bubble50 DH Freelance 中翻英 英翻中

The Scold’s Bridle — How Men In The Middle Ages Dealt With Gossiping Wives[1]

By Katie Serena

Published February 2, 2018

中世紀的男人是如何利用「毒舌鈎」對付他們八卦的妻子呢?

Katie Serena 於2018年2月2日發布

Women who gossipped in the Middle Ages faced public humiliation at the hands of their husbands when they were forced to wear the Scold's Bridle for hours on end.

中世紀時期，丈夫會懲罰喜愛八卦閒聊的妻子，逼迫她們連續數小時戴上「毒舌鈎」(Scold's Bridle)，示眾羞辱。

Like modern people occasionally do, the ladies of the Middle Ages often got together to discuss the latest gossip. They would get together over what I like to imagine as a medieval Sunday brunch and chit-chat about the newest rumors. However, while women today face almost no repercussions for their idle chatter, women of the Middle Ages faced an extreme sort of corporal punishment: the Scold’s Bridle.’ The Scold’s Bridle is one of those things that proves no matter how hard being a woman can sometimes seem, compared to the Middle Ages, women today are doing just fine.

中世紀的婦女小姐們也會像現代人一樣偶爾聚在一起討論最新的八卦。在我的想像之中，應該就像是中世紀版的早午餐一樣，她們會聚在一起閒聊。不同的是，當今的女性不會因為閒聊受到什麼負面的影響，中世紀的女性卻會因為八卦而受到極端的處罰，這種體罰被稱為「毒舌鈎」。看到像是毒舌鈎這類的刑具，讓我們不禁覺得，儘管現今社會的女性仍然會面臨某些侷限與困難，但與中世紀的女性相比，身為當代女性其實還是相當不錯的。

The Scold’s Bridle was comprised of several strips of iron that surrounded an iron muzzle, that would be wrapped around a woman’s face like a mask. A small piece of iron, known as the “bridle bit,” would be placed inside a woman’s mouth and pressed upon the tongue to prevent her from speaking.

毒舌鈎是一種由幾根鐵條圍繞而成的鐵製口套，可以像面具一樣包住女性的臉。其中還會將一小塊被稱為「口銜」的鐵器，放入女人的口中，壓在舌頭上，不讓她說話。

Kind of like that thing you put in a horse’s mouth when you want to control it. Sometimes, the bit even had a spike on it which would puncture the tongue if speaking was attempted. The woman’s husband, upon hearing that his wife had been engaging in a round of gossip, would secure the bridle to his wife’s face to teach her a lesson.

這有點像放在馬的嘴裡，用來控制馬匹的馬銜(馬嚼子)。有時候，口銜上還會配有長釘，若配戴者試圖說話，舌頭就會被刺穿。當丈夫知道自己的妻子在和人閒聊時，就會讓妻子戴上毒舌鈎，給她一點教訓。

As if the iron mask and its mouthpiece weren’t humiliating enough, the husband would then attach a leash to his iron masked wife and take her on a literal walk of shame around the town, encouraging passersby to insult or spit on her. Occasionally a bell would be affixed to the top of the bridle, to draw more attention during the walk.

不僅如此，就好像戴上這個鐵面具和口銜還不夠屈辱似的，丈夫還會在帶著毒舌鈎的妻子身上綁條牽繩，帶她到鎮上遊街示眾，鼓勵路人對其辱罵或吐口水。有時候還會在毒舌鈎上繫上鈴鐺，好在遊街的過程中引起更多的關注。

The “Scold” part of “Scold’s Bridle” comes from the term that was usually applied to a woman in a derogative sense, who is seen to be nagging or constantly displeased. The “Bridle” part, of course, comes from the headpiece worn by horses, used when their riders want more control over their movements.

英文中的毒舌鈎是由「Scold(斥責)」與「Bridle(韁繩)」所組成。「Scold(斥責)」是一個用來貶低女性的詞，常常指嘮嘮叨叨或不停抱怨的女人。而「Bridle(韁繩)」當然就是指配戴在馬頭上的籠頭，讓騎手能夠更好的控制馬匹前進的方向。

The idea behind the corporal punishment of a scold was not an innovative one by any means. In the Christian religion, the most widely followed one at the time, it was believed that punishing one’s body was the only way to atone for one’s sins, and deeper understand the weight of one’s crimes against the church. It was only through pain that true understanding, and therefore innocence, could be achieved.

這種用體罰來進行懲處的想法其實屢見不鮮。這是中世紀基督教最常採取的處罰形式，因為當時認為對肉體的懲罰是贖罪的唯一途徑，也能讓人深入體會質疑教會是多麼深重的罪。只有通過痛苦，才能真正理解苦難的意義，從而回歸本真。

The idea of the Scold’s Bridle was also not a new one. Similar head cages had been used to control slaves for hundreds of years and would continue to be used to do so, almost until the 19th century.

毒舌鈎背後設計的概念也非首創。當時相似的套頭鐵籠早已用來控制奴隸長達數百年之久，而這種鐵籠的使用一直到19世紀才消失。

Thankfully, by the end of the 16th century, the Scold’s Bridle had begun to see a decrease in popularity. Whether women began to gossip less, or whether men decided that other forms of punishment were more effective, the bridle began to fall by the wayside. And, indeed, by the time the colonists were settling the New World, the bridle had been almost eliminated from use.

好在，毒舌鈎的熱度在16世紀末漸漸消退。不論這是因為八卦的婦女減少了，還是男人找到其他更有效的方法來處罰妻子，毒舌鈎開始淡出歷史舞台。確實，當殖民者在新大陸紮根時，幾乎不再使用這種毒舌鈎了。

Though, of course, public humiliation was still commonplace, as the new and exciting practice of placing people in the stocks became the preferred method of public shaming.

當然，示眾羞辱仍然相當普遍，不過在那時，人們更喜歡將人帶上頸手枷這種更新、更刺激的公開羞辱手段。

For more macabre medieval practices like the Scold’s Bridle, check out the most painful medieval torture devices, and the way that medieval humans mutilated their dead to avoid them becoming zombies.

對毒舌鈎這種令人毛骨悚然的中世紀刑具有興趣的話，可參考:「最恐怖的中世紀刑具」，以及「為了不要死後變成喪屍，中世紀人乾脆讓人死後不留全屍」。(註:此兩篇未翻譯)