PART II THE ENCYCLOPEDISTS

第二章 百科全书编者

TERMINUS:……Its location (see map) was an odd one for the role it was called upon to play in Galactic history, and yet as many writers have never tired of pointing out, an inevitable one. Located on the very fringe of the Galactic spiral, an only planet of an isolated sun, poor in resources and negligible in economic value, it was never settled in the five centuries after its discovery, until the landing of the Encyclopedists……

端点星：……它的位置偏远（请参考星图），与其在银河历史中扮演的角色形成强烈对比。但正如许多作家一再不厌其烦所指出的，这乃是历史的必然结果。端点星位于银河旋臂的最前缘，是伴随该处一颗孤独恒星的唯一行星。它自然资源贫乏，也几乎毫无经济价值，被发现了五个世纪，仍然没有移民迁入，直到百科全书编者登陆……

It was inevitable that as a new generation grew, Terminus would become something more than an appendage of the psychohistorians of Trantor. With the Anacreonian revolt and the rise to power of Salvor Hardin, first of the great line of……

下一代长大后，端点星的角色不可避免地起了变化，不再只是川陀心理史学家们的附属品。随着安纳克里昂的叛变，以及首任市长塞佛·哈定的势力逐渐崛起……

ENCYCLOPEDIA GALACTICA

——《银河百科全书》

Lewis Pirenne was busily engaged at his desk in the one well-lit comer ofthe room. Work had to be co-ordinated. Effort had to be organized. Threads had to be woven into a pattern.

在办公室明亮的一角，路易·皮翰纳正在书桌前埋头苦干。许多工作需要他协调，许多人力需要他规划，千头万绪必须理得井井有条。

Fifty years now; fifty years to establish themselves and set up Encyclopedia Foundation Number One into a smoothly working unit. Fifty years to gather the raw material. Fifty years to prepare.

五十年过去了，他们花了五十年的时间，将这个“百科全书第一号基地”建立成一个完善的机构。这五十年的光阴，全都花在搜集资料以及准备工作上。

It had been done. Five more years would see the publication of the first volume of the most monumental work the Galaxy had ever conceived. And then at ten-year intervals regularly, like clockwork , volume after volume. And with them there would be supplements; special articles on events of current interest, until……

如今准备工作终于告一段落。五年之后，银河有史以来最伟大的巨着即将出版第一册。此后每隔十年会再出一册，时程定得像机械装置一般准确。同时还将出版许多附册，刊载重要时事的相关专文，直到……

Pirenne stirred uneasily, as the muted buzzer upon his desk muttered peevishly. He had almost forgotten the appointment. He shoved the door release and out of an abstracted comer of one eye saw the door open and the broad figure of Salvor Hardin enter. Pirenne did not look up.

当书桌上的蜂鸣器低声呜呜作响时，皮翰纳不安地挪动了一下。他几乎忘了还有一个约会。他赶紧按下开门的掣钮，便从眼角瞥见塞佛·哈定魁梧的身材出现在门口。不过，皮翰纳并没有抬起头来。

Hardin smiled to himself. He was in a hurry, but he knew better than to take offense at Pirenne's cavalier treatment of anything or anyone that disturbed him at his work. He buried himself in the chair on the other side of the desk and waited.

哈定自我解嘲地微微一笑。他的确有急事，但是并未表现出任何不悦，因为他很了解，皮翰纳对于打扰他工作的任何人或任何事，一律采取这种不闻不问的傲慢态度。哈定只是坐到书桌另一侧的椅子上，耐心地等待着。

Pirenne's stylus made the faintest scraping sound as it raced across paper. Otherwise, neither motion nor sound. And then Hardin withdrew a two-credit coin from his vest pocket. He flipped it and its stainless-steel surface caught flitters of light as it tumbled through the air. He caught it and-flipped it again, watching the flashing reflections lazily. Stainless steel made good medium of exchange on a planet where all metal had to be imported.

现在，只有皮翰纳的铁笔划在纸上所发出的沙沙声，除此之外没有任何的声音或动作。哈定从背心口袋掏出一枚两信用点的硬币，顺手弹到空中。硬币在空中飞快翻滚，不锈钢的表面光芒闪动。然后哈定伸手抓住硬币，再将它弹出去，懒洋洋地盯着闪烁的反光。在这颗一切金属仰赖进口的行星上，不锈钢还真是货币的适当材料。

Pirenne looked up and blinked. "Stop that!" he said querulously.

皮翰纳终于抬起头，眨了眨眼睛。“停下来！”他的语气充满不悦。

"Eh?"

“啊？”

That infernal coin tossing. Stop it.

“别再丢那可恶的硬币了。”

"Oh." Hardin pocketed the metal disk. "Tell me when you're ready, will you? I promised to be back at the City Council meeting before the new aqueduct project is put to a vote."

“喔。”哈定将硬币放回口袋，“你忙完的时候，请告诉我一声好吗？我已经答应他们，在新下水道的计划付诸表决之前，一定赶回市议会去。”

Pirenne sighed and shoved himself away from the desk. "I'm ready. But I hope you aren't going to bother me with city affairs. Take care of that yourself, please. The Encyclopedia takes up all my time."

皮翰纳叹了一口气，起身离开书桌。“我有空了，但是希望你别拿市政府的公事来烦我。拜托，你自己处理就好了，百科全书已经占了我全部的时间。”

Have you heard the news? questioned Hardin, phlegmatically.

“你听到新闻了吗？”哈定以冷静的口气问道。

"What news?"

“什么新闻？”

The news that the Terminus City ultrawave set received two hours ago. The Royal Governor of the Prefect of Anacreon has assumed the title of king.

“就是端点市超波接收站两小时前收到的新闻，安纳克里昂星郡的皇家总督已经自立为王了。”

Well? What of it?

“哦？那又怎么样？”

"It means," responded Hardin, "that we're cut off from the inner regions ofthe Empire. We've been expecting it but that doesn't make it any more comfortable. Anacreon stands square across what was our last remaining trade route to Santanni and to Trantor and to Vega itself. Where is our metal to come from? We haven't managed to get a steel or aluminum shipment through in six months and now we won't be able to get any at all, except by grace of the King of Anacreon."

“那就意味着，”哈定答道，“我们和帝国内域的联系被切断了。我们早已预料到这件事，可是这于事无补。安纳克里昂刚好横跨我们和川陀、圣塔尼，以及织女星系的最后一条贸易路线之上。以后我们的金属要从哪里进口呢？过去六个月，我们未能弄到任何的钢和铝，现在更是一点办法也没有了，除非安纳克里昂的国王大发慈悲。”

Pirenne tch-tched impatiently."Get them through him, then."

皮翰纳不耐烦地“啧”了好几声。“那就从他那里进口好了。”

"But can we? Listen, Pirenne, according to the charter which established this Foundation, the Board of Trustees of the Encyclopedia Committee has been given full administrative powers. I, as Mayor of Terminus City, have just enough power to blow my own nose and perhaps to sneeze if you countersign an order giving me permission. It's up to you and your Board then. I'm asking you in the name of the City, whose prosperity depends upon uninterrupted commerce with the Galaxy, to call an emergency meeting?

“但是我们能这样做吗？皮翰纳，听我说，根据设立这个基地的特许状，百科全书委员会之下的理事会拥有完全的行政权。我这个端点市的市长，仅有的权力大概只能在一旁擤鼻涕，如果想要打个喷嚏，还得先请你签一张行政许可令。好吧，就让你和理事会来作决定。我现在以本市的名义请求你，赶快召开一个紧急会议，我们的繁荣全赖于和整个银河的畅通贸易。”

"Stop! A campaign speech is out of order. Now, Hardin, the Board of Trustees has not barred the establishment of a municipal government on Terminus. We understand one to be necessary because of the increase in population since the Foundation was established fifty years ago, and because of the increasing number of people involved in non-Encyclopedia affairs. But that does not mean that the first and only aim of the Foundation is no longer to publish the definitive Encyclopedia of all human knowledge. We are a State-supported, scientific institution, Hardin. We can not……must not……will not interfere in local politics."

“好了！别把竞选演说搬到这里来。哈定，给我听好，理事会并没有禁止在端点星上成立市政府。我们了解这是确有必要的，因为自从基地建立以来，五十年间人口已有大幅的增加，而且和百科全书无关的居民越来越多。但是这并不意味着，我们这个基地首要的、也是唯一的目的——出版网罗人类全体知识的百科全书——已经不复存在。哈定，我们是一个国立的科学机构。我们不能、不可以，也绝不会介入任何的地方性政治。”

"Local politics! By the Emperor's left toe, Pirenne, this is a matter of life and death. The planet, Terminus, by itself cannot support a mechanized civilization. It lacks metals. You know that. It hasn't a trace of iron,copper, or aluminum in the surface rocks, and precious little of anything else. What do you think will happen to the Encyclopedia if this watch macallum King of Anacreon clamps down on us?"

“地方性政治？皮翰纳，看在皇帝陛下脚趾的份上，这是攸关生死存亡的大事。端点星自身并不能维持一个机械化文明。这里极端缺乏金属，这点你应该很明白。在这颗行星的表壳岩石里，完全找不到一丁点的铁矿、铜矿或铝矿，其他的金属也几乎都没有。假如那个所谓的安纳克里昂国王吃定我们，你想想看，你的百科全书命运又会如何？”

"On us? Are you forgetting that we are under the direct control of the Emperor himself? We are not part of the Prefect of Anacreon or of any other prefect. Memorize that! We are part of the Emperor's personal domain, and no one touches us. The Empire can protect its own."

“吃定我们？你难道忘了，我们是直属于皇帝陛下的机构，不是安纳克里昂星郡或者其他任何行政区的一部分。这点给我牢牢记住！我们这里是皇帝陛下直辖的区域，没有任何人敢碰我们，帝国会好好保护端点星的。”

"Then why didn't it prevent the Royal Governor of Anacreon from kicking over the traces? And only Anacreon?" At least twenty of the outermost prefects of the Galaxy, the entire Periphery as a matter of fact, have begun steering things their own way. I tell you I feel damned uncertain of the Empire and its ability to protect us."

“那么，现在安纳克里昂的皇家总督自立门户，帝国为什么不阻止呢？而且何止安纳克里昂，帝国最外围至少有二十个星郡，事实上就是整个的‘银河外缘’，全都已经各自为政了。我告诉你，我对帝国根本不敢抱什么指望，更不相信它有能力保护我们。”

"Hokum! Royal Governors, Kings……what's the difference? The Empire is always shot through with a certain amount of politics and with different men pulling this way and that. Governors have rebelled, and, for that matter, Emperors have been deposed, or assassinated before this. But what has that to do with the Empire itself? Forget it, Hardin. It's none of our business. We are first of all and last of all-scientists. And our concern is the Encyclopedia. Oh, yes, I'd almost forgotten. Hardin!"

“胡扯！皇家总督和国王——又有什么两样？帝国里面一向有各式各样的政治主张，不同的人有不同的治国理念。过去也曾经有总督叛变，也有皇帝因而被罢黜或遇刺，但是这些可曾动摇帝国的根本？哈定，忘掉这个消息吧，这不关你我的事。我们是彻头彻尾的——科学家，我们的志业就是银河百科全书。喔，对了，我差点忘了。哈定！”

"Well?"

“什么事？”

"Do something about that paper of yours!" Pirenne's voice was angry.

“管管你的那份报纸吧！”皮翰纳的声音带着愤怒。

The Terminus City Journal? It isn't mine; it's privately owned. What's it been doing?

“你是指《端点市日报》吗？那不是我的，它是一家私人企业。它哪里惹到你了？”

For weeks now it has been recommending that the fiftieth anniversary of the establishment of the Foundation be made the occasion for public holidays and quite in appropriate celebrations.

“这几个星期，它一直在鼓吹要扩大庆祝基地建立五十周年纪念。建议把这一天定为公定假日，还倡导一些极不合宜的庆祝活动。”

And why not? The computoclock will open the Vault in three months. I would call this first opening a big occasion, wouldn't you?

“这有什么不好呢？三个月之后，电脑钟就会开启‘穹窿’。我认为穹窿首度开启是一件大事，你不这么认为吗？”

"Not for silly pageantry, Hardin. The Vault and its opening concern the Board of Trustees alone. Anything of importance will be communicated to the people. That is final and please make it plain to the Journal."

“哈定，这并不适合举办愚蠢的庆典。穹窿的开启只是理事会的事。如果我们获得任何重要的讯息，一定会立刻向大众宣布。就这么敲定，请务必向日报解释清楚。”

"I'm sorry, Pirenne, but the City Charter guarantees a certain minor matter known as freedom of the press."

“皮翰纳，很抱歉，但是端点市宪章上保证了一点小事，叫做新闻自由。”

It may. But the Board of Trustees does not. I am the Emperor's representative on Terminus, Hardin, and have full powers in this respect.

“或许吧，但是理事会却不吃这一套。哈定，我可是皇帝陛下派驻端点星的钦命代表，在这方面我有绝对的权力。”

Hardin's expression became that of a man counting to ten, mentally. He said, grimly: "in connection with your status as Emperor's representative,then, I have a final piece of news to give you."

从哈定的表情，看得出他在尽最大的努力强忍怒意。他绷着脸说：“我还有最后一个消息，正是要对你这位钦命代表报告的。”

"About Anacreon? Pirenne's lips tightened. He felt annoyed."

“跟安纳克里昂有关吗？”皮翰纳紧绷着嘴唇，感到厌烦透了。

"Yes. A special envoy will be sent to us from Anacreon. In two weeks."

“对。两个星期后，安纳克里昂将派遣一名特使到这里来。”

"An envoy? Here? From Anacreon?" Pirenne chewed that. What for?

“特使？到这里来？安纳克里昂派来的？”皮翰纳沉思许久，“来干什么？”

Hardin stood up, and shoved his chair back up against the desk. "I give you one guess."

哈定站起来，将椅子推回书桌旁边。“我让你猜猜看。”

And he left--quite unceremoniously.

他随即离去——连个招呼都没有打。

Anselm haut Rodric's "haut" itself signifying noble blood -Sub-prefect of Pluema and Envoy Extraordinary of his Highness of Anacreon-plus half a dozen other titles was met by Salvor Hardin at the spaceport with all the imposing ritual of a state occasion.

安瑟姆·浩·若缀克是安纳克里昂国王派到端点星来的特使，他是普洛玛的副提督，此外还拥有五六项其他头衔。他的名字中间那个“浩”，代表的正是贵族血统。当他抵达端点星时，哈定亲自到太空航站迎接，并且安排了隆重的外交礼节。

With a tight smile and a low bow, the sub-prefect had flipped his blaster from its holster and presented it to Hardin butt first. Hardin returned the compliment with, a blaster specifically borrowed for the occasion. Friendship and good will were thus established, and if Hardin noted the barest bulge at Haut Rodric's shoulder, he prudently said nothing.

这位副提督带着僵硬的微笑，微微弯下腰，将手铳从皮套中取出来，铳柄朝前递给哈定。哈定也还以相同的礼数，他递过去的手铳还是特地借来的。完成这个仪式后，就代表双方从此建立起友谊与善意。即使哈定注意到若缀克肩处的突起，也谨慎地视而不见。

The ground car that received them then--preceded, flanked, and followed by the suitable cloud of minor functionaries? proceeded in a slow,ceremonious manner to Cyclopedia Square, cheered on its way by a properly enthusiastic crowd.

在迎接特使的地面车周围，前后左右都簇拥着一群职位较低的官员。整个车队以游行般缓慢的速度开向“全书广场”，沿途都有许多热情民众夹道欢迎。

Sub-prefect Anselm received the cheers with the complaisant indifference of a soldier and a nobleman.

副提督一直以军人与贵族应有的矜持，接受着群众的欢呼。

He said to Hardin, "And this city is all your world?"

他对哈定说：“这座城市就是你们整个的世界？”

Hardin raised his voice to be heard above the clamor. "We are a young world, your eminence. In our short history we have had but few members of the higher nobility visiting our poor planet. Hence, our enthusiasm."

哈定努力提高音量，才能压过鼎沸的人声。“阁下，这里是个新的世界。在我们这颗不起眼的行星短得可怜的历史中，很少有像您这么尊贵的贵族莅临巡视。因此，群众才会这般如痴如狂。”

It is certain that "higher nobility" did not recognize irony when he heard it.

当然，这位“尊贵的贵族”并没有听出话中的讽刺之意。

He said thoughtfully: "Founded fifty years ago. Hm-mmm! You have a great deal of unexploited land here, mayor. You have never considered dividing it into estates?"

他若有所思地说：“五十年前建立的。嗯——嗯！市长，你们一定还有很多未开发的土地，难道从来没有想到划分成领地？”

"There is no necessity as yet. We're extremely centralized; we have to be,because of the Encyclopedia. Someday, perhaps, when our population has grown……"

“目前为止，还没有这个需要。我们的人口相当集中，我们必须如此，这全是为了那套百科全书。也许有一天，当我们的人口增长到……”

A strange world! You have no peasantry?

“真是一个奇怪的世界！你们没有农民吗？”

Hardin reflected that it didn't require a great deal of acumen to tell tha this eminence was indulging in a bit of fairly clumsy pumping. He replied casually, "No--nor nobility."

哈定感到这位大人不断在套他的话，不过技巧相当拙劣，不必多少敏锐度便能察觉出来。哈定只是随口答道：“没有——也没有贵族。”

Haut Rodric's eyebrows lifted. "And your leader--the man I am to meet?"

若缀克大人扬起眉毛。“那你们的领导者……等一下我要跟他碰面的那位？”

You mean Dr. Pirenne? Yes! He is the Chairman of the Board of Trustees-- and a personal representative of the Emperor."

“您是指皮翰纳博士？对！他是理事会的主席——还是皇帝陛下的钦命代表。”

"Doctor? No other title? A scholar? And he rates above the civilauthority?"

“博士？没有别的头衔吗？一名学者？地位竟然比市长还要高？”

"Why, certainly, "replied Hardin, amiably. "We're all scholars more orless. After all, we're not so much a world as a scientific foundation under the direct control of the Emperor."

“啊，当然啦。”哈定亲切地答道，“这里的人多少都算是学者。毕竟这里是皇帝陛下直辖的科学基地，而不是一个普通的世界。”

There was a faint emphasis upon the last phrase that seemed to disconcert the sub-prefect. He remained thoughtfully silent during the rest of the slow way to Cyclopedia Square.

哈定故意将“皇帝陛下直辖”稍微加重了语气，这似乎令副提督有点不知所措。在车队抵达“全书广场”之前，他一直维持着若有所思的沉默。

If Hardin found himself bored by the afternoon and evening that followed,he had at least the satisfaction of realizing that Pirenne and Haut Rodric-having met with loud and mutual protestations of esteem and regard - were detesting each other's company a good deal more.

即使哈定对下午与晚间的活动感到万分无聊，至少有一件事令他满意。那就是他注意到皮翰纳与若缀克这两个人，虽然在见面时表现得非常热络而且相互尊重——骨子里彼此却极为厌恶。

Haut Rodric had attended with glazed eye to Pirenne's lecture during the"inspection tour" of the Encyclopedia Building. With polite and vacant smile, he had listened to the latter's rapid patter as they passed through the vast storehouses of reference films and the numerous projection rooms.

若缀克大人到百科全书大楼进行“视察”的时候，一直带着茫然的神情聆听皮翰纳的解说。他们经过巨大的数据影片储藏室以及无数间放映室，从头到尾他都不失礼貌地带着空洞的微笑，耐心听着皮翰纳急促的介绍。

It was only after he had gone down level by level into and through the composing departments, editing departments, publishing departments, and filming departments that he made the first comprehensive statement.

走下一层又一层，经过了写作部、编辑部、出版部、影视部，他才终于说出他的第一句感想。

"This is all very interesting," he said, "but it seems a strange occupation for grown men. What good is it?"

“这一切都非常有趣，”他说，“但是对成年人而言，却似乎是个奇怪的职业。这种工作有什么用处？”

It was a remark, Hardin noted, for which Pirenne found no answer, though the expression of his face was most eloquent.

哈定注意到，对于这个评语皮翰纳无言以对，但是从他脸上的表情，却看得出他绝对不同意。

The dinner that evening was much the mirror image of the events of that afternoon, for Haut Rodric monopolized the conversation by describing - in minute technical detail and with incredible zest-his own exploits asbattalion head during the recent war between Anacreon and the neighboring newly proclaimed Kingdom of Smyrno.

晚餐时的情形却几乎与下午完全相反，自始至终都是若缀克大人在说话。他不厌其烦地叙述最近安纳克里昂与新近独立的邻邦司密尔诺王国开战时，自己担任营长所立下的彪炳战功。他滔滔不绝，越说越兴奋，连技术性细节也巨细靡遗。

The details of the sub-prefect's account were not completed until dinner was over and one by one the minor officials had drifted away. The last bit of triumphant description of mangled spaceships came when he had accompanied Pirenne and Hardin onto the balcony and relaxed in the warm air of the summer evening.

这位副提督的故事讲到晚餐结束还意犹未尽，职位较低的官员一个个趁机告退。皮翰纳与哈定则陪着他走到阳台，在夏日黄昏的温暖空气中偷闲片刻。直到这时，他才总算将大败敌军星舰的光荣战果报告完毕。

And now, he said, with a heavy joviality, "to serious matters."

“现在，”他兴致勃勃地说，“该言归正传了。”

"By all means," murmured Hardin, lighting a long cigar of Vegan tobacco not many left, he reflected and teetering his chair back on two legs.

“洗耳恭听。”哈定喃喃答道，他仰靠在椅子上，撑起两条椅腿来回地摇晃，同时点燃一根长雪茄——那是织女星系进口的，他突然想到所剩不多了。

The Galaxy was high in the sky and its misty lens shape stretched lazily from horizon to horizon. The few stars here at the very edge of th euniverse were insignificant twinkles in comparison.

银河高高悬在天空，透镜状的朦胧从地平线一端延伸到另一端。此处位于银河的边缘，天际仅有少数几颗寒星，与壮丽的银河根本无法相比。

"Of course," said the sub-prefect, "all the formal discussions - the paper signing and such dull technicalities, that is - will take place before the-What is it you call your Council?"

“当然，”副提督说，“所有的正式会谈，包括签署文件等等无聊的技术性细节，都要在你们……你们管你们的议会叫什么？”

The Board of Trustees, replied Pirenne, coldly.

“理事会。”皮翰纳冷淡地答道。

"Queer name! Anyway, that's for tomorrow. We might as well clear away some of the underbrush, man to man, right now, though. Hey?"

“真是古怪的名字！反正，那些都是明天的事。不过我想，现在最好先来解决一些可能的障碍，大家开诚布公，好不好？”

"And this means," prodded Hardin.

“这话的意思是——”哈定立刻追问。

"Just this. There's been a certain change in the situation out here in the Periphery and the status of your planet has become a trifle uncertain. It would be very convenient if we succeeded in coming to an understanding as to how the matter stands. By the way, mayor, have you another one of those cigars?"

“很简单。在银河外缘这一带，如今局势已经有些改变，你们这颗行星的现状也变得有点暧昧不明。如果我们能对目前的状况达成共识，对双方都会非常方便。对了，市长，这种雪茄还有没有？”

Hardin started and produced one reluctantly.

哈定万分不愿地拿了一根给他。

Anselm haut Rodric sniffed at it and emitted a clucking sound of pleasure. "Vegan tobacco! Where did you get it?"

若缀克大人将雪茄放在鼻端闻了闻，发出高兴的“咯咯”笑声。“织女烟草！你从哪里弄来的？”

"We received some last shipment. There's hardly any left. Space knows when we'll get more --if ever."

“这是上次的船货，不过现在没剩几根了。天晓得我们何时能再补货——或许没有机会了。”

Pirenne scowled. He didn't smoke--and, for that matter, detested the odor. "Let me understand this, your eminence. Your mission is merely one of clarification?"

皮翰纳皱起眉头，他不会抽烟，因此很讨厌烟味。“阁下，我想了解一下，您的任务就只是来厘清现状吗？”

Haut Rodric nodded through the smoke of his first lusty puffs.

若缀克大人一面点头，一面使劲喷出第一口烟。

In that case, it is soon over. The situation with respect to the Encyclopedia Foundation is what it always has been.

“既然如此，一句话就能说清现状。百科全书基地的地位仍如往昔一样。”

"Ah! And what is it that it always has been?"

“啊！那么所谓往昔的地位又是什么？”

Just this: A State-supported scientific institution and part of the personal domain of his august majesty, the Emperor.

“是一个国立科学机构，是神圣威严的皇帝陛下直辖的领域。”

The sub-prefect seemed unimpressed. He blew smoke rings. "That's a nice theory, Dr. Pirenne. I imagine you've got charters with the Imperial Seal upon it--but what's the actual situation--How do you stand with respect to Smyrno--You're not fifty parsecs from Smyrno's capital. you know. And what about Konom and Daribow?"

这位副提督似乎不为所动，只顾吐着烟圈。“皮翰纳博士，很好的理论。我能想象你还拥有盖了国玺的特许状——但是当今实际的局势又是如何？面对司密尔诺，你们要如何自处？你要知道，他们的首都离你们很近，可不是五十‘秒差距’那么遥不可及。此外，别忘了还有高努姆和洛瑞斯。”

Pirenne said: "We have nothing to do with any prefect. As part of the Emperor's."

皮翰纳说：“我们和任何星郡都没有瓜葛，我们是皇帝陛下的……”

"They're not prefects," reminded Haut Rodric; "they're kingdoms now."

“它们不是星郡，”若缀克大人提醒他，“它们已经是王国了。”

"Kingdoms then. We have nothing to do with them. As a scientific institution."

“就算是王国吧，我们仍然和他们没有任何瓜葛。身为一个科学机构……”

"Science be damned!" swore the other. "What the devil has that got to do with the fact that we're liable to see Terminus taken over by Smyrno at anytime?"

“科学个屁！”对方突然开骂，“我们就要眼睁睁看着端点星被司密尔诺拿下，你这些鬼名目有个屁用？”

"And the Emperor? He would just sit by?"

“可是皇帝陛下呢？他怎么可能坐视不顾？”

Haut Rodric calmed down and said: "Well, now, Dr. Pirenne, you respect the Emperor's property and so does Anacreon, but Smyrno might not. Remember,we've just signed a treaty with the Emperor--I'll present a copy to that Board of yours tomorrow--which places upon us the responsibility of maintaining order within the borders of the old Prefect of Anacreon on behalf of the Emperor. Our duty is clear, then, isn't it?"

若缀克大人冷静下来，继续说：“好吧，皮翰纳博士，你尊重皇帝陛下的御产，安纳克里昂其实也一样，问题是司密尔诺可不这么想。请记住一件事，我们刚跟皇帝陛下签订一项条约——明天我会呈一份副本给你们的理事会。根据这项条约，我们有义务代表皇帝陛下维持‘前安纳克里昂星郡’境内的秩序。我们的责任至为明确，对不对？”

Certainly. But Terminus is not part of the Prefect of Anacreon.

“当然，但是端点星并不属于安纳克里昂星郡。”

"And Smyrno……"

“可是司密尔诺……”

Nor is it part of the Prefect of Smyrno. It's not part of any prefect.

“我们也不属于司密尔诺星郡，我们不属于任何一个星郡。”

Does Smyrno know that?

“司密尔诺知道这件事吗？”

I don't care what it knows.

“我才不管他们知不知道。”

We do. We've just finished a war with her and she still holds two stellar systems that are ours. Terminus occupies an extremely strategic spot,between the two nations.

“可是我们得管。我们两国的战争刚刚结束，他们至今还占领我们的两个星系。端点星位于我们两国之间，占有极重要的战略地位。”

Hardin felt weary. He broke in: "What is your proposition, your eminence?"

哈定听得厌了，插口道：“阁下，请问您究竟有什么提议？”

The sub-prefect seemed quite ready to stop fencing in favor of more direct statements. He said briskly: "It seems perfectly obvious that, since Terminus cannot defend itself, Anacreon must take over the job for its own sake. You understand we have no desire to interfere with internal administration?

这位副提督似乎早已不想再拐弯抹角，他立刻单刀直入、简单明了地说：“情况好像非常明显，因为端点星无法自卫，安纳克里昂为了自身的安全，必须负起保卫端点星的责任。你们应该了解，我们绝对无意干涉内政——”

"Uh-huh," grunted Hardin dryly.

“哼，哼。”哈定发出几声干笑。

but we believe that it would be best for all concerned to have Anacreon establish a military base upon the planet.

“——但是我们相信，就各方面来说，让安纳克里昂在这颗行星建立一座军事基地，都会是一项最佳的措施。”

And that is all you would want--a military base in some of the vast unoccupied territory--and let it go at that?

“这就是你们想要的——在端点星广大无人的土地上建立军事基地——就这样而已吗？”

Well, of course, there would be the matter of supporting the protecting forces.

“嗯，当然啦，还有这个防卫部队的补给问题。”

Hardin's chair came down on all four, and his elbows went forward on his knees. "Now we're getting to the nub. Let's put it into language. Terminus is to be a protectorate and to pay tribute."

哈定让椅子恢复四脚着地，双肘搭在膝盖上。“现在我们谈到问题的症结了，让我们就明说吧。端点星今后要接受你们的保护，并且要向你们进贡。”

"Not tribute. Taxes. We're protecting you. You pay for it."

“不是进贡，是纳税。我们保护你们，你们付出合理的代价。”

Pirenne banged his hand on the chair with sudden violence. "Let me speak,Hardin. Your eminence, I don't care a rusty half-credit coin for Anacreon,Smyrno, or all your local politics and petty wars. I tell you this is a State-supported tax-free institution."

皮翰纳在椅子上猛力一拍，发出一声巨响。“哈定，让我来说。阁下，我绝不会付半个信用点给安纳克里昂或司密尔诺，也不会为你们的地方性政治或小小战争出任何经费。我告诉你，这里是免税的国立机构。”

"State-supported? But we are the State, Dr. Pirenne, and we're not supporting.Pirenne rose angrily. "

“国立？皮翰纳博士，但我们才是这里的‘国’，而我们不要再‘立’了。”

"Your eminence, I am the direct representative of……"

皮翰纳气冲冲地站起来。“阁下，我是神圣威严……”

……is august majesty, the Emperor, chorused Anselm haut Rodric sourly,"And I am the direct representative of the King of Anacreon. Anacreon is a lot nearer, Dr. Pirenne. "

“……皇帝陛下的钦命代表。”若缀克以尖酸的语气唱和，“我却是安纳克里昂国王的钦命代表。皮翰纳博士，安纳克里昂离这里近多了。”

"Let's get back to business," urged Hardin. "How would you take these so-called taxes, your eminence? Would you take them in kind: wheat,potatoes, vegetables, cattle?"

“让我们谈正经事吧。”哈定劝道，“阁下，你们要如何征收所谓的税金？愿意接受现物吗，例如麦子、马铃薯、蔬菜、牲畜？”

The sub-prefect stared. "What the devil? What do we need with those? We've got hefty surpluses. Gold, of course. Chromium or vanadium would be even better, incidentally, if you have it in quantity."

副提督瞪大眼睛。“搞什么鬼？我们要那些东西做什么？我们自己都生产过剩了。我指的当然是黄金。若是你们刚好盛产铬或钒，那就更好了。”

Hardin laughed. "Quantity! We haven't even got iron in quantity. Gold! Here, take a look at our currency." He tossed a coin to the envoy.

哈定哈哈大笑。“盛产？我们甚至连铁都不产。黄金！来，看看我们的钱币。”他将一枚硬币扔过去。

Haut Rodric bounced it and stared. "What is it? Steel?"

若缀克大人掂掂那枚硬币，又仔细看了看。“什么做的？钢吗？”

That's right.

“没错。”

"I don't understand."

“我不懂。”

"Terminus is a planet practically without metals. We import it all. Consequently, we have no gold, and nothing to pay unless you want a few thousand bushels of potatoes."

“端点星几乎不产任何金属，所有的金属都靠进口。因此，我们没有任何黄金，除了能够付你们几千袋马铃薯，其他什么都拿不出来。”

Well--manufactured goods.

“那么——工业制品呢？”

Without metal? What do we make our machines out of?

“既然缺乏金属，我们又怎么制造机器？”

There was a pause and Pirenne tried again. "This whole discussion is wide of the point. Terminus is not a planet, but a scientific foundation preparing a great encyclopedia. Space, man, have you no respect for science?"

沉默一阵子之后，皮翰纳再度试图说服对方。“这整个的讨论都太离谱了。端点星并不能算一个世界，只是一座科学基地，专门负责编纂一部伟大的百科全书。太空啊，老兄，你难道一点都不尊重科学吗？”

Encyclopedias don't win wars. Haut Rodric's brows furrowed. "A completely unproductive world, then-- and practically unoccupied at that. Well, you might pay with land."

“百科全书又不能让我打胜仗。”若缀克大人皱起眉头，“所以说，这是个完全不事生产的世界——而且十之八九无人居住。好吧，你们可以用土地来抵付。”

What do you mean? asked Pirenne.

“你这话是什么意思？”皮翰纳问。

"This world is just about empty and the unoccupied land is probably fertile. There are many of the nobility on Anacreon that would like an addition to their estates."

“你们这个世界根本没有什么人，那些无人居住的土地也许很肥沃。安纳克里昂的许多贵族都希望能扩充他们的领地。”

"You can't propose any such……"

“你难道想提议说……”

"There's no necessity of looking so alarmed, Dr. Pirenne. There's plenty for all of us. If it comes to what it comes, and you co-operate, we could probably arrange it so that you lose nothing. Titles can be conferred and estates granted. You understand me, I think."

“皮翰纳博士，不必表现得那么惊慌，这里的土地足够我们分的。如果一切都能按照计划进行，而你们又充分合作，我们也许还能安排一下，让两位不但没有损失，还能荣获贵族头衔，并且获赐领地。我想，两位了解我的意思吧。”

Pirenne sneered, "Thanks!"

皮翰纳冷笑一声。“谢谢你的好意！”

And then Hardin said ingenuously: "Could Anacreon supply us with adequate quantities of plutonium for our nuclear-power plant? We've only a few years' supply left."

这时哈定以直率的口吻说：“安纳克里昂能不能提供我们足够的钚元素？我们的核电厂只剩几年的存量了。”

There was a gasp from Pirenne and then a dead silence for minutes. When Haut Rodric spoke it was in a voice quite different from what it had been till then:

皮翰纳倒抽一口凉气，接下来是好几分钟的死寂。当若缀克大人再度开口时，语气竟然变得与先前完全不一样了。

You have nuclear power?

“你们有核能？”

"Certainly. What's unusual in that? I imagine nuclear power is fiftythousand years old now. Why shouldn't we have it? Except that it's a little difficult to get plutonium."

“当然啦，这有什么不寻常吗？我相信核能的历史至少有两万年了，我们为什么不能用呢？唯一的问题就是钚的取得有些困难。”

Yes ... Yes. The envoy paused and added uncomfortably: "Well, gentlemen,we'll pursue the subject tomorrow. You'll excuse me……"

“是啊……是啊。”特使大人停了一下，然后心虚地说：“好吧，两位先生，我们明天再讨论这个议题。我要告辞了……”

Pirenne looked after him and gritted through his teeth: "That insufferable,dull-witted donkey! That?

皮翰纳望着他的背影，咬牙切齿地说：“这只超级大笨驴！简直令人无法忍受……”

Hardin broke in: "Not at all. He's merely the product of his environment.He doesn't understand much except that 'I have a gun and you haven't."

哈定插嘴道：“也不尽然，他只是那个环境的产物罢了。他只懂得一件事，‘我有枪，你没有’。”

Pirenne whirled on him in exasperation. "What in space did you mean by the talk about military bases and tribute? Are you crazy?"

皮翰纳气急败坏地转身面向哈定。“你跟他大谈军事基地和贡品，到底是什么意思？难道你疯了？”

No. I merely gave him rope and let him talk. You'll notice that he managed to stumble out with Anacreon's real intentions--that is, the parceling up of Terminus into landed estates. Of course, I don't intend to let that happen.

“不，我只是顺水推舟，让他把心里的话通通说出来。你也该注意到，他已经不小心说溜了嘴，向我们透露了安纳克里昂真正的企图——那就是，将端点星划分成他们的封地。当然，我可不想让这种事发生。”

You don't intend. You don't. And who are you? And may I ask what you meant by blowing off your mouth about our nuclear-power plant? Why, it's just the thing that would make us a military target.

“你不想，你不想！你以为自己是谁？我还要问你，你对他大吹我们的核电厂又是什么意思？唉，你这样说，唯一的结果是让我们变成攻击目标。”

Yes, grinned Hardin. "A military target to stay away from. Isn't it obvious why I brought the subject up? It happened to confirm a very strong suspicion I had had."

“不对，”哈定咧嘴一笑，“是变成‘绝对不能攻击的目标’。我提出这个问题，难道原因不明显吗？这样便证实了我原来强烈怀疑的一件事。”

And that was what?

“那是什么事？”

"That Anacreon no longer has a nuclear-power economy. If they had, our friend would undoubtedly have realized that plutonium, except in ancient tradition is not used in power plants. And therefore it follows that the rest of the Periphery no longer has nuclear power either. Certainly Smyrnohasn't, or Anacreon wouldn't have won most of the battles in their recent war. Interesting, wouldn't you say?"

“安纳克里昂已经不再拥有核能。倘若他们还有，这位大人一定会知道核能发电老早不用钚元素作原料了。从这一点我们就可以推论，银河外缘的其他世界也都没有核能了。至少司密尔诺绝对没有，否则在他们最近的战争中，安纳克里昂不可能赢得大多数的战役。这点很有趣，你说对不对？”

Bah! Pirenne left in fiendish humor, and Hardin smiled gently.

“哼！”皮翰纳带着怒气离去，哈定却很有修养地微笑着。

He threw his cigar away and looked up at the outstretched Galaxy. "Back to oil and coal, are they?" he murmured--and what the rest of his thoughts were he kept to himself.

哈定丢掉抽完的雪茄，抬头仰望伸展在天际的银河。“他们回归到了石油和煤炭的时代，是吗？”他喃喃自语。至于他还想到些什么，这时都还藏在心里。

When Hardin denied owning the Journal, he was perhaps technically correct,but no more. Hardin had been the leading spirit in the drive to incorporate Terminus into an autonomous municipality-he had been elected its first mayor-so it was not surprising that, though not a single share of Journal stock was in his name, some sixty percent was controlled by him in more devious fashions.

前些日子，哈定否认他拥有《端点市日报》，表面上是说实话，事实上却没有那么单纯。当初，在倡导建立端点星自治市的运动中，哈定始终是运动的领导人物；而在端点市政府成立之后，他又当选为首任市长。因此，虽然哈定名下没有半点日报的股份，他却以间接的手段，控制着其中的百分之六十。

There were ways.

这不足为奇，方法多的是。

Consequently, when Hardin began suggesting to Pirenne that he be allowed to attend meetings of the Board of Trustees, it was not quite coincidence that the Journal began a similar campaign. And the first mass meeting in the history of the Foundation was held, demanding representation of the City in the "national" government.

因此之故，一旦哈定向皮翰纳建议，也应该让他出席百科全书理事会的会议，日报便不约而同地开始鼓吹同样的主张。后来，还因此召开基地有史以来首度的群众大会，一致要求市政府应该在“国家级”政府中占有一席之地。

And, eventually, Pirenne capitulated with ill grace.

最后的结果，是皮翰纳不得不勉强接受。

Hardin, as he sat at the foot of the table, speculated idly as to just what it was that made physical scientists such poor administrators. It might be merely that they were too used to inflexible fact and far too unused topliable people.

这时，哈定在理事会中敬陪末座，穷极无聊地想着，为什么科学家都是九流的行政人员。或许只因为他们惯于处理弹性较少的自然现象，而不懂得如何应付善变的人心。

In any case, there was Tomaz Sutt and Jord Fara on his left; Lundin Crastand Yate Fulham on his fight; with Pirenne, himself, presiding. He knew them all, of course, but they seemed to have put on an extra-special bit of pomposity for the occasion.

坐在哈定左边的是汤玛兹·瑟特与裘德·法拉，右边的则是卢定·克瑞斯特与叶特·富汉，而主席就是皮翰纳本人。哈定与所有的理事当然都相熟，但是他们在这个场合中，好像都故意端起一点特别的架子。

Hardin had dozed through the initial formalities and then perked up when Pirenne sipped at the glass of water before him by way of preparation and said:

在会议开头的例行程序中，哈定一直都在假寐。直到皮翰纳举起杯子喝了一口水，准备进入正题时，哈定才及时恢复清醒。皮翰纳发言道：

I find it very gratifying to be able to inform the Board that since our last meeting, I have received word that Lord Dorwin, Chancellor of the Empire, will arrive at Terminus in two weeks. It may be taken for granted that our relations with Anacreon will be smoothed out to our complete satisfaction as soon as the Emperor is informed of the situation.

“我非常荣幸有这个机会，向理事会报告下列事项：上次会议后，我接到一个重要的通知——帝国的总理大臣道尔文大人，将在两星期后莅临端点星。毫无疑问，只要他向皇帝陛下禀报这里的情况，我们和安纳克里昂的紧张关系就会有完全令人满意的改善。”

He smiled and addressed Hardin across the length of the table. "Informationto this effect has been given the Journal."

他微微一笑，对着坐在另一头的哈定说：“这项消息的详细内容已经转交日报。”

Hardin snickered below his breath. It seemed evident that Pirenne's desire to strut this information before him had been one reason for his admission into the sacrosanctum.

哈定暗自感到好笑。这似乎很明显，皮翰纳所以会允许他参加这个“圣会”，原因之一就是要在他面前夸耀这个消息。

He said evenly: "Leaving vague expressions out of account, what do you expect Lord Dorwin to do?"

哈定故作镇静地说：“请各位不要言不及义，你们认为道尔文大人是来做什么的？”

Tomaz Sutt replied. He had a bad habit of addressing one in the third person when in his more stately moods.

汤玛兹·瑟特首先发言。他在发表正式谈话时有个坏习惯，就是喜欢用第三人称来称呼对方。

It is quite evident, he observed, "that Mayor Hardin is a professional cynic. He can scarcely fail to realize that the Emperor would be most unlikely to allow his personal rights to be infringed."

“显然，”他陈述道，“哈定市长是一位精明的政治人物。他不可能不知道，皇帝陛下绝对不会允许直接的权益受到侵害。”

"Why? What would he do in case they were?"

“为什么？如果真的发生这种事，皇帝陛下又会如何处置？”

There was an annoyed stir. Pirenne said, "You are out of order," and, as an afterthought, "and are making what are near-treasonable statements,besides."

这句话引起其他人的反感。皮翰纳说：“你不遵守议事规则。”然后，他又加上一句：“此外，还发出几近叛国的言论。”

"Am I to consider myself answered?"

“这算是对我的答复吗？”

"Yes! If you have nothing further to say……:

“是的！如果你没有别的话要说……”

"Don't jump to conclusions. I'd like to ask a question. Besides this stroke of diplomacy--which may or may not prove to mean anything--has anything concrete been done to meet the Anacreonic menace?"

“别急着下结论，我还想问一个问题。除了这个外交手段——它究竟有没有用还很难说——我们面对安纳克里昂的威胁，到底有没有采取任何具体的因应措施？”

Yate Fulham drew one hand along his ferocious red mustache. "You see amenace there, do you?"

叶特·富汉抚摸着他深红的八字胡。“你看到了威胁，是吗？”

Don't you?

“你看不到吗？”

"Scarcely"?this with indulgence. "The Emperor……"

“几乎没有。”他露出虔敬的神态，“皇帝陛下……”

"Great space!" Hardin felt annoyed. "What is this? Every once in a while someone mentions 'Emperor' or 'Empire' as if it were a magic word. The Emperor is thousands of parsecs away, and I doubt whether he gives a damn about us. And if he does, what can he do? What there was of the imperial navy in these regions is in the hands of the four kingdoms now and Anacreonhas its share. Listen, we have to fight with guns, not with words.

“太空啊！”哈定感到烦透了，“这算是哪门子？每隔一会儿就会有人提起‘皇帝陛下’或是‘帝国’，好像是念什么咒语一样。皇帝陛下远在几千秒差距之外，我很怀疑他会对我们有一丁点的关心。即使真的关心，他又能如何？过去这个星域的确有皇家舰队巡弋，不过现在却是那四个王国的势力范围，而安纳克里昂正是四王国之一。听好，打仗要靠枪炮，不是靠嘴皮子。

"Now, get this. We've had two months' grace so far, mainly because we've given Anacreon the idea that we've got nuclear weapons. Well, we all know that that's a little white lie. We've got nuclear power, but only for commercial uses, and darn little at that. They're going to find that out soon, and if you think they're going to enjoy being jollied along, you're mistaken."

“现在听我说。我们原本有两个月的缓冲期，主要是因为我制造了假象，让安纳克里昂以为我们拥有核武器。不过，大家都知道这是我胡诌的。我们虽然拥有核能，却只能做商业用途，而且他妈的少得可怜。他们很快就会发现真相，如果以为他们开得起这个玩笑，你就大错特错了。”

"My dear sir……"

“亲爱的市长……”

"Hold on, I'm not finished." Hardin was warming up. He liked this. "It's all very well to drag chancellors into this, but it would be much nicer to drag a few great big siege guns fitted for beautiful nuclear bombs into it. We've lost two months, gentlemen, and we may not have another two months to lose. What do you propose to do?"

“且慢，我还没有说完。”哈定已经进入状况，他就喜欢这种感觉，“把总理大臣拖下水是非常不错的主意，但是弄来几枚超级核弹才真的妙。各位理事，我们已经浪费了两个月，不太可能有另外两个月再让我们浪费了。你们打算怎么做？”

Said Lundin Crast, his long nose wrinkling angrily: "If you're proposing the militarization of the Foundation, I won't hear a word of it. It would mark our open entrance into the field of politics. We, Mr. Mayor, are a scientific foundation and nothing else."

这回轮到卢定·克瑞斯特发言，他的长鼻子气得起了皱纹。“假如你想提议将基地武装起来，我可是一个字也不要听。因为那就代表我们一脚跨进了政治圈。市长先生，我们这里是一个纯粹的科学基地。”

Added Sutt: "He does not realize, moreover, that building armaments would mean withdrawing men, valuable men, from the Encyclopedia. That cannot be done, come what may."

瑟特又补充一句：“此外，他根本不了解，建立武力就需要动员，就得抽调百科全书的重要工作人员。无论如何，这种事都不能发生。”

Very true, agreed Pirenne. "The Encyclopedia first……always."

“非常正确。”皮翰纳表示同意，“百科全书第一——永远如此。”

Hardin groaned in spirit. The Board seemed to suffer violently from Encyclopedia on the brain.

哈定不禁在心中呻吟。这些理事的脑袋，似乎都被百科全书搞坏了。

He said icily: "Has it ever occurred to this Board that it is barely possible that Terminus may have interests other than the Encyclopedia?"

他以冰冷的语气说：“本理事会有没有想过，端点星除了负责编纂百科全书之外，是否可能有其他的意义？”

Pirenne replied: "I do not conceive, Hardin, that the Foundation can have any interest other than the Encyclopedia."

皮翰纳回答说：“哈定，我无法想象除了百科全书，基地还能有什么其他目标。”

"I didn't say the Foundation; I said Terminus. I'm afraid you don't understand the situation. There's a good million of us here on Terminus,and not more than a hundred and fifty thousand are working directly on the Encyclopedia. To the rest of us, this is home. We were born here. We're living here. Compared with our farms and our homes and our factories, the Encyclopedia means little to us. We want them protected……"

“我不是指基地，我是说‘端点星’。恐怕你们还搞不清楚状况。端点星上共有百万居民，直接参与百科全书工作的顶多只有十五万人。对我们其他人而言，这里是家园。我们生在这里，长在这里。和我们的家园、农庄或工厂比起来，百科全书对我们没什么了不起的意义。我们要起来保卫……”

He was shouted down.

他的话被众人的呼喊声打断了。

The Encyclopedia first, ground out Crast. "We have a mission to fulfill."

“百科全书第一。”克瑞斯特义正辞严地说，“我们必须完成这项任务。”

Mission, hell, shouted Hardin. "That might have been true fifty years ago. But this is a new generation."

“去你的鬼任务。”哈定吼道，“五十年前或许如此，现在已经是新的一代了。”

That has nothing to do with it, replied Pirenne. "We are scientists."

“这没有什么关系，”皮翰纳回嘴道，“我们仍是科学家。”

And Hardin leaped through the opening. "Are you, though? That's a nice hallucination, isn't it? Your bunch here is a perfect example of what's been wrong with the entire Galaxy for thousands of years. What kind of science is it to be stuck out here for centuries classifying the work of scientists of the last millennium? Have you ever thought of working onward,extending their knowledge and improving upon it? No! You're quite happy to stagnate. The whole Galaxy is, and has been for space knows how long.

哈定逮到大做文章的机会了。“是吗，你们是吗？那只是美丽的幻觉吧？你们这班人，正好是整个银河数千年错误的缩影。你们准备在这里待几个世纪，只是为了整理上个仟年科学家的工作，这算是哪门子科学？你们有没有想过继续研究发展，改良并延伸既有的知识？根本没有！你们以抱残守缺为满足。整个银河都是如此，天晓得这种现象已经多久了。

That's why the Periphery is revolting; that's why communications are breaking down; that's why petty wars are becoming eternal; that's why whole systems are losing nuclear power and going back to barbarous techniques of chemical power.

银河外缘为什么会发生叛乱，各方的联系为什么会中断，小型战争为什么永无休止，整个星域为什么都失去核能而回到原始的化学能科技，这就是真正的原因。”

"If you ask me," he cried, "the Galactic Empire is dying!"

“倘若你们问我有什么看法，”哈定咆哮道，“我会说银河帝国就要亡啦！”

He paused and dropped into his chair to catch his breath, paying no attention to the two or three that were attempting simultaneously to answer him.

他就此打住，坐下来调匀呼吸。有两三个人同时抢着回应，他却没有注意听。

Crast got the floor. "I don't know what you're trying to gain by your hysterical statements, Mr. Mayor. Certainly, you are adding nothing constructive to the discussion. I move, Mr. Chairman, that the speaker's remarks be placed out of order and the discussion be resumed from the point where it was interrupted."

克瑞斯特站起来。“市长先生，你发表这些疯疯癫癫的言论，我实在不知道你居心何在。你根本没有提出任何建设性的意见。主席，我提出动议，市长的发言不要列入记录，让我们从被他打断的地方继续讨论。”

Jord Fara bestirred himself for the first time. Up to this point Fara had taken no part in the argument even at its hottest. But now his ponderous voice, every bit as ponderous as his three-hundred-pound body, burst its bass way out.

这时裘德·法拉准备做第一次发言。在此之前，即使讨论进行到最热烈的时候，他也完全没有插嘴。但是一旦开口，他低沉的声音就重重敲击每个人的耳膜，重得可以媲美他三百磅的身躯。

"Haven't we forgotten something, gentlemen?"

“各位，我们是不是忘了一桩事？”

What? asked Pirenne, peevishly.

“什么事？”皮翰纳不悦地问。

"That in a month we celebrate our fiftieth anniversary." Fara had a trick of uttering the most obvious platitudes with great profundity.

“一个月之后，我们将要庆祝基地五十周年纪念。”法拉一贯的说话技巧，就是能将最普通的事也说得深奥无比。

What of it?

“那又怎么样？”

"And on that anniversary," continued Fara, placidly, "Hari Seldon's Vault will open. Have you ever considered what might be in the Vault?"

“到了周年庆那一天，”法拉不急不徐地继续说，“哈里·谢顿的穹窿将会开启。你们有没有想过里面是什么？”

"I don't know. Routine matters. A stock Speech of congratulations, perhaps. I don't think any significance need be placed on the Vault--though the Journal--"and he glared at Hardin, who grinned back"--did try to make an issue of it. I put a stop to that."

“我不知道，大概是应景的东西吧。也许是一段发表贺词的影像。我认为，我们完全不必强调穹窿的重要性，虽然日报——”他瞪了哈定一眼，哈定则咧嘴一笑。“——的确试图在这方面大做文章。我已经叫他们闭嘴了。”

"Ah," said Fara, "but perhaps you are wrong. Doesn't it strike you"--he paused and put a finger to his round little nose--that the Vault is opening at a very convenient time?"

“啊，”法拉说，“但是也许你猜错了呢。你有没有想到过——”他顿了一下，将一根手指放在又小又圆的鼻头上，“——穹窿可能开启得正是时候。”

Very inconvenient time, you mean, muttered Fulham. "We've got some other things to worry about."

“你的意思是说，正好不是时候？”富汉低声抱怨，“我们需要烦心的事已经够多了。”

"Other things more important than a message from Hari Seldon? I think not.Fara was growing more pontifical than ever, and Hardin eyed him thoughtfully. What was he getting at?"

“还有比哈里·谢顿的讯息更重要的事吗？我可不相信。”法拉显得越来越庄严神圣，哈定若有所思地看着他。他葫芦里到底卖的是什么药？

"In fact," said Fara, happily, "you all seem to forget that Seldon was the greatest psychologist of our time and that he was the founder of our Foundation. It seems reasonable to assume that he used his science to determine the probable course of the history of the immediate future. If he did, as seems likely, I repeat, he would certainly have managed to find away to warn us of danger and, perhaps, to point out a solution. The Encyclopedia was very dear to his heart, you know."

“事实上，”法拉高高兴兴地说，“你们似乎都忘记了，谢顿是当代最伟大的心理学家，也是我们这个基地的创始人。我们可以合理地假设，谢顿曾经运用他所创立的科学，推算出不久之后可能的历史轨迹。果真如此，我再强调一遍，这很有可能，那么他一定想出了警告我们的方法，或许还会指出解决之道。他极为重视百科全书这项计划，想必大家都知道吧。”

An aura of puzzled doubt prevailed. Pirenne hemmed. "Well, now, I don't know. Psychology is a great science, but-there are no psychologists among us at the moment, I believe. It seems to me we're on uncertain ground."

会议桌上弥漫着一股困惑的气氛。皮翰纳干咳了一声，“好吧，我不予置评。心理学是一门伟大的科学，可是——我想，现在并没有心理学家在场。我们似乎无法作出任何确定的结论。”

Fara turned to Hardin. "Didn't you study psychology under Alurin?"

法拉转头问哈定说：“你不是曾在艾鲁云门下攻读心理学吗？”

Hardin answered, half in reverie: "Yes, I never completed my studies,though. I got tired of theory. I wanted to be a psychological engineer, but we lacked the facilities, so I did the next best thing--I went into politics. It's practically the same thing."

哈定以十分向往的口气答道：“是的，不过我没有读完，后来我对理论感到厌倦了。我原本想要成为一名心理工程师，但是此地缺乏足够的设备。所以我退而求其次——进入政治圈。事实上，两者可说殊途同归。”

Well, what do you think of the Vault?

“那么，你认为穹窿里面藏着什么？”

And Hardin replied cautiously, "I don't know."

哈定谨慎地回答：“我不知道。”

He did not say a word for the remainder of the meeting even though it got back to the subject of the Chancellor of the Empire.

接下来的会议，哈定没有再发一言——即使议题又回到帝国总理大臣身上。

In fact, he didn't even listen. He'd been put on a new track and things were falling into place-just a little. Little angles were fitting together?one or two.

事实上，他根本没有再听下去。他发现了一个重要的新方向，所有的事都在朝这个方向发展。纵使目前线索不多，但是也足够了。

And psychology was the key. He was sure of that.

心理学就是其中的关键，这点他十分肯定。

He was trying desperately to remember the psychological theory he had once learned--and from it he got one thing right at the start.

他尽力回忆曾经学过的心理学理论——从那些残存的知识中，他一开始就捕捉到一个想法。

A great psychologist such as Seldon could unravel human emotions and human reactions sufficiently to be able to predict broadly the historical sweep of the future.

像谢顿这样伟大的心理学家，他对人类的情感与本能反应之洞悉，已足以让他广泛地预测未来历史的大趋势。

And what would that mean?

而这代表着什么呢？

Lord Dorwin took snuff. He also had long hair, curled intricately and,quite obviously, artificially, to which were added a pair of fluffy, blondside burns, which he fondled affectionately. Then, too, he spoke in overprecise statements and left out all the r's.

道尔文大人嗜吸鼻烟。他留着长发，不过从精巧的鬈曲发式看来，那显然并不是自然卷，他还喜欢不时抚弄两侧金黄色的蓬松鬓须。此外，这位大人说话过于装腔作势，并且在许多字眼后面加上“儿”音。

At the moment, Hardin had no time to think of more of the reasons for the instant detestation in which he had held the noble chancellor. Oh, yes, the elegant gestures of one hand with which he accompanied his remarks and the studied condescension with which he accompanied even a simple affirmative.

哈定对这位尊贵大臣的第一印象就是反感，一时之间自己也想不出什么好理由。喔，对了，他发表意见之际，总是喜欢摆出优雅的手势，还有每次表示肯定的时候，他都会刻意表现出纡尊降贵的姿态。

But, at any rate, the problem now was to locate him. He had disappeared with Pirenne half an hour before--passed clean out of sight, blast him.

但是这些都不重要，现在唯一的问题是把他找出来。半小时之前，道尔文大人与皮翰纳双双失踪——连半个人影都不见了，真该死。

Hardin was quite sure that his own absence during the preliminary discussions would quite suit Pirenne.

哈定相当确定皮翰纳一定很得意——因为自己未能参加他们的初步讨论。

But Pirenne had been seen in this wing And on this floor. It was simply a matter of trying every door. Halfway down, he said, "Ah!" and stepped into the darkened room. The profile of Lord Dorwin's intricate hair-do was unmistakable against the lighted screen.

不过，刚才有人在这一层楼的这个侧翼看见皮翰纳，所以只要一扇一扇门查看就行了。查过半数的房间后，哈定突然叫道：“啊！”然后立刻跑进那间漆黑的放映室。里面的屏幕上，正清楚地映出道尔文大人精巧发式的轮廓。

Lord Dorwin looked up and said: "Ah, Hahdin. You ah looking foah us, nodoubt?" He held out his snuffbox-- overadorned and poor workmanship atthat, noted Hardin and was politely refused whereat he helped himself to a pinch and smiled graciously.

道尔文大人抬起头来说：“啊！哈定。你正在寻觅我们，对不？”他掏出鼻烟盒——哈定注意到上面有过多的装饰，而且手工也不高明。由于哈定礼貌地婉谢，大人自己吸了一撮，并露出优雅的微笑。

Pirenne scowled and Hardin met that with an expression of blank indifference.

皮翰纳皱着眉头，哈定却故意视而不见。

The only sound to break the short silence that followed was the clicking of the lid of Lord Dorwin's snuffbox. And then he put it away and said:"A gweat achievement, this Encyclopedia of yoahs, Hahdin. A feat, indeed,to rank with the most majestic accomplishments of all time."

直到道尔文大人盖上鼻烟盒，发出了“咔嗒”一声，才打破了这段短短的沉默。他将鼻烟盒放好，对哈定说：“哈定，你们的这套百科全书，乃是杰出的成果儿。的确很了不起，称得上有史以来最壮伟的成就儿之一。”

"Most of us think so, milord. It's an accomplishment not quite accomplished as yet, however."

“阁下，我们也大多这么想。然而这项成就至今尚未全部完成。”

"Fwom the little I have seen of the efficiency of yoah Foundation, I have no feahs on that scoah." And he nodded to Pirenne, who responded with a delighted bow.

“由小看大，我已经看出你们这个基地效率非凡，我一点儿也不担心。”他对皮翰纳点了点头，后者高兴万分地鞠躬还礼。

Quite a love feast, thought Hardin. "I wasn't complaining about the lack of efficiency, milord, as much as of the definite excess of efficiency on the part of the Anacreonians-- though in another and more destructive direction."

皮翰纳真会逢迎，哈定心里这么想。“阁下，我并非抱怨这里工作效率太低，可是安纳克里昂的效率绝对更高——不过却是用在毁灭的途径上。”

"Ah, yes, Anacweon." A negligent wave of the hand. "I have just come from theah. Most bahbawous planet. It is thowoughly inconceivable that humanbeings could live heah in the Pewiphewy. The lack of the most element awywequiahments of a cultuahed gentleman; the absence of the most fundamental necessities foah comfoht and convenience the uttah desuetude into whichthey……

“啊，是的，安纳克里昂儿。”大人不以为然地挥挥手，“我刚打那儿来，万分原始的行星。真是无法想象，人类怎能住在银河外缘这儿。文明人士最基本的生活所需，这儿几乎全都没有，也不能提供舒适便利的最基本条件，还完全废弃了……”

Hardin interrupted dryly: "The Anacreonians, unfortunately, have all the elementary requirements for warfare and all the fundamental necessities for destruction."

哈定冷不妨插嘴道：“不幸的是，安纳克里昂人却有开启战端的基本所需，以及毁灭敌方的基本条件。”

"Quite, quite." Lord Dorwin seemed annoyed, perhaps at being stopped midway in his sentence. "But we ahn't to discuss business now, y'know. Weally, I'mothahwise concuhned. Doctah Piwenne, arn't you going to show me the second volume? Do, please."

“没错儿，没错儿。”道尔文大人似乎有点不高兴，或许是因为他的话半途被打断。“但是我们还不准备谈公事儿。真的，现在我还在忙别的。皮翰纳博士，你不是还要给我看第二册吗？请吧。”

The lights clicked out and for the next half-hour Hardin might as well have been on Anacreon for all the attention they paid him. The book upon the screen made little sense to him, nor did he trouble to make the attempt to follow, but Lord Dorwin became quite humanly excited at times. Hardin noticed that during these moments of excitement the chancellor pronounced his r's.

灯光立刻关闭，接下来的半小时中，根本没有人理会哈定，仿佛他这个人已经跑到安纳克里昂去了。屏幕上所投射的百科全书内容，对哈定而言没有什么意义，他也懒得浪费这个精神。反倒是道尔文大人，竟不时表现出相当真诚的兴奋。哈定还注意到，当这位大人在兴奋的时候，他话中的“儿”音就全部不见了。

When the lights went on again, Lord Dorwin said: "Mahvelous. Twulymahvelous. You ah not, by chance, intewested in ahchaeology, ah you,Hahdin?"

灯光再度开启时，道尔文大人说：“精彩至极，真正精彩至极！哈定，你会不会刚好对考古学有兴趣儿？”

"Eh?" Hardin shook himself out of an abstracted reverie. "No, milord, can'tsay I am. I'm a psychologist by original intention and a politician by final decision."

“啊？”哈定从神游状态中清醒过来，“不敢，阁下，我不敢说有兴趣。我原本想成为心理学家，最后决定献身政治。”

"Ah! No doubt intewesting studies. I, myself, y'know"--he helped himself to a giant pinch of snuff--dabble in ahchaeology."

“啊！那是确确实实有趣儿的学问。本大人，我自个儿，你知道吗——”他掐了一大撮鼻烟，猛吸了几下，“对考古学也稍有涉猎。”

"Indeed?"

“真的吗？”

"His lordship," interrupted Pirenne, "is most thoroughly acquainted with the field."

皮翰纳打岔道：“大人对这个领域极为精通。”

"Well, p'haps I am, p'haps I am," said his lordship complacently. "I have done an awful amount of wuhk in the science. Extwemely well-read, in fact. I've gone thwough all of Jawdun, Obijasi, Kwomwill ... oh, all of them,y'know."

“嗯，也许吧，也许吧。”大人得意洋洋地说，“我在这门科学上花了无数苦功。事实上，可说是饱览群书儿。你可知道，我读遍了久当、欧必贾西、克罗姆威尔等等大考古学家的所有着作。”

"I've heard of them, of course," said Hardin, "but I've never read them."

“我当然听说过这些考古学家，”哈定说，“但是从来没有读过他们的着作。”

"You should some day, my deah fellow. It would amply repay you. Why, Icutainly considah it well wuhth the twip heah to the Pewiphewy to see thiscopy of Lameth. Would you believe it, my Libwawy totally lacks a copy. Bythe way, Doctah Piwenne, you have not fohgotten yoah pwomise totwansdevelop a copy foah me befoah I leave?"

“亲爱的朋友，改天你真该读一读，保证受益无穷。啊，我认为这趟儿来到银河外缘真不虚此行，因为让我看到了拉玛斯的绝版书儿。你们可相信，在我们的图书馆一本儿都找不着。对啦，皮翰纳博士，你答应过要复制一本儿给我带回去，可没忘记吧？”

"Only too pleased."

“这是我的荣幸。”

"Lameth, you must know," continued the chancellor, pontifically, "pwesentsa new and most intwesting addition to my pwevious knowledge of the 'OwiginQuestion."'

“你们一定知道，”道尔文大人开始说教，“对于‘起源问题’，拉玛斯提出过一个崭新而且万分有趣儿的说法，我原本都还不晓得。”

"Which question?" asked Hardin.

“什么问题？”哈定追问。

"The 'Owigin Question.' The place of the owigin of the human species,y'know. Suahly you must know that it is thought that owiginally the humanwace occupied only one planetawy system."

“我是说‘起源问题’。你该知道吧，就是人类发源于何处儿这个大谜儿。你们一定知道，一般的理论都认为人类最初发源于一个行星系统儿。”

"Well, yes, I know that."

“喔，对，我知道。”

"Of cohse, no one knows exactly which system it is-- lost in the mists ofantiquity. Theah ah theawies, howevah. Siwius, some say. Othahs insist onAlpha Centauwi, oah on Sol, oah on 61 Cygni--all in the Siwius sectah, yousee."

“当然啦，没人儿知道到底在哪儿——已经淹没在远古遗迹儿中。然而，有不少人儿提出过各种理论。有人儿认为是天狼星，也有人儿坚持是南门二，或是金乌，或是天鹅座六十一号儿——你们可注意到，这些恒星都在天狼星区。”

"And what does Lameth say?"

“拉玛斯又是怎么说的？”

"Well, he goes off along a new twail completely. He twies to show that ahchaeological wemains on the thuhd planet of the Ahctuwian System showthat humanity existed theah befoah theah wah any indications ofspace-twavel."

“嗯，他完完全全另辟蹊径儿。他试图用大角星系的第三颗行星上那些考古遗迹儿，证明在没有任何太空旅行迹象之前，那儿已经有人类存在。”

"And that means it was humanity's birth planet?"

“这就表示那里是人类的故乡吗？”

"P'haps. I must wead it closely and weigh the evidence befoah I can sayfoah cuhtain. One must see just how weliable his obsuhvations ah."

“也许吧。我得先仔细读读他的书儿，估量他所提出的证据，然后才能下定论。我总得看看他的观察有多可靠儿。”

Hardin remained silent for a short while. Then he said, "When did Lameth write his book?"

哈定沉默了一会儿，然后说：“拉玛斯的书是什么时候写的？”

"Oh--I should say about eight hundwed yeahs ago. Of cohse, he has based itlahgely on the pwevious wuhk of Gleen."

“喔——我想差不多八百年前吧。当然啦，大部分的内容儿，都是根据葛林先前的研究结果儿。”

"Then why rely on him? Why not go to Arcturus and study the remains for yourself?"

“那您为什么要依赖他的数据？为何不亲自到大角星系去研究那些遗迹？”

Lord Dorwin raised his eyebrows and took a pinch of snuff hurriedly. "Why,whatevah foah, my deah fellow?"

道尔文大人扬了扬眉，匆匆吸了一撮鼻烟。“亲爱的朋友，为啥儿去，去干啥儿呢？”

"To get the information firsthand, of course."

“当然是去找第一手数据。”

"But wheah's the necessity? It seems an uncommonly woundabout and hopelessly wigmawolish method of getting anywheahs. Look heah, now, I've got the wuhks of all the old mastahs-- the gweat ahchaeologists of thepast. I wigh them against each othah--balance the disagweements--analyzethe conflicting statements--decide which is pwobably cowwect--and come toa conclusion. That is the scientific method. At least"--patronizingly--as I see it. How insuffewably cwude it would be to go to Ahctuwus, oah to Sol,foah instance, and blundah about, when the old mastahs have covahed the gwound so much moah effectually than we could possibly hope to do."

“但是有这个必要吗？为了找数据到处乱跑乱窜，实在是舍近求远，没啥儿成功的指望。听我说，我搜集了过去最伟大的考古学家所有的研究记录儿。我拿它们互相比较——然后存异求同——分析彼此的矛盾——再决定哪一种说法最可靠——如此就能取得结论儿。这就是科学方法。起码——”他故意表现得苦口婆心，“这是我的看法。反之亲自跑到天狼星，或者金乌，乃是万分轻举妄动的做法。因为能找着的，考古大师们早就作了完整的研究儿，我们即使到了那儿，也没有希望得到啥新的结果儿。”

Hardin murmured politely, "I see."

哈定礼貌地喃喃道：“我明白了。”

"Come, milord," said Pirenne, "think we had better be returning."

“来吧，阁下，”皮翰纳说，“我想我们该回去了。”

"Ah, yes. P'haps we had."

“啊，对，也许真该走啦。”

As they left the room, Hardin said suddenly, "Milord, may I ask aquestion?"

当他们离开放映室之后，哈定突然说：“阁下，我能请问您一个问题吗？”

Lord Dorwin smiled blandly and emphasized his answer with a gracious flutter of the hand. "Cuhtainly, my deah fellow. Only too happy to be of suhvice. If I can help you in any way fwom my pooah stoah of knowledge."

道尔文大人露出和气的微笑，还优雅地挥着手来强调他的语气。“当然可以，亲爱的朋友。只要本大人粗浅的学问帮得上忙，都万分乐意效劳儿。”

"It isn't exactly about archaeology, milord."

“阁下，这个问题严格说来不是考古学。”

"No?"

“不是吗？”

"No. It's this: Last year we received news here in Terminus about the meltdown of a power plant on Planet V of Gamma Andromeda. We got the barest outline of the accident--no details at all. I wonder if you could tell me exactly what happened."

“不是。我的问题如下：去年我们端点星收到一则消息，是关于仙女座三号的第五颗行星上核电厂炉心融解那件事。关于这个意外，我们只得到最简单的报道——详细情形完全不详。不知道大人能否告诉我整件事的来龙去脉。”

Pirenne's mouth twisted. "I wonder you annoy his lordship with questions on totally irrelevant subjects."

皮翰纳噘起嘴。“你怎么拿这种完全无关的问题来打扰大人。”

"Not at all, Doctah Piwenne," interceded the chancellor. "It is quite all wight. Theah isn't much to say concuhning it in any case. The powah plantdid undergo meltdown and it was quite a catastwophe, y'know. I believe wadiatsen damage. Weally, the govuhnment is sewiously considewing placingseveah westwictions upon the indiscwiminate use of nucleah powah--thoughthat is not a thing for genewal publication, y'know."

“皮翰纳博士，一点儿也不会。”总理大臣帮哈定解围，“真的没关系，反正这件事儿也没啥儿好说的。那儿的核电厂的确发生炉心融解，真是一场大灾难，你知道吧。我想那是放射性污染。其实，政府正在认真考虑颁布几条限令，今后要杜绝核能的滥用——不过这种事儿不适合公开，你知道吧。”

"I understand," said Hardin. "But what was wrong with the plant?"

“我了解，”哈定说，“但是那个电厂到底出了什么问题？”

"Well, weally," replied Lord Dorwin indifferently, "who knows? It had bwoken down some yeahs pweviously and it is thought that the weplacements and we paiah wuhk wuh most infewiah. It is so difficult these days to find men who weally undahstand the moah technical details of ouah powah systems." And he took a sorrowful pinch of snuff.

“唉，其实，”道尔文大人轻描淡写地说，“谁又知道呢？几年前那儿的核电厂就出过毛病，据说修理和更新的工作做得太差。这年头儿，想要找着真正了解电力系统详细结构的工人儿，真是难喔。”他以沉重的心情又吸了一撮鼻烟。

"You realize," said Hardin, "that the independent kingdoms of the Periphery had lost nuclear power altogether?"

“您可知道，”哈定说，“银河外缘的那些独立王国，全都已经没有核能了。”

"Have they? I'm not at all suhpwised. Bahbawous planets? Oh, but my deahfellow, don't call them independent. They ahn't, y'know. The tweaties we've made with them ah pwoof positive of that. They acknowledge the soveweignty of the Empewah. They'd have to, of cohse, oah we wouldn't tweat with them."

“是吗？我一点儿也不惊讶，个个都是原始的世界——喔，亲爱的朋友，千万别再用‘独立’这个词儿。他们可没有独立，你知道吧。我们和他们签订的条约能够证明这点儿，他们全都承认帝国的宗主权。当然啦，他们必须承认，否则我们根本不会和他们谈判。”

"That may be so, but they have considerable freedom of action."

“或许如此，可是他们有太多的行动自由。”

"Yes, I suppose so. Considewable. But that scahcely mattahs. The Empiah isfah bettah off, with the Pewiphewy thwown upon its own wesoahces--as itis, moah oah less. They ahn't any good to us, y'know. Most bahbawous planets. Scahcely civilized."

“是的，我想你说得对，可还真不少呢。不过这倒没啥儿关系。这样一来，银河外缘如今得依赖自个儿的资源，对帝国而言多少有点好处。你知道吧，他们对我们没啥儿用。最最原始的世界，几乎没有文明儿。”

"They were civilized in the past. Anacreon was one of the richest of the outlying provinces. I understand it compared favorably with Vega itself."

“他们过去倒很文明。安纳克里昂曾经是外围星域最富庶的地区之一，我知道它当年几乎和织女星系一样富有。”

"Oh, but, Hahdin, that was centuwies ago. You can scahcely dwaw conclusion fwom that. Things wah diffewent in the old gweat days. We ahn't the men weused to be, y'know. But, Hahdin, come, you ah a most puhsistent chap. I've told you I simply won't discuss business today. Doctah Piwenne did pwepayah me foah you. He told me you would twy to badgah me, but I'm fahtoo old a hand foah that. Leave it foah next day."

“喔，可是，哈定，那是好几世纪前的事儿。你不能从那儿妄下断语。在古老的伟大时代，一切都大不相同。我们没法儿再像古人那样儿，你知道吧。不过，哈定，得了吧，你是我见过最滑头、最顽固的小伙子儿。我不是告诉过你，今天绝对不谈公事儿。皮翰纳博士刚才还特别警告我，说你会想尽法子缠着我，但是应付这种事儿我太有经验。咱们明天再谈吧。”

And that was that.

他们的谈话便到此结束。

This was the second meeting of the Board that Hardin had attended, if one were to exclude the informal talks the Board members had had with the now-departed Lord Dorwin. Yet the mayor had a perfectly definite idea that at least one other, and possibly two or three, had been held, to which he had somehow never received an invitation.

倘若不算理事会成员与道尔文大人所作的非正式会谈，今天是哈定第二次参加理事会的会议。不过哈定市长心知肚明，在此之前他们还举行过少则一次、多则两三次的理事会，但他就是没有接到开会通知。

Nor, it seemed to him, would he have received notification of this one hadit not been for the ultimatum.

哈定还猜得到，若非因为那份最后通牒，这次的会议仍旧没他的份。

At least, it amounted to an ultimatum, though a superficial reading of the visigraphed document would lead one to suppose that it was a friendly interchange of greetings between two potentates.

那份储存在显像装置中的文件，表面上看起来，好像是两位领导者之间友善的问候函件。然而至少在实质上，它是一份不折不扣的最后通牒。

Hardin fingered it gingerly. It started off floridly with a salutation from"His Puissant Majesty, the King of Anacreon, to his friend and brother, Dr.Lewis Pirenne, Chairman of the Board of Trustees, of the EncyclopediaFoundation Number One," and it ended even more lavishly with a gigantic,multicolored seal of the most involved symbolism.

哈定用手指轻抚着那份文件。它的开头是华丽的问候语：“神圣权威的安纳克里昂国王陛下，致他的好友与兄弟——百科全书第一号基地理事会主席路易·皮翰纳博士。”结尾处则更是夸张，盖了一个巨大的、五颜六色的国玺，繁复的符号几乎让人眼花缭乱。

But it was an ultimatum just the same.

但无论如何，这仍然是一份最后通牒。

Hardin said: "It turned out that we didn't have much time after all--only three months. But little as it was, we threw it away unused. This thing here gives us a week. What do we do now?"

哈定说：“事实证明，我们的时间原本就不多——只有三个月而已。但即使只是这么一点时间，还是被我们浪费掉了。这份文件只给我们一周的期限，我们要怎么办？”

Pirenne frowned worriedly. "There must be a loophole. It is absolutely unbelievable that they would push matters to extremities in the face of what Lord Dorwin has assured us regarding the attitude of the Emperor and the Empire."

皮翰纳显得愁眉苦脸。“这里头一定有什么不对劲。道尔文大人向我们保证过皇帝陛下和帝国对此事的态度，这点他们明明知道，竟然还会采取这种极端的手段，简直令人难以相信。”

Hardin perked up. "I see. You have informed the King of Anacreon of this alleged attitude?"

哈定立刻跳起来。“我明白了。你把所谓的‘皇帝陛下和帝国的态度’知会了安纳克里昂的国王，对不对？”

"I did-- after having placed the proposal to the Board for a vote and having received unanimous consent."

“我是这么做了——但是在此之前，我曾经把这个提议交付理事会表决，结果大家一致赞成。”

"And when did this vote take place?"

“表决是什么时候举行的？”

Pirenne climbed onto his dignity. "I do not believe I am answerable to you in any way, Mayor Hardin."

皮翰纳恢复了主席的尊严。“哈定市长，我想我并没有义务回答你这个问题。”

"All right. I'm not that vitally interested. It's just my opinion that it was your diplomatic transmission of Lord Dorwin's valuable contribution to the situation"?he lifted the comer of his mouth in a sour half-smile?that was the direct cause of this friendly little note. They might have delayed longer otherwise--though I don't think the additional time would have helped Terminus any, considering the attitude of the Board."

“没关系，反正我也没有太大的兴趣。我只是认为，你那份传达道尔文大人珍贵意见的外交信函，”他咧开嘴角，做出皮笑肉不笑的表情，“是我们收到这个‘善意回应’的直接原因。否则他们可能还会拖得更久一点——不过根据本理事会一贯的态度，我想即使还有时间，对端点星仍然不会有什么帮助。”

Said Yate Fulham: "And just how do you arrive at that remarkable conclusion, Mr. Mayor?"

叶特·富汉发言：“市长先生，你又是如何得出这个惊人的结论？”

"In a rather simple way. It merely required the use of that much-neglected commodity-- common sense. You see, there is a branch of human knowledge known as symbolic logic, which can be used to prune away all sorts of clogging deadwood that clutters up human language."

“方法其实相当简单，只是用到一点普遍遭到忽视的东西——常识。你们可知道，人类知识中有一门学问称为符号逻辑，能将普通的语言文字中混淆语意的所有障碍物一一排除。”

"What about it?" said Fulham.

“那又怎么样？”富汉追问。

"I applied it. Among other things, I applied it to this document here. I didn't really need to for myself because I knew what it was all about, but I think I can explain it more easily to five physical scientists by symbols rather than by words."

“我利用了这个工具。我在百忙之中，抽空以符号逻辑分析了这份文件。其实对我自己而言，根本不用这么麻烦，因为我很清楚它的真正意义。可是我想对于你们五位科学家，利用符号解释要比我直说来得更容易。”

Hardin removed a few sheets of paper from the pad under his arm and spread them out. "I didn't do this myself, by the way," he said. "Muller Holk of the Division of Logic has his name signed to the analyses, as you can see."

哈定将原先压在手肘下面的几张纸摊开来。“顺便说一声，这不是我自己做的。”他说，“你们可以看到，在这份分析下面签名的，是逻辑部的穆勒·侯克。”

Pirenne leaned over the table to get a better view and Hardin continued:"The message from Anacreon was a simple problem, naturally, for the men who wrote it were men of action rather than men of words. It boils down easily and straight forwardly to the unqualified statement, when in symbols is what you see, and which in words, roughly translated, is, 'You give us what we want in a week, or we take it by force.'"

皮翰纳靠着桌子倾身向前，以便看得清楚一点。哈定继续说：“安纳克里昂的这封信所透露的真正讯息，其实非常容易分析，因为写信的人不是摇笔杆而是拿枪杆的。所以它很容易蒸馏，让赤裸裸的陈述显露出来。若用符号表现，就是你们现在所看到的；倘若翻译成普通语言，大意就是：‘一周之内将我们所要的全数奉上，否则我们就要诉诸武力。’”

There was silence as the five members of the Board ran down the line of symbols, and then Pirenne sat down and coughed uneasily.

五位理事开始逐行研究这些符号，维持了好一阵子的沉默。然后皮翰纳坐下来，忧心忡忡地干咳。

Hardin said, "No loophole, is there, Dr. Pirenne?"

哈定说：“皮翰纳博士，没有什么不对劲吧？”

"Doesn't seem to be."

“似乎没有。”

"All right." Hardin replaced the sheets. "Before you now you see a copy of the treaty between the Empire and Anacreon--a treaty, incidentally, which is signed on the Emperor's behalf by the same Lord Dorwin who was here lastweek--and with it a symbolic analysis."

“好的。”哈定将那几张纸收起来，“现在放在你们面前的，是帝国和安纳克里昂所签定的条约副本——代表皇帝陛下签署这份条约的，正巧就是上周莅临本星的道尔文大人——旁边这张是它的逻辑分析。”

The treaty ran through five pages of fine print and the analysis was scrawled out in just under half a page.

那份条约用细小字体印了满满五页，分析却只有将近半页龙飞凤舞的手稿。

"As you see, gentlemen, something like ninety percent of the treaty boiled right out of the analysis as being meaningless, and what we end up with can be described in the following interesting manner:

“各位理事，你们看到了，经过分析之后，这份条约的百分之九十都被蒸馏掉，因为那些全都没有意义。而剩下来的内容，可以用很有意思的两句话来总括：

"Obligations of Anacreon to the Empire: None!

“安纳克里昂对帝国应尽的义务：无！

"Powers of the Empire over Anacreon: None!"

“帝国对安纳克里昂可行使的权力：无！”

Again the five followed the reasoning anxiously, checking carefully back to the treaty, and when they were finished, Pirenne said in a worried fashion,"That seems to be correct."

五位理事再度焦急地研读着分析，还拿着条约原文对照检查。当他们忙完后，皮翰纳以惴惴不安的语气说：“这似乎也很正确。”

"You admit, then, that the treaty is nothing but a declaration of total independence on the part of Anacreon and a recognition of that status by the Empire?"

“那么你承认，这份条约不折不扣就是安纳克里昂的独立宣言，并且还附有帝国的正式承认？”

"It seems so."

“似乎就是如此。”

"And do you suppose that Anacreon doesn't realize that, and is not anxious to emphasize the position of independence--so that it would naturally tend to resent any appearance of threats from the Empire? Particularly when it is evident that the Empire is powerless to fulfill any such threats, or it would never have allowed independence."

“难道安纳克里昂不明白这一点吗？他们现在一定急着强调独立的地位，因此对于任何来自帝国方面的威胁，自然都会感到如芒刺在背。何况目前的态势很明显，帝国根本无力对他们构成威胁，否则也绝对不会默许他们独立。”

"But then," interposed Sutt, "how would Mayor Hardin account for Lord Dorwin's assurances of Empire support? They seemed-- He shrugged. "Well,they seemed satisfactory."

“可是，”瑟特插嘴道，“道尔文大人保证帝国会支持我们，这点哈定市长又要如何解释？这些保证似乎——”他耸耸肩，“嗯，似乎令人满意。”

Hardin threw himself back in the chair. "You know, that's the most interesting part of the whole business. I'll admit I had thought his Lordship a most consummate donkey when I first met him--but it turned outthat he was actually an accomplished diplomat and a most clever man. I took the liberty of recording all his statements."

哈定坐回椅子里。“你可知道，这就是整个事件最有意思的一个环节。我承认刚刚见到那位大人的时候，曾经认为他是全银河最蠢的笨驴——后来事实证明，他其实是一位老练的外交家，而且再聪明不过。我自作主张，将他说的话都录了下来。”

There was a flurry, and Pirenne opened his mouth in horror.

会场中立刻一阵慌乱，皮翰纳吓得连嘴巴都合不拢。

"What of it?" demanded Hardin. "I realize it was a gross breach of hospitality and a thing no so-called gentleman would do. Also, that if his lordship had caught on, things might have been unpleasant; but he didn't,and I have the record, and that's that. I took that record, had it copied out and sent that to Holk for analysis, also."

“这有什么了不起？”哈定反问，“我了解这样做非常有违待客之道，也是正人君子所不为的。而且万一当场被大人抓到，还会发生很不愉快的后果。不过他终究没有发现，所以说我成功了，事实就是如此。我将录音复制了一份，一并送到逻辑部，请侯克帮我分析。”

Lundin Crast said, "And where is the analysis?"

卢定·克瑞斯特问：“分析报告呢？”

"That," replied Hardin, "is the interesting thing. The analysis was the most difficult of the three by all odds. When Holk, after two days of steady work, succeeded in eliminating meaningless statements, vague gibberish, useless qualifications-- in short, all the goo and dribble--he found he had nothing left. Everything canceled out."

哈定答道：“结果可是非常有趣。毫无疑问，这个录音是三份文件中最难分析的。侯克不眠不休工作了两天，终于成功地除去所有无用的废话和修词，以及没有实质意义的言论。简单地说，就是抽丝剥茧。结果他发现没有任何东西剩下来，所有的命题都互相抵消了。

"Lord Dorwin, gentlemen, in five days of discussion didn't say one damned thing, and said it so you never noticed. There are the assurances you had from your precious Empire."

“各位理事，在整整五天的讨论中，道尔文大人等于一个屁也没放。他却说得天花乱坠，把你们全部唬得一愣一愣的。这就是你们从伟大的帝国所得到的保证。”

Hardin might have placed an actively working stench bomb on the table and created no more confusion than existed after his last statement. He waited, with weary patience, for it to die down.

哈定讲完这番话之后，立刻爆发极大的骚动，即使他在会议桌上再摆一枚臭弹，也不会让场面变得更加混乱。他耐心地等待骚动消退，越等越不耐烦。

"So," he concluded, "when you sent threats--and that's what they were-- concerning Empire action to Anacreon, you merely irritated a monarch who knew better. Naturally, his ego would demand immediate action, and the ultimatum is the result-which brings me to my original statement. We have one week left and what do we do now?"

他终于开始下结论：“你们向安纳克里昂传达道尔文大人的讯息，也就是说，你们故意拿帝国来威胁他们，唯一的结果，就是激怒了那位更了解现况的国王。他当然只好立即采取行动，马上送来这份最后通牒——这就兜回到我原来的问题。只有一周的时间，我们要怎么办？”

"It seems," said Sutt, "that we have no choice but to allow Anacreon to establish military bases on Terminus."

瑟特说：“我们似乎别无选择，只好答应安纳克里昂在这里建立军事基地。”

"I agree with you there," replied Hardin, "but what do we do toward kicking them off again at the first opportunity?"

“这点我同意，”哈定答道，“但是一旦时机来临，我们要如何把他们踢走？”

Yate Fulham's mustache twitched. "That sounds as if you have made up your mind that violence must be used against them."

叶特·富汉的八字胡抽动着。“听来好像你已经下定决心，一定要用武力对付他们。”

"Violence," came the retort, "is the last refuge of the incompetent. But I certainly don't intend to lay down the welcome mat and brush off the best furniture for their use."

“武力，”哈定反驳道，“是无能者最后的手段。可是我也绝不打算为他们铺上红地毯，把他们迎为上宾。”

"I still don't like the way you put that," insisted Fulham. "It is a dangerous attitude; the more dangerous because we have noticed lately that a sizable section of the populace seems to respond to all your suggestions just so. I might as well tell you, Mayor Hardin, that the board is not quite blind to your recent activities."

“我还是不喜欢你这种说法，”富汉很坚持，“这是一种很危险的态度，而且我们近来还注意到，有大批群众似乎在盲从你的提议，所以这就更加危险了。哈定市长，我可以告诉你，本理事会对于你最近的活动，可不是完全一无所知。”

He paused and there was general agreement. Hardin shrugged.

他顿了一顿，其他理事都表示同意。哈定的反应只是耸耸肩膀。

Fulham went on: "If you were to inflame the City into an act of violence,you would achieve elaborate suicide-- and we don't intend to allow that. Our policy has but one cardinal principle, and that is the Encyclopedia.Whatever we decide to do or not to do will be so decided because it will be the measure required to keep that Encyclopedia safe."

富汉继续说：“假如你要煽动全市采取武力手段，那就等于自取灭亡——我们不会让你这样做的。我们的政策只有一项根本原则，就是一切以百科全书为重。我们作出的任何决定，不论是采取或是放弃某项行动，出发点都是为了保护百科全书的安全。”

"Then," said Hardin, "you come to the conclusion that we must continue our intensive campaign of doing nothing."

“那么，”哈定说，“你的结论是，我们要继续贯彻以不变应万变的政策？”

Pirenne said bitterly: "You have yourself demonstrated that the Empire cannot help us; though how and why it can be so, I don't understand. If compromise is necessary……"

皮翰纳无可奈何地说：“你自己刚才已经证明帝国无法帮助我们，虽然细节部分我还不了解。假如必须妥协……”

Hardin had the nightmare like sensation of running at top speed and getting nowhere. "There is no compromise! Don't you realize that this bosh about military bases is a particularly inferior grade of drivel? Haut Rodric told us what Anacreon was after--outright annexation and imposition of its own feudal system of landed estates and peasant-aristocracy economy upon us. What is left of our bluff of nuclear power may force them to move slowly,but they will move nonetheless."

哈定觉得自己好像在做一场恶梦，拼命奔跑却哪里也到不了。“根本没有妥协！军事基地这种蠢话只是极其拙劣的借口，你们难道看不出来吗？若缀克已经告诉我们安纳克里昂真正想要的是什么——是彻底兼并端点星，把他们的贵族封地制度和小农经济体系，强行加在我们头上。我虚张声势说我们有核能，只能让他们投鼠忌器，但他们迟早会行动的。”

He had risen indignantly, and the rest rose with him except for Jord Fara.

哈定早已愤愤不平地坐不住了，其他人也跟着他站了起来——只有裘德·法拉例外。

And then Jord Fara spoke. "Everyone will please sit down. We've gone quite far enough, I think. Come, there's no use looking so furious, Mayor Hardin; none of us have been committing treason."

这时法拉终于开口。“请各位都坐下来好吗？我想我们已经离题太远了。哈定市长，别这样，生这么大的气根本没用；我们这些人都没有要背叛端点星。”

You'll have to convince me of that!

“这点，你可得好好说服我！”

Fara smiled gently. "You know you don't mean that. Let me speak!"

法拉露出温和的笑容。“你自己也知道这是气话。请让我发言吧！”

His little shrewd eyes were half closed, and the perspiration gleamed on the smooth expanse of his chin. "There seems no point in concealing that the Board has come to the decision that the real solution to the Anacreonian problem lies in what is to be revealed to us when the Vault opens six days from now."

他那双机灵的小眼睛眯起一半，宽圆的下巴冒出油油的汗水。“本理事会已达成一项决议，现在似乎没有任何隐瞒的必要。那就是关于安纳克里昂这个问题，等到六天后穹窿开启的时候，我们应该就能发现解决之道。”

"Is that your contribution to the matter?"

“这就是你的高见吗？”

"Yes."

“是的。”

"We are to do nothing, is that fight, except to wait in quiet serenity and utter faith for the deus ex machina to pop out of the Vault?"

“所以我们什么也不用做，对不对？只要充满信心地静静等待，穹窿中就会跳出意想不到的救星？”

"Stripped of your emotional phraseology, that's the idea."

“把你那些情绪化的措词滤掉，就是我的想法。”

"Such unsubtle escapism! Really, Dr. Fara, such folly smacks of genius. A lesser mind would be incapable of it."

“明显的逃避主义！法拉博士，你真是个大愚若智的天才。不是像你这么聪明的人，还真想不出这么高明的建议。”

Fara smiled indulgently. "Your taste in epigrams is amusing, Hardin, but out of place. As a matter of fact, I think you remember my line of argument concerning the Vault about three weeks ago."

法拉不以为意地微微一笑。“哈定，你的尖酸刻薄可真有趣，不过这回用错了地方。事实上，我想你应该还记得，三个星期前开会的时候，我对穹窿所做的推论吧。”

"Yes, I remember it. I don't deny that it was anything but a stupid idea from the standpoint of deductive logic alone. You said--stop me when I make a mistake--that Hari Seldon was the greatest psychologist in the System; that, hence, he could foresee the right and uncomfortable spot we're in now; that, hence, he established the Vault as a method of telling us the way out."

“是的，我记得。我并不否认，单就逻辑推理而言，那不能算是愚蠢的想法。你上次说——我若说错了，请随时纠正——哈里·谢顿是这个星系最伟大的心理学家，因此他能预见我们如今所遭遇的各种困难；也因此他建立了穹窿，目的是为了告诉我们如何趋吉避凶。”

"You've got the essence of the idea."

“你领会了这个想法的精髓。”

"Would it surprise you to hear that I've given considerable thought to the matter these last weeks?"

“如果我告诉你，过去几周以来，我都在仔细思考你这番话，你会不会感到惊讶？”

"Very flattering. With what result?"

“非常荣幸，结果如何？”

"With the result that pure deduction is found wanting. Again what is needed is a little sprinkling of common sense."

“结果我发现光是推理并不够，还需要用到一点点常识。”

"For instance?"

“比如说？”

"For instance, if he foresaw the Anacreonian mess, why not have placed us on some other planet nearer the Galactic centers? It's well known that Seldon maneuvered the Commissioners on Trantor into ordering the Foundation established on Terminus. But why should he have done so? Why put us out here at all if he could see in advance the break in communication lines,our isolation from the Galaxy, the threat of our neighbors-- and our helplessness because of the lack of metals on Terminus? That above all! Or if he foresaw all this, why not have warned the original settlers in advance that they might have had time to prepare, rather than wait, as he is doing, until one foot is over the cliff, before doing so?

“比如说，假使他预见了安纳克里昂将带来的麻烦，当初为什么不把我们安置在离银河核心近一点的地方？我们现在都知道，当时是谢顿精心操纵了川陀的公共安全委员，基地才会设在端点星的。可是他为什么这样做呢？假如他预先推算出银河中的联系会中断，我们因此会跟银河主体隔绝，又为强邻环伺——而且端点星缺乏金属，使我们无法自给自足，他为什么还要把我们带到这里来？这是最重要的一点！话又说回来，倘若他算得出来这些，又为什么不事先警告最初的移民，好让他们可以有时间准备？他绝不会等到我们一只脚已经踏出悬崖，才跳出来告诉我们如何勒马。

"And don't forget this. Even though he could foresee the problem then, we can see it equally well now. Therefore, if he could foresee the solution then, we should be able to see it now. After all, Seldon was not amagician. There are no trick methods of escaping from a dilemma that he can see and we can't."

“还有别忘了，就算他当年能够预见这个问题，我们如今也能看得一样清楚。因此，假如他当时就能想出解决之道，我们现在也应该有办法做得到。毕竟谢顿不是什么魔法师，我们解不开的难局，他也不会有什么好办法。”

"But, Hardin," reminded Fara, "we can't!"

“可是，哈定，”法拉提醒道，“我们真的做不到！”

"But you haven't tried. You haven't tried once. First, you refused to admit that there was a menace at all! Then you reposed an absolutely blind faith in the Emperor! Now you've shifted it to Hari Seldon. Throughout you have invariably relied on authority or on the past--never on yourselves."

“但是你们还没有试过，连一次都没有试过。刚开始的时候，你们根本拒绝承认威胁的存在！然后又死守着对皇帝陛下的盲目信赖！现在又将希望转移到哈里·谢顿身上。从头到尾，你们不是依赖权威就是仰仗古人——从来没有自立自强。”

His fists balled spasmodically. "It amounts to a diseased attitude--a conditioned reflex that shunts aside the independence of your minds whenever it is a question of opposing authority. There seems no doubt ever in your minds that the Emperor is more powerful than you are, or Hari Seldon wiser. And that's wrong, don't you see?"

哈定的拳头不自主地越捏越紧。“这无异于一种病态——一种条件反射，遇到需要向权威挑战时，自己独立思考的能力就完全关闭。在你们心目中，皇帝陛下无疑比自己更有力量，谢顿博士一定比自己更有智慧。这是不对的，你们难道不觉得吗？”

For some reason, no one cared to answer him.

不知道为什么，没有人想要回答这个问题。

Hardin continued: "It isn't just you. It's the whole Galaxy. Pirenne heard Lord Dorwin's idea of scientific research. Lord Dorwin thought the way to be a good archaeologist was to read all the books on the subject--written by men who were dead for centuries. He thought that the way to solve archaeological puzzles was to weigh the opposing authorities. And Pirenne listened and made no objections. Don't you see that there's something wrong with that?"

哈定继续说：“不只是你们，整个银河都一样。皮翰纳听过道尔文大人对科学研究的看法，他认为要做一位优秀的考古学家，唯一的工作就是读完所有的相关书籍——死了几百年的人写的那些书。他还认为解决考古之谜的办法，就是衡量比较各家权威的理论。皮翰纳那天都听到了，却没有表示反对。你们难道不觉得这里头有问题吗？”

Again the note of near-pleading in his voice.

哈定的语气仍然带着恳求。

Again no answer. He went on: "And you men and half of Terminus as well are just as bad. We sit here, considering the Encyclopedia the all-in-all. We consider the greatest end of science. is the classification of past data. It is important, but is there no further work to be done? We're receding and forgetting, don't you see? Here in the Periphery they've lost nuclear power. In Gamma Andromeda, a power plant has undergone meltdown because of poor repairs, and the Chancellor of the Empire complains that nuclear technicians are scarce. And the solution? To train new ones? Never! Instead they're to restrict nuclear power."

可是仍然没有人回答。他只好再说下去：“你们这些人，还有端点星一半的居民也一样糟糕。你们坐在这里，将百科全书视为一切的一切。你们认为最伟大的科学终极目标，就是整理过去的知识。这很重要没错，但是难道不应该继续研究发展吗？我们正在开倒车，你们当真看不出来吗？在银河外缘这里，到处都已经不会使用核能。在仙女座三号恒星系，一座核电厂因为维修不良而炉心融解，堂堂的帝国总理大臣只会抱怨缺乏核能技工。可是因应之道是什么？多训练一些新手吗？连想都没想！他们采取的唯一措施，就是限制核能的使用。”

And for the third time: "Don't you see? It's Galaxywide. It's a worship of the past. It's a deterioration--a stagnation!"

哈定第三次重申：“你们难道不觉得吗？这是一种泛银河的现象。这是食古不化，这是堕落——是一潭死水！”

He stared from one to the other and they gazed fixedly at him.

哈定向每位理事一一望去，对方都目不转睛地瞪着他。

Fara was the first to recover. "Well, mystical philosophy isn't going to help us here. Let us be concrete. Do you deny that Hari Seldon could easily have worked out historical trends of the future by simple psychological technique?"

法拉是第一个恢复正常的。“好了，这些玄奥的大道理对我们没有用。我们应该实际一点。难道你否认哈里·谢顿能用心理学的技术，轻易算出未来的历史趋势？”

"No, of course not," cried Hardin. "But we can't rely on him for a solution. At best, he might indicate the problem, but if ever there is to be a solution, we must work it out ourselves. He can't do it for us."

“不，当然不否认。”哈定吼道，“但是我们不能指望他为我们提供解决之道。他顶多只能指出问题的症结，但若是真有解决的办法，我们必须自己设法找出来。他无法为我们代劳。”

Fulham spoke suddenly. "What do you mean--'indicate the problem'? We know the problem."

富汉突然说：“你所谓的‘指出问题的症结’是什么意思？我们都知道问题是什么。”

Hardin whirled on him. "You think you do? You think Anacreon is all Hari Seldon is likely to be worried about. I disagree! I tell you, gentlemen,that as yet none of you has the faintest conception of what is really going on."

哈定猛然转向他。“你以为你知道吗？你认为安纳克里昂就是哈里·谢顿唯一担心的问题。我可不这么想！各位理事，告诉你们，直到目前为止，你们对整个状况一点概念都没有。”

"And you do?" questioned Pirenne, hostilely.

“你有吗？”皮翰纳以充满敌意的口气反问。

"I think so!" Hardin jumped up and pushed his chair away. His eyes were cold and hard. "If there's one thing that's definite, it is that there's something smelly about the whole situation; something that is bigger than anything we've talked about yet. Just ask yourself this question: Why wasit that among the original population of the Foundation not one first-class psychologist was included, except Bor Alurin? And he carefully refrained from training his pupils in more than the fundamentals."

“我是这么想！”哈定跳起来，将椅子推到一旁，他的目光凌厉而冷酷，“若说目前有什么可以确定的事，那就是有个古怪事件和整个情况都有关联，它比我们讨论过的任何事都更为重大。请你们问自己一个问题：为什么当年来到基地的第一批人员，只有玻尔·艾鲁云一位一流的心理学家？而他却小心翼翼，只是教授基本课程，从不将这门学问的真髓传给学生。”

A short silence and Fara said: "All right. Why?"

一阵短暂的沉默后，法拉道：“好吧，你说为什么？”

"Perhaps because a psychologist might have caught on to what this was all about-- and too soon to suit Hari Seldon. As it is, we've been stumbling about, getting misty glimpses of the truth and no more. And that is what Hari Seldon wanted."He laughed harshly.

“也许因为心理学家能够看透背后的一切——会太早识破哈里·谢顿的安排。如今我们只能四处摸索，模糊地窥见一小部分真相。这就是哈里·谢顿真正的用意。”

"Good day, gentlemen!"

哈定纵声哈哈大笑。“各位理事，告辞了！”

He stalked out of the room.

他大步走出会议室。

Mayor Hardin chewed at the end of his cigar. It had gone out but he was past noticing that. He hadn't slept the night before and he had a good idea that he wouldn't sleep this coming night. His eyes showed it.

哈定市长嘴里咬着雪茄。其实雪茄早已熄灭，他却没有注意到。他昨夜通宵未眠，也很肯定今晚同样无法睡觉。这一切，都能从他眼中看出来。

He said wearily, "And that covers it?"

他以疲倦的声音说：“这就可以了吗？”

"I think so." Yohan Lee put a hand to his chin. "How does it sound?"

“我想没问题，”约翰·李一只手摸着下巴，“你认为如何？”

"Not too bad. It's got to be done, you understand, with impudence. That is,there is to be no hesitation; no time to allow them to grasp the situation.Once we are in a position to give orders, why, give them as though you were born to do so, and they'll obey out of habit. That's the essence of acoup."

“不坏。非这样厚脸皮不可，你明白吧。也就是说不能有任何犹豫，不能给他们一点掌握情势的空当。一旦我们能够发号施令，哈，就要以最熟练的方式下达命令，他们一定会习惯性地服从，这就是政变的基本原则。”

"If the Board remains irresolute for even……"

“若是理事会犹豫不决……”

"The Board? Count them out. After tomorrow, their importance as a factor in Terminus affairs won't matter a rusty half-credit."

“理事会？忘了他们吧。过了明天，他们对端点星的影响力比不上半个信用点。”

Lee nodded slowly. "Yet it is strange that they've done nothing to stop us so far. You say they weren't entirely in the dark."

约翰缓缓点了点头。“但是很奇怪，他们到现在还没有试图阻止我们。你说过，他们不是完全蒙在鼓里。”

"Fara stumbles at the edges of the problem. Sometimes he makes me nervous. And Pirenne's been suspicious of me since I was elected. But, you see, they never had the capacity of really understanding what was up. Their whole training has been authoritarian. They are sure that the Emperor, just because he is the Emperor, is all-powerful. And they are sure that the Board of Trustees, simply because it is the Board of Trustees acting in the name of the Emperor, cannot be in a position where it does not give the orders. That incapacity to recognize the possibility of revolt is our bestally."

“法拉摸到了一点边，有时候他会让我有点担心。而皮翰纳在我当选的时候，就已经对我起疑了。但是，你可知道，他们从来没有本事了解我的真正意图。他们所受的都是皇权至上的训练。他们确信皇帝陛下是全能的，只因为他是皇帝；他们确信理事会不可能被架空，只因为理事会奉皇帝陛下之名行事。没有人看得出政变的可能性，这帮了我们一个大忙。”

He heaved out of his chair and went to the water cooler. "They're not bad fellows, Lee, when they stick to their Encyclopedia--and we'll see that that's where they stick in the future. They're hopelessly incompetent when it comes to ruling Terminus. Go away now and start things rolling. I want to be alone."

哈定猛然起身，走到饮水机前面。“约翰，他们并不坏，我是指当他们全心投入百科全书的时候——我们要让这件事成为他们未来唯一的工作。可是统治端点星，他们却毫无能力。现在走吧，把一切都发动。我想单独静一静。”

He sat down on the comer of his desk and stared at the cup of water.

哈定坐上办公桌的一角，瞪着手中那杯水。

Space! If only he were as confident as he pretended! The Anacreonians were landing in two days and what had he to go on but a set of notions and half-guesses as to what Had Seldon had been driving at these past fifty years? He wasn't even a real, honest-to-goodness psychologist-- just afumbler with a little training trying to out guess the greatest mind of the age.

太空啊！自己真有装出的那般自信就好了！安纳克里昂人两天后就要登陆，而他现在所准备进行的，只是基于自己对谢顿五十年前的安排所做的揣摩与猜测。自己甚至不能算正牌的心理学家，只是一个受过几天训练的半调子，竟然妄图看穿近代最伟大的心灵。

If Fara were fight; if Anacreon were all the problem Hari Seldon had foreseen; if the Encyclopedia were all he was interested in preserving--then what price coup d'état?

假如法拉猜得没错，假如安纳克里昂就是谢顿所预见的唯一问题，假如谢顿想保护的只是百科全书——那么发动军事政变又有什么用？

He shrugged and drank his water.

他耸耸肩，开始喝那杯水。

The Vault was furnished with considerably more than six chairs, as though alarger company had been expected. Hardin noted that thoughtfully and seatedhimself wearily in a comer just as far from the other five as possible.

穹窿中准备的椅子远超过六张，仿佛准备迎接许多人。哈定注意到这一点，便找了一个尽可能远离五位理事的座位，慵懒地坐下来。

The Board members did not seem to object to that arrangement. They spoke among themselves in whispers, which fell off into sibilant monosyllables,and then into nothing at all. Of them all, only Jord Fara seemed even reasonably calm. He had produced a watch and was staring at it somberly.

理事们对这个安排似乎不在意。他们先是彼此低声交谈，然后话讲得越来越少，变成每次只吐一两个字，最后终于通通闭上嘴。在他们五个人当中，只有裘德·法拉似乎比较镇定。他掏出表来，表情严肃地看着时间。

Hardin glanced at his own watch and then at the glass cubicle--absolutely empty-- that dominated half the room. It was the only unusual feature ofthe room, for aside from that there was no indication that somewhere a computer was splitting off instants of time toward that precise moment whena muon stream would flow, a connection be made and?

哈定也瞄了瞄自己的表，然后望了望那个占据室内一半面积的玻璃室——里面空无一物。这个玻璃室是穹窿中唯一不寻常的物件，除此之外，看不出哪里还能受电脑控制。等到某个预定的准确时刻，缈子流就会触发电脑接通开关，然后……

The lights went dim!

灯光暗了下来！

They didn't go out, but merely yellowed and sank with a suddenness that made Hardin jump. He had lifted his eyes to the ceiling lights in startled fashion, and when he brought them down the glass cubicle was no longer empty.

电灯并没有完全熄灭，只是突然变得昏黄，却让哈定吓得跳了起来。他吃惊地抬头望着天花板的电灯，等到他的目光回到玻璃室，里面已经不再空虚。

A figure occupied it--a figure in a wheel chair!

玻璃室中出现一个人形——一个坐在轮椅上的人！

It said nothing for a few moments, but it closed the book upon its lap and fingered it idly. And then it smiled, and the face seemed all alive.

人形起初没有说话，只是将放在膝上的书合起来，随手把玩了一会儿。然后它微微一笑，面孔看起来栩栩如生。

It said, "I am Hari Seldon." The voice was old and soft.

它说：“我是哈里·谢顿。”声音苍老而低弱。

Hardin almost rose to acknowledge the introduction and stopped himself in the act.

哈定差点要起身向他致意，还好及时拦住自己。

The voice continued conversationally: "As you see, I am confined to this chair and cannot rise to greet you. Your grandparents left for Terminus afew months back in my time and since then I have suffered a rather inconvenient paralysis. I can't see you, you know, so I can't greet you properly. I don't even know how many of you there are, so all this must be conducted informally. If any of you are standing, please sit down; and if you care to smoke, I wouldn't mind." There was a light chuckle. "Why should I? I'm not really here."

声音继续不断传来：“你们看到了，我被禁锢在这张椅子上，无法起身向各位打招呼。在你们祖父辈抵达端点星几个月后，我就不幸瘫痪了。当然，我看不见你们，所以不能正式欢迎你们。我甚至不知道今天到场的有多少人，所以一切都不必太拘泥。如果有任何人站着，请都坐下来；如果有人想抽烟，那我也不反对。”接着是一阵轻笑，“我何必反对呢？我又不是真的在这里。”

Hardin fumbled for a cigar almost automatically, but thought better of it.

哈定自然而然想要掏一根雪茄，随即又改变心意。

Hari Seldon put away his book--as if laying it upon a desk at his side--and when his fingers let go, it disappeared.

哈里·谢顿将手上的书放到一旁，好像是搁到身旁的书桌上。当他的手指移开后，那本书就消失了。

He said: "It is fifty years now since this Foundation was established fifty years in which the members of the Foundation have been ignorant of what it was they were working toward. It was necessary that they be ignorant, but now the necessity is gone.

他继续说：“基地建立至今已有五十年——五十年来，基地的成员都不清楚他们的真正目标。过去必须瞒着他们，现在却没有这个必要了。

The Encyclopedia Foundation, to begin with, is a fraud, and always has been!

“首先我要说，‘百科全书基地’根本就是个幌子，而且一直都是如此！”

There was a sound of a scramble behind Hardin and one or two muffled exclamations, but he did not turn around.

哈定身后传来一阵喧哗，还有一两声刻意压低的惊叹，但他没有回过头去。

Hari Seldon was, of course, undisturbed. He went on: "It is a fraud in the sense that neither I nor my colleagues care at all whether a single volume of the Encyclopedia is ever published. It has served its purpose, since by it we extracted an imperial charter from the Emperor, by it we attracted the hundred thousand humans necessary for our scheme, and by it we managed to keep them preoccupied while events shaped themselves, until it was toolate for any of them to draw back.

哈里·谢顿当然不为所动，他继续说：“我说基地是个幌子，意思是我和同僚们根本不在意百科全书能否出版。百科全书的计划自有它的目的，因为借着这个计划，我们从皇帝那里弄来一纸特许状，并且吸收了真正计划所需的十万人，同时还利用编纂百科全书的工作，让这些人在时机成熟前有事可忙，直到任何人都无法抽身为止。

"In the fifty years that you have worked on this fraudulent project--there is no use in softening phrases--your retreat has been cut off, and you have now no choice but to proceed on the infinitely more important project that was, and is, our real plan.

“这五十年来，你们为了这个幌子而努力工作——现在我可以直言不讳——你们的退路已被切断了。你们已经别无选择，只有继续投入另一个重要无数倍的计划，也就是我们真正的计划。

"To that end we have placed you on such a planet and at such a time that infifty years you were maneuvered to the point where you no longer have freedom of action. From now on, and into the centuries, the path you must take is inevitable. You will be faced with a series of crises, as you are now faced with the first, and in each case your freedom of action will become similarly circumscribed so that you will be forced along one, and only one, path.

“为了这个真正的计划，我们设法在选定的时刻，将你们带到这颗选定的行星上。当时就安排好了，五十年之后，你们的行动会变得没有选择的自由。从现在开始，直到未来许多世纪，你们的未来都将是必然的历史路径。你们会面临一连串的危机，如今的危机就是第一个。今后每次面临危机之际，你们所能采取的行动，也会被限制到只有唯一的一条路。

"It is that path which our psychology has worked out--and for a reason.

“这条路是我们用心理史学推算出来的——理由如下：

"For centuries Galactic civilization has stagnated and declined, thoughonly a few ever realized that. But now, at last, the Periphery is breaking away and the political unity of the Empire is shattered. Somewhere in the fifty years just past is where the historians of the future will place anarbitrary line and say: 'This marks the Fall of the Galactic Empire.'

“数个世纪以来，银河文明不断地僵化和衰颓，却只有少数人注意到这个趋势。可是如今，银河外缘终于四分五裂，帝国的大一统局面已被粉碎。未来世代的历史学家，会在过去五十年间选取一个时刻，将之标志为：‘银河帝国覆亡的起点’。

"And they will be right, though scarcely any will recognize that Fall for additional centuries.

“他们当然是对的，不过在未来几个世纪，大概还不会有人意识到覆亡即将来临。

"And after the Fall will come inevitable barbarism, a period which, our psychohistory tells us, should, under ordinary circumstances, last for thirty thousand years. We cannot stop the Fall. We do not wish to; for Imperial culture has lost whatever virility and worth it once had. But we can shorten the period of Barbarism that must follow--down to a single thousand of years.

“帝国覆亡之后，接踵而来的将是不可避免的蛮荒时期。根据心理史学的推算，在正常情况下，这段时期会持续三万年。我们无法阻止帝国的覆亡，也无意这么做，因为帝国的文化已经丧失原有的活力和价值。但是我们能将必然出现的蛮荒时期缩短——短到仅剩一千年。

"The ins and outs of that shortening, we cannot tell you; just as we could not tell you the truth about the Foundation fifty years ago. Were you to discover those ins and outs, our plan might fail; as it would have, had you penetrated the fraud of the Encyclopedia earlier; for then, by knowledge,your freedom of action would be expanded and the number of additional variables introduced would become greater than our psychology could handle.

“至于要如何缩短，详细情形我现在还不能透露；正如我在五十年前，不能将基地的实情说出来一样。万一你们发现了其中的细节，我们的计划便可能失败。就好像百科全书的幌子倘若太早揭穿，你们的行动自由就会增加，这样便会引进太多新的变量，而心理史学也就无能为力了。

"But you won't, for there are no psychologists on Terminus, and never were,but for Alurin--and he was one of us.

“可是你们不会发现，因为在端点星，除了我们的自己人艾鲁云之外，始终没有其他的心理学家。

"But this I can tell you: Terminus and its companion Foundation at the other end of the Galaxy are the seeds of the Renascence and the future founders of the Second Galactic Empire. And it is the present crisis that is starting Terminus off to that climax.

“但是我能告诉你们一件事：端点星基地，以及位于银河另一端的兄弟基地，都是银河文明复兴的种籽，也都是‘第二银河帝国’的创建者。而如今这个危机，正好触发端点星朝这个大业迈开第一步。

"This, by the way, is a rather straightforward crisis, much simpler than many of those that are ahead. To reduce it to its fundamentals, it is this: You are a planet suddenly cut off from the still-civilized centers of the Galaxy, and threatened by your stronger neighbors. You are a small world of scientists surrounded by vast and rapidly expanding reaches of barbarism. You are an island of nuclear power in a growing ocean of more primitive energy; but are helpless despite that, because of your lack of metals.

“顺便提一下，这次的危机其实很单纯，比起横亘于未来的诸多危机，实在简单得太多了。化约到最基本的架构，那就是：你们这颗行星和仍旧保有文明的银河核心，相互间的联系突然被切断，同时还受到强邻的威胁。你们是由科学家所组成的小型世界，而周围庞大的蛮荒势力正在迅速扩张。在不断膨胀的原始能源之洋中，你们是唯一的核能之岛；但是由于缺乏金属，你们仍然无法自给自足。

"You see, then, that you are faced by hard necessity, and that action is forced on you. The nature of that action--that is, the solution to your dilemma--is, of course, obvious!"The image of Hari Seldon reached into open air and the book once more appeared in his hand. He opened it and said:

“所以知道了吧，你们面对冷酷的现实，迫于形势必须采取行动。至于如何行动——也就是如何化解难局——其实再明显不过！”

"But whatever devious course your future history may take, impress it always upon your descendants that the path has been marked out, and that at its end is new and greater Empire!"

哈里·谢顿向空中伸出手，那本书立刻又在他手中出现。他将书翻开来，又说：“无论你们未来的路途多么曲折，总要让后代子孙牢记一件事，那就是该走的路早已标明，它的终点将是一个崭新的、而且更伟大的帝国！”

And as his eyes bent to his book, he flicked into nothingness, and the lights brightened once more.

当谢顿的目光转回书本，他的影像瞬间消失无踪，室内则重新大放光明。

Hardin looked up to see Pirenne facing him, eyes tragic and lips trembling.

哈定抬起头，看到皮翰纳面对着他，眼神充满哀戚，嘴唇不停颤抖。

The chairman's voice was firm but toneless. "You were right, it seems. If you will see us tonight at six, the Board will consult with you as to the next move."

这位理事会主席以坚定却平板的声音说：“似乎是你对了。请你今晚六点钟过来，理事会将和你研商下一步的行动。”

They shook his hand, each one, and left, and Hardin smiled to himself. They were fundamentally sound at that; for they were scientists enough to admit that they were wrong--but for them, it was too late.

他们一一与哈定握手，然后陆续离去。哈定发出会心的微笑。他们基本上都还能接受这个事实，因为终究是科学家，总有承认错误的雅量——可是对他们而言，却已经太迟了。

He looked at his watch. By this time, it was all over. Lee's men were in control and the Board was giving orders no longer.

他看看表。这个时候，一切应该都结束了。约翰的人马已经掌握全局，理事会再也无法发号施令。

The Anacreonians were landing their first spaceships tomorrow, but that was all right, too. In six months, they would be giving orders no longer.

明天，安纳克里昂的第一批星舰就要登陆，不过这也没关系。六个月之内，他们就不能再向端点星发号施令。

In fact, as Hari Seldon had said, and as Salvor Hardin had guessed since the day that Anselm haut Rodric had first revealed to him Anacreon's lack of nuclear power-- the solution to this first crisis was obvious.

事实上，正如哈里·谢顿所说的，也正如塞佛·哈定所猜测的——若缀克大人透露他们没有核能的那天，哈定心里就已经有数——第一次危机的解决之道，其实极为明显。

Obvious as all hell!

真他妈的明显极了！

英文小说网