经济学人:"女巫审判":当喧嚣归于沉寂(2)

 　　Sometimes accusers come from within the family: Eriko Fufurefa, who runs the KAFE Women's Association, a feminist¹ 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 repeal² a law that criminalised sorcery and allowed accusations³ of witchcraft⁴ 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 malign⁵: many claim—or believe in—magical healing powers, and the ability to bring favourable⁶ 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 activist⁷ 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 Christians⁸, 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

参考例句：

• 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

参考例句：

• 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

参考例句：

• 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

参考例句：

• 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

参考例句：

• 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

参考例句：

• 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

参考例句：

• 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 )

参考例句：

• 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。