by Isaac Asimov
"No."
"And what was the sliced meat? Could you tell?"
"I don't think it was sliced meat, actually. We did have a lamb dish back on Cinna that it reminded me of."
"It was certainly not lamb."
"I said that I doubted it was meat at all. -I don't think anyone outside Mycogen eats like this either. Not even the Emperor, I'm sure. Whatever the Mycogenians sell is, I'm willing to bet, near the bottom of the line. They save the best for themselves. We had better not stay here too long, Hari. If we get used to eating like this, we'll never be able to acclimatize ourselves to the miserable stuff they have outside." She laughed.
Seldon laughed too. He took another sip at the fruit juice, which tasted far more tantalizing than any fruit juice he had ever sipped before, and said, "listen, when Hummin took me to the University, we stopped at a roadside diner and had some food that was heavily yeasted. It tasted like-No, never mind what it tasted like, but I wouldn't have thought it conceivable, then, that microfood could caste like this. I wish the Sisters were still here. It would have been polite to thank them."
"I think they were quite aware of how we would feel. I remarked on the wonderful smell while everything was warming and they said, quire complacently, that it would taste even better."
"The older one said that, I imagine."
"Yes. The younger one giggled. -And they'll be back. They're going to bring me a kirtle, so that I can go out to see the shops with them. And they made it clear I would have to wash my face if I was to be seen in public. They will show me where to buy some goodquality kirtles of my own and where I can buy ready-made meals of all kinds. All I'll have to do is heat them up. They explained that decent Sisters wouldn't do that, but would start from scratch. In fact, some of the meal they prepared for us was simply heated and they apologized for that. They managed to imply, though, that tribespeople couldn't be expected to appreciate true artistry in cooking, so that simply heating prepared food would do for us. -They seem to take it for granted, by the way, that I will be doing all the shopping and cooking."
"As we say at home, 'When in Trantor, do as the Trantorians do.' "
"Yes, I was sure that would be your attitude in this case."
"I'm only human," said Seldon.
"The usual excuse," said Dors with a small smile.
Seldon leaned back with a satisfactory well-filled feeling and said, "You've been on Trantor for two years, Dors, so you might understand a few things that I don't. Is it your opinion that this odd social system the Mycogenians have is part of a supernaturalistic view they have?"
"Supernaturalistic?"
"Yes. Would you have heard that this was so?"
"What do you mean by 'supernaturalistic'?"
"The obvious. A belief in entities chat are independent of natural law, that are not bound by the conservation of energy, for instance, or by the existence of a constant of action."
"I see. You're asking if Mycogen is a religious community."
It was Seldon's turn. "Religious?"
"Yes. It's an archaic term, but we historians use it-our study is riddled with archaic terms. 'Religious' is not precisely equivalent to 'supernaturalistic,' though it contains richly supernaturalistic elements. I can't answer your specific question, however, because I've never made any special investigation of Mycogen. Still, from what little I've seen of the place and from my knowledge of religions in history, I wouldn't be surprised if the Mycogenian society was religious in character."
"In that case, would it surprise you if Mycogenian legends were also religious in character?"
"No, it wouldn't."
"And therefore not based on historical matter?"
"That wouldn't necessarily follow. The core of the legends might still be authentically historic, allowing for distortion and supernaturalistic intermixture."
"Ah," said Seldon and seemed to retire into his thoughts.
Finally Dors broke the silence that followed and said, "It's not so uncommon, you know. There is a considerable religious element on many worlds. It's grown stronger in the last few centuries as the Empire has grown more turbulent. On my world of Cinna, at least a quarter of the population is tritheistic."
Seldon was again painfully and regretfully conscious of his ignorance of history. He said, "Were there times in past history when religion was more prominent than it is today?"
"Certainly. In addition, there are new varieties springing up constantly. The Mycogenian religion, whatever it might be, could be relatively new and may be restricted to Mycogen itself. I couldn't really tell without considerable study."
"But now we get to the point of it, Dors. Is it your opinion that women are more apt to be religious than men are?"
Dors Venabili raised her eyebrows. "I'm not sure if we can assume anything as simple as that." She thought a bit. "I suspect that those elements of a population that have a smaller stake in the material natural world are more apt to find solace in what you call supernaturalism-the poor, the disinherited, the downtrodden. Insofar as supernaturalism overlaps religion, they may also be more religious. There are obviously many exceptions in both directions. Many of the downtrodden may lack religion; many of the rich, powerful, and satisfied may possess it."
"But in Mycogen," said Seldon, "where the women seem to be treated as subhuman-would I be right in assuming they would be more religious than the men, more involved in the legends that the society has been preserving?^
"I wouldn't risk my life on it, Hari, but I'd be willing to risk a week's income on it."
"Good," said Seldon thoughtfully.
Dors smiled at him. "There's a bit of your psychohistory, Hari. Rule number 47,854: The downtrodden are more religious than the satisfied."
Seldon shook his head. "Don't joke about psychohistory, Dors. You know I'm not looking for tiny rules but for vast generalizations and for means of manipulation. I don't want comparative religiosity as the result of a hundred specific rules. I want something from which I can, after manipulation through some system of mathematicized logic, say, 'Aha, this group of people will tend to be more religious than that group, provided that the following criteria are met, and that, therefore, when humanity meets with these stimuli, it will react with these responses."
"How horrible," said Dors. "You are picturing human beings as simple mechanical devices. Press this button and you will get that twitch."
"No, because there will be many buttons pushing simultaneously to varying degrees and eliciting so many responses of different sorts that overall the predictions of the furore will be statistical in nature, so that the individual human being will remain a free agent."
"How can you know this?"
"I can't," said Seldon. "At least, I don't know it. I feel it to be so. It is what I consider to be the way things ought to be. If I can find the axioms, the fundamental Laws of Humanics, so to speak, and the necessary mathematical treatment, then I will have my psychohistory. I have proved that, in theory, this is possible-"
"But impractical, right?"
"I keep saying so."
A small smile curved Dors's lips, "Is that what you are doing, Hari, looking for some sort of solution to this problem?"
"I don't know. I swear to you I don't know. But Chetter Hummin is so anxious to find a solution and, for some reason, I am anxious to please him. He is so persuasive a man."
"Yes, I know."
Seldon let that comment pass, although a small frown flitted across his face.
Seldon continued. "Hummin insists the Empire is decaying, that it will collapse, that psychohistory is the only hope for saving it-or cushioning it or ameliorating it-and that without it humanity will be destroyed or, at the very least, go through prolonged misery. He seems to place the responsibility for preventing that on me. Now, the Empire will certainly last my time, but if I'm to live at ease, I must lift that responsibility from my shoulders. I must convince myself-and even convince Hummin-that psychohistory is not a practical way our that, despit
e theory, it cannot be developed. So I must follow up as many leads as I can and show that each one must fail."
"Leads? Like going back in history to a time when human society was smaller than it is now?"
"Much smaller. And far less complex."
"And showing that a solution is still impractical?"
"Yes."
"But who is going to describe the early world for you? If the Mycogenians have some coherent picture of the primordial Galaxy, Sunmaster certainly won't reveal it to a tribesman. No Mycogenian will. This is an ingrown society-how many times have we already said it?-and its members are suspicious of tribesmen to the point of paranoia. They'll tell us nothing."
"I will have to think of a way to persuade some Mycogenians to talk. Those Sisters, for instance."
"They won't even bear you, male that you are, any more than Sunmaster hears me. And even if they do talk to you, what would they know but a few catch phrases?"
"I must start somewhere."
Dors said, "Well, let me think. Hummin says I must protect you and I interpret that as meaning I must help you when I can. What do I know about religion? That's nowhere near my specialty, you know. I have always dealt with economic forces, rather than philosophic forces, but you can't split history into neat little nonoverlapping divisions. For instance, religions tend to accumulate wealth when successful and that eventually tends to distort the economic development of a society. There, incidentally, is one of the numerous rules of human history that you'll have to derive from your basic Laws of Humanics or whatever you called them. But . . .
And here, Dors's voice faded away as she lapsed into thought. Seldon watched her cautiously and Dors's eyes glazed as though she was looking deep within herself.
Finally she said, "This is not an invariable rule, but it seems to me that on many occasions, a religion has a book-or books-of significance; books that give their ritual, their view of history, their sacred poetry, and who knows what else. Usually, those books are open to all and are a means of proselytization. Sometimes they are secret."
"Do you think Mycogen has books of that sort?"
"To be truthful," said Dors thoughtfully, "I have never heard of any. I might have if they existed openly-which means they either don't exist or are kept secret. In either case, it seems to me you are not going to see them."
"At least it's a starting point," said Seldon grimly.
42.
The Sisters returned about two hours after Hari and Dors had finished lunch. They were smiling, both of them, and Raindrop FortyThree, the graver one, held up a gray kirtle for Dors's inspection.
"It is very attractive," said Dors, smiling widely and nodding her head with a certain sincerity. "I like the clever embroidery here."
"It is nothing," twittered Raindrop Forty-Five. "It is one of my old things and it won't fit very well, for you are taller than I am. But it will do for a while and we will take you out to the very best kirtlery to get a few that will fit you and your tastes perfectly. You will see."
Raindrop Forty-Three, smiling a little nervously but saying nothing and keeping her eyes fixed on the ground, handed a white kirtle to Dors. It was folded neatly. Dors did not attempt to unfold it, but passed it on to Seldon. "From the color I should say it's yours, Hari."
"Presumably," said Seldon, "but give it back. She did not give it to me."
"Oh, Hari," mouthed Dors, shaking her head slightly.
"No," said Seldon firmly. "She did not give it to me. Give it back to her and I'll wait for her to give it to me."
Dors hesitated, then made a halfhearted attempt to pass the kirtle back to Raindrop Forty-Three.
The Sister put her hands behind her back and moved away, all life seeming to drain from her face. Raindrop Forty-Five stole a glance at Seldon, a very quick one, then took a quick step toward Raindrop FortyThree and put her arms about her.
Dors said, "Come, Hari, I'm sure that Sisters are not permitted to talk to men who are not related to them. What's the use of making her miserable? She can't help it."
"I don't believe it," said Seldon harshly. "If there is such a rule, is applies only to Brothers. I doubt very much that she's ever met a tribesman before."
Dors said to Raindrop Forty-Three in a soft voice, "Have you ever met a tribesman before, Sister, or a tribeswoman?"
A long hesitation and then a slow negative shake of the head.
Seldon threw out his arms. "Well, there you are. If there is a rule of silence, it applies only to the Brothers. Would they have sent these young women-these Sisters-to deal with us if there was any rule against speaking to tribesmen?"
"It might be, Hari, that they were meant to speak only to me and I to you."
"Nonsense. I don't believe it and I won't believe it. 1 am not merely a tribesman, I am an honored guest in Mycogen, asked to be treated as such by Chetter Hummin and escorted here by Sunmaster Fourteen himself. I will not be treated as though I do not exist. I will be in communication with Sunmaster Fourteen and I will complain bitterly."
Raindrop Forty-Five began to sob and Raindrop Forty-Three, retaining her comparative impassivity, nevertheless flushed faintly.
Dors made as though to appeal to Seldon once again, but he stopped her with a brief and angry outward thrust of his right arm and then stared Toweringly at Raindrop Forty-Three.
And finally she spoke and did not twitter. Rather, her voice trembled hoarsely, as though she had to force it to sound in the direction of a male being and was doing so against all her instincts and desires.
"You must not complain of us, tribesman. That would be unjust. You force me to break the custom of our people. What do you want of me?"
Seldon smiled disarmingly at once and held out his hand. "The garment you brought me. The kirtle."
Silently, she stretched out her arm and deposited the kirtle in his hand.
He bowed slightly and said in a soft warm voice, "Thank you, Sister." He then cast a very brief look in Dors's direction, as though to say: You see? But Dors looked away angrily.
The kirtle was featureless, Seldon saw as he unfolded it (embroidery and decorativeness were for women, apparently), but it came with a tasseled belt that probably had some particular way of being worn. No doubt he could work it out.
He said, "I'll step into the bathroom and put this thing on. It won't take but a minute, I suppose."
He stepped into the small chamber and found the door would not dose behind him because Dors was forcing her way in as well. Only when the two of them were in the bathroom together did the door close.
"What were you doing?" Dors hissed angrily. "You were an absolute brute, Hari. Why did you treat the poor woman that way?^
Seldon said impatiently, "I had to make her talk to me. I'm counting on her for information. You know that. I'm sorry I had to be cruel, but how else could I have broken down her inhibitions?" And he motioned her out.
When he emerged, he found Dors in her kirtle too.
Dors, despite the bald head the skincap gave her and the inherent dowdiness of the kirtle, managed to look quite attractive. The stitching on the robe somehow suggested a figure without revealing it in the least. Her belt was wider than his own and was a slightly different shade of gray from her kirtle. What's more, it was held in front by two glittering blue stone snaps. (Women did manage to beautify themselves even under the greatest difficulty, Seldon thought.)
Looking over at Hari, Dors said, "You look quite the Mycogenian now. The two of us are fit to be taken to the stores by the Sisters."
"Yes," said Seldon, "but afterward I want Raindrop Forty-Three to take me on a tour of the microfarms."
Raindrop Forty-Three's eyes widened and she took a rapid step backward.
"I'd like to see them," said Seldon calmly.
Raindrop Forty-Three looked quickly at Dors. "Tribeswoman-"
Seldon said, "Perhaps you know nothing of the farms, Sister."
That seemed to touch a nerve. She lifted her chin haughtily as she still caref
ully addressed Dors. "I have worked on the microfarms. All Brothers and Sisters do at some point in their lives."
"Well then, take me on the tour," said Seldon, "and lets not go through the argument again. I am not a Brother to whom you are forbidden to speak and with whom you may have no dealings. I am a tribesman and an honored guest. I wear this skincap and this kirde so as not to attract undue attention, but I am a scholar and while I am here I must learn. I cannot sit in this room and stare at the wall. I want to see the one thing you have that the rest of the Galaxy does not have . . . your microfarms. I should think you'd be proud to show them."
"We are proud," said Raindrop Forty-Three, finally facing Seldon as she spoke, "and I will show you and don't think you will learn any of our secrets if that is what you are after. I will show you the microfarms tomorrow morning. It will take time to arrange a tour."
Seldon said, "I will wait till tomorrow morning. But do you promise? Do I have your word of honor?"
Raindrop Forty-Three said with clear contempt, "I am a Sister and I will do as I say. I will keep my word, even to a tribesman."
Her voice grew icy at the last words, while her eyes widened and seemed to glitter. Seldon wondered what was passing through her mind and felt uneasy.
43.
Seldon passed a restless night. To begin with, Dors had announced that she must accompany him on the tour of the microfarm and he had objected strenuously.
"The whole purpose," he said, "is to make her talk freely, to present her with an unusual environment-alone with a male, even if a tribesman. Having broken custom so far, it will be easier to break it further. If you're along, she will talk to you and I will only get the leavings."
"And if something happens to you in my absence, as it did Upperside?"
"Nothing will happen. Please! If you want to help me, stay away. If not, I will have nothing further to do with you. I mean it, Dors. This is important to me. Much as I've grown fond of you, you cannot come ahead of this."
She agreed with enormous reluctance and said only, "Promise me you'll at least be nice to her, then."
