CHAPTER NINETEEN DECISION
第19章 抉择
JANOV PELORAT SAID, WITH A SMALL TRACE OF PETULANCE IN HIS voice, “Really, Golan, no one seems to care for the fact that this is the first time in a moderately long life--nottoo long, I assure you, Bliss--in which I have been traveling through the Galaxy. Yet each time I come to a world, I am off it again and back in space before I can really have a chance to study it. It has happened twice now.”
詹诺夫·裴洛拉特语气略带不悦地说：“真的，葛兰，似乎谁也没顾虑到一件事，那就是在我这个不算短的一生中——也不算太长，我向你保证，宝绮思——这还是我头一次遨游银河。但每当我抵达一个世界，还没来得及有机会好好研究一番，我就得被迫离开，重新飞向太空。这种事已经发生过两次了。”
“Yes,” said Bliss, “but if you had not left the other one so quickly, you would not have met me until who knows when. Surely that justifies the first time.”
“没错，”宝绮思说，“可是若非你那么快离开上一个世界，谁知道你什么时候才会遇见我。光凭这一点，就能证明你们上次的抉择正确。”
“It does. Honestly, my--my dear, it does.”
“的确如此。老实说，亲……亲爱的，的确真是如此。”
“And this time, Pel, you may be off the planet, but you have me --andI am Gaia, as much as any particle of it, as much as all of it.”
“而这一次，裴，你虽然离开了这颗行星，但你有我为伴。而‘我’就是盖娅，这就等于它所有的粒子，它的一切都与你为伴。”
“You are , and surely I want no other particle of it.”
“你的确是盖娅，可是除了你，我绝不要其他任何粒子。”
Trevize, who had been listening to the exchange with a frown, said, “This is disgusting. Why didn’t Dom come with us? --Space, I’ll never get used to this monosyllabization. Two hundred fifty syllables to a name and we use just one of them. --Why didn’the come, together with all two hundred fifty syllables? If all this is so important--if the very existence of Gaia depends on it--why didn’t he come with us to direct us?”
听到这番对话，崔维兹不禁皱起眉头。他说：“你们真肉麻。杜姆为何不跟我们一起来？太空啊，我永远无法习惯这种简称的方式。他的名字长达两百五十多个字，我们却只用两个字称呼他。为什么他不带着那两百五十多个字的名字一块来呢？如果这件事真有那么重要，如果这是盖娅的生死关头，他为何不跟我们在一起，以便适时指导我们？”
“Iam here, Trev,” said Bliss, “and I am as much Gaia as he is.” Then, with a quick sideways and upward look from her dark eyes, “Does it annoy you, then, to have me call you ‘Trev’?”
“我在这里啊，崔，”宝绮思说，“我跟他一样等于盖娅。”然后，她那双黑色眼珠向旁一瞥，又向上一望。“不过，我叫你‘崔’，是不是令你不舒服？”
“Yes, it does. I have as much right to my ways as you to yours. My name is Trevize. Two syllables. Tre-vize.”
“对，的确如此。我跟你一样，有权选择自己的称呼方式。我的姓氏是崔维兹，三个字，崔维兹。”
“Gladly. I do not wish to anger you, Trevize.”
“乐于从命。我并不希望惹你生气，崔维兹。”
“I am not angry. I am annoyed.” He rose suddenly, walked from one end of the room to the other, stepping over the outstretched legs of Pelorat (who drew them in quickly), and then back again. He stopped, turned, and faced Bliss.
“我不是生气，而是厌烦。”他突然起身，从舱房的一侧踱到另一侧，在经过裴洛拉特伸长的双腿时，他索性跨了过去（裴洛拉特则赶紧抽腿），然后又踱回来，这才终于停下脚步，转身面对着宝绮思。
He pointed a finger at her. “Look! I am not my own master! I have been maneuvered from Terminus to Gaia--and even when I began to suspect that this was so, there seemed no way to break the grip. And then, when I get to Gaia, I am told that the whole purpose for my arrival was to save Gaia. Why? How? What is Gaia to me--or I to Gaia--that I should save it? Is there no other of the quintillion human beings in the Galaxy who could do the job?”
他伸出食指来指着她。“听好！我并不是心甘情愿！我被你们用计从端点星一路骗到盖娅，在我开始怀疑里头有鬼时，似乎已经来不及脱身。后来，我抵达了盖娅，竟然有人告诉我，我来这里的目的是要拯救盖娅。为什么呢？我又该怎么做？盖娅对我有什么意义，或者我对盖娅有什么意义，让我应该义不容辞拯救它？在银河上千兆的人口中，难道没有别人能完成这项工作吗？”
“Please, Trevize,” said Bliss--and there was a sudden downcast air about her, all of the gamine affectation disappearing. “Do not be angry. You see, I use your name properly and I will be very serious. Dom asked you to be patient.”
“求求你，崔维兹。”宝绮思突然显得垂头丧气，原先装出来的天真俏皮全部消失无踪。“求求你别生气。你看，我称呼你的全名了，以后我也会非常注意。杜姆曾经拜托你要有耐心。”
“By every planet in the Galaxy, habitable or not, I don’t want to be patient. If I am so important, do I not deserve an explanation? To begin with, I ask again why Dom did not come with us? Is it not sufficiently important for him to be here on theFar Star with us?”
“银河众行星在上，我才不要有什么耐心。假如我真有那么重要，就不能对我解释一下吗？首先，我要再问一次，杜姆为何不跟我们一块来？难道这件事没那么重要，不值得他登上远星号跟我们一起行动？”
“He is here, Trevize,” said Bliss. “While I am here, he is here, and everyone on Gaia is here, and every living thing, and every speck of the planet.”
“他在这里啊，崔维兹。”宝绮思说，“只要我在这里，他就在这里。盖娅上的每个人都在这里，这颗行星上的每一个生物、每一粒微尘都不例外。”
“Youare satisfied that that is so, but it’s not my way of thinking. I’m not a Gaian. We can’t squeeze the whole planet on to my ship, we can only squeeze one person on to it. We have you, and Dom is part of you. Very well. Why couldn’t we have taken Dom, and let you be part of him?”
“你要这样想随便你，但这并非我的思考方式，我又不是盖娅人。我们不能将整个行星塞进太空艇，我们只能塞一个人进来。我们现在有你在这里，而杜姆是你的一部分，很好。但我们为何不能带杜姆同行，而让你成为他的一部分呢？”
“For one thing,” said Bliss, “Pel--I mean, Pel-o-rat--asked that I be on the ship with you. I, not Dom.”
“原因之一，”宝绮思说，“裴——我是说裴、洛、拉、特——邀请我跟你们同行。他指名要我，而不是杜姆。”
“He was being gallant. Who would take that seriously?”
“他只是对你献殷勤罢了。谁会对那种话认真呢？”
“Oh, now, my dear fellow,” said Pelorat, rising to his feet with his face reddening, “I was quite serious. I don’t want to be dismissed like that. I accept the fact that it doesn’t matter which component of the Gaian whole is on board, and it is more pleasant for me to have Bliss here than Dom, and it should be for you as well. Come, Golan, you are behaving childishly.”
“喔，不，我亲爱的伙伴，”裴洛拉特赶紧站起来，急得满脸通红，“我说这话相当认真，我不要被你这样一笔勾销。盖娅整体的哪一部分同行其实都没有差别，这点我能接受，可是能有宝绮思为伴，我觉得要比杜姆赏心悦目，对你来说也应该一样。好啦，葛兰，你太孩子气了。”
“Am I? Am I?” said Trevize, frowning darkly. “All right, then, I am. Just the same,” again he pointed at Bliss, “whatever it is I am expected to do, I assure you that I won’t do it if I am not treated like a human being. Two questions to begin with-- What am I supposed to do? And why me?”
“我孩子气？我孩子气？”崔维兹皱起眉头，显得分外阴郁。“好吧，那么，就算我孩子气。话说回来，”他又指着宝绮思，“不管要我做些什么，若不把我当人类看待，我向你保证我绝不会做。首先我要问两个问题：我到底应该做什么？又为何偏偏是我？”
Bliss was wide-eyed and backing away. She said, “Please, I can’t tell you that now. All of Gaia can’t tell you. Youmust come to the place without knowing anything to begin with. Youmust learn it all there. You must then do what you must do--but you must do it calmly and unemotionally. If you remain as you are, nothing will be of use and, one way or another, Gaia will come to an end. You must change this feeling of yours and I do not know how to change it.”
宝绮思瞪大眼睛，向后退了几步。她说：“拜托，我现在还不能告诉你，整个盖娅都还不能告诉你。你到那里去的时候，心中必须一片空白；你必须当场获悉一切。然后，你必须做该做的事，但你必须保持冷静，丝毫不情绪化。如果你一直像现在这样，到时根本帮不上任何忙，盖娅就无论如何会走上绝路。你必须改变这种情绪，但我不知道该怎样帮你。”
“Would Dom know ifhe were here?” said Trevize remorselessly.
“假使杜姆在这里，他知道该怎么做吗？”崔维兹毫不领情地反问。
“Domis here,” said Bliss. “He/I/we do not know how to change you or calm you. We do not understand a human being who cannot sense his place in the scheme of things, who does not feel like part of a greater whole.”
“杜姆是在这里啊。”宝绮思说，“他／我／们并不知道怎样令你心平气和。你不能感知自己在造化中的位置，也不觉得自己是大我的一部分，这样的人类我们无法了解。”
Trevize said, “That is not so. You could seize my ship at a distance of a million kilometers and more--and keep us calm while we were helpless. Well, calm me now. Don’t pretend you are not capable of doing it.”
崔维兹说：“这话说不通。你们可以远在一百多万公里之外，就逮住我的太空艇，而且在我们一筹莫展的时候，令我们保持心情平静。好，现在让我镇静吧，别假装你办不到。”
“But wemustn’t . Not now. If we changed you or adjusted you in any way now, then you would be no more valuable to us than any other person in the Galaxy and we could not use you. We can only use you because you areyou --and you must remain you. If we touch you at this moment in any way, we are lost. Please. You must be calm of your own accord.”
“但我们不能这样做，现在绝对不行。不论我们现在用什么方法改变你或调整你，你都会变得跟其他人一样毫无价值，而我们将无法再借重你。如今我们能借重你，就是因为你是你，而你必须保持这样。此时此刻，我们若用任何方法影响你的心灵，便会一败涂地。求求你，你必须自然而然恢复平静。”
“Not a chance, miss, unless you tell me some of what I want to know.”
“休想，小姐，除非你能告诉我一些我想知道的事。”
Pelorat said, “Bliss, let me try. Please go into the other room.”
裴洛拉特突然说：“宝绮思，让我试试看，请你暂时到另一间舱房去。”
Bliss left, backing slowly out. Pelorat closed the door behind her.
于是宝绮思慢慢退了出去，裴洛拉特赶紧关上舱门。
Trevize said, “She can hear and see--sense everything. What difference does this make?”
崔维兹说：“她照样听得到，看得见，还能感应每一件事。这样做有什么差别？”
Pelorat said, “It makes a difference to me. I want to be alone with you, even if isolation is an illusion. --Golan, you’re afraid.”
裴洛拉特答道：“对我而言有差别。我要和你单独说几句话，这种隔离即使只是假象也好。葛兰，你在害怕。”
“Don’t be a fool.”
“别说傻话了。”
“Of course you are. You don’t know where you’re going, what you’ll be facing, what you’ll be expected to do. You have a right to be afraid.”
“你当然在害怕。你不知道要到哪里去，不知道将要面对什么，也不知道自己该怎么做，你绝对有权利害怕。”
“But I’m not.”
“可是我没有。”
“Yes, you are. Perhaps you’re not afraid of physical danger in the way that I am. I’ve been afraid of venturing out into space, afraid of each new world I see, afraid of every new thing I encounter. After all, I’ve lived half a century of a constricted, withdrawn and limited life, while you have been in the Navy and in politics, in the thick and hurly-burly at home and in space. Yet I’ve tried not to be afraid and you’ve helped me. In this time that we’ve been together, you’ve been patient with me, you’ve been kind to me and understanding, and because of you, I’ve managed to master my fears and behave well. Let me, then, return the favor and help you.”
“有，你有。或许你跟我不一样，并不是害怕实质的危险。我一直害怕太空探险，害怕所看到的每一个新世界，害怕所遇见的每一件新鲜事物。毕竟，我过了半个世纪封闭、退隐、划地自限的生活，而你却活跃于舰队和政坛，在故乡和太空都打过滚。但我一直试着压抑恐惧心理，你也在一旁不断帮我打气。在我们相处的这段时期，你始终对我很有耐心，对我十分客气，也很体谅我的处境。由于你的帮助，我终于能克服恐惧，表现得还相当不错。现在让我做点回报，也帮你打打气吧。”
“I’m not afraid, I tell you.”
“我告诉过你，我并不害怕。”
“Of course you are. If nothing else, you’re afraid of the responsibility you’ll be facing. Apparently there’s a whole world depending on you--and you will therefore have to live with the destruction of a whole world if you fail. Why should you have to face that possibility for a world that means nothing to you? ‘What right have they to place this load upon you? You’re not only afraid of failure, as any person would be in your place, but you’re furious that they should put you in the position where you have to be afraid.”
“你当然害怕。即使不是为了别的，你也害怕即将面对的责任。某个世界显然有赖你来拯救，如果你失败了，将永远忘不了有个世界毁在你手上。这个世界对你而言毫无意义，凭什么要你承担这种可能的后果？他们又有什么权利，将这个重担压在你身上？你不只担心可能会失败——这点换成谁都一样——而且你还感到愤怒，他们竟然把你逼到死角，让你不想害怕也难。”
“You’re all wrong.”
“你完全搞错了。”
“I don’t think so. Consequently let me take your place. I’ll do it. Whatever it is they expect you to do, I volunteer as substitute. I assume that it’s not something that requires great physical strength or vitality, since a simple mechanical device would outdo you in that respect. I assume it’s not something that requires mentalics, for they have enough of that themselves. It’s something that--well, I don’t know, but if it requires neither brawn nor brain, then I have everything else as well as you--and I am ready to take the responsibility.”
“我可不这么想。所以说，让我来取代你吧，我愿意做这件差事。不论他们希望你做什么，我都自愿代替你。我猜这件事并不需要什么体能或气力，否则简单的机械装置就能胜过你。我猜它也不需要什么精神力量，因为这方面他们不假外求。它应该是……嗯，我也不知道，但如果既不需要膂力，又不需要脑力，那么其他方面你有的我都有，而我愿意承担这个责任。”
Trevize said sharply, “Why are you so willing to bear the load?”
崔维兹厉声问道：“你为何那么愿意挑这个重担？”
Pelorat looked down at the floor, as though fearing to meet the other’s eyes. He said, “I have had a wife, Golan. I have known women. Yet they have never been very important to me. Interesting. Pleasant. Never very important. Yet, this one--”
裴洛拉特低头望着地板，好像不敢接触对方的目光。他说：“我曾经有个老婆，葛兰，也认识过一些女人，但我从来不觉得她们非常重要。她们或许有趣，讨人喜欢，可是从来不会非常重要。但这一个……”
“Who? Bliss?”
“谁？宝绮思？”
“She’s different, somehow--to me.”
“她却有些不一样，至少对我而言。”
“By Terminus, Janov, she knows every word you’re saying.”
“端点星在上，詹诺夫，你讲的每一个字，她都听得一清二楚。”
“That makes no difference. She knows anyhow. --I want to please her. I will undertake this task, whatever it is; run any risk, take any responsibility, on the smallest chance that it will make her--think well of me.”
“那没什么关系，反正她晓得。我想要取悦她，所以我想揽下这个工作。不管是做什么，不管要冒什么险，不管要担负任何重责大任——只要有那么一点点机会，能让她重视我就好。”
“Janov, she’s a child.”
“詹诺夫，她只是个孩子。”
“She’s not a child--and what you think of her makes no difference to me.”
“她并不是孩子。她在你眼中是什么样子，对我而言并不重要。”
“Don’t you understand what you must seem to her?”
“难道你不了解，你在她眼中又是什么样子？”
“An old man? What’s the difference? She’s part of a greater whole and I am not--and that alone builds an insuperable wall between us. Don’t you think I know that? But I don’t ask anything of her but that she--”
“一个老头？那又怎么样？她是某个整体的一部分，而我不是，这就足以构成我俩之间无法跨越的鸿沟。你以为我不知道这一点吗？可是我对她别无所求，只要她……”
“Think well of you?”
“重视你？”
“Yes. Or whatever else she can make herself feel for me.”
“是的，或是对我产生任何其他感觉。”
“And for that you will do my job? --But Janov, haven’t you been listening. They don’t want you; they wantme for some space-ridden reason I can’t understand.”
“为了这一点，你就愿意接替我的工作？可是，詹诺夫，你刚才没有听清楚吗？他们并不需要你。为了某个我搞不懂的混账理由，他们只要我。”
“If they can’t have you and if they must have someone, I will be better than nothing, surely.”
“假如他们请不动你，又必须找人帮忙，那么由我接手，总是聊胜于无吧。”
Trevize shook his head. “I can’t believe that this is happening. Old age is overtaking you and you have discovered youth. Janov, you’re trying to be a hero, so that you can die for that body.”
崔维兹摇了摇头。“我不相信会有这种事。你都已经步入老年，竟然在这里找到第二春。詹诺夫，你这是想充英雄，以便爱死那副躯体。”
“Don’t say that, Golan. This is not a fit subject for humor.”
“别那么讲，葛兰，这种事不适合开玩笑。”
Trevize tried to laugh, but his eyes met Pelorat’s grave face and he cleared his throat instead. He said, “You’re right. I apologize. Call her in, Janov. Call her in.”
崔维兹想哈哈大笑，可是目光一接触到对方严肃的脸孔，就只好改为干咳几声。然后他说：“你说得对，我向你道歉。叫她进来，詹诺夫，叫她进来吧。”
Bliss entered, shrinking a little. She said in a small voice, “I’m sorry, Pel. You cannot substitute. It must be Trevize or no one.”
宝绮思走了进来，显得有些畏缩。她用细微的声音说：“我很抱歉，裴。你不能取代他，这件事只能由崔维兹来做。”
Trevize said, “Very well. I’ll be calm. Whatever it is, I’ll try to do it. Anything to keep Janov from trying to play the romantic hero at his age.”
崔维兹说：“好吧，我会保持冷静。不论是什么差事，我都愿意试试看。詹诺夫这么一大把年纪，还想扮演浪漫的英雄，只要能让他打消这念头，什么事我都愿意干。”
“I know my age,” muttered Pelorat.
“我知道自己的岁数。”裴洛拉特咕哝了一句。
Bliss approached him slowly, placed her hand on his shoulder. “Pel, I--I think well of you.”
宝绮思慢慢走到他面前，将一只手放在他的肩膀上。“裴，我……我重视你。”
Pelorat looked away. “It’s all right, Bliss. You needn’t be kind.”
裴洛拉特故意转过头去。“没关系，宝绮思，你用不着这么好心。”
“I’m not being kind, Pel. I think--very well of you.”
“我并不是好心，裴。我真的……非常重视你。”
2
2
Dimly, then more strongly, Sura Novi knew that she was Suranoviremblastiran and that when she was a child, she had been known as Su to her parents and Vito her friends.
苏拉·诺微心中浮现一组记忆，起先有些模糊，然后逐渐变得清晰。她记起了本名叫做苏拉诺微伦布拉丝蒂兰；小时候，双亲都管她叫“苏”，朋友们则称她“微”。
She had never really forgotten, of course, but the facts were, on occasion, buried deep within her. Never had it been buried as deeply or for as long as in this last month, for never had she been so close for so long to a mind so powerful.
当然，她从未真正忘记，但是在必要时，这些记忆总能深埋心底。而过去这一个月，她将这些记忆埋藏得最深最久，因为在此之前，她从未跟这么强力的心灵相距这么近，又相处这么久。
But now it was time. She did not will it herself. She had no need to. The vast remainder of her was pushing her portion of itself to the surface, for the sake of the global need.
然而现在时机成熟了。她没有主动呼唤这些记忆，她不需要那么做。为了大我整体的需要，另一个她正在将本身的意识推出表层。
Accompanying that was a vague discomfort, a kind of itch that was rapidly overwhelmed by the comfort of selfness unmasked. Not in years had she been so close to the globe of Gaia.
随之而来的是一种飘忽的不适，一种无形的痒觉。这种感觉很快被另一种快感淹没，那是自我浮现之后所带来的舒适畅快。那么多年来，她从未如此接近盖娅这颗星球。
She remembered one of the life-forms she had loved on Gaia as a child. Having understood its feelings then as a dim part of her own, she recognized her own sharper ones now. She was a butterfly emerging from a cocoon
她记起了小时候在盖娅上，她十分喜爱的一种生物。在了解到它的情感正是自己情感中模糊的一部分之后，她终于认清了自己现在鲜明的情感。此刻，她就像一只刚刚破茧而出的蝴蝶。
3
3
Stor Gendibal stared sharply and penetratingly at Novi--and with such surprise that he came within a hair of loosening his grip upon Mayor Branno. That he did not do so was, perhaps, the result of a sudden support from without that steadied him and that, for the moment, he ignored.
史陀·坚迪柏以严厉而尖锐的目光瞪着诺微。由于突然大吃一惊，他险些松开对布拉诺市长的掌握。这个状况竟然有惊无险，或许要归功于一股外力及时将他稳住。不过，他暂时没有注意到这一点。
He said, “What do you Know of Councilman Trevize, Novi?” And then, in cold disturbance at the sudden and growing complexity of her mind, he cried out, “What are you?”
他说：“你对崔维兹议员知道多少，诺微？”接着，他发觉诺微心灵的复杂度陡然暴涨，令他感到一股彻骨的寒意，于是猛然吼道：“你究竟是什么？”
He attempted to seize hold of her mind and found it impenetrable. At that moment, he recognized that his hold on Branno was supported by a grip stronger than his own. He repeated, “What are you?”
他试图控制她的心灵，却发现再也无法穿透它。直到这一刻，他才领悟到有个比自己还强大的力量，正在帮他一同攫住布拉诺。他又问了一遍：“你究竟是什么？”
There was a hint of the tragic on Novi’s face. “Master,” she said, “Speaker Gendibal. My true name is Suranoviremblastiran and I am Gaia.”
诺微露出近乎悲剧人物的神情。“师傅，”她说，“坚迪柏发言者，我真正的名字叫做苏拉诺微伦布拉丝蒂兰，而我就是盖娅。”
It was all she said in words, but Gendibal, in sudden fury, had intensified his own mental aura and with great skill, now that his blood was up, evaded the strengthening bar and held Branno on his own and more strongly than before, while he gripped Novi’s mind in a tight and silent struggle.
她只不过说了这几句话，坚迪柏随即怒不可遏，奋力运起精神力场，仗着纯熟的功夫以及一股血气之勇，突破了愈来愈强的障碍，重新攫获布拉诺，并用更大的力量紧紧抓住。与此同时，他还抓住诺微的心灵，与她展开一场无形的争战。
She held him off with equal skill, but she could not keep her mind closed to him--or perhaps she did not wish to.
她以同样熟练的功夫挡住他的攻势，可是她的心灵无法将他拒斥于外，也或许是她并不想这么做。
He spoke to her as he would to another Speaker. “You have played a part, deceived me, lured me here, and you are one of the species from which the Mule was derived.”
他用发言者的交谈方式，对她说：“你竟然也有份，你欺骗我，把我诱到这里来，你和骡是同一类的生物。”
“The Mule was an aberration, Speaker. I/we are not Mules. I/we are Gaia.”
“骡是一个畸变种，发言者。我／们不是骡，我／们是盖娅。”
The whole essence of Gaia was described in what she complexly communicated, far more than it could have been in any number of words.
她借着这种复杂的沟通方式，将盖娅的本质描述了一番，这种表达比千言万语还要详细。
“A whole planet alive,” said Gendibal.
“竟然整个行星都是活的。”坚迪柏说。
“And with a mentalic field greater as a whole than is yours as an individual. Please do not resist with such force. I fear the danger of harming you, something I do not wish to do.”
“并且具有一个整体精神力场，比你个人产生的强大得多。请别对抗这样的力量，我担心会伤害到你，那是我最不希望发生的事。”
“Even as a living planet, you are not stronger than the sum of my colleagues on Trantor. We, too, are, in a way, a planet alive.”
“即使是一颗活的行星，你们也强不过川陀所有精神力量的总和。我们，也可以说，是一颗活生生的行星。”
“Only some thousands of people in mentalic co-operation, Speaker, and you cannot draw upon their support, for I have blocked it off. Test that and you will see.”
“那只是几千人的精神融合为一，发言者。何况你也无法获得他们的支援，因为我已经将它阻绝，你试试看就知道了。”
“What is it you plan to do, Gaia?”
“你打算做什么，盖娅？”
“I would hope, Speaker, that you would call me Novi. What I do now I do as Gaia, but I am Novi also--and with reference to you, I am only Novi.”
“发言者，我倒希望你仍然叫我诺微。我现在虽然以盖娅的身份出现，但我同样还是诺微。而对你来说，我只是诺微。”
“What is it you plan to do, Gaia?”
“你打算做什么，盖娅？”
There was the trembling mentalic equivalent of a sigh and Novi said, “We will remain in triple stalemate. You will hold Mayor Branno through her shield, and I will help you do so, and we will not tire. You, I suppose, will maintain your grip on me, and I will maintain mine on you, and neither one of us will tire there either. And so it will stay.”
诺微的精神力场抖动了一下，相当于普通人的一声叹息。然后她说：“我们将保持这种三边胶着状态。你能穿透那个防护罩，控制住布拉诺市长，而我将助你一臂之力，那不会消耗你我太多的力量。你呢，我想，还是会继续抓住我，而我也会维持对你的反制，但我们两人也不会因此疲倦。所以说，大家就这样僵持下去。”
“To what end?”
“这样做有什么目的？”
“As I have told you-- We are waiting for Councilman Trevize of Terminus. It is he who will break the stalemate--as he chooses.”
“正如我刚才所说，我们要等端点星的崔维兹议员。唯有当他作出抉择，才能打破这种胶着状态。”
4
4
The computer on board theFar Star located the two ships and Golan Trevize displayed them together on the split screen.
远星号的电脑发现了那两艘船舰，葛兰·崔维兹以分割画面将两者一起显示在屏幕上。
They were both Foundation vessels. One was precisely like theFar Star and was undoubtedly Compor’s ship. The other was larger and far more powerful.
两艘船舰都是基地的航具，其中之一与远星号一模一样，毫无疑问是康普的太空艇。另一艘则比较大，而且显然更具威力。
He turned toward Bliss and said, “Well, do you know what’s going on? Is there anything you can now tell me?”
他转身面对宝绮思说：“好啦，你知道这是怎么回事吗？可以向我透露些什么吗？”
“Yes! Do not be alarmed! They will not harm you.”
“可以！不必惊慌！他们不会伤害你。”
“Why is everyone convinced I’m sitting here all a-tremble with panic?” Trevize demanded petulantly.
“为何每个人都以为我坐在这里吓得全身发抖？”崔维兹凶巴巴地追问。
Pelorat said hastily, “Let her talk, Golan. Don’t snap at her.”
裴洛拉特赶紧说：“让她说下去，葛兰，别对她凶。”
Trevize raised his arms in a gesture of impatient surrender. “I will not snap. Speak, lady.”
崔维兹举起双臂，做出无可奈何的投降状。“我不凶就是了，说吧，小姐。”
Bliss said, “On the large ship is the ruler of your Foundation. With her--”
宝绮思说：“在那艘较大的船舰上，是你们基地的统治者。她旁边……”
Trevize said in astonishment, “The ruler? You mean Old Lady Branno?”
崔维兹惊讶地追问：“统治者？你是指布拉诺那个老太婆？”
“Surely that is not her title,” said Bliss, her lips twitching a little in amusement. “But she is a woman, yes.” She paused a little, as though listening intently to the rest of the general organism of which she was part. “Her name is Harlabranno. It seems odd to have only four syllables when one is so important on her world, but I suppose non-Gaians have their own ways.”
“那当然不是她的头衔，”宝绮思的嘴角露出几分笑意，“但她的确是女性，这点没错。”她顿了一下，仿佛在专心倾听她所属的那个大我生命体。“她的名字叫赫拉布拉诺。一个地位如此重要的人，名字只有五个字，这似乎很奇怪。不过我想，盖娅之外的人自有一套规矩吧。”
“I suppose,” said Trevize dryly. “You would call her Brann, I think. But what is she doing here? Why isn’t she back on-- I see. Gaia has maneuvered her here, too. Why?”
“我想是吧。”崔维兹冷冰冰地说，“我猜你会管她叫布拉。可是她到这里来做什么呢？她为什么不待在……我明白了，她也是被盖娅拐诱来的。为什么呢？”
Bliss did not answer that question. She said, “With her is Lionokodell, five syllables, though her underling. It seems a lack of respect. He is an important official of your world. With them are four others who control the ship’s weapons. Do you want their names?”
宝绮思并没有回答，她径自说下去：“她旁边那个人叫做里奥诺柯代尔，他虽然是下属，名字却有六个字，这样好像有些失礼。他是你们那个世界的重要官员。此外还有四个人，负责操纵船舰的武器系统，你要知道他们的名字吗？”
“No. I take it that on the other ship there is one man, Munn Li Compor, and that he represents the Second Foundation. You’ve brought both Foundations together, obviously. Why?”
“不必了。我知道另一艘船舰上只有一名男性，名叫曼恩·李·康普，而他代表第二基地。你们显然故意让两个基地碰头了，可是为什么呢？”
“Not exactly, Trev--I mean, Trevize--”
“并不完全正确，崔……我是说，崔维兹……”
“Oh, go ahead and say Trev. I don’t give a puff of comet gas.”
“喔，你就索性叫我崔吧，我一微一尘都不在乎。”
“Not exactly, Trev. Compor has left that ship and has been replaced by two people. One is Storgendibal, an important official of the Second Foundation. He is called a Speaker.”
“并不完全正确，崔，康普已经离开那艘船舰，另外换上来两个人。其中之一叫史陀坚迪柏，是第二基地的重要官员，他的头衔是发言者。”
“An important official? He’s got mentalic power, I imagine.”
“一名重要官员？那我猜他拥有精神力量。”
“Oh yes. A great deal.”
“喔，没错，很强大。”
“Will you be able to handle that?”
“你对付得了吗？”
“Certainly. The second person, on the ship with him, is Gaia.”
“当然可以。和他在一起的那个人，是盖娅。”
“One ofyour people?”
“你们的同胞？”
“Yes. Her name is Suranoviremblastiran. It should be much longer, but she has been away from me/us/rest so long.”
“对，她叫苏拉诺微伦布拉丝蒂兰。她的名字本来还应该长得多，但是她离开我／们／其他人太久了。”
“Is she capable of holding a high official of the Second Foundation?”
“她能制住第二基地的一名高级官员吗？”
“It is not she, it is Gaia who holds him. She/I/we/all are capable of crushing him.”
“不是她，而是盖娅制住了他。她／我／们／全体就有办法将他歼灭。”
“Is that what she’s going to do? She’s going to crush him and Branno? What is this? Is Gaia going to destroy the Foundations and set up a Galactic Empire of its own? The Mule back again? A greater Mule--”
“她真打算这么做吗？她要把他和布拉诺一道歼灭？这到底是怎么回事？难道盖娅准备一举毁掉两个基地，自行建立一个银河帝国？骡又回来了吗？一个更强大的骡……”
“No no, Trev. Do not become agitated. You must not. All three are in a stalemate. They are waiting.”
“不，不是的，崔。别激动，千万不可以。这三方处于一种胶着状态，他们正在等待。”
“For what?”
“等什么？”
“For your decision.”
“等你的决定。”
“Here we go again.What decision? Whyme ?”
“又来了。究竟是什么决定？为什么要由我决定？”
“Please, Trev,” said Bliss. “It will soon be explained. I/we/she have said as much as I/we/she can for now.”
“求求你，崔。”宝绮思说，“这点马上会向你解释清楚。目前我／们／她所能说的，我／们／她都已经说了。”
5
5
Branno said wearily, “It is clear I have made a mistake, Liono, perhaps a fatal one.”
布拉诺以困倦的口气说：“显然我犯了一个错误，里奥诺，也许还是要命的大错。”
“Is this something that ought to be admitted?” muttered Kodell through motionless lips.
“这种事情该承认吗？”柯代尔咕哝道，嘴唇完全没有蠕动。
“They know what I think. It will do no further harm to say so. Nor do they know less about what you think if you do not move your lips. --I should have waited until the shield was further strengthened.”
“他们知道我在想什么，说出来不会造成更大的伤害。即使你的嘴唇一动不动，他们照样清楚你在想什么——我应该等到防护罩发展得更强固再说。”
Kodell said, “How could you have known, Mayor? If we waited until assurance was doubly and triply and quadruply and endlessly sure, we would have waited forever. --To be sure, I wish we had not gone ourselves. It would have been well to have experimented with someone else--with your lightning rod, Trevize, perhaps.”
柯代尔说：“你事先又如何知道呢，市长？如果我们要等到可靠度加倍，甚至变成三倍、四倍乃至无数倍，我们就得永远等下去。说句老实话，我倒希望我们没有亲自出马，应该先找个替死鬼来做实验。比如说，就用你的避雷针崔维兹。”
Branno sighed. “I wanted to give them no warning, Liono. Still, there you put the finger on the nub of my mistake. I might have waited until the shield was reasonably impenetrable. Not ultimately impenetrable but reasonably so. I knew there was perceptible leakage now, but I could not bear to wait longer. To wipe out the leakage would have meant waiting past my term of office and I wanted it done inmy time--andI wanted to be on the spot. So like a fool, I forced myself to believe the shield was adequate. I would listen to no caution--to your doubts, for instance.”
布拉诺叹了一声。“我是想给他们来个措手不及，里奥诺。话说回来，你还是一语道破了我的错误。我应该等到防护罩再强一些，不必百分之百无法穿透，但至少达到相当程度。我明知防护罩还有不小的漏洞，可是我实在等不及了。等到把漏洞补好，想必我早已下台，而我一定要在任内完成这件大事，并且要亲临现场。所以我像傻瓜一样，欺骗自己防护罩已经足够使用。我听不进任何警告，比方说，你的疑虑就被我当成耳边风。”
“We may still win out if we are patient.”
“只要有耐心，或许胜利还是属于我们的。”
“Can you give the order to fire on the other ship?”
“你能不能下令向那艘太空艇开火？”
“No, I cannot, Mayor. The thought is, somehow, not something I can endure.”
“我办不到，市长，这种念头好像不是我能忍受的。”
“Nor I. And if you or I managed to give the order, I am certain that the men on board would not follow it, that they would not be able to.”
“我也一样。即使你我设法下达命令，我也确定舰员不会服从，因为他们做不到。”
“Not under present circumstances, Mayor, but circumstances might change. As a matter of fact, a new actor appears on the scene.”
“就目前的情况而言，的确如此，市长，可是情况有可能会改观。事实上，又有一名新演员登场了。”他指着屏幕说。
He pointed to the screen. The ship’s computer had automatically split the screen as a new ship came within its ken. The second ship appeared on the right-hand side.
当另一艘船舰出现在附近时，舰上的电脑自动将屏幕分割成两个画面，新来的船舰显现在右侧。
“Can you magnify the image, Liono?”
“你能将影像放大吗，里奥诺？”
“No trouble. The Second Foundationer is skillful. We are free to do anything he is not troubled by.”
“没问题。那个第二基地分子技艺高超，凡是对他无害的行动，我们仍能随心所欲。”
“Well,” said Branno, studying the screen, “that’s theFar Star , I’m sure. And I imagine Trevize and Pelorat are on board. Then, bitterly, “Unless they too have been replaced by Second Foundationers. My lightning rod has been very efficient indeed. --If only my shield had been stronger.”
“嗯，”布拉诺一面打量屏幕，一面说，“我可以肯定，那就是远星号。我猜，崔维兹和裴洛拉特都在上面。”然后，她改用苦涩的语调说：“除非他们也被第二基地分子调了包。我的避雷针实在非常有效，要是我的防护罩再强些就好了。”
“Patience!” said Kodell.
“别急！”柯代尔说。
A voice rang out in the confines of the ship’s control room and Branno could somehow tell it did not consist of sound waves. She heard it in her mind directly and a glance at Kodell was sufficient to tell her that he had heard it, too.
驾驶舱中突然响起一个声音，布拉诺听得出它并非由声波传来，而是直接发自她自己的心灵。她向柯代尔瞥了一眼，就晓得他同样听到了。
It said, “Can you hear me, Mayor Branno? If you can, don’t bother saying so. It will be enough if you think so.”
那声音说：“你能听见我吗，布拉诺市长？如果听得见，不必开口回答，只要想一想就够了。”
Branno said calmly, “What are you?”
布拉诺以冷静的口吻说：“你是谁？”
“I am Gaia.”
“我是盖娅。”
6
6
The three ships were each essentially at rest, relative to the other two. All three were turning very slowly about the planet Gaia, as a distant three-part satellite of the planet. All three were accompanying Gaia on its endless journey about its sun.
三艘船舰彼此保持静止不动的状态，一同围绕着盖娅行星缓缓转动，好像是个遥远的三合一卫星。在盖娅无尽的公转旅程中，突然多出了三个旅伴。
Trevize sat, watching the screen, tired of guessing what his role might be--what he had been dragged across a thousand parsecs to do.
崔维兹坐在太空艇中，眼睛紧紧盯着屏幕。他已经厌倦了猜想自己的角色——盖娅把他从一万秒差距之外找来，究竟要他做什么呢？
The sound in his mind did not startle him. It was as though he had been waiting for it.
当心中响起声音的时候，他并没有感到惊讶，仿佛他就是在等候它的出现。
It said, “Can you hear me, Golan Trevize? If you can, don’t bother saying so. It will be enough if you think it.”
那声音说：“你能听见我吗，葛兰·崔维兹？如果听得见，不必开口回答，只要想一想就够了。”
Trevize looked about. Pelorat, clearly startled, was looking in various directions, as though trying to find the source. Bliss sat quietly, her hands held loosely in her lap. Trevize had no doubt, for a moment, that she was aware of the sound.
崔维兹转头望了望。裴洛拉特显然吓了一大跳，正在四下张望，似乎想要找出声音的来源。宝绮思则端坐原处，双手轻轻握着放在膝盖上，崔维兹立刻明白她认得这个声音。
He ignored the order to use thoughts and spoke with deliberate clarity of enunciation. “If I don’t find out what this is about, I will do nothing I am asked to do.”
他不理会那个叫他使用思想的要求，故意字正腔圆地答道：“我若不了解一切的来龙去脉，要我做什么都免谈。”
And the voice said, “You are about to find out.”
那声音则说：“你马上会了解。”
7
7
Novi said, “You will all hear me in your mind. You are all free to respond in thought. I will arrange it so that all of you can hear each other. And, as you are all aware, we are all close enough so that at the normal light-speed of the spatial mentalic field, there will be no inconvenient delays. To begin with, we are all here by arrangement.”
诺微说：“你们都会在心中听见我的声音，也都能随心所欲以思想回应，我会让你们互相之间都听得到。而且，想必你们全都知道，我们彼此都足够接近，精神力场借着普通光速传递，不会造成任何不便的延迟。首先我要声明，我们今天在此相聚，是经过精心的安排。”
“In what manner?” came Branno’s voice.
“怎样的安排？”这是布拉诺的声音。
“Not by mental tampering,” said Novi. “Gaia has interfered with no one’s mind. It is not our way. We merely took advantage of ambition. Mayor Branno wanted to establish a Second Empire at once; Speaker Gendibal wanted to be First Speaker. It was enough to encourage these desires and to ride the wind, selectively and with judgment.”
“并非以精神干扰的方式。”诺微说，“盖娅从不干预任何人的心灵，那不是我们的作风，我们只会利用他人的企图心。布拉诺市长想要即刻建立第二帝国，坚迪柏发言者想要成为第一发言者。只要充分鼓舞这些欲望，然后因势利导，再善加选择运用即可。”
“I know how I was brought here,” said Gendibal stiffly. And indeed he did. He knew why he had been so anxious to move out into space, so anxious to pursue Trevize, so sure he could handle it all. --It was all Novi. --Oh, Novi!
“我知道自己是怎么被带到这里来的。”坚迪柏以生硬的语调说。他的确知道——现在他终于明白，当初自己为何那么急于奔向太空，那么急于追踪崔维兹，又那么肯定自己能够应付一切。都是因为诺微，喔，诺微！
“You were a particular case, Speaker Gendibal. Your ambition was powerful, but there were softnesses about you that offered a shortcut. You were a person who would be kind to someone whom you had been trained to think of as beneath you in every respect. I took advantage of this in you and turned it against you. I/we am/are deeply ashamed. The excuse is that the future of the Galaxy is in hazard.”
“你是一个特例，坚迪柏发言者。虽然你的企图心旺盛，但你也有温柔的一面，为我们提供了捷径。你所受的教育，让你认为某些人各方面都不如你，而你会对他们表现出亲切和同情。我利用这个特点引你上钩，对此我／们感到非常惭愧，唯一的借口是银河的未来岌岌可危。”
Novi paused and her voice (though she was not speaking by way of vocal cords) grew more somber, her face more drawn.
诺微停顿了一下。她的声音（虽然她并非使用声带发声）变得愈来愈阴郁，她的表情也愈来愈深沉。
“This was the time. Gaia could wait no longer. For over a century, the people of Terminus had been developing a mentalic shield. Left to themselves another generation, it would have been impervious even to Gaia and they would have been free to use their physical weapons at will. The Galaxy would not have been able to resist them and a Second Galactic Empire, after the fashion of Terminus, would have been established at once, despite the Seldon Plan, despite the people of Trantor, and despite Gaia. Mayor Branno had to be somehow maneuvered into making her move while the shield was still imperfect.
“时间已经很急迫，盖娅不能再等下去。过去这一个多世纪，端点星上的人发展出了精神力场防护罩。如果再给他们一代的时间，防护罩会进步到连盖娅都无法穿越，那时他们便能随心所欲地使用有形武器，整个银河皆无法与之抗衡。一个以端点星为蓝本的第二银河帝国，将不顾川陀、盖娅以及谢顿计划的反对，在极短时间内建立起来。因此，必须设法在防护罩尚未完善之前，便诱使布拉诺市长提前行动。
“Then there is Trantor. The Seldon Plan was working perfectly, for Gaia itself labored to keep it on track with precision. And for over a century, there had been quietist First Speakers, so that Trantor vegetated. Now, however, Stor Gendibal was rising quickly. He would certainly become First Speaker and under him Trantor would take on an activist role. It would surely concentrate on physical power and would recognize the danger of Terminus and take action against it. If he could act against Terminus before its shield was perfected, then the Seldon Plan would be worked out to its conclusion in a Second Galactic Empire--after the fashion of Trantor--despite the people of Terminus and despite Gaia. Consequently Gendibal had to be somehow maneuvered into making his move before he became First Speaker.
“接下来再说川陀。谢顿计划能进行得完美无缺，是由于盖娅努力使它保持在正轨上。过去一个多世纪的第一发言者，乃是有史以来最闲散的，川陀因而变得无所事事。然而如今，史陀·坚迪柏迅速崛起，他一定会成为下一代的第一发言者。在他的领导下，川陀将变成积极的行动派，必定会集中力量发展有形武力，也会察觉到端点星的威胁，进而采取实际行动。如果在端点星的防护罩发展完善之前，他就能对端点星采取行动，那么谢顿计划便会有始有终，最后建立起第二银河帝国。不过那会是个以川陀为蓝本的帝国，端点星和盖娅都无法接受。因此，必须设法在坚迪柏当上第一发言者之前，便诱使他提前行动。
“Fortunately, because Gaia has been working carefully for decades, we have brought both Foundations to the proper place at the proper time. I repeat all this primarily so that Councilman Golan Trevize of Terminus may understand.”
“幸好，盖娅经过数十年的精心策划，总算在最适当的时候，将两个基地的代表请到了最适当的地点。我将整个经过重述一遍，主要是想让端点星的葛兰·崔维兹议员能够了解。”
Trevize cut in at once and again ignored the effort to converse by thought. He spoke words firmly, “I donot understand. What is wrong with either version of the Second Galactic Empire?”
崔维兹突然打岔，但仍然拒绝使用思想沟通。他以坚定的口吻说：“我想不通，这两种模式的第二银河帝国到底有什么不好？”
Novi said, “The Second Galactic Empire--worked out after the fashion of Terminus--will be a military Empire, established by strife, maintained by strife, and eventually destroyed by strife. It will be nothing but the First Galactic Empire reborn. That is the view of Gaia.
诺微说：“以端点星为蓝本所建立的第二银河帝国，将是一个军事帝国，依靠武力建立，依靠武力维持，最后终将被武力摧毁。它会是第一银河帝国不折不扣的翻版，这是盖娅的看法。
“The Second Galactic Empire--worked out after the fashion of Trantor--will be a paternalistic Empire, established by calculation, maintained by calculation, and in perpetual living death by calculation. It will be a dead end. That is the view of Gaia.”
“以川陀为蓝本所建立的第二银河帝国，将是一个父权式帝国，依靠算计建立，依靠算计维持，在无尽的算计中，它永远是行尸走肉。那会是个死胡同，这是盖娅的看法。”
Trevize said, “And what does Gaia have to offer as an alternative?”
崔维兹问：“盖娅又能提供什么其他的选择？”
“Greater Gaia! Galaxia! Every inhabited planet as alive as Gaia. Every living planet combined into a still greater hyperspatial life. Every uninhabited planet participating. Every star. Every scrap of interstellar gas. Perhaps even the great central black hole. A living galaxy and one that can be made favorable for all life in ways that we yet cannot foresee. A way of life fundamentally different from all that has gone before and repeating none of the old mistakes.”
“一个更大的盖娅！将银河系变作盖娅星系！每颗住人行星都像盖娅一样有生气，每颗活生生的行星又融合在一起，形成一个更宏大的超级生命体。每一颗不住人的行星也都参与其中，甚至还包括每一颗恒星、每一小团星际气体，也许连中心黑洞都是其中的一分子。那会是个活生生的银河，能以不可思议的方式带给各类生命无尽的福祉。它和过去任何生命形式都截然不同，不会再重蹈那些古老的错误。”
“Originating new ones,” muttered Gendibal sarcastically.
“却会产生新的错误。”坚迪柏以讽刺的口吻喃喃道。
“We have had thousands of years of Gaia to work those out.”
“我们拥有盖娅累积的上万年经验。”
“But not on a Galactic scale.”
“但未曾在银河尺度上实验过。”
Trevize, ignoring the short exchange and driving to his point, said, “And what is my role in all this?”
崔维兹懒得听这些琐碎的对话，他的问题直指核心：“我在其中又扮演什么样的角色？”
The voice of Gaia--channeled through Novi’s mind--thundered, “Choose!Which alternative is it to be?”
盖娅的声音——透过诺微的心灵——发出如雷巨响：“选择！到底应该采用哪个蓝本？”
There was a vast silence that followed and finally, in that silence, Trevize’s voice--mental at last, for he was too taken aback to speak --sounded small and still defiant. “Why me?”
接下来是长久而绝对的静寂。最后，在万籁俱寂中，崔维兹以细弱但仍不服气的声音（这回终于是心灵的声音，因为他惊讶得哑口无言）问道：“为什么是我？”
Novi said, “Though we recognized the moment had come when either Terminus or Trantor would become too powerful to stop--or worse yet, when both might become so powerful that a deadly stalemate would develop that would devastate the Galaxy--we still could not move. For our purposes, we needed someone--a particular someone--with the talent for rightness. We found you, Councilman. --No, we cannot take the credit. The people of Trantor found you through the man named Compor, though even they did not know what they had. The act of finding you attracted our attention to you. Golan Trevize, you have the gift of knowing the right thing to do.”
诺微说：“纵使我们体认到，端点星或川陀已经强大到无可遏制——甚至更糟的情况，那就是两者同时壮大，展开致命的拉锯战，连累到整个银河——我们仍旧不能采取行动。为了达到我们的目的，我们需要一个不平凡的人，一个具有正确判断力的人。结果我们找到了你，议员。不，我们不能居功。其实是一个叫康普的人，帮川陀上的人找到了你，不过连他们也不知道你有多么重要。他们寻找你的行动，吸引了我们对你的注意。葛兰·崔维兹，你具有难得的天赋，知道凡事该怎么做才正确。”
“I deny it,” said Trevize.
“我否认。”崔维兹说。
“You are, every once in a while,sure . And we want you to be sure this time on behalf of the Galaxy. You do not wish the responsibility, perhaps. You may do your best not to have to choose. Nevertheless, you will realize that it is right to do so. You will besure ! And you will then choose. Once we found you, we knew the search was over and for years we have labored to encourage a course of action that would, without direct mentalic interference, so influence events that all three of you--Mayor Branno, Speaker Gendibal, and Councilman Trevize--would be in the neighborhood of Gaia at the same time. We have done it.”
“你不时会感到信心满满，这一次，我们要你为整个银河，作出最有信心的决定。或许你不想承担这个责任，或许你会尽可能不作选择。然而，你将了解只有那样做才对，你将感到绝对的信心！然后你就会作出抉择。我们一发现你，就知道寻找已告一段落，接下来，我们经过多年的努力，诱发了一连串事件，在避免直接精神干预的情况下，促使你们三位——布拉诺市长、坚迪柏发言者、崔维兹议员——同时来到盖娅附近。如今，我们终于做到了。”
Trevize said, “At this point in space, under present circumstances, is it not true, Gaia--if that is what you want me to call you--that you can overpower both the Mayor and the Speaker? Is it not true that you can establish this living Galaxy you speak of without my doing anything? Why, then, do you not?”
崔维兹说：“此时此地，就目前的情况而言，盖娅——或许你希望我如此称呼你——难道你不能同时击败市长和发言者吗？即使我什么也不做，难道你就不能自行建立那种活生生的银河吗？可是，你为何不做呢？”
Novi said, “I do not know if I can explain this to your satisfaction. Gaia was formed thousands of years ago with the help of robots that once, for a brief time, served the human species and now serve them no more. They made it quite clear to us that we could survive only by a strict application of the Three Laws of Robotics as applied to life generally. The First Law, in those terms, is: ‘Gaia may not harm life or, through inaction, allow life to come to harm.’ We have followed this rule through all of our history and we can do no other.
诺微说：“我不知道我的解释能否令你满意。盖娅是在两万多年前，借着机器人之助所建立的世界。曾有一段短暂的时间，机器人是人类的好帮手，但这种情形早已不再。它们曾向我们明白诏示，我们唯有将‘机器人学三大法则’的适用对象扩及所有生命，并且严格奉行不渝，才能永远存活于银河中。因此，我们的第一法则是：‘盖娅不得伤害生命，或袖手旁观坐视生命受到伤害。’在我们的历史上，我们始终遵循这个法则，此外别无选择。
“The result is that we are now helpless. We cannot force our vision of the living Galaxy upon a quintillion human beings and countless other forms of life and perhaps do harm to vast numbers. Nor can we do nothing and watch the Galaxy half-destroy itself in a struggle that we might have prevented. We do not know whether action or inaction will cost the Galaxy less; nor, if we choose action, do we know whether supporting Terminus or Trantor will cost the Galaxy less. Let Councilman Trevize decide then--and whatever that decision is, Gaia will follow it.”
“结果，我们现在因此进退维谷。我们空有活银河的远景，却不能强迫银河中的千兆人类，以及其他无数的生灵接受，因为可能会造成重大伤害。可是我们也不能坐视银河走上毁灭之途，因为我们也许能够阻止这场灾难。我们不知道是否应该行动，才能将牺牲减至最低程度。而如果选择行动，我们也不知道应该支持端点星，还是应该支持川陀，才能将牺牲减至最低程度。这要由崔维兹议员决定，而不论决定为何，盖娅都会遵从。”
Trevize said, “How do you expect me to make a decision? What do I do?”
崔维兹说：“你指望我如何作出决定？我该怎么做？”
Novi said, “You have your computer. The people of Terminus did not know that when they made it, they made it better than they knew. The computer on board your ship incorporates some of Gaia. Place your hands on the terminals and think. You may think Mayor Branno’s shield impervious, for instance. If you do, it is possible that she will at once use her weapons to disable or destroy the other two ships, establish physical rule over Gaia and, later on, Trantor.”
诺微说：“你有一台电脑。端点星上的人制造这台电脑时，并不知道最后的成品会超越原先的设计。你身边的那台电脑，融入了盖娅的一小部分。将你的双手放在感应板上，然后静下心来沉思。你也许会认为，比如说，布拉诺市长的防护罩没有丝毫漏洞。如果你那么想，她可能会立刻开火击伤或击毁另外两艘船舰，然后以武力征服盖娅，随后再攻占川陀。”
“And you will do nothing to stop that?” said Trevize with astonishment.
“你们不会阻止吗？”崔维兹用惊讶的口吻说。
“Not a thing. If you are sure that domination by Terminus will do the Galaxy less harm than any other alternative, we will gladly help that domination along--even at the cost of our own destruction.
“绝对不会。倘若你确定相较之下，由端点星统领银河所造成的伤害最小，我们乐意帮助端点星达成目标，即使本身遭到毁灭也在所不惜。
“On the other hand, you may find Speaker Gendibal’s mentalic field and you may then join your computer-magnified push to his. He will, in that case, surely break free of me and push me back. He may then adjust the Mayor’s mind and, in combination with her ships, establish physical domination over Gaia and assure the continued supremacy of the Seldon Plan. Gaia will not move to stop that.
“反之，你也有可能支持坚迪柏发言者的精神力场，而用电脑辅助的攻击力帮助他。这样一来，他必定会挣脱我的束缚，把我推到一旁。然后他会调整市长的心灵，并将她的舰队置于控制之下，利用这支有形武力攻占盖娅，以确保谢顿计划继续唯我独尊。盖娅也不会阻止这种发展。
“Or you may findmy mentalic field and join that--and then the living Galaxy will be set in motion to reach its fulfillment, not in this generation or the next, but after centuries of labor during which the Seldon Plan will continue. The choice is yours.”
“或者，你也许会认同我的精神力场，而加入我这一方。那么，活银河的计划可以立即展开。不过，这个目标不会在这一代或下一代完成，而是需要许多世纪的苦心经营，在此期间，谢顿计划将继续进行。选择权完全掌握在你手上。”
Mayor Branno said, “Wait! Do not make a decision just yet. May I speak?”
布拉诺说：“慢着！别急着作出决定。我能发言吗？”
Novi said, “You may speak freely. So may Speaker Gendibal.”
诺微说：“你可以自由发言，坚迪柏发言者也一样。”
Branno said, “Councilman Trevize. The last time we met on Terminus, you said, ‘The time may come, Madam Mayor, when you will ask me for an effort, and I will then do as I choose, and I will remember the past two days.’ I don’t know whether you foresaw this, or intuitively felt it would happen, or simply had what this woman who speaks of a living Galaxy calls a talent for rightness. In any case, you were right. I am asking you for an effort on behalf of the Federation.
于是布拉诺说：“崔维兹议员，上次我们在端点星分手时，你曾经说：‘总有一天，市长女士，你会求我伸出援手。那时我会依照自己的决定行事，但我不会忘记过去这两天的遭遇。’我不知道当时你是否已经预见今天，或是直觉地感到会发生这种事，还是真如这个大谈活银河的女子所说，你具有正确无比的判断力。无论如何，反正给你说中了。我现在要代表联邦，请求你帮个大忙。
“You may, I suppose, feel that you would like to even the score with me for having arrested and exiled you. I ask you to remember that I did it for what I considered the good of the Foundation Federation. Even if I were wrong or even if I acted out of callous self-interest, remember that it was I who did it--and not the Federation. Do not now destroy the entire Federation out of a desire to balance what I alone have done to you. Remember that you are a Foundationer and a human being, that you do not want to be a cipher in the plans of the bloodless mathematicians of Trantor or less than a cipher in a Galactic mish-mash of life and nonlife. You want yourself, your descendants, your fellow-people to be independent organisms, possessing free will. Nothing else matters.
“我想，你也许会觉得应该趁机报复我，因为我曾经逮捕并放逐你。但是请你记住一件事，我之所以那么做，是为了基地联邦着想。即使我做错了，即使我是出于自私自利才那么做，请别忘记那是我的个人行为，和联邦毫无关系。不要为了报复我个人对你的迫害，而毁掉整个联邦。请记住你是基地人，而且是个堂堂的人类。你不希望在川陀那些冷酷数学家所制定的计划中，成为一个无足轻重的符号；或是在生物和无生物混为一谈的银河里，做个连符号都不如的小分子。你希望你自己、你的后代以及你的同胞，每一个人都是独立的生命体，人人拥有自由意志。再也没有比这更重要的事。
“These others may tell you that our Empire will lead to bloodshed and misery--but it need not. It is our free-will choice whether this should be so or not. We may choose otherwise. And, in any case, it is better to go to defeat with free will than to live in meaningless security as a cog in a machine. Observe that you are now being asked to make a decision as a free-will human being. These things of Gaia are unable to make a decision because their machinery will not allow them to, so that they depend on you. And they will destroy themselves if you bid them to. Is this what you want for all the Galaxy?”
“别人或许会告诉你，我们的帝国将导致血腥和惨祸，但事实并非如此。我们有自由意志，可以选择要不要那样做，而且还能有其他的选择。无论如何，带着自由意志被击败，总胜过像个齿轮那样无意义地活着。请注意，盖娅是将你视为拥有自由意志的人类，请你替它作出抉择。盖娅的组成分子都无法作决定，因为他们的结构使他们失去这种能力，所以他们必须向你求助。如果你命令他们，他们还会心甘情愿地自我毁灭。你希望整个银河都变成这样子吗？”
Trevize said, “I do not know that I have free will, Mayor. My mind may have been subtly dealt with, so that I will give the answer that is desired.”
崔维兹说：“我不知道自己还有没有自由意志，市长。我的心灵也许被巧妙地动过手脚，好让我作出某一方所乐见的选择。”
Novi said, “Your mind is totally untouched. If we could bring ourselves to adjust you to suit our purposes, this whole meeting would be unnecessary. Were we that unprincipled, we could have proceeded with what we would find most pleasing to ourselves with no concern for the greater needs and good of humanity as a whole.”
诺微说：“你的心灵完全没有受到影响。我们若能调整你的思想，让你作出有利于我们的决定，这次聚会就彻头彻尾多此一举。假使我们真的那么毫无原则，大可径自展开我们认为于己最有利的行动，而不用考虑人类全体的需求和福祉。”
Gendibal said, “I believe it is my turn to speak. Councilman Trevize, do not be guided by narrow parochialism. The fact that you are Terminus-born should not lead you to believe that Terminus comes before the Galaxy. For five centuries now, the Galaxy has been operating in accordance with the Seldon Plan. In and out of the Foundation Federation, that operation has been proceeding.
坚迪柏说：“我相信现在该轮到我发言了。崔维兹议员，不要囿于偏狭的地域观念。即使你出生在端点星，也不该把端点星置于银河之上。过去五个世纪以来，银河一直依循谢顿计划发展。不论基地联邦之内之外，谢顿计划始终顺利进行。
“You are, and have been, part of the Seldon Plan above and beyond your lesser role as Foundationer. Do not do anything to disrupt the Plan, either on behalf of a narrow concept of patriotism or out of a romantic longing for the new and untried. The Second Foundationers will in no way hamper the free will of humanity. We are guides, not despots.
“你一直是谢顿计划的一部分，相较之下，你的基地人角色根本不算什么。可别为了偏狭的爱国情操，或是由于对实验性的新方案抱持浪漫的憧憬，而做出任何破坏谢顿计划的举动。第二基地分子绝不会阻碍人类的自由意志，我们是导师，不是独裁者。
“And we offer a Second Galactic Empire fundamentally different from the First. Throughout human history, no decade in all the tens of thousands of years during which hyperspatial travel has existed has been completely free of bloodshed and violent death throughout the Galaxy, even in those periods when the Foundation itself was at peace. Choose Mayor Branno and that will continue endlessly into the future. The same dreary, deadly round. The Seldon Plan offers release from that at last--andnot at the price of becoming one more atom in a Galaxy of atoms, being reduced to equality with grass, bacteria, and dust.”
“我们所打造的第二银河帝国，和第一帝国有根本的不同。回顾人类的历史，在超空间旅行出现后的数万年间，银河从未有过连续十年的太平岁月，总是不时有人惨死于流血事件，即使基地的和平时期也不例外。如果选择布拉诺市长，这种情况将永无止境，可怕的惨剧会一再循环。谢顿计划终能解救人类脱离苦海，代价却不是在充满粒子的银河中加入更多粒子，也就是不必将人类贬抑到和青草、细菌、灰尘同等的地位。”
Novi said, “What Speaker Gendibal says of the First Foundation’s Second Empire, I agree with. What he says of his own, I do not. The Speakers of Trantor are, after all, independent free-will human beings and are the same as they have always been. Are they free of destructive competition, of politics, of clawing upward at all costs? Are there no quarrels and even hatreds at the Speaker’s Table--and will they always be guides you dare follow? Put Speaker Gendibal on his honor and ask him this.”
诺微说：“坚迪柏发言者对‘第一基地帝国’所作的批评，我完全同意，可是他所阐述的‘第二基地帝国’，我却无法苟同。位于川陀的那些发言者，他们总该是具有独立自由意志的人类，而且始终都是如此。可是，他们能够避免恶性竞争、政治倾轧、不计代价向上爬的行为吗？在圆桌会议上，难道没有龃龉甚至仇恨吗？你敢追随这样的导师吗？你问问坚迪柏发言者，要他以人格担保据实回答。”
“No need to put me on my honor,” said Gendibal. “I freely admit we have our hatreds, competitions, and betrayals at the Table. But once a decision is reached, it is obeyed by all. There has never been an exception to this.”
“不必要求我以人格担保。”坚迪柏说，“我愿意承认在圆桌会议上，我们的确有仇恨、斗争、出卖和背叛的行为。可是一旦作成决定，我们就会全体服从，不曾有过例外。”
Trevize said, “What if I will not make a choice?”
崔维兹道：“假如我不作选择呢？”
“You must,” said Novi. “You will know that it is right to do so and you will therefore make a choice.”
“你必须选择。”诺微说，“你会晓得只有那样做才对，然后你就会作出选择。”
“What if I try to make a choice and cannot?”
“假如我心有余而力不足呢？”
“You must.”
“你必须选择。”
Trevize said, “How much time do I have?”
崔维兹又问：“我有多少时间？”
Novi said, “Until you aresure , however much time that takes.”
诺微答道：“直到你肯定为止，花多长时间都没有关系。”
Trevize sat silently.
崔维兹坐在原处一言不发。
Though the others were silent too, it seemed to Trevize that he could hear the pulsing of his bloodstream.
其他的人也都很安静，崔维兹似乎可以听见自己的脉搏。
He could hear Mayor Branno’s voice say firmly, “Free will!”
他也能听见布拉诺市长坚定的声音：“自由意志！”
Speaker Gendibal’s voice said peremptorily, “Guidance and peace!”
还有坚迪柏发言者断然的声音：“指导与和平！”
Novi’s voice said wistfully, “Life.”
诺微则以充满期盼的声音说：“生命。”
Trevize turned and found Pelorat looking at him intently. He said, “Janov. Have you heard all this?”
崔维兹转过头来，发现裴洛拉特目不转睛地望着自己，于是说：“詹诺夫，这些话你都听见了吗？”
“Yes, I have, Golan.”
“我都听见了，葛兰。”
“What do you think?”
“你有什么看法？”
“The decision is not mine.”
“决定权并不在我。”
“I know that. But what do you think.”
“我知道，可是你有什么看法？”
“I don’t know. I am frightened by all three alternatives. And yet a peculiar thought comes to me--”
“我不知道，三种选择都令我胆战心惊。但我忽然冒出一个很特别的念头……”
“Yes?”
“什么念头？”
“When we first went out into space, you showed me the Galaxy. Do you remember?”
“我们刚进太空的时候，你让我看过银河的显像。你还记得吗？”
“Of course.”
“当然。”
“You speeded time and the Galaxy rotated visibly. And I said, as though anticipating this very time, ‘The Galaxy looks like a living thing, crawling through space.’ Do you think that, in a way, it is alive already?”
“你把时间加快，让我看得出银河的旋转。我仿佛料到会有今天这一刻，脱口而出：‘银河看来像个生物，正在太空中爬行。’就某个层面而言，你说银河是不是早就活了？”
And Trevize, remembering that moment, was suddenlysure . He remembered suddenly his feeling that Pelorat, too, would have a vital role to play. He turned in haste, anxious not to have time to think, to doubt, to grow uncertain.
崔维兹回想起那一幕，突然感到万分肯定。与此同时，他还记起自己曾经觉得，裴洛拉特也会扮演一个重要角色。于是他猛然转身，不让自己再有任何空当来思考、怀疑或犹豫。
He placed his hands on the terminals and thought with an intensity he had never known before.
他将双手放到感应板上，聚精会神地驱动意念，他从来不知道自己的意念有那么强。
He had made his decision--the decision on which the fate of the Galaxy hung.
他作出了抉择，一个攸关银河命运的抉择。