第7章 贿赂
Sergeant Mori Luk made an ideal soldier of the ranks. He came from the huge agricultural planets of the Pleiades where only army life could break the bond to the soil and the unavailing life of drudgery; and he was typical of that background. Unimaginative enough to face danger without fear, he was strong and agile enough to face it successfully. He accepted orders instantly, drove the men under him unbendingly and adored his general unswervingly.
莫里·路克中士是一位模范军人。他来自昂宿星团的巨大农业世界，在那里的居民若想脱离土地的羁绊，不愿终生从事单调、辛劳而没有成就感的工作，唯一的办法只有投身军旅；路克中士就是这类军人的典型。他思想单纯，作战不畏艰险，而强健矫捷的身手，又足以使他轻易过关斩将。他对命令绝对服从，对部下要求万分严格，对他的将领则崇拜得五体投地。
And yet with that, he was of a sunny nature. If he killed a man in the line of duty without a scrap of hesitation, it was also without a scrap of animosity.
虽然是标准的职业军人，路克的天性却活泼开朗。即使他在战场上奋勇杀敌时毫不犹豫，心中却也毫无恨意。
That Sergeant Luk should signal at the door before entering was further a sign of tact, for he would have been perfectly within his rights to enter without signaling.
进门之前，路克中士竟然先按下叫门的讯号，这更表现出他的礼貌与修养。因为在他的权限内，他绝对可以直接开门进去。
The two within looked up from their evening meal and one reached out with his foot to cut off the cracked voice which rattled out of the battered pocket-transmitter with bright liveliness.
屋内的两个人正在用晚餐，看到路克中士走进来，其中一人把脚一伸，将一台破烂的口袋型阅读机关起来，原来充满室内喋喋不休的粗哑声音立刻消失。
"More books?" asked Lathan Devers.
“又送书来了吗？”拉珊·迪伐斯问道。
The sergeant held out the tightly-wound cylinder of film and scratched his neck. "It belongs to Engineer Orre, but he'll have to have it back. He's going to send it to his kids, you know, like what you might call a souvenir, you know."
中士掏出一个紧紧卷成圆柱形的胶卷，搔了搔脖子。“这是欧雷技师的东西，还要还给他。他准备寄给他的孩子，当做所谓的纪念品吧。”
Ducem Barr turned the cylinder in his hands with interest. "And where did the engineer get it? He hasn't a transmitter also, has he?"
杜森·巴尔将胶卷拿在手中来回翻弄，显得很有兴趣。“那位技师是从哪里弄来这东西的？他也没有阅读机，对不对？”
The sergeant shook his head emphatically. He pointed to the knocked-about remnant at the foot of the bed. "That's the only one in the place. This fellow, Orre, now, he got that book from one of these pig-pen worlds out here we captured. They had it in a big building by itself and he had to kill a few of the natives that tried to stop him from taking it."
中士用力摇了摇头，然后指了指床脚那台破烂的机器。“那是这里唯一的一台。那个家伙，欧雷，他的这本书，是从我们征服的那些猪窝般的世界里找到的。当地人把它郑重地单独藏在一栋大型建筑物中，有几个人试图阻止他，他只好把他们都杀了。”
He looked at it appraisingly. "It makes a good souvenir ?for kids."
他以赞赏的目光望着那个胶卷。“这的确是个很好的纪念品——送给孩子刚好。”
He paused, then said stealthily, "There's big news floating about, by the way. It's only scuttlebutt, but even so, it's too good to keep. The general did it again." And he nodded slowly, gravely.
他顿了顿，然后特别压低声音说：“对了，目前有个大消息正在流传。虽然只是谣言，但我还是忍不住要告诉你们。将军又完成一件大事。”他缓慢地、严肃地点了点头。
"That so?" said Devers. "And what did he do?"
“是吗？”迪伐斯追问，“他又做了什么？”
"Finished the Enclosure, that's all." The sergeant chuckled with a fatherly pride. "Isn't he the corker, though? Didn't he work it fine? One of the fellows who's strong on fancy talk, says it went as smooth and even as the music of the spheres, whatever they are."
“完成了包围网，就是这件事。”中士咯咯笑着，显得既得意又骄傲，“他真是个绝顶人物，把这件事做得这么精彩，你们说对不对？有个说话非常夸张的哥儿们，说它就像天籁仙乐一般完美和谐，虽然谁也不知道仙乐是什么。”
"The big offensive starts now?" asked Barr, mildly.
“那么大规模进攻要开始了？”巴尔轻声问道。
"Hope so," was the boisterous response. "I want to get back on my ship now that my arm is in one piece again. I'm tired of sitting on my scupper out here."
“希望如此。”中士兴高采烈地回答，“既然我的弟兄都会合了，我想赶快回到星舰去。我实在不愿意再把屁股粘在这个地方。”
"So am I," muttered Devers, suddenly and savagely. There was a bit of underlip caught in his teeth, and he worried it.
“我也一样。”迪伐斯突然粗声地喃喃道。他的牙齿轻咬着下唇，显得有点担心。
The sergeant looked at him doubtfully, and said, "I'd better go now. The captain's round is due and I'd just as soon he didn't catch me in here."
中士狐疑地瞪着他，然后说：“我该走啦。队长快开始巡逻了，不能让他发现我在这里。”
He paused at the door. "By the way, sir," he said with sudden, awkward shyness to the trader, "I heard from my wife. She says that little freezer you gave me to send her works fine. It doesn't cost her anything, and she just about keeps a month's supply of food froze up complete. I appreciate it."
他走到门口，又停了下来。“先生，还有一件事，”他突然对行商现出腼腆的神情，“内人告诉我，你送给我们的那台小型冷藏器很管用。根本不用花钱添加能源，而她每次都能冷藏几乎整整一个月的食物。真是太感谢了。”
"It's all right. Forget it."
“别客气，没什么。”
The great door moved noiselessly shut behind the grinning sergeant.
大门无声无息地关上，把中士咧嘴的笑容关在门外。
Ducem Barr got out of his chair. "Well, he gives us a fair return for the freezer. Let's take a look at this new book. Ahh, the title is gone."
原本坐着的杜森·巴尔站了起来。“好，他送这个来回报冷藏器。让我们看看这本新书吧。啊，书名不见了。”
He unrolled a yard or so of the film and looked through at the light. Then he murmured, "Well, skewer me through the scupper, as the sergeant says. This is 'The Garden of Summa,' Devers."
他将胶卷拉开大约一码，对着光线看了一下，然后喃喃道：“嗯，套用中士的话，我要是猜错了，把我串在棍子上烤来吃。迪伐斯，这本书是《萨马花园》。”
"That so?" said the trader, without interest. He shoved aside what was left of his dinner. "Sit down, Barr. Listening to this old-time literature isn't doing me any good. You heard what the sergeant said?"
“是吗？”行商显得兴趣缺缺，他将没吃完的晚餐推到一边，“巴尔，你坐下来。听这种老派文学作品对我毫无用处。你听到中士讲的话了？”
"Yes, I did. What of it?"
“听到了。那又怎样？”
"The offensive will start. And we sit here!"
“进攻即将开始，而我们还坐在这里！”
"Where do you want to sit?"
“你想要坐在哪里？”
"You know what I mean. There's no use just waiting."
“你知道我的意思，这样子等下去不是办法。”
"Isn't there?" Barr was carefully removing the old film from the transmitter and installing the new. "You told me a good deal of Foundation history in the last month, and it seems that the great leaders of past crises did precious little more than sit ?and wait."
“不是办法吗？”巴尔细心地取下阅读机上原来的胶卷，将新的那卷装上去。“过去这一个月，你跟我讲了许多有关基地的历史。好像以前每当危机来临，那些伟大的领导者几乎都是坐在那里——守株待兔。”
"Ah, Barr, but they knew where they were going."
“哎呀，巴尔，但是他们知道局势将如何发展。”
"Did they? I suppose they said they did when it was over, and for all I know maybe they did. But there's no proof that things would not have worked out as well or better if they had not known where they were going. The deeper economic and sociological forces aren't directed by individual men."
“他们知道吗？我想是在事过境迁之后，他们才声称早有先见之明，而据我所知，也许真是这样。但是没有任何证据显示，假使他们并没有先见之明，结局就不会那么完美，甚至更好。因为深层的社会和经济巨流，绝非个人的力量所能主导。”
Devers sneered. "No way of telling that things wouldn't have worked out worse, either. You're arguing tail-end backwards." His eyes were brooding. "You know, suppose I blasted him?"
迪伐斯露出嘲讽的笑容。“却也没有办法证明，结局不会变得更糟。你的推理本末倒置。”他出神地沉思了一下，“你瞧，假设我把他轰掉？”
"Whom? Riose?"
“谁？里欧思？”
"Yes."
“是的。”
Barr sighed. His aging eyes were troubled with a reflection of the long past. "Assassination isn't the way out, Devers. I once tried it, under provocation, when I was twenty ?but it solved nothing. I removed a villain from Siwenna, but not the Imperial yoke; and it was the Imperial yoke and not the villain that mattered."
巴尔叹了一口气。他立刻想起尘封的往事，一对老眼透出困惑的神色。“迪伐斯，行刺不是办法。我曾经试过，当时我二十岁，一时冲动——可是没有解决任何问题。我替西维纳除掉一个恶霸，却无法除去帝国的桎梏。问题的症结却在于那个桎梏，而不在恶霸身上。”
"But Riose is not just a villain, doc. He's the whole blamed army. It would fall apart without him. They hang on him like babies. The sergeant out there slobbers every time he mentions him."
“老学究，可是里欧思不只是恶霸。他代表了整个该死的军队。没有了他，那些官兵都会作鸟兽散。他们个个像婴儿一般仰赖他；例如刚才那位中士，每次提到他都会情不自禁地悠然神往。”
"Even so. There are other armies and other leaders. You must go deeper. There is this Brodrig, for instance ?no one more than he has the ear of the Emperor. He could demand hundreds of ships where Riose must struggle with ten. I know him by reputation."
“即使如此。帝国还有其他军队，还有其他将领。你得想得更远一点。比如说，布洛缀克来了——再也没有人像他那样受大帝的宠信。里欧思只能靠十艘星舰苦战，布洛缀克却能要到好几百艘。有关他的传闻，我听说得很多。”
"That so? What about him?" The trader's eyes lost in frustration what they gained in sharp interest.
“是吗？他这个人怎么样？”行商对这个话题很感兴趣，却不懂对方为何流露出挫折感。
"You want a pocket outline? He's a low-born rascal who has by unfailing flattery tickled the whims of the Emperor. He's well-hated by the court aristocracy, vermin themselves, because he can lay claim to neither family nor humility. He is the Emperor's adviser in all things, and the Emperor's too in the worst things. He is faithless by choice but loyal by necessity. There is not a man in the Empire as subtle in villainy or as crude in his pleasures. And they say there is no way to the Emperor's favor but through him; and no way to his, but through infamy."
“你想要我简单说说吗？他是个出身卑微的家伙，靠着无穷的谄媚赢得大帝的欢心。宫廷中所有的王公贵族，虽然自己都不是好东西，却通通恨透了他，因为他既没有显赫的家族背景，又不具备谦恭有礼的品行。他是大帝的万能顾问，也是执行最下流任务的工具。他心中毫无忠诚，又必须表现得忠心耿耿。整个帝国中，找不到另一个像他那么邪恶诡诈，又那么残忍成性的人。听说唯有透过他的安排，才能得到大帝的赏识；而唯有通过旁门左道，才能得到他的帮助。”
"Wow!" Devers pulled thoughtfully at his neatly trimmed beard. "And he's the old boy the Emperor sent out here to keep an eye on Riose. Do you know I have an idea?"
“唔！”迪伐斯若有所思地扯着修剪整齐的胡子，“而他就是大帝派到这里来，负责监视里欧思的老兄。你可知道我想到了一个主意吗？”
"I do now."
“现在我知道了。”
"Suppose this Brodrig takes a dislike to our young Army's Delight?"
“假如布洛缀克对我们这位‘官兵的最爱’起了反感？”
"He probably has already. He's not noted for a capacity for liking."
“也许他早就起反感了。没听说他喜欢过什么人。”
"Suppose it gets really bad. The Emperor might hear about it, and Riose might be in trouble."
“假如他们之间的关系变得很糟。那么大帝就可能知道，而里欧思就有麻烦了。”
"Uh-huh. Quite likely. But how do you propose to get that to happen?"
“嗯——嗯，很有可能。可是你准备怎么挑拨呢？”
"I don't know. I suppose he could be bribed?"
“我不知道。但我想他应该会接受贿赂？”
The patrician laughed gently. "Yes, in a way, but not in the manner you bribed the sergeant ?not with a pocket freezer. And even if you reach his scale, it wouldn't be worth it. There's probably no one so easily bribed, but he lacks even the fundamental honesty of honorable corruption. He doesn't stay bribed; not for any sum. Think of something else."
老贵族轻轻笑了几声。“没错，可以这样说，但可不像你贿赂那位中士那样简单——绝非一台袖珍冷藏器就能打发。而且即使你填饱他的胃口，也可能会血本无归。他大概是天地间最容易贿赂的人，却一点也不遵守贪官污吏的基本规范。不论给他多少钱，他随时会翻脸不认人。你得想想别的办法。”
Devers swung a leg over his knee and his toe nodded quickly and restlessly. "It's the first hint, though?
迪伐斯跷起二郎腿来回摇晃，脚趾还不停地打着拍子。“至少，这是个初步灵感……”
He stopped; the door signal was flashing once again, and the sergeant was on the threshold once more. He was excited, and his broad face was red and unsmiling.
他随即住口，因为叫门的讯号再度闪了起来，路克中士随即又在门口出现。他看来十分激动，宽大的脸庞涨得通红，却没有任何笑容。
"Sir," he began, in an agitated attempt at deference, "I am very thankful for the freezer, and you have always spoken to me very fine, although I am only the son of a farmer and you are great lords."
“先生，”他开始说话，尽力想表现得很尊重对方，“我非常感谢你们送我冷藏器，而你们对我讲话又总是非常礼貌。虽然你们都是伟大的贵族，而我只是一名农家子弟。”
His Pleiades accent had grown thick, almost too much so for easy comprehension; and with excitement, his lumpish peasant derivation wiped out completely the soldierly bearing so long and so painfully cultivated.
他那昂宿星团特有的口音愈来愈重，几乎令人有点听不太懂。他又因为极为激动，木讷的农人天性全部浮现出来，掩盖了长久艰苦训练而成的军人本色。
Barr said softly, "What is it, sergeant?"
巴尔柔声问道：“中士，究竟怎么回事？”
"Lord Brodrig is coming to see you. Tomorrow! I know, because the captain told me to have my men ready for dress review tomorrow for ... for him. I thought ?I might warn you."
“布洛缀克大人要来看你们，就是明天！我知道，因为队长命令我让手下准备好，明天……明天他要来检阅。我想——我应该来警告你们一声。”
Barr said, "Thank you, sergeant, we appreciate that. But it's all right, man; no need for……"
巴尔说：“中士，谢谢你，我们很感激。不过不会有什么事的，你不必……”
But the look on Sergeant Luk's face was now unmistakably one of fear. He spoke in a rough whisper, "You don't hear the stories the men tell about him. He has sold himself to the space fiend. No, don't laugh. There are most terrible tales told about him. They say he has men with blast-guns who follow him everywhere, and when he wants pleasure, he just tells them to blast down anyone they meet. And they do ?and he laughs. They say even the Emperor is in terror of him, and that he forces the Emperor to raise taxes and won't let him listen to the complaints of the people.
可是路克中士的表情明显地布满恐惧。他压低声音，哑着嗓子说：“你们没有听过有关他的传闻。他已经将自己的灵魂卖给‘宇宙邪灵’。不，不要笑。有许多关于他的传说，净是些可怕至极的事。据说他不论到哪里，都会带着武装侍卫，当他心血来潮时，就会命令他们射杀遇到的每个人。而他们便会照做——他就哈哈大笑。据说连大帝都怕他，就是他强迫大帝增税，又不让大帝听到百姓的抱怨。
"And he hates the general, that's what they say. They say he would like to kill the general, because the general is so great and wise. But he can't because our general is a match for anyone and he knows Lord Brodrig is a bad 'un."
“而且大家都说，他憎恶我们的将军。据说他想要杀害将军，因为将军既伟大又睿智。可是他办不到，因为我们的将军也不是好欺负的，他早知道布洛缀克大人是个坏胚。”
The sergeant blinked; smiled in a sudden incongruous shyness at his own outburst; and backed toward the door. He nodded his head, jerkily. "You mind my words. Watch him."
中士眨了眨眼睛，突然感到自己太过失态，很不好意思地微微一笑，然后就向门口走了过去。他又猛力点了点头，并说：“你们记住我的话，要小心提防他。”
He ducked out.
他一低头，走到了门外。
And Devers looked up, hard-eyed. "This breaks things our way, doesn't it, doc?"
迪伐斯抬起头来，显得出奇冷静。“正中我们的下怀，老学究，对不对？”
"It depends," said Barr, dryly, "on Brodrig, doesn't it?"
巴尔冷淡地答道：“那还得看布洛缀克的态度如何，对不对？”
But Devers was thinking, not listening.
但是迪伐斯已经陷入沉思，没有听到巴尔说些什么。
He was thinking hard.
他在很用心地计划着。
Lord Brodrig ducked his head as he stepped into the cramped living quarters of the trading ship, and his two armed guards followed quickly, with bared guns and the professionally hard scowls of the hired bravos.
布洛缀克大人低着头，走进太空商船的狭窄舱房。两名武装警卫紧紧跟在后面，手中大刺刺地举着武器，脸上带着职业杀手般的冷峻表情。
The Privy Secretary had little of the look of the lost soul about him just then. If the space fiend had bought him, he had left no visible mark of possession. Rather might Brodrig have been considered a breath of court-fashion come to enliven the hard, bare ugliness of an army base.
从这位枢密大臣的外表看来，实在看不出他已经出卖了灵魂。假使宇宙邪灵真的收买了他，他也掩饰得一点都不露痕迹。反之，布洛缀克像是带来一丝宫廷中的华丽，为这个单调粗陋的军事基地注入了一点生气。
The stiff, tight lines of his sheened and immaculate costume gave him the illusion of height, from the very top of which his cold, emotionless eyes stared down the declivity of a long nose at the trader. The mother-of-pearl ruches at his wrists fluttered filmily as he brought his ivory stick to the ground before him and leaned upon it daintily.
他的服装笔挺合身而一尘不染，并且闪耀着眩目的光辉，给人一种高大挺拔的假象。从他那双冷酷无情的眼睛中，射出两道冷冽的目光，沿着他长长的鼻子，直射到行商身上。当他以优雅的姿态，将象牙手杖拄到面前时，袖口的珍珠色褶饰轻飘飘地晃来晃去。
"No," he said, with a little gesture, "you remain here. Forget your toys; I am not interested in them."
“不，”他一面说，一面做了一个小手势，“你待在这里别动。不必展示那些玩具，我对那些东西没有兴趣。”
He drew forth a chair, dusted it carefully with the iridescent square of fabric attached to the top of his white stick, and seated himself. Devers glanced towards the mate to the chair, but Brodrig said lazily, "You will stand in the presence of a Peer of the Realm."
他拉过一张椅子，用附在白色手杖顶端、散发着晕彩的方巾仔细擦拭一番，这才放心地坐下来。迪伐斯向另外一张椅子瞄了一眼，布洛缀克却懒洋洋地说：“在帝国的高级贵族面前，你得好好站着。”
He smiled.
说完，他微微一笑。
Devers shrugged. "If you're not interested in my stock in trade, what am I here for?"
迪伐斯耸耸肩。“如果你对我的货品没有兴趣，为什么把我带到这里来？”
The Privy Secretary waited coldly, and Devers added a slow, "Sir."
枢密大臣默然不语，迪伐斯又轻轻叫了一声：“大人。”
"For privacy," said the secretary. "Now is it likely that I would come two hundred parsecs through space to inspect trinkets? It's you I want to see." He extracted a small pink tablet from an engraved box and placed it delicately between his teeth. He sucked it slowly and appreciatively.
“为了避人耳目。”大臣道，“想想看，我在太空中奔波了两百秒差距，会是专程来检视那些小饰物的吗？我真正要见的是你这个人。”他从一个雕工精美的盒子中，取出一粒粉红色药片，优雅地将它摆在两排牙齿之间。然后他慢慢舔着，显得很有滋味。
"For instance," he said, "who are you? Are you really a citizen of this barbarian world that is creating all this fury of military frenzy?"
“比方说，”他继续道，“你是什么人？那个引起这场军事风暴的蛮子世界，真是你的祖国吗？”
Devers nodded gravely.
迪伐斯郑重其事地点了点头。
"And you were really captured by him after the beginning of this squabble he calls a war. I am referring to our young general."?
“此外，你真是在这场争端——也就是他所谓的战争——爆发之后才被他抓到的吗？我是指我们这位年轻有为的将军。”
Devers nodded again.
迪伐斯又点了点头。
"So! Very well, my worthy Outlander. I see your fluency of speech is at a minimum. I shall smooth the way for you. It seems that our general here is fighting an apparently meaningless war with frightful transports of energy ?and this over a forsaken fleabite of a world at the end of nowhere, which to a logical man would not seem worth a single blast of a single gun. Yet the general is not illogical. On the contrary, I would say he was extremely intelligent. Do you follow me?"
“好！非常好，尊贵的异邦朋友。我注意到你实在很不会讲话，就让我帮你开个头吧。我们这位将军，似乎正在进行一场显然没有意义的战争，却消耗了极可观的人力物力——他用这种方式，攻打一个不见经传、偏远蛮荒、芝麻大小的世界，任何有头脑的人，都会认为不值得为此浪费一枪一弹。话又说回来，将军并不是一个没有头脑的人。反之，我还认为他聪明绝顶。你听得懂我在说什么吗？”
"Can't say I do, sir."
“大人，我不敢说懂。”
The secretary inspected his fingernails and said, "Listen further, then. The general would not waste his men and ships on a sterile feat of glory. I know he talks of glory and of Imperial honor, but it is quite obvious that the affectation of being one of the insufferable old demigods of the Heroic Age won't wash. There is something more than glory hereand he does take queer, unnecessary care of you. Now if you were my prisoner and told me as little of use as you have our general, I would slit open your abdomen and strangle you with your own intestines."
大臣一面审视着自己的指甲，一面说道：“那么再好好听下去。将军绝不肯为了徒劳无功的行动，牺牲他的部下和星舰。我知道他一向把自己的荣誉和帝国的光荣挂在嘴边，但很明显的是，他这种效法古代传奇英雄的行径只是装模作样罢了。除了追求荣誉之外，他一定还另有所谋——否则怎么会把你留在身边，又对你十分礼遇。假如你落在我手上，却只能对我提供那么一点点情报，我早就把你开膛破肚，用你自己的肠子把你勒死了。”
Devers remained wooden. His eyes moved slightly, first to one of the secretary's bully-boys, and then to the other. They were ready; eagerly ready.
迪伐斯保持一副木然的表情。他的眼珠却在缓缓转动，先看看大臣身边的一名保镖，再看看另一个。看得出来，那两个保镖已经跃跃欲试。
The secretary smiled. "Well, now, you're a silent devil. According to the general, even a Psychic Probe made no impression, and that was a mistake on his part, by the way, for it convinced me that our young military whizz-bang was lying." He seemed in high humor.
大臣又微微一笑。“嗯，还有，你是个沉默的小坏蛋。将军告诉我，连心灵探测器对你也起不了作用。我可以告诉你，他犯了大错，因为这样反而更让我深信，我们这位年轻的军事天才在撒谎。”他似乎十分得意。
"My honest tradesman," he said, "I have a Psychic Probe of my own, one that ought to suit you peculiarly well. You see this……"
“老实的生意人啊，”他继续说，“我自己也有一种心灵探测器，应该对你特别有效。你看——”
And between thumb and forefinger, held negligently, were intricately designed, pink-and-yellow rectangles which were most definitely obvious in identity.
在他的拇指与食指之间，轻轻捏着一叠粉红与黄色相间、图案复杂而精美的东西。至于那是什么，实在是再明显不过。
Devers said so. "It looks like cash," he said.
迪伐斯果然说：“看起来像是钞票。”
"Cash it is ?and the best cash of the Empire, for it is backed by my estates, which are more extensive than the Emperor's own. A hundred thousand credits. All here! Between two fingers! Yours!"
“不只是钞票——是帝国境内最佳的纸钞，因为担保品是我的领地，它们的范围甚至超过大帝的领地。总共是十万信用点，全都在这里！就在我的两指之间！通通可以给你！”
"For what, sir? I am a good trader, but all trades go in both directions."
“大人，为什么给我钱呢？我是一名优秀的行商，但所有的买卖都是一手交钱，一手交货。”
"For what? For the truth! What is the general after? Why is he fighting this war?"
“为什么？为了让你讲实话！将军到底在图谋什么？他为什么要发动这场战争？”
Lathan Devers sighed, and smoothed his beard thoughtfully.
拉珊·迪伐斯叹了一口气，若有所思地抚着胡子。
"What he's after?" His eyes were following the motions of the secretary's hands as he counted the money slowly, bill by bill. "In a word, the Empire."
“他在图谋什么？”迪伐斯说。此时大臣正在慢慢地、一张一张地数着那些钱，迪伐斯紧盯着大臣的双手，自问自答：“简单一句话，就是帝国。”
"Hmp. How ordinary! It always comes to that in the end. But how? What is the road that leads from the Galaxy's edge to the peak of Empire so broadly and invitingly?"
“哈，答得太简单！任何图谋不轨的人，最后的目标都是当皇帝。可是他要怎么做呢？从这个偏远的银河边缘，到那个魅力无比的皇宫之间，这条路他要怎么走？”
"The Foundation," said Devers, bitterly, "has secrets. They have books, old books ?so old that the language they are in is only known to a few of the top men. But the secrets are shrouded in ritual and religion, and none may use them. I tried and now I am here……"and there is a death sentence waiting for me, there."
“基地藏有许多秘密。”迪伐斯以苦涩的口吻说，“那里收藏着许多书籍，都是古书——那些古书由于年代久远，上面的文字只有几个最顶尖的人看得懂。但是那些秘密隐藏在宗教和仪典中，不准任何人动用。我以身试法，就落得今天这个下场——在那里，我已经被宣判死刑了。”
"I see. And these old secrets? Come, for one hundred thousand I deserve the intimate details."
“我明白了。这些古老的秘密又是什么呢？继续说，我花十万信用点的代价，理应买到一切详情。”
"The transmutation of elements," said Devers, shortly.
“就是元素嬗变的技术。”迪伐斯回答得很简单。
The secretary's eyes narrowed and lost some of their detachment. "I have been told that practical transmutation is impossible by the laws of nucleics."
大臣的眼睛眯起来，开始显露出一些神采。“据我所知，根据核子学的定律，以人工达成元素的嬗变，根本没有实用价值。”
"So it is, if nuclear forces are used. But the ancients were smart boys. There are sources of power greater than the nuclei and more fundamental. If the Foundation used those sources as I suggested?
“没错，那是指使用核能的情况。但是古人还真聪明，早就发现了比核能更巨大、更基本的能源。假如基地使用那种能源……”
Devers felt a soft, creeping sensation in his stomach. The bait was dangling; the fish was nosing it.
迪伐斯感到胃部一阵轻微的蠕动。钓饵正在晃动，鱼儿已经闻到了。
The secretary said suddenly, "Continue. The general, I am sure, is aware of a this. But what does he intend doing once he finishes this opera-bouffe affair?"
大臣突然道：“继续说。那个将军，我确信他也晓得这件事。可是一旦结束这场闹剧之后，他下一步又打算怎么做？”
Devers kept his voice rock-steady. "With transmutation he controls the economy of the whole set-up of your Empire. Mineral holdings won't be worth a sneeze when Riose can make tungsten out of aluminum and iridium out of iron. An entire production system based on the scarcity of certain elements and the abundance of others is thrown completely out of whack. There'll be the greatest disjointment the Empire has ever seen, and only Riose will be able to stop it. And there is the question of this new power I mentioned, the use of which won't give Riose religious heebies.
迪伐斯竭力让自己的声音稳如磐石。“掌握了嬗变技术之后，他就能控制帝国所有的经济体系。当里欧思能用铝制造钨、用铁制造铱的时候，任何矿藏都会变得一文不值。过去整个的产销系统，都是根据各种元素不同的丰盈程度而建立的，这时就会完全被推翻了。帝国将会出现前所未有的大解体，只有里欧思一个人能阻止。我提到的那种新能源，还有另外一项优点，就是不会为里欧思带来宗教上的心理负担。
"There's nothing that can stop him now. He's got the Foundation by the back of the neck, and once he's finished with it, he'll be Emperor in two years."
“如今已经没有什么能阻止他了。他已经扼住基地的咽喉，而一旦征服了基地，两年内他就一定能称帝。”
"So." Brodrig laughed lightly. "Iridium out of iron, that's what you said, isn't it? Come, I'll tell you a state secret. Do you know that the Foundation has already been in communication with the general?"
“原来如此。”布洛缀克轻声笑了笑，“你刚才是怎么说的，用铁来制造铱，对不对？来，我也告诉你一件国家机密。你可知道，基地已经主动跟将军接触了。”
Devers' back stiffened.
迪伐斯的背脊僵住了。
"You look surprised. Why not? It seems logical now. They offered him a hundred tons of iridium a year to make peace. A hundred tons of iron converted to iridium in violation of their religious principles to save their necks. Fair enough, but no wonder our rigidly incorruptible general refused ?when he can have the iridium and the Empire as well. And poor Cleon called him his one honest general. My bewhiskered merchant, you have earned your money."
“你看来很吃惊。这又有何不可？现在看来，一切都很合逻辑。为了求和，基地向他提出年缴一百吨铱的提议。也就是说，他们宁愿违反宗教禁忌，愿意将一百吨的铁变成铱来解危。这个提议很公平，却怪不得我们那位守正不阿的将军断然拒绝——他马上就能自行制造铱，还能把帝国弄到手。可怜的克里昂，还称许他是最忠诚的将领呢。大胡子商人，你已经赚到这笔钱了。”
He tossed it, and Devers scrambled after the flying bills.
他用力一掷，迪伐斯立刻追赶四散纷飞的钞票。
Lord Brodrig stopped at the door and turned. "One reminder, trader. My playmates with the guns here have neither middle ears, tongues, education, nor intelligence. They can neither hear, speak, write, nor even make sense to a Psychic Probe. But they are very expert at interesting executions. I have bought you, man, at one hundred thousand credits. You will be good and worthy merchandise. Should you forget that you are bought at any time and attempt to ... say ... repeat our conversation to Riose, you will be executed. But executed my way."
布洛缀克大人走到舱门口，又转过身来。“行商，记住一件事。我这些带着枪的游伴，他们不但是聋子、哑巴，而且没有受过教育，也没有什么智慧。他们不能听、不能说、不会写字，甚至不会对心灵探测器有任何反应。可是对于各种新奇的杀人手法，他们却是专家中的专家。老兄，我花了十万信用点的代价收买你，你就应该乖乖地作个好商品。万一你忽然忘了这一点，而试图要……比如说……把我们的谈话转述给里欧思，你就会被处死。不过，是以我指定的方式处死。”
And in that delicate face there were sudden hard lines of eager cruelty that changed the studied smile into a red-lipped snarl. For one fleeting second, Devers saw that space fiend who had bought his buyer, look out of his buyer's eyes.
在布洛缀克优雅高贵的脸上，突然浮现出许多狰狞的线条，老奸巨猾的笑容也一下子变成骇人的嗥叫。在这一瞬间，迪伐斯看到他的买主的买主“宇宙邪灵”，正借着这位买主的眼睛向外瞪视。
Silently, he preceded the two thrusting blast-guns of Brodrig's "playmates" to his quarters.
在布洛缀克的两名“游伴”携械押解之下，迪伐斯沉默地走回自己的房间。
And to Ducem Barr's question, he said with brooding satisfaction, "No, that's the queerest part of it. He bribed me.
面对杜森·巴尔的问题，他以饶富深意的满意口吻说：“不，说来可真奇怪，反而是他贿赂了我。”
Two months of difficult war had left their mark on Bel Riose. There was heavy-handed gravity about him; and he was short-tempered.
两个月的艰苦征战，在贝尔·里欧思身上刻划出痕迹。他笼罩在凝重严肃的气氛中，而且变得暴躁易怒。
It was with impatience that he addressed the worshiping Sergeant Luk. "Wait outside, soldier, and conduct these men back to their quarters when I am through. No one is to enter until I call. No one at all, you understand."
他正在用很不耐烦的口气，向最崇拜他的路克中士说：“中士，到外面等着，等我问完了话，再把这两个人送回他们的房间。没有我的命令，任何人不准进入。任何人都不准，听懂了吧。”
The sergeant saluted himself stiffly out of the room, and Riose with muttered disgust scooped up the waiting papers on his desk, threw them into the top drawer and slammed it shut.
中士行了一个标准的军礼，便走了出去。里欧思心烦气躁地抓起桌上待批的公文，一股脑儿丢进最上层的抽屉，再用力把抽屉关起来。
"Take seats," he said shortly, to the waiting two. "I haven't much time. Strictly speaking, I shouldn't be here at all, but it is necessary to see you."
“坐啊。”他对面前的两个人不耐烦地说，“我没有多少时间。严格说来，我根本不应该来这里，可是我又必须见你们一面。”
He turned to Ducem Barr, whose long fingers were caressing with interest the crystal cube in which was set the simulacrum of the lined, austere face of His Imperial Majesty, Cleon II.
他转身面向杜森·巴尔，老贵族站在一个立方水晶饰物之前，正饶有兴味地用细长的手指抚摸玩赏。水晶内部镶嵌着大帝陛下——克里昂二世满脸皱纹、威严无比的拟像。
"In the first place, patrician," said the general, "your Seldon is losing. To be sure, he battles well, for these men of the Foundation swarm like senseless bees and fight like madmen. Every planet is defended viciously, and once taken, every planet heaves so with rebellion it is as much trouble to hold as to conquer. But they are taken, and they are held. Your Seldon is losing."
“老贵族，首先我要告诉你，”将军说，“你的谢顿就要输了。当然，‘他’打得很好，因为基地的战士一波波蜂拥而出，个个都不要命般英勇作战。每颗行星都誓死抵抗，而一旦被攻下来，又毫无例外地兴起反抗活动，给征服者带来无穷的麻烦。但它们终究被攻下来，也终于被占领了。你的谢顿眼看就要输了。”
"But he has not yet lost," murmured Barr politely.
“可是他还没有输。”巴尔恭敬地轻声回答。
"The Foundation itself retains less optimism. They offer me millions in order that I may not put this Seldon to the final test."
“基地本身没有什么指望了。他们想用重金求和，求我别让这个谢顿接受最后的考验。”
"So rumor goes."
“怪不得有这种谣言。”
"Ah, is rumor preceding me? Does it prate also of the latest?"
“啊，谣言来得比我还快吗？有没有提到最新的发展？”
"What is the latest?"
“什么最新的发展？”
"Why, that Lord Brodrig, the darling of the Emperor, is now second in command at his own request."
“喔，那个布洛缀克大人，大帝最宠爱的大臣，由于他自己要求，现在已经是远征舰队的副总司令。”
Devers spoke for the first time. "At his own request, boss? How come? Or are you growing to like the fellow?" He chuckled.
迪伐斯这时第一次开口。“头儿，由于他自己要求？怎么搞的？还是你开始对他产生好感了？”他咯咯大笑起来。
Riose said, calmly, "No, can't say I do. It's just that he bought the office at what I considered a fair and adequate price."
里欧思镇定地说：“不，不能说是我改变了观感。是他用了我认为合理而足够的代价，买到那个职位的。”
"Such as?"
“比方说？”
"Such as a request to the Emperor for reinforcements."
“比方说，他答应向大帝要求增援。”
Devers' contemptuous smile broadened. "'He has communicated with the Emperor, huh? And I take it, boss, you're just waiting for these reinforcements, but they'll come any day. Right?"
迪伐斯脸上的轻蔑笑意更浓了。“他已经和大帝联络过了，啊？头儿，我想你现在正在等待增援舰队，但不知道他们哪天会来。对不对？”
"Wrong! They have already come. Five ships of the line; smooth and strong, with a personal message of congratulations from the Emperor, and more ships on the way. What's wrong, trader?" he asked, sardonically.
“你错了！他们已经来了。五艘主力舰，性能良好，武力强大，带着大帝的亲笔祝福函前来，还有更多的星舰正在途中。行商，有什么不对劲吗？”他以讽刺的口吻问道。
Devers spoke through suddenly frozen lips. "Nothing!"
迪伐斯的嘴唇突然僵硬了，他勉强说：“没什么！”
Riose strode out from behind his desk and faced the trader, hand on the butt of his blast-gun.
里欧思从办公桌后面走出来，面对着行商，一手放在腰际的核铳上。
"I say, what's wrong, trader? The news would seem to disturb you. Surely, you have no sudden birth of interest in the Foundation."
“行商，我问你，有什么不对劲吗？这个消息似乎令你很不安。当然，你没有突然关心起基地的安危吧？”
"I haven't."
“我没有。”
"Yes ?there are queer points about you."
“有——而且你还有很多古怪的地方。”
"That so, boss?" Devers smiled tightly, and balled the fists in his pockets. "Just you line them up and I'll knock them down for you."
“头儿，是吗？”迪伐斯笑得很不自然，双手在口袋里握紧拳头，“你通通提出来，我来逐一为你破解。”
"Here they are. You were caught easily. You surrendered at first blow with a burnt-out shield. You're quite ready to desert your world, and that without a price. Interesting, all this, isn't it?"
“听好了。你被捕的过程太容易；你的太空船只受到一次攻击，防护罩就被摧毁，而你便投降了。你轻易就背弃自己的世界，没有要求任何代价。这些都令人起疑，对不对？”
"I crave to be on the winning side, boss. I'm a sensible man; you called me that yourself."
“头儿，我渴望投靠胜利的一方。我是个识相的人，这可是你自己说的。”
Riose said with tight throatiness, "Granted! Yet no trader since has been captured. No trade ship but has had the speed to escape at choice. No trade ship but has had a screen that could take all the beating a light cruiser could give it, should it choose to fight. And no trader but has fought to death when occasion warranted. Traders have been traced as the leaders and instigators of the guerilla warfare on occupied planets and of the flying raids in occupied space.
里欧思声音嘶哑地说：“姑且接受！但从此以后，我们再也没有逮捕到任何行商。基地的每艘太空商船都速度奇快，只要想逃都能轻易逃走。而那些奋力迎战的商船，每艘都有强力的屏蔽，足以抵挡轻型巡弋舰的攻击。只要情况允许，行商都宁愿战死也不投降。在我们占领的行星上和星空中，那些游击战的组织者和领导者，他们原来的身份也都是行商。
"Are you the only sensible man then? You neither fight nor flee, but turn traitor without urging. You are unique, amazingly unique ?in fact, suspiciously unique."
“难道你是唯一识相的人吗？你既不抵抗又不逃走，还自动自发地出卖基地。你可真特殊，特殊得奇怪——事实上，特殊得太可疑了。”
Devers said softly, "I take your meaning, but you have nothing on me. I've been here now six months, and I've been a good boy."
迪伐斯却轻声说：“我懂得你的意思了，但是你没有什么具体证据。我在这里已经六个月了，这段期间我一直很乖。”
"So you have, and I have repaid you by good treatment. I have left your ship undisturbed and treated you with every consideration. Yet you fall short. Freely offered information, for instance, on your gadgets might have been helpful. The atomic principles on which they are built would seem to be used in some of the Foundation's nastiest weapons. Right?"
“你的确很乖，而我也因此待你不薄。我没有碰你的太空船，对待你也处处设想周到。可是你却令我失望。你还可以提供更多的情报给我，比方说，你推销的那些装置，也许就对我们很有用。那些装置所应用的核子学原理，在基地所发展的一些难缠武器中，想必也用上了。对不对？”
"I am only a trader," said Devers, "and not one of these bigwig technicians. I sell the stuff; I don't make it."
“我只是行商，”迪伐斯说，“又不是那些伟大的技师。我只负责兜售货品，并不负责制造。”
"Well, that will be seen shortly. It is what I came here for. For instance, your ship will be searched for a personal force-shield. You have never worn one; yet all soldiers of the Foundation do. It will be significant evidence that there is information you do not choose to give me. Right?"
“好吧，这点很快就能知道，这正是我到此的目的。比如说，我要仔细搜一搜你的太空船，看看有没有个人力场防护罩。你虽然并未佩戴，可是每名基地战士都有。倘若给我搜到，那就是个重要的证据，证明你有意保留了一些情报。对不对？”
There was no answer. He continued, "And there will be more direct evidence. I have brought with me the Psychic Probe. It failed once before, but contact with the enemy is a liberal education."
迪伐斯没有回答，里欧思继续说：“我还能取得更直接的证据，我把心灵探测器也带来了。虽然它上次失灵，不过，跟敌人打交道可是一门深奥的学问。”
His voice was smoothly threatening and Devers felt the gun thrust hard in his midriff ?the general's gun, hitherto in its holster.
他的声音充满威胁的意味，迪伐斯还感觉到有东西抵住胸口——那是将军的核铳，刚从皮套掏出来的。
The general said quietly, "You will remove your wristband aaaaaay other metal ornament you wear and give them to me. Slowly! Atomic fields can be distorted, you see, and Psychic Probes might probe only into static. That's right.. I'll take it."
将军以平稳的口气说：“把你的手镯摘掉，把身上其他的金属饰物也都除下来交给我。动作慢一点！电磁场会被干扰，你知道吧，而心灵探测器只能在静电场中工作。对，把它给我。”
The receiver on the general's desk was glowing and a message capsule clicked into the slot, near which Barr stood aaaastill held the trimensional Imperial bust.
此时，将军办公桌上的收讯器突然亮起来，一个信囊随即出现在传送槽中。巴尔仍然站在那附近，仍然抱着大帝的三维半身像。
Riose stepped behind his desk, with his blast-gun held ready. He said to Barr, "You too, patrician. Your wristband condemns you. You have been helpful earlier, however, and I am not vindictive, but I shall judge the fate of your behostaged family by the results of the Psychic Probe."
里欧思走到办公桌后面，手中紧握核铳。他对巴尔说：“老贵族，你也一样。你的手镯令你也有嫌疑。虽然你原先帮了不少忙，我跟你也没有仇恨，但是我要根据心灵探测器的结果，来决定你一家人的命运。”
And as Riose leaned over to take out the message capsule, Barr lifted the crystal-enveloped bust of Cleon and quietly and methodically brought it down upon the general's head.
正当里欧思俯身拾取那个信囊，巴尔突然举起镶着克里昂半身像的水晶，出其不意地往将军头上砸去。
It happened too suddenly for Devers to grasp. It was as if a sudden demon had grown into the old man.
这个突如其来的变化把迪伐斯吓呆了。仿佛老人家忽然间遭到恶魔附身。
"Out!" said Barr, in a tooth-clenched whisper. "Quickly!" He seized Riose's dropped blaster and buried it in his blouse.
“走！”巴尔压低声音说，“赶快！”他捡起掉在地上的核铳，藏进自己的上衣。
Sergeant Luk turned as they emerged from the narrowest possible crack of the door.
当他们推开一个窄到不能再窄的门缝，钻出办公室的时候，路克中士立刻转过头来。
Barr said easily, "Lead on, sergeant!"
巴尔故作镇定地说：“中士，带路吧！”
Devers closed the door behind him.
迪伐斯则赶紧关起门来。
Sergeant Luk led in silence to their quarters, and then, with the briefest pause, continued onward, for there was the nudge of a blast-gun muzzle in his ribs, and a hard voice in his ears which said, "To the trade ship."
路克中士一言不发地将他们带回房间，稍微停了一下，直到一把核铳指着中士的肋骨，还有一个严厉的声音在他耳旁说：“带我们到太空商船去。”三人才又继续向前走。
Devers stepped forward to open the air lock, and Barr said, "Stand where you are, Luk. You've been a decent man, and we're not going to kill you."
抵达后，迪伐斯走到前面去开气闸，巴尔则对中士说：“路克，你就站在那里别动。你是个老好人，我们不想杀你。”
But the sergeant recognized the monogram on the gun. He cried in choked fury, "You've killed the general."
不料中士认出核铳上镂刻的字母，他脱口怒吼：“你们杀了将军！”
With a wild, incoherent yell, he charged blindly upon the blasting fury of the gun and collapsed in blasted ruin.
他发出一声疯狂而毫无意义的叫喊，不顾一切扑向前去，却正好撞上核铳冒出的烈焰，顿时化作一团焦炭。
The trade ship was rising above the dead planet before the signal lights began their eerie blink aaaaagainst the creamy cobweb of the great Lens in the sky which was the Galaxy, other black forms rose.
不久之后，太空商船便从这颗死寂的行星起飞。又过了一会儿，强烈的信号灯才射出阴森的光芒，与此同时，在巨型透镜状的乳黄色银河背景中，另有许多黑影腾空而起。
Devers said grimly, "Hold tight, Barr ?and let's see if they've got a ship that can match my speed."
迪伐斯绷着脸说：“巴尔，抓紧啦——让我们看看，他们到底有没有追上我们的船舰。”
He knew they hadn't!
他知道根本没有！
And once in open space, the trader's voice seemed lost and dead as he said, "The line I fed Brodrig was a little too good. It seems as if he's thrown in with the general."
他们到达外太空后，行商的声音几乎嘶哑了，但他仍然勉强说：“我给布洛缀克吃的饵恐怕太香了一点。他似乎跟将军站在一条线上了。”
Swiftly they raced into the depths of the star-mass that was the Galaxy.
说着，他们已经冲进银河稠密的群星之间。