評(píng)論
打印
I say "irrationally" taking life, because it is often possible to feel great sympathy with a murderer. Certain crimes passionnels can be forgiven without being condoned. Blackmailers invite direct retribution. Long provocation can be an excuse, as in that engaging case of some years ago, in which a respectable carpenter of seventy found he could no longer stand the incessant nagging of his wife. While she excoriatedhim from her throne in the kitchen- a daily exercise for fifty years- the husband went to his bench and came back with a hammer in each hand to settle the score. The testimony to his character, coupled with the sincerity implied by the two hammers, was enough to have him sent into quiet and brief seclusion .
我之所以說(shuō)"毫無(wú)理性地"毀奪人命，是因?yàn)闅⑷朔竿赡艿玫揭恍┤说膽z憫，某些激怒之下的犯罪行為雖然不會(huì)免于追究，但可能得到寬大處理。敲詐者會(huì)受到直接的懲罰。長(zhǎng)期的挑釁可以作為殺人的借口，就像幾年前一樁引人注目的案件中，一個(gè)70多歲、受人尊重的木匠對(duì)其妻子無(wú)休止的嘮叨忍無(wú)可忍時(shí)那樣。妻子坐在廚房的寶座上責(zé)罵他--50年來(lái)每天都是這樣--丈夫走到他的工作臺(tái)前，雙手各拿一把錘子回來(lái)跟她算帳。對(duì)木匠的證詞以及從兩把錘子中所得出的他的忠誠(chéng)足以將他送入安靜的隔離室少住些時(shí)日。
But what are we to say of the type of motive disclosed in a journal published by the inmates of one of our Federal penitentiaries ? The author is a bank robber who confesses that money is not his object: My mania for power, socially, sexually, and otherwise can feel no degree of satisfaction until I feel sure I have struck the ultimate of submission and terror in the minds and bodies of my victims … It's very difficult to explain all the queer fascinating sensations pounding and surging through me while I'm holding a gun on a victim, watching his body tremble and sweat …
然而，對(duì)于我們聯(lián)邦的某所監(jiān)獄所出版的一家刊物的一篇文章所披露的另一種犯罪動(dòng)機(jī)，我們又該說(shuō)些什么呢?那篇文章的作者是一個(gè)銀行搶劫犯，他在供詞中聲稱搶錢并不是他的真正目的："我對(duì)于社會(huì)地位、性生活及其他事物的追求達(dá)到了狂熱的程度，我覺(jué)得只有當(dāng)我能使我的受害者的身心都因極度的恐懼而完全被征服時(shí)，我的這些欲望才能得到滿足。……不知為什么，每當(dāng)我拿著槍對(duì)準(zhǔn)別人，看到她渾身發(fā)抖、面上冷汗直冒的樣子時(shí)，我總會(huì)感到自己身上洋溢著一種說(shuō)不出的痛快。
