In practice few, if any, people have been shot with silver bullets as werewolves, or had stakes driven through their hearts in a Van-Helsing22)-style as vampires. Staking of a different kind was, however, a real risk for those accused of witchcraft in 17th-century Europe or America.
实际上,很少有人被当做狼人用银弹射杀,或被当成吸血鬼用范海辛猎杀吸血鬼的方式拿木桩穿过心脏。然而,在17世纪的欧洲或美洲,对那些被怀疑会巫术的人而言,另一种形式的桩刑却是一种真实的威胁。
Part of the reputation of witchcraft is almost certainly due to the effects of naturally occurring hallucinogenic23) drugs. One that frequently gets the blame is muscarine24), the active ingredient of fly agarics25), the red and white toadstools26) beloved of the illustrators of books of fairy tales. Consumption of even quite small amounts of fly agaric is likely to enable the diner to converse with the gnomes27) who inhabit the toadstools in question or, even more pertinently28), to fly.
巫术的部分名声几乎肯定可以归因于天然致幻药物的作用。其中一种常受批评的药物是蝇蕈碱,它是毒蝇伞(童话书插图画家钟爱的红白相间的伞菌)的活性成分。食用少量的毒蝇伞就可能使人与居住在该种伞菌之中的土地神对话,甚或飞翔。
A second fungus, with the less fetching name of Claviceps purpurea29), is also implicated in witchcraft. Claviceps is the natural source of LSD30), perhaps the most famous hallucinogen of all. It grows as a parasite31) on rye32), and the "trip33)" produced by eating infected rye is known today as ergotism34). But in earlier times, such drug-induced visions might well have borne alternative, more magical, explanations. And as Mary Kilbourne Matossian, a researcher and author on the effects of disease on history, observed a few years ago, many of the 17th-century witch panics (including that at Salem, Massachusetts) occurred in places where rye was widely cultivated, and after weather that was propitious35) for the growth of Claviceps.
另外一种名字更为朴实的蘑菇麦角菌也与巫术有关。麦角菌是麦角酸酰二乙胺的天然来源,而这或许是最著名的迷幻剂。它寄生在黑麦上,今天人们吃了受感染的黑麦后出现幻觉叫麦角中毒。但是在早期,这种药物所致的幻觉可能会有更神秘的其他解释。正如研究疾病对历史影响的专家和作家玛丽·基尔伯恩·马托西安几年前指出的一样,17世纪很多的女巫恐慌(包括发生在马萨诸塞州塞勒姆的恐慌事件)都发生在黑麦广为生长的地方,和利于麦角菌繁殖的季节之后。
Zombies are also thought by some researchers to be people who have passed through a drug-induced state. Unlike vampires, werewolves and witches, zombies are a purely New-World36) phenomenon. Specifically, they come from Haiti. Zombies are supposed to be the "living dead". In fact, the process of zombification seems to involve the deliberate poisoning of an individual with toxin from a puffer fish (the sort used to make the prized but dangerous Japanese dish fugu). This puts him into a death-like trance37), from which he is revived with a potion made from the seeds of a hallucinogenic plant known as the zombie cucumber. The result, apparently, is a biddable38) slave who is convinced he has died and been resurrected. Trick or treat?
部分研究者也认为,僵尸是经过药物处理的人。与吸血鬼、狼人和女巫不同,僵尸纯粹是存在于新大陆的现象。具体而言,它们来自海地。僵尸被认为是“行尸走肉”。事实上,制作僵尸的过程似乎是用一种河豚(用于制作那道昂贵而危险的日本菜的河豚)的毒素故意对一个人下毒,使他进入一种死亡般的恍惚状态,然后再用一种毒药将他唤醒,这种毒药取自一种名叫“僵尸黄瓜”的致幻植物的种子。其结果,很明显,就诞生了自认为是死而复生的顺从奴隶。不给糖就捣蛋!
1. rational [5rAFEnEl] adj. 理性的,理智的
2. priestess [5pri:stIs] n. 女祭司
3. zombie [5zRmbI] n. 还魂尸
4. plausible [5plC:zEbl] adj. (论点等)貌似有理的;(说法等)貌似真实的
5. speculation [7spekju5leIFEn] n. 推测,猜测,推断
6. hypothesis [haI5pCWIsIs] n. 假说,假设
7. vampirism [5vAmpaIErIzEm] n. 吸血症
8. porphyria [pC:5fIrIE] n. 【医】卟啉症(一种遗传性卟啉代谢的病态紊乱)
9. urine [5juErIn] n. 尿,小便
10. convoluted [5kCnvElu:tId] adj. 盘错的,错综复杂的
11. notion [5nEuFEn] n. (怪)念头
12. neurologist [7njuE5rClEdVIst] n. 神经病学家;神经病科医师
13. rabies [5reIbi:z] n. 【医】狂犬病
14. insomnia [In5sCmnIE] n. 失眠;失眠症
15. aversion [E5v\:FEn] n. 厌恶,反感
16. garlic [5^B:lIk] n. 大蒜,蒜
17. lycanthropy [laI5kAnWrEpI] n. 【心】变狼(妄想)症,变兽(妄想)症
18. albeit [C:l5bi:It] conj. 尽管,即使
19. overtone [5EuvEtEun] n. [常作~s] 弦外之音,含蓄之意;暗示
20. bestial [5bestjEl] adj. 野兽的;野兽般的
21. farfetched [5fa:fetFt] adj. 牵强附会的,不切实际的
22. Van Helsing: 范海辛,吸血鬼猎人。
23. hallucinogenic [hE7lu:sInE5dVEnIk] adj. 引起幻觉的
24. muscarine [5mQskErIn] n. 【生化】毒蝇碱
25. fly agaric: 【植】蛤蟆菌,毒蝇伞;agaric [5A^ErIk] n. 【植】伞菌
26. toadstool [5tEJdstu:l] n. 【植】伞菌;毒菌
27. gnome [nEum] n. (民间传说中居于地下的)地下宝藏守护神,土地神
28. pertinently [5p\:tInEntlI] adv. 有关系地,相关地
29. Claviceps purpurea: 麦角菌
30. LSD: abbr. lysergic acid diethylamide,麦角酸酰二乙胺(一种致幻药物)
31. parasite [5pArEsaIt] n. 寄生生物;(附着在其他植物或墙上生长的)攀附植物
32. rye [raI] n. 黑麦
33. trip [trIp] n. <口> (服用毒品后所产生的)幻觉;刺激性的体验;兴奋
34. ergotism [5\:^EtIzEm] n. (黑麦等的)麦角病;【医】麦角中毒(食用麦角菌侵染的谷物或长期服用过量麦角药物所致)
35. propitious [prEU5pIFEs] adj. 有利的;合适的
36. New-World: 新大陆的,西半球(即美洲)的
37. trance [trB:ns] n. 昏睡状态;催眠状态
38. biddable [5bIdEbl] adj. 顺从的,听话的,易管教的