15 THE PSYCHOLOGIST
第15章 心理学家
There was reason to the fact that the element known as "pure science" was the freest form of life on the Foundation. In a Galaxy where the predominance……and even survival……of the Foundation still rested upon the superiority of its technology……even despite its large access of physical power in the last century and a half……a certain immunity adhered to The Scientist. He was needed, and he knew it.
基地中最自由的生活方式，莫过于从事所谓“纯科学”研究，这个事实其来有自。过去一个半世纪中，基地虽然获取了大量的有形资源，不过想要在银河系称霸，甚至即使仅仅为了生存，基地仰赖的仍是高人一等的优越科技。因此，“科学家”拥有不少特权。基地需要他们，他们也明白这一点。
Likewise, there was reason to the fact that Ebling Mis……only those who did not know him added his titles to his name……was the freest form of life in the "pure science" of the Foundation. In a world where science was respected, he was The Scientist……with capital letters and no smile. He was needed, and he knew it.
而在基地所有的“纯科学”工作者中，艾布林·米斯……只有不认识他的人，才会在称呼他的时候加上头衔……他的生活方式又比其他人更自由，这个事实同样其来有自。在这个分外尊重科学的世界，他就是“科学家”……这是个堂皇而严肃的职业。基地需要他，他自己也明白这一点。
And so it happened, that when others bent their knee, he refused and added loudly that his ancestors in their time bowed no knee to any stinking mayor. And in his ancestors' time the mayor was elected anyhow, and kicked out at will, and that the only people that inherited anything by right of birth were the congenital idiots.
因此之故，当其他人对市长下跪行礼时，他不但拒绝从命，并且还大声疾呼：祖先们当年从来不对任何混蛋市长屈膝。而且在那个时代，市长无论如何也是民选的，随时可以叫他们滚蛋。他还常常强调，生来就能继承的东西其实只有一样，那就是先天性白痴。
So it also happened, that when Ebling Mis decided to allow Indbur to honor him with an audience, he did not wait for the usual rigid line of command to pass his request up and the favored reply down, but, having thrown the less disreputable of his two formal jackets over his shoulders and pounded an odd hat of impossible design onnnne side of his head, and lit a forbidden cigar into the bargain, he barged past two ineffectually bleating guards and into the mayor's palace.
同样的道理，当艾布林·米斯决定要让茵德布尔召见他的时候，他并未依循正式的觐见申请手续，将申请书一级级向上呈递，再静候市长的恩准一级级发下来。他只是从仅有的两件披风中，挑出比较不邋遢的那件披在肩上，再将一顶式样古怪至极的帽子歪戴在脑袋一侧。他还衔着一根市长绝对禁止的雪茄，毫不理会两名警卫的呵斥，就大摇大摆地闯进市长的官邸。
The first notice his excellence received of the intrusion was when from his garden he heard the gradually nearing uproar of expostulation and the answering bull-roar of inarticulate swearing.
市长当时正在花园里，突然听到愈来愈近的喧扰，除了警告制止的吼叫声，还有含糊不清的粗声咒骂，他才知道有人闯了进来。
Slowly, Indbur lay down his trowel; slowly, he stood up; and slowly, he frowned. For Indbur allowed himself a daily vacation from work, and for two hours in the early afternoon, weather permitting, he was in his garden. There in his garden, the blooms grew in squares and triangles, interlaced in a severe order of red and yellow, with little dashes of violet at the apices, and greenery bordering the whole in rigid lines. There in his garden no nne disturbed him……no nne!
茵德布尔缓缓放下手中的小铲子，缓缓站起身来，又缓缓皱起眉头。在日理万机之余，茵德布尔每天仍会拨出一点休闲的时间；通常是午后的两小时，只要天气许可，他都会待在花园里。这座由他精心规划的花园，花圃都垦栽成三角形或长方形，红花与黄花规律地交错着；每块花圃的顶点还点缀着几朵紫色的花，花园四周则是一条条整齐的绿线。在他的花园里，他不准任何人打搅……绝无例外！
Indbur peeled off his soil-stained gloves as he advanced toward the little garden door.
茵德布尔一面走向小花园门口，一面摘下沾满泥巴的手套。
Inevitably, he said, "What is the meaning of this?"
他自然而然地问道：“怎么回事？”
It is the precise question and the precise wording thereof that has been put to the atmosphere on such occasions by an incredible variety of men since humanity was invented. It is not recorded that it has ever been asked for any purpose other than dignified effect.
自有人类以来，在无数个类似的场合，这一句问话……一字不差……曾经从各式各样人物嘴里吐出来。可是没有任何记载显示，这句问话除了显现威风之外，还能有什么其他目的。
But the answer was literal this time, for Mis's body came plunging through with a bellow, and a shake of a fist at the nnes who were still holding tatters of his cloak.
可是这一回，他得到一个具体的答案。因为米斯的身体正好挟着咆哮向前冲来，两名警卫则一边一个，紧紧抓住他身上被撕烂的披风。米斯则不断挥着拳头，对那两名警卫左右开弓。
Indbur motinned them away with a solemn, displeased frown, and Mis bent to pick up his ruin of a hat, shake about a quarter of the gathered dirt off it, thrust it under his armpit and say: "Look here, Indbur, those unprintable minions of yours will be charged for nne good cloak. Lots of good wear left in this cloak." He puffed and wiped his forehead with just a trace of theatricality.
茵德布尔一本正经、满脸不悦地皱着眉头，示意两名警卫退下。米斯这才弯下腰，捡起烂成一团的帽子，抖掉将近一袋的泥土，再将帽子塞在腋下，然后说：“茵德布尔，你看看，你那些xxx的奴才要赔我一件好披风。这件本来还可以好好穿很久呢。”他喘着气，用稍微夸张的动作抹了抹额头上的汗水。
The mayor stood stiff with displeasure, and said haughtily from the peak of his five-foot-two, "It has not been brought to my attention, Mis, that you have requested an audience. You have certainly not been assigned nne."
市长满肚子不高兴地僵立在那里，挺直五英尺二英寸的身子傲慢地说：“米斯，我可不晓得你请求觐见，当然还没有批准你的申请。”
Ebling Mis looked down at his mayor with what was apparently shocked disbelief, "Ga-LAX-y, Indbur, didn't you get my note yesterday? I handed it to a flunky in purple uniform day before. I would have handed it to you direct, but I know how you like formality."
艾布林·米斯低头望着市长，显然是不敢相信自己的耳朵。“银……河呀，茵德布尔，难道你昨天没有收到我的便条吗？我前天交给一个穿紫色制服的仆佣。我应该直接拿给你的，可是我知道你多么喜欢形式。”
"Formality!" Indbur turned up exasperated eyes. Then, strenuously, "Have you ever heard of proper organization? At all future times you are to submit your request for an audience, properly made out in triplicate, at the government office intended for the purpose. You are then to wait until the nrdinary course of events brings you notification of the time of audience to be granted. You are then to appear, properly clothed……properly clothed, do you understand……and with proper respect, too. You may leave."
“形式！”茵德布尔扬起充满怒意的眼睛。然后，他慷慨激昂地说：“你听说过什么是优良的组织管理吗？今后你若想要觐见我，都得先准备好一式三份的申请书，交给专门承办这项事务的政府机关。然后你乖乖等着，一旦公文循正常程序批下来，就会通知你觐见的时间。到时候你才能出现，还得穿着合宜的服装……合宜的服装，你懂吗……并且表现出应有的尊重。现在你可以走了。”
"What's wrong with my clothes?" demanded Mis, hotly. "Best cloak I had till those unprintable fiends got their claws on it. I'll leave just as soon as I deliver what I came to deliver. "Ga-LAX-y, if it didn't involve a Seldon Crisis, I would leave right now."
“我的衣服又有什么不对劲？”米斯怒气冲冲地追问，“在那两个xxx的恶鬼把他们的爪子搭上来之前，这是我最好的一件披风。让我把要告诉你的话说完，我会立刻自动离开。银……河呀，倘若不是和谢顿危机有关，我真想马上就走。”
"Seldon crisis!" Indbur exhibited first interest. Mis was a great psychologist……a democrat, boor, and rebel certainly, but a psychologist, too. In his uncertainty, the mayor even failed to put into words the inner pang that stabbed suddenly when Mis plucked a casual bloom, held it to his nostrils expectantly, then flipped it away with a wrinkled nose.
“谢顿危机！”茵德布尔总算现出一点兴趣。米斯是一位伟大的心理学家……此外还是民主分子、乡巴佬，而且无疑是叛徒，但他终究是心理学权威。这时米斯随手摘下一朵花，满怀期待地放在鼻端，却马上皱着眉头把它丢开，但市长由于有些迟疑，竟然没有将锥心的悲痛化为言语。
Indbur said coldly, "Would you follow me? This garden wasn't made for serious conversation."
茵德布尔以冷漠的口气说：“跟我来好吗？在这个花园里不适合谈正事。”
He felt better in his built-up chair behind his large desk from which he could look down on the few hairs that quite ineffectually hid Mis's pink scalp-skin. He felt much better when Mis cast a series of automatic glances about him for a non-existent chair and then remained standing in uneasy shifting fashion. He felt best of all when in response to a careful pressure of the correct contact, a liveried underling scurried in, bowed his way to the desk, and laid thereon a bulky, metal-bound volume.
回到办公室，市长立刻坐到大办公桌后面那张特制的椅子上，顿时感到心情改善不少。现在他可以俯视米斯头上所剩无几的头发，以及根本盖不住的粉红色头皮。米斯自然而然环顾四周，寻找另一张根本不存在的椅子，最后只好浑身不自在地站在原处。市长看到这种反应，他的心情就更好了。然后，市长慎重选择了一个按钮按下，随即有一名穿着制服的小吏应声出现，弯着腰走到办公桌前，呈上一个鼓鼓的金属卷宗。这个时候，市长的心情简直好到了极点。
"Now, in order," said Indbur, once more master of the situation, "to make this unauthorized interview as short as possible, make your statement in the fewest possible words."
“好，”茵德布尔又重新掌握住情势，“为了尽早结束这个未经批准的觐见，你的陈述尽量长话短说。”
Ebling Mis said unhurriedly, "You know what I'm doing these days?"
艾布林·米斯却不慌不忙地说：“你知道我最近在做些什么？”
"I have your reports here," replied the mayor, with satisfaction, "together with authorized summaries of them. As I understand it, your investigations into the mathematics of psychohistory have been intended to duplicate Hari Seldon's work and, eventually, trace the projected course of future history, for the use of the Foundation."
“你的报告就在我手边，”市长得意洋洋地答道，“并附有专人为我做的正式摘要。据我所知，你正在研究心理史学的数学结构，希望能够重新导出哈里·谢顿的发现；最终的目标，是要为基地描绘出未来历史的既定轨迹。”
"Exactly," said Mis, dryly. "When Seldon first established the Foundation, he was wise enough to include no psychologists among the scientists placed here……so that the Foundation has always worked blindly along the course of historical necessity. In the course of my researches, I have based a good deal upon hints found at the Time Vault."
“正是如此。”米斯淡淡地说，“谢顿当初建立基地的时候，他想得很周到，没有让心理学家跟着其他科学家一块来……所以基地一直盲目地循着历史的必然轨迹发展。在我的研究过程中，我大量采用了时光穹窿中发现的线索。”
"I am aware of that, Mis. It is a waste of time to repeat."
“米斯，这点我也知道。你重复这些只是在浪费时间。”
"I'm not repeating," blared Mis, "because what I'm going to tell you isn't in any of those reports."
“我不是在重复什么，”米斯尖声吼道，“因为我要告诉你的，全都不在那些报告里面。”
"How do you mean, not in the reports?" said Indbur, stupidly. "How could……"
“不在报告里面，你这话是什么意思？”茵德布尔傻愣愣地说，“怎么可能……”
"Ga-LAX-y, Let me tell this my own way, you offensive little creature. Stop putting words into my mouth and questioning my every statement or I'll tramp out of here and let everything crumble around you. Remember, you unprintable fool, the Foundation will come through because it must, but if I walk out of here now……you won't."
“银……河呀！可否让我用自己的方式说完，你这讨人厌的小东西。别再拼命打岔，也别再质疑我说的每一句话，否则我马上离开这里，让你身边的一切自生自灭。记住，你这个xxx的傻瓜，基地必定能度过难关，可是如果我掉头就走……你就过不了关。”
Dashing his hat on the floor, so that clods of earth scattered, he sprang up the stairs of the dais on which the wide desk stood and shoving papers violently, sat down upon a comer of it.
米斯把帽子摔在地板上，粘在上面的土块立刻四散纷飞。然后他猛然跳上大办公桌所在的石台，把桌上的文件胡乱扫开，一屁股坐上桌面的一角。
Indbur thought frantically of summoning the guard, or using the built-in blasters of his desk. But Mis's face was glaring down upon him and there was nothing to do but cringe the best face upon it.
茵德布尔六神无主，不知道是该召警卫进来，还是要拔出藏在桌内的手铳。但是米斯正由上而下狠狠瞪着他，他唯一能做的只有勉强陪着笑脸。
"Dr. Mis," he began, with weak formality, "you must……"
“米斯博士，”他用比较正式的口气说，“您得……”
"Shut up," said Mis, ferociously, "and listen. If this thing here," and his palm came down heavily on the metal of the bound data, "is a mess of my reports……throw it out. Any report I write goes up through some twenty-odd officials, gets to you, and then sort of winds down through twenty more. That's fine if there's nothing you don't want kept secret. Well, I've got something confidential here. It's so confidential, even the boys working for me haven't got wind of it. They did the work, of course, but each just a little unconnected piece……and I put it together. You know what the Time Vault is?"
“给我闭嘴，”米斯凶巴巴地说，“好好听着。如果这些东西，”他的手掌重重打在金属卷宗上，“就是我的那些报告……马上给我丢掉。我写的任何报告，都要经过二十几个官吏一级级向上呈递，才能送到你这里；然后你的任何批示，又要经过二十几手才能发下来。如果你根本不想保密，这样做倒没有什么关系。不过，我这里的东西却是机密。它是绝对机密，即使我的那些助手，也不清楚葫芦里究竟是什么药。当然，研究工作大多是他们做的，但是每个人只负责互不相干的一小部分……最后才由我把结果拼凑起来。你知道时光穹窿是什么吗？”
Indbur nodded his head, but Mis went on with loud enjoyment of the situation, "Well, I'll tell you anyhow because I've been sort of imagining this unprintable situation for a "Ga-LAX-y, of a long time; I can read your mind, you puny fraud. You've got your hand right near a little knob that'll call in about five hundred or so armed men to finish me off, but you're afraid of what I know……you're afraid of a Seldon Crisis. Besides which, if you touch anything on your desk, I'll knock your unprintable head off before anyone gets here. You and your bandit father and pirate grandfather have been blood-sucking the Foundation long enough anyway."
茵德布尔点点头，但是米斯愈来愈得意，高声吼道：“没关系，反正我要告诉你，因为我想象这个xxx的机会，已经想了跟银河呀一样久了。我能看透你的心思，你这个小骗子。你的手正放在一个按钮旁，随时能叫来五百多名武装警卫把我干掉，但你又在担心我所知道的事……你在担心谢顿危机。我还要告诉你，如果你碰碰桌上任何东西，在任何人进来之前，我会先把你xxx的脑袋摘下来。你的爸爸是个土匪，你的爷爷是个强盗，基地被你们一家人吸血吸得太久了。”
"This is treason," gabbled Indbur.
“你这是叛变。”茵德布尔含糊地吐出一句话。
"It certainly is," gloated Mis, "but what are you going to do about it? Let me tell you about the Time Vault. That Time Vault is what Hari Seldon placed here at the beginning to help us over the rough spots. For every crisis, Seldon has prepared a personal simulacrum to help……and explain. Four crises so far……four appearances. The first time he appeared at the height of the first crisis. The second time, he appeared at the moment just after the successful evolution of the second crisis. Our ancestors were there to listen to him both times. At the third and fourth crises, he was ignored……probably because he was not needed, but recent investigations……not included in those reports you have……indicate that he appeared anyway, and at the proper times. Get it?"
“显然没错，”米斯志得意满地答道，“可是你要拿我怎么办？让我来告诉你有关时光穹窿的一切。时光穹窿是哈里·谢顿当年建造的，目的是为了帮助我们渡过难关。对于每一个危机，谢顿都准备了一段录像来现身说法……并解释危机的意义。目前为止，基地总共经历过四次危机……谢顿也出现过四次。第一次，他出现在危机的最高峰。第二次他出现的时候，是危机刚刚圆满解决之际。这两次，我们的祖先都在那里观看他的演说。然而第三和第四次危机来临时，他却被忽略了，也许是因为根本不需要他，可是我最近的研究显示……你手中的报告完全没有提到这些……谢顿还是曾经现身，而且时机都正确。懂了吗？”
He did not wait for any answer. His cigar, a tattered, dead ruin was finally disposed of, a new cigar groped for, and lit. The smoke puffed out violently.
米斯并非等待市长作任何回答。他手中的雪茄早就烂成一团，现在他终于把它丢掉，又摸出了一根点上，开始大口大口地吞云吐雾。
He said, "Officially I've been trying to rebuild the science of psychohistory. Well, no one man is going to do that, and it won't get done in any one century, either. But I've made advances in the more simple elements and I've been able to use it as an excuse to meddle with the Time Vault. What I have done, involves the determination, to a pretty fair kind of certainty, of the exact date of the next appearance of Hari Seldon. I can give you the exact day, in other words, that the coming Seldon Crisis, the fifth, will reach its climax. "
他继续说：“官方说法，我的工作是试图重建心理史学这门科学。不过，任何人都无法单独完成这项工作，而一个世纪内无论如何也不可能成功。但我在比较简单的环节上有些突破，利用这些成绩，我有了接触时光穹窿的借口。我真正研究出来的结果，包括相当准确地推测哈里·谢顿下次出现的正确日期。我可以告诉你那个日子，换句话说，就是下一个谢顿危机……第五个危机升到顶点的时间。”
"How far off?" demanded Indbur, tensely.
“距离现在还有多久？”茵德布尔紧张兮兮地追问。
And Mis exploded his bomb with cheerful nonchalance, "Four months," he said. "Four unprintable months, less two days."
米斯以轻松愉快又轻描淡写的口气，引爆了他带来的这颗炸弹。“四个月，”他说，“xxx的四个月，还要减两天。”
"Four months," said Indbur, with uncharacteristic vehemence. "Impossible."
“四个月，”茵德布尔不再装腔作势，激动万分地说，“不可能。”
"Impossible, my unprintable eye."
“不可能？我可以发xxx的誓。”
"Four months? Do you understand what that means? For a crisis to come to a head in four months would mean that it has been preparing for years."
“四个月？你可了解这代表什么吗？假如四个月后危机即将爆发，就代表它已经酝酿有好几年了。”
"And why not? Is there a law of Nature that requires the process to mature in the full light of day?"
“有何不可？难道有哪条自然法则，规定危机必须在光天化日下酝酿吗？”
"But nothing impends. Nothing hangs over us." Indbur almost wrung his hands for anxiety. With a sudden spasmodic recrudescence of ferocity, he screamed, "Will you get off my desk and let me put it in order? How do you expect me to think?"
“可是没有任何征兆，没有任何迫在眉睫的事件。”茵德布尔急得几乎把手都拧断了。突然间，他无端恢复了凶狠的气势，尖声叫道：“请你爬下桌子去，让我把桌面收拾整齐好不好？这样子叫我怎么能思考？”
Mis, startled, lifted heavily and moved aside.
这句话把米斯吓了一跳，他将庞大的身躯移开，站到一旁去。
Indbur replaced objects in their appropriate niches with a feverish motion. He was speaking quickly, "You have no right to come here like this. If you had presented your theory?
茵德布尔十万火急地将所有的东西归回原位，然后连珠炮似的说：“你没有权利这样随随便便就进来。假使你先提出你的理论……”
"It is not a theory."
“这绝不是理论。”
"I say it is a theory. If you had presented it together with your evidence and arguments, in appropriate fashion, it would have gone to the Bureau of Historical Sciences. There it could have been properly treated, the resulting analyses submitted to me, and then, of course, proper action would have been taken. As it is, you've vexed me to no purpose. Ah, here it is."
“我说是理论就是理论。假使你先提出你的理论，并且附上证据和论述，按照规定的格式整理好，它就会被送到历史科学局去。那里自有专人负责处理，再将分析的结果呈递给我，然后，当然，我们就会采取适当的措施。如今你这么乱来，唯一的结果只是令我烦心。啊，在这里。”
He had a sheet of transparent, silvery paper in his hand which he shook at the bulbous psychologist beside him.
他抓起一张透明的银纸，在肥胖的心理学家面前来回摇晃。
"This is a short summary I prepare myself……weekly……of foreign matters in progress. Listen……we have completed negotiations for a commercial treaty with Mores, continue negotiations for one with Lyonesse, sent a delegation to some celebration or other on Bonde, received some complaint or other from Kalgan and we've promised to look into it, protested some sharp trade practices in Asperta and they've promised to look into it……and so on and so on." The mayor's eyes swarmed down the list of coded notations, and then he carefully placed the sheet in its proper place in the proper folder in the proper pigeonhole.
“这是每周的外交事务摘要，是我为自己准备的。听着……我们已经和莫尔斯完成贸易条约的磋商；将要继续和里欧尼斯进行相同的磋商；派遣代表团去庞第参加一个什么庆典；从卡尔根收到一个什么抗议，我们已经答应加以研究；向阿斯波达抗议他们的贸易政策过于严苛，他们也答应会加以研究……等等，等等。”市长的目光聚焦在目录上，然后他小心翼翼地举起那张银纸，放回正确的文件格内正确的卷宗里的正确位置。
I tell you, Mis, there's not a thing there that breathes anything but order and peace?
“米斯，我告诉你，放眼银河，没有一处不是充满秩序与和平……”
The door at the far, long end opened, and, in far too dramatically coincident a fashion to suggest anything but real life, a plainly-costumed notable stepped in.
此时，简直就是无巧不成书，远处的一扇门突然打开，一名衣着朴素的官员随即走进来。
Indbur half-rose. He had the curiously swirling sensation of unreality that comes upon those days when too much happens. After Mis's intrusion and wild fumings there now came the equally improper, hence disturbing, intrusion unannounced, of his secretary, who at least knew the rules.
茵德布尔起身的动作在半途僵住。最近发生了太多意料不到的事，令他感到晕头转向，仿佛做梦一般。先有米斯硬闯进来，跟他大吵大闹好一阵子，现在他的秘书竟然又一声不响就走过来，这个举动实在太不合宜，秘书至少应该懂得规矩。
The secretary kneeled low.
秘书单膝跪下。
Indbur said, sharply, "Well!"
茵德布尔用尖锐的声音说：“怎么样！”
The secretary addressed the floor, "Excellence, Captain Han Pritcher of Information, returning from Kalgan, in disobedience to your orders, has according to prior instructions……your order X20-513……been imprisoned, and awaits execution. Those accompanying him are being held for questioning. A full report has been filed."
秘书低着头，面对着地板报告。“市长阁下，情报局的汉·普利吉上尉从卡尔根回来了。由于他违抗了您的命令，根据您早先的指示……市长手令第二〇·五一三号……已经将他收押，等待发监执行。跟他一起来的人也已被扣留和查问，完整的报告已经呈递。”
Indbur, in agony, said, "A full report has been received. Well!"
茵德布尔吼道：“完整的报告已经收到。怎么样！”
"Excellence, Captain Pritcher has reported, vaguely, dangerous designs on the part of the new warlord of Kalgan. He has been given, according to prior instructions……your order X20-651……no formal hearing, but his remarks have been recorded and a full report filed."
“市长阁下，在普利吉上尉的口供中，约略提到卡尔根新统领的危险阴谋。根据您早先的指示……市长手令第二〇·六五一号……不得为他举行正式的听证会。不过他的口供都做成了笔录，完整的报告已经呈递。”
Indbur screamed, "A full report has been received. Well!"
茵德布尔声嘶力竭地吼道：“完整的报告已经收到。怎么样！”
"Excellence, reports have within the quarter-hour been received from the Salinnian frontier. Ships identified as Kalganian have been entering Foundation territory, unauthorized. The ships are armed. Fighting has occurred."
“市长阁下，在一刻钟之前，我们收到来自沙林边境的报告。数艘确定国籍的卡尔根船舰，已强行闯入基地领域。那些船舰都有武装，已经打起来了。”
The secretary was bent nearly double. Indbur remained standing. Ebling Mis shook himself, clumped up to the secretary, and tapped him sharply on the shoulder.
秘书的头愈垂愈低。茵德布尔继续站在那里。艾布林·米斯甩了甩头，然后一步步走近秘书，并猛拍他的肩膀。
"Here, you'd better have them release this Captain Pritcher, and have him sent here. Get out."
“喂，你最好叫他们赶快释放那位普利吉上尉，然后把他送到这里。赶快去。”
The secretary left, and Mis turned to the mayor, "Hadn't you better get the machinery moving, Indbur? Four months, you know."
秘书随即离去，米斯又转向市长。“茵德布尔，你的政府是不是该动起来了？四个月，你知道了吧。”
Indbur remained standing, glaze-eyed. Only one finger seemed alive……and it traced rapid jerky triangles on the smooth desk top before him.
茵德布尔仍然目光呆滞地站在那里。他似乎只剩下一根手指还能活动……在他面前光滑的桌面上，那根手指神经质地画着一个又一个三角形。