经济学人:"女巫审判":当喧嚣归于沉寂(2)
时间:2018-12-05 作者:英语课 分类:经济学人综合
英语课
Sometimes accusers come from within the family: Eriko Fufurefa, who runs the KAFE Women's Association, a feminist 1 group in Eastern Highlands, 有时指控者来自家族内部有时指控者就是家里人:KAFE妇女协会是东部高地的一个女性团体,
says that the nephew of a local politician blamed his own mother for his uncle's death. 其管理者Eriko Fufurefa说当地一位政治家的外甥指控自己的母亲害死了这位舅舅。
“They chopped her with a machete and beat her with iron bars,” says Ms Fufurefa, putting her in hospital for a month. “他们用砍刀砍伤她,还用铁条抽打她,” Fufurefa女士说,把她送到医院接受了一个月的治疗。
This too has grown more common: Ms Kakebeeke says accused sorcerers used to be dispatched quietly, at night. 这种情况变得越来越普遍:Kakebeeke女士说被指控的男巫过去经常在晚上被秘密处决。
Now they are subjected to “public torture spectacles—it has become a mass movement”. 现在他们遭受“公共酷刑的场面——这已经变成一项大规模活动”。
Belief in sorcery is widespread in PNG. 很多巴布亚新几内亚的人都相信巫术。
Only in 2013 did the government repeal 2 a law that criminalised sorcery and allowed accusations 3 of witchcraft 4 as a defence in murder cases. 政府才废除了判处巫术的相关法律,并允许在谋杀案件中被控告的“巫术”者为自己辩护。
Locals do not believe that sorcerers or witches are inherently malign 5: many claim—or believe in—magical healing powers, and the ability to bring favourable 6 weather. 当地人不相信,巫师们本来就身是邪恶的:许多人声称——或者相信——巫师拥有有魔法的治疗力量,以及带来好天气的能力。
Monica Paulus is a human-rights activist 7 whose brother once accused her of using sorcery to kill their father (she thinks he wanted the family house). Monica Paulus是一位人权活动家,她的兄弟曾经指控她使用巫术杀死父亲(她认为其兄弟他只是想要家里的房子)。
She tells people they have a right to believe what they want, but “they do not have the right to cause violence or take a life.” 她声称:告诉人们,他们有权利相信自己想要的东西,但是他们“没有权利使用引发暴力或者残害性命”。
She also reminds people that, as Christians 8, they believe that the body dies, but the spirit lives. 她还提醒人们,作为基督徒,他们都相信肉身虽死,魂灵不灭。
The spirit, she says with a glint in her eye, “will find another body to live in, and it could be you: if you kill a witch, that means you could become a witch yourself.” 她眼睛闪着光说:“灵魂会找另一具肉体附身,那个肉体有很可能就是你:如果你杀害过女巫,这意味着你自己也会变成女巫。”
1 feminist
adj.主张男女平等的,女权主义的
- She followed the feminist movement.她支持女权运动。
- From then on,feminist studies on literature boomed.从那时起,男女平等受教育的现象开始迅速兴起。
2 repeal
n.废止,撤消;v.废止,撤消
- He plans to repeal a number of current policies.他计划废除一些当前的政策。
- He has made out a strong case for the repeal of the law.他提出强有力的理由,赞成废除该法令。
3 accusations
n.指责( accusation的名词复数 );指控;控告;(被告发、控告的)罪名
- There were accusations of plagiarism. 曾有过关于剽窃的指控。
- He remained unruffled by their accusations. 对于他们的指控他处之泰然。
4 witchcraft
n.魔法,巫术
- The woman practising witchcraft claimed that she could conjure up the spirits of the dead.那个女巫说她能用魔法召唤亡灵。
- All these things that you call witchcraft are capable of a natural explanation.被你们统统叫做巫术的那些东西都可以得到合情合理的解释。
5 malign
adj.有害的;恶性的;恶意的;v.诽谤,诬蔑
- It was easy to see why the cartoonists regularly portrayed him as a malign cherub.难怪漫画家总是把他画成一个邪恶的小天使。
- She likes to malign innocent persons.她爱诋毁那些清白的人。
6 favourable
adj.赞成的,称赞的,有利的,良好的,顺利的
- The company will lend you money on very favourable terms.这家公司将以非常优惠的条件借钱给你。
- We found that most people are favourable to the idea.我们发现大多数人同意这个意见。
7 activist
n.活动分子,积极分子
- He's been a trade union activist for many years.多年来他一直是工会的积极分子。
- He is a social activist in our factory.他是我厂的社会活动积极分子。
8 Christians
n.基督教徒( Christian的名词复数 )
- Christians of all denominations attended the conference. 基督教所有教派的人都出席了这次会议。
- His novel about Jesus caused a furore among Christians. 他关于耶稣的小说激起了基督教徒的公愤。
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