| ← | 十四世纪至十七世纪 | 十七世纪及以后 Seventeenth Century and Beyond 作者：J.K.罗琳 2016年3月9日 |
拉帕波特法律 | → |
| 最初发布于Pottermore，作为《北美魔法历史》的第二部分，在电影《神奇动物在哪里》上映前铺垫与美国魔法社会相关的背景信息 |
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随着麻鸡欧洲人开始移民到新世界，更多欧洲巫师也来到美洲定居。与麻鸡同仁一样，他们离开自己的国家也有各种各样的原因。虽然有的人是想去冒险，但大多数人则是在逃亡：有时是为了避免被麻鸡迫害，有时是为了逃避巫师同类，甚至是魔法当局的追捕。后面这类巫师要么混入日益增加的麻鸡群体，要么隐藏在美洲原住民的魔法族群当中，因为他们一般乐于接收、保护这些欧洲的同胞。 |
As No-Maj Europeans began to emigrate to the New World, more witches and wizards of European origin also came to settle in America. Like their No-Maj counterparts, they had a variety of reasons for leaving their countries of origin. Some were driven by a sense of adventure, but most were running away: sometimes from persecution by No-Majs, sometimes from a fellow witch or wizard, but also from the wizarding authorities. The latter sought to blend in among the increasing tide of No-Majs, or hide among the Native American wizarding population, who were generally welcoming and protective of their European brethren. |
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但从一开始，新世界的环境对巫师来说就比旧世界要严酷得多。这主要有三个原因。 |
From the first, however, it was clear that the New World was to be a harsher environment for witches and wizards than the Old World. There were three main reasons for this. |
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首先，和麻鸡同仁一样，他们来到了一个除了自制品之外，没有什么便利设施的国家。在祖国，他们只需去当地药材店就能找到制作魔药的必需品；但在这里，他们必须在陌生的魔法植物当中寻觅。这里也没有知名的魔杖制作人，而后来跻身世界最伟大魔法机构之一的伊尔弗莫尼魔法学校，在当时也只不过是一间简陋的棚屋、两个老师和两个学生。 |
Firstly, like their No-Maj counterparts, they had come to a country with few amenities, except those they made themselves. Back home, they had only to visit the local Apothecary to find the necessities for potions: here, they had to forage among unfamiliar magical plants. There were no established wandmakers, and Ilvermorny School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, which would one day rank among the greatest magical establishments in the world, was at that time no more than a rough shack containing two teachers and two students. |
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其次，麻鸡同仁的举动让大多数巫师祖国的非魔法群体都显得相当和蔼可亲。不光是移民和美洲原住民群体之间爆发的冲突给魔法社会的统一带来打击，宗教信仰也让他们无法容忍魔法有丝毫存在。清教徒热衷于用最牵强的证据指控他人从事巫术活动，新世界的男女巫师也理应对他们保持高度警惕。 |
Secondly, the actions of their fellow No-Majs made the non-magical population of most wizards' homelands look lovable. Not only had conflict developed between the immigrants and the Native American population, which struck a blow at the unity of the magical community, their religious beliefs made them deeply intolerant of any trace of magic. The Puritans were happy to accuse each other of occult activity on the slenderest evidence, and New World witches and wizards were right to be extremely wary of them. |
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最后，刚来北美洲的巫师所面临的的最严峻的问题可能就要数肃清者了。由于美洲的魔法社会很小、分散并且隐秘，还没有形成自己的执法机制，因此这部分真空被一群肆无忌惮的、来自不同国家的巫师雇佣兵填补了起来。他们组成了一个令人闻风丧胆的残暴团伙，不光追捕已知的罪犯，还会搜寻任何可能用来换取赏金的人。随着时间的推移，肃清者变得越来越腐败。由于远离本国魔法政府的管辖范围，许多人开始沉溺于权力和与任务不相符的残暴行为。这类肃清者喜爱杀戮与折磨，甚至贩卖自己的巫师同胞。在十七世纪后期，美洲肃清者的数量成倍增加，并且有证据表明他们甚至用无辜的麻鸡冒充巫师，从社区那些容易上当的非魔法成员那里换取报酬。 |
The last, and probably the most dangerous problem encountered by wizards newly arrived in North America were the Scourers. As the wizarding community in America was small, scattered and secretive, it had as yet no law enforcement mechanism of its own. This left a vacuum that was filled by an unscrupulous band of wizarding mercenaries of many foreign nationalities, who formed a much-feared and brutal taskforce committed to hunting down not only known criminals, but anyone who might be worth some gold. As time went on, the Scourers became increasingly corrupt. Far away from the jurisdiction of their native magical governments, many indulged a love of authority and cruelty unjustified by their mission. Such Scourers enjoyed bloodshed and torture, and even went so far as trafficking their fellow wizards. The numbers of Scourers multiplied across America in the late seventeenth century and there is evidence that they were not above passing off innocent No-Majs as wizards, to collect rewards from gullible non-magic members of the community. |
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1692至1693年著名的塞勒姆审巫案是魔法社会的一桩惨案。魔法史学家认为，那些所谓的清教徒审判者中至少有两个是已知的肃清者，他们是为了宣泄在美洲结下的积怨。虽然许多死者确实是女巫，但她们并没有犯下被捕时被指控的罪行。其他人则只不过是不幸被卷入歇斯底里和杀戮风气中的麻鸡。 |
The famous Salem Witch Trials of 1692-93 were a tragedy for the wizarding community. Wizarding historians agree that among the so-called Puritan judges were at least two known Scourers, who were paying off feuds that had developed while in America. A number of the dead were indeed witches, though utterly innocent of the crimes for which they had been arrested. Others were merely No-Majs who had the misfortune to be caught up in the general hysteria and bloodlust. |
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塞勒姆事件对魔法社会的意义重大，其原因远非痛失生命那么简单。这起事件直接导致许多男女巫师逃离美洲，也有更多人决定不在这里定居。这使得北美洲魔法人口的数目相较于欧洲、亚洲和非洲产生了有趣的变化。直到二十世纪初期，美洲人口中巫师的数量也比其余四大洲要少。纯血统家族能够透过巫师报纸了解清教徒和肃清者的所作所为，因此极少前往美洲。这意味着新世界麻鸡出身的巫师比例比其他地方要高得多。尽管这些巫师仍会与同类结婚、建立自己的纯魔法家庭，但欧洲魔法史中根深蒂固的纯血统观念在美洲的吸引力却少得多。 |
Salem was significant within the magical community for reasons far beyond the tragic loss of life. Its immediate effect was to cause many witches and wizards to flee America, and many more to decide against locating there. This led to interesting variations in the magical population of North America, compared to the populations of Europe, Asia and Africa. Up until the early decades of the twentieth century, there were fewer witches and wizards in the general American population than on the other four continents. Pure-blood families, who were well-informed through wizarding newspapers about the activities of both Puritans and Scourers, rarely left for America. This meant a far higher percentage of No-Maj-born witches and wizards in the New World than elsewhere. While these witches and wizards often went on to marry and found their own all-magical families, the pure-blood ideology that has dogged much of Europe's magical history has gained far less traction in America. |
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塞勒姆事件带来的最显著的影响可能要数1693年成立的美国魔法国会，它比麻鸡国会早了一个世纪左右。美国的巫师将它简称为MACUSA（通常读作：马库扎）。北美洲的魔法社会首次团结起来制定自己的法律，并和大多数其他国家一样，有效地在麻鸡世界中建立起一个魔法世界。魔法国会的首要任务就是对那些背叛同类的肃清者进行审判。那些犯下谋杀、贩运巫师、折磨和其他所有暴行的人被依法处决。 |
Perhaps the most significant effect of Salem was the creation of the Magical Congress of the United States of America in 1693, pre-dating the No-Maj version by around a century. Known to all American witches and wizards by the abbreviation MACUSA (commonly pronounced as: Mah – cooz – ah), it was the first time that the North American wizarding community came together to create laws for themselves, effectively establishing a magical-world-within-a-No-Maj-world such as existed in most other countries. MACUSA's first task was to put on trial the Scourers who had betrayed their own kind. Those convicted of murder, of wizard-trafficking, torture and all other manners of cruelty were executed for their crimes. |
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有几个最臭名昭著的肃清者逃脱了制裁。在国际追捕令发出之后，他们便永远消失在了麻鸡社会之中。他们之中的一些人与麻鸡结婚、共组家庭，抛弃有魔法的后代、只留下不会魔法的子孙，以隐藏自己肃清者的身份。渴望复仇的肃清者在被同类驱逐之后，向后代们传递了坚定的信念：魔法是真实存在的，而巫师一旦被人发现，就应该被消灭。 |
Several of the most notorious Scourers eluded justice. With international warrants out for their arrest, they vanished permanently into the No-Maj community. Some of them married No-Majs and founded families where magical children appear to have been winnowed out in favour of non-magical offspring, to maintain the Scourer's cover. The vengeful Scourers, cast out from their people, passed on to their descendants an absolute conviction that magic was real, and the belief that witches and wizards ought to be exterminated wherever they were found. |
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美国的魔法史学家西奥菲勒斯·阿博特已经确定了几个这样的家族，他们都对魔法深信不疑，又对它充满仇恨。可能部分因为肃清者家族的反魔法信仰及其活动，北美洲的麻鸡似乎比其他地方的人更难被魔法欺骗和蒙蔽。这也对美国魔法社会的治理方式产生了深远的影响。 |
American magical historian Theophilus Abbot has identified several such families, each with a deep belief in magic and a great hatred of it. It may be partly due to the anti-magic beliefs and activities of the descendants of Scourer families that North American No-Majs often seem harder to fool and hoodwink on the subject of magic than many other populations. This has had far-reaching repercussions on the way the American wizarding community is governed. |