传说293：母亲最懂

预测未来有许多方法。

There are plenty of ways to tell the future.

茶叶占卜、塔罗牌、手相术，这些大多能在十五分钟内完成，在滨海步道霓虹灯下的算命摊前轻松排着队就能接连体验。

Tea leaves, tarot, palm reading, and most of these can be performed in a slick fifteen minutes, easily scheduled back to back under the neon glow of a beach boardwalk fortune telling booth.

但有时窥探明日需要更多耐心，尤其是当你用洋葱占卜时。

But sometimes peering into tomorrow takes a little more patience, especially if you're working with onions.

没错，洋葱。

That's right, onions.

这被称为洋葱占卜术，这种占卜形式的变体已流传数百年。

It's called kromneomancy, and variants of this divinatory form have been practiced for centuries.

但与佐尔塔机器不同，答案来得和洋葱生长一样缓慢。

But unlike a Zoltar machine, the answer has only come as quickly as an onion can grow.

假设你陷入三角恋，试图分辨哪位爱侣值得相守，哪位应该放手。

Let's say that you're stuck in a love triangle and trying to figure out which sweetheart is the keeper and which one to let go.

只需将两位追求者的名字分别刻在不同洋葱上，放置一旁，静候结果。

Simply carve your suitors' names into two different onions, set them aside, and wait.

先发芽的那颗会揭示你命中注定的伴侣。

The first to sprout reveals the partner that you are meant to be with.

或者试试这个？

Or how about this one?

德国有个新年传统：将十二片洋葱排成日历状，撒上盐。

In Germany, there's a New Year's Eve tradition in which 12 slices of onions are arranged in a sort of onion based calendar and then sprinkled with salt.

盐分会使洋葱渗出汁液，每片汁液的多少预示着对应月份的降雨量。

The salt causes the onions to sweat, the amount of which per slice indicating the rainfall to expect in the corresponding month.

人类最厌恶的莫过于对未来的未知，正因如此，历史上我们才发明了各种颇具创意的应对之法。

If there's one thing that we humans hate, it's not knowing what comes next, which is why throughout history, we've come up with some pretty creative workarounds.

当洋葱和茶叶占卜都失效时，最好的预言工具往往就是个古怪的老太太。

And sometimes when onions and tea leaves fail us, the best divination tool of all is just a kooky old lady.

我是艾伦·曼克，这里是《传说》节目。

I'm Aaron Manke, and this is Lore.

1488年，一场猛烈的雷暴席卷了英格兰约克郡附近的奈尔斯伯勒镇。

The year was 1488 and a vicious thunderstorm raged through the town of Nairsborough, not far from York in England.

风雨肆虐，摧折树木，撕裂长空。

Rain and wind thrashed trees and tore at the sky.

当人们都躲在家中避灾时，15岁的孤儿阿加莎却没那么幸运。

And while most of the people were tucked away in the safety of their homes, one 15 year old orphan named Agatha wasn't so lucky.

为求栖身之所，她躲进了一个山洞。

Desperate for shelter, she hid inside a cave.

洞旁有口能将物体石化的魔井。

It sat beside a magical well with the power to turn objects to stone.

在呼啸狂风中，年轻的阿加莎诞下一名女婴。

And it was there screaming along with the vicious winds that young Agatha gave birth to a baby girl.

婴儿刚出生就发出了笑声。

As soon as the baby was born, it began to laugh.

紧接着，雷暴骤然消散，仿佛从未发生过。

Then with that, the thunderstorm vanished as if it had never even begun.

至少传说是这么讲的——关于这个女婴的众多故事之一。她长大后将成为英国民间传说中最著名也最令人畏惧的人物：女巫兼先知希普顿妈妈。

Or so the legend goes, just one of many, many stories that would crop up around the infant, in fact, because that baby would grow up to become one of the most famed and feared characters in British folklore, a witch slash prophetess named Mother Shipton.

如果你是英国人，可能早已听说过她。

Now, if you're English, you probably already know of her.

但对其他人来说，需要简单介绍一下。

But for the rest of us, a quick primer.

几个世纪以来，希普顿妈妈已深深融入英国文化。

Mother Shipton has permeated British culture for centuries.

从民间传说、圣诞童话剧到恐怖故事和流行文化引用，处处可见她的身影。

She appears in everything from folktales and Christmas pantomimes to scary stories and pop culture references.

甚至在18世纪中期，科学家们还以她命名了一种外形怪异的飞蛾。

Heck, in the mid seventeen hundreds, scientists named a freaky looking moth after her.

19世纪初，伦敦蜡像馆曾设置过一个希普顿妈妈自动装置，会在游客离开时踢他们。

In the early eighteen hundreds, a London wax museum installed a mother Shipton automaton that kicked visitors as they exited.

2017年，她的雕像在内斯伯雷主广场落成。

And in 2017, a statue of her was erected in Nairspray's main square.

简而言之，美国有保罗·班扬和约翰·亨利这样的传奇人物，而英国则有希普顿妈妈。

In short, while here in America, we have characters like Paul Bunyan and John Henry, in England, they have Mother Shipton.

那么她究竟是谁？

So who was she exactly?

问题就在于——我们并不完全清楚。

Well, that's the thing, we don't exactly know.

就像她的出生故事一样，整个传记充斥着历史学家公认纯属虚构的日期和细节。

Like her birth story, her whole biography is rife with dates and details that most historians agree are complete inventions.

虽然当时约克地区确实可能有位以预言闻名的女性，但无论是她的身世、名字还是那些所谓的预言，都是后世杜撰的。

And yes, there probably was a woman known for making prophecies in the general York area at the time, but everything from her origin story and her name to the specific prophecies she supposedly made all came later.

但我有点说早了，因为故事发展到这时，她还只是个婴儿。

But I'm getting ahead of myself because at this point in the story, she's still just a baby.

据传说所言，阿加莎给女儿取名厄休拉，并在她出生的那个山洞里将她抚养长大，远离社会。

According to the tall tales, Agatha named her daughter Ursula and raised her on the outskirts of society in the very cave she had been born inside.

但当厄休拉两岁左右时，贝弗利的修道院院长出面干预，将未婚的阿加莎驱逐到了女修道院。

But when Ursula was around two years old, the abbot of Beverly intervened, banishing the unwed Agatha to a nunnery.

这位少女不久后便在那里去世，再也未能见到自己的孩子。

The teenager would soon die there, never to see her child again.

与此同时，小厄休拉被交给当地一户人家抚养，这可能是个错误，因为没过多久她的新父母就开始注意到她的一些，姑且称之为可疑行为。

Meanwhile, little Ursula was placed with a local family, which might have been a mistake because it wasn't long before her new parents started noticing some, let's just say, questionable behavior.

比如有次养母将厄休拉独自留在家中一个下午，回来时却发现大门敞开着。

Take the time that her adoptive mother left Ursula home alone for an afternoon only to find the door wide open upon her return.

担心遭窃的母亲连忙叫来几个邻居帮忙。

Fearing that she had been robbed, this mother called several neighbors for help.

但当众人进屋时，空气中突然充斥着上千只猫的尖叫声。

But as the party entered the house, the air filled with the sound of a thousand screeching cats.

不用说，这吓得所有人魂飞魄散，他们试图夺门而逃，却发现脖子上突然粘着蛋黄。

Suffice to say, this startled the hell out of everyone, and so they tried to run back out the door only to discover that they suddenly had yolks affixed to their necks.

就在众人惊慌失措时，蛋黄脱落了，但紧接着女人们的衣服也全部飞走，让她们在众目睽睽下赤身裸体。

As the group panicked, the yolks fell off only for the women's clothes to fly off as well, exposing them to everyone.

显然这场闹剧一直持续到一位修士偶然路过，这时一切才突然恢复正常。

Apparently, this chaos continued until a friar happened upon the scene, at which point everything suddenly reverted back to normal.

或者说几乎一切——因为当女主人寻找小厄休拉时，发现她赤身裸体地卡在烟囱里，骑在悬挂煮锅的横杆上。

Or, well, almost everything, because when the lady of the house searched for little Ursula, she found her inside the chimney, naked and straddling the bar on which the cook pots dangled.

顺便说一句，那孩子毫发无伤，而且看起来对此相当得意。

The child was completely unharmed, by the way, and looked rather pleased with herself at that.

还有些关于小乌苏拉外貌的传说——老实说，这些谣言极力渲染残疾、美貌与巫术之间最荒谬的关联，简直够单独拍一集专题片了。

There are also stories about little Ursula's appearance, which is to say rumors that lean hard on the ablest correlation between disability, physical attractiveness, and witchcraft, which is a can of worms fit for a whole episode of its own, to be honest.

据记载，随着年龄增长，她出现了驼背，还长出一个尖钩鼻，鼻头上布满——引用某位作者的描述——'如硫磺蒸汽般在夜间闪闪发亮的脓包，让她的保姆无需烛光就能替她更衣'。

It said that as she aged, she developed a humpback and a sharp crooked nose dotted with, to quote one author, pimples which like the vapors of brimstone gave such a luster in the night that her nurse needed no other candle to dress her by.

她长着臌胀的鱼泡眼，双腿以怪异的角度扭曲弯曲。

She had plump bulging eyes and her legs bent and twisted in the wrong directions.

她双颊凹陷，两颗獠牙如野猪般突出唇外。

Her cheeks were hollow and two teeth stuck out of her mouth like boar's tusks.

再加上她生父不明，人们开始窃窃私语，说她的父亲就是魔鬼本人。

And given her unknown paternity, people began to whisper that her father was none other than the devil himself.

当地无论孩童还是大人都因她的容貌嘲笑她。

Local children and adults alike taunted her for her looks.

有次一群男人去参加教区会议时，当面骂她'老巫婆脸'。

Once a group of men on their way to a parish meeting called her hag face.

虽然乌苏拉当时没作声，但她很快就实施了报复。

And while she said nothing at the time, Ursula would soon get her revenge.

因为当晚那些男人在酒馆用餐时，其中那个总爱炫耀颈部时髦拉夫领的虚荣家伙，突然发现自己的领饰变成了——容我引用原文——'茅房坐板'（即马桶圈）。

Because as the men sat down to eat at an inn later that night, one of the men who had always been rather vain about the fashionable ruff that he wore around his neck, found the accessory suddenly transformed into, and I quote, the seat of a house of office, AKA a toilet seat.

坐在他旁边的同伴刚发出嘲笑，就发现自己的帽子变成了便盆。

The fellow sitting next to him began to cackle, only to find that his hat had been replaced by a bedpan.

席间一位端庄的年轻淑女正努力憋笑，却惊恐地发现自己止不住地放屁。

As a modest young gentle woman at the table attempted to restrain her laughter, she was horrified to find herself unable to stop Lowly farting.

最终，客栈老板自己跑来查看骚动，或者说，他试图这么做，但没能成功，因为一对从他头上长出的巨大鹿角挡住了去路，这对角让他宽得无法通过门框。

Finally, the innkeeper himself ran in to investigate the commotion, or, well, he tried to, but he didn't quite make it because he was prevented by the massive pair of horns that had sprouted from his own head, horns that made it too wide to pass through the doorway.

当然，玛瑟希普顿的故事并未在她年轻时结束。

Mothershipton's story, of course, didn't end in her youth.

事实上，这仅仅是个开始。

In fact, it was only just beginning.

因为你看，据说在她被排挤的童年里，乌苏拉经常退回到她出生的那片森林，在大自然的陪伴中寻求慰藉。

Because you see, it's said that through her ostracized childhood, Ursula often retreated into the forest where she had been born, taking solace in the company of nature.

正是在那里，她逐渐学会了与花草树木对话。

And it was there that she grew to speak the language of herbs and flowers.

她学会了哪些植物能治愈烧伤或退烧，哪些浆果可以捣碎敷伤口，哪些草药能缓解头痛。

She learned what plants could heal a burn or soothe a fever, which berries could be ground into poultice for wounds, and what herbs could cure a headache.

当她成年时，纳雷斯伯勒的居民已将她视为一位强大的治疗师。

By the time she reached adulthood, the residents of Naresboro had come to value her as a powerful healer.

当然，我说的治疗师，其实就是女巫。

And by healer, of course, I mean a witch.

在我最喜欢的玛瑟希普顿故事中，乌苏拉的一位邻居伤心地发现家里崭新的罩衫和衬裙被偷了。

In one of my favorite mothership tales, one of Ursula's neighbors was heartbroken to find a brand new smock and petticoat stolen from her house.

乌苏拉非常忠诚，她向邻居保证不仅知道是谁偷的，还会让小偷把衣服还回来。

Nothing if not loyal, Ursula assured her neighbor that not only did she know exactly who had taken it, but she would make the thief give the clothing back.

她告诉朋友：下次集市日一定要去镇广场，相信我。这位朋友照做了。

During the next market day, make sure to go to the town square, she told her friend, trust me, which is exactly what the friend did.

果然，整个熙熙攘攘的集市人群都目睹了惊人的一幕。

And lo and behold, the entire bustling market crowd was treated to quite a sight.

当乌苏拉、她的同伴和所有围观者注视时，那个偷走衣物的女人边唱边跳穿过广场：'我偷了邻居的罩衫和外套。'

Because as Ursula, her pal, and all the shoppers looked on, the woman who had stolen the clothing came dancing through the square singing, I stole my neighbor's smock and coat.

我是个贼，我在此行窃。

I am a thief and here I shote.

她确实这么做了，因为她穿着偷来的罩衫，拿着偷来的衬裙，在将这两样东西交给乌苏拉的邻居后，她行了个屈膝礼便跳着华尔兹离去。

And shote she did because she was wearing the stolen smock and carried the stolen petticoat, both of which she delivered to Ursula's neighbor before curtsying and waltzing away.

嘿，如果你的朋友不会用魔法让得罪你的人当众出丑来为你出气，那他们还算得上是真朋友吗？

And hey, if your friends aren't bewitching those who wronged you into acts of public humiliation in your honor, are they even your friends at all?

据说乌苏拉24岁时遇到了来自约克的年轻木匠托比亚斯·希普顿，两人结为夫妻。

It's said that at the age of 24, Ursula met a young carpenter from York named Tobias Shipton, and the two wed.

由于她并非以美貌著称，许多人怀疑她是用魔法迷惑他成婚的。

Since she wasn't exactly known for being a looker, many suspected her of having enchanted him into marriage.

还有人认为她必定藏着托比亚斯想谋取的秘密财富。

Others that she must have a secret fortune Tobias hoped to get his hands on.

但尽管流言四起，两人仍共同度过了幸福美满的生活。

But despite the gossip, the two shared a happy and comfortable life together.

然而可悲的是，这份欢乐未能长久。

Tragically though, the joy wouldn't last.

婚后仅两年，托比亚斯便去世了，留下乌苏拉孤身一人。

Only two years after the wedding, Tobias passed away, leaving Ursula alone.

虽成寡妇，她仍保留亡夫的姓氏。尽管膝下无子，她却从此以'希普顿妈妈'的称号名留青史。

Although a widow now, she kept her lost love's surname, and despite mothering no children of her own, she became known forevermore by the moniker Mother Shipton.

丈夫去世后，乌苏拉搬回了她出生的那座森林里的古老洞穴。

After her husband's death, Ursula moved back to ye olde cave in the woods where she had been born.

在那里，除了继续配制草药外，她还培养了一个新爱好——预测未来。

And there, in addition to continuing to dispense herbal remedies, she also picked up a new little hobby, predicting the future.

人们开始前往她的洞穴，不仅为了求医问药，还为了占卜预言。

People began to journey out to her cave not only for medical help, but for the soothsaying.

这些预言往往微不足道，多是关于婚姻、生意或个人琐事的小占卜，对吧？

Often these predictions were minor, little fortunes about marriages or business matters, personal stuff, right?

但有些预言可绝非小事。

But other predictions weren't quite so little at all.

比如1530年，英格兰的沃尔西枢机主教计划访问约克城。

In 1530, for example, England's Cardinal Wolsey intended to visit the city of York.

传说当希普顿妈妈听闻这个计划时，她说主教或许能看见约克城，但永远无法踏足其中。

According to legend, when mother Shipton heard of this plan, she said that sure he might see the city, but he would never enter it.

当沃尔西得知这个预言时，他自然很不高兴，于是派了三名伪装者去打探这位希普顿妈妈的底细。

Now, when Woolsey got word of this, he wasn't exactly pleased, and so he sent three men in disguise to go suss out what this Mother Shipton character was all about.

结果证明伪装毫无必要——当这些人到达洞穴时，希普顿妈妈直接叫出了他们每个人的名字。

Well, it turns out that the disguises were not necessary because when the men arrived at her cave, mother Shipton greeted them all by name.

接着她邀请他们进洞享用蛋糕和麦酒，把他们都灌得酩酊大醉。

And then she invited them in for cakes and ale and got them all good and drunk.

说实话，她听起来是个了不起的巫婆。

Honestly, she sounds like a great hag.

当他们警告她别再预言枢机主教的失败，否则主教抵达约克后会把她烧死时，传说她解下头巾举着说：『若此可燃，我亦可焚』，随即将头巾扔进了壁炉。

When they warned her that she might want to stop prophesying the cardinal's failures or else he would have her burned when he got to York, she allegedly took the kerchief from off her head, held it up, and said, if this burn, then I may burn, before tossing it into the fireplace.

我想你猜得到接下来发生了什么。

And I think you can guess what happened next.

没错。

That's right.

那块头巾在火焰中完好无损，直到她将其抽出并重新戴回头上。

The kerchief resisted the flames entirely until she plucked it out and plopped it back onto her head.

众人深感震撼，恳请她占卜命运，而她欣然应允。

Thoroughly impressed, the men begged her to tell their fortunes, which she happily delivered.

她预言第一位将失势陨落，第二位死后头颅会被盗并运往法国，第三位将奔赴战场发射大炮——用她原话说——'对他毫无益处'。

She told the first that he would fall from grace, the second that his head would be stolen from his grave and conveyed to France, and the third that he would go to war and shoot off a great gun that would, and I quote, do him no good.

顺带一提，这三人分别是萨福克公爵、珀西勋爵和达西勋爵，都是真实历史人物。

Oh, and by the way, those three men were identified as the Duke of Suffolk, Lord Percy, and Lord Darcy, all of whom were real people.

真实的萨福克公爵确实在安妮·博林得势时期失宠。

The real Duke of Suffolk would fall from grace during Anne Boleyn's time at court.

托马斯·珀西勋爵的头颅确在1572年被处决后运往法国，托马斯·达西勋爵也如希普顿老妪预言般发动了失败的叛乱。

Lord Thomas Percy's head would indeed be taken to France after his execution in 1572, and Lord Thomas Darcy would lead an unsuccessful rebellion, all just as mother Shipton had proclaimed.

当沃尔西红衣主教终于抵达距约克城入口仅八英里处时，亨利八世以未能成功说服教皇批准其与阿拉贡的凯瑟琳离婚为由，指控他犯叛国罪将其逮捕。

Oh, and when Cardinal Wolsey finally did reach York, only eight miles from the city entrance, Henry the eighth had him seized and arrested for high treason for failing to successfully sway the pope into letting Henry divorce Catherine of Aragon.

在押往伦敦受审途中，沃尔西死于痢疾——某记载直白地称之为'突发性严重腹泻而亡'。

En route to stand trial in London, Woolsey succumbed to dysentery, or as one account unfortunately put it, died of a violent looseness.

正如希普顿老妪预言的那样，他最终未能踏足约克。

He would never arrive in York, just as Mother Shipton had predicted.

希普顿老妪真是个奇人。

She is a strange character, Mother Shipton.

听她这些故事时，很容易忘记这些终究只是传说。

In hearing her stories, it can be tempting to forget that they're just that, stories.

人们容易犯这个错误，因为她的独特之处在于：虽然她只是个民间传说人物，但她故事中的许多配角却是真实的历史人物。

And it's an easy mistake to make because what's unique about her is that while she is merely a folklore figure, many of the supporting characters in her tales were in fact real life historical people.

红衣主教沃尔西确实在前往约克的途中被捕并随后去世。

Cardinal Wolsey did face arrest and subsequent death on his way to York.

那三个伪装身份的男人确实如她预言的那样走向了各自的命运。

The three men in disguise did succumb to the fates that she predicted for them.

那么一个虚构角色如何能说出真实生活的预言呢？

So how did an imaginary character espouse real life prophecies?

嗯，这与马瑟希普顿故事创作的时间点有关。

Well, that would have a little something to do with when the Mothershipton tales were devised.

因为事实上，流传至今的马瑟希普顿预言很可能大多（若非全部）都是后人根据已发生事件量身定制的杜撰。

Because the truth is, it's likely that most, if not all, of the Mothershipton prophecies passed down to us were in fact later inventions tailored to predict events that had already come to pass.

换句话说，说书人将马瑟希普顿植入了过去的历史事件中。

In other words, storytellers inserted Mothershipton into past historical events.

事实上，最早印刷出版的马瑟希普顿预言集出现在1641年12月——在她所谓去世八十年后。

In fact, the first Mother Shipton prophecies to ever appear in print hit the stands in December 1641, eighty years after her supposed death.

但无论传说真假，这些宣传册很快使她成为全英格兰最具影响力的女性之一。

But whether the legends were true or not, these pamphlets would soon make her one of the most powerful women in all of England.

那是本纤薄的小册子，仅六页长，用今天的话说就是同人志。

It was a slim little volume, only six pages long, what we might call today a zine.

但其内容将永远改变英国文化，因为里面记载了马瑟希普顿预言的首个书面记录。

But its contents would change British culture forever because inside it contained the first ever written record of Mother Shipton's prophecies.

而这本册子即将成为畅销读物。

And this thing was about to become a bestseller.

标题为《亨利八世统治时期希普顿母亲的预言》的册子于1641年12月出版。

The prophecy of mother Shipton in the reign of king Henry the eighth, as it was titled, was published in December 1641.

它汇集了大量预言，包括沃尔西主教的故事等，令人们为之疯狂。

It collected a whole gaggle of predictions, including the Cardinal Wolsey story among others, and people went wild for it.

请注意，那是个英格兰深陷宗教与政治紧张局势的时代。

This was an era, mind you, when England was boiling with religious and political tension.

英国内战即将爆发。

The English civil wars were about to start.

不确定性折磨着每个人的神经。

Uncertainty was fraying everyone's nerves.

看啊，只需几枚硬币，你就能买到一本预言未来的小册子。

And lo and behold, for just a few coins, you could buy a booklet predicting the future.

没错。

That's right.

作家们开始通过挪用我们老熟人希普顿母亲的民间传说，从国民焦虑中获利。

Writers began making money off national anxiety by appropriating the folklore of none other than our old friend, mother Shipton.

到十七世纪六十年代，各种版本的希普顿母亲预言册已广为流传。

By the sixteen sixties, a bunch of different mother Shipton pamphlets were in circulation.

事实上，她大部分所谓的传记都源自1667年特定版本《希普顿母亲的生平与死亡》。

In fact, much of her alleged biography dates from a specific 1667 edition called The Life and Death of Mother Shipton.

自然，每本新册子问世都伴随着一批新预言。

And naturally, with each new pamphlet came a new flock of prophecies.

请注意，这些预言被大多数读者完全当作冰冷残酷的真相来信任。

Prophecies, mind you, that most readers fully trusted as the cold, hard truth.

其中一则预言说，西方君主的木马将被德雷克的军队摧毁。

One of those prophecies said, the western monarch's wooden horses shall be destroyed by the Drake's forces.

这个预测当然指的是西班牙无敌舰队。

The prediction, of course, referring to the Spanish Armada.

另一则关于英格兰寡妇女王的预言说她将身首异处，这预示了苏格兰玛丽女王的斩首。

A widowed queen in England shall be headless seen was another fortune for telling the beheading of Mary, Queen of Scots.

甚至连电报的发明也出现在了预言中。

Even the invention of the telegraph made an appearance.

'思想将在眨眼间飞越世界'，要不是这些预言和沃尔西主教的预言一样都是在事件发生后才公布的，这些预测本来会相当令人印象深刻。

Around the world, thoughts shall fly in the twinkling of an eye, which would all be pretty darn impressive if not for the fact that all of these, like the Cardinal Wolsey prediction, were published after the events took place.

但并非所有预言都是事后编造的。

But not all the prophecies came out after the fact.

其中最著名的一则预言恰好是在预言事件发生前二十年发布的，内容大致是这样的。

One of the most famous, as it so happens, was published some two decades before the events foretold, and it went a little something like this.

一艘船将沿泰晤士河逆流而上，直抵伦敦城下，船长将哭泣，水手们会问他为何哭泣，明明航程如此顺利。

A ship comes sailing up the Thames, till it come against London, and the master of the ship shall weep, and the mariners shall ask him why he weepeth, being he hath made so good a voyage.

他会说：啊，这是多么美好的一座城市，世上无与伦比。

And he shall say, ah, what a good city this was, none in the world comparable to it.

而如今却几乎没有房子能让我们花钱买酒喝了。

And now there is scarce left any house that can let us have drink for our money.

你可能会问，这位水手哀叹的是什么毁灭？

So what destruction, you might ask, was this sailor lamenting?

根据这个预言的忠实信徒所说，它预言的正是伦敦大火。

Well, according to the prophecy's true believers, it predicted none other than the great fire of London.

确实，预言中并未直接提及火灾，但关于伦敦毁灭的警告如此广为人知，以至于1666年大火刚起，人们立刻联想到希普顿母亲的预言。这反而成了问题——据当时一位作家记载，民众对预言深信不疑，导致救火时态度散漫。

Now, sure, it doesn't actually mention fire, but the warning of a decimated London was so well known that as soon as the fire broke out in 1666, people immediately thought of Mother Shipton's words, which was a bit of a problem because according to one contemporary writer, people believed so fully in the prophecy that they were lackadaisical and actually fighting the fire.

毕竟希普顿母亲早就断言伦敦没救了，何必白费力气？

After all, mother Shipton had already said London was a lost cause, so why bother?

没有末日预言的女先知算什么合格先知？相信我，希普顿母亲绝非例外。

Now, no soothsayer would be worth her salt without a good doomsday prophecy, and trust me, mother Shipton was no exception.

最常被引用的所谓'希普顿母亲原话'（请注意这个'原话'在她假想的出生四百年后才出版）警告说：'1881年世界将迎来末日'。

One of the most oft quoted mother Shipton originals, and I use air quotes liberally there, printed nearly four hundred years after her supposed birth, mind you, warned that, and I quote, the world to an end shall come in 1881.

顺便说，这个预言出版于1862年，所以末日确实近在眼前。

This was published in 1862, by the way, so the end was pretty seriously nigh.

随着预言年份临近，民众的恐慌与对信徒的嘲弄同时蔓延，大英图书馆甚至专门委托学者彻底揭穿这个传说以平息骚动。

Fear of this forecast, as well as mockery of its believers, became rampant as the target year approached, so much so that the British library even commissioned an exhaustive debunking of the legend to try and calm people down.

即便查尔斯·欣德利站出来承认文本是他编造的恶作剧，人们仍不肯罢休。

Even when a man named Charles Hindley came forward and admitted to authoring the text as a hoax, people still wouldn't drop it.

有趣的是，1881年世界没毁灭，但至少有一个家庭遭遇了灭顶之灾。

Now, fun fact, the world did not end in 1881, but it did for at least one family.

据传有个小女孩被预言吓破了胆，竟因过度恐惧而死。

Allegedly, a little girl was so terrified by the prophecy that she died from fear.

如同多数民间传说，我们永远无法厘清其中事实与虚构、真相与谣传的界限。

Like so much of folklore, it's impossible to untangle fact from fiction, real from rumor.

归根结底，我们无从考证这些被归到乌尔苏拉（即希普顿母亲）名下的预言是否真出自她生前。

In the end, there's no way of knowing if any of the prophecies attributed to Ursula, AKA Mother Shipton, were made during her lifetime.

前提是——她真的存在过。

That is, if she had a lifetime at all.

从历史的碎片和口述传统到广泛流传的印刷小册子，她以多种形式存在。

From scraps of history and oral tradition to widely distributed printed pamphlets, she has existed in many forms.

但我们确切知道的是，在亨利八世统治时期，约克郡周边确实居住着某种女巫。

But what we do know is that there absolutely was a sorceress of some kind living in the larger York area during the reign of King Henry the eighth.

怎么回事？

How?

嗯，这就要归因于亨利八世本人了。

Well, that would be because of King Henry the eighth himself.

1537年，国王给诺福克公爵起草了一封信。

In 1537, the king drafted a letter to the duke of Norfolk.

信中他提到约克女巫，并谴责她是必须被缉拿的叛国者。

In it, he referenced a witch of York who he denounced as a traitor that must be apprehended.

我说『起草』是因为在最终实际寄出的版本中，约克女巫的名字神秘消失了——事实上这是唯一从他叛国者名单中被剔除的名字。

Now I say drafted a letter because in the final version, the version he actually sent, the witch of York was mysteriously removed, the only name from his list of traitors, in fact, to be left out.

是因为亨利八世认为她无足轻重，还是这位伟大的国王本人惧怕女巫的报复？

Was it because King Henry VIII decided that she wasn't actually important, or was it that the great king himself was afraid of the witch's revenge?

如今，希普顿妈妈在英国已是家喻户晓的名字。

Today, Mother Shipton is a household name in England.

她作为哑剧角色在舞台上起舞，出现在占卜玩具和扑克牌上。

She dances on stage as a pantomime character, appears on fortune telling toys and playing cards.

一本18世纪末的儿童谜语书甚至宣称：根据希普顿妈妈的说法，右耳尖有痣说明你怕水，而左腹部的痣则代表贪婪。

One late eighteenth century children's book of rhymes and riddles even asserts that, according to Mother Shipton, a mole on the tip of your right ear means that you're afraid of drowning, while a mole on the left side of the stomach indicates greediness.

相当实用的信息，对吧？

Pretty useful information, right?

虽然希普顿妈妈传记的大部分内容可能是虚构的，但有一个部分确实真实存在——她出生的那个洞穴。

While much of Mother Shipton's biography may have been pure myth, one part is very much real, the cave where she was born.

不仅是那个洞穴，还有那个神奇的石化井。

And not just the cave, but the magical, petrifying well.

记得故事里那段吗？纳雷斯布拉洞穴旁边有一口能让物体石化的井？

Remember that part of the story, how the Naresbura Cave was located next to a well with the power to turn objects to stone?

事实证明，那口井确实存在。

Well, as it turns out, that well actually exists.

没错，任何悬挂在井水中的物体确实会看起来变成石头。

And yes, any objects left hanging in its water will indeed appear to turn to stone.

但十七世纪人们称之为魔法的现象，我们有个不同的称呼——科学。

But what the people of the seventeenth century would have called magic, we have a different name for it, science.

你看，原来那口井的水含有异常高的矿物质。

You see, as it turns out, the water of that well has an unusually high mineral content.

含量如此之高，当水流过物体时，会留下部分矿物质，就像钟乳石形成的过程。

So high, in fact, that when the water drips over objects, it leaves some of those minerals behind, similar to the way stalactites are formed.

当这些矿物质钙化时，看起来就像把物体变成了石头。

When the minerals calcify, it looks as if it is turning the thing to stone.

不过别只听我说，你可以亲自去看看。

But don't take my word for it, you can see it for yourself.

如今井边建了座博物馆，陈列着多年来被石化的物品，包括1923年玛丽女王参观时留下的一只鞋、约翰·韦恩的石化的帽子，以及《英国烘焙大赛》多位选手留下的物品。

Today, a museum by the well contains objects that have been left to petrify over the years, including a shoe left by Queen Mary during a 1923 visit, John Wayne's petrified hat, and items left by multiple contestants from the Great British Bake Off.

礼品店甚至出售石化泰迪熊。

And the gift shop even sells petrified teddy bears.

据井的主人所说，一只小泰迪熊只需三到五个月就会石化。

According to the well's owners, a small teddy bear takes only three to five months to turn to stone.

哦，顺便说一下，这个地方并不新。

Oh, and by the way, this place isn't new.

这口井至少自十七世纪三十年代起就是旅游景点，比第一本Mothershipton小册子出版还要早十多年。

The well has been a tourist attraction since at least the sixteen thirties, over a decade before the first Mothershipton pamphlets were ever published.

我希望你喜欢翻阅这位极其怪异的英国传奇人物的预言。

I hope you've enjoyed paging through the prophecies of this incredibly weird British legend.

我想大多数人会认为历史上充满了靠利用他人轻信来谋生的人，但对我来说，这位绝对是登峰造极。

I think most of us assume that history is filled with people who built careers around taking advantage of the gullibility of everyone else, but for me, this one really lands at the top.

但Mother Shipton远非唯一传说住在洞穴中的古老神秘女性。

But Mother Shipton is hardly the only old mystical woman said to live in a cave.

事实上，在美国本土就有另一位，据说她掌握着世界的命运。

In fact, there was another one located right here in America, and she's said to hold the fate of the world in her hands.

请稍候片刻广告时间，我们将为你揭晓详情。

Stick around through this brief sponsor break to hear all about it.

本节目由BetterHelp赞助播出。

This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp.

随着季节更替，白昼渐短，对许多人来说这可能是一段艰难时期。

As seasons change and the days grow darker sooner, it can be a tough time for many people.

今年十一月，BetterHelp鼓励大家主动联系朋友，关心亲友，让生活中的人们知道你一直都在。

This November, BetterHelp is encouraging everyone to reach out, to check-in on friends, connect with loved ones, and remind the people in your life that you're there.

正如发送那条消息需要一点勇气，寻求心理咨询也可能让人感到困难，但这一切都值得。

And just as it can take a little courage to send that message, reaching out for therapy can feel difficult too, but it's worth it.

这几乎总让人不禁想问：为什么我不早点开始呢？

And it almost always leaves people wondering, why didn't I do this sooner?

BetterHelp拥有超过3万名心理咨询师，是全球最大的在线心理咨询平台，已为全球500多万人提供服务。

With over 30,000 therapists, BetterHelp is the world's largest online therapy platform, having served over 5,000,000 people globally.

他们的咨询师遵循严格的行为准则，均持有美国执业执照，十多年来已帮助无数人找到匹配的咨询师，在170万次客户会话评价中获得了4.9分（满分5分）。

Their therapists work according to a strict code of conduct and are fully licensed in The US and have been helping people find their match for over ten years with a 4.9 rating out of 1,700,000 client session reviews.

BetterHelp会进行初步匹配工作，让您可以专注于治疗目标。

BetterHelp does the initial matching work so you can focus on your therapy goals.

简短的问卷将帮助确定您的需求和偏好，其行业领先的匹配成功率意味着通常第一次就能找到合适的咨询师。

A short questionnaire helps identify your needs and preferences, and their industry leading match fulfillment rate means they typically get it right the first time.

BetterHelp完全在线运作，您可以随时暂停订阅服务。

BetterHelp is fully online, and you can pause your subscription whenever you need to.

而且非常方便。

And it's convenient.

只需点击按钮即可加入咨询师的会话，让您轻松将心理咨询融入繁忙的生活。

You can join a session with a therapist at the click of a button, helping you fit therapy into your busy life.

此外，您可以随时更换咨询师。

Plus, switch therapists at any time.

这个月，别再犹豫寻求帮助。

This month, don't wait to reach out.

无论是为朋友咨询还是自己联系咨询师，BetterHelp都能让迈出第一步变得更简单。

Whether you're checking in on a friend or reaching out to a therapist yourself, BetterHelp makes it easier to take that first step.

我们的听众可享受首月服务9折优惠，访问betterhelp.com/lore获取。

Our listeners get 10% off their first month at betterhelp.com/lore.

这是BetterHelp心理咨询平台，网址help.com/lore。

That's betterhelp, help.com/lore.

本期节目也由Squarespace赞助播出。

This episode is also sponsored by Squarespace.

作为一名前自由职业平面设计师和现小企业主，我深知打造个人品牌网站有多困难，但Squarespace让这一切变得异常简单。

As a former freelance graphic designer and a current small business owner, I know firsthand how tough it can be to craft a brand and a website around who you are and what you do, but Squarespace makes it so incredibly easy.

Squarespace是一站式建站平台，旨在帮助您在网络世界脱颖而出并取得成功。

Squarespace is the all in one website platform that's designed to help you stand out and succeed online.

无论您是初创阶段还是业务扩张期，Squarespace都提供您所需的一切专业工具。

Whether you're just starting out or you're scaling a growing business, Squarespace gives you everything you need to do it right.

无论是咨询、活动还是体验服务，Squarespace都能通过可定制网站展示您的业务，吸引客户促进增长。

Whether it's consultations, events, or experiences, Squarespace lets you showcase your offerings with a customizable website designed to attract clients and grow your business.

通过专业品牌发票和在线支付确保准时收款，内置预约系统还能优化工作流程。

Get paid on time with professional on brand invoices and online payments, and streamline your workflow with built in appointment scheduling.

Squarespace配备前沿工具，为您打造完美契合个人品牌的精美网站提供强力支持。

Squarespace has cutting edge tools that are meant to give you the boost you need to craft a beautiful site around you and your brand.

其获奖模板库提供拖拽编辑、精美样式和无与伦比的视觉特效，零基础也能轻松上手。

Their library of beautifully designed award winning website templates lets you use drag and drop editing, beautiful styling options, and unrivaled visual design effects with no experience required.

Squarespace能根据行业属性、目标定位和个人风格为您生成个性化设计方案。

Squarespace can use basic information about your industry, your goals, and your personality to generate personalized design recommendations.

其邮件营销工具包提供客户维护、服务推广和业务增长所需的全套功能。

And their Squarespace email campaigns option has all the tools you need to engage clients, promote your services, and grow your business.

立即免费试用。

Get started today for free.

前往squarespace.com/lore即可免费试用。

Head over to squarespace.com/lore for a free trial.

当你准备好向世界推出你的网站时，使用优惠码lore可享受网站或域名的首次购买9折优惠。

And when you're ready to launch your website out into the world, use the offer code lore to save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain.

Squarespace，打造美好事物。

Squarespace, build something beautiful.

本集节目由Quince赞助播出。

This episode was also sponsored by Quince.

寒冷的早晨，节日的计划，这正是我希望衣橱简约的时候。

Cold mornings, holiday plans, this is when I just want my wardrobe to be simple.

那些看起来利落、穿着舒适，并且我真的会穿的单品。

Stuff that looks sharp, feels good, and things I'll actually wear.

对我来说，这就是Quintz。

For me, that's Quintz.

额外的好处是，Quintz的单品也是绝佳的礼物选择。

And the bonus, Quintz pieces make great gifts too.

本季系列简约而精致，Quintz让穿搭变得轻松。

The season's lineup is simple but smart and easy with Quintz.

50美元的蒙古羊绒毛衣带来日常奢华感，羊毛大衣既时尚又耐穿。

$50 Mongolian cashmere sweaters that feel like an everyday luxury and wool coats that are equal parts stylish and durable.

他们的牛仔系列完美兼顾版型与日常舒适度，价格却远低于预期。

Their denim nails the fits and everyday comfort all at a fraction of what you'd expect to pay.

通过与道德工厂和顶级工匠直接合作，Quince省去中间环节，以高端品牌一半的价格提供优质产品。

And by partnering directly with ethical factories and top artisans, Quince cuts out the middlemen to deliver premium quality at half the cost of other high end brands.

让你能以非奢侈品的价格获得奢华品质的单品。

So you can give luxury quality pieces without the luxury price tag.

每天我都穿着他们家的100%美利奴羊毛四季T恤。

Every single day, I put on one of their 100% merino wool all season t shirts.

我爱它的剪裁、面料触感以及经久耐穿的特性。

I love the fit, the feel of the fabric, and the way they hold up over and over again.

如果你想叠穿，这才是正确的打开方式。

If you wanna layer, this is the way to do it.

与Quince一起，送出并收获经久不衰的节日经典单品。

Give and get timeless holiday staples that last this season with Quince.

访问quince.com/lore可享订单免运费及365天退换服务。

Go to quince.com/lore for free shipping on your order and three hundred sixty five day returns.

现已在加拿大上市。

Now available in Canada too.

网址是q u I n c e.com/lore，享受免运费和365天退换。

That's q u I n c e dot com slash lore for free shipping and three hundred sixty five day returns.

Quince.com/lore。

Quince.com/lore.

本节目由PBS赞助播出，这里是肯·伯恩斯的家园。

This episode is brought to you by PBS, home of Ken Burns.

肯·伯恩斯的影片不仅是纪录片，更是国家盛事，而他最新力作《美国革命》正是你期待已久的。

Ken Burns films aren't just documentaries, they're national events, and his latest, The American Revolution is the one you've been waiting for.

当你想到美国革命时，脑海中可能会浮现波士顿港的茶叶箱、费城签署文件的建国者、以及行军作战的英国红衫军。

When you think American Revolution, you probably picture tea crates in Boston Harbor, founders signing in Philadelphia, red coats marching into battle.

但肯·伯恩斯与莎拉·博茨坦和大卫·施密特一起，带领我们深入探索。

But Ken Burns, along with Sarah Botstein and David Schmidt, take us so much deeper.

那是一场血腥、复杂且影响深远的革命。

It was a revolution that was bloody, complicated and unbelievably consequential.

这是一个关于人们的故事——有些你熟悉，更多你未曾听闻——他们赌上一切改变了历史进程。

It's a story of people, some you know and many you don't, who risked everything to change the course of history.

他们为独立而战的斗争点燃了自由的火种，至今仍在燃烧。

Their fight for independence lit a spark for freedom that still burns today.

乔治·华盛顿称其为人类的事业。

George Washington called it the cause of mankind.

约翰·亚当斯在给妻子阿比盖尔的信中写道：后世子孙永远不会知道我们为守护你们的自由付出了什么代价。

And John Adams wrote to his wife, Abigail, posterity, you will never know what it costs us to preserve your freedom.

通过《美国革命》，肯·伯恩斯团队为我们呈现了一个宏大、人性化且极具现实意义的故事。

With the American Revolution, Ken Burns and his team bring us a story that's vast, human, and deeply relevant.

一个属于我们所有人的故事。

A story that belongs to all of us.

在PBS应用上观看《美国革命》。

Stream the American Revolution on the PBS app.

我已经迫不及待想看了。

I can't wait to watch.

洞穴位于大草原和被称为马科希卡（即恶地）区域的交界处。

The cave lies at the border between the Prairie and the area known as Makoshika, aka the Badlands.

至少古老的传说是这么说的。

At least that's where the old tales say it is.

我们无法确切知道，因为根据拉科塔苏族的传说，这个洞穴已经隐藏了成千上万年。

It's impossible to know for sure because according to the folklore of the Lakota Sioux, this cave has remained hidden for thousands upon thousands of years.

无论这片地区变得多么人烟稠密，始终无人发现过它。

And no matter how populated the region had become, no one has ever found it.

但洞穴并非空无一物。

But the cave isn't empty.

不，里面住着一位远古的老妇人。

No, it's populated by a single ancient woman.

说'远古'毫不夸张，因为传说中她已在这洞穴里生活了数千年甚至更久。

And ancient isn't an exaggeration because according to the legend, she has lived in this cave for some thousands of years or more.

她长发如雪般洁白，面庞皱得像核桃壳。

Her hair is long and white as snow and her face is as wrinkled as a walnut shell.

就连她的衣着也诉说着岁月——穿着欧洲人到来前就已不常见的传统生皮服饰。

Even her clothes speak of her age for she wears a traditional rawhide outfit, the type that hasn't been common since before European contact.

你或许以为在洞穴中隐居千年会很孤独，但幸运的是老妇人有个伙伴。

And you would think that it might get lonely spending a millennia hidden away in a cave, but luckily the old woman has a companion.

她与一只同样不朽的大黑狗共享永恒的生命。

She shares her everlasting life with a large black dog just as immortal as its master.

那里的舒适程度也超乎你的想象。

And it's cozier there than you might think as well.

洞穴里燃烧着温暖的篝火，传说这火是老太婆在时间伊始之前就点燃的。

Across the cave burns a warm fire, which according to myth, the old woman set aflame long before the beginning of time.

火上悬挂着陶罐，里面煮着沸腾的红色浆果汤'瓦萨比'，这汤与火焰一样古老。

An earthenware pot hangs above it filled with a bubbling red berry soup known as wasjabi, which has been cooking for as long as the fire has been lit.

现在，如果要我在洞穴里度过永恒时光，我希望能至少带上一摞书、一瓶威士忌，或许还有可涂装的D&D微缩模型来消磨时间。

Now, if I were to spend an eternity in a cave, I would hope that I could at least bring along a stack of books, a bottle of scotch, and maybe some paintable D and D miniatures to help me while away the hours.

而这位老妇人恰好也有自己的爱好——编织。

And as it happens, the old woman has a hobby of her own, that is weaving.

她终日辛勤劳作，用染色的豪猪刺编织一条图案精美的毯子。

All day, she toils away, weaving a patterned blanket out of dyed porcupine quills.

这听起来可能不是最舒适的材料，但在欧洲人殖民该地区之前，用红黄黑三色染制豪猪刺制成的毯条确实是野牛皮袍的传统装饰品，这正是老妇人完成作品后的用途。

It might not sound like the comfiest material, but back before Europeans colonized the region, blanket strips made from red, yellow, and black dyed porcupine quills were a traditional ornamentation for buffalo robes, which is precisely what the old woman's creation will be used for when it's done.

但这绝非易事。

But it's no easy task.

她的牙齿因咬平豪猪刺而几乎磨损殆尽，尽管经年累月地劳作，织物仍未完成。

Her teeth are worn down to almost nothing from biting the quills to flatten them, and despite eons of labor, the textile still isn't complete.

这其中自有缘由。

And there's a reason for that.

因为虽然老妇人大部分时间都在编织，但她偶尔也会起身用木勺搅拌汤锅。

Because though the woman spends most of her time weaving, she does get up every now and then to stir the soup pot with a wooden paddle.

每当这时，黑狗就会跳起来冲向织机，小心翼翼地用牙齿把豪猪刺从织物中抽出来，破坏老妇人的劳动成果。

And when she does, the black dog leaps up, sprints to the loom, and carefully pulls the porcupine quills out of the weaving with its teeth, undoing the woman's work.

日复一日，年复一年，世纪复世纪，周而复始。

And this is how it goes day after day, year after year, century after century.

老妇人终日编织，黑狗则始终注视着她，连舔爪子时都不曾移开视线。

The woman weaves all day, and as she weaves, the dog watches her, never looking away while even licking its paws.

最终老妇人会起身，考虑到她约莫有亿万年的高龄，从织机蹒跚走到火堆旁要花费相当长时间。

Eventually, the woman gets up, and given that she's roughly a bajillion years old, it takes her quite a while to hobble over from her loom to the fire.

就在那时，那只狗突然行动起来。

And in that time, the dog springs into action.

就像《奥德赛》中的佩内洛普一样，它拆解了编织物，使其永远无法完成。

And just like Penelope in The Odyssey, unravels the weaving which prevents it from ever reaching completion.

等她再次转身时，狗已经躺下，而那位妇人仍浑然不觉。

By the time she turns around again, the dog is lying down and the woman is none the wiser.

这或许也是件好事，因为如果传说属实，这只狗小小的破坏行为可能是让我们所有人得以存活的关键。

And it's probably a good thing too, because if the legend is true, the dog's small act of sabotage may be the only thing keeping us all alive.

因为据说，如果那位老妇人完成了她的作品，将最后一根豪猪刺编织进去，世界就会迎来末日。

Because you see, it's said that if the old woman ever reaches the end of her work and weaves in the very last of her porcupine quills, the world will come to an end.

本节目由我——艾伦·曼基制作，剧本由珍娜·罗斯·内瑟科特撰写，研究由卡桑德拉·达尔巴完成，音乐由查德·劳森创作。

Produced by me, Aaron Mankey, with writing by Jenna Rose Nethercott, research by Cassandra D'Alba, and music by Chad Lawson.

有个好消息要告诉不喜欢广告的朋友们。

There is good news for folks who don't care for ads.

我已经找到了避开广告的方法。

I've created a way to avoid them.

我在苹果播客和Patreon上发布了付费版的《Lore》，完全无广告。

I publish a paid version of Lore on Apple Podcasts and Patreon that is 100% ad free.

订阅用户还能每周获得额外剧集、享受《Lore》周边商品折扣，并直接联系到我的邮箱。

Subscribers there also get weekly bonus episodes, discounts on Lore merchandise, and direct access to my inbox.

用这么实惠的价格就能享受无广告的故事，还能支持节目和制作团队，何乐而不为呢？

It's a bargain for all of that ad free storytelling and a great way to support the show and the people who make it.

了解更多无广告订阅选项，请访问lorepodcast.com/support。

Learn more about your ad free options over at lorepodcast.com/support.

当然，Lore远不止是一个播客节目。

Of course, lore is much more than just a podcast.

还有书店和网上都能买到的书籍系列，以及亚马逊Prime上的两季电视剧改编版。

There's the book series available in bookstores and online and two seasons of the television adaptation on Amazon Prime.

关于这些及更多信息，请访问lorepodcast.com。

Information about all of that and more is available over at lorepodcast.com.

你也可以在YouTube Threads、Blue Sky和Instagram上关注这个节目。

And you can also follow this show on YouTube threads, Blue Sky, and Instagram.

只需搜索'lorepodcast'（连写），然后点击关注按钮。

Just search for lore podcast, all one word, and then click that follow button.

关注时记得打个招呼。

And when you do, say hi.

我喜欢收到大家的问候。

I like it when people say hi.

一如既往，感谢收听。

And as always, thanks for listening.