5 One Man and the Mule
第4章 一人与骡
There was no sign in any of Channis' actions that he was aware of any subtle change in the attitude of Pritcher, and in their relations to each other. He leaned back on the hard wooden bench and spread-eagled his feet out in front of him.
从程尼斯的一举一动，看不出他是否知晓普利吉的态度，以及他们两人的关系都起了微妙的变化。他正靠在硬木长椅上，两脚大剌剌地伸开。
"What did you make of the governor?"
“你看这个总督有什么古怪？”
Pritcher shrugged: "Nothing at all. He certainly seemed no mental genius to me. A very poor specimen of the Second Foundation, if that's what he was supposed to be."
普利吉耸耸肩。“一点也看不出来。我认为他并没有什么特异的精神力量。倘若他真是第二基地的成员，也只是个非常差劲的角色。”
"I don't think he was, you know. I'm not sure what to make of it. Suppose you were a Second Foundationer," Channis grew thoughtful, "what would you do? Suppose you had an idea of our purpose here. How would you handle us?"
“你知道吗，我认为他根本不是。我也不确定该如何解释。假设你是第二基地分子，你又会怎么做呢？”程尼斯显得越来越深思熟虑，“假设你知道我们来此地的目的，你会如何对付我们？”
"Conversion, of course."
“当然是‘回转’。”
"Like the Mule?" Channis looked up, sharply. "Would we know if they had converted us? I wonder?And what if they were simply psychologists, but very clever ones."
“跟骡的做法一样？”程尼斯猛然抬起头来，“假使他们已经令我们‘回转’，我们察觉得到吗？我很怀疑。或许他们只是一群非常聪明的心理学家，却没有任何异能。”
"In that case, I'd have us killed rather quickly."
“若是那样，我想他们会尽快杀掉我们。”
"And our ship? No." Channis wagged a forefinger. "We're playing a bluff, Pritcher, old man. It can only be a bluff. Even if they have emotional control down pat, we……you and I……are only fronts. It's the Mule they must fight, and they're being just as careful of us as we are of them. I'm assuming that they know who we are."
“而我们的星舰呢？不对。”程尼斯摇了摇食指，“普利吉，老前辈，对方正在对我们故弄玄虚。这只有可能是故弄玄虚。纵使他们精通情感控制，我们……你和我……却只是打头阵的小卒。他们真正的敌人是骡，因此他们和我俩一样小心谨慎。我相信，他们已经知道我俩的身份。”
Pritcher, stared coldly: "What do you intend doing?"
普利吉冷冷地瞪着对方。“你打算怎么办？”
"Wait." The word was bitten off. "Let them come to us. They're worried, maybe about the ship, but probably about the Mule. They bluffed with the governor. It didn't work. We stayed pat. The next person they'll send will be a Second Foundationer, and he抣l propose a deal of some sort."
“等！”他迅速吐出这个字，“让他们来找我们。他们投鼠忌器，也许是害怕上头的星舰，但也有可能是顾忌骡。他们先派那名总督来唬人，可是并未成功，我们仍将按兵不动。他们下次派来的人，一定是真正的第二基地分子，而他会主动和我们谈判。”
"And then?"
“然后呢？”
"And then we make the deal."
“然后我们就达成协议。”
"I don't think so."
“我可不敢苟同。”
"Because you think it will double-cross the Mule? It won't."
“因为你认为这么做会出卖骡？不会的。”
"No, the Mule could handle your double-crosses, any you could invent. But I still don't think so."
“错，无论你多么精明，骡都有办法对付你这种吃里扒外的行径。但我仍然不敢苟同。”
"Because you think then we couldn't double-cross the Foundationers?"
“因为你认为我们无法智取第二基地？”
"Perhaps not. But that抯 not the reason."
“或许吧。不过并不是这个原因。”
Channis let his glance drop to what the other held in his fist, and said grimly: "You mean that's the reason."
程尼斯目光下移，盯着对方手中的武器，然后绷着脸说：“你是说这玩意儿才是真正的原因？”
Pritcher cradled his blaster, "That's right. You are under arrest."
普利吉挥了挥手中的核铳。“没错，你被捕了。”
"Why?"
“为什么？”
"For treason to the First Citizen of the union."
“因为你背叛了联盟第一公民。”
Channis' lips hardened upon one another: "What's going on?"
程尼斯紧紧抿着嘴。“到底是怎么回事？”
"Treason! As I said. And correction of the matter, on my part."
“我说过了，你叛变！而我有责任制止这种行为。”
"Your proof? Or evidence, assumptions, daydreams? Are you mad?"
“你的证据呢？你有什么佐证或假设？或者只是做白日梦？你疯了吗？”
"No. Are you? Do you think the Mule sends out unweaned youngsters on ridiculous swashbuckling missions for nothing? It was queer to me at the time. But I wasted time in doubting myself. Why should he send you? Because you smile and dress well? Because you're twenty-eight."
“我没疯，可是你呢？你以为骡会平白无故，就派你这个乳臭未干的小子执行一个可笑的、充门面的任务？当时我就觉得奇怪，但我不该浪费时间怀疑自己的判断。他为什么会派你来？因为你笑容可掬，穿着得体？因为你才二十八岁？”
"Perhaps because I can be trusted. Or aren't you in the market for logical reasons?"
“或许因为他信得过我。难道你不是在找合理的解释吗？”
"Or perhaps because you can't be trusted. Which is logical enough, as it turns out."
“或许反而是因为他信不过你。如今看来，这个解释也极为合理。”
"Are we matching paradoxes, or is this all a word game to see who can say the least in the most words?"
“我们是在较量自相矛盾的程度吗？或者是在比赛谁能把一件事说得最啰唆？”
And the blaster advanced, with Pritcher after it. He stood erect before the younger man: "Stand up!"
普利吉渐渐逼近，核铳则比他更早一步。他挺立在年轻人面前，喝道：“站起来！”
Channis did so, in no particular hurry, and felt the muzzle of the blaster touch his belt with no shrinking of the stomach muscles.
程尼斯不慌不忙地依言照做。他感到铳口挨到自己的腰带，但胃部肌肉并没有开始抽搐。
Pritcher said: "What the Mule wanted was to find the Second Foundation. He had failed and I had failed, and the secret that neither of us can find is a well-hidden one. So there was one outstanding possibility left……and that was to find a seeker who ready knew the hiding-place."
普利吉说：“骡一心一意要找出第二基地，可是他失败了，而我也始终未能成功。我们两人都无法揭开的秘密，它一定隐藏得极好。所以，最后只剩下一个可行性……找一个已经知道那个秘密地点的人，来领导另一次的探索行动。”
"Is that I?"
“就是我吗？”
"Apparently it was. I didn't know then, of course, but though my mind must be slowing, it still points in the right direction. How easily we found Star's End! How miraculously you examined the correct Field Region of the Lens from among an infinite number of possibilties! And having done so, how nicely we observe just the correct point for observation! You clumsy fool! Did you so underestimate me that no combination of impossible fortuties struck you as being too much for me to swallow?"
“显然正是。当然，起初我并不知道。不过我的心智虽然减缓，方向却仍然正确。我们多么容易就发现了‘群星的尽头’！你从‘透镜’的无数可能中，一下子就找到正确的像场，这简直是奇迹！接下来又是多么幸运，我们观测的正好就是正确的观测点！你这个大笨蛋！难道你就如此低估我，以为我会对你接二连三不可思议的好运，完全视若无睹吗？”
"You mean I've been too successful?"
“你的意思是我太成功了？”
"Too successful by half for any loyal man."
“你若不是叛徒，连一半的成功都不可能。”
"Because the standards of success you set me were so low?"
“因为你对我的期望太低了？”
And the blaster prodded, though in the face that confront Channis only the cold glitter of the eyes betrayed the growing anger: "Because you are in the pay of the Second Foundation."
核铳又向前戳了一下。然而，程尼斯所面对的那张脸孔，只有森冷的目光暴露出逐渐升高的愤怒。“因为你被第二基地收买了。”
"Pay?"?infinite contempt. "Prove that."
“收买？”程尼斯以无比轻蔑的口气说，“拿出证据来。”
"Or under the mental influence."
“也可能是你的心灵受到影响。”
"Without the Mule's knowledge? Ridiculous."
“骡竟然会不知道吗？真是荒谬。”
"With the Mule's knowledge. Exactly my point, my you dullard. With the Mule's knowledge. Do you suppose else that you would be given a ship to play with? You led us to the Second Foundation as you were supposed to do."
“骡当然早就知道。你这个小笨蛋，我要说的正是这一点。骡当然早就知道。否则，你以为骡为什么要拨给你一艘星舰？如今，你果然带领我们来到第二基地。”
"I thresh a kernel of something or other out of this immensity of chaff. May I ask why I'm supposed to be doing all this? If were a traitor, why should I lead you to the Second Foundation? Why not hither and yon through the Galaxy, skipping gaily, finding no more than you ever did?'
“让我抽丝剥茧，为你分析一下。我能不能请问你，我为什么理所当然该这样做？假使我是一名叛徒，我为什么该带你来第二基地？为什么不在银河中乱闯一通，然后像你以前一样无功而返？”
"For the sake of the ship. And because the men of the Second Foundation quite obviously need atomic warfare for self-defense."
“你是为了这艘星舰。因为第二基地的人显然亟需核能武器自卫。”
'You'll have to do better than that. One ship won't mean thing to them, and if they think they'll learn science from it a build atomic power plants next year, they are very, very simple Second Foundationers, indeed. On the order of simplicity as yourself, I should say."
“你需要想个更好的理由。一艘星舰对他们毫无用处，假如他们认为能从中学到先进的科技，而明年就能建造核能发电厂，那么这些第二基地分子，头脑实在非常、非常简单。恕我直言，你自己的头脑就是这么简单。”
"You will have the opportunity to explain that to the Mule."
“你会有机会向骡当面解释。”
"We're going back to Kalgan?"
“我们要回卡尔根去？”
"On the contrary. We're staying here. And the Mule will join us in fifteen minutes……more or less. Do you think he hasn't followed us, my sharp-witted, nimble-minded lump of self-admiration? You have played the decoy well in reverse. You may not have led our victims to us, but you have certainly led us to our victims."
“正好相反，我们将留在这里。差不多十五分钟之后，骡就会跟我们会合。你这个自诩聪明绝顶的小子，你以为他没有跟踪我们吗？你这个诱饵刚好反过来了。你并未引出我们的猎物，却引导我们来到猎物的巢穴。”
"May I sit down," said Channis, "and explain something to you in picture drawings? Please."
“我可否坐下来，”程尼斯说，“用图解法为你解释一件事？拜托。”
"You will remain standing."
“你给我乖乖站好。”
At that, I can say it as well standing. You think the Mule followed us because of the hypertracer on the communication circuit?"
“好吧，我站着说也一样。你认为骡一直在跟踪我们，是因为通讯线路中有个超波中继器吗？”
The blaster might have wavered. Channis wouldn't have sworn to it. He said: "You don't look surprised. But I don't waste time doubting that you feel surprised. Yes, I knew about it. And now, having shown you that I knew of something you didn't think I did, I'll tell you something you don't know, that I know you don't."
核铳仿佛微微颤动了一下，不过程尼斯不敢肯定。他继续说：“你看来并不惊讶。可是，我不想浪费时间怀疑你是不是装的。没错，我晓得这件事。现在，我已经向你证明，我知道一些你以为我不知道的事。接下来我要告诉你的，是你并不知道、而我也确定你不知道的一件事。”
"You allow yourself too many preliminaries, Channis. I should think your sense of invention was more smoothly greased.
“程尼斯，你的开场白实在太长了。我以为你捏造谎言的效率应该很高。”
"There's on invention to this. There have been traitors, of course, or enemy agents, if you prefer that term. But the Mule knew of that in a rather curious way. It seems, you see, that some of his Converted men had been tampered with."
“我没有捏造任何事。叛徒当然存在，称之为敌方特工也可以。然而，骡是透过一个迂回的管道知晓这件事的。你可知道，他手下的某些‘回转者’似乎被人动了手脚。”
The blaster did waver that time. Unmistakably.
核铳这回的确晃了一下，绝对错不了。
"I emphasize that, Pritcher. It was why he needed me. I was an Unconverted man. Didn't he emphasize to you that he needed an Unconverted? Whether he gave you the real reason or not?"
“普利吉，我要特别强调这一点。这就是他需要我的真正原因，因为我并不是‘回转者’。难道他没有向你强调过，他需要一名‘非回转者’吗？他到底有没有告诉你这个真正的理由？”
"Try something else, Channis. If I were against the Mule, I'd know it." Quietly, rapidly, Pritcher was feeling his mind. It felt the same. It felt the same. Obviously the man was lying.
“程尼斯，试试别的谎言吧。假使我对骡起了异心，自己一定会察觉。”普利吉赶紧悄悄审视自己的心灵。感觉完全一样，根本没有变化。显然是这个人在说谎。
"You mean you feel loyal to the Mule. Perhaps. Loyalty wasn't tampered with. Too easily detectable, the Mule said. But how do you feel mentally? Sluggish? Since you started this trip, have you always felt normal? Or have you felt strange sometimes, as though you weren't quite yourself? What are you trying to do, bore a hole through me without touching the trigger?"
“你是指你仍旧感到对骡忠心耿耿。也许吧，因为忠心并未受到干扰。骡说过，那太容易被发现了。可是你精神上感觉如何？是不是迟钝了？这趟旅程从开始到现在，你是否始终觉得很正常？或者偶尔会有奇怪的感觉，好像不能完全控制自己。你想干什么？想拿铳口在我肚子上硬生生戳个洞吗？”
Pritcher withdrew his blaster half an inch, "What are you trying to say?"
普利吉将核铳抽回半英寸。“你到底想要说什么？”
"I say that you've been tampered with. You've been handled. You didn't see the Mule install that hypertracer. You didn't see anyone do it. You just found it there, and assumed it was the Mule, and ever since you've been assuming he was following us. Sure, the wrist receiver you're wearing contacts the ship on a wave length mine isn't good for. Do you think I didn't know that?" He was speaking quickly now, angrily. His cloak of indifference had dissolved into savagery. "But it's not the Mule that's coming toward us from out there. It's not the Mule."
“我想说你已经被干扰了。我说你已经受到控制。你没有看到骡将超波中继器安装在舰上，你没有看到任何人做这件事。我猜，你只是突然发现它在那里，和我一样是无意中发现的。你却马上假设那是骡安置的，而从那时候起，你就一直假设骡在跟踪我们。当然，你手腕上戴的通讯器，可以用特殊波长瞒着我和星舰联络。你以为我都蒙在鼓里吗？”他越说越快，越说越愤慨，原先装出的冷漠早已被凶恶取而代之。“可是，一路跟踪我们的人并不是骡，根本不是他。”
"Who, if not?"
“不是骡，那是什么人？”
"Well, who do you suppose? I found that hypertracer, the day we left. But I didn't think it was the Mule. He had no reason for indirection at that point. Don't you see the nonsense of it? If I were a traitor and he knew that, I could be Converted as easily as you were, and he would have the secret of the location of the Second Foundation out of my mind without sending me half across the Galaxy. Can you keep a secret from the Mule? And if I didn't know, then I couldn't lead him to it. So why send me in either case?
“嗯，你认为是什么人呢？在我们升空当天，我就发现了那个超波中继器。可是我并没有想到骡身上。这种事，他没有理由那么迂回。你看不出那是个荒谬的推论吗？假使我是叛徒，而他也知道了，他可以轻而易举令我‘回转’，让我变得像你一样。然后，他就能从我心中打探出第二基地的秘密位置，没有必要把我送到银河的另一端。你自己能够对骡隐藏任何秘密吗？反之，假如我根本不知道，我就无法带他到那里去。所以不论怎么说，他都不该派我出来。
"Obviously, that hypertracer must have been put there by an agent of the Second Foundation. That's who's coming towards us now. And would you have been fooled if your precious mind hadn't been tampered with? What kind of normality have you that you imagine immense folly to be wisdom? Me bring a ship to the Second Foundation? What would they do with a ship?
“显然，超波中继器一定是第二基地特务放置的。因此不难推测到底是谁在跟踪我们。如果你那珍贵的脑袋没有受到干扰，又怎么可能上这个当呢？你会有这种大愚若智的想法，这算哪门子正常？我会把一艘星舰带给第二基地？他们要星舰做什么？
"It's you they want, Pritcher. You know more about the union than anyone but the Mule, and you're not dangerous to them while he is. That抯 why they put the direction of search into my mind. Of course, it was completely impossible for me to find Tazenda by random searchings of the Lens. I knew that. But I knew there was the Second Foundation after us, and I knew they engineered it. Why not play their game? It was a battle of bluffs. They wanted us and I wanted their location……and space take the one that couldn't outbluff the other.
“普利吉，他们真正想要的是你。除了骡以外，你是最了解联盟内情的人。骡对他们来说是危险人物，而你却不是。正因为如此，他们才会在我心中注入探索的方向。当然，假使我光用‘透镜’漫无目标地摸索，是万万不可能找到达辛德的。这点我心知肚明。但我也知道是第二基地在图谋我们，知道是他们在操纵这一切。所以何不将计就计呢？这是个尔虞我诈的心理战。他们想逮住我们，而我们想知道他们的大本营……谁能够唬住对方，谁就是最后的赢家。
"But it's we that will lose as long as you hold that blaster on me. And it obviously isn't your idea. It's theirs. Give me the blaster, Pritcher. I know it seems wrong to you, but it isn't your mind speaking, it's the Second Foundation within you. Give me the blaster, Pritcher, and we抣l face what's coming now, together."
“可是如果你一直拿核铳比着我，我们可就输定了。你这么做显然身不由己，是受到他们的操控。普利吉，把核铳给我。我知道你觉得不该这么做，可是这个念头不是你自己的，而是第二基地注入你心中的。普利吉，把核铳给我。让我们同心协力，面对即将来临的大敌。”
Pritcher, faced a growing confusion in horror. Plausibility! Could he be so wrong? Why this eternal doubt of himself? Why wasn't he sure? What made Channis sound so plausible?
一股迷乱的情绪不断升高，令普利吉感到恐惧。诡辩！自己会错得这么离谱吗？为什么永远要怀疑自己？为什么不能肯定任何事？是什么使得程尼斯的话听来那么可信？
Plausibility!
诡辩！
Or was it his own tortured mind fighting the invasion of the alien.
抑或是他饱经磨难的心灵，正在对抗另一名入侵者？
Was he split in two?
自己是否分裂成了两个人？
Hazily, he saw Channis standing before him, hand outstretched……and suddenly, he knew he was going to give him the blaster.
他模模糊糊地看到程尼斯站在自己面前，伸出一只手来……突然间，他知道自己要将核铳交出去了。
And as the muscles of his arm were on the point of contracting in the proper manner to do so, the door opened, not hastily, behind him……and he turned.
正当他的手臂肌肉准备收缩，做出这个动作之际，身后的门却缓缓打开……他连忙回过头去。
There are perhaps men in the Galaxy who can be confused for one another even by men at their peaceful leisure. Correspondingly, there may be conditions of mind when even unlikely pairs may be mis-recognized. But the Mule rises above any combination of the two factors.
在广大的银河中，或许有些相貌相似的人，会让别人在普通情况下也可能认错。此外，在某些特殊情况下，还会有人将毫不相像的人混淆不清。然而，这两种情形都不可能发生在骡身上。
Not all Pritcher's agony of mind prevented the instantaneous mental flood of cool vigor that engulfed him.
普利吉心中所有怒火，都无法抵挡一股突然间席卷而来的精神洪流。
Physically, the Mule could not dominate any situation. Nor did he dominate this one.
就体格而言，骡在任何情况下都居于劣势，如今也不例外。
He was rather a ridiculous figure in his layers of clothing that thickened him past his normality without allowing him to reach normal dimensions even so. His face was muffled and the usually dominant beak covered what was left in a cold-red prominence.
他现在的穿着令他看起来十分滑稽。由于身上包着厚重的衣物，他显得比平常臃肿，却仍然较普通人瘦弱。他将脸部蒙起来，只露出特大号的鹰勾鼻，被寒冷的空气冻得通红。
Probably as a vision of rescue, no greater incongruity could exist.
他活像大难不死的生还者，再也没有更恰当的比喻了。
He said: "Keep your blaster, Pritcher."
他说：“普利吉，握紧核铳。”
Then he turned to Channis, who had shrugged and seated himself: "The emotional context here seems rather confusing and considerably in conflict. What's this about someone other than myself following you?"
程尼斯耸耸肩，自己找位子坐了下来。骡转过身对他说：“此地的情感氛围似乎极为杂乱，而且有相当程度的冲突。你说除了我，还有别人跟踪你们，这究竟是什么意思？”
Pritcher intervened sharply: "Was a hypertracer placed upon our ship by your orders, sir?"
普利吉突然插嘴道：“阁下，在我们的星舰上放置超波中继器，是不是您的命令？”
The Mule turned cool eyes upon him, "Certainly. Is it very likely that any organization in the Galaxy other than the union of Worlds would have access to it?'
骡将冷漠的双眼转向普利吉。“当然是我。整个银河系，除了行星联盟，还可能有别的组织拥有这种装置吗？”
"He said……"
“他说……”
"Well, he's here, general. Indirect quotation is not necessary. Have you been saying anything, Channis?"
“好啦，将军，他在这里。不需要由你转述他的话。程尼斯，你刚才是不是说了些什么？”
"Yes. But mistakes apparently, sir. It has been my opinion that the tracer was put there by someone in the pay of the Second Foundation and that we had been led here for some purpose of theirs, which I was prepared to counter. I was under the further impression that the general was more or less in their hands."
“是的，阁下，不过我显然搞错了。我本来以为，超波中继器是第二基地的奸细放置的，而我们被引到这里来，则是出于第二基地的阴谋，我正准备要反击呢。此外，我还有一个感觉，将军多多少少受到了他们的控制。”
"You sound as if you think so no longer."
“听你的口气，好像你现在不这么想了。”
"I'm afraid not. Or it would not have been you at the door."
“恐怕我搞错了。否则，刚才进门的就不会是您了。”
"Well, then, let us thresh this out." The Mule peeled off the outer layers of padded, and electrically heated clothing. "Do you mind if I sit down as well? Now……we are safe here and perfectly free of any danger of intrusion. No native of this lump of ice will have any desire to approach this place. I assure you of that," and there was a grim earnestness about his insistence upon his powers.
“好吧，那么，让我们来厘清这个问题。”骡脱去厚实且附有电热装置的外套，“你不介意我也坐下吧？现在……我们很安全，完全不必担心有任何人闯进来。在这个冰封的星球上，所有的本地人都不会想靠近此地。这一点，我能向你们保证。”他用冷酷的语调，强调着自己的力量。
Channis showed his disgust. "Why privacy? Is someone going to serve tea and bring out the dancing girls?"
程尼斯故意表现出厌恶。“有什么不可见人的？是不是有人会来奉茶，还会有舞娘出来表演？”
"Scarcely. What was this theory of yours, young man? A Second Foundationer was tracing you with a device which no one but I have and……how did you say you found this place?"
“大概没有。年轻人，你的理论该怎么解释？你说第二基地分子正在追踪你们，用的却是只有我才拥有的装置，还有……你说你是怎么找到这个地方的？”
"Apparently, sir, it seems obvious, in order to account for known facts, that certain notions have been put into my head……"
“阁下，这很明显，为了解释所有已知的事实，似乎只能说我的脑子被灌输了一些概念……”
"By these same Second Foundationers?"
“也是那批第二基地分子干的？”
"No one else, I imagine."
“我想，不可能有别人。”
"Then it did not occur to you that if a Second Foundationer could force, or entice, or inveigle you into going to the Second Foundation for purposes of his own……and I assume you imagined he used methods similar to mine, though, mind you, I can implant only emotions, not ideas……it did not occur to you that if he could do that there was little necessity to put a hypertracer on you.
“那么你并没有想到，假如某个第二基地分子为了自己的目的，因而强迫、驱策，或是诱骗你到第二基地自投罗网……我猜你会认为他和我用的是类似手法，不过我要提醒你，我能植入他人心中的只有情感，并不包括概念……反正，你并没有想到，他如果能做到这种事，就大可不必用超波中继器追踪你。”
And Channis looked up sharply and met his sovereign's large eyes with sudden startle. Pritcher grunted and a visible relaxation showed itself in his shoulders.
程尼斯猛然抬起头来，被元首的大眼睛吓得一阵心悸。普利吉则在喃喃自语，他的松懈明显地反映在松弛的肩膀上。
"No," said Channis, "that hadn't occurred to me."
“没错，”程尼斯答道，“我并没有想到。”
"Or that if they were obliged to trace you, they couldn't feel capable of directing you, and that, undirected, you could have precious little chance of finding your way here as you did. Did that occur to you?"
“然而，假如他们不得不追踪你，就没有能力左右你。而在不受支配的情况下，你不可能这么顺利地一路找来这里。这一点，你想到过没有？”
"That, neither."
“也没有。”
"Why not? Has your intellectual level receded to a so-much-greater-than-probable degree?"
“为什么呢？难道说你的智力突然降低了那么多吗？”
"The only answer is a question, sir. Are you joining General Pritcher in accusing me of being a traitor?"
“阁下，我现在只能以一个问题来答复您。您是否也要加入普利吉将军的阵营，跟他一起来指控我是叛徒？”
"You have a defense in case I am?"
“如果答案是肯定的，你能为自己辩护吗？”
"Only the one I presented to the general. If I were a traitor and knew the whereabouts of the Second Foundation, you could Convert me and learn the knowledge directly. If you felt it necessary to trace me, then I hadn't the knowledge beforehand and wasn't a traitor. So I answer your paradox with another."
“我唯一的辩解，刚才已经对将军说过了。假使我真是叛徒，知道第二基地的下落，您就可以令我‘回转’，直接从我心中探得那个秘密。倘若您认为有需要追踪我，那就代表我在事先并不知情，因此绝不是叛徒。我准备用这个矛盾，来答复您提出的矛盾。”
"Then your conclusion?"
“那么你的结论呢？”
"That I am not a traitor."
“我并不是叛徒。”
"To which I must agree, since your argument is irrefutable."
“这点我必须同意，因为你的论证无懈可击。”
"Then may I ask you why you had us secretly followed?"
“那么我可否请问您，为何要暗中跟踪我们？”
"Because to all the facts there is a third explanation. Both you and Pritcher explained some facts in your own individual ways, but not all. I……if you can spare me the time……will explain all. And in a rather short time, so there is little danger of boredom. Sit down, Pritcher, and give me your blaster. There is no danger of attack on us any longer. None from in here and none from out there. None in fact even from the Second Foundation. Thanks to you, Channis."
“因为对于所有的已知事实，其实还有第三种解释。你和普利吉两人，都分别以个人观点解释了部分事实，但并非全部。而我……如果你们愿意花点时间听我说……可以把一切解释得很圆满。我尽量长话短说，以免你们听得不耐烦。坐下来，普利吉，把你的核铳交给我。我们不会有危险，不论屋里屋外，都不会再有人想攻击我们。事实上，连第二基地也不会了。程尼斯，这都是你的功劳。”
The room was lit in the usual Rossemian fashion of electrically heated wire. A single bulb was suspended from the ceiling and in its dim yellow glow, the three cast their individual shadows.
室内的照明是罗珊通用的电力白炽灯。孤单单的一个灯泡吊在天花板上，昏黄的灯光映出三道人影。
The Mule said: "Since I felt it necessary to trace Channis, it was obvious I expect to gain something thereby. Since he went to the Second Foundation with a startling speed and directness, we can reasonably assume that that was what I was expecting to happen. Since I did not gain the knowledge from him directly, something must have been preventing me. Those are the facts. Channis, of course, knows the answer. So do I. Do you see it, Pritcher?"
骡说：“既然我感到有必要追踪程尼斯，显然我期待能有所收获。由于他以惊人的速度直奔第二基地，我们可以合理地假设，那正是我所期待的结果。但我并没有直接从他那里获得任何情报，所以一定有什么东西阻止了我。事实便是如此。当然，程尼斯知道真正的答案，而我也知道。普利吉，你懂了吗？”
And Pritcher said doggedly: "No, sir."
普利吉顽固地说：“阁下，我不懂。”
"Then I抣l explain. Only one kind of man can both know the location of the Second Foundation and prevent me from learning it. Channis, I'm afraid you're a Second Foundationer yourself."
“那么让我来解释一下。能够知道第二基地的位置，又能不让我刺探到的，其实只有一种人。程尼斯，恐怕你并不是叛徒；事实上，你就是第二基地分子。”
And Channis' elbows rested on his knees as he leaned forward, and through stiff and angry lips said: "What is your direct evidence? Deduction has proven wrong twice today."
程尼斯双肘撑在膝盖上，身子向前倾，从愤怒而僵硬的嘴唇中吐出一句话：“您有什么直接证据？演绎式的推论今天已经两度触礁。”
"There is direct evidence, too, Channis. It was easy enough. I told you that my men had been tampered with. The tamperer must have been, obviously, someone who was a) Unconverted, and b) fairly close to the center of things. The field was large but not entirely unlimited. You were too successful, Channis. People liked you too much. You got along too well. I wondered……"
“程尼斯，我当然也有直接证据，这相当简单。我曾经告诉你，我的手下被人暗中动了手脚。这项阴谋的主使者，显然必须是：一、非回转者；二、与事件中心极为接近的人。这个范围虽然很大，却并非没有界限。程尼斯，你一向太成功了。大家都太喜欢你，你的一切太顺利了。我不禁纳闷……
"And then I summoned you to take over this expedition and it didn't set you back. I watched your emotions. It didn't bother you. You overplayed the confidence there, Channis. No man of real competence could have avoided a dash of uncertainty at a job like that. Since your mind did avoid it, it was either a foolish one or a controlled one.
“于是我征召你主持这次的远征，而你并没有拒绝。我趁机观察你的情感，发现你并未感到困扰。程尼斯，你的胸有成竹表演得太过火了。面对这么重大的任务，任何一个正常人，不论他的能力多强，都难免会有几丝犹豫。你心中完全没有这种反应，这代表你若不是白痴，就是受到外力的控制。
It was easy to test the alternatives. I seized your mind at a moment of relaxation and filled it with grief for an instant and then removed it. You were angry afterwards with such accomplished art that I could have sworn it was a natural reaction, but for that which went first. For when I wrenched at your emotions, for just one instant, for one tiny instant before you could catch yourself, your mind resisted. It was all I needed to know.
“想知道真相其实很简单。我趁你松懈的时候，突然一把抓住你的心灵，并在同一瞬间注入悲痛的情绪，随即又将它释放。而你马上显露出愤怒，配合得天衣无缝，我可以发誓那是一种自然反应，但那只是我最初的想法。因为当我左右你的情感时，在你压抑住真正的反应之前，有那么一刹那，你的心灵曾试图反抗。这正是我想要知道的反应。
"No one could have resisted me, even for that tiny instant, without control similar to mine."
“没有任何人能够反抗我，即使是那么短暂的瞬间，除非他具有和我类似的精神控制力。”
Channis' voice was low and bitter: "Well, then? Now what?"
程尼斯的声音低沉而苦涩。“哦，是吗？那又怎么样？”
"And now you die……as a Second Foundationer. Quite necessary, as I believe you realize."
“那就代表你死定了……因为你的确是第二基地分子。你必须被处决，我相信你早就知道。”
And once again Channis stared into the muzzle of a blaster. A muzzle guided this time by a mind, not like Pritcher's capable of offhand twisting to suit himself, but by one as mature as his own and as resistant to force as his own.
程尼斯又看到一把指着自己的核铳。然而这次控制铳口方向的，并非他轻而易举就能左右的普利吉，而是一个与他一样成熟、一样强固的心灵。
And the period of time allotted him for a correction of events was small.
他能用来扭转局势的时间却少之又少。
What followed thereafter is difficult to describe by one with the normal complement of senses and the normal incapacity for emotional control.
接下来发生的事，实在是难以用文字描述。因为笔者与常人无异，只具有普通的感官，而且没有控制他人情感的能力。
Essentially, this is what Channis realized in the tiny space of time involved in the pushing of the Mule's thumb upon the trigger contact.
简单地说，在骡的拇指即将扣下扳机的一瞬间，程尼斯心中转了无数的念头。
The Mule's current emotional makeup was one of a hard and polished determination, unmisted by hesitation in the least. Had Channis been sufficiently interested afterward to calculate the time involved from the determination to shoot to the arrival of the disintegrating energies, he might have realized that his leeway was about one-fifth of a second.
此时，骡的心灵被坚毅果断的决心所占据，绝不会有半分犹豫。从骡决心扣下扳机，到高能光束射中目标，程尼斯事后若有兴趣计算一下，会发现可资利用的时间仅有五分之一秒。
That was barely time.
只有那么一点点时间。
What the Mule realized in that same tiny space of time was that the emotional potential of Channis' brain had surged suddenly upwards without his own mind feeling any impact and that, simultaneously, a flood of pure, thrilling hatred cascaded upon him from an unexpected direction.
在那么短暂的时间里，骡发觉程尼斯大脑的情感势能陡然高涨，自己的心灵却并未感受到任何冲击。与此同时，一股纯粹而令人战栗的恨意，从另一个意想不到的方向袭来。
It was that new emotional element that jerked his thumb off the contact. Nothing else could have done it, and almost together with his change of action, came complete realization of the new situation.
正是这个新来的情绪，将他的拇指从扳机旁弹开。除此之外，再也没有任何力量能做到这一点。而几乎在他改变动作的同时，他也完全体认到一个新的情势。
It was a tableau that endured far less than the significance adhering to it should require from a dramatic standpoint. There was the Mule, thumb off the blaster, staring intently upon Channis There was Channis taut, not quite daring to breathe yet. And there was Pritcher, convulsed in his chair; every muscle at a spasmodic breaking point; every tendon writhing in an effort to hurl forward; his face twisted at last out of schooled woodenness into an unrecognizable death mask of horrid hate; and his eyes only and entirely and supremely upon the Mule.
就戏剧观点而言，应该用定格画面来处理这个重大变化。且先说骡，他的拇指离开了核铳，双眼仍旧紧盯着程尼斯。再说程尼斯，他浑身紧绷，还不太敢张口喘气。最后再说倒在椅子里的普利吉，他全身痉挛，每一块肌肉都在拼命抽搐，每一条肌腱都扭曲变形；训练有素的木然脸孔化作一张死灰的面具，上面布满可怕的恨意。他的双眼则紧紧地、直直地、目不转睛地盯在骡身上。
Only a word or two passed between Channis and the Mule……only a word or two and that utterly revealing stream of emotional consciousness that remains forever the true interplay of understanding between such as they. For the sake of our own limits, it is necessary to translate into words what went on, then, and thenceforward.
程尼斯与骡只交换了一两个字……仅仅一两个字，对他们这种人而言，就能完全表露情感与意识，足以达到相互了解与沟通的目的。但由于我们先天的限制，想要叙述这段经过，必须将他们交换的讯息翻译成文字，包括已经进行过的，以及即将进行的“对话”。
Channis said, tensely: "You抮e between two fires, First Citizen. You can't control two minds simultaneously, not when one of them is mine……so you have your choice. Pritcher, is free of your Conversion now. I've snapped the bonds. He's the old Pritcher; the one who tried to kill you once; the one who thinks you're the enemy of all that is free and right and holy; and he's the one besides who knows that you've debased him to helpless adulation for five years. I'm holding him back now by suppressing his will, but if you kill me, that ends, and in considerably less time than you could shift your blaster or even your will……he will kill you."
程尼斯紧张地说：“第一公民，你现在是腹背受敌。你无法同时控制两个心灵，因为我是其中之一……所以你得作出选择。普利吉已经脱离‘回转’状态，我打开了他的心灵枷锁。他现在又是当年的普利吉，是那位将你视为自由、正义和一切神圣事物的公敌，那位曾经试图行刺你的普利吉。此外他也知道，在过去五年间，你把他贬为一条摇尾的走狗。我暂且压制住他的意志，不让他有所行动，可是假如你杀了我，就没有人控制他了。在你根本来不及将铳口转向，甚至将精神力量转向之前……他就会把你解决。”
The Mule quite plainly realized that. He did not move.
骡相当了解目前的情势，因此他纹风不动。
Channis continued: "If you turn to place him under control, to kill him, to do anything, you won't ever be quick enough to turn again to stop me."
程尼斯继续说：“倘若你转移精神力量去控制他或杀掉他，或是作出任何行动，你就来不及再回过头阻止我。”
The Mule still did not move. Only a soft sigh of realization.
骡仍旧没有任何动作，只是轻轻叹了一口气。
"So," said Channis, "throw down the blaster, and let us be on even terms again, and you can have Pritcher back."
“所以说，”程尼斯道，“抛开核铳吧。让我们两人公平对决，你可以把普利吉要回去。”
"I made a mistake," said the Mule, finally. "It was wrong to have a third party present when I confronted you. It introduced one variable too many. It is a mistake that must be paid for, I suppose."
“我犯了一个错误。”骡终于开口，“我在面对你的时候，不该让第三者在场。这样做，引进了太多变数。我想，我必须为这个错误付出代价。”
He dropped the blaster carelessly, and kicked it to the other end of the room. Simultaneously, Pritcher crumpled into profound sleep.
他随手将核铳抛到地上，又将它踢到房间另一端。与此同时，普利吉瘫成一团沉沉睡去。
"He抣l be normal when he awakes," said the Mule, indifferently.
“他清醒后，便会恢复正常。”骡轻描淡写地说。
The entire exchange from the time the Mule's thumb had begun pressing the trigger-contact to the time he dropped the blaster had occupied just under a second and a half of time.
从骡准备按下扳机，到他丢弃核铳为止，整个情势的逆转，只经过了一点五秒的时间。
But just beneath the borders of consciousness, for a time just above the borders of detection, Channis caught a fugitive emotional gleam in the Mule's mind. And it was still one of sure and confident triumph.
但是在骡的潜意识边缘，程尼斯及时发现一丝飘忽的情绪。那仍旧是信心十足的得意之情。