雙語暢銷書《艾倫圖靈傳》第5章:解謎接力賽(43)

Looking at the second letter of the sequence, we feed A into the Enigma rotors, and obtain an output, say O.

現在考慮序列中的第二個字母，我們把A輸入謎機轉盤，並得到輸出，比如說輸出O。

This means that the plugboard must contain the swapping (EO).

這就意味着配線板一定包含（EO）對換。

Now looking at the fourth letter, the assertion (EO) will have an implication for N, say (NQ);

現在看第四個字母，由（EO）就可以推導出一個關於N的對換，比如（NQ）；

now the third letter will give an implication for K, say (KG).

現在由第三個字母又可推導出K的對換，比如（KG）。

FinAlly we consider the sixth letter: here the loop closes and there will either be a consistency or a contradiction between (KG) and the original hypothesis (AA).

最終我們考慮第六個字母，迴路在這裏閉合了，在（KG）和原本假設的（AA）之間，可能會相容，也可能會矛盾。

If it is a contradiction, then the hypothesis must be wrong, and can be eliminated.

如果發生矛盾，即說明原來的假設是錯誤的，可以把它排除。

This method was far from ideal. For it depended absolutely upon finding closed loops in the 'crib', and not all cribs would exhibit this phenomenon.

這個方法並不理想。因爲它完全依賴於牀位中的迴路，但不是所有的牀位都有這種現象。

But it was a method that would actually work, for the idea of completing a closed circuit was one that could be translated naturally into an electrical form.

然而這個迴路的想法確實是有用的，因爲迴路可以很自然轉換成電路。

It showed that the sheer number of plugboards was not, in itself, an insuperable barrier.

它至少告訴我們，配線板不是一個無法逾越的障礙。

It was a start, and it was Alan's first success.

這只是一個開始，也是艾倫的第一步成功。