Forming the tradition of witch hunting and witch trials? Wu Ming was keenly aware of the hidden meaning in the other party's words. The tradition of witch hunting was not actually based on the trial of the original witch, but was it that new witches continued to appear in the town, so this tradition gradually formed?
That's right. The boss lady affirmed that in fact, in many of the original stories, the townspeople accidentally discovered the identity of the witch, and then almost accidentally caught the witch and her pets and put them on trial. But in later stories, the identification and trial of witches became a systematic process. It was at that time that the tradition of witch hunting was added to the story. I guess it was after the townspeople raised funds to build a church. The witch trial movement affected the townspeople through the church priests, so the plot of witch hunting was added to the story. At the same time, it has been passed down as a tradition in the town along with the story.
The second story that I find interesting is the story that takes place in the context of the tradition of witch trials and hunting.
At that time, the witch trial already had a very complete process in the town. Unlike the period when the witch hunt first started, the people in the town seemed to be living in harmony, but they were secretly supervising each other, and anything abnormal would happen. The suspicious townspeople may have thought that someone was performing witchcraft or magic.
In the early days, they would report to the mayor, to the church pastor who might be a witch, and to report anything that seemed suspicious to them. They would accuse each other, and those who might be accused of being witches would accuse others. She is a witch, so many people in the town have been accused of being witches and have been interrogated and sentenced. In the end, the witch trials and hunts often become a farce of throwing dirty water at each other.
Hearing this, Wu Ming couldn't help but frown: According to the story, it won't be long before everyone in the town has the experience of being accused of being a witch, right? What should we do when this time comes? Is it possible to bring the whole town together to be burned at the stake?
It was in this situation that the landlady shook her head, so in the end all convictions and sentences were handed down by priests and judges. They can identify witches, as long as they say who is a witch, who is a witch, and who needs to be purified by flames Sinful souls will be burned at the stake
Otto interrupted her in disbelief: Wait, is there no evidence to support it? Can you tell who the witch is by just relying on the words of the priest and the inquisitor? Can we determine who is guilty?
At least that's how it goes in the story. The landlady glanced at him lightly, and said calmly and unhurriedly: That's why I don't like these stories, and that's why I hope these are just stories made up by old people, because if this is what really happened, it will be very disturbing to many people. It's too cruel
The thin-haired young man's eyes widened. He could not imagine how cruel and desperate things would be if these stories were true.
At this time, Otto, the old hunter patted him on the shoulder. It was an era where suspicion of crime was common. Once anyone was named a heretic, it meant that no matter what he did, he was committing heresy and blasphemy and would be tortured. Screaming in pain will be regarded as talking to the devil. Enduring the pain of torture without saying a word means that the devil is helping him eliminate the pain. If a woman's eyes wander, it means that the devil she believes in is in the interrogation room. If she answers with firm eyes, Sonorous and powerful, then the devil obviously taught her how to deal with the judge of the trial house.
No matter what you do, it is impossible to prove your innocence. As long as the inquisitor thinks you are a heretic, then there is only trial and verdict waiting for you.
Otto looked at the old hunter with a slightly guilty expression and was momentarily speechless. He didn't know what to say for a long time:
Of course that's not what this story is about. Seeing that Otto was deep in thought, the landlady slowly continued: Ever since priests and inquisitors took over the task of judging witches, the task of the townspeople has become to provide clues for their trials. Of course, they He also summarized a unique method for identifying witches.
Unlucky? Wu Ming remembered the information he learned from the town mayor last night, and continued that as long as abnormal things began to appear in the town, or misfortunes occurred, it meant that the witch's curse had returned to the town, and the witch needed to be carried out. Judgment?
You guys know quite a bit about it. The landlady said with interest. This should be the town hall.
Did the elder tell you? Yes, that's it, and the townspeople will observe who is the unluckiest in the town, because people who encounter misfortune are more likely to become witches, so this becomes an excellent way for them to identify witches, and as long as the witch is judged, the people in the town will Abnormal phenomena and frequent unfortunate events will gradually cease.
The second story revolves around this special identification method. The protagonist of the story is an unfortunate girl. Because of her misfortune, the townspeople suspected her as a witch. The church priests and inquisitors never made it clear. verdict, the story is unfolded from the perspective of the unfortunate girl from beginning to end. The townspeople secretly believed that she was a witch, and used their own methods to implement justice, and carried out many excessive and violent actions against her to test whether she was a witch. She is not a witch, but the unfortunate girl has always been resigned to the violence and silently endured it.
She had no way to resist these abusers. No one except her mother was willing to help her, and no one was willing to stand on her side. In the end, even her mother was unable to protect her, and she could only watch the townspeople lynching as the violence worsened. Send her to the stake.
What an unpleasant story. Alex frowned. This story made him feel very unhappy from beginning to end. Wu Ming's feelings were not much different from his. So what about the ending of the story?
Instead, a playful smile appeared on the face of the landlady: However, at the end of the story, the unfortunate witch finally showed her ugly side. She used magic to curse the people in the entire town to never be happy, and cursed them to be cursed by the witch forever. Troubled by misfortunes and disasters, and never able to escape from this town, the soul will be bound to this land until death. It cannot rest in peace until the town is destroyed and the witch's curse is cut off.
After listening to this shocking story, Otto fell completely into a sluggish state. He opened his mouth wide and his expression changed continuously, but in the end he was unable to say anything.
Wu Ming and Alex fell silent at the same time, and did not speak again for a long time.
Next, I am going to visit the town doctor with Otto to see if those who were unconscious last night have woken up. After a while, several people after breakfast stood at the door of the tavern. Alex straightened the folds of his clothes and looked at Wu Ming and Siegfried, who was silent throughout the whole process, with a hint of inquiry. Brother, are you really? Won't you go together?
Let’s forget it. Wu Ming rejected Alex’s proposal. I have a few things that I need to confirm. I’m going to look for traces of another stranger in the town. You go ahead and meet up at the church at noon. .
Seeing that he didn't force himself to say this, Alex nodded and pulled Otto away: Okay, let's meet at noon.
See you at noon.
The proprietress had just finished cleaning the store. She staggered to the door of the store and wiped her hands with a rag: "Brother, are you going out later?"
Well, I'm going to go out later. Wu Ming answered casually, but just in the middle of the sentence, he felt the familiar gaze again, and involuntarily turned his head to look in the direction of the gaze.
She is still the same girl with long golden chestnut hair. She is still wearing the same shabby, patched old clothes and a red dress that has been starched until it turns white. She is standing on the corner of the small town street timidly exposing half of her head to observe. She looked towards Wu Ming, but this time she did not turn around and run away immediately. Her bright eyes were full of confusion, but Wu Ming could see that there was also a hint of fear and uneasiness in the other party's confused eyes.
Nina?
Wu Ming's pupils shrank slightly, and the name that flashed in his mind blurted out without thinking.
Um? Perhaps noticing his strange behavior, the landlady made a confused nasal noise, followed his gaze and saw the girl on the corner, and suddenly showed a clear look: Oh, are you calling that little girl? That child is quite pitiful. Her father is missing and her mother passed away last year because many unfortunate things happened to her. She was regarded as a witch a while ago, but luckily a kind-hearted stranger rescued her, otherwise the townspeople might have lynched her.
Wu Ming could no longer hear the rest of the words, and he walked step by step in the direction of the girl.
However, after the girl noticed his approach, she quickly retracted her head like a frightened rabbit, turning around without giving the other party any chance to communicate.
He quickly fled around the corner.
Later Wu Ming wanted to call the girl to stop, but the latter didn't listen to him at all and ran away and disappeared around the corner in the blink of an eye. In desperation, Wu Ming could only lead Siegfried and chase after her quickly.
The proprietress looked at the two people's retreating figures and sighed helplessly: Brother, you will be arrested as a pervert if you do this.
Nina held up her skirt and ran on the cement road in the town. She didn't run very fast. From time to time, she would look back in fear to see if the people behind her were catching up. Fortunately, she seemed to have gotten rid of the people behind her. , but she was still a little uneasy. After walking around carefully avoiding people outside for several times, she quietly returned home.
It wasn't until she closed the wooden door heavily and locked it skillfully that she breathed a sigh of relief, then slumped on the ground leaning against the door panel.
Finally escaped.
If you are caught up, you don’t know what kind of abuse you will receive.
Thinking of the thrilling experience just now, Nina felt a little uncontrollable fear. Recently, the people in the town have become more and more strange. Those who used to no longer insult her as a witch, and their attitude towards her has changed 180 degrees. The adults who became friendly stopped bullying her. Her peers who were good friends with her have recently begun to regard her as a witch. Their behavior was even more extreme than a few years ago. Some people pushed her into a pond. Some people stoned her, and a while ago some people even wanted to tie her to the stake and use the flames to purify her.
Nina was scared.
She didn't know what she had done wrong to deserve such treatment, and she didn't know why those who had treated her kindly now hated her as much as before.
Is it because Nina did something wrong? She wanted to question the townspeople like this, but no one ever answered her question. They just shouted that she was a witch and that she should be burned at the stake.
Fortunately, as long as she could return home, the townspeople would not dare to break in. If her home was not safe, Nina would have been tied to the stake by these townspeople.
She sat on the ground and rested for a while. After feeling that her strength had recovered a little, she got up. She patted her pink face vigorously to cheer herself up again.
Nina, it's okay! You have to believe in yourself, you will be able to leave here one day!
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