雙語暢銷書《艾倫圖靈傳》第4章:彼岸新星(44)
Von Neumann would have been asked to write the letter, because his name carried such weight.
But why did he make no mention of Computable Numbers, a far more substantial piece of work than the papers to which he referred?
但不知道爲什麼，這封信中沒有提到《可計算數》，這可比信中那些重要多了。Had Alan failed to make him aware of it, even after the paper had been printed, and reprints sent round?
難道艾倫在論文印刷好，並寄給很多人以後，還是沒有讓馮·諾伊曼知道嗎？
If Alan had an entrée with von Neumann, the first thing he should have done was to exploit it to help bring Computable Numbers to attention.
如果艾倫得到了馮·諾伊曼的欣賞，他的第一件事就應該是讓馮·諾伊曼關注《可計算數》。It would be typical of what was perceived as his lack of worldly sense, if he had been too shy to push his work upon the 'mathematical bigwig'.
如果這是因爲艾倫害羞，恥於把他的研究"推銷"給數學權威，那麼這就是艾倫缺乏世俗感的典型例子。Against Alan's prediction, and perhaps to his mild chagrin, the redoubtable Maurice Pryce had been appointed to a Cambridge lectureship, as had Ray Lyttleton, the current Procter Fellow.
然後艾倫的預感只對了一半，也許另一半會讓他懊惱：莫瑞斯·普利斯獲得了劍橋大學的講師席位，此外還有上一年度的寶潔獎學金獲得者雷·力託頓。And Alan did after all spend some time in travel, for Maurice Pryce sold him his car, a 1931 V8 Ford, which had taken him all over the continent on the tour that as a Commonwealth Fellow he had been obliged to make in summer 1936.
艾倫花了一些時間去旅遊，因爲莫瑞斯把他的車賣給了艾倫，是一輛1931年的福特V8，去年夏天他曾經開着這輛車，逛遍了幾乎整個洲。Maurice taught him to drive, which was not an easy task, for Alan was ham-handed and not good with machines.
莫瑞斯教艾倫開車，這可不是個好差事，艾倫笨手笨腳，不太擅長操作機器。Once he nearly reversed into the Carnegie Lake and drowned them both.
有一次艾倫開車掉進了卡耐基湖，差點把他們都淹死。Then on about 10 June they took off together for a Turing family visit, which no doubt Mrs Turing had long been urging upon Alan.
6月10號，他們一起去拜訪一位圖靈家的親戚，這想必是圖靈夫人勸艾倫去的。It was to a cousin on her mocher's side who had emigrated from Ireland.
這位親戚名叫傑克·克勞福德，Jack Crawford now nearly seventy, was the retired Rector of Wakefield, Rhode Island.
年近古稀，以前是羅得島州威克費德的教區長，現在已經退休了。
