2. The Banana Cream Pie Paradox

CHAPTER 2 THE BANANA CREAM PIE PARADOX Time machines are awesome. There's no doubt about it. But they can also be very dangerous. It's possible that a person could go back in time and accidentally change one little thing— and that one teeny, tiny, itsy-bitsy thing could profoundly affect the future. This is what scientists refer to as the Banana Cream Pie Paradox. BANANA CREAM PIE PARADOX PLEASE FOLLOW ALONG WITH THESE HANDY ILLUSTRATIONS

香蕉奶油派悖论时光机太棒了。 这是毫无疑问的。 但它们也可能非常危险。 一个人有可能回到过去，不小心改变了一件小事，而这一件微不足道的小事可能会深刻地影响未来。 这就是科学家所说的香蕉奶油派悖论。 香蕉奶油派悖论请跟随这些方便的插图

Imagine, if you will, that a scientist from the year 2020 baked a banana cream pie using bananas that he harvested from his very own banana tree. Let's suppose now that this scientist took his banana cream pie into a time machine, which zapped him (and the pie) back to the year 1936 Now imagine that the scientist stepped out of his time machine and accidentally tripped, smashing his pie into the face of a lady sitting at a fancy garden party.

想象一下，如果你愿意的话，一位2020年的科学家用他从自己的香蕉树上收获的香蕉烤了一个香蕉奶油派。 现在让我们假设这位科学家把他的香蕉奶油派带进了时光机，时光机把他（和派）带回了1936年。现在想象一下，这位科学家从时光机里走出来，不小心绊倒了，把他的派砸到了一位坐在豪华花园派对上的女士的脸上。

Now suppose that the lady jumped up angrily, wiped a handful of gooey banana cream pie filling from her face, and threw it at the scientist. The scientist ducked... causing the banana goo to smack into the face of a gentleman standing nearby.

现在假设这位女士生气地跳起来，从脸上擦去一把粘稠的香蕉奶油馅饼馅，扔给了这位科学家。 科学家躲开了……导致香蕉酱砸到旁边一位绅士的脸上。

A waitress pointed at the gentleman and laughed. The angry gentleman wiped the goo from his face... ...and smooshed it into the waitress's face.

一位女服务员指着那位先生笑了。 生气的绅士擦去脸上的黏液。 …然后把它砸在服务员脸上。

"Well!" said the waitress. "I've never been so insulted in all my life!" "You oughtta get out more, lady! Nyuk, n'yuk, n'yuk!" said a wise guy. "Why don't you mind your own business, birdbrain?" said another man...

“嗯！”女服务员说。 “我这辈子从来没有受到过这样的侮辱！”“你应该多出去走走，小姐！”不，不，不！”一个聪明的家伙说。 “你为什么不管你自己的事，笨蛋？”另一个人说……

...as he poked the wise guy in the eyes. The wise guy fell backward and landed on the scientists banana tree (which was just a tiny sapling in 1936). The tiny banana tree snapped in half and died.

…他戳了戳那个聪明人的眼睛。 这个聪明的家伙向后跌倒，落在科学家的香蕉树上（这棵树在1936年只是一棵很小的树苗）。 那棵小香蕉树断成两半，死了。