm sorry I didn't act sooner. I had to wait for an overt move and, when it came, it almost caught me napping." "I had the same trouble. We must take Raych to the Palace hospital." A confused noise suddenly emanated from the Small Palace. It occurred to Seldon that the Emperor was, indeed, watching the proceedings and, if so, he must be grandly furious, indeed. "Take care of my son, Miss Dubanqua," said Seldon. "I must see the Emperor." He set off at an undignified run through the chaos on the Great Lawns and dashed into the Small Palace without ceremony. Cleon could scarcely grow any angrier over that. And there, with an appalled group watching in stupor-there, on the semicircular stairway-was the body of His Imperial Majesty, Cleon I, smashed all but beyond recognition. His rich Imperial robes now served as a shroud. Cowering against the wall, staring stupidly at the horrified faces surrounding him, was Mandell Gruber. Seldon felt he could take no more. He took in the blaster lying at Gruber's feet. It had been Andorin's, he was sure. He asked softly, "Gruber, what have you done?" Gruber, staring at him, babbled, "Everyone screaming and yelling. I thought, Who would know? They would think someone else had killed the Emperor. But then I couldn't run." "But, Gruber. Why?" "So I wouldn't have to be Chief Gardener." And he collapsed. Seldon stared in shock at the unconscious Gruber. Everything had worked out by the narrowest of margins. He himself was alive. Raych was alive. Andorin was dead and the Joranumite Conspiracy would now be hunted down to the last person. The center would have held, just as psychohistory had dictated. And then one man, for a reason so trivial as to defy analysis, had killed the Emperor. And now, thought Seldon in despair, what do we do? What happens next? 第二十五章 　　手铳虽然叫作手铳，其实并非轰击式武器。它的作用是使目标汽化，产生内部爆裂。然后，看似受到轰击的目标便会发出一声轻叹。哈里•谢顿并未预期听到那声轻叹，他只是预期死亡的来临。因此当他听到那种独特的 轻叹时十分惊讶。他猛眨眼睛，惊呆地低头望着自己。他还活着？ 芮奇仍站在那里，手铳指着前方，双眼茫然呆滞。他纹丝不动，仿佛体内的动力中断了。 在他身后是安多闰的尸体，瘫倒在一滩血泊中。而站在他身边、手中握着手铳的则是另一名园丁。这人的兜帽早已脱落，显然是个刚剪短发的女性。 她匆匆瞥了谢顿一眼。“您公子口中的玛妮拉•杜邦夸就是我。我是保安官，您要知道 我的识别号码吗，首相？” “不用了。”谢顿虚弱地说，此时禁卫军已赶到现场，“我儿子！我儿子怎么了？” “中了‘丧气’吧，我想。”玛妮拉说，“别担心，药效会消退的。”她伸手取走芮奇的 手铳。“很抱歉我没有及早出手，我得等他们先行动。然而事情发生时，我却几乎措手不及。”“我也同样措手不及。我们必须把芮奇送到皇宫医院。” 偏殿突然传来一阵喧嚣，谢顿突然想到，皇上可能看到了整个经过，果真如此，他一定会勃然大怒。 “帮我照顾我儿子，杜邦夸小姐。”谢顿说，“我必须去见皇上。”他狼狈地拔腿飞奔，穿过大草坪上混乱的人群，不顾礼数地一口气冲进偏殿。在这种时候，这样的举动，也不会惹克里昂更生气了。而偏殿内，一群惊慌失措的人茫然瞪着眼睛——半圆形楼梯上，躺着皇帝克里昂一世的尸体，血肉模糊，几乎难以辨认。华丽的皇袍现在成了他的寿衣。而靠着墙壁缩成一团、目 光呆滞地望着周围一张张受惊脸孔的，则是曼德尔•葛鲁柏。谢顿觉得自己已几近崩溃。他捡起葛鲁柏脚旁的手铳，那原是安多闰的，他可以确定。“葛鲁柏，你做了什么？”他轻声问道。 葛鲁柏望着他，含糊不清地说：“人家都尖叫个不停。我想，谁会知道呢？他们会以为是别人杀了皇上。可是……后来我就跑不动了。”“为什么要这么做？” “这样我就不必当园丁长。”说完他便昏了过去。谢顿望着不省人事的葛鲁柏，心中震撼不已。一切都在惊险万分的状况下圆满解决。他自己还活着，芮奇还活着，安多闰死了，而九九派阴谋分子这回一个也逃不掉。 帝国的中心将会保住，正如心理史学所指示的。 然而，一个微不足道的小人物，为了一个分析不出来的微小理由，竟然就杀了皇上……现在，谢顿绝望地想，我们该怎么办？接下来会发生什么事？ PART III DORS VENABILI VENABILI, DORS- The life of Hari Seldon is well encrusted with legend and uncertainty, so that little hope remains of ever obtaining a biography that can be thoroughly factual. Perhaps the most puzzling aspect of his life deals with his consort, Dors Venabili. There is no information whatever concerning Dors Venabili, except for her birth on the world of Cinna, prior to her arrival at Streeling University to become a member of the history faculty. Shortly after that, she met Seldon and remained his consort for twenty-eight years. If anything, her life is more interlarded with legend than Seldon's is. There are quite unbelievable tales of her strength and speed and she was widely spoken of, or perhaps whispered of, as "The Tiger Woman." Still more puzzling than her coming, however, is her going, for after a certain time, we hear of her no more and there is no indication as to what happened. Her role as a historian is evidenced by her works on- ENCYCLOPEDIA GALACTICA 第三部 铎丝·凡 纳比里 　　铎丝•凡纳比里：哈里•谢顿的一生充满传奇，难以考证，想找一本完全真实的传记如同缘木求鱼。他一生最令人费解的一环，或许就是他的配偶铎丝•凡纳比里。铎丝•凡纳比里的早期资料付诸阙如，只知道她生于锡纳世界，后来到了川陀大学，成为该校历史系的一名教授。不久她便遇到谢顿，与他结缡二十八载。若说有人的一生比谢顿更具传奇性，那就非凡纳比里莫属。许多相当难以置信的传说，都提到她惊人的武艺。当时许多人称她为“虎女”，但这称呼也可能只在私下流传。然而，比她的出身更令人不解的是她的去向，因为在某段时间后，便再也没有她的音讯，也找不到发生任何变故的线索。 她的历史学家角色，可从她的研究上……—— 《银河百科全书》 Chapter 1 Wanda was almost eight years old now, going by Galactic Standard Time -as everyone did. She was quite the little lady-grave in manner, with straight light-brown hair. Her eyes were blue but were darkening and she might well end with the brown eyes of her father. She sat there, lost in thought. -Sixty. That was the number that preoccupied her. Grandfather was going to have a birthday and it was going to be his sixtieth-and sixty was a large number. It bothered her because yesterday she had had a bad dream about it. She went in search of her mother. She would have to ask. Her mother was not hard to find. She was talking to Grandfather-about the birthday surely. Wanda hesitated. It wouldn't be nice to ask in front of Grandfather. Her mother had no trouble whatever sensing Wanda's consternation. She said, "One minute, Hari, and let's see what's bothering Wanda. What is it, dear?" Wanda pulled at her hand. "Not here, Mother. Private." Manella turned to Hari Seldon. "See how early it starts? Private lives. Private problems. Of course, Wanda, shall we go to your room?" "Yes, Mother." Wanda was clearly relieved. Hand in hand, they went and then her mother said, "Now what is the problem, Wanda?" "It's Grandfather, Mother." "Grandfather! I can't imagine him doing anything to bother you." "Well, he is." Wanda's eyes filled with sudden tears. "Is he going to die?" "Your grandfather? What put that into your head, Wanda?" "He's going to be sixty. That's so old." "No, it isn't. It's not young, but it's not old, either. People live to be eighty, ninety, even a hundred-and your grandfather is strong and healthy. He'll live a long time." "Are you sure?" She was sniffing. Manella grasped her daughter by the shoulders and looked her straight in the eyes. "We must all die someday, Wanda. I've explained that to you before. Just the same, we don't worry about it till the someday is much closer." She wiped Wanda's eyes gently. "Grandfather is going to stay alive till you're all grown up and have babies of your own. You'll see. Now come back with me. I want you to talk to Grandfather." Wanda sniffed again. Seldon looked at the little girl with a sympathetic expression on her return and said, "What is it, Wanda? Why are you unhappy?" Wanda shook her head. Seldon turned his gaze to the girl's mother. "Well, what is it, Manella?" Manella shook her head. "She'll have to tell you herself." Seldon sat down and tapped his lap. "Come, Wanda. Have a seat and tell me your troubles." She obeyed and wriggled a bit, then said, "I'm scared." Seldon put his arm around her. "Nothing to be scared of in your old grandfather." Manella made a face. "Wrong word." Seldon looked up at her. "Grandfather?" "No. Old." That seemed to break the dike. Wanda burst into tears. "You're old, Grandfather." "I suppose so. I'm sixty." He bent his face down to Wanda's and whispered, "I don't like it, either, Wanda. That's why I'm glad you're only seven going on eight." "Your hair is white, Grandpa." "It wasn't always. It just turned white recently." "White hair means you're going to die, Grandpa." Seldon looked shocked. He said to Manella, "What is all this?" "I don't know, Hari. It's her own idea." "I had a bad dream," said Wanda. Seldon cleared his throat. "We all have bad dreams now and then, Wanda. It's good we do. Bad dreams get rid of bad thoughts and then we're better off." "It was about you dying, Grandfather." "I know. I know. Dreams can be about dying, but that doesn't make them important. Look at me. Don't you see how alive I am-and cheerful-and laughing? Do I look as though I'm dying? Tell me." "N-no." "There you are, then. Now you go out and play and forget all about this. I'm just having a birthday and everyone will have a good time. Go ahead, dear." Wanda left in reasonable cheer, but Seldon motioned to Manella to stay. 第一章 　　婉达快满八岁了，和所有人一样，这是根据银河标准时间计算的。婉达举止端庄，俨然已像个小妇人。她有着一头淡褐色直发，蓝色的眼珠颜色越来越深，以后很可能变成与她父亲一样的棕色眼珠。 她坐在那里，陷入沉思。六……就是这个数目使她想得出神。祖父的生日快到了，那是他的六十大寿，而六十是很大的数目……婉达觉得很不安，因为昨天她作了个与此有关的噩梦。她得去找母亲问个清楚。 她很快便找到了母亲。母亲正在跟祖父谈话，当然是在讨论做寿的事。婉达犹豫了一下， 在祖父面前问那种事可不妥当。母亲立刻察觉到婉达的不安。她说：“等一下，哈里，婉达似乎有什么心事。怎么啦，亲爱的？” 婉达拉拉她的手。“别在这儿讲，妈，我们私下谈。”玛妮拉转向哈里•谢顿。“看看她有多早熟—— ‘私下谈’！好吧，婉达，我们要到你房 间去吗？” “是的，妈妈。”婉达显然松了一口气。两人手牵手进了房间后，玛妮拉便开口问：“说吧，婉达，有什么问题？” “是爷爷。” “爷爷！他做了什么事让你不开心？” “嗯，就是爷爷。”婉达的眼中突然涌出泪水，“他快死了吗？” “爷爷？你脑袋里怎么会有这种想法，婉达？” “他快满六十岁，那很老了。”“不，那不算老。虽然不年轻，可是也不算老。有人活到八九十岁，甚至一百岁。而且爷爷身体很好，他会很长命的。” “你确定吗？”婉达抽噎着说。玛妮拉扶着女儿的肩膀，直视她的眼睛。“婉达，我们总有一天都会死，这点我以前跟你解释过。但是在那一天来临之前，我们不要担心这件事。”她温柔地拭拭婉达的眼睛，“爷 爷会好好活着，一直到你长大，生下自己的宝宝。现在跟我来，我要你自己跟爷爷说。” 婉达又抽噎起来。 谢顿怜惜地望着走回来的小女孩。怎么了，婉达？你为什么难过？”婉达摇了摇头。 谢顿看看玛妮拉。“怎么回事，玛妮拉？” 玛妮拉也摇了摇头。“她得自己说。” 谢顿坐下来，拍拍膝盖。“来，婉达，坐上来，告诉爷爷你为什么不开心。”婉达坐上谢顿的膝盖，扭扭屁股，然后抬头说：“我害怕。” 谢顿搂住她。“你的老爷爷紧紧抱着你，没什么好怕的。”玛妮拉做了个鬼脸。“说错话了。”谢顿抬起头，“我不是爷爷吗？” “不，你不该说‘老’。” 这句话产生了决堤效应，婉达哇哇哭了起来。“你老了，爷爷。” “我想是吧，我六十岁了。”他低下头来悄声对婉达说，“我也不喜欢这样，婉达，这就 是为什么我很高兴你才七八岁。” “你的头发是白的，爷爷。” “不是一直都这样，最近才变白的。” “白头发代表你快死了，爷爷。” 谢顿吃了一惊，他问玛妮拉：“这是怎么回事？”“我不知道，哈里，我不知道她为什么这么想。”“我作了一个噩梦。”婉达说。谢顿清了清喉咙。“我们偶尔都会作噩梦，婉达。这样有好处，噩梦会赶走可怕的想法， 然后我们就会舒服多了。” “我梦见你快死了，爷爷。” “我知道，我知道。你可能会梦见死亡，但那不代表什么。看看我！你看不出我精神多好，心情愉快，而且还在哈哈大笑吗？你说，我看来像是快死了吗？” “不——像。” “那就对了。现在出去玩玩，把这一切忘掉。我只是要过个生日，每一个人都会玩得很开心。去吧，亲爱的。” 婉达带着恢复的心情离去，谢顿却示意玛妮拉留下来。 Chapter 2 Seldon said, "Wherever do you think Wanda got such a notion?" "Come now, Hari. She had a Salvanian gecko that died, remember? One of her friends had a father who died in an accident and she sees deaths on holovision all the time. It is impossible for any child to be so protected as not to be aware of death. Actually I wouldn't want her to be so protected. Death is an essential part of life; she must learn that." "I don't mean death in general, Manella. I mean my death in particular. What has put that into her head?" Manella hesitated. She was very fond, indeed, of Hari Seldon. She thought, Who would not be, so how can I say this? But how could she not say this? So she said, "Hari, you yourself put it into her head." "I?" "Of course, you've been speaking for months of turning sixty and complaining loudly of growing old. The only reason people are setting up this party is to console you." "It's no fun turning sixty," said Seldon indignantly. "Wait! Wait! You'll find out." "I will-if I'm lucky. Some people don't make it to sixty. Just the same, if turning sixty and being old are all you talk about, you end up frightening an impressionable little girl." Seldon sighed and looked troubled. "I'm sorry, but it's hard. Look at my hands. They're getting spotted and soon they'll be gnarled. I can do hardly anything in the way of Twisting any longer. A child could probably force me to my knees." "In what way does that make you different from other sixty-year-olds? At least your brain is working as well as ever. How often have you said that that's all that counts?" "I know. But I miss my body." Manella said with just a touch of malice, "Especially when Dors doesn't seem to get any older." Seldon said uneasily, "Well yes, I suppose-" He looked away, clearly unwilling to talk about the matter. Manella looked at her father-in-law gravely. The trouble was, he knew nothing about children-or about people generally. It was hard to think that he had spent ten years as First Minister under the old Emperor and yet ended up knowing as little about people as he did. Of course, he was entirely wrapped up in this psychohistory of his, that dealt with quadrillions of people, which ultimately meant dealing with no people at all-as individuals. And how could he know about children when he had had no contact with any child except Raych, who had entered his life as a twelve-year-old? Now he had Wanda, who was-and would probably remain to him-an utter mystery. Manella thought all this lovingly. She had the incredible desire to protect Hari Seldon from a world he did not understand. It was the only point at which she and her mother-in-law, Dors Venabili, met and coalesced-this desire to protect Hari Seldon. Manella had saved Seldon's life ten years before. Dors, in her strange way, had considered this an invasion of her prerogative and had never quite forgiven Manella. Seldon, in his turn, had then saved Manella's life. She closed her eyes briefly and the whole scene returned to her, almost as though it were happening to her right now. 第二章 　　谢顿说：“你想婉达怎么会冒出这种想法的？” “这还用说，哈里。她养的一只沙尔凡守宫死了，记得吗？她还有个朋友的父亲在一场意外中丧生，而且她天天在全息电视上目睹死亡。想要保护孩子的心灵，不让他们知道死亡根本不可能。事实上，我也不想那样保护她。死亡是生命中无法避免的一环，她必须了解这点。” “我不是泛指一般的死亡，玛妮拉，我是指我的死亡。她脑袋里怎会有那种想法？” 玛妮拉迟疑了一下。她实在非常喜欢谢顿，谁不是呢？她想，这叫我怎么说得出口？ 但是她又怎能不说？因此她说：“哈里，是你自己把这想法装进她脑袋的。”“我？” “没错，过去几个月来，你不停地说自己快要六十了，而且大声埋怨自己老了。大家筹办这个宴会的唯一理由，就是要安慰你。” “六十岁可不是什么好玩的事。”谢顿愤愤地说，“等着吧！到时候你就知道了。” “我会的，如果运气好的话。有些人还活不到六十呢。话说回来，你满口不是提六十岁就是说自己老了，结果就是吓着了一个敏感的小女孩。” 谢顿叹了口气，露出为难的表情。“我很抱歉，但这一切实在叫人很难忍受。看看我的两只手，现在已经是斑斑点点，很快就会变得瘦骨嶙峋。我几乎不可能再跟人角力，一个小孩或许就能叫我双膝着地。” “你知道你和其他六十岁的人有什么不同吗？至少你的头脑还跟以往一样灵光。那是唯一重要的事，这话你说过多少遍？”“我知道，但我怀念我的身体。” 玛妮拉带着一丝刻薄说：“嗯，尤其是铎丝似乎一点也不显老。” 谢顿不自在地说：“啊，是啊，没错……”他别过头去，显然不愿再谈论下去。 玛妮拉严肃地望着她的公公。问题显然在于谢顿对小孩一无所知，或者说对人性毫无概念。很难想像他在先皇御前当了十年首相，结果却对人性了解得那么少。当然，心理史学完全占据了谢顿的心思。他研究的对象是万兆之众，结果却等于根本不研究任何人——任何个人。除了芮奇之外，谢顿从未接触过任何小孩，而芮奇进入他生命时已经十二岁，他又怎么可能了解小孩呢？如今他有了孙女，但对他而言，婉达全然是一团谜， 或许今后依然不会改变。 想到这一切，玛妮拉心中充满着爱。她有一股不可思议的冲动，想要保护哈里•谢顿， 为他抵挡一个他不了解的世界。这股保护谢顿的冲动，是她与她的婆婆铎丝•凡纳比里唯一的交集。 十年前，玛妮拉曾救过谢顿一命。奇怪的是，铎丝却认为玛妮拉的行为侵犯了她的特权，从未真正原谅过玛妮拉。 之后，谢顿反过来也救了玛妮拉一命。她闭上眼睛，整个情景再度浮现脑海，一切历历在目。 Chapter 3 It was a week after the assassination of Cleon-and a horrible week it shad been. All of Trantor was in chaos. Hari Seldon still kept his office as First Minister, but it was clear he had no power. He called in Manella Dubanqua. "I want to thank you for saving Raych's life and my own. I haven't I a chance to do so yet." Then with a sigh, "I have scarcely had a chance to do anything this past week." Manella asked, "What happened to the mad gardener?" "Executed! At once! No trial! I tried to save him by pointing out that was insane. But there was no question about it. If he had done anything else, committed any other crime, his madness would have been recognized and he would have been spared. Committed-locked up and treated-but spared, nonetheless. But to kill the Emperor-" Seldon shook his head sadly. Manella said, "What's going to happen now, First Minister?" "I'll tell you what I think. The Entun Dynasty is finished. Cleon's son will not succeed. I don't think he wants to. He fears assassination in his turn and I don't blame him one bit. It would be much better for him to retire to one of the family estates on some Outer World and live a quiet Because he is a member of the Imperial House, he will untie allowed to do this. You and I may be less fortunate." Manella frowned. "In what way, sir?" Seldon cleared his throat. "It is possible to argue that because you killed Gleb Andorin, he dropped his blaster, which became available to Mandell Gruber, who used it to kill Cleon. Therefore you bear a strong share of the responsibility of the crime and it may even be said that it was all prearranged.? 揃ut that抯 ridiculous. I am a member of the security establishment, fulfilling my duties-doing what I was ordered to do." Seldon smiled sadly. "You're arguing rationally and rationality is not going to be in fashion for a while. What's going to happen now, in the absence of a legitimate successor to the Imperial throne, is that we are bound to have a military government." (In later years, when Manella came to understand the workings of psychohistory, she wondered if Seldon had used the technique to work out what was going to happen, for the military rule certainly came to pass. At the time, however, he made no mention of his fledgling theory.) "If we do have a military government," he went on, "then it will be necessary for them to establish a firm rule at once, crush any signs of disaffection, act vigorously and cruelly, even in defiance of rationality and justice. If they accuse you, Miss Dubanqua, of being part of a plot to kill the Emperor, you will be slaughtered, not as an act of justice but as a way of cowing the people of Trantor. "For that matter, they might say that I was part of the plot, too. After all, I went out to greet the new gardeners when it was not my place to do so. Had I not done so, there would have been no attempt to kill me, you would not have struck back, and the Emperor would have lived. -Do you see how it all fits?" "I can't believe they will do this." "Perhaps they won't. I'll make them an offer that, just perhaps, they may not wish to refuse." "What would that be?" "I will offer to resign as First Minister. They don't want me, they won't have me. But the fact is that I do have supporters at the Imperial Court and, even more important, people in the Outer Worlds who find me acceptable. That means that if the members of the Imperial Guard force me out, then even if they don't execute me, they will have some trouble. If, on the other hand, I resign, stating that I believe the military government is what Trantor and the Empire needs, then I actually help them, you see?" He mused a little and said, "Besides, there is the little matter of psychohistory." (That was the first time Manella had ever heard the word.) "What's that?" "Something I'm working on. Cleon believed in its powers very strongly-more strongly than I did at the time-and there's a considerable feeling in the court that psychohistory is, or might be, a powerful tool that could be made to work on the side of the government-whatever the government might be. "Nor does it matter if they know nothing about the details of the science. I'd rather they didn't. Lack of knowledge can increase what we might call the superstitious aspect of the situation. In which case, they will let me continue working on my research as a private citizen. At least, I hope so. -And that brings me to you." "What about me?" "I'm going to ask as part of the deal that you be allowed to resign h the security establishment and that no action be taken against you ~ the events in connection with the assassination. I ought to be able to 'But you're talking about ending my career." "Your career is, in any case, over. Even if the Imperial Guard doesn't up an order of execution against you, can you imagine that you will Be allowed to continue working as a security officer?" "But what do I do? How do I make a living?" "I'll take care of that, Miss Dubanqua. In all likelihood, I'll go back to Streeling University, with a large grant for my psychohistorical research, I'm sure that I can find a place for you." Manella, round-eyed, said, "Why should you-" Seldon said, "I can't believe you're asking. You saved Raych's life and own. Is it conceivable that I don't owe you anything?" And it was as he said. Seldon resigned gracefully from the post he had held for ten years. He was given a fulsome letter of appreciation for His services by the just-formed military government, a junta led by certain members of the Imperial Guard and the armed forces. He returned to Streeling University and Manella Dubanqua, relieved of her own post as security officer, went with Seldon and his family. 第三章 　　时间是克里昂遇刺一周后。那是可怕的一周，整个川陀陷入一片混乱。 哈里•谢顿仍旧保有首相的职位，但已没有任何实权。他召来了玛妮拉•杜邦夸。“我要谢谢你救了芮奇和我的性命，我一直找不到机会谢你。”谢顿叹了口气，又说，“过去一周以来，我几乎没机会做任何事。” 玛妮拉问道：“那个园丁怎样了？”“被处决了！没有审判就立刻执行！我试着救他，指出他是精神失常，可是行不通。假使他做的不是这件事，犯的不是这桩罪行，他们会接受他发了疯而赦免他。他虽会下狱，被关起来接受治疗，然而却能免于一死。可是杀害皇上……”谢顿悲伤地摇了摇头。“接下来会发生什么事吗，首相？”玛妮拉开口。“让我告诉你我的看法，恩腾皇朝已经结束了。我不认为克里昂的儿子会想继位，他怕自己也遭到行刺。这，我一点都不怪他。退隐到某个外围世界的家族属地，在那里平静地生活，对他而言会好得多。他是皇室的一分子，这样做一定能如愿以偿，然而你我的运气也许就没有那么好。” 玛妮拉皱起眉头。“怎么说，大人？” 谢顿清了清喉咙。“他们可以声称，是因为你杀了葛列布•安多闰，使他的手铳落地， 曼德尔•葛鲁柏才能把它捡起来，用它杀掉克里昂。因此对于这桩罪行，你也有无法推卸的 责任。他们甚至会说，一切都是预先安排好的。”“太荒谬了！我是保安部门的人员，是在执行任务，照命令行事。”谢顿露出悲伤的微笑。这是理性的说辞，但现在没人买理性的账了。在皇位没有合法继承人的情况下，接下来必定会出现一个军政府。”（日后当玛妮拉了解心理史学的功用后，不禁怀疑谢顿是否曾用心理史学，算出将要发生的事，因为军事统治后来果真出现，而当时谢顿并未提到他刚出炉的理论。） “如果军政府真的出现，”他继续说，“那随之而来的必定是高压统治，任何不忠的迹象 都会被粉碎，手段将极其残酷，甚至不会顾及理性与正义。杜邦夸小姐，假使他们指控你参与行刺皇上的阴谋，你一定会被处决。这不是为了伸张正义，而是要借此恐吓川陀人民。 “除此之外，他们还可能指控我也参与了这项阴谋。毕竟，迎接那些新园丁并非我分内之事，假使我没露面，就不会有人企图杀我，你就不会掏出手铳，而皇上便能保住性命。你看出这一切有多吻合吗？” “我无法相信军政府会这样做。” “或许不会。我会提出一个条件，他们可能难以拒绝，但也只是可能而已。”“什么条件？” “就是辞去首相职位。他们不想要我，当然也容不下我。然而事实明摆着，我不但在廷中有支持者，更重要的是，外围世界的人也认同我。这就意味着，假使禁卫军逼我下台，即使不处决我，他们还是会有麻烦。反之，如果我自己辞职，声明我相信军政府正是川陀与帝国所需要的，那就是帮了他们一个大忙，你懂了吗？”谢顿沉思了一会儿，又开口：“此外，还有心理史学这个小小因素。” （这是玛妮拉第一次听到这个名词。） “那是什么？” “我的一项研究。过去克里昂对它的威力很有信心，比我自己还有信心。而宫廷中普遍认为，心理史学是，或可能是一个强有力的工具，可用来服务政府，不论是什么样的政府。“就算禁卫军对这门科学一无所知也没有关系，我倒宁愿他们不懂，如此便能加强所谓的‘情势的迷信层面’。这样一来，他们就会让我以平民的身份，继续研究工作，至少，我希望如此——而这就跟你有关了。” “怎么说？”“我准备在条件中加入一项，就是准许你辞去保安部门的职务，而且不得就与行刺相关的事件，对你采取任何行动。我应该有办法争取到。”“那我的前途怎么办？” “反正，你的前途也已经完了。即使禁卫军不对你发出处决令，你想他们会准许你继续担任保安官吗？” “但我要做什么呢？我要如何维生？” “我会负责的，杜邦夸小姐。十之八九，我会带着心理史学庞大的研究经费，回到川陀大学，我确定能帮你找个职位。” 玛妮拉双眼圆睁：“您为什么要……” 谢顿说：“你竟然会问这个傻问题。你救了芮奇和我的性命，我难道不欠你一份情吗？” 事后一切果然正如谢顿所言。谢顿潇洒地辞去待了十年的职位，回到川陀大学。新成立的军政府（由数名禁卫军与武装部队成员领导的执政团）发给他一封溢美的褒扬信，感谢他对帝国所做的贡献。而玛妮拉•杜邦夸也卸去保安官的职务，随谢顿与他的家人一同前往川陀。 Chapter 4 Raych came in, blowing on his hands. "I'm all for deliberate variety in the weather. You don't want things under a dome to always be the same. Today though, they made it just a little too cold and worked up a wind, besides. I think it's about time someone complained to weather control." 揑 don't know that it's weather control's fault," said Seldon. "It's getting harder to control things in general." "I know. Deterioration." Raych brushed his thick black mustache with the back of his hand. He did that often, as though he had never quite managed to get over the few months during which he had been mustacheless in Wye. He had also put on a little weight around the middle and, overall, had come to seem very comfortable and middleclass. Even his Dahl accent had faded somewhat. He took off his light coverall and said, "And how's the old birthday boy?" "Resenting it. Wait, wait, my son. One of these days, you'll be celebrating your fortieth birthday. We'll see how funny you'll think that is." "Not as funny as sixty." "Stop joking," said Manella, who had been chafing Raych's hands, trying to warm them. Seldon spread his own hands. "We're doing the wrong thing, Raych. Your wife is of the opinion that all this talk about my turning sixty has sent little Wanda into a decline over the possibility of my dying." "Really?" said Raych. "That accounts for it, then. I stopped in to see her and she told me at once, before I even had a chance to say a word, that she had had a bad dream. Was it about your dying?" "Apparently," said Seldon. "Well, she'll get over that. No way of stopping bad dreams." "I'm not dismissing it that easily," said Manella. "She's brooding over it and that's not healthy. I'm going to get to the bottom of this." "As you say, Manella," said Raych agreeably. "You're my dear wife and whatever you say-about Wanda-goes." And he brushed his mustache again. His dear wife! It hadn't been so easy to make her his dear wife. Raych remembered his mother's attitude toward the possibility. Talk about nightmares. It was he who had the periodic nightmares in which he had to face down the furious Dors Venabili once more. 第四章 　　芮奇一面走进屋里，一面对着双手呵气。“我完全赞成刻意让天气有些变化。谁会希望穹顶下的事物老是一成不变呢？不过，今天这种气温也未免太低了吧，而且还刮着风呢。我看该是有人向气象控制局抱怨的时候了。” “我不认为那是气象控制局的错。”谢顿说，“每件事都越来越难控制了。”“我知道，这就是衰退。”芮奇用手背抹抹又黑又浓的八字胡，他经常重复这个动作，仿佛对剃掉胡须、潜在卫荷的那几个月始终未能完全释怀。他的腰际多了点赘肉，而且整体看来变得像个生活安逸的中产阶级，连他的达尔口音也听不太出来了。 芮奇脱掉轻便的连身服，说道：“怎么样，老寿星现在感觉如何？” “闷闷不乐。” 谢顿回答道，“等着吧，儿子，过不了多久，你就要庆祝四十岁生日，到时候看你觉得会有多好玩。” “不会有六十大寿那么好玩。”“别开玩笑。”玛妮拉说，她正搓着芮奇的手，想把它们弄暖和。 谢顿双手一摊。“我们做错事了，芮奇。我们老是在谈论我快六十岁的事，结果害得小婉达以为我快要死了。” “真的吗？”芮奇说，“怪不得。我刚才先去看婉达，还没来得及开口，她就抢着告诉我，说她做了个噩梦。她梦见你快死了呢？”“显然如此。”谢顿说。 “嗯，她会好起来的，谁都会做噩梦。”“我可没那么容易把这件事抛到脑后。”玛妮拉说，“她在胡思乱想，那是不健康的，我 要追根究底弄个清楚。” “就依你，玛妮拉。”芮奇表示同意，“你是我亲爱的妻子，和婉达有关的事，你怎么说 就怎么办。”说完他又抹了抹八字胡。 他亲爱的妻子！当初，让玛妮拉变成他亲爱的妻子可不容易，芮奇还记得他母亲对这件事的态度。说到噩梦，他才是经常做噩梦的人。每次在梦中，他都必须再度面对怒不可遏的铎丝。 Chapter 5 Raych's first clear memory, after emerging from his desperance-induced ordeal, was that of being shaved. He felt the vibrorazor moving along his cheek and he said weakly, "Don't cut anywhere near my upper lip, barber. I want my mustache back." The barber, who had already received his instructions from Seldon held up a mirror to reassure him. Dors Venabili, who was sitting at his bedside, said, "Let him work, Raych. Don't excite yourself." Raych's eyes turned toward her momentarily and he was quiet. When the barber left, Dors said, "How do you feel, Raych?" "Rotten," he muttered. "I'm so depressed, I can't stand it." "That's the lingering effect of the desperance you've been dosed with. The effects will wash out." "I can't believe it. How long has it been?" "Never mind. It will take time. You were pumped full of it." He looked around restlessly. "Has Manella been to see me?" "That woman?" (Raych was getting used to hearing Dors speak of Manella with those words and in that tone of voice.) "No. You're not fit for visitors yet." Interpreting the look on Raych's face, Dors quickly added, "I'm an exception because I'm your mother, Raych. Why would you want that woman to see you, anyway? You're in no condition to be seen." "All the more reason to see her," muttered Raych. "I want her to see me at my worst." He then turned to one side dispiritedly. "I want to sleep." Dors Venabili shook her head. Later that day she said to Seldon "I don't know what we're going to do about Raych. Hari. He's quite unreasonable." Seldon said, "He's not well, Dors. Give the young man a chance." "He keeps muttering about that woman. Whatever her name is." "Manella Dubanqua. It's not a hard name to remember." "I think he wants to set up housekeeping with her. Live with her. Marry her." Seldon shrugged. "Raych is thirty-old enough to make up his own mind." "As his parents, we have something to say-surely." Hari sighed. "And I'm sure you've said it, Dors. And once you've said it, I'm sure he'll do as he wishes." "Is that your final word? Do you intend to do nothing while he makes plans to marry a woman like that?" "What do you expect me to do, Dors? Manella saved Raych's life. Do you expect him to forget that? She saved mine, too, for that matter." That seemed to feed Dors's anger. She said, "And you also saved her. The score is even." "I didn't exactly-" "Of course you did. The military rascals who now run the Empire would have slaughtered her if you didn't step in and sell them your resignation and your support in order to save her." "Though I may have evened the score, which I don't think I have, Raych has not. And, Dors dear, I would be very careful when it came to using unfortunate terms to describe our government. These times are not going to be as easy as the times when Cleon ruled and there will always be informers to repeat what they hear you say." "Never mind that. I don't like that woman. I presume that, at least, is permissible." "Permissible, certainly, but of no use." Hari looked down at the floor, deep in thought. Dors's usually unfathomable black eyes were positively flashing in anger. Hari looked up. "What I'd like to know, Dors, is why? Why do you dislike Manella so? She saved our lives. If it had not been for her quick action, both Raych and I would be dead." Dors snapped back, "Yes, Hari. I know that better than anyone. And if she had not been there, I would not have been able to do a thing to prevent your murder. I suppose you think I should be grateful. But every time I look at that woman, I am reminded of my failure. I know these feelings are not truly rational-and that is something I can't explain. So do not ask me to like her, Hari. I cannot." But the next day even Dors had to back down when the doctor said, "Your son wishes to see a woman named Manella." "He's in no condition to see visitors," snapped Dors. "On the contrary. He is. He's doing quite well. Besides, he insists and is doing so most strenuously. I don't know that we'd be wise to refuse him." So they brought in Manella and Raych greeted her effusively and with the first faint sign of happiness since he had arrived at the hospital. He made an unmistakable small gesture of dismissal at Dors. Lips tightened, she left. And the day came when Raych said, "She'll have me, Mom." Dors said, "Do you expect me to be surprised, you foolish man? Of course she'll have you. You're her only chance, now that she's been disgraced, ousted from the security establishment . " Raych said, "Mom, if you're trying to lose me, this is exactly the way of doing it. Don't say things like that." "I'm only thinking of your welfare." "I'll think of my own good, thank you. I'm no one's ticket to respectability-if you'll stop to think of it. I'm not exactly handsome. I'm short. Dad isn't First Minister anymore and I talk solid lower-class. What's there for her to be proud of in me? She can do a lot better, but she wants me. And let me tell you, I want her." "But you know what she is." "Of course I know what she is. She's a woman who loves me. She's the woman I love. That's what she is." "And before you fell in love with her, what was she? You know some of what she had to do while undercover in Wye you were one of her `assignments.' How many others were there? Are you able to live with her past? With what she did in the name of duty? Now you can afford to be idealistic. But someday you will have your first quarrel with her-or your second or your nineteenth-and you'll break down and say, `You Raych shouted angrily, "Don't say that! When we fight, I'll call her unreasonable, irrational, nagging, whining, inconsiderate-a million adjectives that will fit the situation. And she'll have words for me. But they'll all be sensible words that can be withdrawn when the fight is over." "You think so-but just wait till it happens " Raych had turned white. He said, "Mother, you've been with Father now for almost twenty years. Father is a hard man to disagree with, but there have been times when you two have argued. I've heard you. In all those twenty years, has he ever called you by any name that would in any way compromise your role as human being? For that matter, have I done so? Can you conceive of me doing so now-no matter how angry I get?" Dors struggled. Her face did not show emotion in quite the same way that Raych's did or Seldon's would, but it was clear that she was momentarily incapable of speech. "In fact," said Raych, pushing his advantage (and feeling horrible at doing so) "the fact of the matter is that you are jealous because Manella saved Dad's life. You don't want anyone to do that but you. Well, you had no chance to do so. Would you prefer it if Manella had not shot Andorin-if Dad had died? And me, too?" Dors said in a choked voice, "He insisted on going out to meet the gardeners alone. He would not allow me to come." "But that wasn't Manella's fault." "Is that why you want to marry her? Gratitude?" "No. Love." And so it was, but Manella said to Raych after the ceremony, "Your mother may have attended the wedding because you insisted, Raych, but she looked like one of those thunderclouds they sometimes send sailing under the dome." Raych laughed. "She doesn't have the face to be a thundercloud. You're just imagining it." "Not at all. How will we ever get her to give us a chance?" "We'll just be patient. She'll get over it." But Dors Venabili didn't. Two years after the wedding, Wanda was born. Dors's attitude toward the child was all Raych and Manella could have wanted, but Wanda's mother remained "that woman" to Raych's mother. 第五章 　　芮奇脱离丧气造成的苦海后，第一个清楚的记忆是有人在帮他刮胡子。 他感觉到振动式刮胡刀沿着自己的面颊移动。“上唇附近的地方别刮，理发师，我要八字胡长回来。”他虚弱地说。 理发师早已接到谢顿的指示，他举起一面镜子让芮奇安心。铎丝坐在床沿说：“让他工作，芮奇，你别激动。” 芮奇望着铎丝一会儿，没有开口。理发师离去后，铎丝问：“感觉怎么样，芮奇？” “糟透了。”他喃喃道，“我好沮丧，我受不了。” “那是丧气的残存效应，很快就会消退的。”“我不相信。已经多久了？” “别担心。还需要一些时间，你全身灌满了丧气。” 芮奇焦躁地四下张望：“玛妮拉来看过我吗？” “那个女人？”从此之后，芮奇便逐渐习惯铎丝用这种字眼与口气提到玛妮拉，“没有， 你还不适合接见访客。” 铎丝看懂了芮奇的表情，赶紧补充道：“我例外，因为我是你母亲，芮奇。你为什么希望那个女人来看你？你的情况不适合见人。”“正因为这样，我更要见她，”芮奇喃喃道，“我要她看看我最糟的样子。”说完，他无 精打采地翻了个身，“我想睡了。”铎丝摇了摇头。当天稍后，她对谢顿说：我不知道该拿芮奇怎么办，哈里，他很不讲理。”谢顿说：“他不舒服，铎丝，要体谅他。” “他一直咕哝着那个女人，那个玛什么的。”“玛妮拉•杜邦夸，这名字不难记。”“我认为芮奇想跟她共组一个家，跟她住在一起，跟她结婚！”谢顿耸了耸肩：“芮奇三十岁了，可以自己做主。” “身为他的父母，我们当然有发言权。”哈里叹了口气：“我确定你已经说过了，铎丝，但我确定他仍会照自己的意思去做。”“这就是你的结论吗？他想娶个像那样的女人，你却什么也不做吗？” “你指望我做些什么，铎丝？玛妮拉救了芮奇一命，你指望他忘记吗？更何况她还救了我。” 这句话似乎把铎丝惹火了，她说：“而你也救了她，你们扯平了。”“我不算真——” “你当然救了她。假如你不曾介入，不曾为了救她而拿你的辞呈和支持声明，跟现在统治帝国的那些流氓交换，他们早就把她杀了。” “就算我跟她扯平了——虽然我不这么想——但芮奇还没有。还有，铎丝，当你想用不适当的字眼形容政府时，千万要三思而后行。如今的日子，不像克里昂统治时那么容易过，到处都有告密的人。” “这有什么好怕的。我不喜欢那个女人，这至少不犯法吧。” “当然不犯法，可是没用。” 谢顿低头望着地板，陷入了沉思。铎丝平时深不可测的一双黑眼珠，此时无疑闪烁着怒火。 谢顿抬起头来。“铎丝，到底为什么？你为什么这么不喜欢玛妮拉？她救了我们的命。要不是她立刻出手，芮奇和我早就死了。” 铎丝反驳道：“没错，哈里，这点我比任何人都明白。假使当时她不在场，我也根本无法阻止那次谋杀。你会认为我应该心存感激，但我每次看到那个女人，就会想起自己的失败。 我知道这种情绪不理性，而且我没办法解释。所以别要求我喜欢她，哈里，我办不到。” 可是第二天，当医生说：“你儿子希望见一位叫玛妮拉的女子。”铎丝不得不让步了。“他还不能接见访客！”铎丝厉声道。 “刚好相反，他可以，他恢复得很好。何况，他坚持要见她，态度非常激动，我认为拒绝他并不明智。” 于是他们带玛妮拉进来，芮奇兴奋地欢迎她。这是他住进医院后，首度露出一丝快乐的神情。 芮奇对铎丝做了个小动作，很明显是要打发她走，于是铎丝撅着嘴离开了。 终于，有一天芮奇对铎丝说：“她要嫁给我，妈。” “你以为我会惊讶吗，你这个傻男人！她当然要嫁给你，你是她唯一的机会。她已经名誉扫地，被赶出保安部门——”芮奇打断她：“妈，如果你想失去我，就继续吧。不要那样子说话！” “我只是为你的幸福着想。” “谢了，我会为我自己着想。我不是任何人提升社会地位的阶梯，拜托你别再那么想了。 我不英俊，个子不高，爸也不再是首相，而我的谈吐更不折不扣属于低下阶层。我有什么地方值得她骄傲的？她大可以找个更好的人，但她就是要我。而且我告诉你，我也要她。” “但你知道她是什么人。” “我当然知道玛妮拉是什么人。她是个爱我的女人，是个我爱的女人，就是这样。” “在你与她坠入情网之前，她又是什么人？她在卫荷卧底时都做些什么，你也略有所知， 你自己就是她的‘任务’之一。她还有其他多少任务？你能接受她的过去吗？能接受她以职务之名所做的一切吗？现在你是可以大方地做个理想主义者，但总有一天你会跟她吵架—— 也许就在第一次，也许在第二次或第十九次，你终究会爆发，会说：‘你这婊——’”“胡说！”芮奇怒吼道，“我们争吵时，我会骂她不讲理、没理智、唠唠叨叨、爱发牢骚、不体谅人，有百万个形容词适合当时的状况。而她同样也会骂我，但都会是理性的字眼，争吵过后可以收得回来。” “你现在这么想，将来等着瞧吧。”芮奇面色铁青。“妈，你和爸在一起已经将近二十年。爸的意见一向很难让人反驳，但我也听过你们两人争论。在这二十年里，他有用过任何恶毒的字眼，指桑骂槐或冷嘲热讽你不是人吗？同样的，我有说过那种话吗？即使像我现在这么生气，你想我会吗？”铎丝内心在挣扎。她虽不像芮奇或谢顿那样会把情绪写在脸上，但显然一时之间也说不出话来。 “事实上，”芮奇乘势追击（这样做令他感到厌恶），“你是在吃醋，因为玛妮拉救了爸 一命。除了你自己，你不要任何人做这事，可是，你当时根本没机会救爸啊。难道你希望玛妮拉没射杀安多闰，让爸丧命，而我也死掉？” 铎丝的声音仿佛哽住了：“是你爸坚持要单独去接见那些园丁，他不准我一起去。” “但那不是玛妮拉的错。” “这就是你要娶她的理由？出于感激？”“不，是出于爱。” 于是一切敲定，但在婚礼过后，玛妮拉对芮奇说：“虽然在你的坚持下，你母亲参加了婚礼，芮奇，可是她看起来，就像穹顶下的人造雷雨云。”芮奇哈哈大笑。“她的脸才不像雷雨云，那只是你的想像。” “才不是呢。我们要怎么做，才能让她给我们一个机会？” “只要我们有耐心，她的心结会打开的。” 可是铎丝始终未曾打开心结。 结婚两年后，婉达出世了。铎丝对孩子的态度正是芮奇与玛妮拉梦寐以求的，但在芮奇的母亲心中，婉达的母亲仍旧是“那个女人”。 Chapter 6 Hari Seldon was fighting off melancholy. He was lectured in turn by Dors, by Raych, by Yugo, and by Manella. All united to tell him that sixty was not old. They simply did not understand. He had been thirty when the first hint of psychohistory had come to him, thirty-two when he delivered his famous lecture at the Decennial Convention, following which everything seemed to happen to him at once. After his brief interview with Cleon, He had fled across Trantor and met Demerzel, Dors, Yugo, and Raych, to say nothing of the people of Mycogen, of Dahl, and of Wye. He was forty when he became First Minister and fifty when he had relinquished the post. Now he was sixty. He had spent thirty years on psychohistory. How many more years would he require? How many more years would he live? Would he die with the Psychohistory Project unfinished after all? It was not the dying that bothered him, he told himself. It was the matter of leaving the Psychohistory Project unfinished. He went to see Yugo Amaryl. In recent years they had somehow drifted apart, as the Psychohistory Project had steadily increased in size. In the first years at Streeling, it had merely been Seldon and Amaryl working together-no one else. Now- Amaryl was nearly fifty-not exactly a young man-and he had somehow lost his spark. In all these years, he had developed no interest in anything but psychohistory: no woman, no companion, no hobby, no subsidiary activity. Amaryl blinked at Seldon who couldn't help but note the changes in the man's appearance. Part of it may have been because Yugo had had to have his eyes reconstructed. He saw perfectly well, but there was an unnatural look about them and he tended to blink slowly. It made him appear sleepy. "What do you think, Yugo?" said Seldon. "Is there any light at the end of the tunnel?" "Light? Yes, as a matter of fact," said Amaryl. "There's this new fellow, Tamwile Elar. You know him, of course." "Oh yes. I'm the one who hired him. Very vigorous and aggressive. How's he doing?" "I can't say I'm really comfortable with him, Hari. His loud laughter gets on my nerves. But he's brilliant. The new system of equations fits right into the Prime Radiant and they seem to make it possible to get around the problem of chaos." "Seem? Or will?" "Too early to say, but I'm very hopeful. I have tried a number of things that would have broken them down if they were worthless and the new equations survived them all. I'm beginning to think of them as `the achaotic equations.' " "I don't imagine," said Seldon "we have anything like a rigorous demonstration concerning these equations?" "No, we don't, though I've put half a dozen people on it, including Elar, of course." Amaryl turned on his Prime Radiant-which was every bit as advanced as Seldon's was-and he watched as the curving lines of luminous equations curled in midair-too small, too fine to be read without amplification. "Add the new equations and we may be able to begin to predict." "Each time I study the Prime Radiant now," said Seldon thoughtfully, "I wonder at the Electro-Clarifier and how tightly it squeezes material into the lines and curves of the future. Wasn't that Elar's idea, too?" "Yes. With the help of Cinda Monay, who designed it." "It's good to have new and brilliant men and women in the Project. Somehow it reconciles me to the future." "You think someone like Elar may be heading the Project someday?" asked Amaryl, still studying the Prime Radiant. "Maybe. After you and I have retired-or died." Amaryl seemed to relax and turned off the device. "I would like to complete the task before we retire or die." "So would I, Yugo. So would I." "Psychohistory has guided us pretty well in the last ten years." That was true enough, but Seldon knew that one couldn't attach too much triumph to that. Things had gone smoothly and without major surprises. Psychohistory had predicted that the center would hold after Cleon's death-predicted it in a very dim and uncertain way-and it did hold. Trantor was reasonably quiet. Even with an assassination and the end of a dynasty, the center had held. It did so under the stress of military rule-Dors was quite right in speaking of the junta as "those military rascals." She might have even gone farther in her accusations without being wrong. Nevertheless, they were holding the Empire together and would continue to do so for a time. Long enough, perhaps, to allow psychohistory to play an active role in the events that were to transpire. Lately Yugo had been speaking about the possible establishment of Foundations-separate, isolated, independent of the Empire itself serving as seeds for developments through the forthcoming dark ages and into a new and better Empire. Seldon himself had been working on the consequences of such an arrangement. But he lacked the time and, he felt (with a certain misery), he lacked the youth as well. His mind, however firm and steady, did not have the resiliency and creativity that it had had when he was thirty and with each passing year, he knew he would have less. Perhaps he ought to put the young and brilliant Elar on the task, taking him off everything else. Seldon had to admit to himself, shamefacedly, that the possibility did not excite him. He did not want to have invented psychohistory so that some stripling could come in and reap the final fruits of fame. In fact, to put it at its most disgraceful, Seldon felt jealous of Elar and realized it just sufficiently to feel ashamed of the emotion. Yet, regardless of his less rational feelings, he would have to depend on other younger men-whatever his discomfort over it. Psychohistory was no longer the private preserve of himself and Amaryl. The decade of his being First Minister had converted it into a large government-sanctioned and -budgeted undertaking and, quite to his surprise, after resigning from his post as First Minister and returning to Streeling University, it had grown still larger. Hari grimaced at its ponderous-and pompous-official name: the Seldon Psychohistory Project at Streeling University. But most people simply referred to it as the Project. The military junta apparently saw the Project as a possible political weapon and while that was so, funding was no problem. Credits poured in. In return, it was necessary to prepare annual reports, which, however, were quite opaque. Only fringe matters were reported on and even then the mathematics was not likely to be within the purview of any of the members of the junta. It was clear as he left his old assistant that Amaryl, at least, was more than satisfied with the way psychohistory was going and yet Seldon felt the blanket of depression settle over him once more. He decided it was the forthcoming birthday celebration that was bothering him. It was meant as a celebration of joy, but to Hari it was not even a gesture of consolation-it merely emphasized his age. Besides, it was upsetting his routine and Hari was a creature of habit. His office and a number of those adjoining had been cleared out and it had been days since he had been able to work normally. His proper offices would be converted into halls of glory, he supposed, and it would be many days before he could get back to work. Only Amaryl absolutely refused to budge and was able to maintain his office. Seldon had wondered, peevishly, who had thought of doing all this. It wasn't Dors, of course. She knew him entirely too well. Not Amaryl or Raych, who never even remembered their own birthdays. He had suspected Manella and had even confronted her on the matter. She admitted that she was all for it and had given orders for the arrangements to take place, but she said that the idea for the birthday party had been suggested to her by Tamwile Elar. The brilliant one, thought Seldon. Brilliant in everything. He sighed. If only the birthday were all over. 第六章 　　这些日子以来，哈里•谢顿心情郁悒地抵挡众人的攻势。铎丝、芮奇、雨果与玛妮拉轮番上阵，一个个都想开导他六十岁并不算老。 他们怎么可能了解？他脑海中第一次迸现心理史学的灵感时已经三十岁；三十二岁时，他在十载会议上发表那场著名的演说，然后一切不可思议的事情便接连而来。他被克里昂一世召见后，便开始在川陀各处逃亡，这期间遇到了丹莫茨尔、铎丝、雨果与芮奇，当然还有那些麦曲生、达尔与卫荷人。 他四十岁当上首相，五十岁辞职，如今他已年届六十。心理史学已花了他足足三十个年头，还得花他多少年？他还能活多少年？会不会他至死都无法完成心理史学计划？令他困扰的并非死亡，而是心理史学计划将成未竟之志，谢顿这么告诉自己。于是他去找雨果•阿马瑞尔。这些年来，心理史学计划的规模稳定成长，他们两人不知 不觉疏远了。在川陀的最初几年，只有阿马瑞尔与谢顿一起工作，而现在……阿马瑞尔已年近五十，不再年轻，而且冲劲也大不如前。长久以来，他的生活只有心理史学，没有女人、没有朋友、没有嗜好、没有其他任何活动。 谢顿无法不注意到阿马瑞尔外表的变化，部分原因可能是因为阿马瑞尔曾动过眼球重建手术。现在他视力是变好了，可是眼睛却显得不太自然，而且眨眼的动作特别慢，看来总是昏昏欲睡的样子。 “怎么样，雨果？”谢顿说，“隧道另一端出现光线了吗？” “光线？喔，有啊，事实上是有的。”阿马瑞尔说，“就是那个新人，泰姆外尔•林恩，你知道他的。” “喔，是啊，他是我找来的。一个积极有活力的年轻人。他表现得怎样？” “我说不上喜欢他，哈里，他的大笑声令我浑身不舒服。可是他的表现没话说，他的新方程组和元光体配合得天衣无缝，似乎有可能克服混沌的难题。” “似乎？或是会？” “现在还言之过早，但我抱着很大的希望。我曾用好些实例测试过——新的方程组要是不管用，那些问题足以令它崩溃——结果方程组通过所有考验。我私底下已经管它叫‘非混沌方程组’了。” “我想，”谢顿说，“对于这些方程式，我们还没有什么严密的论证吧？” “对，目前还没有。不过我已指派了六个人着手研究，其中当然包括林恩。”阿马瑞尔打开元光体，它在各方面都与谢顿的元光体同样先进。半空中浮现出许多明亮的方程式，他望着那些弯弯曲曲的线条——线条太细太小，不放大根本读不出来。“加上那些新方程式，我们也许就能开始进行预测。” “我每次研究元光体，”谢顿若有所思地说，“便不能不赞叹那个电子阐析器，它居然能 把代表未来的数学压缩成这么紧密的线条。那也是林恩的构想吧？”“是的。负责设计电子阐析器的是欣妲•蒙内，她也帮了林恩不少忙。” “能有杰出的男女新血加入计划，真是太好了。从他们身上我仿佛已经见到心理史学的未来。” “你认为像林恩这样的人，有一天可能成为计划领导者吗？”仍在研究元光体的阿马瑞尔随口问道。 “或许吧。在你我退休——或是死了以后。”阿马瑞尔关掉这个装置，似乎想休息一下。“希望在那之前，我们已经完成这项工作。” “我又何尝不那么想呢，雨果。” “这十年来，心理史学对我们的指导相当成功。”阿马瑞尔说的的确是事实，但谢顿明白那并非什么伟大的成就。这些年来没什么突发事件，一切几乎都在心理史学的预测之内。心理史学曾经预测，帝国中心在克里昂死后仍会保住——预测的方式相当模糊而暧昧——而它的确应验了。川陀向来还算平静，即使历经皇帝遇刺与皇朝的终结，帝国中心仍保住了。 这是高压军事统治的结果。铎丝称执政团为“流氓军团”还真说得没错——或许她还太客气了些。不过话说回来，在目前以及可见的未来，执政团他们的确可以维系帝国的完整，说不定持续的时间足以让心理史学在未来扮演一个积极的指导角色。最近阿马瑞尔提出了建立“基地”的可能性——一个单独、隔离、独立于帝国之外的种子——为即将来临的黑暗时期保存实力，进而发展成一个更良善的新帝国。谢顿自己已着手评估建立基地的各种影响。 可是他没有时间，而且他也悲痛地意识到自己已经不再年轻了。无论他的心灵多么坚实、 稳健，也不再可能有三十岁时的想像力与创造力，而随着岁月一年一年流逝，他知道自己保有的将越来越少。 或许他该将这个工作交给年轻而杰出的林恩，免除他别的职务，让他专心研究这个问题。 谢顿不得不腼腆地承认，这个可能性并不令他兴奋，他发明心理史学的目的，可不是让某个后生晚辈收割最后的成果。事实上，最丢脸的说法是，谢顿感到自己在嫉妒林恩，而他意识到这情绪的程度，刚好足以让自己感到羞愧。 然而，纵使有这种不理性的感受，纵使谢顿心里一万个不愿意，他还是必须仰仗其他年轻人。心理史学不再是他自己与阿马瑞尔的私有禁地，在首相任内，他已将其转变成一个政府认可与资助的大型计划，而出乎谢顿意料的是，在他辞去首相职位、回到川陀大学后，计划的规模仍继续成长。一想到那个冗长（而且夸大）的官方名称“川陀大学谢顿心理史学计划”，谢顿就不禁想扮个鬼脸。不过，一般人还是习惯简单称它为“谢顿计划”。军人执政团显然将谢顿计划视为一个有潜力的政治武器，只要这点不变，信用点的来源便不成问题。而谢顿这批人需要做的则是准备年度报告，这种报告通常相当形式化，只是一些无关痛痒的进展。即使如此，其中的数学也早已超出执政团任何成员的知识水准。 离开这位老助手的研究室时，谢顿心里明白了一件事：至少阿马瑞尔对心理史学的发展方向十分满意。但与此同时，他又感到沮丧的黑幕再度将他笼罩。 他断定困扰自己的是即将来临的庆生会。它本意是欢乐的庆典，但对谢顿而言，它只是在强调他的年纪，甚至不能算是一种安慰的表示。此外，它搅乱了他的日常作息，而谢顿作息一向十分规律。他已有好几天无法正常工作， 他的研究室，连同左右几间，现在都已经腾空。他猜想，那些堂堂的研究室将被改装成荣耀的厅堂，而要一段日子之后，他才能回到工作岗位。只有阿马瑞尔坚持拒绝让步，因而保住他的研究室。 谢顿曾闷闷不乐地寻思，一切究竟是谁的主意。当然不是铎丝，她太了解他了。更不可能是阿马瑞尔或芮奇，他们连自己的生日也从不记得。他怀疑是玛妮拉，于是当面质问她。玛妮拉承认她对这件事十分赞成，并下令展开筹备工作，可是生日宴会是泰姆外尔•林 恩向她建议的。 那个杰出的家伙，谢顿心想，每方面都同样杰出。他叹了一口气，只希望这个生日早些过完。 Chapter 7 Dors poked her head through the door. "Am I allowed to come in?" "No, of course not. Why should you think I would?" "This is not your usual place." "I know," sighed Seldon. "I have been evicted from my usual place because of the stupid birthday party. How I wish it were over." "There you are. Once that woman gets an idea in her head, it takes over and grows like the big bang." Seldon changed sides at once. "Come. She means well, Dors." "Save me from the well-meaning," said Dors. "In any case, I'm here to discuss something else. Something which may be important." "Go ahead. What is it?" "I've been talking to Wanda about her dream-" She hesitated. Seldon made a gargling sound in the back of his throat, then said, can't believe it. Just let it go." "No. Did you bother to ask her for the details of the dream?" "Why should I put the little girl through that?" "Neither did Raych, nor Manella. It was left up to me." "But why should you torture her with questions about it?" "Because I had the feeling I should," said Dors grimly. "In the first place, she didn't have the dream when she was home in her bed." "Where was she, then?" "In your office." "What was she doing in my office?" "She wanted to see the place where the party would be and she walked into your office and, of course, there was nothing to see, as it's been cleared out in preparation. But your chair was still there. The large one-tall back, tall wings, broken-down-the one you won't let me replace." Hari sighed, as if recalling a longstanding disagreement. "It's not broken-down. I don't want a new one. Go on." "She curled up in your chair and began to brood over the fact that maybe you weren't really going to have a party and she felt bad. Then, she tells me, she must have fallen asleep because nothing is clear in her mind, except that in her dream there were two men-not women, she was sure about that-two men, talking." "And what were they talking about?" "She doesn't know exactly. You know how difficult it is to remember details under such circumstances. But she says it was about dying and she thought it was you because you were so old. And she remembers two words clearly. They were `lemonade death.'" "What?" "Lemonade death." "What does that mean?" "I don't know. In any case, the talking ceased, the men left, and there she was in the chair, cold and frightened-and she's been upset about it ever since." Seldon mulled over Dors's report. Then he said, "Look, dear, what importance can we attach to a child's dream?" "We can ask ourselves first, Hari, if it even was a dream." "What do you mean?" "Wanda doesn't say outright it was. She says she `must have fallen asleep.' Those are her words. She didn't say she fell asleep, she said she must have fallen asleep." "What do you deduce from that?" "She may have drifted off into a half-doze and, in that state, heard two men-two real men, not two dream men-talking." "Real men? Talking about killing me with lemonade death?" "Something like that, yes." "Dors," said Seldon forcefully, "I know that you're forever foreseeing danger for me, but this is going too far. Why should anyone want to kill me?" "It's been tried twice before." "So it has, but consider the circumstances. The first attempt came shortly after Cleon appointed me First Minister. Naturally this was an offense to the well-established court hierarchy and I was very resented. A few thought they might settle matters by getting rid of me. The second time was when the Joranumites were trying to seize power and they thought I was standing in their way-plus Namarti's distorted dream of revenge. "Fortunately neither assassination attempt succeeded, but why should there now be a third? I am no longer First Minister and haven't been for ten years. I am an aging mathematician in retirement and surely no one has anything to fear from me. The Joranumites have been rooted out and destroyed and Namarti was executed long ago. There is absolutely no motivation for anyone to want to kill me. "So please, Dors, relax. When you're nervous about me, you get unsettled, which makes you more nervous still, and I don't want that to happen." Dors rose from her seat and leaned across Hari's desk. "It's easy for you to say that there is no motive to kill you, but none is needed. Our government is now a completely irresponsible one and if they wish-" "Stop!" commanded Seldon loudly. Then, very quietly, "Not a word, Dors. Not a word against the government. That could get us in the very trouble you're foreseeing." "I'm only talking to you, Hari." "Right now you are, but if you get into the habit of saying foolish things, you don't know when something will slip out in someone else's presence-someone who will then be glad to report you. Just learn, as a matter of necessity, to refrain from political commentary." "I'll try, Hari," said Dors, but she could not keep the indignation out of her voice. She turned on her heel and left. Seldon watched her go. Dors had aged gracefully, so gracefully that at times she seemed not to have aged at all. Though she was two years younger than Seldon, her appearance had not changed nearly as much as his had in the twenty-eight years they had been together. Naturally. Her hair was frosted with gray, but the youthful luster beneath the gray still shone through. Her complexion had grown more sallow; her voice was a bit huskier, and, of course, she wore clothes that were suitable for middle age. However, her movements were as agile and as quick as ever. It was as if nothing could be allowed to interfere with her ability to protect Hari in case of an emergency. Hari sighed. This business of being protected-more or less against his will, at all times-was sometimes a heavy burden. 第七章 　　铎丝从门外探头问：“准我进来吗？” “当然，我为什么会不让你进来？”“这儿不是你常待的地方。” “我知道。”谢顿叹了一声，“还不是那个愚蠢的生日宴会，我从自己的地盘里被赶出来。真恨不得一切赶快结束。” “你说得对。那个女人脑袋里一旦有主意，就一定会像大霹雳一样，弄得不可收拾。” 谢顿立刻为玛妮拉辩护。“别这样，铎丝，她是好意。” “别跟我提什么好意。”铎丝说，“不管这些了，我来是要找你讨论另一件事，一件可能 很重要的事。” “说吧，是什么事？” “我在跟婉达讨论她的梦……”铎丝有些吞吞吐吐。 谢顿清了清喉咙：“我真不敢相信，铎丝，你就别管这件事了。” “不行。你仔细问过她那场梦的内容吗？” “为什么要让小孩子受那种罪？” “芮奇没问，玛妮拉也没问，这责任就落到我头上了。” “你何必拿那种问题折磨她？”“因为我觉得有必要问，”铎丝绷着脸说，“第一，她做那场梦的时候并不是在她床上。”“那么是在哪里？” “你的研究室。” “她在我的研究室做什么？” “小婉达想看看举办宴会的地方。当然，研究室里已经没什么好看的，为了布置场地，东西都搬光了。但你那把大椅子还在那里，你不让我换掉的那一把——高椅背、高扶手、破破烂烂……” 哈里叹了口气，仿佛记起一场长期的争执。“它一点也不破烂，我不要新椅子。继续说。”“她蜷曲在你的椅子里，担心着你也许无法参加这个宴会，她很难过。她说，然后她一定是睡着了，因为她感觉一切都模模糊糊的，只记得她梦里有两个男的在交谈——不是女的， 这点她确定。” “他们在谈些什么？” “她不太确定。你也知道，在那种情况下，不太可能记得细节。但她说那和死亡有关，而她认定是你的死亡，因为你那么老了。不过有几个字她记得很清楚，那就是‘柠檬水之死’。” “什么？” “柠檬水之死。” “那是什么意思？” “我不知道。总之，后来那两个人离开了，只剩下婉达坐在椅子上，又冷又害怕。从那时候开始，她就一直觉得很不安。”谢顿思量了一下铎丝的话，然后说：“我问你，铎丝，从一个小孩子的梦境，我们能推导出什么重要的结论？” “首先我们可以想想，那究竟是不是一场梦？” “什么意思？” “婉达并不确定那是梦。她说她‘一定是睡着了’，你听，她不是说她睡着了，而是‘一 定是’睡着了。” “这点让你推论出什么？” “也许当时她是在半睡半醒的假寐中，她听到两个人在交谈——两个真人，不是梦中的人。” “两个真人？商量用柠檬水杀掉我？” “是的，差不多就是这样。” “铎丝，”谢顿提高嗓门，“我知道你总是能为我预见潜在的危险，但这次太离谱了。怎 么会有人想杀我？” “这种事已经发生过两次。” “是没错，但是客观情况已经不同。第一次是在克里昂刚任命我为首相之后。这任命自然打破了宫中原本层级分明的阶级，一定有很多人恨透了我，而其中有人认为只要除掉我就能解决问题。第二次，则是九九派试图谋夺政权，认为我碍了他们的事，再加上纳马提一心只想复仇。 “幸好两次我都平安无事，可是现在怎么会有第三次呢？我不再是首相，十年前就不是了。我只是个上了年纪的退休数学家，我会威胁到谁？九九派已被连根拔除，而纳马提也早就被处决了。绝对没有人会有杀我的动机。 “所以拜托，铎丝，放轻松点。你一替我紧张，就会变得心神不定，然后弄得自己更紧张，我不希望你这样。” 铎丝站起身，倚在谢顿的书桌上。“没有杀你的动机，说得倒简单。但根本不需要任何动机。我们现在的政府，是个完全不负责任的政府，假如他们希望——”“住口！”谢顿高声斥道，然后又压低声音说，“一个字也别说，铎丝。反政府的言论一 个字也别说，否则我们真会惹上你预见的那个麻烦。”“这些我只会跟你说，哈里。”“现在你只跟我说，但如果你养成说傻话的习惯，在外人面前、在很乐意告发你的人面前，你不知会脱口说出什么话。虽然有点无奈，但你一定要记住一件事，不要随便批评政治。”“我会尽量，哈里。”铎丝嘴里这样说，却无法抑制声音中的不满。她转身离去，谢顿目送她的背影。铎丝老得很优雅，有时似乎根本不显老。虽然她只比谢顿小两岁，但在他们共处的二十八年中，两人外表的变化程度简直不成比例。当然，这是很自然的事。 铎丝的头发已缀着银丝，但银丝下仍透出青春的光泽。她的肤色已不如从前红润，声音变得有点沙哑，而且，她已改穿适合中年人的服装。然而，她的动作仍然矫捷迅速，仿佛她在紧急状况下保护谢顿的能力，是任何因素都改变不了的。谢顿又叹了一口气。被人保护这档子事（总是多少违反他的意愿）有时真是个沉重的负担。 Chapter 8 Manella came to see Seldon almost immediately afterward. "Pardon me, Hari, but what has Dors been saying" Seldon looked up again. Nothing but interruptions. "It wasn't anything important. Wanda's dream." Manella's lips pursed. "I knew it. Wanda said Dors was asking her questions about it. Why doesn't she leave the girl alone? You would think that having a bad dream was some sort of felony." "As a matter of fact," said Seldon soothingly, "it's just a matter of something Wanda remembered as part of the dream. I don't know if Wanda told you, but apparently in her dream she heard something about 'lemonade death.' " "Hmm!" Manella was silent for a moment. Then she said, "That doesn't really matter so much. Wanda is crazy about lemonade and she's expecting lots of it at the party. I promised she'd have some with Mycogenian drops in it and she's looking forward to it." "So that if she heard something that sounded anything like lemonade, it would be translated into lemonade in her mind." "Yes. Why not?" "Except that, in that case, what do you suppose it was that was actually said? She must have heard something in order to misinterpret it." "I don't think that's necessarily so. But why are we attaching so much importance to a little girl's dream? Please, I don't want anyone talking to her about it anymore. It's too upsetting." "I agree. I'll see to it that Dors drops the subject-at least with Wanda." "All right. I don't care if she is Wanda's grandmother, Hari. I'm her mother, after all, and my wishes come first." "Absolutely," said Seldon soothingly and looked after Manella as she left. That was another burden-the unending competition between those two women. 第八章 　　铎丝刚刚离开，玛妮拉便来见谢顿。“对不起，哈里，铎丝和你说了什么？”谢顿再度抬起头来——除了打扰还是打扰。 “没什么，是关于婉达的梦。”玛妮拉抿起嘴唇。“我就知道，婉达说铎丝问她有关那个梦的问题。她为什么不肯放过婉达？好像做一场噩梦是犯了什么重罪似的。” “事实上，”谢顿以安抚的口吻说，“是婉达记得的梦境挺耐人寻味的。我不知道婉达有 没有告诉你，但显然她在梦中听到了什么‘柠檬水之死’。” “哦，是吗？”玛妮拉沉默了一会儿，然后说，“那其实没什么。婉达最爱喝柠檬水，她期望在宴会上喝个够。我曾向她保证，到时她能喝到加了麦曲生甘露的柠檬水，她天天都在等待。” “所以说，如果婉达听到什么话听来像是说柠檬水的，就会在心中误解为柠檬水。” “很有可能，不是吗？” “只不过，这样的话，你想他们事实上说的是什么？她一定是听到了什么，才会误以为是在说柠檬水。” “我不认为一定是这样。但我们为什么要对一个小女孩的梦大惊小怪？拜托，我不要任何人再跟婉达谈这件事，她会很不安的。” “我同意，我会要铎丝别再追究，至少别再去问婉达。” “好吧。我不管她是不是婉达的祖母，哈里。毕竟我是婉达的妈妈，应该顾到我的意愿。”“当然。”谢顿又以安抚的口吻说。玛妮拉离去时，谢顿望着她的背影。这两个女人之间无止无休的战争，是他的另一项重担。 Chapter 9 Tamwile Elar was thirty-six years old and had joined Seldon's Psychohistory Project as Senior Mathematician four years earlier. He was a tall man, with a habitual twinkle in his eye and with more than a touch of self-assurance as well. His hair was brown and had a loose wave in it, the more noticeable because he wore it rather long. He had an abrupt way of laughing, but there was no fault to be found with his mathematical ability. Elar had been recruited from the West Mandanov University and Seldon always had to smile when he remembered how suspicious Yugo Amaryl had been of him at first. But then, Amaryl was suspicious of everyone. Deep in his heart (Seldon felt sure), Amaryl felt that psychohistory ought to have remained his and Hari's private province. But even Amaryl was now willing to admit that Elar's membership in the group had eased his own situation tremendously. Yugo said, "His techniques for avoiding chaos are unique and fascinating. No one else in the Project could have worked it out the way he did. Certainly nothing of this sort ever occurred to me. It didn't occur to you, either, Hari." "Well," said Seldon grumpily, "I'm getting old." "If only," said Amaryl, "he didn't laugh so loud." "People can't help the way they laugh." Yet the truth was that Seldon found himself having a little trouble accepting Elar. It was rather humiliating that he himself had come nowhere near the "achaotic equations," as they were now called. It didn't bother Seldon that he had never thought of the principle behind the Electro-Clarifier-that was not really his field. The achaotic equations, however, he should, indeed, have thought of-or at least gotten close to. He tried reasoning with himself. Seldon had worked out the entire basis for psychohistory and the achaotic equations grew naturally out of that basis. Could Elar have done Seldon's work three decades earlier? Seldon was convinced that Elar couldn't have. And was it so remarkable that Elar had thought up the principle of achaotism once the basis was in place? All this was very sensible and very true, yet Seldon still found himself uneasy when facing Elar. Just slightly edgy. Weary age facing flamboyant youth. Yet Elar never gave him obvious cause for feeling the difference in years. He never failed to show Seldon full respect or in any way to imply that the older man had passed his prime. Of course, Elar was interested in the forthcoming festivities and had even, as Seldon had discovered, been the first to suggest that Seldon's birthday be celebrated. (Was this a nasty emphasis on Seldon's age? Seldon dismissed the possibility. If he believed that, it would mean he was picking up some of Dors's tricks of suspicion. Elar strode toward him and said, "Maestro-" And Seldon winced, as always. He much preferred to have the senior members of the Project call him Hari, but it seemed such a small point to make a fuss over. "Maestro," said Elar. "The word is out that you've been called in for a conference with General Tennar." "Yes. He's the new head of the military junta and I suppose he wants to see me to ask what psychohistory is all about. They've been asking me that since the days of Cleon and Demerzel." (The new head! The junta was like a kaleidoscope, with some of its members periodically falling from grace and others rising from nowhere.) "But it's my understanding he wants it now-right in the middle of the birthday celebration." "That doesn't matter. You can all celebrate without me." "No, we can't, Maestro. I hope you don't mind, but some of us got together and put in a call to the Palace and put the appointment off for a week." "What?" said Seldon annoyed. "Surely that was presumptuous of you-and risky, besides." "It worked out well. They've put it off and you'll need that time." "Why would I need a week?" Elar hesitated. "May I speak frankly, Maestro?" "Of course you can. When have I ever asked that anyone speak to me m any way but frankly?" Elar flushed slightly, his fair skin reddening, but his voice remained steady. "It's not easy to say this, Maestro. You're a genius at mathematics. No one on the Project has any doubt of that. No one in the Empire-they knew you and understood mathematics-would have any doubt Tout it. However, it is not given to anybody to be a universal genius." "I know that as well as you do, Elar." "I know you do. Specifically, though, you lack the ability to handle ordinary people-shall we say, stupid people. You lack a certain deviousness, a certain ability to sidestep, and if you are dealing with someone who is both powerful in government and somewhat stupid, you can easily endanger the Project and, for that matter, your own life, simply because you are too frank." "What is this? Am I suddenly a child? I've been dealing with politicians for a long time. I was First Minister for ten years, as perhaps you may remember." "Forgive me, Maestro, but you were not an extraordinarily effective one. You dealt with First Minister Demerzel, who was very intelligent, by all accounts, and with the Emperor Cleon, who was very friendly. Now you will encounter military people who are neither intelligent nor friendly-another matter entirely." "I've even dealt with military people and survived." "Not with General Dugal Tennar. He's another sort of thing altogether. I know him." "You know him? You have met him?" "I don't know him personally, but he's from Mandanov, which, as you know, is my sector, and he was a power there before he joined the junta and rose through its ranks." "And what do you know about him?" "Ignorant, superstitious, violent. He is not someone you can handle easily-or safely. You can use the week to work out methods for dealing with him." Seldon bit his lower lip. There was something to what Elar said and Seldon recognized the fact that, while he had plans of his own, it would still be difficult to try to manipulate a stupid, self-important, short-tempered person with overwhelming force at his disposal. He said uneasily, "I'll manage somehow. The whole matter of a military junta is, in any case, an unstable situation in the Trantor of today. It has already lasted longer than might have seemed likely." "Have we been testing that? I was not aware that we were making stability decisions on the junta." "Just a few calculations by Amaryl, making use of your achaotic equations." He paused. "By the way, I've come across some references to them as the Elar Equations." "Not by me, Maestro." "I hope you don't mind, but I don't want that. Psychohistoric elements are to be described functionally and not personally. As soon as personalities intervene, bad feelings arise." "I understand and quite agree, Maestro." "In fact," said Seldon with a touch of guilt, "I have always felt it wrong that we speak of the basic Seldon Equations of Psychohistory. The trouble is that's been in use for so many years, it's not practical to try to change it." "If you'll excuse my saying so, Maestro, you're an exceptional case. No one, I think, would quarrel with your receiving full credit for inventing the science of psychohistory. -But, if I may, I wish to get back to your meeting with General Tennar." "Well, what else is there to say?" "I can't help but wonder if it might be better if you did not see him, did not speak to him, did not deal with him." "How am I to avoid that if he calls me in for a conference?" "Perhaps you can plead illness and send someone in your place." "Whom?" Elar was silent for a moment, but his silence was eloquent. Seldon said, "You, I take it." "Might that not be the thing to do? I am a fellow sectoral citizen of the General, which may carry some weight. You are a busy man, getting 011 in years, and it would be easy to believe that you are not entirely well. And if I see him, rather than yourself-please excuse me, Maestro-I can wiggle and maneuver more easily than you can." "Lie, you mean." "If necessary." "You'll be taking a huge chance." "Not too huge. I doubt that he will order my execution. If he becomes annoyed with me, as he well might, then I can plead-or you can plead on my behalf-youth and inexperience. In any case, if I get into trouble, that will be far less dangerous than if you were to do so. I'm thinking of the Project, which can do without me a great deal more easily than it can without you." Seldon said with a frown, "I'm not going to hide behind you, Elar. If the man wants to see me, he will see me. I refuse to shiver and shake and ask you to take chances for me. What do you think I am?" "A frank and honest man-when the need is for a devious one." "I will manage to be devious-if I must. Please don't underestimate me, Elar." Elar shrugged hopelessly. "Very well. I can only argue with you up to a certain point." "In fact, Elar, I wish you had not postponed the meeting. I would rather skip my birthday and see the General than the reverse. This birthday celebration was not my idea." His voice died away in a grumble. Elar said, "I'm sorry." "Well," said Seldon with resignation, "we'll see what happens." He turned and left. Sometimes he wished ardently that he could run what was called a "tight ship," making sure that everything went as he wished it to, leaving little or no room for maneuvering among his subordinates. To do that, however, would take enormous time, enormous effort, would deprive him of any chance of working on psychohistory himself-and, besides, he simply lacked the temperament for it. He sighed. He would have to speak to Amaryl. 第九章 　　泰姆外尔•林恩今年三十六岁，四年前加入谢顿的心理史学计划，担任一名资深数学家。他个子很高，喜欢眨眼，而且总是自信充实的样子。 他有一头棕褐色长发，如波浪般微微卷曲，由于头发很长，因此波浪更加明显。他常会突如其来地爆发出一阵大笑，但他的数学能力可是没得挑剔。 林恩是从西曼达诺夫大学挖来的，每当想起阿马瑞尔最初对他多不信任，谢顿总是不禁露出微笑。话说回来，阿马瑞尔对任何人都多有猜疑。谢顿可以肯定，在阿马瑞尔的内心深处，心理史学应该永远是他与谢顿的私人属地。 但现在就连阿马瑞尔也愿意承认，林恩的加入大大舒缓了他的重担。阿马瑞尔曾说：“他 避开混沌的技巧非常独特而且不可思议。谢顿计划中恐怕找不出第二人。不用说，我就从未想到这样的方法，而你也没有，哈里。”“是啊，”谢顿别扭地说，“我老了。”“要是他不笑得那么大声就好了。”阿马瑞尔说。“人们无法控制自己发笑的方式。”然而事实上，谢顿发觉自己有点无法坦然接受林恩。那些被大家称为“非混沌方程组” 的方程式，他自己完全没有贡献，这令他感到很丢脸。谢顿也从未想到电子阐析器背后的原理，但他对此处之泰然，那不是他专业的领域。然而，非混沌方程组确实是他应该想到的，至少也该摸到一点边。 他试图说服自己：发展出心理史学整个基础的是他，而非浑沌方程组只是这个基础上的自然产物。若换成林恩，他能得出和三十年前的谢顿一样的成果吗？谢顿深信林恩办不到。而林恩在基础已经建立的情况下想出非混沌法的原理，真有那么了不起吗？ 这些论点都非常合理而正确，但谢顿觉得面对林恩时仍感到不安，或者该说是有点焦躁。 疲惫的老人面对如日中天的青年时，自然会有这种反应。 但林恩从未让他感到年龄的明显差异。他始终对谢顿毕恭毕敬，也从未暗示这位长者已盛年不再。 当然，林恩对即将来临的庆祝活动很感兴趣，而且谢顿已经获悉，他甚至是第一个建议办庆生会的人。他这是强调自己上了年纪吗？谢顿抛开这念头，假使他相信这种事，无疑表示他也开始染上铎丝的疑心病。） 此时林恩大步向他走来，叫道：“大师——”如同往常一样，谢顿怔了一怔。他实在宁可资深成员们叫他哈里，但这似乎并不值得小题大做。“大师，”林恩道，“有传言说田纳尔将军召您去开会。”“没错，田纳尔将军是军人执政团的新首脑。我猜他召见我，是为了问我心理史学究竟是怎么回事。从克里昂和丹莫茨尔的时代起，执政者就一直问我这个问题。”（新首脑！执政 团简直像个万花筒，其中的成员周期性地交替更换，总是有人黯然下台，有人无端崛起。）“可是据我了解，他准备马上召见您，就在庆生会那一天。” “没关系，你们没有我照样能庆祝。” “那怎么行，大师。希望您别介意，我们几个人在商量后，跟皇宫通了一次电话，把约会延后一周。” “什么？”谢顿有些恼火，“你们这样做实在太大胆了，而且也很危险。” “结果很圆满。他们已经答应延期，而您也需要那些时间。” “我为什么需要一周的时间？”林恩迟疑了一下。“我能直说吗，大师？” “当然可以。我几时不让人有话直说了？” 林恩听了这话，白晳的脸颊微微转红，但声音仍很镇定。“这实在很难启齿，大师。您是个数学天才，本计划的成员对此绝不怀疑。在整个帝国中，只要是知道您并了解数学的人， 对这点也绝无任何疑问。但没有人是全能的天才。” “这点我和你同样明白，林恩。” “我知道您明白。不过，您特别不善于应付普通人，或者说是比较笨的人。您欠缺迂回的能力，一些旁敲侧击的本领。万一您打交道的对象，是在政府中掌权而脑袋不怎么灵光的人，那么您的直率很容易会给您自己和这个计划带来危险。” “这是什么意思？我突然变成无知幼童了吗？我跟政治人物打交道已有很长的历史，我当了十年的首相，你大概还记得吧？” “请原谅我这么说，大师，但您不是个特别突出的首相。当初您打交道的对象是丹莫茨尔首相，他是个公认的聪明人，此外则是和善的克里昂大帝。现在您要面对的是一批军人，他们既不聪明又不和善，完全是另一种人。”“我跟军人也打过交道，而且还全身而退。”“但他们不是杜戈•田纳尔将军。他跟您以前碰过的人完全不同，我很清楚这个人。” “你很清楚？你认识他吗？” “我不认识他本人，但他是曼达诺夫人，您也知道，跟我是同一区的。在他加入执政团、 爬到这个位子之前，他在那里很有势力。” “你觉得他这个人怎样？” “无知、迷信、暴戻。他这种人对付起来可不容易，而且很危险。您可以用这一个星期的时间，研究一下如何和他打交道。” 谢顿咬住下唇。林恩说的的确有几分道理，而谢顿也体会到一个事实：虽然他有自己的打算，但要应付一个愚蠢、自大、脾气暴躁，却握有强权的人，仍然是一件难事。谢顿不安地说：“我会想办法的。无论如何，军人执政团在川陀的情况已经很不稳定。它存在太久了，超过了它应该存在的时间。”“我们测试过这一点吗？我不晓得我们对执政团做过稳定性判断。” “只不过是阿马瑞尔做的几个计算，是用你的非混沛方程式算的。”谢顿停了一会儿，“顺便提一句，我发 现有人在引用非混沌方程式时，把它们叫做林恩方程式。”“我可没有，大师。” “希望你别介意，但我不喜欢这种事。心理史学的各项内容应该根据功能命名，而不是人名。一旦染上个人色彩，很容易引起反感。” “我了解，而且完全同意，大师。”“事实上，”谢顿带着点内疚说，“我总是认为我们不该说什么‘心理史学谢顿基本方程 式’。问题是这个名称用了那么多年，要去改它似乎不太实际。” “恕我冒昧，大师，但您是个例外。我想，将发明心理史学的荣耀归于您，绝对是实至名归，没有人会有异议。但是，如果可以的话，我希望回到您会晤田纳尔将军这个问题。”“好吧，你还有什么要说？” “我忍不住在想，如果您不去见他，不跟他说话，不跟他打交道，这样是否会更好？”“如果他召我去开会，我怎么可能不去见他？” “或许您可以托病，派人代替您去。” “谁？” 林恩沉默不语，但意思十分明显。 “我想，你是指你自己。”谢顿说。“难道这办法不好吗？我和将军同乡，这点也许有些帮助。您一直是个大忙人，加上年纪渐长，别人很容易相信您身体不好。此外，若是由我替您去见他——请您原谅我直说，大师——我比您更懂得虚与委蛇、以智取胜。”“你的意思是——说谎。” “如果有必要的话。” “你会冒很大的风险。” “不会太大，我不信他会下令处决我。如果他恼羞成怒——这是很可能的——那我可以托辞我是年幼无知、经验不足，或者您可以帮我这么说情。无论如何，我碰到麻烦总比您碰到麻烦要安全得多。我是为谢顿计划着想，没有我不算什么，万一没有您，计划就难以为继了。” 谢顿皱起眉头，“我不准备躲在你后面，林恩。如果那人想见我，他就会见到我。我可不要浑身打战，求你替我冒险。你以为我是什么人？”“一个直率的老实人。但如今需要的却是个懂得迂回的人。” “如果必须迂回，我会尽力做到。别低估我，林恩。”林恩失望地耸了耸肩。“好吧，再争论下去我就失礼了。”“事实上，林恩，我希望你没延后会晤的时间。我宁愿错过庆生会去见将军，也不愿为了过生日而改期，这个庆生会根本不是我的主意。”他的声音在抱怨中逐渐消失。“我很抱歉。”林恩说。 “好啦，”谢顿无可奈何地说，“到时候就知道结果了。”说完便转身离去。有些时候， 谢顿真希望自己能领导一支“军纪严明”的队伍，一个口令一个动作，确定一切都照他的意思进行。然而，那需要耗去他大量的时间和精力，会使他没有机会亲自研究心理史学。更何况，他天生就不是那种人。 谢顿叹了一门气，他得去找阿马瑞尔谈谈。 Chapter 10 Seldon strode into Amaryl's office, unannounced. "Yugo," he said abruptly, "the session with General Tennar has been postponed." He seated himself in a rather pettish manner. It took Amaryl his usual few moments to disconnect his mind from his work. Looking up finally, he said, "What was his excuse?" "It wasn't he. Some of our mathematicians arranged a week's postponement so that it wouldn't interfere with the birthday celebration. I find all of this to be extremely annoying." "Why did you let them do that?" "I didn't. They just went ahead and arranged things." Seldon shrugged. "In a way, it's my fault. I've whined so long about turning sixty that everyone thinks they have to cheer me up with festivities." Amaryl said, "Of course, we can use the week." Seldon sat forward, immediately tense. "Is something wrong?" "No. Not that I can see, but it won't hurt to examine it further. Look, Hari, this is the first time in nearly thirty years that psychohistory has leached the point where it can actually make a prediction. It's not much of one-it's just a small pinch of the vast continent of humanity-but it's t lie best we've had so far. All right. We want to take advantage of that, see how it works, prove to ourselves that psychohistory is what we think it is: a predictive science. So it won't hurt to make sure that we haven't overlooked anything. Even this tiny bit of prediction is complex and I welcome another week of study." "Very well, then. I'll consult you on the matter before I go to see the General for any last-minute modifications that have to be made. Meanwhile, Yugo, do not allow any information concerning this to leak out to the others-not to anyone. If it fails, I don't want the people of the Project to grow downhearted. You and I will absorb the failure ourselves and keep on trying." A rare wistful smile crossed Amaryl's face. "You and I. Do you remember when it really was just the two of us?" "I remember it very well and don't think that I don't miss those days. We didn't have much to work with-" "Not even the Prime Radiant, let alone the Electro-Clarifier." "But those were happy days." "Happy," said Amaryl, nodding his head. 第十章 　　谢顿门也没敲，便径自跨进阿马瑞尔的研究室。 “雨果，”他一进门就说，“跟田纳尔将军的约会延后了。”说完便闷闷不乐地坐下。如同往常一样，阿马瑞尔花了些时间才从工作上回过神。他抬起头问：“他的理由是什么？” “不是他，是我们几位数学家主动将约会延后一周，好避开庆生会冲突。这一切真是烦死人了。” “你为什么让他们那样做？” “我没有。是他们自作主张安排的。”谢顿耸了耸肩，“就某方面而言，这也是我的错。 这些日子以来，我一直为了快满六十岁而大发牢骚，所以大家都认为得靠庆祝活动来逗我开心。” 阿马瑞尔说：“嗯，我们可以好好利用这一周。”谢顿立刻紧张起来，身体前倾了些。“出了什么问题吗？”“没有，至少我没看出来，但进一步检查总没害处。听好，哈里，我们努力了将近三十年，心理史学终于能够进行正式预测。虽然这个预测没什么了不起，在整个人类历史中只是沧海一粟，但却是我们目前为止所能达成的最好成就。我们要好好利用这次机会，看看心理史学的表现如何，证明它的确如我们所认定的，是一门预测性科学。所以，能在事前确定没有忽略任何细节，总是比较保险。就连这种微不足道的预测也很复杂，我很高兴又有一周的时间可以研究。” “好极了。去见将军之前，我会来向你请教请教，看看是否得在最后关头再做些修正。在这段期间，雨果，千万别让任何有关这项预测的讯息泄露出去，谁都一样。如果预测失败了，我不要本计划的成员觉得气馁，你我两人将单独承担这个失败，然后再重新出发。” 阿马瑞尔脸上掠过一个难得的笑容，他带着几分怀念说：“你我两人——你还记得那段真的只有我们两人的日子？” “当然，别以为我不怀念那些日子。当时我们没什么材料——”“甚至没有元光体，更别提电子阐析器。” “但那是一段快乐的日子。” “快乐的日子。”阿马瑞尔一面点头一面说。 Chapter 11 The University had been transformed and Hari Seldon could not refrain from being pleased. The central rooms of the Project complex had suddenly sprouted in color and light, with holography filling the air with shifting three-dimensional images of Seldon at different places and different times. There was Dors Venabili smiling, looking somewhat younger-Raych as a teenager, still unpolished-Seldon and Amaryl, looking unbelievably young, bent over their computers. There was even a fleeting sight of Eto Demerzel, which filled Seldon's heart with yearning for his old friend and the security he had felt before Demerzel's departure. The Emperor Cleon appeared nowhere in the holographics. It was not because holographs of him did not exist, but it was not wise, under the rule of the junta, to remind people of the past Imperium. It all poured outward, overflowing, filling room after room, building after building. Somehow, time had been found to convert the entire University into a display the likes of which Seldon had never seen or even imagined. Even the dome lights were darkened to produce an artificial night against which the University would sparkle for three days. "Three days!" said Seldon, half-impressed, half-horrified. "Three days," said Dors Venabili, nodding her head. "The University would consider nothing less." "The expense! The labor!" said Seldon, frowning. "The expense is minimal," said Dors, "compared to what you have done for the University. And the labor is all voluntary. The students turned out and took care of everything." A from-the-air view of the University appeared now, panoramically, and Seldon stared at it with a smile forcing itself onto his countenance. Dors said, "You're pleased. You've done nothing but grouse these past few months about how you didn't want any celebration for being an old man-and now look at you." "Well, it is flattering. I had no idea that they would do anything like this." "Why not? You're an icon, Hari. The whole world-the whole Empire-knows about you." "They do not," said Seldon, shaking his head vigorously. "Not one in a billion knows anything at all about me-and certainly not about psychohistory. No one outside the Project has the faintest knowledge of how psychohistory works and not everyone inside does, either." "That doesn't matter, Hari. It's you. Even the quadrillions who don't know anything about you or your work know that Hari Seldon is the greatest mathematician in the Empire." "Well," said Seldon, looking around, "they certainly are making me feel that way right now. But three days and three nights! The place will be reduced to splinters." "No, it won't. All the records have been stored away. The computers and other equipment have been secured. The students have set up a virtual security force that will prevent anything from being damaged." "You've seen to all of that, haven't you, Dors?" said Seldon, smiling at her fondly. "A number of us have. It's by no means all me. Your colleague Tamwile Elar has worked with incredible dedication." Seldon scowled. "What's the matter with Elar?" said Dors. Seldon said, "He keeps calling me `Maestro.' " Dors shook her head. "Well, there's a terrible crime." Seldon ignored that and said, "And he's young." "Worse and worse. Come, Hari, you're going to have to learn to grow old gracefully-and to begin with you'll have to show that you're enjoying yourself. That will please others and increase their enjoyment and surely you would want to do that. Come on. Move around. Don't hide here with me. Greet everyone. Smile. Ask after their health. And remember that, after the banquet, you're going to have to make a speech." "I dislike banquets and I doubly dislike speeches." "You'll have to, anyway. Now move!" Seldon sighed dramatically and did as he was told. He cut quite an imposing figure as he stood in the archway leading into the main hall. I'he voluminous First Minister's robes of yesteryear were gone, as were the Heliconian-style garments he had favored in his youth. Now Seldon wore an outfit that bespoke his elevated status: straight pants, crisply pleated, a modified tunic on top. Embroidered in silver thread above his heart was the insignia: SELDON PSYCHOHISTORY PROJECT AT STREELING UNIVERSITY. It sparkled like a beacon against the dignified titanium-gray hue of his clothing. Seldon's eyes twinkled in a face now lined by age, his sixty years given away as much by his wrinkles as by his white hair. He entered the room in which the children were feasting. The room had been entirely cleared, except for trestles with food upon them. The children rushed up to him as soon as they saw him-knowing, as they did, that he was the reason for the feast-and Seldon tried to avoid their clutching fingers. "Wait, wait, children," he said. "Now stand back." He pulled a small computerized robot from his pocket and placed it on the floor. In an Empire without robots, this was something that he could expect to be eye-popping. It had the shape of a small furry animal, but it also had the capacity to change shapes without warning (eliciting squeals of children's laughter each time) and when it did so, the sounds and motions it made changed as well. "Watch it," said Seldon, "and play with it, and try not to break it. Later on, there'll be one for each of you." He slipped out into the hallway leading back to the main hall and realized, as he did so, that Wanda was following him. "Grandpa," she said. Well, of course, Wanda was different. He swooped down and lifted her high in the air, turned her over, and put her down. "Are you having a good time, Wanda?" he asked. "Yes," she said, "but don't go into that room." "Why not, Wanda? It's my room. It's the office where I work." "It's where I had my bad dream." "I know, Wanda, but that's all over, isn't it?" He hesitated, then he led Wanda to one of the chairs lining the hallway. He sat down and placed her on his lap. "Wanda," he said, "are you sure it was a dream?" "I think it was a dream." "Were you really sleeping?" "I think I was." She seemed uncomfortable talking about it and Seldon decided to let it go. There was no use pushing her any further. He said, "Well, dream or not, there were two men and they talked of lemonade death, didn't they?" Wanda nodded reluctantly. Seldon said, "You're sure they said lemonade?" Wanda nodded again. "Might they have said something else and you thought they said lemonade?" "Lemonade is what they said." Seldon had to be satisfied with that. "Well, run off and have a good time, Wanda. Forget about the dream." "All right, Grandpa." She cheered up as soon as the matter of the dream was dismissed and off she went to join the festivities. Seldon went to search for Manella. It took him an extraordinarily long time to find her, since, at every step, he was stopped, greeted, and conversed with. Finally he saw her in the distance. Muttering, "Pardon me- Pardon me- There's someone I must- Pardon me-," he worked his way over to her with considerable trouble. "Manella," he said and drew her off to one side, smiling mechanically in all directions. "Yes, Hari," she said. "Is something wrong?" "It's Wanda's dream." "Don't tell me she's still talking about it." "Well, it's still bothering her. Listen, we have lemonade at the party, haven't we?" "Of course, the children adore it. I've added a couple of dozen different Mycogenian taste buds to very small glasses of different shapes and the children try them one after the other to see which taste best. The adults have been drinking it, too. I have. Why don't you taste it, Hari? It's great." "I'm thinking. If it wasn't a dream, if the child really heard two men speak of lemonade death-" He paused, as though ashamed to continue. Manella said, "Are you thinking that someone poisoned the lemonade? That's ridiculous. By now every child in the place would be sick or dying." "I know," muttered Seldon. "I know." He wandered off and almost didn't see Dors when he passed her. She seized his elbow. "Why the face?" she said. "You look concerned." "I've been thinking of Wanda's lemonade death." "So have I, but I can't make anything of it so far." "I can't help but think of the possibility of poisoning." "Don't. I assure you that every bit of food that came into this party has been molecularly checked. I know you'll think that's my typical paranoia, but my task is guarding you and that is what I must do." "And everything is-" "No poison. I promise you." Seldon smiled, "Well, good. That's a relief. I didn't really think-" "Let's hope not," said Dors dryly. "What concerns me far more than this myth of poison is that I have heard that you're going to be seeing that monster Tennar in a few days." "Don't call him a monster, Dors. Be careful. We're surrounded by cars and tongues." Dors immediately lowered her voice. "I suppose you're right. Look ;round. All these smiling faces-and yet who knows which of our friends' will be reporting back to the head and his henchmen when the night is over? Ah, humans! Even after all these thousands of centuries, to think that such base treachery still exists. It seems to me to be so unnecessary. Yet I know the harm it can do. That is why I must go with you, Hari." "Impossible, Dors. It would just complicate matters for me. I'll go Myself and I'll have no trouble." "You would have no idea how to handle the General." Seldon looked grave. "And you would? You sound exactly like Elar. He, too, is convinced that I am a helpless old fool. He, too, wants to come with me-or, rather, to go in my place. -I wonder how many people on Trantor are willing to take my place," he added with clear sarcasm. "Dozens? Millions?" 第十一章 　　川陀大学改头换面了，哈里•谢顿忍不住开心起来。谢顿计划建筑群的几间核心研究室中，突然在半空中出现许多不同时期、不同地点的谢顿全息像。这些三维全息像生动鲜明、不停变幻，里面还包括：微笑的铎丝•凡纳比里，样 子比现在年轻些；十几岁的芮奇，依然野气未脱；正埋头操作电脑的阿马瑞尔与谢顿，看来年轻得难以置信。甚至还出现一个一闪即逝的伊图•丹莫茨尔，谢顿看了心中不禁充满对老 友的思慕，同时怀念起丹莫茨尔离去前他所拥有的安全感。 但这些全息像集里却找不到克里昂大帝。这并非由于没有他的全息像，而是在当今执政团的统治下，提醒人们过去的皇权是不智之举。 这些影像向外盈溢、倾浑，注满一间又一间房间，一栋又一栋建筑。在不知不觉间，整个大学变成一个展览会，谢顿从未见过，甚至未曾幻想过类似的情景。就连穹顶照明也暗了下来，准备持续七十二小时的人工黑夜，让川陀大学在黑暗中展现光彩。“三天！”谢顿半是感动半是惶恐。“三天。”铎丝•凡纳比里点了点头，“少于三天大学绝不考虑。” “这些花费！这些人工！”谢顿皱着眉头说。“与你对大学的贡献比起来，”铎丝说，“这些花费不算什么。而人工都是志愿的，学生 全体出动，负责所有的工作。”此时出现一个全景式的校园鸟瞰影像，谢顿望着它，脸上不禁露出微笑。 铎丝说：“你很开心，对吧？过去这几个月，你除了埋怨还是埋怨，说你多么不想为迈入老年举行任何庆祝活动——现在看看你。”“唉，这也太过分了，我根本没想到他们会这样做。”“有何不可？你是个偶像，哈里。整个世界、整个帝国都知道你。”“他们不知道。”谢顿猛摇着头，“十亿人里对我有了解的根本一个也不到，更别提心理 史学了。心理史学究竟如何运作，计划之外的人没有半点概念，参与计划的也不是人人了解。”“那不重要，哈里，重要的是你。即使万兆民众对你的生平或工作一无所知，也知道哈里•谢顿是帝国最伟大的数学家。” “好吧，”谢顿看看四周，“现在他们的确使我有这种感觉。可是三天三夜！这个地方会 被夷为平地。” “不，不会的。所有的资料都贮藏在别处，计算机与其他设备也锁好了。学生组织了一支克难警力，他们不会让任何东西遭到破坏。” “这一切都是你安排的，对不对，铎丝？”谢顿对她投以温柔的一笑。 “负责的人有好几个，不能说都是我。你那个同事，泰姆外尔•林恩，他的工作热忱简 直不可思议。” 谢顿深锁眉头。 “林恩有什么不对劲？”铎丝问。 谢顿说：“他一直称呼我‘大师’。” 铎丝摇了摇头。“哦，那可真是罪大恶极。”谢顿没理会这句话，又说：“而且他年轻。”“那就是罪上加罪。好啦，哈里，你得学着怎样老得优雅。第一步，你必须表现得自得其乐。那样便会感染别人，让他们更快乐，而你一定愿意这么做的。走吧，去逛一下，别和我躲在这里。笑一个，出去欢迎大家，跟他们谈谈天。还有别忘了，晚宴后你有一场演讲。” “我不喜欢晚宴，更不喜欢演讲。”“反正你非讲不可。走吧！” 谢顿夸张地叹了一口气，开始照铎丝吩咐的去做。他站在连接主厅的拱廊中，身形非常 显眼。他早已不穿以前那件宽大的首相袍，年轻时喜爱的赫利肯风格服装也尘封多时。他现在的穿着正显现出他崇高的身份，笔直的长裤带着波浪状皱褶，上身是一件改良式短袖上衣。 左胸处用银线绣着一个徽章，上面写着：“川陀大学谢顿心理史学计划”。在他一身高贵的钛 灰色服装中，这个徽章像灯塔般闪闪发亮。谢顿眨了眨眼，双眼四周是随着年岁渐增的皱纹， 这些皱纹与他的白发一样，明白显出他的六十岁年纪。谢顿走进一间专门招待儿童的房间。室内的陈设全都搬走了，换上几张摆放食物的长桌。 小孩子一看到他便蜂拥而上，他们都知道谢顿爷爷是这场庆祝会的主角。谢顿连忙躲开他们乱抓的小手。 “等等，等等，孩子们。”他说，“退后站好。”他从口袋里掏出一个计算机化小型机器人，将它摆在地板上。在一个没有机器人的国度里，他相信这种东西会让人大开眼界。它的外形是个毛茸茸的小动物，但能毫无预警地变换外形（每次都引得孩子们咯咯笑），而每当它外形改变时，声音与动作也会跟着改变。“仔细看，”谢顿说，“好好玩，小心别弄坏了。等会儿送你们一人一个。”谢顿溜了出来，来到连接主厅的另一条走廊。这时，他发觉婉达跟在他后面。“爷爷。”她唤道。 嗯，婉达当然不同。谢顿弯下腰，将她一把举起，转了个圈才放下来。 “玩得开心吗，婉达？” “开心。”她说，“可是，爷爷，别进那个房间。” “为什么，婉达？那是我的研究室，我在那里工作。”“那是我做噩梦的地方。” “我知道，婉达，可是一切都过去了，对不对？”谢顿犹豫了一下，然后领着婉达走向走廊边的长列座椅。他挑了张椅子坐下，将婉达放在膝盖上。 “婉达，”他说，“你确定那是梦吗？”“我认为那是梦。” “你当时真睡着了吗？” “我想我睡着了。” 谈这件事似乎令婉达很不自在。谢顿决定不再追究，再逼问她也没用。 “好吧，”谢顿说，“不论是不是梦，总之有两个男的，他们谈到柠檬水之死，对不对？”婉达勉强点了点头。 谢顿说：“你确定他们说的是柠檬水吗？” 婉达又点点头。 “他们会不会是在说别的，只是你以为他们说的是柠檬水？” “他们说的就是柠檬水。” 谢顿不得不接受这个答案。“好吧，婉达，去，好好玩，忘掉那场梦。”“好，爷爷。”一旦把梦抛到脑后，婉达立刻快活起来，到别处玩去了。谢顿开始寻找玛妮拉。他花了好长时间才找到她，因为每走一步，就有人拦住他、问候他并与他交谈。 最后，谢顿终于看到玛妮拉在远处。他一面走，嘴里一面不停念着：“对不起……对不起……我得找一个人……对不起……”他费了好大的力气才走到她身边。“玛妮拉。”谢顿把她拉到一旁，同时向四周投以机械性的笑容。 “怎么了，哈里，”玛妮拉问道，“有什么问题吗？”“婉达的梦。” “别告诉我她还念念不忘。” “嗯，她还是很不安。听我说，我们在宴会上准备了柠檬水，对不对？”“当然，孩子们爱死了。我在许多不同形状的迷你玻璃杯中，加入几十种不同的麦曲生甘露，孩子们一杯接一杯地喝，都想找出最喜欢的味道。大人也在喝，我也喝了。你怎么不尝尝看呢，哈里？味道棒极了。” “我在想，如果那不是梦，如果婉达真听见两个人谈到柠檬水之死……”他打住了，仿佛不好意思再说下去。 玛妮拉说：“你是说也许有人在柠檬水中下毒？太可笑了，要真是这样，现在这里每个孩子不早中毒病倒或是死掉了。” “我知道，”谢顿喃喃地说，“我知道。” 谢顿缓缓走开，经过铎丝身边时几乎没看到她。 铎丝抓住他的手肘。“脸色怎么这么难看？”她说，“看来一副心事重重的样子。” “我一直在想婉达的柠檬水之死。”“我也是，但我一直想不出所以然来。”“我忍不住想到下毒的可能性。” “不会的。我向你保证，宴会上的食物全都经过分子检查。我知道你又会认为那是我的妄想症让我这么做，但我的工作就是保护你，我必须这么做。”“每一样东西都……” “没有毒，我向你保证。” 谢顿微微一笑：“好吧。我总算松了口气，我并非真认为……”“但愿不是。”铎丝淡淡地说，“我比较关心的不是这个毒药的幻想，而是我听说几天后 你要去见田纳尔那个怪物。” “别叫他怪物，铎丝，小心点。这儿不是只有我们两个人。” 铎丝立刻压低声音。“你说得没错。看看四周这些微笑的脸孔。谁知道，我们的哪个‘朋 友’今晚过后就会向首脑和他的手下报告？哎，人类！即使过了数千个世纪，背叛这种卑劣的行为竟然依旧存在。虽然我认为，背叛是没有意义的行为，但我明白它会造成的伤害。所以，我必须跟你去，哈里。” “不行，铎丝，那样只会使情况更复杂。我要自己去，我不会有麻烦的。” “你根本不晓得如何对付那个将军。” 谢顿显得很严肃。“你懂吗？你的口气跟林恩一模一样。他也深信我是个没用的老糊涂， 也想跟我一起去——更正确地说，是想代我去。川陀上到底有多少人想要代替我？”他带着明显的讽刺补充道，“几十个？还是几百万个？” Chapter 12 For ten years the Galactic Empire had been without an Emperor, but there was no indication of that fact in the way the Imperial Palace grounds were operated. Millennia of custom made the absence of an Emperor meaningless. It meant, of course, that there was no figure in Imperial robes to preside over formalities of one sort or another. No Imperial voice gave orders; no Imperial wishes made themselves known; no Imperial gratifications or annoyances made themselves felt; no Imperial pleasures warmed either Palace; no Imperial sicknesses cast them in gloom. The Emperor's own quarters in the Small Palace were empty-the Imperial family did not exist. And yet the army of gardeners kept the grounds in perfect condition. An army of service people kept the buildings in top shape. The Emperor's bed-never slept in-was made with fresh sheets every day; the rooms were cleaned; everything worked as it always worked; and the entire Imperial staff, from top to bottom, worked as they had always worked. The top officials gave commands as they would have done if the Emperor had lived, commands that they knew the Emperor would have given. In many cases, in particular in the higher echelons, the personnel were the same as those who had been there on Cleon's last day of life. The new personnel who had been taken on were carefully molded and trained into the traditions they would have to serve. It was as though the Empire, accustomed to the rule of an Emperor, insisted on this "ghost rule" to hold the Empire together. The junta knew this-or, if they didn't, they felt it vaguely. In ten years none of those military men who had commanded the Empire had moved into the Emperor's private quarters in the Small Palace. Whatever these men were, they were not Imperial and they knew they had no rights there. A populace that endured the loss of liberty would not endure any sign of irreverence to the Emperor-alive or dead. Even General Tennar had not moved into the graceful structure that had housed the Emperors of a dozen different dynasties for so long. He Hid made his home and office in one of the structures built on the outskirts of the grounds-eyesores, but eyesores that were built like fortresses, sturdy enough to withstand a siege, with outlying buildings in which an enormous force of guards was housed. Tennar was a stocky man, with a mustache. It was not a vigorous overflowing Dahlite mustache but one that was carefully clipped and fitted to the upper lip, leaving a strip of skin between the hair and the line of the lip. It was a reddish mustache and Tennar had cold blue eyes. He had probably been a handsome man in his younger days, but his face was pudgy now and his eyes were slits that expressed anger more often than any other emotion. So he said angrily-as one would, who felt himself to be absolute master of millions of worlds and yet who dared not call himself an Emperor-to Hender Linn, "I can establish a dynasty of my own." He hooked around with a scowl. "This is not a fitting place for the master of the Empire." Linn said softly, "To be master is what is important. Better to be a master in a cubicle than a figurehead in a palace." "Best yet, to be master in a palace. Why not?" Linn bore the title of colonel, but it is quite certain that he had never engaged in any military action. His function was that of telling Tennar what he wanted to hear-and of carrying his orders, unchanged, to others. On occasion-if it seemed safe-he might try to steer Tennar into more prudent courses. Linn was well known as "Tennar's lackey" and knew that was how he was known. It did not bother him. As lackey, he was safe-and he had seen the downfall of those who had been too proud to be lackeys. The time might, of course, come when Tennar himself would be buried in the ever-changing junta panorama, but Linn felt, with a certain amount of philosophy, that he would be aware of it in time and save himself. -Or he might not. There was a price for everything. "No reason why you can't found a dynasty, General," said Linn. Many others have done it in the long Imperial history. Still, it takes lime. The people are slow to adapt. It is usually only the second or even third of the dynasty who is fully accepted as Emperor." "I don't believe that. I need merely announce myself as new Em1wror. Who will dare quarrel with that? My grip is tight." "So it is, General. Your power is unquestioned on Trantor and in most of the Inner Worlds, yet it is possible that many in the farther Outer Worlds will not just yet-accept a new Imperial dynasty." "Inner Worlds or Outer Worlds, military force rules all. That is an old Imperial maxim." "And a good one," said Linn, "but many of the provinces have armed forces of their own, nowadays, that they may not use on your behalf. These are difficult times." "You counsel caution, then." "I always counsel caution, General." "And someday you may counsel it once too often." Linn bent his head. "I can only counsel what seems to me to be good and useful to you, General." "As in your constant harping to me about this Hari Seldon." "He is your greatest danger, General." "So you keep saying, but I don't see it. He's just a college professor." Linn said, "So he is, but he was once First Minister." "I know, but that was in Cleon's time. Has he done anything since? With times being difficult and with the governors of the provinces being fractious, why is a professor my greatest danger?" "It is sometimes a mistake," said Linn carefully (for one had to be careful in educating the General), "to suppose that a quiet unobtrusive man can be harmless. Seldon has been anything but harmless to those he has opposed. Twenty years ago the Joranumite movement almost destroyed Cleon's powerful First Minister, Eto Demerzel." Tennar nodded, but the slight frown on his face betrayed his effort to remember the matter. "It was Seldon who destroyed Joranum and who succeeded Demerzel as First Minister. The Joranumite movement survived, however, and Seldon engineered its destruction, too, but not before it succeeded in bringing about the assassination of Cleon." "But Seldon survived that, didn't he?" "You are perfectly correct. Seldon survived." "That is strange. To have permitted an Imperial assassination should have meant death for a First Minister." "So it should have. Nevertheless, the junta has allowed him to live. It seemed wiser to do so." "Why?" Linn sighed internally. "There is something called psychohistory, General." "I know nothing about that," said Tennar flatly. Actually he had a vague memory of Linn trying to talk to him on a number of occasions concerning this strange collection of syllables. He had never wanted to listen and Linn had known better than to push the matter. Tennar didn't want to listen now, either, but there seemed to be a hidden urgency in Linn's words. Perhaps, Tennar thought, he had now better listen. "Almost no one knows anything about it," said Linn, "yet there are a few-uh-intellectuals, who find it of interest." "And what is it?" "It is a complex system of mathematics." Tennar shook his head. "Leave me out of that, please. I can count my military divisions. That's all the mathematics I need." "The story is," said Linn, "that psychohistory may make it possible to predict the future." The General's eyes bulged. "You mean this Seldon is a fortune- "Not in the usual fashion. It is a matter of science." "I don't believe it." "It is hard to believe, but Seldon has become something of a cult figure here on Trantor-and in certain places in the Outer Worlds. Now psychohistory-if it can be used to predict the future or if even people merely think it can be so used-can be a powerful tool with which to uphold the regime. I'm sure you have already seen this, General. One need merely predict our regime will endure and bring forth peace and prosperity for the Empire. People, believing this, will help make it a self-fulfilling prophecy. On the other hand, if Seldon wishes the reverse, he can predict civil war and ruin. People will believe that, too, and that would destabilize the regime." "In that case, Colonel, we simply make sure that the predictions of psychohistory are what we want them to be." "It would be Seldon who would have to make them and he is not a friend of the regime. It is important, General, that we differentiate between the Project that is working at Streeling University to perfect psychohistory and Hari Seldon. Psychohistory can be extremely useful to us, but it will be so only if someone other than Seldon were in charge." "Are there others who could be?" "Oh yes. It is only necessary to get rid of Seldon." "What is so difficult with that? An order of execution-and it is done." "It would be better, General, if the government was not seen to be directly involved in such a thing." "I have arranged to have him meet with you, so that you can use your skill to probe his personality. You would then be able to judge whether certain suggestions I have in mind are worthwhile or not." "When is the meeting to take place?" "It was to take place very soon, but his representatives at the Project asked for a few days leeway, because they were in the process of celebrating his birthday-his sixtieth, apparently. It seemed wise to allow that and to permit a week's delay." "Why?" demanded Tennar. "I dislike any display of weakness." "Quite right, General. Quite right. Your instincts are, as always, correct. However, it seemed to me that the needs of the state might require us to know what and how the birthday celebration-which is taking place right now-might involve." "Why?" "All knowledge is useful. Would you care to see some of the festivities?" General Tennar's face remained dark. "Is that necessary?" "I think you will find it interesting, General." The reproduction-sight and sound-was excellent and for quite a while the hilarity of the birthday celebration filled the rather stark room in which the General sat. Linn's low voice served as commentary. "Most of this, General, is taking place in the Project complex, but the rest of the University is involved. We will have an air view in a few moments and you will see that the celebration covers a wide area. In fact, though I don't have the evidence available right now, there are corners of the planet here and there, in various University and sectoral settings mostly, where what we might call `sympathy celebrations' of one sort or another are taking place. The celebrations are still continuing and will endure for another day at least." "Are you telling me that this is a Trantor-wide celebration?" "In a specialized way. It affects mostly the intellectual classes, but it is surprisingly widespread. It may even be that there is some shouting on worlds other than Trantor." "Where did you get this reproduction?" Linn smiled. "Our facilities in the Project are quite good. We have reliable sources of information, so that little can happen that doesn't come our way at once." "Well then, Linn, what are all your conclusions about this?" "It seems to me, General, and I'm sure that it seems so to you, that Hari Seldon is the focus of a personality cult. He has so identified himself with psychohistory that if we were to get rid of him in too open a manner, we would entirely destroy the credibility of the science. It would be useless to us. "On the other hand, General, Seldon is growing old and it is not difficult to imagine him being replaced by another man: someone we could choose and who would be friendly to our great aims and hopes for the Empire. If Seldon could be removed in such a way that it is made to seem natural, then that is all we need." The General said, "And you think I ought to see him?" "Yes, in order to weigh his quality and decide what we ought to do. But we must be cautious, for he is a popular man." "I have dealt with popular people before," said Tennar darkly. 第十二章 　　银河帝国已经十年没有皇帝了，但从皇宫御苑的运作却完全看不出来。数千年来宫廷的运作惯例，已使皇帝的存在与否变得无关紧要。 现在，不再有身穿皇袍的身影主持各项典礼，不再有皇上的声音下达命令，不再有皇上的旨意传达出去。皇上的喜怒哀乐也不再感染众人，宫殿不再因着皇上的欢乐而显得温暖明亮，也不再因着皇上的病痛而蒙上阴影。位于偏殿的御用寝宫空无一人，早已不见任何皇室的踪影。 然而大队园丁仍将御苑整理得美轮美奂，大队仆佣仍将宫殿内外保持在最佳状态。御床（虽然没人睡）仍固定每天更换被单，宫中房间的打扫也从未中断，每件工作都如常进行。 整个御前幕僚从上到下，都做着和过去一样的工作。最高官员继续下达指令，就像皇上仍然在世一样，而他们知道那些指令一定符合皇上的心意。许多机关——尤其是高层机关——的人事结构仍和克里昂去世当天一模一样。至于新进人员则经过仔细塑造与训练，绝对百分之百遵循传统。 仿佛帝国已习惯有皇帝统治的岁月，因此坚持以这种“幽灵统治”来维系整个帝国。 执政团知道这种状况，即使不知道，他们也隐约可以感觉到。十年来，统驭过帝国的军人，没有一个曾搬进偏殿中的御用寝宫。这些军人不论是什么来头，总不是皇帝，他们很清楚自己无权染指那个地方。人民能忍受失去自由，却无法忍受任何对皇帝大不敬的举动——不论皇帝是否还活着。 那座历经十几个不同皇朝皇帝的优雅宫殿，连田纳尔将军也不敢搬进去。他在御苑边缘的建筑群中，挑了一栋作为官邸与办公室。那群建筑在御苑中极为突兀，却造得像碉堡般坚固，足以抵挡军队的围攻，外缘的建筑则住着数量庞大的卫士。田纳尔身形矮胖，留着两撇红色的八字胡。他的胡子不像达尔八字胡那样生气勃勃、粗犷放肆，而是沿着上唇仔细修剪，胡子下缘与唇线间留有一道整齐的缝隙。田纳尔年轻时或许相当英俊，但现在的脸庞已显得有些臃肿，眯成两条缝的蓝眼睛总是透着愤怒的目光。 此刻，田纳尔便是如此（当一个人自认主宰着百万世界，却又不敢自称皇帝，自然会满腔愤怒）。他愤愤地对韩德•厄拉尔说：“我将建立一个自己的皇朝，”他皱着眉头环顾四周， “但对一位帝国的主宰而言，这地方太不相称。” 厄拉尔轻声道：“重要的是您身为主宰。在斗室中当个主宰，也比在宫殿中当个傀儡强。”“可是能在宫殿中当主宰不是更好？”田纳尔说。厄拉尔拥有上校的头衔，但他几乎没参与过任何军事行动。他的主要差事就是把田纳尔想听的话告诉他——再一字不易地传达他的命令。若是安全的话，他偶尔也会试着将田纳尔的作风引向较为谨慎的路线。 众所皆知厄拉尔是“田纳尔的奴才”，他自己也心知肚明，但却毫不在乎。身为奴才安全无虞，而他看过太多自以为有骨气、不甘心当奴才的人最后的下场。 当然，可能有一天，田纳尔也会葬身在执政团这个变幻不已的走马灯中，可是厄拉尔自认（带着些世故的达观）有办法及时察觉危机，自保不成问题。当然，他设法实时脱身也可 能，但凡事总是有代价的。 “您当然能开创一个朝代，将军。”厄拉尔说，“在帝国悠久的历史中，这样的例子不计 其数。只不过这需要时间。人民接受新局的速度很慢，通常要到新皇朝的第二代或第三代，才会完全接受这个皇帝。” “我不信。只要我宣布自己是新皇帝，谁敢站出来反对？活得不耐烦了！” “没错，将军。在川陀以及大多数的内围世界，您的力量毋庸置疑。但是在遥远的外围世界，可能有许多人无法……目前还无法接受一个新皇朝。” “内围世界也好，外围世界也罢，套句帝国的老格言——手铳出政权。”“这句格言说得是没错，”厄拉尔说，“可是如今，许多星省都有自己的武装部队，他们 或许不会愿意为您效命。现在的局势不再那么容易控制。”“那么，你是建议我要谨慎点？”田纳尔说道。 “我总是建议您谨慎，将军。”“总有一天，你会建议得过了头。”厄拉尔低下头来：“我只是提出在我看来对您有益的建议，将军。”“所以你才不停跟我唠叨那个哈里•谢顿？” “他是您最大的威胁，将军。”“你老是这么说，但我就是看不出来，他不过是个大学教授。”“没错，但他曾经当过首相。”厄拉尔说。 “我知道，但那是克里昂时代的事了，后来他又做过什么事？既然现在局势不容易控制， 各星省的总督都不好惹，一个教授怎么可能会是我最大的威胁？” “假设温和、谦逊的人就没有危险性，”厄拉尔小心翼翼地说（谁给将军上课都得小心翼翼），“有时会是个错误。对谢顿的敌人而言，他绝对是个危险人物。二十年前，九九派运 动几乎毁掉克里昂的铁腕首相伊图•丹莫茨尔——”田纳尔点了点头，但微蹙的眉头泄露出他正在努力回忆。 “而摧毁久瑞南，并接替丹莫茨尔担任首相的，正是谢顿。不过，九九派运动后来死灰复燃，谢顿虽然再次设计将它扑灭，却没能来得及阻止克里昂遇刺。” “而谢顿却没因此被处决，对不对？” “您说得完全正确，谢顿没被处决。”厄拉尔回答。 “那就怪了。没能阻止皇上遇刺，首相应该是非死不可。”“照理说是如此。不过执政团却让他活下来了，这决定是明智的。”“为什么？” 厄拉尔在心中叹了口气。“为了一个叫做心理史学的东西，将军。”“我不知道那是什么东西！”田纳尔断然道。事实上，田纳尔有印象，厄拉尔曾三番两次试图对他解释这个怪字眼。他从来不想听，而厄拉尔也很明白不能操之过急。田纳尔现在仍然不想听，但厄拉尔的话中似乎隐约有些急迫。或许，田纳尔心想，自己这回最好听一听。 “几乎没人知道心理史学是什么，”厄拉尔说，但是有些——嗯——知识分子，觉得它很有意思。” “它究竟是什么？” “一种复杂的数学系统。” 田纳尔摇摇头。“拜托，别跟我提什么数学系统。我只要能数得出我的军队有多少师就够了。” “据说，”厄拉尔道，“心理史学有可能预测未来。”将军两眼一下子瞪得老大。“你是说，这谢顿是个算命的？” “心理史学不是普通的算命，它是一种科学。” “我不信。” “的确很难相信。但在川陀上，谢顿已经成为人民崇拜的对象，在某些外围世界也是如此。而如果心理史学能预测未来，或只是人民相信它能这样做，它就会变成巩固政权的一个强力工具，这点我确定您已经看出来了，将军。心理史学只要预测我们的政权将会持续，并且为帝国带来和平与繁荣，人民的信心便会使这个预言自我实现。反之，如果谢顿希望得到相反的结果，他可以发布内战和毁灭的预测，而人民也会相信，那我们的政权恐怕就不保了。”“这样的话，上校，我们只要确定预测的内容是我们想要的就行了。” “应该说是谢顿必须做到这一点，然而他不是我们的朋友。将军，我们必须将哈里•谢 顿和在川陀大学进行的心理史学发展计划分成两件事，这点很重要。只有换掉谢顿，心理史学对我们才可能有用。” “有人能取代他吗？” “喔，当然，只要除掉谢顿就行了。” “这有什么困难？一纸处决令就解决了。” “这样的事，将军，政府表面上最好还是别直接涉入。” “什么意思？” “我已经安排让谢顿来见您，好让您自己探探他的底。然后，我会提出一些建议，您再看看是否可行。” “你安排他什么时候来见我？”“原本排在最近，但谢顿计划的几个代表要求延缓几天，因为他们正在庆祝谢顿的六十岁生日。我认为顺他们的意思延迟一周对我们是有利的。”“为什么？”田纳尔追问，“我不喜欢任何示弱的表现。”“您说的是，将军，您的洞察力果然高人一等。不过，基于情势的需要，我们或许该了解一下谢顿这个庆生会在搞什么名堂。”“为什么？” “任何情报都是有用的。现在庆生会正在举行，您想看看庆祝活动的片段吗，将军？”田纳尔将军的脸色阴沉依旧。“有这个必要吗？”“您将发现它很有意思，将军。” 再生影像的声光效果极佳，有好长一段时间，严肃的将军办公室里充满了庆生会的欢乐气氛。 厄拉尔以低沉的声音解说道：“大多数的活动，将军，都是在谢顿计划建筑群中举行，但校园其他地方也有活动。待会儿我们会有个鸟瞰影像，您将发现庆祝活动涵盖的区域相当广。事实上，在这颗行星各处——主要是各大学以及各区的重镇——在举行各种所谓的‘共鸣庆祝’，只是现在我手头上没有确实资料。庆祝活动目前仍在进行，至少还会再持续一天。”“你是说，这是个全川陀性的庆祝？” “就某方面而言是如此，参与活动的主要是知识分子，但影响范围却十分惊人。甚至有可能除了川陀，其他世界上也有人在欢呼。”“你从哪弄来这个再生影像的？” 厄拉尔微微一笑。“谢顿计划的组织中有我们自己人，随时可提供第一手情报，无论发生什么事，我们立刻就会晓得。” “好吧，厄拉尔，你对这件事究竟有什么看法？”“将军，在我看来，哈里•谢顿已成了个人崇拜的偶像，我相信您也看出来了。谢顿和 心理史学几乎合成一体，如果我们除掉他的方式太过招摇，就会毁掉这门科学的公信力，那它对我们便毫无用处了。 “反之，将军，谢顿已经上了年纪，不难想像他会被另一个人取代——一个我们能选择的人。他会友善看待我们对帝国抱持的伟大目标及希望。这种不露痕迹除掉谢顿的方式，正是我们需要的。” “所以你认为我该见见他？” “是的，我们可以乘机称称他的斤两，好决定下一步该怎么做。千万不要掉以轻心，将军，谢顿可是个名人。” “我不是没跟名人打过交道。”田纳尔以阴沉的口吻说。 Chapter 13 "Yes," said Hari Seldon wearily, "it was a great triumph. I had a wonderful time. I can hardly wait until I'm seventy so I can repeat it. But the fact is, I'm exhausted." "So get yourself a good night's sleep, Dad," said Raych, smiling. "That's an easy cure." "I don't know how well I can relax when I have to see our great leader in a few days." "Not alone, you won't see him," said Dors Venabili grimly. Seldon frowned. "Don't say that again, Dors. It is important for me to see him alone." "It won't be safe with you alone. Do you remember what happened ten years ago when you refused to let me come with you to greet the gardeners?" "There is no danger of my forgetting when you remind me of it twice a week, Dors. In this case, though, I intend to go alone. What can he want to do to me if I come in as an old man, utterly harmless, to find out what he wants?" "What do you imagine he wants?" said Raych, biting at his knuckle. "I suppose he wants what Cleon always wanted. It will turn out that he has found out that psychohistory can, in some way, predict the future and he will want to use it for his own purposes. I told Cleon the science wasn't up to it nearly thirty years ago and I kept telling him that all through my tenure as First Minister-and now I'll have to tell General Tennar the same thing." "How do you know he'll believe you?" said Raych. "I'll think of some way of being convincing." Dors said, "I do not wish you to go alone." "Your wishing, Dors, makes no difference." At this point, Tamwile Elar interrupted. He said, "I'm the only nonfamily person here. I don't know if a comment from me would be welcome." "Go ahead," said Seldon. "Come one, come all." "I would like to suggest a compromise. Why don't a number of us go with the Maestro. Quite a few of us. We can act as his triumphal escort, a kind of finale to the birthday celebration. -Now wait, I don't mean that we will all crowd into the General's offices. I don't even mean entering the Imperial Palace grounds. We can just take hotel rooms in the Imperial Sector at the edge of the grounds-the Dome's Edge Hotel would be just right-and we'll give ourselves a day of pleasure." "That's just what I need," snorted Seldon. "A day of pleasure." "Not you, Maestro," said Elar at once. "You'll be meeting with General Tennar. The rest of us, though, will give the people of the Imperial Sector a notion of your popularity-and perhaps the General will take note also. And if he knows we're all waiting for your return, it may keep him from being unpleasant." There was a considerable silence after that. Finally Raych said, "It sounds too showy to me. It don't fit in with the image the world has of Dad." But Dors said, "I'm not interested in Hari's image. I'm interested in Hari's safety. It strikes me that if we cannot invade the General's presence or the Imperial grounds, then allowing ourselves to accumulate, so to speak, as near the General as we can, might do us well. Thank you, Dr. Elar, for a very good suggestion." "I don't want it done," said Seldon. "But I do," said Dors, "and if that's as close as I can get to offering you personal protection, then that much I will insist on." Manella, who had listened to it all without comment till then, said, "Visiting the Dome's Edge Hotel could be a lot of fun." "It's not fun I'm thinking of," said Dors, "but I'll accept your vote in favor." And so it was. The following day some twenty of the higher echelon of the Psychohistory Project descended on the Dome's Edge Hotel, with rooms overlooking the open spaces of the Imperial Palace grounds. The following evening Hari Seldon was picked up by the General's armed guards and taken off to the meeting. At almost the same time Dors Venabili disappeared, but her absence was not noted for a long time. And when it was noted, no one could guess what had happened to her and the gaily festive mood turned rapidly into apprehension. 第十三章 　　“是啊，”谢顿困倦地说，“办得成功极了，我玩得好开心，巴不得赶快活到七十岁，好 再开心一次。不过，我真的是累坏了。” “那么今晚好好睡一觉，爸。”芮奇微笑着说，“那是最简单的疗养。” “过几天就得去见我们伟大的领导者，我怀疑自己能多放松。”“不准单独去，不然你就别去。”铎丝绷着脸说。谢顿皱起眉头。“别这样，铎丝，单独去见他对我是很重要的。” “单独去太危险了。十年前你拒绝让我陪你一起去迎接新园丁，结果发生什么事，你还记得吧？” “你一星期提醒我两次，我怎么可能忘记。不过这一回，我还是打算自己去。如果我以 一个老头的形象出现，完全不具威胁性，只是去弄清楚他想要什么，他又能怎么对付我？”“你猜他想要什么？”芮奇边说边咬着自己的指节。 “我猜他要的，就是当初克里昂一直想得到的。一定是田纳尔发现了心理史学有预测未来的潜力，便想利用它做统治工具。将近三十年前，我告诉克里昂这门科学做不到这一点，而担任首相那几年，我也一直在重复这句话。现在，我得用同样的话答复田纳尔将军。” “你怎么知道他会相信你？”芮奇问。 “我会想办法说服他。” 铎丝说：“我不希望你一个人去。”“那并不能改变我的决定，铎丝。”此时，泰姆外尔•林恩突然打岔道：“我是这里唯一的外人，不晓得我的意见受不受欢 迎。” “说吧，”谢顿道，“有什问题现在就一起提出来。”“我想建议一个折中方案。我们何不多一点人跟大师一起去，一大群人一起去，充当追随他的游行队伍，把它当成庆生会的最后一个节目——慢着，我的意思不是这一大群人都要挤进将军的办公室。我们甚至不必进入皇宫御苑，只要待在御苑边缘的某家皇区旅馆就好，例如穹缘旅馆就很合适。然后，好好尽兴一天。”“那正是我需要的，”谢顿哼了一声，“尽兴一天。”“您不行，大师。”林恩立刻说，“您要会晤田纳尔将军。不过，我们其他人，会让皇区 居民对您的声望留下深刻印象，将军或许也会注意到。如果他知道我们都在等您归来，也许就不敢对您不客气。” 好一阵子的沉默之后，芮奇说：“我觉得这太招摇了，不太符合爸在川陀的形象。” 铎丝却说：“我不在乎你爸的形象，我只在乎他的安全。假如我们不能进入将军办公室或御苑，那么离将军越近，对我们就越有利。谢谢你，林恩博士，这是一个非常好的建议。” “我不要这样做。”谢顿说。 “可是我坚持这样做，”铎丝说，“这是我能对你提供的最佳保护。” 玛妮拉原本一直专心聆听，没有发表任何意见，这时她开口说：“住在穹缘旅馆会很好玩。” “我顾虑到的不是好玩，”铎丝说，“但我接受你的赞成票。”于是一切敲定。第二天，大约二十位心理史学计划的高层人员涌进穹缘旅馆，挑选俯瞰御苑露天空间的房间下榻。 当天傍晚，将军的武装卫士前来接走哈里•谢顿。 几乎与此同时，铎丝•凡纳比里失踪了，但众人过了许久才发现。没人知道发生了什么 事，快乐的喜庆心情随即转成忧虑。 Chapter 14 Dors Venabili had lived on the Imperial Palace grounds for ten years. As wife of the First Minister, she had entry to the grounds and could pass freely from the dome to the open, with her fingerprints as the pass. In the confusion that followed Cleon's assassination, her pass had never been removed and now when, for the first time since that dreadful clay, she wanted to move from the dome into the open spaces of the grounds, she could do so. She had always known that she could do so easily only once, for, upon discovery, the pass would be canceled-but this was the one time to do it. There was a sudden darkening of the sky as she moved into the open ;rod she felt a distinct lowering of the temperature. The world under the dome was always kept a little lighter during the night period than natural night would require and was kept a little dimmer during the day period. And, of course, the temperature beneath the dome was always a bit milder than the outdoors. Most Trantorians were unaware of this, for they spent their entire lives under the dome. To Dors it was expected, but it didn't really matter. She took the central roadway, into which the dome opened at the site of the Dome's Edge Hotel. It was, of course, brightly lit, so that the darkness of the sky didn't matter at all. Dors knew that she would not advance a hundred meters along the roadway without being stopped, less perhaps in the present paranoid lays of the junta. Her alien presence would be detected at once. Nor was she disappointed. A small ground-car skittered up and the guardsman shouted out the window, "What are you doing here? Where are you going?" Dors ignored the question and continued to walk. The guardsman called out, "Halt!" Then he slammed on the brakes and stepped out of the car, which was exactly what Dors had wanted him to do. The guardsman was holding a blaster loosely in his hand-not threatening to use it, merely demonstrating its existence. He said, "Your reference number." Dors said, "I want your car." "What!" The guardsman sounded outraged. "Your reference number. Immediately!" And now the blaster came up. Dors said quietly, "You don't need my reference number," then she walked toward the guardsman. The guardsman took a backward step. "If you don't stop and present your reference number, I'll blast you." "No! drop your blaster." The guardsman's lips tightened. His finger began to edge toward the contact, but before he could reach it, he was lost. He could never describe afterward what happened in any accurate way. All he could say was "How was I to know it was The Tiger Woman?" (The time came when he would be proud of the encounter.) "She moved so fast, I didn't see exactly what she did or what happened. One moment I was going to shoot her down-I was sure she was some sort of madwoman-and the next thing I knew, I was completely overwhelmed." Dors held the guardsman in a firm grip, the hand with the blaster forced high. She said, "Either drop the blaster at once or I will break your arm." The guardsman felt a kind of death grip around his chest that all but prevented him from breathing. Realizing he had no choice, he dropped the blaster. Dors Venabili released him, but before the guardsman could make a move to recover, he found himself facing his own blaster in Dors's hand. Dors said, "I hope you've left your detectors in place. Don't try to report what's happened too quickly. You had better wait and decide what it is you plan to tell your superiors. The fact that an unarmed woman took your blaster and your car may well put an end to your usefulness to the junta." Dors started the car and began to speed down the central roadway. A ten-year stay on the grounds told her exactly where she was going. The car she was in-an official ground-car-was not an alien intrusion into the grounds and would not be picked up as a matter of course. However, she had to take a chance on speed, for she wanted to reach her destination rapidly. She pushed the car to a speed of two hundred kilometers per hour. The speed, at least, eventually did attract attention. She ignored radioed cries, demanding to know why she was speeding, and before long the car's detectors told her that another ground-car was in hot pursuit. She knew that there would be a warning sent up ahead and that there would be other ground-cars waiting for her to arrive, but there was little any of them could do, short of trying to blast her out of existence-something apparently no one was willing to try, pending further investigation. When she reached the building she had been heading for, two ground-cars were waiting for her. She climbed serenely out of her own car and walked toward the entrance. Two men at once stood in her way, obviously astonished that the driver of the speeding car was not a guardsman but a woman dressed in civilian clothes. "What are you doing here? What was the rush?" Dors said quietly, "Important message for Colonel Header Linn." "Is that so?" said the guardsman harshly. There were now four men between her and the entrance. "Reference number, please." Dors said, "Don't delay me." "Reference number, I said." "You're wasting my time." One of the guardsmen said suddenly, "You know who she looks like? The old First Minister's wife. Dr. Venabili. The Tiger Woman." There was an odd backward step on the part of all four, but one of them said, "You're under arrest." "Am I?" said Dors. "If I'm The Tiger Woman, you must know that I am considerably stronger than any of you and that my reflexes are considerably faster. Let me suggest that all four of you accompany me quietly inside and we'll see what Colonel Linn has to say." "You're under arrest" came the repetition and four Masters were aimed at Dors. "Well," said Dors. "If you insist." She moved rapidly and two of the guardsmen were suddenly on the ground, groaning, while Dors was standing with a blaster in each hand. She said, "I have tried not to hurt them, but it is quite possible that I Dave broken their wrists. That leaves two of you and I can shoot faster than you can. If either of you makes the slightest move-the slightest-I will have to break the habit of a lifetime and kill you. It will sicken me to do so and I beg you not to force me into it." There was absolute silence from the two guardsmen still standing-no motion. "I would suggest," said Dors, "that you two escort me into the colonel's presence and that you then seek medical help for your comrades." The suggestion was not necessary. Colonel Linn emerged from his office. "What is going on here? What is-" Dors turned to him. "Ah! Let me introduce myself. I am Dr. Dors Venabili, the wife of Professor Hari Seldon. I have come to see you on important business. These four tried to stop me and, as a result, two are badly hurt. Send them all about their business and let me talk to you. I mean you no harm." Linn stared at the four guardsmen, then at Dors. He said calmly, "You mean me no harm? Though four guardsmen have not succeeded in stopping you, I have four thousand at my instant call." "Then call them," said Dors. "However quickly they come, it will not be in time to save you, should I decide to kill you. Dismiss your guardsmen and let us talk civilly." Linn dismissed the guardsmen and said, "Well, come in and we will talk. Let me warn you, though, Dr. Venabili-I have a long memory." "And I," said Dors. They walked into Linn's quarters together. 第十四章 　　铎丝在皇宫御苑住了十年。身为首相夫人，她有御苑的通行权，能自由进出穹顶与御苑， 而通行密码就是她的指纹。 克里昂遇刺后，局势一度混乱，但铎丝的通行密码一直未被取消。自从那次变故后，今天是她第一次计划从穹顶内进入御苑的露天空间，由于密码仍然有效，她轻易便达到目的。但铎丝很清楚，这种方便只能有一次。因为一旦被发现，通行密码会立刻取消——而这次正是它派上用场的时候。 铎丝走入露天空间，天色立刻变暗，气温也显著降低。穹顶内的夜晚一向设定得比自然黑夜明亮些，反之，在白昼则较暗一点。此外，穹顶内的气温也总比露天处要温暖。 大多数川陀人并不清楚这种差异，因为他们终生住在穹顶下。但这些变化早在铎丝意料之中，并没有大碍。 铎丝走在中央大道上，这路连接着穹缘旅馆与开启的穹顶，一路上灯火通明，因此黑夜并不会造成困扰。 铎丝知道，她在这条路上走不到一百米便会被拦下。加上如今执政团无可救药的疑心病， 说不定她连五十米都走不了。 而事实果真如此。一辆小型地面车飞驰而来，车内的卫士隔窗喊道：“你在这里做什么？ 你要去哪？” 铎丝未加理会，继续向前走。 “站住！”那名卫士吼道。他猛踩刹车、走出车外——这正是铎丝希望他做的事。卫士随手抓起手铳，但并未威胁动用，只是展示他的武装。“识别号码？” 铎丝说：“我要用你的车子。” “什么！”卫士粗暴地叫道，“你的识别号码，说！”现在手铳举了起来。 铎丝平静地说：“你不需要我的识别号码。”然后便朝卫士走去。 卫士退了一步。“如果你不站住、报出识别号码，小心我轰掉你。”“丢下你的手铳。” 卫士紧抿嘴唇，手指开始移向扳机，但终究没能成功。事后，他始终无法正确描述当时究竟发生了什么事。他只能一再重复说：“我怎么知道那是虎女？”（那时，他已经对这次遭遇感到骄傲。）“她动作那么快，我根本看不清楚发生 了什么事。前一刻我还准备向她发射——当时我以为她只是个疯婆子——接下来我完全被制住了。” 铎丝紧紧抓住那名卫士，他握着手铳的手被迫高高举起。她说：“丢掉手铳，不然就扭断你的手。” 卫士觉得胸部被一股致命的力量钳住，几乎无法呼吸。他毫无选择，只得抛下手铳。 铎丝放开他，但那卫士还没重新站稳，便发现铎丝已经拿着自己那柄手铳对着他。铎丝说：我希望你的侦测器还留在原处。先别忙着报告发生了什么，你最好等一等，决定该怎样向你的上级报告。被一名手无寸铁的女子夺去手铳和车子，执政团很可能再也不敢用你。” 铎丝激活了那辆车，开始沿着中央大道向前疾驶。她在御苑住过十年，很清楚自己要往哪里去。这辆官方地面车并非闯入御苑的不明物体，不会有人一眼就看出不对劲。然而，铎丝必须冒险高速行驶，因为她要尽快抵达目的地。于是，她将车速开到二百公里。这个速率终于引起注意。她听到无线电中的吼叫，质问她为什么开快车，但她毫不理会。 不久，车内侦测器告诉她另一辆地面车正紧随在后。 她知道他们会发出警告，前面会有别的地面车等着拦截，但没有人能阻止她，除非是将她轰成一缕轻烟——而在进一步调查之前，显然没有人愿意尝试这么做。当铎丝抵达目的中的建筑时，两辆地面车已经等在路口。她不急不徐地下车，向建筑的入口走去。 两个人立刻拦住她的去路。这辆超速车辆的驾驶并非一名卫士，而是个穿着平民服装的女子，显然令他们十分惊讶。 “你在这里做什么？为什么飙这么快？” 铎丝以平静的口吻说：“为韩德•厄拉尔上校送来重要消息。” “是吗？”那名卫士粗声道，现在共有四人站在她与入口之间，“请问识别号码。” 铎丝说：“让开。” “我说，识别号码。” “你在浪费我的时间。” 其中一名卫士突然说：“你知道她看起来像谁吗？前首相夫人，凡纳比里博士，那个虎女。” 四人不由自主地同时退了一步，但其中一人仍开口道：“你被捕了。” “是吗？”铎丝说，“如果我就是虎女，那你们一定很清楚，论体力，论反应，你们都不是我对手。不如你们四人乖乖陪我进去，看看厄拉尔上校怎么说。” “你被捕了。”那人又重复一次，四柄手铳同时瞄准铎丝。“好吧，”铎丝说，“如果你们坚持。”话才说完，两名卫士立刻倒地呻吟，而铎丝则稳稳站着，双手各持一柄手铳。她说：“我尽量不伤害他们，但他们的手腕可能已经断了。现在只剩你们两个，但我能比你们更快出手。如果你们哪个敢动一动，只要动一下，我就不得不打破这辈子的原则，杀了你们。那样做会令我作呕，请别逼我。” 仍站着的两名卫士一动不动，连呼吸也不敢出声。“我建议，”铎丝说，“你们先送我去见上校，再帮你们两位同伴叫医生。”其实她的建议已无必要，厄拉尔上校从办公室走了出来。“这里怎么回事？这是……”铎丝转向他。“啊！容我自我介绍一下。我是铎丝•凡纳比里博士，哈里•谢顿教授的妻子，我来见你是有重要的公事。这四个人想要阻挡我，结果两个人受了重伤。叫他们回到各自的岗位去，我要单独跟你谈，我对你绝无恶意。”厄拉尔目光扫过那四名卫士，然后凝视着铎丝。他冷静地说：“你对我绝无恶意？四名卫士可能无法拦住你，但我随时能召来四千名。”“那就召他们来，”铎丝说，“要是我想杀你，他们来得再快也来不及救你一命。叫你的 卫士解散，我们文明地谈谈。” 厄拉尔遣走了那些卫士，然后说：“好啦，进来吧，我们谈谈。不过，我要警告你，凡纳比里博士，我的记性可好得很。”“我也是。”铎丝说完，便同厄拉尔走进他的寓所。 Chapter 15 Linn said with utmost courtesy, "Tell me exactly why you are here, Dr. Venabili." Dors smiled without menace-and yet not exactly pleasantly, either. "To begin with," she said, "I have come here to show you that I can come here." "Yes. My husband was taken to his interview with the General in an official ground-car under armed guard. I myself left the hotel at a the same time he did, on foot and unarmed-and here I am-and I believe I got here before he did. I had to wade through five guardsmen, including the guardsman whose car I appropriated, in order to reach you. I would have waded through fifty." Linn nodded his head phlegmatically. "I understand that you are sometimes called The Tiger Woman." "I have been called that. -Now, having reached you, my task is to make certain that no harm comes to my husband. He is venturing into the General's lair-if I can be dramatic about it-and I want him to emerge unharmed and unthreatened." "As far as I am concerned, I know that no harm will come to your husband as a result of this meeting. But if you are concerned, why do you come to me? Why didn't you go directly to the General?" "Because, of the two of you, it is you that has the brains." There was a short pause and Linn said, "That would be a most dangerous remark-if overheard." "More dangerous for you than for me, so make sure it is not overheard. -Now, if it occurs to you that I am to be simply soothed and put off and that, if my husband is imprisoned or marked for execution, that there will really be nothing I can do about it, disabuse yourself." She indicated the two blasters that lay on the table before her. "I entered the grounds with nothing. I arrived in your immediate vicinity with two Masters. If I had no Masters, I might have had knives, with which I am an expert. And if I had neither blasters nor knives, I would still be a formidable person. This table we're sitting at is metal-obviously-and sturdy." "It is." Dors held up her hands, fingers splayed, as if to show that she held no weapon. Then she dropped them to the table and, palms down, caressed its surface. Abruptly Dors raised her fist and then brought it down on the table with a loud crash, which sounded almost as if metal were striking metal. She smiled and lifted her hand. "No bruise," Dors said. "No pain. But you'll notice that the table is slightly bent where I struck it. If that same blow had come down with the name force on a person's head, the skull would have exploded. I have never done such a thing; in fact, I have never killed anyone, though I have injured several. Nevertheless, if Professor Seldon is harmed-" "You are still threatening." "I am promising. I will do nothing if Professor Seldon is unharmed. Otherwise, Colonel Linn, I will be forced to maim or kill you and-I promise you again-I will do the same to General Tennar." Linn said, "You cannot withstand an entire army, no matter how tigerish a woman you are. What then?" "Stories spread," said Dors, "and are exaggerated. I have not really done much in the way of tigerishness, but many more stories are told of me than are true. Your guardsmen fell back when they recognized me and they themselves will spread the story, with advantage, of how I made my way to you. Even an army might hesitate to attack me, Colonel Linn, but even if they did and even if they destroyed me, beware the indignation of the people. The junta is maintaining order, but it is doing so only barely and you don't want anything to upset matters. Think, then, of how easy the alternative is. Simply do not harm Professor Hari Seldon." "We have no intention of harming him." "Why the interview, then?" "What's the mystery? The General is curious about psychohistory. The government records are open to us. The old Emperor Cleon was interested. Demerzel, when he was First Minister, was interested. Why should we not be in our turn? In fact, more so." "Why more so?" "Because time has passed. As I understand it, psychohistory began as a thought in Professor Seldon's mind. He has been working on it, with increasing vigor and with larger and larger groups of people, for nearly thirty years. He has done so almost entirely with government support, so that, in a way, his discoveries and techniques belong to the government. We intend to ask him about psychohistory, which, by now, must be far advanced beyond what existed in the times of Demerzel and Cleon, and we expect him to tell us what we want to know. We want something more practical than the vision of equations curling their way through air. Do you understand me?" "Yes," said Dors, frowning. "And one more thing. Do not suppose that the danger to your husband comes from the government only and that any harm that reaches him will mean that you must attack us at once. I would suggest that Professor Seldon may have purely private enemies. I have no knowledge of such things, but surely it is possible." "I shall keep that in mind. Right now, I want to have you arrange that I join my husband during his interview with the General. I want to know, beyond doubt, that he is safe." "That will be hard to arrange and will take some time. It would be impossible to interrupt the conversation, but if you wait till it is ended-" "Take the time and arrange it. Do not count on double-crossing me and remaining alive." 第十五章 　　厄拉尔极有礼貌地说：“凡纳比里博士，请告诉我你究竟为什么来这里。” 铎丝露出微笑，这笑容虽不具威胁性，却也说不上和蔼可亲。首先，”铎丝说，“我来这 里是向你证明我能来这里。” “啊？” “是的。我丈夫被带上官方地面车，由武装卫士陪同前来会见将军。差不多在同一时间， 我离开旅馆，徒步前来，手无寸铁。此时我人已在这里，而我相信现在他还在路上。为了见到你，我闯过五名卫士，包括我跟他借车的那一位。即使有五十名卫士，我照样闯得过来。” 厄拉尔奉然自若地点了点头。“我了解有些人称你为虎女。” “是有人这么叫我。现在，既然见到你了，我的任务是要确保我丈夫不会受到任何伤害。 戏剧点的说法是，他正准备到将军的巢穴探险，我要他出来时毫发无损，而且未受威胁。”“据我所知，你丈夫不会因为这次会面而受到任何伤害。我不懂的是，如果你真担心，为什么要来找我？为什么不直接去找将军？” “因为，在你们两人之中，有头脑的是你。” 短暂的沉默之后，厄拉尔说：“这可是最危险的评语，被人听到就糟了。” “你负担的风险绝对比我大，所以最好确定没人听到。听好，假如你以为随便安抚我一下，就能把我打发走；假如你以为即使我丈夫被监禁或处决，我也束手无策，那你最好趁早醒悟。” 她指了指放在桌上的两柄手铳。“我进入御苑时两手空空，到你身边时手上则多了两柄手铳。如果我身上没有手铳，或许会带了刀子，用刀我可是行家。但即使没带手铳也没带刀， 我仍会是个可怕的人物。这张桌子显然是金属制品，而且很坚固，对吧？” “没错。” 铎丝张开双手，仿佛表示手中没有武器。然后她将手放到桌上，轻抚着桌面。突然间，铎丝抡起拳头猛力捶向桌面，激起一声金属互击般的巨响。 她微微一笑，抬起手来。“没有瘀伤，”铎丝说，“也不疼。但你会发现桌面出现了轻微 凹痕。假使这一击是打在人的头部，那人的头颅肯定会碎掉。我没做过这种事，我是打伤过几个人，不过从来没杀过人。不过话说回来，如果谢顿教授有个三长两短……” “你在威胁……” “我是在向你保证。假如谢顿教授平安无事，那么什么事都不会发生。否则的话，厄拉尔上校，我将被迫把你变成残废或杀了你。而且，我再次保证，我也会以同样的方式对付田纳尔将军。” 厄拉尔说：“你再怎么像老虎，也不可能抵抗整支军队。对吧？” “上校，传言自己会不胫而走，”铎丝说，“而且会添油加醋。我没老虎那么残暴无情， 许多有关我的故事都被夸大了。你的卫士认出我后就退缩了，而我如何闯到你面前这个故事， 他们会自动帮我宣传，效力宏大。就算是一支军队，也可能对我心存顾忌。而即使他们敢攻击我、把我杀了，你还要小心人民的愤怒。执政团虽然维持着秩序，但做得相当勉强，你不会希望多惹一丁点麻烦吧。那么想想看，另一种选择就简单多了，只要别伤害哈里•谢顿教 授就行了。” “我们没打算伤害他。” “那么，为什么要见他？” “这有什么奇怪的？将军对心理史学很好奇。我们清楚所有的政府纪录，先皇克里昂对心理史学有兴趣，甚至丹莫茨尔当首相时也对它有兴趣。现在我们为何不该有兴趣？老实说， 我们的兴趣更大。” “为什么？” “因为时间过了那么久。据我了解，心理史学最初只是谢顿教授心中的一个想法。将近三十年来，他一直在研究这个题目，投入的心力与人员也越来越多。整个研究计划几乎全由政府资助，所以，他的研究成果可以说是属于政府的。现在它的成就必定远超过丹莫茨尔和克里昂的时代，我们打算问问他心理史学的进展，希望能听到我们想要的东西——实际一点的，而不只是在半空中打转的方程式。你了解我的话吗？”“了解。”铎丝皱着眉头说。 “还有一件事。别以为你丈夫只会受到来自政府的威胁，他若受到任何伤害就必须由我们负责。我倒认为，谢顿教授或许有纯属私人恩怨的仇家。我对这种事一无所知，但这也不是没有可能。” “这点我会牢记在心。现在，我要你立刻安排，让我加入我丈夫和将军的会谈。我要确实知道他平安无事。” “那很难安排，会需要些时间。打断他们的谈话是不可能的，但如果你等到会谈结束……”“那就花时间去安排，别指望耍了我还能活下去。” Chapter 16 General Tennar stared at Hari Seldon in a rather pop-eyed manner and his fingers tapped lightly at the desk where he sat. "Thirty years," he said. "Thirty years and you are telling me you still have nothing to show for it?" "Actually, General, twenty-eight years." Tennar ignored that. "And all at government expense. Do you know how many billions of credits have been invested in your Project, Professor?" "I haven't kept up, General, but we have records that could give me the answer to your question in seconds." "And so have we. The government, Professor, is not an endless source of funds. These are not the old times. We don't have Cleon's old Free-and-easy attitude toward finances. Raising taxes is hard and we need credits for many things. I have called you here, hoping that you can benefit us in some way with your psychohistory. If you cannot, then I must tell you, quite frankly, that we will have to shut off the faucet. If you ran continue your research without government funding, do so, for unless you show me something that would make the expense worth it, you will have to do just that." "General, you make a demand I cannot meet, but, if in response, you and government support, you will be throwing away the future. Give me wile and eventually-" "Various governments have heard that `eventually' from you for decades. Isn't it true, Professor, that you say your psychohistory predicts that the junta is unstable, that my rule is unstable, that in a short time it will collapse?" Seldon frowned. "The technique is not yet firm enough for me to say that this is something that psychohistory states." "I put it to you that psychohistory does state it and that this is common knowledge within your Project." "No," said Seldon warmly. "No such thing. It is possible that some among us have interpreted some relationships to indicate that the junta may be an unstable form of government, but there are other relationships that may easily be interpreted to show it is stable. That is the reason why we must continue our work. At the present moment it is all too easy to use incomplete data and imperfect reasoning to reach any conclusion we wish." "But if you decide to present the conclusion that the government is unstable and say that psychohistory warrants it-even if it does not actually do so-will it not add to the instability?" "It may very well do that, General. And if we announced that the government is stable, it may well add to the stability. I have had this very same discussion with Emperor Cleon on a number of occasions. It is possible to use psychohistory as a tool to manipulate the emotions of the people and achieve short-term effects. In the long run, however, the predictions are quite likely to prove incomplete or downright erroneous and psychohistory will lose all its credibility and it will be as though it had never existed." "Enough! Tell me straight out! What do you think psychohistory shows about my government?" "It shows, we think, that there are elements of instability in it, but we are not certain-and cannot be certain-exactly in what way this can be made worse or made better." "In other words, psychohistory simply tells you what you would know without psychohistory and it is that in which government has invested uncounted piles of credits." "The time will come when psychohistory will tell us what we could not know without it and then the investment will pay itself back many, many times over." "And how long will it be before that time comes?" "Not too long, I hope. We have been making rather gratifying progress in the last few years." Tennar was tapping his fingernail on his desk again. "Not enough. Tell me something helpful now. Something useful." Seldon pondered, then said, "I can prepare a detailed report for you, but it will take time." "Of course it will. Days, months, years-and somehow it will never be written. Do you take me for a fool?" "No, of course not, General. However, I don't want to be taken for a fool, either. I can tell you something that I will take sole responsibility for. I have seen it in my psychohistorical research, but I may have misinterpreted what I saw. However, since you insist-" "I insist." "You mentioned taxes a little while ago. You said raising taxes was difficult. Certainly. It is always difficult. Every government must do its work by collecting wealth in one form or another. The only two ways in which such credits can be obtained are, first, by robbing a neighbor, or second, persuading a government's own citizens to grant the credits willingly and peaceably. "Since we have established a Galactic Empire that has been conducting its business in reasonable fashion for thousands of years, there is no possibility of robbing a neighbor, except as the result of an occasional rebellion and its repression. This does not happen often enough to support a government-and, if it did, the government would be too unstable to last long, in any case." Seldon drew a deep breath and went on. "Therefore, credits must be raised by asking the citizens to hand over part of their wealth for government use. Presumably, since the government will then work efficiently, the citizens can better spend their credits in this way than to hoard it-each man to himself-while living in a dangerous and chaotic anarchy. "However, though the request is reasonable and the citizenry is better off paying taxes as their price for maintaining a stable and efficient government, they are nevertheless reluctant to do so. In order to overcome this reluctance, governments must make it appear that they are not taking too many credits, and that they are considering each citizen's rights and benefits. In other words, they must lower the percentage taken out of low incomes; they must allow deductions of various kinds to be made before the tax is assessed, and so on. "As time goes on, the tax situation inevitably grows more and more complex as different worlds, different sectors within each world, and different economic divisions all demand and require special treatment. Me result is that the tax-collecting branch of the government grows in size and complexity and tends to become uncontrollable. The average citizen cannot understand why or how much he is being taxed; what he can get away with and what he can't. The government and the tax agency itself are often in the dark as well. "What's more, an ever-larger fraction of the funds collected must be put into running the overelaborate tax agency-maintaining records, pursuing tax delinquents-so the amount of credits available for good ,end useful purposes declines despite anything we can do. "In the end, the tax situation becomes overwhelming. It inspires discontent and rebellion. The history books tend to ascribe these things to greedy businessmen, to corrupt politicians, to brutal warriors, to ambitious viceroys-but these are just the individuals who take advantage of the tax overgrowth." The General said harshly, "Are you telling me that our tax system is overcomplicated?" Seldon said, "If it were not, it would be the only one in history that wasn't, as far as I know. If there is one thing that psychohistory tells me is inevitable, it is tax overgrowth." "And what do we do about it?" "That I cannot tell you. It is that for which I would like to prepare a report that-as you say-may take a while to get ready." "Never mind the report. The tax system is overcomplicated, isn't it? Isn't that what you are saying?" "It is possible that it is," said Seldon cautiously. "And to correct that, one must make the tax system simpler-as simple as possible, in fact." "I would have to study-" "Nonsense. The opposite of great complication is great simplicity. I don't need a report to tell me that." "As you say, General," said Seldon. At this point the General looked up suddenly, as though he had been called-as, indeed, he had been. His fists clenched and holovision images of Colonel Linn and Dors Venabili suddenly appeared in the room. Thunderstruck, Seldon exclaimed, "Dors! What are you doing here?" The General said nothing, but his brow furrowed into a frown. 第十六章 　　田纳尔将军无法置信地瞪大双眼。 “三十年，”他手指轻敲着面前的办公桌，“三十年了，而你竟然告诉我你们一事无成？” “事实上，将军，是二十八年。”谢顿平静答道。田纳尔未理会这一点。“而且都是用政府的经费。你知道已经有多少亿信用点投入到你的计划里了吗，教授？” “我没算过，将军，但我们有记录，可以在几秒内得到确切的数字。” “我们也有。教授，政府可不是个无底金库。如今已经不比从前，我们在财政方面没法像克里昂那样大方。 民众不轻易接受加税，政府却有许多事需要信用点。我召你来，是希望心理史学多少能对我们有些回馈。如果你做不到，那么，我必须坦白地告诉你，政府得切断你的财源。如果没有政府的补助，你还能继续研究，那请便。否则你就得让我看看，有什么成果值得这些花费。” “将军，您说了个我办不到的要求。可是如果因为这样，您就终止政府的资助，那么您便是抛弃了未来。给我时间，总有一天……”“过去几十年来，好些领导人都听过你的‘总有一天’。我听说你的心理史学曾预测执政团是不稳定的，而我的统治也不稳定，不久就会垮台——教授，有没有这回事？” 谢顿皱起眉头。“我们的技术还没那么完备，我不能说这是心理史学预测的结果。” “那我告诉你，心理史学的确做过这个预测。在你计划里的人，没有不知道这件事的。” “绝对没有这种事！”谢顿急切辩道，“或许我们曾有人把某些关系式的意义诠释为，执 政团可能是不稳定的政府形式。但是同时还有其他许多关系式，很容易诠释为代表执政团是稳定的，这就是我们必须继续研究的原因。此时此刻，任何人都可以利用不完整的资料与不完善的推论，达到他想要的结论。” “但如果你们决定宣布政府是不稳定的，而且声称这点有心理史学背景，就算它没有这样预测，难道不会增加政府的不稳定性吗？” “非常有可能，将军。而如果我们宣称政府是稳定的，也很可能增加它的稳定性。我好几次和克里昂大帝讨论过一模一样的问题。我们是可以把心理史学当成工具，操纵人民的情绪，取得短期的成果。然而，时间一久，事实很可能证明那些预测并不完整或彻底错误，那时心理史学将会失去公信力，有它没它都没有差别。” “够了！直截了当告诉我，心理史学对我的政府有什么看法？”“就我们对它的诠释，是政府里面有不稳定的因素。但我们并不确定，也无法确定，该怎么做才能改变情况。” “换句话说，心理史学告诉你们的，就是你们没有心理史学也知道的事，而政府竟为了这玩意投资了数不尽的信用点。” “心理史学终将告诉我们没有它就无法知晓的事，到了那个时候，这项投资就会回收许多倍的报酬。” “还要多久才会到那个时候？”“希望不会太久。过去几年间，我们的进展相当令人满意。” 田纳尔再度用指甲敲着桌面。“这不够，我现在就要知道实际有用的事。” 谢顿想了一下，然后说：“我可以为您准备一份详细的报告，但那得花上一段时间。”“你当然需要时间——几天、几月、几年，结果是我永远拿不到那份报告。你把我当傻瓜吗？” “不，当然没有，将军。然而，我也不想被当成傻瓜。现在，我只能先向您透露一点我自己可以担保的事，它是我在心理史学研究中看出来的，但这个诠释有可能根本不正确。可是，既然您坚持——” “我坚持。” “您刚才提到税务问题，您说民众不会轻易接受加税。不用说，这种事一向困难重重，任何政府都得想办法筹钱，才能进行各项施政。政府获得信用点的方法只有两种：第一，劫掠邻邦；第二，说服自己的公民心甘情愿地缴出信用点。 “几千年来，银河帝国运作得相当上轨道，我们没有任何动机劫掠邻邦，除了镇压偶发的叛乱时例外。但这种事不常发生，从中劫掠的财产也不够支持一个政府；即使够支持，这种政府也不稳定，无论如何不会持续太久。”谢顿深吸一口气，又继续说：“因此，唯一的选择，是请公民将个人财富的一部分交给政府使用。为了使政府有效运作，公民想必愿意交出信用点，也不愿在危险混乱的无政府状态下紧守财产。 “公民缴税维持政府运作，政府保障人民的生活，这个要求虽然合理，民众却不见得情愿纳税。为了消除这种心态，政府必须做得像是没有拿走太多信用点，而且兼顾到每位公民的权益。换句话说，必须减少低收入者缴税的百分比，在估税前扣除各种宽减额等等。 “然而时间一长，各个世界、各个行政区及各个经济体系都会要求特别待遇，税务必然会复杂起来。结果是政府的稽征部门越来越庞大杂乱，越来越难控制。一般人无法了解为何要缴税、要缴多少税；有哪些可以减免、哪些又不行。政府和税务机关本身也常常一头雾水。 “此外，税收中必定有越来越多的部分，被用来运作分工过度精细的税务机关，例如保存纪录、追查漏税的部门。所以说，真正可用于建设性用途的信用点越来越少，政府却束手无策。 “到了最后，税率会膨胀得不可收拾，人民会不满，甚至叛乱。历史学家喜欢将这归咎于贪婪的商人、腐化的政客、残忍的战士和野心的总督。但那些都只是个人，他们只是利用税率膨胀趁火打劫。” 将军粗声道：“你是在告诉我，我们的税制太复杂？”谢顿说：“假使它不是，据我所知，它就是历史上唯一的例外。如果心理史学只告诉我有一件事是必然的，那就是税率的膨胀。” “那我们要怎么办？” “这点我无法告诉您。我说希望准备一份报告，就是打算讨论这个问题。但正如您所说， 得一段时间才能准备好。” “别管什么报告了。税制太复杂，对不对？你是不是这样说的？” “有可能是这样。”谢顿谨慎地答道。 “要纠正这种状况，就必须让税制变得简单一点。事实上，是越简单越好。”“我还得研究——” “废话。极度复杂的反面就是极度简单，我不需要什么报告来告诉我。”“您说的有理，将军。”谢顿道。 这时将军突然抬起头——有人在叫他。他紧紧握起双拳。 厄拉尔上校与铎丝•凡纳比里的全息影像出现在房间中。谢顿大吃一惊：“铎丝！你在这里干什么？”将军什么也没说，但他的两道眉已纠结成一团。 Chapter 17 The General had had a bad night and so, out of apprehension, had the colonel. They faced each other now-each at a loss. The General said, "Tell me again what this woman did." Linn seemed to have a heavy weight on his shoulders. "She's The Tiger Woman. That's what they call her. She doesn't seem to be quite human, somehow. She's some sort of impossibly trained athlete, full of self-confidence, and, General, she's quite frightening." "Did she frighten you? A single woman?" "Let me tell you exactly what she did and let me tell you a few other things about her. I don't know how true all the stories about her are, but what happened yesterday evening is true enough." He told the story again and the General listened, puffing out his cheeks. "Bad," he said. "What do we do?" "I think our course is plain before us. We want psychohistory-' "Yes, we do," said the General. "Seldon told me something about taxation that- But never mind. That is beside the point at the moment. Go on." Linn, who, in his troubled state of mind, had allowed a small fragment of impatience to show on his face, continued, "As I say, we want psychohistory without Seldon. He is, in any case, a used-up man. The more I study him, the more I see an elderly scholar who is living on his past deeds. He has had nearly thirty years to make a success of psychohistory and he has failed. Without him, with new men at the helm, psychohistory may advance more rapidly." "Yes, I agree. Now what about the woman?" "Well, there you are. We haven't taken her into consideration because she has been careful to remain in the background. But I strongly suspect now that it will be difficult, perhaps impossible, to remove Seldon quietly and without implicating the government, as long as the woman remains alive." "Do you really believe that she will mangle you and me-if she thinks we have harmed her man?" said the General, his mouth twisting in contempt. "I really think she will and that she will start a rebellion as well. It will he exactly as she promised." "You are turning into a coward." "General, please. I am trying to be sensible. I'm not backing off. We must take care of this Tiger Woman." He paused thoughtfully. "As a matter of fact, my sources have told me this and I admit to having paid far too little attention to the matter." "And how do you think we can get rid of her?" Linn said, "I don't know." Then, more slowly, "But someone else might." 第十七章 　　将军当天晚上很不好过。而由于心事重重，上校也同样不好过。第二天，两人面面相觑， 都若有所失。 将军说：“这女人干了什么？你再说一遍。”厄拉尔似乎双肩担着千斤重担。“她是虎女，他们就是这样叫她的。可以说，她几乎不像人。她是某种受过非人训练的运动员，充满自信，而且，相当吓人。”“连你也吓着了？一个女人？”“让我告诉您她究竟做了什么，还有几件有关她的传闻。我不晓得那些故事的真实性如何，但昨天傍晚发生的事却是千真万确。” 他把经过再讲述一遍。将军一面听，一面鼓起腮帮子。“真糟！”将军说，“我们要怎么办？”“我认为眼前的路很清楚，我们要得到心理史学……”“我们是要得到心理史学。”将军说，“谢顿告诉我一些有关税制的事……别管了，那和 现在的问题不相干，说下去。”厄拉尔由于心烦，脸上竟不经意显出一丝不耐烦。“正如我先前所说的，我们要的是没有谢顿的心理史学。无论如何，他已经是个不中用的人。我越是研究他，就越觉得他是个活在过去的老学究。他有将近三十年的时间完成心理史学，结果却一事无成。如果他下台，换个新人掌舵，心理史学的进展也许会更迅速。” “没错，我同意。那个女的你又怎么打算？”“您问到重点了。我们一直没考虑到她，她总是谨慎地躲在幕后。但我有个强烈的感觉， 只要这女人还活着，想要不动声色地除掉谢顿，不将政府牵连在内会很困难——或许根本就不可能。” “如果她认为我们伤害了她的男人，你真相信她会把我们剁成肉酱？”将军的嘴巴扯出个不屑的表情。 “我绝对相信，而且她还会煽动叛乱，就像她威胁的一样。” “你怎么变成胆小鬼啦？” “拜托，将军，我是想跟您讲理。我没有退缩，我们必须解决这个虎女。”他若有所思地顿了顿，“事实上，我的情报来源提醒过我她的危险性，我承认是对她太大意了。” “你认为怎样才能除掉她？” “我不知道。”接着，厄拉尔意味深长地缓缓说道，“但也许有人晓得。” Chapter 18 Seldon had had a bad night also, nor was the new day promising to be much better. There weren't too many times when Hari felt annoyed with Dors. But this time, he was very annoyed. He said, "What a foolish thing to do! Wasn't it enough that we were all staying at the Dome's Edge Hotel? That alone would have been sufficient to drive a paranoid ruler into thoughts of some sort of conspiracy." "How? We were unarmed, Hari. It was a holiday affair, the final touch of your birthday celebration. We posed no threat." "Yes, but then you carried out your invasion of the Palace grounds. It was unforgivable. You raced to the Palace to interfere with my session with the General, when I had specifically-and several times-made it plain that I didn't want you there. I had my own plans, you know." Dors said, "Your desires and your orders and your plans all take second place to your safety. I was primarily concerned about that." "I was in no danger." "That is not something I can carelessly assume. There have been two attempts on your life. What makes you think there won't be a third?" "The two attempts were made when I was First Minister. I was probably worth killing then. Who would want to kill an elderly mathematician?" Dors said, "That's exactly what I want to find out and that's what I want to stop. I must begin by doing some questioning right here at the Project." "No. You will simply be upsetting my people. Leave them alone." "That's exactly what I can't do. Hari, my job is to protect you and for twenty-eight years I've been working at that. You cannot stop me now." Something in the blaze of her eyes made it quite clear that, whatever Seldon's desires or orders might be, Dors intended to do as she pleased. Seldon's safety came first. 第十八章 　　谢顿当天晚上同样很不好过，新的一天也没带来什么新气象。谢顿不常对铎丝发脾气，可是这一次，他的确被惹火了。“这太愚蠢了！”他愤愤说道，“全都待在穹缘旅馆还不够吗？光是那样，就足以让一个 有妄想症的统治者怀疑我们有阴谋。” “怎么会？我们手无寸铁，哈里。那是庆祝活动，是庆生会的最后一个节目，随行的队伍没摆出任何威胁的架势。” “没错，但接下来你又私闯御苑。那是不可原谅的事。我先前就特别再三嘱咐，不要你到皇宫去，你却还是拼命跑来阻挠我和将军的会谈。你难道不晓得我有自己的计划吗？” 铎丝说：“跟你的安全比起来，你的愿望、你的命令，甚至你的计划都不算什么。最重要的是你的安全。” “我安全得很。” “我不能随随便便做这种假设。过去你两度险些丧命，怎么能肯定不会有第三次？” “那两次行刺都发生在我当首相的时候，那时我有遇刺的可能。现在，谁会想杀一个老迈的数学家？” 铎丝说：“那正是我想查出来的，也正是我要阻止的。首先，我必须找计划的成员问些问题。” “不行。你只会弄得人心惶惶，别去打扰他们。”“不行！哈里，我的工作是保护你，我已经努力了二十八年，现在你不能阻止我。” 她激昂的目光，明白透出一项讯息：无论谢顿的愿望或命令是什么，铎丝都已打算照自己的意思去做。 谢顿的安全是第一优先。 Chapter 19 "May I interrupt you, Yugo?" "Of course, Dors," said Yugo Amaryl with a large smile. "You are lover an interruption. What can I do for you?" "I am trying to find out a few things, Yugo, and I wonder if you would humor me in this." "If I can." "You have something in the Project called the Prime Radiant. I hear it now and then. Hari speaks of it, so I imagine I know what it looks like when it is activated, but I have never actually seen it in operation. I would like to." Amaryl looked uncomfortable. "Actually the Prime Radiant is just about the most closely guarded part of the Project and you aren't on the list of the members who have access." "I know that, but we've known each other for twenty-eight years-" "And you're Hari's wife. I suppose we can stretch a point. We only have two full Prime Radiants. There's one in Hari's office and one here. Right there, in fact." Dors looked at the squat black cube on the central desk. It looked utterly undistinguished. "Is that it?" "That's it. It stores the equations that describe the future." "How do you get at those equations?" Amaryl moved a contact and at once the room darkened and then came to life in a variegated glow. All around Dors were symbols, arrows, mathematical signs of one sort or another. They seemed to be moving, spiraling, but when she focused her eyes on any particular portion, it seemed to be standing still. She said, "Is that the future, then?" "It may be," said Amaryl, turning off the instrument. "I had it at full expansion so you could see the symbols. Without expansion, nothing is visible but patterns of light and dark." "And by studying those equations, you are able to judge what the future holds in store for us?" "In theory." The room was now back to its mundane appearance. "But there are two difficulties." "Oh? What are they?" "To begin with, no human mind has created those equations directly. We have merely spent decades programming more powerful computers and they have devised and stored the equations, but, of course, we don't know if they are valid and have meaning. It depends entirely on how valid and meaningful the programming is in the first place." "They could be all wrong, then?" "They could be." Amaryl rubbed his eyes and Dors could not help thinking how old and tired he seemed to have grown in the last couple of years. He was younger than Hari by nearly a dozen years, but he seemed much older. "Of course," Amaryl went on in a rather weary voice, "we hope that they aren't all wrong, but that's where the second difficulty comes in. Although Hari and I have been testing and modifying them for decades, we can never be sure what the equations mean. The computer has constructed them, so it is to be presumed they must mean something-but what? There are portions that we think we have worked out. In fact, right now, I'm working on what we call Section A-23, a particularly knotty system of relationships. We have not yet been able to match it with anything in the real Universe. Still, each year sees us further advanced and I look forward confidently to the establishment of psychohistory as a legitimate and useful technique for dealing with the future." "How many people have access to these Prime Radiants?" "Every mathematician in the Project has access but not at will. There have to be applications and time allotted and the Prime Radiant has to be adjusted to the portion of the equations a mathematician wishes to refer to. It gets a little complicated when everyone wants to use the Prime Radiant at the same time. Right now, things are slow, possibly because we're still in the aftermath of Hari's birthday celebration." "Is there any plan for constructing additional Prime Radiants?" Amaryl thrust out his lips. "Yes and no. It would be very helpful if we had a third, but someone would have to be in charge of it. It can't just be a community possession. I have suggested to Hari that Tamwile Elar-you know him, I think-" "Yes, I do." "That Elar have a third Prime Radiant. His achaotic equations and the Electro-Clarifier he thought up make him clearly the third man in the Project after Hari and myself. Hari hesitates, however." "Why? Do you know?" "If Elar gets one, he is openly recognized as the third man, over the Head of other mathematicians who are older and who have more senior status in the Project. There might be some political difficulties, so to speak. I think that we can't waste time in worrying about internal politics, but Hari- Well, you know Hari." "Yes, I know Hari. Suppose I tell you that Linn has seen the Prime Radiant." "Linn?" "Colonel Hender Linn of the junta. Tennar's lackey." "I doubt that very much, Dors." "He has spoken of spiraling equations and I have just seen them produced by the Prime Radiant. I can't help but think he's been here and seen it working." Amaryl shook his head, "I can't imagine anyone bringing a member of the junta into Hari's office-or mine." "Tell me, who in the Project do you think is capable of working with the junta in this fashion?" "No one," said Amaryl flatly and with clearly unlimited faith. "That would be unthinkable. Perhaps Linn never saw the Prime Radiant but was merely told about it." "Who would tell him about it?" Amaryl thought a moment and said, "No one." "Well now, you talked about internal politics a while ago in connection with the possibility of Elar having a third Prime Radiant. I suppose in a Project such as this one with hundreds of people, there are little feuds going on all the time-frictions-quarrels." "Oh yes. Poor Hari talks to me about it every once in a while. He has to deal with them in one way or another and I can well imagine what a headache it must be for him." "Are these feuds so bad that they interfere with the working of the Project?" "Not seriously." "Are there any people who are more quarrelsome than others or any duo draw more resentment than others? In short, are there people you can get rid of and perhaps remove 90 percent of the friction at the cost of 5 or 6 percent of the personnel?" Amaryl raised his eyebrows. "It sounds like a good idea, but I don't know whom to get rid of. I don't really participate in all the minutiae of internal politics. There's no way of stopping it, so for my part, I merely avoid it." "That's strange," said Dors. "Aren't you in this way denying any credibility to psychohistory?" "In what way?" "How can you pretend to reach a point where you can predict and guide the future, when you cannot analyze and correct something as homegrown as personal frictions in the very Project that promises so much?" Amaryl chuckled softly. It was unusual, for he was not a man who was given to humor and laughter. "I'm sorry, Dors, but you picked on the one problem that we have solved, after a manner of speaking. Hari himself identified the equations that represented the difficulties of personal friction years ago and I myself then added the final touch last year. "I found that there were ways in which the equations could be changed so as to indicate a reduction in friction. In every such case, however, a reduction in friction here meant an increase in friction there. Never at any time was there a total decrease or, for that matter, a total increase in the friction within a closed group-that is, one in which no old members leave and no new members come in. What I proved, with the help of Elar's achaotic equations, was that this was true despite any conceivable action anyone could take. Hari calls it `the law of conservation of personal problems.' "It gave rise to the notion that social dynamics has its conservation laws as physics does and that, in fact, it is these laws that offer us the best possible tools for solving the truly troublesome aspects of psychohistory." Dors said, "Rather impressive, but what if you end up finding that nothing at all can be changed, that everything that is bad is conserved, and that to save the Empire from destruction is merely to increase destruction of another kind?" "Actually some have suggested that, but I don't believe it." "Very well. Back to reality. Is there anything in the frictional problems within the Project that threaten Hari? I mean, with physical harm." "Harm Hari? Of course not. How can you suggest such a thing?" "Might there not be some who resent Hari, for being too arrogant, too pushy, too self-absorbed, too eager to grab all the credit? Or, if none of these things apply, might they not resent him simply because he has run the Project for so long a time?" "I never heard anyone say such a thing about Hari." Dors seemed dissatisfied. "I doubt that anyone would say such things in your hearing, of course. But thank you, Yugo, for being so helpful and for giving me so much of your time." Amaryl stared after her as she left. He felt vaguely troubled, but then returned to his work and let other matters drift away. 第十九章 　　“我能打扰一下吗，雨果？” “当然可以，铎丝。”雨果•阿马瑞尔笑容满面地说，“你永远不会‘打扰’我，我能为你做什么吗？” “我想查清楚几件事，雨果，不知道你愿不愿意帮我。” “只要我做得到。” “你们的计划中，有个叫元光体的玩意。哈里不时会提到它，所以我大致知道它激活时的样子，但我希望亲眼看看它是怎么操作的。” 阿马瑞尔显得有些为难。“实际上，元光体可说是计划中管制最严的一项，而你不在获准使用的名单上。” “这点我知道，但我们已经认识二十八年……” “但是你是哈里的妻子，我想我们可以破例一次。我们只有两个完整的元光体，一个在哈里的研究室，另一个在这里……就在那儿。” 铎丝望向中央书桌上一个矮胖的黑色立方体，它看起来毫不起眼。“就是那个吗？” “就是那个，它贮存着那些描述未来的方程式。”“怎样才能看到那些方程式？”阿马瑞尔触动某个开关，灯光立刻变暗，千变万化的光彩充斥室内。环绕着铎丝的全是各式各样的标志、箭头、线条与数学符号。它们似乎在移动、旋转，但当她定睛注视某一部分时，那部分又好像固定不动。“所以说，这就是未来喽？” “可能是。”阿马瑞尔说着关上仪器，“我刚才将它调到全额扩展，好让你看到那些符号。要是没有扩展，除了光影的图案，根本什么都看不见。” “而借着研究这些方程式，你们就能判断等在面前的未来？” “理论上是这样。”此时室内恢复了原状，“可是有两个困难。” “哦？什么困难？” “首先，人类的智力无法直接创造这些方程式。我们花了几十年时间设计更精密的计算机与程序，由它们发明并贮存这些方程式。不过，当然，我们不知道它们是否正确、是否有意义，这完全取决于最初的程序设计是否正确、是否有意义。”“那么，它们可能全是错的？” “有这个可能。”阿马瑞尔揉了揉眼睛，铎丝不禁想道，这几年来之间，阿马瑞尔似乎老了许多，而且气色也变差了。他比哈里年轻十二岁，却显得比较苍老。“当然，”阿马瑞尔以相当疲惫的声音继续说，“我们希望不是这样，而这就牵扯出第二 个困难。虽然哈里和我花了几十年时间，测试并修改这些方程式，却一直无法确定它们代表的意义。计算机不可能无缘无故建构出这些方程式，它们一定有某种意义。但到底是什么呢？ 有些部分我们已经研究出来了。但其他，例如目前我在研究的 A- 节，是一个特别复杂难解的关系式组，我们还无法将它对应到真实宇宙中的任何事物。不过话说回来，我们每年都有些进展，我有信心心理史学会被承认，并成为一项未来学的科技利器。” “有多少人可以使用这两个元光体？” “计划里的每位数学家都有权使用，但不是想要就能用。他们要预先申请，排定时间，而元光体中的方程式得调整到申请者希望使用的部分。但如果每个人都想在同一时间使用，情况便会有点麻烦。不过现在申请的人不多，或许是哈里的庆生会刚过，大家还陶醉在喜庆的气氛中。” “有计划再制造更多元光体吗？” “可以说有，也可以说没有。”阿马瑞尔撅起嘴来，“如果有了第三个元光体，工作会进 行得更顺利，但必须有人负责掌管，不能仅仅把它当成公用设备。我曾经向哈里建议，让泰姆外尔•林恩——我想你认识他——”“没错，我认识。” “我曾想让林恩掌管第三个元光体。他的非混沌方程式，和他发明的电子阐析器，显然使他成为计划中仅次于哈里和我的第三把交椅。可是，哈里却犹豫不决。” “为什么？你知道吗？” “这样做等于公开承认他是第三把交椅，凌驾于计划中其他更年长、更资深的数学家之上。那可能会引起一些——姑且这样说——政治问题。我认为我们不该浪费时间担心内部政治，可是哈里……唉，你也了解哈里。”“我了解。雨果，假如我告诉你，厄拉尔曾看过元光体，你会怎么说？”“厄拉尔？” “执政团中的韩德•厄拉尔上校，田纳尔的奴才。”“我不信有这种事，铎丝。” “他曾经提到这些打转的方程式，而我刚刚也看见它们从元光体冒出来的模样。我忍不 住怀疑厄拉尔来过这里，看过它的操作。” 阿马瑞尔摇了摇头。我无法想像有谁会带执政团成员到哈里或是我的研究室来。”“告诉我，在谢顿计划中，你认为谁有办法以这种方式和执政团合作？”“谁也没办法，”阿马瑞尔断然答道，他显然信心十足，“那是不可想像的事。也许厄拉 尔从来没见过元光体，只是听人说过。”“谁会把这种事告诉他？” 阿马瑞尔想了一会儿，然后说：“谁也不会。” “好，你刚才提到若是由林恩掌管第三个元光体，会出现内部政治问题。我想，在一个像这么大、成员多达数百名的计划中，类似摩擦、口角这类的小争执应该常常发生吧。” “喔，是啊，可怜的哈里不时会提到这种事。他得设法帮他们排解，我能想像他有多头痛。” “这些争执会严重到干扰计划运作吗？”“没那么严重。” “有没有哪个人火气特别大，或是特别惹人憎恶？总而言之，有没有哪个人是你开除后， 能除掉百分之九十的摩擦，对于计划却无多大影响的？” 阿马瑞尔扬起双眉。“这主意听起来不错，但我不知道该开除谁。我不太清楚成员彼此间的互动关系。这种事根本没法阻止，所以我个人的做法是尽量避免。”“那就怪了。”铎丝说，“你在用这种方式否定心理史学的公信力吗？”“什么方式？” “连人事摩擦这种家务事都无法分析纠正，你怎能假装谢顿计划已达到能预测与指导未来的程度？” 阿马瑞尔咯咯轻笑几声。他很少有这种反应，阿马瑞尔一向不是个诙谐爱笑的人。“很抱歉，铎丝，但你刚好挑了个我们已经解决的问题。几年前，哈里检定出一组代表人事摩擦问题的方程式，而在去年我自己做了最后一点补充。 “当我检查这组方程式时，发现许多方法都显示出它们能减轻摩擦。然而某处摩擦减轻总意味着别处摩擦的增加，没有一个方法例外。也就是说，在一个没有旧成员离开、没有新成员加入的封闭群体中，总摩擦量永远不变，既不会减少，也不会增加。而我借用林恩的非混沌方程式所证明的，是无论任何人采取任何行动，这个结论仍然为真。哈里将它称为‘人事问题守恒律’。 “这使我们有了一个想法，就是社会动力学和物理学一样，也有守恒律。事实上，想要解决心理史学中真正棘手的问题，我们最佳的工具便是这些守恒律。” 铎丝说：“很精彩。但万一你最后发现，心理史学根本无法改变任何事物，每样不好的事物都是守恒的，而想要拯救帝国免于毁灭，只是加速另一种毁灭的方式，那该怎么办？”“其实，已经有人提出这种论点，可是我不相信。” “好，我们言归正传，在谢顿计划中，有没有任何人事问题威胁到哈里？我的意思是，威胁到他的安全。” “他的安全？当然没有。你怎么会这样想？”“难道不会有人怨恨哈里，因为他太自大、太强势、太自我中心、太喜欢独揽成果？或者，假如这些都不成立，他们不会仅仅因为他主持计划过久，而心生怨恨吗？” “我没听过有谁这样说哈里。”铎丝似乎并不满意。“那当然，我不信会有人在你身边说这种话。不过还是要谢谢你，雨果，谢谢你这么帮忙，拨出这么多时间给我。”当她离去时，阿马瑞尔望着她的背影，一股不安隐约浮现心中。但他随即重拾工作，让其他问题逐渐淡出脑海。 Chapter 20 One way Hari Seldon had (out of not too many ways) for pulling away from his work for a time was to visit Raych's apartment, just outside the university grounds. To do this invariably filled him with love for his foster son. There were ample grounds. Raych had been good, capable, and loyal-but besides that was the strange quality Raych had of inspiring trust and love in others. Hari had observed it when Raych was a twelve-year-old street boy, who somehow pulled at his own and at Dors's heartstrings. He remembered how Raych had affected Rashelle, the onetime Mayor of Wye. Hari remembered how Joranum had trusted Raych, which led to his own destruction. Raych had even managed to win the heart of the beautiful Manella. Hari did not completely understand this particular quality that Raych embodied, but he enjoyed whatever contact he had with his foster son. He entered the apartment with his usual "All well here?" Raych put aside the holographic material he was working with and rose to greet him, "All well, Dad." "I don't hear Wanda." "For good reason. She's out shopping with her mother." Seldon seated himself and looked good-humoredly at the chaos of reference material. "How's the book coming?" "It's doing fine. It's me who might not survive." He sighed. "But for once, we'll get the straight poop on Dahl. Nobody's ever written a book devoted to that section, wouldja believe?" Seldon had always noted that, whenever Raych talked of his home sector, his Dahlite accent always strengthened. Raych said, "And how are you, Dad? Glad the festivities are over?" "Enormously. I hated just about every minute of it." "Not so anyone could notice." "Listen, I had to wear a mask of sorts. I didn't want to spoil the celebration for everyone else." "You must have hated it when Mom chased after you onto the Palace grounds. Everyone I know has been talking about that." "I certainly did hate it. Your mother, Raych, is the most wonderful person in the world, but she is very difficult to handle. She might have spoiled my plans." "What plans are those, Dad?" Seldon settled back. It was always pleasant to speak to someone in whom he had total trust and who knew nothing about psychohistory. More than once he had bounced thoughts off Raych and had worked them out into more sensible forms than would have been the case if those same thoughts had been mulled over in his mind. He said, "Are we shielded?" "Always." "Good. What I did was to set General Tennar thinking along curious lines." "What lines?" "Well, I discussed taxation a bit and pointed out that, in the effort to make taxation rest evenly on the population, it grew more and more complex, unwieldy, and costly. The obvious implication was that the tax system must be simplified." "That seems to make sense." "Up to a point, but it is possible that, as a result of our little discussion, Tennar may oversimplify. You see, taxation loses effectiveness at both extremes. Overcomplicate it and people cannot understand it and pay for an overgrown and expensive tax organization. Oversimplify it and people consider it unfair and grow bitterly resentful. The simplest tax is a poll tax, in which every individual pays the same amount, but the unfairness of treating rich and poor alike in this way is too evident to overlook." "And you didn't explain this to the General?" "Somehow, I didn't get a chance." "Do you think the General will try a poll tax?" "I think he will plan one. If he does, the news is bound to leak out and that alone would suffice to set off riots and possibly upset the government." "And you've done this on purpose, Dad?" "Of course." Raych shook his head. "I don't quite understand you, Dad. In your personal life, you're as sweet and gentle as any person in the Empire. Yet you can deliberately set up a situation in which there will be riots, suppression, deaths. There'll be a lot of damage done, Dad. Have you thought of that?" Seldon leaned back in his chair and said sadly, "I think of nothing else, Raych. When I first began my work on psychohistory, it seemed a purely academic piece of research to me. It was something that could not he worked out at all, in all likelihood, and, if it was, it would not be something that could be practically applied. But the decades pass and we know more and more and then comes the terrible urge to apply it." "So that people can die?" "No, so that fewer people can die. If our psychohistorical analyses are correct now, then the junta cannot survive for more than a few years and there are various alternative ways in which it can collapse. They will all he fairly bloody and desperate. This method-the taxation gimmick-should do it more smoothly and gently than any other if-I repeat-our analyses are correct." "If they're not correct, what then?" "In that case, we don't know what might happen. Still, psychohistory must reach the point where it can be used and we've been searching for years for something in which we have worked out the consequences with a certain assuredness and can find those consequences tolerable as compared with alternatives. In a way, this taxation gimmick is the first great psychohistoric experiment." "I must admit, it sounds like a simple one." "It isn't. You have no idea how complex psychohistory is. Nothing is simple. The poll tax has been tried now and then throughout history. It is never popular and it invariably gives rise to resistance of one form or another, but it almost never results in the violent overthrow of a government. After all, the powers of governmental oppression may be too strong or there may be methods whereby the people can bring to bear their opposition in a peaceful manner and achieve redress. If a poll tax were invariably or even just sometimes fatal, then no government would ever try it. It is only because it isn't fatal that it is tried repeatedly. The situation on Trantor is, however, not exactly normal. There are certain instabilities that seem clear in psychohistorical analysis, which make it seem that resentment will be particularly strong and repression particularly weak." Raych sounded dubious. "I hope it works, Dad, but don't you think that the General will say that he was working under psychohistorical advice and bring you down with him?" "I suppose he recorded our little session together, but if he publicizes that, it will show clearly that I urged him to wait till I could analyze the situation properly and prepare a report-and he refused to wait." "And what does Mom think of all this?" Seldon said, "I haven't discussed it with her. She's off on another tangent altogether." "Really?" "Yes. She's trying to sniff out some deep conspiracy in the Project-aimed at me! I imagine she thinks there are many people in the Project who would like to get rid of me." Seldon sighed. "I'm one of them, I think. I would like to get rid of me as director of the Project and leave the gathering responsibilities of psychohistory to others." Raych said, "What's bugging Mom is Wanda's dream. You know how Mom feels about protecting you. I'll bet even a dream about your dying would be enough to make her think of a murder conspiracy against you." "I certainly hope there isn't one." And at the idea of it both men laughed. 第二十章 　　谢顿从工作暂时脱身的方法之一（其实也没几种方法）是到校园附近的芮奇家走走。每次去看芮奇，谢顿心中总是充满对这养子的爱。他宠爱芮奇的原因很多，芮奇相当优秀、能干，而且忠心——但更主要是因为芮奇拥有一种奇异的特质，能轻易赢得他人的信任与喜爱。 芮奇还是个十二岁的野孩子时，谢顿便观察到这一点。说不上来为什么，芮奇就触动了他与铎丝的心弦。芮奇如何影响当时的卫荷区长芮喜尔，这件事谢顿记得很清楚。他也还记得久瑞南如何信任芮奇，以致走向自我毁灭之途。此外，芮奇甚至有办法赢得美人玛妮拉的芳心。对于芮奇的这项特质，谢顿并不完全了解，但无论如何，每次和芮奇相处，他都非常开心。 谢顿走进寓所，像往常一样问道：“大家都好吗？” 芮奇将手边的全息资料放在一旁，站起身来。“都好，爸。” “我没听到婉达的声音。” “她和她妈妈逛街去了。” 谢顿自行坐下，目光愉悦地浏览过散乱的参考资料。“你的书进行得如何？”“书很顺利，我自己却快吃不消了。”芮奇叹了口气，“这次我们总算能认真剖析达尔。 你信吗，从没啥人针对这区写过一本书？” 谢顿再次注意到，每当芮奇提到自己的母区，达尔口音总会加重。 芮奇说：“你呢，爸？高兴庆祝活动结束了吗？”“当然，那每一分钟对我都是折磨。” “一点都看不出来。” “嘿，我总得做做样子，我不想扫大家的兴。” “妈紧追着你潜入皇宫御苑，你一定气坏了。我认识的人都在谈论这件事。”“我当然气坏了。芮奇，你妈是世界上最好的人，也是个非常难缠的人。她有可能把我的计划破坏了。” “什么计划，爸？” 谢顿往椅背挪了挪。跟一个自己完全信任、又对心理史学一无所知的人聊聊，是件愉快的事。芮奇对某些问题的看法常给他新的触发，这比让同样的问题在自己脑中打转好得多。他说：“这里有屏蔽吗？” “从没断过。” “很好。我所做的，是把田纳尔将军的思路导向比较特殊的方向。”“什么样的方向？” “这个嘛，我谈了点税制，告诉他努力想使人民公平负担税赋，只会造成政府与人民更大的负担。这些话明显意味着税制必须简化。” “听起来很合理。” “但有一定的限度。我和田纳尔的简短讨论可能会让他将税制过度简化。你知道吗，税制在两个极端都会适得其反。过度复杂化，民众便无法了解，政府则得供养过分膨胀的税务机关。而过度简化，则会使民众觉得不公平而心生怨恨。最简单的税制是人头税，也就是每个人缴付相同的税金，但这种贫富一视同仁的不公平太过明显，没有人看不出来。” “而你没对将军解释这一点？”“不巧，我没这个机会。” “你认为将军会施行人头税吗？” “我认为他有这个计划。如果他这样做，消息一定会走漏，这就可能引发暴动，甚至推翻这个政府。” “而你故意这样做，爸？” “当然。” 芮奇摇了摇头。“我不了解，爸。平常你和帝国中每个人一样亲切和善。但你却故意创造这种可能带来暴动、镇压、死亡的情况。那会造成多大的破坏，爸，你想过吗？” 谢顿上身靠向椅背，悲伤地说：“除了心理史学，芮奇，我心中没想过别的事。我刚开始研究心理史学时，它似乎是个纯学术研究，甚至可能根本研究不出结果，更谈不上实际应用。但几十年过去了，我们知道得越多，就越有应用它的强烈冲动。” “好让许多人死去？” “不，好让较少人死去。如果我们现在的心理史学分析是正确的，那么执政团顶多还能维持几年，它垮台的方式可能有好几种，每一种都会很血腥惨烈。这个方法，这个税制的花招，应该会比其他方式更平稳、更温和。但条件是——我再重复一遍——我们的分析正确无误。” “万一分析不正确呢？” “那样的话，我们就无法知道会发生什么事。话说回来，心理史学还是非得达到能应用的程度不可。我们花了好多年等待一个合适的事件，它的结果必须是我们已有几分把握，而且是我们比较能忍受的。就某方面而言，这个税制花招是第一个大型心理史学实验。”“我必须承认，它听来好像很简单。” “不。你对心理史学的复杂程度毫无概念，没有任何一环是简单的。古往今来的历史上， 不时有政府试行人头税。这种税制一直都不受欢迎，而且一定会引起某种形式的反抗，但它几乎从未导致政府被暴力推翻。毕竟，也许政府的压制太强，或是政府有其他方法，能让民众和平表达反对意见，进而争取改革。如果人头税必然导致政府覆亡，甚至只是偶尔如此，那就不会有任何政府愿意尝试。正因为它不具毁灭性，才会一再被采用。然而，川陀的情势并不正常。在心理史学的分析下，不稳定性相当明显，因此民怨会特别强烈，压制的力量则特别薄弱。” 芮奇半信半疑地说：“我希望它成功，爸。但你难道没想到，将军会说他是根据心理史学的建议行事，把你拖下水？”“我想，他把我们的小小会谈从头到尾都录下了。他若是公布这个纪录，它将清楚显示我曾力劝他再等一等，等我能对情势做出适当的分析，并准备一份报告后再说——可是他拒绝了。” “妈对这一切怎么想？” “我还没跟她讨论，”谢顿说，“她的心思完全转到另一边去了。”“真的吗？” “嗯。她正试图查出深藏在谢顿计划中的阴谋——针对我的阴谋！我能想像，她认为计划中有许多人想除掉我。”谢顿叹了口气，“其实我觉得我也是其中之一。我希望除掉自己计 划主持人的职位，把心理史学越来越重的担子留给别人。”芮奇说：“让妈疑神疑鬼的是婉达的梦。你也知道妈对于你的安全抱着怎样的态度，我敢打赌即使是一场你死亡的梦，也足以使她联想到谋害你的阴谋。”“我当然希望没这种阴谋。” 说到这里，两人不禁相视对笑起来。 Chapter 21 The small Electro-Clarification Laboratory was, for some reason, maintained at a temperature somewhat lower than normal and Dors Venabili wondered idly why that might be. She sat quietly, waiting for the one occupant of the lab to finish whatever it was she was doing. Dors eyed the woman carefully. Slim, with a long face. Not exactly attractive, with her thin lips and receding jawline, but a look of intelligence shone in her dark brown eyes. The glowing nameplate on her desk said: CINDA MONAY. She turned to Dors at last and said, "My apologies, Dr. Venabili, but there are some procedures that can't be interrupted even for the wife of the director." "I would have been disappointed in you if you had neglected the procedure on my behalf. I have been told some excellent things about you." "That's always nice to hear. Who's been praising me?" "Quite a few," said Dors. "I gather that you are one of the most prominent nonmathematicians in the Project." Monay winced. "There's a certain tendency to divide the rest of us from the aristocracy of mathematics. My own feeling is that, if I'm prominent, then I'm a prominent member of the Project. It makes no difference that I'm a nonmathematician." "That certainly sounds reasonable to me. -How long have you been with the Project?" "Two and a half years. Before that I was a graduate student in radiational physics at Streeling and, while I was doing that, I served a couple of years with the Project as an intern." "You've done well at the Project, I understand." "I've been promoted twice, Dr. Venabili." "Have you encountered any difficulties here, Dr. Monay? -Whatever you say will be held confidential." "The work is difficult, of course, but if you mean, have I run into any social difficulties, the answer is no. At least not any more than one would expect in any large and complex project, I imagine." "And by that you mean?" "Occasional spats and quarrels. We're all human." "But nothing serious?" Monay shook her head. "Nothing serious." "My understanding, Dr. Monay," said Dors, "is that you have been responsible for the development of a device important to the use of the Prime Radiant. It makes it possible to cram much more information into the Prime Radiant." Monay broke into a radiant smile. "Do you know about that?-Yes, the Electro-Clarifier. After that was developed, Professor Seldon established this small laboratory and put me in charge of other work in that direction." "I'm amazed that such an important advance did not bring you up into the higher echelons of the Project." "Oh well," said Monay, looking a trifle embarrassed. "I don't want to take all the credit. Actually my work was only that of a technician-a very skilled and creative technician, I like to think-but there you are." "And who worked with you?" "Didn't you know? It was Tamwile Elar. He worked out the theory that made the device possible and I designed and built the actual instrument." "Does that mean he took the credit, Dr. Monay?" "No no. You mustn't think that. Dr. Elar is not that kind of man. He gave me full credit for my share of the work. In fact, it was his idea to call the device by our names-both our names-but he couldn't." "Why not?" "Well, that's Professor Seldon's rule, you know. All devices and equations are to be given functional names and not personal ones-to avoid resentment. So the device is just the Electro-Clarifier. When we're working together, however, he gives the device our names and, I tell you, Dr. Venabili, it sounds grand. Perhaps someday, all of the Project personnel will use the personal name. I hope so." "I hope so, too," said Dors politely. "You make Elar sound like a very decent individual." "He is. He is," said Monay earnestly. "He is a delight to work for. Right now, I'm working on a new version of the device, which is more powerful and which I don't quite understand. -I mean, what it's to be used for. However, he's directing me there." "And are you making progress?" "Indeed. In fact, I've given Dr. Elar a prototype, which he plans to test. If it works out, we can proceed further." "It sounds good," agreed Dors. "What do you think would happen if Professor Seldon were to resign as director of the Project? If he were to retire?" Monay looked surprised. "Is the professor planning to retire?" "Not that I know of. I'm presenting you with a hypothetical case. Suppose he retires. Who do you think would be a natural successor? I think from what you have said that you would favor Professor Elar as the new director." "Yes, I would," responded Monay after a trifling hesitation. "He's far and away the most brilliant of the new people and I think he could run the Project in the best possible way. Still, he's rather young. There are a considerable number of old fossils-well, you know what I mean-who would resent being passed over by a young squirt." "Is there any old fossil you're thinking of in particular? Remember, this is confidential." "Quite a few of them, but there's Dr. Amaryl. He's the heir apparent." "Yes, I see what you mean." Dors rose. "Well, thank you so much for your help. I'll let you return to your work now." She left, thinking about the Electro-Clarifier. And about Amaryl. 第二十一章 　　铎丝•凡纳比里默默地坐在“电子阐析实验室”里。铎丝发现这个小房间的温度控制得比平常气温稍低，她一边无聊地猜测着原因，一边等待实验室的主人结束手边的工作。 铎丝仔细打量面前这名女子。她身材纤细，长形脸，薄唇与后缩的下颚不怎么吸引人，但一双深褐色眼睛透出智能的光彩。她书桌上有个闪闪发光的名牌，上面印着：欣妲•蒙内。 终于，她转向铎丝，开口道：“很抱歉，凡纳比里博士，但即使是计划主持人的夫人来访，有些实验步骤还是不能中断。”“要是你因为我而疏忽实验，我才会失望呢。听说你的表现很杰出。” “真高兴有人这样说。是谁在赞美我？”“不少人。”铎丝说，我猜你是谢顿计划中最杰出的非数学家之一。” 蒙内愣了一下。“这里有一种倾向，总是把我们其他人和数学贵族区分开来。但我自己的感觉是，如果我真的很优秀，那我就是谢顿计划中优秀的一员，跟我是不是数学家毫无关系。” “这当然。你加入谢顿计划多久了？” “两年半。在此之前，我是川陀大学辐射物理系的研究生。那期间我已经在谢顿计划中见习了几年。” “据我了解，你表现得十分优异。”“我晋升了两次，凡纳比里博士。”“你在这里遇过任何困难吗，蒙内博士？你说的每一句话我都会保密。”“当然，工作本身就是困难。但如果您的意思是，我有没有碰到任何人际上的困难，答案则是否定的。就算有些小问题，也没什么要紧，任何大型、复杂的计划中都存在这种问题。”“你所谓的问题是指？” “偶尔发生的口角和争执，毕竟我们都是平常人。” “但没什么严重的问题？” 蒙内摇了摇头。“没有。” “据我所知，蒙内博士，”铎丝说，“你曾负责发展出一种辅助元光体的重要装置，由于 它的问世，元光体才能容纳更多的资料。” 蒙内露出灿烂的笑容。“您知道这件事？没错，那就是电子阐析器。它发展出来后，谢顿教授成立了这间小型实验室，要我负责这方面的后续研究。”“我很惊讶，你促成这么重要的进展，竟然没被晋升到计划的更髙层。”“这个嘛，”蒙内显得有点窘，“我不想独占所有的功劳。实际上，我做的只是个技术员 的工作——我喜欢把自己想成一个非常熟练且有创意的技术员，但事实上我就只是个技术 员。” “跟你合作的是谁呢？” “您不知道吗？就是泰姆外尔•林恩。他先研发出这项装置的基础理论，再由我实际设 计并制造完成。” “你的意思是功劳全给他占了吗，蒙内博士？” “不不，您别那么想。林恩博士不是那种人，他把我应得的功劳全给了我。事实上，当初他打算用我们的名字——我们两人的名字——为这个装置命名，可是没有成功。” “为什么？” “嗯，那是谢顿教授的规定，您知道的。所有的装置和方程式都要以功能命名，不能冠上人名，免得引起反感，所以这装置就叫做电子阐析器。然而，当我们一起工作时，林恩博士会用我们的名字称呼这个装置。老实说，凡纳比里博士，那听来感觉可真不赖。真希望有一天，计划中所有成员都会使用这个称呼。”“我也希望如此。”铎丝客气地说，“听你的口气，林恩似乎是个非常不错的人。” “绝对是的，”蒙内一本正经地说，“在他手下工作十分愉快。现在我正在更新这个装置，新型的功能将会更强。我自己也不太懂那是什么——我的意思是，不了解它的功用是什么。不过林恩博士一直在指导我。”“有什么进展吗？” “我已经交给林恩博士一个原型，如果测试成功了，我们就能进一步研发。”“听起来很不错。”铎丝表示同意，“假如谢顿教授宣布退休，辞去计划主持人的职位， 你认为会引发什么结果？” 蒙内显得有些惊讶。“教授打算退休吗？” “据我所知没有，我只是提出一个假设性问题。假定他退休了，你认为谁会是接班人？从刚才的谈话中，我想你会支持林恩教授。”“是的，我会。”蒙内稍加迟疑之后答道，“他是新一代中最最出色的一位，我认为他能 以最佳的方式领导这个计划。不过，他年纪相当轻，而这里有不少老古董——嗯，您知道我的意思——要是被一个年少得志的人骑在头上，他们会怀恨在心的。” “你有没有特别想到哪个老古董？放心，我会守口如瓶。”“还真不少，尤其是阿马瑞尔博士，他是当然继承人。” “我懂了。”铎丝站了起来，“好啦，非常谢谢你的协助，现在该放你回工作岗位了。” 她起身离去，心中仍想着电子阐析器，还有阿马瑞尔。 Chapter 22 Yugo Amaryl said, "Here you are again, Dors." "Sorry, Yugo. I'm bothering you twice this week. Actually you don't see anyone very often, do you?" Amaryl said, "I don't encourage people to visit me, no. They tend to interrupt me and break my line of thought. -Not you, Dors. You're altogether special, you and Hari. There's never a day I don't remember what you two have done for me." Dors waved her hand. "Forget it, Yugo. You've worked hard for Hari and any trifling kindness we did for you has long been overpaid. How is the Project going? Hari never talks about it-not to me, anyway." Amaryl's face lightened and his whole body seemed to take on an infusion of life. "Very well. Very well. It's difficult to talk about it without mathematics, but the progress we've made in the last two years is amazing-more than in all the time before that. It's as though, after we've been hammering away and hammering away, things have finally begun to break loose." "I've been hearing that the new equations worked out by Dr. Elar have helped the situation." "The achaotic equations? Yes. Enormously." "And the Electro-Clarifier has been helpful, too. I spoke to the woman who designed it." "Cinda Monay?" "Yes. That's the one." "A very clever woman. We're fortunate to have her." "Tell me, Yugo- You work at the Prime Radiant virtually all the time, don't you?" "I'm more or less constantly studying it. Yes." "And you study it with the Electro-Clarifier." "Certainly." "Don't you ever think of taking a vacation, Yugo?" Amaryl looked at her owlishly, blinking slowly. "A vacation?" "Yes. Surely you've heard the word. You know what a vacation is." "Why should I take a vacation?" "Because you seem dreadfully tired to me." "A little, now and then. But I don't want to leave the work." "Do you feel more tired now than you used to?" "A little. I'm getting older, Dors." "You're only forty-nine." "That's still older than I've ever been before." "Well, let it go. Tell me, Yugo-just to change the subject. How is Hari doing at his work? You've been with him so long that no one could possibly know him better than you do. Not even I. At least, as far as his work is concerned." "He's doing very well, Dors. I see no change in him. He still has the quickest and brightest brain in the place. Age is having no effect on him -at least, not so far." "That's good to hear. I'm afraid that his own opinion of himself is not as high as yours is. He's not taking his age well. We had a difficult time getting him to celebrate his recent birthday. Were you at the festivities, by the way? I didn't see you." "I attended part of the time. But, you know, parties of that kind are not the sort of thing I feel at home with." "Do you think Hari is wearing out? I'm not referring to his mental brilliance. I'm referring to his physical capacities. In your opinion, is he growing tired-too tired to bear up under his responsibilities?" Amaryl looked astonished. "I never gave it any thought. I can't imagine him growing tired." "He may be, just the same. I think he has the impulse, now and then, to give up his post and hand the task over to some younger man." Amaryl sat back in his chair and put down the graphic stylus he had been fiddling with ever since Dors had entered. "What! That's ridiculous! Impossible!" "Are you sure?" "Absolutely. He certainly wouldn't consider such a thing without discussing it with me. And he hasn't." "Be reasonable, Yugo. Hari is exhausted. He tries not to show it, but he is. What if he does decide to retire? What would become of the Project? What would become of psychohistory?" Amaryl's eyes narrowed. "Are you joking, Dors?" "No. I'm just trying to look into the future." "Surely, if Hari retires, I succeed to the post. He and I ran the Project for years before anyone else joined us. He and I. No one else. Except for him, no one knows the Project as I do. I'm amazed you don't take my succession for granted, Dors." Dors said, "There's no question in my mind or in anyone else's that you are the logical successor, but do you want to be? You may know everything about psychohistory, but do you want to throw yourself into the politics and complexities of a large Project and abandon much of your work in order to do so? Actually it's trying to keep everything moving smoothly that's been wearing Hari down. Can you take on that part of the job?" "Yes, I can and it's not something I intend to discuss. -Look here, Dors. Did you come here to break the news that Hari intends to ease me out?" Dors said, "Certainly not! How could you think that of Hari! Have you ever known him to turn on a friend?" "Very well, then. Let's drop the subject. Really, Dors, if you don't mind, there are things I must do." Abruptly he turned away from her and bent over his work once more. "Of course. I didn't mean to take up this much of your time." Dors left, frowning. 第二十二章 　　雨果•阿马瑞尔说：“你又来啦，铎丝。” “抱歉，雨果，这星期两次打扰你。事实上你不太常和别人见面，对不对？”阿马瑞尔说：“是啊，我不希望别人来拜访。他们会造成干扰，打断我的思路。但你不算，铎丝，你和哈里都是例外，我从来没有忘记你们对我的恩情。”铎丝摇摇手。“别提什么恩情了，雨果。你一直努力为哈里工作，即使我们对你有过任何微薄的恩惠，你也早就加倍奉还了。计划进行得如何？哈里从来没提过——没对我提过。” 阿马瑞尔立刻容光焕发，整个人似乎充满生气。很顺利，非常顺利。谈这个不提数学有些困难，不过，这两年间，我们的进展相当惊人，过去从来没有这种现象。就好像我们敲呀敲、锤呀锤了这么多年，心理史学这座山终于开始松动了。” “听说林恩博士发展的新方程式很有帮助。”“非混沌方程式？是的，帮助极大。” “而电子阐析器也帮了不少忙，我跟它的设计者谈过。” “欣妲•蒙内？” “是的，就是她。” “非常聪明的女子，有她是我们的运气。” “雨果，你是不是一直在研究元光体？”“没错，我可以说是无时无刻不在研究。” “而你是用电子阐析器在研究。” “当然。” “你有没有想过休个假，雨果？” 阿马瑞尔一脸严肃地望着她，缓缓眨着眼。“休假？”“没错。你不会没听过这两个字，你知道休假是什么意思。” “我为什么要休假？” “因为我觉得，你似乎非常疲倦。”“是有一点，可是我不想丢下工作。” “你比以前更容易觉得疲倦吗？” “有一点。我老了，铎丝。” “你只有四十九岁。” “那还是比以前老。” “算了。换个话题吧，雨果。告诉我，哈里的工作做得怎么样？你和他合作那么久，没人比你更了解他，甚至我也比不上——至少就他的工作而言。”“他做得非常好，铎丝。我看不出他有任何改变，他仍拥有这里最敏捷、最灵光的头脑。 年龄对他完全没有影响，至少目前还没有。”“这是好消息。只怕他没有你那么乐观，他不太能接受自己上了年纪，我们花了好大力气才说服他办个庆生会。对啦，你没有参加庆祝活动吗？我没看到你。”“我只待一下就走了。你也知道，那一类的宴会总是让我浑身不对劲。”“你认为哈里已经快到极限了吗？我不是指他的聪明才智，我是指他的体力。在你看来， 他是不是已经疲倦到无法承担重责大任的地步？”阿马瑞尔非常惊讶。“我从来没想过这种事，我无法想像他精疲力竭的模样。” “无论如何，这还是有可能的。我想他一直有种冲动，想放弃自己的职位，把工作交给某个较年轻的人。” 阿马瑞尔猛然靠向椅背，放下手中一直把玩的制图尖笔。“什么！那太荒唐了！不可能！”“你确定？” “绝对确定。他不会没跟我讨论就考虑退休，他从来没跟我讨论过。” “理智点，雨果。虽然哈里极力想掩饰，但事实上他真的累了。万一他真的决定退休了呢？那谢顿计划会变成什么样子？心理史学又会变成什么样子？” 阿马瑞尔眯起眼睛。“你在开玩笑吗，铎丝？” “不，我只是在试着揣测未来。” “不用说，如果哈里退休，接任的当然是我。在其他成员加入之前，我们便在计划上投注了多年心力。就他和我，没有别人，除了他，没有人比我更了解谢顿计划。我很惊讶你没把我当成当然的接班人，铎丝。” 铎丝说：“对我或任何人而言，你都是当然的接班人。 可是你真的愿意吗？你对心理史学或许了若指掌，但你愿意一头栽进大型计划和复杂的行政 工作中，而放弃大部分的研究吗？事实上，就是为了要维持一切顺利进行，哈里才会如此疲惫。你受得了这份工作吗？” “我当然受得了，但我不打算继续讨论这个话题。听着，铎丝，你来这里是想暗示我哈里打算请我走吗？” 铎丝说：“当然不是！你怎么会有这种想法！你看过哈里遗弃哪个朋友吗？”“很好，那么结束这个话题吧。老实说，铎丝，如果你不介意的话，我还有事要忙。”他突然转过身，再度埋头到工作中。“抱歉，我无意占用你这么多时间。” 铎丝离去时不禁皱起眉头。 Chapter 23 Raych said, "Come in, Mom. The coast is clear. I've sent Manella and Wanda off somewhere." Dors entered, looked right and left out of sheer habit, and sat down in the nearest chair. "Thanks," said Dors. For a while she simply sat there, looking as if the weight of the Empire were on her shoulders. Raych waited, then said, "I never got a chance to ask you about your wild trip into the Palace grounds. It isn't every guy who has a mom who can do that." "We're not talking about that, Raych." "Well then, tell me- You're not one for giving anything away by facial expressions, but you look sorta down. Why is that?" "Because I feel, as you say, sorta down. In fact, I'm in a bad mood because I have terribly important things on my mind and there's no use talking to your father about it. He's the most wonderful man in the world, but he's very hard to handle. There's no chance that he'd take an interest in the dramatic. He dismisses it all as my irrational fears for his life-and my subsequent attempts to protect him." "Come on, Mom, you do seem to have irrational fears where Dad's concerned. If you've got something dramatic in mind, it's probably all wrong." "Thank you. You sound just like he does and you leave me frustrated. Absolutely frustrated." "Well then, unburden yourself, Mom. Tell me what's on your mind. From the beginning." "It starts with Wanda's dream." "Wanda's dream! Mom! Maybe you'd better stop right now. I know that Dad won't want to listen if you start that way. I mean, come on. A little kid has a dream and you make a big deal of it. That's ridiculous." "I don't think it was a dream, Raych. I think what she thought was a dream were two real people, talking about what she thought concerned the death of her grandfather." "That's a wild guess on your part. What possible chance does this have of being true?" "Just suppose it is true. The one phrase that remained with her was `lemonade death.' Why should she dream that? It's much more likely that she heard that and distorted the words she heard-in which case, what were the undistorted words?" "I can't tell you," said Raych, his voice incredulous. Dors did not fail to catch that. "You think this is just my sick invention. Still, if I happen to be right, I might be at the start of unraveling a conspiracy against Hari right here in the Project." "Are there conspiracies in the Project? That sounds as impossible to me as finding significance in a dream." "Every large project is riddled with angers, frictions, jealousies of all sorts." "Sure. Sure. We're talking nasty words and faces and nose thumbing and tale bearing. That's nothing at all like talking conspiracy. It's not like talking about killing Dad." "It's just a difference in degree. A small difference-maybe." "You'll never make Dad believe that. For that matter, you'll never make me believe that." Raych walked hastily across the room and back again, "And you've been trying to nose out this so-called conspiracy, have you?" Dors nodded. "And you've failed." Dors nodded. "Doesn't it occur to you that you've failed because there is no conspiracy, Mom?" Dors shook her head. "I've failed so far, but that doesn't shake my belief that one exists. I have that feeling." Raych laughed. "You sound very ordinary, Mom. I would expect more from you than `I have that feeling."' "There is one phrase that I think can be distorted into `lemonade.' That's `layman-aided.' " "Laymanayded? What's that?" "Layman-aided. Two words. A layman is what the mathematicians at the Project call nonmathematicians." "Well?" "Suppose," interjected Dors firmly, "someone spoke of `laymanaided death,' meaning that some way could be found to kill Hari in which one or more nonmathematicians would play an essential role. Might that not have sounded to Wanda like `lemonade death,' considering that she had never heard the phrase `layman-aided' any more than you did, but that she was extraordinarily fond of lemonade?" "Are you trying to tell me that there were people in Dad's private office, of all places- How many people, by the way?" "Wanda, in describing her dream, says two. My own feeling is that one of the two was none other than Colonel Hender Linn of the junta and that he was being shown the Prime Radiant and that there must have been a discussion involving the elimination of Hari." "You're getting wilder and wilder, Mom. Colonel Linn and another man in Dad's office talking murder and not knowing that there was a little girl hidden in a chair, overhearing them? Is that it?" "More or less." "In that case, if there is mention of laymen, then one of the people, presumably the one that isn't Linn, must be a mathematician." "It would seem to be so." "That seems utterly impossible. But even if it were true, which mathematician do you suppose might be in question? There are at least fifty in ilic Project." "I haven't questioned them all. I've questioned a few and some laymen, too, for that matter, but I have uncovered no leads. Of course, I can't be too open in my questions." "In short, no one you have interviewed has given you any lead on any dangerous conspiracy." "No." "I'm not surprised. They haven't done so, because-" "I know your `because,' Raych. Do you suppose people are going to break down and give away conspiracies under mild questioning? I am in no position to try to beat the information out of anyone. Can you imagine what your father would say if I upset one of his precious mathematicians?" Then, with a sudden change in the intonation of her voice, she said, "Raych, have you talked to Yugo Amaryl lately?" "No, not recently. He's not one of your sociable creatures, you know. If you pulled the psychohistory out of him, he'd collapse into a little pile of dry skin." Dors made a face at the picture and said, "I've talked to him twice recently and he seems to me to be a little withdrawn. I don't mean just tired. It is almost as though he's not aware of the world." "Yes. That's Yugo." "Is he getting worse lately?" Raych thought awhile. "He might be. He's getting older, you know. We all are. -Except you, Mom." "Would you say that Yugo had crossed the line and become a little unstable, Raych?" "Who? Yugo? He has nothing to be unstable about. Or with. Just leave him at his psychohistory and he'll mumble quietly to himself for the rest of his life." "I don't think so. There is something that interests him-and very strongly, too. That's the succession." "What succession?" "I mentioned that someday your father might want to retire and it turns out that Yugo is determined-absolutely determined-to be his successor." "I'm not surprised. I imagine that everyone agrees that Yugo is the natural successor. I'm sure Dad thinks so, too." "But he seemed to me to be not quite normal about it. He thought I was coming to him to break the news that Hari had shoved him aside in favor of someone else. Can you imagine anyone thinking that of Hari?" "It is surprising-" Raych interrupted himself and favored his mother with a long look. He said, "Mom, are you getting ready to tell me that it might be Yugo who's at the heart of this conspiracy you're speaking of? That he wants to get rid of Dad and take over?" "Is that entirely impossible?" "Yes, it is, Mom. Entirely. If there's anything wrong with Yugo, it's overwork and nothing else. Staring at all those equations or whatever they are, all day and half the night, would drive anyone crazy." Dors rose to her feet with a jerk. "You're right." Raych, startled, said, "What's the matter?" "What you've said. It's given me an entirely new idea. A crucial one, I think." Turning, without another word, she left. 第二十三章 　　芮奇说：“进来吧，妈。家里没其他人，玛妮拉和婉达都出去了。” 铎丝走了进来，习惯性地四处打量一番，才坐在最近的一张椅子上。“谢谢。”好一会儿，铎丝只是坐在那里，看来好像肩负着整个帝国的重担。芮奇等了一下，然后说：“我一直找不到机会，问问你那趟疯狂的御苑之旅。不是每个哥儿们的妈都有这种能耐。” “今天我们不谈那件事，芮奇。” “好吧——你不是那种什么心事都写在脸上的人，可是你看起来似乎有点消沉，为什么呢？” “因为就像你说的，我是有那么点消沉。老实说，我心情简直糟透了，我有非常重要的事要跟你爸谈，但他根本听不进去。你爸是世界上最好的人，但也非常顽固，完全无法想像任何戏剧性的事。我担心他的安危，他却不理不睬，以为一切不过是我的非理性恐惧，而对我试图保护他的行动，他也嗤之以鼻。”“算了吧，妈，跟爸有关的事，你的恐惧真的有些离谱。你心中那些戏剧性的想法，说不定全是错的。” “谢谢你泼我冷水。你的口气跟你爸一模一样，真是让我灰心。” “好吧，那你说说看，妈。把心事告诉我，从头开始吧。” “一切都从婉达的梦开始。” “婉达的梦！够了，妈！如果你用这个开头，爸会和我一样听不下去。我是说，算了吧， 那不过是小孩子的梦，你这么小题大做实在是荒谬。”“我不认为那是梦，芮奇。她以为那是梦，但我认为那是两个真人在谈谋杀她祖父的事。”“那是你自己乱猜，这怎么可能是真的？” “姑且先假设它是真的。她只记得‘柠檬水之死’几个字，为什么是这几个字？较有可能的情况，是婉达听到了什么，然后把听到的话扭曲成那几个字。要真是这样，她原来听到的是什么呢？” “我可不知道。”芮奇一副怀疑的口气。铎丝听出他的言外之意。“你认为那只是我的病态妄想。但如果我的猜测正确，就可能揭发出一件自家人的阴谋。” “阴谋？妈，这和你解释梦的含意一样，根本是无稽之谈。” “每个大型计划都少不了各式各样的愤怒、摩擦、妒忌。”“当然，但那顶多是冷言冷语、怒目相视、彼此嘲讽，或是流言中伤，根本算不上阴谋， 和谋杀爸扯不上关系。” “那只是程度上的差异，或许根本没什么差别。”“爸绝对不可能相信你这种说法，就连我都不相信。”芮奇快步在房中踱了一回，“你一 直想挖出这个所谓的阴谋，对吧？”铎丝点了点头。 “结果你没找到。” 铎丝又点了点头。 “妈，难道你没想过，你找不到是因为根本没有阴谋吗？”铎丝摇了摇头。“目前为止我是还没找到，但我相信绝对有阴谋，我可以感觉得到。”芮奇哈哈大笑。“你真是轻描淡写，妈，我还以为你会说出比‘我可以感觉得到’更惊人的话。” “我想到一句可能被扭曲成‘柠檬水之死’的话—— ‘零墨水致死’。” “零墨水之死？什么意思？” “是‘致死’，不是‘之死’。零墨水代表胸无点墨，是谢顿计划中的数学家对非数学家 的谑称。” “那又怎样？” “假设，”铎丝以坚定的口吻说，“‘零墨水致死’的意思是指某一项杀害哈里的阴谋， 其中的主谋者是一个或几个非数学家。婉达跟你一样没听过‘零墨水’这个称呼，而她又非常喜爱柠檬水，那么在她听来，这几个字不就很像‘柠檬水之死’吗？”“你是说，当时竟然有人藏在爸的研究室里？好啊，那有几个人呢？” “婉达说她梦中有两个人。我自己的感觉是，其中之一不是别人，正是执政团的韩德•厄拉尔上校，当时他正在观看元光体的示范，而且必定和另一个人讨论到除掉哈里的事。” “你的想像力太丰富了，妈。你是说，厄拉尔上校跟另一个人在爸的研究室讨论谋杀爸， 却不知道有个小女孩躲在椅子里偷听他们的谈话？是不是这样？” “差不多。” “如果他们提到零墨水，那么另外那个人一定是个数学家。” “非常有可能。” “完全不可能。就算是真的好了，那个数学家会是谁？谢顿计划中至少有五十名数学家。”“目前为止，我只接触过了几个，另外我也和一些非数学家谈过，但我还没发现任何线索。当然，问话不能太公开。”“总之，你从那些人身上没有得到任何有关危险阴谋的线索。”“没错。” “我并不惊讶。你找不出线索是因为——” “我知道你想说什么。你以为我只要这样温和地盘问，他们就会崩溃，把阴谋泄露出来？ 芮奇，我不能对任何人逼供，假如我惊扰了你爸的哪位宝贝数学家，你能想像他会说什么吗？”接着，她的声调突然明显转变：“芮奇，你最近有没有跟雨果聊过？” “没有，最近没有。他不是社交动物，你知道。如果把心理史学从他身上抽走，他就会垮成一副干尸。” 铎丝想到那种景象，不禁做个鬼脸。“最近我跟他谈过两次，我觉得他似乎有点无神。我不是指身体上的疲倦，而是他仿佛对这个世界浑然不觉。” “没错，那就是雨果。” “他最近情况变糟了吗？” 芮奇想了下。“有可能，你知道，他年纪越来越大了。但谁不是呢？只有你例外，妈。” “你说雨果会不会工作得过了头，变得有点撑不住，芮奇？” “谁？雨果？撑不撑得住对他根本不是问题。只要让他继续研究心理史学，他就会一辈子都那么低声喃喃自语。” “我不这么认为。他对一件事很感兴趣，非常有兴趣，那就是接班。” “接什么班？” “有次我向雨果提到你爸也许有退休的念头，结果雨果坚信——绝对坚信——自己会是接班人。” “我并不惊讶。我想没有人会反对这点，爸一定也这么想。” “但在我看来，他的表现似乎有点反常。他以为我是想暗示他，你爸已经放弃他，而属意另外的人选。你能想像有人这样怀疑你爸吗？”“这倒是很奇怪……”芮奇沉默下来，凝视着母亲一会儿，才继续说，“妈，你该不是要说，雨果可能就是你口中那个阴谋的核心人物？他想除掉爸，然后取代他？” “没有这个可能吗？” “不可能，妈，完全不可能。要说雨果有什么不对劲，除了工作过度，不会有别的。整天整夜不停瞪着那些方程式——或是任何东西——任何人都会发疯的。”铎丝突然站了起来：“你说得对。”芮奇吓了一跳。“怎么回事？”“你刚刚的话给了我一个新想法——而且是关键性的想法。”铎丝没再说什么，便转身离去。 Chapter 24 Dors Venabili disapproved, as she said to Hari Seldon "You've spent four days at the Galactic Library. Completely out of touch and again you managed to go without me." Husband and wife stared at each other's image on their holoscreens. Hari had just returned from a research trip to the Galactic Library in Imperial Sector. He was calling Dors from his Project office to let her know he'd returned to Streeling. Even in anger, thought Hari, Dors is beautiful. He wished he could reach out and touch her cheek. "Dors," he began, a placating note in his voice, "I did not go alone. I had a number of people with me and the Galactic Library, of all places, is safe for scholars, even in these turbulent times. I am going to have to be at the Library more and more often, I think, as time goes on." "And you're going to continue to do it without telling me?" "Dors, I can't live according to these death-filled views of yours. Nor Rio I want you running after me and upsetting the librarians. They're not the junta. I need them and I don't want to make them angry. But I do think that I-we-should take an apartment nearby." Dors looked grim, shook her head, and changed the subject. "Do you know that I had two talks with Yugo recently?" "Good. I'm glad you did. He needs contact with the outside world." "Yes, he does, because something's wrong with him. He's not the 1'ugo we've had with us all these years. He's become vague, distant, and -oddly enough-passionate on only one point, as nearly as I can tell-his determination to succeed you on your retirement." "That would be natural-if he survives me." "Don't you expect him to survive you?" "Well, he's eleven years younger than I am, but the vicissitudes of circumstance-" "What you really mean is that you recognize that Yugo is in a bad way. He looks and acts older than you do, for all his younger age, and that seems to be a rather recent development. Is he ill?" "Physically? I don't think so. He has his periodic examinations. I'll admit, though, that he seems drained. I've tried to persuade him to take a vacation for a few months-a whole year's sabbatical, if he wishes. I've suggested that he leave Trantor altogether, just so that he is as far away from the Project as possible for a while. There would be no problem in financing his stay on Getorin-which is a pleasant resort world not too many light-years away." Dors shook her head impatiently. "And, of course, he won't. I suggested a vacation to him and he acted as though he didn't know the meaning of the word. He absolutely refused." "So what can we do?" said Seldon. Dors said, "We can think a little. Yugo worked for a quarter of a century on the Project and seemed to maintain his strength without any trouble at all and now suddenly he has weakened. It can't be age. He's not yet fifty." "Are you suggesting something?" "Yes. How long have you and Yugo been using this Electro-Clarifier thing on your Prime Radiants?" "About two years-maybe a little more." "I presume that the Electro-Clarifier is used by anyone who uses the Prime Radiant." "That's right." "Which means Yugo and you, mostly?" "Yes." "And Yugo more than you?" "Yes. Yugo concentrates fiercely on the Prime Radiant and its equations. 1, unfortunately, have to spend much of my time on administrative duties." "And what effect does the Electro-Clarifier have on the human body?" Seldon looked surprised. "Nothing of any significance that I am aware of." "In that case, explain something to me, Hari. The Electro-Clarifier has been in operation for over two years and in that time you've grown measurably more tired, crotchety, and a little-out of touch. Why is that?" "I'm getting older, Dors." "Nonsense. Whoever told you that sixty is crystallized senility? You're using your age as a crutch and a defense and I want you to stop it. Yugo, though he's younger, has been exposed to the Electro-Clarifier more than you have and, as a result, he is more tired, more crotchety, and, in my opinion, a great deal less in touch than you are. And he is rather childishly intense about the succession. Don't you see anything significant in this?" "Age and overwork. That's significant." "No, it's the Electro-Clarifier. It's having a long-term effect on the two of you." After a pause, Seldon said, "I can't disprove that, Dors, but I don't see how it's possible. The Electro-Clarifier is a device that produces an unusual electronic field, but it is still only a field of the type to which human beings are constantly exposed. It can't do any unusual harm. -In any case, we can't give up its use. There's no way of continuing the progress of the Project without it." "Now, Hari, I must ask something of you and you must cooperate with me on this. Go nowhere outside the Project without telling me and do nothing out of the ordinary without telling me. Do you understand?" "Dors, how can I agree to this? You're trying to put me into a straitjacket." "It's just for a while. A few days. A week." "What's going to happen in a few days or a week?" Dors said, "Trust me. I will clear up everything." 第二十四章 　　铎丝以责备的口气对谢顿说：你竟然又瞒着我一个人跑到帝国图书馆去，而且整整四天不跟我联络。” 夫妻两人在全息屏幕上望着对方的影像。谢顿为了研究工作，今天才刚从皇区的帝国图书馆回来。他从研究室拨了通全息电话给铎丝，让她知道自己已经回到川陀，即使在盛怒中， 铎丝仍是那么美丽，谢顿不禁这么想，他好希望能伸手轻抚她的脸颊。 “铎丝，”他试图安抚，“我不是单独去的，有好几个人陪着我。虽然时局不怎么安定， 但对一名学者而言，没有比帝国图书馆更安全的地方了。我想，今后我造访那座图书馆的次数会越来越多。” “你要继续瞒着我出门吗？” “铎丝，我不能老是活在你那种死亡恐惧里。我也不要你亦步亦趋地跟着我，惊扰那些图书馆员，他们又不是执政团。我需要他们的协助，我不希望惹他们生气。无论如何，我想我应该——我们应该在图书馆附近找栋房子。” 铎丝一脸不高兴地摇了摇头，随即改变话题。“你可知道最近我跟雨果聊了两次？” “很好，你能这样做真好，他需要跟外界接触。”“他的确需要，因为他有些不对劲。他变得有些恍惚、疏远，不再是我们认识的那个雨果。而且，奇怪得很，据我判断，他可能只对一件事热衷，就是决心在你退休后接替你的职位。” “雨果自然会是接班人，如果他活得比我久的话。” “你不希望他活得比你久吗？”“这个嘛，他是比我年轻十一岁，可是世事难料，谁也说不准……”“你真正的意思是，雨果的情况的确不妙。虽然他比你年轻许多，外表和动作却显得比你老。这种情形似乎是最近才出现的，他是不是生病了？”“生理上吗？我想不至于，他有定期接受身体检查的习惯。不过，我承认他似乎筋疲力尽了。我曾劝他休几个月的假，如果他愿意，一年我也批准。我还建议他干脆暂时离开川陀， 离计划越远越好，我们绝对可以资助他待在葛托润，那是一个怡人的度假世界，离川陀只有几光年的距离。” 铎丝不耐烦地摇摇头。“不用说，他当然不肯。我建议他休个假，他的反应像是根本不懂休假是什么意思。他完全拒绝。”“所以说，我们能怎么办呢？”谢顿道。 铎丝说：“我们可以回想一下。雨果为计划工作了四分之一世纪，体力似乎一直没什么问题。现在他却突然变得那么虚弱。这不可能是上了年纪的关系，他还不满五十岁。”“你在暗示有别的可能性吗？”“没错。你和雨果使用那个电子阐析器多久了？”“大约两年，也许更久一点。”“我想不论是谁用元光体，都会用到电子阐析器吧？”“没错。” “主要是雨果和你在用？” “是的。” “而雨果使用的时间又比你多？” “是的，雨果将全副心力集中于元光体和它的方程式。我没那么幸运，我大部分时间都花在行政事务上。” “电子阐析器对人体造成什么影响？” 谢顿显得有些惊讶。“据我所知，没有任何重大影响。” “这样的话，哈里，为什么电子阐析器运作的两年多来，你变得比过去容易疲倦、心神不宁，甚至有点——魂不守舍，我想知道原因。”“我老了，铎丝。” “乱讲。谁说六十岁就老了？别再拿年纪当借口。雨果虽然比你年轻，但由于更常暴露在电子阐析器前，结果变得比你更疲倦、更心神不宁，而且在我看来，比你更魂不守舍。他想成为接班人已经到了孩子气的程度，你难道看不出其中的涵义吗？” “上了年纪和工作过度，那就是其中的涵义。” “不，是电子阐析器。长久以来它对你们两人都造成了影响。”顿了一会之后，谢顿说：“我没有证据反驳你，铎丝，但我也看不出你的话有什么可能性。电子阐析器是会产生特殊的电磁场，但人类原本就一直处于这类电磁场中，它不会造成任何特殊的伤害。无论如何，我们不能弃之不用。要是没有它，谢顿计划无法继续进展下去。” “哈里，我有一个要求，你一定要跟我合作。待在计划建筑群中，别再背着我到处乱跑， 也别再背着我做不寻常的事。了解吗？”“铎丝，我怎么能答应？你这是逼我穿疯人紧身衣。”“只是暂时性的——几天，最多一个礼拜。”“这几天会发生什么事吗？” “相信我，”铎丝说，“我会把一切弄清楚。” Chapter 25 Hari Seldon knocked gently with an old-fashioned code and Yugo Amaryl looked up. "Hari, how nice of you to drop around." "I should do it more often. In the old days we were together all the time. Now there are hundreds of people to worry about-here, there, and everywhere-and they get between us. Have you heard the news?" "What news?" "The junta is going to set up a poll tax-a nice substantial one. It will be announced on TrantorVision tomorrow. It will be just Trantor for now and the Outer Worlds will have to wait. That's a little disappointing. I had hoped it would be Empire-wide all at once, but apparently I didn't give the General enough credit for caution." Amaryl said, "Trantor will be enough. The Outer Worlds will know that their turn will follow in not too long a time." "Now we'll have to see what happens." "What will happen is that the shouting will start the instant the announcement is out and the riots will begin, even before the new tax goes into effect." "Are you sure of it?" Amaryl put his Prime Radiant into action at once and expanded the appropriate section. "See for yourself, Hari. I don't see how that can be misinterpreted and that's the prediction under the particular circumstances that now exist. If it doesn't happen, it means that everything we've worked out in psychohistory is wrong and I refuse to believe that." "I'll try to have courage," said Seldon, smiling. Then "How do you feel lately, Yugo?" "Well enough. Reasonably well. -And how are you, by the way? I've heard rumors that you're thinking of resigning. Even Dors said something about that." "Pay no attention to Dors. These days she's saying all sorts of things. She has a bug in her head about some sort of danger permeating the Project." "What kind of danger?" "It's better not to ask. She's just gone off on one of her tangents and, as always, that makes her uncontrollable." Amaryl said, "See the advantage I have in being single?" Then, in a lower voice, "If you do resign, Hari, what are your plans for the future?" Seldon said, "You'll take over. What other plans can I possibly have?" And Amaryl smiled. 第二十五章 　　谢顿轻轻敲出一个老式的密码，阿马瑞尔抬起头来。“哈里，难得你想到来看我。” “我应该常来的。从前我们成天都在一起，而现在呢？好几百人挡在我们之间，几乎耗去了我们大部分的心力。对了，你听到消息了吗？” “什么消息？” “执政团准备开征人头税，金额相当可观，明天便会在川陀全视上宣布。可惜的是，目前征收范围只有川陀，外围世界还得等一阵子。我原本寄望这次征税会是全帝国性的，但我显然低估了将军的谨慎程度。”阿马瑞尔说：“只要川陀就够了，外围世界会知道不久就轮到他们。” “现在我们得等着看结果了。”“结果就是新税制一公布，人民的怒吼便立刻淹没川陀，而在新税制实施之前，暴动也许就会发生。” “你确定？” 阿马瑞尔立刻激活元光体，将相关段落放大。“你自己看吧，哈里。这是对目前这个特殊状况的预测，我看不出会有什么差错。如果这个预测没有实现，就代表心理史学至今的研究成果完全错误。我不相信这种事。” “我会告诉自己要勇敢一点。”谢顿微微一笑，然后又说，“最近还好吗，雨果？” “还算好……够好了。那你呢？听说你想辞职，铎丝也向我提过这事。”“别理铎丝，最近这些天来她没什么事不提的。她疑神疑鬼，坚持这计划中暗藏着危险。” “什么危险？” “还是别问的好。她每次都这样一意孤行，最后变得不可理喻。” “看到我作单身汉的好处了？”然后阿马瑞尔压低声音，“如果你真准备辞职，哈里，你对未来有什么计划？” 谢顿说：“当然是由你接班，我难道还还会有别的计划吗？” 阿马瑞尔露出了笑容。 Chapter 26 In the small conference room in the main building, Tamwile Elar listened to Dors Venabili with a gathering look of confusion and anger on his face. Finally he burst out, "Impossible!" He rubbed his chin, then went on cautiously, "I don't mean to offend you, Dr. Venabili, but your suggestions are ridic- cannot be right. I'here's no way in which anyone can think that there are, in this Psychohistory Project, any feelings so deadly as to justify your suspicions. I would certainly know if there were and I assure you there are not. Don't think it." "I do think it," said Dors stubbornly, "and I can find evidence for it." Elar said, "I don't know how to say this without offense, Dr. Venabili, but if a person is ingenious enough and intent enough on proving something, he or she can find all the evidence he or she wants-or, at least, something he or she believes is evidence." "Do you think I'm paranoid?" "I think that in your concern for the Maestro-something in which I抦 with you all the way-you're, shall we say, overheated." Dors paused and considered Elar's statement. "At least you're right that a person with sufficient ingenuity can find evidence anywhere. I can build a case against you, for instance." Elar's eyes widened as he stared at her in total astonishment. "Against me? I would like to hear what case you can possibly have against me." "Very well. You shall. The birthday party was your idea, wasn't it?" Elar said, "I thought of it, yes, but I'm sure others did, too. With the Maestro moaning about his advancing years, it seemed a natural way of cheering him up." "I'm sure others may have thought of it, but it was you who actually pressed the issue and got my daughter-in-law fired up about it. She took over the details and you persuaded her that it was possible to put together a really large celebration. Isn't that so?" "I don't know if I had any influence on her, but even if I did, what's wrong with that?" "In itself, nothing, but in setting up so large and widespread and prolonged a celebration, were we not advertising to the rather unstable and suspicious men of the junta that Hari was too popular and might be a danger to them?" "No one could possibly believe such a thing was in my mind." Dors said, "I am merely pointing out the possibility. -In planning the birthday celebration, you insisted that the central offices be cleared out-" "Temporarily. For obvious reasons." "-and insisted that they remain totally unoccupied for a while. No work was done-except by Yugo Amaryl-during that time." "I didn't think it would hurt if the Maestro had some rest in advance of the party. Surely you can't complain about that." "But it meant that you could consult with other people in the empty offices and do so in total privacy. The offices are, of course, well shielded." "I did consult there-with your daughter-in-law, with caterers, suppliers, and other tradesmen. It was absolutely necessary, wouldn't you say?" "And if one of those you consulted with was a member of the junta?" Elar looked as though Dors had hit him. "I resent that, Dr. Venabili. What do you take me for?" Dors did not answer directly. She said, "You went on to talk to Dr. Seldon about his forthcoming meeting with the General and urged him-rather pressingly-to let you take his place and run the risks that might follow. The result was, of course, that Dr. Seldon insisted rather vehemently on seeing the General himself, which one can argue was precisely what you wanted him to do." Elar emitted a short nervous laugh. "With all due respect, this does sound like paranoia, Doctor." Dors pressed on. "And then, after the party, it was you, wasn't it, who was the first to suggest that a group of us go to the Dome's Edge Hotel?" "Yes and I remember you saying it was a good idea." "Might it not have been suggested in order to make the junta uneasy, as yet another example of Hari's popularity? And might it not have been arranged to tempt me into invading the Palace grounds?" "Could I have stopped you?" said Elar, his incredulity giving way to anger. "You had made up your own mind about that." Dors paid no attention. "And, of course, you hoped that by entering the Palace grounds I might make sufficient trouble to turn the junta even further against Hari." "But why, Dr. Venabili? Why would I be doing this?" "One might say it was to get rid of Dr. Seldon and to succeed him as director of the Project." "How can you possibly think this of me? I can't believe you are serious. You're just doing what you said you would at the start of this exercise just showing me what can be done by an ingenious mind intent on finding so-called evidence." "Let's turn to something else. I said that you were in a position to use the empty rooms for private conversations and that you may have been there with a member of the junta." "That is not even worth a denial." "But you were overheard. A little girl wandered into the room, curled up in a chair out of sight, and overheard your conversation." Elar frowned. "What did she hear?" "She reported that two men were talking about death. She was only a child and could not repeat anything in detail, but two words did impress her and they were `lemonade death.' " "Now you seem to be changing from fantasy to-if you'll excuse me -madness. What can `lemonade death' mean and what would it have to do with me?" "My first thought was to take it literally. The girl in question is very fond of lemonade and there was a good deal of it at the party, but no one Had poisoned it." "Thanks for granting sanity that much." "Then I realized the girl had heard something else, which her imperfect command of the language and her love of the beverage had perverted into `lemonade.'" "And have you invented a distortion?" Elar snorted. "It did seem to me for a while that what she might have heard was hymen-aided death.'" "What does that mean?" "An assassination carried through by laymen-by nonmathematicians." Dors stopped and frowned. Her hand clutched her chest. Elar said with sudden concern, "Is something wrong, Dr. Venabili?" "No," said Dors, seeming to shake herself. For a few moments she said nothing further and Elar cleared his throat. There was no sign of amusement on his face any longer, as he said, "Your comments, Dr. Venabili, are growing steadily more ridiculous and-well, I don't care if I do offend you, but I have grown tired of them. Shall we put an end to this?" "We are almost at an end, Dr. Elar. Layman-aided may indeed be ridiculous, as you say. I had decided that in my own mind, too. -You are, in part, responsible for the development of the Electro-Clarifier, aren't you?" Elar seemed to stand straighter as he said with a touch of pride, "Entirely responsible." "Surely not entirely. I understand it was designed by Cinda Monay." "A designer. She followed my instructions." "A layman. The Electro-Clarifier is a layman-aided device." With suppressed violence Elar said, "I don't think I want to hear that phrase again. Once more, shall we put an end to this?" Dors forged on, as if she hadn't heard his request. "Though you give her no credit now, you gave Cinda credit to her face-to keep her working eagerly, I suppose. She said you gave her credit and she was very grateful because of it. She said you even called the device by her name and yours, though that's not the official name." "Of course not. It's the Electro-Clarifier." "And she said she was designing improvements, intensifiers, and so on-and that you had the prototype of an advanced version of the new device for testing." "What has all this to do with anything?" "Since Dr. Seldon and Dr. Amaryl have been working with the Electro-Clarifier, both have in some ways deteriorated. Yugo, who works with it more, has also suffered more." "The Electro-Clarifier can, in no way, do that kind of damage." Dors put her hand to her forehead and momentarily winced. She said, "And now you have a more intense Electro-Clarifier that might do more damage, that might kill quickly, rather than slowly." "Absolute nonsense." "Now consider the name of the device, a name which, according to the woman who designed it, you are the only one to use. I presume you called it the Elar-Monay Clarifier." "I don't ever recall using that phrase," said Elar uneasily. "Surely you did. And the new intensified Elar-Monay Clarifies could he used to kill with no blame to be attached to anyone just a sad accident through a new and untried device. It would be the `Elar-Monay death' and a little girl heard it as `lemonade death.' " Dors's hand groped at her side. Elar said softly, "You are not well, Dr. Venabili." "I am perfectly well. Am I not correct?" "Look, it doesn't matter what you can twist into lemonade. Who knows what the little girl may have heard? It all boils down to the deadliness of the Electro-Clarifier. Bring me into court or before a scientific investigating board and let experts-as many as you like---check the effect of the Electro-Clarifier, even the new intensified one, on human beings. They will find it has no measurable effect." "I don't believe that," muttered Venabili. Her hands were now at her forehead and her eyes were closed. She swayed slightly. Elar said, "It is clear that you are not well, Dr. Venabili. Perhaps that means it is my turn to talk. May I?" Dors's eyes opened and she simply stared. "I'll take your silence for consent, Doctor. Of what use would it be for me to try to to get rid of Dr. Seldon and Dr. Amaryl in order to take my place as director? You would prevent any attempt I made at assassination, as you now think you are doing. In the unlikely case that I succeeded in such a project and was rid of the two great men, you would tear me to pieces afterward. You're a very unusual woman-strong and Post beyond belief-and while you are alive, the Maestro is safe." "Yes," said Dors, glowering. "I told this to the men of the junta. -Why should they not consult me on matters involving the Project? They are very interested in psychohistory, as well they ought to be. It was difficult for them to believe what I told them about you-until you made your foray into the Palace grounds. That convinced them, you can be sure, and they agreed with my plan." "Aha. Now we come to it," Dors said weakly. "I told you the Electro-Clarifier cannot harm human beings. It cannot. Amaryl and your precious Hari are just getting old, though you refuse to accept it. So what? They are fine-perfectly human. The electromagnetic field has no effect of any importance on organic materials. Of course, it may have adverse effects on sensitive electromagnetic machinery and, if we could imagine a human being built of metal and electronics, it might have an effect on it. Legends tell us of such artificial human beings. The Mycogenians have based their religion on them and they call such beings "robots." If there were such a thing as a robot, one would imagine it would be stronger and faster by far than an ordinary human being, that it would have properties, in fact, resembling those you have, Dr. Venabili. And such a robot could, indeed, be stopped, hurt, even destroyed by an intense Electro-Clarifier, such as the one that I have here, one that has been operating at low energy since we began our conversation. That is why you are feeling ill, Dr. Venabili-and for the first time in your existence, I'm sure." Dors said nothing, merely stared at the man. Slowly she sank into a chair. Elar smiled and went on, "Of course, with you taken care of, there will be no problem with the Maestro and with Amaryl. The Maestro, in fact, without you, may fade out at once and resign in grief, while Amaryl is merely a child in his mind. In all likelihood, neither will have to be killed. How does it feel, Dr. Venabili, to be unmasked after all these years? I must admit, you were very good at concealing your true nature. It's almost surprising that no one else discovered the truth before now. But then, I am a brilliant mathematician-an observer, a thinker, a deducer. Even I would not have figured it out were it not for your fanatical devotion to the Maestro and the occasional bursts of superhuman power you seemed to summon at will-when he was threatened. "Say good-bye, Dr. Venabili. All I have to do now is to turn the device to full power and you will be history." Dors seemed to collect herself and rose slowly from her seat, mumbling, "I may be better shielded than you think." Then, with a grunt, she threw herself at Elar. Elar, his eyes widening, shrieked and reeled back. Then Dors was on him, her hand flashing. Its side struck Elar's neck, smashing the vertebrae and shattering the nerve cord. He fell dead on the floor. Dors straightened with an effort and staggered toward the door. She had to find Hari. He had to know what had happened. 第二十六章 　　在主楼的小会议室内，泰姆外尔•林恩听着铎丝的叙述，脸上逐渐浮现困惑与愤怒的表情。最后，他终于冒出一句：“不可能！” 他摸了摸下巴，谨慎地说道：“我无意冒犯，凡纳比里博士，但你的说法简直是荒……不可能是真的。心理史学计划中，不可能有什么了不得的深仇大恨能证明你的怀疑。有的话我一定会知道，但我向你保证绝对没有。你千万别这么想。” “我就是这么想，”铎丝倔强地说，“我还找到了证据。”林恩说：“我无意冒犯，凡纳比里博士，但一个人如果一心想证明某件事，只要他够聪明，绝对能找到他想要的任何东西，或至少是他自以为是证据的东西。” “你在暗示我有妄想症吗？” “你对大师非常关心——这点我始终和你是一样的——但你的关心似乎有点过头了。”铎丝顿了顿，琢磨着林恩的话。“至少你说对一件事，一个聪明人能找出他要的任何证据。比如说，我就能指控你一项罪名。”林恩一阵错愕，瞪大眼睛看着铎丝。“指控我？指控我什么？”“好，我就说清楚。生日宴会是你的主意，对不对？”林恩说：“没错，是我的主意，但别人一定也想到了。大师最近经常感慨上了年纪，宴会似乎是逗他开心的好办法。”“我相信别人一定也想到了，但实际上鼓吹这件事的却是你。你让玛妮拉一头栽进去，筹备一切细节，而且使她相信可以举办一个联合的大型庆生会。是不是这样？” “我不知道她有没有受到我的影响，就算有，这有什么不对吗？” “庆生会本身是没有错，但举办一场规模这么大、历时这么长的庆生会，不就等于向那些地位不稳、疑心病又重的执政团大肆宣传哈里受欢迎的程度，让他们觉得哈里也许是个威胁？” “谁会相信我有这种居心。” 铎丝说：“我只是指出这个可能性。在筹备过程中，你坚持把几间核心研究室搬空——” “那只是暂时的，理由很明显。” “而且你坚持那些研究室在筹备期间要停止使用。所以在那段期间，除了雨果•阿马瑞 尔，没有人在那里工作。” “我认为事先休息一下，对大师绝不会有什么害处，你不会是因为这件事怪我吧？” “但这样你就能乘机在搬空的研究室里，跟某人商量事情。研究室有良好的屏蔽，隐秘性绝对足够。” “我的确在那里商量事情——跟玛妮拉，跟宴会承办商、食品供货商，以及其他的生意人。你认为这些事不必要吗？”“如果其中有一个是执政团成员呢？” 林恩像是挨了一拳。“太过分了，凡纳比里博士，你把我当成什么了？”铎丝并未直接回答。“接着，你又去找谢顿博士，讨论他即将和将军会晤的事，并且力荐自己代替他去，好承担可能发生的危险。当然，谢顿博士坚持自己去见将军。而我们可以说，那正是你希望确定的事。”林恩神经质地笑了笑。“博士，我没有不敬之意，但这听来的确像是妄想。”铎丝继续进逼。“还有，在宴会结束后，提议我们一大群人前往穹缘旅馆的也是你，对吧？” “是的，我记得你还说那是个好主意。”“难道这不可能是炫耀哈里声望的另一次机会，好让执政团不安？难道这不是诱我侵入御苑的一种安排？” “我有能力阻止你吗？”林恩的困惑已被愤怒取代，“你早已决心那么做。”铎丝完全没理会他说些什么。“而且，毫无疑问地，你希望我闯进御苑后惹出更多麻烦， 好让执政团更加敌视哈里。” “这一切是为什么，凡纳比里博士？我为什么要这样做？”“或许你想除掉谢顿博士，好继他之后出任计划主持人。”“你怎么会认为我有这种企图？你不可能是认真的吧，你只是在向我证明——就像你一开始说的——一个热衷于找出证据的聪明人能做到什么程度。”“我们来讨论另一件事。我说过，你当时乘机利用那些空房间进行密谈，对象也许是一名执政团成员。” “这种指控不值得我否认。” “但有人听到你们的谈话。一个小女孩无意间走进那房间，窝在一张椅子里，你们看不到她，她却听到了你们的谈话。” 林恩维起眉头。“她听到些什么？”“她说听到有两个男的谈到死亡。她只是个孩子，无法转述细节，但有几个字令她印象深刻，那就是‘柠檬水之死’。” “现在你似乎从幻想转变成——请原谅我这么说——疯狂。柠檬水之死’能有什么意思？ 跟我又有什么关系？” “我的第一个反应是照字面解释。那个小女孩非常喜爱柠檬水，而宴会准备了大量柠檬水，不过并没有人在里面下毒。” “感谢你至少没把我当成疯子。” “后来我才醒悟，那女孩听到的是别的字眼。由于她对语言的理解力还不够，又特别偏爱那种饮料，才将那几个字曲解成‘柠檬水’。”“你想出她曲解的是什么吗？”林恩冷笑一下。 “曾经有一阵子，我认为她听到的可能是‘零墨水致死？’。”“那又是什么意思？” “由零墨水，也就是非数学家策动的暗杀——” 铎丝突然打住。她皱起眉头，一只手紧抓胸口。 林恩立刻关切地问：“你怎么了，凡纳比里博士？” “没事。”铎丝似乎摇晃了一下。 有好一会儿，她没有再开口。林恩清了清喉咙，正色说道：“凡纳比里博士，你的推论越来越荒谬了。而且……好吧，我不在乎是否会冒犯你，但我已经不想再谈这些话了。谈话是不是该结束了？” “就快了，林恩博士——正如你所说，零墨水的确有点荒谬，我自己也已经这么判定。不过，电子阐析器的发展，你负责了其中一部分，对不对？” “全部是我一个人负责的。”林恩似乎挺起胸膛，语气有点骄傲。 “是吗？据我了解，它是欣妲•蒙内设计的。”“她只是设计者，一切遵循我的指导。”“她是个零墨水，电子阐析器是零墨水设计的装置。”林恩压抑着怒气，粗声说道：“够了！我不想再听到这几个字。我再说一次，谈话是不是该结束了？” 铎丝继续说下去，仿佛没听到他的要求。“现在你否认欣妲的功劳，但你在她面前可不是这么说的——我猜是为了让她继续替你卖命吧。她非常感激说你承认她有功劳，还说你甚至用你们两人的名字称呼这个装置，虽然那并非正式的名称。”“当然不是，它叫做电子阐析器。”“欣妲还提到，她正在改良这个装置，加强它的功能。而你已经拿到这个改良型式的原型，准备进行测试。” “这一切又代表什么呢？” “自从谢顿博士和阿马瑞尔博士利用电子阐析器工作后，两人在某些方面都变得比较衰弱。雨果使用的时间长，受的伤害也比较大。” “电子阐析器绝不会对人体造成伤害。”铎丝伸手按着额头，怔了片刻才说：“现在你有了更强力的电子阐析器，杀伤力可能更大，或许可以立刻将人杀死，而不必慢性谋杀。”“真是胡说八道。” “现在我们从这个装置的名称来推论看看。根据设计者欣妲告诉我，你个人对这装置有个专用的名称，我猜它叫林恩-蒙内阐析器。” “我不记得用过这名称。”林恩不安地说。 “你当然用过。而这个经过强化的新林恩-蒙内阐析器，可以杀人于无形，没有人需要 负责。任何意外都可以推说是一个未经试验的新装置所造成的悲剧。那就是‘林恩-蒙内之 死’，而那小女孩把它听成了‘柠檬水之死’。”铎丝伸手抚着自己的侧腹。 林恩轻声道：“你不舒服吗，凡纳比里博士？” “我好得很。我说的不对吗？”“听好，你把什么字眼扭曲成柠檬水并不重要。谁知道那小女孩究竟听到什么？如果一切都归咎于电子阐析器，那就把我送上法庭，或是交给科学调查委员会，然后随你爱找多少专家就找多少，让他们检査电子阐析器对人体会造成什么效应，甚至那个新的增强型也可以一并检查。他们将会发现，根本测不出来任何效应。”“我不相信……”铎丝喃喃道，现在她双手扶着额头，双眼紧闭，身子微微摇晃起来。“你身体显然很不舒服，凡纳比里博士，”林恩说，“或许这表示，现在该轮到我说话了，如何？” 铎丝睁开双眼，定定地望着前方。 “我把你的沉默当成同意，博士。我若想当主持人，试图除掉谢顿博士和阿马瑞尔博士有什么用？你会阻止我的任何暗杀计划，就像此刻你自以为正在做的事一样。即使我的计划侥幸成功，除掉了那两位大人物，你也会在事后将我撕成碎片。你是个不寻常的女人，强壮、 迅速得令人难以置信，只要你活着，谁也别想动大师一根汗毛。” “没错。”铎丝凶狠地瞪着林恩。 “我把这点告诉了执政团的人——他们为何不该向我询问谢顿计划的进展？他们对心 理史学极有兴趣，这是很自然的事。在你侵入御苑前，他们原本不相信我对你的描述，是你自己的行动说服了他们。于是他们决定采用我的计划。” “啊哈，现在说到正题了。”铎丝虚弱地说。“我告诉过你电子阐析器不会伤害人类，这是事实。阿马瑞尔和你亲爱的哈里只不过是老了，虽然你拒绝承认。所以说呢，他们没事，全都好端端的，那种电磁场对有机物质没有重大影响。但是敏感的电磁机械可能就另当别论了——譬如一个金属与电子零件构成的人类， 可能就会受到损害。传说这种人造人曾一度存在，是麦曲生人的信仰基础。他们将这些人造人称为‘机仆’。如果真有机仆这种东西，那么不难想像，它一定会比任何人类更强壮、更迅速。事实上，凡纳比里博士，它可能具有某些和你很像的特质。而强化型电子阐析器的确能阻止、伤害，甚至摧毁机仆。现在我手边就有个这样的装置，从我们交谈开始，它就一直以低功率运作，这就是造成你不舒服的原因，凡纳比里博士。我敢说，这种感觉是你存在以来，第一次感受到的。” 铎丝没有回答，只是瞪着面前这个人，然后缓缓倒在椅子里。 林恩微微一笑，继续说：“当然，把你解决后，大师和阿马瑞尔便不成问题。事实上，大师一失去你，可能会立刻万念俱灰，在悲痛中辞职下台。而在大师心目中，阿马瑞尔只是个孩子，根本不足担当大任。十之八九，我两个人都不必杀，一切就会手到擒来。凡纳比里博士，经过了这么多年，你的真面目终于被揭穿，感觉如何啊？我必须承认你隐藏得非常好， 难怪在我之前从来没人能发现真相。而我，我是个优秀的数学家，善于观察、思考和推理，但若非你对大师那份狂热的奉献，还有他一受威胁，你便立刻爆发的超人能力，可能连我也看不出真相。 “说再见吧，凡纳比里博士。现在，我只要将这个装置调到全额功率，你便会成为历史。”铎丝似乎振作起精神，从椅子上慢慢起身，喃喃道：“我的屏蔽功能也许比你想像中的好。”她轻哼一声，突然扑向林恩。林恩睁大眼睛惊叫，踉跄向后猛退。但铎丝已来到面前，右手闪电般击中林恩的颈部，震断了他的脊椎和神经索。林恩当场毙命。 铎丝勉力站直身子，朝门口蹒跚走去。她必须找到谢顿，必须让他知道发生了什么事。 Chapter 27 Hari Seldon rose from his seat in horror. He had never seen Dors look so, her face twisted, her body canted, staggering as though she were drunk. "Dors! What happened! What's wrong!" He ran to her and grasped her around the waist, even as her body gave way and collapsed in his arms. He lifted her (she weighed more than :m ordinary woman her size would have, but Seldon was unaware of that ;it the moment) and placed her on the couch. "What happened?" he said. She told him, gasping, her voice breaking now and then, while he cradled her head and tried to force himself to believe what was happening. "Elar is dead," she said. "I finally killed a human being. -First time. Makes it worse." "How badly are you damaged, Dors?" "Badly. Elar turned on his device-full-when I rushed him." "You can be readjusted." "How? There's no one-on Trantor-who knows how. I need I Daneel." Daneel. Demerzel. Somehow, deep inside, Hari had always known. His friend-a robot-had provided him with a protector-a robot-to ensure that psychohistory and the seeds of the Foundations were given a chance to take root. The only problem was, Hari had fallen in love with his protector-a robot. It all made sense now. All the nagging doubts and the questions could be answered. And somehow, it didn't matter one bit. All that mattered was Dors. "We can't let this happen." "It must." Dors's eyes fluttered open and looked at Seldon. "Must. Tried to save you, but missed-vital point-who will protect you now?" Seldon couldn't see her clearly. There was something wrong with his eyes. "Don't worry about me, Dors. It's you- It's you-" "No. You, Hari. Tell Manella-Manella-I forgive her now. She did better than I. Explain to Wanda. You and Raych-take care of each other." "No no no," said Seldon, rocking back and forth. "You can't do this. Hang on, Dors. Please. Please, my love." Dors's head shook feebly and she smiled even more feebly. "Goodbye, Hari, my love. Remember always-all you did for me." "I did nothing for you." "You loved me and your love made me-human." Her eyes remained open, but Dors had ceased functioning. Yugo Amaryl came storming into Seldon's office. "Hari, the riots are beginning, sooner and harder even than exp-" And then he stared at Seldon and Dors and whispered, "What happened?" Seldon looked up at him in agony. "Riots! What do I care about riots now? -What do I care about anything now?" 第二十七章 　　谢顿惊慌地从座椅中站起来。他从没见过铎丝这个样子，她的脸孔扭曲，身子歪斜，像喝醉般摇摇晃晃。 “铎丝！你怎么啦！发生了什么事！” 谢顿跑上前去，刚搂住她的腰，铎丝整个人便瘫倒在他臂弯中。谢顿抱起铎丝（她比相同身材的普通女子都重，但此时谢顿并未察觉），将她放到长沙发上。 “怎么回事？”谢顿问。 铎丝勉强开口，一面说一面喘气，声音时断时续。谢顿一直搂着她的头，强迫自己接受眼前的事实。 “林恩死了……”她说，“我还是杀了人……第一次……让情况更糟了……”“你被损害得多严重，铎丝？” “很严重。当我冲向他时……林恩把他的装置……开到全额功率。”“我们可以重新调整你。” “怎么做？川陀上……没有人知道……得靠丹尼尔。”丹尼尔——丹莫茨尔。在内心深处，谢顿其实一直都知道。为了确保心理史学与基地的种子能生根发芽，丹尼尔（一个机器人）为他找来一个保护者（另一个机器人）。唯一的问题是，谢顿爱上了这个保护者——一个机器人。如今一切真相大白，所有扰人的疑问都有了答案。但现在这些一点也不重要了，重要的只有铎丝的安危。 “我们一定有办法救你……” “来不及了。”铎丝吃力地眨眼，凝望着谢顿。“来不及了。我想救你……失败……最重 要是……现在谁来保护你……”谢顿视线一片模糊。“别担心我，铎丝。该担心的是你……是你……” “不，是你，哈里。告诉玛妮拉……玛妮拉……我原谅她了，她做得比我好。对婉达解释……你和芮奇……互相照顾。” “不——”谢顿用力摇晃她的肩膀。“你不能死。撑着点，铎丝。撑着点，拜托，亲爱的。” 铎丝虚弱地摇摇头，勉强挤出一个微笑。“别了，哈里……我永远记得……你为我做的一切。” “我没为你做过什么。” “你爱我，你的爱使我成了……人类。”铎丝的眼睛仍然张着，但已停止运作。 此时，阿马瑞尔如暴风般卷进谢顿的研究室。“哈里，暴动开始了，比预期中更快、更猛——” 他瞪着谢顿与铎丝，低声问道：“怎么回事？” 谢顿在无比哀恸中抬起头来。“暴动！我现在还在乎什么暴动？还有什么事会让我在乎？” PART IV WANDA SELDON SELDON, WANDA- . In the waning years of Hari Seldon's life, he grew most attached to (some say dependent upon) his granddaughter, Wanda. Orphaned in her teens, Wanda Seldon devoted herself to her grandfather's Psychohistory Project, filling the vacancy left by Yugo Amaryl . . The content of Wanda Seldon's work remains largely a mystery, for it was conducted in virtually total isolation. The only individuals allowed access to Wanda Seldon's research were Hari himself and a young man named Stettin Palver (whose descendant Preem would four hundred years later contribute to the rebirth of Trantor, as the planet rose from the ashes of the Great Sack [300 F.E.1). Although the full extent of Wanda Seldon's contribution to the Foundation is unknown, it was undoubtedly of the greatest magnitude . . ENCYCLOPEDIA GALACTICA 第四部 婉达•谢顿 婉达•谢顿：……在哈里•谢顿的晚年，他变得极度怜爱（有人说是依赖）孙女婉达。 婉达•谢顿在十几岁痛失双亲后，便献身于袓父的心理史学计划，填补了雨果•阿马瑞尔留下的空白…… 婉达•谢顿的研究内容至今大部分仍是个谜，因为她几乎都在完全隔绝的环境中进行研究。唯一能接触她研究工作的，只有哈里•谢顿自己与一位名叫史铁亭•帕佛的年轻人（四百年后，他的后裔普芮姆•帕佛对大浩劫后的川陀有重大贡献，在他主导下，这颗行星从废墟灰烬中重生〔基地纪元三百年〕）…… 后人虽不清楚婉达•谢顿对基地贡献有多大，但她的重要性绝对无人能及…… —— 《银河百科全书》 Chapter 1 Hari Seldon walked into the Galactic Library (limping a little, as he did more and more often these days) and made for the banks of skitters, the little vehicles that slid their way along the interminable corridors of the building complex. He was held up, however, by the sight of three men seated at one of the galactography alcoves, with the Galactograph showing the Galaxy in full three-dimensional representation and, of course, its worlds slowly pinwheeling around its core, spinning at right angles to that as well. From where Seldon stood he could see that the border Province of Anacreon was marked off in glowing red It skirted the edge of the Galaxy and took up a great volume, but it was sparsely populated with stars. Anacreon was not remarkable for either wealth or culture but was remarkable for its distance from Trantor: ten thousand parsecs away. Seldon acting on impulse, took a seat at a computer console near the three and set up a random search he was sure would take an indefinite period Some instinct told him that such an intense interest in Anacreon must be political in nature-its position in the Galaxy made it one of the least secure holdings of the current Imperial regime. His eyes remained on his screen, but Seldon's ears were open for the discussion near him. One didn't usually hear political discussions in the Library. They were, in point of fact, not supposed to take place. Seldon did not know any of the three men. That was not entirely surprising. There were habitues of the Library, quite a few, and Seldon knew most of them by sight-and some even to talk to-but the Library was open to all citizens. No qualifications. Anyone could enter and use its facilities. (For a limited period of time, of course. Only a select few, like Seldon were allowed to "set up shop" in the Library. Seldon had I1uen granted the use of a locked private office and complete access to Library resources.) One of the men (Seldon thought of him as Hook Nose, for obvious reasons) spoke in a low urgent voice. "Let it go," he said "Let it go It's costing us a mint to try to hold on and, even if we do, it will only be while they're there. They can't stay there forever and, as soon as they leave, the situation will revert to what it was." Seldon knew what they were talking about. The news had come over TrantorVision only three days ago that the Imperial government had decided on a show of force to bring the obstreperous Governor of Anacreon into line. Seldon's own psychohistorical analysis had shown him that it was a useless procedure, but the government did not generally listen when its emotions were stirred Seldon smiled slightly and grimly at hearing Hook Nose say what he himself had said-and the young man said it without the benefit of any knowledge of psychohistory. Hook Nose went on. "If we leave Anacreon alone, what do we lose? It's still there, right where it always was, right at the edge of the Empire. It can't pick up and go to Andromeda, can it? So it still has to trade with us and life continues. What's the difference if they salute the Emperor or not? You'll never be able to tell the difference." The second man, whom Seldon had labeled Baldy, for even more obvious reasons, said, "Except this whole business doesn't exist in a vacuum. If Anacreon goes, the other border provinces will go. The Empire will break up." "So what?" whispered Hook Nose fiercely. "The Empire can't run itself effectively anymore, anyway. It's too big. Let the border go and take care of itself-if it can. The Inner Worlds will be all the stronger and better off. The border doesn't have to be ours politically; it will still be ours economically." And now the third man (Red Cheeks) said, "I wish you were right, but that's not the way it's going to work. If the border provinces establish their independence, the first thing each will do will be to try to increase its power at the expense of its neighbors. There'll be war and conflict and every one of the governors will dream of becoming Emperor at last. It will be like the old days before the Kingdom of Trantor-a dark age that will last for thousands of years." Baldy said, "Surely things won't be that bad. The Empire may break up, but it will heal itself quickly when people find out that the breakup just means war and impoverishment. They'll look back on the golden days of the intact Empire and all will be well again. We're not barbarians, you know. We'll find a way." "Absolutely," said Hook Nose. "We've got to remember that the Empire has faced crisis after crisis in its history and has pulled through time and again." But Red Cheeks shook his head as he said, "This is not just another crisis. This is something much worse. The Empire has been deteriorating for generations. Ten years' worth of the junta destroyed the economy and since the fall of the junta and the rise of this new Emperor, the Empire has been so weak that the governors on the Periphery don't have to do anything. It's going to fall of its own weight." "And the allegiance to the Emperor-" began Hook Nose. "What allegiance?" said Red Cheeks. "We went for years without an Emperor after Cleon was assassinated and no one seemed to mind much. And this new Emperor is just a figurehead. There's nothing he can do. There's nothing anyone can do. This isn't a crisis. This is the end. " The other two stared at Red Cheeks, frowning. Baldy said, "You really believe it! You think that the Imperial government will just sit there and let it all happen?" "Yes! Like you two, they won't believe it is happening. That is, until it's too late." "What would you want them to do if they did believe it?" asked Baldy. Red Cheeks stared into the Galactograph, as if he might find an answer there. "I don't know. Look, in due course of time I'll die; things won't be too bad by then. Afterward, as the situation gets worse, other people can worry about it. I'll be gone. And so will the good old days. Maybe forever. I'm not the only one who thinks this, by the way. Ever hear of someone named Hari Seldon?" "Sure," said Hook Nose at once. "Wasn't he First Minister under Cleon?" "Yes," said Red Cheeks. "He's some sort of scientist. I heard him give a talk a few months back. It felt good to know I'm not the only one who believes the Empire is falling apart. He said-" "And he said everything's going to pot and there's going to be a permanent dark age?" Baldy interjected. "Well no," said Red Cheeks. "He's one of these real cautious types. Ire says it might happen, but he's wrong. It will happen." Seldon had heard enough. He limped toward the table where the three men sat and touched Red Cheeks on the shoulder. "Sir," he said, "may I speak to you for a moment?" Startled, Red Cheeks looked up and then he said, "Hey, aren't you Professor Seldon?" "I always have been," said Seldon. He handed the man a reference tile bearing his photograph. "I would like to see you here in my Library office at 4 P.m., day after tomorrow. Can you manage that?" "I have to work." "Call in sick if you have to. It's important." "Well, I'm not sure, sir." "Do it," said Seldon. "If you get into any sort of trouble over it, I'll straighten it out. And meanwhile, gentlemen, do you mind if I study the Galaxy simulation for a moment? It's been a long time since I've looked at one." They nodded mutely, apparently abashed at being in the presence of a former First Minister. One by one the men stepped back and allowed Seldon access to the Galactograph controls. Seldon's finger reached out to the controls and the red that had marked off the Province of Anacreon vanished. The Galaxy was unmarked, a glowing pinwheel of mist brightening into the spherical glow at the center, behind which was the Galactic black hole. Individual stars could not be made out, of course, unless the view were magnified, but then only one portion or another of the Galaxy would be shown on the screen and Seldon wanted to see the whole thing -to get a look at the Empire that was vanishing. He pushed a contact and a series of yellow dots appeared on the Galactic image. They represented the habitable planets-twenty-five million of them. They could be distinguished as individual dots in the thin fog that represented the outskirts of the Galaxy, but they were more and more thickly placed as one moved in toward the center. There was a belt of what seemed solid yellow (but which would separate into individual dots under magnification) around the central glow. The central glow itself remained white and unmarked, of course. No habitable planets could exist in the midst of the turbulent energies of the core. Despite the great density of yellow, not one star in ten thousand, Seldon knew, had a habitable planet circling it. This was true, despite the planet-molding and terraforming capacities of humanity. Not all the molding in the Galaxy could make most of the worlds into anything a human being could walk on in comfort and without the protection of a spacesuit. Seldon closed another contact. The yellow dots disappeared, but one tiny region glowed blue: Trantor and the various worlds directly dependent on it. As close as it could be to the central core and yet remaining insulated from its deadliness, it was commonly viewed as being located at the "center of the Galaxy," which it wasn't-not truly. As usual, one had to be impressed by the smallness of the world of Trantor, a tiny place in the vast realm of the Galaxy, but within it was squeezed the largest concentration of wealth, culture, and governmental authority that humanity had ever seen. And even that was doomed to destruction. It was almost as though the men could read his mind or perhaps they interpreted the sad expression on his face. Baldy asked softly, "Is the Empire really going to be destroyed?" Seldon replied, softer still, "It might. It might. Anything might happen." He rose, smiled at the men, and left, but in his thoughts he screamed: It will! It will! 第一章 　　哈里•谢顿走进帝国图书馆（脚步有点跛，最近他腿痛的毛病越来越常犯），朝一排贴地滑车走去。在图书馆建筑群的无际回廊中，那种小型交通工具总能通行无阻。 然而，一间银河舆理凹室中的三个人引起了谢顿的注意。凹室里的三维银河舆图正在展示银河的全貌，所有的世界都缓缓绕着核心旋转，同时还进行着转轴与前者垂直的自转。 从谢顿所站的位置，可以看见银河边境一角标示着红光，那是安纳克瑞昂星省。安纳克瑞昂位于银河边缘，范围极广，但其中恒星分布得相当稀疏。它最引人注目的地方，既不是财富也不是文化，而是它与川陀的距离。它与川陀足足相距一万秒差距。谢顿一时兴起，挑了一个在接近三人的计算机操作台坐下，打了个得花许多时间才能完成的搜寻指令。直觉告诉他，这三个人对安纳克瑞昂这么有兴趣，一定是出于政治因素——安纳克瑞昂地处偏远，已使它成为当今帝国最不稳定的区域之一。谢顿眼睛盯着屏幕，耳朵却注意听着身旁的讨论。图书馆里通常很少有人谈论政治，事实上，这种话题根本就不该出现在公共场合。 谢顿从未见过这三个人，但这也没什么好奇怪的。图书馆的确有许多常客，大多数谢顿都认得出来，甚至还跟一些人交谈过。但这里也对所有公民开放，没有任何资格限制。（开放的时间自然有限制，只有极少数学者，例如谢顿，才得以“长驻”馆内。谢顿甚至拥有一间上锁的个人研究室，而且能自由调用图书馆的所有资源。） 那三人中的一个（谢顿在心里称他“鹰钩鼻”，理由不难想像）正低声急切地发表意见。 “随他们去吧，”他说，“为什么一定要紧抓不放呢？那将耗损帝国庞大的人力物力。就 算那样，也只有军队待在那里的时候才有效。军队总不能永远待在那里，一旦撤军，情势便会立刻恢复成原来的样子。” 谢顿知道他们在谈论什么，三天前川陀全视才报道了这则新闻。说帝国政府已决定展示一次武力，好让桀骜不驯的安纳克瑞昂总督乖乖合作。心理史学分析的结果早就显示，这样做徒劳无功，然而政府的情绪一旦被挑起，通常是听不进任何劝告的。谢顿听着鹰钩鼻重复自己说过的话，严肃的脸上不禁露出一抹淡淡的微笑。这年轻人没有心理史学知识的指引，竟然就能说出这番话来。 鹰钩鼻继续说：“如果不理会安纳克瑞昂，我们又失去什么？它还是在那里，仍在原来的地方，仍在帝国的边缘。它不可能长脚跑到仙女座星系去，对不对？所以说，它还是得跟我们贸易，日子仍会继续下去。向不向皇帝敬礼又有什么差别？一点差别都没有。” 这时秃子说（谢顿将第二个人命名为“秃子”，理由更明显）：“只怕这个例子会引起骨 牌效应。如果安纳克瑞昂独立，其他的边境星省也会跟着独立，帝国将四分五裂。” “那又怎样？”鹰钩鼻愤愤地悄声道，“反正，整个帝国已经没办法健全运作，它太大了。让边境脱离吧，只要他们做得到就让他们自己照顾自己。这样一来，内围世界反而会更强大，情况也会改善。边境不必是我们的政治领域，但它仍会是我们的经济领域。” 此时，第三个人（“红面颊”）说：“我希望你是对的，但事实上那是行不通的。如果边 境各星省争取到独立，他们会做的第一件事就是掠夺邻邦，以扩充自己的实力。边境将不断发生战争与冲突，每个总督都梦想当皇帝。局势最后会变得像川陀王国之前那样，出现好几千年的黑暗时期。” 秃子说：“情况不至于那么坏。帝国是有可能分裂，但人民一旦发现分裂带来的是战争与贫困，帝国会迅速自我愈合。人们会怀念帝国一统时的黄金岁月，一切都会否极泰来。你也知道，我们不是蛮人，我们会找到一条出路。”“正是如此。”鹰钩鼻说，“别忘了，过去帝国也曾面临一个接一个的危机，而且一次又 一次克服了难关。” 红面颊摇了摇头。“恐怕事情没那么简单，这次不只是另一次危机而已。帝国衰败已不是一两天的事，执政团的十年统治摧毁了帝国经济，而自从执政团垮台、新皇帝即位以来，帝国更是积弱不振。外围世界的总督什么也不必做，帝国已经快被自己的重量压垮了。” “对皇帝的忠诚——”鹰钩鼻说了半句便被打断。“什么忠诚？”红面颊说，克里昂遇刺后，我们有好多年没有皇帝，但似乎根本没人在意。而现在这个新皇帝只是个傀儡，什么事也不能做，事实上，根本就没有人能做任何事。这次不止是危机，而是帝国的终结。” 另外两人瞪着红面颊，眉头全皱了起来。秃子说：你真的这么认为？你以为政府会坐视帝国毁灭？” “没错！和你们两个一样，政府不会相信帝国即将灭亡。而等到他们发现，一切都已经太迟了。” “假使他们相信，你打算怎么做？”秃子问。 红面颊凝视着银河舆图，仿佛能从里面找出答案。“我不知道。人都难免一死，而在我死之前，情况还不会太糟。等到情势真不可收拾，自然会有人来操心。那时我早已不在，美好的旧日时光也已成过去，也许永不复返。对啦，不只我一个人这么想，听过哈里•谢顿这 个人吗？” “当然，”鹰钩鼻立刻说，“不就是克里昂的御前首相吗？” “没错，”红面颊说，“也可以说是个科学家。几个月前，我听过他的一场演讲。知道自 己不是唯一相信帝国正在分裂的人，这种感觉真好。他说——”“他说每件事都会越变越糟，永久的黑暗时期即将来临？”秃子突然插嘴。 “不，不是，”红面颊说，“他是那种非常谨慎的人，只说有这种可能。可是他错了，这 一定会发生。” 谢顿觉得听得差不多了。他跛着脚朝三人围坐的桌子走去，碰了碰红面颊的肩膀。“先生，”他说，“我能跟你谈谈吗？”红面颊吓了一跳。他抬起头来：“嘿，您不就是谢顿教授吗？”“是我没错。”谢顿说着，递给那人一块印着他本人相片的识别瓷卡，“后天下午四点， 我希望在馆内我的研究室里跟你见面。你能赴约吗？”“我得工作。” “有必要就请个病假，这事很重要。” “这个嘛，阁下，我没法确定。” “就这么决定。”谢顿说，“如果你因此惹上任何麻烦，我会帮你摆平。现在，诸位先生，是否介意我研究一下这个银河拟像？我好久没看这种东西了。”三人默默点点头，起身向后退了几步，面对前首相，他们显然有点不知所措。谢顿走到银河舆图控制台前，伸手碰了碰控制台，原先标示着安纳克瑞昂星省的红光随即消失。现在的银河只是一团漩涡状的光雾，越近中心光球处越明亮，正中央则是所谓的银河黑洞。 当然，除非放大影像，否则无法分辨个别恒星，但放大后屏幕便只能呈现银河某一部分的影像，而谢顿想要看银河全貌——看看正在消失中的帝国。 他按下一个控制键，银河影像中便出现一系列黄色光点。它们代表可住人行星，共有二千五百万颗。在代表银河边缘的薄雾中，还可以分得清它们是一个个独立的光点，但越接近中心，光点的分布便越紧密，在中心光球周围甚至形成一条黄色带状区域（但在放大后，仍是个别的黄色光点）。当然，中心光球本身是白色，而且没有任何标志。在银河核心的汹涌能浪正中央，不可能存在任何可住人行星。 谢顿知道，尽管黄色光点分布的密度这么高，但在一万颗恒星中，有可住人行星环绕的还不到一颗。人类虽然能塑造行星与改造地表，但依然无法改变这个事实。就算集中全银河的力量，大多数世界也无法被改造成适宜的环境，让人类不需太空衣就能在上面舒适地行走。 谢顿按下另一个控制键。黄色光点消失了，另外一个微小区域亮起蓝光，那是川陀及它的附属世界。川陀所在位置已极接近中央核心（但仍不受致命能量威胁），因此人们通常称它位于“银河中心”，尽管这不完全正确。人们总会对川陀的微小印象深刻，毕竟，在广大浩瀚的银河中，它显得那么渺小，然而川陀上集结挤满的财富、文化与权力，却是人类史上前所未见的。 即使如此，川陀仍注定毁灭。 那三个人仿佛能透视他的心灵，或也许他们看懂了他脸上的哀戚神情。 禿子轻声问：“帝国真的即将毁灭吗？”谢顿以更轻的声音回答：“有可能，任何事都有可能发生。” 他起身，对三人笑了笑，然后径自离去。但在他心中却有一个巨大的声音高声喊着：绝对会！ Chapter 2 Seldon sighed as he climbed into one of the skitters that were ranked side by side in the large alcove. There had been a time, just a few years ago, when he had gloried in walking briskly along the interminable corridors of the Library, telling himself that even though he was past sixty he could manage it. But now, at seventy, his legs gave way all too quickly and he had to take a skitter. Younger men took them all the time because skitters saved them trouble, but Seldon did it because he had to-and that made all the difference. After Seldon punched in the destination, he closed a contact and the skitter lifted a fraction of an inch above the floor. Off it went at a rather casual pace, very smoothly, very silently, and Seldon leaned back and watched the corridor walls, the other skitters, the occasional walkers. He passed a number of Librarians and, even after all these years, he still smiled when he saw them. They were the oldest Guild in the Empire, the one with the most revered traditions, and they clung to ways that were more appropriate centuries before-maybe millennia before. Their garments were silky and off-white and were loose enough to be almost gownlike, coming together at the neck and billowing out from there. Trantor, like all the worlds, oscillated, where the males were concerned, between facial hair and smoothness. The people of Trantor itself -or at least most of its sectors-were smooth-shaven and had been smooth-shaven for as far back as he knew-excepting such anomalies as the mustaches worn by Dahlites, such as his own foster son, Raych. The Librarians, however, clung to the beards of long ago. Every Librarian had a rather short neatly cultivated beard running from ear to ear but leaving bare the upper lip. That alone was enough to mark them for what they were and to make the smooth-shaven Seldon feel a little uncomfortable when surrounded by a crowd of them. Actually the most characteristic thing of all was the cap each wore (perhaps even when asleep, Seldon thought). Square, it was made of a velvety material, in four parts that came together with a button at the top. The caps came in an endless variety of colors and apparently each color had significance. If you were familiar with Librarian lore, you could tell a particular Librarian's length of service, area of expertise, grades of accomplishment, and so on. They helped fix a pecking order. Every Librarian could, by a glance at another's hat, tell whether to be respectful (and to what degree) or overbearing (and to what degree). The Galactic Library was the largest single structure on Trantor (possibly in the Galaxy), much larger than even the Imperial Palace, and it had once gleamed and glittered, as though boasting of its size and magnificence. However, like the Empire itself, it had faded and withered. It was like an old dowager still wearing the jewels of her youth but upon a body that was wrinkled and wattled. The skitter stopped in front of the ornate doorway of the Chief Librarian's office and Seldon climbed out. Las Zenow smiled as he greeted Seldon. "Welcome, my friend," he said in his high-pitched voice. (Seldon wondered if he had ever sung tenor in his younger days but had never dared to ask. The Chief Librarian was a compound of dignity always and the question might have seemed offensive.) "Greetings," said Seldon. Zenow had a gray beard, rather more than halfway to white, and he wore a pure white hat. Seldon understood that without any explanation. It was a case of reverse ostentation. The total absence of color represented the highest peak of position. Zenow rubbed his hands with what seemed to be an inner glee. "I've called you in, Hari, because I've got good news for you. -We've found it! "By `it,' Las, you mean-" "A suitable world. You wanted one far out. I think we've located the ideal one." His smile broadened. "You just leave it to the Library. Hari. We can find anything." "I have no doubt, Las. Tell me about this world." "Well, let me show you its location first." A section of the wall slid aside, the lights in the room dimmed, and the Galaxy appeared in three-dimensional form, turning slowly. Again, red lines marked off the Province of Anacreon, so that Seldon could almost swear that the episode with the three men had been a rehearsal for this. And then a brilliant blue dot appeared at the far end of the province. "There it is," said Zenow. "It's an ideal world. Sizable, well-watered, good oxygen atmosphere, vegetation, of course. A great deal of sea life. It's there just for the taking. No planet-molding or terraforming required -or, at least, none that cannot be done while it is actually occupied." Seldon said, "Is it an unoccupied world, Las?" "Absolutely unoccupied. No one on it." "But why-if it's so suitable? I presume that, if you have all the details about it, it must have been explored. Why wasn't it colonized?" "It was explored, but only by unmanned probes. And there was no colonization-presumably because it was so far from everything. The planet revolves around a star that is farther from the central black hole than that of any inhabited planet-farther by far. Too far, I suppose, for prospective colonists, but I think not too far for you. You said, `The farther, the better.' " "Yes," said Seldon, nodding. "I still say so. Does it have a name or is there just a letter-number combination?" "Believe it or not, it has a name. Those who sent out the probes named it Terminus, an archaic word meaning `the end of the line.' Which it would seem to be." Seldon said, "Is the world part of the territory of the Province of Anacreon?" "Not really," said Zenow. "If you'll study the red line and the red shading, you will see that the blue dot of Terminus lies slightly outside it -fifty light-years outside it, in fact. Terminus belongs to nobody; it's not even part of the Empire, as a matter of fact." "You're right, then, Las. It does seem like the ideal world I've been looking for." "Of course," said Zenow thoughtfully, "once you occupy Terminus, I imagine the Governor of Anacreon will claim it as being under his jurisdiction." "That's possible," said Seldon, "but we'll have to deal with that when 1 he matter comes up." Zenow rubbed his hands again. "What a glorious conception. Setting up a huge project on a brand-new world, far away and entirely isolated, so that year by year and decade by decade a huge Encyclopedia of all human knowledge can be put together. An epitome of what is present in this Library. If I were only younger, I would love to join the expedition." Seldon said sadly, "You're almost twenty years younger than I am." (Almost everyone is far younger than I am, he thought, even more sadly.) Zenow said, "Ah yes, I heard that you just passed your seventieth birthday. I hope you enjoyed it and celebrated appropriately." Seldon stirred. "I don't celebrate my birthdays." "Oh, but you did. I remember the famous story of your sixtieth birthday." Seldon felt the pain, as deeply as though the dearest loss in all the world had taken place the day before. "Please don't talk about it," he said. Abashed, Zenow said, "I'm sorry. We'll talk about something else. If, indeed, Terminus is the world you want, I imagine that your work on the preliminaries to the Encyclopedia Project will be redoubled. As you know, the Library will be glad to help you in all respects." "I'm aware of it, Las, and I am endlessly grateful. We will, indeed, keep working." He rose, not yet able to smile after the sharp pang induced by the reference to his birthday celebration of ten years back. He said, "So I must go to continue my labors." And as he left, he felt, as always, a pang of conscience over the deceit he was practicing. Las Zenow did not have the slightest idea of Seldon's true intentions. 第二章 　　贴地滑车一辆辆整齐地排在一间大型凹室里，谢顿叹了口气，钻进其中一辆。几年前，他还为了自己能轻快走过图书馆无际的面廊而沾沾自喜，并且对自己说，尽管年过六十，他的脚劲依旧健朗。 可是现在，他七十岁的双腿迫不及待地老朽，使他不得不乘坐贴地滑车。其实年纪较轻的人也常利用这种交通工具，因为贴地滑车能省时又省力，但谢顿没有选择余地，其中的感觉自然大不相同。 谢顿键入目的地，再按下开关，滑车便从地板稍微浮起。它不急不徐地向前驶去，平稳而安静。谢顿靠在座椅上，望着两旁的回廊墙壁、其他贴地滑车，以及偶尔出现的步行者。他超过了好些图书馆员。即使过了这么多年，他看到他们时仍不禁莞尔一笑。他们属于帝国最古老的公会，拥有最虔敬的传统，谨守的行事方式似乎更适合数世纪前，甚或数千年前的时代。 他们穿着白灰色的丝质服装，宽松有如长袍，整件衣服只在颈部束紧，颈部以下则宽松飘逸。 川陀与所有世界一样，男性的容貌在胡须的剃与留两极摆荡。现在的川陀男性（至少大多数区的男性）脸上都刮得干干净净，而且据他所知向来如此，只有一些例外，譬如达尔男性——像芮奇——便全留着八字胡。然而，这些图书馆员却留着过时已久的络腮胡，除了嘴唇上方，两耳之间尽是修剪得整整齐齐的短须。光是络腮胡这点，就足以显示他们的身份，并使面部光洁的谢顿感到有点不自在。 其实，图书馆员最大的特征是他们天天戴的帽子（说不定连睡觉都不脱，谢顿想）。这种方型帽的质料类似天鹅绒，四面聚合于顶端，由一个扣子固定；颜色则五花八门，而且显然各有不同意义。假如你熟悉图书馆员的圈内文化，就能根据帽子的颜色，判断出他们的服务年资、专长领域、成就等等。如此有助于建立一个阶级秩序，每位图书馆员只要瞥一眼别人的帽子，便可判断是否该尊敬对方（以及要做到什么程度），或是否该受对方的尊敬（以及到什么程度）。 帝国图书馆是川陀（说不定是全银河）上最大的单一建筑，甚至远比皇宫巨大。它曾一度金碧辉煌，仿佛夸耀着自身的堂皇与壮伟。然而，正如帝国的衰退一样，图书馆已开始凋零，就像一名年华已去的贵妇，尽管仍戴着年轻时的珠宝，全身却已满是皱纹与赘肉。贴地滑车停在图书馆长办公室华丽的门口。 拉斯•齐诺面带笑容地迎接谢顿。“欢迎，我的朋友。”他的声音非常尖锐，谢顿一直怀疑他年轻时是否唱过男高音，但从来不敢问。图书馆长是个威严的人，这问题可能会显得无礼。 “你好。”谢顿说。 齐诺灰色的络腮胡已经白了七八分，他的帽子是纯白色的。谢顿完全了解这一顶帽子的意义，根本无需任何解释。这是一种倒置的表饰系统，完全素朴的颜色反倒代表位居顶峰。齐诺搓了搓手，似乎非常兴奋。“我把你请来，哈里，是因为有个好消息告诉你。我们找到它了！” “找到什么？” “一个合适的世界。你要一个遥远的世界，我想我们已经找到个最理想的。”他的笑容变得更灿烂，“有问题尽管交给本馆，哈里，我们保证找出答案。”“我绝对相信，拉斯。谈谈这个世界吧。” “好，我先让你看看它的位置。”部分墙面向旁边滑开，室内的光线暗了下来，然后他们眼前出现一个缓缓旋转的三维影像银河，并且缓缓旋转。安纳克瑞昂星省再度被红光标示出来，谢顿几乎可以发誓，刚才那段插曲正是现在的一场预演。然后，安纳克瑞昂星省的远程出现了一个明亮的蓝色光点。“就在那里。”齐诺说，“一 个理想的世界，大小适中，水量充沛，富氧的大气层，丰富的植物群，此外，上面还有许多海中生物。简直就是为我们预备好的，不需要任何行星塑造或地表改造——就算有什么需要改造的地方，也可以等到实际住人后再进行。” 谢顿问：“它是个未住人的行星吗，拉斯？”“没错，上面一个人都没有。”“可是如果它这么合适，为什么没住人呢？既然图书馆有它的详细资料，我猜一定有人做过探勘。为什么没人殖民呢？” “是做过探勘，但是由无人探测器执行的。没有人殖民，想必是因为它的位置太偏远了。 这颗行星所环绕的恒星，比任何住人行星与中心黑洞的距离都远得多。我猜，对于任何准备殖民的人而言，它都嫌太远了。但我想你不会这么认为，你说过：‘越远越好。’” “没错，”谢顿点点头，“我的要求没变。它有名字吗？或是只有编号？” “信不信由你，它还真有个名字。送出探测器的那些人将它命名为‘端点’，那是个古老的词汇，意思是‘线的尽头’，和它似乎正好相称。” 谢顿说：“这个世界在安纳克瑞昂星省的版图中吗？”“并不尽然，”齐诺说，“如果你仔细研究红线和红色阴影，会发现端点星的蓝点位于界 外少许。事实上，是在五十光年外。端点星不属于任何世界。严格说起来，它甚至不是帝国的一部分。” “那么你说对了，拉斯，它的确是我正在寻找的理想世界。” “当然啦，”齐诺若有所思地说，“一旦你登上端点星，我想安纳克瑞昂的总督就会声称 那里是他的管辖范围。” “也许。”谢顿说，“但等问题出现了再说。” 齐诺又搓了搓手：“多壮阔的构想啊。在一个崭新的、遥远、全然隔绝的世界上，创设一个庞大的计划，花上数十年甚至上百年的时间，把人类全体知识汇集起来编成一套百科全书，那将是本图书馆所有藏书内容的缩影。要是我再年轻些，我会很希望加入这场远征。”谢顿悲伤地说：“你几乎比我年轻二十岁。”（他更悲伤地想道，几乎人人都比我年轻。）齐诺说：“啊，对了，我听说你刚过完七十岁生日。你们―定好好庆祝了一番，玩得开心吗？” 谢顿突然动容：“我不庆祝生日。”“哦，是吗？我还记得你六十大寿那场盛大的庆生会。” 谢顿感到一阵锥心痛苦，仿佛那个世上最沉痛的失落才发生在昨天。“请不要谈这件事。”。 “噢，对不起。”齐诺有点尴尬，“我们谈点别的吧。如果说，端点星确是你要找的那个 世界，那么我建议，你那百科全书计划的准备工作得加紧进行了。你放心，本馆在各方面都乐意帮助你。” “我了解，拉斯，感激不尽。我们一定会继续努力。”谢顿说毕站了起来。齐诺刚才提到的那场庆生会仍使他心如刀割，他没法露出微笑。“我 必须告辞了，”他说，“我得回去工作。” 谢顿离去时，又和往常一样，为了自己的欺骗行为而感到良心不安。事实上，拉斯•齐 诺根本不明白谢顿的真正意图。 Chapter 3 Hari Seldon surveyed the comfortable suite 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 judicious rebuildings-for millennia 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 looming shadow ahead to contemplate 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 bereft. 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 sector of Dahl, found it to be a minor success and himself a minor celebrity. He was called upon to talk on the subject, something he accepted with alacrity, 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 disconsolately 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 assuaged 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 unaware 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 trickling 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 pointed 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 futures. "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 whatsoever that the psychohistorical revolution had begun. 第三章 　　哈里•谢顿打量着眼前这间舒适的套房，过去几年来，这里就是他在帝国图书馆的个人 研究室。就像图书馆其他地方一样，空气中隐约弥漫着一种衰颓气氛，一种倦怠感，仿佛时间已在这里静止。而谢顿知道，未来数个世纪，甚至数千年，即使图书馆不断整修，这种气氛仍然会继续存在。 他怎么会来到这里？ 一桩桩的往事涌现心头，他的精神卷须沿着个人生命史不断往前回溯。毫无疑问，这是年事渐长的征兆之一。过去的经验累积了那么多，可期待的未来如此有限，心灵因而不再窥探眼前浮现的阴影，转而默想那些安全的过去。 不过，对谢顿而言，有个重大改变的确值得反复咀嚼。曾有三十多年的时间，心理史学几乎都是直线发展——进展虽如爬行般缓慢，但总是朝正前方。然而六年前，出现了一个九十度转弯，一项完全意料之外的进展。 谢顿十分清楚这个改变如何开始，以及许多连锁事件如何环环相扣，最后终于使这项转变成为事实。 当然，主角是谢顿的孙女——婉达。谢顿闭上眼睛，靠向椅背，开始重温六年前的那些往事。 十二岁的婉达若有所失。她的母亲玛妮拉有了另一个小女孩——贝莉丝。一时之间，这个小宝宝占去众人所有的注意力。 她的父亲，芮奇，早已完成那本探讨母区达尔的著作。这本书小有成就，芮奇也因此小有名气。常有人邀请他就书中主题发表演说，而他总是一口答应，因为他对这个题目极其投入。他曾对谢顿开玩笑说：“至少我谈论达尔时不必隐藏我的达尔腔。事实上，听众还指望我有那种腔调呢。” 结果是芮奇变得常常不在家，而难得回家时，他想看的总是那个小宝宝。至于铎丝——铎丝已经走了。对谢顿而言，那道伤痕永远无法愈合、永远令他心痛。他对这件事的反应很不理性，他总觉得是由于婉达的梦，才引发那一连串事件，最后导致他失去了铎丝。 其实谢顿心里很清楚，婉达与那个悲剧根本毫无关联。然而，他发觉自己开始躲着她。因此，在小妹妹诞生所带来的焦虑沮丧中，谢顿同样使婉达失望。 闷闷不乐的婉达只好去找那个似乎总是乐于见她、永远可以让她依靠的人——雨果•阿 马瑞尔。阿马瑞尔对心理史学发展的贡献仅次于哈里•谢顿，而他全天候不眠不休的投入则 无人能及。谢顿至少曾拥有铎丝与芮奇，阿马瑞尔却从无妻子儿女，心理史学就是他的生命。 然而，每当婉达来到他面前，他内心某个部分总会意识到这是个孩子，并且模糊地（仅仅模糊地）感到一种失落感，似乎唯有对这孩子慈爱和蔼才能减缓那种感觉。其实他一直把婉达当成小大人，而婉达似乎也喜欢这样。 那是六年前的事。婉达晃荡到阿马瑞尔的研究室，他抬起头，用重建过的眼睛严肃地望着她，如同往常一样，阿马瑞尔花了点时间才认出婉达。 “哈，是我亲爱的朋友婉达……你为什么看来这么伤心？像你这么年轻迷人的小姐，怎么会伤心呢？” 婉达的下唇微微发颤，她说：“没有人爱我。” “怎么会呢？” “他们只爱那个小宝宝，没有人关心我。” “我爱你啊，婉达。” “好吧，那么你是唯一爱我的人，雨果叔叔。”虽然不能再像以前那样爬上阿马瑞尔的膝头，婉达还是将头倚在他肩上，默默哭了起来。阿马瑞尔完全不知所措，只能抱着这个女孩哄道：乖，别哭，别哭。”怜惜之余，想到自己这一生竟然没什么值得伤心的事，阿马瑞尔双颊不觉也垂下泪滴。 然后，他突然振起精神。“婉达，想不想看一样美丽的东西？” “什么东西？”婉达抽噎着问。在整个生命与宇宙中，会让阿马瑞尔觉得美丽的只有一样东西。他说：“你听说过元光体吗？” “没有，那是什么？” “是你祖父和我工作上使用的东西。看到没？就在这里。”他指了指书桌上那个黑色立方体，婉达悲伤地望了一眼。“一点都不美丽。”她眼里满是 泪水。 “现在是不怎么美丽，”阿马瑞尔表示同意。“但注意看，我要打开喽。” 他开启元光体，室内随即变暗，无数光点与彩色闪光出现眼前：“看到了吗？现在我们把它放大，把这些光点都变成数学符号。” 光点果然发生了变化。似乎有一大团东西冲向他们，半空中，出现了婉达前所未见的各种符号、字母、数字、箭头与图案。“美丽吗？”阿马瑞尔问。 “嗯……”婉达仔细盯着那些代表可能未来的方程式（当然，她并不知道），“不过，我 不喜欢那个部分，我想它错了。”她指向左方一个色彩缤纷的方程式。 “错了？为什么错了？”阿马瑞尔皱着眉头问。 “因为它不……美丽，要是我就不会这么做。” 阿马瑞尔清了清喉咙。“好吧，我会试着把它改好。”他凑近那条方程式，以他特有的严 肃方式瞪着它。 婉达说：“谢谢你，雨果叔叔。谢谢你让我看这些美丽的光线。也许有一天，我会了解它们的意义。” “没什么，”阿马瑞尔说，“希望你感觉好过些了。”“好多了，谢谢。”她勉强露出一个微笑，便离开了那间研究室。 阿马瑞尔站在那里，觉得有一点伤心。他不喜欢有人批评元光体的产物，甚至一个什么都不懂的十二岁小女孩也不例外。 他站在那里的时候，完全没有想到心理史学的革命已经开始。 Chapter 4 That afternoon Amaryl went to Hari Seldon's office at Streeling University. That in itself was unusual, for Amaryl virtually never left his own office, even to speak with a colleague just down the hall. "Hari," said Amaryl, frowning and looking puzzled. "Something very odd has happened. Very peculiar." Seldon looked at Amaryl with deepest sorrow. He was only fifty-three, but he looked much older, bent, worn down to almost transparency. When forced, he had undergone doctors' examinations and the doctors had all recommended that he leave his work for a period of time (some said permanently) and rest. Only this, the doctors said, might improve his health. Otherwise- Seldon shook his head. "Take him away from his work and he'll die all the sooner-and unhappier. We have no choice." And then Seldon realized that, lost in such thoughts, he was not hearing Amaryl speak. He said, "I'm sorry, Yugo. I'm a little distracted. Begin again." Amaryl said, "I'm telling you that something very odd has happened. Very peculiar." "What is it, Yugo?" "It was Wanda. She came in to see me-very sad, very upset." "Why?" "Apparently it's the new baby." "Oh yes," Hari said with more than a trace of guilt in his voice. "So she said and cried on my shoulder-I actually cried a bit, too, Hari. And then I thought I'd cheer her up by showing her the Prime Radiant." Here Amaryl hesitated, as if choosing his next words carefully. "Go on, Yugo. What happened?" "Well, she stared at all the lights and I magnified a portion, actually Section 428254. You're acquainted with that?" Seldon smiled. "No, Yugo, I haven't memorized the equations quite as well as you have." "Well, you should," said Amaryl severely. "How can you do a good job if- But never mind that. What I'm trying to say is that Wanda pointed to a part of it and said it was no good. It wasn't pretty. " "Why not? We all have our personal likes and dislikes." "Yes, of course, but I brooded about it and I spent some time going over it and, Hari, there was something wrong with it. The programming was inexact and that area, the precise area to which Wanda pointed, was no good. And, really, it wasn't pretty." Seldon sat up rather stiffly, frowning. "Let me get this straight, Yugo. She pointed to something at random, said it was no good, and she was right?" "Yes. She pointed, but it wasn't at random; she was very deliberate." "But that's impossible." "But it happened. I was there." "I'm not saying it didn't happen. I'm saying it was just a wild coincidence." "Is it? Do you think, with all your knowledge of psychohistory, you could take one glance at a new set of equations and tell me that one portion is no good?" Seldon said, "Well then, Yugo, how did you come to expand that particular portion of the equations? What made you choose that piece for magnification?" Amaryl shrugged. "That was coincidence-if you like. I just fiddled with the controls." "That couldn't be coincidence," muttered Seldon. For a few moments he was lost in thought, then he asked the question that pushed forward the psychohistorical revolution that Wanda had begun. He said, "Yugo, did you have any suspicions about those equations beforehand? Did you have any reason to believe there was something wrong with them?" Amaryl fiddled with the sash of his unisuit and seemed embarrassed. "Yes, I think I did. You see-" "You think you did?" "I know I did. I seemed to recall when I was setting it up-it's a new section, you know-my fingers seemed to glitch on the programmer. It looked all right then, but I guess I kept worrying about it inside. I remember thinking it looked wrong, but I had other things to do and I just let it go. But then when Wanda happened to point to precisely the area I had been concerned about, I decided to check up on her-otherwise I would just have let it go as a childish statement." "And you turned on that very fragment of the equations to show Wanda. As though it were haunting your unconscious mind." Amaryl shrugged. "Who knows?" "And just before that, you were very close together, hugging, both crying." Amaryl shrugged again, looking even more embarrassed. Seldon said, "I think I know what happened, Yugo. Wanda read your mind." Amaryl jumped, as though he had been bitten. "That's impossible!" Slowly Seldon said, "I once knew someone who had unusual mental powers of that sort"-and he thought sadly of Eto Demerzel or, as Seldon had secretly known him, Daneel- "only he was somewhat more than human. But his ability to read minds, to sense other people's thoughts, to persuade people to act in a certain way-that was a mental ability. I think, somehow, that perhaps Wanda has that ability as well." "I can't believe it," said Amaryl stubbornly. "I can," said Seldon "but I don't know what to do about it." Dimly lie felt the rumblings of a revolution in psychohistorical research-but only dimly. 第四章 　　当天下午，阿马瑞尔来到谢顿位于川陀大学的研究室。这件事本身就非比寻常，因为阿马瑞尔几乎从不离开自己的研究室，甚至不会去找同层楼的同事讲几句话。 “哈里，”阿马瑞尔皱着眉头，看来十分困惑，“发生了一件怪事，真的很奇怪。” 谢顿望着阿马瑞尔，心中一阵揪痛。阿马瑞尔只有五十三岁，但看来却老得多，弯腰驼背，衰弱得几乎毫无血色。他们曾押他去做身体检査，医生一致建议他暂停工作（有些则说永远）好好休息。医生们说，唯有这样才有可能改善他的身体状况，否则……而谢顿却摇摇头，答道：“把他从工作岗位上拉开，他反倒死得更快、更痛苦。我们毫无选择。” 然后谢顿发觉自己陷入沉思，没听到阿马瑞尔说了些什么。“抱歉，雨果，”他说， “我有点心不在焉。请再说一遍。” 阿马瑞尔说：“我是说，发生了一件非常奇怪的事。”“什么怪事，雨果？” “是婉达。今天她来看我，显得非常伤心，非常不快乐。”“为什么？” “显然是因为那个小宝宝。” “喔，是啊。”谢顿声音中透出几分歉疚。 “她靠在我肩头哭了起来——其实我也掉了眼泪。然后我想到，可以用元光体逗她开心——”说到这里阿马瑞尔迟疑了一下，仿佛在考虑该用什么字眼。 “说下去，雨果。发生了什么事？”“好吧，她盯着那些光线瞧，而我放大了其中一部分，就是R 节。你熟悉那部分 吗？” 谢顿微微一笑。“不熟悉，雨果。我不像你，把每条方程式都牢记在心。” “哈里，你应该把方程式记熟的，”阿马瑞尔以严厉的口吻说，“否则你怎能指望做好工 作……算了。我要说的是，婉达指着一块地方，说它不好，不美丽！” “有何不可？每个人都有不同的好恶。” “没错，当然。但我推敲了一番，又花了些时间仔细检査，结果，哈里，那里真有些不对劲。程序设计不确切，而出问题的正是婉达指的那个区域。”谢顿有点僵硬地坐直身子，皱起眉头。“让我把事情弄清楚，雨果。婉达随便指向某处， 说那里不好，结果她说对了？” “是的。但她不是随便乱指的，她很认真。”“不可能。” “但事实如此，我亲眼目睹的。” “我没有说那不是事实，我只是说那是个天大的巧合。” “是吗？以你对心理史学的认识，你认为自己能瞥一眼新的方程组，就告诉我哪一部分不好吗？” 谢顿说：既然这样，雨果，你又怎会特别扩展那一部分的方程式呢？是什么促使你选择放大那一块的？” 阿马瑞尔耸了耸肩。“你倒可以说那是巧合，我只是随手转了转控制钮。” “那不可能是巧合。”谢顿陷入沉思。许久之后他问了一句话。这句话推动了由婉达引发的心理史学革命。他说：“雨果，你原先对那些方程式有没有任何疑虑？你有没有想到它们可能不对劲？” 阿马瑞尔把弄着他那套单件服的腰带，似乎有些尴尬。“没错，我先前是觉得有点问题……” “你‘觉得’有？” “我知道我有。我还记得当初把它建起来的时候——那是新的一节，你该知道——我似乎按错某些程序钮。当时它看来没问题，但我隐约有点不放心。我知道它不对劲，但我有别的事要做，所以就先把它搁到一边去了。可是今天婉达指的刚好就是这个我放心不下的地方， 我才下定决心重新检查一遍。不然的话，我可能只会把她的话当成小孩的胡言乱语，根本不会追究。” “而你偏偏打开那一部分方程式给婉达看？这好像是它在你的潜意识中作祟。” 阿马瑞尔耸了耸肩。“谁知道？” “而在看元光体之前，你们两人非常靠近，抱在一起，两人都哭了？” 阿马瑞尔又耸了耸肩，显得更尴尬。 谢顿说：“我想我知道发生了什么事，雨果。婉达透视了你的心灵。” 阿马瑞尔跳起来，仿佛被什么咬了一口。“不可能！”谢顿缓缓说道：“我曾经认识一个人，他就拥有那种不寻常的精神力量。”他悲痛地想到 伊图•丹莫茨尔——或该说丹尼尔，一个只有谢顿才知道的秘密。“只不过他可算是某种超 人类。但他透视心灵、感知他人思想、说服他人采取行动的能力，的确是一种精神力量。我想，婉达说不定也具有这种能力。”“我无法相信这种事。”阿马瑞尔倔强地说。“我相信，”谢顿说，“但我不知道该怎么办。”他隐约感到心理史学研究的革命已然迫 近，但只是隐约有种感觉。 Chapter 5 "Dad," said Raych with some concern, "you look tired." "I dare say," said Hari Seldon, "I feel tired. But how are you?" Raych was forty-four now and his hair was beginning to show a bit of gray, but his mustache remained thick and dark and very Dahlite in appearance. Seldon wondered if he touched it up with dye, but it would have been the wrong thing to ask. Seldon said, "Are you through with your lecturing for a while?" "For a while. Not for long. And I'm glad to be home and see the baby and Manella and Wanda-and you, Dad." "Thank you. But I have news for you, Raych. No more lecturing. I'm going to need you here." Raych frowned. "What for?" On two different occasions he had been sent to carry out delicate missions, but those were back during the days of the Joranumite menace. As far as he knew, things were quiet now, especially with the overthrow of the junta and the reestablishment of a pale Emperor. "It's Wanda," said Seldon. "Wanda? What's wrong with Wanda?" "Nothing's wrong with her, but we're going to have to work out a complete genome for her-and for you and Manella as well-and eventually for the new baby." "For Bellis, too? What's going on?" Seldon hesitated. "Raych, you know that your mother and I always thought there was something lovable about you, something that inspired affection and trust." "I know you thought so. You said so often enough when you were trying to get me to do something difficult. But I'll be honest with you. I never felt it." "No, you won over me and . and Dors." (He had such trouble saying the name, even though four years had passed since her destruction.) "You won over Rashelle of Wye. You won over Jo-Jo Joranum. You won over Manella. How do you account for all that?" "Intelligence and charm," said Raych, grinning. "Have you thought you might have been in touch with their-our-minds?" "No, I've never thought that. And now that you mention it, I think it's ridiculous. -With all due respect, Dad, of course." "What if I told you that Wanda seems to have read Yugo's mind during a moment of crisis?" "Coincidence or imagination, I should say." "Raych, I knew someone once who could handle people's minds as easily as you and I handle conversation." "Who was that?" "I can't speak of him. Take my word for it, though." "Well-" said Raych dubiously. "I've been at the Galactic Library, checking on such matters. There is a curious story, about twenty thousand years old and therefore back to the misty origins of hyperspatial travel. It's about a young woman, not much more than Wanda's age, who could communicate with an entire planet that circled a sun called Nemesis." "Surely a fairytale." "Surely. And incomplete, at that. But the similarity with Wanda is astonishing." Raych said, "Dad, what are you planning?" "I'm not sure, Raych. I need to know the genome and I have to find others like Wanda. I have a notion that youngsters are born-not often but occasionally-with such mental abilities, but that, in general, it merely gets them in trouble and they learn to mask it. And as they grow tip, their ability, their talent, is buried deep within their minds-sort of an unconscious act of self-preservation. Surely in the Empire or even just among Trantor's forty billion, there must be more of that sort, like Wanda, and if I know the genome I want, I can test those I think may be so.? "And what would you do with them if you found them, Dad?" "I have the notion that they are what I need for the further development of psychohistory." Raych said, "And Wanda is the first of the type you know about and you intend to make a psychohistorian out of her?" "Perhaps." "Like Yugo. -Dad, no!" "Why no?" "Because I want her to grow up like a normal girl and become a normal woman. I will not have you sitting her before the Prime Radiant and make her into a living monument to psychohistorical mathematics." Seldon said, "It may not come to that, Raych, but we must have her genome. You know that for thousands of years there have been suggestions that every human being have his genome on file. It's only the expense that's kept it from becoming standard practice; no one doubts the usefulness of it. Surely you see the advantages. If nothing else, we will know Wanda's tendencies toward a variety of physiological disorders. If we had ever had Yugo's genome, I am certain he would not now be dying. Surely we can go that far." "Well, maybe, Dad, but no further. I'm willing to bet that Manella is going to be a lot firmer on this than I am." Seldon said, "Very well. But remember, no more lecture tours. I need you at home." "We'll see," Raych said and left. Seldon sat there in a quandary. Eto Demerzel, the one person he knew who could handle minds, would have known what to do. Dors, with her nonhuman knowledge, might have known what to do. For himself, he had a dim vision of a new psychohistory-but nothing more than that. 第五章 　　“爸，”芮奇关切地问道，“你看来很疲倦。” “疲倦……我想是吧。”谢顿道，“你呢？你怎么样？” 芮奇今年四十四岁，头发开始有些斑白，但他的八字胡仍然乌黑浓密，看起来达尔味十足。谢顿怀疑他是否用过染剂，但这种问题是不能问的。 “演讲告一段落了吗？”谢顿问。 “暂时告一段落，但歇不了多久。我很高兴回到家里，看看宝宝、玛妮拉、婉达，还有你，爸。” “谢谢你，芮奇，但我有个消息告诉你。别再接演讲了，我这里需要你。” 芮奇皱起眉头。“做什么？”过去，在两次不同的情况下，谢顿曾派他去执行两件棘手的任务，但那是在九九派作乱的时代。而据他所知，如今一切平静，更何况执政团已被推翻， 一位弱势皇帝已经复辟。 “是婉达的事。”谢顿说。 “婉达？婉达有什么问题？” “她没什么问题，但我们得为她验出完整的基因组，你和玛妮拉也要，小宝宝迟早也得做。” “贝莉丝也要？怎么回事？” 谢顿犹豫了一下。“芮奇，你也知道，你母亲和我总认为你有讨人喜欢的特质，能轻易博取他人的好感和信任。” “我知道你这么想。每当你要派给我什么困难的任务，你就会这么说。但说实话，我从不这么觉得。” “不，你征服了我和……和铎丝。”即使铎丝遭到摧毁已是四年前的事，要他说出这个名字仍有极大困难，“你征服了卫荷的芮喜尔，征服了九九•久瑞南，还有玛妮拉。这些你 怎么解释？” “智能和魅力。”芮奇咧嘴一笑。 “你有没有想过，你也许接触过他们——我们的——心灵？” “不，我从没这样想过。这种说法实在很荒谬。我没有不敬之意，爸。”“如果我告诉你，婉达似乎透视了雨果的心灵，帮他解决了一个难题。你会怎么说？”“我会说那是巧合或想像。” “芮奇，我就认识一个人，他操控人的心灵，就像你我操控语言一样容易。” “谁？” “我不能说。不过，相信我就对了。” “这个嘛……”芮奇深表怀疑。“我到帝国图书馆查过这方面的资料。有个奇怪的故事，时间大约在两万年前，也就是在超空间旅行肇始期。故事主角是个年轻女子，年龄没比婉达大多少，她能跟整个行星沟通。 那颗行星环绕的太阳叫作‘复仇女神’。” “不用想也知道那是神话。” “当然，而且残缺不全，但她和婉达的相似之处却很惊人。” “爸，你在计划什么？”芮奇问。 “我还不确定，芮奇。我需要知道婉达的基因组，还得找到其他像她一样的人。我觉得， 一定有些小孩生来就具备这种精神力量。可是这种能力通常只会带来麻烦，于是他们学着掩饰。而随着年龄增长，他们的能力、天赋也就埋藏在心灵深处，这是一种自保性的潜意识行为。在帝国内，甚至仅在川陀四百亿人口中，一定有不少像婉达这样的人。如果掌握了我要的基因组，我就能检验那些可能的人选。” “如果你找到这些人，你打算怎么做呢，爸？” “我的想法是，心理史学的进一步发展正需要他们。”“而婉达是你第一个发现的这种人，”芮奇说，“你打算让她以后成为心理史学家？”“说不定。” “就像雨果？不行，爸！” “为什么？” “因为我要她像个正常的女孩一样成长，然后成为一个正常的女人。我不会让你把她摆在元光体前，把她变成心理史学数学的一个活石碑。”“事情也许不会变成那样，芮奇，但我们必须得到她的基因组。你也知道，数千年来不断有人建议，应该将每个人的基因组建档。只是由于费用昂贵，它才没有制度化，但没有人怀疑这种做法的功用。你当然看得出这样做的优点，即使不为别的，我们也能知道婉达是否有任何生理异常的倾向。假使我们早有雨果的基因组，我确定他现在不会这么衰弱。我们至少可以先预防。” “好吧，也许你说的没错，爸，但到此为止。我愿意打赌，对于这件事，玛妮拉会比我更坚持。” 谢顿说：“很好。但千万记住，别再四处演讲旅行，我需要你呆在家里。” “我会考虑的。”说完芮奇便走开了。 谢顿坐在那里，感到束手无策。如果是伊图•丹莫茨尔——那位他确知能操控心灵的人 ——会知道该怎么做。而拥有非人类知识的铎丝，也可能知道该怎么做。至于他自己，他可以模糊看到心理史学的新展望，但也仅止于此。 Chapter 6 It was not an easy task to obtain a complete genome of Wanda. To begin with, the number of biophysicists equipped to handle the genome was small and those that existed were always busy. Nor was it possible for Seldon to discuss his needs openly, in order to interest the biophysicists. It was absolutely essential, Seldon felt, that the true reason for his interest in Wanda's mental powers be kept secret from all the Galaxy. And if another difficulty was needed, it was the fact that the process was infernally expensive. Seldon shook his head and said to Mian Endelecki, the biophysicist he was now consulting, "Why so expensive, Dr. Endelecki? I am not an expert in the field, but it is my distinct understanding that the process is completely computerized and that, once you have a scraping of skin cells, the genome can be completely built and analyzed in a matter of days." "That's true. But having a deoxyribonucleic acid molecule stretching out for billions of nucleotides, with every puring and pyrimidine in its place, is the least of it; the very least of it, Professor Seldon. There is then the matter of studying each one and comparing it to some standard. "Now, consider, in the first place, that although we have records of complete genomes, they represent a vanishingly small fraction of the number of genomes that exist, so that we don't really know how standard they are." Seldon asked, "Why so few?" "A number of reasons. The expense, for one thing. Few people are willing to spend the credits on it unless they have strong reason to think there is something wrong with their genome. And if they have no strong reason, they are reluctant to undergo analysis for fear they will find something wrong. Now, then, are you sure you want your granddaughter genomed?" "Yes, I do. It is terribly important." "Why? Does she show signs of a metabolic anomaly?" "No, she doesn't. Rather the reverse-if I knew the antonym of 'anomaly.' I consider her a most unusual person and I want to know just what it is that makes her unusual." "Unusual in what way?" "Mentally, but it's impossible for me to go into details, since I don't entirely understand it. Maybe I will, once she is genomed." "How old is she?" "Twelve. She'll soon be thirteen." "In that case, I'll need permission from her parents." Seldon cleared his throat. "That may be difficult to get. I'm her grandfather. Wouldn't my permission be enough?" "For me, certainly. But, you know, we're talking about the law. I don抰 wish to lose my license to practice." It was necessary for Seldon to approach Raych again. This, too, was difficult, as he protested once more that he and his wife, Manella, wanted Wanda to live a normal life of a normal girl. What if her genome did turn out to be abnormal? Would she be whisked away to be prodded and probed like a laboratory specimen? Would Hari, in his fanatical devotion to his Psychohistory Project, press Wanda into a life of all work and no play, shutting her off from other young people her age? But Seldon was insistent. "Trust me, Raych. I would never do anything to harm Wanda. But this must be done. I need to know Wanda's genome. If it is as I suspect it is, we may be on the verge of altering the course of psychohistory, of the future of the Galaxy itself!" And so Raych was persuaded and somehow he obtained Manella's consent, as well. And together, the three adults took Wanda to Dr. Endelecki's office. Mian Endelecki greeted them at the door. Her hair was a shining white, but her face showed no sign of age. She looked at the girl, who walked in with a look of curiosity on her face but with no signs of apprehension or fear. She then turned her gaze to the three adults who had accompanied Wanda. Dr. Endelecki said with a smile, "Mother, father, and grandfather-am I right?" Seldon answered, "Absolutely right." Raych looked hang-dog and Manella, her face a little swollen and her eyes a little red, looked tired. "Wanda," began the doctor. "That is your name, isn't it?" "Yes, ma'am," said Wanda in her clear voice. "I'm going to tell you exactly what I'm going to do with you. You're right-handed, I suppose." "Yes, ma'am." "Very well, then, I'll spray a little patch on your left forearm with an anesthetic. It will just feel like a cool wind. Nothing else. I'll then scrape a little skin from you just a tiny bit. There'll be no pain, no blood, no mark afterward. When I'm done, I'll spray a little disinfectant on it. The whole thing will take just a few minutes. Does that sound all right to you?" "Sure," said Wanda, as she held out her arm. When it was over, Dr. Endelecki said, "I'll put the scraping under the microscope, choose a decent cell, and put my computerized gene analyzer to work. It will mark off every last nucleotide, but there are billions of them. It will probably take the better part of a day. It's all automatic, of course, so I won't be sitting here watching it and there's no point in your doing so, either. "Once the genome is prepared, it will take an even longer time to analyze it. If you want a complete job, it may take a couple of weeks. That is why it's so expensive a procedure. The work is hard and long. I'll call you in when I have it." She turned away, as if she had dismissed the family, and busied herself with the gleaming apparatus on the table in front of her. Seldon said, "If you come across anything unusual, will you get in touch with me instantly? I mean, don't wait for a complete analysis if you find something in the first hour. Don't make me wait." "The chances of finding anything in the first hour are very slim, but I promise you, Professor Seldon that I will be in touch with you at once if it seems necessary." Manella snatched Wanda's arm and led her off triumphantly. Raych followed, feet dragging. Seldon lingered and said, "This is more important than you know, Dr. Endelecki." Dr. Endelecki nodded as she said, "Whatever the reason, Professor, I'll do my best." Seldon left, his lips pressed tightly together. Why he had thought that somehow the genome would be worked out in five minutes and that a glance at it in another five minutes would give him an answer, he did not know. Now he would have to wait for weeks, without knowing what would be found. He ground his teeth. Would his newest brainchild, the Second Foundation, ever be established or was it an illusion that would remain always just out of reach? 第六章 　　取得婉达的完整基因组不是件容易的工作。首先，有能力分析基因组的生物物理学家少之又少，而他们又总是很忙。其次，谢顿不可能公开讨论他的需要，因此也无法以这种方式引起那些专家的兴趣。谢顿觉得，自己关心婉达精神能力的真正原因，绝对有必要对全银河保密。 若说还有其他困难，那就是分析手续费贵得吓人。谢顿摇摇头，对生物物理学家蜜安•恩德勒斯基说：为什么那么贵，恩德勒斯基医师？ 我不是这方面的专家，但我很清楚，分析手续完全计算机化，而旦，只要取得皮肤细胞刮片， 基因组在几天内便能完全建立并分析完毕。”“你说的是没错，可是将一个去氧核糖核酸分子拉成几十亿个核苷酸，让每个嘌呤与嘧啶各就各位，可就完全不是那么回事了，谢顿教授。接下来，我们还得研究每一个基因，将它们与一些标准基因进行比对。 “这就碰到一个问题，我们虽然有一些完整基因组的记录，但与世上存在的所有基因组相比，根本连九牛一毛都称不上，因此我们并不确定这些标准可信度有多高。” 谢顿问道：“完整的基因组为什么那么少？”“原因很多。费用是其中之一，很少有人愿意把信用点花在这上面，除非他们有强烈的理由，认为自己的基因组有什么问题。否则他们不会愿意接受分析，生怕会因此发现什么问题。所以说，您确定希望您的孙女接受基因组分析吗？” “是的，我确定，这件事非常重要。” “为什么？她有任何代谢异常的征兆吗？” “不，没有。应该说刚好相反，只是我不知道‘异常’的反义术语是什么。我认为她很不寻常，而我要知道她不寻常的原因究竟是什么。” “哪方面不寻常？” “精神方面，但我没办法详加叙述，因为我还不是非常了解。等她做完基因组分析，也许我就能说出个所以然来。” “她今年几岁？” “十二，就快满十三了。” “这样的话，我需要她双亲的同意。” 谢顿清了清喉咙。“这可能有困难。我是她祖父，有我的同意难道不够吗？”“我这方面当然没问题。可是您该知道，我们现在谈的是法律，我可不希望被吊销营业执照。” 于是，谢顿只好再找芮奇谈。这回芮奇仍然强烈抗议，说他与玛妮拉都希望婉达过正常女孩的生活。万一她的基因组的确不正常怎么办？她会不会被抓去接受各种检验，全身插满探针，活像个实验室的样本？谢顿会不会由于对心理史学计划过度狂热，而逼迫婉达过着只有工作没有娱乐的生活，禁止她与同龄的年轻人见面？可是谢顿十分坚持。“相信我，芮奇，我绝不会做任何伤害婉达的事。可是我必须知道 婉达的基因组。如果事情正如我猜测的那样，我们可能即将改变心理史学的发展方向，甚至改变银河未来的走向！” 芮奇终于被说服了，并设法取得了玛妮拉的同意。于是，三个大人一起带着婉达，来到恩德勒斯基医师的化验室。 蜜安•恩德勒斯基在门口迎接他们。她有一头闪亮的白发，但脸庞完全看不出岁月的痕 迹。 她望着婉达，婉达脸上除了好奇，并未显出任何忧虑或恐惧。然后，她转向陪同婉达前来的三个大人。 “母亲、父亲和祖父？”恩德勒斯基医师面带微笑，我说对了吗？”谢顿答道：“完全正确。” 芮奇显得相当客气，玛妮拉看来则相当疲倦，她的脸有点肿，双眼微微泛红。“你叫婉达，对吗？”女医师开口问小女孩。“是的，夫人。”婉达以清晰的口齿回答。 “我要告诉你接下来的程序。我猜，你惯用右手吧。”“是的，夫人。” “很好，那么，我会在你左前臂上喷一些麻醉剂——感觉就像一阵凉风吹过而已。然后我会从你手臂上刮下一点皮肤，只是一点点，不会痛，不会流血，不会留下疤痕。最后我会再帮你喷些消毒药水。整个过程只要几分钟就好了，可以吗？”“没问题。”婉达一面说，一面伸出手臂。 采样完成后，恩德勒斯基医师说：“我会把刮片放在显微镜底下，选取一个优良的细胞， 然后交给我的计算机化基因分析仪去分析。它会标示出每一个核苷酸，由于它们总数多达好几十亿，所以或许要花上一天的时间。当然，仪器是全自动的，我用不着坐在这里看着，你们也没有必要留下来。 “等基因组准备好，分析手续需要更长的时间。假如您想要完整的报告，也许得花上几个星期。这个手续既困难又冗长，这就是它如此昂贵的原因。等结果一出来，我会以电话通知您。”说完她便转身，埋头于面前桌上那台闪闪发光的仪器，仿佛已经把这家人送走了。“如果你发现任何不寻常的结果，请立刻跟我联络。”谢顿说，“我的意思是，如果你在 头一个小时就发现了什么，可别等分析全部结束才通知我，别让我痴痴地等。” “头一个小时几乎不可能有任何发现，但我向您保证，谢顿教授，有必要的话我会马上与您联络。” 玛妮拉抓起婉达的手臂，牵了她就往外走。芮奇不得不跟着移动脚步。谢顿又踌躇了一会儿，叮嘱道：“这件事的重要性非比寻常，恩德勒斯基医师。” 恩德勒斯基医师点点头，“不论是什么原因，教授，我都会尽全力。” 谢顿紧抿着嘴唇离开。他不知道自己为什么会认为准备基因组只需要五分钟，而再花五分钟他就能得到答案？现在，他不得不等上好几个星期，才能知道结果。他激动得咬紧牙齿。他最新的智能结晶“第二基地”是否能够建立？或者它终究只是个可望不可即的幻影？ Chapter 7 Hari Seldon walked into Dr. Endelecki's office, a nervous smile on his face. He said, "You said a couple of weeks, Doctor. It's been over a month mow." Dr. Endelecki nodded. "I'm sorry, Professor Seldon but you wanted everything exact and that is what I have tried to do." "Well?" The look of anxiety on Seldon's face did not disappear. What did you find?" "A hundred or so defective genes." "What! Defective genes. Are you serious, Doctor?" "Quite serious. Why not? There are no genomes without at least a hundred defective genes; usually there are considerably more. It's not as bad as it sounds, you know." "No, I don't know. You're the expert, Doctor, not I." Dr. Endelecki sighed and stirred in her chair. "You don't know anything about genetics, do you, Professor?" "No, I don't. A man can't know everything." "You're perfectly right. I know nothing about this-what do you call it?-this psychohistory of yours." Dr. Endelecki shrugged, then continued. "If you wanted to explain anything about it, you would be forced to start from the beginning and I would probably not understand it even so. "Now, as to genetics-" "Well?" "An imperfect gene usually means nothing. There are imperfect genes-so imperfect and so crucial that they produce terrible disorders. These are very rare, though. Most imperfect genes simply don't work with absolute accuracy. They're like wheels that are slightly out of balance. A vehicle will move along, trembling a bit, but it will move along." "Is that what Wanda has?" "Yes. More or less. After all, if all genes were perfect, we would all look precisely the same, we would all behave precisely the same. It's the difference in genes that makes for different people." "But won't it get worse as we grow older?" "Yes. We all get worse as we grow older. I noticed you limping when you came in. Why is that?" "A touch of sciatica," muttered Seldon. "Did you have it all your life?" "Of course not." "Well, some of your genes have gotten worse with time and now you limp." "And what will happen to Wanda with time?" "I don't know. I can't predict the future, Professor; I believe that is your province. However, if I were to hazard a guess, I would say that nothing unusual will happen to Wanda-at least, genetically-except the gathering of old age." Seldon said, "Are you sure?" "You have to take my word for it. You wanted to find out about Wanda's genome and you ran the risk of discovering things perhaps it is better not to know. But I tell you that, in my opinion, I can see nothing terrible happening to her." "The imperfect genes-should we fix them? Can we fix them?" "No. In the first place, it would be very expensive. Secondly, the chances are that they would not stay fixed. And finally, people are against it. "But why?" "Because they're against science in general. You should know this as well as anyone, Professor. I'm afraid the situation is such, especially since Cleon's death, that mysticism has been gaining ground. People don't believe in fixing genes scientifically. They would rather cure things by the laying on of hands or by mumbo-jumbo of some sort or other. Frankly it is extremely difficult for me to continue with my job. Very little funding is coming in." Seldon nodded. "Actually I understand this situation all too well. Psychohistory explains it, but I honestly didn't think the situation was growing so bad so rapidly. I've been too involved in my own work to see the difficulties all around me." He sighed. "I've been watching the Galactic Empire slowly fall apart for over thirty years now-and now that it's beginning to collapse much more rapidly, I don't see how we can stop it in time." "Are you trying to?" Dr. Endelecki seemed amused. "Yes, I am." "Lots of luck. -About your sciatica. You know, fifty years ago it could have been cured. Not now, though." "Why not?" "Well, the devices used for it are gone; the people who could have handled them are working on other things. Medicine is declining." "Along with everything else," mused Seldon. "-But let's get back to Wanda. I feel she is a most unusual young woman with a brain that is different from most. What do her genes tell you about her brain?" Dr. Endelecki leaned back in her chair. "Professor Seldon do you know just how many genes are involved in brain function?" "No. "I'll remind you that, of all the aspects of the human body, the brain Junction is the most intricate. In fact, as far as we know, there is nothing m the Universe as intricate as the human brain. So you won't be surprised when I tell you that there are thousands of genes that each play a i0ale in brain function." "Thousands?" "Exactly. And it is impossible to go through those genes and see anything specifically unusual. I will take your word for it, as far as Wanda is concerned. She is an unusual girl with an unusual brain, but I see nothing in her genes that can tell me anything about that brain-except, of course, that it is normal." "Could you find other people whose genes for mental functioning are like Wanda's, that have the same brain pattern?" "I doubt it very much. Even if another brain were much like hers, there would still be enormous differences in the genes. No use looking for similarities. -Tell me, Professor, just what is it about Wanda that makes you think her brain is so unusual?" Seldon shook his head. "I'm sorry. It's not something I can discuss." "In that case, I am certain that I can find out nothing for you. How did you discover that there was something unusual about her brain-this thing you can't discuss?" "Accident," muttered Seldon. "Sheer accident." "In that case, you're going to have to find other brains like hers-also by accident. Nothing else can be done." Silence settled over both of them. Finally Seldon said, "Is there anything else you can tell me?" "I'm afraid not. Except that I'll send you my bill." Seldon rose with an effort. His sciatica hurt him badly. "Well then, thank you, Doctor. Send the bill and I'll pay it." Hari Seldon left the doctor's office, wondering just what he would do next. 第七章 　　谢顿走进恩德勒斯基医师的化验室，脸上挂着紧张兮兮的笑容。他说：“你不是说要几个星期吗？医师，现在已经过了一个月。” 恩德勒斯基医师点了点头。“很抱歉，谢顿教授，但您希望每件事都正确无误，我正是试图那样做。” “怎么样？”谢顿脸上的焦虑并未消失，“发现了什么？” “一百个左右的缺陷基因。” “缺陷基因！你说真的吗，医师？”“当然真的。这没什么严重的，每个基因组至少也有一百个缺陷基因，通常还要多得多。 您该知道，这其实不像听起来那么糟。”“不，我不知道。专家是你，医师，不是我。” 恩德勒斯基医师叹了口气，在座椅中挪了挪身子。“您对遗传学一无所知，对不对，教授？” “没错，我不懂，一个人不可能什么都懂。”“您说得完全正确。而我则对您的那个——您所谓的心理史学一窍不通。”恩德勒斯基医师耸了耸肩，又继续说，“如果您想对我解释它的任何原理，就不得不从头讲起，而即使这样，我可能还是无法了解。好了，说到遗传学……” “怎么样？” “一个有缺陷的基因通常不代表什么。没错，某些缺陷太严重的基因的确会导致一些可怕的疾病。不过，这种情形非常罕见。大多数有缺陷的基因，只是无法精确地执行工作罢了， 它们就像有一点点不平衡的轮子，虽然会有点颠簸，可是车辆仍旧能行驶。” “婉达属于这种情形吗？” “可以这么说。毕竟，假如所有的基因都完美无缺，每个人看起来便会一模一样，甚至连言行举止也完全相同。人与人之间的差异，就是基因的差异造成的。”“伹是随着年龄的增长，情况不会越来越糟吗？”“没错。年纪越大，情况就会越糟。我注意到您走进来时一跛一跛的，是什么原因呢？” “一点坐骨神经痛。”谢顿喃喃道。“您一直都这样吗？” “当然不是。” “看吧，有些基因会随着年龄逐渐恶化，于是您走路就不方便了。”“婉达将来又会发生什么问题？” “我不知道。我无法预测未来，教授，我相信那是您的领域。然而，如果真要我猜，我会说除了老化之外，婉达不会有任何不寻常的变化。至少，就遗传学而言是如此。” 谢顿说：“你确定吗？” “您得相信我的话，教授。当初您决定分析婉达的基因组时，便冒着一个危险——或许会发现什么最好别知道的事。但是我要告诉您，根据我的看法，我不认为她会发生什么可怕的病变。” “那些有缺陷的基因，需不需要设法修复？修得好吗？” “不用。原因之一，那样做太过昂贵。原因之二，再度突变的机会很大。最后一个原因， 是一般人反对这样做。” “为什么？” “只要是科学，他们就反对，这一点您应该很了解，教授。如今神秘主义日渐壮大，克里昂死后尤其变本加厉。人们不再相信修复基因的科学方法，他们宁愿利用巫术或各式各样的咒语来治病。坦白讲，我现在连要继续研究工作都很困难，经费来源太少了。” 谢顿点了点头。“其实，我对这种情形再了解不过了。心理史学曾解释过这点，但我实在没想到情况恶化得这么快。我太专注于自己的工作，忽略了周围这些困境。”他叹了一口气，“过去三十多年来，我眼看着银河帝国逐渐分裂，现在更是加速崩溃，我知道该怎样才能及时阻止这一切。” “这是您目前努力的方向吗？”恩德勒斯基医师似乎颇感兴趣。“没错。” “那么，祝您好运。至于您的坐骨神经痛，您可知道，五十年前是可以治的，不过，现在不行了。” “为什么？” “这个嘛，治疗仪器没了，本来懂得操作那些仪器的人，全都做别的事去了。医疗水准也在走下坡。” “跟其他的一切一起衰落……”谢顿沉思了一会儿，“我们还是回到婉达身上吧。我觉得她相当不寻常，她的大脑与大多数人不同。从她的基因中，你可以看出她的大脑有什么特殊的地方吗？” 恩德勒斯基医师上身靠向椅背。“谢顿教授，您知道与大脑运作有关的基因有多少吗？” “不知道。” “容我提醒您，在人体各个层面中，大脑的运作是最错综复杂的一环。事实上，在人类所知的范畴内，宇宙中没有比人脑更复杂的结构了。所以假如我告诉您，在大脑运作中有好几千个基因各自扮演不同角色，您应该不至于感到惊讶吧。” “几千个？” “正是如此。想要一一检查这些基因，找出不寻常的地方，简直就是不可能的事。您说婉达相当不寻常，拥有一个不寻常的大脑，我完全相信。可是我从她的基因中，没有发现任何不寻常的迹象——我只看出她的大脑完全正常。” “你有没有可能找到其他精神运作基因与婉达类似的人，也就是具有相同大脑型样的 人？” “我认为不太可能。就算真的有另一个和她相似的大脑，两者的基因还是会有极大差异， 寻找相似性根本没用。告诉我，教授，究竟是什么样的特殊之处，让您认为婉达的大脑如此与众不同？” 谢顿摇了摇头。“很抱歉，这事我不方便谈。” “这样的话，我可以确定我帮不上忙。您当初是怎么发现她的大脑不寻常——是怎么发现这件不方便谈的事？” “巧合，”谢顿喃喃道，“纯粹是巧合。” “这样的话，您若想找到其他类似的大脑，也必须借着巧合才行，此外没有别的办法。” 两人沉默许久，最后谢顿说：“你还有其他能告诉我的事吗？”“只怕没有了，除了费用问题，我会把账单寄给您。”谢顿吃力地站起来，他的坐骨神经令他疼痛难忍。“好吧，那么，谢谢你了，医师。把账单寄给我，我会尽快付清。”谢顿离开了化验室，对于下一步该做什么，他心中一片茫然。 Chapter 8 Like any intellectual, Hari Seldon had made use of the Galactic Library freely. For the most part, it had been done long-distance through computer, but occasionally he had visited it, more to get away from the pressures of the Psychohistory Project than for any other purpose. And, for the past couple of years, since he had first formulated his plan to find others like Wanda, he had kept a private office there, so he could have ready access to any of the Library's vast collection of data. He had even rented a small apartment in an adjacent sector under the dome so that he would be able to walk to the Library when his ever-increasing research there prevented him from returning to the Streeling Sector. Now, however, his plan had taken on new dimensions and he wanted to meet Las Zenow. It was the first time he had ever met him face-to-face. It was not easy to arrange a personal interview with the Chief Librarian of the Galactic Library. His own perception of the nature and value of his office was high and it was frequently said that when the Emperor wished to consult the Chief Librarian, even he had to visit the Library himself and wait his turn. Seldon however, had no trouble. Zenow knew him well, though he had never seen Hari Seldon in person. "An honor, First Minister," he said in greeting. Seldon smiled. "I trust you know that I have not held that post in sixteen years." "The honor of the title is still yours. Besides, sir, you were also instrumental in ridding us of the brutal rule of the junta. The junta, on a number of occasions, violated the sacred rule of the neutrality of the Library." (Ah, thought Seldon that accounts for the readiness with which he saw me.) "Merely rumor," he said aloud. "And now, tell me," said Zenow, who could not resist a quick look at the time band on his wrist, "what can I do for you?" "Chief Librarian," began Seldon "I have not come to ask anything easy of you. What I want is more space at the Library. I want permission to bring in a number of my associates. I want permission to undertake a long and elaborate program of the greatest importance." Las Zenow's face drew into an expression of distress. "You ask a great deal. Can you explain the importance of all this?" "Yes. The Empire is in the process of disintegration." There was a long pause. Then Zenow said, "I have heard of your research into psychohistory. I have been told that your new science bears the promise of predicting the future. Is it psychohistorical predictions of which you are speaking?" "No. I have not yet reached the point in psychohistory where I can speak of the future with certainty. But you don't need psychohistory to know that the Empire is disintegrating. You can see the evidence yourself." Zenow sighed. "My work here consumes me utterly, Professor Seldon. I am a child when it comes to political and social matters." "You may, if you wish, consult the information contained in the Library. Why look around this very office-it is chock-full of every conceivable sort of information from throughout the entire Galactic Empire." "I'm the last to keep up with it all, I'm afraid," Zenow said, smiling sadly. "You know the old proverb: The shoemaker's child has no shoes. It seems to me, though, that the Empire is restored. We have an Emperor again." "In name only, Chief Librarian. In most of the outlying provinces, the Emperor's name is mentioned ritualistically now and then, but he plays no role in what they do. The Outer Worlds control their own programs and, more important, they control the local armed forces, which are outside the grip of the Emperor's authority. If the Emperor were to try to exert his authority anywhere outside the Inner Worlds, he would fail. I doubt that it will take more than twenty years, at the outside, before some of the Outer Worlds declare their independence." Zenow sighed again. "If you are right, we live in worse times than the Empire has ever seen. But what has this to do with your desire for more office space and additional staff here in the Library?" "If the Empire falls apart, the Galactic Library may not escape the general carnage." "Oh, but it must," said Zenow earnestly. "There have been bad times before and it has always been understood that the Galactic Library on Trantor, as the repository of all human knowledge, must remain inviolate. And so it will be in the future." "It may not be. You said yourself that the junta violated its neutrality.? "Not seriously." "It might be more serious next time and we can't allow this repository of all human knowledge to be damaged." "How will your increased presence here prevent that?" "It won't. But the project I am interested in will. I want to create a great Encyclopedia, containing within it all the knowledge humanity will need to rebuild itself in case the worst happens-an Encyclopedia Galactica, if you will. We don't need everything the Library has. Much of it is trivial. The provincial libraries scattered over the Galaxy may themselves be destroyed and, if not, all but the most local data is obtained by computerized connection with the Galactic Library in any case. What I intend, then, is something that is entirely independent and that contains, in as concise a form as possible, the essential information humanity needs." "And if it, too, is destroyed?" "I hope it will not be. It is my intention to find a world far away on the outskirts of the Galaxy, one where I can transfer my Encyclopedists and where they can work in peace. Until such a place is found, however, I want the nucleus of the group to work here and to use the Library facilities to decide what will be needed for the project." Zenow grimaced. "I see your point, Professor Seldon, but I'm not sure that it can be done." "Why not, Chief Librarian?" "Because being Chief Librarian does not make me an absolute monarch. I have a rather large Board-a kind of legislature-and please don't think that I can just push your Encyclopedia Project through." "I'm astonished." "Don't be. I am not a popular Chief Librarian. The Board has been fighting, for some years now, for limited access to the Library. I have resisted. It galls them that I have afforded you your small office space." "Limited access?" "Exactly. The idea is that if anyone needs information, he or she must communicate with a Librarian and the Librarian will get the information for the person. The Board does not wish people to enter the Library freely and deal with the computers themselves. They say that the expense required to keep the computers and other Library equipment in shape is becoming prohibitive." "But that's impossible. There's a millennial tradition of an open Galactic Library." "So there is, but in recent years, appropriations to the Library have been cut several times and we simply don't have the funds we used to have. It is becoming very difficult to keep our equipment up to the mark." Seldon rubbed his chin. "But if your appropriations are going down, I imagine you have to cut salaries and fire people-or, at least, not hire new ones." "You are exactly right." "In which case, how will you manage to place new labors on a shrinking work force by asking your people to obtain all the information that the public will request?" "The idea is that we won't find all the information that the public will request but only those pieces of information that we consider important." "So that not only will you abandon the open Library but also the complete Library?" "I'm afraid so." "I can't believe that any Librarian would want this." "You don't know Gennaro Mummery, Professor Seldon." At Seldon's blank look, Zenow continued. " `Who is he?' you wonder. The leader of that portion of the Board that wishes to close off the Library. More and more of the Board are on his side. If I let you and your colleagues into the Library as an independent force, a number of Board members who may not be on Mummery's side but who are dead set against any control of any part of the Library except by Librarians may decide to vote with him. And in that case, I will be forced to resign as Chief Librarian." "See here," said Seldon with sudden energy. "All this business of possibly closing down the Library, of making it less accessible, of refusing all information-all this business of declining appropriations-all this iiiitself a sign of Imperial disintegration. Don't you agree?" "If you put it that way, you may be right." "Then let me talk to the Board. Let me explain what the future may hold and what I wish to do. Perhaps I can persuade them, as I hope I've persuaded you." Zenow thought for a moment. "I'm willing to let you try, but you must know in advance that your plan may not work." "I've got to take that chance. Please do whatever has to be done and let me know when and where I can meet the Board." Seldon left Zenow in a mood of unease. Everything he had told the Chief Librarian was true-and trivial. The real reason he needed the use of the Library remained hidden. Partly this was because he didn't yet see that use clearly himself. 第八章 　　就像其他知识分子一样，哈里•谢顿常常使用帝国图书馆。大多数时候，他是借助长途 计算机联线，但偶尔他也会亲自上图书馆，主要是为了抒解一下心理史学计划的压力。而过去几年间，从他开始有计划地寻找与婉达有同样特质的人之后，他就在图书馆里申请了一间个人研究室，以便随时查询馆中丰富的资料。谢顿甚至还在附近的穹顶下租了一间小公寓，这样一来，当此地的研究工作越来越繁重时，他便不需返回川陀。 如今，计划即将迈入新的阶段，谢顿觉得该是与拉斯•齐诺见面的时候了。这将是谢顿 首次与他面对面接触。 想要跟帝国图书馆馆长进行一次私人会晤，绝不是件容易的事。馆长本人自视甚高，因此常有人说，就连皇上希望咨询馆长时，也得亲自前往图书馆，等候馆长的接见。不过谢顿倒没有遇到这种麻烦。齐诺虽然没见过谢顿，对他却十分熟悉。“万分荣幸，首相。”这是他的欢迎词。 谢顿微微一笑。“相信您一定知道，那已经是十六年前的事了。” “话虽如此，这个荣衔仍是属于您的。此外，我们能摆脱执政团的残酷统治，您也功不可没。当年执政团屡次破坏本馆神圣的中立原则……”（是啊，谢顿心想，难怪馆长那么爽快就答应见我。）“只是谣言罢了。”谢顿道。 “现在，请告诉我，”齐诺一面说，一面忍不住瞥了眼手腕上的计时带，“我能为您做些 什么？” “馆长，”谢顿开始说，“我这次来，是要对您提出一些不情之请。我希望能在图书馆中 拥有更大空间，并请您批准我带一批同僚进来。另外，我还希望您能批准我进行一项庞大复杂的长期计划，这项计划极其重要。” 拉斯•齐诺脸上露出苦恼的表情。“您的要求可真多。您能说明这一切有什么重要性吗？” “当然。因为帝国正在逐渐崩溃。”沉默了好长一段时间，齐诺终于开口：“听说您目前正在研究心理史学。有人告诉我，说您的新科学有可能预测未来。您刚才说的是心理史学预测的结果吗？”“不是。心理史学现在还没有办法准确地预测未来。但我相信您不需要心理史学也知道帝国正在瓦解，您自己就能发现许多证据。”齐诺叹了一口气。“这儿的工作占了我全部时间，谢顿教授。提到政治与社会问题，和小孩子没什么两样。” “只要您愿意，您大可査询图书馆收藏的各种资料。看，这间办公室里不就塞满了来自银河帝国各处、应有尽有的各项资料？”“只怕，我是最跟不上时代的人。”齐诺露出悲伤的笑容，“您该知道一句古老的谚语： 鞋匠的孩子没鞋穿。不过在我看来，帝国似乎已经回复了秩序，我们现在不是又有皇帝了吗？”“只是名义上如此，馆长。在大多数的偏远星省，形式上偶尔会提一提皇上的名字，可是他们的行动完全不受皇上拘束。外围世界依凭自己的主意行事，更控制着当地的武装部队， 这些部队完全不在皇上掌握中。皇上根本无法在内围世界之外行使权力。我推测顶多再过二十年，一些外围世界就会宣布独立。” 齐诺又叹了口气。“如果您说对了，帝国便正面临有史以来最糟的时期。可是，这跟您希望在图书馆里申请更多研究空间、引进更多人员又有什么关系？”“如果帝国四分五裂，帝国图书馆可能也难逃浩劫。”“噢，一定可能。”齐诺一本正经地说：“过去也曾有过很混乱的年代，可是人们总会了 解，川陀上的帝国图书馆是人类所有知识的宝库，绝对不能受到破坏，而将来也会如此。”“将来也许不会如此，您自己说执政团就曾破坏它的中立。” “并不严重。” “但下一次呢？我们不能让这个人类知识的宝库遭到毁坏。” “单单增加工作人员就能防止这个悲剧吗？”“的确不能，但我准备进行的那个计划却可以。我想制作一套规模庞大的百科全书，内容包含各种丰富的知识，万一发生了最坏的情况，这些知识足以帮助人类重建文明——这套书您可以称之为《银河百科全书》。我们并不需要馆内的所有藏书，许多资料都太琐碎了。您要知道散布在银河各处的地方图书馆也可能被毁，纵使幸免于难，它们所拥有的资料——除了区域性的资料——也都是借着计算机联线取自帝国图书馆。所以我心目中的百科全书必须是全然独立的一套书，并以尽可能简明扼要的形式，收录人类需要的各种基本知识。” “万一它也被毁了呢？” “我希望不会。我计划在遥远的银河边缘找个世界，把手下的百科全书编者迁到那里去， 让他们在那里平静地工作。然而，在找到那个世界之前，我希望核心成员能在此工作，利用图书馆里的设备，决定这个计划该收录什么资料。” 齐诺皱起眉头，“我懂了，谢顿教授，但我不确定办不办得到。” “为什么呢，馆长？” “虽然身为图书馆长，并不代表我就能为所欲为。我上面还有个评议会，是图书馆的立法机构，请别以为我有办法让您的百科全书计划轻易通过。” “真是令人惊讶。” “不必惊讶，我这个馆长不是很受欢迎。这几年来，评议会一直想对图书馆设限，但总是被我拒绝。我提供小小一间研究室给您，他们就已经火冒三丈了。” “设限？” “没错。他们的想法是，如果任何人需要资料，他得跟图书馆员联络，由图书馆员替他找来那项资料。评议会不希望人们自由进入图书馆、亲自动手操作计算机。他们说，计算机和其他图书馆设备的费用保养越来越贵，贵得离谱了。” “但那是不可能的，开放帝国图书馆已有上千年的传统。”“是啊，但最近这些年来，本馆的预算被削减好几次，我们的经费没有过去那么宽裕。想使图书馆的设备保持一定水准，已经是一件非常困难的事。”谢顿揉了揉下巴。“如果预算逐年减少，我想您就得降低薪资、裁减人员——或者，至少不再雇用新人。” “您说的完全正确。” “但在人力缩减的窘况下，您怎么有办法再要求馆员替民众找来资料？”“评议会的想法是，图书馆不再搜集公众要求的每一件资料，而仅仅搜集那些我们认为重要的资料。” “所以说，你们不只要废止开放式图书馆，同时也废止完备式图书馆？”“恐怕就是如此。” “我无法相信会有图书馆员愿意这么做。” “您不认识吉纳洛•麻莫瑞，谢顿教授。”看着一脸茫然的谢顿，齐诺继续说，您一定 在纳闷他是谁？他是评议会中希望封闭图书馆那一派的领袖，评议会里越来越多的成员倒向他那边。假使我让您跟您的同事独立于编制之外，进驻到图书馆中，那么，有些原本不在麻莫瑞阵营中的评议委员，也许会因为誓死反对馆员以外的人进驻图书请任何角落，而决定投他一票。这样一来，我将被迫辞去图书馆长一职。” “您看吧，”谢顿突然有些激动，“所有这些事情，包括可能关闭图书馆、实施设限措施、拒绝搜集所有资料，还有逐年减少预算，这一切不就是帝国崩溃的一种征兆吗？”“如果您要这么说，或许也没错。”“那么让我去跟评议会说，让我来解释未来可能的发展，以及我希望怎么做。说不定我能说服他们，正如我希望已经说服了您一样。” 齐诺考虑了一会儿。“我愿意让您试一试，但您必须了解，您的计划可能不会成功。”“我得碰碰运气。请务必将一切安排妥当，并尽快让我知道与评议会晤谈的时间与地点。”谢顿向齐诺告别，怀着不安的心情离去。他告诉馆长的一切都是真的，但都是些细枝末节。至于他需要图书馆的真正理由，他则只字未提。 部分原因是，他自己也尚未看清这个理由。 Chapter 9 Hari Seldon sat at Yugo Amaryl's bedside-patiently, sadly. Yugo was utterly spent. He was beyond medical help, even if he would have consented to avail himself of such help, which he refused. He was only fifty-five. Seldon was himself sixty-six and yet he was in fine shape, except for the twinge of sciatica-or whatever it was-that occasionally lamed him. Amaryl's eyes opened. "You're still here, Hari?" Seldon nodded. "I won't leave you." "Till I die?" "Yes." Then, in an outburst of grief, he said, "Why have you done this, Yugo? If you had lived sensibly, you could have had twenty to thirty more years of life." Amaryl smiled faintly. "Live sensibly? You mean, take time off? Go to resorts? Amuse myself with trifles?" "Yes. Yes." "And I would either have longed to return to my work or I would have learned to like wasting my time and, in the additional twenty to thirty years you speak of, I would have accomplished no more. Look at you." "What about me?" "For ten years you were First Minister under Cleon. How much science did you do then?" "I spent about a quarter of my time on psychohistory," said Seldon gently. "You exaggerate. If it hadn't been for me, plugging away, psychohistorical advance would have screeched to a halt." Seldon nodded. "You are right, Yugo. For that I am grateful." "And before and since, when you spend at least half your time on administrative duties, who does--did-the real work? Eh?" "You, Yugo." "Absolutely." His eyes closed again. Seldon said, "Yet you always wanted to take over those administrative duties if you survived me." "No! I wanted to head the Project to keep it moving in the direction it had to move in, but I would have delegated all administration." Amaryl's breathing was growing stertorous, but then he stirred and his eyes opened, staring directly at Hari. He said, "What will happen to psychohistory when I'm gone? Have you thought of that?" "Yes, I have. And I want to speak to you about it. It may please you. Yugo, I believe that psychohistory is being revolutionized." Amaryl frowned slightly. "In what way? I don't like the sound of that." "Listen. It was your idea. Years ago, you told me that two Foundations should be established. Separate-isolated and safe-and arranged so that they would serve as nuclei for an eventual Second Galactic Empire. Do you remember? That was your idea." "The psychohistoric equations-" "I know. They suggested it. I'm busy working on it now, Yugo. I've managed to wangle an office in the Galactic Library-" "The Galactic Library." Amaryl's frown deepened. "I don't like diem. A bunch of self-satisfied idiots." "The Chief Librarian, Las Zenow, is not so bad, Yugo." "Did you ever meet a Librarian named Mummery, Gennaro Mummery?" "No, but I've heard of him." "A miserable human being. We had an argument once when he claimed I had misplaced something or other. I had done no such thing and I grew very annoyed, Hari. All of a sudden I was back in Dahl. One thing about the Dahlite culture, Hari, it is a cesspool of invective. I used some of it on him and I told him he was interfering with psychohistory and he would go down in history as a villain. I didn't just say `villain,' either." Amaryl chuckled faintly. "I left him speechless." Suddenly Seldon could see where Mummery's animosity toward outsiders and, most probably, psychohistory must come from-at least, in part-but he said nothing. "The point is, Yugo, you wanted two Foundations, so that if one failed, the other would continue. But we've gone beyond that." "In what way?" "Do you remember that Wanda was able to read your mind two years ago and see that something was wrong with a portion of the equations in the Prime Radiant?" "Yes, of course." "Well, we will find others like Wanda. We will have one Foundation that will consist largely of physical scientists, who will preserve the knowledge of humanity and serve as the nucleus for the Second Empire. And there will be a Second Foundation of psychohistorians only-mentalists, mind-touching psychohistorians-who will be able to work on psychohistory in a multiminded way, advancing it far more quickly than individual thinkers ever could. They will serve as a group who will introduce fine adjustments as time goes on, you see. Ever in the background, watching. They will be the Empire's guardians." "Wonderful!" said Amaryl weakly. "Wonderful! You see how I've chosen the right time to die? There's nothing left for me to do." "Don't say that, Yugo." "Don't make such a fuss over it, Hari. I'm too tired to do anything. Thank you-thank you-for telling me"-his voice was weakening-攁bout the revolution. It makes me-happy-----------" And those were Yugo Amaryl's last words. Seldon bent over the bed. Tears stung his eyes and rolled down his cheeks. Another old friend gone. Demerzel, Cleon, Dors, now Yugo . leaving him emptier and lonelier as he grew old. And the revolution that had allowed Amaryl to die happy might never come to pass. Could he manage to make use of the Galactic Library? Could he find more people like Wanda? Most of all, how long would it take? Seldon was sixty-six. If only he could have started this revolution at thirty-two when he first came to Trantor . Now it might be too late. 第九章 　　哈里•谢顿坐在雨果•阿马瑞尔的床沿，忍受着悲伤的折磨。阿马瑞尔的生命已经到了尽头。他拒绝接受任何医疗，然而即使他愿意，也早已回天乏术。 阿马瑞尔只不过五十五岁。谢顿自己已经六十六，但健康状况良好，只有坐骨神经的刺痛偶尔让他行动不太方便。 阿马瑞尔张开眼睛。“你还在这儿，哈里？” 谢顿点了点头。“我会一直陪着你。” “直到我死去？” “是的。”谢顿突然悲从中来，“为什么呢，雨果？如果你过得正常一点，你至少还能活 上二三十年。” 阿马瑞尔露出虚弱的微笑。“正常一点？你的意思是，休假？旅游？享受些微不足道的乐趣？” “是的。” “那样的话，我要不是渴望赶紧回到工作上，就是学会虚度光阴，而在那多出来的二三十年间，我将一事无成。看看你自己吧。” “我怎么样？” “当首相的那十年间，你做了多少科学研究？” “我大概四分之一的时间都花在心理史学上。”谢顿柔声道。 “你夸大了。要是没有我的辛勤工作，心理史学会一点进展都没有。” 谢顿点了点头。“你说得对，雨果，我很感激。”“而你不当首相的时候，你至少把一半时间花在行政事务上，那时真正在工作的又是谁？ 啊？” “是你，雨果。” “没错。”阿马瑞尔再度阖上眼睛。谢顿说：“但你不也总希望在我之后接掌那些行政事务吗？” “不！我想领导谢顿计划是为了让它维持在正轨上，我会把所有行政工作授权出去。”阿马瑞尔的呼吸逐渐转为鼾声，但他随即惊醒，张开眼睛直直瞪着谢顿。“我走了之后， 心理史学怎么办？你想过这点吗？”“我想过。我现在就准备跟你谈谈这件事，也许能让你振奋一点，雨果——我相信心理史学即将发生一场革命。” 阿马瑞尔微微皱起眉头。“什么样的革命？我不喜欢你这种口气。” “那可是你的主意。几年前，你告诉我应该建立两个独立的基地，彼此安全地隔离起来， 让它们成为未来第二银河帝国的种子。你记得吗？那是你的主意。”“是心理史学方程式——” “我知道，是那些方程式建议的。现在我正在积极进行，雨果。我设法在帝国图书馆弄到了一间研究室——” “帝国图书馆，”阿马瑞尔眉头锁得深了些，“我不喜欢他们，一些自以为了不起的白痴。” “雨果，那位图书馆长，拉斯•齐诺，可没有那么坏。”“你见过一个叫吉纳洛•麻莫瑞的图书馆员吗？” “没有，但我听说过他。” “一个卑鄙的家伙，我和他吵过一次架。那次他硬说我把什么东西弄丢了，可是根本没那回事，所以我气极了，哈里，突然间我像是回到了达尔——达尔文化的一项特色，哈里，就是充满恶毒的脏话——我骂了他几句，说他在妨碍心理史学研究，历史会把他写成一个恶棍，我用的字眼可比‘恶棍’要难听多了。”阿马瑞尔虚弱地笑了几声，“他被我骂得说不出话来。” 谢顿这时才恍然大悟，明白麻莫瑞对外人（尤其是对心理史学）的憎恨从何而来——至少这是原因之一。但他什么也没说。“重点在于，雨果，你想建立两个基地，是为了预防万一其中一个失败，另一个还能继续下去。但我们已经超越了这个设计。”“哪一方面？” “记不记得两年前婉达透视了你的心灵，看出元光体中不对劲的方程式？” “当然记得。” “好，我们计划找出一些类似婉达的人。我们将建立一个主要由物理科学家组成的基地， 他们会保存人类的知识，成为第二帝国的种子。此外还会有个仅由心理史学家组成的第二基地——他们是精神学家、是能触动心灵的心理史学家，能以集体心灵的方式进行研究，这样心理史学的进展将远比任何个别心灵单独研究更为迅速。在未来，第二基地将负责导入微调， 懂了吗？他们将始终隐身幕后，静观局势的变化，他们将是第二帝国的守护者。”“太好……”阿马瑞尔虚弱地说，“太好了！你看我选的死期多么恰当？已经没什么需要我做的了。” “别这样说，雨果。” “没关系，哈里。我太累了，什么也不能做了。谢……你……告诉我……”他的声音越来越微弱，这场革命。我很高……高兴……高……” 这便是雨果•阿马瑞尔最后的几句话。谢顿伏在床上，滚烫的泪水顺着双颊缓缓流下。 又一个老朋友走了。丹莫茨尔、克里昂、铎丝，现在轮到雨果……他的晚年越来越空虚， 越来越寂寞。 而让阿马瑞尔含笑而终的这场革命，却有可能永远无法实现。他能不能获得帝国图书馆的使用权？能不能找到更多和婉达一样的人？最重要的是，这一切得花多久时间？谢顿这时已经六十六岁。假使他在三十二岁刚刚抵达川陀之际，便开始这场革命，那该有多好…… 现在或许已经太迟了。 Chapter 10 Gennaro Mummery was making him wait. It was a studied discourtesy, even insolence, 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 fixture. It revealed yellowish teeth and Mummery's inevitable hat was of a similar shade of yellow with a brown line snaking around it. Seldon felt a touch of nausea. 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 opposition 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 shrugged. "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 eventual 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 notch. 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 woes. Appropriations 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 deteriorating? I've heard you referred to as Raven Seldon, something that, I believe, refers to a fabled bird of ill omen." "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 dwindling 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 desperately, "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. 第十章 　　吉纳洛•麻莫瑞让他等了很长一段时间。这是失礼的举动，甚至可说是刻意的轻慢，但谢顿仍然保持冷静。 毕竟，谢顿极需要麻莫瑞的帮助。他若动怒，只会对自己不利。事实上，麻莫瑞恨不得见到谢顿发脾气。 于是谢顿按捺住脾气，耐心地等待。最后，麻莫瑞终于走进房间。谢顿以前曾见过他，但只是远远一瞥，这是他们两人首次单独会晤。 麻莫瑞身材矮胖，圆脸上蓄着短短的深色络腮胡。他脸上的笑容看在谢顿眼里像个无意义的装饰。他笑时露出一口黄板牙，头上那顶不可或缺的帽子也是类似的黄色色调，帽子上还环绕着一道褐色的条纹。 谢顿感到有点恶心。他知道自己不可能喜欢这个人，虽然这种厌恶一点道理也没有。 麻莫瑞没说任何客套话，劈头就问：好啦，教授，我能为你做什么？”他望了望墙上的计时片，没有为迟到道歉。 谢顿说：“我想请求你，阁下，别再反对我留在这座图书馆内。” 麻莫瑞两手一摊。“你在这里已经待了两年，我不懂你说的什么反对？” “目前为止，你在评议会里的那一派人和赞成你的，还赢不过支持图书馆长的票数。但下个月会有另一次会议，拉斯•齐诺告诉我，他对结果没有把握。” 麻莫瑞耸了耸肩。“我还不是，你的——姑且说租赁吧——很有可能续约。”“可是我需要的不只如此，麻莫瑞馆员，我希望能再多带些同事进来。我正在进行的这个计划，光靠我一个是绝对办不到的。我最终的目标，是要编纂一套非常特别的百科全书。” “你的同事爱在哪儿工作，就到哪儿工作，川陀是个很大的世界。”“但我们必须在图书馆里工作才行。我老了，阁下，我的时间所剩不多。” “谁又能阻止时间的流逝呢？我认为评议会不会准你把同事带进来，这事现在看来没什么，但将来可会惹出一大堆麻烦，教授？” （是啊，的确没错，谢顿心想，但他什么也没说。） 麻莫瑞又说：“我一直没法把你挡在外面，教授，目前还做不到。但是，我应该还有办法不让你的同事踏进图书馆。”谢顿了解到这样谈下去不会有结果，便再透露一点讯息。他说：“麻莫瑞馆员，你对我的憎恨应该不是私怨，你一定了解我的工作有多重要。” “你是指你的心理史学？得了吧，你在那上面花的时间超过三十年，又有什么成果？”“那正是重点，现在可能马上就会有成果了。” “那就让这个成果诞生在川陀大学好了，为何一定要在帝国图书馆？” “麻莫瑞馆员，听我说。你想对公众关闭这座图书馆，你要粉碎一项悠久的传统。你真的狠心这样做吗？” “我们需要的不是狠心，而是经费。馆长一定曾向你哭诉，把我们的悲哀告诉了你。预算逐年删减，薪资降低，必需的保养维护全做不到。你要我们怎么办？我们只好减少服务项目，更别说要提供你和你同事研究室和设备了。”“皇上知道这件事吗？” “得了吧，教授，你在做白日梦。你的心理史学不是告诉你帝国正在衰落吗？我听说有人叫你乌鸦嘴谢顿，我相信那是指寓言中一种不吉利的鸟。” “帝国的确即将迈入一个黑暗时期。” “而你想这座图书馆能幸免吗？这座图书馆就是我的生命，我要它延续下去，但除非我们设法凑合着用逐年缩减的经费，否则图书馆一定撑不下去。而你今天却来这里，指望有个开放式图书馆，让你自己受益。办不到，教授，完全办不到！”谢顿抱着最后一线希望说：“要是我能帮你们找到信用点呢？”“是吗，怎么找？” “要是我有办法跟皇上说呢？我担任过首相，他会接见我，他会听我陈情。”“然后你就能从他那儿弄到经费？”麻莫瑞哈哈大笑。“如果我办到了，如果我让你们的预算增加，我能不能带同事进来？” “先把信用点带来，”麻莫瑞道，到时再说。但我不认为你会成功。” 麻莫瑞似乎非常自信。谢顿猜想，帝国图书馆必定曾多次向皇上请愿，却屡次被打了回票。 他不禁怀疑，自己请愿成功的机会到底有多少。 Chapter 11 The Emperor Agis XIV had no real right to the name. He had adopted it upon succeeding to the throne with the deliberate purpose of connecting himself with the Agises who had ruled two thousand years ago, most of them quite ably-particularly Agis VI, who had ruled for forty-two years and who had kept order in a prosperous Empire with a firm but nontyrannical hand. Agis XIV did not look like any of the old Agises-if the holographic records had any value. But, then again, truth be told, Agis XIV did not look much like the official holograph that was distributed to the public. As a matter of fact, Hari Seldon thought, with a twinge of nostalgia, that Emperor Cleon, for all his flaws and weaknesses, had certainly looked Imperial. Agis XIV did not. Seldon had never seen him at close quarters and the few holographs he had seen were outrageously inaccurate. The Imperial holographer knew his job and did it well, thought Seldon wryly. Agis XIV was short, with an unattractive face and slightly bulging eyes that did not seem alight with intelligence. His only qualification for the throne was that he was a collateral relative of Cleon. To do him credit, however, he did not try to play the role of the mighty Emperor. It was understood that he rather liked to be called the "Citizen Emperor" and that only Imperial protocol and the outraged outcry of the Imperial Guard prevented him from exiting the dome and wandering the walkways of Trantor. Apparently, the story went, he wished to shake hands with the citizens and hear their complaints in person. (Score one for him, thought Seldon, even if it could never come to pass.) With a murmur and a bow, Seldon said, "I thank you, Sire, for consenting to see me." Agis XIV had a clear and rather attractive voice, quite out of keeping with his appearance. He said, "An ex-First Minister must surely have his privileges, although I must give myself credit for amazing courage in agreeing to see you." There was humor in his words and Seldon found himself suddenly realizing that a man might not look intelligent and yet might be intelligent just the same. "Courage, Sire?" "Why, of course. Don't they call you Raven Seldon?" "I heard the expression, Sire, the other day for the first time." "Apparently the reference is to your psychohistory, which seems to predict the Fall of the Empire." "It points out the possibility only, Sire-" "So that you are coupled with a mythic bird of ill omen. Except that I think you yourself are the bird of ill omen." "I hope not, Sire." "Come, come. The record is clear. Eto Demerzel, Cleon's old First Minister, was impressed with your work and look what happened-he was forced out of his position and into exile. The Emperor Cleon himself was impressed with your work and look what happened-he was assassinated. The military junta was impressed with your work and look what happened-they were swept away. Even the Joranumites, it is said, were impressed with your work and, behold, they were destroyed. And now, O Raven Seldon, you come to see me. What may I expect?" "Why, nothing evil, Sire." "I imagine not, because unlike all these others I have mentioned, I am not impressed with your work. Now tell me why you are here." He listened carefully and without interruption while Seldon explained the importance of setting up a Project designed to prepare an encyclopedia that would preserve human learning if the worst happened. "Yes yes," said Agis XIV finally, "so you are, indeed, convinced the Empire will fall." "It is a strong possibility, Sire, and it would not be prudent to refuse to take that possibility into account. In a way, I wish to prevent it if I can -or ameliorate the effects if I can't." "Raven Seldon if you continue to poke your nose into matters, I am convinced that the Empire will fall and that nothing can help it." "Not so, Sire. I ask only permission to work." "Oh, you have that, but I fail to see what it is you wish of me. Why have you told me all this about an encyclopedia?" "Because I wish to work in the Galactic Library, Sire, or, more accurately, I wish others to work there with me." "I assure you that I won't stand in your way." "That is not enough, Sire. I want you to help." "In what way, ex-First Minister?" "With funding. The Library must have appropriations or it will close its doors to the public and evict me." "Credits!'" A note of astonishment came into the Emperor's voice. "You came to me for credits?" "Yes, Sire." Agis XIV stood up in some agitation. Seldon stood up at once also, but Agis waved him down. "Sit down. Don't treat me as an Emperor. I'm not an Emperor. I didn't want this job, but they made me take it. I was the nearest thing to the Imperial family and they jabbered at me that the Empire needed an Emperor. So they have me and a lot of good I am to them. "Credits! You expect me to have credits! You talk about the Empire disintegrating. How do you suppose it disintegrates? Are you thinking of rebellion? Of civil war? Of disorders here and there? "No. Think of credits. Do you realize that I cannot collect any taxes at all from half the provinces in the Empire? They're still part of the Empire-`Hail the Imperium! -`All honor to the Emperor'-but they don't pay anything and I don't have the necessary force to collect it. And if I can't get the credits out of them, they are not really part of the Empire, are they? "Credits! The Empire runs a chronic deficit of appalling proportions. There's nothing I can pay for. Do you think there is enough funding to maintain the Imperial Palace grounds? Just barely. I must cut corners. I must let the Palace decay. I must let the number of retainers die down by attrition. "Professor Seldon. If you want credits, I have nothing. Where will I find appropriations for the Library? They should be grateful I manage to squeeze out something for them each year at all." As he finished, the Emperor held out his hands, palms up, as if to signify the emptiness of the Imperial coffers. Hari Seldon was stunned. He said, "Nevertheless, Sire, even if you lack the credits, you still have the Imperial prestige. Can you not order the Library to allow me to keep my office and let my colleagues in to help me with our vital work?" And now Agis XIV sat down again as though, once the subject was not credits, he was no longer in a state of agitation. He said, "You realize that, by long tradition, the Galactic Library is independent of the Imperium, as far as its self-government is concerned. It sets up its rules and has done so since Agis VI, my namesake"-he smiled-"attempted to control the news functions of the Library. He failed and, if the great Agis VI failed, do you think I can succeed?" "I'm not asking you to use force, Sire. Merely expressing a polite wish. Surely, when no vital function of the Library is involved, they will be pleased to honor the Emperor and oblige his wishes." "Professor Seldon, how little you know of the Library. I have but to express a wish, however gently and tentatively, to make it certain that they will proceed, in dudgeon, to do the opposite. They are very sensitive to the slightest sign of Imperial control." Seldon said, "Then what do I do?" "Why, I'll tell you what. A thought occurs to me. I am a member of the public and I can visit the Galactic Library if I wish. It is located on the Palace grounds, so I won't be violating protocol if I visit it. Well, you come with me and we shall be ostentatiously friendly. I will not ask them for anything, but if they note us walking arm-in-arm, then perhaps some of the precious Board of theirs may feel more kindly toward you than otherwise. -But that's all I can do." And the deeply disappointed Seldon wondered if that could possibly be enough. 第十一章 　　艾吉思大帝十四世其实名不副实。他即位时选用这个名号，是刻意要与二千年前统治帝国的数位艾吉思大帝攀关系。那些艾吉思大多相当能干，尤其是在位长达四十二年之久的艾吉思六世，他曾以强硬却不暴虐的手段，将繁荣的帝国治理得井然有序。 假如全息纪录还算可信，艾吉思十四世看来完全不像之前任何一位艾吉思大帝。不过话说回来，根据可靠消息，艾吉思十四世本人与公开的官方全息相片也不太像。谢顿带着几分怀旧的惆怅想道，说实在话，纵使克里昂大帝有许多缺点与弱点，他的帝王风范却不容置疑。 艾吉思十四世则不然。谢顿从未亲眼见过他，而几张全息相片又极度失真。皇家全息摄影师显然知道该怎么做，而且还真做得不错，谢顿挖苦地想。 艾吉思十四世身材矮小，其貌不扬，微凸的双眼似乎欠缺智能的光芒。今天他能端坐在皇位上，全因为他是克里昂的旁系亲属。然而，他也有值得称许的一面，那就是他并未试图扮演―位强势皇帝。大家都知道，他喜欢被称为“平民皇帝”。若不是碍于皇家规范与禁卫军的强烈抗议，他早就走入穹顶，在川陀的人行道上闲逛。显然，传言还说，他希望能与平民握手，亲耳听听他们的怨言。 （值得嘉奖，谢顿心想，即使那是永远无法实现的事。） 谢顿低声地请安，再一次鞠躬之后，才开口道：“我要谢谢您，陛下，谢谢您同意接见我。” 艾吉思十四世的声音清晰悦耳，与他的外表很不相称。他说：“一位前首相当然得有些特权，不过，我也必须夸奖自己勇气可嘉，因为我居然敢接见你。”他的话语幽默，令谢顿突然领悟到：一个看来或许不聪明的人，实际上仍有可能是聪明人。 “勇气可嘉，陛下？” “是啊，他们不是叫你乌鸦嘴谢顿吗？”“我最近才听到这种说法，陛下。”“那显然是针对你的心理史学，它似乎预言帝国即将衰亡。” “它只是指出这个可能性，陛下……” “所以，别人把你跟神话中一种不吉祥的鸟联想在一起。不过在我看来，你正是一只不吉祥的鸟。” “我希望不是，陛下。” “得了，得了，过去的记录清楚得很。克里昂原来的首相伊图•丹莫茨尔看好你的研究 工作，结果有什么下场？他被迫离职，自我放逐。克里昂大帝本人看好你的研究工作，结果呢？他遇刺身亡。军人执政团看好你的研究工作，结果又如何？现在一个也不剩。据说，连那些九九派也看好你的研究工作，后来不也是难逃毁灭的命运。而现在，乌鸦嘴谢顿，你找上了我，我又能指望什么呢？”“不会有任何不吉利的事，陛下。”“我也这么认为，因为我跟前面那些人都不同，我并不看好你的研究工作。说吧，你来见我究竟有什么事？” 于是谢顿开始解释，说明筹备那套百科全书的重要性，指出最坏情况一旦发生，它将能替人类保存所有的知识。艾吉思十四世仔细倾听着，从头到尾没有插嘴。“嗯……”艾吉思十四世终于开口，“所以说，你的确深信帝国将要衰亡。”“这个可能性不容忽视，陛下，拒绝考虑这个可能性将是不智之举。可能的话，我希望自己能用某种方法阻止帝国的衰亡，即使不能阻止，我也要设法减轻它的效应。” “乌鸦嘴谢顿，如果你继续这样钻牛角尖，那我就真的会相信帝国将要衰亡，而且已经无药可救了。” “不是这样的，陛下，我只要求您准许我继续工作。”“喔，这没问题，但我还是不懂你希望我帮你什么。你为何要告诉我那套百科全书的事？”“因为我希望在帝国图书馆内工作，陛下，或者更正确地说，我希望能带人进去一起工作。” “我向你保证，我不会从中作梗。”“那还不够，陛下，我还要您的帮助。”“哪一方面的帮助？” “经费。请务必拨款给帝国图书馆，否则它会拒绝让公众使用，并把我赶出门外。” “信用点！”皇上的声音中透着惊愕，“你来找我要信用点？”“是的，陛下。” 艾吉思十四世有点激动地站起来，谢顿立刻跟着起身，但艾吉思挥手示意他坐下。“坐下，别把我当皇帝看待。我不是个皇帝，我本来不想要这份工作的，但他们硬要我接受。只因为我是皇室最近的亲戚，他们就在我耳边吱吱喳喳，说帝国需要一位皇帝，我才被拥戴出来，而他们也得到许多好处。 “可是信用点！你指望我有信用点？你刚才提到帝国正在瓦解，你认为它会怎样瓦解？叛乱？内战？还是各处发生的骚动混乱？“都不是，是从信用点开始。帝国有一半的星省根本不缴任何税金给我，你知道吗？他们仍是帝国的一部分，但他们只会喊‘皇权万岁！’、‘所有荣耀归于吾皇！’可是什么税也不缴，而我又没有足够的力量去征收。如果不能从他们那里得到信用点，他们还能算帝国的一部分吗？ “信用点！帝国财政长期赤字，数额大得吓人，我已经什么都付不起了。你以为维修皇宫御苑的经费足够吗？勉强而已。我不得不省着用，不得不让宫殿腐朽，不得不借自然淘汰降低侍从的人数。 “谢顿教授，如果你要信用点，我半点也付不出来。我要从哪里为图书馆找经费？我每年能设法挤出一点给他们，他们就该感激涕零了。”皇上说完伸出双手空空一晃，仿佛表示帝国国库空空如也。 谢顿大吃一惊。“陛下，即使您欠缺信用点，您仍是皇帝。这项研究工作事关重大，难道您不能下令该馆准我保有研究室，并让我的同事进去一起研究吗？” 艾吉思十四世重新坐了下来，仿佛话题一离开信用点，他的情绪就不再那么激动。他说：“你该了解，根据传统，帝国图书馆有独立于皇权之外的自治权。自从艾吉思六世——那位与我同名号的皇帝，”他微微一笑，“试图控制该馆新闻功能的行动失败后，图书 馆便开始制订自治法规。连伟大的艾吉思六世都失败，你认为我能成功吗？” “我不是要求您采取强硬手段，陛下，您只要客气地表达您的意愿就好。只要不干涉到该馆的重要功能，他们一定会乐意礼遇皇上，迁就您的旨意。” “谢顿教授，你太不了解帝国图书馆了。我只要表达一个意愿，不论态度多温和、多谦虚，他们都会怒气冲冲地反其道而行。他们对皇权控制可是非常敏感。”谢顿说：“那我该怎么办？” “啊，我想到了，我告诉你怎么办。皇帝也是公众的一员，只要我喜欢，我也能造访帝国图书馆。它坐落于御苑内，我的造访并不违反规范。你只要跟我一道去，彼此表现得热络点。我不会对那个了不起的评议会做任何要求，但他们会注意到我们手挽着手走在一起，那么，说不定当中有些成员便会觉得对你友善点会比较好——这是我唯一能帮你的。” 谢顿感觉失望极了，他打心底怀疑这样做有什么用。 Chapter 12 Las Zenow said with a certain trace of awe in his voice, "I didn't know you were so friendly with the Emperor, Professor Seldon." "Why not? He's a very democratic fellow for an Emperor and he was interested in my experiences as a First Minister in Cleon's time." "It made a deep impression on us all. We haven't had an Emperor in our halls for many years. Generally, when the Emperor needs something from the Library-" "I can imagine. He calls for it and it is brought to him as a matter of courtesy." "There was once a suggestion," said Zenow chattily, "that the Emperor be outfitted with a complete set of computerized equipment in his palace, hooked directly into the Library system, so that he would not need to wait for service. This was in the old days when credits were plentiful, but, you know, it was voted down." "Was it?" "Oh yes, almost the entire Board agreed that it would make the Emperor too much a part of the Library and that this would threaten our independence from the government." "And does this Board, which will not bend to honor an Emperor, consent to let me remain at the Library?" "At the present moment, yes. There is a feeling-and I've done my best to encourage it-that if we are not polite to a personal friend of the Emperor, the chance of a rise in appropriations will be gone altogether, so-" "So credits-or even the dim prospect of credits-talk." "I'm afraid so." "And can I bring in my colleagues?" Zenow looked embarrassed. "I'm afraid not. The Emperor was seen walking only with you-not with your colleagues. I'm sorry, Professor." Seldon shrugged and a mood of deep melancholy swept over him. He had no colleague to bring in, anyhow. For some time he had hoped to locate others like Wanda and he had failed. He, too, would need funding to mount an adequate search. And he, too, had nothing. 第十二章 　　拉斯•齐诺声音中带着几分敬畏：“我从来不知道您跟皇上的关系这么好，谢顿教授。” “有何不可？就一位皇帝而言，他可说是个非常民主的人。而且，他对我在克里昂时代担任首相的经验很感兴趣。” “这对我们来说可是个难忘的经验，上次皇帝亲临图书馆已经是好多年前的事了。通常皇上只需要一声吩咐，不管什么资料……” “我可以想像，他只要吩咐一声，便会有人送去，这代表对皇上的礼遇。” “过去曾有人建议，”齐诺仍一个劲地说，“在宫中装设一套完整的电脑化设备，直接与 图书馆联线，这样皇上就无需等待。这个建议是在过去信用点充裕的年代提出的，但结果还是被否决了。” “是吗？” “喔，是的。评议会几乎一致认为，那将使皇上与本馆牵连太深，威胁到我们独立于政府之外的地位。” “而这个连皇上都不愿过分礼遇的评议会，同意让我留在图书馆里？” “没错，目前为止是如此。大家普遍有种感觉——而我已尽全力助长这种感觉——就是如果我们不善待皇上的朋友，预算增加的机会将完全消失，所以……” “所以信用点——甚至只是信用点模糊的影子——比什么都有分量。” “只怕就是如此。” “那我的同事呢？” 齐诺显得有些尴尬。“只怕不行。我们只看到皇上跟您走在一起，没看见您的同事。我很抱歉，教授。” 谢顿耸了耸肩，一股深沉的沮丧袭上心头。反正，他也没什么同事能带进来。他曾希望找到其他与婉达类似的人，结果却没成功。他需要经费才能展开彻底搜寻，而他同样没有任何经费。 Chapter 13 Trantor, the capital world-city of the Galactic Empire, had changed considerably since the day Hari first stepped off the hypership from his native Helicon thirty-eight years ago. Was it the pearly haze of an old man's memory that made the Trantor of old shine so brightly in his mind's eye, Hari wondered. Or perhaps it had been the exuberance of youth-how could a young man from a provincial Outer World such as Helicon not be impressed by the gleaming towers, sparkling domes, the colorful, rushing masses of people that had seemed to swirl through Trantor, day and night. Now, Hari thought sadly, the walkways are nearly deserted, even in the full light of day. Roving gangs of thugs controlled various areas of the city, competing among themselves for territory. The security establishment had dwindled; those who were left had their hands full processing complaints at the central office. Of course, security officers were dispatched as emergency calls came through, but they made it to the scene only after a crime was committed-they no longer made even a pretense of protecting the citizens of Trantor. A person went out at his own risk-and a great risk it was. And yet Hari Seldon still took that risk, in the form of a daily walk, as if defying the forces that were destroying his beloved Empire to destroy him as well. And so Hari Seldon walked along, limping-and thoughtful. Nothing worked. Nothing. He had been unable to isolate the genetic pattern that set Wanda apart-and without that, he was unable to locate others like her. Wanda's ability to read minds had sharpened considerably in the six years since she had identified the flaw in Yugo Amaryl's Prime Radiant. Wanda was special in more ways than one. It was as if, once she realized that her mental ability set her apart from other people, she was determined to understand it, to harness its energy, to direct it. As she had progressed through her teen years, she had matured, throwing off the girlish giggles that had so endeared her to Hari, at the same time becoming even dearer to him in her determination to help him in his work with the powers of her "gift." For Hari Seldon had told Wanda about his plan for a Second Foundation and she had committed herself to realizing that goal with him. Today, though, Seldon was in a dark mood. He was coming to the conclusion that Wanda's mentalic ability would get him nowhere. He had no credits to continue his work-no credits to locate others like Wanda, no credits to pay his workers on the Psychohistory Project at Streeling, no credits to set up his all-important Encyclopedia Project at the Galactic Library. Now what? He continued to walk toward the Galactic Library. He would have been better off taking a gravicab, but he wanted to walk-limp or not. He needed time to think. He heard a cry-"There he is!"-but paid no attention. It came again. "There he is! Psychohistory!" The word forced him to look up. -Psychohistory. A group of young men was closing in around him. Automatically Seldon placed his back against the wall and raised his cane. "What is it you want?" They laughed. "Credits, old man. Do you have any credits?" "Maybe, but why do you want them from me? You said, `Psychohistory!' Do you know who I am?" "Sure, you're Raven Seldon" said the young man in the lead. He seemed both comfortable and pleased. "You're a creep," shouted another. "What are you going to do if I don't give you any credits?" "We'll beat you up," said the leader, "and we'll take them." "And if I give you my credits?" "We'll beat you up anyway!" They all laughed. Hari Seldon raised his cane higher. "Stay away. All of you." By now he had managed to count them. There were eight. He felt himself choking slightly. Once he and Dors and Raych had been attacked by ten and they had had no trouble. He had been only thirty-two at the time and Dors-was Dors. Now it was different. He waved his cane. The leader of the hoodlums said, "Hey, the old man is going to attack us. What are we going to do?" Seldon looked around swiftly. There were no security officers around. Another indication of the deterioration of society. An occasional person or two passed by, but there was no use calling for help. Their footsteps increased in speed and made a wide detour. No one was going to run any risks of getting involved in an imbroglio. Seldon said, "The first one of you who approaches gets a cracked head." "Yeah?" And the leader stepped forward rapidly and seized the cane. There was a short sharp struggle and the cane was wrested from Seldon's grip. The leader tossed it to one side. "Now what, old man?" Seldon shrunk back. He could only wait for the blows. They crowded around him, each eager to land a blow or two. Seldon lifted his arms to try to ward them off. He could still Twist-after a fashion. If he were facing only one or two, he might be able to Twist his body, avoid their blows, strike back. But not against eight-surely not against eight. He tried, at any rate, moving quickly to one side to avoid the blows and his right leg, with its sciatica, doubled under him. He fell and knew himself to be utterly helpless. Then he heard a stentorian voice shouting, "What's going on here? Get back, you thugs! Back or I'll kill you all!" The leader said, "Well, another old man." "Not that old," said the newcomer. With the back of one hand, he struck the leader's face, turning it an ugly red. Seldon said in surprise, "Raych, it's you." Raych's hand swept back. "Stay out of this, Dad. Just get up and move away." The leader, rubbing his cheek, said, "We'll get you for that." "No, you won't," said Raych, drawing out a knife of Dahlite manufacture, long and gleaming. A second knife was withdrawn and he now held one in each hand. Seldon said weakly, "Still carrying knives, Raych?" "Always," said Raych. "Nothing will ever make me stop." "I'll stop you," said the leader, drawing out a blaster. Faster than the eye could follow, one of Raych's knives went sailing through the air and struck the leader's throat. He made a loud gasp, then a gurgling sound, and fell, while the other seven stared. Raych approached and said, "I want my knife back." He drew it out of the hoodlum's throat and wiped it on the man's shirtfront. In doing so, he stepped on the man's hand, bent down, and picked up his blaster. Raych dropped the blaster into one of his capacious pockets. He said, "I don't like to use a blaster, you bunch of good-for-nothings, because sometimes I miss. I never miss with a knife, however. Never! That man is dead. There are seven of you standing. Do you intend to stay standing or will you leave?" "Get him!" shouted one of the hoodlums and the seven made a concerted rush. Raych took a backward step. One knife flashed and then the other and two of the hoodlums stopped with, in each case, a knife buried in his abdomen. "Give me back my knives," said Raych, pulling each out with a cutting motion and wiping them. "These two are still alive, but not for long. That leaves five of you on your feet. Are you going to attack again or are you going to leave?" They turned and Raych called out, "Pick up your dead and dying. I don't want them." Hastily they flung the three bodies over their shoulders, then they turned tail and ran. Raych bent to pick up Seldon's cane. "Can you walk, Dad?" "Not very well," said Seldon. "I twisted my leg." "Well then, get into my car. What were you doing walking, anyway?" "Why not? Nothing's ever happened to me." "So you waited till something did. Get into my car and I'll give you a lift back to Streeling." He programmed the ground-car quietly, then said, "What a shame we didn't have Dors with us. Mom would have attacked them with her bare lands and left all eight dead in five minutes." Seldon felt tears stinging his eyelids. "I know, Raych, I know. Do you think I don't miss her every day?" "I'm sorry," said Raych in a low voice. Seldon asked, "How did you know I was in trouble?" "Wanda told me. She said there were evil people lying in wait for you ,slid told me where they were and I took right off." "Didn't you doubt that she knew what she was talking about?" "Not at all. We know enough about her now to know that she has some sort of contact with your mind and with the things around you." "Did she tell you how many people were attacking me?" "No. She just said, `Quite a few.'" "So you came out all by yourself, did you, Raych?" "I had no time to put together a posse, Dad. Besides, one of me was enough." "Yes, it was. Thank you, Raych." 第十三章 　　三十八年前，谢顿走出母星赫利肯的超空间飞船，首度踏上川陀土地。这些年来，川陀这个世界性大都会、银河帝国的首都，发生了相当大的变化。谢顿不禁纳闷，是不是一个老人记忆的迷雾，促使昔日的川陀在他印象中显得如此璀璨，或者，那是由于年少的热情使然。 一个来自像赫利肯那样偏僻外围世界的年轻人，轻易便会震慑于那些闪闪发亮的尖塔、光芒耀眼的穹顶，以及五彩缤纷、日夜川流不息的人潮。 如今，谢顿悲伤地想道，即使在大白天，人行道也几乎空无一人。游荡街头的凶徒结党成社，控制城市各个角落，不时为争夺地盘而火并。保安部门已经大幅萎缩，剩下的人都在中央办公室里处理各种案子。当然，在收到紧急讯号时，保安官仍会外出执行任务，但他们总是在案发后才抵达现场，甚至作个样子保护川陀居民都不愿意。外出的人自己必须承担极大的风险，但谢顿仍甘愿冒这种险。他每天总会步行一段路程，仿佛在向那些恶势力挑战。尽管那些恶势力即将摧毁他所热爱的帝国，他却不允许它们摧毁自己。 此刻，谢顿微跛着步子在街上漫步，整个人陷入沉思。毫无进展，各方面都毫无进展。他一直无法分离出使婉达与众不同的基因型样，而做不到这一点，他就找不到与她类似的人。 自从六年前婉达指出阿马瑞尔元光体中的瑕疵以来，她透视心灵的能力变得更加敏锐，在其他方面的表现也颇不寻常。仿佛在察觉到自己与众不同的精神能力后，她便决心要了解 其中的奥秘，进而驾驭这股力量。现在，十几岁的婉达逐渐成熟，过去最令谢顿钟爱的稚气笑声早已听不到了。然而，由于婉达决心利用“天赋”投入研究工作的决心，却使得谢顿更加珍视她。谢顿已将第二基地的计划告诉婉达，而婉达也已立志献身这项计划，要与他共同实现这个目标。 不过，今天谢顿情绪十分低落。他逐渐了解，婉达的精神能力对他不会有任何帮助。研究工作即将停摆——他没有信用点寻找类似婉达的人，也没有信用点付给川陀大学心理史学计划的工作人员，更没有信用点在帝国图书馆中创设百科全书计划。现在该怎么办？ 谢顿继续朝帝国图书馆走去。其实搭乘重力出租车会比较安全，但他不顾自己腿不方便，执意步行。他需要这段时间思考。 他听到有人喊道：“在那里！”可是并未留意。 接着又传来一声：“他在那里！心理史学！”听到“心理史学”这几个字，谢顿不禁抬起头。一群年轻人正向他围拢过来。 谢顿立刻背靠墙壁，举起手杖。“你们想干什么？” 他们哈哈大笑。“信用点，老头。你有信用点吗？” “就算有，我为什么要拿出来？你们刚才喊‘心理史学’，知道我是谁吗？”“当然知道，你是乌鸦嘴谢顿。”领头的年轻人说，一副得意洋洋的样子。 “死老头！”另一人叫道。 “如果我不拿出信用点，你们要怎样？”“先揍你一顿！”领头那人说，“然后自己动手拿。”“那如果我拿出来呢？” “我们照样打！”那伙年轻人一起哈哈大笑。谢顿举高手杖。“别过来，都别过来！”他数了数，对方总共有八个人。 他觉得有点透不过气。过去他与铎丝也曾被十个人围攻过，他们轻而易举便突破重围。但那是很久以前的事了，当时他只有三十二岁，而铎丝……现在情况完全不同，谢顿开始挥动手杖。领头的混混说：“嘿，这老头要攻击我们呢，怎么办？” 谢顿迅速环顾四周。附近没有保安官，这又是社会衰败的另一项征兆。偶尔会有一两个人经过，但就算呼救也没用；他们都绕得远远的，步伐加快，没人想冒险卷入纷争。 谢顿说：“你们谁先靠近，脑袋就第一个开花。”“是吗？”那头头猛地向前，抓住那根手杖。谢顿挣扎了一下，紧握的手杖还是被抢走了，那头头随手将它丢到一边。“现在怎么样，老头？” 谢顿开始退缩，他只能等着挨揍了。他们围聚在他身边，每个人都急着想给他两拳。谢顿举起双臂想抵挡他们。假使只面对一两个人，他或许还能施展些角力技巧，闪躲腾挪避开拳头，并伺机反击；但要对付八个人，他根本无法招架。 无论如何，谢顿还是试着迅速侧身躲避攻击，但由于坐骨神经作祟，右腿使不上力。他跌倒在地，完全一筹莫展。 这时，他听见一个洪亮的声音喊道：“发生什么事了？快滚，你们这些混账！不然杀了你们！” 那头头说：“好啊，又来个老头。”“没你以为的那么老。”那人说完，劈头就给了那头头几耳光，那头头的脸颊立刻肿了起来。 谢顿惊叫道：“芮奇，是你！”芮奇向后挥了挥手：“你别插手，爸，快离开这里。”那头头揉着脸颊骂道：“你死期到了。”“门都没有！”芮奇抽出一把达尔制的刀子，刀身又长又亮，接着又抽出另一把，现在他双手握着双刀。 谢顿虚弱地说：“还带着刀啊，芮奇？” “当然，”芮奇说，“没有人能阻止我带刀。” “我会阻止你。”那头头说着掏出一柄手铳。说时迟那时快，芮奇手中单刀凌空飞出，瞬即插入那头头喉部。那人爆出一声喘息，喉头咯咯作响，随即仆倒在地，另外七个人看得目瞪口呆。 芮奇弯下腰说道：“我得收回我的刀。”他将刀从那小流氓的喉部拔出，在那人衬衣前胸 擦了擦，同时採住那人的右手，拾起掉在地上的手铳。芮奇将手铳扔进身上一个宽大的口袋。“听着，你们这群废物，我不喜欢用手铳，偶尔我会瞄不准。但我用刀可从来没失过手，从来没有！这人已经躺在地上了，你们还剩七个，是打算继续站着，还是要一块滚？” “抓住他！”其中一位小流氓说，于是七个人一齐向前冲。芮奇退后一步，双刀一前一后闪电般刺出，其中两个小流氓猛刹住脚步，腹部各插了一把刀。 “把刀还我！”芮奇说完，便连切带割地将刀拔出，顺势擦了擦刀身。 “这两个还活着，但撑不了多久。你们五个趁着没躺下，是想再试试，还是要滚？” 那几个小流氓才刚转身，芮奇便喊道：“把这些死的和半死的抬走，我可不要留着！”他们赶紧把死伤的同伴担在肩上，飞也似的逃走。苗奇捡起谢顿的手杖。“爸，你还能走吗？”“有点难，”谢顿说，“我腿扭伤了。” “那上我的车吧。怎么搞的，你干吗要走路？” “为什么不行？以前也没发生什么事。”“你就是非要等到出事才甘心。上车吧，我送你回川陀。”芮奇默默设定好地面车的路径，然后说：“真可惜妈没有跟我们在一起，她可以赤手空拳对付他们，五分钟内包准那八个都变成死人。”泪水刺痛了谢顿双眼。“我知道，芮奇，我知道。你以为我不想念她吗？” “对不起，爸。”芮奇低声说。“你怎么知道我有麻烦？”谢顿问道。 “婉达告诉我的。她说会有坏人在路上等你，还告诉我出事地点，于是我立刻赶了来。” “这次你一点也不怀疑？” “一点也不。现在我们已了解她能感应到你的心灵和你周遭的事物。” “她有没有说有多少人攻击我？” “没有，她只是说‘不少’。”“而你就自己一个人来？” “我没时间找帮手，爸。何况，我一个就够了。” “没错，谢谢你，芮奇。” Chapter 14 They were back at Streeling now and Seldon's leg was stretched out on a hassock. Raych looked at him somberly. "Dad," he began, "you're not to go walking around Trantor on your own from now on." Seldon frowned. "Why, because of one incident?" "It was enough of an incident. You can't take care of yourself any longer. You're seventy years old and your right leg will not support you in an emergency. And you have enemies-" "Enemies!" "Yes, indeed. And you know it. Those sewer rats were not after simply anyone. They were not looking for just any unwary person to rip off. They identified you by calling out, `Psychohistory!' And they called you a creep. Why do you suppose that was?" "I don't know why." "That's because you live in a world all your own, Dad, and you don't know what's going on on Trantor. Don't you suppose the Trantorians know that their world is going downhill at a rapid rate? Don't you suppose they know that your psychohistory has been predicting this for years? Doesn't it occur to you that they may blame the messenger for the message? If things go bad-and they are going bad-there are many who think that you are responsible for it." "I can't believe that." "Why do you suppose there's a faction at the Galactic Library that wants you out of there? They don't want to be in the way when you are mobbed. So-you've got to take care of yourself. You can't go out alone. I'll have to be with you or you will have to have bodyguards. That's the way it's going to be, Dad." Seldon looked dreadfully unhappy. Raych softened and said, "But not for long, Dad. I've got a new job.' Seldon looked up. "A new job. What kind?" "Teaching. At a University.' "Which University?" "Santanni." Seldon's lips trembled. "Santanni! That's nine thousand parsecs away from Trantor. It's a provincial world on the other side of the Galaxy." "Exactly. That's why I want to go there. I've been on Trantor all my life, Dad, and I'm tired of it. There's no world in all the Empire that's deteriorating the way Trantor is. It's become a haunt of crime with no one to protect us. The economy is limping, the technology is failing. Santanni, on the other hand, is a decent world, still humming along, and I want to be there to build a new life, along with Manella and Wanda and Bellis. We're all going there in two months." "All of you!" "And you, Dad. And you. We wouldn't leave you behind on Trantor. You're coming with us to Santanni." Seldon shook his head. "Impossible, Raych. You know that." "Why impossible?" "You know why. The Project. My psychohistory. Are you asking me to abandon my life's work?" "Why not? It's abandoned you." "You're mad." "No, I'm not. Where are you going with it? You have no credits. You can't get any. There's no one left on Trantor who's willing to support you." "For nearly forty years-" "Yes, I admit that. But after all that time, you've failed Dad. There's no crime in failing. You've tried so hard and you've gone so far, but you've run into a deteriorating economy, a falling Empire. It's the very thing you've been predicting for so long that's stopping you at last. So-" "No. I will not stop. Somehow or other, I will keep going." "I tell you what, Dad. If you're really going to be so stubborn, then take psychohistory with you. Start it again on Santanni. There may be enough credits-and enthusiasm-to support it there." "And the men and women who have been working for me so faithfully?" "Oh bull, Dad. They've been leaving you because you can't pay them. You hang around here for the rest of your life and you'll be alone. -Oh, come on, Dad. Do you think I like to talk to you this way? It's because no one has wanted to-because no one has had the heart to-that you're in your present predicament. Let's be honest with each other now. When ~. 剈 walk the streets of Trantor and you're attacked for no reason other than that you're Hari Seldon, don't you think it's time for a little bit of truth?" "Never mind the truth. I have no intention of leaving Trantor." Raych shook his head. "I was sure you'd be stubborn, Dad. You've got two months to change your mind. Think about it, will you?" 第十四章 　　他们回到了川陀，谢顿将右腿歇在一个厚垫上。 芮奇担心地望着他。“爸，”他开口道，“从现在起，不准你再单独一个人在川陀闲逛。”谢顿皱起眉头。“为什么，就因为一次意外？” “一次就够了。你七十岁了，没办法照顾自己，而且你的右腿伤成这样，根本没法应付任何紧急状况。何况你有不少敌人……”“敌人！” “没错，你自己心里明白。那些鼠辈不是任意找个对象，不是随便找个落单的人打劫。他们大叫‘心理史学！’以确定你的身份，而且还叫你死老头，你以为是为什么？” “我不知道为什么。” “爸，那是因为你只活在自己的世界里，从来不知道川陀发生了什么变化。川陀人难道会不晓得自己的世界正在迅速走下坡？他们难道会不晓得多年来，你的心理史学预测出的就是这个结果？你难道没想到，他们有可能因为预言而责怪预言者？如果一切越来越糟——事实正是如此——会有越多人认为你该为此负责。”“我无法相信这种事。” “帝国图书馆有一派人想把你赶出去，你以为是为什么？他们是不想在你被暴民围攻时， 遭到池鱼之殃。所以你必须懂得照顾自己。你不能再单独出门，我会陪着你，或者你得有保镖跟在身旁才行。以后一定得这样，爸。” 谢顿显得极不高兴。 芮奇随即软化，又说：“但不会太久的，爸，我已经找到新工作了。” “新工作，什么样的工作？”谢顿抬起头来。“教书，在一所大学。” “哪一所？” “圣塔尼。” 谢顿双唇微微打颤。“圣塔尼！银河另一端的圣塔尼？那个偏僻世界距离川陀足足有九千秒差距呢！” “一点都没错，那正是我要到那里去的原因。我这辈子都呆在川陀，爸，我已经受够了。 如今在整个帝国中，没有一个世界像川陀衰落得这么快。它已经变成罪恶的渊薮，没有人保护老百姓，而且经济疲软、科技衰退。而圣塔尼这个世界安定繁荣，很有希望。我要到那里建立新生活，带玛妮拉、婉达和贝莉丝一块走，我们两个月后就要动身。” “你们全都要走？” “还有你，爸。我们不会把你留在川陀，你要跟我们一块到圣塔尼去。”谢顿摇了摇头。“不可能，芮奇，你知道的。” “为什么不可能？” “你知道为什么，为了谢顿计划，为了我的心理史学。你不会要我放弃我毕生的工作吧？”“为什么不能？它已经放弃了你。”“你疯了。” “不，我没疯。你死守着它又能怎样？你没有信用点，也找不到财源，川陀上已经没有人愿意支持你。” “我投入了将近四十年的时间——”“没错，这点我承认。但努力了这么多年，你终究还是失败了，爸。失败不是你的错，毕竟你的努力已经获得了这么多成果，只不过你遇到的是个恶化的经济，是个即将衰亡的帝国。最后阻止你继续前进的，正是你多年来预测的那件事。所以说——” “不，我不会放弃。不管用什么方法，我一定要继续下去。” “爸，我告诉你怎么办。如果你真要那么固执，那就带着心理史学一起走，到圣塔尼另起炉灶。那里也许会有足够的信用点，和支持这项计划的热心人士。” “那些忠心耿耿跟随我的人又怎么办？”“噢，算了吧，爸。你付不出薪水，他们一个个都走了。要是把余生耗在这里，你将会孤立无援。走吧，爸。你以为我喜欢这样跟你说话吗？没人愿意这样做，没人有这个胆量告诉你你已经陷入困境。现在，爸，老实告诉我——今天你被人攻击竟然只因为你是哈里•谢 顿，你不认为这该是面对现实的时候了吗？”“我不管什么现不现实，我不会离开川陀。”芮奇摇摇头。“我早知道你会这么说，爸。你有两个月的时间考虑，好好想一想，好吗？” 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 Radiant. But he did not smile. All he did was to force himself through his work without any feeling of impending 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 asserted that Wanda's genome was perfectly normal in every way, Seldon was still positive that his granddaughter possessed 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 doorway, 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 blond 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 rejoice, 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." 第十五章 　　谢顿已有好长一段时间不曾露出笑容。他主持谢顿计划的方式和从前并没有两样：持续心理史学原有的发展，为基地拟订方案，并继续研究元光体。 但他不再露出笑容，他只是强迫自己投入工作。对于心理史学，他已不抱任何希望。他感到一切都已濒临失败。 此时谢顿坐在川陀大学的研究室中，婉达走了进来。谢顿抬头看到她，不觉精神一振。婉达一直很特殊——谢顿说不上来，自己与其他人是在何时开始极其认真地接纳她的见解。在他的印象中，似乎向来就是如此。当婉达还是个小女孩时，便曾以奇妙的方式获悉“柠檬水之死”救了他一命。从童年时期开始，她始终有办法“知道”许多事。虽然恩德勒斯基医师断定婉达的基因组完全正常，谢顿仍确信他的孙女拥有远超乎常人的精神力量。此外他也确定，在这银河中，甚至在川陀上，一定还有其他类似婉达的人存在。 假使他能找到这些精神异人，他们将会对基地有多大的贡献！如此的伟业能否成真，全系在他美丽的孙女身上。谢顿凝望着站在研究室门口的婉达，觉得心像是要碎了一般——再过几天，她就要离开了。 他怎能承受这种打击？婉达是如此美丽的女孩，十八岁，有着长长的金发，脸蛋虽然宽了点，但总是带着笑容，即使现在，她仍是笑容满面。为什么不呢？谢顿想道，她即将前往圣塔尼，投入一个崭新的生活。 他说：“唉，婉达，只剩几天了。”“我可不这么认为，爷爷。” 谢顿定睛望着她。“为什么？” 婉达走过来，伸出双臂环抱他。“我不去圣塔尼。” “你爸妈改变心意了？” “不，他们还是要去。” “而你不去？为什么？你准备去哪里？”“我要留在这里陪你，爷爷。”她紧紧抱住他，“可怜的爷爷！” “可是为什么呢？他们准你这样做吗？”“我为这件事和他们争论了好几个礼拜，但最后我赢了。为什么不呢，爷爷？他们要到圣塔尼去，除了彼此，他们还有小贝莉丝。但要是我也跟他们去，把你留在这里，你就孤零零一个人了，我狠不下这个心。” “但你是怎么让他们同意的？”“这个嘛，你知道的——我推他们。” “推？什么意思？” “用我的心灵力量啊。我能看到你心里想什么，看到他们想什么。这些年来，我看得越来越清楚。而且我能推动他们去做我希望他们做的事。” “你是怎么办到的？” “我也不知道。但他们一旦被推烦了，便愿意让我照自己的意思去做，所以我才能留在这里陪你。” 谢顿抬头望着她，心中充满爱怜。“太好了，婉达。可是贝莉丝……” “别担心贝莉丝，她没有像我这样的心灵。”“你确定？”谢顿咬住下唇。 “相当确定。何况，爸妈也得有个伴。”谢顿想高声欢呼，但这样做并不恰当。他必须顾到芮奇与玛妮拉的感受，他们会怎么想？ 他说：“婉达，你爸妈怎么办？你能对他们这么无情吗？”“我不是无情，他们了解。他们明白我必须留下来陪你。” “你怎么做到的？” “我推他们，”婉达轻描淡写地说，“最后他们终于能站在我的观点看待这件事。” “你能做到这点？” “那并不容易。” “而你这样做是因为……”谢顿打住了。“因为我爱你啊。”婉达说，“还有就是……” “就是什么？” “我必须学习心理史学，我已经对它有些认识。”“从哪儿学来的？” “从你的心灵，和谢顿计划其他成员的心灵，尤其是从雨果叔叔那里。但我知道的都只是些零零碎碎的东西。我要学完整的心理史学，爷爷，我要拥有自己的元光体。”她双颊泛着红光，话说得又快又激动，“我要仔仔细细研究心理史学。爷爷，你年纪大了，而且心力交瘁，但我还年轻，又有冲劲，我要尽可能学习，将来才能继续……” 谢顿说：“太好了，婉达。可是……我们已经没有任何经费来源了。我会尽可能教你，但我们什么也不能做。” “别担心，爷爷，等着瞧吧。” Chapter 16 Raych, Manella, and little Bellis were waiting at the spaceport. The hypership was preparing for liftoff and the three had already checked their baggage. Raych said, "Dad, come along with us." Seldon shook his head. "I cannot." "If you change your mind, we will always have a place for you." "I know it, Raych. We've been together for almost forty years-and they've been good years. Dors and I were lucky to find you." "I'm the lucky one." His eyes filled with tears. "Don't think I don't think of Mother every day." "Yes." Seldon looked away miserably. Wanda was playing with Bellis when the call rang out for everyone to board the hypership. They did, after a tearful last embrace of Wanda by her parents. Raych looked back to wave at Seldon and to try to plant a crooked smile on his face. Seldon waved and one hand moved out blindly to embrace Wanda's shoulders. She was the only one left. One by one through his long life, he had lost his friends and those he had loved. Demerzel had left, never to return; Emperor Cleon was gone; his beloved Dors was gone; his faithful friend Yugo Amaryl was gone; and now Raych, his only son, was gone as well. He was left only with Wanda. 第十六章 　　芮奇、玛妮拉与小贝莉丝在太空航站等待启程。 超空间飞船即将升空，他们三人的行李已经托运。 芮奇说：“爸，跟我们走吧。”谢顿摇了摇头。“不可能的。”“如果你改变心意，我们永远欢迎你。”“我知道，芮奇。我们相处了将近四十年，那段日子真是美好——能遇到你是铎丝和我的幸运。” “幸运的是我。”泪水在芮奇双眼里打转，“我没有一天不想到妈。” “是啊。”谢顿悲痛地别过头去。登船召唤已经响起，婉达还在逗贝莉丝玩。 婉达的父母含泪给她一个临别拥抱，随着众人走向飞船。芮奇再次回头向谢顿挥手，脸上挂着一个强装出来的笑容。 谢顿不停挥着手，另一只手紧紧拥着婉达的肩膀。她是唯一留下来的了。在漫长的一生中，他的朋友与所爱的人一个个离他而去。丹莫茨尔走了，再也没有回来；克里昂大帝走了；他挚爱的铎丝走了；他忠实的朋友雨果•阿马瑞 尔走了。现在，他的独子芮奇也走了。 他身边只剩下婉达。 Chapter 17 Hari Seldon said, "It is beautiful outside-a marvelous evening. Considering that we live under a dome, you would think we would have beautiful weather like this every evening." Wanda said indifferently, "We would grow tired of it, Grandpa, if it were beautiful all the time. A little change from night to night is good for us." "For you, because you're young, Wanda. You have many, many evenings ahead of you. I don't. I want more good ones." "Now, Grandpa, you're not old. Your leg is doing well and your mind m as sharp as ever. I know. " "Sure. Go ahead. Make me feel better." He then said with an air of discomfort, "I want to walk. I want to get out of this tiny apartment and take a walk to the Library and enjoy this beautiful evening." "What do you want at the Library?" "At the moment, nothing. I want the walk. -But . " "Yes. But?" "I promised Raych I wouldn't go walking around Trantor without a bodyguard." "Raych isn't here." "I know," mumbled Seldon "but a promise is a promise." "He didn't say who the bodyguard should be, did he? Let's go for a walk and I'll be your bodyguard " "You?" Seldon grinned. "Yes, me. I hereby volunteer my services. Get yourself ready and we'll go for a walk." Seldon was amused. He had half a mind to go without his cane, since his leg was scarcely painful of late, but, on the other hand, he had a new cane, one in which the head had been filled with lead. It was both heavier and stronger than his old cane and, if he was going to have none other than Wanda as a bodyguard, he thought he had better bring his new cane. The walk was delightful and Seldon was terribly glad he had given in to the temptation-until they reached a certain spot. Seldon lifted his cane in a mixture of anger and resignation and said, "Look at that!" Wanda lifted her eyes. The dome was glowing, as it always did in the evening, in order to lend an air of first twilight. It grew darker as night went on, of course. What Seldon was pointing at, however, was a strip of darkness along the dome. A section of lights had gone out. Seldon said, "When I first came to Trantor, anything like that was unthinkable. There were people tending the lights at all times. The city worked, but now it is falling apart in all these little ways and what bothers me most is that no one cares. Why aren't there petitions to the Imperial Palace? Why aren't there meetings of indignation? It is as though the people of Trantor expect the city to be falling apart and then they find themselves annoyed with me because I am pointing out that this is exactly what is happening." Wanda said softly, "Grandpa, there are two men behind us." They had walked into the shadows beneath the broken dome lights and Seldon asked, "Are they just walking?" "No." Wanda did not look at them. She did not have to. "They're after you " "Can you stop them-push them?" "I'm trying, but there are two and they are determined. It's-it's like pushing a wall." "How far behind me are they?" "About three meters." "Closing in?" "Yes, Grandpa." "Tell me when they're a meter behind me." He slid his hand down his cane till he was holding the thin end, leaving the leaded head swinging free. "Now, Grandpa!" hissed Wanda. And Seldon turned, swinging his cane. It came down hard upon the shoulder of one of the men behind him, who went down with a scream, writhing on the pavement. Seldon said, "Where's the other guy?" "He took off." Seldon looked down on the man on the ground and put his foot on his chest. He said, "Go through his pockets, Wanda. Someone must have paid him and I'd like to find his credit file-perhaps I can identify where they came from." He added thoughtfully, "I meant to hit him on the head " "You'd have killed him, Grandpa." Seldon nodded. "It's what I wanted to do. Rather shameful. I'm lucky I missed." A harsh voice said, "What is all this?" A figure in uniform came running up, perspiring. "Give me that cane, you!" "Officer," said Seldon mildly. "You can give me your story later. We've got to call an ambulance for this poor man." "Poor man, " said Seldon angrily. "He was going to assault me. I acted in self-defense." "I saw it happen," said the security officer. "This guy never laid a finger on you. You turned on him and struck him without provocation. That's not self-defense. That's assault and battery." "Officer, I'm telling you that-" "Don't tell me anything. You can tell it in court." Wanda said in a sweet small voice, "Officer, if you will just listen to us-" The officer said, "You go along home, young lady." Wanda drew herself up. "I most certainly won't, Officer. Where my grandfather goes, there go I." Her eyes flashed and the security officer muttered, "Well, come along, then." 第十七章 　　“好久没见到这样的好天气了，”谢顿说，“今天的黄昏真美。既然我们住在穹顶下，每 个黄昏都该设定得像这样才对。” 婉达淡然地说：如果天气总是那么好，爷爷，我们一定会觉得厌烦。每晚有些小小的变化其实比较好。” “对你是好的，婉达，因为你还年轻，还会拥有很多个黄昏。爷爷就不同啦，对我来说， 好天气永远不嫌多。” “拜托，爷爷，你才不老。你右腿的状况不错，心灵也像以前一样敏锐——我都知道哦。”“乖孙女，继续说，让我感觉舒服点。”然后，他有点懊恼地说，“我真想出去走走，离 开这间窄小的公寓，散步到帝国图书馆，享受一下这美好的黄昏。”“你要到图书馆做什么？” “什么也不做。我只是想出去走走，可是……” “可是？” “我答应过芮奇，以后出门一定要有保镖陪着。”“爸不在这里。” “我知道，”谢顿喃喃地说，“但承诺总是承诺。” “他没说该由谁来当保镖，对不对？我们去散散步，我来当你的保镖。” “你？”谢顿咧嘴笑了笑。 “没错，就是我，我自愿提供这项服务。你准备好了，我们就出去。” 谢顿很开心。他原本不打算带手杖出去，因为他右腿的老毛病近来已经好多了。但如果只有婉达这位保镖，他想自己最好还是带着那只新手杖。新手杖的杖头灌了铅，比原来那只沉重、坚固得多。 这趟漫步可以说相当愉快，谢顿很庆幸自己没有抗拒这个诱惑。但眼前的景象突然激起了谢顿愤怒与沮丧交杂的情绪，他举起手杖说：“你看那里！”婉达抬起头。就像每个黄昏一样，穹顶正放出光芒，制造一种薄暮的气氛。光线会随着夜色渐深逐渐变暗。 然而谢顿指的地方是穹顶上一条暗带，那里的灯光消失了。谢顿说：“我刚到川陀的时候，这种事情根本不可能发生，随时都有人维修那些灯泡。那时整个城市都在运作，可是现在，川陀已经从这些小地方上开始崩溃。我想不通为什么没有人在乎？为什么没有向皇宫请愿的活动？为什么没有抗议示威游行？好像川陀人民自己 期望这个城市逐步瓦解，然后又迁怒到我身上，就因为我将事实现况明白地指出来。”婉达轻声道：“爷爷，我们后面有两个人。”这时候，他们已经走进因穹顶灯光故障而形成的阴影里。谢顿问道：“他们只是路过吗？”“不，”婉达没有回头，她不必那么做，“他们在跟踪你。” “你能阻止他们吗？把他们推走？”“我在努力，但对方有两个人，而且意志很坚决。这就像——在推一堵墙。”“他们距离我们多远？” “三米左右。” “越来越近了吗？” “是的，爷爷。” “等他们距离我们一米时，马上告诉我。”他握着手杖的手向下滑到中段，然后把手杖转过来，让灌铅的那头向下。 “来了，爷爷！”婉达悄声道。谢顿立即转身，猛挥手杖，杖头重重落在其中一人的肩膀，那人惨叫一声，便倒在人行道上，痛苦地扭动着。 谢顿说：“另外一个呢？” “跑掉了。” 谢顿低头望着那个躺在地上的人，一脚踩上他的胸部。“搜口袋，婉达。一定有人付他信用点，我要找出他的信用档案，说不定能认出幕后的主使者是谁。”他又突然感慨地说，“我本来想打他的头。” “那样他会没命的，爷爷。” 谢顿点了点头：“我原本正是想要他的命。唉，这念头真要不得，幸好我没打中。” 一个严厉的声音突然响起：“发生了什么事？”接着，一个穿着制服的人满头大汗地跑过来。“你，把手杖给我！” “警官——”谢顿和气地唤道。“有什么话待会儿再说，先帮这个可怜人召救护车。”“可怜人？”谢顿顿时火冒三丈，“他是要攻击我，我只是在自卫。” “我看得一清二楚，”那名保安官说：“这人碰都没碰你一下，是你转过身去，毫无来由 就给他一棍。那不是自卫，那叫作蓄意伤害。” “警官，我告诉你——” “什么也别告诉我，有话等到法庭再讲。” 婉达以甜美轻柔的声音说：“警官，请你听我们说——” 那保安官说：“没你的事，小姐，你快回家。” 婉达站了起来：我绝不会丢下我祖父不管的，警官。我祖父到哪里，我就跟到哪里。” 在婉达闪烁的目光下，保安官喃喃道：“好吧，那就一块走。” Chapter 18 Seldon was enraged. "I've never been in custody before in my entire life. A couple of months ago eight men assaulted me. I was able to fight them off with the help of my son, but while that was going on was there a security officer in sight? Did people stop to help me? No. This time, I'm better prepared and I knocked a man flat who had been about to assault me. Was there a security officer in sight? Absolutely. She put the collar on me. There were people watching, too, and they were amused at seeing an old man being taken in for assault and battery. What kind of world do we live on?" Civ Novker, Seldon's lawyer, sighed and said calmly, "A corrupt world, but don't worry. Nothing will happen to you. I'll get you out on bail and then, eventually, you'll come back for trial before a jury of your peers and the most you'll get-the very most-are some hard words from the bench. Your age and your reputation-" "Forget my reputation," said Seldon, still angry. "I'm a psychohistorian and, at the present time, that is a dirty word. They'll be glad to see me in jail." "No, they won't," said Novker. "There may be some screwballs who have it in for you, but I'll see to it that none of them gets on the jury." Wanda said, "Do we really have to subject my grandfather to all this? He's not a young man anymore. Can't we just appear before the magistrate and not bother with a jury trial?" The lawyer turned to her. "It can be done. If you're insane, maybe. Magistrates are impatient power-mad people who would just as soon put a person into jail for a year as listen to him. No one goes up before a magistrate." "I think we should," said Wanda. Seldon said, "Well now, Wanda, I think we ought to listen to Civ-" But as he said that, he felt a strong churning in his abdomen. It was Wanda's "push." Seldon said, "Well-if you insist." "She can't insist," said the lawyer. "I won't allow it." Wanda said, "My grandfather is your client. If he wants something done his way, you've got to do it." "I can refuse to represent him." "Well then, leave," said Wanda sharply, "and we'll face the magistrate alone." Novker thought and said, "Very well, then-if you're going to be so adamant. I've represented Hari for years and I suppose I won't abandon him now. But I warn you, the chances are he'll get a jail sentence and I'll have to work like the devil to get it lifted-if I can do it .at all." "I'm not afraid," said Wanda. Seldon bit his lip and the lawyer turned to him. "What about you? Are you willing to let your granddaughter call the shots?" Seldon thought a bit, then admitted, much to the old lawyer's surprise, "Yes. Yes, I am." 第十八章 　　谢顿暴跳如雷。“我这辈子还没被拘留过。几个月前，我被八个混混围攻。要是我儿子没赶来，我不可能全身而退。那个时候附近有半个保安官吗？有人来帮我吗？没有。这次，我有所警戒，把一个准备袭击我的人打趴了。附近有保安官吗？哼，不但有，他还将我逮捕， 而旁边围观的路人倒乐得看到一个老头因蓄意伤害罪被带走。这是什么世界？” 谢顿的律师西夫•诺夫可叹了口气，再以平静的口吻说：“一个败坏的世界。可是别担 心，你不会有事的，我会把你保释出来。然后，你会在你的支持者组成的陪审团前接受审判， 最重刑罚也不过是法官的几句申斥。以你的年纪和名望……” “别提我的什么名望，”谢顿仍在气头上，“我是个心理史学家，而如今这年头，那可是 个肮脏的字眼，我坐牢他们高兴都来不及。”“不会的。”诺夫可说，“也许有些偏激人士对你怀恨在心，但我绝不会让这种人进入陪审团。” 婉达说：“我们真得让爷爷经历这种事吗？他不年轻了。能不能直接去见治安官，免去陪审团审判的过程。” 律师转向她。“可以，如果你疯了的话。治安官权力很大，却很少有耐心，他们宁可随便判个一年徒刑，也不愿听被告陈述。没有人会去见治安官。”“我认为我们应该去。”婉达道。 谢顿说：“好啦，婉达，我想我们该听西夫——”他话才说到一半，便觉得腹部有股强烈的激荡，那是婉达在“推”他。于是他改口：“好吧，既然你坚持。”“她坚持也没用，”律师说，“我不会允许这种事。”婉达说：“我祖父是你的委托人，你得照他的意思做。” “我可以拒绝接受他的委托。”“好啊，请便。”婉达以逼人的口吻说，“我们会单独面对治安官。” 诺夫可想了一想。“好吧，假如你执意如此。我当哈里的法律代表也有好多年了，我不能在这个节骨眼遗弃他。但我要先声明，他很有可能会被判刑，到时候寻求赦免的机会将变得非常渺茫。” “我不怕。”婉达说。 谢顿咬着嘴唇，此时律师又转向他。“你怎么说？愿意让你的孙女做主吗？”谢顿想了一下，他的回答大大出乎老律师的意料：“是的，我愿意。” Chapter 19 The magistrate looked sourly at Seldon as he gave his story. The magistrate said, "What makes you think it was the intention of this man you struck to attack you? Did he strike you? Did he threaten you? Did he in any way place you under bodily fear?" "My granddaughter was aware of his approach and was quite certain that he was planning to attack me." "Surely, sir, that cannot be enough. Is there anything else you can tell me before I pass judgment?" "Well now, wait a while," said Seldon indignantly. "Don't pass judgment so quickly. I was assaulted a few weeks ago by eight men whom I held off with the help of my son. So, you see, I have reason to think that I might be assaulted again." The magistrate shuffled his papers. "Assaulted by eight men. Did you report that?" "There were no security officers around. Not one." "Aside from the point. Did you report it?" "No, sir." "Why not?" "For one thing, I was afraid of getting into long drawn-out legal proceedings. Since we had driven off eight men and were safe, it seemed useless to ask for more trouble." "How did you manage to ward off eight men just you and your son?" Seldon hesitated. "My son is now on Santanni and outside Trantorian control. Thus, I can tell you that he had Dahlite knives and was expert in their use. He killed one man and badly hurt two others. The rest ran, carrying off the dead and wounded." "But did you not report the death of a man and the wounding of two others?" "No, sir. Same reason as before. And we fought in self-defense. However, if you can track down the three dead and wounded, you will have evidence that we were attacked." The magistrate said, "Track down one dead and two wounded nameless faceless Trantorians? Are you aware that on Trantor over two thousand people are found dead every day-by knife wounds alone. Unless these things are reported to us at once, we are helpless. Your story of being assaulted once before will not hold water. What we must do is deal with the events of today, which were reported and which had a security officer as a witness. "So, let's consider the situation as of now. Why do you think the fellow was going to attack? Simply because you happened to be passing by? Because you seemed old and defenseless? Because you looked like you might be carrying a great deal of credits? What do you think?" "I think, Magistrate, it was because of who I am." The magistrate looked at his papers. "You are Hari Seldon, a professor and a scholar. Why should that make you subject to assault, particularly?" "Because of my views." "Your views. Well-" The magistrate shuffled some papers perfunctorily. Suddenly he stopped and looked up, peering at Seldon. "Wait-Hari Seldon." A look of recognition spread across his face. "You're the psychohistory buff, aren't you?" "Yes, Magistrate." "I'm sorry. I don't know anything about it except the name and the fact that you go around predicting the end of the Empire or something like that." "Not quite, Magistrate. But my views have become unpopular because they are proving to be true. I believe it is for that reason that there are those who want to assault me or, even more likely, are being paid to assault me." The magistrate stared at Seldon and then called over the arresting security officer. "Did you check up on the man who was hurt? Does he have a record?" The security officer cleared her throat. "Yes, sir. He's been arrested several times. Assault, mugging." "Oh, he's a repeat offender, is he? And does the professor have a record?" "No, sir." "So we have an old and innocent man fighting off a known mugger-and you arrest the old and innocent man. Is that it?" The security officer was silent. The magistrate said, "You may go, Professor." "Thank you, sir. May I have my cane?" The magistrate snapped his fingers at the officer, who handed over the cane. "But one thing, Professor," said the magistrate. "If you use that cane again, you had better be absolutely certain you can prove it was in self-defense. Otherwise-" "Yes, sir." And Hari Seldon left the magistrate's chambers, leaning heavily on his cane but with his head held high. 第十九章 　　谢顿陈述事发经过时，治安官没好气地望着他。 “你如何断定被害人有攻击你的意图？”治安官问，“他有攻击或胁迫的行为吗？他以任何方式使你感到安全受威胁吗？”“我的孙女察觉到他向我迫近，而且相当确定他有攻击我的意图。”“这点根本构不成证据，先生。在我宣判之前，你还有话要说吗？”“等一下，”谢顿愤愤然道，“别那么快就宣判。几个星期前，我曾遭到八个歹徒袭击， 还好我儿子及时赶到，我才幸免于难。所以，我当然有理由相信自己可能再度遭人袭击。”治安官随手翻了翻文件。“遭到八个歹徒袭击……你报案了吗？” “当时附近没有保安官，一个也没有。”“不要答非所问，你报案了吗？” “没有，大人。” “为什么？” “原因之一，是我不想卷入冗长的法律程序。既然我们能全身而退，还把那些人赶走，似乎没有必要再找其他麻烦。”“就你和你儿子？你们怎么有办法抵挡八个人？”谢顿迟疑了一下。“我儿子如今人在圣塔尼，已经不在川陀管辖范围……我就告诉您吧。 他是用刀的行家，随身总带着两把达尔长刀。那天他杀了其中一人，重伤了另外两个，剩下的人便带着死伤的同伴跑了。”“你没有为死者和伤者报案？”“没有，大人，理由跟刚才说的一样，而且我们是自卫伤人。但如果您能查出那三名死伤的人，就能证明我们曾经遭到攻击。”“追查三个无名无姓的川陀人？”治安官说，“你晓不晓得川陀上每天光是死于刀伤的就超过两千个？这种事除非立即接到报案，否则我们根本没法追査。你对自己曾遭到袭击的陈述根本不足采信。我们现在要处理的是今天这个事件——有人报了案，还有一名保安官作证。 “所以说，让我们回到你这个案子上。你为什么认为那个人准备攻击你？只因为你刚好路过？因为你老得无力抵抗？还是因为你看来像身怀巨额信用点？你究竟是怎么想的？” “我想，治安官，是因为我的身份。” 治安官看了看面前的文件。“你是哈里•谢顿，一名教授和学者。这有什么特别的吗？”“因为我的言论。” “你的言论……”治安官草率地翻了翻几份文件，然后突然停止动作，抬起头来凝视谢顿，“等一下——哈里•谢顿……”他脸上浮现出熟识的神情，“你就是那个研究心理史学的， 对不对？” “是的，治安官。” “很抱歉，我对它没什么了解。我只知道它的名字，以及你到处发表预言，说什么帝国末日即将来临之类的话。” “并不全是如此。但事实是我的看法不受欢迎，因为事实逐渐证明我的话是对的。我相信就是由于这个缘故，才会有人想攻击我，甚至雇杀手袭击我。” 治安官瞪着谢顿沉思了一会儿，然后他叫来逮捕谢顿的那名保安官。“你有没有查过那名伤者的身份？他有没有前科？” 保安官清清喉咙。“有的，大人。他被逮捕过好几次，罪名是箍颈与抢劫。”“喔，那他是个累犯喽？这位教授有没有前科？”“没有，大人。” “所以这件案子，是个无辜的老人击退一个有案底的箍颈党。你却逮捕了这位无辜的老人，是不是这样？” 保安官哑口无言。 治安官说：“你可以走了，教授。”“谢谢您，大人。我能拿回我的手杖吗？” 治安官做了个手势，保安官便将手杖交还给谢顿。“可是记住一件事，教授，”治安官说，“下次你再要用那根手杖，请先确定你能证明那 是自卫行为。否则……” “好的，大人。”谢顿离开了治安官的审判厅。虽然拄着手杖，他的头却抬得很高。 Chapter 20 Wanda was crying bitterly, her face wet with tears, her eyes red, her cheeks swollen. Hari Seldon hovered over her, patting her on the back, not knowing quite how to comfort her. "Grandpa, I'm a miserable failure. I thought I could push people and I could when they didn't mind being pushed too much, like Mom and Dad-and even then it took a long time. I even worked out a rating system of sorts, based on a ten-point scale-sort of a mental pushing power gauge. Only I assumed too much. I assumed that I was a ten, or at least a nine. But now I realize that, at most, I rate a seven." Wanda's crying had stopped and she sniffed occasionally as Hari stroked her hand. "Usually-usually-I have no trouble. If I concentrate, I can hear people's thoughts and when I want, I push them. But those muggers! I could hear them all right, but there was nothing I could do to push them away." "I thought you did very well, Wanda." "I didn't. I had a fan-fantasy. I thought people would come up behind you and in one mighty push I'd send them flying. That way I was going to be your bodyguard. That's why I offered to be your bod-bodyguard. Only I wasn't. Those two guys came up and I couldn't do a thing." "But you could. You made the first man hesitate. That gave me a chance to turn and clobber him." "No no. I had nothing to do with it. All I could do was warn you he was there and you did the rest." "The second man ran away." "Because you clobbered the first guy. I had nothing to do with it." She broke out again in tears of frustration. "And then the magistrate. I insisted on the magistrate. I thought I would push and he would let you go at once." "He did let me go and it was practically at once." "No. He put you through a miserable routine and saw the light only when he realized who you were. I had nothing to do with it. I flopped everywhere. I could have gotten you into so much trouble." "No, I refuse to accept that, Wanda. If your pushing didn't work quite as well as you had hoped it would, it was only because you were working under emergency conditions. You couldn't have helped it. But, Wanda, look-I have an idea." Catching the excitement in his voice, she looked up. "What kind of idea, Grandpa?" "Well, it's like this, Wanda. You probably realize that I've got to have credits. Psychohistory simply can't continue without it and I cannot bear the thought of having it all come to nothing after so many years of hard work." "I can't bear it, either. But how can we get the credits?" "Well, I'm going to request an audience with the Emperor again. I've seen him once already and he's a good man and I like him. But he's not exactly drowning in wealth. However, if I take you with me and if you push him-gently-it may be that he will find a source of credits, some source somewhere, and keep me going for a while, till I can think of something else." "Do you really think it will work, Grandpa?" "Not without you. But with you-maybe. Come, isn't it worth trying?" Wanda smiled. "You know I'll do anything you ask, Grandpa. Besides, it's our only hope." 第二十章 　　婉达伤心极了，她哭得双眼通红，双颊也肿了起来。 谢顿站在她身旁，不知该如何安慰她，只是轻轻拍着她的背。 “爷爷，我是个失败者。我以为我能推动别人，可是其实是只有在他们不介意被推动太多时——像爸妈——我才办得到，而即使是那样，我也得花好长一段时间才推得动。我甚至设计出一种评量系统，分成十等级，可以算是个‘心灵推力计’。可是我太高估自己了，竟然假定自己是十级或至少九级，现在我才明白，我顶多只是七级。” 谢顿轻抚着婉达的手，她的哭声已转为断断续续的抽噎。“通……通常……我都没问题。 如果我全神贯注，就听得见人们的思想，还能任意推动他们。可是那些箍颈党！我虽然听得见他们，却怎么也没办法把他们推走。” “我认为你做得很好，婉达。” “我没有。我曾异想天开的认为，如果有坏人胆敢靠近你，我只要用力一推，他们便会飞也似的逃走。所以我才自告奋勇当你的保……保镖，我以为自己可以胜任。谁知道我错了， 那两个家伙走近时，我一点办法也没有。” “你有啊，你令第一个家伙迟疑了一下，让我有机会转身击倒他。” “不，那跟我一点关系也没有。我只能警告你，其他都是你自己做的。”“还有第二个人跑了啊。” “那是因为你击倒了头一个，跟我一点关系也没有。”婉达突然又流下挫折的泪水，“还 有那个治安官。我坚持要见治安官，以为自己能推动他，让他立刻放你走。”“他的确放我走了，而且几乎是立刻释放。”“不。他一直凶巴巴地对你公事公办，直到发觉你是谁，他才恍然大悟，那跟我一点关系也没有。我什么忙都没帮上，还差点把你卷进一个大麻烦里。” “不，事情不是你说的那样，婉达。若说你的力量不如预期中的大，那只是因为当时情况太危急，你才使不上力——婉达，听着，我有了个主意。” 婉达听出他声音中的兴奋，马上抬起头来。“什么主意，爷爷？” “事情是这样的，婉达。你或许了解我必须筹措信用点，如果没有经费，心理史学几乎无法撑下去。辛苦工作了这么多年，要是一切成为泡影，我可经不起这种打击。”“我也是啊。可是怎样才能筹到信用点呢？” “这个嘛，我准备再次请求觐见皇上。我曾见过他一次，他人不错，我很喜欢他，可是他的财力并不雄厚。然而，如果我带你一起去，你推他一下说不定他就能找到什么财源，让我可以撑到想出别的办法为止。” “你真认为这样行得通吗，爷爷？”“没有你当然是办不到的，但是有了你，也许就可以。来吧，这难道不值得试试吗？”婉达微微一笑。“你知道的，爷爷，你要我做什么我都愿意。何况，这是我们唯一的希望。” Chapter 21 It was not difficult to see the Emperor. Agis's eyes sparkled as he greeted Hari Seldon. "Hello, old friend," he said. "Have you come to bring me bad luck?" "I hope not," said Seldon. Agis unhooked the elaborate cloak he was wearing and, with a weary grunt, threw it into the corner of the room, saying, "And you lie there." He looked at Seldon and shook his head. "I hate that thing. It's as heavy as sin and as hot as blazes. I always have to wear it when I'm being smothered under meaningless words, standing there upright like a carved image. It's just plain horrible. Cleon was born to it and he had the appearance for it. I was not and I don't. It's just my misery that I'm a third cousin of his on my mother's side so that I qualified as Emperor. I'd be glad to sell it for a very small sum. Would you like to be Emperor, Hari?" "No no, I wouldn't dream of it, so don't get your hopes up," said Seldon, laughing. "But tell me, who is this extraordinarily beautiful young woman you have brought with you today?" Wanda flushed and the Emperor said genially, "You mustn't let me embarrass you, my dear. One of the few perquisites an Emperor possesses is the right to say anything he chooses. No one can object or argue :bout it. They can only say, `Sire.' However, I don't want any `Sires' from you. I hate that word. Call me Agis. That is not my birth name, either. It's my Imperial name and I've got to get used to it. So . tell me what's doing, Hari. What's been happening to you since the last time we met?" Seldon said briefly, "I've been attacked twice." The Emperor didn't seem to be sure whether this was a joke or not. He said, "Twice? Really?" The Emperor's face darkened as Seldon told the story of the assaults. "I suppose there wasn't a security officer around when those eight men threatened you." "Not one." The Emperor rose from his chair and gestured at the other two to keep theirs. He walked back and forth, as though he were trying to work off some anger. Then he turned and faced Seldon. "For thousands of years," he began, "whenever something like this happened, people would say, `Why don't we appeal to the Emperor?' or `Why doesn't the Emperor do something?' And, in the end, the Emperor can do something and does do something, even if it isn't always the intelligent thing to do. But I . Hari, I'm powerless. Absolutely powerless. "Oh yes, there is the so-called Commission of Public Safety, but they seem more concerned with my safety than that of the public. It's a wonder we're having this audience at all, for you are not at all popular with the Commission. "There's nothing I can do about anything. Do you know what's happened to the status of the Emperor since the fall of the junta and the restoration of-hah!-Imperial power?" "I think I do." "I'll bet you don't-fully. We've got democracy now. Do you know what democracy is?" "Certainly." Agis frowned. He said, "I'll bet you think it's a good thing." "I think it can be a good thing." "Well, there you are. It isn't. It's completely upset the Empire. "Suppose I want to order more officers onto the streets of Trantor. In the old days, I would pull over a piece of paper prepared for me by the Imperial Secretary and would sign it with a flourish-and there would be more security officers. "Now I can't do anything of the sort. I have to put it before the Legislature. There are seventy-five hundred men and women who instantly turn into uncounted gaggles of geese the instant a suggestion is made. In the first place, where is the funding to come from? You can't have, say, ten thousand more officers without having to pay ten thousand more salaries. Then, even if you agreed to something of the sort, who selects the new security officers? Who controls them? "The Legislature shouts at each other, argues, thunders, and lightens, and in the end-nothing is done. Hari, I couldn't even do as small a thing as fix the broken dome lights you noticed. How much will it cost? Who's in charge? Oh, the lights will be fixed, but it can easily take a few months to do it. That's democracy." Hari Seldon said, "As I recall, the Emperor Cleon was forever complaining that he could not do what he wished to do." "The Emperor Cleon," said Agis impatiently, "had two first-class First Ministers-Demerzel and yourself-and you each labored to keep Cleon from doing anything foolish. I have seventy-five hundred First Ministers, all of whom are foolish from start to finish. But surely, Hari, you haven't come to complain to me about the attacks." "No, I haven't. Something much worse. Sire-Agis-I need credits." The Emperor stared at him. "After what I've been telling you, Hari? I have no credits. -Oh yes, there're credits to run this establishment, of course, but in order to get them I have to face my seventy-five hundred legislators. If you think I can go to them and say, `I want credits for my friend, Hari Seldon' and if you think I'll get one quarter of what I ask for in anything less than two years, you're crazy. It won't happen." He shrugged and said, more gently, "Don't get me wrong, Hari. I would like to help you if I could. I would particularly like to help you for the sake of your granddaughter. Looking at her makes me feel as though I should give you all the credits you would like-but it can't be done." Seldon said, "Agis, if I don't get funding, psychohistory will go down the drain-after nearly forty years." "It's come to nothing in nearly forty years, so why worry?" "Agis," said Seldon "there's nothing more I can do now. The assaults on me were precisely because I'm a psychohistorian. People consider me a predictor of destruction." The Emperor nodded. "You're bad luck, Raven Seldon. I told you this earlier." Seldon stood up wretchedly. "I'm through, then." Wanda stood, too, next to Seldon the top of her head reaching her grandfather's shoulder. She gazed fixedly at the Emperor. As Hari turned to go, the Emperor said, "Wait. Wait. There's a little verse I once memorized: Ill fares the land To hastening ills a prey Where wealth accumulates And men decay.' " "What does it mean?" asked a dispirited Seldon. "It means that the Empire is steadily deteriorating and falling apart, but that doesn't keep some individuals from growing rich. Why not turn to some of our wealthy entrepreneurs? They don't have legislators and can, if they wish, simply sign a credit voucher." Seldon stared. "I'll try that." 第二十一章 　　见皇上并不困难。艾吉思迎接谢顿时，他的双眼闪烁着光芒。“嗨，老友，”他说，“你 来是要带给我坏运吗？” “我希望不是。”谢顿说。 艾吉思疲倦地叹了口气，解开身上精致的披风，边丢向房间角落边说：“给我躺在那里！”他望向谢顿，摇了摇头。“我恨那玩意，它像原罪一样沉重、像地狱之火一样灼人。当我接受胡言乱语的疲劳轰炸，像座雕像笔直站着时，我总是得穿着这件该死的披风，简直可恶透顶。克里昂生来就有帝王风范，我却完全不是这块料。只因不幸生为他的三表弟，我就被拱出来当皇帝。我很乐意贱价出售这个皇位，你要不要啊，哈里？” “不，不，我想都没想过，您别抱太大希望。”说完谢顿哈哈大笑。“告诉我，今天跟你同来的这位小美人是谁？” 婉达面红耳赤，皇上则和蔼地说：“千万别脸红，亲爱的。皇上拥有的少数津贴之一，就是口无遮拦的权利。没有人能反对或提出异议，他们只能说‘是的，陛下’。但我不要听到你说‘陛下’，我痛恨这两个字。叫我艾吉思，虽然那也不是我真正的名字，但它是我的帝号，我不得不习惯它。所以……告诉我，哈里，近况如何？自我们上次见面后，你经历了些什么事？” 谢顿简单地说：“我受到两次攻击。” “两次？真的？”皇上似乎不确定这是不是一句玩笑话。 谢顿开始叙述遇袭经过，皇上的脸沉了下来。“我想，那八个人胁迫你的时候，附近没有任何保安官吧。” “一个也没有。” 皇上从座椅中站起，同时做了个手势，示意两人继续坐着。他来回踱步，仿佛试图驱除心中的怒气。最后他转身面对谢顿。“几千年来，”他开口道，“只要发生类似的事，人们都会说：‘我们直接告到皇上那儿 去！’或是‘皇上为何不做点什么？’最后皇上都会做些处置，尽管不是每项处置都很明智。 可是我……哈里，我没有权力，我什么也无法做。“哼，没错，是有个所谓的公共安全委员会，但他们关心我的安全程度似乎远胜于公共安全。今天我们能见面算是个奇迹，因为委员会可不喜欢你。 “我对一切都无能为力。你可知道，自从执政团垮台，皇室——哈！皇室复辟之后，皇帝的地位发生了什么变化？” “我想我知道。” “我敢打赌你不知道，至少不完全知道。现在我们有民主了，你晓得什么是民主吗？”“当然。” 艾吉思皱起眉头。他说：“我敢打赌你认为民主是件好事。” “我认为它可以是件好事。” “你错了，不是那么回事，它把整个帝国都颠覆了。 “假设我要增派更多保安官到川陀街头，在过去，我只要抽出一张御用秘书准备的公文纸，在上面随便签个名，街头便会出现更多的保安官。“现在我却不能这么办，我得把它送交立法院。我每次提出一项建议，七千五百位委员就会变成一大群咯咯乱叫的鹅群。首先要解决的问题便是，经费从哪来？比如说，多找一万名保安官，就得多付一万份薪水。此外，即使委员同意，新的保安官要由谁挑选？由谁管理？ “立法委员彼此叫嚣，争论，怒喝，而最后——一事无成。哈里，你提到穹顶灯光故障， 我甚至连修理灯泡这点小事都办不到。那要花费多少？由谁负责？喔，灯泡总会修好的，只不过会拖上几个月。这，就是民主。” 谢顿说：“我还记得，克里昂大帝也总是抱怨不能做自己想做的事。” “克里昂大帝，”艾吉思不耐烦地说，“拥有两位一流的首相——丹莫茨尔和你，你们两 人努力不使克里昂做傻事。而我有七千五百位首相，全都从头傻到尾。不过，哈里，你来不会只是向我抱怨受到攻击这种事吧。” “没错，我是为更糟的事来的，陛下——艾吉思，我需要信用点。”皇上瞪着他。“哈里，我讲了那么多，你还提出这种要求？我没有信用点——喔，当然， 我还有信用点维持现在的局面，但是为了得到这笔钱，我得面对七千五百位立法委员。如果你认为我能去找他们说，我要些信用点给我的朋友哈里•谢顿；如果你认为我能在两年内， 得到我所要的四分之一，那你就是疯了。不可能。” 皇上耸了耸肩，口气变得比较温和：“别误会，哈里，如果办得到，我一定会帮你，特别是看在你孙女的分上。看着她我就有一种感觉，仿佛你要多少信用点我都该给你，可是我实在办不到。” 谢顿说：“艾吉思，要是没有经费，心理史学就将功亏一篑——我们已经努力了近四十年。” “已经努力了近四十年，什么成果也没有，你何必再操心呢？”“艾吉思，”谢顿说，“现在我什么也做不了。心理史学家的身份使我受到袭击，人们将 我视为毁灭的预言者。” 皇上点了点头。“你就是厄运，乌鸦嘴谢顿，我早告诉过你。”“好吧，”谢顿怅然起身，“那么，我没别的话。” 琬达也起身站在谢顿旁边，定睛望着皇上，她的身高刚好到祖父的肩膀。 谢顿正想转身离开，皇上突然说：“慢着——我记得有一首古诗是这么说的：‘时难年荒兮，大地萧条；朱门肉臭兮，路有饿殍。’” “那是什么意思？”谢顿沮丧地问。“它让我想到，帝国虽然在逐步衰落、分裂，但仍然有人越来越有钱。何不找那些富有的企业家试试呢？他们不用管什么立法委员，只要愿意，他们随手就能签一张信用点券给你。”谢顿望着皇上说：“我会试试看。” Chapter 22 "Mr. Bindris," said Hari Seldon, reaching out his hand to shake the other's. "I am so glad to be able to see you. It was good of you to agree to see me." "Why not?" said Terep Bindris jovially. "I know you well. Or, rather, I know of you well." "That's pleasant. I take it you've heard of psychohistory, then." "Oh yes, what intelligent person hasn't? Not that I understand anything about it, of course. And who is this young lady you have with you?" "My granddaughter, Wanda." "A very pretty young woman." He beamed. "Somehow I feel I'd be putty in her hands." Wanda said, "I think you exaggerate, sir." "No, really. Now, please, sit down and tell me what it is I can do for you." He gestured expansively with his arm, indicating that they be seated on two overstuffed, richly brocaded chairs in front of the desk at which he sat. The chairs, like the ornate desk, the imposing carved doors which had slid back noiselessly at their arrival signal, and the gleaming obsidian floor of Bindris's vast office, were of the finest quality. And, although his surroundings were impressive-and imposing-Bindris himself was not. The slight cordial man would not be taken, at first glance, for one of Trantor's leading financial powerbrokers. "We're here, sir, at the Emperor's suggestion." "The Emperor?" "Yes, he could not help us, but he thought a man like you might be able to do so. The question, of course, is credits." Bindris's face fell. "Credits?" he said. "I don't understand." "Well," said Seldon, "for nearly forty years, psychohistory has been supported by the government. However, times change and the Empire is no longer what it was." "Yes, I know that."' "The Emperor lacks the credits to support us or, even if he did have the credits, he couldn't get the request for funding past the Legislature. He recommends, therefore, that I see businesspeople who, in the first place, still have credits and, in the second place, can simply write out a credit voucher." There was a longish pause and Bindris finally said, "The Emperor, I'm afraid, knows nothing about business. -How many credits do you want?" "Mr. Bindris, we're talking about an enormous task. I'm going to need several million." "Several million!" "Yes, sir." Bindris frowned. "Are we talking about a loan here? When do you expect to be able to pay it back?" "Well, Mr. Bindris, I can't honestly say I ever expect to be able to pay it back. I'm looking for a gift." "Even if I wanted to give you the credits-and let me tell you, for some strange reason I very much want to do so-I couldn't. The Emperor may have his Legislature, but I have my Board members. I can't make a gift of that sort without the Board's permission and they'll never grant it." "Why not? Your firm is enormously wealthy. A few million would mean nothing to you." "That sounds good," said Bindris, "but I'm afraid that the firm is in a state of decline right now. Not sufficiently to bring us into serious trouble, but enough to make us unhappy. If the Empire is in a state of decay, different individual parts of it are decaying, too. We are in no position to Land out a few million. -I'm truly sorry." Seldon sat there silently and Bindris seemed unhappy. He shook his Head at last and said, "Look, Professor Seldon, I would really like to help you out, particularly for the sake of the young lady you have with you. It just can't be done. -However, we're not the only firm in Trantor. Try others, Professor. You may have better luck elsewhere." "Well," said Seldon, raising himself to his feet with an effort, "we shall try." 第二十二章 　　“幸会，宾缀斯先生，”谢顿一面说，一面伸手与对方握了握，“非常感激您能抽空见我。” “哪里的话，”泰瑞普•宾缀斯高兴地说，“我对您很熟悉，或者应该说，我久仰您的大名。” “那是我的荣幸。那么，我猜您听说过心理史学。” “喔，是啊，哪个聪明人没听说过呢？不过，我对它的内容可是一窍不通。呃，跟您同来的这位小姐是……” “我的孙女，婉达。” “您的孙女真漂亮，”他露出微笑，“不知怎么回事，我觉得自己会任凭她摆布。” 婉达说：“您太夸张了，阁下。” “我是说真的。好了，快请坐，告诉我有什么是我能效劳的。”他大方地比了个手势，示意他们坐在办公桌前两把覆着精美锦缎的柔软椅子上。正如同那张华丽的办公桌、那组堂皇的雕门（收到访客光临的讯号后，它们会无声地向两旁滑去），以及偌大办公室中晶亮的黑曜石地板，那两把椅子也是最精致的上品。不过，相较于四周富丽堂皇的陈设，宾缀斯本身却毫不起眼。乍看之下，没人会想到这个瘦小热诚的人，竟会是川陀最有影响力的金融家之一。 “我们到这儿来，阁下，是听从皇上的建议。” “皇上？” “是的，他无法帮助我们，但他想您或许有办法。当然，我们的问题是——信用点。” “信用点？”宾缀斯立刻拉下脸，“我不懂。” “这个嘛，”谢顿说，“将近四十年来，心理史学一向由政府资助。然而，时代不同了， 帝国已不再是昔日的帝国。” “这我知道。” “皇上没有信用点可以资助我们，就算有，他也无法让立法院通过这笔预算。因此，他推荐我几位实业家，一来你们有信用点，二来，你们随手就能签发信用点券。” 宾缀斯沉默了许久，终于开口：“恐怕皇上并不了解商场的情形。你要多少信用点？”“宾缀斯先生，心理史学计划是一项庞大的计划，我需要好几百万。” “好几百万！” “是的，阁下。” 宾缀斯皱起眉头。“你是准备要贷款吗？你打算分多久偿还？” “呃，宾缀斯先生，我不敢指望自己能还清这笔信用点，老实说，我是希望争取到一笔赠与。” “谢顿教授，说实话，基于某种我自己也不清楚的理由，我是很想给你这笔信用点，但我办不到。皇上要烦心他的立法院，我则需要面对公司的董事会。我如果想赞助你，一定要有董事会的批准，而他们是绝不可能答应的。” “为什么呢？你们公司财力如此雄厚，几百万对你们来说不算什么。” “这话很受用，”宾缀斯说，“只不过此时此刻，本公司的营业状况正在走下坡，虽然还 不至于带来严重困扰，但已足以使我们笑不出来。如果说帝国处于衰败状态，那么其中每个部分都难逃同样的命运——谢顿教授，我真的很抱歉，我们现在没有能力拿出几百万的捐款。”谢顿默默坐在那里。宾缀斯显得闷闷不乐，最后他摇了摇头，说道：“谢顿教授，我真的很想帮你，尤其是看在你身边那位小姐的分上，问题是我实在无能为力。不过我们并不是川陀上唯一的公司，试试别家吧，教授，幸运之神也许会在别处眷顾你。” “好吧，”谢顿一面说，一面吃力地站起来，“谢谢你，我们会试试。” Chapter 23 Wanda's eyes were filled with tears, but the emotion they represented was not sorrow but fury. "Grandpa," she said, "I don't understand it. I simply don't understand it. We've been to four different firms. Each one was ruder and nastier to us than the one before. The fourth one just kicked us out. And since then, no one will let us in." "It's no mystery, Wanda," said Seldon gently. "When we saw Bindris, he didn't know what we were there for and he was perfectly friendly until I asked for a gift of a few million credits. Then he was a great deal less friendly. I imagine the word went out as to what we wanted and each additional time there was less friendliness until now, when people won't receive us at all. Why should they? They're not going to give us the credits we need, so why waste time with us?" Wanda's anger turned on herself. "And what did I do? I just sat there. Nothing." "I wouldn't say that," said Seldon. "Bindris was affected by you. It seems to me that he really wanted to give me the credits, largely because of you. You were pushing him and accomplishing something." "Not nearly enough. Besides, all he cared about was that I was pretty." "Not pretty," muttered Seldon. "Beautiful. Very beautiful." "So what do we do now, Grandpa?" asked Wanda. "After all these years, psychohistory will collapse." "I suppose that," said Seldon "in a way, it's something that can't be helped. I've been predicting the breakdown of the Empire for nearly forty years and now that it's come, psychohistory breaks down with it." "But psychohistory will save the Empire, at least partly." "I know it will, but I can't force it to." "Are you just going to let it collapse?" Seldon shook his head. "I'll try to keep it from doing so, but I must admit that I don't know how I'm going to do it." Wanda said, "I'm going to practice. There must be some way I can strengthen my push, make it easier for me to force people to do what I want them to do." "I wish you could manage." "What are you going to do, Grandpa?" "Well, nothing much. Two days ago, when I was on my way to see the Chief Librarian, I encountered three men in the Library who were arguing about psychohistory. For some reason, one of them impressed me very much. I urged him to come see me and he agreed. The appointment is for this afternoon at my office." "Are you going to have him work for you?" "I would like to-if I have enough credits to pay him with. But it can't hurt to talk with him. After all, what can I lose?" 第二十三章 　　婉达眼中充满泪水，但那些眼泪并不是为悲伤而流的。“爷爷，”她愤道，“我不懂，我就是不懂。我们拜访了四家公司，一家比一家更无礼、 更凶恶，第四家甚至直接把我们赶了出来。从那时开始，就再也没有人让我们进门了。” “这并不奇怪呀，婉达。”谢顿柔声道，“当初见宾缀斯时，他还不知道我们的意图。他 本来十分友善，但等到我要求几百万信用点的赠款，他的态度马上有了一百八十度的转变。我猜我们的目的已被广为宣传，所以我们才越来越不受欢迎，到了现在，根本没人愿意接见我们。他们又何必见我们呢？他们根本不准备提供信用点，何必跟我们浪费时间呢？”婉达的愤怒转向自己。“而我做了什么？我只是坐在那里，什么也没做。” “我不这么认为，”谢顿道，“宾缀斯受到你的影响了。我觉得他真想拿出信用点，那主 要是因为你的缘故。当时你一直在推他，显然已有些效果。” “根本不够！而且，他只在乎我长得漂不漂亮。” “不是漂亮，”谢顿轻声道，“是美丽，非常美丽。”“现在怎么办呢，爷爷？”婉达问，“花了这么多年的心血，心理史学却要垮了。” “我想，”谢顿说，“就某方面而言，这也是难免的事。近四十年来，我总是在预测帝国 的崩溃，现在既然预言成真，心理史学自然跟着一块崩溃。” “但是心理史学可以拯救帝国，至少拯救其中一部分。” “我知道，但我无法强迫它去拯救。” “你准备就这么让它垮掉？” 谢顿摇了摇头。“不，我会设法挽救这门科学，但我必须承认，我不知道该怎么做。”婉达说：“我要好好锻炼我的心灵能力。一定有方法能使我的力量增强、让我更容易驱使别人。” “加油啊，婉达。” “你呢？爷爷，你又准备做什么？”“我嘛，其实也没什么。前几天我去见图书馆长的时候，在图书馆里遇见三个年轻人，他们正在争论心理史学的问题。不晓得为什么，其中一人令我印象非常深刻。我力邀他来找我，而他也同意了。我们约今天下午在我的研究室碰面。”“你准备要他为你工作？” “我希望如此——如果我有足够的信用点付他。但谈谈总没有害处，毕竟，我也没什么好损失的了。” Chapter 24 The young man arrived at precisely 4 T.S.T. (Trantorian Standard Time) and Seldon smiled. He loved punctual people. He placed his hands on his desk and made ready to heave to his feet, but the young man said, "Please, Professor, I know you have a bad leg. You needn't stand up." Seldon said, "Thank you, young man. However, that does not mean that you cannot sit down. Please do." The young man removed his jacket and sat down. Seldon said, "You must forgive me . when we met and set up this appointment, I neglected to learn your name-which is . ? "Stettin Palver," said the young man. "Ah. Palver! The name sounds familiar." "It should, Professor. My grandfather boasted frequently of having known you." "Your grandfather. Of course. Joramis Palver. He was two years younger than I was, as I recall. I tried to get him to join me in psychohistory, but he refused. He said there was no chance of his ever learning enough mathematics to make it possible. Too bad! How is Joramis, by the way?" Palver said solemnly, "I'm afraid that Joramis has gone the way of old men generally. He's dead." Seldon winced. Two years younger than he himself was-and dead. An old friend and they had lost touch to such a degree that, when death came, it did so unknowingly. Seldon sat there for a while and finally muttered, "I'm sorry." The young man shrugged. "He had a good life." "And you, young man, where did you have your schooling?" "Langano University." Seldon frowned. "Langano? Stop me if I'm wrong, but that's not on Trantor, is it?" "No. I wanted to try a different world. The Universities on Trantor, as you undoubtedly know very well, are all overcrowded. I wanted to find a place where I could study in peace." "And what did you study?" "Nothing much. History. Not the sort of thing that would lead one to a good job." (Another wince, even worse than the first. Dors Venabili had been a historian.) Seldon said, "But you're back here on Trantor. Why is that?" "Credits. Jobs." "As an historian?" Palver laughed. "Not a chance. I run a device that pulls and hauls. Not exactly a professional occupation." Seldon looked at Palver with a twinge of envy. The contours of Palver's arms and chest were highlighted by the thin fabric of his shirt. He was well muscled. Seldon had never himself been quite that muscular. Seldon said, "I presume that when you were at the University, you were on the boxing team." "Who, me? Never. I'm a Twister." "A Twister!" Seldon's spirits jumped. "Are you from Helicon?" Palver said with a certain contempt, "You don't have to come from Helicon to be a good Twister." No, thought Seldon, but that's where the best ones come from. However, he said nothing. He did say, though, "Well, your grandfather would not join me. How about you?" "Psychohistory?" "I heard you talking to the others when I first encountered you and it seemed to me that you were talking quite intelligently about psychohistory. Would you like to join me, then?" "As I said, Professor, I have a job." "Pushing and hauling. Come, come." "It pays well." "Credits aren't everything." "They're quite a bit. Now you, on the other hand, can't pay me much. I'm quite certain that you're short of credits." "Why do you say that?" "I'm guessing, in a way, I suppose. -But am I wrong?" Seldon's lips pressed together hard, then he said, "No, you're not wrong and I can't pay you much. I'm sorry. I suppose that ends our little interview." "Wait, waaaaaaaaa." Palver held up his hands. "Not quite so fast, please. We're still talking about psychohistory. If I work for you, I will be taught psychohistory, right?" "Of course." "In that case, credits aren't everything, after all. I'll make you a deal. You teach me all the psychohistory you can and you pay me whatever you can and I'll get by somehow. How about it?" "Wonderful," said Seldon joyously. "That sounds great. Now, one more thing." "Oh?" "Yes. I've been attacked twice in recent weeks. The first time my son came to my defense, but he has since gone to Santanni. The second time I made use of my lead-filled walking stick. It worked, but I was dragged before a magistrate and accused of assault and battery-" "Why the attacks?" interjected Palver. "I am not popular. I have been preaching the Fall of the Empire for so long that, now that it is coming, I am blamed for aa." "I see. Now then, what does all that have to do with the one more thing you mentioned?" "I want you to be my bodyguard. You're young, you're strong, and, most of all, you're a Twister. You're exactly what I need." "I suppose it can be managed," Palver said with a smile. 第二十四章 　　川陀标准时间下午四点整，那名年轻人走了进来。谢顿微微一笑，他喜爱准时的人。他双手按着桌面正准备起身迎接，那年轻人忙道：“请别多礼，教授，我知道您的腿不太方便， 您不必起身。” “谢谢你，年轻人。”谢顿说，“我不能起身，并不表示你不能坐下，请坐。” 年轻人脱掉外套，坐了下来。 谢顿说：你一定得原谅我……我们上次碰面、订下这个约会的时候，我竟然忘了问你的名字，你叫……” “史铁亭•帕佛。”年轻人答道。“帕佛……帕佛……我好像听过这个姓氏。”“没错，教授，我的袓父说他以认识您为荣。” “你的祖父……对了，久瑞米斯•帕佛。我还记得，他比我年轻两岁。我曾经想说服他 加入心理史学计划，但他很谦虚地说，他的数学能力可能无法胜任这个工作。真是太可惜了！ 对啦，你祖父还好吗？” “祖父已经去了老年人总要去的地方，”帕佛神情严肃地说，“他过世了。”谢顿怔了一怔。比自己年轻两岁，却过世了，多年的老友，竟然疏于联络到这种程度，老友去世自己都不知道。 谢顿呆坐了一会儿，最后喃喃道：“我很遗憾。”年轻人耸了耸肩。“他这一生过得很好。” “你呢，年轻人，你在哪里受的教育？”“朗冈诺大学。” “朗冈诺？”谢顿皱起眉头。“如果我说错了请纠正我，这学校应该不在川陀上吧？”“是的，我当初是想试试不同的世界。您一定很清楚，川陀上的大学几乎都挤满了人，我想找个能安静读书的地方。”“你读的是什么？” “没什么不得了的。我主修历史，不是那种能让人找到好工作的学问。”（又是一怔，这次更严重——铎丝也是历史学家。） 谢顿说：“但你又回川陀来了，为什么呢？”“为了信用点，为了工作。” “当个历史学家？” 帕佛哈哈大笑。“想都不敢想。我负责操作一个拖拉、牵引的装置，不算什么专业工作。” 谢顿望着帕佛，心里不禁有些嫉妒。帕佛上身罩着件薄衬衫，突显出结实的双臂与胸肌。 谢顿自己从来没有那么结实的肌肉。“我猜你在大学的时候，一定练过拳击。”谢顿说。 “谁，我？从来没有，我是个角力士。”“角力士！”谢顿十分兴奋，“你是从赫利肯来的？”帕佛带着些不屑说：“优秀的角力士不一定都来自赫利肯。” 没错，谢顿心想，可是一流高手都是从那里来的。不过，他没把心里的话说出来，只是把话拉回正题。“好，当初你祖父不愿加入我，那你自己呢？” “心理史学？” “我头一次遇见你的时候，听到你跟另外两人聊天，在我听来，你似乎对心理史学很有概念。所以说，你愿意加入吗？” “我说过了，教授，我已经有一份工作。” “操纵拖拉和牵引机，得了吧。” “待遇很好。” “信用点不代表一切。” “但也差不多了。反之，您付我薪水不会太高，我确定您没多少信用点。” “你怎么知道？” “半猜的。我说错了吗？” 谢顿紧紧抿起嘴唇。“不，你没说错，我无法付你太高的薪水。很抱歉，我想这代表我们简短的会晤到此为止。” “等等。”帕佛举起双手，“别这么快，拜托，还是谈谈心理史学吧。假如我为您工作， 可以学到心理史学，对吗？” “当然。” “这样的话，信用点的确不代表一切。我跟您打个交道，您尽可能把心理史学都教给我，然后量力付我一份薪水，我总有办法凑合着过。怎么样？”“太好了。”谢顿欣喜地说，“这太好了。不过还有另一件事……”“哦？” “是这样的。最近几个星期以来，我遭到两次攻击。第一次有我的儿子赶来保护我，但他现在到圣塔尼去了。第二次保护我的是这只铅头手杖，但它却让我被一位治安官控告蓄意伤害……” “为什么有人攻击您？”帕佛插嘴问道。“因为我不受欢迎。多年以来，我谆谆警示帝国的衰亡，如今预言即将成真，我也成了众矢之的。” “我懂了。但这跟您刚才提到的另一件事有什么关系？” “我要你当我的保镖。你既年轻又强壮，而且还是个角力士，我正需要这样的人。” “我想这点好商量。”帕佛带着微笑说。 Chapter 25 "See there, Stettin," Seldon said as the two were taking an early evening stroll in one of Trantor's residential sectors near Streeling. The older man pointed to debris-assorted refuse jettisoned from passing groundcars or dropped by careless pedestrians-strewn along the walkway. "In the old days," Seldon continued, "you would never see litter like this. The security officers were vigilant and municipal maintenance crews provided round-the-clock upkeep of all public areas. But, most important, no one would even think of dumping his trash in such a manner. Trantor was our home; we took pride in aa. Now"-Seldon shook his head sadly, resignedly, and sighed-"it's-" He broke off abruptly. "You there, young man!" Seldon shouted at a ill-kempt fellow who had moments before passed them, going in the opposite direction. He was munching a treat just popped into his mouth; the wrapper had been tossed to the ground without so much as a downward glance. "Pick that up and dispose of it properly," Seldon admonished as the young man eyed him sullenly. "Pick it up yourself," the boy snarled and then he turned and walked away. "It's another sign of society's breakdown, as predicted by your psychohistory, Professor Seldon," Palver said. "Yes, Stettin. All around us the Empire is falling apart, piece by piece. In fact, it's already smashed-there's no turning back now. Apathy, decay, and greed have all played their parts in destroying the once-glorious Empire. And what will take its place? Why-" Here Seldon broke off at the sight of Palver's face. The younger man seemed to be listening intently-but not to Seldon's voice. His head was cocked to one side and his face had a far-off look. It was as if Palver were straining to hear some sound inaudible to everyone but himself. Suddenly he snapped back to the here and now. With an urgent glance around them, Palver took hold of Seldon's arm. "Hari, quick, we must get away. They're coming . " And then the still evening was broken by the harsh sound of rapidly approaching footsteps. Seldon and Palver spun around, but it was too late; a band of attackers was upon them. This time, however, Hari Seldon was prepared. He immediately swung his cane in a wide arc around Palver and himself. At this, the three attackers-two boys and a girl, all teenage ruffians-laughed. "So, you're not goin' to make it easy, are you, old man?" snorted the boy who appeared to be the group's ringleader. "Why, me and my buddies, we'll take you out in two seconds flat. We'll-" All of a sudden, the ringleader was down, the victim of a perfectly placed Twist-kick to his abdomen. The two ruffians who were still standing quickly dropped to a crouch in preparation for attack. But Palver was quicker. They, too, were felled almost before they knew what hit them. And then it was over-almost as soon as it started. Seldon stood off to the side, leaning heavily on his cane, shaking at the thought of his narrow escape. Palver, panting slightly from exertion, surveyed the scene. The three attackers were out cold on the deserted walkway under the darkening dome. "Come on, let's get out of here quickly!" Palver urged again, only this time it was not the attackers they would be fleeing. "Stettin, we can't leave," protested Seldon. He gestured toward the unconscious would-be muggers. "They're really nothing more than children. They may be dying. How can we just walk away? It's inhumane-that抯 what it is-and humanity is exactly what I've been working all these years to protect " Seldon struck the ground with his cane for emphasis and his eyes gleamed with conviction. "Nonsense," retorted Palver. "What's inhumane is the way muggers like that prey on innocent citizens like you. Do you think they'd have given you a second thought? They'd just as soon stick a knife in your gut to steal your last credit-and then kick you as they ran! They'll come to soon enough and slink away to lick their wounds. Or someone will find them and call the central office. "But, Hari, you must think. After what happened last time, you stand to lose everything if you're linked to another beating. Please, Hari, we must run!" With this, Palver grabbed Seldon's arm and Seldon after a List backward glance, allowed himself to be led away. As the footsteps of the rapidly departing Seldon and Palver diminished in the distance, another figure emerged from his hiding place behind some trees. Chuckling to himself, the sullen-eyed youth muttered, "You're a fine one to tell me what's right and what's wrong, Professor " With that, he spun on his heel and headed off to summon the security officers. 第二十五章 　　“看看那里，史铁亭。”谢顿说。此刻是黄昏时分，两人正在川陀附近的住宅区散步。谢顿指着人行道旁堆满的垃圾，这些各式各样的废物，都是路过的地面车或没公德心的行人拋下的。“在过去，”谢顿继续说，“这种景象绝对不可能出现；保安官随时戒备，都市养护 人员为一切公共场所提供全天候服务。最重要的是，当时根本不会有人用这种方式倾倒垃圾。 川陀是我们的家园，我们以它为傲。如今，”谢顿无奈地摇摇头，同时悲伤地叹了口气，“这 里成了——”他突然打住。 “喂，年轻人！”谢顿对一个脏兮兮的少年吼道。那少年刚跟他们擦身而过，往反方向走去，他大口嚼着刚丢进嘴里的食物，却看也没看就将包装纸扔到地上。“把垃圾捡起来，丢到该丢的地方。”那少年绷着脸转过头时，谢顿如此训诫他。“要捡你自己捡。”男孩咆哮道，然后径自转身走开。“这也是社会崩溃的另一个征兆，正如心理史学所预测的，谢顿教授。”帕佛说。“是啊，史铁亭。环顾四周，我们随时可以发现帝国正在一点一滴地瓦解。事实上，它早已朽坏，如今已经没有起死回生的机会。冷漠、腐化与贪婪，正摧毁着这个盛极一时的帝国。取而代之的会是什么呢？为什么——” 说到这里谢顿忽然住口，只是瞪着帕佛的脸。帕佛似乎在凝神倾听，却不是在听谢顿的声音。他侧着头，神情飘忽，仿佛正在努力聆听只有他一个人听得到的声音。突然间他回过神来，仓皇地四下张望，然后一把抓住谢顿的手臂。“哈里，我们得赶快离开，他们来了……”这时，杂沓的脚步声迅速自远而近，打破了黄昏的宁静。谢顿与帕佛四处寻找退路，但是太迟了，三名歹徒已来到他们面前。这回谢顿已有准备，他立刻用手杖在帕佛与自己周围挥出一个大弧。看到这情形，那三名歹徒（两个男孩与一个女孩，都是十几岁的小无赖）不禁哈哈大笑。“别做无谓的挣扎了，老头。”看来像是带头的男孩嗤之以鼻，“哈，我和我的哥儿们， 只要两秒钟就能把你摆平。我们要——”话未说完，那男孩突然倒地不起，腹部要害正中一记角力踢腿。另外两个无赖立刻压低身子，准备攻击。但帕佛动作更快，两人几乎还不知道发生了什么事，便双双趴倒在地。 一切结束，几乎像发生时一样迅速。谢顿避在一旁，身体倚着手杖，想到刚才的千钧一发忍不住发着抖。帕佛微微喘息，看着眼前的景象。在夜色渐深的穹顶下，那三名歹徒瘫倒在无人的人行道上。 “走吧，我们得赶紧离开这里！”帕佛再度催促，只不过这次他们要躲的不是歹徒。 “不，我们不能离开。”谢顿抗议道，他指着三名不省人事的箍颈党，“他们只不过是孩 子，我们怎能趁他们奄奄一息时一走了之？这样做太不人道了，而我这么多年来努力要捍卫的正是人道。”谢顿激动地用手杖猛击地面，双眼露出坚定的光芒。“胡说，”帕佛反驳道，“真正不人道的，是箍颈党劫掠你这种无辜市民的行为。你以为 他们会顾虑到你吗？他们只会在你的肚子上捅一刀，抢走你最后一个信用点，跑开前还不忘再踢你一脚！这三个很快就会醒过来，然后逃到别处去舔伤口。不然待会儿也会有人发现他们，向中央办公室报案。 “可是，哈里，你必须为自己着想。你不能再扯上另一件伤害案，否则你就可能失去一切。拜托，哈里，我们非走不可！”说到这里，帕佛抓住谢顿的手臂。谢顿回头望了一眼，便任由帕佛拉着离去。 当谢顿与帕佛迅疾的脚步声逐渐远离，躲在树后的一个身影冒了出来。这个双眼冒火的少年一面咯咯笑着，一面喃喃道：“教训我什么是对什么是错你可真够格啊，教授。”说完， 他拔腿飞奔，前去召唤保安官。 Chapter 26 "Order! I will have order!" bellowed Judge Tejan Popjens Lih. The public hearing of Professor Raven Seldon and his young associate, Stettin Palver, had generated a hue and cry among the populace of Trantor. Here was the man who had predicted the Fall of the Empire, the decay of civilization, who exhorted others to harken back to the golden age of civility and order-here was he who, according to an eyewitness, had ordered the brutal beating of three young Trantorians for no apparent provocation. Ah yes, it promised to be a spectacular hearing, one which would lead, no doubt, to an even more spectacular trial. The judge pressed a contact set into a recessed panel on her bench and a sonorous gong resounded through the packed courtroom. "I will have order," she repeated to the now-hushed throng. "If need be, the courtroom will be cleared. That is a warning. It will not be repeated." The judge cut an imposing figure in her scarlet robe. Originally from the Outer World of Lystena, Lih's complexion had a slight bluish cast, which turned darker when she became exercised, practically purple when she was really angry. It was rumored that, for all her years on the bench, in spite of her reputation as a top judicial mind, notwithstanding her position as one of the most revered interpreters of Imperial law, Lih was ever so slightly vain about the colorful appearance she gave, the way in which the bright red robes set off her soft turquoise skin. Nevertheless, Lih had a reputation for coming down hard on those who brooked Imperial law; she was one of the few judges left who upheld the civil code without wavering. "I have heard of you, Professor Seldon, and your theories about our imminent destruction. And I have spoken with the magistrate who recently heard another case in which you were involved, one in which you struck a man with your lead-filled cane. In that instance, too, you claimed to be the victim of assault. Your reasoning stemmed, I believe, from a previous unreported incident in which you and your son allegedly were assaulted by eight hoodlums. You were able to convince my esteemed colleague, Professor Seldon of your plea of self-defense, even though an eyewitness testified otherwise. This time, Professor, you will have to be much more convincing." The three hoodlums who were bringing charges against Seldon and Palver snickered in their seats at the plaintiff's table. They presented a much different appearance today than they had the evening of the attack. The young men were sporting clean loose-fitting unisuits; the young lady was wearing a crisply pleated tunic. All in all, if one didn't look (or listen) too closely, the three presented a reassuring picture of Trantorian youth. Seldon's lawyer, Civ Novker (who was representing Palver as well), approached the bench. "Your Honor, my client is an upstanding member of the Trantorian community. He is a former First Minister of stellar repute. He is a personal acquaintance of our Emperor Agis XIV. What possible benefit could Professor Seldon derive from attacking innocent young people? He is one of the most vocal proponents of stimulating the intellectual creativity of Trantorian youth-his Psychohistory Project employs numerous student volunteers; he is a beloved member of the Streeling University faculty. "Further-" Here Novker paused, sweeping his gaze around the packed courtroom, as if to say, Wait till you hear this-you'll be ashamed that you ever for a second doubted the veracity of my client's claims, "Professor Seldon is one of the very few private individuals officially allied with the prestigious Galactic Library. He has been granted unlimited use of Library facilities for work on what he calls the Encyclopedia Galactica, a veritable paean to Imperial civilization. "I ask you, how can this man even be questioned in such a matter?" With a flourish of his arm, Novker gestured toward Seldon who was sitting at the defendant's table with Stettin Palver, looking decidedly uncomfortable. Hari's cheeks were flushed from the unaccustomed praise (after all, lately his name was the subject of derisive snickers rather than flowery plaudits) and his hand shook slightly on the carved Dandle of his trusty cane. Judge Lih gazed down at Seldon clearly unimpressed. "What benefit, indeed, Counselor. I have been asking myself that very question. I've lain make these past nights, racking my brains for a plausible reason. Why should a man of Professor Seldon's stature commit unprovoked assault and battery when he himself is one of our most outspoken critics of the so-called `breakdown' of civil order? "And then it dawned on me. Perhaps, in his frustration at not being believed, Professor Seldon feels he must prove to the worlds that his predictions of doom and gloom really are coming to pass. After all, here is a man who has spent his entire career foretelling the Fall of the Empire and all he can really point to are a few burned-out bulbs in the dome, an occasional glitch in public transport, a budget cut here or there -nothing very dramatic. But an attack-or two or three-now, that would be something." Lih sat back and folded her hands in front of her, a satisfied expression on her face. Seldon stood, leaning heavily on the table for support. With great effort, he approached the bench, waving off his lawyer, walking headlong into the steely gaze of the judge. "Your Honor, please permit me to say a few words in my defense." "Of course, Professor Seldon. After all, this is not a trial, only a hearing to air all allegations, facts, and theories pertinent to ~ a case before deciding whether or not to go ahead with a trial. I have merely expressed a theory; I am most interested to hear what you have to say." Seldon cleared his throat before beginning. "I have devoted my life to the Empire. I have faithfully served the Emperors. My science of psychohistory, rather than being a harbinger of destruction, is intended to be used as an agent for rejuvenation. With it we can be prepared for whatever course civilization takes. If, as I believe, the Empire continues to break down, psychohistory will help us put into place building blocks for a new and better civilization founded on all that is good from the old. I love our worlds, our peoples, our Empire-what would it behoove me to contribute to the lawlessness that saps its strength daily? "I can say no more. You must believe me. I, a man of intellect, of equations, of science-I am speaking from my heart." Seldon turned and made his way slowly back to his chair beside Palver. Before sitting, his eyes sought Wanda, sitting in the spectators' gallery. She smiled wanly and winked at him. "From the heart or not, Professor Seldon, this decision will require much thought on my part. We have heard from your accusers; we have heard from you and Mr. Palver. There is one more party whose testimony I need. I'd like to hear from Rial Nevas, who has come forward as an eyewitness to this incident." As Nevas approached the bench, Seldon and Palver looked at each other in alarm. It was the boy whom Hari had admonished just before the attack. Lih was asking the youth a question. "Would you describe, Mr. Nevas, exactly what you witnessed on the night in question?" "Well," started Nevas, fixing Seldon with his sullen stare, "I was walkin' along, mindin' my own business, when I saw those two,"-he turned and pointed at Seldon and Palver-"on the other side of the walkway, comin' toward me. And then I saw those three kids." (Another point of the finger, this time toward the three sitting at the plaintiff's table.) "The two older guys were walkin' behind the kids. They didn't see me, though, on account of I was on the other side of the walkway and besides, they were concentratin' on their victims. Then wham! Just like that, that old guy swings at 'em with his stick, then the younger guy jumps 'em and kicks 'em and before you know it, they're all down on the ground. Then the old guy and his pal, they just took off, just like that. I couldn't believe it." "That's a lie!" Seldon exploded. "Young man, you're playing with our lives here!" Nevas only stared back at Seldon impassively. "Judge," Seldon implored, "can't you see that he is lying? I remember this fellow. I scolded him for littering just minutes before we were attacked. I pointed it out to Stettin as another instance of the breakdown of our society, the apathy of the citizenry, the-" "Enough, Professor Seldon," commanded the judge. "Another outburst like that and I will have you ejected from this courtroom. Now, Mr. Nevas," she said, turning back to the witness. "What did you do throughout the sequence of events you just described?" "I, uh, I hid. Behind some trees. I hid. I was afraid they'd come after me if they saw me, so I hid. And when they were gone, well, I ran and called the security officers." Nevas had started to sweat and he inserted a finger into the constricting collar of his unisuit. He fidgeted, shifting his weight from one foot to the other as he stood on the raised speaker's platform. He was uncomfortably aware of the crowd's eyes upon him; he tried to avoid looking into the audience, but each time he did, he found himself drawn to the ,,toady gaze of a pretty blond girl sitting in the first row. It was as if she was asking him a question, pressing him for an answer, willing him to ,,peak. "Mr. Nevas, what do you have to say about Professor Seldon's allegation that he and Mr. Palver did see you prior to the attack, that the professor actually exchanged words with you?" "Well, uh, no, you see, it was just like I said . I was walkin' along and-' And now Nevas looked over at Seldon's table. Seldon looked at the young man sadly, as if he realized all was lost. But Seldon's companion, Stettin Palver, turned a fierce gaze on Nevas and Nevas jumped, startled, at the words he heard: Tell the truth! It was as if Palver had spoken, but Palver's lips hadn't moved. And then, confused, Nevas snapped his head in the direction of the blond girl; he thought he heard her speak-Tell the truth!-but her lips were still as well. "Mr. Nevas, Mr. Nevas," the judge's voice broke in on the youth's jumbled thoughts. "Mr. Nevas, if Professor Seldon and Mr. Palver were walking toward you, behind the three plaintiffs, how is it that you noticed Seldon and Palver first? That is how you put it in your statement, is it not?" Nevas glanced around the courtroom wildly. He couldn't seem to escape the eyes, all the eyes screaming at him to Tell the truth! Looking over at Hari Seldon, Rial Nevas said simply, "I'm sorry" and, to the amazement of the entire courtroom assemblage, the fourteen-year-old boy started to cry. 第二十六章 　　“秩序！维持秩序！”帖贞•帕普坚•李赫法官吼道。这个为乌鸦嘴谢顿，以及他的年轻助理史铁亭•帕佛所办的公听会，在川陀民众间引起极大的轰动。谢顿曾经预言帝国的衰 亡与文明的没落，呼吁大众返归文明兴盛、秩序井然的黄金时代。如今这个人在这里，根据某位目击者的说法，他在没有明显挑衅的情况下，命令助手殴打三位年轻人。必定是一场精彩的听证会，而且毫无疑问，将带来一场更精彩的审判。 法官按下座位凹板内的开关，拥挤的法庭内立刻响起一声响亮的锣声。“请保持秩序，” 她对安静下来的群众说，“假如有必要，法庭会清场。我只警告这一次，不会重复第二遍。” 身穿深红色长袍的李赫法官显得仪表堂堂。她来自外围世界利斯坦纳，肌肤略带青蓝色调，当她烦恼时，皮肤上的蓝色会更加明显，而她一动怒，肤色会变得有点泛紫。传说虽然她担任多年法官，赢得最佳司法头脑的名声，成为最受尊崇的帝国法律诠释者之一，李赫却对自己多彩的外表——艳丽红袍衬托略显青绿的皮肤——更多那么一点自负。 无论如何，对于违犯帝国法律的人，李赫执法的严厉是出了名的。坚决拥护民法的法官所剩无几，而李赫便是其中之一。 “久仰大名，谢顿教授，你预言帝国即将毁灭的理论，我也略有耳闻。你曾被控诉以铅头手杖攻击他人，我跟审理该案的治安官谈过。在那个案件中，你同样声称自己是被害者。我相信，你的推论源自先前一个未曾报案的事件，据你所称，那次你和你儿子遭到八个小流氓袭击。虽然在目击者提出相反证词的情况下，你有办法让我敬重的那位同仁相信你是自卫， 然而这一次，教授，你得提出些更有力的辩解才行。”对谢顿与帕佛提出控诉的三个小流氓，这时正在原告席上窃笑。与当天傍晚比较起来，今天他们装扮得很不一样。两位少年穿着干净宽松的单件服，那名少女则身着细褶背心裙。任何人若不仔细地看（或听），都会以为他们代表了川陀充满希望的新生代。谢顿的律师西夫•诺夫可（他同时也代表帕佛）走向发言台。“庭上，我的当事人是川 陀社会正直诚实的一分子，他身为享有星际声誉的前首相，同时也是当今皇上艾吉思十四世的熟识。攻击几位无辜的年轻人，对谢顿教授能有什么好处？他平时最致力于激发川陀青年的知性创造力，他的心理史学计划雇用了许多志愿学生，他同时还是川陀大学中受人敬爱的教授。 “此外——”诺夫可停顿下来，目光缓缓扫过挤满旁听者的法庭，仿佛在说：等着吧，我下面这句话，会让你们羞愧得无地自容，因为你们竟然怀疑我的当事人做不实的陈述。谢顿教授与闻名全银河的帝国图书馆有正式合作关系，拥有这项殊荣的人少之又少。他获准无限制地使用该图书馆的设备，以筹备伟大的《银河百科全书》，那是名符其实的帝国文明赞歌。 “我请问诸位，这样一个人，我们怎能对他有这种质问？”诺夫可夸张地挥手向谢顿指去，谢顿与史铁亭•帕佛坐在被告席上，显得十分不自在。 听到这些赞美，谢顿涨红了双颊，很不习惯（毕竟最近几年，他的名字总是冷嘲热讽的对象， 从未与词藻华丽的颂赞连在一起），他的手按着那根忠实手杖的雕花把手，微微颤抖。李赫法官低头凝视谢顿，显然对刚才的话无动于衷。“的确，对他究竟有什么好处，律师，我也一直问自己同样的问题。过去几天我彻夜不眠，绞尽脑汁要想出一个说得通的理由。 像谢顿教授这样声誉卓著，又是批评所谓‘社会秩序崩溃’最力的人，为什么会无缘无故犯下蓄意伤害罪？ “后来我想到了一个可能性：由于他的话没人相信，谢顿教授在饱受挫折之余，觉得必须对所有的世界证明，他所预测的劫数与厄运确实即将来临。毕竟，此人毕生的志业就是预言帝国的衰亡，而真正能证明他说法的，却只有穹顶上几个烧坏的灯泡、公共运输偶尔的故障、某些部门的预算缩减，这些都没什么大不了。可是一次，甚至是两三次的攻击行为，那可就另当别论了。” 李赫靠回椅背，双手交握，露出一副心满意足的表情。谢顿手撑着桌子，慢慢站了起来。 他迎着法官无情的目光，吃力地走向发言台，同时示意他的律师走开。 “庭上，请允许我说几句话为自己辩护。” “当然可以，谢顿教授。这毕竟只是一场听证会，它的目的就是要公开与本案有关的一切申述、事实与推论，然后我们才能决定是否进一步举行审判。我刚才说的是我的推论，我最想听的是你自己怎么说。” 谢顿清了清喉咙，开口道：“我将一生悉数奉献给了帝国。我真诚地效忠每一位皇帝。我的心理史学其实并非预报毁灭的信使，而是谋求复兴的机制。有了它，不论文明走向如何， 我们都能有所准备。如果帝国正如我所相信的，正在持续崩溃，那么心理史学可以帮助我们为未来保存文明的基石，让世人得以在优良的固有基础上，重建一个更新、更好的文明。我爱我们所有的世界、我们的同胞，当然还有我们的帝国，我怎么可能做出任何削弱帝国情势的不法行径？ “我不想再辩驳什么，庭上，请相信一个献身智识、方程式与科学的人所说的肺腑之言。”谢顿转过身，缓缓走回座位。就坐前，他的目光寻到旁听席上的婉达，她勉强挤出一个微笑， 对他眨了眨眼睛。 “不论是不是肺腑之言，谢顿教授，我都需要审慎的考虑才能做出决定——我们刚才已经听过原告的陈述，也听过了谢顿教授和帕佛先生的陈述，现在，我还需要另一方的证词。请目击证人莱耳•纳瓦斯上前。”纳瓦斯走向发言台时，谢顿与帕佛吃惊地互望了一眼。他正是事发之前谢顿训诫过的那个男孩。 李赫法官开始询问少年。“请你描述一下，纳瓦斯先生，当天晚上你所看到的经过？”“这个嘛，”纳瓦斯一面开口，一面以愠怒的目光瞪着谢顿，“当时我正在路上走，想着 我自个儿的心事，忽然看到这两个家伙——”他转过身去，指向谢顿与帕佛，“在人行道另一边，往我这方向走来。然后，我又看到那三个小鬼。”他又伸手指了指，这回是指向坐在原告席的三位。“那两个老家伙走在三个小鬼后头。不过，他们没看到我，因为我在人行道另一边，而且，他们的注意力都放在被害人身上。然后，咻！就像这样，那老家伙用拐杖挥打他们，然后那个不太老的赶上去用脚踢他们，在我还搞不清楚状况的时候，他们已经全部倒在地上。然后两个老家伙就走了，就这么走了，我简直不敢相信。” “你说谎！”谢顿爆发出来，“年轻人，你是在拿我们的性命开玩笑！”纳瓦斯只是漠然 回瞪着谢顿。 “法官，”谢顿恳求道，“您看不出他是在说谎吗？我记得这个人，在我们遭到攻击前没 多久，我曾责骂他乱丢垃圾。我还对史铁亭指出这是另一个例证，证明我们的社会崩溃，公德心沦丧，还有——” “够了，谢顿教授。”法官命令道，“你再这样大声喧嚷，我就把你逐出法庭。纳瓦斯先 生，”她转向证人，“在你刚才叙述的事件发生时，你在做什么？”“我，呃，我躲起来了，躲在几棵树后头。我怕要是给他们看到，他们会追我，所以才躲起来。他们一走，嗯，我马上跑去找保安官。”说着说着，纳瓦斯已经开始出汗，他伸手松了松单件服上束紧的领口。惴惴不安的他站在高起的发言台上，不时挪动两脚，替换重心。他察觉到众人的目光都集中在自己身上，令他很不自在。他越是避免望向旁听席，就越是被最前排一位美丽金发少女沉稳的目光吸引住。 他似乎可以听到她在向自己说话，逼他说出答案，驱使他开口。“纳瓦斯先生，谢顿教授陈述说，他与帕佛先生在打斗前曾见过你，而且跟你交谈过，你有什么话要说？” “这个，啊，不对，你知道的，就像我所说的……我正在路上走着，而……”此时纳瓦斯望向谢顿，谢顿悲伤地望着这个少年，仿佛了解到自己已一败涂地。可是谢顿的同伴，史铁亭•帕佛，却以严厉的目光瞪着纳瓦斯。纳瓦斯突然听到一句：说实话！他吓了一跳。那 好像是帕佛说的，但帕佛并没有开口。在一阵错愕中，纳瓦斯猛然将头转向金发少女，他仿佛也听到她在说：说实话！但她的嘴唇同样动也没动。“纳瓦斯先生……纳瓦斯先生，”法官的声音闯入少年紊乱的思绪，“纳瓦斯先生，如果 谢顿教授和帕佛先生是跟在三名原告后面朝你的方向走来，你怎么会先注意到谢顿与帕佛？你在陈述中是这么说的，对不对？”纳瓦斯慌乱地环视法庭。他似乎无法逃避那些目光，每双眼睛都在对他喊道：说实话！于是，莱耳•纳瓦斯望着谢顿低声说了一句：“对不起……”然后，出乎法庭中每个人意料 之外，这个十四岁的男孩开始哭泣。 Chapter 27 It was a lovely day, neither too warm nor too cold, not too bright nor too gray. Even though the groundskeeping budget had given out years ago, the few straggly perennials lining the steps leading up to the Galactic Library managed to add a cheerful note to the morning. (The Library, having been built in the classical style of antiquity, was fronted with one of the grandest stairways to be found in the entire Empire, second only to the steps at the Imperial Palace itself. Most Library visitors, however, preferred to enter via the gliderail) Seldon had high hopes for the day. Since he and Stettin Palver had been cleared of all charges in their recent assault and battery case, Hari Seldon felt like a new man. Although the experience had been painful, its very public nature had advanced Seldon's cause. Judge Tejan Popjens Lih, who was considered one of, if not the most influential judge on Trantor, had been quite vociferous in her opinion, delivered the day following Rial Nevas's emotional testimony. "When we come to such a crossroads in our `civilized' society," the judge intoned from her bench, "that a man of Professor Hari Seldon's standing is made to bear the humiliation, abuse, and lies of his peers simply because of who he is and what he stands for, it is truly a dark day for the Empire. I admit that I, too, was taken in-at first. `Why wouldn't Professor Seldon,' I reasoned, `resort to such trickery in an attempt to prove his predictions?' But, as I came to see, I was most grievously wrong." Here the judge's brow furrowed, a dark blue flush began creeping up her neck and into her cheeks. "For I was ascribing to Professor Seldon motives born of our new society, a society in which honesty, decency, and goodwill are likely to get one killed, a society in which it appears one must resort to dishonesty and trickery merely to survive. "How far we have strayed from our founding principles. We were lucky this time, fellow citizens of Trantor. We owe a debt of thanks to Professor Hari Seldon for showing us our true selves; let us take his example to heart and resolve to be vigilant against the baser forces of our human nature." Following the hearing, the Emperor had sent Seldon a congratulatory bolo-disc. On it he expressed the hope that perhaps now Seldon would find renewed funding for his Project. As Seldon slid up the entrance gliderail, he reflected on the current status of his Psychohistory Project. His good friend-the former Chief Librarian Las Zenow-had retired. During his tenure, Zenow had been a strong proponent of Seldon and his work. More often than not, however, Zenow's hands had been tied by the Library Board. But, he had assured Seldon, the affable new Chief Librarian, Tryma Acarnio, was as progressive as he himself, and was popular with many factions among the Board membership. "Hari, my friend," Zenow had said before leaving Trantor for his home world of Wencory, "Acarnio is a good man, a person of deep intellect and an open mind. I'm sure he'll do all that he can to help you and the Project. I've left him the entire data file on you and your EncyIopedia; I know he'll be as excited as I about the contribution to humanity it represents. Take care, my friend-I'll remember you fondly." And so today Hari Seldon was to have his first official meeting with the new Chief Librarian. He was cheered by the reassurances Las Zenow had left with him and he was looking forward to sharing his plans for the future of the Project and the Encyclopedia. Tryma Acarnio stood as Hari entered the Chief Librarian's office. Already he had made his mark on the place; whereas Zenow had stuffed every nook and cranny of the room with holo-discs and tridijournals from the different sectors of Trantor, and a dizzying array of visiglobes representing various worlds of the Empire had spun in midair, Acarnio had swept clear the mounds of data and images that Zenow had liked to keep at his fingertips. A large holoscreen now dominated one wall on which, Seldon presumed, Acarnio could view any publication or broadcast that he desired. Acarnio was short and stocky, with a slightly distracted look-from a childhood corneal correction that had gone awry-that belied a fearsome intelligence and constant awareness of everything going on around him at all times. "Well, well. Professor Seldon. Come in. Sit down." Acarnio gestured to a straight-backed chair facing the desk at which he sat. "It was, I felt, quite fortuitous that you requested this meeting. You see, I had intended to get in touch with you as soon as I settled in." Seldon nodded, pleased that the new Chief Librarian had considered him enough of a priority to plan to seek him out in the hectic early days of his tenure. "But, first, Professor, please let me know why you wanted to see me before we move on to my, most likely, more prosaic concerns." Seldon cleared his throat and leaned forward. "Chief Librarian, Las Zenow has no doubt told you of my work here and of my idea for an Encyclopedia Galactica. Las was quite enthusiastic, and a great help, providing a private office for me here and unlimited access to the Library's vast resources. In fact, it was he who located the eventual home of the Encyclopedia Project, a remote Outer World called Terminus. "There was one thing, however, that Las could not provide. In order to keep the Project on schedule, I must have office space and unlimited access granted to a number of my colleagues, as well. It is an enormous undertaking, just gathering the information to be copied and transferred to Terminus before we can begin the actual work of compiling the Encyclopedia. "Las was not popular with the Library Board, as you undoubtedly are aware. You, however, are. And so I ask you, Chief Librarian: Will you see to it that my colleagues are granted insiders' privileges so that we may continue our most vital work?" Here Hari stopped, almost out of breath. He was sure that his speech, which he had gone over and over in his mind the night before, would have the desired effect. He waited, confident in Acarnio's response. "Professor Seldon," Acarnio began. Seldon's expectant smile faded. There was an edge to the Chief Librarian's voice that Seldon had not expected. "My esteemed predecessor provided me-in exhaustive detail -an explication of your work here at the Library. He was quite enthusiastic about your research and committed to the idea of your colleagues joining you here. As was I, Professor Seldon"-at Acarnio's pause, Seldon looked up sharply-"at first. I was prepared to call a special meeting of the Board to propose that a larger suite of offices be prepared for you and your Encyclopedists. But, Professor Seldon, all that has now changed." "Changed! But why?" "Professor Seldon, you have just finished serving as principal defendant in a most sensational assault and battery case." "But I was acquitted," Seldon broke in. "The case never even made it to trial." "Nonetheless, Professor, your latest foray into the public eye has given you an undeniable-how shall I say it?-tinge of ill repute. Oh yes, you were acquitted of all charges. But in order to get to that acquittal, your name, your past, your beliefs, and your work were paraded before the eyes of all the worlds. And even if one progressive right-thinking judge has proclaimed you faultless, what of the millions-perhaps billions-of other average citizens who see not a pioneering psychohistorian striving to preserve his civilization's glory but a raving lunatic shouting doom and gloom for the great and mighty Empire? "You, by the very nature of your work, are threatening the essential fabric of the Empire. I don't mean the huge, nameless, faceless, monolithic Empire. No, I am referring to the heart and soul of the Empire-its people. When you tell them the Empire is failing, you are saying that they are failing. And this, my dear Professor, the average citizen cannot face. "Seldon, like it or not, you have become an object of derision, a subject of ridicule, a laughingstock." "Pardon me, Chief Librarian, but for years now I have been, to some circles, a laughingstock." "Yes, but only to some circles. But this latest incident-and the very public forum in which it was played out-has opened you up to ridicule not only here on Trantor but throughout the worlds. And, Professor, if, by providing you an office, we, the Galactic Library, give tacit approval to your work, then, by inference, we, the Library, also become a laughingstock throughout the worlds. And no matter how strongly I may personally believe in your theory and your Encyclopedia, as Chief Librarian of the Galactic Library on Trantor, I must think of the Library first. "And so, Professor Seldon, your request to bring in your colleagues is denied." Hari Seldon jerked back in his chair as if struck. "Further," Acarnio continued, "I must advise you of a two-week temporary suspension of all Library privileges-effective immediately. The Board has called that special meeting, Professor Seldon. In two weeks' time we will notify you whether or not we've decided that our association with you must be terminated." Here, Acarnio stopped speaking and, placing his palms on the glossy, spotless surface of his desk, stood up. "That is all, Professor Seldon-for now." Hari Seldon stood as well, although his upward movement was not as smooth, nor as quick, as Tryma Acarnio抯.. "May I be permitted to address the Board?" asked Seldon. "Perhaps if I were able to explain to them the vital importance of psychohistory and the Encyclopedia-" "I'm afraid not, Professor," said Acarnio softly and Seldon caught a brief glimmer of the man Las Zenow had told him about. But, just as quickly, the icy bureaucrat was back as Acarnio guided Seldon to the door. As the portals slid open, Acarnio said, "Two weeks, Professor Seldon. Till then." Hari stepped through to his waiting skitter and the doors slid shut. What am I going to do now? wondered Seldon disconsolately. Is this the end of my work? 第二十七章 　　这是个可爱的一天，气温适中，天色怡人。纵使维修街道的预算在几年前便已告罄，帝国图书馆门前台阶旁的几棵木本植物，仍为这个早晨增添了几许愉悦的气氛。（帝国图书馆是一栋风格古典的建筑，入口阶梯的雄伟气势，在整个帝国中仅次于皇宫正门的阶梯。然而， 大多数前往图书馆的人，却喜欢经由滑轨进入。）对于这一天，谢顿抱着很高的期望。 自从他与史铁亭•帕佛被控蓄意伤害的案件撤销后，谢顿觉得一切像是重新来过。虽然 那段日子并不好过，然而轰动一时的案件却为谢顿的主张做了最佳宣传。帖贞•帕普坚•李赫法官在川陀非常具有分量，在莱耳•纳瓦斯做出情绪化证词的次日，她发表了一份有力声 明。 “川陀现已来到‘文明社会’的十字路口，”法官在席位上慷慨陈词，“像哈里•谢顿教授这样德高望重的人，仅仅因为他的身份和主张，就得忍受自己同胞的羞辱、谩骂和谎言，这真是帝国历史上最黑暗的一天。我承认，最初，我自己也没有看清真相。我在心中推想：‘为了证明心理史学的预测，谢顿教授当然有可能使用这种诡计。’可是，在我恍然大悟之 后，我发觉自己错得不可饶恕。”说到这里，法官皱起眉头，颈部与双颊开始泛起暗青色，“因为我用我们‘新社会’的标准扭曲了谢顿教授的动机，在现今这个社会中，诚实、高尚 与善意很可能会招致杀身之祸；在这个社会中，一个人仅仅为了生存，似乎就必须诉诸欺诈与奸计。 “看看我们今日安身立命的原则已经偏差到什么地步？这次我们很幸运，川陀的同胞们， 我们都该深深感谢哈里•谢顿教授，他让我们看到了我们真正的自我。让我们把这事件谨记 在心，并且痛下决心，时时警戒潜藏在人性中的卑劣力量。” 那场听证会结束后，皇上送给谢顿一个表达祝贺的全息光盘。他在里面表达了自己衷心的祝福：希望谢顿现在能找到经费支持他的计划。谢顿沿着入口滑轨滑升，内心思量着心理史学计划目前的状况。他的好友——前任图书馆长拉斯•齐诺——如今已经退休，他在任内一向极支持谢顿与他的工作。只是大部分的时 候，他都受到图书馆评议会的束缚。但齐诺曾对谢顿保证，新任图书馆长垂玛•阿卡尼欧， 是个与他自己一样思想进步的人，而且跟评议会各个派别的关系都很好。“哈里，我的好友，”齐诺在返回故乡世界温柯瑞之前曾对谢顿说，“阿卡尼欧是个好人，有深厚的智能与开放的心胸。我确定，他会尽他所能来帮助你和你的计划。我将手边有关你和百科全书的数据文件留给了他，对于谢顿计划将为人类带来的贡献，我知道他会跟我一样兴奋。保重，我的好友，我不会忘记你的。”今天谢顿就将与新任馆长首度正式会晤。齐诺的保证令他精神振奋，他期待着与新馆长分享他对谢顿计划与百科全书的未来规划。 谢顿走进图书馆长办公室，垂玛•阿卡尼欧立刻起身迎接。由房间陈设的改变，可以看 出他已经正式入主了这间办公室。齐诺任职时，房间各角落塞满了全息光碟和来自川陀各区的三维期刊。而代表帝国各个世界的幻影星球，则在半空中不停旋转，令人眼花缭乱。现在， 阿卡尼欧已将整个房间清理干净。取而代之的是占了大半面墙的大型全息屏幕，谢顿推测那是阿卡尼欧用来观览出版品或广播视讯的。 阿卡尼欧身材矮小而结实，眼神显得有些心不在焉，那是幼时接受角膜矫正失败的结果。 这掩藏了他可畏的智能，以及对周遭一切动静的警觉。“稀客，稀客，谢顿教授。请坐，请坐。”阿卡尼欧指了指办公桌前的一张直背座椅， “您要求这次会面，真是让人意外，我原本打算一安顿好，就立刻跟您联络。” 谢顿点了点头，感到很髙兴。可见这位新馆长很重视自己，才刚上任、还忙得不可开交时，就打算要找自己谈了。 “可是，首先，教授，请让我知道您为何要见我。然后，我们再来讨论我那个可能较无趣的问题。” 谢顿清清喉咙，倾身向前说道：“馆长，拉斯•齐诺想必已把我在这里的工作，以及我筹划一套《银河百科全书》的构想告诉您了。拉斯相当热心，他想办法提供我一间个人研究室，以及随意使用图书馆庞大资源的权利。事实上，是他为百科全书计划找到了最终的归宿——一个叫做端点星的遥远外围世界。 “然而，有一件事拉斯一直争取不到。为了使计划如期执行，我的一批同事也同样需要研究室，以及自由使用图书馆设备的权利。在开始百科全书的实际编纂工作之前，光是搜集、 复制并转送端点星的资料，就是一项庞大的工程。“拉斯在图书馆评议会的人缘不好，这点您一定知道，但您就不同了。所以，馆长，我想请求您，看在心理史学计划的重要性上，能否设法让我的同事获得我刚说的那些权利？”谢顿一口气说到这里，差点喘不过来。这番话他昨晚在心中已反复演练多次，他确信能达到预期效果。现在，他满怀信心地等待阿卡尼欧的响应。“谢顿教授，”阿卡尼欧一开口，谢顿满怀期望的笑容顿时消失。新任馆长的声音中透着谢顿未曾料到的冷峻，我敬重的前任馆长曾非常详细对我说明你在馆内的工作性质。他对你的研究相当热衷，不断叮咛要让你的同事加入你的行列。至于我自己——”听到阿卡尼欧顿了顿，谢顿猛然抬起头来，“原先，我是准备找评议委员开一次特别会议，提议给你以及你的百科全书编者一间大型办公室。不过，谢顿教授，现在我改变心意了。”“改变心意！为什么？” “谢顿教授，最近有件轰动的蓄意伤害案，你是主要的被告——” “但我被无罪开释，”谢顿插嘴道，“这件案子甚至没有正式起诉。” “纵然如此，教授，你最近曝光率太高，名声也因此——我该怎么说呢——大幅跌落。呃，没错，你受到的指控全被撤销，可是为了无罪开释，你的名字、过去、信仰，以及你的工作，全都一览无遗地摊在各世界的眼前。即使一位思想进步而公正的法官宣称你人格无瑕， 可是上百万，甚至上百亿帝国普通公民看到的，并不是为了保存文明而奋战的心理史学先锋， 而是高喊伟大帝国即将面临洗劫与厄运的疯子。 “你和你从事的这项工作，正威胁着帝国的根本——我指的不是那个无边无际、庞大抽象的帝国，我指的是帝国的心脏与灵魂——人民。当你告诉他们帝国正在衰亡，你等于是在宣判他们的死刑。这一点，我亲爱的教授，不是每个人都能面对的。 “谢顿，不论你愿不愿意，你都已经成为一个嘲弄的对象，一个嘲讽的主题，众人的笑柄。” “对不起，图书馆长，但是多年来，在某些圈子里，我早就是个笑柄。”“没错，但那只是在某些圈子里。可是由于这次事件的轰动，你的恶名已流传到川陀以外的每个世界。所以，教授，如果帝国图书馆允许你使用研究室，就等于默认你的研究工作， 那么，这座图书馆也会成为所有世界的笑柄。因此，不论我个人多么相信你的理论和你的百科全书，身为川陀帝国图书馆的馆长，我必须先考虑图书馆的利益。“所以说，谢顿教授，我必须拒绝你引进其他同事的要求。” 谢顿仿佛被打了一拳，在座椅上猛地向后一仰。 “此外，”阿卡尼欧继续说，“我必须通知你，你在本馆的特权将被暂时取消两周，并且 立即生效。评议会已准备召开特别会议，决定是否终止与你的合作关系，教授，两周后我们会将结果通知你。” 说到这里，阿卡尼欧终于停下来。他将双手按在光洁无瑕的办公桌上，站了起来。“目前为止，就是这样了，谢顿教授。”谢顿也站了起来，不过起身的动作不像垂玛•阿卡尼欧那么利落、迅速。 “可否准许我向评议会陈情？”谢顿问道。“如果我能对他们解释心理史学和百科全书的重要性，说不定……” “只怕不行，教授。”阿卡尼欧柔声道。这时谢顿才隐约瞥见拉斯•齐诺口中的那个好 人，可是，也只有这么一瞬间。阿卡尼欧送谢顿到门口时，那位冰冷的官僚又回来了。当正门滑开时，阿卡尼欧说：“两个星期，谢顿教授，到时再见。”谢顿钻进等在外面的 贴地滑车，那组门便重新关上。现在我要怎么办？谢顿绝望地自问，我的工作就此结束了吗？ Chapter 28 "Wanda dear, what is it that has you so engrossed?" asked Hari Seldon as he entered his granddaughter's office at Streeling University. The room had been the office of the brilliant mathematician Yugo Amaryl, whose death had impoverished the Psychohistory Project. Fortunately, Wanda had gradually taken over Yugo's role in recent years, further refining and adjusting the Prime Radiant. "Why, I'm working on an equation in Section 33A2D17. See, I've recalibrated this section"-she gestured to a glowing violet patch suspended in midair in front of her face- `taking into consideration the standard quotient and- There! Just what I thought-I think." She stepped back and rubbed her eyes. "What is it, Wanda?" Hari moved in closer to study the equation. "Why, this looks like the Terminus equation and yet . Wanda, this is an inverse of the Terminus equation, isn't it?" "Yes, Grandpa. See, the numbers weren't working quite right in the Terminus equation-look." Wanda touched a contact in a recessed wallstrip and another patch sprang to life in vivid red on the other side of the room. Seldon and Wanda walked over to inspect it. "You see how it's all hanging together fine now, Grandpa? It's taken me weeks to get it this way." "How did you do it?" asked Hari, admiring the equation's lines, its logic, its elegance. "At first, I concentrated on it from over here only. I blocked out all else. In order to get Terminus to work, work on Terminus--stands to reason, doesn't it? But then I realized that I couldn't just introduce this equation into the Prime Radiant system and expect it to blend right in smoothly, as if nothing happened. A placement means a displacement somewhere else. A weight needs a counterweight." "I think the concept to which you are referring is what the ancients called din and yang. ' " "Yes, more or less. Yin and yang. So, you see, I realized that to perfect the yin of Terminus, I had to locate its yang. Which I did, over there." She moved back to the violet patch, tucked away at the other edge of the Prime Radiant sphere. "And once I adjusted the figures here, the Terminus equation fell into place as well. Harmony!" Wanda looked pleased with herself, as if she'd solved all the problems of the Empire. "Fascinating, Wanda, and later on you must tell me what you think it all means for the Project. -But right now you must come with me to the holoscreen. I received an urgent message from Santanni a few minutes ago. Your father wants us to call him immediately." Wanda's smile faded. She had been alarmed at the recent reports of fighting on Santanni. As Imperial budget cutbacks went into effect, the citizens of the Outer Worlds suffered most. They had limited access to the richer, more populous Inner Worlds and it became more and more difficult to trade their worlds' products for much needed imports. Imperial hyperships going in and out of Santanni were few and the distant world felt isolated from the rest of the Empire. Pockets of rebellion had erupted throughout the planet. "Grandfather, I hope everything's all right," said Wanda, her fear revealed by her voice. "Don't worry, dear. After all, they must be safe if Raych was able to send us a message." In Seldon's office, he and Wanda stood before the holoscreen as it activated. Seldon punched a code on the keypad alongside the screen and they waited a few seconds for the intragalactic connection to be established. Slowly the screen seemed to stretch back into the wall, as if it were the entrance to a tunnel-and out of the tunnel, dimly at first, came the familiar figure of a stocky powerfully built man. As the connection sharpened, the man's features became clearer. When Seldon and Wanda were able to make out Raych's bushy Dahlite mustache, the figure sprang to life. "Dad! Wanda!" said Raych's three-dimensional hologram, projected to Trantor from Santanni. "Listen, I don't have much time." He flinched, as if startled by a loud noise. "Things have gotten pretty bad here. The government has fallen and a provisional party has taken over. Things are a mess, as you can imagine. I just put Manella and Bellis on a hypership to Anacreon. I told them to get in touch with you from there. The name of the ship is the Arcadia VII. "You should have seen Manella, Dad. Mad as anything that she had to go. The only way I was able to convince her to leave was to point out that it was for Bellis's sake. "I know what you're thinking, Dad and Wanda. Of course I would have gone with them-if I could have. But there wasn't enough room. You should've seen what I had to go through just to get them onto the ship." Raych flashed one of his lopsided grins that Seldon and Wanda loved so much, then continued. "Besides, since I'm here, I have to help guard the University-we may be part of the Imperial University system, but we're a place of learning and building, not of destruction. I tell you, if one of those hot-headed Santanni rebels comes near our stuff-" "Raych," Hari broke in, "How bad is it? Are you close to the fighting?" "Dad, are you in danger?" asked Wanda. They waited a few seconds for their message to travel the nine thousand parsecs across the Galaxy to Raych. "I-I-1 couldn't quite make out what you said," the hologram replied. "There's a bit of fighting going on. It's sort of exciting, actually," Raych said, breaking into that grin again. "So I'm going to sign off now. Remember, find out what happened to the Arcadia III going to Anacreon. I'll be back in touch as soon as I'm able. Remember, I-" The transmission broke off and the hologram faded. The holoscreen tunnel collapsed in on itself so that Seldon and Wanda were left staring at a blank wall. "Grandpa," said Wanda, "what do you think he was going to say?" "I have no idea, dear. But there is one thing I do know and that is that your father can take care of himself. I pity any rebel who gets near enough for a well-placed Twist-kick from your dad! -Come, let's get back to that equation and in a few hours we'll check on the Arcadia HI. " "Commander, have you no idea what happened to the ship?" Hari Seldon was again engaged in intragalactic conversation, but this time it was with an Imperial navy commander stationed at Anacreon. For this communication, Seldon was making use of the visiscreen-much less realistic than the holoscreen but also much simpler. "I'm telling you, Professor, that we have no record of that hypership requesting permission to enter the Anacreonic atmosphere. Of course, communications with Santanni have been broken for several hours and sporadic at best for the last week. It is possible that the ship tried to reach us on a Santanni-based channel and could not get through, but I doubt it. "No, it's more likely that the Arcadia 1171 changed destination. Voreg, perhaps, or Sarip. Have you tried either of those worlds, Professor?" "No," said Seldon wearily, "but I see no reason if the ship was bound for Anacreon that it would not go to Anacreon. Commander, it is vital that I locate that ship." "Of course," the commander ventured, "the Arcadia 1/71 might not have made it. Out safely, I mean. There's a lot of fighting going on. Those rebels don't care who they blow up. They just train their lasers and pretend it's the Emperor Agis they're blasting. I tell you, it's a whole different game out here on the fringe, Professor." "My daughter-in-law and granddaughter are on that ship, Commander," Seldon said in a tight voice. "Oh, I'm sorry, Professor," said an abashed commander. "I'll be in touch with you as soon as I hear anything." Dispiritedly Hari closed the visiscreen contact. How tired I am, he thought. And, he mused, I'm not surprised-I've known that this would come for nearly forty years. Seldon chuckled bitterly to himself. Perhaps that commander had thought he was shocking Seldon, impressing him with the vivid detail of life "on the fringe." But Seldon knew all about the fringe. And as the fringe came apart, like a piece of knitting with one loose thread, the whole piece would unravel to the core: Trantor. Seldon became aware of a soft buzzing sound. It was the door signal. "Yes?" "Grandpa," said Wanda, entering the office, "I'm scared." "Why, dear?" asked Seldon with concern. He didn't want to tell her yet what he had learned-or hadn't learned-from the commander on Anacreon. "Usually, although they're so far away, I feel Dad and Mom and Bellis -feel them in here"-she pointed to her head- `and in here"-she placed her hand over her heart. "But now, today, I don't feel them-it feels less, as if they're fading, like one of the dome bulbs. And I want to stop it. I want to pull them back, but I can't." "Wanda, I really think this is merely a product of your concern for your family in light of the rebellion. You know that uprisings occur all over the Empire all the time-little eruptions to let off steam. Come now, you know that chances of anything happening to Raych, Manella, or Bellis are vanishingly small. Your dad will call any day to say all is well; your mom and Bellis will land on Anacreon at any moment and enjoy a little vacation. We are the ones to be pitied-we're stuck here up to our ears in work! So, sweetheart, go to bed and think only good thoughts. I promise you, tomorrow, under the sunny dome, things will look much better." "All right, Grandpa," said Wanda, not sounding entirely convinced. "But tomorrow-if we haven't heard by tomorrow-we'll have to-to-" "Wanda, what can we do, except wait?" asked Hari, his voice gentle. Wanda turned and left, the weight of her worries showing in the slope of her shoulders. Hari watched her go, finally allowing his own worries to come to the surface. It had been three days since the hologram transmission from Raych. Since then-nothing. And today the naval commander at Anacreon denied ever having heard of a ship called Arcadia VII Hari had tried earlier to get through to Raych on Santanni, but all communication beams were down. It was as if Santanni-and the Arcadia VII-had simply broken off from the Empire, like a petal from a flower. Seldon knew what he had to do now. The Empire might be down, but it was not out. Its power, when properly wielded, was still awesome. Seldon placed an emergency transmission to Emperor Agis XIV. 第二十九章 　　“在研究什么这么专心呀，婉达？”谢顿一边走进他孙女位于川陀大学的研究室，一边问道。这间研究室原本属于雨果•阿马瑞尔，他的去世曾对心理史学计划造成重大打击。幸 好近几年来，婉达逐渐接替了雨果的工作，开始对元光体做进一步的改良与调整。 “我在研究332A2D17节的一条方程式。看，我把这一节重新校准了。”她指着悬浮在面前的一片紫色光辉区域。“把标准商考虑在内……有了！果然，不出我所料。”她退后几步，揉了揉眼睛。 “这是什么，婉达？”谢顿凑前研究那条方程式，“啊，这看来像是端点星方程式，不过……婉达，这是端点星方程式的逆转，对不对？” “是的，爷爷。你知道吗，端点星方程式中的数值原先有些不对劲。看——”婉达碰了碰凹陷壁板上的开关，室内另一侧便出现一片鲜红。两人走过去，开始检视这片区域。“你看，爷爷，现在一切多么契合？这可花了我好几星期的时间。”“你怎么做到的？”谢顿心中不禁赞叹这条方程式的线路、逻辑与优美。“最初，我只叫出这一部分，全力研究它。要使端点星运作，就要对端点星下工夫——听来很有道理，对不对？但后来我才了解，我不能单单只在元光体系统中引进这条方程式。安置一样新东西，便意味着要在别处重置另一样东西——一个重量需要另一个重量来平衡。” “我想，你提到的这个概念，就是古人所谓的‘阴阳’。”“是的，差不多，阴阳。所以你看，我发觉若想使端点星上的‘阴’十全十美，就必须找出相对的‘阳’。而我做到了，它就在那里——”她又回到那片紫色区域，“一旦我调整这 里的数值，端点星方程式也会各就各位。一片圆融！”婉达看来得意洋洋，仿佛她解决了帝国所有的问题。 “太妙了，婉达，你待会儿一定要告诉我，它对谢顿计划的意义。但是现在你必须先跟我到全息屏幕前。我刚收到圣塔尼来的紧急电讯，你父亲要我们马上和他联络。”婉达脸上的笑容立刻消失。圣塔尼最近一连串的战事使她深感不安——帝国预算削减案付诸实施后，外围世界的居民成了最大的受害者。他们与富庶的内围世界贸易受到限制，越来越难取得急需的进口货物。出入圣塔尼的帝国超空间飞船又极其稀少，使得这个遥远世界更形孤立。因此行星各处爆发了众多零星的叛乱。“爷爷，我希望一切平安无事。”婉达说，她的声音透着恐惧。“别担心，亲爱的。既然芮奇有办法和我们通讯，他们一定平安无事。”谢顿与婉达在研究室里，全息屏幕已经激活。谢顿在屏幕一侧的键版上敲下一组数码，接下来几秒钟，他们等待着接通跨银河的联系。那幅屏幕似乎开始缓缓向墙内收缩，形成一个隧道入口；隧道里面，一个熟悉的健壮人形逐渐成形，随着联系的加强，那人的外貌越来越清晰。当谢顿与婉达看清芮奇脸上浓密八字胡的同时，这个人形活了起来。“爸！婉达！”芮奇的三维全息像开口说道。这个影像是从圣塔尼一路投影到川陀的。“听好，我没有太多时间。”他颤了一下，仿佛被某个巨大的噪音吓一大跳，“这里的情况变得很糟。政府已经垮台，由一个临时政党接管，到处都乱成一团。我刚把玛妮拉和贝莉丝送上往安纳克瑞昂的超空间飞船，我告诉她们到达之后要跟你们联络，那艘飞船的名字是‘桃源七号’。 “你该看看玛妮拉，爸。我硬逼她上船，她气得不得了。若不是告诉她那样做是为了贝莉丝，她一定不肯走。 “爸、婉达，我知道你们在想什么。如果走得了，我当然会跟她们一块走，可是舱位不够。你们该看看我花了多大力气才把她们送上飞船。”芮奇歪嘴露出一个笑容，那是谢顿与婉达最喜欢的表情。然后他继续说：“而且，既然我在这里教书，就有义务保卫这所大学。圣塔尼大学虽然属于帝国大学体系，但这里毕竟是个让人学习与建设的地方，不是让人破坏的。我告诉你们，要是哪个昏了头的圣塔尼叛军胆敢接近——”“芮奇，”谢顿插嘴道，“情况有多糟？快开战了吗？” “爸，你有危险吗？”婉达问。他们等了几秒钟，好让讯号在银河中跨越九千秒差距，送达芮奇面前。 “我……我……听不太清楚你们说什么。”那全息像答道，“是有些战斗，说实在的，还 真刺激。”芮奇又歪嘴笑了笑，“我现在得结束通话了。记住，查出飞往安纳克瑞昂的桃源七 号下落如何。我会尽快再和你们联络。记住，我——”传输突然中断，芮奇的全息像瞬间消失，全息屏幕隧道也随之溃散，谢顿与婉达只能瞪着空荡荡的墙壁。“爷爷，”婉达问，“你想爸正要说什么？”“我不知道，亲爱的。但有件事我能确定，那就是你爸绝对能照顾自己。我真同情那些接近芮奇的叛军，他们将正中一记角力踢腿！来吧，我们继续讨论那条方程式，几小时之后我们再来查询桃源七号。” “司令，你们真的查不到那艘飞船的下落吗？”谢顿又一次进行跨银河的通话，但这回对象是驻守安纳克瑞昂的皇家舰队司令。在这次通讯中，谢顿使用的是显像屏幕，它的逼真度比全息屏幕差很多，不过操作容易得多。 “教授，我们没有桃源七号请求进入安纳克瑞昂大气层的记录。我们与圣塔尼的通讯已经中断好几小时，这礼拜已经出现过好几次这种状况。也许那艘飞船试图以圣塔尼频道与我们联络，结果无法接通，但这不太可能。“我认为比较可能的情况是，桃源七号改变了目的地——说不定是伏锐格，或是萨瑞普。 您联络过那两个世界吗，教授？” “没有，”谢顿疲倦地说，“但如果那艘飞船的目的地是安纳克瑞昂，怎么可能会飞到其 他世界？司令，那艘飞船对我非常重要。” “当然啦，”司令继续大胆假设，“桃源七号也许没能过关。我的意思是，没能安全出来。如今情势非常紧张，那些叛军可不在乎炸掉的是谁。他们只是瞄准雷射，假装轰掉的就是艾吉思大帝。我告诉您，在外缘这里，游戏规则可是大不相同，教授。” “我的儿媳和孙女在那艘飞船上，司令。”谢顿紧张地说。 “喔，真对不起，教授。”司令表情有些尴尬，“如果有任何消息，我会立刻与您联络。”谢顿沮丧地关掉屏幕开关，无力感像巨浪袭上心头。但对世局的发展，他一点都不意外， 近四十年前，心理史学便已预见这样的结果。想到这里，谢顿苦涩地一笑。说不定那位司令还以为吓着了谢顿，使他对“外缘”的生动详情留下深刻印象。其实，谢顿对外缘了若指掌。既然外缘已开始分裂，那么，就像脱了线的织品一样，整个织品终将逐步松解直到核心——川陀。这时谢顿察觉到一阵轻柔的嗡嗡声，那是叫门的讯号。“谁？”“爷爷，”婉达走进研究室，“我好怕。” “怎么啦，亲爱的？”谢顿关切地问。他还不想告诉她，自己从安纳克瑞昂司令那里听到了什么——或说没听到什么。“通常，虽然爸、妈和贝莉丝在那么远的地方，我还是感觉得到他们。在这里——”她指指自己的头部，又将手摆在心口，“还有这里——可是今天，我却感觉不到他们。感觉变弱了，仿佛他们逐渐消失，就像穹顶的那些灯泡。我一直努力想把他们拉回来，可是办不到。”“婉达，这只是心理作用。你担心叛乱会波及你爸妈他们，才会有这种感觉。你该知道， 帝国随时都会发生暴动，这就像小规模的火山爆发，好让蒸汽排出来。好啦，他们不会有事的。你爸随时都可能传来电讯，告诉我们一切平安。你妈和贝莉丝可能已经抵达安纳克瑞昂， 正在享受一个短暂假期。我们两个才值得同情呢，我们困在这里，陷在工作中！所以说，亲爱的，去睡觉吧，多往好处想。我向你保证，到了明天，在晴朗的穹顶下，一切都会好得多。”“好吧，爷爷。”婉达的口气有些勉强，“可是，如果明天还没消息，我们就得……就得……”“婉达，除了等待，我们没有别的选择。”谢顿柔声说道。婉达转身离开，低垂的肩膀透露出她心头的重担。谢顿看着她走远，心底的焦虑终于浮现脸上。 芮奇传回全息像已是三天前的事了，其间没有进一步的消息。而今天，安纳克瑞昂上的舰队司令，竟然否认听过一艘番号桃源七号的飞船。 早先，谢顿曾试图与芮奇通话，可是所有接驳圣塔尼的通讯波束都断了。仿佛圣塔尼和桃源七号，都已脱离帝国，就像两片从花朵脱落的花瓣。 谢顿知道自己该采取什么行动。帝国或许在走下坡，可是尚未跌至谷底，它的力量若是使用得当，仍有骇人的威力。于是，谢顿向艾吉思大帝十四世送出一道紧急电讯。 Chapter 29 "What a surprise-my friend Hari!" Agis's visage beamed at Seldon through the holoscreen. "I am glad to hear from you, although you usually request the more formal personal audience. Come, you've piqued my interest. Why the urgency?" "Sire," began Seldon, "my son, Raych, and his wife and daughter live on Santanni." "Ah, Santanni," the Emperor said as his smile faded. "A bunch of misguided wretches if I ever-" "Sire, please," broke in Seldon, surprising both the Emperor and himself with this flagrant breach of Imperial protocol. "My son was able to get Manella and Bellis onto a hypership, the Arcadia VII, bound for Anacreon. He, however, had to remain. That was three days ago. The ship has not landed at Anacreon. And my son seems to have disappeared. My calls to Santanni have gone unanswered and now the communication beams are broken. "Please, Sire, can you help me?" "Hari, as you know, officially all ties between Santanni and Trantor have been severed. However, I still hold some influence in selected areas of Santanni. That is, there are still a few loyal to me who have not yet been found out. Although I cannot make direct contact with any of my operatives on that world, I can share with you any reports I receive from there. These are, of course, highly confidential, but considering your situation and our relationship, I will allow you access to those pieces that might interest you. "I am expecting another dispatch within the hour. If you like, I'll recontact you when it arrives. In the meantime, I'll have one of my aides go over all transmissions from Santanni for the past three days to look for anything pertaining to Raych, Manella, or Bellis Seldon." "Thank you, Sire. I thank you most humbly." And Hari Seldon dipped his head as the Emperor's image faded from the holoscreen. Sixty minutes later Hari Seldon was still sitting at his desk, waiting to hear from the Emperor. The past hour had been one of the most difficult he had ever spent, second only to the hours after Dors's destruction. It was the not knowing that did Hari in. He had made a career of knowing-the future as well as the present. And now he had no idea at all about three of the people most precious to him. The holoscreen buzzed softly and Hari pressed a contact in response. Agis appeared. "Hari," began the Emperor. From the soft slow sadness in his voice, Hari knew this call brought bad news. "My son," said Hari. "Yes," replied the Emperor. "Raych was killed, earlier today, in a bombardment on Santanni University. I've learned from my sources that Raych knew the attack was coming but refused to desert his post. You see, a good number of the rebels are students and Raych felt that if they knew that he was still there, they would never. ....But hate overcame all reason. "The University is, you see, an Imperial University. The rebels feel they must destroy all things Imperial before rebuilding anew. The fools! Why-" And here Agis stopped, as if suddenly realizing that Seldon did not care about Santanni University or the plans of the rebels-not right now, at least. "Hari, if it makes you feel any better, remember that your son died in defense of knowledge. It was not the Empire Raych fought and died for but humanity itself." Seldon looked up out of tear-filled eyes. Weakly he asked, "And Manella and little Bellis? What of them? Have you found the Arcadia Hl?" "That search has proved fruitless, Hari. The Arcadia VII left Santanni, as you were told..But it seems to have disappeared. It may have been hijacked by rebels or it may have made an emergency detour-at this point, we just don't know." Seldon nodded.."Thank you, Agis. Although you have brought me tragic news, at least you have brought it. Not knowing was worse. You are a true friend." "And so, my friend," said the Emperor, "I'll leave you to yourself now-and your memories." The Emperor's image faded from the screen as Hari Seldon folded his arms in front of him on his desk, put his head down, and wept. 第二十九章 　　“真让人意外啊，我的老友哈里！”艾吉思大帝的面容透过全息屏幕对谢顿微笑，“很高 兴你跟我联络，你以前不会这么直接，一定会亲自来见我。说吧，你勾起了我的好奇心。什么事这么紧急？” “陛下，”谢顿开口道，“我的儿子芮奇，和他的妻子和女儿都在圣塔尼。”“圣塔尼！”皇上的笑容随即消失，“要是我……” “陛下，拜托。”谢顿打断皇上的话，这种大不敬的行径，令皇上与谢顿自己都大吃一惊。“我儿子想办法把他的妻女，送上一艘飞往安纳克瑞昂的超空间飞船——叫做桃源七号， 他自己则碍于情势，不得不留下来。那是三天前的事，结果那艘飞船没在安纳克瑞昂着陆，我儿子似乎也失踪了。我送到圣塔尼的电讯得不到回音，现在通讯波束也断了。 “陛下，求您帮帮我。” “哈里，你也知道，圣塔尼和川陀间的所有正式联系全被切断了。然而，我在圣塔尼某些地区仍有影响力，也就是说，仍有些效忠帝国的人还没被逮捕。虽然我无法和他们直接接触，但还能收到一些报告。当然，那些都是高度机密，不过念在你的情况和我们的交情，我答应把对你或许有用的资料传给你。“目前我正在等一份急件，一小时内会到。你希望的话，到时候我再与你联络。同时，我会叫我的助理细查过去三天内来自圣塔尼的通讯，寻找任何与芮奇、玛妮拉或贝莉丝相关的记录。” “谢谢您，陛下，非常感谢您的帮忙。”当皇上的影像从全息屏幕淡出时，谢顿连忙垂下头来。 一个钟头过去了，谢顿仍坐在书桌前，等待皇上的消息。这段等待的时间对他来说有如酷刑，煎熬的程度仅次于铎丝被毁后的数个小时。击败谢顿的是那种未知的感觉。他一生都在处理已知数——不但知晓目前，还能预测未来。而现在，他却无法掌握他所爱的人的行踪。 全息屏幕发出轻柔的嗡嗡声，谢顿按下开关，艾吉思便出现了。“哈里。”皇上开口道。听到他声音中低缓的悲伤语调，谢顿知道这次通讯带来了坏消息。 “我儿子……”谢顿说。 “是的，”皇上答道，“芮奇遇害了。今天稍早，叛军对圣塔尼大学进行了一场轰击。我 的情报来源告诉我，芮奇明知对方即将发动攻击，仍拒绝离开岗位。你可知道，有好些叛军都是学生，芮奇觉得学生要是知道他在里面，他们就绝不会……可是仇恨战胜了一切理智。 “那所大学是一所帝国大学，你懂了吧。叛军觉得必须摧毁帝国的一切，才能重新建设。 那些傻瓜！为什么——”说到这里艾吉思猛然住口，似乎察觉到谢顿对圣塔尼大学或是那些叛军的计划都毫不关心，至少在这个时刻。 “哈里，若能让你觉得好过点——记住，你儿子是为了保卫知识而捐躯。芮奇战死不只是为了帝国，而是为了全体人类。”谢顿抬起头来，眼眶盈满泪水。他虚弱地说：玛妮拉和小贝莉丝呢？她们怎么样？您有没有桃源七号的下落？” “桃源七号目前仍下落不明，哈里。正如你听说的，它的确离开了圣塔尼，但似乎已经失踪。它也许是被叛军劫持，或是已经紧急改道，目前，我们完全没有任何消息。” 谢顿点了点头。“谢谢您，艾吉思。虽然您只是为我打听消息，但您是我真正的朋友。虽然是个噩耗，但起码比生死未卜好些。” “好了，我的朋友，”皇上说，“你一个人好好静一静吧，我不打搅你了。”皇上的影像 从屏幕中逐渐淡出，谢顿伏在书桌上，开始哭泣。 Chapter 30 Wanda Seldon adjusted the waistband of her unisuit, pulling it a little tighter around her middle. Taking up a hand hoe, she attacked some weeds that had sprung up in her small flower garden outside the Psychohistory.Building at Streeling. Generally Wanda spent the bulk of her time in her office, working with her Prime Radiant. She found solace in its precise statistical elegance; the unvarying equations were somehow reassuring in this Empire gone so crazy. But when thoughts of her beloved father, mother, and baby sister became too much to bear, when even her research could not keep her mind off the horrible losses she'd so recently undergone, Wanda invariably found herself out here, scratching at the terraformed ground, as if coaxing a few plants to life might somehow, in some tiny measure, ameliorate her pain. Since her father's death a month ago and the disappearance of Manella and Bellis, Wanda, who had always been slim, had been losing weight. Whereas a few months ago Hari Seldon would have been concerned over his darling granddaughter's loss of appetite, now he, stuck in his own grief, seemed not to notice. A profound change had come over Hari and Wanda Seldon-and the few remaining members of the Psychohistory.Project. Hari seemed to have given up. He now spent most of his days sitting in an armchair in the Streeling solarium, staring out at the University grounds, warmed by the bright bulbs overhead. Occasionally Project members told Wanda that his bodyguard, a man named Stettin Palver, would badger Seldon into a walk out under the dome or try.to engage him in a discussion of the future direction of the Project. Wanda retreated deeper into her study of the Prime Radiant's fascinating equations. She could feel the future her grandfather had worked so hard to achieve finally taking shape, and he was right: The Encyclopedists must be established on Terminus; they would be the Foundation. And Section 33A2D17-in it Wanda could see what Seldon referred to as the Second, or secret, Foundation. But how? Without Seldon's active interest, Wanda was at a loss as to how to proceed. And her sorrow over the destruction of her family cut so deep that she didn't seem to have the strength to figure it out. The members of the Project itself, those fifty or so hardy souls who remained, continued their work as well as possible. The majority were Encyclopedists, researching the source materials they would need to copy and catalogue for their eventual move to Terminus-when and if they gained full access to the Galactic Library. At this point, they were working on faith alone. Professor Seldon had lost his private office at the Library, so the prospects of any other Project member gaining special access were slim. The remaining Project members (other than the Encyclopedists) were historical analysts and mathematicians. The historians interpreted past and current human actions and events, turning their findings over to the mathematicians, who in turn fit those pieces into the great Psychohistorical Equation. It was long painstaking work. Many Project members had left because the rewards were so few-psychohistorians were the butt of many jokes on Trantor and limited funds had forced Seldon to enact drastic pay cuts. But the constant reassuring presence of Hari Seldon had-till now-overcome the difficult working conditions of the Project. Indeed, the Project members who had stayed on had, to a person, done so out of respect and devotion to Professor Seldon. Now, thought Wanda Seldon bitterly, what reason is left for them to stay? A light breeze blew a piece of her blond hair across her eyes; she pushed it back absentmindedly and continued her weeding. "Miss Seldon, may I have a moment of your time?" Wanda turned and looked up. A young man-she judged him to be in his early twenties -stood on the gravel path next to her. She immediately sensed him to be strong and fearsomely intelligent. Her grandfather had chosen wisely. Wanda rose to speak with him. "I recognize you. You are my grandfather's bodyguard, are you not? Stettin Palver, I believe?" "Yes, that's correct, Miss Seldon," Palver said and his cheeks reddened slightly, as if he were pleased that so pretty a girl should have given him any notice. "Miss Seldon, it is your grandfather I'd like to talk to you about. I'm very worried about him. We must do something." "Do what, Mr. Palver? I am at a loss. Since my father"-she swallowed hard, as if she were having difficulty speaking-"died and my mother and sister disappeared, it is all I can do to get him out of bed in the morning. And to tell you the truth, it has affected me very deeply as well. You understand, don't you?" She looked into his eyes and knew that he did. "Miss Seldon," Palver said softly, "I am terribly sorry about your losses. But you and Professor Seldon are alive and you must keep working at psychohistory. The professor seems to have given up. I was hoping that maybe you-we-could come up with something to give him hope again. You know, a reason to go on." Ah, Mr. Palver, thought Wanda, maybe Grandpa has it right. 1 wonder if there truly is any reason to go on. But she said, "I'm sorry, Mr. Palver, I can think of nothing." She gestured toward the ground with her hoe. "And now, as you can see, I must get back to these pesky weeds." "I don't think your grandfather has got it right. I think there truly is a reason to go on. We just have to find it." The words struck her with full force. How had he known what she had been thinking? Unless- "You can handle minds, can't you?" Wanda asked, holding her breath, as if afraid to hear Palver's response. "Yes, I can," the young man replied. "I always have, I think. At least, I can't remember not doing it. Half the time I'm not even consciously aware of it-I just know what people are thinking-or have thought. "Sometimes," he continued, encouraged by the understanding he felt emanating from Wanda, "I get flashes of it coming from someone else. It's always in a crowd, though, and I can't locate whoever it is. But I know there are others like me-us-around." Wanda grabbed Palver's hand excitedly, her gardening tool tossed to the ground, forgotten. "Have you any idea what this might mean? For Grandpa, for psychohistory? One of us alone can do only so much, but both of us together-" Wanda started walking into the Psychohistory Building, leaving Palver standing on the gravel path. Almost to the entrance she stopped and turned. Come, Mr. Palver, we must tell my grandfather, Wanda said without opening her mouth. Yes, 1 suppose we should, answered Palver as he joined her. 第三十章 　　婉达整了整单件服的腰带，把它稍微拉紧一点。她在川陀的心理史学大楼外辟了一个小花园，此时她正拿着一把小铲子对付刚发芽的杂草。通常，婉达都会待在研究室里，利用元光体进行研究。心理史学从其中精确的统计性美感，使她得以寻着一份安慰。在这个越来越疯狂混乱的帝国中，那些不变的方程式总令人感到心安。但是，每当她一想到亲爱的爸妈与小妹妹，就连研究工作也无法转移她的伤痛，这个时候，婉达便会来到这里，扒梳着经过改造的土壤。仿佛多养活几棵植物，便能稍稍减轻她的痛苦。自从一个月前，父亲遇难、母亲和贝莉丝失踪之后，原本就已稍嫌瘦弱的婉达，更是一路消瘦下来。若是在几个月前，谢顿还会为心爱的孙女失去胃口而操心不已，然而如今，他自己也深陷于悲痛之中，似乎已无暇他顾。 谢顿与婉达都有了明显的转变，心理史学计划所剩无几的工作人员也一样。谢顿似乎放弃了。现在，他几乎整天都泡在川陀日光浴馆，坐在扶手椅上，望着外面校园的景致，借着头顶明亮的灯泡取暖。计划成员偶尔会告诉婉达，说谢顿的保镖——一个叫史铁亭•帕佛的 人，常苦口婆心地劝谢顿到穹顶下散散步，或是试着引他讨论谢顿计划未来的方向。 婉达则逃避似的埋头于元光体的研究，她没日没夜地钻研那些奇妙的方程式。她可以明显感觉到，祖父一生竭尽心力创造的未来，如今终于逐渐成形，而且百科全书编者的确必须驻在端点星，他们将是基地的种子。至于332A2D17节，婉达能从里面看到谢顿所说的第二基地——或者叫秘密基地，可是， 该怎么进行？没有谢顿的积极投入，婉达根本摸不着头绪。而家庭破碎带来的伤害又是那么 深，她几乎没有力气找出答案。谢顿计划剩下的五十多名成员，则尽可能继续手边的工作。他们大多是百科全书编者，负责调查需要复制与编目的原始资料，为将来迁移端点星预做准备。但唯有获得帝国图书馆的完全使用权，他们才能着手实际的工作。此时此刻，他们仅凭信心苦撑。谢顿失去了他在帝国图书馆中的个人研究室，其他成员获得特权的机会更是微乎其微。 除了百科全书编者以外，谢顿计划的其他成员都是历史分析员与数学家。历史学家负责诠释过去与当今的人类活动及事件，然后将他们的发现交给数学家，后者再将这些成果代入伟大的心理史学方程式。这是个冗长且费心费力的工作。 很多计划成员已经离去，因为回报实在少得可怜—―心理史学家在川陀已成了笑柄，有限的经费又迫使谢顿大幅减薪。但是过去，谢顿经常出现在众人面前，不断为大伙打气，克服困难的工作环境。事实上，目前仍坚守岗位的计划成员，之所以会留下，全是出于对谢顿的尊敬与忠心。 现在，婉达愁苦地想道，他们还有什么理由留下来呢？微风将她的一绺金发吹到眼前，她漫不经心地把它拨开，低头继续除草。“谢顿小姐，能打搅你一会儿吗？”婉达转身抬头看，说话的是个年轻人（她判断他才二十出头），正站在她身边的碎石小径上。她立刻感知他是个强壮且聪颖的人，显然祖父做了明智的选择。 婉达站起身来，我认得你，你是我祖父的保镖，对不对？史铁亭•帕佛，是吗？” “是的，我就是史铁亭•帕佛，谢顿小姐。”帕佛的双颊微微泛红，仿佛很高兴这么漂 亮的女孩竟然留意到他，“谢顿小姐，我希望跟你谈谈你祖父。我非常担心，他不能再这样下去了。” “能怎么办呢，帕佛先生？我什么也使不上力。自从我父亲——”她吃力地咽了一下口水，仿佛难以说出口，“过世，而我母亲和妹妹失踪后，我唯一能做的，只是每天早上拉他起床。而且说实话，受到打击的不只是祖父而已。你该了解，不是吗？”婉达望向他的眼睛， 便明白他的确了解。 “谢顿小姐，”帕佛轻声道，“对于你失去亲人，我万分遗憾。可是逝者已矣，心理史学 研究必须继续下去。教授似乎已经放弃，但我希望也许你——我们——能做点什么，给他一点希望——一个撑下去的理由。” ―—啊，帕佛先生，婉达想道，也许爷爷才是对的，连我自己也怀疑是否真有撑下去的理由。 她说：“很抱歉，帕佛先生，我想不出能做什么。”她用小铲子指了指地面，“现在，我 得继续对付这些讨厌的杂草了。” “我不认为你祖父的想法是对的。一定有个撑下去的理由，我们必须把它找出来。” 这番话一字一字打进婉达心头。他怎么知道自己刚才在想什么？除非……“你能透视心灵？”婉达屏住气息，仿佛害怕听到帕佛的回答。“是的，你说对了。”帕佛答道，“我一直都可以。至少，我不记得什么时候不能。大半 时间，我甚至不会意识到这件事，我就是知道人们在想什么，或是想过什么。“有时候，”感到婉达发出了解的讯息，帕佛很受鼓舞，他继续说，“我会接收到一闪灵光。不过，那总是在人群中，我找不到究竟是谁发出的。但我知道周遭还有其他像我——像我们这样的人。” 婉达兴奋地抓住帕佛的手，她的园艺工具早已丢到地上。“你知道这对爷爷，对心理史学，代表什么意义？我们单独一人只能发挥有限的威力，但我们两人一起——”说到这里婉达迈步走向心理史学大楼，留下帕佛站在碎石小径上。快要走到入口时，她停下脚步，转过身来。 ―—来吧，帕佛先生，我们一定要告诉祖父。婉达闭着嘴巴说。―—嗯，我想我们是该这么做。帕佛一面向她走去，一面以同样的方式回答。 Chapter 31 "Do you mean to say I have been searching Trantor-wide for someone with your powers, Wanda, and he's been here with us for the past few months and we never knew it?" Hari Seldon was incredulous. He had been dozing in the solarium when Wanda and Palver shook him awake to give him their amazing news. "Yes, Grandpa. Think about it. I've never had occasion to meet Stettin. Your time with him has primarily been away from the Project and I spend the majority of my time closeted in my office, working with the Prime Radiant. When would we have met? In fact, the one time our paths did cross, the results were most significant." "When was that?" asked Seldon, searching his memory. "Your last hearing-before Judge Lih," Wanda replied immediately. "Remember the eyewitness who swore that you and Stettin had attacked those three muggers? Remember how he broke down and told the truth -and even he didn't seem to know why. But Stettin and I have pieced it together. We were both pushing Rial Nevas to come clean. He had been very steadfast in his original claim; I doubt that either one of us would have been able to push him alone. But together"-she stole a shy glance at Palver, who was standing off to the side-"our power is awesome!" Hari Seldon took all this in and then made as if to speak. But Wanda continued. "In fact, we plan to spend the afternoon testing our mentalic abilities, separately and together. From the little we've discovered so far, it seems as if Stettin's power is slightly lower than mine-perhaps a five on my rating scale. But his five, combined with my seven, gives us a twelve! Think of it, Grandpa. Awesome!" "Don't you see, Professor?" Palver spoke up. "Wanda and I are that breakthrough you're looking for. We can help you convince the worlds of the validity of psychohistory, we can help find others like us, we can help put psychohistory back on track." Hari Seldon gazed up at the two young people standing in front of him. Their faces were aglow with youth and vigor and enthusiasm and he realized it did his old heart good. Perhaps all was not lost, after all. He had not thought he would survive this latest tragedy, the death of his son and the disappearance of his son's wife and child, but now he could see that Raych lived on in Wanda. And in Wanda and Stettin, he now knew, lived the future of the Foundation. "Yes, yes," agreed Seldon nodding forcefully. "Come you two, help me up. I must get back to my office to plan our next step." 第三十一章 　　“你的意思是，我寻遍川陀，想找出和你具有相同能力的人，却不知道过去几个月来，他一直在我们身边？”谢顿原来在日光馆里打盹，听到这个惊人的消息，惊讶得不敢置信。“是的，爷爷。想想看，我从来没机会遇见史铁亭。他跟你在一起的时候，常常都不在心理史学大楼，而我大部分的时间，都关在研究室里。我们怎么会有机会碰面呢？可是这次——我们唯一碰面的一次，却发挥了强大的影响力。”“什么时候？”谢顿一面问，一面搜寻自己的记忆。 “李赫法官主持的那次听证会。”婉达立刻答道。“还记得那个目击证人吗？原本一口咬 定你和史铁亭曾攻击那三个箍颈党。但你还记得他是如何崩溃，说出了实情，连他自己似乎也觉得莫名其妙？是史铁亭和我把真相逼了出来，原来当时我们都在推莱耳•纳瓦斯，逼他 说实话。他原先申述时说得非常肯定，我们任何一人恐怕都无法单独推动他。可是两人联手——”她害羞地瞥了一眼老远的帕佛，“力量就很惊人！”谢顿听到这些话，似乎想要开口。但婉达继续说：“我们计划今天下午来测试我们的精神能力——一个人的和两个人的。根据我们目前的发现，史铁亭的力量似乎比我稍弱些，在他的评量标度上也许是五级。可是他的五级，跟我的七级结合，我们就有十二级！想想看，爷爷，多吓人！” “你看不出来吗，教授？”帕佛提高嗓门，“婉达和我就是你在寻找的突破。我们能帮你说服所有的世界，让大家相信心理史学的效力，我们能帮你找到其他像我们的人，让心理史学重新出发。” 谢顿抬头凝视着站在面前的两个年轻人，他们的脸庞燃烧着青春、活力与热情。这使他这个老人内心感到无比安慰。毕竟，事情或许尚未一败涂地。本来，他以为自己会被芮奇的死亡、儿媳与孙女的失踪彻底打垮，但是现在，他可以看到芮奇活在婉达体内。而同时他也知道，基地的未来就寄托在婉达与史铁亭身上。 “没错。”谢顿奋力点点头，“你们两个，扶我起来。我得赶快回到研究室，计划下一步 的行动。” Chapter 32 "Professor Seldon come in," said Chief Librarian Tryma Acarnio in an icy tone of voice. Hari Seldon accompanied by Wanda and Palver, entered the Chief Librarian's imposing office. "Thank you, Chief Librarian," said Seldon as he settled into a chair and faced Acarnio across the vast desk. "May I introduce my granddaughter Wanda and my friend Stettin Palver. Wanda is a most valuable member of the Psychohistory Project, her specialty being in the field of mathematics. And Stettin, well, Stettin is turning into a first-rate general psychohistorian-when he's not performing his duties as my bodyguard, that is." Seldon chuckled amiably. "Yes, well, that's all well and good, Professor," said Acarnio, baffled by Seldon's good humor. He had expected the professor to come in groveling, begging for another chance at special Library privileges. "But I don't understand what it is you wanted to see me about. I assume you realize that our position is firm: We cannot allow a Library association with someone so extremely unpopular with the general population. We are, after all, a public library and we must keep the public's sentiments in mind." Acarnio settled back-perhaps now the groveling would begin. "I realize that I have not been able to sway you. However, I thought that if you heard from a couple of the Project's younger members-the psychohistorians of tomorrow, as it were-that perhaps you'd get a better feel about what a vital role the Project-and the Encyclopedia, in particular-will play in our future. Please hear Wanda and Stettin out." Acarnio cast a cold eye toward the two young people flanking Seldon. "Very well, then," he said, pointedly eyeing the timestrip on the wall. "Five minutes and no more. I have a Library to run." "Chief Librarian," began Wanda, "as my grandfather has undoubtedly explained to you, psychohistory is a most valuable tool to be used for the preservation of our culture. Yes, preservation, " she repeated, upon seeing Acarnio's eyes widen at the word. "Undue emphasis has been placed on the destruction of the Empire. By doing so, the true value of psychohistory has been overlooked. For, with psychohistory, as we are able to predict the inevitable decline of our civilization, so are we able to take steps toward its preservation. That is what the Encyclopedia Galactica is all about. And that is why we need your help, and the help of your great Library." Acarnio could not resist smiling. The young lady had an undeniable charm. She was so earnest, so well spoken. He gazed at her sitting in front of him, her blond hair pulled back in a rather severe scholarly style, one which could not hide her attractive features but, rather, showed them off. What she was saying was starting to make sense. Maybe Wanda Seldon was right-maybe he had been looking at this problem from the wrong angle. If it were actually a matter of preservation, rather than destruction . "Chief Librarian," began Stettin Palver, "this great Library has stood for millennia. It, perhaps even more than the Imperial Palace, represents the vast power of the Empire. For, the Palace houses only the Empire's leader, while the Library is home to the sum total of Imperial knowledge, culture, and history. Its value is incalculable "Does it not make sense to prepare a tribute to this great repository? The Encyclopedia Galactica will be just that-a giant summary of all the knowledge contained within these very walls. Think of it!" All of a sudden it seemed so very clear to Acarnio. How could he have let the Board (especially that sourpuss Gennaro Mummery) convince him to rescind Seldon's privileges? Las Zenow, a person whose judgment he greatly esteemed, had been a wholehearted supporter of Seldon's Encyclopedia. He glanced again at the three in front of him, waiting for his decision. The Board would be hard-pressed to find anything to complain about with the Project members-if the young people now in his office were a representative sample of the kind of persons involved with Seldon Acarnio rose and walked across his office, his brow furrowed, as if framing his thoughts. He picked up a milky crystal sphere from a table and hefted it in his palm "Trantor," Acarnio began thoughtfully, "seat of the Empire, center of all the Galaxy. Quite amazing, when you think of it. -We have, perhaps, been too quick to judge Professor Seldon Now that your Project, this Encyclopedia Galactica, has been presented to me in such a light"-he gave a brief nod to Wanda and Palver-"I realize how important it would be to allow you to continue your work here. And, of course, to grant access to a number of your colleagues." Seldon smiled gratefully and squeezed Wanda's hand "It is not only for the greater glory of the Empire that I am recommending this," continued Acarnio, apparently warming to the idea (and the sound of his own voice). "You are famous, Professor Seldon Whether people think of you as a crackpot or a genius, everyone seems to have an opinion. If an academic of your stature is allied with the Galactic Library, it can only increase our prestige as a bastion of intellectual pursuit of the highest order. Why, the luster of your presence can be used to raise much-needed funds to update our collections, increase our staff, keep our doors open to the public longer . "And the prospect of the Encyclopedia Galactica itself-what a monumental project! Imagine the reaction when the public learns that the Galactic Library is involved with such an undertaking designed to highlight the splendor of our civilization-our glorious history, our brilliant achievements, our magnificent cultures. And to think that I, Chief Librarian Tryma Acarnio, is responsible for making sure that this great Project gets its start-" Acarnio gazed intently into the crystal sphere, lost in reverie "Yes, Professor Seldon," Acarnio pulled himself back to the here and now. "You and your colleagues will be granted full insiders' privileges-and a suite of offices in which to work." He placed the crystal sphere back on its table and, with a swish of robes, moved back to his desk "It might take a little doing, of course, to persuade the Board-but I am confident that I can handle them. Just leave it to me." Seldon, Wanda, and Palver looked at each other in triumph, with small smiles playing at the corner of their mouths. Tryma Acarnio gestured that they could go and so they did, leaving the Chief Librarian settled in his chair, dreaming of the glory and honor that would come to the Library under his aegis "Amazing," said Seldon when the three were safely ensconced in their ground-car. "If you could have seen him at our last meeting. He said I was `threatening the essential fabric of our Empire' or some such rot. And today, after just a few minutes with you two-" "It wasn't too hard, Grandpa," Wanda said as she pressed a contact, moving the ground-car out into traffic. She sat back as the auto-propel took over; Wanda had punched their destination coordinates into the control panel. "He is a man with a strong sense of self-importance. All we had to do was play up the positive aspects of the Encyclopedia and his ego took over from there." "He was a goner the minute Wanda and I walked in," Palver said from the back. "With both of us pushing him, it was a piece of cake." Palver reached forward and squeezed Wanda's shoulder affectionately. She smiled, reached up, and patted his hand "I must alert the Encyclopedists as soon as possible," Seldon said. "Although there are only thirty-two left, they are good and dedicated workers. I'll get them installed at the Library and then I'll tackle the next hurdle-credits. Perhaps this alliance with the Library is what I need to convince people to give us funding. Let's see- I'll call upon Terep Bindris again and I'll take you two with me. He was kindly disposed toward me, at least at first. But how will he be able to resist us now?" The ground-car eventually came to a halt outside the Psychohistory Building at Streeling. The side panels slid open, but Seldon did not immediately move to disembark. He turned to face Wanda "Wanda, you know what you and Stettin were able to accomplish with Acarnio; I'm sure you both can push some credits out of a few financial benefactors as well "I know how you hate to leave your beloved Prime Radiant, but these visits will give you two a chance to practice, to hone your skills, to get an idea of just what you can do." "All right, Grandpa, although I'm sure that, now that you have the Library's imprimatur, you will find that resistance to your requests has lessened." "There's another reason I think it's important for the two of you to get out and around together. -Stettin, I believe you said that on certain occasions you've `felt' another mind like yours but haven't been able to identify it." "Yes," answered Palver, "I've had flashes, but each time I was in a crowd. And, in my twenty-four years, I can remember feeling such a flash just four or five times." "But, Stettin," said Seldon, his voice low with intensity, "each flash was, potentially, the mind of another person like you and Wanda-another mentalic. Wanda's never felt these flashes because, frankly, she's been sheltered all her life. The few times she's been out in a crowd there must not have been any other mentalics around. "That's one reason-perhaps the most important reason-for you two to get out-with me or without me. We must find other mentalics. The two of you alone are strong enough to push a single person. A large group of you, all pushing together, will have the power to move an Empire!" With that. Hari Seldon swung his legs around and hoisted himself out of the ground-car. As Wanda and Palver watched him limp up the pathway to the Psychohistory Building, they were only dimly aware of the enormous responsibility Seldon had just placed on their young shoulders. 第三十二章 　　“进来吧，谢顿教授。”图书馆长垂玛•阿卡尼欧以冰冷的口气说。于是谢顿以及同行 的婉达与帕佛，走进了馆长富丽堂皇的办公室。 “谢谢您，馆长。”谢顿坐了下来，隔着宽大的办公桌正对阿卡尼欧，“请容我介绍我的 孙女婉达，和我的朋友史铁亭•帕佛。婉达是心理史学计划中的主要成员之一，她的专长领 域是数学。至于史铁亭，他即将成为一流的心理史学家——我是说，在他担任我的保镖之余。”谢顿说着发出一阵亲切的笑声。“喔，很不错嘛，教授。”阿卡尼欧随口应道，谢顿的好心情令他困惑不已。他原本预料这位教授会摇尾乞怜，请求图书馆再赏他一次特权。“但我不了解你再次造访的理由。我想你一定明白本馆的坚定立场。一个在众人眼中极不受欢迎的人物，本馆不可能与他合作。毕竟，我们是个公众图书馆，不能不顾及公众的好恶。”阿卡尼欧上身靠向椅背——现在，谢顿该开始摇尾乞怜了吧。“我明白自己无法说服您。然而，我想，如果您听听谢顿计划的两位明日心理史学家怎么说，或许您对谢顿计划——尤其是那套百科全书——在未来将扮演多重要的角色，会有比较深入的印象。请您务必耐心听听婉达和史铁亭怎么说。”阿卡尼欧漠然地望了望谢顿身边的两个年轻人。“那么，好吧。”说完，他刻意瞄了一眼 墙上的计时片，“五分钟，不能再多，我还有个图书馆要管。”“阿卡尼欧馆长，”婉达随即开口，“想必我祖父一定对您解释过，要保存帝国的文化， 心理史学是最重要的一项工具。没错，是保存！”看到阿卡尼欧听到那两个字便张大眼睛，她特别重复一遍，“人们过分强调帝国的毁灭，却忽略了心理史学真正的价值。事实上，既然我们借着心理史学能预测到文明必将没落，同理我们就能靠着心理史学保存帝国文明——这正是编撰《银河百科全书》的目的，也正是我们需要您，以及您这座伟大的图书馆襄助的原因。” 阿卡尼欧忍不住露出笑容。这位小姐非常有魅力，她是那么认真，那么能言善道。他凝望着坐在面前的婉达•谢顿。她的金发向后梳成朴素的学者发型，那非但无损她迷人的容貌，反而更衬托出她的美丽。她的话越听越有道理，也许她是对的，也许自己一直从错误的角度看这个问题。假如重点真是保存，而不是毁灭……“图书馆长，”史铁亭•帕佛开口道，“这座伟大的图书馆屹立了数千年，比起皇宫，它或许更能代表帝国庞大的实力。皇宫中只住着帝国的领导者，这座图书馆则典藏了帝国中所有的知识、文化与历史，它的价值无可比拟。“难道我们不该为这个伟大的知识宝库准备一篇赞辞吗？《银河百科全书》就是这样一篇赞辞，它是这四壁之间所有知识的浩大摘要。想想看！”突然间，阿卡尼欧似乎彻底想通了。他怎能让评议会（尤其是那个不安好心的吉纳洛•麻莫瑞）说服自己取消谢顿的特权？拉斯•齐诺过去一直全心全意支持谢顿的百科全书，而自 己是多么尊重他的判断。 阿卡尼欧看着面前这三个人，他们正在等待自己的决定。如果这两位青年就代表了谢顿 周围的工作成员，那么评议会将发现，谢顿计划的成员实在没什么好挑剔的。阿卡尼欧起身走到办公室另一头，眉头深锁，思绪仿佛也被困住了。他从桌上抓起一个乳白色水晶球，在手中掂了又掂。 “川陀——”阿卡尼欧意味深长地说，“帝国的中枢，整个银河的核心；想想实在很不可思议。我们对谢顿教授的评断或许下得太快。现在，既然您以这种方式向我呈现您的《银河百科全书》计划，”他朝婉达与帕佛的方向点了点头，“使我了解到，准许您在这里继续工 作——当然还有批准您的同事加入——是一件多么重要的事。”谢顿露出感激的笑容，紧紧捏住婉达的手。 “我这么做，不只是为了给帝国的光荣锦上添花。”阿卡尼欧继续说，显然对这个构想（以及他自己的声音）逐渐热衷，“您大名鼎鼎，谢顿教授。不论人们认为您是个狂人或天 才，似乎每一个人对您都有意见。如果有一位像您这么有地位的学者与帝国图书馆合作，一定能提升我们的声望，大家会知道我们是进行最高学术研究的城堡。啊，我们可以借您的光， 来筹募急需的经费，以增加我们的收藏，增添我们的人手，让本馆的门能对公众开放更久…… “至于《银河百科全书》的展望——多么不朽的一个计划！这是为我们文明的光辉聚焦， 以记录我们光荣的历史、灿烂的成就和辉煌的文化。试想当公众获悉帝国图书馆有幸参与这样一个大工程，会有什么反应！再想想我自己，图书馆长垂玛•阿卡尼欧，一手推动这个伟 大的计划……”阿卡尼欧专心凝视着那个水晶球，神游在自己的幻想中。“就这么决定，谢顿教授，”阿卡尼欧将心神拉回现实，“您和您的同事将获准拥有和图 书馆员一样的特权，还有一间大型办公室。”他放下水晶球，踱回办公桌，长袍扬起一阵沙沙声。 “当然，要说服评议会，可能得花点工夫，但我有信心应付得了，一切交给我就行了。” 谢顿、婉达与帕佛欣喜地相对互望，嘴角都挂着浅浅的微笑。垂玛•阿卡尼欧作势表示 他们可以走了，三人随即告辞，留下馆长坐在座椅中，梦想着图书馆在他主持下，即将获得的光荣与声誉。 “不可思议。”他们三人坐进地面车后，谢顿这样说。“你们该看看他上次那副嘴脸，他 说来说去都是我‘正在威胁帝国的根本’之类的话。而今天，仅仅跟你们两个谈了几分钟……”“这并不难，爷爷。”婉达按下一个开关，将地面车开到路上，再将目的地座标键入控制盘。自动推进系统接管后，她便仰靠在椅背上，“他是个非常自负的人，我们只需要夸大百科全书的正面影响，接下来他的自我便会自行运作。” “婉达和我一走进去，他就成了囊中物。”坐在后座的帕佛说，“我们两人一起推他，简 直就像探囊取物。”帕佛伸手向前，深情地捏捏婉达的肩膀。她则微微一笑，轻拍他的手背。 “我得尽快把这好消息告诉百科全书编者，”谢顿说，“虽然只剩下三十二位，但他们都 非常优秀而敬业。尽快把他们安置在图书馆后，我还得处理信用点这个难题。说不定跟帝国图书馆的合作关系，可以帮我说服人们捐献经费。嗯，我决定再去拜访泰瑞普•宾缀斯—— 你们俩也一起去。他当初对我就颇有好感，至少一开始如此，现在就更不用说了，他有办法拒绝我们吗？” 地面车终于在川陀的心理史学大楼外停下。车厢侧板滑开，但谢顿没有立刻下车。他转过头来对着婉达。 “婉达，看看你和史铁亭对阿卡尼欧造成了什么样的影响？我确信只要你们两人联手，信用点的来源绝对不成问题。 “我知道元光体对你很重要，但多造访些慈善家能给你俩一些练习的机会，磨炼你们的技巧，让你们更能掌控自己的能力。” “好吧，爷爷，但我能确定，既然你已获得图书馆的批准，你的募款要求不会有多大阻力。” “还有另一个原因，使我认为你们两人应该一起出去转转。史铁亭，我记得你说过你曾经几次‘感到’另一个像你这样的心灵，却没办法辨认出来。”“是的，”帕佛答道，“我曾经感到一些灵光，但每次都是在人群中。而且，二十四年来，这种灵光只出现过四五次。” “可是，史铁亭，”谢顿的声音低沉而炽烈，“理论上说来，每个灵光都代表一个像你和 婉达这样的人——另一个精神异人。婉达从未感到这种灵光，坦白讲，这是因为她这一生都关在象牙塔里。而她难得出门的时候，附近正好没有其他的精神异人。 “这也是你们两人该出去的原因，或许还是最重要的一个原因。我们必须找到其他的精神异人。光你们两个就强大到足以推动一个人，你们一大群人联手，将有摇撼整个帝国的力量！” 说到这里，谢顿转身，走出了地面车。婉达与帕佛望着他一跛一跛走向通往心理史学大楼的小径，内心隐隐约约感受到，谢顿刚在他们年轻的肩头搁下了千斤重担。 Chapter 33 It was midafternoon and the Trantorian sun glinted on the metal skin covering the great planet. Hari Seldon stood at the edge of the Streeling University observation deck, attempting to shield his eyes from the harsh glare with his hand. It had been years since he'd been out from under the dome, save for his few visits to the Palace, and somehow those didn't count; one was still very much enclosed on the Imperial grounds. Seldon no longer traveled around only if accompanied. In the first place, Palver spent the majority of his time with Wanda, either working on the Prime Radiant, absorbed in mentalic research, or searching for others like them. But if he had wanted, Seldon could have found another young man-a University student or a Project member-to act as his bodyguard. However, Seldon knew that a bodyguard was no longer necessary. Since the much publicized hearing and the reestablishment of ties with the Galactic Library, the Commission for Public Safety had taken a keen interest in Seldon. Seldon knew that he was being followed; he had caught sight of his "shadow" on a number of occasions in the past few months. He also had no doubt that his home and office had been infiltrated by listening devices, but he himself activated a static shield whenever he engaged in sensitive communications. Seldon was not sure what the Commission thought of him-perhaps they were not yet sure themselves. Regardless of whether they believed him to be a prophet or a crackpot, they made it their business to know where he was at all times-and that meant that, until the Commission deemed otherwise, at all times Seldon was safe. A light breeze billowed the deep blue cloak Seldon had draped over his unisuit and ruffed the few wispy white hairs remaining on his head. He glanced down over the railing, taking in the seamless steel blanket below. Beneath that blanket, Seldon knew, rumbled the machinery of a vastly complicated world. If the dome were transparent, one would see ground-cars racing, gravicabs swooshing through an intricate network of interconnecting tunnels, space hyperships being loaded and unloaded with grain and chemicals and jewels bound for and from practically every world of the Empire. Below the gleaming metal cover, the lives of forty billion people were being conducted, with all the attendant pain, joy, and drama of human life. It was an image he loved dearly-this panorama of human achievement-and it pierced his heart to know that, in just a few centuries, all that now lay before him would be in ruins. The great dome would be ripped and scarred, torn away to reveal the desolate wasteland of what was once the seat of a thriving civilization. He shook his head in sadness, for he knew there was nothing he could do to prevent that tragedy. But, as Seldon foresaw the ruined dome, he also knew that from the ground laid bare by the last battles of the Empire living shoots would spring and somehow Trantor would reemerge as a vital member of the new Empire. The Plan saw to that. Seldon lowered himself onto one of the benches ringing the deck's perimeter. His leg was throbbing painfully; the exertion of the trip had been a bit much. But it had been worth it to gaze once again at Trantor, to feel the open air around him and see the vast sky above. Seldon thought wistfully of Wanda. He rarely saw his granddaughter at all anymore and invariably Stettin Palver was present when he did. In the three months since Wanda and Palver had met, they seemed to be inseparable. Wanda assured Seldon that the constant involvement was necessary for the Project, but Seldon suspected it went deeper than mere devotion to one's job. He remembered the telltale signs from his early days with Dors. It was there in the way the two young people looked at each other, with an intensity born not only of intellectual stimulation but emotional motivation as well. Further, by their very natures, Wanda and Palver seemed to be more comfortable with each other than with other people. In fact, Seldon had discovered that when no one else was around, Wanda and Palver didn't even talk to each other; their mentalic abilities were sufficiently advanced that they had no need of words to communicate. The other Project members were not aware of Wanda's and Palver's unique talents. Seldon had felt it best to keep the mentalics' work quiet, at least until their role in the Plan was firmly defined. Actually the Plan itself was firmly defined-but solely in Seldon's mind. As a few more pieces fell into place, he would reveal his Plan to Wanda and Palver and someday, of necessity, to one or two others. Seldon stood slowly, stiffly. He was due back at Streeling in an hour to meet Wanda and Palver. They had left word for him that they were bringing a great surprise. Another piece for the puzzle, Seldon hoped. He looked out one last time over Trantor and, before turning to make his way back to the gravitic repulsion elevator, smiled and softly said, "Foundation." 第三十三章 　　现在是下午三时左右，川陀之阳的强光反射在这颗伟大行星的金属表皮上。谢顿站在川陀大学观景平台的边缘，抬手试图遮蔽耀眼的日光。除了几次皇宫之行，他有多年未曾出过穹顶。但就某方面而言，皇宫之行并不算数，毕竟那仍是在御苑的重重包围中。 如今谢顿不再需要有伴才能外出走动。主要的原因，是他的保镖帕佛大部分时间都跟婉达在一起，或是钻研元光体，或是专注于精神力学研究，要不就是出外寻找类似他们的人。当然，谢顿若是愿意，他仍能找到其他年轻人——某个大学生或谢顿计划的其他成员充当他的保镖。 然而，谢顿知道自己不再需要保镖。由于听证会轰动一时，以及他与帝国图书馆重新建立合作关系，公共安全委员会开始对谢顿产生了强烈的好奇。谢顿晓得有人全天候跟监他。过去几个月来，他不时瞥见如影随形的跟踪者。他也相信家里与研究室一定都藏有监听装置， 因此每当他进行敏感的通讯时，总会激活噪声场。谢顿不确定委员会对他的看法如何，或许他们自己也还不确定。但无论他们视他为先知或狂人，他们已将掌握他的行踪当成分内工作。这就意味着，在委员会改变态度前，谢顿绝对安全无虞。 一阵微风拂过谢顿罩在单件服上的深蓝色披风，吹乱了他头上的稀疏白发。他透过栏杆向下望去，下方无际穹顶的无缝钢毯尽收眼底。谢顿知道，在这张钢毯底下，一个极其复杂的世界正在隆隆运作。如果穹顶是透明的，他就能看到地面车在疾驶，重力出租车在相连的繁复隧道网络中风驰电掣。而来往帝国各个世界的超空间飞船，则正在忙着装卸谷物、化学药品与珠宝。 四百亿人就生活在这个闪亮的金属罩之下，人生的喜怒哀乐、生老病死尽在其中。这个人类成就的缩影，是他深爱的一幅图像。而令他心如刀割的是，他知道不出几世纪，眼前的一切即将成为废墟。伟大的穹顶将被割裂得百孔千疮，甚至整个掀去，暴露出下面荒凉的景象。一个盛极一时的文明中枢，最后竟难逃如此下场。他悲伤地摇了摇头，很清楚自己没有办法阻止这场悲剧。可是，正如谢顿预见了残败的穹顶，他同样了解，在这片注定被帝国最后几场战争剥光的土地上，将会冒出新生的幼苗。而在未来那个崭新的帝国中，川陀终将再度扮演重要角色，谢顿计划早已安排好一切。平台周围环绕着一圈长椅，谢顿选了一张坐下。这趟路程花了他不少力气，他的右腿正隐隐作痛。但能再度俯望川陀，感受周遭露天的空气，并且看看头顶浩瀚的天空，受这点罪也是值得的。 谢顿不由得思念起婉达。最近他们祖孙鲜少碰头，难得一次见面的时候，史铁亭•帕佛 也总是在场。自从婉达与帕佛相遇后，三个月来他们似乎形影不离。婉达向谢顿保证，这种经常性接触纯粹出自工作需要，但是谢顿觉得，他们彼此间的互动感觉已超过对工作的投入。 他们让谢顿想起了自己与铎丝相遇之初，那些隐藏不住的迹象。这两个年轻人互相凝望时的热情，已不仅是出于相互激励，还包含了深深的爱慕之意。此外，由于他们的特殊能力，婉达与帕佛私下独处时，彼此似乎有一种他人无法分享的自在。事实上，谢顿发现，没有别人在场时，婉达与帕佛甚至不再交谈，他们的精神能力已进步到不需要借助语言。 计划的其他成员并不知道婉达与帕佛的独特天赋。谢顿始终觉得最好让这些精神异人默默工作，至少，他们在新的子计划中的角色尚未确定之前，不可以曝光。实际上，这项子计划本身已有确实的定位，但那仅是在谢顿心中。等轮廓再清楚一点时，他会对婉达与帕佛透露这项子计划，而日后，他还会告诉其他一些必要知道的人。 谢顿僵硬地缓缓起身。他得在一小时后回到川陀跟婉达与帕佛碰面，他们留了口信给他， 说要带来一个大惊喜。谢顿希望，那会是拼图的另外一块。在转身走回反重力升降机前，他微笑着再望了川陀一眼，同时轻声说出两个字：“基地。” Chapter 34 Hari Seldon entered his office to find that Wanda and Palver had already arrived and were seated around the conference table at the far end of the room. As was usual with those two, the room was completely silent. Then Seldon stopped short, noticing that a new fellow was sitting with them. How strange-out of politeness, Wanda and Palver usually reverted to standard speech when in the company of other people, yet none of the three was speaking. Seldon studied the stranger-an odd-looking man, about thirty-five years old, with the myopic look of one caught up for too long in his studies. If it weren't for a certain determined set to the stranger's jaw, Seldon thought he might be dismissed as ineffectual, but that would obviously be a mistake. There was both strength and kindness in the man's face. A trustworthy face, Seldon decided. "Grandfather," Wanda said, rising gracefully from her chair. Seldon's heart ached as he looked at his granddaughter. She'd changed so much in the past few months, since the loss of her family. Whereas before she had always called him Grandpa, now it was the more formal Grandfather. In the past it seemed she could barely refrain from grins and giggles; lately her serene gaze was lightened only occasionally by a beatific smile. But-now as always-she was beautiful and that beauty was surpassed only by her stunning intellect. "Wanda, Palver," Seldon said, kissing the former on the cheek and slapping the latter on the shoulder. "Hello," Seldon said, turning to the stranger, who had also stood. "I am Hari Seldon." "I am most honored to meet you, Professor," the man replied. "I am Bor Alurin." Alurin offered a hand to Seldon in the archaic and, hence, most formal mode of greeting. "Bor is a psychologist, Hari," said Palver, "and a great fan of your work." "More important, Grandfather," said Wanda, "Bor is one of us." "One of you?" Seldon looked searchingly from one to the other. "Do you mean . ?" Seldon's eyes sparkled. "Yes, Grandfather. Yesterday Stettin and I were walking through Ery Sector, getting out and around, as you'd suggested, probing for others. All of a sudden-wham!-there it was." "We recognized the thought patterns immediately and began to look around, trying to establish a link," Palver said, taking up the story. "We were in a commercial area, near the spaceport, so the walkways were clogged with shoppers and tourists and Outworld traders. It seemed hopeless, but then Wanda simply stopped and signaled Come here and out of the crowd Bor appeared. He just walked up to us and signaled Yes?" "Amazing," Seldon said, beaming at his granddaughter. "And Dr.-it is Doctor, isn't it?-Alurin, what do you make of all this?" "Well," began the psychologist thoughtfully, "I am pleased. I've always felt different somehow and now I know why. And if I can be of any help to you, why-" The psychologist looked down at his feet, as if all of a sudden he realized he was being presumptuous. "What I mean is, Wanda and Stettin said I may be able to contribute in some way to your Psychohistory Project. Professor, nothing would please me more." "Yes yes. That's quite true, Dr. Alurin. In fact, I think you may make a great contribution to the Project-if you'll join me. Of course, you'll have to give up whatever it is you do now, whether it is teaching or private practice. Can you manage that?" "Why, yes, Professor, of course. I may need a little help convincing my wife-" At this he chuckled slightly, glancing shyly at each of his three companions in turn. "But I seem to have a way with that." "So it's set, then," said Seldon briskly. "You will join the Psychohistory Project. I promise you, Dr. Alurin, this is a decision you will not regret." "Wanda, Stettin," Seldon said later, after Bor Alurin had left. "This is a most welcome breakthrough. How quickly do you think you can find more mentalics?" "Grandfather, it took us over a month to locate Bor-we cannot predict with what frequency others will be found. "To tell you the truth, all this `out and around' takes us away from our work on the Prime Radiant and it is distracting as well. Now that I have Stettin to `talk' to, verbal communication is somewhat too harsh, too loud. " Seldon's smile faded. He had been afraid of this. As Wanda and Palver had been honing their mentalic skills, so their tolerance for "ordinary" life had diminished. It only made sense; their mentalic manipulations set them apart. "Wanda, Stettin, I think it may be time for me to tell you more about the idea Yugo Amaryl had years ago and about the Plan I've devised as a result of that idea. I haven't been ready to elaborate upon it until now, because until this moment, all the pieces have not been in place. "As you know, Yugo felt we must establish two Foundations-each as a fail-safe measure for the other. It was a brilliant idea, one which I wish Yugo could have lived long enough to see realized." Here Seldon paused, heaving a regretful sigh. "But I digress. -Six years ago, when I was certain that Wanda had mentalic, or mind-touching, capabilities, it came to me that not only should there be two Foundations but that they should be distinct in nature, as well. One would be made up of physical scientists-the Encyclopedists will be their pioneer group on Terminus. The second would be made up of true psychohistorians; mentalists-you. That is why I've been so eager for you to find others like you. "Finally, though, is this: The Second Foundation must be secret. Its strength will lie in its seclusion, in its telepathic omnipresence and omnipotence. "You see, a few years ago, when it became apparent that I would require the services of a bodyguard, I realized that the Second Foundation must be the strong, silent, secret bodyguard of the primary Foundation. "Psychohistory is not infallible-its predictions are, however, highly probable. The Foundation, especially in its infancy, will have many enemies, as do I today. "Wanda, you and Palver are the pioneers of the Second Foundation, the guardians of the Terminus Foundation." "But how, Grandfather?" demanded Wanda. "We are just two-well, three, if you count Bor. To guard the entire Foundation, we would need-" "Hundreds? Thousands? Find however many it takes, Granddaughter. You can do it. And you know how. "Earlier, when relating the story of finding Dr. Alurin, Stettin said you simply stopped and communicated out to the mentalic presence you felt and he came to you. Don't you see? All along I've been urging you to go out and find others like you. But this is difficult, almost painful for you. I realize now that you and Stettin must seclude yourselves, in order to form the nucleus of the Second Foundation. From there you will cast your nets into the ocean of humanity." "Grandfather, what are you saying?" Wanda asked in a whisper. She had left her seat and was kneeling next to Seldon's chair. "Do you want me to leave?" "No, Wanda," Seldon replied, his voice choked with emotion. "I don't want you to leave, but it is the only way. You and Stettin must isolate yourselves from the crude physicality of Trantor. As your mentalic abilities grow stronger, you will attract others to you-the silent and secret Foundation will grow. "We will be in touch-occasionally, of course. And each of us has a Prime Radiant. You see, don't you, the truth-and the absolute necessity -of what I am saying, don't you?" "Yes, I do, Grandfather," said Wanda. "More important, I feel the brilliance of it as well. Rest assured; we won't let you down." "I know you won't, dear," Seldon said wearily. How could he do this-how could he send his darling granddaughter away? She was his last link to his happiest days, to Dors, Yugo, and Raych. She was the only other Seldon in the Galaxy. "I shall miss you terribly, Wanda," Seldon said as a tear worked its way down his finely creased cheek. "But, Grandfather," Wanda said as she stood with Palver, preparing to leave. "Where shall we go? Where is the Second Foundation?" Seldon looked up and said, "The Prime Radiant has already told you, Wanda." Wanda looked at Seldon blankly, searching her memory. Seldon reached out and clutched at his granddaughter's hand. "Touch my mind, Wanda. It is there." Wanda's eyes widened as she reached into Seldon's mind. "I see," Wanda whispered to Seldon. Section 33A2D17.- Star's End. 第三十四章 　　谢顿走进他的研究室，发现婉达与帕佛已经到了。他们坐在房间另一端的会议桌旁，正如两人通常独处时一样，室内完全寂静无声。 突然，谢顿停下脚步。他注意到还有个陌生人也坐在室内。多奇怪啊，通常有别人在场之际，婉达与帕佛基于礼貌总会恢复正常的交谈方式，但这三个人却没有一个开口。 谢顿打量着这个陌生人。他有一副古怪的外表，大约三十五岁，看来像是用功过度而患了近视。若非他的下巴棱角暗示出几许坚毅的性格，很可能会被人视为无能之辈，但那样判断显然会是大错特错。此人脸上同时透出毅力与亲和力，那是一张值得信赖的脸孔。 “祖父。”婉达说着文雅地站起身来。谢顿望着他的孙女，心头一阵刺痛。失去家人的这几个月来，婉达改变了许多。以前她总是叫他“爷爷”，如今则改口成较正式的“祖父”。 过去她常忍不住露出娇憨的笑容，最近则变得沉稳许多，偶尔眼底才会闪过一抹罕见的笑意。 但不变的是她的美丽，而比她的美貌更出色的，是她令人惊叹的聪明。 “婉达，帕佛。”谢顿开口招呼，亲亲婉达的面颊，又拍了一下帕佛的肩膀。“你好，我是哈里•谢顿。”谢顿转向那位陌生人，那人也已站起来。“非常荣幸能见到您，教授。”那人答道，“我是玻尔•艾鲁云。”艾鲁云向谢顿伸出手， 那是一种古老的的问候礼，因此也使这个问候更显正式。 “玻尔是心理学家，哈里，”帕佛说，“而且对你的工作非常着迷。” “更重要的是，”婉达说，“玻尔是我们的一分子。”“你们的一分子？”谢顿以探询的目光轮流望着三人，“你的意思是……”谢顿的眼睛亮了起来。 “是的，祖父。昨天史铁亭和我走在艾瑞区——照你的建议，出去转转，寻找其他的人。 突然之间，轰！就出现了。 “我们立刻认出那个思想型样，开始四下寻找，试图跟对方联系。”帕佛接着说，“我们 当时在一个商业区，接近太空航站，所以人行道上挤满了逛街的人、观光客和外星行商。原本看来已经毫无希望了，但后来婉达干脆停下来，发出‘到这里来’的讯号，玻尔便从人群中出现了。他就这么走向我们，并发出‘什么事？’的讯号。”“不可思议，”谢顿对他的孙女露出微笑，“艾鲁云博士——是博士吧？你对这一切有什 么看法？” “这个嘛，”这位心理学家若有所思地说，“我很高兴。我总感到自己有点不同，现在我 知道为什么了。假如我能对您有任何帮助——”这位心理学家突然低下头，仿佛察觉到自己的冒失，“我的意思是，婉达和史铁亭说我也许能在某方面对心理史学计划尽一点力。教授， 没有比这让我更高兴的事了。”“你说得很对，艾鲁云博士。事实上，你要是愿意加入，我想你或许能对本计划做出极大贡献。当然，不论你现在从事什么工作，都必须放弃。你做得到吗？”“当然可以，教授。我也许得花点工夫才能说服我太太……”说到这里他轻笑了几声，又羞怯地看看其他三人，“但那对我来说似乎不是什么难事。”“好，那就这么说定了，”谢顿轻快地说，“欢迎你加入心理史学计划。我向你保证，艾 鲁云博士，你不会后悔加入我们的。” “婉达，史铁亭，”玻尔•艾鲁云离去后，谢顿开心地说，“这真是个大突破。你们认为多快能找到其他的精神异人？”“祖父，我们花了一个多月才发现玻尔，我们无法预测得花多少时间才能找到其他人。“说实话，祖父，这个‘出去转转’的办法占去了我们研究元光体的时间，而且很让人分神。现在我有史铁亭可以‘交谈’，语言沟通就似乎显得太刺耳、太吵闹了。”谢顿的笑容随即消失。他一直害怕这种事，婉达与帕佛将精神力学技巧锻炼得越好，他们对“日常生活”的耐力就会相对降低。这是很自然的事，毕竟他们拥有异于常人的精神能力。 “婉达，史铁亭，我想现在大概是时候了，我该进一步告诉你们雨果•阿马瑞尔多年前 的构想，以及我根据这个构想而推衍出的子计划。我直到今天才准备告诉你们详细内容，是因为直到此时此刻，一切才已就绪。“你们已经知道，雨果当初觉得必须建立两个基地，互相作为后备。这是个不同凡响的构想——只可惜雨果已经过世，无法亲眼见到它实现。”谢顿说到这里，遗憾地叹了口气。“我离题了。六年前，当我确定婉达有精神能力——或说触动心灵的能力时，我就想到不但应该建立两个基地，而且两者的本质应该完全不同。我计划其中一个由物理科学家组成， 而百科全书编者就是他们在端点星的先锋部队。另一个基地的成员则是真正的心理史学家——精神学家，也就是你们，所以我才这么急着要你们找到其他人。 “不过，我最后还是要强调——第二基地必须保密。因为它的力量乃根植于它的隐秘性， 以及它无所不在、无所不能的精神感应力。 “知道吗，几年前我被迫找保镖的时候，我就领悟到，第二基地必须做第一基地的保镖， 一个强大而沉默的秘密保镖。“心理史学并非绝对正确，然而，它的准确性极高。就像今天的我一样，第一基地也将有许多敌人——尤其是在它的襁褓期。“婉达，你和帕佛是第二基地的先锋，是端点星基地的守护者。” “可是我们该怎么做呢，祖父？”婉达追问，“我们只有两个人——好吧，三个，如果玻尔也算在内。要守护整个基地，我们还需要……” “几百人？几千人？需要多少就找出多少，婉达。你做得到，你也知道该怎么做。“刚才你们提到你感觉出艾鲁云博士的思想型样，却遍寻不着，最后你干脆站住，对你感到的那股精神发出讯号，结果他就向你们走了过来。你懂了吗？婉达，以前我一直驱策你们走出去，寻找其他精神异人。但对你们而言，这样做不但困难，而且是件苦差事。现在我明白了，为了形成第二基地的核心，你和史铁亭必须隐居起来，然后从隐居的地方向茫茫人海撒网。” “祖父，你在说什么？”婉达离开座位，跪在谢顿的座椅旁，轻声问道，“你要我离开吗？” “不，婉达。”谢顿答道，声音中充满感情，“我不希望你离开，但这是唯一的办法，你 和史铁亭必须跟川陀的芸芸众生隔离开来。随着精神力量逐渐增强，你们会慢慢吸引更多有精神能力的人，沉默而秘密的基地便会成形。“我们将保持联络——但只能偶尔联络。婉达，我们都看过元光体，你明白我说的都是事实，而且有绝对的必要，对不对？” “是的，我明白，祖父。”婉达说，“更重要的是，我感觉到了这计划的精妙地方。放心，我们不会让你失望的。” “我知道你们不会，亲爱的。”谢顿疲倦地说。他怎能就这样把心爱的孙女送走呢？婉达和他共同拥有对铎丝、雨果与芮奇的记忆，她是自己与那段快乐岁月的最后一线联系。在整个银河中，她是谢顿家族硕果仅存的一员。“我会想念你的，婉达。”谢顿说着，眼泪滑落在布满细纹的脸颊上。 “可是，祖父，”婉达站到帕佛身边准备离去时，又开口说，“我们该到哪里去？第二基 地到底在哪里？” 谢顿抬起头来：“元光体已经告诉你了，婉达。” 婉达茫然望着谢顿，同时搜寻自己的记忆。 谢顿伸出手，抓住孙女的手。 “接触我的心灵，婉达，它就在那里。” 婉达进入谢顿的心灵，立刻睁大了眼睛。 “我懂了。”婉达悄声答道。 ——3323A2D17 节：群星的尽头。 PART V EPILOGUE I am Hari Seldon. Former First Minister to Emperor Cleon I. Professor Emeritus of Psychohistory at Streeling University on Trantor. Director of the Psychohistory Research Project. Executive Editor of the Encyclopedia Galactica. Creator of the Foundation. It all sounds quite impressive, I know. I have done a great deal in my eighty-one years and I am tired. Looking back over my life, I wonder if I could have-should have-done certain things differently. For instance: Was I so concerned with the grand sweep of psychohistory that the people and events that intersected my life sometimes seemed inconsequential by comparison? Perhaps I neglected to make some small incidental adjustments here or there that would have in no way compromised the future of humanity but might have dramatically improved the life of an individual dear to me. -Yugo, Raych . I can't help but wonder . Was there something I could have done to save my beloved Dors? Last month I finished recording the Crisis holograms. My assistant, Gaal Dornick, has taken them to Terminus to oversee their installation in the Seldon Vault. He will make sure that the Vault is sealed and that the proper instructions are left for the eventual openings of the Vault, during the Crises. I'll be dead by then, of course. What will they think, those future Foundationers, when they see me (or, more accurately, my hologram) during the First Crisis, almost fifty years from now? Will they comment on how old I look or how weak my voice is or how small I seem, bundled in this wheelchair? Will they understand-appreciate-the message I've left for them? -Ah well, there's really no point in speculating. As the ancients would say: The die is cast. I heard from Gaal yesterday. All is going well on Terminus. Bor Alurin and the Project members are flourishing in "exile." I shouldn't gloat, but I can't help but chuckle when I recall the self-satisfied look on the face of that pompous idiot Linge Chen when he banished the Project to Terminus two years ago. Although ultimately the exile was couched in terms of an Imperial Charter ("A state-supported scientific institution and part of the personal domain of His August Majesty, the Emperor"-the Chief Commissioner wanted us off Trantor and out of his hair, but he could not bear the thought of giving up complete control), it is still a source of secret delight to know that it was Las Zenow and I who chose Terminus as Foundation's home. My one regret where Linge Chen is concerned is that we were not able to save Agis. That Emperor was a good man and a noble leader, even if he was Imperial in name only. His mistake was to believe in his title and the Commission of Public Safety would not tolerate the burgeoning Imperial independence. I often wonder what they did to Agis-was he exiled to some remote Outer World or assassinated like Cleon? The boy-child who sits on the throne today is the perfect puppet Emperor. He obeys every word Linge Chen whispers in his ear and fancies himself a budding statesman. The Palace and trappings of Imperial life are but toys to him in some vast fantastical game. What will I do now? With Gaal finally gone to join the Terminus group, I am utterly alone. I hear from Wanda occasionally. The work at Star's End continues on course; in the past decade she and Stettin have added dozens of mentalics to their number. They increasingly grow in power. It was the Star's End contingent-my secret Foundation-who pushed Linge Chen into sending the Encyclopedists to Terminus. I miss Wanda. It has been many years since I've seen her, sat with her quietly, holding her hand. When Wanda left, even though I had asked her to go, I thought I would die of heartbreak. That was, perhaps, the most difficult decision I ever had to make and, although I never told her, I almost decided against it. But for the Foundation to succeed, it was necessary for Wanda and Stettin to go to Star's End. Psychohistory decreed it, -so perhaps it wasn't really my decision, after all. I still come here every day, to my office in the Psychohistory Building. I remember when this structure was filled with people, day and night. Sometimes I feel as if it's filled with voices, those of my long-departed family, students, colleagues-but the offices are empty and silent. The hallways echo with the whirr of my wheelchair motor. I suppose I should vacate the building, return it to the University to allocate to another department. But somehow it's hard to let go of this place. There are so many memories . All I have now is this, my Prime Radiant. This is the means by which psychohistory can be computed, through which every equation in my Plan may be analyzed, all here in this amazing, small black cube. As I sit here, this deceptively simple-looking tool in the palm of my hand, I wish I could show it to R. Daneel Olivaw . But I am alone, and need only to close a contact for the office lights to dim. As I settle back in my wheelchair, the Prime Radiant activates, its equations spreading around me in three-dimensional splendor. To the untrained eye, this multicolored swirl would be merely a jumble of shapes and numbers, but for me-and Yugo, Wanda, Gaal-this is psychohistory, come to life. What I see before me, around me, is the future of humanity. Thirty thousand years of potential chaos, compressed into a single millennium . That patch, glowing more strongly day by day, is the Terminus equation. And there-skewed beyond repair-are the Trantor figures. But I can see . yes, softly beaming, a steady light of hope . Star's End! This-this-was my life's work. My past-humanity's future. Foundation. So beautiful, so alive. And nothing can . Dors! SELDON, HARI- . found dead, slumped over his desk in his office at Streeling University in 12,069 G.E. (1 F.E.). Apparently Seldon had been working up to his last moments on psychohistorical equations; his activated Prime Radiant was discovered clutched in his hand . According to Seldon's instructions, the instrument was shipped to his colleague Gaal Dornick who had recently emigrated to Terminus . Seldon's body was jettisoned into space, also in accordance with instructions he'd left. The official memorial service on Trantor was simple, though well attended. It is worth noting that Seldon's old friend former First Minister Eto Demerzel attended the event. Demerzel had not been seen since his mysterious disappearance immediately following the Joranumite Conspiracy during the reign of Emperor Cleon I. Attempts by the Commission of Public Safety to locate Demerzel in the days following the Seldon memorial proved to be unsuccessful . Wanda Seldon, Hari Seldon's granddaughter, did not attend the ceremony. It was rumored that she was grief-stricken and had refused all public appearances. To this day, her whereabouts from then on remain unknown . It has been said that Hari Seldon left this life as he lived it, for he died with the future he created unfolding all around him . ENCYCLOPEDIA GALACTICA The End 尾声 　　我是哈里•谢顿，克里昂大帝一世御前首相、川陀大学川陀分校心理史学系荣退教授、 心理史学研究计划主持人、《银河百科全书》执行编辑、基地的创造者。 这些头衔都相当动听，我很清楚。在八十一年的生命中，我做了很多事，如今我已累了。 回顾这一生，我时常自问，是否有什么事能够——或应该去改变的。比如说，我是不是太过关切心理史学的壮阔远景，以致相较之下，忽略了与我生命交汇的人与事？ 或许我可以在不危及人类未来的前提下，在某些地方做些小小的调整，如此一来，说不定我就能改变我所爱之人的命运。雨果、芮奇……我忍不住自问……当初我是否有可能挽救我挚爱的铎丝？ 上个月，我完成了“危机全息讲话”的录制工作。我的助手盖尔•多尼克已抵达端点星，准备将它安装于谢顿穹窿。他将亲自监督整个过程，确定穹窿事后会密封起来，并留下指示， 好让穹窿在每次危机发生时重新开启。 当然，那时我已经死了。 大约五十年后，当首度危机来临，那些未来的基地人看到我的时候（更精确地说，是我的全息像），他们会怎么想呢？他们会对我评头论足，说我看来多么苍老、我的声音多么微弱，或禁锢在轮椅上的我显得多渺小吗？他们能了解——体会——我留给他们的讯息吗？啊， 算了，臆测这些实在没有意义。正如古人所云：骰子已经掷下。 昨天我接到盖尔的来讯。端点星上一切顺利，玻尔•艾鲁云与计划成员的“放逐”生涯 渐入佳境。我不该暗喜，但每当我想起两年前，凌吉•辰那个笨家伙决定将谢顿计划流放到端点星时，他脸上傲慢自满的表情，我就忍不住窃笑。虽然我们的放逐表面上是以一纸皇帝特许状执行（状上写着：“端点星为神圣威武的皇帝陛下直辖的领域，今特成立一国立科学机构……”——凌吉•辰要我们滚出川陀，离他越远越好，但又不甘心完全放弃控制权）， 但一想到其实是拉斯•齐诺与我选择端点星作为基地的家，我仍会一个人乐上半天。 提到凌吉•辰这个人，我最大的遗憾是未能救出艾吉思。艾吉思是个好人，是个高贵的领导者，虽然他只是有名无实的皇帝。他犯的错误是太相信自己的头衔，而公共安全委员会是不可能容忍独立的皇权萌芽。 我常纳闷他们如何处置了艾吉思。他是被放逐到某个遥远的外围世界，还是像克里昂一样遇刺了？ 今天坐在皇位上的男孩是个标准的傀儡皇帝。他对凌吉•辰言听计从，幻想自己是个新生代政治家。对他而言，皇宫以及帝王生活的锦衣玉食，不过是一场梦幻游戏中的玩具罢了。现在，我终于又孤独一人，盖尔也已离开，加入端点星的阵容，我要做什么呢？偶尔我会有婉达的消息，群星尽头的工作仍照原定计划进行。过去十年间，她与史铁亭网罗了数十名精神异人，秘密基地的力量持续壮大。正是这支秘密分遣队影响了凌吉•辰，让他决定将 百科全书编者送到端点星。 我很想念婉达。上次见到她，已经是多年前的事。那时我只是默默握着她的手，什么话都说不出来。尽管是我要她走的，但在她离去后，我曾怀疑自己是否活得下去。这件事或许是我一生中最困难的一项决定。婉达并不知道，我差点改变主意要她留下。可是为了基地的未来，婉达与史铁亭必须前往群星尽头。这是心理史学必然的选择，所以话说回来，这或许并不算是我的决定。 我仍旧每天来到这里，来到我在心理史学大楼中的研究室。这座建筑日夜忙碌的日子依然存在我记忆中，有时我仿佛依稀听见此起彼落的人声，发自那些久违的家人、学生与同事。 然而，事实上每间研究室都空荡寂静，只有我的轮椅发出的呼呼声回荡在走廊上。我想我应该撤出这座大楼，将它还给大学当局，供另一个系所使用。不过要舍弃这个地方实在很难，有那么多的回忆…… 现在我所拥有的，只剩下我的元光体。这是心理史学的计算工具，计划中的每条方程式都借此分析，一切都在这个不可思议的黑色小立方体中。此时我坐在这里，这个看似简单的工具就握在我的掌心。我好希望能将它的功用展示给机•丹尼尔•奥利瓦…… 但我现在孤独一人。我只要按下开关，调暗研究室的照明，在我靠回轮椅时，元光体就激活了。那些方程式在我周围散开，形成三维光团，在一般人眼中，这个七彩漩涡只是一堆杂乱的图形与数字，但对我——还有雨果、婉达、盖尔——而言，这就是心理史学，活生生的心理史学。 人类的未来就展现在我的面前，潜在的三万年混沌混乱，已被压缩成短短一个千年……那块光度日增的，就是端点星方程式。而严重扭曲的那一块，则是川陀的图像，但在当中我仍能看见……是的，我看见一道柔和的光芒，稳定的希望之光……群星尽头！ 这——就是我终身的志业。我的过去，人类的未来。基地！如此美丽、生动，没有其他可以比拟…… 铎丝！ 哈里•谢顿：……银纪一二〇六九年（基地元年），逝于川陀大学的研究室中，遗体仆倒在书桌上。显然谢顿生命中最后一刻，仍在从事心理史学方程式的研究；在他手中，还紧握着已激活的元光体…… 根据谢顿的遗嘱，这个仪器后来送交他的同事盖尔•多尼克，后者在谢顿过世前不久移 居端点星…… 谢顿的遗体被抛入太空，这也是遵照他遗嘱的指示。在川陀举行的官方追悼会相当简单， 出席者却出乎意料地踊跃。值得注意的是，谢顿的老友——前首相伊图•丹莫茨尔亦曾出席。克里昂大帝一世在位期间，丹莫茨尔在九九派阴谋平息后随即神秘失踪，从此再无人见过他。 谢顿的追悼会结束后，公共安全委员会曾试图追査丹莫茨尔的行踪，但努力多日仍一无所 获…… 婉达•谢顿——哈里•谢顿的孙女——则未出席追悼仪式。传言她由于伤心欲绝，拒绝在任何公开场合露面。直到今天，她的下落仍是个谜…… 有人认为哈里•谢顿虽死犹生，因为他离世之际，他创造的未来正展现在他的四周…… —— 《银河百科全书》