Everything changed when the fire crystal got stolen - Alex Gendler

翻译人员: Carol Wang 校对人员: Candace Hwang

Someone has tripped the magical alarms in the Element Temple.

有人触发了元素神殿的魔法警报，

By the time you and the other monks arrive on the scene,

当你和其他僧人赶到现场时，

you know you have a disaster on your hands.

你知道自己需要处理这场灾难。

Overnight, four young apprentices broke into the temple’s inner chamber

一夜之间， 四个年轻学徒闯入了寺庙的内室，

to steal the sacred element crystals.

偷走了神圣的元素水晶。

But when the alarm went off they panicked,

但当警报响起时，他们惊慌失措，

and each of them swallowed the crystal they held right before they were caught.

在被抓之前， 每人都吞下了他们手里的水晶。

With no idea how to control the crystals’ vast powers,

由于不知如何控制 这些水晶的巨大力量，

they’ll soon transform into uncontrollable elemental spirits.

他们很快就会变成 无法控制的元素精灵。

Improbably enough,

令人难以置信的是，

the old monk next to you has seen something similar happen before.

你旁边的老僧以前曾见过类似事情。

He explains: “You must determine who ate which crystal

他解释说： “你必须弄清谁吃了哪块水晶，

and get each into the proper containment field before they transform.

并在他们变形之前 把他们放入各自晶石的容器中。

The elements compel their masters:

元素能胁迫它们的主人，

those who ate the Earth and Water Crystals must speak the truth,

吞下地球晶石 或水晶石的人必须说真话，

while those who consumed Fire and Air must lie."

而吞了火晶石 和空气晶石的人必须说谎。”

The youths are too scared to confess their own transgressions.

这些年轻人吓坏了， 不敢承认自己的罪过；

Instead, they fall to accusing each other.

相反，他们互相指责。

“Rikku took the Water crystal!” Sumi blurts out.

苏米脱口说道： “瑞丘拿了水晶石！”

Rikku interrupts angrily.

瑞丘生气地打断道，

“It was Bella, she stole the Fire crystal!”

“是贝拉偷走了火晶石！”

So Bella yells: “Jonah ate the Air crystal, I saw him!”

而贝拉大叫道， “乔纳吞了空气水晶，我看见了！”

Jonah looks up timidly and shakes his head.

乔纳胆怯地抬起头来，摇了摇头。

“I… I don’t know what happened, but Sumi doesn’t have the Earth crystal.”

“我……我不知道发生了什么， 但苏米没拿地球晶石。”

So who ate which crystal?

那么，到底谁吃了哪块晶石呢？

Pause now to figure it out for yourself.

[ 可暂停播放，自己解题 ]

There’s no getting around it— this will take some trial and error.

需要经历一些尝试和错误， 这些都是回避不掉的，

But that’s not a bad thing.

但这也并非坏事。

If we make a wrong guess,

如果我们猜错了，

we’ll eventually reach a point where our conclusions contradict each other.

就会得出互相矛盾的结论，

That would allow us to confirm that our initial guess was wrong

这使我们确定最初的猜想错了，

and work from there.

然后再继续猜。

This is a technique known as proof by contradiction.

这就是所谓的技巧反证法，

The trick is in being strategic about where we begin our guessing.

其关键是如何有策略的入手猜测。

Some assumptions might not lead to contradictions

如果不作进一步假设，

without making further assumptions.

有些假设可能不会导致矛盾。

We want to pick one that creates the most constraints on its own,

我们要选一个 对自己产生最多约束的假设，

and thus gives us the most information when it turns out to be right or wrong.

当最终证明它对或错时， 就能给提供最多的信息。

Take, for example, Sumi’s statement.

以苏米的声明为例，

If we assume she’s telling the truth,

若假设她说真话，

we’d know the identity of both truth tellers.

就能确定两个说真话的人。

Rikku would have the Water crystal, and since she’s not lying about him,

那么，瑞丘拿的是水晶石，

既然她没撒谎， 苏米就拿了地球晶石。

Sumi would have Earth.

So Bella would have the Fire crystal, as Rikku says.

如瑞丘所说，贝拉则拿了火晶石。

But then Bella would have to be lying about Jonah having the Air crystal.

但如此一来，贝拉说的 有关乔纳有空气晶石就是谎言。

And yet that’s the only remaining option.

这是仅剩的唯一选择，

This is a contradiction, and it tells us our initial assumption was wrong.

但它与假设相矛盾， 说明我们最初的假设错了。

So now we can go back to the start,

这样，我们又回到起点，

but with the added knowledge that Sumi is lying.

但已知苏米在撒谎。

As a liar, Sumi must either have the Fire or Air crystal.

苏米既然是说谎者， 她拿了火晶石或空气晶石，

That means Jonah was telling the truth about her,

意味着乔纳说的 有关她的话是实情，

so he can’t have taken either of those.

那么他不会有空气晶石或火晶石。

And that means Bella was lying about him,

这意味着贝拉说的 有关他的话是撒谎，

so she must also have either Fire or Air.

所以，贝拉要么有火晶石， 要么有空气晶石。

Since Sumi was lying, Rikku can’t have taken the Water crystal—

既然苏米在撒谎， 瑞丘不可能有水晶石了——

the only one left who could have it is Jonah.

剩下能拿水晶石的人只有乔纳。

And because we’ve already identified the two liars,

因为我们已经确定了两个撒谎者，

Rikku must have the Earth crystal.

瑞丘一定有地球晶石。

That means Bella has the Fire crystal and Sumi has Air.

也就是说，贝拉有火晶石， 苏米有空气晶石。

You manage to get them all in the proper containment fields

当晶石魔力要开始显现时，

just as the crystals’ magic begins to manifest.

你刚好设法把他们四人 关进了有效控制区内。

Compared with the difficult task of training these kids

训练孩子们如何控制其新能力 是一项无比艰巨的任务，

to control their new powers,

与该训练任务相比，

figuring out who had which crystal was elementary.

弄清谁拿了哪块晶石不过小事一桩。