Can you solve the secret werewolf riddle? - Dan Finkel

翻译人员: Sally Yang 校对人员: Fandi Yi

You’re on the trail of a werewolf

你正在追踪着一只

that’s been terrorizing your town.

对你的小镇虎视眈眈的狼人。

After months of detective work,

经过数个月的侦查，

you’ve narrowed your suspects to one of five people:

你锁定了五个嫌疑人：

the mayor,

镇长、

the tailor,

裁缝、

the baker,

面包师、

the grocer,

杂货商

or the carpenter.

或木匠。

You’ve invited them to dinner with a simple plan:

你邀请他们共进晚餐，计划很简单：

you’ll slip a square of a rare werewolf antidote

你将会在每个人的晚餐中

into each of their dinners.

悄悄放入一片稀有的正方形狼人解药。

Unfortunately, your pet goat just ate four of the squares,

不幸的是，你的宠物山羊 刚刚吃掉了四片解药，

and you only have one left.

所以你只剩下了一片。

Luckily, the remaining square is 50 grams,

幸运的是，剩下的这一片重 50 克，

and the minimum effective dose is 10 grams.

而最小有效剂量是 10 克。

If you can precisely divide the square into fifths

如果你能准确地 把这个正方形一分为五，

you’ll have just enough antidote for everyone.

那每个人都能得到一份解药。

You’ll have to use a laser-cutting tool to cut up the square;

你必须使用一台激光切割机，

every other means available to you isn’t precise enough.

其它所有方式都不够精确。

There are 8 points that can act as starting or ending points for each cut.

有八个点可以充当 每次切割的起点或终点。

To use the device, you’ll have to input pairs of points

每一道切割，你都必须输入两个点

that tell the laser where to begin and end each cut,

作为切割的起点和终点。

and then the laser executes all the cuts simultaneously.

仪器会一次性执行 你设置好的所有切割。

It’s okay to cut the square into as many pieces as you want,

无论切成多少块都没有关系，

as long as you can group them into 10 gram portions.

只要最后能把药片 凑成10克的份量即可。

But you can’t fold the square or alter it otherwise,

但你不能把正方形折起来， 或者用其它方式改变它

and you only get one shot at using the laser cutter.

而且你只有一次使用激光切割机的机会。

The full moon is rising,

满月正在升起，

and in a moment someone will transform and tear you all apart

再过一会就会有人变身狼人 把你们撕成碎片，

unless you can cure them first.

除非你预先治好那个人。

How can you divide the antidote into perfect fifths,

你要如何将解药完美地平分成五份，

cure the secret werewolf, and save everyone?

治好藏在五人之中的狼人， 拯救大家呢？

Pause the video now if you want to figure it out for yourself.

如果想要自己解开谜题， 请在此画面暂停。

Answer in 3

答案揭晓：3

Answer in 2

答案揭晓：2

Answer in 1

答案揭晓：1

When it comes to puzzles that involve cutting and rearranging,

对于跟分割和重组有关的谜题，

it’s often helpful to actually take a piece of paper

拿起一张纸尝试实际切割

and try cutting it up to see what you can get.

通常很有帮助。

If we cut BF and DH we’d get fourths, but we need fifths.

沿着 BF 和 DH 切割可将其一分为四， 但我们需要五份。

Maybe there’s a way to shave a bit off of a quarter to get exactly one fifth.

或许有办法可以往四分之一上 再切一点，得到五分之一。

Cutting BE looks good at first, but that last cut

BE 乍一看是个好选择，

takes a off a quarter of a quarter,

但这会切掉四分之一的四分之一，

leaving us with a portion of 3/16: just smaller than a fifth,

剩下十六分之三， 比五分之一略小了一点，

and not enough to cure a werewolf.

不足以治愈狼人。

What if we started with BE instead?

那要是从 BE 开始切割呢？

That would also give us a quarter.

这也会使我们得到四分之一。

And is there a way to shave just a bit more off?

还能再切掉一点吗？

Both DG and CH look promising.

DG 和 CH 看起来都像是不错的选择。

If we make one more cut, from A to F,

如果我们再沿着 AF 切一道，

we may start to notice something.

我们就会发现：

With these four cuts—from B to E, D to G, F to A,

若沿着这四条线切割—— B 至 E、D 至 G、F 至 A、

and H to C—we’ve got four triangles

H 至 C——我们就会得到四个三角形

and a square in the middle.

和中间的一个正方形。

But the pieces that make each triangle can also be

但组成每个三角形的切片

rearranged to make a square identical to the middle one.

都能被重新拼成一个 跟中间那个一模一样的正方形，

This means that we’ve split the antidote into perfect fifths!

由此，我们成功地将解药平分成了五份！

What’s interesting about this sort of problem

关于这类问题，有趣的是

is that while it’s possible to solve it by starting from the geometry,

尽管几何学计算也能帮你找出答案，

it’s actually easier to start experimenting and see where that gets you.

但直接动手尝试反而比较容易。

That wouldn’t be as viable if the square had, say, 24 cut points,

虽然如果正方形上有 24 个点之类的话 反复试验自然不太现实，

but with just 8 there are only so many reasonable options.

但只有 8 个点的话 只有那么多选择供你尝试。

You secretly dose each of the townspeople

随着满月在夜空中出现，

as the full moon emerges in the sky.

你将解药偷偷放进每个人的饭菜里。

And just as you do, a terrible transformation begins.

你刚刚搞定一切， 可怕的变身就猛地开始，

Then, just as suddenly, it reverses.

紧接着又同样迅速地被扭转了。

Your measurements were perfect,

你的剂量完美，

and the people and animals of the town can rest a little easier.

小镇里的居民和动物又得以安心了。