Part Four - Solaria

第四部索拉利

Chapter 10: Robots

第10章机器人

Trevize seemed lost in thought during dinner, and Blissconcentrated on the food.

晚餐时，崔维兹似乎陷入沉思，宝绮思则将注意力集中在食物上。

Pelorat, the only one who seemed anxious to speak, pointed out that ifthe world they were on was Aurora and if it was the first settled world,it ought to be fairly close to Earth.

只有裴洛拉特看来很想说话，他指出，这个世界如果真是奥罗拉，而且的确是第一个殖民世界，它就应该与地球相当接近。

It might pay to scour the immediate stellar neighborhood, hesaid. "It would only mean sifting through a few hundred stars atmost."

“也许值得在附近星空做一次地毯式搜索。”他说，“顶多是往返几百颗恒星而已。”

Trevize muttered that hit-and-miss was a last resort and he wanted asmuch information about Earth as possible before attempting to approachit even if he found it. He said no more and Pelorat, clearly squelched,dwindled into silence as well.

崔维兹低声答道，漫无目标的寻找是下下之策，即使找到了地球的位置，他也要先尽量搜集相关资料，然后才会试图接近。他的回答仅止于此，裴洛拉特显然被泼了一盆冷水，只好渐渐闭上嘴巴。

After the meal, as Trevize continued to volunteer nothing, Peloratsaid tentatively, "Are we to be staying here, Golan?"

晚餐后，崔维兹仍不主动说一句话。裴洛拉特试探性地问：“我们要留在这里吗，葛兰？”

"Overnight, anyway," said Trevize. "I need to do a bit morethinking."

“总得过一夜。”崔维兹说，“我需要多考虑一下。”

"Is it safe?"

“这样安全吗？”

"Unless there's something worse than dogs about," said Trevize,"we're quite safe here in the ship."

“除非附近还有比野狗更凶的东西，”崔维兹说，“否则我们在太空艇中相当安全。”

Pelorat said, "How long would it take to lift off, if there issomething worse than dogs about?"

裴洛拉特说：“如果附近真有比野狗更凶的东西，最快需要多少时间才能起飞？”

Trevize said, "The computer is on launch alert. I think we can manageto take off in between two and three minutes. And it will warn us quiteeffectively if anything unexpected takes place, so I suggest we allget some sleep. Tomorrow morning, I'll come to a decision as to thenext move."

崔维兹说：“目前电脑处于发射警戒的状态，我想我们在两三分钟内即可起飞。而且若有任何意外事故发生，电脑会很有效率地警告我们，所以我建议大家都睡一觉。明天早上，我会决定下一步该怎么做。”

Easy to say, thought Trevize, as he found himself staring at thedarkness. He was curled up, partly dressed, on the floor of the computerroom. It was quite uncomfortable, but he was sure that his bed would beno more conducive to sleep at this time and here at least he could takeaction at once if the computer sounded an alarm.

说得倒容易，崔维兹在黑暗中张大眼睛时，心里这么想。他现在蜷缩成一团，只脱下了外套，就这么躺在电脑室的地板上。这样实在很不舒服，但他可以肯定，此时他的床铺也无法助他入眠。而待在这里，万一电脑发出警告讯号，他至少能立即采取行动。

Then he heard footsteps and automatically sat up, hitting his headagainst the edge of the desk not hard enough to do damage, buthard enough to make rubbing and grimacing a necessity.

然后他听到一阵脚步声，便自然而然坐了起来，脑袋一不小心撞到了桌缘。虽然不至于受伤，却足以令他愁眉苦脸，忍不住揉了半天。

"Janov?" he said in a muffled voice, eyes tearing.

“詹诺夫？”他以含糊的声音问道，同时眼泪夺眶而出。

"No. It's Bliss."

“不，是宝绮思。”

Trevize reached over the edge of the table with one hand to make atleast semicontact with the computer, and a soft light showed Bliss ina light pink wraparound.

崔维兹一只手伸出桌缘，与电脑稍微接触了一下，室内随即充满柔和的光芒。他立刻看到宝绮思站在面前，穿着一件淡粉红色的缠身袍。

Trevize said, "What is it?"

崔维兹说：“什么事？”

"I looked in your bedroom and you weren't there. There was no mistakingyour neuronic activity, however, and I followed it. You were clearlyawake so I walked in."

“我到你的寝舱找你，你不在那儿。然而，我绝不会认错你的神经活动，于是一直跟到这里，而你显然还没睡着，所以我就走进来了。”

Yes, but what is it you want?

“好吧，但你要做什么呢？”

She sat down against the wall, knees up, and cradled her chin againstthem. She said, "Don't be concerned. I have no designs on what's leftof your virginity."

她靠着舱壁坐下，双膝并拢，将下巴搁在膝头上。“别担心，我并非企图夺走你所剩无几的童贞。”

"I don't imagine you do," said Trevize sardonically. "Why aren't youasleep? You need it more than we do."

“我没有这种幻想。”崔维兹反唇相讥，“你怎么没睡觉？你比我们更需要睡眠。”

"Believe me," she said in a low, heartfelt tone, "that episode withthe dogs was very draining."

“相信我，”她用一种低沉而真诚的语调说，“野狗带来的这段插曲，实在令人筋疲力尽。”

"I believe that."

“这点我相信。”

"But I had to talk to you when Pel was sleeping."

“可是我得趁裴睡觉的时候，来跟你谈一谈。”

About what?

“谈什么？”

Bliss said, "When he told you about the robot, you said that thatchanges everything. What did you mean?"

宝绮思说：“他跟你提到机器人的时候，你说那就足以改变一切，这句话是什么意思？”

Trevize said, "Don't you see that for yourself? We have three setsof coordinates; three Forbidden Worlds. I want to visit all three tolearn as much as possible about Earth before trying to reach it."

崔维兹说：“你自己难道看不出来吗？我们总共有三组坐标，代表三个禁忌世界。我打算三个都探访一番，以便对地球尽量多作了解，然后才准备向地球进军。”

He edged a bit closer so that he could speak lower still, then drewaway sharply. He said, "Look, I don't want Janov coming in here lookingfor us. I don't know what he'd think."

他侧身向她稍微靠过去，以便将声音压得更低，却又猛然退回来。“听着，我不希望詹诺夫进来这里找我们，我不知道他心里会怎么想。”

"It's not likely. He's sleeping and I've encouraged that just a bit. Ifhe stirs, I'll know. Go on. You want to visit all three. What'schanged?"

“不大可能。他正在睡觉，我又将他的睡意加强了一点，如果他睡不稳当，我会知道的。继续吧，三个世界你都打算探访，所以什么改变了呢？”

"It wasn't part of my plan to waste time on any world needlessly. Ifthis world, Aurora, had been without human occupation for twenty thousandyears, then it is doubtful that any information of value has survived. Idon't want to spend weeks or months scrabbling uselessly about theplanetary surface, fighting off dogs and cats and bulls or whatever elsemay have become wild and dangerous, just on the hope of finding a scrap ofreference material amid the dust, rust, and decay. It may be that on oneor both of the other Forbidden Worlds there may be human beings and intactlibraries. So it was my intention to leave this world at once. We'dbe out in space now, if I had done so, sleeping in perfect security."

“我并未计划在任何世界浪费不必要的时间，如果这个世界，奥罗拉，已经两万年没有人类居住，就很难令人相信会有什么有价值的资料留下来。我不想花上几周甚至几个月，趴在行星表面徒劳无功地摸索，还得击退野狗、野猫、野牛，或者任何变得狂野危险的动物，只因为可能在尘土、铁锈、腐物中找到一片残存的参考资料。也许在另外一两个禁忌世界上，会有活生生的人类和完好如初的图书馆，所以我本来打算立刻离开这个世界。假使我那样做了，我们现在已经置身太空，正在安稳地呼呼大睡。”

"But?"

“可是？”

"But if there are robots still functioning on this world, they mayhave important information that we could use. They would be safer todeal with than human beings would be, since, from what I've heard,they must follow orders and can't harm human beings."

“可是，如果这个世界上还有运作中的机器人，它们就可能拥有我们所需要的重要资料。和人类比起来，跟它们打交道会比较安全，因为我听说，它们必须服从命令，而且不能伤害人类。”

"So you've changed your plan and now you're going to spend time onthis world searching for robots."

“所以你改变计划，你准备花时间在这个世界上寻找机器人？”

"I don't want to, Bliss. It seems to me that robots can't last twentythousand years without maintenance. Yet since you've seen one witha spark of activity still, it's clear I can't rely on my commonsenseguesses about robots. I mustn't lead out of ignorance. Robots may bemore enduring than I imagine, or they may have a certain capacity forself-maintenance."

“我并不想这么做，宝绮思。我总以为在缺乏维修的状况下，机器人无法维持两万年的寿命。不过，既然你们碰到了一个仍有些微活动迹象的机器人，显然代表我以常识对它们所做的猜测并不可靠。我不能懵懵懂懂地领导大家行动。机器人也许比我想象中更耐用，或者具有某种自我维修的能力。”

Bliss said, "Listen to me, Trevize, and please keep this confidential."

宝绮思道：“听我说，崔维兹，并且请你务必保密。”

"Confidential?" said Trevize, raising his voice in surprise. "From whom?"

“保密？”崔维兹相当惊讶，连音量都提高了，“对谁保密？”

"Sh! From Pel, of course. Look, you don't have to change yourplans. You were right the first time. There are no functioning robotson this world. I detect nothing."

“嘘！当然是对裴。听好，你不必改变计划，你原先的想法是对的。在这个世界上，根本没有仍在运作的机器人，我什么也没侦测到。”

"You detected that one, and one is as good as……"

“你侦测到了那个机器人啊，有一个就等于……”

"I did not detect that one. It was nonfunctioning; long nonfunctioning."

“我没侦测到什么，它没有在运作，早就不再运作了。”

"You said "

“可是你说……”

"I know what I said. Pel thought he saw motion and heard sound. Pelis a romantic. He's spent his working life gathering data, but that is adifficult way of making one's mark in the scholarly world. He would dearlylove to make an important discovery of his own. His finding of the word`Aurora' was legitimate and made him happier than you can imagine. Hewanted desperately to find more."

“我知道我说过什么。裴认为他看到了动作，听到了声音。裴是个天真浪漫的人，他一辈子的工作就是搜集资料。可是想在学术界扬名立万，那种做法是难上加难，所以他深切渴望有个属于自己的重大成就。奥罗拉这个名字确实是他发现的，你难以想象他因此有多快乐，所以他拼命想要作出更多的发现。”

Trevize said, "Are you telling me he wanted to make a discovery sobadly he convinced himself he had come upon a functioning robot whenhe hadn't?"

崔维兹说：“你是在告诉我，他太希望能有所发现，因此自以为遇到一个运作中的机器人，事实上根本没这回事？”

"What he came upon was a lump of rust containing no more consciousnessthan the rock against which it rested."

“他遇到的只是一块铁锈，它所拥有的意识，不会比它下面那块岩石更多。”

"But you supported his story."

“可是你支持他的说法。”

"I could not bring myself to rob him of his discovery. He means somuch to me.

“我不忍心夺走他的幻象，他对我是那么重要。”

Trevize stared at her for a full minute; then he said, "Do you mindexplaining why he means so much to you? I want to know. Ireally want to know. To you he must seem an elderly man with nothingromantic about him. He's an Isolate, and you despise Isolates. You'reyoung and beautiful and there must be other parts of Gaia that havethe bodies of vigorous and handsome young men. With them you can havea physical relationship that can resonate through Gaia and bring peaksof ecstasy. So what do you an in Janov?"

崔维兹盯着她足有一分钟之久，然后才说：“你能不能解释一下，为什么他对你那么重要？我想知道，我真的很想知道。对你来说，他一定像个糟老头子，毫无浪漫气息可言。他又是个孤立体，而你一向鄙视孤立体。你既年轻又漂亮，而盖娅一定有些部分是生龙活虎、英俊潇洒的年轻男性胴体，你若是跟他们在一起，肉体关系能借着盖娅的共鸣而达到欢乐的顶峰。所以说，你究竟看上詹诺夫哪一点？”

Bliss looked at Trevize solemnly. "Don't you love him?"

宝绮思一本正经地望着崔维兹。“你难道不爱他吗？”

Trevize shrugged and said, "I'm fond of him. I suppose you could say,in a nonsexual way, that I love him."

崔维兹耸了耸肩，答道：“我对他很有好感，我想你可以说我爱他，以一种和性爱无关的方式。”

"You haven't known him very long, Trevize. Why do you love him,in that nonsexual way of yours?"

“你认识他没多久，崔维兹，为什么会以一种和性爱无关的方式爱他？”

Trevize found himself smiling without being aware of it. "He's suchan odd fellow. I honestly think that never in his life hashe given a single thought to himself. He was ordered to go along with me,and he went. No objection. He wanted me to go to Trantor, but when I saidI wanted to go to Gaia, he never argued. And now he's come along withme in this search for Earth, though he must know it's dangerous. I feelperfectly confident that if he had to sacrifice his life for me orfor anyone he would, and without repining."

崔维兹发现自己不知不觉露出微笑。“他是这么一个古怪的家伙，我真心相信在他一生之中，从来没有为自己着想过。他奉命和我同行，于是他来了，没有一点异议。他本来要我到川陀去，可是当我说要去盖娅，他也没有和我争论。而现在，他又跟着我进行寻找地球的任务，虽然他明知十分危险。我绝对可以相信，万一他必须为我——或者为别人——牺牲自己的生命，他也会愿意的，而且不会有任何怨言。”

"Would you give your life for him, Trevize?"

“你会愿意为他牺牲性命吗，崔维兹？”

"I might, if I didn't have time to think. If I did have time to think,I would hesitate and I might funk it. I'm not as good as heis. And because of that, I have this terrible urge to protect and keephim good. I don't want the Galaxy to teach him not to begood. Do you understand? And I have to protect him from you particularly. I can't bear the thought of you tossing him aside whenwhatever nonsense amuses you now is done with."

“假如没有时间多作考虑，可能就会。倘若能有时间考虑，我便会犹豫，结果或许就会逃避，我并没有他那么‘善良’。正是因为这样，我才有一种强烈的冲动，想要尽力保护他，让他保有一颗善良的心。我不希望这个银河把他教坏了，你了解吗？而我特别要提防你——天晓得你看中他哪一点，一旦那点不再吸引你，你很可能就会把他甩掉，我一想到这件事便难以忍受。”

"Yes, I thought you'd think something like that. Don't you supposeI see in Pel what you see in him and even more so, since I cancontact his mind directly? Do I act as though I want to hurt him? WouldI support his fantasy of having seen a functioning robot, if it weren'tthat I couldn't bear to hurt him? Trevize, I am used to what you wouldcall goodness, for every part of Gaia is ready to be sacrificed for thewhole. We know and understand no other course of action. But we give upnothing in so doing, for each part is the whole, though I don't expectyou to understand that. Pel is something different."

“没错，我就知道你会有这种想法。难道你未曾想到，裴在我眼中和在你眼中是一样的——甚至我看得更透彻，因为我能直接接触他的心灵？我表现得像是想伤害他吗？若非我不忍心伤害他，当他以为看到一个运作中的机器人时，我会支持他的幻想吗？崔维兹，你所谓的‘善良’我相当熟悉，因为盖娅每一部分都随时愿意为整体牺牲，除此之外，我们不知道也不了解任何其他的行事原则。但我们那样做并没有放弃什么，因为每一部分都等于整体，虽然我并不指望你了解这一点。而裴却不同——”

Bliss was no longer looking at Trevize. It was as though she weretalking to herself. "He is an Isolate. He is not selfless because he isa part of a greater whole. He is selfless because he is selfless. Doyou understand me? He has all to lose and nothing to gain, and yet heis what he is. He shames me for being what I am without fear of loss,when he is what he is without hope of gain."

宝绮思不再望着崔维兹，仿佛在自言自语。“他是个孤立体。他之所以没有私心私欲，并非由于他是某个大我的一部分，他没有就是没有。你明白我的意思吗？他可能失去所有的一切，却不会得到任何好处，但他就是有那种胸襟。他令我感到惭愧，我是不怕有任何损失才会如此大方，而他并未希望获得任何利益，却仍能保有那样的胸襟。”

She looked up at Trevize again now, very solemnly. "Do you know howmuch more I understand about him than you possibly can? And do you thinkI would harm him in any way?"

她又抬起头来望着崔维兹，神情显得极为严肃。“你可知道你我相较之下，我对他的了解胜过你多少吗？你认为我会以任何方式伤害他吗？”

Trevize said, "Bliss, earlier today, you said, `Come, let us befriends,' and all I replied was, `If you wish.' That was grudging ofme, for I was thinking of what you might do to Janov. It is my turn,now. Come, Bliss, let us be friends. You can keep on pointing out theadvantage of Galaxia and I may keep on refusing to accept your arguments,but even so, and despite that, let us be friends." And he held outhis hand.

崔维兹说：“宝绮思，今天稍早的时候，你曾说：‘来吧，我们做个朋友。’我的回答则是：‘随你的便。’当时我的反应很勉强，因为我想到你可能会伤害詹诺夫。现在，轮到我说了，来吧，宝绮思，我们做个朋友。你可以继续指出盖娅星系的优点，而我或许仍会拒绝接受，不过即使如此，纵然这样，还是让我们做个朋友吧。”说完他就伸出手来。

"Of course, Trevize," she said, and their hands gripped each otherstrongly.

“没问题，崔维兹。”她答道，两人紧紧握住了对方的手。

Trevize grinned quietly to himself. It was an internalgrin, for the line of his mouth didn't budge.

崔维兹冲着自己默默一笑，那只是个内心的微笑，因为他的嘴角没有丝毫动作。

When he had worked with the computer to find the star (if any) of thefirst set of co-ordinates, both Pelorat and Bliss had watched intentlyand had asked questions. Now they stayed in their room and slept or,at any rate, relaxed, and left the job entirely to Trevize.

当初，他用电脑搜寻第一组坐标所标示的恒星（并不肯定有没有），裴洛拉特与宝绮思两人专心地旁观，并且提出许多问题。现在，他们却待在寝舱里睡大觉，或者至少是在休息，而将所有的工作留给崔维兹负责。

In a way, it was flattering, for it seemed to Trevize that by now theyhad simply accepted the fact that Trevize knew what he was doing andrequired no supervision or encouragement. For that matter, Trevize hadgained enough experience from the first episode to rely more thoroughlyon the computer and to feel that it needed, if not none, then at leastless supervision.

就某个角度而言，这点令他相当得意，因为崔维兹觉得他们接受了一项事实，那就是他完全知道自己在做什么，不需要任何监督或鼓励。这方面，崔维兹从第一站获得了足够的经验，知道应该更加信赖电脑，并且感到即使它需要监督，自己也不必盯得那么紧。

Another star luminous and unrecorded on the Galactic map-showedup. This second star was more luminous than the star about which Auroracircled, and that made it all the more significant that the star wasunrecorded in the computer.

另一颗恒星出现了——明亮耀眼，银河地图中却没有记录。相较于奥罗拉所环绕的恒星，这颗星要更为明亮，而它在电脑中竟然没有记录，也就更加耐人寻味。

Trevize marveled at the peculiarities of ancient tradition. Wholecenturies might be telescoped or dropped out of consciousnessaltogether. Entire civilizations might be banished into forgetfulness. Yetout of the midst of these centuries, snatched from those civilizations,might be one or two factual items that would be rememberedundistorted such as these co-ordinates.

崔维兹不禁惊叹古代传说的奇奥之处。在人类意识中，几世纪也许会缩成一点点，甚至全然消失无踪，许多文明则可能完全遭到遗忘。但在无数逝去的世纪、数不清的文明之中，仍然有一两件事物完好流传下来，例如那几组坐标便是。

He had remarked on this to Pelorat some time before, and Pelorathad at once told him that it was precisely this that made the studyof myths and legends so rewarding. "The trick is," Pelorat had said,"to work out or decide which particular components of a legend representaccurate underlying truth. That isn't easy and different mythologistsare likely to pick different components, depending, usually, on whichhappen to suit their particular interpretations." .

不久之前，他曾对裴洛拉特提到这点。裴洛拉特立刻告诉他，这正是研究神话传说如此迷人的原因。“诀窍在于，”裴洛拉特说，“找出或判定传说中哪些成分代表史实和真相。这件事并不容易，不同的神话学家很可能会选取不同的成分，通常取决于何者刚好符合他们自己的诠释。”

In any case, the star was right where Deniador's co-ordinates,corrected for time, said it would be. Trevize was prepared, at thismoment, to wager a considerable sum that the third star would be inplace as well. And if it was, Trevize was prepared to suspect that thelegend was further correct in stating that there were fifty ForbiddenWorlds altogether (despite the suspiciously even number) and to wonderwhere the other forty-seven might be.

无论如何，丹尼亚多提供的三组坐标之一，经过时间修正后，正好就是如今这颗恒星的位置。现在，崔维兹愿意下极大的赌注，赌第三颗恒星同样位于坐标点上。果真如此的话，他愿意进一步考虑禁忌世界共有五十个的传说也是正确的（虽然那是个可疑的整数），而且，还会开始研究其他四十七个世界的位置。

A habitable world, Forbidden World, was found circling thestar and by this time its presence didn't cause even a ripple ofsurprise in Trevize's bosom. He had been absolutely sure it would bethere. He set the Far Star into a slow orbit about it.

不久，他发现了一个可住人世界——禁忌世界——围绕着这颗恒星。这回，它的出现并未在崔维兹心中激起一丝涟漪，他本来就绝对肯定它会在那里。他立刻驾驶远星号进入它的低速轨道。

The cloud layer was sparse enough to allow a reasonable view of thesurface from space. The world was a watery one, as almost all habitableworlds were. There was an unbroken tropical ocean and two unbrokenpolar oceans.

云层还算稀疏，从太空中便能将地表看得足够清楚。几乎跟所有的可住人世界一样，这也是个多水的世界，包括一个无间断的热带海洋，以及两个完整的极地冰洋。

In one set of middle latitudes, there was a more or less serpentinecontinent encircling the world with bays on either side producing anoccasional narrow isthmus. In the other set of middle latitudes, theland surface was broken into three large parts and each of the threewere thicker north-south than the opposite continent was.

在上半球的中纬度地带，有一块长条状的大陆，弯弯曲曲地环绕整个世界，其两侧有些海湾，造成几个狭窄的地峡。在另一个半球的中纬度地带，陆地分裂成三大部分，每一部分的南北宽度都超过了上半球的大陆。

Trevize wished he knew enough climatology to be able to predict,from what he saw, what the temperatures and seasons might be like. Fora moment, he toyed with the idea of having the computer work on theproblem. The trouble was that climate was not the point at issue.

崔维兹遗憾自己对气候学所知不多，否则根据见到的景象，应该就能预测温度与季节大致如何。一时之间，他起了一个顽皮的念头，想要让电脑解决这个疑问，问题在于气候根本是无关紧要的一件事。

Much more important was that, once again, the computer detected noradiation that might be of technological origin. What his telescope toldhim was that the planet was not moth-eaten and that there were no signs ofdesert. The land moved backward in various shades of green, but there wereno signs of urban areas on the dayside, no lights on the nightside.

比这更重要许多倍的是，电脑又没有侦测到源自科技的辐射。他透过望远镜看下去，发现这颗行星并不显得老旧，也没有荒芜的迹象。不断后退的地表都是色调不一的绿地，不过日面并没有都会区的迹象，夜面则见不到任何灯光。

Was this another planet filled with every kind of life but human?

这会不会是另一颗充满各种生命、唯独欠缺人类的行星？

He rapped at the door of the other bedroom.

于是，他敲了敲另一间寝舱的门。

"Bliss?" he called out in a loud whisper, and rapped again.

“宝绮思？”他轻声喊道，接着又敲了一下。

There was a rustling, and Bliss's voice said, "Yes?"

寝舱里传来一阵沙沙声，以及宝绮思的声音：“什么事？”

"Could you come out here? I need your help "

“你能不能出来一下？我需要你帮忙。”

If you wait just a bit, I'll make myself a bit presentable.

“请等一会儿，我现在的样子不太方便见人。”

When she finally appeared, she looked as presentable as Trevize hadever seen her. He felt a twinge of annoyance at having been made to wait,however, for it made little difference to him what she looked like. Butthey were friends now, and he suppressed the annoyance.

当她终于现身的时候，看起来绝不比过去任何一次逊色。崔维兹却感到一阵恼怒，因为他根本没必要等这一会儿，她看起来像什么样子，对他而言毫无差别。不过他们既然已经是朋友了，他只好将恼怒的情绪压抑下来。

She said with a smile and in a perfectly pleasant tone, "What can Ido for you, Trevize?"

她面带微笑，以十分愉快的语调说：“我能帮你做些什么，崔维兹？”

Trevize waved at the viewscreen. "As you can see, we're passing overthe surface of what looks like a perfectly healthy world with a quitesolid vegetation cover over its land area. No lights at night, however,and no technological radiation. Please listen and tell me if there's anyanimal life. There was one point at which I thought I could see herdsof grazing animals, but I wasn't sure. It might be a case of seeing whatone desperately wants to see."

崔维兹向显像屏幕挥了挥手。“你可以看到，从我们正在通过的地表看来，这个世界百分之百健康，陆上布满相当厚实的植被。然而，黑夜地区没有灯光，也没有任何科技性辐射。请你仔细倾听，然后告诉我是否有任何动物生命。在某个地点，我想我看得到一群吃草的动物，但我不敢肯定。或许是我拼命想要看到什么，因而产生一种幻觉。”

Bliss "listened." At least, a curiously intent look came across herface. She said, "Oh yes rich in animal life."

于是宝绮思开始“倾听”，至少，她脸上出现了一种特殊的专注神情。“喔，没错，动物生命很丰富。”

"Mammalian?"

“哺乳动物吗？”

"Must be."

“一定是。”

Human?

“人类吗？”

Now she seemed to concentrate harder. A full minute passed, andthen another, and finally she relaxed. "I can't quite tell. Every oncein a while it seemed to me that I detected a whiff of intelligencesufficiently intense to be considered human. But it was so feeble andso occasional that perhaps I, too, was only sensing what I desperatelywanted to sense. You see……"

现在她似乎更加集中注意力，整整一分钟过去了，然后又过了一分钟，她才终于松弛下来。“我无法分辨得很清楚，每隔一阵子，我似乎就侦测到一丝飘忽的智慧，强度足以代表人类。但它实在太微弱，而且忽隐忽现，或许因为我也拼命想要感测到什么，因而产生一种幻觉。你知道吗……”

She paused in thought, and Trevize nudged her with a "Well?"

她突然陷入沉思，崔维兹催促道：“怎么样？”

She said, "The thing is I seem to detect something else. It is notsomething I'm familiar with, but I don't see how it can be anythingbut……"

她又说：“事实上，我好像侦测到了别的东西。那并非我所熟悉的任何事物，但我不相信它会不是……”

Her face tightened again as she began to "listen" with still greaterintensity.

她开始更聚精会神地“倾听”，整张脸再度绷紧。

"Well?" said Trevize again.

“怎么样？”崔维兹又问。

She relaxed. "I don't see how it can be anything but robots."

她松了一口气。“除了机器人，我不相信有其他的可能。”

"Robots!"

“机器人！”

"Yes, and if I detect them, surely I ought to be able to detect humanbeings, too. But I don't."

“是的，而我既然侦测到它们，当然应该也能侦测到人类，可是没有。”

"Robots!" said Trevize again, frowning.

“机器人！”崔维兹皱着眉头重复了一遍。

"Yes," said Bliss, "and I should judge, in great numbers."

“是的，”宝绮思说，“而且我还能断定，数量相当庞大。”

Pelorat also said "Robots!" in almost exactly Trevize'stone when he was told of them. Then he smiled slightly. "You were right,Golan, and I was wrong to doubt you."

裴洛拉特听到后，也说了一声“机器人！”而且跟崔维兹刚才的声调几乎一模一样。然后他淡淡一笑，又说：“你对了，葛兰，我不该怀疑你。”

"I don't remember your doubting me, Janov."

“我不记得你何时怀疑过我，詹诺夫。”

"Oh well, old man, I didn't think I ought to express it. I justthought, in my heart, that it was a mistake to leave Aurora while therewas a chance we might interview some surviving robot. But then it'sclear you knew there would be a richer supply of robots here."

“喔，老友，当时我认为不该表现出来。我只是在想，在我心里想，离开奥罗拉是个错误，因为在那里，我们有机会遇见一些存活的机器人。可是显然你早就知道，这里有更多的机器人。”

"Not at all, Janov. I didn't know . I merely chancedit. Bliss tells me their mental fields seem to imply they are fullyfunctioning, and it seems to me they can't very well be fully functioningwithout human beings about for care and maintenance. However, she can'tspot anything human so we're still looking."

“根本不是这么回事，詹诺夫，我当初完全不知道，我只是想碰碰运气。宝绮思告诉我，根据这些机器人的精神场判断，它们似乎处于正常运作状态，而我则觉得，倘若没有人类照顾和维修，它们不可能处于良好的运作状态。然而，她无法侦察到任何人类迹象，所以我们仍在继续寻找。”

Pelorat studied the viewscreen thoughtfully. "It seems to be allforest, doesn't it?"

裴洛拉特若有所思地检视着显像屏幕。“似乎都是森林，对不对？”

"Mostly forest. But there are clear patches that may be grasslands. Thething is that I see no cities, or any lights at night, or anything butthermal radiation at any time."

“大部分都是森林，但有几块显然是草原。问题是我看不到城市，黑夜地区也不见任何灯光，而且除了热辐射，一直没有其他辐射出现。”

"So no human beings after all?"

“所以根本没有人类？”

"I wonder. Bliss is in the galley trying to concentrate. I've setup an arbitrary prime meridian for the planet which means that it'sdivided into latitude and longitude in the computer. Bliss has a littledevice which she presses whenever she encounters what seems an unusualconcentration of robotic mental activity I suppose you can't say`neuronic activity' in connection with robots or any whiff ofhuman thought. The device is linked to the computer, which thus getsa fix on all the latitudes and longitudes, and we'll let it make thechoice among them and pick a good place for landing."

“我不敢说。宝绮思正在厨舱内设法集中精神。我已经替这颗行星定出一条本初子午线，这也就是说，电脑已经为这颗行星画出了经纬度。宝绮思手中握着一个小装置，每当发觉机器人的精神活动似乎特别密集——我想对机器人不能用‘神经活动’——或者任何人类思想的微弱讯息，她就会按一下钮。那个装置联到了电脑，电脑可以根据经纬度定出位置，然后我们就让它从那些位置中，选取一个适宜的着陆地点。”

Pelorat looked uneasy. "Is it wise to leave the matter of choice tothe computer?"

裴洛拉特显得有些不安。“让电脑作选择，是明智的做法吗？”

"Why not, Janov? It's a very competent computer. Besides, when youhave no basis on which to make a choice yourself, where's the harm inat least considering the computer's choice?"

“有何不可，詹诺夫？它是一台功能很强的电脑。此外，当你自己无从决定的时候，至少考虑一下电脑的选择，又有什么害处呢？”

Pelorat brightened up. "There's something to that, Golan. Some of theoldest legends include tales of people making choices by tossing cubesto the ground."

裴洛拉特又快活起来。“这话有点道理，葛兰。某些最古老的传说，就提到了古人将立方体丢到地上来作决定。”

"Oh? What does that accomplish?"

“哦？是怎么做的？”

"Each face of the cube has some decision onit yes no perhaps postpone and soon. Whichever face happens to come upward on landing would be taken asbearing the advice to be followed. Or they would set a ball rolling abouta slotted disc with different decisions scattered among the slots. Thedecision written on the slot in which the ball ends is to be taken. Somemythologists think such activities represented games of chance ratherthan lotteries, but the two are much the same thing in my opinion."

“立方体每一面刻有不同的决定：做、不做、或许、延后等等。立方体落地后，恰巧朝上的那一面所刻的字，就被视为应当遵循的决定。有时他们也会用另一种方式，让一个小球在有着许多凹槽的圆板上旋转，每个槽内写有不同的决定。小球最后停在哪个槽，就要遵循那个槽内所写的决定。有些神话学家则认为，这类活动其实是一种几率游戏，并非用来决定命运，但是在我看来，两者几乎是同一回事。”

"In a way," said Trevize, "we're playing a game of chance in choosingour place of landing."

“就某方面而言，”崔维兹说，“我们这样选择着陆地点，就是在玩一种几率游戏。”

Bliss emerged from the galley in time to hear the last comment. Shesaid, "No game of chance. I pressed several `maybes' and then onesure-fire `yes,' and it's to the `yes' that we'll be going."

宝绮思从厨舱中走了出来，刚好听到最后一句话。她说：“并不是几率游戏。我按了几次‘可能’，还有一次绝对的‘确定’，而我们要去的，就是那个‘确定’地点。”

"What made it a `yes'?" asked Trevize.

“为什么如此确定呢？”崔维兹问。

"I caught a whiff of human thought. Definite. Unmistakable."

“我捕捉到一丝人类的思想，万分肯定，绝对错不了。”

It had been raining, for the grass was wet. Overhead,the clouds were scudding by and showing signs of breaking up.

此地刚才一定下过雨，因为草地很湿。天上的乌云迅速掠过，显出即将放晴的迹象。

The Far Star had come to a gentle rest near a small grove oftrees. (In case of wild dogs, Trevize thought, only partly in jest.) Allabout was what looked like pasture land, and coming down from the greaterheight at which a better and wider view had been possible, Trevize hadseen what looked like orchards and grain fields and this time,an unmistakable view of grazing animals.

远星号在一座小树林旁轻轻着陆（为了预防野狗，崔维兹半开玩笑地想），四周看来像是一片牧地。刚才，在视野较佳且较宽广的高空，崔维兹好像看到一些果园与田地，而现在，眼前则出现了许多如假包换的草食动物。

There were no structures, however. Nothing artificial, except thatthe regularity of the trees in the orchard and the sharp boundaries thatseparated fields were themselves as artificial as a microwave-receivingpower station would have been.

不过，附近没有任何建筑物，也没有任何物件是人工的。只有果园中排列整齐的果树，以及将田地划分得整整齐齐的界线，看来好像微波发电站一般人工化。

Could that level of artificiality have been produced by robots,however? Without human beings?

然而，这种程度的人工化，难道是机器人完成的？没有任何人类参与吗？

Quietly, Trevize was putting on his holsters. This time, he knew thatboth weapons were in working order and that both were fully charged. Fora moment, he caught Bliss's eye and paused.

崔维兹默默系上承装武器的皮套，这一次，他确定两种武器都在待发状态，而且都充足了电。突然间，他接触到宝绮思的目光，动作便暂停了。

She said, "Go ahead. I don't think you'll have any use for them,but I thought as much once before, didn't I?"

她说：“请继续。我认为你绝对用不到，但我上次也是这么认为，不是吗？”

Trevize said, "Would you like to be armed, Janov?"

崔维兹说：“你要不要带武器，詹诺夫？”

Pelorat shuddered. "No, thank you. Between you and your physicaldefense, and Bliss and her mental defense, I feel in no danger at all. Isuppose it is cowardly of me to hide in your protective shadows, butI can't feel proper shame when I'm too busy feeling grateful that Ineedn't be in a position of possibly having to use force."

裴洛拉特打了一个寒战。“不，谢了。夹在你和宝绮思之间，你的有形防卫力量加上她的精神防卫力量，使我觉得根本没有危险。我也知道躲在你们的庇护下很孬种，可是想到自己不需要使用武力，我感激都还来不及，也就不觉得羞愧了。”

Trevize said, "I understand. Just don't go anywhere alone. If Blissand I separate, you stay with one of us and don't dash off somewhereunder the spur of a private curiosity."

崔维兹说：“我可以了解，但千万别单独行动。如果我和宝绮思分开，你得跟着我们其中一个，不可以由于好奇心作祟，自己跑到别处去。”

"You needn't worry, Trevize," said Bliss. "I'll see to that."

“你不必担心，崔维兹，”宝绮思说，“我会好好留意。”

Trevize stepped out of the ship first. The wind was brisk and justa trifle cool in the aftermath of the rain, but Trevize found thatwelcome. It had probably been uncomfortably warm and humid before therain.

崔维兹第一个走出太空艇，外面正吹着轻快的风。雨后的气温带着些微凉意，崔维兹却感到十分宜人。相较之下，雨前的空气有可能又湿又热，令人很不舒服。

He took in his breath with surprise. The smell of the planet wasdelightful. Every planet had its own odor, he knew, an odor always strangeand usually distasteful perhaps only because it was strange. Mightnot strange be pleasant as well? Or was this the accident of catching theplanet just after the rain at a particular season of the year. Whicheverit was……"

他吸了几口气，觉得十分讶异，这颗行星的气味很不错。他明白每颗行星都具有独特的味道，总是使人感到陌生，而且通常都不好闻——也许正是因为陌生的关系。陌生的气味就不能令人愉快吗？或是他们刚好赶对了季节，又正巧下过一场雨？不论原因为何……

Come on," he called. "It's quite pleasant out here."

“出来吧，”他叫道，“外面相当舒适。”

Pelorat emerged and said, "Pleasant is definitely the word for it. Doyou suppose it always smells like this?"

裴洛拉特走出来，然后说：“嗯，舒适这个形容词再恰当不过。你认为这里常年都有这种气味吗？”

"It doesn't matter. Within the hour, we'll be accustomed to the aroma,and our nasal receptors will be sufficiently saturated, for us to smellnothing."

“没什么差别，不到一小时，我们就会习惯这种香气。鼻中的感受器饱和之后，就什么也闻不到了。”

"Pity," said Pelorat.

“真可惜。”裴洛拉特说。

"The grass is wet," said Bliss, with a shade of disapproval.

“草地是湿的。”宝绮思似乎有点不以为然。

"Why not? After all, it rains on Gaia, too!" said Trevize, and as hesaid that a shaft of yellow sunlight reached them momentarily througha small break in the clouds. There would soon be more of it.

“这有什么不对？毕竟，盖娅上也会下雨啊！”崔维兹说。此时，一道黄色阳光自云缝洒下，想必不久之后，阳光会愈来愈强。

"Yes," said Bliss, "but we know when and we're prepared for it."

“没错，”宝绮思说，“但我们知道何时会下雨，我们有心理准备。”

"Too bad," said Trevize; "you lose the thrill of the unexpected."

“太糟了，”崔维兹说，“你们丧失了许多意外的惊奇。”

Bliss said, "You're right. I'll try not to be provincial."

宝绮思答道：“你说得对，我会尽量不再那么偏狭。”

Pelorat looked about and said, in a disappointed tone, "There seemsto be nothing about."

裴洛拉特四下望了望，以失望的语气说：“附近似乎什么都没有。”

"Only seems to be," said Bliss. "They're approaching from beyondthat rise." She looked toward Trevize. "Do you think we ought to go tomeet them?"

“只是似乎而已，”宝绮思说，“它们正从小丘另一侧走来。”然后她望向崔维兹，“你认为我们该迎上去吗？”

Trevize shook his head. "No. We've come to meet them across manyparsecs. Let them walk the rest of the way. We'll wait for them here."

崔维兹摇了摇头。“不，我们为了跟它们见面，已经飞越许多秒差距，剩下的路程让它们来走完，我们就在这里等着。”

Only Bliss could sense the approach until, from the direction of herpointing finger, a figure appeared over the brow of the rise. Then asecond, and a third.

那组机器人的动向只有宝绮思能感知。在她所指的那个方向，小丘顶上突然出现一个人形，然后是第二个、第三个。

"I believe that is all at the moment," said Bliss.

“我相信目前只有这几个。”宝绮思说。

Trevize watched curiously. Though he had never seen robots, therewas not a particle of doubt in him that that was what they were. Theyhad the schematic and impressionistic shape of human beings and yet werenot obviously metallic in appearance. The robotic surface was dull andgave the illusion of softness, as though it were covered in plush.

崔维兹好奇地凝视着，虽然他从未见过机器人，却丝毫不怀疑它们的身份。它们拥有粗略的人形，像是印象派的雕塑，但外表看来并非明显的金属材质。这些机器人表面毫无光泽，给人一种柔软的错觉，仿佛包覆着一层丝绒。

But how did he know the softness was an illusion? Trevize felt a suddendesire to feel those figures who were approaching so stolidly. If it weretrue that this was a Forbidden World and that spaceships never approachedit and surely that must be so since the sun was not includedin the Galactic map then the Far Star and the people itcarried must represent something the robots had never experienced. Yetthey were reacting with steady certainty, as though they were workingtheir way through a routine exercise.

但他又怎么知道柔软只是错觉呢？看着这些以迟钝的步伐慢慢接近的人形，崔维兹突然起了摸摸它们的冲动。假如此地果真是个禁忌世界，从来没有船舰接近——这一定是事实，因为它的太阳不在银河地图中——那么远星号与其上成员，就是这些机器人经验之外的事物。可是它们的反应相当笃定，仿佛正在进行一桩例行公事。

Trevize said, in a low voice, "Here we may have information we canget nowhere else in the Galaxy. We could ask them for the location ofEarth with reference to this world, and if they know, they will tellus. Who knows how long these things have functioned and endured? Theymay answer out of personal memory. Think of that."

崔维兹低声说：“在这里，我们也许能得到银河其他各处得不到的情报。我们可以问它们地球相对这个世界的位置，假如它们知道，就会告诉我们。天晓得这些东西运作有多久了？它们也许会根据自身的记忆回答，想想看有多难得。”

"On the other hand," said Bliss, "they may be recently manufacturedand may know nothing."

“反之，”宝绮思说，“它们也可能最近才出厂，因此一无所知。”

"Or," said Pelorat, "they may know, but may refuse to tell us."

“或者也有可能，”裴洛拉特说，“它们虽然知道，但拒绝告诉我们。”

Trevize said, "I suspect they can't refuse unless they've been orderednot to tell us, and why should such orders be issued when surely no oneon this planet could have expected our coming?"

崔维兹说：“我猜它们不能拒绝，除非它们奉命不准告诉我们。可是在这颗行星上，绝不可能有人料到我们会来，谁又会下这种命令呢？”

At a distance of about three meters, the robots stopped. They saidnothing and made no further movement.

到了距离他们大约三米的地方，三个机器人停了下来。它们没说什么，也没有进一步的行动。

Trevize, his hand on his blaster, said to Bliss, without taking hiseyes from the robot, "Can you tell whether they are hostile?"

崔维兹右手按在手铳上，目不转睛地盯着机器人，并对宝绮思说：“你能不能判断它们是否怀有敌意？”

"You'll have to allow for the fact that I have no experience whatsoeverwith their mental workings, Trevize, but I don't detect anything thatseems hostile."

“你应该考虑到一件事实，我对它们的精神运作一点也不熟悉，崔维兹，但我并未侦测到类似敌意的情绪。”

Trevize took his right hand away from the butt of the weapon, butkept it near. He raised his left hand, palm toward the robots, in what hehoped would be recognized as a gesture of peace and said, speaking slowly,"I greet you. We come to this world as friends."

崔维兹的右手离开了铳柄，但仍然摆在附近。他举起左手，掌心朝向机器人，希望它们认得出这是代表和平的手势。他缓缓说道：“我向你们致意，我们以朋友的身份造访这个世界。”

The central robot of the three ducked his head in a kind of abortivebow that might also have been taken as a gesture of peace by an optimist,and replied.

中间那个机器人迅速低下头，像是勉强鞠了一躬。在一个乐观者眼中，或许也会将它视为代表和平的动作，接着它便开始答话。

Trevize's jaw dropped in astonishment. In a world of Galacticcommunication, one did not think of failure in so fundamental aneed. However, the robot did not speak in Galactic Standard or anythingapproaching it. In fact, Trevize could not understand a word.

崔维兹突然拉长了脸，显得极为惊讶。在沟通无碍的银河系中，不会有人想到这么基本的需要也可能出问题。然而，这个机器人说的并非银河标准语，也不是任何相近的语言。事实上，崔维兹连一个字也听不懂。

Pelorat's surprise was as great as that of Trevize,but there was an obvious element of pleasure in it, too.

裴洛拉特的讶异与崔维兹不相上下，但他显然还带着一分惊喜。

"Isn't that strange?" he said.

“听起来是不是很奇怪？”他说。

Trevize turned to him and said, with more than a touch of asperityin his voice, "It's not strange. It's gibberish."

崔维兹转头望向他，用相当不客气的口吻说：“不是奇怪，根本就是叽哩呱啦。”

Pelorat said, "Not gibberish at all. It's Galactic, but very archaic. Icatch a few words. I could probably understand it easily if it werewritten down. It's the pronunciation that's the real puzzle."

裴洛拉特说：“绝不是叽哩呱啦，这也是银河标准语，只不过非常古老。我能听懂几个字，如果写出来的话，我也许可以轻易看懂，真正难解的是发音。”

"Well, what did it say?"

“那么，它说些什么？”

"I think it told you it didn't understand what you said."

“我想它在告诉你，它不了解你说什么。”

Bliss said, "I can't tell what it said, but what I sense ispuzzlement, which fits. That is, if I can trust my analysis of roboticemotion or if there is such a thing as robotic emotion."

宝绮思说：“我听不懂它说什么，但我感知的情绪是迷惑，这点刚好吻合。前提是，我要能信任自己对机器人情绪的分析——或者说，要真有机器人情绪这回事。”

Speaking very slowly, and with difficulty, Pelorat said something,and the three robots ducked their head in unison.

裴洛拉特说了一些话，他说得非常慢，而且相当吃力。三个机器人动作一致地迅速点了点头。

"What was that?" said Trevize.

“那是什么意思？”崔维兹问。

Pelorat said, "I said I couldn't speak well, but I would try. I askedfor a little time. Dear me, old chap, this is fearfully interesting."

裴洛拉特说：“我说我讲得不好，但我愿意尝试，请它们多给我一点时间。天哪，老弟，这真是有趣得吓人。”

"Fearfully disappointing," muttered Trevize.

“真是失望得吓人。”崔维兹喃喃说道。

"You see," said Pelorat, "every habitable planet in the Galaxy managesto work out its own variety of Galactic so that there are a milliondialects that are sometimes barely intercomprehensible, but they're allpulled together by the development of Galactic Standard. Assuming thisworld to have been isolated for twenty thousand years, the language wouldordinarily drift so far from that of the rest of the Galaxy as to be anentirely different language. That it isn't may be because the world hasa social system that depends upon robots which can only understand thelanguage as spoken in the fashion in which they were programmed. Ratherthan keep reprogramming, the language remained static and we now havewhat is to us merely a very archaic form of Galactic."

“你可知道，”裴洛拉特说，“银河中每一颗住人行星，都会发展出别具一格的语文，所以银河中总共有千万种方言，有时相互之间几乎无法沟通，但它们都统一在银河标准语之下。假定这个世界已经孤立了两万年，它的语言应该和银河其他各处愈离愈远，逐渐演变成一种完全不同的语言。但事实并非如此，或许是因为这是个仰赖机器人的社会，而机器人听得懂的语言，就是设定其程序所用的语言。长久以来，这个世界一直没有重新设定机器人的程序，反倒是中止了语言的演化，所以我们现在听到的，只是一种非常古老的银河标准语罢了。”

"There's an example," said Trevize, "of how a robotized society canbe held static and made, to turn degenerate."

“这是个很好的例子，”崔维兹道，“说明机器人化社会如何被迫停滞不前，因而开始衰退。”

"But, my dear fellow," protested Pelorat, "keeping a languagerelatively unchanged is not necessarily a sign of degeneration. There areadvantages to it. Documents preserved for centuries and millennia retaintheir meaning and give greater longevity and authority to historicalrecords. In the rest of the Galaxy, the language of Imperial edicts ofthe time of Hari Seldon already begins to sound quaint."

“可是，我亲爱的伙伴，”裴洛拉特抗议道，“保持一种语言几乎长久不变，并不一定是衰退的征候。这样做其实有不少优点，能让历史文件在数世纪、数千年后仍然保有意义，历史记录的寿命和权威性便会相对增加。在银河其他各处，哈里·谢顿时代的敕令所使用的语文，现在已经显得颇有古风了。”

"And do you know this archaic Galactic?"

“你懂这种古银河语吗？”

"Not to say know , Golan. It's just that in studyingancient myths and legends I've picked up the trick of it. The vocabularyis not entirely different, but it is inflected differently, and thereare idiomatic expressions we don't use any longer and, as I have said,the pronunciation is totally changed. I can act as interpreter, but notas a very good one."

“谈不上懂，葛兰。只是在研究古代神话传说的过程中，我领略到了一点窍门。字汇并非全然不同，但是词性变化却不一样，而且有些惯用语我们早已不再使用。此外，正如我刚才所说，如今发音已经完全变了。我可以充当翻译，可是无法做得很好。”

Trevize heaved a tremulous sigh. "A small stroke of good fortune isbetter than none. Carry on, Janov."

崔维兹心虚地吁了一口气。“一点点好运，总算聊胜于无。继续吧，詹诺夫。”

Pelorat turned to the robots, waited a moment, then looked back atTrevize. "What am I supposed to say?"

裴洛拉特转向机器人，愣了一会儿，又转过头来望着崔维兹。“我该说些什么？”

"Let's go all the way. Ask them where Earth is."

“我们单刀直入吧，问它们地球在哪里。”

Pelorat said the words one at a time, with exaggerated gestures ofhis hands.

裴洛拉特一个字一个字慢慢说，同时夸张地比手画脚。

The robots looked at each other and made a few sounds. The middleone then spoke to Pelorat, who replied while moving his hands apart asthough he were stretching a length of rubber. The robot responded byspacing his words as carefully as Pelorat had.

那些机器人互相望了望，发出一些声音来，然后中间那个对裴洛拉特说了几句话。裴洛拉特一面回答，一面双手向两侧伸展，像是在拉扯一条橡皮筋。那个机器人再度回答，它像裴洛拉特一样谨慎，每个字都说得又慢又仔细。

Pelorat said to Trevize, "I'm not sure I'm getting across what I meanby `Earth.' I suspect they think I'm referring to some region on theirplanet and they say they don't know of any such region."

裴洛拉特对崔维兹说：“我不确定有没有把‘地球’的意思表达清楚。我猜它们认为我指的是这颗行星上的某个地区，它们说不知道有这样一个地区。”

"Do they use the name of this planet, Janov?"

“它们有没有提到这颗行星的名字，詹诺夫？”

"The closest I can come to what I think they are using as the name is`Solaria.'"

“它们提到的那个名字，我的最佳猜测是‘索拉利’三个字。”

"Have you ever heard of it in your legends?"

“在你搜集到的传说中，你听说过吗？”

"No any more than I had ever heard of Aurora."

“没有，就和我从未听过奥罗拉一样。”

"Well, ask them if there is any place named Earth in thesky among the stars. Point upward."

“好，问问它们在天上，在群星之间，有没有任何地方叫地球，你向上指一指。”

Again an exchange, and finally Pelorat turned and said, "All I canget from them, Golan, is that there are no places in the sky."

经过一番交谈之后，裴洛拉特终于转过身来说：“我唯一能从它们口中套出来的，葛兰，就是天上没有任何地方。”

Bliss said, "Ask those robots how old they are; or rather, how longthey have been functioning."

宝绮思说：“问问那些机器人有多大年纪，或者应该说，它们已经运作多久了。”

"I don't know how to say `functioning,'" said Pelorat, shaking hishead. In fact, I'm not sure if I can say `how old.' I'm not a very good interpreter."

“我不知道‘运作’该怎么说。”裴洛拉特摇了摇头，“事实上，我也不确定会不会说‘多大年纪’，我不是个很好的翻译。”

"Do the best you can, Pel dear," said Bliss.

“尽力而为吧，亲爱的裴。”宝绮思说。

And after several exchanges, Pelorat said, "They've been functioningfor twenty-six years."

又经过一番交谈后，裴洛拉特说：“它们已经运作了二十六年。”

"Twenty-six years," muttered Trevize in disgust. "They're hardlyolder than you are, Bliss."

“二十六年。”崔维兹不以为然地喃喃说道，“它们比你大不了多少，宝绮思。”

Bliss said, with sudden pride, "It so happens……"

宝绮思突然以高傲的语气说：“事实上……”

"I know. You're Gaia, which is thousands of years old. In anycase, these robots cannot talk about Earth from personal experience,and their memory-banks clearly do not include anything not necessary totheir functioning. So they know nothing about astronomy."

“我知道，你是盖娅，已经几千几万岁了。无论如何，这些机器人自身经验中并没有地球，而且在它们的记忆库中，显然没有任何对它们无用的资料，所以它们才会对天文学一无所知。”

Pelorat said, "There may be other robots somewhere on the planet thatare primordial, perhaps."

裴洛拉特说：“在这颗行星的其他地方，或许还有最早期的机器人。”

"I doubt it," said Trevize, "but ask them, if you can find the wordsfor it, Janov."

“我很怀疑，”崔维兹说，“不过还是问问它们吧，詹诺夫，只要你想得出该怎么问。”

This time there was quite a long conversation and Pelorat eventuallybroke it off with a flushed face and a clear air of frustration.

这次的问答是一段相当长的对话，最后裴洛拉特终于打住，他的脸涨得通红，一副明显受挫的神情。

"Golan," he said, "I don't understand part of what they're trying tosay, but I gather that the older robots are used for manual labor anddon't know anything. If this robot were a human, I'd say he spoke ofthe older robots with contempt. These three are house robots, they say,and are not allowed to grow old before being replaced. They're the oneswho really know things their words, not mine."

“葛兰，”他说，“它们想表达的，我有一部分听不懂，但是根据我的猜测，较老的机器人都被用来当作劳工，所以什么事也不知道。假使这个机器人是真人，我会说它在提到那些老机器人时，用的是轻蔑的口气。这三个是管家机器人，它们自己这么说的，而且在被其他机器人取代之前，它们是不会变老的。它们才是真正有知识的一群——这是它们的说法，不是我说的。”

"They don't know much," growled Trevize. "At least of the things wewant to know."

“它们知道得也不多，”崔维兹咆哮道，“至少不知道我们想知道的事。”

"I now regret," said Pelorat, "that we left Aurora so hurriedly. Ifwe had found a robot survivor there, and we surely would have, sincethe very first one I encountered still had a spark of life left in it,they would know of Earth through personal memory."

“我现在后悔了，”裴洛拉特说，“我们不该那么匆忙地离开奥罗拉。我们若能在那里发现一个存活的机器人，它本身记忆中就会含有地球的资料。而我们一定会发现的，因为我遇见的第一个就一息尚存。”

"Provided their memories were intact, Janov," said Trevize. "Wecan always go back there and, if we have to, dog packs or not, wewill. But if these robots are only a couple of decades old,there must be those who manufacture them, and the manufacturers must behuman, I should think." He turned to Bliss. "Are you sure you sensed……"

“只要它们的记忆完好无缺，詹诺夫，”崔维兹说，“我们随时可以回到那里。倘若我们必须回去，不论有没有野狗群，我们都一定会那么做。可是，假如这些机器人只有二十几岁，它们的制造者必定在附近，而那些制造者必定是人类，我这么想。”他又转向宝绮思，“你确定感测到……”

But she raised a hand to stop him and there was a strained and intentlook on her face. "Coming now," she said, in a low voice.

她却举起一只手，制止他再说下去，脸上则露出紧张而专注的表情。“来了。”她低声说。

Trevize turned his face toward the rise and there, first appearingfrom behind it, and then striding toward them, was the unmistakablefigure of a human being. His complexion was pale and his hair light andlong, standing out slightly from the sides of his head. His face wasgrave but quite young in appearance. His bare arms and legs were notparticularly muscled.

崔维兹转头向小丘望去。从小丘背后出现、大步朝他们走来的，是个如假包换的人类身形。那人肤色苍白，头发很长但颜色不深，头部两侧微微鼓起。他面容严肃，但看来相当年轻，裸露在外的手臂与腿部都没有什么肌肉。

The robots stepped aside for him, and he advanced till he stood intheir midst.

三个机器人让出一条路，他走到它们之间，停下了脚步。

He then spoke in a clear, pleasant voice and his words, although usedarchaically, were in Galactic Standard, and easily understood.

他以清晰而愉悦的声音开始说话，用词虽然古老，仍然算是银河标准语，而且不难听懂。

"Greetings, wanderers from space," he said. "What would you withmy robots?"

“欢迎，太空来的浪者。”他说，“你们跟我的机器人什么？”

Trevize did not cover himself with glory. He saidfoolishly, "You speak Galactic?"

崔维兹并未露出欣喜之色，他傻傻地问道：“你会说银河标准语？”

The Solarian said, with a grim smile, "And why not, since I am notmute?"

那索拉利人带着冷笑说：“我又不是哑巴，为何不会？”

"But these?" Trevize gestured toward the robots.

“可是这些呢？”崔维兹朝机器人指了指。

"These are robots. They speak our language, as I do. But I amSolarian and hear the hyperspatial communications of the worlds beyondso that I have learned your way of speaking, as have my predecessors. Mypredecessors have left descriptions of the language, but I constantlyhear new words and expressions that change with the years, as though youSettlers can settle worlds, but not words. How is it you are surprisedat my understanding of your language?"

“这些是机器人，它们跟我一样，使用我们的语言。但我是索拉利人，我常收听远方世界的超空间通讯，因此学会了你们说话的方式，而我的先人也一样。先人留下了描述这种语言的资料，可是我不断听到新的字汇和语法，每年都有些变化。你们银河殖民者虽能定居各个世界，却似乎无法将语文固定下来。我能了解你们的语言，为何令你感到惊讶？”

"I should not have been," said Trevize. "I apologize. It was justthat speaking to the robots, I had not thought to hear Galactic onthis world."

“我不应该有这样的反应，”崔维兹说，“我向你道歉。只是刚才跟这些机器人几乎说不通，我没想到在这个世界上还能听到银河标准语。”

He studied the Solarian. He was wearing a thin white robe, drapedloosely over his shoulder, with large openings for his arms. It was openin front, exposing a bare chest and loincloth below. Except for a pairof light sandals, he wore nothing else.

崔维兹开始打量这个索拉利人。他身上是一件轻薄的白袍，松垮地披在肩上，双臂处有宽阔的开口。那白袍正面敞开，露出赤裸的胸膛与下方的缠腰布。他双脚踩着一双轻便的凉鞋，除此之外没有其他装束。

It occurred to Trevize that he could not tell whether the Solarianwas male or female. The breasts were male certainly but the chest washairless and the thin loincloth showed no bulge of any kind.

崔维兹突然想到，自己居然看不出这个索拉利人是男是女。此人的胸部无疑属于男性，可是胸膛没有胸毛，薄薄的腰布下也没有任何隆起。

He turned to Bliss and said in a low voice, "This might still be arobot, but very like a human being in……"

他转过头去，低声对宝绮思说：“这个可能还是机器人，不过看起来非常像真人……”

Bliss said, her lips hardly moving, "The mind is that of a human being,not a robot."

“这是个人类心灵，并非属于机器人。”宝绮思答道，嘴唇几乎没有动作。

The Solarian said, "Yet you have not answered my original question. I shall excuse the failure and put it down to your surprise. I now ask againand you must not fail a second time. What would you with my robots?"

那索拉利人说：“但你尚未回答我原先的问题，我愿原谅你的疏失，将它诿诸你的惊讶。现在我再问一遍，你绝不能再不回答，你们跟我的机器人什么？”

Trevize said, "We are travelers who seek information to reach ourdestination. We asked your robots for information that would help us,but they lacked the knowledge."

崔维兹说：“我们是旅人，想要打听如何前往我们的目的地。我们请求你的机器人提供有用的资料，可是它们缺乏这方面的知识。”

"What is the information you seek? Perhaps I can help you."

“你们在寻找什么资料？也许我可以帮忙。”

"We seek the location of Earth. Could you tell us that?"

“我们在寻找地球的位置，你能不能告诉我们？”

The Solarian's eyebrows lifted. "I would have thought that yourfirst object of curiosity would have been myself. I will supply thatinformation although you have not asked for it. I am Sarton Bander andyou stand upon the Bander estate, which stretches as far as your eye cansee in every direction and far beyond. I cannot say that you are welcomehere, for in coming here, you have violated a trust. You are the firstSettlers to touch down upon Solaria in many thousands of years and, asit turns out, you have come here merely to inquire as to the best wayof reaching another world. In the old days, Settlers, you and your shipwould have been destroyed on sight."

那索拉利人扬起眉毛。“我本来还以为，你们最感好奇的是我这个人。虽然你们没有要求，我还是会提供这方面的资料。我是萨腾·班德，你们如今站在班德属地上。向四面八方望去，极目所见都是我的属地，而且一直延伸到你们目力不及的远方。我不能说欢迎你们，因为你们来到这里，等于违反了一项承诺。两万年来，你们是第一批踏上索拉利的银河殖民者。结果，你们来到此地的目的，只是为了询问前往另一个世界的捷径。在古老的时代，三位银河殖民者，你们和你们的太空船一出现就会被摧毁。”

"That would be a barbaric way of treating people who mean no harmand offer none," said Trevize cautiously.

“以这种方式对待既无恶意又没威胁的客人，实在太野蛮了。”崔维兹小心翼翼地说。

"I agree, but when members of an expanding society set foot upon aninoffensive and static one, that mere touch is filled with potentialharm. While we feared that harm, we were ready to destroy those who cameat the instant of their coming. Since we no longer have reason to fear,we are, as you see, ready to talk."

“我同意，不过一个扩张性社会的成员，一旦来到一个不具侵略性，而且维持静止状态的社会，就算只有初步的接触，也充满潜在的威胁。当我们畏惧这种威胁时，外人一到这里，我们立即摧毁他们。既然我们已不再有畏惧的理由，你看得出来，我们现在愿意谈一谈。”

Trevize said, "I appreciate the information you have offered us sofreely, and yet you failed to answer the question I did ask. I willrepeat it. Could you tell us the location of the planet Earth?"

崔维兹说：“我感谢你毫无保留地提供这些讯息，但你尚未回答我原先的问题。我再重复一遍，你能不能告诉我们地球的位置？”

"By Earth, I take it you mean the world on which the human species,and the various species of plants and animals" his hand movedgracefully about as though to indicate all the surroundings aboutthem "originated."

“所谓的地球，我想你是指人类以及各式各样动植物的发源地吧。”他优雅地挥动一只手，仿佛指着周围的万事万物。

Yes, I do, sir.

“没错，我正是这个意思，班德先生。”

A queer look of repugnance flitted over the Solarian's face. He said,"Please address me simply as Bander, if you must use a form of address. Donot address me by any word that includes a sign of gender. I am neither male nor female. I am whole ."

一个古怪的厌恶神情，突然掠过那索拉利人的脸孔。他说：“如果你必须使用称谓，请别用任何含有性别的字眼，直接称呼我班德吧。我既非男性亦非女性，我是全性。”

Trevize nodded (he had been right). "As you wish, Bander. What, then,is the location of Earth, the world of origin of all of us?"

崔维兹点了点头（他猜对了）。“就依你的意思，班德。那么，我们大家的发源地，地球，究竟在哪里？”

Bander said, "I do not know. Nor do I wish to know. If I did know,or if I could find out, it would do you no good, for Earth no longerexists as a world. Ah," he went on, stretching out his arms. "Thesun feels good. I am not often on the surface, and never when the sun doesnot show itself. My robots were sent to greet you while the sun was yethiding behind the clouds. I followed only when the clouds cleared."

班德说：“我不知道，也不想知道。就算我知道，或者我找得出来，对你们也没有用处，因为地球已经不能算是一个世界。啊，”他伸展开双臂，“阳光的感觉真好。我不常到地面上来，太阳若不露脸，我是绝不会上来的。刚才太阳还藏在云里的时候，我先派机器人迎接你们，等到云朵飘走，我自己才跟了出来。”

"Why is it that Earth no longer exists as a world?" said Trevizeinsistently, steeling himself for the tale of radioactivity onceagain.

“为什么地球已经不能算是一个世界？”崔维兹锲而不舍地追问。他已经有心理准备，打算再听一次有关放射性的传说。

Bander, however, ignored the question or, rather, put it to one sidecarelessly. "The story is too long," he said. "You told me that you camewith no intent of harm."

然而，班德却不理会这个问题，或说随随便便丢在一旁。“说来话长。”他道，“你刚才告诉我，你们到此地来并无任何恶意。”

"That is correct."

“完全正确。”

"Why then did you come armed?"

“那么你为何武装前来？”

"That is merely a precaution. I did not know what I might meet."

“只是防患未然，我不知道会遇到些什么。”

It doesn't matter. Your little weapons represent no danger tome. Yet I am curious. I have, of course, heard much of your arms, andof your curiously barbaric history that seems to depend so entirely uponarms. Even so, I have never actually seen a weapon. May I see yours?

“没关系，你的小小武器对我毫无威胁，我只是好奇罢了。有关你们的武器，以及似乎全然依赖武器所建立的野蛮历史，我当然早就耳熟能详。即便如此，我从未真正见过任何武器，我可以看看吗？”

Trevize took a step backward. "I'm afraid not, Bander."

崔维兹往后退了一步。“恐怕不行，班德。”

Bander seemed amused. "I asked only out of politeness. I need not have asked at all."

班德似乎被逗乐了。“我问你只是出于礼貌，其实我根本不必问。”

It held out its hand and from Trevize's right holster, there emergedhis blaster, while from his left holster, there rose up his neuronicwhip. Trevize snatched at his weapons but felt his arms held back asthough by stiffly elastic bonds. Both Pelorat and Bliss started forwardand it was clear that they were held as well.

他伸出一只手来，与此同时，从崔维兹右侧的皮套中，跳出了那柄手铳，而从他左侧的皮套中，神经鞭也向上蹿起。崔维兹想抓住那两件武器，却感到双臂无法动弹，仿佛被极具韧性的绳索缚住。裴洛拉特与宝绮思也都企图向前冲，可是显然两人同样被制住了。

Bander said, "Don't bother trying to interfere. You cannot." Theweapons flew to its hands and it looked them over carefully. "This one,"it said, indicating the blaster, "seems to be a microwave beamer thatproduces heat, thus exploding any fluid-containing body. The other ismore subtle, and, I must confess, I do not see at a glance what it isintended to do. However, since you mean no harm and offer no harm, youdon't need arms. I can, and I do, bleed the energy content of the unitsof each weapon. That leaves them harmless unless you use one or the otheras a club, and they would be clumsy indeed if used for that purpose."

班德说：“别白费力气，你们办不到。”两件武器飞到他手中，他翻来覆去仔细检视了一番。“这一件，”他指着手铳说，“似乎是能产生高热的微波束发射器，能使任何含有水分的物体爆炸。另一件比较微妙，我必须承认，一时之间我还看不出它的用途。然而，既然你们并无恶意，又不打算带来威胁，你们根本就不需要武器。我能将两件武器中的能量都释放出来，而我正在这么做。这样它们就不再具有杀伤力，除非你拿来当棍棒使用，不过充作那种用途，它们未免太不称手了。”

The Solarian released the weapons and again they drifted throughthe air, this time back toward Trevize. Each settled neatly into its holster.

那索拉利人松开手，两件武器再度腾空，这次是向崔维兹飞去，各自不偏不倚落入皮套中。

Trevize, feeling himself released, pulled out his blaster, but therewas no need to use it. The contact hung loosely, and the energy unithad clearly been totally drained. That was precisely the case with theneuronic whip as well.

崔维兹忽然感到束缚消失了，立刻拔出手铳，但根本是多此一举。扳机松垮垮地垂下来，能量显然全被抽光，而神经鞭的情形也完全一样。

He looked up at Bander, who said, smiling, "You are quite helpless,Outworlder. I can as easily, if I so desired, destroy your ship and,of course, you."

他抬头望向班德，班德微笑着说：“你完全束手无策，外星人士。只要我高兴，同样可以轻而易举摧毁你的太空船，当然还有你。”