雙語暢銷書《艾倫圖靈傳》第5章:解謎接力賽(14)
It shows the state of the machine at some particular moment in its use.
The lines marked correspond to current-carrying wires.
這些線表示相應的電路。A simple switch system at the input has the effect that if a key (say the B key) is depressed, a current flows (as shown in the diagram by bold lines) and lights up a bulb in the output display panel (in this case, under the letter D).
輸入端是一個簡單的開關係統，如果按下一個鍵（在這個例子中是B），電流就會按照圖中的粗線方向流動，然後輸出端對應的燈泡就會亮起來（在此例中是D）。
For the hypothetical 8-letter Enigma, the next state of the machine would be:
這個機器的下一個狀態是：轉動一格不動不動For the 26-letter Enigma, there would be 26 × 26 × 26 = 17576 possible states of the rotors.
對於26個字母的謎機來說，一共有263（圖）=17, 576種不同的轉盤狀態。They were geared essentially like any kind of adding machine or comptometer, so that the middle rotor would move on one step when the first had made a complete revolution, and the innermost move a step when the middle one had made a complete turn.
它們基本上就像加法機或康普託計算機那樣組合在一起注，第一個轉盤每轉一圈，中間的轉盤就旋轉一格，中間的轉盤每轉一圈，最裏面的轉盤就旋轉一格。The 'reflector', however, would not move, it being a fixed set of wires connecting the outputs of the innermost rotor.
反饋器是不能移動的，它是一個固定的設備，與最裏面的轉盤的輸出相連。So the Enigma was polyalphabetic, with a period of 17576.
所以，謎機是一個週期爲17, 576的單字母替換機，But this was not a 'tremendously large number'.
但這並不算是一個"非常大的數"。Indeed, it would require a book only the size of a ready reckoner for all the alphabets to be written out.
實際上，用一個密碼手冊也完全可以把這些規則全部寫下來。
