A riddle of ice and fire dragons - Henri Picciotto

譯者: Lilian Chiu 審譯者: Helen Chang

It’s your first day in your new job as Center Realm’s official cartographer,

今天是你擔任中心王國官方 製圖師這個新職務的第一天，

and you've already got a big problem.

而你已經碰上了大問題。

Center Realm is home to three elder dragons: two ice, one fire,

中心王國是三隻長老飛龍的家園：

兩隻冰龍，一隻火龍，

and they’ve lived in harmony on the east coast for centuries.

牠們在東岸和平共處了數個世紀。

But scouts have sighted three fire dragons and five ice dragons

但偵察兵看見有三隻火龍和五隻冰龍

flying across the Western Ocean.

飛越西海洋。

You’ll only have a few hours to assign them their designated regions

你只有幾小時的時間 可以指派牠們各自的區域，

before they’ll arrive.

接著牠們就會抵達。

Elder dragons are extremely territorial.

長老飛龍的地盤性很強。

Each must have its own, officially acknowledged stomping ground.

每一隻都得要有屬於自己的 且官方認可的落腳處。

They’ll peacefully roost there unless their region borders another dragon

牠們會和平地棲息在那兒，

除非牠們的隔壁區域就住了 另一隻同型的飛龍，

of the same type,

in which case the matching dragons will go on a rampage.

這種情況下，同型的 飛龍就會暴跳發怒。

However, fire and ice dragons can border each other,

不過，冰龍和火龍可以當鄰居，

and matching regions can touch at corners.

同型飛龍的區域，若僅有 角落相接就沒關係。

You’ll soon have 11 dragons and just 8 regions.

你馬上就會有十一隻龍， 卻只有八個區域。

Fortunately, you have enough political capital to create 3 new regions,

幸運的是，你有足夠的政治資本

可以創造三個新區域，

each of which must be completely enclosed spaces.

每個區域都必須要是 完全封閉的空間。

Add more or otherwise mess this up, and you’ll lose your job and your head.

再增加更多區域 或以其他方式搞砸的話，

你的飯碗和頭顱都會不保。

Where do you draw lines and place the new dragons?

你要在哪裡畫線 安置新來的飛龍呢？

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

自行解題，請在此暫停。 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。

It isn't difficult to create three new regions.

創造三個新區域並不難。

What is more challenging is to make sure the result

挑戰之處在於要確保結果

will keep each dragon away from its own kind.

能讓每一隻飛龍 都能遠離自己的同類。

For instance, this can be neither ice nor fire,

比如，這個區域就 不能給冰龍也不能給火龍，

because it borders both.

因為兩種鄰居都有。

However, create a new region like this, and suddenly there are viable options.

然而，若創造像這樣的新區域，

突然就會有可行的選項了。

Why did that work? Look at the point where these four regions meet.

那為什麼行得通？

看看這四個區域相交的點。

If you go around it, it alternates between fire and ice.

如果你繞著它轉一圈， 會是火與冰不斷交替。

Before the new line was added, that wouldn’t have worked.

若沒有那條新加上的邊界就行不通。

Nor would 5 or 7 regions.

五個或七個區域也行不通。

6 and 8, however, both do.

不過，六個或八個都可行。

The pattern is that points where lines meet must be surrounded

模式是：凡是邊界相交的點，

都必須要由偶數個區域圍繞。

by an even number of regions.

As long as that’s true, you can color the map in two colors,

只要能做到這一點， 就能把地圖繪製成兩個顏色，

by alternating them around those points.

只要繞著那些交點， 不斷交替兩個顏色即可。

In our initial arrangement, there were six such meeting points.

在初始的版圖上， 這樣的交點共有六個。

So what we want to do is connect those to each other.

我們要做的是把這些交點彼此連結。

Each line adds a single new region that touches both meeting points.

每畫一條線就會增加一塊新區域， 且會接觸到這兩個交點。

There are several ways to do this to accommodate all 8 new dragons.

有許多種劃分方式都可以 滿足所有八隻飛龍。

You’ve done such a great job that your boss puts you in a ship

你做得太好了， 因此你的老闆送你上船，

and sends you out across the Western Sea to investigate

派你越過西海洋

去調查這些新來飛龍是來自何處。

where these new dragons are coming from.

There you’re met with a civilization in disarray.

在那裡，你遇到了 一個很混亂的文明。

Their 17 elder dragons are ravaging the countryside, wiping out the peasants,

他們的十七隻長老飛龍在破壞鄉間，

消滅農夫，蹂躪所有人民

devastating all the people and their thatch-roofed cottages.

和他們的茅草屋頂村舍。

And here there aren't just ice and fire dragons, but lightning dragons too.

且，在這裡不只有冰龍和火龍，

還有電龍。

Their people will only allow the creation of two new regions.

這裡的人民只能允許 創造兩個新區域。

Where do you create new regions and place all the dragons?

你要把新區域劃在哪裡， 來安置所有的飛龍？

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

自行解題，請在此暫停。 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。

Unfortunately, our meeting-point trick won’t suffice

不幸的是，在有三種飛龍的狀況下，

我們方才的交點絕招就行不通了，

now that there are three dragon types,

so we need to find another method to identify problem areas.

因此我們得想出另一種方法 來辨視出問題區域。

A great way to do so is to experiment:

一個很好的方式就是做實驗：

focus on one area and start coloring until we run out of possibilities.

把焦點放在一個區域，

開始著色，直到用盡所有可能性。

Take this section.

以這一塊為例。

These 3 regions all border each other, so they need to be different colors.

這三個區域彼此都有共同的邊界，

所以它們的顏色必須不同。

But they also all touch this giant territory, which we now can’t color.

但它們也都與這塊巨大領土鄰接，

此時這塊領土就無法上色了。

To generalize the issue, when there are 4 regions that all border each other,

把這個議題一般化：

當有四個區域彼此都有共同邊界時，

it's impossible to color them with three colors.

就不可能用三個顏色將它們上色。

The map has two other such areas.

地圖上還有兩個像這樣的地方。

So what you need to do is break them up.

你要做的是把它們拆開。

And once again, the key is drawing lines between points

同樣的，

關鍵在於找出多個問題區域的交點，

where multiple problematic regions touch.

再將它們連起來。

No matter how you do it,

不論你怎麼做，

you’ll effectively subdivide the giant territory into smaller ones.

你都會很有效地將這塊巨大的 領土再切割為較小的區域。

Now coloring the map becomes a logic puzzle.

現在，將地圖上色 就變成了邏輯問題。

So long as you approach it systematically by starting in one area and radiating out,

只要你用系統性的做法，

從一個區域開始， 再以輻射狀向外推展，

you’ll reach an arrangement that you can fit all your dragons into,

就會達成一種讓所有飛龍 都相安無事的配置安排。

shifting the colors as needed.

依照需求改變顏色。

Just assign this region last, because it’ll have two options.

最後再指派這個區域， 因為它會有兩種選擇。

You've saved not one, but two continents from certain ruin.

你拯救了不只一塊， 而是兩塊大陸，免於毀滅。

Now to see if you can find a giant eagle and hitch a ride back home.

現在就看你能不能找到 一隻巨鷹順路載你回家了。