What really happened during the Salem Witch Trials - Brian A. Pavlac

譯者: Lilian Chiu 審譯者: Helen Chang

You’ve been accused of a crime you did not commit.

你被控訴犯罪，但你並未犯罪。

It’s impossible to prove your innocence.

卻完全不可能證明自己的清白。

If you insist that you’re innocent anyway,

如果你還是堅持自己清白，

you’ll likely be found guilty and executed.

就可能被判有罪並被處死。

But if you confess, apologize, and implicate others for good measure,

但如果你認罪、道歉， 再額外拖別人下水，

you’ll go free.

你就可獲得自由。

Do you give a false confession— or risk a public hanging?

你會做假的供詞， 還是要冒被公開吊死的風險？

This was the choice facing those accused of witchcraft

麻州沙連在 1692 年 2 月 到 1693 年 5 月之間，

in the village of Salem, Massachusetts between February 1692 and May 1693.

被指控使用巫術的人 就要面臨這種選擇。

They were the victims of paranoia about the supernatural,

他們都是受害者，原因是 人們對超自然力量的偏執、

misdirected religious fervor—

誤導的宗教熱情——

and a justice system that valued repentance over truth.

以及重視悔改多於真相的司法體制。

Salem was settled in 1626 by Puritans, a group of English protestants.

一群清教徒（英國的新教徒） 於 1626 年定居沙連。

Life was strict and isolated for the people of Salem.

對沙連人而言， 生活很嚴竣且與外界隔絕。

Battles with their Native American neighbors

和原住民鄰居以及法國定居族群

and groups of French settlers were commonplace.

打起來是司空見慣的事。

People feared starvation and disease,

人們很害怕挨餓和疾病，

and relations between villagers were strained.

且村民之間的關係很緊張。

To make matters worse, 1692 brought one of the coldest winters on record.

更糟糕的是，1692 年出現了 記錄中最寒冷的冬天之一。

That winter, two cousins,

那年冬天，兩位表親，

9 year old Betty Parris and 11 year old Abigail Williams

九歲的貝蒂派瑞斯 和十一歲的艾碧加威廉斯

started behaving very strangely.

開始出現奇怪的行為。

A physician found nothing physically wrong —

醫生認為她們身體上 完全沒問題——

but diagnosed the girls as under “an evil hand.”

但診斷她們被「邪惡之手」操控。

Puritans believed that the Devil wreaked havoc in the world through human agents,

清教徒相信魔鬼 若要在世界上作亂，

就得透過人類代理人，或女巫，

or witches, who blighted nature, conjured fiendish apparitions,

她們會破壞大自然、召喚惡靈，

and tormented children.

以及虐待孩童。

As news swept through the village, the symptoms appeared to spread.

隨著消息傳遍全村， 症狀也開始傳播開來。

Accounts describe 12 so-called “afflicted” girls contorting their bodies,

根據記述，有十二名 所謂「受折磨」的女孩

會扭曲身體、發作， 以及抱怨皮膚刺痛。

having fits, and complaining of prickling skin.

Four of the girls soon accused three local women of tormenting them.

很快的，當中四名女孩便控訴 三名當地女子折磨她們。

All three of the accused were considered outsiders in some way.

這三位被控訴的女子 在某種程度上被視為是外人。

On February 29th, the authorities arrested Sarah Good,

二月二十九日，當權機關 逮捕了莎菈·古德，

a poor pregnant mother of a young daughter,

她是位帶著小女兒的懷孕窮媽媽；

Sarah Osbourne, who had long been absent from church

莎菈·奧斯本長年沒有上教堂，

and was suing the family of one of her accusers,

且當時正在和其中一位 控訴者的家人打官司；

and Tituba, an enslaved woman in Betty Parris’s home

還有提突巴，是貝蒂·派瑞家的奴隸，

known by her first name only.

不知道她的姓氏。

Tituba denied harming the girls at first.

提突巴一開始否認傷害那些女孩。

But then she confessed to practicing witchcraft on the Devil’s orders,

但接著，她便承認 受到魔鬼指示而施行巫術，

and charged Good and Osbourne with having forced her.

並指控古德和奧斯本強迫她這麼做。

Osbourne and Good both maintained their innocence.

奧斯本和古德兩人都堅持自己清白。

Osbourne died in prison, while Good’s husband turned against her in court,

奧斯本死在獄中，

古德的丈夫在法庭上倒戈，

testifying that she "was a witch or would be one very quickly."

作證說她「若不是女巫 也很快就會成為女巫」。

Good’s 4 year old daughter was imprisoned

古德的四歲女兒被監禁起來，

and eventually gave testimony against her mother.

最終也作證指控她的母親。

Meanwhile, Good gave birth in jail.

同時，古德在獄中產下孩子。

Her baby died, and she was convicted and hanged shortly thereafter.

她的寶寶沒活下來， 沒多久後她便被定罪吊死。

Tituba was held in custody until May, and then released.

提突巴被拘留到五月，然後被釋放。

These three victims were just the beginning.

這三名受害者才只是開端。

As accusations multiplied, others, like Tituba,

隨著指控倍增， 其他人也像提突巴一樣

made false confession to save themselves.

為了自救而做出假的供詞。

The authorities even reportedly told one accused witch

據說，當權機關甚至 告訴一位被指控的女巫

that she would be hanged if she did not confess, and freed if she did.

她若不認罪就會被吊死， 若認罪則會被釋放。

They were not particularly interested in thoroughly investigating the charges—

他們並不特別想要對指控 做徹底的調查——

in keeping with their Church’s teachings, they preferred that the accused confessed,

這點很符合教堂的教導， 他們偏好被指控的人認錯，

asked for forgiveness, and promised not to engage in more witchcraft.

尋求寬恕，並保證不再施行巫術。

The court accepted all kinds of dubious evidence,

法庭接受各種含糊的證據，

including so-called “spectral evidence”

包括所謂的「靈異證據」，

in which the girls began raving when supposedly touched by invisible ghosts.

也就是女孩被看不見的鬼魂 觸碰之後就會開始胡言亂語。

Complicating matters further, many of the jurors in the trials

讓事情更複雜的是， 許多審判中的陪審團

were relatives of the accusers, compromising their objectivity.

都是控訴者的親戚，很難保持客觀。

Those who dared to speak out, such as Judge Nathanial Saltonstall,

敢說出來的人，比如 納森尼爾·索頓斯托爾法官，

came under suspicion.

則受到懷疑。

By the spring of 1693, over a hundred people had been imprisoned,

到 1693 年春天， 已有超過一百人被監禁、

and 14 women and 6 men had been executed.

十四名女性和六名男性被處決。

By this time, accusations were starting to spread beyond Salem

此時，指控已經開始散播到

沙連以外的鄰近社區，

to neighboring communities, and even the most powerful figures were targets.

甚至連最有權的人物也成了目標。

When his own wife was accused,

麻薩諸塞殖民地的總督

the governor of Massachusetts colony suspended the trials.

在他自己的妻子遭到 控訴後便將審判延緩。

Sentences were amended, prisoners released, and arrests stopped.

判刑被重新修改，囚犯被釋放， 逮捕人的行動也停下來了。

Some have speculated that the girls were suffering from hallucinations

有些人推測，這些女孩 是因為菌類而產生幻覺；

caused by fungus;

or a condition that caused swelling of the brain.

或者因腦部腫脹而產生這種狀況。

But ultimately, the reason for their behavior is unknown.

但，最終仍然無法得知 她們行為怪異的原因。

What we do know is that adults accepted wild accusations by children

我們確實知道的是 成人接受孩童的胡亂指控，

且將之視為鐵證。

as hard evidence.

Today, the Salem Witch Trials remain a cautionary tale

現今，沙連女巫審判 仍然是個警世寓言，

of the dangers of groupthink and scapegoating,

點出小集團思想 和尋找替罪羊的危險性，

and the power of fear to manipulate human perception.

以及恐懼具有能夠 操弄人類感受的力量。