2018-10-29

牛津大学上演巫术展

牛津大学的阿什莫林博物馆（Ashmolean Museum）集考古学与艺术于一身，全名阿什莫林艺术与考古博物馆，位于英国牛津市中心，是英语世界中第一个大学博物馆，也是第一个公众博物馆。近日，阿什莫林博物馆举办了一场名为“施咒：魔法、仪式与巫术”的展览，借此探索了一个迷人的文化现象——魔法的历史。

展览中共呈现了180件展品，其中年代最早的展品来自12世纪的欧洲，最新的作品涉及到当代艺术。这些展品的特性也大不相同，有些美丽而神秘，如水晶球和巫术书籍；有些奇异而可怕，如装着人类心脏的心形盒；有些深刻而动人，如被指控施展巫术的女人的证词。该展览探讨了当时的人们如何应对他们所生活的世界，审视了迷信和所谓的“神奇思维”如何影响人类生活。

巫术信仰植根于心理学和文化中, 在不同的时空中普遍存在。1400年至1800年，从马萨诸塞州到莫斯科，有10万人因巫术被起诉。其中百分之八十的嫌疑犯是妇女，许多老无可依的人成了毫无防备的替罪羊。审判方法也极其残酷，其中一种是“称重”测试——将受到指控的女人脱光衣服后放到称的一边，另一边放上一摞圣经，只要两边不是完全等重，受到指控的女人就定罪为女巫。

本篇课程首发于2018年10月29日

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Bubble, bubble, toil and trouble

① The fires are burning and the cauldron's bubbling at the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford.

② 'Spellbound' is an enchanting new exhibition, bringing together a mesmerising collection of artworks and objects, it takes a look at the history of magical practices in Europe over the last 800 or so years.

③ On entering the exhibition space, you have the choice of going under a ladder or not.

④ Once inside, there's a whole host of spooky items to gawp at.

⑤ Apparently, there's a witch in a bottle but no one has dared open it so we'll never know.

⑥ Original medieval witchcraft books used to summon demons are very rare (most have been burnt along with the witches) but you can see one in the exhibition.

⑦ Objects containing spiritual magic, such as magical rings and bracelets which evoke the power of spirits, are also to be found in the exhibition.

⑧ The exhibition has a large section dedicated just to witches. It displays a chair – known as a witch's scale; women accused of sorcery were weighed against a large stack of bibles.

⑨ If the suspected witch was heavier or lighter than the stack of Bibles, then she was clearly guilty of evil-doing and was burned alive. If the scales balanced out perfectly, she was innocent.

⑩ You can imagine that a perfect balance didn't happen often.

▍生词好句

cauldron /ˈkɔːldrən, ˈkɑːldrən/: n. (通常指架在火上的) 大锅

spellbound /ˈspelbaʊnd/: adj. 入迷的；出神的

enchanting /ɪnˈtʃɑːntɪŋ, ɪnˈtʃænt̬ɪŋ/: adj. 迷人的；令人陶醉的

superstition /ˌsuːpəˈstɪʃən, ˌsuːpərˈstɪʃən/: n. 迷信

spit /spɪt/: vi. 吐 (尤指唾液)

mesmerise /ˈmezməraɪz/: vt. 迷住，迷惑；对……施催眠术

gawp at /ɡɔːp, ɡɑːp/: 呆呆地看着

witch /wɪtʃ/: n. 女巫；巫婆

medieval /ˌmediˈiːvəl/: adj. 中世纪的

witchcraft /ˈwɪtʃkrɑːft/: n. 巫术；魔法

wizard /ˈwɪzəd, ˈwɪzərd/: n. 男巫；巫士

summon /ˈsʌmən/: vt. 命令……到 (某地)；召唤，召集

demon /ˈdiːmən/: n. 恶魔；魔鬼

weigh /weɪ/: vt. 称……的重量

scale /skeɪl/: n. 秤；磅秤

innocent /ˈɪnəsənt/: adj. 无罪的；清白的

▍词汇拓展

1. spellbound: adj. if you are spellbound, it means something has completely got your attention; you cannot think about anything else.

The children were spellbound as they listened to the spooky story.

孩子们非常着迷地听着这个令人毛骨悚然的故事。

The audience were completely spellbound by the spooky music.

观众完全被这段诡异的音乐迷住了。

2. enchanting: adj. if something is enchanting, it can catch your attention very powerfully, almost magically.

an enchanting smile 迷人的微笑

enchanting scenery 迷人的风光

an enchanting song 令人陶醉的歌曲

enchanting music 令人陶醉的音乐

3. on doing sth.: immediately after you do something

On arriving home, I discovered the door was open and there was a dark figure inside.

一到家，我就发现门开着，里面有一个人影。

The first thing I saw on entering the room was a dark shadow in the corner.

我一进房间就看到角落里有个黑影。

On entering the house, she heard a strange noise.

她一进屋就听到一个奇怪的声音。

4. a whole host of: a large number of, a variety of

There's a whole host of reasons why children love Halloween.

孩子们喜欢万圣节有很多原因。

A whole host of activities have been planned for the Halloween party.

我们为万圣节晚会准备了一大堆活动。

On Halloween night, a whole host of scary films will be shown on TV.

在万圣节当天晚上，电视上会放很多恐怖电影。

5. gawp at: if you gawp at something, you look at something for a long time, especially with your mouth open and your eyes wide open, because you're surprised or attracted by that thing.

A crowd of people stood gawping at the haunted house.

一群人呆呆地站在鬼屋旁。

6. we'll never know: we can only guess

We'll never know whether vampires are real or not.

吸血鬼到底是真是假，我们没有答案。

We'll never know how she died.

关于她的死因，我们只能猜测。

7. summon: vt. if you summon someone or something, you tell ... to come.

Your boss might summon you to the meeting room for a meeting.

你老板可能会叫你去会议室开会。

8. evoke: vt. if you evoke something, you cause it to appear

The spooky music evokes a strange feeling in the audience.

音乐很诡异，让观众有一种很奇怪的感觉。

9. witch hunt: to find and punish people whose opinions are different to most people, or to find and punish people whose opinions are unpopular, or people who might be a danger to society

▍责任编辑

李焕、陈鑫悦、章晓丹