"Two rye-and-water," said the man.
“两杯黑麦威士忌和水。”那人说。
"You can't have the whiskey," said the bartender.
“不能给你威士忌。”酒吧招待员说道。
He glared at the mechanical brain. "How do I know it ain't drunk already?"
他瞪着那机器大脑说:“我怎么知道它没醉呢?”
"That's simple. Ask it something," said the man.
“这很简单,问它点什么。”那人说。
The customers shifted and stared into the mirror.
客人们动了动,都盯着镜子。
We were all in this thing now, up to our necks.
现在整件事情引起了大家的强烈关注。
We waited. It was the bartender's move.
我们等待着,看看酒吧招待员下一步怎么办。
"Ask it what? Such as?" said the bartender.
“问它什么,比如说? ”酒吧招待员问道。
"Makes no difference.
“问它什么都行。
Pick a couple big figures, ask it to multiply them together.
挑几个大数字,让它们相乘。
You couldn't multiply big figures together if you were drunk, could you?"
如果你喝醉了,就算不出大数字的乘法了,对吧?”
The machine shook slightly, as though making internal preparations.
机器轻微晃了晃,似乎在做内部准备。
"Ten thousand eight hundred and sixty-two, multiply it by ninety-nine," said the bartender, viciously.
“10,862乘以99。”酒吧招待员不怀好意地说。
We could tell that he was throwing the two nines to make it hard.
我们可以看出来,他把两个9放在一起,加1 大了计算的难度。
The machine flickered.
机器摆动了一下,
One of its tubes spat, and a hand changed position, jerkily.
身上的一支管子发出了噼里啪啦的声音,然后一只手抽动着改变了位置。
"One million seventy-five thousand three hundred and thirty-eight," said the machine.
“1,075,338。” 机器说道。
Not a glass was raised all along the bar. People just stared gloomily into the mirror.
整个酒吧没有一个人举起杯子,人们只是沮丧地瞅着镜子。
Finally, a youngish, mathematically-minded customer got out a piece of paper and a pencil and went into retirement.
终于,一个有数学脑袋的年轻顾客拿出一张纸和一支铅笔,退到一个安静的地方计算起来。
"It works out." he reported, after some minutes of calculation.
“它算对了。”他计算了几分钟后报告说。