鐵處女 - 人類史上最殘酷的刑罰：英語精讀講義

It's the Middle Ages and times have been tough for a peasant like yourself.

這是中世紀，對你這樣的農民來說，日子一直很難熬。

Drought and the subsequent poor harvest have devastated your people and widespread famine is around the corner. 慣用語

乾旱以及隨之而來的歉收重創了你的鄉親，大規模飢荒也近在眼前。

To make matters worse, taxes have been raised because your rulers are warring with other rulers. 表達脈絡

雪上加霜的是，統治者彼此交戰，稅賦也跟著提高了。

You've had enough of watching on as your children starve, 講解

你受夠了眼睜睜看著孩子挨餓，

but in the absence of Twitter, 片語搭配

可是當時又沒有 Twitter，

seeking social justice will mean rounding up real people and stating your case. 片語搭配

想追求社會正義，就得把真人召集起來，當面說出訴求。

Before you know it, though, 表達脈絡

然而還沒等你反應過來，

you've been reported by someone and have quickly been suspended from peasant duties.

就有人告發了你，你很快便被「暫停」農民職務。

Your interrogators aren't interested in malnourished kids and dying crops,

審問你的人對營養不良的孩子和枯死的作物毫無興趣，

and as they stretch your body on the rack, 文化背景

當他們把你綁在拉肢刑架上時，

you admit to more than you ever did,

你承認的事情遠比自己真正做過的多，

which was only get some folks together to talk about unfairness.

而你做的只不過是找幾個人來談談世道有多不公平。

You've been branded a traitor, 用詞

你被扣上了叛徒的帽子，

treasonous,

被說成犯了叛國罪，

and the worst is going to happen to you.

而最可怕的事即將降臨到你頭上。

So, there you are,

於是，你就這樣站在那裡，

a brave warrior of social justice

成了一名勇敢的社會正義戰士，

who only wanted some respite from the demands of high taxes during a very hard time for peasants.

其實只想在農民最難熬的時期，稍微擺脫沉重稅賦的壓力。

It doesn't really matter that you didn't kill anyone or start a riot. 表達脈絡

你沒殺人，也沒引發暴動，這些根本不重要。

What matters is you've been accused of plotting an Occupy the Lord's Manor movement.

重要的是，有人指控你密謀發起「佔領領主莊園」運動。

Having been stretched on the rack, 文法

在刑架上被狠狠拉扯後，

you admitted to being somewhat disgruntled about watching your children die in front of you

你承認，眼睜睜看著孩子死在面前，的確讓你有點不滿，

and not being able to get your hands on that most cherished commodity, 慣用語

而且你還拿不到那種最珍貴的物資——

bread.

麵包。

You hardly started a peasants revolt,

你根本談不上發動了農民起義，

but a mere peasant get-together to discuss the drawbacks of serfdom

可區區一場討論農奴制度缺點的農民聚會，

really got the nobility all hot and bothered. 慣用語

卻搞得貴族們緊張兮兮。

They're all too familiar with peasant revolts of the past, 片語搭配

他們太熟悉過去那些農民起義了，

and any kind of insubordination will be dealt with seriously.

任何形式的抗命都會遭到嚴厲處置。

That meant a medley of tried and tested cruel and unusual punishments for you 片語搭配

這代表一整套久經驗證、殘酷又怪異的刑罰大拼盤正在等著你，

as you informed your torturers of your guilt

因為你已經向施刑者「供認」了罪行，

and took a few other peeved peasants down with you. 片語動詞

還順便拖了幾個同樣不滿的農民下水。

You might be broken,

你也許已經被折磨得不成人形，

but you're not dead,

但你還沒死，

and the nobility wants to make an example of you. 慣用語

貴族們想拿你殺雞儆猴。

What's on offer?

他們會怎麼處置你？

Well, as they would like to make an example of you,

既然他們想拿你當反面教材，

they want to make your death a public spectacle.

就打算把你的死亡變成一場公開表演。

Maybe after seeing you scream,

或許在聽過你的慘叫後，

the man in the street will think twice about complaining about being taxed into starvation. 慣用語

街上的一般人下次再抱怨苛稅把人逼到餓死前，就會多想一下。

The nobility have a brainstorming meeting and try to think of some especially gruesome punishment for you.

貴族們開起腦力激盪會議，試圖替你想出一種特別駭人的刑罰。

"Burned at the stake in full public view," 文化背景

「當眾把他綁在火刑柱上燒死。」

says one of the wealthy adjudicators.

一名有錢的裁決者說道。

"So passé," someone retorts. 用詞

「太老套了。」有人反駁。

Burning is so 13th century.

火刑是13世紀的老把戲了。

Come on, guys,

拜託，各位，

let's try and think outside the box. 慣用語

我們得跳脫框架，想點新花樣。

Another man puts up his hand and looks like he might have a good answer.

另一個男人舉起手，看起來像是有個好主意。

He says,

他說：

"Hanged, drawn, and quartered, 文化背景

「先吊死、拖行，再分屍四塊，

but then we eviscerate him and stick his head on a pike."

然後挖出他的內臟，把腦袋插在長矛上。」

He looks crestfallen when his boss replies,

老闆一回答，他頓時垂頭喪氣：

"Gilbert,

「Gilbert，

you know very well we did that last month.

你明明知道，我們上個月才這麼做過。

It's hardly original now, isn't it?"

現在一點新意都沒有了，不是嗎？」

"Okay, I've got one,"

「好吧，我想到一個了。」

says a guy right at the back,

坐在最後面的傢伙說道，

without hardly looking up, 文法

他幾乎連頭都沒抬，

and with a mean glare in his eyes.

眼裡透著凶狠的寒光。

He says,

他說：

"We make a box that looks a bit like a coffin,

「我們做一個有點像棺材的箱子，

but shaped like a human.

但把它做成人形。

We fill this with spikes,

裡面裝滿尖刺，

and when it's closed,

箱子一關上，

all those spikes impale him,

所有尖刺就會刺穿他，

and maybe he'll leave some gaps where the blood will flow out.

也許還能留幾道縫，讓血從那裡流出來。

You know, it could look pretty cool."

你懂的，看起來應該會很酷。」

The boss rubs his whiskers and thinks for a while.

老闆摸著鬍鬚，想了一會兒。

"Yeah, that might be sufficiently brutal.

「嗯，這應該夠殘暴了。

I like the streams of blood thing,

我喜歡鮮血成股流下來的設計，

very Romanesque."

很有羅馬式風格。」

The scenario we've just outlined,

我們剛才描繪的這幕場景，

of course, didn't happen,

當然並沒有真的發生，

and we don't need to tell you that people didn't speak like that back in the Middle Ages.

而且不用我們說，你也知道中世紀的人不會這樣講話。

What is true about that conversation is that the Iron Maiden,

這段對話中真正有根據的是，鐵處女這種刑具，

as well as being the name of a British heavy metal band 文法

同時也是英國重金屬樂團 Iron Maiden 的名字，

who wrote songs with the names such as The Number of the Beast,

這支樂團寫過《The Number of the Beast》等歌曲，

was indeed a box with spikes on the inside.

而它確實是個內壁布滿尖刺的箱子。

It looks something like the box an Egyptian mummy would be kept in,

它看起來有點像存放埃及木乃伊的箱子，

something called a sarcophagus.

那種東西叫作石棺。

You can still find Iron Maidens in museums today.

如今在博物館裡，你仍然看得到鐵處女。

They captured the imagination like no other contraption 片語搭配

沒有哪種刑具能像它一樣激發人們的想像，

simply because they look so barbaric.

只因為它看起來實在太野蠻了。

Any upset peasant who'd even heard about one of these

任何一個心懷不滿、哪怕只是聽說過這種東西的農民，

would run to the hills if he thought the nobles were after him. 講解

只要以為貴族盯上了自己，都會立刻逃進山裡。

The burning question, though, 慣用語

不過，真正迫切的問題是：

is where and when were they used,

它們究竟在何時何地被使用過，

and on whom were they used?

又被用在誰身上？

This part has troubled historians for years,

這個問題困擾了歷史學家多年，

but that hasn't stopped numerous websites just stating they were used

但這並沒妨礙無數網站一口咬定它們真的被使用過，

and including no more information.

卻不提供任何更多資訊。

First of all,

首先，

we aren't doing a show today on something we've just made up

我們今天可不是要講一個憑空捏造的東西，

or found on a dubious website that likes to say,

也不是講從某個可疑網站找到的玩意兒，那些網站最愛說：

"You won't believe what happened next." 文化背景

「接下來發生的事，你絕對想不到。」

Iron Maidens exist,

鐵處女確實存在，

and they have been around for quite some time.

而且已經存在相當長一段時間了。

A few of them are now artifacts that people can take selfies with in museums.

如今，其中一些成了博物館文物，遊客還能和它們自拍。

At the same time,

但話說回來，

Google Glass and T-Mobile exist,

Google Glass 和 T-Mobile 也確實存在，

and no one uses them much either.

同樣也沒什麼人在用。

Okay, so the first time anyone mentioned an Iron Maiden being used,

好吧，第一次有人提到鐵處女曾被實際使用，

much like the one we're talking about today,

而且外型與我們今天所說的這種相仿，

was when a German philosopher by the name of Johann Philipp Siebenkees talked about one. 片語搭配

是德國哲學家 Johann Philipp Siebenkees 提起它的時候。

He wrote that in 1515

他寫道，在1515年，

a coin forger in Nuremberg had gone to bed for eternity in one. 慣用語

紐倫堡的一名偽幣製造者在鐵處女裡永遠「長眠」了。

How did he know this?

他是怎麼知道的？

He was writing in the late 18th century,

他寫下這件事時已是18世紀末，

and no one seems to know how he knew about Iron Maidens.

而且似乎沒人知道他從哪裡得知了鐵處女的故事。

Well,

不過，

he also studied ancient history,

他也研究古代史，

and stories have been passed down from ancient times regarding people being put to death in a rather uncomfortable box. 講解

而從古代流傳下來的故事中，確實有人被裝進極不舒服的箱子裡處死。

Maybe the philosopher embellished those boxes in his account.

也許這位哲學家在記述中替那些箱子加油添醋了。

For good reason,

人們對此表示懷疑，完全合情合理，

there are skeptics because after he wrote about those things,

因為在他寫下這些事以後，

people started making them.

大家才開始製造鐵處女。

In the 19th century,

到了19世紀，

making Iron Maidens was all the rage, 慣用語

製造鐵處女一度蔚為風潮，

and that's why there are so many of them around today in museums.

所以今天的博物館裡才會有這麼多。

If you're from the US,

如果你來自美國，

you can see one for yourself in the San Diego Museum of Man.

可以親自去聖地牙哥人類博物館看一具。

The earliest iteration of the Iron Maiden was actually made in Nuremberg in 1802

最早版本的鐵處女其實是1802年在紐倫堡製成的，

after Siebenkees's account.

時間就在 Siebenkees 的記述發表之後。

That one was destroyed in the Second World War.

那一具在第二次世界大戰中被摧毀了。

Why would people start making them in the 19th century and not using them?

人們為什麼從19世紀才開始製造鐵處女，卻又不用它們呢？

One of the reasons that kept popping up, 片語動詞

其中一個反覆出現的解釋，

according to scholars,

據學者們所說，

was linked to propaganda.

和宣傳有關。

If people in the 19th century were told, 文法

如果有人告訴19世紀的人：

"This is how people were punished in the Middle Ages,"

「中世紀就是這樣懲罰人的。」

they would think,

他們就會想：

"Wow,

「哇，

we have it so good today. 慣用語

我們今天過得真是太好了。

Hanging is like a slap on the wrist." 慣用語

絞刑簡直就像輕拍一下手腕。」

It's thought Siebenkees made the entire thing up, 片語動詞

人們認為，整件事都是 Siebenkees 編出來的，

and there was no coin forger who got punctured inside a spike-spangled sarcophagus.

根本沒有哪個偽幣製造者在一具鑲滿尖刺的石棺裡被刺得千瘡百孔。

It seems other countries just ran with the lie 慣用語

看來，其他國家只是順勢把這個謊言傳了下去，

and also used the Iron Maiden as a way to make people realize that the past was brutal

同樣利用鐵處女，讓人們意識到過去有多殘酷，

and the present was just peachy perfect and humane. 語氣意圖

而當下又是多麼美好、完美且人道。

So, there you go.

事情就是這樣。

In the Middle Ages and after,

在中世紀及其後的年代，

there were methods of torture we find utterly repellent today,

的確存在一些令今天的我們無比反感的酷刑，

and there were gruesome ways people were executed,

人們也確實曾以駭人的方式處決犯人，

but the Iron Maiden was an invention of more civilized people who wanted to paint their predecessors on planet Earth as savages. 慣用語

但鐵處女其實是更「文明」的人發明出來的，好把地球上的前人描繪成野蠻人。

And since you're definitely not a savage,

既然你肯定不是野蠻人，

do the civilized thing and watch another great episode of The Infographics Show.

那就做件文明的事，再看一集精彩的 The Infographics Show 吧。

We've picked out two for you,

我們已經替你挑好了兩集，

so click on this episode here or this one over here.

點選這裡的這集，或是那邊的那集就行。