The Penguin Book of Witches Read Online Free PDF
Author: Katherine Howe
would not.
[Hathorne]: What service?
[Tituba]: She said hurt the children.
[Hathorne]: Did you not pinch Elisabeth Hubbard this morning?
[Tituba]: The man brought her to me and made her [scored out] pinch her.
[Hathorne]: Why did you go to Thomas Putnam’s last night and hurt his child? 18
[Tituba]: They pull and haul me and make go.
[Hathorne]: And what would they have you do?
[Tituba]: Kill her with a knife.
Left
19
Fuller and other said at this [time] when the child saw these persons and was tormented by them that she did complain of a knife that they would have her cut her head off with a knife.
[Hathorne]: How did you go?
[Tituba]: We ride upon sticks 20 and are there presently.
[Hathorne]: Do you go through the trees or over them?
[Tituba]: We see nothing but are there presently.
[Hathorne]: Why did you not tell your master?
[Tituba]: I was afraid. They said they would cut off my head if I told.
[Hathorne]: Would you not have hurt others if you could?
[Tituba]: They said they would hurt others but they could not [scored out]
[Hathorne]: What attendants hath Sarah Good?
[Tituba]: A yellow bird and she would have given me one.
[Hathorne]: What meat did she give it?
[Tituba]: It did suck her between her fingers.
[Hathorne]: Did not you hurt Mr. Currin’s child?
[Tituba]: Goody Good and Goody Osburn told that they did hurt Mr. Curren’s child and would have had me hurt him too but I did not.
[Hathorne]: What hath Sarah Osburn?
[Tituba]: Yesterday she had a thing with a head like a woman with 2 legs and wings.
Abigail Williams that lives with her uncle Mr. Parris said that she did see this same creature with Goody Osburn and yesterday being [scored out from “with”] and it turned into the shape
of Goody Osburn.
[Hathorne]: What else have you seen with Goody Osburn?
[Tituba]: Another thing hairy. It goes upright like a man. It hath only 2 legs.
[Hathorne]: Did you not see Sarah Good upon Elizabeth Williams [scored out] Hubbard last Saturday?
[Tituba]: I did see her set a wolf upon her to afflict her.
The persons with this maid did say that she did complain of a wolf
. 21
[Tituba]: She further said that she saw a cat with Good at another time.
[Hathorne]: What clothes doth the man we [scored out] go in?
[Tituba]: He goes in black clothes. A tall man with white hair, I think. 22
[Hathorne]: How doth the woman go?
[Tituba]: In a white hood and a black hood with a top knot.
[Hathorne]: Do you see who it is that torments it that hurts them now?
[Tituba]: I am blind now I cannot see.
Salem Village, March the 1st, 1691/2, written by Ezekiel Cheevers
TWO EXAMINATIONS OF TITUBA, AS RECORDED BY JONATHAN CORWIN, TUESDAY, MARCH 1 AND WEDNESDAY, MARCH 2, 1692
If the expansion of the Salem witch trials was ignited by Tituba’s confession, then we must ask her reason for confessing and condemning these other women. It is tempting to say that Tituba confessed to save herself, but when she did, she did not know that she would be spared because of it. Usually in an early modern witch trial, if one confessed it would only hurry one to the gallows, as was the case with Ursula Kemp one hundred years before. It has been argued that Parris beat Tituba’s confession out of her; the descriptions of her body, when it was examined looking for her witch’s teat, also include evidence of bruising. We may never fully understand
why
she confessed. She was a slave and a woman in a rigidly hierarchal society. Her questioning was leading at best and aggressive at worst. Tituba confessed for the same reason that people confess to crimes they did not commit today—because she had been hounded into it by people in a position of power.
What we can understand is
how
she confessed, which may tell us something about why. Tituba’s confession displays a deep knowledge of English witchcraft: the covenanting with the Devil, the spirit familiars in the forms of animals, riding on a stick to the Sabbath, and sending
[Hathorne]: What service?
[Tituba]: She said hurt the children.
[Hathorne]: Did you not pinch Elisabeth Hubbard this morning?
[Tituba]: The man brought her to me and made her [scored out] pinch her.
[Hathorne]: Why did you go to Thomas Putnam’s last night and hurt his child? 18
[Tituba]: They pull and haul me and make go.
[Hathorne]: And what would they have you do?
[Tituba]: Kill her with a knife.
Left
19
Fuller and other said at this [time] when the child saw these persons and was tormented by them that she did complain of a knife that they would have her cut her head off with a knife.
[Hathorne]: How did you go?
[Tituba]: We ride upon sticks 20 and are there presently.
[Hathorne]: Do you go through the trees or over them?
[Tituba]: We see nothing but are there presently.
[Hathorne]: Why did you not tell your master?
[Tituba]: I was afraid. They said they would cut off my head if I told.
[Hathorne]: Would you not have hurt others if you could?
[Tituba]: They said they would hurt others but they could not [scored out]
[Hathorne]: What attendants hath Sarah Good?
[Tituba]: A yellow bird and she would have given me one.
[Hathorne]: What meat did she give it?
[Tituba]: It did suck her between her fingers.
[Hathorne]: Did not you hurt Mr. Currin’s child?
[Tituba]: Goody Good and Goody Osburn told that they did hurt Mr. Curren’s child and would have had me hurt him too but I did not.
[Hathorne]: What hath Sarah Osburn?
[Tituba]: Yesterday she had a thing with a head like a woman with 2 legs and wings.
Abigail Williams that lives with her uncle Mr. Parris said that she did see this same creature with Goody Osburn and yesterday being [scored out from “with”] and it turned into the shape
of Goody Osburn.
[Hathorne]: What else have you seen with Goody Osburn?
[Tituba]: Another thing hairy. It goes upright like a man. It hath only 2 legs.
[Hathorne]: Did you not see Sarah Good upon Elizabeth Williams [scored out] Hubbard last Saturday?
[Tituba]: I did see her set a wolf upon her to afflict her.
The persons with this maid did say that she did complain of a wolf
. 21
[Tituba]: She further said that she saw a cat with Good at another time.
[Hathorne]: What clothes doth the man we [scored out] go in?
[Tituba]: He goes in black clothes. A tall man with white hair, I think. 22
[Hathorne]: How doth the woman go?
[Tituba]: In a white hood and a black hood with a top knot.
[Hathorne]: Do you see who it is that torments it that hurts them now?
[Tituba]: I am blind now I cannot see.
Salem Village, March the 1st, 1691/2, written by Ezekiel Cheevers
TWO EXAMINATIONS OF TITUBA, AS RECORDED BY JONATHAN CORWIN, TUESDAY, MARCH 1 AND WEDNESDAY, MARCH 2, 1692
If the expansion of the Salem witch trials was ignited by Tituba’s confession, then we must ask her reason for confessing and condemning these other women. It is tempting to say that Tituba confessed to save herself, but when she did, she did not know that she would be spared because of it. Usually in an early modern witch trial, if one confessed it would only hurry one to the gallows, as was the case with Ursula Kemp one hundred years before. It has been argued that Parris beat Tituba’s confession out of her; the descriptions of her body, when it was examined looking for her witch’s teat, also include evidence of bruising. We may never fully understand
why
she confessed. She was a slave and a woman in a rigidly hierarchal society. Her questioning was leading at best and aggressive at worst. Tituba confessed for the same reason that people confess to crimes they did not commit today—because she had been hounded into it by people in a position of power.
What we can understand is
how
she confessed, which may tell us something about why. Tituba’s confession displays a deep knowledge of English witchcraft: the covenanting with the Devil, the spirit familiars in the forms of animals, riding on a stick to the Sabbath, and sending
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