"Are you serious? -- do you really believe that a machine thinks?'

I got no immediate¹ reply; Moxon was apparently² intent upon the coals in the grate, touching³ them deftly⁴（熟练地） here and there with the fire-poker till they signified a sense of his attention by a brighter glow. For several weeks I had been observing in him a growing habit of delay in answering even the most trivial（不重要的，琐碎的） of commonplace questions. His air, however, was that of preoccupation rather than deliberation: one might have said that he had 'something on his mind.'

Presently he said: 'What is a "machine"? The word has been variously defined. Here is one definition from a popular dictionary: "Any instrument or organization by which power is applied⁵ and made effective, or a desired effect produced." Well, then, is not a man a machine? And you will admit that he thinks -- or thinks he thinks.'

'If you do not wish to answer my question,' said, rather testily⁶, 'why not say so? -- all that you say is mere⁷ evasion⁸（逃避，借口） . You know well enough that when I say "machine" I do not mean a man, but something that man has made and controls.'

'When it does not control him,' he said, rising abruptly⁹ and looking out of a window, whence nothing was visible in the blackness of a stormy night. A moment later he turned about and with a smile said: 'I beg your pardon; I had no thought of evasion. I considered the dictionary man's unconscious testimony¹⁰ suggestive and worth something in the discussion. I can give your question a direct answer easily enough: I do believe that a machine thinks about the work that it is doing.'

That was direct enough, certainly. It was not altogether pleasing, for it tended to confirm a sad suspicion that Moxon's devotion to study and work in his machine-shop had not been good for him. I knew, for one thing, that he suffered from insomnia¹¹, and that is no light affliction. Had it affected¹² his mind? His reply to my question seemed to me then evidence that it had; perhaps I should think differently about it now. I was younger then, and among the blessings¹³ that are not denied to youth is ignorance. Incited¹⁴ by that great stimulant¹⁵ to controversy¹⁶, I said:

'And what, pray, does it think with -- in the absence of a brain?'