Chapter 53 Chapter Forty-One

"It's delicious!', Seldon burst out in admiration, "It's much better than what the gray cloud brought..." Dors said in a pertinent manner, "Don't forget that Huiyun's woman was improvised in the middle of the night." She paused, "I wish they would say 'wife'. 'Woman' sounds like an accessory , like 'my house' or 'my robe', are definitely pejorative terms." "I know, it's infuriating, but they might make 'wife' sound like an accessory too. It's their way of life, and the sisters don't seem to care. You and I don't have to preach to them and make them Make any changes - whatever, have you seen how the two sisters cook?"

"See, they've made everything as simple as possible. I wonder if I remember everything they told me to do, but they insist it's not necessary, as long as I know how to heat it, I can handle it. I presume that something was added to the bread during the baking process. A microbial derivative, not only makes the dough rise, but also gives it a crisp firmness and a friendly aroma-a little pepper, right?" "I can't judge, but whatever it is, I don't think it's enough. And this soup, do you recognize any of the vegetables in it?" "I can't recognize it."

"What are these slices of meat, can you tell?" "Actually, I don't think it's a cutlet at all, although it does remind me of the lamb we had in Sina." "That's not lamb." "As I said, I suspect it's not meat at all, and I don't think anyone other than Myqusheng has eaten such a good thing—not even the emperor, I'm sure. The ones that the Myqusheng people sell , I'd be willing to bet it's all near the bottom, and they keep the best for themselves. We better not stay here too long, Harry. If we get used to this kind of food, we won't be able to get used to the food out there. Terrible food." She laughed.

Seldon laughed too.He took another sip of the juice, which tasted far more intoxicating than any juice he'd had before. "Listen, when Hummin took me to college, we stopped at a roadside fast food place and ate something with a strong yeast in it. It tasted like—no, never mind what it tasted like, but, at the time, I never I can't believe that Weisheng food can have such deliciousness. I hope those two sisters are still here, and I should thank them politely." "I think they know pretty well how we're going to feel. I'm admiring the wonderful aroma that comes out when the food is reheating, and they say it tastes even better, in a rather complacent tone."

"The older one said it, I suppose." "Yeah, the younger one just giggled. They'll come back and bring me a suit so I can go shopping with them. They make it very clear that if I want to appear in public, I have to Wash the make-up off my face. They would tell me where to buy good-quality gowns, and where to buy all kinds of food prepared, I just need to heat it. They explained that educated sisters do not If they would do that, they would definitely start from scratch. In fact, some of the food they prepared for us was just heated up, and they even apologized for it. However, there is one message in their words, that is, foreigners must never No taste for real cooking. So just reheat the kit and get away with it—yes, they seem to take it for granted that I'll do all the shopping and cooking."

"It's like a saying in our hometown: in Trantor, like Trantor people." "Yeah, I knew you'd think that about it." "I'm only a mortal," said Seldon. "Stupid excuse." Dors smiled slightly. Seldon leaned back in his chair with a sense of contented fullness: "You've been on Trantor for two years, Dors, so you may know something that I don't. In your opinion, Myqusheng Is this weird social system part of their supernatural cosmology?" "supernatural?" "Yes, have you ever heard anyone say that?" "What do you mean by supernatural?"

"It literally means the belief that certain entities are independent of the laws of nature, such as the conservation of energy or the existence of constants of action." "I see. You are asking whether Myqusheng is a religious society." This time it was Seldon's turn to be puzzled. "Religion?" "Yes, it's an old word, but we historians use it a lot, and our research is full of old words. 'Religion' is not quite the same as 'supernatural,' but it has a rich supernatural component. Yet I still Can't answer your specific question because I've never done any special research on Mycosun. Having said that, based on what I've seen here and what I know about religion in history, if the Mycosan society I wouldn't be surprised if it's religious in nature."

"Wouldn't you be surprised if the legend of Myqusen also had a religious nature?" "No, it won't." "In other words, those legends have no historical basis?" "That's not necessarily the case. It's still possible that at the heart of the legend is genuine history, only distorted and laced with supernatural elements." "Ah." After hearing this, Seldon seemed to be lost in thought. Finally Dors broke the silence and said, "It's nothing unusual, you know, many worlds have a substantial religious component, and over the past few centuries, as empires have become less stable, religion has grown in strength .In my own world, Sinna, at least a quarter of the population is Tritheist."

Seldon again felt his ignorance of history, and felt bitter and remorseful."Has there ever been a more religious period in history than today?" he said. "Of course there is. In addition, new sects are constantly emerging. No matter what the religion of Maiqusheng is, it may be quite new, or it may be limited to the Maiqusheng area. Before in-depth research, I can't make any assertions." "But now we've come to the point, Dors. In your opinion, are women more religious than men?" Dors Venabili raised her eyebrows: "I'm not sure if we can make such a simple assumption." She thought for a while, "According to my feeling, members with less capital in the natural material world, compared Easy to find solace in what you call supernaturalism. Such as the poor, the lowborn, and the oppressed. Where supernaturalism and religion overlap, they may have more religious sentiments. But there is clearly a lot of both Exceptionally, many of the oppressed may lack religious beliefs, whereas many of the rich, powerful, and comfortable live without it."

"But in Myquseng," said Seldon, "women seem to be treated as inferior human beings. I wonder if I'm correct in assuming that they are more religious than men, and believe more in the legends preserved by this society?" "I wouldn't bet my life, Harry, but I'd put a week's earnings on it." "Very well," said Seldon thoughtfully. Dors smiled at him. "You've got a little more to your psychohistory, Harry. Law 47854: The oppressed are more likely to accept religion than the comfortable." Seldon shook his head: "Don't joke about psychohistory, Dors. You know I'm not looking for minute laws, but general principles and methods of operation. I don't want comparative religion derived from a hundred special laws; What I want is, by the operation of some mathematical system of logic, to assert, 'Aha, this group of people is more religious than that group if all of the following criteria are met. Therefore, when human beings encounter When these stimuli are met, these responses will be shown."'

"How horrible," said Dors. "You see humans as simple mechanisms—just press this button and get that response." "Not so, because many buttons will be pressed at the same time to varying degrees, and many different responses will be triggered, so that the overall prediction of the future must be statistical, so independent individuals are still free factors." "How do you know?" "No, I don't know," said Seldon, "at least, I don't know for sure. It's just a feeling that I think things should be. Learn the basic laws, plus the necessary math, and I'll get the psychohistory I want. I've shown that it's theoretically possible..." "But it's not practical, is it?" "I say that all the time." A slight smile appeared on the corner of Dors's mouth. "Is that what you're doing, Harry, looking for some kind of answer to this question?" "I don't know, I swear to you I don't. But Chet Hummin was so desperate for an answer, and, for some reason, I was eager to satisfy him, he was such a persuasive man." "Yes, I know that." Seldon didn't delve into the meaning of this sentence, but a trace of sadness quickly crossed his face. Seldon continued: "Hummin insisted that the Empire was in decline, that it would eventually collapse, that psychohistory would be the only hope to save the Empire, or to buffer or improve it. He also said that without psychohistory , mankind will be destroyed, or at least will experience a long period of misery. He seems to place this heavy responsibility on my shoulders. Although the empire will never collapse in my lifetime, if I want to live with peace of mind, That burden had to be lifted. I had to convince myself—even Hummin—that psychohistory was not a practical approach, that despite the theory, it couldn't really make a difference. So I had to try every possible avenue, To prove that there is no way out." "The way? Like going back in history until human society was smaller than it is today?" "Much smaller and much simpler." "Then it turns out that the answer is still practically impossible to find." "That's right." "But who will describe the early world for you? Even if the Mequsheng people have some characteristics of the Milky Way in the beginning, it is absolutely impossible for the Japanese Lord to reveal to a foreigner that no Mequsheng people will do that. This is a self-styled Society—we've said this I don't know how many times—and its members are hysterically wary of foreigners, and they won't tell us anything." "I have to find a way to convince some of the myriads to speak up, such as those two sisters." "They won't even hear you because you're male, just like the sun is deaf to me. Even if they did talk to you, what else would they know except a few slogans?" "I've got to start somewhere." Dors said, "Well, let me think about it. Hummin said I had to protect you, and I interpreted that to mean I had to help you as much as I could. What do I know about religion? You know, that's a far cry from my specialty." Far. I've always studied economic forces, not those philosophical forces, but you can't divide history into many disjoint small units. For example, successful religions have a tendency to accumulate wealth, which can end up distorting a society. Economic development. Incidentally, this is one of the innumerable laws of human history, and your fundamental law of human nature—whatever you call it—must be able to derive it. But…” Having said this, Dors unconsciously fell into deep thought, and her voice gradually disappeared.Seldon watched her carefully, and saw that her eyes were glazed, as if staring into the depths of his own heart. Finally she said: "It's not a hard and fast rule, but I feel that in many cases a religion has a sacred book or books in which they record their rites, their view of history, their Psalms, who knows what else. Usually these books are open to all, and are used as a tool for conversion. But sometimes, they may be secret books that cannot be revealed." "Do you think that Maiqusheng has such classics?" "To be honest," Dors said earnestly, "I've never heard of them. If they were public tomes, I should have. That means they either don't exist, or they've always been kept in secret. Either way It’s true, it seems like you can’t even see it.” "At least this is a starting point," Seldon said grimly.