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国家密码博物馆收藏着过去的秘密

今天，我们带你去参观一个很小的博物馆，该博物馆位于马里兰州，这个博物馆叫国家密码博物馆，在这个博物馆中，收藏着曾经是秘密的信息。

这个小小的博物馆位于华盛顿特区附近的乔治堡米德军事基地，这个博物馆向人们讲述了密码以及从事这种与众不同的工作的男男女女们的故事。密码(cryptology)来自希腊语“kryptos logos”，它的意思是“隐藏的词”。密码是采用秘密的方法将你所要表达的意思隐藏起来进行书写和传递。

这个博物馆向我们展示了许多曾经是制作秘密信息的设备，这些设备中还包括破解密码的设备。有一个与众不同的例子是棉被，棉被是一种床上用品。这些棉被都是人工制作的，人们通常给棉被缝上各种鲜艳的图案。有一种特殊的棉被就用来传递秘密的信息。

在美国早期，来自非洲的黑人在南方被当作奴隶。奴隶们用各种不同的图案来缝制棉被，这些棉被就向人们讲述真实的故事。经过特殊设计的棉被讲述了奴隶是如何逃出南方到北方各州寻求自由的。

在博物馆中，有一床被上缝了一个表示北极星的图案，奴隶们知道他们不得不从南方逃出到北方寻找自由，这床被就告诉奴隶跟随着北极星走就是了。棉被中其他一些图案则代表着道路和小房子。历史学家说，在美国奴隶制期间大约有六万奴隶逃离南方奔向自由，这些专家并不能确切地知道这些棉被在奴隶逃离南方时到底起了多大的作用，但这些棉被为那些试图逃离南方的奴隶提供了必要的信息。

密码博物馆中的一些展品告诉我们制作秘密信息和破译外国秘密信息是何等的重要。秘密信息又叫密码。博物馆中所展出的一件极为重要的展品向我们讲述了在二战期间，美国试图破译日本军事密码的故事。日本海军使用特殊的机器将书写的信息转换成密码，然后这种密码通过无线电广播传送到日本的军舰或军事基地，这些密码中包含着许多秘密的军事计划和军事命令。

日本海军领导人认为没有人能够破译他们的密码，但他们错了。有一位美国海军军官，他叫约瑟夫.罗切福特下决心要破译日本的密码，他之所以要这么做是为了了解日本海军的计划。

罗切福特先生在美国夏威夷珍珠港海军基地的一间小房子中工作。那是在1942年初，美国海军太平洋舰队指挥官是切斯特.尼米兹海军上将，他所率领的海军力量要比日本海军弱小的多，而且日本已经取得了许多的胜利。

约瑟夫.罗切福特研究日本海军密码“J-N-Twenty-Five”长达数月，如果他能够读懂这些密码，他就能够给尼米兹上将提供有价值的信息，尼米兹上将将采用这些信息为即将开始的战斗做出必要的决策。到这一年的上半年，罗切福特先生和他的工作小组能够读懂日本海军密码“J-N-Twenty-Five” 20%的信息。

从1942年初开始，日本密码所传递的信息中都在讨论一个地方，这个地方在日本密码中叫“A-F”，罗切福特先生觉得日本正计划在一个叫“A-F”的地方发动一场重大战役。但“A-F”在什么地方呢？经过几个星期的努力，罗切福特先生和另一位海军专家对尼米兹上将说，他们认为日本密码中所提到的“A-F”很可能就是美军所占领的中途岛。尼米兹上将说他不能仅凭这一点就制定进攻或防御计划，他需要更多的信息。

美国海军专家决定做一个骗局，他们让在中途岛的美军广播一条虚假的消息。这条虚假的消息说中途岛的淡水处理设备出现了问题，因此要求立即向中途岛输送淡水。这条信息并没有通过密码传播。几天后，日本用“J-N-Twenty-Five”密码发送的一条广播中说到“A-F”缺水。

罗切福特先生得到了他所需要的证据，“A-F”就是中途岛。他还告诉尼米兹上将，日本将在6月3日进攻中途岛。尼米兹上将通过这些信息，秘密地将自己的海军潜入到中途岛附近，以等待日本海军的到来。在随后的这场战役中，美军取得大胜。现在，历史学家们说，中途岛战役是美国在太平洋取得胜利的开端。正是因约瑟夫.罗切福特破译了日本密码，发现了“A-F”这两个关键字的意思而使这场胜利成为可能。

有一个美国密码至今没有人能够破译，也许永远也不可能破译，这个密码在二战期间的太平洋海战中所使用。长期以来，政府将不会讨论这种密码。请你听一听这种非常与众不同的密码的录音，你就能明白，为什么日军永远无法破译这种密码。

你也许会猜想，这种密码可能是某一土著美国人的声音，你刚才听到的是这个土著美国人正用纳瓦霍语唱一首简单的歌曲。纳瓦霍部落之外的人很少能够会说他们这种复杂的语言。在第二次世界大战开始时，美国海军陆战队要求纳瓦霍人作为用密码说话的人而参加训练。

据密码博物馆介绍，在二战期间，大约有四百个纳瓦霍人效力于美国海军陆战队，他们能够在二十秒内将一句英语转换成他们的语言，而在当时，一台机器则需要三十分钟。二战期间，当海军陆战队参加太平洋战争时，纳瓦霍人参加了好几次战役。日本人在破译密码方面非常高明，但他们从来就不懂他们所称之为的“海军密码”到底是什么意思。战后很多年来，美国公众都不知道美国海军中这些能够用密码说话的纳瓦霍人的功勋。美国政府一直保守这个秘密，并把纳瓦霍语仍然当作一种传递信息非常有价值的语言而加以保护。

密码博物馆还收藏了许多将文字转换成密码的机器和电子设备，同样，这里还有同样多的将密码转换成有用的文字的机器设备。

在这些设备中，也许最著名的当属一种德国在二战期间所使用的密码机器，这种密码机器叫英格码(Enigma)，“Enigma”这个词的意思就是谜或非常难解决的问题。德国英格码机器由德国军方使用，用来传送命令和计划。美国、英国和波兰政府都成功地破译了由英格码所传送的信息，为此耗费了数千人和数百万美元。然而，所有这些时间、精力和金钱的付出，最终加速了对纳粹德国战争的结束。

国家密码博物馆属于美国国家安全局，这个机构通常被人们称之为“NSA”。国家安全局的一项职责就是为美国政府编制密码。国家安全局的工作是不对外公开的，然而，国家密码博物馆中所讲述的为NSA工作的男男女女们的故事，都是在他们离开这项工作很长时间以后，不再需要保密了，才在博物馆中展出。密码博物馆所展出的表现了这一秘密、艰苦甚至苛刻的工作的价值。游客们说，看到这些曾经是非常非常秘密的设备和文件真的非常有趣。

简评：

无论我们的社会是如何的自由、如何的民主、如何的开放，但秘密，在什么时候都将永远存在。也许有一天，某一秘密会被解开，那也只能是这个秘密已经不再是秘密了。

人类社会之所以有秘密，在于人的私心。是人，都有私心!正因为人有私心，也就有了不想与他人分享的东西，于是也就有了秘密。只要有人，就必然有秘密!

然而，有人说，秘密越多的社会，这个社会就越不安全。有人说，秘密越多的社会，人的自由也就越少，也就越容易受到限制。于是就有人千方百计地想办法，让我们这个社会的秘密越来越少，并把秘密的多少作为衡量一个社会文明程度的高低。

于是，秘密也就出现了分类，有人将秘密分成两大类，一类是社会公共秘密，一类是个人的秘密。第一类，关系到某一群体的每个人，有人说，这样的秘密应该大大地减少。第二类，只涉及到某人自身或很少的几个人，这也就常被人称之为隐私。对于隐私，人们则要求进行严格的保护。

我们的政府管理和社会公共事务，当属于社会公共范畴，在这个范畴中，秘密应当是越少越好，因为，这样的秘密越少，人们才更有机会参与政府管理和与公共事务，而只有绝大多数人都能切实参与政府管理和公共事务，才能真正地把政府管理和公共事务做好。

National Cryptologic Museum Is Filled With Secrets of the Past

Today we visit a small museum in the state of Maryland. It is called the National Cryptologic Museum. It is filled with information that was once very secret. 

The little National Cryptologic Museum is on the Fort George G. Meade military base near Washington, D.C. It tells the story of cryptology and the men and women who have worked in this unusual profession. The word cryptology comes from the Greek "kryptos logos." It means "hidden word." Cryptology is writing or communicating using secret methods to hide the meaning of your words.

The museum shows many pieces of equipment that were once used to make information secret. It also has equipment that was used in an effort to read secret information. One unusual example is a kind of bed covering called a quilt. Quilts are made by hand. They usually have a colorful design sewn on them. One special kind of quilt was used to pass on secret information.

In the early history of the United States, black people from Africa were used as slaves in the southern states. Slaves sewed quilts that had very unusual designs. These quilts really told stories. The quilts were made with designs that told slaves how to escape to freedom in the northern states.

The museum has an example that shows a design that represents the North Star. Slaves knew they had to travel from the South to the North to escape to freedom. The quilt tells a slave to follow the North Star. Other designs in the quilt represent roads and a small house. History experts say about sixty thousand slaves escaped to freedom during the period of slavery. The experts do not know how much the quilts really helped, but they did provide needed information for those trying to escape.

The Cryptologic Museum has several examples that show the importance of creating secret information, or trying to read secret information written by foreign nations. Secret information is also called code. One of the most important displays at the museum shows American attempts to read Japanese military information codes during World War Two. The Japanese Navy used special machines to change their written information into secret codes. This coded information was then transmitted by radio to ships and bases. Much of this information contained secret military plans and orders.

The leaders of the Japanese Navy believed no one could read or understand the secret codes. They were wrong. An American Naval officer named Joseph Rochefort worked very hard to break the Japanese code. He did this in an effort to learn what the Japanese Navy was planning.

Mister Rochefort did his work in a small building on the American naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. It was early in nineteen forty-two. The American naval commander in the Pacific Ocean was Admiral Chester Nimitz. His forces were much smaller than the Japanese Naval forces. And the Japanese had been winning many victories.

Joseph Rochefort had worked for several months to read the secret Japanese Naval code called J-N-Twenty-Five. If he could read enough of the code, Mister Rochefort would be able to provide Admiral Nimitz with very valuable information. Admiral Nimitz could use this information to make the necessary decisions to plan for battle. By the early part of the year, Mister Rochefort and the men who worked with him could read a little less than twenty percent of the Japanese J-N-Twenty-Five code. 

From the beginning of nineteen forty-two, the Japanese code carried information that discussed a place called "A-F." Mister Rochefort felt the Japanese were planning an important battle aimed at "A-F."   But where was "A-F"? After several weeks, Mister Rochefort and other naval experts told Admiral Nimitz that their best idea was that the "A-F" in the Japanese code was the American-held island of Midway.  Admiral Nimitz said he could not plan an attack or a defense based on only an idea. He needed more information.

The Navy experts decided to try a trick. They told the American military force on Midway to broadcast a false message. The message would say the island was having problems with its water-processing equipment. The message asked that fresh water be sent immediately to the island. This message was not sent in code.  Several days later, a Japanese radio broadcast in the J-N-Twenty-Five code said that "A-F" had little water. 

Mister Rochefort had the evidence he needed. "A-F" was now known to be the island of Midway. He also told Admiral Nimitz the Japanese would attack Midway on June third. Admiral Nimitz used this information to secretly move his small force to an area near Midway and wait for the Japanese Navy. The battle that followed was a huge American victory. History experts now say the Battle of Midway was the beginning of the American victory in the Pacific. That victory was possible because Joseph Rochefort learned to read enough of the Japanese code to discover the meaning of the two letters "A-F."

One American code has never been broken. Perhaps it never will. It was used in the Pacific during World War Two. For many years the government would not discuss this secret code. Listen for a moment to this very unusual code. Then you may understand why the Japanese military forces were never able to understand any of it.

You may have guessed that the code is in the voice of a Native American. The man you just heard is singing a simple song in the Navajo language. Very few people outside the Navajo nation are able to speak any of their very difficult language. At the beginning of World War Two, the United States Marine Corps asked members of the Navajo tribe to train as Code Talkers.

The Cryptologic Museum says about four hundred Navajos served as Marine Corps Code Talkers during the war. They could take a sentence in English and change it into their language in about twenty seconds. A code machine at that time took about thirty minutes to do the same work. The Navajo Code Talkers took part in every battle the Marines entered in the Pacific during World War Two. The Japanese were very skilled at breaking codes. But they were never able to understand any of what they called "The Marine Code."  For many years after the war, the American public did not know about the valuable work done by the Marine Navajo Code Talkers. The United States government kept their work a secret and their language continued to be a valuable method of passing secret information. 

The Cryptologic Museum has many pieces of mechanical and electric equipment used to change words into code. It also has almost as many examples of machines used to try to change code back into useful words.

Perhaps the most famous is a World War Two German code machine called the Enigma. The word "enigma" means a puzzle or a problem that is difficult to solve.  The German Enigma machine was used by the German military to pass orders and plans. The United States, Britain, and the government of Poland were all successful in learning to read information transmitted by the Enigma. It took thousands of people and cost millions of dollars to read the Enigma information. However, the time, effort and money resulted in a quicker end to the war against Nazi Germany.

The National Cryptologic Museum belongs to the United States National Security Agency. The agency is usually called the N.S.A. One of the N.S.A.'s many jobs is cryptography for the United States government. The work of the N.S.A. is not open to the public. However, the National Cryptologic Museum tells the story of the men and women who work at the N.S.A. long after their work is no longer secret. Each part of the museum shows the value of this secret, difficult and demanding work. Visitors say it is really fun to see equipment and read documents that were once very important and very, very secret. 

http://www.wwenglish.com/m07/voa/spec/2008/09/wwenglish.com_exp080924.mp3