評論
打印
"Two rye-and-water," said the man.
“兩杯黑麥威士忌和水。”那人說。
"You can't have the whiskey," said the bartender.
“不能給你威士忌。”酒吧招待員說道。
He glared at the mechanical brain. "How do I know it ain't drunk already?"
他瞪著那機器大腦說:“我怎么知道它沒醉呢？”
"That's simple. Ask it something," said the man.
“這很簡單，問它點什么。”那人說。
The customers shifted and stared into the mirror.
客人們動了動，都盯著鏡子。
We were all in this thing now, up to our necks.
現在整件事情引起了大家的強烈關注。
We waited. It was the bartender's move.
我們等待著，看看酒吧招待員下一步怎么辦。
"Ask it what? Such as?" said the bartender.
“問它什么，比如說？ ”酒吧招待員問道。
"Makes no difference.
“問它什么都行。
Pick a couple big figures, ask it to multiply them together.
挑幾個大數字，讓它們相乘。
You couldn't multiply big figures together if you were drunk, could you?"
如果你喝醉了，就算不出大數字的乘法了，對吧？”
The machine shook slightly, as though making internal preparations.
機器輕微晃了晃，似乎在做內部準備。
"Ten thousand eight hundred and sixty-two, multiply it by ninety-nine," said the bartender, viciously.
“10,862乘以99。”酒吧招待員不懷好意地說。
We could tell that he was throwing the two nines to make it hard.
我們可以看出來，他把兩個9放在一起，加1 大了計算的難度。
The machine flickered.
機器擺動了一下，
One of its tubes spat, and a hand changed position, jerkily.
身上的一支管子發出了噼里啪啦的聲音，然后一只手抽動著改變了位置。
"One million seventy-five thousand three hundred and thirty-eight," said the machine.
“1,075,338。” 機器說道。
Not a glass was raised all along the bar. People just stared gloomily into the mirror.
整個酒吧沒有一個人舉起杯子，人們只是沮喪地瞅著鏡子。
Finally, a youngish, mathematically-minded customer got out a piece of paper and a pencil and went into retirement.
終于，一個有數學腦袋的年輕顧客拿出一張紙和一支鉛筆，退到一個安靜的地方計算起來。
"It works out." he reported, after some minutes of calculation.
“它算對了。”他計算了幾分鐘后報告說。
