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You've been accused of a crime you did not commit. It's impossible to prove your innocence.
你被指控犯下莫须有的罪名。你绝不可能证明自己的清白。
If you insist that you're innocent anyway, you'll likely be found guilty and executed.
如果你坚称自己是被冤枉的，就很可能被判有罪并被处决。
But if you confess, apologize, and implicate others for good measure, you'll go free.
但如果你认罪、道歉，并转而指控他人，你就会被释放。
Do you give a false confession -- or risk a public hanging?
你愿意假装认罪--还是被当众处以绞刑？
This was the choice facing those accused of witchcraft in the village of Salem, Massachusetts between February 1692 and May 1693.
这就是1692年2月到1693年5月间，马萨诸塞湾省塞勒姆村被指控巫术罪的人们所面临的抉择。
They were the victims of paranoia about the supernatural, misdirected religious fervor -- and a justice system that valued repentance over truth.
他们是对超自然力量的迫害妄想的受害者，是被误导的宗教狂热的受害者，也是当时重视忏悔甚于真相的司法系统的牺牲品。
Salem was settled in 1626 by Puritans, a group of English protestants.
1626年，一群来自英格兰的清教徒（英国新教的一个派别）登陆塞勒姆。
Life was strict and isolated for the people of Salem.
塞勒姆人民的生活戒律严苛，与世隔绝。
Battles with their Native American neighbors and groups of French settlers were commonplace.
他们与印第安原住民和法国殖民者们矛盾不断。
People feared starvation and disease, and relations between villagers were strained.
人们恐惧着饥饿与疾病，村民的关系剑拔弩张。
To make matters worse, 1692 brought one of the coldest winters on record.
雪上加霜的是，1692年经历了有史以来最寒冷的严冬。
That winter, two cousins, 9 year old Betty Parris and 11 year old Abigail Williams started behaving very strangely.
那年冬天，一对表姐妹，9岁的贝蒂·帕里斯和11岁的艾比盖儿·威廉姆斯突然开始变得行为怪异。
A physician found nothing physically wrong -- but diagnosed the girls as under "an evil hand."
医生找不出任何生理上的问题--却将女孩们诊断为受到了“巫术的蛊惑”。
Puritans believed that the Devil wreaked havoc in the world through human agents, or witches, who blighted nature, conjured fiendish apparitions, and tormented children.
清教徒们认为，恶魔通过附身人类代理人，即女巫，在世间作恶，破坏自然，唤出邪恶的幽灵，甚至折磨小孩。
As news swept through the village, the symptoms appeared to spread.
消息迅速在村子里传开了，相似病状也开始在更多的村民身上蔓延。
Accounts describe 12 so-called "afflicted" girls contorting their bodies, having fits, and complaining of prickling skin.
记录里描述道，12名所谓“被侵扰的”女孩扭曲着身体，被痉挛和刺痛的皮肤所折磨。
Four of the girls soon accused three local women of tormenting them. All three of the accused were considered outsiders in some way.
其中四名女孩很快指控当地三名女性对她们施加伤害。这三名女人都是某种形式上的边缘人。
On February 29th, the authorities arrested Sarah Good, a poor pregnant mother of a young daughter,
2月29日，这三人被当局逮捕，她们分别是：萨娜·古德，一位怀着身孕抚养幼女的贫困母亲，
Sarah Osbourne, who had long been absent from church and was suing the family of one of her accusers,
萨娜·奥斯本，她长期缺席教会活动，而且正在和指控她的一家人打官司，
and Tituba, an enslaved woman in Betty Parris's home known by her first name only.
以及提图芭，她是贝蒂·帕里斯家的女奴，姓氏不详。
Tituba denied harming the girls at first. But then she confessed to practicing witchcraft on the Devil's orders, and charged Good and Osbourne with having forced her.
一开始，提图芭否认自己伤害了女孩。但随后承认自己在恶魔的指令下施行了巫术，并且指控古德和奥斯本逼迫她这么做。
Osbourne and Good both maintained their innocence.
奥斯本和古德坚称自己是清白的。
Osbourne died in prison, while Good's husband turned against her in court, testifying that she "was a witch or would be one very quickly."
奥斯本在监狱中死去，而古德的丈夫则在法庭上翻脸，作证说她“即使不是女巫，也快变成女巫了。”
Good's 4 year old daughter was imprisoned and eventually gave testimony against her mother.
古德四岁的女儿被关进监狱，最终也出庭指控了自己的母亲。
Meanwhile, Good gave birth in jail. Her baby died, and she was convicted and hanged shortly thereafter.
而古德在监狱里生产，但孩子早夭，她随后不久就被宣告有罪并处以绞刑。
Tituba was held in custody until May, and then released. These three victims were just the beginning.
提图芭被收押至5月，之后被释放。这三个受害者只不过是故事的开始。
As accusations multiplied, others, like Tituba, made false confession to save themselves.
随着指控数量的增加，其他人也不得不像提图芭一样昧着良心招供，以求逃过制裁。
The authorities even reportedly told one accused witch that she would be hanged if she did not confess, and freed if she did.
有报道称当局甚至告诉一个被指控巫术罪的人，如果她认罪，就能被释放，否则就会被绞死。
They were not particularly interested in thoroughly investigating the charges -- in keeping with their Church's teachings,
官方对彻底核查事实真相并不感兴趣--为了遵守教会的教义，
they preferred that the accused confessed, asked for forgiveness, and promised not to engage in more witchcraft.
他们更在乎让被指控者认罪，请求宽恕，并承诺绝不再使用巫术。
The court accepted all kinds of dubious evidence, including so-called "spectral evidence" in which the girls began raving when supposedly touched by invisible ghosts.
法庭接受了所有模棱两可的证据，包括所谓的“幽灵证据”：女孩儿们被看不见的幽灵触摸时就会胡言乱语。
Complicating matters further, many of the jurors in the trials were relatives of the accusers, compromising their objectivity.
让案情更为复杂的是，许多陪审团成员都是指控者的亲戚，他们无法做到客观公正。
Those who dared to speak out, such as Judge Nathanial Saltonstall, came under suspicion.
那些胆敢发声质疑的人，比如法官纳撒尼尔·索顿斯托尔，反而遭到了怀疑。
By the spring of 1693, over a hundred people had been imprisoned, and 14 women and 6 men had been executed.
到了1693年春天，上百人被关进了监狱，14名女性和6名男性被处死。
By this time, accusations were starting to spread beyond Salem to neighboring communities, and even the most powerful figures were targets.
这时，指控开始向塞勒姆周边的城镇蔓延，甚至一些最有权有势的大人物也遭到了指控。
When his own wife was accused, the governor of Massachusetts colony suspended the trials.
当马萨诸塞省省长的夫人被指控后，省长叫停了这些审判。
Sentences were amended, prisoners released, and arrests stopped.
判决被修正，囚犯被释放，逮捕行动也停止了。
Some have speculated that the girls were suffering from hallucinations caused by fungus; or a condition that caused swelling of the brain.
有的人猜测女孩儿们被真菌感染，从而产生了幻觉；或是得了某种疾病，导致大脑炎症。
But ultimately, the reason for their behavior is unknown.
但我们终究无法得知事情的真相。
What we do know is that adults accepted wild accusations by children as hard evidence.
我们能确定的是：一群成年人把儿童发出的荒谬指控当成了确凿的证据。
Today, the Salem Witch Trials remain a cautionary tale of the dangers of groupthink and scapegoating, and the power of fear to manipulate human perception.
如今，塞勒姆审巫案已经成为一个警世故事，它时刻提醒着我们团体盲思和利用替罪羊何其危险，而恐惧对人类感知的操纵又是何其强大。
