Everything changed when the fire crystal got stolen - Alex Gendler

譯者: Clement Fu 審譯者: H_L Au

Someone has tripped the magical alarms in the Element Temple.

不速之客驚動了「四元壇」魔法鐘

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

你和一眾僧侶聞聲馳赴現場

you know you have a disaster on your hands.

就知道大事不妙

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

四名年少門生漏夜闖進四元壇內殿

to steal the sacred element crystals.

想偷走神聖的四元神石

But when the alarm went off they panicked,

鐘聲響起，門生東窗事發驚惶失措

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

情急之下各將手持的一枚神石吞下

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

四門生修煉畢竟未臻化境

they’ll soon transform into uncontrollable elemental spirits.

神靈很快就會附體，此事非同小可

Improbably enough,

雖然事出不意、非比尋常

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

身旁老僧畢竟見多識廣神色自若說：

He explains: “You must determine who ate which crystal

「你必先弄清各人體內神石為何

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

趁為時未晚移到相剋的禪室閉關淨化

The elements compel their masters:

神石在體內會左右主人

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

吞下地靈、水靈神石的人必說真話

while those who consumed Fire and Air must lie."

吞下火靈、天靈神石的人必說謊話」

The youths are too scared to confess their own transgressions.

門生驚慌失措，不敢直認過失

Instead, they fall to accusing each other.

犯下滔天大禍，卻互相推諉

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

「柳寬奪走了水靈神石！」宣旼搶說

Rikku interrupts angrily.

柳寬怒嗆：

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

「是白蘭，她偷走了火靈神石！」

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

白蘭就大喊：

「蔣昂吞下天靈神石，我看到的！」

Jonah looks up timidly and shakes his head.

蔣昂虛怯地抬起頭，搖搖頭說：

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

「我……我也不知道

但宣旼沒有地靈神石」

So who ate which crystal?

究竟，是誰吞下哪枚神石？

Pause now to figure it out for yourself.

[若要自己動腦筋，就按一下暫停]

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

跌跌碰碰反覆試驗似乎少不了

But that’s not a bad thing.

但這不是壞事

If we make a wrong guess,

若是猜錯的話，到了某一個點

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

立論就會相與悖繆，無從立足

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

屆時就確認了當初的猜想是錯的

and work from there.

回到原點

This is a technique known as proof by contradiction.

這種技巧叫做「反證法」

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

秘訣是一開始的猜想要帶一點計謀

Some assumptions might not lead to contradictions

一些假設未必引起矛盾

without making further assumptions.

要加上進一步假設，矛盾才會出現

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

要挑個立竿見影、制限最多的假設

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

這樣孰對孰錯都能給我們最多資訊

Take, for example, Sumi’s statement.

比如說，宣旼的陳述

If we assume she’s telling the truth,

先假設她是說真話

we’d know the identity of both truth tellers.

據她所說，我們知道哪兩位說真話

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

柳寬有水靈神石

又因為她自己坦白揭發了柳寬

Sumi would have Earth.

宣旼就有地靈神石

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

然後柳寬坦承，白蘭有火靈神石

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

白蘭說蔣昂有天靈神石，就必屬謊話

And yet that’s the only remaining option.

那卻是擺在眼前的唯一選項

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

這就是矛盾，表示一開始假設有誤

So now we can go back to the start,

我們就從頭再來

but with the added knowledge that Sumi is lying.

然而，現在知道宣旼是在說謊話

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

撒謊的宣旼必然有火靈或天靈神石

That means Jonah was telling the truth about her,

這表示蔣昂關於她的說話是真話

so he can’t have taken either of those.

換言之，火靈或天靈神石都不在蔣昂

And that means Bella was lying about him,

白蘭指控他的說話必然也是謊話

so she must also have either Fire or Air.

故此她一樣要嘛有火靈，要嘛有天靈

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

既然宣旼撒謊，柳寬沒可能奪走水靈

the only one left who could have it is Jonah.

唯一可能有水靈神石的，就是蔣昂

And because we’ve already identified the two liars,

由於說謊話的兩位門生已經找到

Rikku must have the Earth crystal.

柳寬有的一定是地靈神石

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

換言之，火靈在白蘭，地靈在宣旼

You manage to get them all in the proper containment fields

神靈正要顯現之際

你剛好把門生都放在相剋禪室淨化

just as the crystals’ magic begins to manifest.

化險為夷

Compared with the difficult task of training these kids

比起要為這班少不更事的門生

to control their new powers,

讓他們修身養性，傳習新魔法武功

figuring out who had which crystal was elementary.

將四元神石歸位簡直易如反掌