LAS VEGAS – In the 38 years since the Hungarian architecture professor Erno Rubik invented his cube, it has alternately been regarded as an object of fun, art, mathematics, nostalgia and frustration. Some credit its enduring fame to its universality – it needs no instructions or cultural context – and some to its complexity. What other child’s toy could so befuddle a graduate student at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology?
匈牙利建築學教授魯比克發明魔術方塊38年來，它陸續被視為夾雜了趣味、藝術、數學、懷舊和挫折的東西。它聲名不墜，有人歸功於普及性，不用教也無需文化背景；有人則認為複雜才是主因。還有什麼兒童玩具更能迷惑麻省理工學院的研究生？
It is an object that “sets its own challenge, “Mr. Rubik said via e-mail. “Anybody blessed with the basic human senses can instantly ‘get it.’”
魯比克透過電郵說，魔術方塊能「自我設定挑戰」。只要具備人類基本感官能力，都能立刻『理解』」。
A primary-colored offspring of the 1980s, the Rubik’s Cube is enjoying a resurgence of popularity and, in a world increasingly run by engineers and algorithms, relevance.
這個以色塊組成、1980年代的產物，正再度流行，而且在日益由工程師、演算法主宰的世界中顯得格外搭調。
At the 2012 World Cube Association’s United States National Championship, held this month in Las Vegas, a few older icons, like Lars Petrus, the 1981 Swedish champion and creator of the Petrus Method (hint: build a 2-by-2-by-2 corner, then expand it), were on hand. But nearly all the competitors were born decades after the cube’s heyday.
2012年世界魔術方塊協會美國國家錦標賽本月在拉斯維加斯舉行，雖有幾位較年長的偶像級人物，如1981年瑞典冠軍和「佩特魯斯方法」（提示：建立一個2x2x2角落，再加以擴大）發明人佩特魯斯大駕光臨。參賽者卻幾乎全是在魔術方塊全盛時期過後數十年才出生。
There were speed solvers and blindfolded solvers and those who solve with their feet, though purists consider foot-solving an unbecoming gimmick. The youngest competitor was 5.
賽場中有速度取勝者，蒙眼者，也有兩腳並用者，雖然純粹主義者認為用腳是不登大雅的噱頭（這點很明顯，他們被遠隔在大廳的一角）。最小的參賽者年僅5歲。
“Solving a Rubik’s Cube isn’t hard,” said Tyson Mao, one of the event’s organizers. “It’s not impressive that a 5-year-old would be smart enough to solve a Rubik’s Cube. It’s impressive that he would have the patience.”
錦標賽策畫者之一馬奧說：「破解魔術方塊不難。5歲的孩子聰明到能夠破解並不令人折服。令人欽佩的是他有這樣的耐心。」
The cube’s revival is a tale involving nostalgia, the Internet and the actor Will Smith.
魔術方塊魅力再現是與懷舊、網際網路、演員威爾‧史密斯都有關的一則故事。
Fifteen years ago, the cube “was in the closeout bin,” said Joe Sequino, a spokesman for Winning Moves, the company that shares cube-manufacturing responsibilities in America with Hasbro. Despite selling more than 350 million units in the early 1980s, the cube had long since passed into memory.
「致勝行動」是在美國與「孩之寶公司」共同承擔魔術方塊製造責任的公司，發言人塞奎諾說，15年前，魔術方塊是「清倉大拍賣的商品」。儘管1980年代初期銷售逾3億5000萬個，魔術方塊早已從人們的記憶中消失。
But with the advent of Web video, fans could share solving strategies. In 2004, a group calling itself the World Cube Association held the first speed-cubing tournament in over 20 years, with 89 participants. It has since become an annual event, with about 300 competing in Las Vegas.
然而隨著網路視頻誕生，玩家已可分享破解策略。2004年，自稱「世界魔術方塊協會」的團體舉辦了20多年來第一個魔術方塊速解大賽，共有89人參賽。其後它變成年度賽事，本月在拉斯維加斯的比賽，約有300人參加。
Meanwhile, children of the 1980s began seeking out cubes for their own offspring – who were more likely to enjoy a fruitful relationship with the puzzle thanks to the online resources.
與此同時，1980年代還是兒童的人，也開始替自己的子女尋找魔術方塊。他們的後代拜網路資源之賜，更有希望與魔術方塊建立成果豐碩的關係。
In 2006, Will Smith’s brilliant but hard-luck character in the film “The Pursuit of Happyness” solves a Rubik’ Cube in less than two minutes after seeing the toy for the first time. “That Rubik’s scene was in the trailer, and it blew up from there,” Mr. Sequino said in an e-mail. “It was the perfect confluence of events.”
2006年，威爾‧史密斯在電影《當幸福來敲門》裡飾演的角色，是一個聰明但命運多舛的人，他第一次看到魔術方塊這個玩具，不到兩分鐘即將它破解。塞奎諾在電郵中說：「魔術方塊的一景，出現在這部電影的預告片中，一切也從那裡引爆開來。它是所有事件的完美匯流點。」
In the past 14 months, cubes have been solved for the first time in space and atop Mount Everest. In 2011, a speed-cuber took the top prize in “Sweden’s Got Talent” by, among other things, solving one while blindfolded. The American speed-cuber Anthony Michael Brooks – known for his one-handed solving – stars in a new Volkswagen commercial.
過去這14個月裡，魔術方塊首度在太空中和珠穆朗瑪峰峰頂被破解。2011年，魔術方塊的一名快手在「瑞典星光大道」節目中抱走冠軍，表演的才藝之一是蒙眼破解魔術方塊。以單手玩魔術方塊聞名的美國快手布魯克斯，是福斯汽車一部新廣告片的主角。
As part of its 40th anniversary of the cube exhibit in 2014, the Liberty Science Center in New Jersey plans to build on its roof an 11-meter-tall cube made of lights that people can manipulate with their cellphones; it will be visible from Manhattan. Also on hand will be a $2.5 million cube made of diamonds, a giant walk-in cube where visitors can explore the inner working of the puzzle, and a flock of cube-solving robots.
2014年魔術方塊舉行40周年展覽時，新澤西州「自由科學中心」計畫在屋頂架設一個高11公尺的燈光魔術方塊，做為展覽的一部分，這個方塊人們可用手機操控，而且從曼哈坦就看得到。場內還將有造價250萬美元的鑽石魔術方塊，人可以走進去的一個巨型魔術方塊，供遊客了解魔術方塊的內部結構，另外還會有一批會玩魔術方塊的機器人。
Google in 2010 donated its computing resources to determine “God’s number,” the minimum number of moves required to solve the cube from any position. In 1980, it was thought to be 52; Google’s computers place it at 20.
谷歌2010年捐出公司的電算資源，以找出從任何位置破解魔術方塊的最少動作數，亦即「上帝的數目」。1980年有人認為是52；谷歌的電腦認為是20。
By the end of the day in Las Vegas, 16-year-old Deven Nadudvari, of Monterey Park, California, had solved each of five different 3-by-3 cubes with one hand in an average 14.86 seconds, setting a North American record.
在拉斯維加斯一天的競賽行將結束時，來自加州蒙特利公園市、16歲的戴文‧納杜瓦里已以平均14.86秒，單手破解5個不同的3x3魔術方塊刷新北美紀錄。
“I just practiced a lot for this competition,” Deven said. Asked what about the cube appealed to him, he said, “I just like it.”
戴文說：「我為競賽做了許多練習。」詢及魔術方塊什麼地方讓他著迷，他說：「我就是喜歡它。」
原文參照：
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/07/science/rubiks-cube-enjoys-another-turn-in-the-spotlight.html
Video: Rubik Nation
http://nyti.ms/MtDZq3
2012-08-21聯合報/G9版/UNITEDDAILYNEWS 王麗娟譯 原文參見紐時週報十版右
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