12 The First Cipher

Chapter 12 THE FIRST CIPHER Coke and Pep stared at the message written on the slip of paper IWI LLME ETY OUIN LLANO ESTA CADO A secret code, as you may remember, disguises words or phrases. A cipher disguises individual letters. For centuries, people have been using these methods to send information without letting other people—their enemies— see it. It doesn't even have to be a secret message. Any symbol or signal can represent something else. For instance, if you wanted to convey the idea of a four-legged furry creature that goes "meow," you would write the letters C-A-T.

第十二章第一个密码可乐和佩普盯着写在纸条上的信息：“wi LLME ETY OUIN LLANO ESTA CADO一个密码，你可能还记得，是把单词或短语伪装起来的。 密码将单个字母伪装起来。 几个世纪以来，人们一直在使用这些方法发送信息，而不让其他人——他们的敌人——看到。 它甚至不必是一条秘密信息。 任何符号或信号都可以代表别的东西。 例如，如果你想表达一个四条腿的毛茸茸的生物会“喵喵”的想法，你会写字母C-A-T。

Anybody who knows that those letters represent a real cat—that is, anybody who knows how to read—will understand the message. That person cracked the code! Of course, it's not usually that easy. Often, one letter is replaced with a different letter or a symbol to hide the meaning of the message. Sometimes the letters are simply rearranged. Governments, companies, and spies and other people have come up with incredibly ingenious ways to keep their information secret. Like this one: Shave the head of your messenger and tattoo your message on his scalp. Then allow enough time for some of his hair to grow back. Then, the only way to decipher the message is to shave his head! Coke and Pep never got their heads shaved. But ever since they left California, they had been receiving a new cipher every few days. At first, the ciphers were coming from Dr. Warsaw himself. After his "accident" at The House on the Rock, they were sent by his young madman

任何知道这些字母代表一只真正的猫的人——也就是说，任何知道如何阅读的人——都会理解这个信息。 那个人破解了密码！当然，这通常不那么容易。 通常，一个字母被另一个字母或符号代替，以隐藏信息的含义。 有时这些字母只是简单地重新排列。 政府、公司、间谍和其他人都想出了令人难以置信的巧妙方法来保密他们的信息。 比如这个：剃掉你的信使的头发，把你的信息纹在他的头皮上。 然后给他足够的时间让他的头发重新长出来。 那么，破译信息的唯一方法就是剃光他的头！可口可乐和佩普从不剃头。 但自从他们离开加州后，每隔几天就会收到一个新的密码。 一开始，这些密码来自于Dr。 华沙。在他在岩石上的房子发生“意外”之后，他们是他的年轻疯子派来的

in-training Archie Clone. After the helicopter crash in Washington at the National Museum of American History, Evil Elvis/Aunt Judy was sending the twins ciphers. But who sent this one? Dr. Warsaw had a nervous breakdown back in Hot Springs. He probably was in no condition to be messing with their heads. Archie Clone and Aunt Judy were no longer alive. The bowler dudes were incompetent idiots. Who could be sending them secret messages now? Mrs. Higgins? Somebody else? And what could IWI LLME ETY OUIN LLANO ESTA CADO possibly mean? Unlike her brother, Pep wasn't very good at absorbing and remembering vast quantities of information. She didn't have a photographic memory. But she was excellent at analyzing information, and in fact it was a hobby of hers. She had an uncanny ability to take a series of seemingly random letters, numbers, or symbols and juggle them around to reveal their secret

训练中的阿奇克隆。在华盛顿美国国家历史博物馆的直升机坠毁后，邪恶的猫王/朱迪阿姨给双胞胎发了密码。 但这张是谁寄来的？博士。 华沙在温泉的时候精神崩溃了。 他可能没有能力去扰乱他们的头脑。 克隆阿奇和朱迪姨妈都已不在人世。 那些打保龄球的家伙都是些无能的白痴。 现在是谁在给他们发秘密信息呢？ 希金斯夫人?别人吗? 我在LLANO ESTA CADO的lllme的意思是什么呢？ 佩普不像她的哥哥，她不擅长吸收和记忆大量的信息。 她没有过目不忘的能力。 但她很擅长分析信息，事实上，这是她的一个爱好。 她有一种不可思议的能力，可以把一系列看似随机的字母、数字或符号玩弄在一起，从而揭示它们的秘密

meaning. "I'm stumped," Coke said after looking at the cipher for a grand total of ten seconds. The boy had lots of good qualities, but a sustained attention span was not one of them. His sister, however, had already figured it out. "Oh, come on. It's easy!" Pep told him. "They haven't even transposed any of the letters. All you have to do is group them differently. Watch." She picked up the pen from the night table and began to write directly below the message. Instead of writing IWI, she wrote I WILL. Instead of writing LLME ETY, she wrote MEET. "I will meet you!" Coke shouted, as if he was deciphering the message himself. "Right," Pep agreed as she continued regrouping the letters. "I WILL MEET YOU IN LLANO ESTACADO. Or Llano Esta Cado. What does 'Llano' mean? Or 'Esta Cado'? It looks Spanish."

的意思。“我被难住了，”科克看了整整十秒钟的密码后说。 这个男孩有很多优点，但持久的注意力却不是其中之一。 然而，他的妹妹已经想通了。 “哦，别这样。很容易!”佩普告诉他。 “他们连一个字母都没有调换。 你所要做的就是把它们按不同的方式分组。 看。”她从床头柜上拿起笔，开始在留言的正下方写字。 她没有写IWI，而是写了I WILL。 她没有写《LLME ETY》，而是写了《MEET》。 “我会去见你的！”可口可乐喊道，好像他自己在破译信息。 “对，”佩普同意了，她继续整理这些字母。 “我们在llano estacado见。 或者拉诺埃斯塔卡多。“Llano”是什么意思？ 或者“Esta Cado”？看起来像西班牙语。”

"Llano Estacado is the part of the southwestern United States that encompasses eastern New Mexico and northwestern Texas," Coke said matter-of-factly. "I think I should call you 'Google' from now on," Pep replied. "But how does that help us?" Coke asked. "What are we supposed to do—meet somebody somewhere in Texas or New Mexico? Gee, that's a big help. Texas is more than 268,000 square miles. And when are we supposed to meet this mysterious person?" "This doesn't help us at all," Pep said. "He's just teasing us. Or she is." Go to Google Maps (http://maps.google.com). Click Get Directions. In the A box, type Durant OK.

“Llano Estacado是美国西南部的一部分，包括新墨西哥州东部和德克萨斯州西北部，”Coke实事求是地说。 “我想从现在开始我应该叫你‘b谷歌’，”佩普回答。 “但这对我们有什么帮助呢？”可口可乐问道。 “我们该怎么做呢——在德克萨斯州或新墨西哥州的某个地方找个人见面？” 哇，真是帮了大忙了。德克萨斯州面积超过26.8万平方英里。 我们什么时候能见到这个神秘的人？”“这对我们一点帮助都没有，”佩普说。 “他只是在戏弄我们。或者她是。” 进入谷歌Maps （http://maps.google.com）。 点击“获取路线”。在A框中，输入Durant OK。

In the B box, type Denison TX. Click Get Directions.

在B框中，输入Denison TX。 点击“获取路线”。