The Witches of Pendleby Rowena Akinyemi 潘德尔的巫师 / 罗伊娜艾金耶米 著 简介17世纪的时候，英格兰有许多人相信巫术。巫师可能是一个老太婆，或是一个年轻女子有时甚至会是一个成年男子或小男孩。不过，巫师通常都是女人。人们都害怕巫师，因为巫师仅凭一句诅咒就能使人丧命。1612年，在兰开夏郡的潘德尔山附近住着一个名叫詹妮特迪瓦斯的小女孩。那时她刚9岁，因家里穷时常饿肚子，长得很瘦弱。她缺衣少鞋，有时一连几天吃不上饭。生活对于她来说十分艰难。詹妮特的外祖母老德姆代克是一个巫师。她的母亲伊丽莎白和她的姐姐艾丽森也都是巫师。就连她可怜兮兮、傻头傻脑的哥哥詹姆斯也是巫师不管怎样，村民们是这样认为的。本书以女主人公詹妮特的口吻来讲述她一家人的故事。故事从1634年讲起，当时詹妮特被关押在兰开斯特城堡监狱里作者罗伊娜艾金耶米是英国人，曾在非洲生活多年，现在在剑桥市工作、生活。她的这一有关潘德尔巫师的故事取材于发生在兰开夏郡的真实事件。 1 THE PEDLARThe spring of 1634 arrives， but in the prison of Lancaster Castle it stays coldThe twenty women in the prison are dirty， hungry and cold There are no beds or chairs and so they sleep on the cold floorThere are no windows，so it is al-ways darkThe women want to get out of the prison；they want to go homeSometimes the guards open the big，old door and put some bread and water on the floor Then they close the door againMy name is Jennet Device， and I am one of the twenty women in prisonDay after day， I sit on the cold floor and waitI want to feel warm again； I want to see the sky again， and Pen-dle Hill， the beautiful hill near my home But I am in the dark prison of Lancaster Castle， and I sit on the cold floor and waitOne day， something happens The guards open the big， old doorJennet Device！a guard callsCome here at once，witch！Somebody wants to see youI get up slowly because Im very cold and I walk across the dark room to the door Perhaps it s someone from Read Hall！Perhaps Im going home！ Jennet Device，be quick！the guard calls againSomeone is standing at the door with the guardJennet，he says quietlyI see him then： a tall man with brown hair and tired blue eyesHe is not from Read HallIt is Mr Webster，from the church at Kild wickMy legs stop moving and suddenly I want to sit downCome on， come on， the guard says angrily He begins to close the doorCome out here for a minute， Jennet， Mr Webster says quietlySit down and eat somethingI sit down at a little table near the doorMr Webster gives me some bread and some meat and I begin to eat hungrilyTen minutes，the guard saysAfter ten minutes，she goes in againThank you，Mr Webster saysHow is everyone at Read Hall？I ask at lastMr Webster smilesEveryone is well I was there yesterdayI close my eyes for a minute Mr Webster， it s not trueIm not a witch， you knowI know，Jennet，Mr Webster saysLast week， I brought Edmund Robinson and his father into my church， and asked them about the boys story Many people believed Edmund s story，but some people didn tEdmund Robinson is going to London tomorrow with his father， and a judge is going to ques-tion themThe guard comes back and begins to open the door Time！ he saysMr Webster stands upGod is here with you，JennetNever forget thatYou can be happy，when God is with youI stand up too， and take the bread from the table Yes， Mr Webster God is with me； I believe that But happy？How can I be happy？I go back into the dark prison， and the guard closes the door behind meThe women run to meBread！Give us bread！they cryQuickly， I put the bread in my shirtI dont want to lose itI walk across the room and sit down on the floor I am crying，but I feel a little better Edmund Robinson， of Newchurch， is only ten years old Edmund told lies about me and about many women： he saw us at a witches meeting at a house called HoarstonesIts not true，but many people believed himWhat is he going to say in London？ The truth？ Or more liesBut now， in the prison of Lancaster Castle， I want to tell my story It is a story about rich men and angry villagers；about old women and hungry children It is a true story， and it happened to meI was born in 1603 My family was always very poor， and after my father died， we were poorer In winter， I was often ill and I was always cold and hungry In summer， I was sometimes ill and I was often cold and hungryWe lived some miles from the village of New church， in an old house called Malkin Tower It was dirty and coldThe rain came in through the windows and there were no doors To the west， was the big hill called PendlePendle Hill was beautifulI loved Pendle Hill because it sat quietly all year and watched meMy story begins on the eighteenth day of March in the year 1612 I was nine years old， and my life began to change on that dayMy mother and my grandmother were ill and they sat on the floor，with their dogs，near the little fireMy sister Alizon wanted to go outIm going to look for bread，she saidMy brother James sat near the fire，his mouth openGo and look for bread，he saidGo and look for breadJames often said things again and againAlizon ran out of the house and I followed herGo and look for bread！James calledAlizon began to go east， up the hill and past the big trees be-hind Malkin TowerAlizon walke