羅馬尼亞巫婆作法詛咒政府以示抗議

Everyone curses the tax man, but Romanian witches angry about having to pay up for the first time hurled poisonous mandrake into the Danube River on Thursday to cast spells on the president and government.

雖然大部分人都不喜歡收稅者，但羅馬尼亞的巫婆們由於不滿政府出臺新稅法對巫術徵稅，居然決定前往多瑙河邊丟擲有毒的曼德拉草以集體做法，用古老巫術詛咒政府和總統。

Romania's newest taxpayers also included fortune tellers — but they probably should have seen it coming.

羅馬尼亞的最新徵稅法案規定像巫婆、算命先生這些人都要納稅。

Superstitions are no laughing matter in Romania — the land of the medieval ruler who inspired the "Dracula" tale — and have been part of its culture for centuries. President Traian Basescu and his aides have been known to wear purple on certain days, supposedly to ward off evil.

迷信在羅馬尼亞可不是鬧着玩的，吸血鬼的傳說自中世紀起就在這個國家流傳，並已成爲該國文化的一部分。總統特拉揚·伯塞斯庫和其幕僚在一些特定的日子都會穿上紫色服裝以驅避邪祟。

A witch at the Danube named Alisia called the new tax law "foolish." "What is there to tax, when we hardly earn anything?" she said。

一個名叫阿麗莎的巫婆稱新稅收政策是“愚蠢的”。她說：“我們自己根本賺不到什麼錢，拿什麼交稅啊？”

Yet on the Chitila River in southern Romania, other witches gathered around a fire Thursday and threw corn into an icy river to celebrate Epiphany. They praised the new government measure, saying it gives them official recognition.

然而在羅馬尼亞南部Chitila河邊，一些巫婆聚集於此，往結冰的河裏投擲玉米慶祝主顯節。他們對政府的新舉措高度讚揚，稱這意味着他們的魔法天賦得到政府承認。

The new tax law is part of the government's drive to collect More revenue and crack down on tax evasion in a country that is in recession.

新徵稅法案是政府爲增加財政收入，幫助國家擺脫經濟不景氣狀態而實施的新舉措。

Under the new law, like any self-employed person, they will pay 16 percent income tax and make contributions to health and pension programs.

羅馬尼亞政府的稅收新政策規定所有的個體經營者必須繳納16%的個人所得稅來支持醫療和退休金計劃。

Some argue the law will be hard to enforce, as the payments to witches and astrologers usually are small cash amounts of 20 to 30 lei ($7-$10) per consultation.

有的人認爲這項法律很難實施，因爲巫婆收到的錢通常都是現金，每次只有7到10美元左右。

Queen witch Bratara Buzea, 63, who was imprisoned in 1977 for witchcraft under Ceausescu's repressive regime, is furious about the new law.

63歲的皇后級巫婆Bratara Buzea曾經因爲作法反抗齊奧塞斯庫殘暴統治而於1977年被投入監獄，她對此項新政策十分憤怒。

Sitting cross-legged in her villa in the lake resort of Mogosoaia, just north of Bucharest, she said Wednesday she planned to cast a spell using a particularly effective concoction of cat excrement and a dead dog.

正在家中盤腿而坐的她說正計劃週三用貓尿和死狗作法詛咒政府。

"We do harm to those who harm us," she said. "They want to take the country out of this crisis using us? They should get us out of the crisis because they brought us into it."

“對於傷害我們的人，我們絕不留情。”她說道，“政府想利用我們走出經濟危機？應該是他們負責吧！我們還是被連累的呢！”

"My curses always work!" she cackled in a smoky voice, sitting next to a wood-burning stove, surrounded by potions, charms, holy water and ceramic pots.

“我的巫術可是很有效的！”坐在燃着木柴的壁爐旁邊，周圍被有毒藥劑、護身符、聖水和陶壺包圍的她聲音聽起來也很鬼魅。