18 Ghost of a World
第18章 孤魂野鬼
Trantor was a world in dregs and rebirth. Set like a faded jewel in the midst of the bewildering crowd of suns at the center of the Galaxy……in the heaps and clusters of stars piled high with aimless prodigality……it alternately dreamed of past and future.
川陀是一个从废墟中重生的世界。在“银河核心”群星丛聚的太空中，在一堆又一堆阵容壮盛的星辰之间，它就像一颗褪了色的宝石，不断梦想着往日的光荣与未来的美景。
Time had been when the insubstantial ribbons of control had stretched out from its metal coating to the very edges of stardom. It had been a single city, housing four hundred billion administrators; the mightiest capital that had ever been.
无形的政治缰索，曾经从这个金属包覆的世界一路延伸到群星的最外缘。当时，整个世界是一个大都会，居住着四百亿名行政人员，是人类历史上最宏伟的首都。
Until the decay of the Empire eventually reached it and in the Great Sack of a century ago, its drooping powers had been bent back upon themselves and broken forever. In the blasting ruin of death, the metal shell that circled the planet wrinkled and crumpled into an aching mock of its own grandeur.
等到帝国终于衰亡，并于一世纪前经历“大浩劫”之后，它那有如日落西山的势力加速萎缩，终至永远土崩瓦解。在尸横遍野的废墟中，包覆着整个行星的金属也扭曲变形，变成对昔日光荣的痛心嘲讽。
The survivors tore up the metal plating and sold it to other planets for seed and cattle. The soil was uncovered once more and the planet returned to its beginnings. In the spreading areas of primitive agriculture, it forgot its intricate and colossal past.
幸存者将金属表层一块块剥下，出售给其他行星，以换取种子与牲畜。土壤于是得以重见天日，整个行星也逐渐恢复本来的面貌。随着原始农业的扩展，川陀遗忘了那个辉煌而伟大的过去。
Or would have but for the still mighty shards that heaped their massive ruins toward the sky in bitter and dignified silence.
或者应该说，在沉重庄严的静穆中，若是没有那些依旧耸立的硕大废墟，川陀便能忘怀过去的一切。
Arcadia watched the metal rim of the horizon with a stirring of the heart. The village in which the Palvers lived was but a huddle of houses to her……small and primitive. The fields that surrounded it were golden-yellow, wheat-cIogged tracts.
艾嘉蒂娅望着由金属构成的地平线，心中感慨万千。帕佛夫妇住的这个村庄，在她看来只是聚在一起的几幢房屋而已……既狭窄又老旧。村庄的周围布满金黄色麦田，倒是一幅美丽的景致。
But there, just past the reaching point was the memory of the past, still glowing in unrusted splendor, and burning with fire where the sun of Trantor caught it in gleaming highlights. She had been there once during the months since she had arrived at Trantor. She had climbed onto the smooth, unjointed pavement and ventured into the silent dust-streaked structures, where the light entered through the jags of broken walls and partitions.
可是在远方，在目力不可及之处，却存留着往昔的记忆。每当川陀的太阳照耀其上，尚未生锈的建筑仍映出熠熠金光，仿佛处于一股炽焰之中。她来川陀已经好几个月，只到那个地方去过一次。那次，她爬上了一段独立的平滑车道，还冒险走进人迹罕至、布满尘埃的建筑物……里面相当阴森，阳光只能透过断垣残壁的缺口照进来。
It had been solidified heartache. It had been blasphemy.
她内心感到一阵痛楚。这简直就是亵渎。
She had left, clangingly……running until her feet pounded softly on earth once more.
她拔腿就跑，带起叮叮当当的声响，直到双脚再度踏上柔软的土地。
And then she could only look back longingly. She dared not disturb that mighty brooding once more.
从此以后，她就只能抱着无限的向往，站在远处眺望。她再也不敢去打扰这个巨大的残骸。
Somewhere on this world, she knew, she had been born……near the old Imperial Library, which was the veriest Trantor of Trantor. It was the sacred of the sacred; the holy of holies! Of all the world, it alone had survived the Great Sack and for a century it had remained complete and untouched; defiant of the universe.
她知道，自己生在这个世界的某个角落……就在昔日的帝国图书馆附近。那里是川陀中的川陀、圣地中的圣地！在这个世界上，只有该处在“大浩劫”时幸免于难；而在其后一个世纪间，它也始终安然无恙，完完整整保存下来，傲然屹立于天地之间。
There Hari Seldon and his group had woven their unimaginable web. There Ebling Mis pierced the secret, and sat numbed in his vast surprise, until he was killed to prevent the secret from going further.
在那里，哈里·谢顿与他的同仁曾经织出一张不可思议的巨网。在那里，艾布林·米斯参透了那个秘密，惊讶得说不出话来。好在他的生命提早一刻结束，才没有让秘密泄露出去。
There at the Imperial Library, her grandparents had lived for ten years, until the Mule died, and they could return to the reborn Foundation.
在帝国图书馆里，她的祖父母住了十年，直到骡死去，他们才敢回到重生的基地。
There at the Imperial Library, her own father returned with his bride to find the Second Foundation once again, but failed. There, she had been born and there her mother had died.
后来，她的父亲为了寻找第二基地的下落，偕同新婚妻子再度来到帝国图书馆，但是一无所获。在那里，母亲生下她，随即撒手西归。
She would have liked to visit the Library, but Preem Palver shook his round head. "It's thousands of miles, Arkady, and there's so much to do here. Besides, it's not good to bother there. You know; it's a shrine……"
她很想重游旧地，普芮姆·帕佛却摇着圆圆的脑袋说：“艾卡蒂，图书馆离此地有好几千英里，而且我们在这里有好多活要干。此外，最好别无缘无故打扰那个地方。你该知道，那是个圣地……”
But Arcadia knew that he had no desire to visit the Library; that it was a case of the Mule's Palace over again. There was this superstitious fear on the part of the pygmies of the present for the relies of the giants of the past.
可是艾嘉蒂娅心里明白，真正的原因是他自己不愿意去，这简直是“骡殿忌讳”的翻版。面对巨大的历史遗迹，活人仿佛都成了侏儒，心中难免会产生迷信式的恐惧。
Yet it would have been horrible to feel a grudge against the funny little man for that. She had been on Trantor now for nearly three months and in all that time, he and she……Pappa and Mamma……had been wonderful to her……
但她万万不会为了这件事，而埋怨这个可爱的小人物。她已经在川陀住了三个多月，而这期间，他和她……阿爸和阿妈……对自己实在太好了……
And what was her return? Why, to involve them in the common ruin. Had she warned them that she was marked for destruction, perhaps? No! She let them assume the deadly role of protectors.
而她的回报又是什么呢？唉，是把他们也拖下水，跟自己同归于尽。她有没有警告过他们，自己注定万劫不复？没有！她让他们蒙在鼓里，冒着生命危险来保护自己。
Her conscience panged unbearably……yet what choice had she?
她实在受不了良心的谴责……可是她有选择的余地吗？
She stepped reluctantly down the stairs to breakfast. The voices reached her.
她勉强打起精神，下楼去吃早饭。走到一半，就听到他们的谈话。
Preem Palver had tucked the napkin down his shirt collar with a twist of his plump neck and had reached for his poached eggs with an uninhibited satisfaction.
普芮姆·帕佛扭了扭臃肿的脖子，才把餐巾塞进衬衣领子里。然后他伸手抓了几个白煮蛋，并露出无限满足的表情。
"I was down in the city yesterday, Mamma," he said, wielding his fork and nearly drowning the words with a capacious mouthful.
“阿妈，昨天我进城去了。”他一面说，一面挥舞着叉子。吃了一大口之后，后面的话差点讲不出来了。
"And what is down in the city, Pappa?" asked Mamma indifferently, sitting down, looking sharply about the table, and rising again for the salt.
“阿爸，城里头有什么新鲜事？”阿妈随口问道。她坐下来，仔细瞧了瞧餐桌，又起身去拿盐巴。
"Ah, not so good. A ship came in from out Kalgan-way with newspapers from there. It's war there."
“啊，不大好。有一艘从卡尔根回来的太空船，带来那边的报纸。那里发生了战争。”
"War! So! Well, let them break their heads, if they have no more sense inside. Did your pay check come yet? Pappa, I'm telling you again. You warn old man Cosker this isn't the only cooperative in the world. It's bad enough they pay you what I'm ashamed to tell my friends, but at least on time they could be!"
“战争！真的！嗯，如果他们的脑袋坏掉，就让他们打个头破血流好了。你的薪水收到了没有？阿爸，我再跟你唠叨一次。你该警告库斯柯那个老家伙，这个世界不是只有他一家合作社。你的薪水已经少得让我在朋友面前抬不起头，可是至少也该准时付啊！”
"Time; shmime," said Pappa, irritably. "Look, don't make me silly talk at breakfast, it should choke me each bite in the throat," and he wreaked havoc among the buttered toast as he said it. He added, somewhat more moderately, "The fighting is between Kalgan and the Foundation, and for two months, they've been at it."
“准时，按时，即时。”阿爸没好气地说，“喂，别在餐桌上数落我，会害我每一口都噎在喉咙里。”他一面说，一面把怨气发泄在奶油面包上。然后，他又用较为和缓的语气说：“是卡尔根和基地在打仗，已经打了两个月啦。”
His hands lunged at one another in mock-representation of a space fight.
他伸出两只手来模拟星战，最后让两艘星舰撞到一块。
"Um-mmm. And what's doing?"
“嗯……情况怎么样？”
"Bad for the Foundation. Well, you saw Kalgan; all soldiers. They were ready. The Foundation was not, and so……poof!"
“基地一直占下风。嗯，你知道卡尔根，他们全国皆兵，早就有所准备。基地却不一样，所以……砰！”
And suddenly, Mamma laid down her fork and hissed, "Fool!"
阿妈突然放下叉子，压低声音说：“笨蛋！”
"Huh?"
“啊？”
"Dumb-head! Your big mouth is always moving and wagging."
“呆头鹅！你那张大嘴巴从来没有闭上的时候。”
She was pointing quickly and when Pappa looked over his shoulder, there was Arcadia, frozen in the doorway.
她伸手迅速一指，阿爸转头望去，便看到了僵立在门口的艾嘉蒂娅。
She said, "The Foundation is at war?"
她问道：“基地在打仗吗？”
Pappa looked helplessly at Mamma, then nodded.
阿爸不知所措地望着阿妈，然后点了点头。
"And they're losing?"
“他们打了败仗？”
Again the nod.
阿爸又点了点头。
Arcadia felt the unbearable catch in her throat, and slowly approached the table. "Is it over?" she whispered.
艾嘉蒂娅感到喉咙哽住了，难过得受不了。她缓缓走到餐桌旁，轻声问道：“战争结束了吗？”
"Over?" repeated Pappa, with false heartiness. "Who said it was over? In war, lots of things can happen. And……and?
“结束了吗？”阿爸故意用高亢的语调，把她的问话重复了一遍。“谁说结束了？打仗的时候，很多意料不到的事都会发生。而且……而且……”
"Sit down, darling," said Mamma, soothingly. "No one should talk before breakfast. You're not in a healthy condition with no food in the stomach."
“亲爱的，坐下来。”阿妈以安慰的口吻说，“早餐之前谁都不准谈正事。肚子里没有一点食物，可不是一种健康的状况。”
But Arcadia ignored her. "Are the Kalganians on Terminus?"
艾嘉蒂娅却没有理会她。“卡尔根人已经登陆端点星了吗？”
"No," said Pappa, seriously. "The news is from last week, and Terminus is still fighting. This is honest. I'm telling the truth. And the Foundation is still strong. Do you want me to get you the newspapers?"
“没有。”阿爸以严肃的口吻说，“我读到的是上周的新闻，端点星还在继续奋战。这是事实，我说的都是实话，基地依然勇猛顽强。你要我拿报纸给你看吗？”
"Yes!"
“要！”
She read them over what she could eat of her breakfast and her eyes blurred as she read. Santanni and Korell were gone……without a fight. A squadron of the Foundation's navy had been trapped in the sparsely-sunned Ifni sector and wiped out to almost the last ship.
艾嘉蒂娅一面勉强吃着早餐，一面把报纸从头读到尾，渐渐感到眼前一片模糊。圣塔尼与柯瑞尔都已经失陷……不战而降。基地舰队的一个分遣队，在星辰稀疏的伊夫尼星区中伏，几乎全军覆没。
And now the Foundation was back to the Four-Kingdom core……the original Realm which had been built up under Salvor Hardin, the first mayor. But still it fought……and still there might be a chance-and whatever happened, she must inform her father. She must somehow reach his ear. She must!
如今，基地退守到四王国的核心疆域……首任市长塞佛·哈定所开拓的原始领土。但是基地仍在负隅顽抗，而且还有一线生机。无论如何，她一定要赶紧通知父亲。一定要设法传话给他。一定要做到！
But how? With a war in the way.
可是该怎么做呢？战争阻绝了一切交通。
She asked Pappa after breakfast, "Are you going out on a new mission soon, Mr. Palver?"
早餐后，她问阿爸说：“帕佛先生，你是不是又要去出差了？”
Pappa was on the large chair on the front lawn, sunning himself. A fat cigar smoldered between his plump fingers and he looked like a beatific pug-dog.
阿爸坐在前院草坪的大椅子上，正在享受日光浴。胖胖的手指头夹着一根粗粗的雪茄，他活像一只快乐的狮子狗。
"A mission?" he repeated, lazily. "Who knows? It's a nice vacation and my leave isn't up. Why talk about new missions? You're restless, Arkady?"
“出差？”他懒洋洋地说，“谁知道？现在是难得的闲暇，我的假还没有休完呢。何必想到什么新差事呢？艾卡蒂，你住不下去了吗？”
"Me? No, I like it here. You're very good to me, you and Mrs. Palver."
“我？不，我很喜欢这里。你们待我非常好，我是说你和帕佛太太。”
He waved his hand at her, brushing away her words.
他向她挥挥手，表示这根本不算什么。
Arcadia said, "I was thinking about the war."
艾嘉蒂娅又说：“我是在想那场战争。”
"But don't think about it. What can you do? If it's something you can't help, why hurt yourself over it?"
“你可别想那种事。你又能做些什么呢？若是自己根本出不上力，何必瞎操心？”
"But I was thinking that the Foundation has lost most of its farming worlds. They're probably rationing food there."
“不过，我想到基地已经失去大多数的农业世界。那里的食物也许要靠配给了。”
Pappa looked uncomfortable. "Don't worry. It'll be all right."
阿爸露出不安的神色。“别担心，情势会好转的。”
She scarcely listened. "I wish I could carry food to them, that's what. You know after the Mule died, and the Foundation rebelled, Terminus was just about isolated for a time and General Han Pritcher, who succeeded the Mule for a while was laying siege to it. Food was running awfully low and my father says that his father told him that they only had dry amino-acid concentrates that tasted terrible. Why, one egg cost two hundred credits. And then they broke the siege just in time and food ships came through from Santanni. It must have been an awful time. Probably it's happening all over, now."
她却充耳不闻，自顾自讲下去：“我真希望能有办法送粮食给他们，我就是在想这件事。你可知道，在骡死后，基地很快就爆发革命，而端点星曾被孤立一段时间。继承骡政权的是汉·普利吉将军，就是他率领舰队包围端点星的。当时粮食短缺得不得了，我爸爸说，他的爸爸曾经告诉他，他们只能拿胺基酸浓缩粉果腹，那种东西简直难吃死了。可是啊，一个鸡蛋就要卖两百信用点。后来他们及时突围，圣塔尼来的运粮太空船才能降落。那必定是一段可怕的日子，而现在也许即将历史重演。”
There was a pause, and then Arcadia said, "You know, I'll bet the Foundation would be willing to pay smuggler's prices for food now. Double and triple and more. Gee, if any co-operative, f'r instance, here on Trantor took over the job, they might lose some ships, but, I'll bet they'd be war millionaires before it was over. The Foundation Traders in the old days used to do that all the time. There'd be a war, so they'd sell whatever was needed bad and take their chances. Golly, they used to make as much as two million dollars out of one trip……profit. That was just out of what they could carry on one ship, too."
顿了顿之后，艾嘉蒂娅继续说：“你知道吗，我敢打赌，现在基地一定愿意用黑市价格购买粮食。高出市价一倍、两倍或更多都愿意。哈，如果川陀有哪家合作社，愿意担负起运粮的工作，虽然可能损失几艘太空船，可是我敢打赌，在战争结束前，人人都能发一笔战争财，个个都会变成百万富翁。过去，基地行商总是爱做这种买卖。无论何处发生战事，他们都会带着当地亟需的货物，飞到那里去赌运气。天啊，常常一艘船就能赚两百万信用点……净利喔。光是一艘太空船上的粮食，就能赚那么多。”
Pappa stirred. His cigar had gone out, unnoticed. "A deal for food, huh……Hm-mmm……But the Foundation is so far away."
阿爸蠢蠢欲动，连雪茄熄了都没有注意到。“粮食生意，啊？嗯……嗯，可是基地很远很远哪。”
"Oh, I know. I guess you couldn't do it from here. If you took a regular liner you probably couldn't get closer than Massena or Smushyk, and after that you'd have to hire a small scoutship or something to slip you through the lines."
“喔，我知道。我猜你不能从这里直接去基地。如果你搭乘定期太空客船，也许顶多只能到玛瑟纳或司木西科。到了那里之后，你得雇一艘小型斥候舰之类的船舰，偷偷带你越过前线。”
Pappa's hand brushed at his hair, as he calculated.
阿爸一面用手梳理着头发，一面在心中盘算。
Two weeks later, arrangements for the mission were completed. Mamma railed for most of the time……First, at the incurable obstinacy with which he courted suicide. Then, at the incredible obstinacy with which he refused to allow her to accompany him.
两个星期后，准备工作全部完成。这期间，阿妈一直都在埋怨……首先，她毫无妥协地硬要说他是去送死。后来，又因为阿爸拒绝让她同行，又绝不妥协地抗议到底。
Pappa said, "Mamma, why do you act like an old lady. I can't take you. It's a man's work. What do you think a war is? Fun? Child's play?"
阿爸则说：“阿妈，为什么表现得像个老婆婆呢？这是男人的工作，我不能带你去。你以为战争是什么？玩耍吗？儿戏吗？”
"Then why do you go? Are you a man, you old fool……with a leg and half an arm in the grave. Let some of the young ones go……not a fat bald-head like you?"
“那你为什么还要去？你算是男人吗，你这个老糊涂……已经一只脚、半条胳膊进棺材啦。让年轻小伙子去吧……你这个又胖又秃的老头，逞什么能？”
"I'm not a bald-head," retorted Pappa, with dignity. "I got yet lots of hair. And why should it not be me that gets the commission? Why, a young fellow? Listen, this could mean millions?"
“我可没有秃头，”阿爸威风凛凛地回嘴道，“我的头发还多着哩。为什么不能让我来赚这笔佣金呢？为什么要找年轻人？听好，这可是几百万的财富。”
She knew that and she subsided.
她心里也明白，于是只好闭嘴。
Arcadia saw him once before he left.
在他动身之前，艾嘉蒂娅找他说了几句话。
She said, "Are you going to Terminus?"
她说：“你真要去端点星吗？”
"Why not? You say yourself they need bread and rice and potatoes. Well, I'll make a deal with them, and they'll get it."
“有何不可？是你自己说的，那里的人亟需面包、米饭和马铃薯。所以，我去和他们做一笔生意，他们就有得吃了。”
"Well, then……just one thing: If you're going to Terminus, could you……would you see my father?"
“嗯，那么……托你一件事：如果你去端点星，能不能……可否请你去看看我父亲？”
And Pappa's face crinkled and seemed to melt into sympathy, "Oh……and I have to wait for you to tell me. Sure, I'll see him. I'll tell him you're safe and everything's O.K., and when the war is over, I'll bring you back."
阿爸的脸孔皱了起来，形成万分同情的表情。“喔……根本不必你提醒我，我当然会去看他。我会告诉他说你很安全，一切都很好，等到战争结束，我就会带你回去。”
"Thanks. I'll tell you how to find him. His name is Dr. Toran Darell and he lives in Stanmark. That's just outside Terminus City, and you can get a little commuting plane that goes there. We抮e at 55 Channel Drive."
“谢谢你。让我告诉你怎么找他。他的全名是杜伦·达瑞尔博士，住在史坦马克镇。那个小镇就在端点市郊，你可以搭小型交通飞机去那里。我们家的地址是海峡街五十五号。”
"Wait, and I抣l write it down."
“等一等，我把它写下来。”
"No, no," Arcadia's arm shot out. "You mustn't write anything down. You must remember……and find him without anybody's help."
“不，不。”艾嘉蒂娅急忙伸手阻拦，“你不能写半个字，一定只能记在心里……而且不可以请任何人帮忙找他。”
Pappa looked puzzled. Then he shrugged his shoulders. "All right, then. It's 55 Channel Drive in Stanmark, outside Terminus City, and you commute there by plane. All right?"
阿爸显得莫名其妙，不过他只是耸耸肩。“好吧，就这么办。史坦马克镇海峡街五十五号，在端点市郊，可以坐飞机去。行了吧？”
"One other thing."
“还有一件事。”
"Yes?"
“啊？”
"Would you tell him something from me?"
“你可不可以帮我带一句话给他？”
"Sure."
“当然可以。”
"I want to whisper it to you."
“我要用悄悄话跟你说。”
He leaned his plump cheek toward her, and the little whispered sound passed from one to the other.
他将胖胖的面颊凑近她，那句悄悄话就传进了他耳朵里。
Pappa's eyes were round. "That's what you want me to say? But it doesn't make sense."
阿爸的眼睛瞪得浑圆。“这就是你要我说的吗？可是毫无意义啊。”
"He'll know what you mean. Just say I sent it and that I said he would know what it means. And you say it exactly the way I told you. No different. You won't forget it?"
“他会知道你的意思。你只要告诉他这是我的口信，而且我说他会了解其中的意义。你要完全照我的话来说，一字不改。你不会忘记吧？”
"How can I forget it? Five little words. Look……"
“我怎么会忘呢？只有五个字而已。听我说……”
"No, no." She hopped up and down in the intensity of her feelings. "Don't repeat it. Don't ever repeat it to anyone. Forget all about it except to my father. Promise me."
“不，不。”她急得直跳脚，“别说，别对任何人说。除非见到我父亲，否则就当完全没这回事。请答应我。”
Pappa shrugged again. "I promise! All right!"
阿爸又耸了耸肩。“好的！我答应你！”
"All right," she said, mournfully, and as he passed down the drive to where the air taxi waited to take him to the spaceport, she wondered if she had signed his death warrant. She wondered if she would ever see him again.
“太好了。”她用哀戚的口吻说。等到阿爸沿着马路走去，准备搭乘计程飞车到太空航站，艾嘉蒂娅却觉得自己是将他送上死路，怀疑自己能否再见到他。
She scarcely dared to walk into the house again to face the good, kind Mamma. Maybe when it was all over, she had better kill herself for what she had done to them.
她几乎不敢走进屋里，再去面对善良慈祥的阿妈。也许当一切结束后，她最好马上自杀谢罪。