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The chemists and physicists now came forward with acids and bases, with agents and reagents,with spectroscopes1 and microscopes, with cyclotrons and atom smashers, with electric furnaces and vacuum machines — in fact with every known instrument by means of which man projects his senses into the infinite. The results were disappointing.
于是化学家和物理学家登场了。他们用酸和碱、各种试剂、分光镜和显微镜、回旋加速器和粒子加速器、电炉和真空机——事实上人类迄今为止用来认识这无穷尽的未知世界的所有仪器都用上了。但结果却令人失望。
Viewed under the most powerful microscope, the surface of the cube looked no different than when viewed with the naked eye. No slightest fissure was revealed, no clue obtained as to the structure of the block. After finishing this part of the examination, the metallurgist said, "All I can say is that the surface is absolutely smooth, so that no part of it reflects more or less light than any other part. It is amazing."
在最强大的显微镜下，这个立方体的表面看起来与肉眼看见的样子没有任何不同。看不到哪怕是最细微的裂缝，也没有得到关于该物体的结构的任何线索。在完成了这部分考察之后，冶金学家说:“我能说的只是它的表面绝对平滑，所以每一部分的反光情况完全一样，这实在令人惊异。”
The use of various chemicals proved equally ineffective. The block was impervious to every test and shed the most vitriolic concoctions like water off a duck's back. When it was exposed to intense heat, it not only remained cool，but it refused to expand or contract. No matter what they did to it, its dimensions remained constant.
使用各种化学试剂的检测亦证明同样无效。任何试验对这个金属块都不起作用。连最有腐蚀性的化学试剂也从它上面一流而过，就像鸭背流水。当它暴露在髙温之下时，不仅不升温，而且既不膨胀也不收缩。无论他们怎么折腾它，它的长宽髙始终保持不变。
It proved to be a nonconductor of electricity and had neither a positive nor a negative pole; yet when someone touched the base of an electric light bulb to it, the bulb lit. Whenthis phenomenon occurred, the scientists retired to a corner of the yard for consultation.
这个物体被证明是不导电的，既无阳极，也无阴极。然而当有人用电灯泡的基座去接触它时，灯泡却被点亮。当这种现象发生时，科学家们退到了院子的一角讨论去了。
