Chapter 58 Chapter Forty-Five

Raindrop 43 stared at Seldon, eyes wide open, breathing heavily. "I can't stay here," she said. Seldon looked around. "No one would bother us, even the brother who gave us delicious food didn't say anything about us, he seemed to treat us as a completely ordinary couple." "That's because there was nothing unusual about us—the lighting was dim; you lowered your voice to make the foreign accent less obvious; and I acted calmly. But now..." Her voice began to crack. "What about now?" "I'm anxious and tense, and I'm... sweating."

"Who's going to notice? Take it easy and calm down." "I can't relax here. I can't calm down when I might draw attention." "So, where can we go?" "There are some sheds nearby for people to relax in. I used to work here, I know." She walked quickly forward, with Seldon close behind.They climbed a small ramp, a path he would not have noticed in the dim light without her leading the way.Above the ramp, there is a long row of doors spaced far apart from each other. "The last one," she whispered, "if there's no one there."

The room was indeed empty.A shiny rectangular panel reflected the words "Unused", and the door was only slightly ajar. Raindrop Four Three looked around quickly, beckoned Seldon to go in, and walked in himself.When she closed the door, a small lamp on the roof instantly illuminated the small room. "Is there a way to get a sign on the door to show someone is using the cabin?" Seldon said. "As soon as the door is closed, the light will turn on, and the sign will switch automatically." Yudian Sisan said. Seldon could feel the air circulating gently, with a faint sound of wind.But on Trantor, where is this never-ending sound not heard or felt?

The room was not large, but there was a cot with a firm mattress, and the sheets on it were obviously clean.There was also a chair, a table, a small refrigerator, and what appeared to be a sealed hot plate, perhaps a small food warmer. Yudian Sisan sat on the chair and straightened his upper body, obviously trying to force himself to relax. Seldon didn't know where to sit, so he continued to stand.It wasn't until she gestured impatiently that he obediently sat down on the commode. Raindrop Four Three said softly as if talking to himself: "If anyone knows that I was locked up here with a man. Even if it's just a foreign man, I'm destined to be deported."

Seldon hurriedly stood up: "Then let's not stay here." "Sit down. I can't go out in this mood. You've been asking about religion just now. What are you looking for?" Seldon felt that she was a completely different person, that passivity and obedience had disappeared.She was no longer shy or cowering in the face of a man.At this moment, she was narrowing her eyes and staring at him. "I told you I was looking for knowledge. I am a scholar, and the pursuit of knowledge is my profession and my aspiration. I want to know people above all, so I want to study history. On many worlds, ancient historical records— The real ancient historical records have degenerated into myths and legends, and most of them have become part of religious belief or supernaturalism. But if Mequsheng has no religion, then..."

"I said we have a history." Seldon said, "You said twice that you have history. How old is it?" "Dating back to 20,000 years ago." "Really? Let's be honest, is it real history, or something that has degenerated into legend?" "Of course it's true history." Seldon was about to ask her how to judge, but temporarily dismissed the idea.Is it really possible for history to go back 20,000 years and still be authentic?He was no historian himself, so he had to ask Dors. Yet he had a strong feeling that, on every world, the earliest history was a hodgepodge of didactic heroics and mini-scripts, to be regarded only as a kind of morality play and not to be taken too seriously .This is certainly the case with Helicon, but you'd be hard-pressed to find a Helicon who doesn't believe in the legends and insist they're all true history.They believe even utterly absurd tales, such as the encounter with dangerous giant flying reptiles when man first explored Helicon - though no native , Animals resembling flying reptiles.

But he just asked: "How did this history begin?" Raindrop Foursan's eyes were trancelike, not focused on Seldon or anything in the hut."It started in some world, our world, the only world," she said. "The only world?" (Seldon recalled Hummin's legend about the origin of human beings in a single world.) "The only world. Then there were other worlds, but ours was the first. The only world, with living space, open air, a place for everything, fertile fields, and friendly homes , passionate people. We lived there for thousands of years, and then we had to leave and start hiding, until some found a place in the corner of Trantor. Here we learned to grow food , which brought us a little freedom. And here at Michelson, we now have our own way of life — and our own dreams.”

"Your history records in detail which world of origin? The only world?" "Oh, yes, it's all in one book. We all have this book, each of us. We carry it with us everywhere, so that anyone can read it all the time to remember our Who we are now, who we were, and determined to take back our world one day." "Do you know where this world is, and who lives on it now?" Yudian Sisan hesitated for a moment, then shook his head violently: "We don't know, but one day we will find the answer." "Are you taking this book with you now?" "certainly."

"May I take a look at it?" A smile slowly flashed across Yudian Sisan's face: "So that's what you want," she said, "When you asked me to show you around the microbiological farm alone, I knew what you were thinking of. .” She seemed a little embarrassed, “But I didn’t expect it to be for this classic book:” "That's all I want," said Seldon solemnly. "I really had no other intentions in mind. If you brought me here it was because you thought..." She didn't let him finish his sentence: "But we have come here, do you want this classic book or not?"

"Will you let me see it?" "There is one condition." Seldon froze for a moment.If he lifted the sister's psychological defense too far, he would have to weigh the possibility of serious consequences. "On what terms?" he asked. Raindrop Four Three gently stuck out his tongue, and quickly licked his lips.Then, in a distinctly trembling voice, she said, "You've got to take off your fur hat."