Can you outsmart Fate and break her ancient curse? - Dan Finkel

譯者: Lilian Chiu 審譯者: Helen Chang

Legend has it, hundreds of years ago a distant ancestor of yours

相傳在數百年前，你的遠古祖先

stole a magical tarot deck from Fate herself.

從命運手上偷走了 一副魔法塔羅牌。

Today, your family is known the world over as the world’s greatest fortune tellers.

現今，你的家族聞名世界，

被認為是世界上最偉大的占卜師。

While the deck has increased your fortunes many times over,

雖然這副牌讓你的財富翻了好幾倍，

it came with a terrible cost.

要付出的代價也很可怕。

Once every 23 years, a door appears in your house.

每二十三年，就會有一扇門 出現在你的房子裡。

One member of your family must enter,

你的家族必須要派一位成員進入，

and face Fate in a duel with arcane rules only known to your opponent.

和命運對決，

對決的神秘規則 只有你的對手才知道。

And every time, generation after generation,

每一次，不論是哪個世代，

the outcome is the same:

結果都一樣：

Fate claims their soul.

命運取走了他們的靈魂。

23 years ago, your father accepted the challenge and lost.

二十三年前，你的父親 接受了挑戰結果輸了。

Today, it’s your turn.

今天輪到你了。

You’re pacing the dueling room when you stumble across something

你在對決的房間中踱步時， 偶然發現了一件事，

that just might change everything:

可能可以改變一切：

your father hid a camera in the room.

你的父親在房間中藏了一台攝影機。

The tape shows him lay out the 22 cards of the major Arcana.

錄影帶顯示他排出了 二十二張大阿爾克納牌。

Fate then places an additional card, the Soul, and speaks:

接著，命運額外放了一張牌，

靈魂，並說：

“You may take any card that has at least one factor on the table.

「你可以拿桌上任何一張 至少有一個因數的牌。

I’ll then receive every factor.

接著我就會接收每一個因數。

Take the Tower, for example.

以高塔為例。

It is 16, with factors 1, 2, 4, and 8.

它的數字是十六， 因數有一、二、四，及八。

Those now belong to me, making our score 16 to 15.

那些現在就屬於我，

我們的分數變成十六比十五。

If your total at the end of the game is higher than mine, you’ll win.

如果遊戲結束時你的總分比我高，

就是你贏。

Play again and know that if you run out of moves,

再玩一次，且要知道 當你沒有牌可以再拿時，

I’ll take all the cards that remain.”

剩下的牌就都歸我。」

As the game continues,

隨著遊戲進行，命運提到

Fate remarks that if your father were to win and hold the 10,

如果你的父親能贏且持有十，

that would grant him great fortune.

就能得到一大筆財富。

6, true love.

持有六，能得到真愛。

And the 2 would end the family curse forever.

持有二，就能讓 家族的詛咒就此結束。

But none of that matters because in the end his total comes up short.

但這些都無所謂，因為最終，

他的總分不夠。

As the video turns to static, Fate arrives.

當影像變成雜訊時，命運抵達了。

Feeling as if you’re in a dream,

感覺好像在作夢一樣，

you hear her offer you the Tower to begin the game.

你聽到她建議你拿高塔來展開遊戲。

How can you defeat Fate,

你要如何打敗命運？

and what other good fortune can you win for yourself?

你還能為自己贏得哪些其他的獎勵？

Pause here to figure it out for yourself. Answer in 3

若要自行解題，在此暫停。 答案即將公佈：三。

Answer in 2

答案即將公佈：二。

Answer in 1

答案即將公佈：一。

If you want to outplay Fate, you’ll need to take the long view.

如果你想在遊戲中贏過命運， 就得把眼光放遠。

Accepting the 16 gives Fate the 1, 2, 4, and 8.

若接受十六，

就會讓命運得到一、二、四，和八。

She effectively has the 23, 19, 17, and 13 too,

她實際上也擁有二十三、

十九、十七，以及十三，

since you can’t take prime numbers once 1 is off the board.

因為 “一” 被拿走之後， 你就不能拿任何質數了。

Smaller primes like 11, 7, 5, and 3 will also go to Fate,

較小的質數，如十一、 七、五，及三，

也會到命運手上，

but you’ll be able to take their multiples, like 22 and 21.

但你可以取得它們的乘積， 如二十二和二十一。

That means these are the remaining cards in play.

那就表示還剩下的牌就是這些了。

You can eventually claim at most half of them, rounded down,

你最終最多只能取得 這些牌的一半，取下限整數，

since Fate gets at least one for each card you take.

因為你每拿一張牌， 命運就能得到至少一張牌。

So the best you can possibly do is take the seven largest cards.

所以你能做到最好的方式，

就是拿走最大的七張牌。

Add those together with the 16 and your total would be 138.

把它們和十六加總，

你的總分就是一百三十八。

And Fate’s total? Also, 138.

命運的總分呢？也是一百三十八。

Ties go to Fate, so it’s clear that by offering your ancestors the 16

平手就算命運贏，

很顯然，在解釋完整的規則之前，

before explaining the full rules,

只要建議你的祖先從十六開始，

Fate has been manipulating the game to guarantee her victory.

命運就能操弄遊戲， 並保證自己能贏。

But thanks to your father, you now know better.

但感謝你的父親，你知道得更多。

Speaking of your family, if you want to take the 2 and break the curse,

說到你的家族，如果 你想要拿到二並破除詛咒，

you’ll have to do it on your first turn, since it’s prime.

你在第一輪就得拿，因為二是質數。

If you do, Fate will get 1,

如果你拿了二，命運會拿到一，

and once again, Fate is guaranteed the high primes.

同樣的，命運也一定能拿到大質數。

In theory, you can get at most 8 of the remaining 17 cards.

理論上，剩下的十七張牌 你最多可以拿到八張。

Taking the eight largest would give you a nail-bitingly narrow victory

拿走最大的八個數字，能讓你險勝：

of 140 to 136.

一百四十比一百三十六。

But is it possible?

但，有可能嗎？

You need Fate to get as few cards as possible for each one you take.

你每拿一張牌，都得盡可能 讓命運得到最少張牌。

You can start with the 22 and 14.

你可以從二十二和十四開始。

With the 7 gone, you can take the 21, then the 15.

七不在了，你就可以拿二十一，

接著拿十五。

You still need these, and the next one you take will give Fate two cards.

你還需要這些牌，你拿下一張牌時，

會讓命運得到兩張牌。

That’s okay though.

但沒關係。

Try the 16, for example, and Fate gets the 4 and the 8,

比如，試試十六， 命運會拿到四和八，

but you’ll still get the 12, the 18, and the 20.

但你仍然能拿到 十二、十八，和二十。

Following similar reasoning,

用類似的推論，

you could take the 23 on your first turn and win the 10 or the 6.

你可以在第一輪拿二十三，

贏到十或是六。

But claiming more than one reward is impossible.

但最多只可能得到一個獎勵。

So do you take wealth, love, or break the curse?

所以你要財富、愛情， 還是打破詛咒？

Fate is waiting, but the choice is up to you.

命運在等待，但選擇權是你的。