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The chemists and physicists now came forward with acids and bases, with agents and reagents,with spectroscopes1 and microscopes, with cyclotrons and atom smashers, with electric furnaces and vacuum machines — in fact with every known instrument by means of which man projects his senses into the infinite. The results were disappointing.
于是化學(xué)家和物理學(xué)家登場了。他們用酸和堿、各種試劑、分光鏡和顯微鏡、回旋加速器和粒子加速器、電爐和真空機(jī)——事實(shí)上人類迄今為止用來認(rèn)識這無窮盡的未知世界的所有儀器都用上了。但結(jié)果卻令人失望。
Viewed under the most powerful microscope, the surface of the cube looked no different than when viewed with the naked eye. No slightest fissure was revealed, no clue obtained as to the structure of the block. After finishing this part of the examination, the metallurgist said, "All I can say is that the surface is absolutely smooth, so that no part of it reflects more or less light than any other part. It is amazing."
在最強(qiáng)大的顯微鏡下，這個(gè)立方體的表面看起來與肉眼看見的樣子沒有任何不同。看不到哪怕是最細(xì)微的裂縫，也沒有得到關(guān)于該物體的結(jié)構(gòu)的任何線索。在完成了這部分考察之后，冶金學(xué)家說:“我能說的只是它的表面絕對平滑，所以每一部分的反光情況完全一樣，這實(shí)在令人驚異。”
The use of various chemicals proved equally ineffective. The block was impervious to every test and shed the most vitriolic concoctions like water off a duck's back. When it was exposed to intense heat, it not only remained cool，but it refused to expand or contract. No matter what they did to it, its dimensions remained constant.
使用各種化學(xué)試劑的檢測亦證明同樣無效。任何試驗(yàn)對這個(gè)金屬塊都不起作用。連最有腐蝕性的化學(xué)試劑也從它上面一流而過，就像鴨背流水。當(dāng)它暴露在髙溫之下時(shí)，不僅不升溫，而且既不膨脹也不收縮。無論他們怎么折騰它，它的長寬髙始終保持不變。
It proved to be a nonconductor of electricity and had neither a positive nor a negative pole; yet when someone touched the base of an electric light bulb to it, the bulb lit. Whenthis phenomenon occurred, the scientists retired to a corner of the yard for consultation.
這個(gè)物體被證明是不導(dǎo)電的，既無陽極，也無陰極。然而當(dāng)有人用電燈泡的基座去接觸它時(shí)，燈泡卻被點(diǎn)亮。當(dāng)這種現(xiàn)象發(fā)生時(shí)，科學(xué)家們退到了院子的一角討論去了。
