川陀
维基百科,自由的百科全书
川陀是艾萨克·阿西莫夫的基地系列和帝国系列小说中一个虚构行星。
1940年代,“川陀”首次出现在基地系列的短片小说了里。阿西莫夫把川陀描述在银河系的中心。在之后的故事中,阿西莫夫把川陀描述为离银河系中心最近的人类适居行星。The first time it was acknowledged in novel form was in Pebble in the Sky.
目录 |
[编辑] 地理与历史
川陀是第一银河帝国的首都。行星表面积19.4亿平方公里(七千五百万平方英里,是地球的130%),除帝国皇宫之外,全部地表都由人造外壳覆盖。川陀是一个深入地底的巨形的单一世界都市 (an ecumenopolis),人口高达450亿,人口密度为每平方公里232人(600 per mile², in comparison, New York in real life during 2005 has the estimates of 26,402.9 per mile²). 川陀的居民要么供职于帝国政府机构,要么从事维护和供给物资的工作。
据《银河百科全书》描述:
…帝国末期几位平庸的皇帝无法有效的管理银河帝国,也是帝国衰亡的一大原因。为了供应川陀居民的口腹之需,每天都有数以万计的太空船队,负责载送来自二十个农业世界的粮食,船队规模比任何一支帝国制造的星际舰队都要庞大…由于川陀依靠其他世界的世界供应粮食,甚至所有的日常用品,这个行星变得月来源容易以包围封锁的手段征服。在帝国最后的千年,从未止歇的叛乱使每位皇帝都警觉到这个危机,保卫川陀脆弱的颈动脉变成了帝国的首要政策…
川陀,…在银河帝国十三个千年的初期,这个趋势达到了顶峰。它是帝国政府的中心,连续数百代以来未曾间断。川陀位于银河的核心区域,周围都是人口最稠密、工业最发达的世界,所以很自然地变成了人类历史上最密集、最富庶的社群。
摘自中文版《基地》,叶李华译,四川出版集团。
《星空暗流》中提到了川陀历史的梗概:川陀共和国的五个世界成长为川陀联邦,然后是川陀帝国,最后征服整个银河系,成为了银河帝国。
一个川陀日等于1.08个银河标准日。
川陀最著名的地方是川陀图书馆(同时又称为“帝国图书馆”、“川陀大学图书馆”和“银河图书馆”),in which librarians index the entirety of human knowledge by walking up to a different computer terminal every day and resuming where the previous librarian left off.
基地纪元约260年,吉尔莫发动政变,洗劫川陀,迫使帝国皇室逃至迪里卡斯(新川陀)。大浩劫后,川陀人口从400亿骤减至一亿。川陀大部分的建筑物在大浩劫中被摧毁倒塌,仅有皇宫和川陀大学校园幸免。之后的两个世纪间,川陀变成了一个农业星球,地表的金属逐渐被变卖一空,农民翻挖恢复了越来越多的地表土壤以作农用。最后,农民成为了川陀唯一的居民,川陀作为银河系中心世界的历史到此结束。农民们的语言慢慢演变成了与银河标准语很大区别的方言,他们把川陀称为“阿姆”(意为“家园”)。
川陀大学至帝国纪元12069年以来,一直是第二基地的秘密据点。
[编辑] 象征意义
川陀表征着人类文明许多不同的方面。它是银河系权利中心,同时也是行政首脑地。城市化行星最终将变成什么,川陀是一个最好的例子。阿西莫夫将罗马帝国作为基地系列的创作基础,所以川陀在一定程度上是基于古帝国时代的罗马而成的。川陀也说明了一种人类心理(first encountered in Asimov's The Caves of Steel), 科技最终会导致人口的封闭,人类将在这种封闭下全体癫狂。阿西莫夫说过这种封闭城市是他向往的地方,不过他不觉得这有什么令人生恶的,直到别人问起这事。
[编辑] 川陀的演绎
There have been some serious attempts to illustrate a planet like Trantor in the Star Wars films by George Lucas, the first being Coruscant (which was in some early sources called "Jhantor", in homage to Trantor). Coruscant is one of the more convincing images on screen we have today of Isaac Asimov's conception of the world-girdling city of Trantor. Coruscant is a planet-covering open-air city, while Trantor's buildings are all subterranean or under domes. Asimov's Trantor thus differs from Coruscant in that Trantor is more practically adapted to inclement weather, although weather control devices are used on both planets. It should be noted that there is a planet called Trantor in the Star Wars universe, and it is also an ecumenopolis.[1] Holy Terra in the Warhammer 40,000 universe is also very similar to Trantor in terms of the Imperium.
The planet Helior in Harry Harrison's Bill, the Galactic Hero satirises Trantor, highlighting the problems of atmosphere, waste disposal and navigating about a world-sized city.
The Planet Capitol in The Worthing Saga by Orson Scott Card is very similar to Trantor in that it is entirely covered by buildings except for few places reserved for designated high ranking officials and that it is the capital of the empire. Also it is destroyed so far off planets can grow on their own much like in the Foundation series.
Trantor Systems, Ltd., a computer parts manufacturer now part of Adaptec[1], was presumably named for Asimov's planet.