The Terror That Comes in the Night: An Experience-Centered Study of Supernatural Assault Traditions

«Only when I had completed this book did I begin to see the outlines of what I now call the experience-centered approach to the study of supernatural belief» — nombra su propio enfoque, y dice que lo formuló DESPUÉS de terminar el libro

«1. Nightmares. 2. Incubi. 3. Witchcraft. 4. Sleep paralysis. I. Title. II. Series» — la catalogación bibliotecaria, que reúne cuatro campos que la literatura suele separar

«1. The Old Hag in Newfoundland 2. The Old Hag and the Cultural Source Hypothesis 3. The Phenomenology of the Old Hag 4. The Psychological Dis-Interpretation of the Old Hag 5. The Old Hag and Culture» — el índice: del caso a la hipótesis cultural, luego fenomenología y crítica psicológica

«The cultural source hypothesis predicts that, to the extent that these questions are accurate indicators of contact with the tradition» — enuncia la hipótesis rival como PREDICCIÓN falsable, no como postura

«Have you ever awakened during the night to find yourself paralyzed; i.e., unable to move or cry out? 2. Are you aware of anyone else ever having had such an experience? 3. Describe as many of the features of this experience as you can» — las preguntas con que localiza los casos, citadas literalmente

«About 40 percent of the total sample was familiar with the Old Hag tradition» — el dato de prevalencia del conocimiento de la tradición

«Knowledge of the tradition, then, is much more common among those who have had a personal experience of attack than among those who have not, and this difference is statistically significant» — y el resultado, con su cualificación estadística

«My own comments will be restricted to raising a few of the central questions posed by the material» — la contención metodológica que se impone al presentar los casos

«No commonly accepted term exists in modern English for the experience that is the subject of this book.» — abre el libro con la falta que lo organiza: el inglés moderno no tiene término aceptado para la experiencia que estudia, y esa falta es a la vez objeto de investigación y estorbo de ella

«The use of such folk terms as incubus, nightmare, and witch riding, for example, has led to mistaken conclusions about the distribution of the experience that lies behind the associated beliefs.» — y la consecuencia que le atribuye: usar los términos folclóricos ha hecho concluir mal sobre la distribución de la experiencia que hay detrás de las creencias

«I present this approach as one that can be added to those already in use. I do not propose that it should become the only way that folklorists should study belief or that it should replace any specific alternatives, although I do believe that it can substantially supplement many other strategies.» — acota el alcance de su propio enfoque: lo ofrece como añadido, no como sustituto de las demás estrategias del folclorista, aunque cree que puede complementar muchas

«Another’s experience is always a reconstruction to be inferred rather than a “fact” to be directly observed.» — la dificultad epistemológica que reconoce en la base del método: la experiencia ajena se infiere siempre por reconstrucción, nunca se observa como hecho

«But the folklorist cannot consider such factors to be merely sources of error, for they are themselves important subjects of study, and the changed material is recognized as having its own integrity and authenticity.» — memoria fallida, tradición oral y expectativa no son para él meras fuentes de error, sino objetos de estudio; el material alterado conserva integridad y autenticidad propias

«Some folklorists have gone so far as to say that in the study of supernatural belief the issue of whether a given belief is correct is irrelevant.» — recoge la posición de otros folcloristas, sin nombrarlos: en el estudio de la creencia sobrenatural daría igual si la creencia es correcta

«Given the findings reported in the present study, I must consider this to be an overstatement.» — y la rechaza en su propia voz, apoyándose en lo que halló, sin desarrollar la disputa

«This question lay behind Walter Anderson’s formulation of the law of self-correction and his theory of the formation of special redactions.» — atribuye a Walter Anderson la ley de autocorrección y la teoría de las redacciones especiales, formuladas ante la misma pregunta por la estabilidad del relato creído

«For believed narratives that claim repeated experience as their authority, however, the explanation of stability cannot be ultimately settled without a consideration of the alleged experiences.» — su tesis metodológica: en los relatos que invocan experiencia repetida como autoridad, la estabilidad no se explica sin considerar las experiencias alegadas

«All explanations of the stable accounts of giant, many-tentacled sea creatures told by seafarers over long periods of time and in many different locations, for example, were called into question (to put it mildly) by the discovery of the giant squid.» — el ejemplo con que lo apoya: el hallazgo del calamar gigante puso en cuestión toda explicación previa de los relatos estables de criaturas marinas de muchos tentáculos

«Because the consideration of actual experience in traditional beliefs tends to sound like an apologetic for those beliefs, I will present here an example that concludes somewhat differently from the giant squid case.» — advierte que su segundo ejemplo concluye distinto, para que atender a la experiencia real no se lea como defensa de las creencias

«This systematic use of traditional features to develop a plausible hypothesis concerning the nature of the eliciting experience, followed by a reconstruction of that experience for comparison, and then finally the direct empirical support of the theory by photographic evidence is most impressive.» — lo que le parece ejemplar del artículo de *Nature* sobre el tritón nórdico: rasgos tradicionales, hipótesis, reconstrucción de la experiencia y apoyo fotográfico

«Although no actual merman analogous to the giant squid was discovered, an improved understanding of naturally occurring atmospheric optical anomalies did result from a serious consideration of an apparently fabulous medieval belief.» — y el resultado que valora, con su límite dicho: no apareció ningún tritón, pero sí un mejor entendimiento de anomalías ópticas atmosféricas

«First, events accurately observed and reasoning properly carried out are in some cases central in the development and maintenance of folk belief, even when the beliefs appear fantastic.» — la primera de las conclusiones que saca del caso: hay creencias populares, aun las de apariencia fantástica, sostenidas por observación exacta y razonamiento correcto

«Not only is it difficult to reconcile the actual appearance of either of these animals with the traditionally reported descriptions, but both are tropical animals.» — contra la explicación del tritón por el dugongo o el manatí, objeta dos cosas: ni la apariencia cuadra ni los animales viven en esas aguas

«This was accomplished, however, at the cost of extreme and unsupported implications about the powers of observation, knowledge of the environment, and reasoning ability of northern sailors.» — y el precio que le imputa a esa explicación: implicaciones extremas y sin apoyo sobre la observación, el conocimiento y el razonamiento de los marinos del norte

«The folk belief has been explained away rather than explained.» — la fórmula con que nombra el defecto: a la creencia popular se la despacha en vez de explicarla

«But whatever the case with “ordinary” experiences, the phenomena involved in numinous experiences are in great need of careful description.» — sostiene que los fenómenos de las experiencias numinosas están muy necesitados de descripción cuidadosa

«This procedure does not simply remove expressive culture from the picture; it illuminates it and aids in its analysis.» — responde por adelantado a la objeción de que su procedimiento borre la cultura expresiva: dice que la ilumina y ayuda a analizarla

«so frequently have I been misunderstood in my attempts to use the word in its “pedestrian” sense that I was tempted to coin a new word—phenomenography—to mean simply the description of phenomena. Fortunately, I restrained myself.» — cuenta que estuvo tentado de acuñar *phenomenography* para nombrar la simple descripción de fenómenos, porque su uso llano de fenomenología se malentendía, y que se contuvo

«A combination of survey techniques with field work has been another useful method because knowing the distributions of both beliefs and the experiences said to support them has helped to evaluate possible sources of traditional misconstruction of events.» — el segundo componente del método: encuesta más trabajo de campo, para conocer la distribución de creencias y de experiencias y poder evaluar dónde la tradición malinterpreta los hechos

«The value of knowing something about the frequency and distribution of traditional beliefs and related personal experiences calls into serious question many interpretations of folk belief carried out without this knowledge.» — y lo que esa distribución pone en cuestión: muchas interpretaciones de la creencia popular hechas sin ese dato

«One consequence of this development has been the discovery that the study of disbelievers can be as useful as that of believers in the effort to understand a particular set of beliefs.» — sostiene que estudiar a los descreídos puede rendir tanto como estudiar a los creyentes para entender un conjunto de creencias

«I stress this point because, again, the experience-centered approach is not intended to replace other approaches but rather to be added to them.» — insiste en el límite de su enfoque: se suma a los otros, no los sustituye, y hay preguntas para las que no es pertinente

«This point deserves special emphasis because of an unfortunate tendency in folklore studies to divide into academic factions seen as either unrelated to one another or as necessarily in conflict.» — achaca la insistencia a una tendencia de los estudios de folclore a partirse en facciones que se ven inconexas o enfrentadas

«I have found that the important criteria of usefulness are simply rigor of scholarship and the suitability of one’s methods to the research task.» — los dos criterios de utilidad que declara en su lugar: rigor y adecuación del método a la tarea

«Because I have presented the experience-centered approach as a stage of investigation that largely precedes theoretical interpretation, I must acknowledge that no approach can be truly free of theory, nor should it be.» — reconoce que ningún enfoque está libre de teoría, ni debería estarlo, pese a haber presentado el suyo como etapa previa a la interpretación teórica

«The primary theoretical statement of the approach might be roughly summed up as follows: some significant portion of traditional supernatural belief is associated with accurate observations interpreted rationally.» — la tesis teórica del enfoque, dicha por él en su forma más escueta: una porción significativa de la creencia sobrenatural tradicional va asociada a observaciones exactas interpretadas racionalmente

«This does not suggest that all such belief has this association. Nor is this association taken as proof that the beliefs are true.» — y los dos límites que le pone en seguida: ni vale para toda creencia, ni la asociación prueba que las creencias sean verdaderas

«The experience-centered approach does not seek to show that such interpretations are never accurate; rather, it is a useful means for determining when and under what circumstances they may be accurate.» — tampoco niega que las interpretaciones sobrenaturales sean a veces exactas: dice servir para determinar cuándo y en qué circunstancias podrían serlo

«But the approach is in part based on the conclusion that poor observation and incorrect reasoning cannot account for all reported supernatural experience.» — la conclusión negativa en que apoya el enfoque: la mala observación y el razonamiento incorrecto no dan cuenta de toda la experiencia sobrenatural reportada

«Perhaps because of the loose way the words “empirical” and “rational” have been used in connection with belief, there has been a tendency to overlook their technical meanings.» — señala que el uso laxo de *empírico* y *racional* ha hecho perder sus sentidos técnicos

«They have developed connotations that make them almost synonymous with “correct” or “true.”» — y en qué han derivado: en casi sinónimos de correcto o verdadero

«For example, Ptolemaic astronomy was empirically supported and generated accurate predictions by means of both logical deduction and inductive reasoning. It was also incorrect, even though it continues to be useful for such purposes as navigation.» — el ejemplo con que separa lo empírico de lo verdadero: la astronomía ptolemaica tenía apoyo empírico y predecía bien, era incorrecta, y sigue sirviendo para navegar

«I am well aware that many readers will wish to know whether I am engaged in the reduction of supernatural belief to physical explanations or the construction of an argument that the experiences presented in the book are evidence of a paranormal or supernatural reality. Given the sensitivity of the supernatural as a topic and the current public and academic involvement in such disputes, this is a natural question. The answer, however, is an emphatic “neither.”» — se adelanta a la pregunta por su postura —¿reduce lo sobrenatural a lo físico o argumenta a favor de una realidad paranormal?— y responde que ninguna de las dos

«This is one advantage of the experience-centered approach—it allows for the development of a common ground of observations and research that is antecedent to those questions that are most culturally and emotionally loaded and therefore most difficult to approach in an unbiased manner.» — lo que dice ganar con ello: un terreno común de observación anterior a las preguntas culturalmente cargadas

«And yet the contributions of the approach are relevant to such ultimate questions.» — sin renunciar por eso a que sus aportes toquen esas preguntas últimas

«the approach grew out of the study, and the term “experience-centered approach” will not be found within the body of this book.» — advierte que el término *experience-centered approach* no aparece en el cuerpo del libro: el enfoque salió del estudio, no al revés

«I have not found the experiences recounted in this book to be associated with ethnicity, religious background, or any other ethnographic variable.» — uno de sus resultados negativos: no halla que las experiencias se asocien con etnia, religión ni ninguna otra variable etnográfica

«Nor have I found any association with those features of medical history that I could elicit using a basic illness checklist.» — ni con los rasgos de historia médica que pudo relevar con un cuestionario básico de enfermedad

«This lack of association with obvious features of medical history has been supported by Robert Ness» — apoya ese resultado negativo en un segundo investigador, Robert Ness

«adults about the same kind of experiences and administered the Cornell Medical Index to them.» — cuyo procedimiento describe: entrevistas sobre la misma clase de experiencias más el Cornell Medical Index; el troceo parte la cifra —sesenta y nueve— en el salto de línea y la cita empieza después

«He found no significant association between a history of attacks and emotional or physical illness as measured by the CMI.» — y lo que Ness halló, en voz de Ness: ninguna asociación significativa entre historial de ataques y enfermedad emocional o física según el CMI

«Of course, better sampling techniques and more sensitive measures may eventually establish some significant connections.» — acota el hallazgo negativo: mejores muestras y medidas más finas podrían establecer conexiones

«Although many of the features of the accounts given here are recognizable as motifs, the motifs carry with them misleading connotations.» — y el motivo del motivo: los rasgos de los relatos son reconocibles como motifs, pero los motifs arrastran connotaciones engañosas

«At some point it will be possible to cross-reference this index to the Motif-Index, and this will in a sense bridge the existential and the literary perspectives.» — y lo que espera de él en futuro: cruzarlo con el Motif-Index para tender un puente entre lo existencial y lo literario

«This job should be saved, though, until we have a more fully developed phenomenology of the experiences that underlie supernatural belief traditions.» — con su condición: esperar a tener una fenomenología más desarrollada de las experiencias que sostienen las tradiciones de creencia

«In conclusion, this study is presented as an example of “applied folklore.”» — presenta el estudio entero como un ejemplo de folclore aplicado

«Within folklore studies, however, the arguments that raged over the propriety and even the possibility of such a thing as applied folklore were anything but funny.» — recuerda que dentro de los estudios de folclore la propiedad y hasta la posibilidad del folclore aplicado se discutió con dureza

«What is still lacking is a consensus about which kinds of application are most promising and precisely how the applications are to be made.» — y lo que dice que sigue faltando: acuerdo sobre qué aplicaciones prometen y cómo hacerlas

«My strategy, then, involved the development of an approach that would address both kinds of questions in a single undertaking. The involvement of practical questions enhanced the empirical side of the venture, and the folklore questions assured some theoretical payoff. Ideally, I feel, applied folklore can always provide such a mix: the accomplishment of results with practical usefulness as well as advancement of knowledge within the field.» — su respuesta a esa falta: un enfoque que atienda a la vez las preguntas prácticas —que refuerzan el lado empírico— y las folclóricas, que aseguran rédito teórico

«Donald Ward, for example, writes, “The folklore scholar … need not concern himself with the question of the existence or non-existence of paranormal phenomena”» — cita a Donald Ward como voz de la posición contraria, y lo hace en nota: el estudioso del folclore no tendría por qué ocuparse de si los fenómenos paranormales existen

«Part of the problem is the simultaneous consideration of a kind of interpretation (paranormal) and the observations to which it refers (the phenomena). The folklorist must often be concerned with the existence of such phenomena, though not with their “paranormalness.” The distinct issues of accuracy of observation and adequacy of explanation must generally be taken one at a time.» — y su objeción, con la fórmula dentro: se confunden la interpretación paranormal y las observaciones a que se refiere; al folclorista le toca ocuparse de si los fenómenos existen, no de si son paranormales, y exactitud de la observación y adecuación de la explicación se tratan de una en una

«This Folklore Department and the associated Folklore and Language Archive are ideally located because the conservative influences of isolation have left intact in Newfoundland elements of traditional culture no longer functioning in most of the English-speaking world.» — justifica la sede de su trabajo: el aislamiento conservó en Terranova elementos de cultura tradicional que ya no funcionan en el resto del mundo anglófono

«Through the archive and field work I found that beliefs and accounts of supernatural lights—Will-o’-the-Wisp, Jack-o’-Lantern, ghost ships, weather lights—are very common, as are ghosts, omens of death, and many other categories.» — lo que el archivo y el campo le dieron: luces sobrenaturales —Will-o’-the-Wisp, Jack-o’-Lantern, barcos fantasma, luces de mal tiempo—, fantasmas y presagios de muerte, todos muy comunes

«Even beliefs and accounts about the fairies can be found in St. John’s and the outports, although these are much less common now than they once were.» — con la excepción que acota: las hadas todavía se hallan en San Juan y en los outports, pero mucho menos que antes

«The current distribution and the changing state of such traditions appear to support the conventional academic point of view that supernatural beliefs are survivals from a naive past and must decline as “scientific thought” ascends.» — registra que la distribución y el retroceso de esas tradiciones parecen apoyar la tesis académica corriente —creencias como supervivencias de un pasado ingenuo que ceden ante el pensamiento científico—, sin suscribirla

«Many Newfoundlanders are familiar with the Old Hag tradition and define it as did a university student about twenty years of age: “You are dreaming and you feel as if someone is holding you down. You can do nothing only cry out. People believe that you will die if you are not awakened.» — la definición breve con que un estudiante de unos veinte años resume la tradición: soñar sintiendo que alguien te sujeta, no poder más que gritar, y morir si no te despiertan

«Brief definitions, however, are not the natural form of living traditions. In fact, they are very rarely found in this form except when a folklorist or other outsider asks questions of the “What is …” variety.» — y su objeción de método: la definición breve no es la forma natural de una tradición viva, sale casi solo cuando pregunta un folclorista

«Beliefs, like values and attitudes, normally find their expressions either in action or descriptions of action, that is, narratives. Narratives are far more easily elicited, recorded, and analyzed than are spontaneous acts, and thus they provide a convenient means of examining beliefs in their natural setting. For these reasons, my data in this book consist primarily of narratives and their accompanying conversations.» — de ahí que sus datos sean narraciones y las conversaciones que las rodean: la creencia se expresa en acción o en relato, y el relato se recoge y analiza mejor que el acto espontáneo

«The three legends1 that follow provide a much more accurate, and therefore complex, introduction to the Old Hag tradition than could any number of definitions.» — presenta las tres leyendas del capítulo como introducción más exacta —y por eso más compleja— que cualquier definición

«Robert was trying to date Jean who was John’s steady girlfriend. About a month after this had been going on Robert began to be hagged.» — del caso 1, contado por una mujer de sesenta y dos años a dos estudiantes: el ataque empieza cuando Robert corteja a la novia de John

«But one night an old man suggested that Robert place a piece of board directly across his chest with an opened up pocket knife held between his hands. It was hoped that when the hag came to lie across his chest, the hag would be killed.» — y el remedio que le dan en el relato: una tabla sobre el pecho con una navaja abierta sujeta entre las manos, para que la bruja se mate al echarse encima

«However, in the morning when Robert got up he found that the knife was sticking into the piece of board.» — el desenlace que el caso 1 consigna como prueba: por la mañana el cuchillo estaba clavado en la tabla

«Robert told the people that he stayed with the the hag was human—he could hear it coming and could recognize it but when it came he couldn’t speak—he could only make throaty noises.» — y los rasgos que el testigo enumera: la hag era humana, se la oía llegar y se la reconocía, pero al llegar él no podía hablar, solo emitir ruidos de garganta

«The hag just walked in or appeared while Robert was sleeping but he woke up while he was being hagged.» — la ambigüedad entre sueño y ataque, tal como la formula el caso 1: la hag entra mientras Robert duerme y él despierta mientras lo están hagueando

«Robert said that he was always lying on his back and usually he was under stress. The hag was brought about by a curse. It always affected his throat most and took his breath away.» — y el resto de los rasgos del caso 1: siempre boca arriba, bajo estrés, ataque traído por una maldición, garganta afectada y aliento robado

«The way to call a hag, Robert later learned, was to say the Lord’s Prayer backwards in the name of the devil.» — el procedimiento que el caso 1 atribuye a quien manda la hag: rezar el padrenuestro al revés en nombre del diablo

«The only way to avoid the hag was by drawing blood or using the word of God and keeping the light on in the bedroom.» — y las tres defensas que consigna: sacar sangre, la palabra de Dios y dejar la luz encendida

«In this case of hagging it was male against male.» — la fórmula con que el testigo cierra el caso 1: hombre contra hombre

«Although Robert was hagged he always spoke freely about the whole thing whenever anyone asked him.» — y el dato de circulación del relato: Robert hablaba del asunto con quien le preguntara

«In contrasting such legends with brief definitions I was immediately confronted with a complication.» — la complicación que dice haber encontrado al cotejar leyendas con definiciones breves

«But the statement that “the hag was human” does not make sense if “hag” is synonymous with “dream.”» — y en qué consiste: si *hag* fuera sinónimo de sueño, no tendría sentido decir que la hag era humana

«So he said to her, ‘If you don’t let me kiss you, I’ll hag you tonight’; now she never believed he could do it, and she still wouldn’t let him do it. Anyway he went home; and Brother, that was a night he hagged her! and hagged her good. She was that bad she was foamin’ at the mouth before her father heard her. She was tellin’ us about it after. Yes he give her some haggin’.» — del caso 2, en voz del informante de Labrador: la amenaza de un pescador a una muchacha que no lo deja besarla, y el ataque de esa noche

«He said the Lord’s Prayer backwards; then jumped under the covers and took a knife from under the pilla and stuck it in the sideboard three or four times.» — y el procedimiento que el informante dice haber visto: desnudarse, arrodillarse, rezar el padrenuestro al revés y clavar un cuchillo tres o cuatro veces en el aparador

«No——He, hisself must have hagged her; because she could see him standin’ over her with the knife; and she couldn’t move because she was stopped still with fright.» — la ambigüedad del agente en el caso 2: el informante concluye que fue el hombre mismo, porque ella lo vio de pie sobre ella con el cuchillo y no pudo moverse del susto

«This question of identity is underlined by the student’s question in case 2, “who was he calling to when he said ‘Hag good Hag?’» — y lo que Hufford subraya de esa escena: la pregunta del estudiante sobre a quién llamaba el hagueador deja el problema de la identidad a la vista

«The problem of identity recurs consistently in Old Hag accounts. It is a result of the merging of two distinct possibilities that stand alone in some other traditions.» — sostiene que el problema de identidad reaparece en todos los relatos de Old Hag, por fusión de dos posibilidades que otras tradiciones mantienen separadas

«The first is that the hag, or whatever the attacker is called, is a supernatural creature, not a living human, sometimes acting on its own and at other times called upon by a human to carry out an attack, as in demonic assault, vampirism, and ghosts.» — la primera: la hag como criatura sobrenatural, que obra por su cuenta o llamada por un humano, como en el asalto demoníaco, el vampirismo y los fantasmas

«The second explanation is that the hagging experience is directly caused by a living human who travels as a spirit to carry out attacks or other activities, leaving its physical body behind.» — la segunda: un humano vivo que viaja como espíritu dejando atrás el cuerpo físico

«Witches, wizards, and sorcerers are the primary actors here.» — y quiénes la protagonizan: brujas, magos y hechiceros

«In Newfoundland the experience of hagging may be thought of as caused by an independent creature, by a human acting supernaturally, or by a combination of the two, the latter two being the most commonly held supernatural explanations.» — en Terranova conviven las tres —criatura independiente, humano obrando sobrenaturalmente, o combinación—, y son las dos últimas las más sostenidas

«He got the story from a twenty-four-year-old male friend, who labeled the subject “Hag-rog.”» — presenta el caso 3 con su procedencia y con la etiqueta que le da el propio informante, *Hag-rog*

«The old doctor found out that the old lady believed that the old lady who lived a couple of houses away was witching her. This second old lady was known for her witching by the rest of the community.» — del caso 3: la anciana tratada por epilepsia creía que otra vecina, tenida por bruja en la comunidad, la estaba embrujando

«She was to go home and urinate in a bottle. She was to cap the bottle and put it under her bed.» — y el remedio del viejo médico del pueblo: orinar en una botella, taparla y ponerla bajo la cama

«Both of the old ladies were cured.» — el desenlace que el caso 3 consigna: curadas las dos ancianas, la atacada y la bruja

«Although such details as paralysis, seeing an attacker, and the means of accomplishing the attack are not given in this account, it is clearly a traditional witchcraft case.» — y su lectura, con el límite dicho: faltan parálisis, atacante visto y modo del ataque, pero lo cuenta como caso tradicional de brujería

«Initial diagnosis of the experiences as epileptic seizures may result from the fact that a physician is a major figure in the story.» — propone, con reserva, que el diagnóstico inicial de epilepsia puede venir de que el médico es figura principal del relato

«The importance of variations in terminology is illustrated by the informant’s firm negative response to a question about “the old Hag” at the beginning of the interview.» — lee la negativa inicial del informante del caso 2 como prueba de lo que pesan las variaciones terminológicas

«While doing a questionnaire study of my own on the subject, I found one respondent who was ignorant of the traditional meaning of “Old Hag” but who knew the term “The Hags” as a name for the experience.» — y da su propio ejemplo: un encuestado que ignoraba el sentido tradicional de *Old Hag* y en cambio conocía *The Hags*

«In Newfoundland the verb “to hag” is most commonly used, with “to ride” occurring less often.» — el reparto de los verbos en Terranova: *to hag* el más común, *to ride* menos

«In addition to numerous variations on the words hag and ride, the experience in Newfoundland is occasionally called the “diddies” or, as noted earlier, “the nightmare.”» — los otros nombres que registra en Terranova: *diddies* y *the nightmare*

«Not only is the experience occasionally called a dream, but other types of bad dreams are sometimes classified as the Old Hag, especially if the dream involves helplessness.» — y el desbordamiento del término: también se clasifican como Old Hag otros malos sueños, sobre todo si hay impotencia

«The broadened connotations for the traditional terms seem to result from a process of secondary generalization in which the original meaning is the experience described in the above narratives.» — su explicación de ese ensanche: generalización secundaria a partir del sentido original, que es la experiencia de los relatos

«These three accounts illustrate a pattern of close personal contact between the narrator and the event in Old Hag stories.» — lo que le parece común a los tres casos: contacto personal cercano entre quien narra y el suceso

«In Newfoundland and elsewhere, accounts of this experience are characteristically presented as either first- or secondhand, and the informant generally believes them to be true.» — y el estatuto que tienen: relatos de primera o segunda mano que el informante suele creer verdaderos

«The supernatural explanations appear to be the oldest ones traditionally connected with the experience and continue to be held by many Newfoundlanders.» — fecha las explicaciones sobrenaturales como las más antiguas de la tradición, y las da por vigentes en muchos habitantes de Terranova

«A long-standing tradition of physical causes also exists, usually either indigestion or “stagnation of the blood,” explanations that have appeared in medical literature for centuries.» — junto a ellas registra la tradición de causas físicas —indigestión o estancamiento de la sangre— presente en la literatura médica desde hace siglos

«Galen, the great physician of the second century A.D., first explained this experience as a result of gastric disturbances.» — y le pone origen: Galeno, en el siglo II, explicó primero la experiencia por trastornos gástricos

«you have sense enough to work your forefinger and when you works your forefinger you’ll get enough blood circulating—you know what I mean—to use your arm.» — la explicación circulatoria en boca de un informante: mover el índice hasta que circule bastante sangre para usar el brazo

«An indication of the wide distribution of the circulatory explanation, and of the entire Old Hag tradition, is seen in the following fragment of a Newfoundland broadside composed in the 1920s by Johnny Burke, a popular local composer of such ballads.» — y la prueba de difusión que aduce: una hoja suelta de Terranova compuesta en los años veinte por Johnny Burke

«For many informants, the implication of a physical variable such as circulatory stagnation does not rule out the possible involvement of a supernatural agency.» — sostiene que la causa física no excluye para muchos informantes la agencia sobrenatural

«Some people take one of the explanations as exclusive; others regard a multiple cause as most likely.» — y consigna la divergencia sin resolverla: unos toman una explicación como exclusiva, otros prefieren la causa múltiple

«Outside of Newfoundland the most common traditional expression I have found for the experience in English is “riding,” although what does the riding is usually called a “witch,” not a “hag.”» — y fuera de la isla, *riding*, aunque quien cabalga suele llamarse bruja y no hag

«Although the subject of empiricism in supernatural belief has not been dealt with extensively in academic studies of belief, there does exist a strong implicit set of understandings which may be said to form the modern point of view.» — sostiene que el empirismo en la creencia sobrenatural apenas se ha estudiado y aun así hay un conjunto implícito de supuestos que forma el punto de vista moderno

«The greatest challenge to explanation in such traditions is the question of why people believe that they or others have had such experiences.» — fija la pregunta que organiza el capítulo: por qué la gente cree que ella u otros han tenido esas experiencias

«The most common explanations of such traditions may be divided into six categories, each involving the effect of culture in the shaping of experience and narratives about experience:» — y anuncia las seis categorías en que reparte las explicaciones corrientes, todas por efecto de la cultura sobre la experiencia y sobre los relatos

«No first-person account exists for many such narratives in their present form, the current stories having developed during oral transmission.» — la primera: no hay relato en primera persona y la historia actual se formó en la transmisión oral

«Others are misinterpretations of ordinary events caused by the action of tradition on the imagination of the one reporting the experience (e.g., marsh gas for Will-o’-the-Wisp).» — la segunda: malinterpretación de sucesos ordinarios por acción de la tradición sobre la imaginación, con el gas de pantano por fuego fatuo de ejemplo

«Some are either outright lies or errors of memory in which the one claiming the experience has placed himself in an account he at first heard involving another person.» — la tercera: mentira lisa o error de memoria de quien se pone a sí mismo en un relato que oyó de otro

«Some are the experiences of those who have been victims of a hoax by someone who has used the tradition as a model (e.g., Ichabod Crane in “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow”).» — la cuarta: víctimas de un engaño montado sobre el modelo de la tradición, con Ichabod Crane de ejemplo

«Some are actual experiences caused, often intentionally, by fasting, use of hallucinogens, or other methods known to produce powerful subjective experiences that vary» — la quinta: experiencias reales provocadas, muchas veces a propósito, por ayuno o alucinógenos; la frase sigue diciendo que varían de una cultura a otra y las modela la expectativa, y la cita se corta antes porque el troceo parte esa palabra en el salto de línea

«Some are the experiences of abnormal individuals whose psychotic episodes are shaped by their cultural repertoire (e.g., the hallucinations and delusions of schizophrenics are known to have changed over time in keeping with the culture in which schizophrenics live).» — y la sexta: episodios psicóticos modelados por el repertorio cultural, con el cambio histórico de las alucinaciones esquizofrénicas de ejemplo

«Each of these six possibilities involves the same relationship between personal experience and accounts of supernatural events. The experiences are either fictitious products of tradition or imaginary subjective experiences shaped (or occasionally even caused) by tradition. I call this view the cultural source hypothesis.» — lo que reúne a las seis: la experiencia o es producto ficticio de la tradición o es subjetiva y modelada —a veces causada— por ella; a eso llama hipótesis de la fuente cultural

«the tradition shapes the dreams of those who know and believe it, such dreams being misinterpreted by the believer as a waking experience (explanation 2)» — aplicada a la Old Hag, la hipótesis daría esto: la tradición modela los sueños de quien la conoce y el creyente los toma por experiencia de vigilia

«The hypothesis would then lead to the prediction that some first- and secondhand Old Hag accounts should occur in the tradition, although they would not be very common.» — y de ahí su predicción: relatos de primera y segunda mano existirían, pero poco comunes

«The hypothesis would further predict that all those who recount narratives of Old Hag attacks would be in touch with the tradition.» — con la predicción fuerte que sí es falsable: todo el que cuente un ataque estaría en contacto con la tradición

«This conventional expectation renders the large number of narratives involving a close narrator-victim link surprising.» — y lo que ya le resulta llamativo en el archivo: el número de relatos con vínculo estrecho entre narrador y víctima

«The archival data do not appear to support the cultural source hypothesis on this point, although this is a “soft” prediction and might be explained in a variety of ways.» — con el límite dicho en la misma frase: los datos de archivo no apoyan ahí la hipótesis cultural, pero la predicción es blanda y admite varias explicaciones

«The alternative to the cultural source hypothesis is what I call the experiential source hypothesis.» — nombra la hipótesis rival, la suya: la de fuente experiencial

«Obviously, the entire tradition could not be independent in this way.» — y la acota de entrada: la tradición entera no podría ser independiente de la cultura de ese modo

«The experiential source hypothesis predicts that recognizable “Old Hag experiences” will occur with some regularity without contact with the tradition.» — la predicción experiencial: experiencias reconocibles de Old Hag ocurrirán con cierta regularidad sin contacto con la tradición

«The cultural source hypothesis predicts instead that, in the absence of a cultural source, recognizable Old Hag attacks will not occur any more frequently than any other dream, misperception, or hallucination.» — y la cultural, en contraste: sin fuente cultural, los ataques reconocibles no serán más frecuentes que cualquier otro sueño, error de percepción o alucinación

«Both predictions have the value of being open to empirical verification.» — lo que le importa de las dos: que se pueden verificar empíricamente

«As unlikely as this hypothesis appeared at first, it was the natural alternative.» — declara cómo llegó a ella: le parecía improbable y era la alternativa natural

«This material indicated that firsthand accounts exist and that the tradition has some general distribution, but it was not specific.» — el límite del material de archivo: mostraba relatos de primera mano y difusión general, pero sin precisión

«The original Old Hag questionnaire distributed by the archive, however, did not record negative responses.» — y el defecto concreto del cuestionario original: no registraba las respuestas negativas

«The most useful method for including the general population for the determination of frequency and distribution is, of course, the questionnaire survey.» — de ahí el método que adopta para frecuencia y distribución en población general: la encuesta por cuestionario

«The new questionnaire would have to record both positive and negative responses and to ask questions with quantifiable answers.» — con las dos exigencias que le pone: registrar respuestas positivas y negativas, y preguntar cosas cuantificables

«The ethnographer makes inquiries and sorts through the general population as quickly as possible to locate those who are the best bearers of the traditions in question.» — describe el procedimiento etnográfico corriente: cribar la población para dar con los mejores portadores de la tradición

«In this sense “best” means those having the most complete knowledge, greatest ability to communicate effectively, and so forth.» — y qué significa ahí *mejores*: conocimiento más completo y mayor capacidad de comunicar

«I do, however, suggest that this approach requires supplementation.» — sin descartarlo: dice que ese enfoque necesita complemento

«In the case of the Old Hag study, the differences create a bias against folklore findings because college students are less likely to be conservators of the old ways and beliefs than would be randomly selected Newfoundlanders.» — declara el sesgo de su muestra y su dirección: los universitarios conservan menos las viejas creencias, así que el dato saldrá conservador

«Question 1 sets the definitive criteria of the experience: the subjective impression of being awake and the inability to move.» — los dos criterios definitorios que fija la pregunta 1: impresión subjetiva de estar despierto e incapacidad de moverse

«These alone do not necessarily constitute sufficient essential features to indicate the presence of a “recognizable Old Hag experience.» — y su reserva inmediata: esos dos rasgos no bastan por sí solos para dar por presente una experiencia reconocible de Old Hag

«Only questions 13 and 14 indicate that the Old Hag experience is being sought.» — el diseño que protege el dato: solo las preguntas 13 y 14 indican que se busca la Old Hag

«This structure was intended to prevent any possibility of leading the respondents or the construction of misleading facetious answers.» — y para qué: para no inducir al encuestado ni provocar respuestas jocosas engañosas

«This method yielded a response rate of 100 percent, kept the questions in order, and prevented collaboration.» — con el resultado que le atribuye: 100 por ciento de respuesta, preguntas en orden y sin colaboración entre encuestados

«A total of four classes was used to yield a total of one hundred complete responses.» — cuatro clases dieron cien respuestas completas

«Although these were folklore classes, they did not deal with folk belief and had not included any mention of the Old Hag.» — y la precaución sobre esas clases: eran de folclore pero no trataban creencia popular ni habían mencionado la Old Hag

«There were no important differences in the patterns of responses from the two groups, so it can be assumed that this timing was successful.» — el control de esa precaución: sin diferencias importantes entre los dos grupos, da el calendario por logrado

«on a sample of ninety-three native Newfoundlanders.» — la muestra que queda tras excluir a los no nativos: noventa y tres

«Twenty-three percent of the sample—a surprisingly high figure— reported having had the minimum experience described in this first question (i.e., paralysis with the impression of wakefulness) at least once.» — el dato central de la encuesta, con el adjetivo que él le pone: el 23 por ciento declara haber tenido al menos una vez parálisis con impresión de vigilia, cifra que le resulta sorprendentemente alta

«The difference in rates between males and females was calculated because some informants had suggested that the Old Hag occurred more frequently in one sex or the other.» — por qué calculó la diferencia por sexo: algunos informantes decían que la Old Hag caía más en uno de los dos

«The difference was found not to be significant, so sex was not used as a variable in the other analyses performed with these results.» — y el resultado, con su consecuencia analítica: no significativa, así que el sexo no entra como variable en los demás análisis

«Although the possibility remains that certain features of the experience may be associated with sex differences, the total number of positive responses is too small to pick up such relationships.» — con el límite dicho: podría haber rasgos asociados al sexo y el número de respuestas positivas es demasiado chico para detectarlos

«Paralysis during a period subjectively perceived as wakefulness would by itself constitute a scant base for the entire Old Hag tradition, although the number claiming the experience would be a valuable finding.» — acota el alcance de su propio dato: la parálisis con vigilia percibida sería base escasa para toda la tradición, aunque la cifra ya valga

«Because a great variety of additional details could be added to such an experience, this is the kind of objectively real core experience that the cultural source hypothesis could accommodate, proposing that additional culturally derived features are built on this foundation.» — y concede a la hipótesis rival lo que le cabe: sobre un núcleo real así, la fuente cultural puede proponer que los rasgos añadidos son culturales

«The possibility also arises that the two definitive criteria of the first question, immobility and wakefulness, have imposed order and the appearance of pattern by screening out a range of more or less similar experiences.» — se objeta a sí mismo que inmovilidad y vigilia, como criterios, pudieron imponer el orden y la apariencia de patrón filtrando experiencias parecidas

«Both of these possibilities can best be dealt with by considering the answers to question 3.» — y remite las dos objeciones a la pregunta 3, la abierta

«As expected, the method of administering the questionnaire did not prove to be a good means of obtaining narratives.» — reconoce el límite del cuestionario aplicado en clase: no sirve para obtener narraciones

«Writing out in longhand a description of an experience while a professor and fellow students wait for you to finish, however patiently, is a very artificial situation.» — y por qué: escribir a mano una experiencia mientras el profesor y los compañeros esperan es una situación muy artificial

«Nonetheless, each of the twenty-one positive responses was accompanied by a sufficiently descriptive account to permit some content analysis.» — pese a lo cual las veintiuna respuestas positivas traían relato bastante para un análisis de contenido

«In addition to the impression of wakefulness and immobility indicated by the initial positive response, each was described as including the actual setting correctly perceived and a feeling of fear.» — los cuatro rasgos que resultan: vigilia, inmovilidad, entorno real correctamente percibido y miedo

«These four elements are consistent with the traditionally described Old Hag attack. They are sufficient to allow the great majority of Newfoundlanders familiar with the tradition to identify the experience as the Old Hag. I call these “primary features” of the experience.» — los declara consistentes con el ataque tradicional y bastantes para que un terranovense reconozca la Old Hag; a esos cuatro los llama rasgos primarios

«The primary features do not, however, include some of the more dramatic elements found, for example, in the narratives quoted in Chapter 1.» — con su límite: los primarios dejan fuera los elementos más dramáticos de las leyendas del capítulo 1

«If accurately reported firsthand accounts of the experience included only these elements, a 23 percent rate of occurrence in the sample would still be surprising.» — y aun así, dice, un 23 por ciento seguiría siendo sorprendente aunque solo hubiera esos cuatro

«But other elements are often reported in connection with the primary features. I call these “secondary features.”» — pero se reportan otros elementos junto a los primarios, y a esos los llama rasgos secundarios

«Acquisition of a complete list of secondary features required extensive interviewing beyond the survey, and even now it is doubtful that all have been obtained.» — y declara la lista incompleta: hizo falta entrevistar mucho más allá de la encuesta y aun así duda de tenerlos todos

«The “feeling of a mass coming towards me” is one aspect of a secondary feature that did not become clear until I had been interviewing victims of these attacks for about two years. I now call this the “sensation of presence.”» — nombra uno de los secundarios y fecha su hallazgo: le llevó unos dos años de entrevistas llamarlo sensación de presencia

«This unseen, unheard presence is not inferred to be there, but is palpably sensed.» — y precisa su carácter: la presencia no vista ni oída no se infiere, se siente palpablemente

«The use of religious strategies, such as the rosary in this case, to cope with the attacks is common.» — registra como común el recurso religioso —el rosario en ese caso— para enfrentar el ataque

«At times it seems to be a result of inferences about the nature of the paralysis (e.g., that perhaps it is the result of a stroke or heart attack); at other times it appears to be an intrinsic component of the experience.» — y deja el miedo en dos ramas sin decidir: unas veces parece inferencia sobre la parálisis —una apoplejía, un infarto—, otras componente intrínseco de la experiencia

«Most frequently there is a single attack, either never repeated or repeated infrequently at intervals of months or, more often, years.» — el patrón de recurrencia más común: un ataque único, no repetido o repetido a intervalos de meses o de años

«In other cases a series of attacks may occur frequently, even nightly, for a period of a week or two.» — y el otro: series frecuentes, incluso cada noche, durante una o dos semanas

«The recurrence of the event repeatedly during a single night is uncommon but not unique.» — con el caso raro: la repetición varias veces en una misma noche, poco común pero no única

«Even those who advance physical theories of causation seem to find it difficult to avoid supernatural overtones in their perceptions of and responses to the attacks, as evidenced by the present respondent’s comparison of the attack to the appearance of her deceased grandfather when she was “sure I was awake.”» — observa que hasta quien sostiene una causa física deja sobretonos sobrenaturales, y lo apoya en la encuestada que compara el ataque con la aparición de su abuelo muerto

«Finally, the interpretation of the experience as an indication of danger to a friend or loved one is not common, although I have now heard several such accounts.» — y el rasgo secundario que da por poco común aunque atestiguado: leer la experiencia como aviso de peligro para alguien querido

«Even when the victim reports having felt terrified and directly threatened, he occasionally states that he did not try to move.» — matiza la inmovilidad: hay quien dice haberse sentido aterrado y amenazado y aun así no haber intentado moverse

«Although this latter feeling is surprising, it recurs too often to be dismissed as poor reporting.» — y por qué no lo descarta: recurre demasiado para achacarlo a mal reporte

«An important implication of these different perceptions of immobility is that they cause an unknown number of false negative responses to the paralysis question.» — con la consecuencia metodológica que saca: esas percepciones distintas de la inmovilidad producen un número desconocido de falsos negativos en su pregunta sobre parálisis

«Of those who specified their sleeping position in response to the questionnaire, 90 percent said that they were supine.» — el dato de postura: de quienes la especificaron, el 90 por ciento dormía boca arriba

«This frequency has held up consistently in subsequent research and appears to be a very important secondary feature.» — y su estatuto: la frecuencia se sostiene en la investigación posterior y lo hace un rasgo secundario muy importante

«A. Primary features (definitive) 1. subjective impression of wakefulness 2. immobility variously perceived (paralysis, restraint, fear of moving) 3. realistic perception of actual environment» — los rasgos primarios de su esquema, que declara definitorios: impresión subjetiva de vigilia, inmovilidad percibida de varios modos y percepción realista del entorno; el cuarto, el miedo, cierra la lista en la línea siguiente

«B. Secondary features (reported more than once, most experiences contain at least one, often more) 1. supine position (very common)» — y la definición de los secundarios: reportados más de una vez, con al menos uno en casi toda experiencia; el primero es la posición supina

«feeling of presence (common) 3. feeling of pressure, usually on chest (common) 4. numinous quality (common) 5. fear of death (somewhat common)» — el resto de los secundarios del esquema, cada uno con su frecuencia: sensación de presencia, presión —casi siempre en el pecho—, cualidad numinosa y miedo a morir

«C. Pattern of recurrence 1. once only or once and occasionally, with intervals of months or years (most common) 2. one or more “runs” of frequent attacks lasting one or two weeks (sometimes) 3. frequent chronic attacks over a long period (rarely)» — y los tres patrones de recurrencia que tabula, con su frecuencia entre paréntesis

«The primary features of this outline are definitive, that is, based on my initial findings I concluded that if one of these were absent I was not dealing with the Old Hag phenomenon.» — su regla de exclusión, dicha como conclusión de los hallazgos iniciales: si falta uno de los primarios, no es el fenómeno Old Hag

«The conclusion that these criteria define a coherent and distinct event has been upheld by my continuing research.» — y el estatuto que le da: la investigación posterior sostiene que esos criterios definen un suceso coherente y distinto

«But these four features are not identical in their location within my research design.» — pero separa los cuatro por su lugar en el diseño de investigación, que es donde está el riesgo de circularidad

«The impression of wakefulness and the feeling of immobility have been demanded by my method of eliciting the accounts: some form of the question, “Have you ever, while awake, found yourself unable to move?”» — dos de ellos los exige su propia pregunta: vigilia e inmovilidad

«Realistic perception of the environment and the presence of fear have not been demanded, but have been volunteered as consistent parts of the description of the experience, although realism is implicit in the impression of wakefulness.» — y los otros dos los ofrecieron los encuestados sin que se los pidiera, aunque concede que el realismo va implícito en la impresión de vigilia

«Of these primary features, fear is perhaps the most complex in its relationship to the basic attack.» — señala el miedo como el más complejo de los primarios en su relación con el ataque

«in some cases of frequently repeated attacks the fear is reduced or eliminated over time.» — y su variación: en ataques muy repetidos el miedo se reduce o desaparece con el tiempo

«Inferences, interpretations, and other responses to the attacks must be distinguished from the experience itself.» — la regla que se impone para tratar los relatos: separar inferencias, interpretaciones y respuestas del ataque de la experiencia misma

«Very careful interviewing is necessary to make the distinction.» — y lo que exige esa separación: entrevistar con mucho cuidado

«On the basis of this phenomenon, the victim frequently and reasonably infers that someone is nearby.» — de la sensación de presencia, dice que la víctima infiere razonablemente que hay alguien cerca

«Frequent reporting of personal experience of Old Hag attack goes against the predictions of the cultural source hypothesis, especially because two primary features (fear and realistic environment) and all of the secondary features were reported spontaneously without leading questions or planned confabulation.» — su resultado contra la hipótesis cultural, con la razón dentro: dos de los primarios y todos los secundarios se reportaron espontáneamente, sin preguntas dirigidas ni fabulación planeada

«Even though the cultural hypothesis is weakened by the frequency and consistency of firsthand reports, it can still offer the influence of tradition as the answer to this question.» — y le reconoce lo que le queda: aun debilitada, la hipótesis cultural todavía puede ofrecer la influencia de la tradición como respuesta

«Furthermore, the experiential hypothesis must allow for some correlation between the experience and the tradition because it is reasonable to expect that one who has such an experience without prior knowledge of the tradition has some likelihood of mentioning the event.» — y la simetría que le impone a la suya: la hipótesis experiencial también debe admitir alguna correlación, porque quien tiene la experiencia sin conocer la tradición tiende a contarla

«If this happens in a culture where some people know the tradition, the account may elicit discussion and thus inform the victim.» — con el mecanismo: al contarla en una cultura donde alguien conoce la tradición, la conversación informa a la víctima

«Therefore, some numerical association is to be expected between the experience and my measures of contact with the Old Hag tradition.» — de modo que su propia hipótesis también espera asociación numérica entre experiencia y medidas de contacto con la tradición

«To interpret the results of this part of the survey, what was considered to be “an accurate definition” must be explained. I considered any definition that mentioned immobility to be accurate.» — declara el criterio con que puntuó las definiciones: le bastó que mencionaran la inmovilidad

«I labeled inaccurate only such responses as “I don’t know,” “an ugly old woman,” or the very general traditional usage “bad dream.”» — y qué contó como inexacto: *no sé*, *una vieja fea* y el uso tradicional laxo de *mal sueño*

«This liberal scoring procedure is biased against the experiential hypothesis predictions and makes the results that much more striking.» — con la dirección del sesgo dicha: el criterio laxo va contra su propia hipótesis, lo que a su juicio hace más notable el resultado

«These tables show that a large majority of those who reported a personal experience of the attack were familiar with the Old Hag tradition and an even larger majority were aware of someone else having experienced it. The reverse is true for those who did not report a personal experience.» — lo que dan las tablas 2 y 3: gran mayoría de los que declaran experiencia conoce la tradición y aún más conoce a alguien que la tuvo, y al revés entre quienes no la declaran

«Given the high level of awareness of the tradition in the entire group, this strong association does not counter the predictions of either hypothesis.» — y su lectura, que no cobra el punto: con la tradición tan conocida en todo el grupo, esa asociación fuerte no contradice ninguna de las dos hipótesis

«That more than a third of those who reported the experience did not know of others having had it, and a third were not familiar with the tradition, favors the experiential hypothesis over the cultural hypothesis.» — lo que sí lee a su favor: más de un tercio de los que tuvieron la experiencia no conocía otros casos y un tercio no conocía la tradición

«The crucial test, however, comes when knowledge and definition among those who reported the experience are examined together.» — y remite la prueba decisiva a cruzar conocimiento y definición entre los que declararon la experiencia

«About two-thirds of those who reported having had the experience had at least some knowledge of someone else’s experience or familiarity with the tradition. More than half had both. About one» — el cruce que da la tabla 4: dos tercios de los que declararon la experiencia sabían de otros casos o conocían la tradición y más de la mitad las dos cosas; la frase que sigue —una quinta parte, ninguna de las dos— se corta en el salto de línea

«college student sample knew of the tradition and presumably an even greater fraction of the general population could be expected to be familiar with it, the existence of four cases with no knowledge of anyone else’s experience or of the tradition is striking.» — y su lectura del resto: en una cultura donde el 40 por ciento de la muestra conoce la tradición, cuatro casos sin contacto alguno le resultan llamativos

«The brief descriptions elicited by the questionnaire were not ideal for assessing the experiences occurring in isolation, however, and it is possible that these four persons had had some contact with the tradition and forgotten it.» — con la reserva que él mismo pone: las descripciones breves del cuestionario no bastan para juzgar casos aislados, y esos cuatro pudieron tener contacto y olvidarlo

«The next step was to conduct in-depth interviews with victims who stated ignorance of both the tradition and the experiences of others so they could give complete descriptions of the attacks and the interviewer could probe for subtle or forgotten traditional input.» — de ahí el paso siguiente: entrevistas en profundidad a víctimas que declaran ignorar la tradición y los casos ajenos, para sondear aportes tradicionales sutiles u olvidados

«To be most useful, the informants had to be located and interviewed without first being informed about the nature of the investigation.» — y la condición que se impone para que sirvan: localizar y entrevistar sin informar antes de qué va la investigación

«The method I used then and have since employed was to ask people about strange experiences in general, while noting a special interest in those during which the victim was immobilized.» — el procedimiento que declara: preguntar por experiencias extrañas en general, marcando interés especial en aquellas con inmovilización

«HUFFORD: John, you told me about an experience that happened to you, repeatedly I take it, as a child. Would you give the details?» — del caso 6, con su pregunta de apertura literal: Hufford pide los detalles sin nombrar la Old Hag

«I had heard of instances of lights being in the harbour and saw them, but paid no attention to them.» — John, de treinta y seis años, dice haber oído y visto luces en el puerto sin prestarles atención

«she said, “That is the canvas [local usage for linoleum],” she said, “On the stairway where during the daytime the canvas is pushed down by people walking up over it, during the nighttime it rises.”» — la explicación que la abuela de John le da a los ruidos, con la aclaración local del entrevistador entre corchetes: el linóleo de la escalera se levanta de noche

«But this didn’t make any sense to me, because these were definite footsteps that walked up one after the other to the top of the stairs.» — y por qué John no la acepta: eran pasos definidos, uno tras otro hasta lo alto de la escalera

«But the steps came up over the stairway and I knew that in a minute there was going to be something in the room again.» — del caso 6, la anticipación del ataque: los pasos suben y John sabe que en un minuto habrá algo otra vez en el cuarto

«But all during the next day I was dreading this thing of having to go to sleep again that night.» — y lo que le deja el episodio durante el día: el pavor a tener que volver a dormir esa noche

«I definitely had no fear from just hearing the footsteps the first time.» — un rasgo que Hufford recogerá después: John no sintió miedo la primera vez que oyó los pasos

«I’ve never, even seen anything like that before——ever before or after.» — John declara no haber visto nada semejante ni antes ni después

«it looked to me like an elephant of all things! Just a blob, but white. I was——ah——I knew I wasn’t dreaming! I thought I was dreaming but I knew I wasn’t dreaming! And I broke out into a sweat and was just forced onto the bed.» — del caso 6, la figura que John describe y su reacción: un bulto blanco parecido a un elefante, la certeza de no estar soñando, el sudor y el quedar forzado contra la cama

«And I’d never ever had anything wrong with me mentally. I am absolutely, beyond any shadow of a doubt, positive of that experience.» — John, en el caso 6, descarta el fallo mental y afirma la certeza de la experiencia sin sombra de duda

«I am sure——I am sure that there was something there unless there was something wrong with my mind, and wrong with my eyes at that particular point.» — y la única salida que se concede: había algo allí, salvo que le fallaran la mente y los ojos en ese momento

«Because I was——I can tell you I was totally petrified by that experience.» — el estado en que lo deja, dicho por él: petrificado

«Completely unsuperstitious. The most amazing thing that had ever happened to me.» — y cómo se describe John a sí mismo, según lo transcribe la obra: nada supersticioso, y aquello lo más asombroso que le había pasado

«John’s attacks followed the second pattern described earlier, that of a single “run” lasting several nights. Despite the considerable pressure he experienced, he refused to share what was happening to him, even with his grandparents.» — encaja el caso 6 en su propia tipología: la segunda pauta, una racha de varias noches, y John no se lo contó ni a sus abuelos

«This strong reluctance to discuss the experience is common among those who do not know of the tradition and have never heard of others having the experience.» — y generaliza esa reticencia a quienes no conocen la tradición ni han oído de otros casos

«He had considered the ghost stories of others to be “stupid, idiotic … ridiculous,” and he had no desire to make himself the target of such an evaluation by others.» — con el motivo que le atribuye a John, tomado de sus propias palabras: tenía por estúpidos los relatos de fantasmas ajenos y no quería quedar así ante otros

«Such pressures against speaking of these experiences are apparently very great unless the listener can show prior knowledge and can demonstrate that an account will be heard with sympathy and respect.» — de donde saca su regla sobre la presión de silencio: cede solo si quien escucha muestra conocimiento previo y trato respetuoso

«Are they credulous or especially impressionable? To the extent that interview data can provide the answer, they seem not to be.» — se plantea la objeción corriente sobre los testigos —¿crédulos, impresionables?— y responde que, hasta donde llegan las entrevistas, no lo son

«The victim is frequently someone who, like John, disclaims either any general belief or interest in the supernatural and insists that he has never had any other unusual experiences.» — y describe el perfil frecuente: alguien que niega interés o creencia en lo sobrenatural y sostiene no haber tenido otras experiencias raras

«All four of the primary Old Hag attack features are present in John’s account.» — adjudica al caso 6 los cuatro rasgos primarios

«The strong impression of wakefulness competes successfully with an almost equally strong desire to dismiss the experience as a bad dream.» — y describe la tensión interna del relato: la impresión de vigilia se impone al deseo, casi igual de fuerte, de despachar aquello como mal sueño

«The immobility John experienced may have included some feeling of pressure, although this is not completely clear.» — con la reserva que no resuelve: la inmovilidad pudo incluir presión, y no queda del todo claro

«He says that he was “forced onto the bed,” but adds that this may have been through fear.» — porque John dice haber sido forzado contra la cama y añade que pudo ser por miedo

«He felt no fear during what he later realized was the beginning of the experience.» — otro dato del caso 6: no hubo miedo en lo que después reconoció como el comienzo

«In some attacks fear is the first sign. In others, like John’s, the fear comes later.» — de ahí una variación que consigna: en unos ataques el miedo abre, en otros —como el de John— llega después

«The secondary features John experienced included lying on his back, a feeling of pressure, and a feeling that the experience was uncanny.» — los rasgos secundarios que adjudica al caso 6: posición supina, presión y sensación de lo inquietante

«John could open and close his eyes and could look in whatever direction he chose.» — el control de los ojos en el caso 6: John podía abrirlos, cerrarlos y mirar adonde quisiera

«Most informants report this ability, but the fact that a few people have described what seems to be this experience without the ability to open their closed eyes suggests that this is most safely classed as a secondary feature.» — y por qué lo clasifica como secundario y no primario: unos pocos describen lo mismo sin poder abrir los ojos cerrados

«The sound of footsteps is almost as common as the supine position and the feeling of presence.» — sitúa el sonido de pasos casi tan frecuente como la posición supina y la sensación de presencia

«The presence of a visual component is also common, although less so than either the footsteps or the sensation of presence.» — y el componente visual algo menos que los pasos y la presencia

«That what was seen was humanoid is typical, and that its shape was seen to shift into a nonhuman, vaguely animal form is suggestive of traditional beliefs about the powers of witches and other supernatural entities.» — lo típico de lo visto: forma humanoide que muda a animal, cosa que él relaciona con las creencias tradicionales sobre los poderes de las brujas

«Although such a vision is not frequently reported in firsthand accounts, I have encountered it subsequently.» — con su límite de frecuencia: no abunda en relatos de primera mano, aunque él la encontró después

«The language of the informant often breaks down in the effort to provide an accurate description of so many unprecedented perceptions.» — y un hallazgo sobre el habla del testigo: el lenguaje se quiebra al describir tantas percepciones sin precedente

«One common result is a heavy reliance on simile and metaphor, as when John said that the changed figure looked like an elephant. Without additional questions about his meaning, the impression would have been inaccurate and ludicrous.» — con la consecuencia práctica para el entrevistador: el símil y la metáfora —el elefante de John— llevarían a una impresión falsa y ridícula sin preguntar por lo que quiso decir

«A terrified person could be expected to make such an observation, and many informants have.» — el corazón golpeando: reconoce que un aterrado lo diría de todas formas

«These conditions have been reported spontaneously in sufficient numbers to justify their inclusion as a secondary feature.» — y aun así lo incluye como rasgo secundario por el número de reportes espontáneos

«She had been in Newfoundland for only a few months at the time of her experience, and she had never heard of either the tradition or my research. I shall call her Caroline.» — presenta el caso 7: una estudiante de posgrado estadounidense con pocos meses en Terranova, que no conocía ni la tradición ni la investigación

«HUFFORD: Caroline, I know nothing about the details of what you are about to tell me, so just proceed from the beginning.» — y la fórmula de apertura con que declara su propia ignorancia de lo que va a oír

«Well, I woke up, or thought I woke up. And I was conscious of the room anyway.» — Caroline abre el caso 7 con la duda sobre el despertar y la conciencia del cuarto

«And I was so scared when I first was conscious of it, you know, that I didn’t——I couldn’t look around to see who it was.» — el miedo que le impide siquiera mirar quién era

«I thought he must be, you know, he must be asleep and I was——I could——I remembered really distinctly his smell.» — y un rasgo poco común que la obra recoge de ella: el olor, recordado con nitidez

«And then I tried to scream. I thought I’d scream and Betty [roommate] would hear me.» — el grito intentado y la esperanza de que la compañera de cuarto la oyera

«And here it was, and I could get my head up but I couldn’t move past my chest. Like it was like pressing down on my chest.» — la inmovilidad localizada del caso 7: podía levantar la cabeza y no pasar del pecho, con presión encima

«I thought, Lord, it must be a Martian or something! (laughter) Then I said, no, then I thought, “No, it’s probably somebody who just put on a mask so I wouldn’t know who he was.”» — las dos explicaciones que Caroline se da en el momento —un marciano, luego alguien con máscara— y cómo se corrige sola

«And I kept trying to pull up, and finally I just sort of, felt sort of released, you know.» — y el final del episodio: tirar hacia arriba hasta sentirse liberada

«CAROLINE: I think I felt like I’d been awake. Now——I’m saying I must have been asleep, but I didn’t have any feeling of——I mean of opening my eyes. I think I felt like they were already open.» — Caroline, en el caso 7, dice la vigilia en condicional: concede que debía de estar dormida y sostiene no haber sentido que abría los ojos

«It gave me a bad feeling. Like I felt bad the whole rest of the day.» — y el afecto que le queda todo el día siguiente

«It was obviously an unpleasant experience, and it also obviously had sexual overtones.» — Hufford consigna las connotaciones sexuales del caso 7 y no las interpreta

«Caroline’s account was the first I had collected from a non-Newfoundlander, and it was clearly an Old Hag attack.» — sitúa el caso 7 como el primero que recogió fuera de Terranova y lo clasifica como ataque de Old Hag

«The subjective impression of wakefulness, immobility, realistic perception of the actual environment, and fear were all present.» — con los cuatro rasgos primarios presentes

«John and Caroline clearly experienced a struggle reported by many victims.» — lee en los casos 6 y 7 la misma pugna que dice hallar en muchas víctimas

«They had a conviction of wakefulness based on what the experience felt like, even in memory, and what the victim considers to be the only reasonable interpretation of the event, what it must have been.» — y en qué consiste: la convicción de vigilia por cómo se sintió aquello, aun en el recuerdo, contra la única interpretación que a la víctima le parece razonable

«The dissonance created by this situation is seen over and over again in statements that vacillate between sensation and inference.» — con la marca que deja en los relatos: enunciados que oscilan entre sensación e inferencia

«It comes as no surprise, of course, that this experience, like any other, can be the subject of a dream.» — concede sin resistencia que la experiencia, como cualquier otra, pueda ser tema de un sueño

«Even though the bad dream left her “nervous and scared,” the feeling was much less intense than that of the original attack experience.» — y funda la diferencia en el propio testimonio del caso 7: el mal sueño la dejó nerviosa y asustada, mucho menos intensamente que el ataque

«Caroline perceived her immobility as caused by a restraint.» — clasifica la inmovilidad del caso 7 como percibida en forma de sujeción

«Although not common, this persistence of negative affect has been reported by others and must be classified as another secondary feature.» — y añade otro rasgo secundario a partir de ella: la persistencia del afecto negativo, poco común pero reportada por otros

«The sound she heard, on the other hand, is less common than the footsteps John described.» — compara los dos casos por frecuencia: el sonido del caso 7 es menos común que los pasos del caso 6

«The presence of an odor is a new feature. Only four of the victims I have interviewed to date have reported an odor, but in each case the perception was as distinct as Caroline’s comment about the dusty, sweaty smell. Odor, then, is a rare secondary feature.» — y el olor lo declara rasgo nuevo y raro, con la cifra que lo sostiene: cuatro de todas las víctimas entrevistadas hasta la fecha

«These first two in-depth interviews supported the tentative conclusion drawn from the survey that although the occurrence of the identifiable Old Hag experience is associated with knowledge of models for the experience (either the tradition in general or a specific other’s experience), such models are not necessary.» — la conclusión provisional que le sacan las dos primeras entrevistas a fondo: la experiencia se asocia con conocer modelos, pero los modelos no son necesarios

«Although this does not rule out the possibility that a knowledge of models might influence either the likelihood of having the experience or some aspects of its contents, it reduces any such influence to secondary importance.» — con su límite dicho en la misma frase: no descarta que conocer modelos influya en la probabilidad o en el contenido, solo lo rebaja a importancia secundaria

«The precise meaning of the word “memórate” has been the subject of considerable scholarly debate. I am using it here simply to mean a story told as personal experience and believed to be true.» — define en nota el término *memorate*, reconociendo el debate erudito y quedándose con el uso mínimo: relato contado como experiencia personal y creído verdadero

«This connection with the supine position is found in widely separated traditions. The following are three of the many examples I located in the very extensive files of the Dictionary of American Popular Beliefs and Superstitions project (Wayland D. Hand, Professor Emeritus, Director) at the University of California at Los Angeles.» — declara la fuente de los tres ejemplos con que documenta la creencia sobre dormir boca arriba: los ficheros del Dictionary of American Popular Beliefs and Superstitions

«If you go to sleep on your back, you will have nightmares” (Richard Tallman, ed., Belief and Legend from Northern Kings County, Nova Scotia» — el primero, de Nueva Escocia, citado con su referencia

«It is believed that one sleeping on his back will be oppressed by nightmares” (Josef Čižmăr, Lidové lékarstoí v» — el segundo, checo, del que la capa de texto deforma el título

«You should not lie flat on your back lest: (a) evil spirits come and overtop you and give you bad dreams…. (b) your liver might be seen by the witches…. (c) and the witch might take away your liver» — y el tercero, filipino, con tres razones: espíritus que se echan encima, el hígado a la vista de las brujas y el hígado robado

«See also Jones, On the Nightmare, p. 34.» — y remite a *On the Nightmare* de Jones para la misma conexión, la obra que discutirá en el capítulo 4

«Late in the winter of 1973 I was interviewed on CBC radio about my work concerning the Old Hag tradition. In the interview, I described the tradition and explained that the attacks also occur in the absence of tradition and that they do not appear to be any cause for alarm; that is, they do not appear to be abnormal or pathological.» — declara lo que dijo en la radio de la CBC a fines del invierno de 1973: que los ataques ocurren también sin tradición y que no parecen anormales ni patológicos

«The program was heard over much of eastern Canada, and soon I began to receive letters telling of apparent Old Hag experiences.» — y el efecto que tuvo: cartas de casi todo el este de Canadá contando experiencias

«The letters were seldom detailed, but there was little doubt that they referred to the same experience.» — con su valoración: poco detalladas, pero sin duda sobre la identidad de la experiencia

«It was with great interest and considerable relief, that I listened to you being interviewed on CBC last week.» — del caso 8, una mujer de más de sesenta años que escribe a la CBC: interés y alivio considerable

«They were all as you described except that I did not hear footsteps, and on one occasion only was the hag on top of me—The others, it was in bed, at my side trying to push me out.» — y su cotejo con la descripción radiada: todos iguales salvo que no oyó pasos y solo una vez la hag estuvo encima; las demás, al lado, empujándola fuera de la cama

«I have never known anyone who has experienced it and when I try to explain it to my family and friends, they look at me in disbelief» — el aislamiento que declara la testigo del caso 8: nadie conocido lo ha vivido y su familia la mira con incredulidad

«The relief reported by this woman is a typical reaction of those who report an attack after hearing a discussion of the subject.» — Hufford registra ese alivio como reacción típica de quien reporta tras oír discutir el asunto

«People also often automatically adopt whatever term they heard me use for the attack, as in the use of “old hag” here. To adopt the term is natural because the lack of appropriate terminology is a major obstacle to discussion of the attacks in the absence of a tradition.» — y un efecto de su propia intervención: los testigos adoptan el término que le oyeron, porque sin tradición falta terminología para hablar del ataque

«That this woman experiences the attacks less frequently since she began taking an antidepressant is interesting.» — señala como interesante que otra testigo tenga menos ataques desde que toma un antidepresivo

«Any drug that acts on the central nervous system might have an impact on a sleep-related experience.» — con la conjetura abierta que le sigue: cualquier fármaco que actúe sobre el sistema nervioso central podría influir en una experiencia ligada al sueño

«effect has been indicated in the information I have collected so far, and any drug effect would be difficult to establish.» — y la abstención que cierra el punto: no hay indicio de efecto ligado a la depresión en lo que lleva recogido, y el del fármaco sería difícil de establecer; la cita empieza después de *depression-related*, que el troceo pega en el salto de línea

«This almost automatic search for a cause is in itself an important part of the reactions of most victims.» — y lee esa búsqueda casi automática de causa como parte importante de la reacción de la mayoría de las víctimas

«I have not had many opportunities to repeat and extend the oral questionnaire approach initially used in Newfoundland, and I have therefore not added much statistical data.» — declara el límite de su serie: pocas ocasiones de repetir el cuestionario oral, y por eso poco dato estadístico nuevo

«Although I have rarely been able to use the full questionnaire, I have carried out numerous surveys of a less formal nature centering on some form of the question, “Have you ever awakened to find that you were unable to move?” These have involved groups in Pennsylvania, Nebraska, California, and Kentucky.» — lo que sí hizo en su lugar: encuestas informales sobre una forma de la pregunta por el despertar sin poder moverse, en Pensilvania, Nebraska, California y Kentucky

«Depending on the manner in which the question is presented, the positive responses have varied between 10 and 25 percent of groups containing thirty-five to one hundred people.» — con el rango de resultados y su dependencia del modo de preguntar: entre 10 y 25 por ciento en grupos de treinta y cinco a cien personas

«The more initial reassurance given that positive responses are not abnormal, the larger the number of responses up to about 16 percent. Response rates up to 25 percent are found when more description is given of the experiences being sought.» — y las dos palancas que mueven la cifra: tranquilizar sobre la normalidad sube hasta un 16 por ciento, y describir más la experiencia hasta un 25

«For example, a group of ninety yielded fifteen positive responses to the bare question. I then described the attacks on the basis of my interview materials, including the fact that some victims report feeling “afraid to move” rather than “paralyzed.” I then repolled the group. This time twenty-three raised their hands.» — el experimento concreto que lo muestra: de noventa personas, quince a la pregunta escueta y veintitrés tras describirles el ataque, incluido el sentirse con miedo de moverse en vez de paralizado

«This response may represent some increase in false positives, but very few follow-up interviews in such cases have revealed any experience that was not clearly of the Old Hag variety.» — con la objeción que se hace y su respuesta: podría haber más falsos positivos, pero las entrevistas de seguimiento casi siempre dieron ataques de la variedad Old Hag

«I think it more likely that the additional explanation removes false negatives—those who have had the attacks but do not perceive their immobility as paralysis.» — y su lectura preferida, dicha como probabilidad: la explicación adicional quita falsos negativos, gente que tuvo el ataque y no llama parálisis a su inmovilidad

«If the presence of the tradition in Newfoundland serves a purpose similar to my more extensive description, then the 23 percent rate of occurrence there would appear to be similar to the mainland rate.» — de donde saca, en condicional, que el 23 por ciento de Terranova se parecería a la tasa del continente

«In terms of the two hypotheses discussed in Chapter 2, the frequent report of recognizable Old Hag attacks is the softer of the two means for discriminating between the two positions.» — jerarquiza sus propias pruebas: la frecuencia de ataques reconocibles es el criterio más blando de los dos

«The more conclusive evidence is the presence or absence of a complex and stable pattern of experience in the absence of a model.» — y el más concluyente: que haya o no un patrón complejo y estable de experiencia sin modelo disponible

«The demonstration that tradition is not needed either to elicit or to shape the attacks made all of these topics more important.» — lo que dice haber demostrado: que la tradición no hace falta ni para provocar ni para modelar los ataques

«When one has an experience and is aware that others have had a similar experience, that knowledge is generally accompanied by the availability of words and phrases understood to describe the experience or some of its aspects.» — su tesis sobre el lenguaje: saber que otros han pasado por lo mismo trae consigo palabras y frases disponibles para describirlo

«Such language allows a great many complex operations and experiences to be indicated quickly and conveniently.» — con lo que ese lenguaje permite: indicar rápido y cómodamente operaciones y experiencias complejas

«In either the mundane or the supernatural example, the speaker is saved an enormous amount of effort by the availability of such language, albeit at the cost of some precision.» — y el precio que le pone: enorme ahorro de esfuerzo a costa de algo de precisión

«Not only does general knowledge allow for convenient language, but the presence of convenient language indicates the presence of a consensus, which in most cases provides assurance that one’s experience is not somehow monstrous.» — su tesis sobre lo que aporta la lengua disponible: no solo comodidad, sino la señal de un consenso que asegura al testigo que su experiencia no es monstruosa

«Difficulty of expression and uneasiness about disclosing such a personal experience interact to create pressure against talking about the attacks in the absence of a tradition and lead to the use of analogy.» — y la presión contraria donde no hay tradición: dificultad de expresión e incomodidad empujan al silencio y a la analogía

«The people who call an attack a “dream” although they are sure they were awake during the experience are using an analogy that has two advantages. It provides a convenient noun that captures some of the features of what happened» — de ahí que quien llama sueño al ataque estando seguro de su vigilia use una analogía con dos ventajas, la primera un sustantivo cómodo que recoge algo de lo ocurrido

«It also allows the speaker to control the extent to which the full scope of the experience is disclosed, depending on the reactions of listeners.» — y la segunda, que le deja graduar cuánto revela según cómo reaccione quien lo oye

«If reactions are incredulous or negative, the speaker can allow the typically wild and unreal nature of dreams to be understood as a part of his meaning.» — con las dos salidas: ante incredulidad, dejar que se entienda el disparate propio de los sueños

«If, on the other hand, a listener responds with a similar personal experience or other strongly supportive feedback, the speaker can disclose more intimate details.» — y ante una experiencia parecida o un respaldo fuerte, contar los detalles íntimos

«One function of the Old Hag tradition in Newfoundland, then, is to provide both convenient language for talking about this widespread experience, and another is to indicate a consensus that it is acceptable to have undergone it.» — las dos funciones que atribuye a la tradición de Terranova: lenguaje cómodo para hablar de la experiencia y consenso de que es aceptable haberla tenido

«In the absence of a tradition that would serve both purposes, as throughout most of the United States, the experience remains largely unshared and unknown except through the occasional use of cautious, potentially misleading analogies.» — y el reverso, que sitúa en casi todo Estados Unidos: la experiencia queda sin compartir salvo por analogías cautelosas y engañosas

«The word nightmare, for example, originally meant specifically such an attack. Ernest Jones has summarized the basic elements of the etymology of the word:» — presenta la etimología de *nightmare* cediéndosela a Ernest Jones, a quien nombra como quien la resumió

«The word Nightmare itself comes from the Anglo-Saxon neaht or nicht (= night) and mara (= incubus or succubus). The Anglo-Saxon suffix a denotes an agent, so that mara from the verb merran, literally means a “crusher,”» — en voz de Jones, citado en bloque: *neaht* o *nicht* por noche y *mara* por íncubo o súcubo, con el sufijo de agente que hace de *mara*, del verbo *merran*, literalmente un aplastador

«the connotation of a crushing weight on the breast is common to the corresponding words in allied language (Icelandic mara, Danish mare, Low German moore, Bohemian mara, Swedish mara, Old High German mara)» — y la serie de lenguas emparentadas donde Jones halla la misma connotación de peso que aplasta el pecho

«From the earliest times the oppressing agency experienced during sleep was personified.» — con el cierre de la cita de Jones: desde los tiempos más antiguos, la agencia opresora del sueño se personificó

«The written record indicates that this continued to be the primary meaning of the word well into the seventeenth century,5 and printed references to this meaning in contradistinction to the more general meaning can be found even in this century.» — fecha la vigencia del sentido original de *nightmare* bien entrado el siglo XVII, con referencias impresas aun en el siglo XX

«With the passage of time, the meaning of the word was extended to include first a connotation of dreaming attached to the attack and then by analogy bad dreams in general.» — y describe el desplazamiento: primero una connotación de sueño pegada al ataque, luego por analogía los malos sueños en general

«The American Heritage Dictionary, for example, gives “A dream arousing feelings of intense … fear” as the first meaning of the word and the more general definition, “An event or condition that evokes feelings of horror” as the second meaning. Only a small part of the original meaning is retained in the third definition, “A demon or spirit thought to plague sleeping people.”» — lo apoya en las tres acepciones del American Heritage Dictionary, donde el sentido original sobrevive apenas en la tercera

«The Oxford English Dictionary gives both “wild” and “anxious” or “terrified” as the main meanings in which the word is applied to people.» — pasa a *haggard* con el OED, que da *wild* y *anxious* o *terrified* como sentidos principales aplicados a personas

«The former is derived from the Old French hagard, an untamed hawk. The second is seen as “influenced by Hag … as if ‘somewhat hag-like,’” referring to the once common usage of the word “hag” to mean “witch.”» — y las dos etimologías que el OED da: el halcón sin domar del francés antiguo, y la influencia de *hag* en su uso común de bruja

«The OED also notes a connection with the words “hagged” and “hag-ride,” although it does not make a direct connection between “hag-ride” and “haggard.”» — con el límite que el propio OED deja: conecta con *hagged* y *hag-ride* sin ligar directamente *hag-ride* con *haggard*

«In Newfoundland, as noted in Chapter 1, the victim of an attack is often said to be “hagrid,” and this pronunciation is sometimes used (even by those who do not know the tradition) to refer to one who looks worried and fatigued in general.» — el uso terranovense que él aporta: *hagrid* para la víctima, y también para quien se ve preocupado y fatigado, aun entre quienes no conocen la tradición

«The Newfoundland usage may represent one step in the etymology of the word, since a haggard individual is at least as much like a victim of a witch who rides as he is like the witch. The connection would most likely have been through the ungrammatical oral form “hagrid,” and therefore the connection with “hag-ride” might well not have shown up in print.» — su conjetura etimológica, dicha en condicional: el paso iría por la forma oral no gramatical *hagrid*, que por eso no habría llegado a la imprenta

«Regardless of whether this speculation is correct, the word “haggard” has been as thoroughly laundered of its original supernatural connections as has the word “nightmare.”» — y lo que sostiene con independencia de esa conjetura: *haggard* quedó tan lavado de sus conexiones sobrenaturales como *nightmare*

«At one time, then, there were widespread traditions in English which correspond to what Newfoundlanders know as the Old Hag, but those traditions have lost much of their currency in other parts of North America.» — de ahí su balance histórico: hubo tradiciones inglesas extendidas equivalentes a la Old Hag y perdieron vigencia en el resto de Norteamérica

«In fact, this experience appears to have worldwide distribution and has been a part of the empirical foundation for a great variety of supernatural traditions.» — y su tesis mayor: la experiencia parece de distribución mundial y ha sido base empírica de tradiciones sobrenaturales muy diversas

«The Brown Collection of North Carolina Folklore, for example, lists among beliefs about “nightmares,” “To sleep with a razor and Bible under your head wards off nightmares” and “To keep off nightmare, sleep with shears under the pillow.”» — entre las prácticas preventivas cita la Brown Collection de Carolina del Norte: navaja y Biblia bajo la cabeza, tijeras bajo la almohada

«Such prescriptions for preventing nightmares are common and frequently reported, but it is impossible to know without asking whether the person reporting the preventives is using “nightmare” in its general or specific sense.» — con la reserva que le pone al dato: sin preguntar no se sabe si quien lo reporta usa *nightmare* en sentido general o específico

«Many who know such methods likely have in mind “bad dreams.”» — y su cálculo, dicho como probabilidad: muchos estarán pensando en malos sueños

«Given this process of changing definitions, it is particularly interesting to discover that the experiences that apparently formed the basis of the traditions continued to occur even though the traditions themselves either died or changed almost beyond recognition.» — lo que le parece notable de todo el proceso: las experiencias siguieron ocurriendo aunque las tradiciones murieran o cambiaran hasta lo irreconocible

«No doubt a part of the pressure leading to the change of meaning has come from the decreasing acceptance of supernatural beliefs in “official culture.”» — atribuye parte de la presión sobre el significado a la creciente falta de aceptación de lo sobrenatural en la cultura oficial

«Other factors and the exact mechanisms by which supernatural belief and language affect one another remain a fascinating and important subject for study, but largely beyond the scope of this book.» — y se abstiene del resto: los otros factores y los mecanismos exactos quedan fuera del alcance del libro

«These two facts taken together with the Newfoundland findings appear to rule out the likelihood that either intentional fraud or unconscious shaping has had a significant impact on my interview data.» — y qué cree que eso descarta, dicho como probabilidad: fraude intencional o modelado inconsciente con peso en sus datos de entrevista

«This consistency is analogous to that found between accounts given by those with knowledge of a nightmare tradition and those without.» — con la analogía en que lo apoya: la misma consistencia que halla entre relatos de quienes conocen una tradición de pesadilla y de quienes no

«I shall from this point on call the experience we have been discussing “the Old Hag.”» — anuncia la decisión terminológica del resto del libro: llamará Old Hag a la experiencia

«Neither the various Newfoundland interpretations nor any necessity of a connection with Newfoundland tradition should be inferred.» — y la acota en seguida: del término no debe inferirse ni las interpretaciones terranovenses ni conexión necesaria con esa tradición

«The following account was received after Ron heard me give a public lecture (in Pennsylvania) about the Old Hag.» — presenta el caso de Ron, recogido después de que él oyera una conferencia pública en Pensilvania

«As is generally the case in such situations, he felt uneasy at first in discussing his experience but was greatly reassured at hearing that others had gone through the same thing.» — con la reacción que declara típica: incomodidad al principio y gran alivio al saber que otros pasaron por lo mismo

«But what woke me up was the door slamming. “OK,” I thought, “It’s my roommate,” you know, my roommate came into the room. … I was laying on my back, just kind of looking up. And the door slammed and I kinda opened my eyes. I was awake. Everything was light in the room. My roommate wasn’t there and the door was still closed» — Ron, en el caso 10, sitúa el comienzo en el portazo que lo despierta de una siesta muy profunda: se cree despierto, con la luz del cuarto, y el compañero no está y la puerta sigue cerrada

«And I asked my roommate——I said to him “Did you come in the room and wake me up earlier?” You know, “Did you slam the door?” And he said “No.” And I checked around the hall. I said “Hey, did anybody come in here and see me asleep?” And everybody said “No.” They——they were going about their own things. Nobody had come in, yet I did hear the door slam.» — y el cotejo que Ron hace después: nadie entró ni dio el portazo, y aun así él lo oyó

«Like usually when I dream, my scenes switch rapidly. I don’t know how to explain this, but like one minute I’ll be somewhere, and the next minute I’ll be somewhere else, next minute somewhere else. There’ll be people——But everything was constant. The room was there.» — el criterio con que Ron distingue aquello de un sueño: en sus sueños las escenas cambian de golpe y aquí todo fue continuo, con el cuarto en su sitio

«The murky presence came out of nowhere. The door was still closed. I can tell you from where it came. There was a——The way the room was set up was very much like a right angle, OK? The doorway was at the 90° portion of the angle, where the two walls came together. In this portion over here were closets, and the bed was right here. So from where I was laying in the bed I could at one angle see the door, and at the other angle see the closets. The closets … had a wall adjacent to them which was like an out-pocketing. It was in such a way that light coming through the window would shine off the door. But the closets would be back in a little darkened portion of the room. Because another wall would be blocking the window, like. OK? That’s from where the murky presence came.» — la presencia turbia del caso 10, salida de la nada, que Ron localiza en la zona oscura de los armarios que la luz de la ventana no alcanza

«It approached toward the bed and as I said it——It kind of stood over me with a glare. That’s——that’s really why I said it was evil. Because it just sort of stood over me with a glare. I don’t know what else to call it.» — y por qué la llama maligna: se paró sobre él con una mirada fija que él no sabe nombrar de otro modo

«And then——and then it started to envelop the bed. And as I said I finally moved and that seemed to stop the whole thing.» — el desenlace del caso 10: la presencia empieza a envolver la cama y al moverse él aquello se detiene

«When it was all over I was breathing heavy, however, I don’t remember breathing at all when this whole thing was happening. I think I just laid there ice dead, you know.» — y un detalle respiratorio que Ron aporta sin que se lo pidan: jadeaba al terminar y no recuerda haber respirado durante

«HUFFORD: Did you feel like you were suffocating? RON: No. I didn’t feel like I was suffocating. I just felt——I felt terror. It was more like I couldn’t swallow. OK? I mean like I was just——I was completely immobile» — la pregunta de Hufford por la asfixia y la corrección del testigo: no asfixia sino terror, más bien no poder tragar, con inmovilidad completa

«my clock was right next to the bed and I read the time and it was about ten to five. OK? This whole thing happened and when it was all over it was only about five minutes to five. Only five minutes had gone by.» — el reloj como prueba en el caso 10: las cinco menos diez al empezar y solo cinco minutos transcurridos al acabar

«So, it kind of——it kind of reassured me that to myself I was awake. Because if I had been asleep, then I would not have noted the time on the clock, and I wouldn’t have known that it was five minutes later. Do you follow my reasoning?» — y el razonamiento con que Ron se convence de haber estado despierto: dormido no habría mirado el reloj ni sabría que pasaron cinco minutos

«It was very much as if somebody put me in one of those, those junkyard things that are made to crunch cars.» — la analogía mecánica con que Ron describe la presión: una compactadora de coches de desguace

«It wasn’t like one particular area was being pressed more than anywhere else.» — con la precisión que la vuelve dato: la presión era pareja, sin una zona más apretada que otra

«the mattress providing force up and something providing force down, and I just seemed to be pancaked in between.» — Ron sigue la analogía: el colchón empuja hacia arriba y algo hacia abajo, y él queda aplastado en medio

«But it would be as if there were a zillion tiny arms all over me holding me down. But not like, say, one here, one here, so that part of my arm could come up but my wrist was being held down. It was everything uniformly.» — y la corrige para dar la cualidad exacta: no sujeciones puntuales sino un millón de bracitos por todas partes, todo uniforme

«would you expect to find yourself kind of rigid, straining against this, or limp? RON: I’d say probably rigid. Probably rigid.» — Hufford le pregunta si se vería rígido o laxo desde fuera, y Ron contesta que probablemente rígido

«And when I say take form it’s because it was like a blob, a blob of nothing. I would say it was almost kind of gaseous——but not gaseous in that it didn’t have the transparency that a gaseous kind of thing would have. A gaseous thing you would see right through. OK? This was opaque. I could not see right through it.» — la descripción visual del caso 10: un bulto casi gaseoso pero opaco, que él distingue de lo gaseoso justamente por no dejar ver a través

«There was——As I recall I couldn’t really make out a face per se, but I could see two holes that would——that would seem to be eyes. But they were dark too. I couldn’t see right through those.» — sin cara reconocible y con dos agujeros que parecían ojos, también oscuros

«The——the overall shape of the thing was like a rectangle that you laid on top of a water trough, and as the waves would come through, the rectangle would move. And that’s very much what it was like.» — y la forma: un rectángulo puesto sobre un abrevadero, que se mueve con el paso de las olas

«It flowed into that shape. That’s——that’s what I meant by it——it——it formed. That’s why I said it was almost gaseous in nature, but not gaseous in nature, in that it did kind of flow——it seemed to be, like as if it was coming from the area of the closets. From the darker area of the room.» — el modo de aparecer: fluyó hasta esa forma desde la zona oscura del cuarto

«And it had a glare——A glaring stare to it, which was a——which was a strange thing, for a thing that had no real face and couldn’t make any facial expressions.» — y lo que el propio testigo señala como extraño en su relato: una mirada fija en algo sin cara ni expresiones

«For some reason I got a feeling of a real cold stare from it, OK? Really terrifying! … People, people would think I’m nuts!» — con la frase que Hufford recogerá como dato de la presión social: la gente pensaría que estoy loco

«Although the majority of attacks take place at night, the number occurring during daytime naps is disproportionately large considering» — un dato de distribución horaria: la mayoría de los ataques es nocturna y aun así las siestas diurnas dan un número desproporcionado; la frase se corta en el cambio de plana

«This combination of difficult expression and self-consciousness often prevents people from speaking of their experiences. Only after I have indicated that they are not necessarily pathological and that I know enough about them to understand even the difficult points do most victims begin to verbalize their experience freely.» — la condición que dice hacer falta para que el testigo hable: que él indique antes que aquello no es necesariamente patológico y que entiende hasta los puntos difíciles

«In describing his attack, Ron goes to great length to document his certainty that he was awake.» — lee el caso 10 como un esfuerzo sostenido por documentar la vigilia

«Finally, he notes that his observation of the time before and after the experience suggests wakefulness. Similar evidence and more has frequently been given by victims» — y lista lo que Ron aduce, hasta el reloj, como el tipo de prueba que las víctimas dan a menudo

«Although such proof is almost impossible, these frequently repeated observations call into question any effort to dismiss these experiences as merely one variation amid the great variety of bad dreams.» — con su conclusión acotada: la prueba es casi imposible y aun así esas observaciones repetidas ponen en cuestión despachar la experiencia como una variedad más de mal sueño

«Some dreams occasionally seem to take place in the sleeper’s real surroundings. These are “false awakening” dreams, but they do not generally fool the sleeper for long, at least not after the real awakening takes place.» — concede el fenómeno rival —los sueños de falso despertar— y le pone su límite: no engañan mucho tiempo, al menos tras el despertar real

«Sounds in the real environment are sometimes incorporated into dreams as “protectors of sleep,”9 but not typically in a realistic way.» — y concede también la incorporación de sonidos reales al sueño como protectores del dormir, con la misma acotación: no suele ser de modo realista

«But perhaps the greatest challenge to the dream hypothesis is the persistent pattern, discussed previously, which will become increasingly evident in additional cases. Why should a class of dreams present such a consistent pattern in the absence of a model, and why should they be so overwhelmingly characterized by the impression of wakefulness?» — y su objeción mayor a la hipótesis del sueño, formulada como dos preguntas: por qué una clase de sueños daría un patrón tan consistente sin modelo y por qué vendría con impresión de vigilia

«Eventually we shall consider the possibility that these attacks involve an altered state of consciousness other than dreaming, although perhaps related to sleep.» — anuncia, sin afirmarla todavía, la posibilidad de un estado alterado de consciencia distinto del sueño aunque emparentado con él

«At this point, enough evidence has been presented to question the manner in which proponents of the cultural source hypothesis have used the notion of “dreams mistaken for reality” to explain some alleged experiences.» — y dice tener ya prueba bastante para cuestionar cómo la hipótesis de la fuente cultural usa la idea de sueños tomados por realidad

«In Leviathan (1651), Thomas Hobbes stated, “From this ignorance of how to distinguish dreams, and other strong fancies, from vision and sense, did arise the greatest part of the religion of the Gentiles in time past» — cita a Hobbes en el *Leviatán* como formulación clásica de esa idea: de no saber distinguir sueños y otras fantasías fuertes de la visión y el sentido habría salido la mayor parte de la religión de los gentiles

«have of fairies, ghosts, and goblins, and of the power of witches.» — y el cierre de la cita de Hobbes, ya en la plana siguiente: hadas, fantasmas, duendes y el poder de las brujas

«This view was not new when Hobbes made the statement, and it remains current today.» — y la fecha por los dos lados: ni era nueva en Hobbes ni ha dejado de estar vigente

«Part of the argument is that ignorant people with weak and untrained critical faculties can be more easily fooled into thinking that a dream was a waking experience than can those who are more sophisticated.» — desglosa el supuesto que el argumento arrastra: al ignorante de facultades críticas débiles se le engaña más fácil que al sofisticado

«This idea seems supported by the fact that sophisticated people rarely report such bizarre occurrences. The evidence of the Old Hag, however, indicates otherwise.» — con el apoyo aparente que tiene —los sofisticados casi no reportan estas cosas— y su respuesta: la evidencia de la Old Hag indica otra cosa

«As in Ron’s case, a large number of well-educated people clearly consider the possibility that they are dreaming and then expend considerable critical effort to determine whether or not the dream hypothesis is tenable.» — porque muchas personas con estudios consideran la hipótesis del sueño y gastan esfuerzo crítico en decidir si se sostiene

«Victims of these attacks commonly take such actions to try to find a plausible natural explanation for even a part of their experience.» — y describe lo que hacen: buscar una explicación natural plausible para al menos una parte de lo ocurrido

«None of this evidence, of course, proves that these are not a special class of dream or a dream-related state, but it does demonstrate that gullibility and a lack of formal education are not required to explain the impression that such experiences occur during wakefulness.» — con la abstención expresa: nada de eso prueba que no sean una clase especial de sueño, solo que ni credulidad ni falta de estudios hacen falta para explicar la impresión de vigilia

«Furthermore, the lack of reports from the sophisticated seems to be much more a function of their unwillingness to expose themselves to ridicule or psychiatric diagnosis than of their superior critical faculties.» — y su explicación del silencio de los ilustrados, dicha como apariencia: no querer exponerse al ridículo ni al diagnóstico psiquiátrico, más que facultades críticas superiores

«In the next case the dream analogy was used intentionally to prevent personal disclosure. The case also demonstrates how the decision to speak, even guardedly, about the subject can suddenly alter the appearance that one’s own experience is unique, even among those to whom one is close.» — presenta el caso 11 por lo que muestra: la analogía del sueño usada a propósito para no revelarse, y cómo hablar cambia de golpe la impresión de ser el único

«The one was my girlfriend and roommate. And she said “Oh, well!” And she was very happy to tell me what happened to her. And she said that she had experienced astro [sic] projection three times in her life, and she studied it and knows all about it.» — del caso 11: al contarlo por fin, la compañera de cuarto de Joanne le responde con tres proyecciones astrales propias, estudiadas

«And I said, “Well, I had a strange dream.” I told him it was a dream because I didn’t want him to really know what I thought happened.» — y la maniobra de ocultamiento que Joanne describe: llamarlo sueño para que su novio no supiera lo que ella creía

«I think there’s a possibility that it could have been some kind of spiritual visitation.» — lo que sí creía, dicho en su propia hipótesis y en condicional: una especie de visitación espiritual

«He said he stayed at a house in Chester, Pennsylvania, with three other guys while he was going to school near there. And one night everybody was in bed. And he went to bed. And he heard the door open and he felt his bed go down. And he said he was just paralyzed. He couldn’t——He was so scared——He didn’t know what it was. But his eyes ——He kept looking and looking and he didn’t see anything. And then the thing got up and he didn’t you know, hear anything or see anything——no other movement, he said.» — el episodio del novio, referido por Joanne: la puerta que se abre, la cama que se hunde, la parálisis y el no ver nada

«This time he did hear steps, but he didn’t hear the door. And it went down right beside his shoulder, just like someone was sitting on the mattress» — y la repetición esa misma noche, con pasos y el colchón hundiéndose junto al hombro como si alguien se sentara

«He opened his eyes, he couldn’t see anybody, but he felt a presence, mostly around his head, and then he felt something touch his shoulder, and that’s basically all he said.» — con los rasgos que Joanne le atribuye: ninguna visión, una presencia sobre todo en torno a la cabeza y algo que le toca el hombro

«But I thought it was really interesting that, you know, here immediately I found two people that had experienced this. And probably had I never mentioned it, we would have never talked about it.» — lo que a Joanne le llama la atención: bastó mencionarlo para hallar de golpe dos casos que si no nunca se habrían hablado

«actually I was probably about 12 or 13 years old, in adolescence, I had what I would have considered frequent visits. I mean twice a week.» — sus propios episodios, situados en la adolescencia y a razón de dos por semana

«And just always so extremely paralyzed. Never saw anything. Never heard the footsteps. But I was always asleep, and then awake and just frozen. And I knew someone was there, and I was so afraid.» — con los rasgos que Joanne enumera: parálisis extrema, nada visto, ningún paso, dormida y luego despierta y congelada, sabiendo que había alguien

«And finally what I would do is just eventually roll over and cover my head with the sheets and fall asleep. And it would go away.» — y la salida que aprendió: girarse, taparse la cabeza con las sábanas y dormirse

«at one point I really thought there was something wrong with me because it happened so often. But at that age I never spoke to anyone about it.» — lo que le hizo callar: creer que algo andaba mal en ella, por lo seguido que pasaba

«Joanne was candid about her defensive use of analogy to reduce disclosure. When telling her boyfriend, she began with a cautious mention of “something strange.” When he asked her to be more specific, she intentionally used the word “dream” because she did not want to tell him that she believed her experience might have been a supernatural one involving a “spiritual visitation.”» — lee el caso 11 como uso defensivo y consciente de la analogía: Joanne dijo sueño para no decir visitación espiritual

«Joanne’s case is also valuable because it contains a description of three people, each with one or more unusual experiences of interest to the others, who had never revealed the experiences even to such intimate friends.» — y lo que le hace valioso: tres personas cercanas con experiencias que se interesaban entre sí y que nunca se habían contado

«It seems reasonable to postulate a strong similarity between the way my lecture precipitated this sharing of experience and the way that traditional knowledge functions to ease such discussions.» — de ahí su hipótesis, dicha como postulado razonable: su conferencia hizo lo mismo que hace el saber tradicional, facilitar la conversación

«Joanne and her roommate’s equation of the Old Hag with “astral projection” is a connection that has consistently been made by a small fraction of those interviewed.» — registra la ecuación entre Old Hag y proyección astral como conexión que hace consistentemente una fracción chica de los entrevistados

«At first I felt that it was fully explainable by the reference of both to bizarre personal experiences, which occur more frequently than is generally recognized, but I later found additional connections, which will be discussed in greater depth in Chapter 5.» — y declara haber cambiado de lectura: al principio lo explicaba por remitir ambos a experiencias personales raras, luego halló conexiones adicionales

«Joanne’s boyfriend’s feeling of the bed moving as if someone sat on it has been reported by others, and additional examples will be presented later in the book. The sensation of being touched is also occasionally reported.» — recoge dos rasgos del episodio del novio: la cama que se hunde como si alguien se sentara y la sensación de ser tocado

«His inference that something invisible was with him involves a distinct set of perceptions and should not be confused with the sensation of presence in which the perception is independent of such cues as footsteps and the motion of the bed.» — y distingue con cuidado ese caso de la sensación de presencia: allí hay inferencia a partir de pasos y movimiento de la cama, aquí la percepción es independiente de esas señales

«The sensation of presence is clearly represented in Joanne’s early attacks. She says that she “Never saw anything. Never heard the footsteps” but she “knew someone was there.”» — en cambio adjudica la sensación de presencia a los primeros ataques de Joanne, citando sus palabras

«I was awake during the night with the feeling that something strange was in the room. I was frightened but could not move or cry out. Finally I was able to move but felt very apprehensive.» — y suma otra respuesta de cuestionario, de una mujer de veintisiete años nacida en San Luis, con la misma forma

«In the simple form described here, the impact with which many sufferers experience this sensation is difficult to grasp.» — con lo que dice perderse en esa forma escueta: la fuerza con que muchos viven esa sensación

«youngster is rare, although I have spoken with a few others who describe a similar pattern.» — clasifica como rara la frecuencia con que Joanne los tuvo de niña, aunque dice haber hablado con unos pocos de patrón parecido; la frase abre en la plana anterior

«Her fear that these experiences were an indication that something was wrong with her is a common reaction among those who have repeated attacks.» — y da por común entre quienes repiten el miedo a que aquello signifique que algo anda mal en uno

«Whether this fear leads the sufferer to speak to a parent, physician, or other potential source of help seems to depend largely on whether the relationship with such a person is sufficiently close and trusting.» — con lo que decide que se hable o no, según él: que la relación con el padre, el médico o quien sea resulte bastante cercana y de confianza

«She insisted that it must be “imagination,” and then she discovered that it could not be made to conform to the normal conditions of imagined events.» — lo que Hufford subraya del caso 11: Joanne intentó descartarlo como imaginación y halló que no se dejaba ajustar a las condiciones normales de lo imaginado

«The fact that she saw a disembodied face is unusual, but another example occurs in Case 15.» — y clasifica la cara sin cuerpo como rasgo inusual, con un segundo caso donde aparece

«The next case is taken from William James’s important work The Varieties of the Religious Experience.11 I present this narrative because it recounts so powerfully and in such detail the “sensation of presence” feature of the Old Hag attack.» — presenta el caso 12, tomado de *The Varieties of the Religious Experience* de William James, por su descripción de la sensación de presencia

«As interesting as the account itself is the fact that James clearly was not aware that this description, from one whom he calls “an intimate friend … one of the keenest intellects I know,” represented a whole class of similar events.» — y lo que le parece igual de interesante: James no sabía que el relato de su amigo representaba toda una clase de sucesos

«Given James’s interest in the phenomenology of such experiences, this is further evidence of how well kept a secret the Old Hag experience is.» — de donde saca su argumento sobre el silencio: si a James se le pasó, el secreto está bien guardado

«I have several times within the past few years felt the so-called “consciousness of a presence.” The experiences which I have in mind are clearly distinguishable from another kind of experience which I have had very frequently, and which I fancy many persons would also call the “consciousness of a presence.” But the difference for me between the two sets of experience is as great as the difference between feeling a slight warmth originating I know not where, and standing in the midst of a conflagration with all the ordinary senses alert.» — del caso 12, en voz del amigo de James: distingue esa consciencia de una presencia de otra más frecuente, como el calorcillo se distingue de estar en medio de un incendio

«On the previous night I had had, after getting into bed at my rooms in College, a vivid tactile hallucination of being grasped by the arm, which made me get up and search the room for an intruder» — y el antecedente: una alucinación táctil vívida de ser agarrado por el brazo que lo hizo levantarse a buscar un intruso

«when suddenly I felt something come into the room and stay close to my bed. It remained only a minute or two. I did not recognize it by any ordinary sense, and yet there was a horribly unpleasant “sensation” connected with it. It stirred something more at the roots of my being than any ordinary perception. The feeling had something of the quality of a very large tearing vital pain spreading chiefly over the chest, but within the organism—and yet the feeling was not pain so much as abhorrence. At all events, something was present with me, and I knew its presence far more surely than I have ever known the presence of any fleshly living creature. I was conscious of its departure as of its coming: an almost instantaneously swift going through the door, and the “horrible sensation” disappeared.» — el episodio propiamente dicho, con la certeza de la presencia por encima de la de cualquier criatura de carne, el dolor vital que era más bien aborrecimiento, y la salida por la puerta

«Many who have had this sensation have attempted to express, as James’s friend has done so clearly, that the perception is far more certain than that which is ordinarily felt in the presence of others.» — lo que Hufford generaliza de ahí: muchos intentan decir que esa percepción es más cierta que la que se tiene ante otras personas

«The fact that the “something” was felt to “come into the room and stay close to my bed” indicates that motion, direction, and location can also be a part of the sensation.» — y lo que añade a la mera presencia: movimiento, dirección y ubicación

«The clarity of this perception is reinforced here by the statement that the second time the subject was not aware of “the coming.”» — con el detalle que a su juicio lo refuerza: la segunda vez el sujeto no percibió la llegada

«The “vivid tactile hallucination of being grasped by the arm” on the night before the arrival of the presence is intriguing. Unfortunately, not enough detail is given about this event to indicate its phenomenological relationship to the two “presence” episodes.» — y una abstención expresa: no hay detalle bastante para fijar la relación fenomenológica entre la alucinación táctil y los dos episodios de presencia

«The reaction of getting up to search for an intruder is a familiar one, however, suggesting that the term “hallucination” was applied on the basis of an inference about what it “must have been” as opposed to the subjective quality of the experience.» — aunque sí lee un indicio: llamarlo alucinación parece inferencia sobre lo que debió de ser, no descripción de cómo se sintió

«The speaker’s use of the analogy to pain to describe the feeling of “abhorrence,” along with a shrinking from whatever is present in the room, is often mentioned in cases of a sensed presence as well as those in which the visitor is seen or heard.» — y registra como frecuente la analogía con el dolor para decir el aborrecimiento, y el encogerse ante lo presente

«And what used to occur was, I would be on my back in bed with my arms on top of the blankets. And I always used to feel that the bed was moving. The bed was rocking up and down, back and forth. And I used to see it happening. And nothing in the room was changing. My sister was in her bed next to me. But the bed would constantly rock and it would frighten me until I started to enjoy it. Until I started to enjoy the feeling of this thing happening to me. And that went on periodically. I don’t know how many times I had it. I never told anybody.» — del caso 13, Pat sitúa el comienzo hacia los siete u ocho años: la cama que se mece, vista además de sentida, con la hermana al lado y nada más cambiando, y el miedo que acaba volviéndose disfrute

«I was on my back and I heard a “snurfling” sound. And I ——1 always called it “snurfling.” It would be “snurf, snurf, snurf.” And I was aware—— there was nothing that I saw. But whatever it was I thought it was male.» — el sonido que Pat bautiza *snurfling* a los trece, sin ver nada y atribuyéndolo a algo masculino

«It wasn’t a sniffing sound. It was a soft sound. Something that I would almost associate with——water. A watery sound. Like as if——Like when you put your foot down in a puddle, and——it makes that kind of “whoosh-squish” sound.» — y la analogía con que lo precisa cuando Hufford le pregunta: un sonido acuoso, como pisar un charco

«It was just once and … the rest of the times I always felt the presence of something.» — Pat vio el simio una sola vez; las demás, solo la presencia

«It stood by the side of the bed…. The ape then kind of disappeared and I felt the pressure get more and more intense. And I——This was the only time I was really scared, because I remember seeing the ape and thinking how strong it was, and how long its arms were. And I felt my esophagus being——pressed out. I assumed (by) the ape, (although) the ape itself was no longer there.» — y el episodio del simio: la presión se intensifica justo cuando la figura desaparece, con el esófago sintiéndose empujado hacia fuera

«(It felt like) a stricture all around. Not just on the windpipe. And I was always afraid that my breastbone was going to cave in.» — con la cualidad de la presión que Pat da: una estrechez alrededor, no solo en la tráquea, y el temor de que el esternón cediera

«Well let me just put this into some kind of sequence: the rocking of the bed I associated with eight to thirteen; then from, like, thirteen to sixteen, sixteen and a half, I remember having this presence that would always press against my chest; and I started being tested for ESP around sixteen. Because of a number of separate experiences I had had.» — la cronología que Pat ordena a pedido: la cama meciéndose de los ocho a los trece, la presencia oprimiéndole el pecho de los trece a los dieciséis y medio, y las pruebas de ESP desde los dieciséis

«Do you feel that the rocking of the bed was connected? That this whole thing represents a unit of some kind that developed, rather than separate things? PAT: Looking back on it … yes. Because I remember … the physical feeling of not being able to move, and how I would try and wake myself out of either experience by trying to move my hands. And I remember that my eyes were always open, during both experiences.» — Hufford le pregunta si los episodios forman una unidad y Pat responde que sí, apoyándose en la inmovilidad, en el intento de despertarse moviendo las manos y en tener siempre los ojos abiertos

«I made up an extensive set of, you know, rules for myself whenever this occurrence happened. I always used to think that if I were to ever cry out, out of fear, that whatever it was that was pressing against my chest would, you know, kill me. And so if an experience lasted too long, or I began to get frightened, rather than crying out I would just try and wiggle a» — las reglas que Pat se fabricó: creía que gritar de miedo haría que aquello la matara, así que movía un dedo en su lugar; la frase se corta en el cambio de plana

«I had made up an entire fantasy in my head that something was visiting me——ghosties.» — y el marco con que se lo explicaba de niña, dicho por ella misma como fantasía

«I spoke to my mother only because at the time I’d been having a——a set of different experiences in which I was communicating with a grandmother who was dead. And who was giving me information that I could not have known otherwise. And so my mother was willing to agree that whatever it was I experienced was unusual. And she would never laugh.» — a quién se lo contó y por qué: a la madre, que ya le admitía como inusual la comunicación con una abuela muerta y nunca se reía

«One of the most striking features of Pat’s account is the violent motion of her bed during the early experiences. Although in the same general class as the feeling reported by Joanne’s boyfriend that something sat on his bed, this is obviously a distinct sensation, involving continuous motion of the entire bed.» — Hufford aparta el movimiento violento de la cama del caso 13 de la sensación de que alguien se sienta: aquí hay movimiento continuo de la cama entera

«Pat is certain that this motion was perceived visually as well as being felt, “And I used to see it happening.” As do features of many Old Hag descriptions, this visual perception suggests a complex set of perceptions involving more than one sensory component.» — y lo que le interesa de eso: percibido a la vez por vista y tacto, lo que apunta a un conjunto complejo de percepciones con más de un componente sensorial

«Pat’s report of having become accustomed to the experiences and learning to “enjoy the sensation of losing control” is unusual, but she obviously did not always feel enjoyment, and at times considerable fear was present.» — clasifica como inusual que Pat aprendiera a disfrutar la pérdida de control, y en la misma frase lo acota: no siempre fue disfrute y hubo miedo considerable

«In each group of experiences, Pat’s ability to relax and enjoy the odd happenings seems to have been the result of learning that physical injury would not result. Some people with repeated attacks have reported the same learning effect, but others have not.» — propone que ese disfrute vino de aprender que no habría daño físico, y consigna en seguida que a otros no les pasó

«For example, a man who reported attacks once each week to ten days since childhood (the most frequent and consistent that I have found to date) stated: “I’ve been trying for maybe ten years to overcome the panic, because I think that if I can get myself to the point where I can overcome the panic, I can understand it. OK now, I can’t totally understand what happens because consciously I’m afraid of nothing and when that occurs, that experience occurs, I’m in total absolute panic. There’s no way out of it.» — y da el contraejemplo con su cifra: un hombre con ataques cada semana o cada diez días desde la infancia, el caso más frecuente que ha hallado, que lleva diez años intentando vencer el pánico sin lograrlo

«Both reactions—learning to enjoy the experience and continued fear—have been reported, and the difference seems to be the result of something inherent in the experiences rather than the number of attacks and the opportunity for learning.» — de donde saca que la diferencia entre las dos reacciones está en algo inherente a la experiencia, no en el número de ataques ni en la ocasión de aprender

«In some experiences, fear seems to be a natural response to potentially threatening perceptions.» — en unas, el miedo le parece respuesta natural a percepciones potencialmente amenazantes

«The example just quoted, on the other hand, in which ten years of constant effort had resulted in no diminution of fear during the attack, appears to indicate that fear can itself be an intrinsic feature.» — y en otras, rasgo intrínseco, según lo indica el hombre cuyos diez años de esfuerzo no bajaron el miedo

«He said that he often wondered after an attack what the content of the experience held to elicit fear.» — con lo que ese testigo se preguntaba después de cada ataque: qué había en el contenido que provocara miedo

«This second pattern, the presence of fear as an intrinsic feature, seems to be somewhat more common than overcoming fear.» — da el segundo patrón por algo más común que el de vencer el miedo

«My own work and that of other investigators13 suggest that experiences and beliefs of this kind are much more common than generally thought and that they are not connected in any compelling way with psychopathology or social deviance.» — su resultado sobre la distribución de creencias y experiencias raras: más comunes de lo que se cree y sin conexión obligada con psicopatología ni desviación social

«This is true for the young and the well-educated as much as for the more isolated groups conventionally held to be the prime bearers of supernatural belief.» — y a quiénes alcanza: a jóvenes y a gente con estudios tanto como a los grupos aislados que se tienen por portadores de la creencia sobrenatural

«Although the precise distribution and significance of various categories of experience and belief are not known with sufficient precision to allow a final consideration of their relationship to the Old Hag cases presented here, they do not seem to come up in this connection with disproportionate frequency.» — con la abstención dicha: no sabe la distribución con precisión bastante para cerrar la relación con los casos de Old Hag, y aun así esas asociaciones no le salen desproporcionadas

«The greatest importance of these connections lies in what they reveal about the mechanisms governing the disclosure of such beliefs and experiences.» — de modo que lo que sí les reconoce es otra cosa: lo que revelan sobre los mecanismos que rigen cuándo se cuentan esas creencias y experiencias

«Personal disclosure of this kind requires a minimum of trust and shared understanding, as well as an appropriate context.» — y las condiciones que enumera: un mínimo de confianza, entendimiento compartido y un contexto apropiado

«Furthermore, personal experience and belief must be called to mind in much the same way that jokes or any other category must be.» — más la de que la experiencia y la creencia tienen que venir a la memoria, igual que los chistes o cualquier otra categoría

«Once all of these conditions have been met, a great variety of material, much of it related only remotely, will emerge. But, of course, it is relatively rare for all of these conditions to be met in most modern situations.» — con lo que ocurre entonces y la frecuencia que le calcula: sale un material muy variado, y las condiciones rara vez se dan juntas hoy

«Her mother’s acquiescence served the same function in allowing Pat’s disclosure that the Old Hag tradition serves in Newfoundland.» — equipara la función de la madre de Pat con la de la tradición en Terranova: hacer posible la revelación

«The following case was received following a lecture to a group of medical students in the Pittsburgh area. In this case the reported attack took place after my talk, and I was fortunate enough to be able to get back to the student quickly for an interview.» — del caso 14, declara su circunstancia: el ataque ocurrió después de su charla a estudiantes de medicina y él pudo entrevistar al testigo pronto

«One point of particular interest here is the connection between the Old Hag attack and the preceding dreams.» — y lo que le interesa: la conexión entre el ataque y los sueños que lo preceden

«This informant used the term “incubus” because that is the term I had mentioned in the lecture.» — con la advertencia de contaminación dicha por él mismo: George usa *incubus* porque es el término que él había mencionado en la conferencia

«And sofas being sofas I could really only lie down on it on my back, which was a bad choice.» — del caso 14: George, agotado por tres o cuatro horas de sueño, se acuesta boca arriba en un sofá de la biblioteca porque el sofá no da para más

«and I had a series of about three or four very quick dreams which to me made no sense, because they really didn’t pertain to anything that——that was familiar to me. They were very obscure episodes. I——I can’t even describe them. But I know each one of them shocked me into waking suddenly.» — y los tres o cuatro sueños brevísimos que lo preceden, obscuros y ajenos a todo lo que le era familiar, cada uno despertándolo de golpe

«And I could hear the footsteps, and I said, “Well, they’re going to pass on by me, and I hope they don’t mess with me, whoever they are. I hope it’s not somebody who comes by and messes with me.» — los pasos que oye acercarse y su razonamiento de entonces, todavía ordinario

«And the next thing I know I heard a female voice and——The voice wasn’t really familiar to me. But the voice addressed me like she knew me. Or it knew me. And it said, “You knew that I would come.” Something like that. And—— then there was a lot of talk about her——her face. Or her appearance. And she didn’t want me to look at her or something, because of her face.» — la voz femenina que se le dirige como si lo conociera, con lo que le dice —que él sabía que ella vendría— y el no querer que le mirara la cara

«And the next thing I know, my——The pressure ——on my arms. And I couldn’t move. I couldn’t move anything.» — y la presión sobre los brazos con la inmovilidad completa

«And while I could still feel the pressure, I looked up and there was nobody there. But the pressure was still there. And that scared me!» — el momento en que mira y no hay nadie, con la presión encima, que es cuando entra el miedo

«And that’s how come I really knew I was awake. Because I could see the books. And I could see the library and everything that was around me there. And I know I could move my head from side to side, I could see the peripheral things.» — y el criterio de vigilia del caso 14: ver los libros, las estanterías y la biblioteca alrededor, y poder mover la cabeza a los lados

«And I said, “God, this is an incubus.” And I——It surprised me that I was rational about it. About, you know, finally got around to being rational about it. And I said, “This is an incubus. Now you have to try to move.» — la identificación que George hace en el momento, y que él mismo comenta como sorprendentemente racional

«So I relaxed, and the first thing I moved was my left hand. And as soon as I moved all the pressure was gone, and I sat up. And there was nothing there.» — la estrategia con que sale: relajarse primero y mover la mano izquierda, con lo que la presión cesa

«And I’ve been very careful not to sleep on my back since then. And it still bothers me because I’m—I guess that I’m still afraid to sleep on my back now. And I’m even afraid to get into any position where I’m on my back, like sometimes I’ll lie on my bed with my stereo, and I’ll put on my headphones. And I’m afraid that I’ll fall asleep on my back, listening to the headphones. And that something like that’ll happen again.» — y lo que le queda: miedo a dormirse boca arriba, hasta con los auriculares en la cama

«HUFFORD: And the pressure felt like hands? GEORGE: Felt like hands. Yeah.» — a la pregunta de Hufford, George responde que la presión se sentía como manos

«It was just paralyzed. It was like my legs——Because the pressure was all in here [indicated chest area]…. And it was all pressing down. And I know I tried to move my midsection. And my legs. But they were just paralyzed. And like, I couldn’t move. And then my head was like it was immovable…. My heart was really pounding» — y localiza el reparto: la presión toda en el pecho, y piernas, tronco y cabeza simplemente paralizados, con el corazón golpeando

«It sounded like they were walking on linoleum rather than carpet [the library floor is carpeted in that area]. Which was—— HUFFORD: It was a kind of sharp sound? GEORGE: Yeah. A very sharp sound. But you know, I didn’t, I didn’t even really think about that at the time. HUFFORD: So it sounded like somebody with hard soles on their shoes walking on a hard surface? GEORGE: Yes. HUFFORD: And did it sound at all as if the feet were scuffed or anything like that? Or just clear, sharp single sounds? GEORGE: No. Very clear. And it sounded——It sounded like a woman’s shoes. Like almost maybe like heels.» — la cualidad de los pasos que Hufford le hace precisar: suela dura sobre superficie dura, no la alfombra que en realidad cubre esa zona, y sonido de zapatos de mujer, casi de tacón

«They were semi-frightening. But——It was more an effect of, “Why was I dreaming that?” You know, “Why was this on my mind?”» — y el afecto de los sueños previos, según George: medio aterradores, y sobre todo la extrañeza de estar soñando aquello

«I couldn’t understand the thing about the face either. That scared me more than anything else. The fact that it was saying, “I didn’t——I didn’t want you——I don’t want you to see my face,» — lo que más asustó a George del caso 14, según él: la insistencia de la voz en que no le viera la cara

«And then it got to the point where I said, “Oh, God, I’ve got to see what this is.” And then that’s when I opened my eyes for the first time. And there was nothing there, but there was the ceiling of the library and the books, and everything. And that’s when I knew it was something other than somebody playing a trick on me.» — y el momento en que se decide a abrir los ojos: al no ver a nadie sino el techo y los libros, concluye que no era una broma

«In this case again, the informant was fatigued and took an afternoon nap. Here, however, another precursor is added—the dreams immediately preceding the attack.» — Hufford suma los precursores del caso 14: fatiga y siesta como antes, más los sueños inmediatamente anteriores

«Such dreams occur as frequently as does fatigue and are present often enough to suggest a connection.» — y su formulación cauta: esos sueños salen tan a menudo como la fatiga, bastante para sugerir una conexión

«There is, of course, the possibility that in cases in which a preceding dream is not reported it has been forgotten either before awakening or between the attack and the interview.» — con la objeción que él mismo pone: donde no se reporta sueño previo pudo haberse olvidado antes de despertar o entre el ataque y la entrevista

«The only relationship that can be indicated now aside from the temporal one is the fact that the dreams tend to be frightening and violent.» — y el único vínculo que se atreve a señalar además del temporal: que esos sueños tienden a ser aterradores y violentos

«Violence is the most frequently mentioned descriptor and along with fear seems to be consistent with the nature of the Old Hag attack.» — con la violencia como descriptor más citado, coherente a su juicio con la naturaleza del ataque

«One other point mentioned by George and others is that preceding dreams are generally incongruous: “They really didn’t pertain to anything that… was familiar to me. They were very obscure episodes.» — y un rasgo más de esos sueños, dicho con las palabras de George: incongruentes, sin relación con nada familiar

«The fact that George heard a voice speaking to him is unusual but not unique.» — clasifica la voz que habla como rasgo inusual, no único

«He specified that the voice was that of a “second soprano, maybe” and then expressed uncertainty that hinged on a single word, “You knew I would come,”» — y lo que le sirve del caso 14: el detalle del registro vocal y una duda que se juega en una sola palabra; la segunda variante que George dudaba —*back*— queda ya en la plana siguiente

«It is a feature that allowed George to show how much detail characterized his recollection.» — porque el rasgo le sirve para mostrar cuánto detalle traía el recuerdo de George

«Recollection of such fine details is common in these narratives.» — da por común en estos relatos ese recuerdo de detalles finos

«In describing his approach to ending the attack, George says that he first relaxed and then struggled in an effort to “throw ’em off,” suggesting that during the experience he believed that something was being done to him by an external agency and it was not a purely subjective experience.» — lee en la maniobra de George —relajarse y luego forcejear para despistarlos— la creencia de que algo externo le estaba haciendo aquello

«A majority who can recall exactly what they moved at the end of an attack have reported fingers, hand, or arm.» — y da la parte del cuerpo con que la mayoría dice haber roto el ataque: dedos, mano o brazo

«George’s continued fear of sleeping on his back or even listening to his stereo in a supine position is a measure of the impact of the experience on him.» — mide el impacto del caso 14 por el miedo persistente a la posición supina

«They are similar to the reaction of getting up and checking the house or searching for an explanation as behavioral indications of the motivating force of the experience.» — y agrupa esa conducta con la de levantarse a revisar la casa: indicaciones conductuales de la fuerza motivadora de la experiencia

«Finally, George reports that he always has strange dreams in the library, although the connection with a place may not be as strong as George’s comments suggest.» — recoge la asociación de George con la biblioteca y la rebaja en la misma frase

«Perhaps he has odd dreams when he naps, and most of his naps take place in the library.» — con la explicación alternativa que ofrece, en condicional: sueña raro al echarse la siesta, y casi todas sus siestas son en la biblioteca

«Such locations may indicate the presence of an external variable in the causation of the Old Hag attacks.» — y lo que esas ligaduras con un lugar podrían indicar, dicho como posibilidad: una variable externa en la causación

«This informant was unaware of my work or any other information relating to Old Hag attacks.» — con la garantía de ignorancia que le importa: la informante no sabía de su trabajo ni de nada sobre la Old Hag

«This young woman was in traction at a nearby hospital, being treated for a herniated disc.» — Sharon, de diecinueve años, estaba en tracción por una hernia de disco

«Because she was in traction she was, of course, lying on her back as she had since her admission about a week before.» — y llevaba una semana obligada a la posición supina, dato que Hufford hará valer

«She then heard footsteps coming into the room. Sharon said that, as odd as this seems, her first thought was that several nurses were coming in with their shoes off. It sounded as if several pairs of feet were approaching in nylon stockings, shuffling across the room’s wall-to-wall carpet.» — los pasos del caso 15 y la primera explicación que Sharon se da: varias enfermeras entrando descalzas, arrastrando medias de nylon sobre la moqueta

«This footstep sound proceeded into the room and began to move around her bed, although no one was visible. Naturally this alarmed her, but when she attempted to reach the call button to ring for the nurse she found that she could not move.» — el ruido rodea la cama sin que se vea a nadie, y al querer llamar a la enfermera se encuentra sin poder moverse

«Then she suddenly saw a bearded, male face suspended in midair in the vicinity of the» — la aparición del caso 15: una cara masculina barbada suspendida en el aire, con la frase cortada en el cambio de plana

«It was totally unfamiliar to her, and it struck her as being malevolent. It was staring intently at her.» — la cara del caso 15, desconocida, que a Sharon le pareció malévola y la miraba fijamente; la frase abre en la plana anterior

«As she looked at this threatening face, she felt a very intense pressure forcing her head down into her pillow. She described this force as violent and painful.» — y la presión que le hundía la cabeza en la almohada, que ella describe como violenta y dolorosa

«Next she described the feeling of being lifted from her bed. She felt that she was at least two feet above the bed when she heard the door open again, and a nurse came in. The moment that the door opened the second time she felt herself dropped back onto the bed with considerable force, and all other features of the experience disappeared.» — luego la sensación de ser levantada dos pies sobre la cama, y la caída de golpe al abrirse la puerta y entrar una enfermera

«When Sharon had finished this basic description I asked her whether the feeling of pressure forcing her head into the pillow had ended when the lifting began and she replied, surprisingly, that it had not. I then asked whether she had felt that her legs and body had been lifted at an angle, leaving her head at bed level, and again she said that this was not the case. She stated that she had felt as if she were being lifted parallel to the bed while her head continued to be pressed into the pillow. She recognized that these sensations were contradictory, but insisted that this was how it had felt.» — el interrogatorio con que Hufford tantea la coherencia del caso 15: Sharon sostiene haber sido levantada en paralelo a la cama mientras la cabeza seguía hundida en la almohada, y reconoce la contradicción sin retirar el dato

«I asked her whether her sheets had been in disarray following the experience and she replied that they had not. In fact, they had still been tucked in, and she recognized that this was also contradictory, but insisted that the perceptions still seemed absolutely real.» — y la segunda contradicción, también reconocida y también sostenida: las sábanas seguían metidas bajo el colchón

«She also mentioned that when she felt herself dropped back on the bed it had hurt her back and that the pain from that was still present, a day after the experience.» — con un residuo corporal que la testigo añade: el dolor de espalda de la caída seguía al día siguiente

«The only variable at this point that seems consistently to indicate a substantially increased risk of Old Hag attack is the supine position.» — su conclusión sobre variables de riesgo, con el alcance dicho: hasta aquí, la única que indica riesgo consistentemente mayor es la posición supina

«For those who do not ordinarily sleep on their backs, prolonged periods in this position may increase the likelihood of attacks, especially if the transition into normal sleep is delayed.» — con la condición que propone: en quien no duerme así de costumbre, los periodos prolongados boca arriba subirían la probabilidad, sobre todo si tarda en entrar el sueño normal

«In addition to patients in traction, I have found some evidence that systematic relaxation training or meditation in a supine position (as in the “corpse pose” in yoga) can produce a disproportionate number of attacks.» — y el segundo contexto donde dice ver lo mismo: relajación sistemática o meditación boca arriba, como la postura del cadáver del yoga

«I have no statistics on such populations at present, but the number of times that these contexts have been reported in this general investigation is suggestive.» — con la abstención en la misma frase: no tiene estadística de esas poblaciones y se queda en que el número de veces que aparecen es sugerente

«Through the first several years of interviewing people about these attacks, I simply accepted the term “footsteps” as self-explanatory and did not ask for further elaboration.» — confiesa un defecto de su propio método durante los primeros años: dio por evidente el término *footsteps* y no preguntó más

«Sharon’s spontaneously offered details have led me to ask about the precise nature of the sound.» — y qué lo corrigió: los detalles que Sharon dio sin que se los pidieran

«However, the kind of shuffling sound described by Sharon is much more common.» — con el resultado de preguntarlo: el arrastrado de Sharon es mucho más común que el paso duro y nítido de George

«One said spontaneously that she heard “funny, ‘whooshy’ footsteps.” When I probed, she was unable to clarify her meaning.» — de dos pacientes del mismo hospital, la primera describe pasos *whooshy* sin poder aclarar más al insistirle

«When she had difficulty elaborating, I asked her to make an analogy. I asked her to imagine» — y con la segunda declara su técnica: pedirle una analogía; la frase que sigue —cómo reproduciría el sonido con los materiales que quisiera— se corta donde el troceo parte el chunk, dentro de la misma plana

«how she would reproduce the sound if she could use whatever materials she wished. She thought for a few moments and then said that it was like “the sound of a block of wood being rubbed repeatedly over a piece of velvet.”» — y la analogía que obtuvo: un bloque de madera frotado repetidamente sobre terciopelo

«In some instances this sound, which is usually but not always interpreted as footsteps, occurs in the midst of an attack that has other sensory features, as in Case 15 above. At other times the sound seems to accompany the “sensation of presence,”» — y sitúa ese sonido en dos posiciones distintas: en medio de un ataque con otros rasgos sensoriales, o acompañando a la sensación de presencia

«I remember waking up flat on my back. Paralyzed…. Terrified beyond anything I’d ever experienced before…. Sensation of pressure on my chest. The terror! The terror was both from being paralyzed and I knew there was something in the room» — de otro testigo de veintitrés años que recuerda el episodio de los doce o catorce: despertar boca arriba, paralizado, con presión en el pecho y terror por las dos cosas a la vez

«Perhaps the most important point about these sounds is that the discovery of a pattern required serious attention to phenomenological detail.» — lo que él saca de todo el asunto de los pasos: el patrón solo apareció al atender al detalle fenomenológico

«As long as I allowed the term “footsteps” to suffice, only a general level of correspondence could be established.» — con el costo de no hacerlo, dicho de su propio trabajo: mientras se conformó con *footsteps*, la correspondencia se quedaba en lo general

«I both request the subject to attempt an analogy and elicit reactions to the analogies of others.» — el procedimiento que declara: pedir la analogía y además someterle al testigo las analogías de otros

«The victims of the attacks can, after all, be expected to be better at decoding the language used by other victims than the investigator can be.» — con la razón que lo justifica: las víctimas descifran mejor que el investigador el lenguaje de otras víctimas

«No other resource is available for attempting a description of unshared subjective experience.» — y por qué la analogía es inevitable: no hay otro recurso para describir una experiencia subjetiva no compartida

«Such contradictory statements are not rare in Old Hag narratives, and they do not usually indicate poor reporting but rather represent phenomenological categories outside normal experience.» — su lectura de las contradicciones del caso 15: no son raras en estos relatos y no suelen indicar mal reporte sino categorías fenomenológicas fuera de la experiencia normal

«very cold, dead weight—great fear with no apparent reason, couldn’t move anything, only open eyes—had feeling of looking down at myself from separate place…. Perception of room unusually clear.» — un ejemplo temprano de esas imposibilidades, de su encuesta de Terranova: mirarse a sí mismo desde otro sitio, con la percepción del cuarto inusualmente clara

«At night I woke up and felt very tired, but not able to move, felt weak. Didn’t seem like I was in myself.» — y otro de Pensilvania, más escueto: no parecía estar dentro de sí misma

«Although the clarity of the reference varies from one account to another, it seems reasonable to place all such statements under the technical headings of “distortions of body image” or “depersonalization.”» — propone reunir esas frases bajo los rótulos técnicos de distorsión de la imagen corporal o despersonalización, con la reserva de que la claridad varía de un relato a otro

«In more popular language these sensations seem to refer to at least incipient “out-of-body experiences.”» — y su equivalente en lengua corriente: experiencias fuera del cuerpo, al menos incipientes

«sensations is not yet clear, but it seems to be important.» — y sobre la relación entre la Old Hag y las sensaciones extracorporales se abstiene sin restarle peso: todavía no está clara y parece importante; la cita empieza después de *out-of-the-body*, que el troceo pega al unir el guion de corte

«Some events in which the out-of-body experience is more completely developed, in the presence of Old Hag features, will be presented in Chapter 5.» — y remite al capítulo 5 los casos donde la experiencia fuera del cuerpo aparece más desarrollada junto a rasgos de Old Hag

«Unlike the accounts discussed there, Sharon’s is one in which the sensations seem not to have been intense enough to lead her to conceptualize an actual separation or dual location.» — y separa el caso 15 de los que traerá después: allí las sensaciones no llegaron a hacerle conceptualizar separación ni doble ubicación

«The rudimentary nature of the experience coupled with a lack of awareness of out-of-body feelings as a possible phenomenological category results in descriptions that sound confused and contradictory» — de donde saca por qué esos relatos suenan confusos y contradictorios: experiencia rudimentaria más falta de una categoría disponible para nombrarla; la frase sigue en la plana siguiente

«and further illustrate the problems of language presented by experiential features having no precedent in the knowledge of the subject.» — y su cierre, ya en la plana siguiente: ilustran el problema de lenguaje que plantean los rasgos sin precedente en lo que el sujeto conoce

«It also suggests that some of the other apparent contradictions in such narratives refer to incipient or rudimentary stages of other kinds of perception that may at times be presented in more easily expressed forms.» — y lo que eso sugiere sobre las demás contradicciones: etapas incipientes de percepciones que otras veces se presentan en formas más expresables

«In the next case an objective feature creates further difficulties for the dream-state hypothesis.» — anuncia el caso 16 por lo que aporta contra la hipótesis del sueño: un rasgo objetivo, no subjetivo

«It always occurred when I was just about either ready to fall asleep or shortly thereafter. I usually always sleep on my side. If not, I sleep on my stomach. But on occasion when I have slept on my back, that has been the only time that this has occurred.» — Jack, estudiante de medicina, sitúa la docena de episodios al borde del sueño y solo las veces que durmió boca arriba, contra su costumbre

«And me just being afraid to move or budge whatsoever. And my eyes could move and no other part. But I was sometimes afraid even to move my eyes, you know, for fear of the person, object or whatever it is, either being there, or——You know, just looking down at me where I couldn’t see him, or the few times——I think only two or three times I actually saw the image of a person.» — y describe la inmovilidad del caso 16 como miedo a moverse, con los ojos como única parte móvil y aun esos con reparo

«When I did see it, it was a person not with any kind of a glow or radiance [a feature he had heard mentioned in my lecture]. In fact, that is just the opposite. It was very dark and shadowy, you know. Just like a silhouette. But it did have, like, a cape. A very transparent, like dark, cape, you know, that just hung down» — la figura del caso 16, que el testigo contrasta expresamente con el resplandor que había oído mencionar en la conferencia: oscura, en silueta, con una capa transparente

«The face wasn’t a clear face, but what it did have——and what scared me and made me not want to move ——was two very dark eyes. You know, piercing eyes looking at me. … I could make out distinct features of the eyes.» — sin cara clara y con dos ojos oscuros y penetrantes, de los que dice distinguir rasgos

«They were eyes and it sent a chill up my spine——tingling, you know, shivering type of sensation. … I didn’t want to breathe or move in any way. I felt this hardness on my chest, you know … pressure was there» — el efecto que le producen: escalofrío y hormigueo, no querer respirar ni moverse, y dureza en el pecho

«And he told me one time that I was breathing very heavily. And in fact one time he said, “What’s the matter with you?” And when I looked over to him and moved my head, everything went, you know. And then my eyes were wide open. And I said, “Well, I just had a bad dream or something.” And he says, “What’s the matter,” you know. And like I didn’t know what to say to him. He said, “You were breathing really heavy and just staring straight out into space,» — el rasgo objetivo que interesa a Hufford: el hermano que compartía cama con Jack le dijo que respiraba fuerte y miraba fijamente al vacío

«And I thought I was breathless, you know, and he said I was breathing. And then I scratched my head and——whew! It was over, you know…. He actually did nudge me, you know. And said, “What’s the matter with you?” or something. And that’s what brought me out of it.» — con la contradicción que deja: Jack se creía sin aliento y el hermano lo oía respirar, y fue el codazo lo que lo sacó

«Smoothly, gliding even though there were footfalls, you know. Which didn’t make sense, but it wasn’t like a walk. It was a smooth glide across» — el modo de moverse de la figura, que el propio testigo señala como incoherente: deslizamiento suave con pisadas

«the object or person did actually come along side me, and I was afraid to look up at it. I was afraid to look into those eyes, you know. And so I didn’t move anything. I wanted to jump right out of bed or something. I was trying to figure out a fast way of getting away from it, but I just felt that it had more of a fix on me than I had on it, and I was just scared to do anything then.» — y la escena en que la figura se le pone al lado: no mira los ojos, quiere saltar de la cama y siente que aquello lo tiene más sujeto a él que él a aquello

«Well. I’m six one, and it seemed that if I jumped out of bed it would still be above me——closer to seven feet. It was tall. And I was paralyzed.» — la altura que Jack le calcula, cerca de siete pies, como otra razón para no moverse

«It, like, senses that I’m going to move, that I’m ready to do something, and then it will turn and move away. Just when I’m really at the height of my anxiety, so to speak, you know. Just when I’m ready to jump but I haven’t actually moved. I can’t say that I was moving or anything when the thing just took off. It was like “I am going to do something,» — del caso 16, la regla que Jack le atribuye a la figura: se retira justo cuando él decide actuar, antes de que llegue a moverse

«It’s tough to go to sleep that way. Nearly every time when they’ve left I’ve stayed awake for nearly the rest of the night. And I generally did fall back to sleep, but it wasn’t for an hour or so afterwards…. Walking around the house checking everything’s OK, you know——the door is locked.» — y lo que hace después: quedarse en vela casi el resto de la noche y recorrer la casa comprobando que las puertas estén cerradas

«It was a human figure, and the outline of the silhouette of the human figure was there beneath this sheer, very dark veil.» — la figura del caso 16, precisada a pregunta de Hufford: silueta humana bajo un velo muy oscuro y transparente

«There is a street light that comes in and projects a shadow like this——like a 45 degree angle. And where its trunk and upper body are … is relatively dark compared to the lower half.» — y la explicación luminosa que Jack mismo da de por qué la ve así: la luz de la calle proyecta una sombra que oscurece el torso frente a la mitad inferior

«I never thought it was going to attack me, but that’s the whole thing. I wasn’t in fear of my life, but I was in fear of, “What is this and what’s going to happen?” you know. “What’s going to happen next?” Never in fear of my life.» — el miedo del caso 16, que el testigo delimita: no temía por su vida sino no saber qué era aquello ni qué iba a pasar

«I can’t say that it was before or after a period of stress, you know. After I had studied a lot … or something like that. This was just something that in fact, if anything, was when I was in a good mood, and nothing spectacular was going on at that time when this would happen.» — y descarta el estrés como precursor en su caso: le ocurría más bien estando de buen ánimo y sin nada especial alrededor

«I was awake. I was awake! … There is no way that anyone can convince me that I wasn’t. But this was no dream, like, because I can recall a lot of dreams, you know…. But this is nothing like that. This is something where I opened my eyes and I saw it, you know. I sensed its presence and I looked and I saw it. Or I sensed its presence and I didn’t look, but I knew it was there. … It was something that was real and if I could have been able to go over and tackle it or something——I wanted to do that, but I found myself unable. If I could reach out it would be tangible.» — la afirmación de vigilia del caso 16, apoyada en que recuerda bien sus sueños y aquello no se le parecía, y en que aquello era real y habría sido tangible

«One of the most striking details in this description is that the subject’s brother saw that his eyes were open during the experience, as he states clearly several times.» — el rasgo objetivo que Hufford destaca del caso 16: el hermano vio que Jack tenía los ojos abiertos

«Most attacks do not come to the attention of a second party while in progress, but some do. In each of these that I have found, the other person has been alerted by unusual breathing sounds.» — y lo que sabe de los testigos externos: casi nunca los hay, y los que hubo se alertaron por ruidos respiratorios raros

«All second parties I have spoken with have either said that the victim’s eyes were open or that they did not notice the eyes because of the darkness of the room and the shortness of the interval before a normal state was achieved.» — con lo que declararon todos ellos: o vieron los ojos abiertos o no los vieron por la oscuridad y la brevedad del episodio

«These cases do not rule out the possibility that some attacks take place with eyes closed, and a very few victims have stated that they were either unable or unwilling to open their eyes during the attack (for example, George’s temporary decision to keep his eyes closed in Case 14), but they suggest that some victims are correct in their subjective impression that their eyes were open during the attack.» — la conclusión con su límite dentro: no descarta ataques con los ojos cerrados y sí sugiere que algunas víctimas aciertan al creer que los tenían abiertos

«And this in turn is another major difference between the Old Hag and ordinary dreams.» — y lo que eso le da: otra diferencia mayor entre la Old Hag y los sueños ordinarios

«My vocal cords are paralyzed, but I’ve got my wife conditioned so that when I start to hyperventilate, she’ll reach over and shake me.» — en voz de un hombre de Terranova con ataques frecuentes: tiene condicionada a su mujer para que lo sacuda cuando empieza a hiperventilar

«Enough such observations have been reported to justify the tentative conclusion that some cases of presumed suffocation are in fact instances of hyperventilation.» — de ahí una conclusión que él marca como tentativa: parte de las asfixias supuestas serían hiperventilación

«Hyperventilation gives a subjective feeling of suffocation, and the overbreathing is often not noticed.» — con el mecanismo: la hiperventilación da sensación subjetiva de asfixia y el sobrerrespirar suele pasar inadvertido

«In other cases, however, both objective and subjective reports suggest either apneic episodes15 or labored or strangled breathing.» — y las otras ramas que no cierra: episodios de apnea o respiración trabajosa o estrangulada

«And a large number of the reports indicate that the victim was not aware of anything unusual connected with respiration.» — más una tercera: muchos reportes no traen nada raro en la respiración

«The safest conclusion is that two or more patterns may be present in cases involving unusual respiratory sensations, but» — su conclusión más prudente sobre la respiración: dos o más patrones en los casos con sensación respiratoria; la frase se corta en el cambio de plana

«that respiration can be totally unconnected in a sizable fraction of attacks.» — y su cierre, ya en la plana siguiente: la respiración puede no tener nada que ver en una fracción apreciable de los ataques

«These statements illustrate the perception of immobility as intentional because of fear rather than as a result of paralysis, as noted above in connection with the problems of designing a phenomenologically adequate questionnaire about the Old Hag.» — vuelve sobre el problema que ya le dio falsos negativos: Jack describe la inmovilidad como decisión por miedo, no como parálisis

«In this case, however, Jack goes on to give descriptions that indicate that he was unable rather than unwilling to move, for example: “I did twice try to jump out (of bed) and I couldn’t. I just couldn’t move,” or “I wanted to (go over and tackle it) but I found myself unable.» — y en el mismo caso halla lo contrario: dos intentos de saltar de la cama y de abalanzarse que no pudo llevar a cabo

«This sounds more like the onset of a paralysis than a product of fear.» — con su lectura de la rigidez progresiva que Jack describe: suena más a comienzo de parálisis que a producto del miedo

«Jack’s is also one of the few descriptions I have received that showed a progressive onset of immobility.» — y la clasifica como uno de los pocos casos con inicio progresivo de la inmovilidad

«This evidence suggests that perceptions of immobility can vary not only from one case to another but also within a single case.» — de donde saca que las percepciones de inmovilidad varían no solo entre casos sino dentro de un mismo caso

«As with the varying descriptions of respiratory interference, these may indicate not merely differing perceptions of a single phenomenon, but rather genuine differences in the event.» — y deja abierta la rama fuerte: podrían no ser percepciones distintas de un mismo fenómeno sino diferencias reales en el suceso

«However, more data are needed to reach a conclusion or to attempt an interpretation of these differences.» — con la abstención expresa: hacen falta más datos para concluir o interpretar

«This feature invites comparison with the descriptions of footsteps in George’s (14) and Sharon’s (15) cases, although it raises questions rather than answering them.» — y otra abstención sobre los pasos deslizantes del caso 16: el rasgo invita a comparar con los casos 14 y 15 y plantea preguntas en vez de responderlas

«Close attention must be paid to the descriptions of accompanying sounds in future investigations of these experiences.» — de donde saca una indicación para el trabajo futuro: atender de cerca a los sonidos que acompañan

«In describing his efforts to “project” himself to a point behind his visitor, Jack at first appears to be speaking as one who has cultivated “astral projection” but then says that he had only “pretended.”» — señala la ambigüedad de Jack sobre la proyección: habla como quien la cultiva y luego dice que solo fingía

«This interview took place before I realized that out-of-body sensations were consistently, though infrequently, described in Old Hag accounts. Had I considered the possibility of any connection at that time I would have pressed Jack on the point.» — y reconoce el límite de su propia entrevista: la hizo antes de darse cuenta de que las sensaciones extracorporales aparecían de modo consistente, y por eso no insistió

«In retrospect, I wonder if he was avoiding a full discussion of his beliefs and experiences in this connection.» — con la sospecha que deja como pregunta: si Jack estaría evitando hablar de sus creencias y experiencias en ese punto

«Jack makes no connection between his Old Hag attacks and either stress or fatigue, even saying that the experiences were more common when he “was in a good mood.”» — registra que Jack no liga sus ataques ni al estrés ni a la fatiga y hasta dice que le venían de buen ánimo

«This example does not mean that stress, fatigue, or depression may not play a role in some experiences but, with similar statements by others, it indicates that they are not necessary ingredients in what is almost certainly an event with multiple causes.» — con la conclusión acotada: no niega que estrés, fatiga o depresión intervengan a veces, solo que no son ingredientes necesarios de un suceso casi seguramente multicausal

«Finally, not only does Jack’s impression that he could “scare it away” seem incongruous, given how frightened he was, but it provides some insight into Jack’s feelings about what may actually have been happening.» — y lo que le parece revelador de la idea de Jack de espantar aquello, incongruente con su propio miedo

«Certainly one does not attempt to scare away a hallucination.» — con el argumento en una línea: a una alucinación no se la intenta espantar

«young man, who had never told anyone else of his attacks or ever heard of anyone else’s, he was nonetheless left with the conviction that his visitor was real and external.» — subraya la anomalía del caso 16: un joven que nunca lo había contado ni oído de otros queda convencido de que su visitante era real y externo; la cita empieza tras *middle-class*, que el troceo pega al unir el guion de corte

«The difference between a hallucination and an objectively real experience is, at least on the face of it, a matter of interpretation, and we tend to consider such decisions culturally provided.» — contra el supuesto que enuncia para discutirlo: que la línea entre alucinación y experiencia real es interpretación, y que la interpretación la da la cultura

«Here, however, a person made an interpretation that seems to run counter to his culturally provided expectations and did so without outside guidance or social support.» — y el caso que lo contradice: una interpretación contraria a las expectativas que su cultura le daba, sin guía ni apoyo social

«His allusions to “projection” may, of course, indicate a hidden connection with a subculture that provided guidance and support. This is plausible» — con la objeción que él mismo se pone y admite plausible: las alusiones de Jack a la proyección podrían delatar una subcultura que sí le daba guía

«considering the entire run of accounts, it is hard to avoid the impression that most victims share the conviction of reality.» — y su respuesta, dicha como impresión difícil de evitar sobre el conjunto de los relatos: casi todas las víctimas comparten la convicción de realidad

«This is the significance, for example, of the act of getting up and checking through the house after an attack. Even when victims are unprepared to express their strong impression of objective reality verbally, their behavior often eloquently indicates its presence.» — con la prueba conductual que aduce: levantarse a revisar la casa dice lo que el testigo no siempre sabe formular

«Such experiences, then, can be more intrinsically realistic than we are at first likely to imagine.» — y su conclusión sobre el realismo de estas experiencias: pueden serlo más de lo que uno imagina de entrada

«is not always present. The next account further describes the difficulty» — con el límite que añade en seguida, ya en la plana siguiente: ese nivel de realidad no está siempre presente

«The initial contact was made through her adult son on the basis of what the family considered to be a poltergeist.» — del caso 17 declara la vía de contacto: el hijo adulto, a propósito de lo que la familia tenía por un poltergeist

«They repeatedly heard a door open and close when no one was apparently near it, the sound of footsteps in the hallway, and occasional knocking sounds on the walls.» — y los fenómenos de la casa: una puerta que se abre y cierra sin nadie cerca, pasos en el pasillo y golpes en las paredes

«They thought it unusual that a new house should have such phenomena associated with it, but this was tentatively explained by the possibility that the house had been built over “an Indian grave,” as had been suggested by a neighbor.» — con la explicación que la familia manejaba, atribuida a un vecino: la casa nueva estaría construida sobre una tumba india

«Felt like it was a woman. I didn’t see anything. I was lying on my side, and felt something touch my side lightly. And I woke up and I could feel someone watching me, beside the bed. And it felt like, to me, that it was a woman. And I wanted to call your Daddy, Bill. See, we have the twin beds. But I couldn’t, you know. I just——And it just felt like they were standing there, quite awhile. And they just went out of the room. I didn’t hear anything either, but they were there! Somebody, something was there.» — Jean, en el caso 17, describe una presencia femenina que no ve, un roce en el costado, la imposibilidad de llamar a su marido y la certeza de que había alguien

«You think I’m goofy, I bet. HUFFORD: No, no, I’ve heard lots of people» — y la interrupción que muestra la presión social dentro de la propia entrevista: la testigo se anticipa a que la tomen por chiflada

«That really interests me because some people consistently will say that they “couldn’t,” but other people say that they were “afraid to” (move). And I’m very interested in knowing the difference.» — Hufford declara ante la testigo qué distinción persigue: entre quienes dicen que no podían moverse y quienes dicen que tenían miedo de hacerlo

«I don’t know. I didn’t move, but whether I could have, I don’t——I don’t know. I really don’t know. I didn’t anyway.» — y la respuesta de Jean, que se abstiene: no se movió y no sabe si habría podido

«I didn’t feel I was in danger, but I still wasn’t taking any chances. I was afraid.» — con el miedo que ella sostiene aun descartando el peligro

«I was lying in bed and I felt the covers being——the cover and the sheet——being pulled slowly down. Not to the side. Not slipping off the bed, but pulling straight down till I was not covered at all.» — el episodio anterior del caso 17: las cobijas tiradas hacia abajo, en línea recta, hasta destaparla del todo

«I felt it going, and I reached down and pulled it back. Then I felt it again, and it went straight down to the bottom of the bed. Then I didn’t reach down and pull them back. I heard nothing. I was afraid. I couldn’t move, and I did not go back to sleep that night at all!» — y la segunda vez, tras la que ya no las recogió: sin oír nada, con miedo, sin poder moverse y sin volver a dormir

«On my back, and I don’t usually lie on my back. But that night I was.» — a pregunta de Hufford, Jean sitúa el episodio en la posición supina, contra su costumbre

«I knew someone was there. I didn’t feel them being there, but I knew that someone had to be there.» — y la propia testigo distingue las dos veces: en la primera lo dedujo por las cobijas, no lo sintió

«Her strong impression of “staring” is similar to the statements of Ron (10) and Jack (16) except that each of them clearly saw the eyes of their visitors whereas Jean could not.» — compara la impresión de mirada fija del caso 17 con las de Ron y Jack, y marca la diferencia: ellos vieron los ojos y Jean no

«The repeated descriptions of such direct perceptions underline the phenomenological complexity of these events and the need for a cautious approach to the analysis of feelings when they occur in the presence of possible causes.» — y lo que le exige eso: cautela al analizar sensaciones cuando aparecen junto a posibles causas, dada la complejidad fenomenológica

«She spontaneously used both “couldn’t” and “afraid to” to describe her failure to move or call out. Then when I asked her to explain exactly which she meant, she could be certain only of the fact that she “didn’t.”» — vuelve al problema de la inmovilidad con el caso 17: Jean usó las dos fórmulas y al pedírsele precisar solo pudo asegurar que no se movió

«In cases such as this in which there is some movement at the beginning, followed by immobility that may or may not be voluntary, we cannot rule out the possibility of a false positive, that is, that the phenomenon was not actually an Old Hag attack.» — y admite el riesgo: donde hay movimiento al principio y luego inmovilidad de estatuto dudoso, no se descarta el falso positivo

«But Jean’s account is included here because all four of the primary features of the Old Hag are present.» — con la razón por la que aun así lo incluye: los cuatro rasgos primarios están

«The experience of hearing her name called in the morning does not have any necessary connection with the Old Hag.» — se abstiene de ligar el oír su nombre por la mañana con la Old Hag

«The next case, the last one for this chapter, raises one final sensation that has been reported with sufficient frequency and intensity to make it intriguing. This is what those who mention it most often call “tingling.”» — anuncia el último caso del capítulo por la sensación que aporta, la que sus testigos llaman hormigueo

«I was lying across at least two, if not three, seats on a plane. I was buckled in. I was tired. … It was a long cross-country flight.» — del caso 18: Betty, colega universitaria, tendida en un vuelo largo y con el cinturón puesto

«those were the only two in which I was on my side.» — con la salvedad de postura que la propia testigo hace: este y otro son los únicos dos de costado, en todos los demás estaba boca arriba

«And I woke up, and there were flashes and I thought we were in a thunderstorm. … I looked up at the ceiling of the plane, and it seemed to me that the light was flickering. And now I realize it wasn’t the——It couldn’t have been the light in the airplane because it was a big round light that was flush with the surface of the plane. I don’t think any airplanes have that kind of light. But that light, that was flickering.» — la luz que Betty ve parpadear en el techo del avión y su primera explicación, una tormenta

«And I felt this——tingling in my body, and I was——I was very scared because I thought it was electrical. It felt like a mild electrical shock. And I had the idea that somehow I was completing part of a circuit, and the fact that one hand was touching the side of the plane and the other——my feet were touching the armrest, that there was electricity moving through that. And I couldn’t move, and I was sure that something terrible was happening. I thought I was being electrocuted, that’s what I really thought.» — el hormigueo del caso 18 con la explicación que la testigo se da en el momento: cerrar un circuito eléctrico y estar electrocutándose

«And I wanted to get the attention of another passenger. And I could see the person across the aisle from me … (but) I couldn’t talk and they weren’t responding to my distress. And I kept trying to move. I was really sure that that was——I had to get one of my arms out. But I also felt that it was “glued” by the electrical current. And finally I moved this arm, the arm my head was lying on, and it stopped.» — y el desenlace: no puede hablar, el pasajero de enfrente no responde, siente el brazo pegado por la corriente y al fin lo mueve

«It was that and the fact that I couldn’t move. I felt that I was going to die. I was very certain that I would die.» — el miedo del caso 18, que Betty reparte entre la electrocución y la inmovilidad, con la certeza de morir

«I felt the paralysis strongly, and I felt that that was going to keep me from being able to breathe.» — y su matiz sobre la asfixia: no se sentía asfixiada, sentía la parálisis y que esta le impediría respirar

«Once when I was a child I climbed up on the kitchen sink and either it was poorly grounded or it was damp, and I pulled a metal chain on a lamp. And I got … a fairly strong shock. And I couldn’t let go of the chain. And that’s exactly what this felt like. I felt frozen to the seat.» — la analogía con que Betty precisa la sensación eléctrica: la descarga de una cadenita de lámpara que de niña no pudo soltar

«it did not feel like a surface tingling. It felt like a deep tingling. Not even a tingling——It was more like a vibration than a tingling…. Not like it was on the surface at all, or anything. It was right in my bones!» — y la corrección que ella misma hace al término: no un hormigueo de superficie sino profundo, más vibración que hormigueo, en los huesos

«Others have reported seeing a light float into the room or a light connected with a figure, and Betty’s description of the flickering light in the ceiling of the plane is similar to many of the former, although in her case the light did not move.» — sitúa la luz del caso 18 junto a otros reportes de luz que entra flotando, con la diferencia de que la de Betty no se movía

«She subsequently checked and learned that there was in fact no such light source in the plane, nor has she ever seen one on another plane.» — y el dato que la testigo aporta después: Betty dice haber revisado el avión sin hallar tal fuente de luz, y no haberla visto en otro

«All other features of the environment, though, were the same during and after the experience.» — con el resto del entorno igual durante y después

«Although this is not a frequently reported feature, it has recurred consistently and the sensation always appears to be clear.» — clasifica el hormigueo: poco frecuente, recurrente de modo consistente y siempre nítido para quien lo siente

«However, it does not seem always to be experienced in exactly the same way.» — con la reserva inmediata: no siempre se vive del mismo modo

«I was sort of awakened by a tingling feeling all over my body. And it was like, kind of the sort of tingling feeling you get when your limbs are asleep. But my whole body felt this way. Felt like electricity. And I couldn’t imagine what it was, and it became really intense. And I felt as if I——my body was being lifted. Or my body was staying still, but I felt like——as if, you know, I was moving away from my body. So … I figured, “I’m dying.”» — en voz de un estudiante de medicina de veintitrés años: el hormigueo como de miembro dormido pero en todo el cuerpo, la sensación de ser levantado o de alejarse del cuerpo, y la conclusión de que se moría

«The use of the word “tingling,” the reference to electricity, and the impression that he was dying are similar to Betty’s report.» — y los tres puntos en que Hufford lo empareja con el caso 18: la palabra, la electricidad y la impresión de morir

«The following example involves a similar but not identical sensation. This description came up in connection with a paralysis attack that occurred while the subject was sitting in a chair reading.» — presenta un tercer caso con sensación parecida pero no idéntica, esta vez en una parálisis ocurrida leyendo sentada en una silla

«The precise connection with the feeling of being tickled would be interesting to know, but Joanne was never able to clarify it.» — se abstiene sobre el caso de Joanne: la relación entre el hormigueo y la cosquilla le interesaría y la testigo nunca pudo aclararla

«These may have been two different perceptions, or they may have been two aspects of the same perception.» — deja las dos ramas abiertas: dos percepciones distintas o dos caras de la misma

«The tickling sensation was probably what gave Joanne the possible sexual interpretation. Although she discounted any conscious sexual component, that possibility remains.» — y con la lectura sexual hace lo mismo: la testigo descartó cualquier componente sexual consciente y él deja la posibilidad en pie

«Any possibility that the reports of tingling resulted from an actual shock is ruled out by the varying circumstances in which they are reported and the absence of any subsequent observation of the sensation after the paralysis episode ended.» — descarta la descarga eléctrica real por dos razones: las circunstancias varían y la sensación no se observa después del episodio

«The possibility that the sensation is in fact due to a limb “falling asleep” does not fit with the fact that the sensation is usually felt all over the body and that unlike the “sleeping limb” sensation this tingling ends completely and suddenly when the paralysis is terminated.» — y descarta el miembro dormido por otras dos: la sensación cubre todo el cuerpo y termina de golpe y del todo al cesar la parálisis

«These two analogies are almost always the ones used to describe this feeling and can therefore be considered useful descriptors, although they are not acceptable as explanations.» — con la distinción que le importa: las dos analogías valen como descriptores y no como explicaciones

«This point is mentioned here because of the natural tendency to look for individual explanations for discrete features of such dramatic experiences.» — y por qué lo dice: hay una tendencia natural a buscar explicación por separado para cada rasgo

«The consistent presence of a stable pattern in Old Hag attacks, however, will require a comprehensive explanation.» — contra la cual pone su exigencia: un patrón estable pide explicación comprensiva

«The sensation can vary in intensity and may be either deep or superficial. It may be either pleasant or unpleasant, and the difference seems at least in part determined by intensity.» — tabula la variación del hormigueo: intensidad, profundidad, y lo agradable o desagradable ligado en parte a la intensidad

«Tingling has sometimes been reported in connection with distortions of body image as in the second example quoted here (“I was moving away from my body.”), but each does frequently occur in the absence of the other.» — y su relación con las distorsiones de la imagen corporal, dicha con el límite: a veces juntas, y cada una aparece a menudo sin la otra

«These cases also make it abundantly clear that recognizable Old Hag attacks of great complexity can and do occur in the absence of explicit models.» — y lo que da por establecido: ataques reconocibles y de gran complejidad ocurren sin modelos explícitos

«Also, the victims have supported the hypothesis that a combination of cultural constraints and difficulties of expression have played a major part in keeping the existence of this body of experience hidden when it is unaccompanied by a connected tradition.» — con la segunda tesis que las víctimas le apoyan: restricciones culturales y dificultad de expresión mantuvieron oculto este cuerpo de experiencia donde no había tradición

«it is not sufficient in the case of science.» — con su cierre, ya en la plana siguiente

«The question then naturally arises as to whether any of the sciences that touch on human experience have recorded the existence of the Old Hag.» — de donde sale la pregunta que sigue: si alguna de las ciencias de la experiencia humana registró la existencia de la Old Hag

«Traditional accounts of ghosts pulling the covers off sleepers are common, as indicated by the fact that two numbers are given to the subject in the Motif Index: “E279.3. Ghost pulls bedclothing from sleeper” and “E544.2. Ghost pulls off blanket from sleeper.”» — sitúa el episodio de las cobijas del caso 17 en la tradición, con los dos números que el Motif-Index le da

«One of the commonest activities of ghosts is the pulling of bedclothes off the living.» — y lo apoya en Louis Jones, citado como voz: quitar las cobijas a los vivos sería de lo más común entre los fantasmas

«For example, in 1588 the Capuchin author Father Noel Taillepied stated, “A Spirit will sometimes suddenly draw and switch away the quilt and blankets from a bed, linen and all» — con un testimonio antiguo, el del capuchino Noel Taillepied en 1588, sobre el espíritu que arranca de golpe la colcha y las mantas

«The failure of the cultural source hypothesis to accommodate the Old Hag data has made the present chapter the most difficult one of this book both to write and to explain.» — abre el capítulo 4 declarando qué le complica la exposición: que la hipótesis de la fuente cultural no acomode sus datos

«If culture had been found to supply a source, a review of psychological literature could have been restricted to the selection of a theoretical mechanism by which source material becomes experience. But if the source is not in culture, both a source and a mechanism must be sought in psychology.» — y por qué: hallada la fuente en la cultura, bastaría elegir un mecanismo psicológico; sin ella hay que buscar en psicología a la vez la fuente y el mecanismo

«In the absence of a cultural source, the availability of an adequate current psychological explanation must determine whether the phenomenon is a novel and challenging one or whether its interest is restricted to its wide distribution and role in folk tradition. A thorough search of relevant psychological literature has demonstrated that no such explanation is available.» — fija así lo que está en juego y da su resultado: la búsqueda a fondo en la literatura psicológica no le halló explicación adecuada

«If another explanation were at hand, and if I had a strong argument to advance for what the Old Hag “really is,” this statement might practically stand by itself. My explanation of what the experience is would nicely take care of what it is not. Unfortunately, I have no such explanation to advance.» — con la abstención dicha sin rodeos: no tiene una explicación propia que ofrecer sobre lo que la Old Hag realmente es

«Also unfortunately, the absence of an adequate psychological explanation does not mean that no psychological explanation has been attempted.» — y la distinción que le sigue: que no haya explicación adecuada no quiere decir que no se haya intentado

«Assuming the existence of a cultural source, psychologists have made of it a Procrustean bed that has offered the Old Hag rigorous hospitality at best.» — la imagen con que juzga esos intentos: dando por supuesta la fuente cultural, la psicología hizo de ella un lecho de Procusto

«The effect has been to explain the phenomenon away while discouraging the development of a thorough description of it.» — con el efecto que les imputa: despachar el fenómeno y desalentar de paso su descripción cuidadosa

«To maintain the existence of the Old Hag experience as an important object of study, it is first necessary to rescue it from this ill treatment. If we cannot say all of what it is, we must continue the job begun with the consideration of the cultural source hypothesis and say what it is not.» — de ahí el programa del capítulo, formulado en negativo: rescatarla de ese trato y decir lo que no es, ya que no puede decir todo lo que es

«In addition to bringing the Old Hag into sharper focus for observation, this process will raise questions about the adequacy with which other complex cultural and experiential data have been treated via the combination of cultural source with psychological mechanism.» — y lo que espera de paso: poner en cuestión cómo se han tratado otros datos culturales y experienciales con la receta de fuente cultural más mecanismo psicológico

«The accommodation of bizarre experience in culture source terms has required a leap of faith.» — llama acto de fe a acomodar la experiencia extraña en términos de fuente cultural

«An entire class of beliefs and alleged experience represented in all cultures and at all times has had to be assumed prima facie to be the product of errors and then divided up for explanation among the various modern disciplines.» — porque toda una clase de creencias y experiencias presentes en todas las culturas y todas las épocas se dio por errónea de entrada y se repartió entre disciplinas

«As anthropologist Weston La Barre recently put it in a book on hallucinations, “The schizoid seer doubtless knows his id-self far better than do we normals. But what advantage is it to gain one’s soul in eternal dream, yet lose the whole waking world? … Let no one denigrate the dream. But let everyone be epistemologically tidy about the location of these various realities: the supernatural is wholly housed in the subconscious.”» — y cita a Weston La Barre como voz de esa posición: que nadie denigre el sueño, y que cada quien sea pulcro sobre dónde vive cada realidad, porque lo sobrenatural se aloja entero en el subconsciente

«Those involved, however, have tended to assume that one or another psychological theory can be applied to a question of belief in the same way that a hammer is applied to a nail.» — su objeción a ese modo de trabajar: aplicar una teoría psicológica a una cuestión de creencia como se aplica un martillo a un clavo

«There has been very little genuine give and take between the psychological theorizing and the richly complicated products of culture and experience.» — con lo que echa en falta: intercambio real entre la teorización psicológica y los productos complicados de la cultura y la experiencia

«The Old Hag challenges this approach. The failure of the cultural source hypothesis to account for the phenomenon leaves it intact in all of its complexity.» — y lo que su caso hace con eso: al fallar la hipótesis cultural, el fenómeno queda intacto en toda su complejidad

«At this point, I must repeat that I am not attempting to argue for any particular class of explanation for the Old Hag experience. Neither am I arguing against the development of cultural and psychological hypotheses about the Old Hag.» — repite su doble abstención: no argumenta a favor de ninguna clase de explicación ni en contra de que se desarrollen hipótesis culturales y psicológicas

«By removing the excessively simple culture-plus-psychology strategy for avoiding a real explanation, we may move toward a richer theoretical understanding of the connections between culture and normal psychology.» — y qué espera de quitar de en medio la estrategia simple de cultura más psicología: un entendimiento teórico más rico de esa relación

«I shall provide several psychological hypotheses concerning the Old Hag at the end of this review. They fall short of what ought to be required of an “explanation,”» — anuncia sus propias hipótesis psicológicas y las devalúa de antemano: no llegan a lo que debería exigirse de una explicación

«but before any respectable explanation can be suggested, the Old Hag phenomenon must first be recognized as a class of interesting, observable events not reducible to various categories chosen from existing psychological knowledge.» — con la condición previa que pone: reconocer el fenómeno como clase de sucesos observables no reducible a categorías ya existentes

«In the literature, to the best of my knowledge, no psychologist or psychiatrist has ever used in print the words “Old Hag” as I am using» — el hallazgo negativo con que abre la revisión, acotado a su conocimiento: ningún psicólogo ni psiquiatra ha usado *Old Hag* en letra impresa en su sentido; la frase se corta en el cambio de plana

«To use anything in the scientific literature as a comment on the Old Hag, then, we must first connect the Old Hag with something that has been studied and discussed in print.» — y el problema de método que eso le crea: hay que ligar antes la Old Hag con algo ya estudiado en la literatura

«Although there are important differences between these two literatures, I will not attempt here to analyze or account for them.» — se abstiene sobre las diferencias entre la literatura médica y la de la ciencia básica del sueño: las reconoce importantes y no las analiza

«Much of this development through the beginning of the twentieth century has been very well summarized by Ernest Jones; so my review of the literature begins with Jones’s work.» — justifica arrancar la revisión en Ernest Jones, a quien atribuye el mejor resumen de la evolución del término hasta principios del siglo XX

«Before the development of electroencephalography by Hans Berger in the late 1920s, there was very little study of sleep that could be properly called scientific.» — fecha el comienzo del estudio científico del sueño en la electroencefalografía de Hans Berger, a fines de los años veinte

«Within ten years, investigators using the new technique had shown that sleep is not simply a homogeneous state, but rather that it is made up of several more or less distinct stages that are cyclic in nature.» — y el resultado de la primera década: el sueño no es un estado homogéneo sino varias etapas cíclicas

«Rapid eye movements (REMs), the subject of a report by Eugene Aserinsky and Nathaniel Kleitman in 1953,4 were the next major discovery of measurable correlates of sleep.» — sitúa el segundo hallazgo mayor en el informe de Aserinsky y Kleitman de 1953 sobre los movimientos oculares rápidos

«in 1957 William Dement and Kleitman reported that subjects were more likely to report dreams when awakened during REM sleep than when awakened during any other stage of sleep.» — y el tercero, de Dement y Kleitman en 1957: se reportan más sueños al despertar en REM que en cualquier otra etapa

«A. Stage NREM. Sleep without rapid eye movements (REMs). This is a composite made up of four separate stages varying in “depth” of sleep, which refers to both the intensity of NREM physiology and, in humans, difficulty of arousal.» — de su resumen de etapas: define el NREM como compuesto de cuatro etapas que varían en profundidad, medida por la fisiología y por la dificultad de despertar

«Stage 3. With stage 4, this stage constitutes “deep sleep.” It has been difficult to document physiological differences between stages 3 and 4, and they are sometimes combined as stage 3/4, or “slow wave sleep.”» — y agrupa las etapas 3 y 4 como sueño profundo, difíciles de distinguir fisiológicamente y a veces fundidas como sueño de ondas lentas

«B. Stage REM. The EEG record of this stage is similar to stage 17 and also to the normal waking EEG. This stage is also characterized by the suppression of muscle activity and the presence, by definition, of rapid eye movements, that is, eye movements that are more rapid than the slow, rolling movements typically found in stage 1. Because of the combination of intense central nervous system excitation and inhibition of motor activity, this stage has at times been called “paradoxical sleep.”» — define el REM por la supresión de la actividad muscular junto a los movimientos oculares rápidos, y da la razón del nombre sueño paradójico: excitación central intensa con inhibición motora

«then returns to stage 2. About ninety to one hundred minutes after falling asleep, he passes from stage 2 into REM and from REM back to stage 2. Some returns to stage 2 are followed by periods of stage 3/4, but these become less frequent as time passes and usually do not occur after the first third of a night’s sleep. Normally a healthy sleeper will enter REM only from stage 2.» — y el ciclo normal que describe: vuelta a la etapa 2, paso a REM hacia los noventa o cien minutos, y entrada en REM solo desde la etapa 2

«In addition to these stages, the literature contains references to the period immediately preceding sleep as the “hypnagogic” period. The time from the termination of measurable sleep to genuine wakefulness is called the “hypnopompic” period.» — define los dos periodos limítrofes: hipnagógico antes de dormir, hipnopómpico entre el fin del sueño medible y la vigilia genuina

«These states have been studied less than has sleep. What attention has been given to them has dealt more with hypnagogic than hypnopompic phenomena, and the word “hypnagogic” has sometimes been used to cover both states.» — con lo mal repartido del estudio: menos que el sueño, más lo hipnagógico que lo hipnopómpico, y a veces un término por los dos

«A consideration of both historical developments and current thought suggests four distinct phenomena related to sleep which have been used to explain the Old Hag experience under various names including “nightmare.”» — sitúa cuatro fenómenos del sueño usados para explicar la experiencia bajo varios nombres, entre ellos *nightmare*

«One of the problems I shall consider in this review of the literature is the confusion of terms that involves all four of these phenomena; so I shall label them here with terms that are as neutral and uncontroversial as possible.» — y declara el criterio con que los nombra: términos lo más neutros posibles, porque la confusión terminológica es uno de los problemas que va a tratar

«These are bad dreams, night terrors, sleep paralysis, and hypnagogic hallucinations.» — los cuatro: malos sueños, terrores nocturnos, parálisis del sueño y alucinaciones hipnagógicas

«The definition of “dream” has not proved as simple for sleep researchers as it at first seemed.» — anota que definir *dream* no le resultó a la investigación del sueño tan simple como parecía

«Some reports of psychological content have been obtained from each of the stages of sleep, as well as from the hypnagogic and hypnopompic periods.» — porque se ha obtenido contenido psicológico en todas las etapas y también en los periodos hipnagógico e hipnopómpico

«Night terrors (NTs) are spontaneous awakenings from NREM sleep and have the following characteristics: they are often initiated by a loud scream; the subject shows signs of extreme fear; laboratory findings indicate great autonomic arousal (for example, tachycardia and heavy perspiration); the subject is difficult to rouse to full wakefulness and may even run from the room in which he has been sleeping; some scant psychological content may be retrieved with effort immediately following the attack, but the following morning subjects tend to be amnestic for the entire episode.» — define los terrores nocturnos como despertares espontáneos desde NREM, con grito inicial, miedo extremo, gran activación autonómica, dificultad para despertar del todo y amnesia del episodio a la mañana siguiente

«Night terrors have been shown to occur primarily as arousals from stage 4 sleep, although similar but less intense arousals from stage 2 have been observed.» — y los sitúa sobre todo como despertares de la etapa 4, con despertares parecidos y menos intensos desde la 2

«Sleep paralysis (SP) is a period of inability to perform voluntary movements, either when falling asleep or when awakening, accompanied by conscious awareness.» — define la parálisis del sueño como incapacidad de moverse al dormirse o al despertar, con conciencia despierta

«This condition has been ascribed both to the hypnagogic and hypnopompic states and to an atypical state in which REM occurs during stage 1.» — con la ambigüedad de su ubicación: unos la ponen en los estados hipnagógico e hipnopómpico y otros en un estado atípico con REM dentro de la etapa 1

«Part of the reason for this ambiguity is the difficulty in clearly distinguishing the drowsy period immediately preceding sleep onset from stage 1.» — y su causa: cuesta separar la somnolencia previa al sueño de la etapa 1

«Sleep paralysis is more frequently reported in connection with falling asleep than with awakening.» — con el dato de reparto: se reporta más al dormirse que al despertar

«Dreams are also hallucinations in a technical sense; so HHs must be distinguished from dreams.» — plantea el problema de definir las alucinaciones hipnagógicas: en sentido técnico los sueños también son alucinaciones

«This distinction is rarely made explicit but tends to be done in one of two ways: (1) HHs occurring before sleep, during the actual hypnagogic state, are defined by their location before stage 1; (2) those occurring during sleep-onset REM are defined by their association with SP, which is experienced as wakefulness and, therefore, different from normal sleep.» — y las dos maneras en que de hecho se traza esa distinción, casi nunca explícitas: por caer antes de la etapa 1, o por ir asociadas a la parálisis del sueño en REM de inicio

«The possibility exists that HHs, defined as they are by their timing rather than their content or specific physiological characteristics, do not represent a single phenomenon.» — de donde saca una posibilidad que deja abierta: definidas por su momento y no por su contenido ni su fisiología, las alucinaciones hipnagógicas podrían no ser un solo fenómeno

«If the two distinctions just described do in fact refer to separate entities, then the second variety may be said to resemble the nightmare and the Old Hag.» — y en condicional: si esas dos son entidades distintas, la segunda se parecería a la pesadilla y a la Old Hag

«All four of these states—bad dreams, night terrors, sleep paralysis,» — enumera los cuatro estados que comparten elementos con la Old Hag; la frase cruza el cambio de plana y sigue con las alucinaciones hipnagógicas

«and hypnagogic hallucinations—have certain elements in common with the Old Hag.» — con su cierre, ya en la plana siguiente

«Because the word “nightmare” and associated terms such as “incubus” and “night terror” have been used with such varied definitions, this review can be confusing.» — y advierte que la revisión será confusa por lo variadas que han sido las definiciones de *nightmare*, *incubus* y *night terror*

«stage 4 night terrors were not known as such until the publication of Henri Gastaut and Roger Broughton’s findings in 1965, elaborated by Broughton in 1968.» — fecha el reconocimiento de los terrores nocturnos de etapa 4 en los hallazgos de Gastaut y Broughton de 1965, elaborados por Broughton en 1968

«The seventh usage, however, identifying the classic nightmare of tradition exclusively as hypnagogic hallucinations with sleep paralysis, is given here with the only five papers with which I am familiar that have made this connection.» — salvo en su séptima fila: la que identifica la pesadilla clásica con alucinaciones hipnagógicas más parálisis del sueño trae los únicos cinco trabajos que él conoce con esa conexión

«In 1931 Ernest Jones, a psychoanalyst and biographer of Freud, published a book entitled On the Nightmare.» — presenta a Ernest Jones como psicoanalista y biógrafo de Freud, y su libro de 1931

«Part I of this book, “Pathology of the Nightmare,” had been published in the American Journal of Insanity in January 1910. Part II, “The Connections between the Nightmare and Certain Medieval Superstitions,” had been separately published in German in 1912. Part III, “The Mare and the Mara: A Psycho-Analytical Contribution to Etymology,” had been in preparation when the work was interrupted by World War I. Only a brief concluding essay and the indexes were new» — desglosa la composición del libro de Jones: la parte I de 1910, la II en alemán de 1912, la III interrumpida por la guerra, y casi nada nuevo en 1931

«In this book Jones attempted to use psychoanalysis to explore problems in anthropology, history, religious studies, and language, as well as abnormal psychology. It was a prodigious effort, and the result is a remarkable piece of scholarship.» — y su juicio sobre él, que no es de descalificación: esfuerzo prodigioso y pieza de erudición notable

«For the true significance of the Nightmare to be properly appreciated … would in my opinion entail consequences, both scientific and social, to which the term momentous might well be applied. What is at issue is nothing less than the very meaning of religion itself.» — cita a Jones declarando lo que estaba en juego para él: consecuencias que llamaría trascendentales, nada menos que el sentido mismo de la religión

«Jones used the word “nightmare” in a restricted sense that he believed matched its old folk usage.» — le reconoce a Jones el uso restringido del término, que Jones creía coincidente con el antiguo uso popular

«His extensive discussion of the etymology of the word and its relationship to other traditional beliefs such as the incubus and the vampire indicates that he was well aware of the variety of folk traditions that have been related to the nightmare experience.» — y que conocía bien las tradiciones populares ligadas a la experiencia, del íncubo al vampiro

«From these sources Jones arrived at “the three cardinal features of the malady …: (1) agonizing dread; (2) sense of oppression or weight at the chest which alarmingly interferes with respiration; (3) conviction of helpless paralysis.”» — los tres rasgos cardinales que Jones deriva de esas fuentes: pavor agonizante, opresión en el pecho que estorba la respiración y convicción de parálisis impotente

«Jones called the state in which these features occur a distressing dream.» — con la adjudicación que Jones hace del estado: un sueño angustioso

«He recognized that this experience was less common than the general run of distressing dreams and blamed the impression that nightmares are very common on “an unduly wide conception of Nightmare.”» — y le reconoce a Jones haber visto que la experiencia es menos común que los malos sueños en general, y haber culpado de lo contrario a una concepción indebidamente ancha del término

«Jones was keenly aware of the multiple meanings of the word “nightmare” and the effects of that multiplicity on studies of the subject. Unfortunately, his warnings on this point have generally been overlooked by subsequent researchers.» — con la queja que sigue: Jones advirtió de los múltiples sentidos de la palabra y sus advertencias se pasaron por alto

«He said that it “is a form of Angst attack, that it is essentially due to an intense mental conflict centering [sic] around a repressed component of the psycho-sexual instinct,» — la interpretación de Jones, en su letra: forma de ataque de angustia por conflicto mental intenso en torno a un componente reprimido del instinto psicosexual; la cita se corta en el cambio de plana

«essentially concerned with incest.» — y el término de esa frase de Jones, ya en la plana siguiente: esencialmente el incesto

«He states that “agonizing dread” is an emotion consistently found associated with pathologically repressed sexuality and notes that “it has been a generally accepted opinion that Nightmare is more likely to attack a person who is sleeping on his back.”» — sigue con lo que Jones asocia: el pavor agonizante a la sexualidad patológicamente reprimida, y la opinión aceptada de que la pesadilla ataca más a quien duerme boca arriba

«He connects this observation with the commonness of the supine position for women in sexual intercourse and by the same association explains the “weight at the chest.”» — y cómo Jones liga la postura supina de la pesadilla con la de la mujer en el coito, y por la misma asociación explica el peso en el pecho

«He further bolsters this interpretation with a statement that in his experience it is most often the repression of the “feminine or masochistic component of the sexual instinct” that results in the nightmare.» — con el refuerzo que Jones añade desde su experiencia clínica: sería la represión del componente femenino o masoquista del instinto sexual

«The “helpless paralysis” is by implication connected with the conflict between repressed incestuous desires and the conscious rejection of them.» — y cómo Jones deja implícita la parálisis: ligada al conflicto entre el deseo incestuoso reprimido y su rechazo consciente

«Given this interpretation of the nightmare, it is not surprising that Jones insists that the presence of nightmare is always shown by psychoanalytic investigation to be connected with Angst neurosis even in the cases of those “who pass as being mentally normal.”» — y la consecuencia que Jones saca: la pesadilla siempre se muestra ligada a neurosis de angustia, hasta en quienes pasan por mentalmente normales

«Jones was also aware, however, that his definitive characteristics could be accompanied by the conviction of wakefulness. He said that nightmares “may not only occur but may run their whole course during the waking stage.”» — le reconoce a Jones haber sabido que la pesadilla podía transcurrir entera en vigilia, y lo cita

«The nightmare experienced during wakefulness corresponds to the Old Hag and includes the features of SP with HH.» — y hace la adjudicación que le sirve: la pesadilla en vigilia corresponde a la Old Hag y trae parálisis del sueño con alucinaciones hipnagógicas

«Jones’s combination of this state with bad dreams helped to pave the way for major confusion in sleep literature in the decades that followed.» — con el reproche que sí le hace: juntar ese estado con los malos sueños abrió la confusión de la literatura del sueño posterior

«All three of the features Jones selected as definitive are directly related to his use of psychoanalytic theory to interpret the nightmare. It seems likely, therefore, that the definition was arrived at more on theoretical than empirical grounds.» — y su lectura del origen de esa definición, dicha como probabilidad: los tres rasgos salen de la teoría psicoanalítica más que de lo empírico

«Because Jones saw all dreams as expressions of unconscious content and all fear in dreams as relating to unconscious sexual conflicts, the distinction between waking and sleeping nightmares must have seemed of secondary importance to him.» — porque quien ve todos los sueños como contenido inconsciente y todo miedo onírico como conflicto sexual halla secundaria la distinción entre vigilia y sueño

«The omission of wakefulness from his criteria, however, did more than miss a distinction later documented in sleep laboratories.» — y el costo que le atribuye a esa omisión, mayor que perder una distinción luego documentada en laboratorio

«Inclusion of the extremely varied contents of bad dreams prevented a clear view of the striking patterns running through the Old Hag, as documented above.» — porque meter dentro los contenidos variadísimos de los malos sueños impidió ver los patrones de la Old Hag

«It also discounted a basic criterion of the folk traditions, which he attempted to explain.» — y porque descartó un criterio básico de las propias tradiciones que Jones quería explicar

«Jones’s use of the term “medieval” was loose at best. Much of his concern is with the witch hunts that occurred during the Renaissance and into the seventeenth century, and he does show some awareness that the beliefs he is considering existed long before medieval times and still persist.» — le objeta a Jones el uso laxo de *medieval*: su asunto son las cazas de brujas del Renacimiento y del siglo XVII, y él mismo sabe que las creencias son anteriores y siguen vivas

«We are left to suspect that the word “medieval,” like the word “superstition,” was intended primarily to indicate his distaste for the beliefs.» — con la sospecha que deja formulada: *medieval*, como *superstición*, marcaría sobre todo su desagrado por esas creencias

«Jones, in effect, equates the nightmare and the incubus, raising the question of whether what is at issue is language or the phenomena to which the language refers.» — y la pregunta que le abre la ecuación entre pesadilla e íncubo: si lo que se discute es el lenguaje o los fenómenos que el lenguaje nombra

«The words themselves and their cognates may have been used as synonyms by all or some of those who knew them, and such definitions may or may not accurately reflect relationships between the phenomena.» — despliega las ramas sin cerrarlas: las palabras pudieron usarse como sinónimos sin que eso refleje la relación entre los fenómenos

«Or, the words may have been understood as significantly different in meaning, even if they in fact referred to a single thing.» — o pudieron entenderse como distintas refiriéndose a una sola cosa

«It is for this reason that so far I have asserted only that the Old Hag and the nightmare are closely related rather than that they are identical.» — de donde saca la cautela de su propia formulación: por eso solo ha afirmado que la Old Hag y la *nightmare* están estrechamente emparentadas, no que sean idénticas

«He thought that people meant the same thing by both terms, whether they knew it or not, and that both the terrifying and the erotic experiences were the same whether or not their content was similar.» — lo que atribuye a Jones: dar por igual lo que la gente quería decir con ambos términos, y por igual lo terrorífico y lo erótico, coincidiera o no el contenido

«Jones’s usage illustrates one of the dangers of the concept of unconscious meaning: it can cause distinct things to blur and blend into one another.» — con el riesgo que ilustra: el concepto de significado inconsciente hace que cosas distintas se difuminen unas en otras

«If hypotheses about latent significance are not scrupulously submitted to empirical testing it becomes impossible to say, as the popular story about Freud has it, “when a cigar is only a cigar.”» — y su condición para evitarlo, con la anécdota de Freud de por medio: someter escrupulosamente a prueba empírica toda hipótesis sobre el significado latente

«The word “incubus” is derived from the Latin incubare, meaning to lie down on. The word “succubus” is derived from the Latin succubare, to lie under.» — las etimologías latinas que da: *incubare*, echarse encima, y *succubare*, yacer debajo

«In Latin and then in English the words referred respectively to male and female demons believed to have sexual intercourse with humans.» — con lo que nombraban en latín y luego en inglés: demonios masculinos y femeninos que copulaban con humanos

«Because Jones interprets the nightmare as a symptom of pathologically repressed sexuality, he identifies the incubus as the same experience with a more manifest sexual content.» — y cómo Jones identifica al íncubo: la misma experiencia con contenido sexual más manifiesto

«This dogmatic insistence that latent sexuality is involved in all frightening dreams has been criticized by many recent writers.» — y registra que muchos autores recientes ya criticaron esa insistencia dogmática

«The presence of overt sexual content as a frequent feature of the nightmare proper is also highly debatable.» — y por su parte pone en duda que el contenido sexual manifiesto sea frecuente en la pesadilla propiamente dicha

«I have encountered a few explicit sexual details in Old Hag accounts, but these are rare and are not typically major components of a given experience.» — apoyándose en su propio material: unos pocos detalles sexuales explícitos, raros y no centrales

«Some overtly sexual accounts have appeared in the course of my investigation, but these differed from the Old Hag in that they have lacked the paralysis feature and, in several cases, fear.» — y separa los relatos abiertamente sexuales que sí halló: les faltaba la parálisis y, en varios, el miedo

«These probably constitute either a distinct subtype of the experience or a different phenomenon altogether.» — con la conclusión dicha como probabilidad y en dos ramas: subtipo distinto o fenómeno enteramente otro

«Some of the instances Jones viewed as manifesting sexual content probably were in fact REM dreams, and erotic dreams, with or without orgasm, are a well-known phenomenon.» — y concede que parte de lo que Jones tomó por contenido sexual serían sueños REM, eróticos, con orgasmo o sin él

«It is possible that there are also erotic experiences of this kind that subjectively appear to occur in a waking state. Such events do not seem to have been reported in the literature, but this may be a result of the typically broad connotations of the word “nightmare,” after Jones.» — deja abierta la posibilidad de experiencias eróticas subjetivamente en vigilia, y explica su ausencia en la literatura por lo ancho que quedó el término tras Jones

«At any rate, it would be a mistake automatically to assume that no more realistic experience lies behind the widespread incubus traditions.» — con la advertencia que saca de todo su método: sería un error dar por supuesto que no hay experiencia realista detrás de las tradiciones del íncubo

«between sleeping nightmares and waking nightmares led him to discount the phenomenological differences between purely terrifying accounts and erotic accounts.» — con la consecuencia que le imputa: los mismos supuestos que le hicieron descartar la diferencia entre pesadillas dormidas y despiertas le hicieron descartar la que hay entre relatos terroríficos y eróticos; la frase abre en la plana anterior

«From ancient times, it seems to have been recognized that at least two different kinds of experience were involved in traditions of supernatural contact related to sleep.» — sostiene que desde antiguo se reconocieron al menos dos clases de experiencia en las tradiciones de contacto sobrenatural ligadas al sueño

«Some terms for these experiences have been used only in a restricted sense, referring either to sexual encounters or to terrifying attacks with restraint and pressure. Others were used in a more general way and could cover either or both kinds of experience.» — y el reparto de los términos: unos restringidos a los encuentros sexuales o a los ataques con opresión, otros generales

«In addition to the Latin “incubus,” for example, there were the Greek words Ephialtes (“leaper”), Pnigalion (“throttler”), and the Latin Inuus (“one who sits on”).» — los términos griegos y latinos que aduce con su glosa: *Ephialtes*, el que salta; *Pnigalion*, el que ahoga; e *Inuus*, el que se sienta encima

«The reference to pressure as a primary feature is especially clear in Pliny’s use of suppressio nocturna for the nightmare.» — y el uso de Plinio, *suppressio nocturna*, donde la presión queda como rasgo primario

«The precise distinctions that were made in the classical world between voluptuous sleep-related experiences and attacks of the Old Hag type are difficult to determine.» — se abstiene sobre el mundo clásico: las distinciones precisas entre lo voluptuoso y el ataque tipo Old Hag son difíciles de determinar

«The distinction in Europe during the time of the witch hunts, the period with which Jones is primarily concerned, is clearer.» — y en cambio da por más clara la distinción europea de la época de las cazas de brujas

«Jones himself documents this distinction while simultaneously arguing that it is superficial and unimportant.» — con el reproche puntual: el propio Jones documenta esa distinción mientras argumenta que es superficial y sin importancia

«Is it not the thing which we call the Mare, which takes folkes sleeping in their beds, a kinde of these spirits, whereof ye are speaking? Epistemon: No, that is but a natural sickness, which the Mediciners have given that name of Incubus unto, ab incubando, because it … makes us think that there were some unnatural burden or spirit, lying upon us, and holding us down.» — el pasaje de la *Daemonologie* de Jacobo I que Jones cita, en boca de sus dos personajes: la Mare no sería espíritu sino enfermedad natural que los médicos llamaron íncubo, *ab incubando*, porque hace creer que hay un peso encima sujetándonos

«Jones uses this passage to support his contention that just when people were beginning to emancipate themselves from the belief in hallucinated beings in connection with erotic dreams and retaining the belief only in connection with nightmares, a theological elaboration of the incubus concept reanimated the ancient belief that the partner in a sexual dream was an actual being.» — y para qué lo usa Jones: para sostener que una elaboración teológica del íncubo reanimó la creencia antigua justo cuando se estaban emancipando de ella

«A more reasonable interpretation is that even though popular tradition included two relatively distinct categories, academic writers had already begun to confuse them by the application of a popular term for one category to the official explanation of the other.» — frente a lo cual propone su propia lectura: la tradición popular mantenía dos categorías distintas y fueron los escritores académicos los que empezaron a confundirlas aplicando el término de una a la explicación oficial de la otra

«A major medieval school of thought held that some or all nocturnal sexual encounters with “supernaturals” were in fact dreams.» — registra la escuela medieval que tenía por sueños algunos o todos los encuentros sexuales con seres sobrenaturales

«Some of the debate about witchcraft focused on whether submission to an incubus was sufficient evidence that a woman was a witch. Those who held the dream explanation exclusively argued that this was an imaginary experience and could not constitute evidence.» — con lo que se jugaba en esa discusión: si someterse a un íncubo bastaba como prueba de brujería, cosa que negaban los partidarios exclusivos del sueño

«The incubus question was a part of the larger debate on whether witchcraft genuinely involved preternatural acts and powers or whether its primary crime was heresy.» — y el debate mayor en que se inscribía: si la brujería involucraba actos y poderes preternaturales o si su crimen principal era la herejía

«The issue was officially settled in favor of the preternatural theory by 1486, when Heinrich Kramer and Jakob Sprenger published Malleus Maleficarum (The Hammer of Witches), a detailed manual used extensively during the witch hunts.» — fecha el cierre oficial de la cuestión a favor de lo preternatural en 1486, con el *Malleus Maleficarum* de Kramer y Sprenger

«In the section headed “Here follows the Way whereby Witches copulate with those Devils known as Incubi,”28 the authors made it abundantly clear that they were exclusively concerned with overtly sexual experiences and that they considered such experiences to be diabolical.» — y lo que el propio *Malleus* deja claro en su sección sobre la cópula con íncubos, según él: se ocupa en exclusiva de experiencias abiertamente sexuales y las tiene por diabólicas

«Segments of both popular and academic society, then, were familiar with at least three types of nocturnal experience: a variety of dreams, sexual encounters with “supernaturals” sometimes called incubus or succubus depending on gender, and attacks of the Old Hag type without any obvious sexuality.» — su conclusión sobre el reparto de la época: tres tipos de experiencia nocturna reconocidos, sueños varios, encuentros sexuales con seres sobrenaturales y ataques tipo Old Hag sin sexualidad obvia

«Opinion differed concerning the cause and the objective reality of the latter two, as it currently does in Newfoundland in connection with the Old Hag.» — con la coexistencia que consigna sin resolver, y su paralelo actual: la opinión difería sobre la causa y la realidad objetiva de los dos últimos, como difiere hoy en Terranova

«The word “incubus” was sometimes extended to include the Old Hag type of experience, especially among physicians, probably on the basis of the feeling of pressure often associated with the attacks.» — y la deriva del término: *incubus* se estiró a veces hasta el ataque tipo Old Hag, sobre todo entre médicos, probablemente por la sensación de presión

«In general usage, the word kept its strong sexual connotations. The word “nightmare” and its» — mientras en el uso general *incubus* conservó su carga sexual; la frase sobre *nightmare* se corta en el cambio de plana

«cognates tended to retain a more limited meaning involving paralysis and pressure.» — y su cierre, ya en la plana siguiente: los cognados de *nightmare* retuvieron el sentido más limitado de parálisis y presión

«Because of his assumption that the two types of experience are identical at an unconscious level, Jones overlooked the possible significance of phenomenological differences and omitted information about the contents of the incubus experience.» — de vuelta a Jones: por dar las dos experiencias por idénticas en el nivel inconsciente, pasó por alto las diferencias fenomenológicas y omitió el contenido del íncubo

«By his excessive reliance on theory with little concern for empirical confirmation, Jones encouraged that confusion between the study of words and the study of experience discussed above.» — con el cargo de método: exceso de teoría y poca preocupación por la confirmación empírica alentaron la confusión entre estudiar palabras y estudiar experiencias

«An example of the effect of this confusion on later scholarship may be seen in Rossell Robbins’s article on nightmare in which he quotes Jones extensively.» — y el ejemplo de secuela que da: el artículo de Rossell Robbins sobre la pesadilla, que cita a Jones largamente

«although both the mare and incubus demons are projections of repressed sexual desires, for convenience of treatment the two complementary conceptions are distinguished» — la distinción de Robbins, en su letra: siendo ambos proyecciones del deseo sexual reprimido, distingue las dos concepciones por comodidad de tratamiento; sigue diciendo que en el demonio-mare predomina el terror y en el íncubo el placer, y el troceo pega ahí la palabra al unir el guion de corte

«terror predominates; but with the incubus-demon, the main element (although mingled with dread) is pleasure.» — con el reparto que Robbins hace: terror en uno, placer mezclado con pavor en el otro

«He then provides portions of nine accounts of various experiences, only two of which are firsthand. Three of these actually contain the word “nightmare,” and in these there are no sexual references; three have no name attached and are very suggestive of sex; one uses the name Lamia and contains specific sexual material; and one actually uses the word “incubus.”» — y el recuento con que Hufford mide ese artículo: nueve relatos, solo dos de primera mano, y un reparto de nombres y contenidos que no coincide

«In all of this discussion, and throughout this book, three distinct kinds of subject matter are at issue: traditions and the language associated with them, experiences, and theoretical explanations.» — fija los tres asuntos que él separa en todo el libro: las tradiciones y su lenguaje, las experiencias, y las explicaciones teóricas

«Any serious effort to study traditions or experiences requires careful description with attention to both consistency and variation.» — con lo que exige de cualquiera de los dos primeros: descripción cuidadosa atenta a la consistencia y a la variación

«truly regrettable that Jones did not untangle more of what he found. But perhaps this failure is understandable given his theory-laden approach and the lack of objective knowledge about sleep at the time he wrote.» — su balance sobre Jones, con la disculpa incluida: lamentable que no desenredara más, y entendible por su enfoque cargado de teoría y por lo poco que se sabía del sueño

«In 1935 Hulsey Cason, in The Nightmare Dream, identified nightmares with ordinary bad dreams.» — Hulsey Cason, en 1935, identifica la pesadilla con el mal sueño ordinario

«This connection is not surprising because technical distinctions based on measurable differences between dreams and other sleep-related phenomena were not yet available.» — con la disculpa que le concede: aún no había distinciones técnicas medibles

«Nonetheless, each time this assumption was made in print it became more difficult for subsequent researchers to consider alternative possibilities.» — y el costo acumulativo que le imputa igual: cada vez que el supuesto se imprimía, costaba más pensar alternativas

«Many persons at all times and in all parts of the world have seen shadowy dark-robed figures, have had a sense of something heavy in the air, and have felt that a presence was reaching long dim hands after them.» — la descripción en cápsula de Cason: figuras oscuras y togadas, algo pesado en el aire y una presencia que alarga manos tenues

«This broad description fails to mention paralysis or consciousness of one’s real surroundings; although it does have some resemblance to the Old Hag type of experience. It is the closest that Cason’s study comes to describing that experience.» — y su reparo: le faltan la parálisis y la conciencia del entorno real, y aun así es lo más cerca que Cason llega de la experiencia

«Had he carried out his own review, he might have discovered some of the problems of taxonomy and definition with which his subject of study was loaded.» — le reprocha a Cason haberse ahorrado la revisión de la literatura apoyándose en Jones

«Worse still, he adds yet another distinct class of sleep-related phenomena to the meaning of the word “nightmare,” even though Jones did not mention night terror by that name or its Latinesque medical label, pavor nocturnus.» — y lo que le parece peor: sumar los terrores nocturnos al significado de *nightmare*, algo que Jones no había hecho

«Cason thus includes in his study all of the phenomena set out at the beginning of this chapter—bad dreams, night terrors, and hypnagogic hallucinations with sleep paralysis—but calls them all by a single name and classes them all as “dreams.”» — con el resultado: los tres fenómenos bajo un solo nombre y todos clasificados como sueños

«At the beginning of each interview, the topic of study was described to the subjects as being “AN INVESTIGATION OF NIGHTMARES. A nightmare is a distressing or terrifying dream—and the following features are sometimes present: (1) Agonizing dread, (2) Sense of oppression or weight at the chest which alarmingly interferes with respiration, and (3) Conviction of helpless paralysis.”» — el texto con que Cason presentaba el estudio a sus sujetos, citado entero

«Cason correctly states that this is “the definition proposed by Jones.”33 The problem lies in the fact that as used it is not a definition.» — y la objeción precisa: es la definición de Jones, y tal como la usa no es una definición

«The definition is “distressing or terrifying dream,” and here “distressing” broadens the meaning still further to indicate all “bad” dreams, whether frightening or not. Jones’s three features are added only as description.» — porque lo que define es *sueño angustioso o aterrador*, con *distressing* ensanchando a todo mal sueño, y los tres rasgos de Jones quedando solo como descripción

«With this beginning, it is no surprise that his findings differed from those of Jones and other authors who had attempted to deal with specific phenomena.» — de ahí que sus resultados difieran de los de quienes trataron fenómenos específicos

«But Hall was right because pavor nocturnus properly defined is night terror; night terror is a stage 4 disorder; and stage 4 occurs primarily during the first third of the night.» — y arbitra una de esas discrepancias contra Cason: Hall tenía razón porque el *pavor nocturnus* es terror nocturno, trastorno de etapa 4, y la etapa 4 cae en el primer tercio de la noche

«Cason’s examples from later in the night were almost certainly REM dreams, which are common at that point in sleep.» — con su lectura de los ejemplos tardíos de Cason: casi seguramente sueños REM

«Cason also contradicted Jones’s finding that nightmare is most likely when the sleeper is on his back, reporting that “the side was in general the most common sleeping position.”» — y la segunda discrepancia que le atribuye al mismo defecto: Cason contradice a Jones sobre la posición supina y reporta el costado como la más común

«All of Cason’s findings represent an average of responses for at least three different kinds of events, each of which occur and are accurately reported at very different rates.» — con su diagnóstico: los resultados de Cason promedian al menos tres clases de sucesos que ocurren y se reportan a ritmos muy distintos

«His results place him in the position of a man who is told that the camels at the zoo have humps; he then goes to the zoo and states, “I shall define camels, or elephants as they are sometimes called, as any animal found at the zoo, some of which are said to have humps.” He would, of course, find that some “camels” have humps, and some have trunks, as claimed by those who call them elephants, but most have neither.» — y la parábola con que lo ilustra, del zoológico y los camellos que algunos llaman elefantes

«The information Cason gathered would have been very useful if connected with any single phenomenon.» — y lo que rescata: el material de Cason habría servido de haber estado ligado a un solo fenómeno

«In analyzing the most frequent subjects, Cason says that “the most common kind of person mentioned … was the strange man.”» — con el dato que sí le sirve: el sujeto más mencionado en los relatos de Cason era el hombre extraño

«He also states that trying to move but not being able to was frequently reported but does not say how often it was associated with the impression of wakefulness.» — y el que se queda a medias: Cason reporta a menudo el no poder moverse sin decir cuántas veces iba con impresión de vigilia

«Of these, one (his case 5) may have been of the Old Hag type; although the information given is not sufficient to be certain, and one (his case 23) would fit Jones’s definition of the nightmare but involves no awareness of real surroundings. The remainder all appear to be distressing REM dreams.» — su recuento de los treinta y dos relatos de Cason, con la reserva caso por caso: uno quizá de tipo Old Hag, otro que encaja con Jones pero sin conciencia del entorno, y el resto sueños REM angustiosos

«Almost twenty years after Cason’s monograph, J. A. Hadfield published Dreams and Nightmares, a book that proved popular and remained in print for another twenty years. Although the title sounds more promising than Cason’s, Hadfield repeated the basic error of combining all three phenomena under the single term “nightmare.”» — y a Hadfield, veinte años después, le imputa el mismo error básico: los tres fenómenos bajo un solo término

«He begins his discussion of nightmares with an acknowledgment that the matter of definition is a difficult one, commenting at different points about night terrors, bad dreams in general, and Jones’s narrow definition. He assumes, however, that he is speaking of a single entity with a variety of possible characteristics and decides that he must accommodate all of those characteristics within a single conceptual category.» — con lo que sí le reconoce y lo que no: admite que definir es difícil, y aun así da por supuesta una sola entidad y decide meter todas las características en una categoría

«We therefore suggest that the distinction between an anxiety dream and a nightmare is one of degree rather than kind, but we shall use the term nightmare specifically of those anxiety dreams of such intensity that they completely overwhelm the personality [Hadfield’s emphasis]…. But we shall not keep too strictly to this description, since there are all degrees in between the anxiety dream and the nightmare.”» — la definición de Hadfield en su letra: la diferencia entre sueño de ansiedad y pesadilla sería de grado, con la pesadilla como el que abruma por completo la personalidad, y ni siquiera eso lo mantendrá estrictamente

«Hadfield follows Jones in connecting traditions of incubi, vampires, werewolves, and witches with the nightmare. But because his definition of the state is much more general, so are the connections he is able to suggest.» — y la consecuencia que le saca: hereda de Jones las conexiones con íncubos, vampiros, licántropos y brujas, y por su definición más general las conexiones le salen más vagas

«Hadfield does make some progress by deciding that in nightmares “we cannot agree that the fear is always of sexuality, although it is commonly so.”» — le reconoce a Hadfield un avance concreto, citándolo: no puede aceptarse que el miedo sea siempre sexual, aunque comúnmente lo sea

«Thus, after forty years Jones’s insight into the problem of defining the nightmare had not had a measurable impact, but at least his purely sexual interpretation had been brought into some question.» — con su balance de esos cuarenta años: la advertencia de Jones sobre la definición no dejó huella medible y su interpretación puramente sexual sí quedó en duda

«In 1965 Henri Gastaut and Roger Broughton published “A Clinical and Polygraphic Study of Episodic Phenomena during Sleep” in which they considered many phenomena including dreams, night terrors,» — presenta el trabajo de Gastaut y Broughton de 1965; la enumeración de fenómenos se corta en el cambio de plana

«They discussed sleep paralysis in connection with both falling asleep and awakening, noting that “understandable intense anxiety may occur until the bond is finally broken by movement,” and suggested the possibility of concomitant hallucinations.» — y lo que dicen de la parálisis del sueño, citados: ansiedad intensa comprensible hasta que el movimiento rompe la atadura, con posibles alucinaciones concomitantes

«They described “hypnagogic imagery” as a “discontinuous series” of images occurring as the subject’s consciousness is progressively obscured by the passage into sleep proper and observed that these images are recalled only if the subject is awakened and asked about them.» — su descripción de la imaginería hipnagógica: serie discontinua mientras la conciencia se oscurece, recordada solo si se despierta al sujeto y se le pregunta

«Both of these descriptions are accurate; although the description of hypnagogic hallucinations covers only the first of the two types of HH which I described earlier in this chapter.» — con su juicio y su reparo: las dos descripciones son exactas y la de las alucinaciones hipnagógicas cubre solo el primero de los dos tipos que él distingue

«Gastaut and Broughton briefly discussed frightening dreams and noted that they rarely lead to spontaneous awakening. They said that this form of dream, even when leading to awakening, “is to be differentiated from the true nightmare or incubus.”» — y la distinción que ellos sí trazan, citada: el sueño aterrador, aun cuando despierte, ha de diferenciarse de la verdadera pesadilla o íncubo

«These authors’ consideration of night terrors is of greatest importance here. They called these nightmare of adults (incubus) and night terror of children» — lo que más le importa de ellos: llamar a lo mismo pesadilla del adulto —íncubo— y terror nocturno del niño

«stated that the two differ in only three ways aside from the age of the subject. The children’s attacks are more common, involve more activity (more thrashing, attempts to walk or run, crying out), and are much less likely to be connected with psychiatric problems.» — con las tres diferencias que declaran aparte de la edad: los ataques infantiles son más comunes, más agitados y mucho menos ligados a problemas psiquiátricos

«They found that both adult and childhood attacks occur during slow wave sleep (stage 3/4), especially stage 4.» — y el hallazgo que fecha la etapa: los ataques de unos y otros ocurren en sueño de ondas lentas, sobre todo en la etapa 4

«The child abruptly sits up in bed and screams. He appears to be staring wide-eyed at some imaginary object; his face is covered with perspiration and his breathing is labored. Consoling stimuli have no effect. After the attack dream recall is rare and usually fragmentary…. The child has no recollection of the episode the following morning…. During an attack the adult suddenly cries out in his sleep and shows all the signs of intense anxiety: sweating, a fixed facial expression, dilated pupils, difficulty in breathing.» — la descripción de Broughton citada en bloque: el niño se sienta de golpe y grita, con la mirada fija, sudor y respiración trabajosa, sin consuelo posible y sin recuerdo por la mañana; y el adulto grita dormido con todos los signos de ansiedad intensa

«In addition, Broughton notes that the characteristics of confused arousal are present: “(i) mental confusion and disorientation; (ii) automatic behavior; (iii) relative nonreactivity to external stimuli; (iv) poor response to efforts to provoke … full and lucid contact with the environment; (v) retrograde amnesia … (vi) only fragmentary recall of apparent dreams, or none at all.”» — y los rasgos del despertar confuso que Broughton enumera: confusión, conducta automática, poca reacción a estímulos, amnesia retrógrada y recuerdo apenas fragmentario

«These characteristics, however, do not justify calling this “the true nightmare or incubus.”» — su objeción a Gastaut y Broughton: esos rasgos no autorizan a llamar a aquello la verdadera pesadilla o íncubo

«Subsequent studies, however, have not found either the oppression or the paralysis features.» — y el dato con que la apoya: los estudios posteriores no hallaron ni la opresión ni la parálisis

«Charles Fisher et al., in three authoritative papers published more recently, have quoted Jones’s three cardinal features but stated that of those three, only fear was encountered in stage 4 night terrors observed in their laboratory, even though they made an intensive effort to elicit recall of psychological content in general and reported greater success in doing so than did Broughton and Gastaut.» — apoyándose en Fisher y colaboradores, que de los tres rasgos de Jones solo hallaron el miedo en los terrores de etapa 4, y eso pese a esforzarse más por sacar contenido

«It is not clear how Gastaut and Broughton derived the features of oppression and paralysis.» — con la abstención expresa: no queda claro de dónde sacaron Gastaut y Broughton la opresión y la parálisis

«This difference, which these authors have attributed to the passage of time and accompanying cultural change, is in fact the contrast between two different experiences.» — su tesis contra la explicación cultural de esos autores: lo que ellos atribuyen al paso del tiempo y al cambio cultural es en realidad el contraste entre dos experiencias distintas

«Lucidity, good orientation, awareness of surroundings, and complete recall are the rule in the latter; whereas their opposites typify the confused arousal state.» — con el contraste que aduce: lucidez, orientación, conciencia del entorno y recuerdo completo en un lado, y lo contrario en el despertar confuso

«Such a mistake is understandable given the history of the word “nightmare” and the general lack of knowledge concerning the Old Hag experience.» — y a la vez disculpa el error por la historia de la palabra y el desconocimiento general de la experiencia

«It is possible, however, that sometimes hypnagogic or dream activity may culminate in a true nightmare. But most terrifying dreams, with or without awakening, do not reach this intensity.» — cita la reserva que los propios Gastaut y Broughton dejan: quizá a veces la actividad hipnagógica u onírica culmine en una verdadera pesadilla

«If they had been fortunate enough to observe and record an experience of the Old Hag type in their sleep laboratory, they would have realized the extent to which the hypnagogic event differs from the NT.» — con su hipótesis contrafáctica: de haber registrado un episodio tipo Old Hag en su laboratorio habrían visto cuánto difiere del terror nocturno

«One of the drawbacks of laboratory study on any subject is that it is much less likely than field study to provide interpretable data on phenomena that are unfamiliar at the outset.» — y la limitación general que saca de ahí: el laboratorio da menos que el campo cuando el fenómeno es desconocido de entrada

«In his Science article, Broughton further linked NTs and the folk meaning of the word “nightmare” by reproducing Henry Fuseli’s (1781) painting “The Nightmare”46 as an illustration of the rationalization he believed accompanied NTs from antiquity through the eighteenth century.» — registra que Broughton reprodujo *The Nightmare* de Fuseli de 1781 para ilustrar la racionalización que atribuía a los terrores nocturnos

«The 1782 version of the same painting had been used by Jones for the frontispiece of his monograph.» — y que la versión de 1782 había servido de frontispicio a Jones

«The painting is a much better representation of the Old Hag experience (limp paralysis, supine position, pressure, frightening intruder in the sleeper’s real surroundings) than of a night terror (hypermotility, little or no visual content, lack of contact with real surroundings).» — con su adjudicación, rasgo por rasgo: el cuadro representa mejor la Old Hag —parálisis laxa, posición supina, presión, intruso en el entorno real— que un terror nocturno

«These two articles are major contributions to the sleep literature. Broughton’s article in Science has had special impact because it focuses on three related phenomena (enuresis, somnambulism, and night terrors) and articulates the concept of “disorders of arousal” in connection with slow wave sleep.» — les reconoce el aporte mayor, y a Broughton en particular el concepto de trastornos del despertar

«But the articles have added to the confusion of terms by using “nightmare” and “incubus” for adult night terrors and by providing a theoretical explanation relating physiology,» — y a la vez el daño que les imputa: usar *nightmare* e *incubus* para los terrores nocturnos del adulto y dar una explicación teórica; la frase se corta en el cambio de plana

«psychology, and culture to discount the distinctive features necessary for a recognition of the waking nightmare or Old Hag as a distinct phenomenon.» — con su cierre, ya en la plana siguiente: esa explicación descarta los rasgos con que se reconocería la pesadilla en vigilia como fenómeno distinto

«Furthermore, this new explanation reversed the implications of Jones’s explanation (psychological source) and bolstered the cultural source notion on the basis of a great deal of psychological and physiological information but very little cultural data.» — con el reproche de asimetría: la explicación invierte la de Jones y apuntala la fuente cultural con mucha información psicológica y fisiológica y muy poco dato cultural

«In 1970 John E. Mack, a psychiatrist, published Nightmares and Human Conflict. The book has been well received, widely quoted, and remained in print in paperback through 1980.» — presenta el libro de John E. Mack de 1970 y su recepción

«Mack’s work is an extensive review of the literature relating to all aspects of nightmare studies, but he does little to untangle the confusion caused by the very broad and shifting meanings of “nightmare” and related words.» — con su balance: revisión extensa que poco hace por desenredar la confusión de significados

«since the term is used so variously, my preference in defining nightmare is toward inclusiveness.» — cita la preferencia declarada de Mack: ante la variedad de usos, inclinarse por la inclusión

«I would define the nightmare as an anxiety dream in which fear is of such intense degree as to be experienced as overwhelming by the dreamer and to force at least partial awakening.» — y su definición, en su letra: sueño de ansiedad cuyo miedo abruma al soñador y fuerza al menos un despertar parcial

«As it did in Hadfield’s case a general definition leads Mack to general connections.» — con la consecuencia que ya había imputado a Hadfield: definición general, conexiones generales

«This vagueness does make Mack’s brief assessment of the relationship more reasonable than was Jones’s dogmatic insistence on concealed sexuality.» — y una ventaja que le concede a esa vaguedad: su balance resulta más razonable que la insistencia dogmática de Jones en la sexualidad oculta

«Nonetheless, Mack ultimately supports the notion that nightmare traditions illustrate man’s supposed difficulty in distinguishing dreams from objective reality.» — y aun así le imputa la tesis de fondo: que las tradiciones de pesadilla ilustran la supuesta dificultad humana para distinguir sueños de realidad objetiva

«He says that this distinction has been possible “only in the past century, and especially since the work of Freud and Jones.”49 It is unfortunate that he was not more cautious in attributing this basic confusion to the great bulk of humanity» — con la frase de Mack que fecha esa distinción en el último siglo, y su reparo: haber atribuido esa confusión básica al grueso de la humanidad

«because he, too, was aware of the basic concept of a frightening, sleep-related experience occurring in a waking state.» — porque Mack también conocía el concepto de una experiencia aterradora ligada al sueño y ocurrida en vigilia

«In his chapter on nightmares and the new biology of dreaming he discusses the existence of REM dreams in which the dreamer has difficulty moving and the intriguing correlation of this phenomenon with general motor inhibition during stage REM.» — y lo apoya en el propio Mack: discute los sueños REM con dificultad para moverse y su correlación con la inhibición motora del REM

«He then considers the sleep paralysis of narcoleptics and the possibility that this state “may represent the perceptual component of the D [i.e., dream] state occurring in the presence of motor inhibition, but without the other physiological features of sleep, that is, dreaming while partially awake.”» — y la posibilidad que Mack considera, citada: el componente perceptivo del estado onírico con inhibición motora y sin el resto de la fisiología del sueño, o sea soñar despierto en parte

«We may observe that if a person dreams while awake he» — la implicación que Hufford saca de lo que Mack apuntó; la frase se corta en el cambio de plana

«should not be criticized for denying that he was asleep during the experience, but Mack did not develop this implication.» — y su cierre, con el reproche: quien sueña despierto no merece reproche por negar que estuviera dormido, y Mack no desarrolló la implicación

«In 1972 Michel Hersen published “Nightmare Behavior: A Review” in Psychological Bulletin. This paper is of interest here primarily because it crystallizes and adds new references in support of Gastaut and Broughton’s idea that nightmare content has changed as cultural input has altered.» — sitúa el artículo de Hersen de 1972 por lo que consolida: la idea de Gastaut y Broughton de que el contenido de la pesadilla cambió con el aporte cultural

«Hersen states that “thematic material elicited from reports of nightmare sufferers has altered markedly over the centuries.”» — con la tesis de Hersen en su letra: el material temático de los relatos ha cambiado marcadamente a lo largo de los siglos

«Schneck’s article to which Hersen refers is a brief discussion of Fuseli’s painting “The Nightmare”54 which Schneck connects with sleep paralysis as distinguished from both NTs and nightmares.» — y anota que el artículo de Schneck que Hersen cita liga el cuadro de Fuseli con la parálisis del sueño, distinta de terrores y pesadillas

«Hersen, however, does not deal with sleep paralysis as such and lumps material relating to it together with REM anxiety dreams and adult night terrors under the single term “nightmare.”» — mientras el propio Hersen no trata la parálisis del sueño como tal y la mete con los sueños de ansiedad REM y los terrores del adulto bajo un solo término

«Hersen provides a good critical summary of problems involved in the use of self-reports.» — le reconoce a Hersen un buen resumen crítico de los problemas del autoinforme

«He concludes that the weaknesses of past attempts to analyze the contents of “nightmares” should be redressed by efforts “to categorize thematic material gathered from nightmare reports, occurring in Stage 2 sleep, Stage 4 sleep, and the REM stage, in order to permit quantitative comparisons.”» — y su conclusión, citada: categorizar el material temático por etapa del sueño para permitir comparaciones cuantitativas

«Such a conclusion must be regarded with extreme caution because of the problems created by the use of such categories as “oppression” to include “weight at the chest” or “helplessness” to include paralysis.» — con su reserva: categorías como opresión para el peso en el pecho o impotencia para la parálisis crean problemas

«At least for the Old Hag or waking nightmare, a very clear and precise description is needed, and categorization tends to blur the necessary distinctions.» — y lo que exige en su lugar para la Old Hag: descripción clara y precisa, porque categorizar difumina las distinciones necesarias

«Quantification will no doubt be useful at some point, but it can scarcely proceed successfully from the current state of knowledge.» — sin rechazar la cuantificación: será útil en algún momento y no puede partir del estado actual del conocimiento

«The most careful recent attempt to bring order out of the chaotic tangle of meanings surrounding the word “nightmare” is that published by Fisher and his associates in 1973. Recognizing that terminology constituted a major obstacle in the field, they proposed a four-part classification: stage 4 night terrors, REM nightmares, stage 2 anxious arousal, and hypnagogic nightmare.» — señala como el intento reciente más cuidadoso el de Fisher y colaboradores en 1973, con su clasificación en cuatro

«They recognized the popular usage that is an important factor in all surveys by noting that REM nightmares “are frequently characterized by subjects as nightmares.”» — y les reconoce haber contado con el uso popular, que pesa en toda encuesta

«Fisher’s four classes include as distinct entities the events I described early in this chapter, combining SP and HH to yield» — con la correspondencia que traza: las cuatro clases de Fisher recogen como entidades distintas los fenómenos que él describió, fundiendo parálisis y alucinación hipnagógica; la frase se corta en el cambio de plana

«“hypnagogic nightmare,” and add stage 2 arousals (which appear to be more closely related to NTs than to the Old Hag experience).» — y su cierre, ya en la plana siguiente: la pesadilla hipnagógica, más los despertares de etapa 2, que él ve más cerca de los terrores nocturnos que de la Old Hag

«Given their clear recognition of the differences among these categories, it is unfortunate that Fisher and his colleagues did not turn their attention to what they called the hypnagogic nightmare and did not comment on the implications of their precise classification for discussions of the nightmare-culture connection.» — y lo que lamenta de ellos: reconocidas las diferencias, no atendieron a la pesadilla hipnagógica ni sacaron consecuencias para la relación entre pesadilla y cultura

«Their interest was strongly focused on NTs and REM nightmares, however, and their work on these topics has been extremely productive.» — sin restarles mérito: su interés estaba en los terrores nocturnos y las pesadillas REM y ahí su trabajo ha sido muy productivo

«The 1977 edition of Modern Clinical Psychiatry includes nightmares and night terrors in the chapter entitled “Special Symptoms.”» — revisa el manual *Modern Clinical Psychiatry* de 1977, que mete pesadillas y terrores nocturnos entre los síntomas especiales

«In the half page devoted to the two types of events the author uses “incubus” as a synonym for “nightmare” and applies both terms to children as well as adults.» — con el defecto que le halla: usa *incubus* como sinónimo de *nightmare* y aplica ambos a niños y adultos

«He states that the subject may “complain of tightness or heaviness in the chest,”57 which he attributes to hyperventilation.» — y anota que ese manual atribuye a hiperventilación la opresión o pesadez en el pecho

«Thus the nightmare is presented as a special kind of REM dream as in Hadfield and Mack, but labeled with the paired terms used by Gastaut and Broughton to refer to adult night terrors.» — con su diagnóstico del entrevero: la pesadilla presentada como sueño REM especial, pero con los términos que Gastaut y Broughton usaban para los terrores del adulto

«In the discussion of their results, Taub and his associates recap the notion of the historical evolution of nightmare contents, citing Hersen, Gastaut and Broughton, Jones, and others, and then propose that their own “results extend findings on the nightmare phenomenon beyond the hypothetical realm into a more intricate and a wider array of content variables than reported in any previous study.”» — registra que Taub y colaboradores retoman la evolución histórica del contenido y reclaman haber ampliado el abanico de variables más que ningún estudio previo

«That is probably true, but this array of content cannot be compared to the content of distinct events such as Jones’s nightmare or Gastaut and Broughton’s “nightmare (incubus).”» — y su objeción, concediendo lo primero: ese abanico no se puede comparar con el contenido de sucesos distintos como la pesadilla de Jones o la de Gastaut y Broughton

«In 1979 Bernard D. Beitman and Albert S. Carlin published “Night Terrors Treated with Imipramine,” a case report, including a good description of the patient’s attacks, in the American Journal of Psychiatry.» — sitúa el caso de Beitman y Carlin de 1979

«The authors begin with an effort to distinguish night terrors from nightmares—a further illustration of the continued confusion created by the alternate combination and redivision of the two terms in the literature.» — y lo lee como una ilustración más de la confusión: el intento de distinguir terrores de pesadillas viene de combinar y volver a dividir los dos términos

«The more common nightmare is characterized by less intense anxiety, lower levels of autonomic discharge, greater motility, and more vocalization» — la caracterización de esos autores, citada

«In fact, the first two are characteristics of nightmare; whereas the second pair are hallmarks of the night terror.» — y su corrección, rasgo por rasgo: los dos primeros son de la pesadilla y los dos últimos, marca del terror nocturno

«Incubus: 1. a nightmare. 2. a heavy mental burden. Nightmare: a terrifying dream; called also oneirodynia. Night terror: (no entry)» — las entradas del *Dorland’s* de 1974, con el terror nocturno sencillamente ausente

«Incubus: 1. a burden. 2. a nightmare. Nightmare: A bad dream accompanied by great fear and a feeling of suffocation. Once believed to be caused by a female monster or spirit that sat upon the dreamer. Night terrors: Form of nightmare in children causing them to awaken in terror, screaming.» — y las del *Taber’s* de 1977, donde la pesadilla incluye la asfixia y el monstruo femenino que se sentaba encima

«In these definitions, the general run of REM anxiety dreams, stage 4 night terrors, and alleged premodern belief intermingle freely but with no hint of paralysis, wakefulness, or even sexuality.» — con su lectura de esas definiciones: sueños REM de ansiedad, terrores de etapa 4 y creencia premoderna mezclados sin rastro de parálisis, vigilia ni sexualidad

«The term ‘incubus syndrome’ is proposed to describe patients suffering from the delusion that they have been» — la propuesta de Raschka, citada: un síndrome del íncubo para pacientes con el delirio de haber sido abordados sexualmente de noche por un amante invisible; la frase se corta en el cambio de plana

«sexually approached at night by an unseen lover.”» — con su cierre, ya en la plana siguiente

«In neither case is any hallucination connected with the alleged sexual assaults, nor is there any recollection of the events that the patients believe have taken place while they were soundly asleep. No awakenings, anxious or otherwise, are described.» — y lo que Hufford halla ausente en los dos casos de Raschka: ninguna alucinación, ningún recuerdo y ningún despertar

«Such delusions among psychotics seem to have practically no connection with any of the phenomena considered above except for the presence of an erotic element.» — con su conclusión: esos delirios psicóticos casi no conectan con nada de lo anterior salvo por el elemento erótico

«Of the twenty-nine references that follow Raschka’s paper, only one of the works cited above is included: Robbins’s The Encyclopedia of Witchcraft and Demonology.» — y el dato bibliográfico con que lo remata: de veintinueve referencias de Raschka, solo una de las obras que él ha reseñado

«Although from the time they were first described in the nineteenth century both HH and SP65 have been known to occur idiopathically, since the 1920s they have been consistently associated with narcolepsy, which is “a syndrome consisting of excessive daytime sleepiness and abnormal manifestations of REM sleep. The latter include frequent sleep-onset REMs periods, which may be subjectively appreciated as hypnagogic hallucinations, and the dissociated REM sleep inhibitory processes, cataplexy and sleep paralysis.”» — sitúa la historia del par: alucinaciones hipnagógicas y parálisis del sueño se conocen como idiopáticas desde el siglo XIX y desde los años veinte se las asocia con la narcolepsia, que define citando

«Cataplexy differs from SP in that it occurs during daytime activities, often following the eruption of expressions of strong emotions such as laughter.» — distingue la cataplejía de la parálisis del sueño por ocurrir en actividad diurna, a menudo tras una emoción fuerte como la risa

«HH and SP are thought to occur separately or together in about one-half of the narcoleptic population. Narcolepsy itself is estimated to occur in from 0.02 to 0.07 percent of the general population.» — y da las cifras: alucinaciones y parálisis en cerca de la mitad de los narcolépticos, y narcolepsia entre 0,02 y 0,07 por ciento de la población general

«Their most important finding for our purposes is that in the course of 216 planned awakenings (6 per subject night, 4 nights per subject, 9 subjects) they received “no reports of hallucinations without loss of control and loss of awareness of surroundings.”» — el hallazgo de Vogel, Foulkes y Trosman que más le sirve, con su diseño y su cifra: en 216 despertares programados, ningún reporte de alucinación sin pérdida de control y de conciencia del entorno

«They recognize, of course, that this finding does not mean that HH cannot occur while the subject is still oriented, but it does suggest that prior loss of contact with surroundings is much more common.» — con el límite que los propios autores dejan y él respeta: no prueba que no pueda ocurrir con el sujeto orientado, solo que lo contrario es mucho más común

«This description, taken together with the consistent loss of contact with real surroundings before HH, demonstrates that these “normal” HHs are unlike the Old Hag experience.» — de donde saca su conclusión: esas alucinaciones hipnagógicas normales no se parecen a la Old Hag

«The HHs of narcolpetics, by contrast, are generally said to “occur more frequently and they are more vivid, emotionally charged and usually unpleasant,”70 a description that resembles the Old Hag experience; although it seems highly unlikely that all Old Hag subjects could be narcoleptics.» — y el contraste con las de los narcolépticos, que sí se le parecen, con su reserva pegada: sería muy improbable que todos los sujetos de Old Hag fueran narcolépticos; la capa de texto lee *narcoleptics* como *narcolpetics*

«I feel someone prowling; I can neither see nor hear him, but I do know that he is there» — de las alucinaciones psíquicas que describe Ribstein, la que Hufford identifica con la sensación de presencia, en boca del paciente

«I am lying in bed and I rise in my room; I am reassured, since I know it is not true, and I am awfully worried to be so high above my bed and I am afraid of falling down”; and “I rise high up in the sky. I perceive something supernatural which attracts me and wants to divide my body from my mind.» — y dos reacciones cenestésicas del mismo autor: elevarse sobre la cama sabiendo que no es cierto, y subir al cielo ante algo sobrenatural que quiere separarle el cuerpo de la mente

«Other examples, however, that seem much less like the Old Hag include “landscapes or scenery” and “an orchestra playing a symphony.» — con los ejemplos que él mismo declara lejanos: paisajes y una orquesta tocando una sinfonía

«Ribstein also notes that the narcoleptic may be either indifferent to the HH, viewing it like “a short movie,” or very much involved.» — y la variación que Ribstein registra: el narcoléptico puede quedar indiferente ante la alucinación o muy implicado

«Some hallucinations that involve the patient seem to take place in the subject’s actual surroundings; whereas others are set in other locations as in REM dreams.» — con la distinción que a Hufford le importa: unas ocurren en el entorno real del sujeto y otras en otros lugares, como los sueños REM

«The engaging experiences set in the real surroundings are most like the Old Hag.» — y su adjudicación: las que implican al sujeto y transcurren en el entorno real son las más parecidas a la Old Hag

«Hallucinations are precise. I believe them although I question them, and in spite of this doubt, I go and check my door or look in the stairs» — con el ejemplo que lo muestra, en boca del paciente de Ribstein: alucinaciones precisas que cree aun dudando, y que lo llevan a revisar la puerta o la escalera

«the use of such preventives as prayer and drinking water from Lourdes.» — y los preventivos que Ribstein consigna: la oración y beber agua de Lourdes

«In narcoleptics HHs are usually explained as being a result of stage 1 REM, a finding that is considered to be evidence of narcolepsy when it occurs within ten minutes of sleep onset.» — la explicación corriente de esas alucinaciones en narcolépticos: REM en etapa 1, que dentro de los diez minutos del inicio del sueño se toma por evidencia de narcolepsia

«Sleep paralysis may be described as a brief episode characterized by the inability to perform voluntary movements either on falling asleep (hypnagogic or predormital sleep paralysis) or on awakening (hypnopompic or postdormital sleep paralysis). It usually occurs when the patient is lying on a bed…. Occasionally sleep paralysis is accompanied or just preceded by vivid and terrifying hallucinations.» — la definición de Hishikawa, citada: episodio breve de incapacidad de moverse al dormirse o al despertar, casi siempre acostado, a veces con alucinaciones vívidas y aterradoras

«Hishikawa also notes that the subject “is fully aware of his condition and can recall it completely afterwards.”» — y lo que Hishikawa añade sobre la conciencia: el sujeto es plenamente consciente y lo recuerda todo después

«He adds that the struggling person may at times make faint noises and that if neither the struggle nor an external stimulus (such as being touched) terminates the episode it will end spontaneously, usually within ten minutes or less.» — con la duración y las salidas que da: ruidos leves al forcejear, y fin espontáneo en diez minutos o menos si no lo cortan el forcejeo o un estímulo externo

«The ability accurately to perceive the environment during SP was reported by Hishikawa and Z. Kaneko in 1965 as the result of an experiment in which they flashed a bright light on narcoleptic patients during various states of wakefulness and sleep and then examined both EEG and behavioral responses to this stimulus.» — el experimento de Hishikawa y Kaneko de 1965 con destellos de luz sobre pacientes narcolépticos en distintos estados

«They found that the patients perceived and recalled all of the flashes that occurred during SP (taking place in sleep-onset REM), but perceived and recalled either less or nothing at all during other stages of sleep and drowsiness, including stage 1 without SP.» — y su resultado: percibieron y recordaron todos los destellos ocurridos durante la parálisis, y menos o nada en las demás etapas

«These results were partially replicated and extended by H. Nan’no et al. in 1970 using an auditory stimulus (calling the subject’s name repeatedly).» — con la réplica parcial de Nan’no y colaboradores en 1970, esta vez llamando al sujeto por su nombre

«This evidence of lucidity and awareness of real surroundings corresponds to my Old Hag data but differs in that some narcolepsy references describe the SP subject as being unable “even to open his eyes.”» — adjudica esa lucidez a sus propios datos y marca la discrepancia: algunas referencias de narcolepsia dicen que el sujeto no puede ni abrir los ojos

«There are two possible reasons for the dissimilarities: either some Old Hag victims believe their eyes to be open when in fact they are not, or narcoleptics are more frequently unable to open their eyes during SP than are normal people. Both may in fact be correct, but the question cannot be settled on the basis of current information.» — deja las dos ramas y se abstiene: o algunas víctimas creen tener los ojos abiertos sin tenerlos, o los narcolépticos no pueden abrirlos más a menudo, y con lo que hay no se decide

«As with HHs, SP has been shown to be connected with the intrusion of REM into the sleep-onset period, a time at which it does not normally occur.» — liga la parálisis del sueño con la intrusión del REM en el inicio del sueño, donde normalmente no ocurre

«REM physiology is known to consist of two components, both arising in the reticular formation in the brain stem. These are distinguishable from one another by EEG and have been connected with specific structures within the reticular formation. One component is connected with dreaming; the other is responsible for the inhibition of muscle tone during REM.» — y describe los dos componentes de la fisiología REM: uno ligado al soñar y otro responsable de inhibir el tono muscular

«This separation of function has been demonstrated in laboratory animals by the selective destruction of those structures associated with muscle inhibition.» — con la prueba experimental que la sostiene: destruir selectivamente en animales las estructuras de la inhibición muscular

«result in cats has been “unrealistic” but coordinated activity during sleep; that is, they appear to dream and carry out the actions contained in those dreams.» — y el resultado en gatos, ya en la plana siguiente: actividad coordinada durante el sueño, como si soñaran y ejecutaran lo soñado

«It is, obviously, the dream-related component of REM which is thought to account for HH during sleep-onset REM and the inhibitory component used to explain SP.» — y el reparto explicativo: el componente onírico da cuenta de la alucinación y el inhibitorio, de la parálisis

«Both the objective and subjective elements of the description of SP fit very well with the Old Hag experience.» — su ajuste, dicho con cuidado: los elementos objetivos y subjetivos de la parálisis del sueño encajan muy bien con la Old Hag

«When those HHs described above as involving the subject and taking place in his real surroundings are added, the correspondence seems to be perfect, at least phenomenologically.» — y la correspondencia que le sale al sumar las alucinaciones que implican al sujeto en su entorno real, acotada a lo fenomenológico

«The laboratory findings in the cases of narcoleptics with HH and SP even hold the promise of physiological insight into the Old Hag phenomenon.» — con lo que promete: los hallazgos de laboratorio en narcolépticos podrían dar entendimiento fisiológico del fenómeno

«This leaves us with four primary questions to consider about the relationship of HH and SP to the Old Hag.» — y las cuatro preguntas que deja planteadas en vez de resolver

«If this classification is accurate, comparisons between “the HH of normals” and “the HH of narcolpetics” have been misleading.» — en condicional: de ser exacta su clasificación, las comparaciones entre alucinaciones hipnagógicas de normales y de narcolépticos han sido engañosas; la capa de texto lee *narcoleptics* como *narcolpetics*

«If the Old Hag is in fact a REM HH in the presence of SP, then it appears that a substantial number of normals have them too, and in normals they have the same characteristics as in narcoleptics. They are merely less common among normals.» — y lo que se seguiría: muchos normales las tendrían, con los mismos rasgos que los narcolépticos, solo que menos a menudo

«In other words, the described differences are those between two different phenomena: the HHs most frequently experienced by normals (non-REM HH) and those most frequently reported by narcoleptics (REM HH).» — su reformulación del asunto: las diferencias descritas no son entre poblaciones sino entre dos fenómenos, la alucinación no-REM y la REM

«The distinction between experience and reporting is made because non-REM HHs tend to be forgotten and do not constitute an annoyance that would lead to symptom reporting.» — con la distinción entre tener y reportar: la no-REM se olvida y no molesta bastante para reportarse

«The REM HHs are annoying and are likely to be reported by anyone diagnosed as having a sleep disorder, but this is not necessarily an indication that they occur with an absolute frequency greater than that of non-REM HH, even among narcoleptics.» — mientras la REM molesta y la reporta cualquiera con un trastorno del sueño diagnosticado, sin que eso pruebe mayor frecuencia absoluta

«Whenever REM HHs occur after the loss of consciousness of the sleeper’s surroundings, SP will not be subjectively experienced any more than it is during ordinary REM dreams.» — sobre la coocurrencia: si la alucinación REM llega después de perderse la conciencia del entorno, la parálisis no se vivirá subjetivamente

«Without awareness of one’s body, the inhibition of motor impulses cannot be directly perceived.» — con la razón: sin conciencia del propio cuerpo no se percibe directamente la inhibición motora

«There remains, however, the possibility that the indirect perception of this inhibition may be connected with “dreams” of paralysis or difficult movement.» — y la posibilidad que deja abierta: que esa inhibición se perciba indirectamente como sueños de parálisis o de movimiento difícil

«This possibility has been raised occasionally over a long period of time as, for example, when Havelock Ellis described it in his World of Dreams in 1922.» — con su antecedente: Havelock Ellis ya lo planteó en 1922

«If this is the case, at least some such dreams may be hypnagogic or hypnopompic REM hallucinations rather than normal dreams.» — y lo que se seguiría, en condicional: algunos de esos sueños serían alucinaciones hipnagógicas o hipnopómpicas y no sueños normales

«Nonetheless, SP narrowly defined must be expected only when conscious awareness is present.» — sin ceder en la definición estricta: la parálisis del sueño solo cabe esperarla donde hay conciencia

«The reports reviewed by Hishikawa suggest that 50 percent or more of subjects reporting SP also report HH.» — la cifra que da del otro lado, atribuida a lo reseñado por Hishikawa: la mitad o más de quienes reportan parálisis reportan también alucinación

«Documentation is better for narcoleptics than for normals, and it is not clear how frequently this coincidence in individuals is connected with coincidence in specific episodes.» — con dos límites del dato: mejor documentado en narcolépticos, y sin saberse cuánto la coincidencia en la persona lo es en el episodio

«Ribstein’s “psychic hallucinations” would be easy to miss simply because they contain no recognizable sensory component.» — señala por qué es difícil contarlas: las alucinaciones psíquicas de Ribstein pasan inadvertidas por no traer componente sensorial reconocible

«If careful questioning were not performed, they might well be classed as “delusions” rather than hallucinations.» — y qué pasaría entonces: se clasificarían como delirios

«I base this statement, and my own conclusion that these are not merely delusions, on the interview material I have obtained on the “sensation of presence,”» — apoya su propia conclusión de que no son meros delirios en su material sobre la sensación de presencia

«These sensations have the character of perceptions rather than inferences, despite the lack of identifiable sensory components.» — con el argumento: tienen carácter de percepción y no de inferencia, pese a faltarles componentes sensoriales identificables

«Recognizing the difficulty of identification, the question of the frequency with which SP occurs without HH must be considered unanswered, but HHs of some sort are probably present more often than is generally recognized or reported.» — y su respuesta a la segunda pregunta, que es una abstención con una probabilidad dentro: la frecuencia queda sin responder, y probablemente hay alucinación más a menudo de lo que se reconoce

«The narcolepsy literature has not provided any comparative analyses that I know of on the apparent difference in content between REM HHs alone and those that occur with SP, but those descriptions of content that are available suggest that HHs with SP are most likely to correspond to the Old Hag experience.» — otro vacío que declara: la literatura de narcolepsia no compara el contenido de las alucinaciones REM solas con el de las que van con parálisis, y lo disponible apunta a que estas últimas corresponden a la Old Hag

«The more clouded the consciousness in these accounts, the more varied the contents were, including the imagined surroundings.» — y el patrón que observó en ellos: a más nublada la conciencia, más variado el contenido

«This would seem to suggest that HHs with and without SP represent segments of a continuum that varies in level of awareness (or, to put it the other way, depth of sleep).» — de donde saca, con cautela, un continuo de nivel de conciencia entre las alucinaciones con y sin parálisis

«If this is the case, it is particularly interesting that the more lucid and clearly conscious the subject is, the more his experience seems to conform to a single pattern.» — y lo que le parece notable de ese continuo: cuanto más lúcido el sujeto, más se ajusta su experiencia a un solo patrón

«I have already noted that about half of all narcoleptics experience HH and/or SP. Given the uncertainty concerning the rate at which the two states co-occur, it is difficult to estimate accurately what fraction of all narcoleptics experience the two together. The figure may well be about 25 percent.» — a la tercera pregunta responde con una estimación declarada como tal: quizá un 25 por ciento de los narcolépticos tenga las dos cosas juntas

«Most of the authors who have reported cases of idiopathic SP have noted that it probably is much more common than realized.» — registra el acuerdo de los autores sobre la parálisis idiopática: más común de lo que se cree

«Hishikawa agrees with this assessment and notes that “it seems likely that sleep paralysis in otherwise normal persons seldom bothers them enough to make them seek medical treatment.”» — con la razón que da Hishikawa, citada: en personas por lo demás normales rara vez molesta bastante para buscar tratamiento

«Judging from Old Hag accounts, even when a person is greatly bothered he may still be reluctant to report such bizarre experiences in the absence of other symptoms having a more obviously medical appearance.» — y la razón que él añade desde sus propios relatos: aun muy molesto, uno se resiste a reportar algo tan extraño sin otros síntomas de apariencia médica

«One of the few surveys of normal subjects which has looked for SP and HHs in normal subjects was described in an article published by G. Browne Goode in 1962. Goode’s sample totaled 359 subjects in four different groups.» — la encuesta de Goode de 1962, con su tamaño y su reparto

«Of this total, 4.7 percent (17 individuals) responded positively to his paralysis question.» — y su cifra de parálisis: 4,7 por ciento, diecisiete personas

«His HH (he used the term “sleep hallucination”) question dealt with “very vivid and realistic ‘dreams’ upon falling asleep or awaking from sleep. (Exclude the ordinary dreams of sleep.)”86 This question received a positive response of 70,» — y la pregunta de Goode sobre alucinaciones: sueños muy vívidos y realistas al dormirse o al despertar, excluidos los ordinarios; la cifra se corta en el cambio de plana

«or 55.5 percent.» — con su cierre, ya en la plana siguiente: setenta respuestas, el 55,5 por ciento

«In assessing these results, my own paralysis findings and the problems involved in the distinction made by many respondents between “paralysis,” being “afraid to move,” and so forth would suggest that the 4.7 percent is low and that the 55.5 percent includes some episodes that might be called SP if they were accompanied by a full description of phenomenological details.» — su lectura de las dos cifras de Goode: la de parálisis le sale baja y la de alucinación incluiría episodios que con más detalle fenomenológico se llamarían parálisis del sueño

«Goode’s sample contained a large majority of medical (231) and nursing (53) students, which is useful for comparison since much of my own recent data have come from medical students, as noted in Chapter 3.» — y por qué la muestra de Goode le sirve para comparar: mayoría de estudiantes de medicina y enfermería, como buena parte de su material reciente

«Everett found that eight students out of fifty-two who returned his questionnaire had experienced at least one episode of sleep paralysis.» — la segunda encuesta que conoce, la de Everett de 1963: ocho de cincuenta y dos estudiantes de medicina

«This constituted 15.4 percent, or about the same rate of positive responses that I have found with my “standard” approach, that is, without extra reassurance or definition.» — con la coincidencia que subraya: un 15,4 por ciento, casi su misma tasa con el método estándar, sin tranquilizar de más ni definir

«If the 15.4 percent figure is incorrect, it probably errs on the small side. False positive replies were ruled out by follow-up interviews with those answering ‘Yes’ to symptoms of sleep paralysis.» — en voz de Everett: si la cifra yerra, yerra por baja, y los falsos positivos se descartaron con entrevistas de seguimiento

«Several of Everett’s positive respondents expressed hesitancy in admitting to the symptoms, one stating that he planned to answer “No” until he saw that a friend was answering “Yes.”» — y el dato sobre el silencio que Everett aporta: uno pensaba contestar que no hasta ver que un amigo contestaba que sí

«Of the seven interviewed (one had not signed his name and could not be followed up), all said that they had never heard of the experience in others before seeing the questionnaire.» — con el dato que a Hufford le importa: los siete entrevistados dijeron no haber oído nunca de la experiencia en otros

«Most of the features reported were similar to those I have obtained in interviews, including the “feeling of being separated from the rest of my body” and “a tingling sensation.”» — y los rasgos coincidentes con los suyos, incluidos el sentirse separado del cuerpo y el hormigueo

«The Diagnostic Classification of Sleep and Arousal Disorders published in 1979 lists “Familial Sleep Paralysis” to cover SP without narcolepsy.» — registra que la clasificación diagnóstica de 1979 cubre la parálisis sin narcolepsia bajo el rótulo de parálisis del sueño familiar

«Surveys of normal individuals have identified sleep paralysis in 3–6 percent of respondents, but this figure is far too high.» — con la frase de esa clasificación que él va a discutir: las encuestas dan de 3 a 6 por ciento y la cifra sería demasiado alta

«Undiagnosed narcolepsy and other disorders are suggested as variables that might have confounded the surveys and led to an excessively high estimate.» — y el argumento que esa fuente ofrece: narcolepsia sin diagnosticar y otros trastornos habrían inflado las encuestas

«My own findings and those reported by Everett suggest just the opposite. Follow-up interviews have indicated more false negatives than false positives.» — frente a lo cual pone lo suyo y lo de Everett: las entrevistas de seguimiento dieron más falsos negativos que falsos positivos

«Although the rates of occurrence of SP and REM HH cannot be fixed with certainty, two points seem clear. First, the difference in rates between narcoleptics and normals is much less than had been thought; and second, the overall rate in the total population is much higher than generally recognized.» — sus dos conclusiones sobre frecuencia, con la incertidumbre declarada: la diferencia entre narcolépticos y normales es mucho menor de lo que se creía, y la tasa global es mucho mayor de lo que se reconoce

«Because this is so often a concern of those who experience them, the possibility must be considered that SP and REM HH in non-narcoleptics might be pathological.» — plantea la cuarta pregunta desde la preocupación de los propios testigos: si la parálisis y la alucinación REM en no narcolépticos serán patológicas

«Many early writers raised the possibility that SP might be connected with epilepsy.» — registra que muchos autores tempranos la ligaron con la epilepsia

«The physician told him that it “might be epilepsy” and that when he returned home he should have complete neurological testing. He feared the effects that such a diagnosis would have and therefore never again mentioned the attacks, which continued to occur once a year or so. When I interviewed him, he had considered himself a “hidden epileptic” for eight years.» — y el daño concreto que documenta: un testigo suyo pasó ocho años teniéndose por epiléptico oculto tras oírselo sugerir a un médico

«During that time, he had assumed that he should not marry and was concerned about whether it was safe for him to drive a car, even though he had never had an episode that was not connected with sleep.» — con lo que aquello le costó: dar por hecho que no debía casarse y dudar de si podía conducir, aunque nunca tuvo un episodio fuera del sueño

«A remarkably similar case is given by Louis J. West,92 who describes a surgeon who had considered himself an epileptic on the basis of SP (he was ignorant of the literature on the subject).» — y un caso paralelo que toma de Louis J. West: un cirujano que se creía epiléptico por su parálisis del sueño, sin conocer la literatura

«He had never revealed his suspicions for fear of losing his career and had been treating himself with a combination of anticonvulsive drugs with dextroamphetamines» — que callaba por miedo a perder la carrera y se automedicaba con anticonvulsivos y dextroanfetaminas; la frase se corta donde el troceo parte el chunk, dentro de la misma plana

«There are at least two basic objections to the interpretation of these attacks as neurotic symptoms.» — anuncia dos objeciones a leer estos ataques como síntomas neuróticos

«First, they are extremely consistent in their content, as has already been discussed and documented. This consistency seems incompatible with the variety of psychodynamic etiologies advanced to account for it.» — la primera: su contenido es muy consistente, lo que no cuadra con la variedad de etiologías psicodinámicas propuestas

«This point stands out especially when we consider the way that psychoanalysis interprets the content of normal REM dreams. In those interpretations, the individual differences, which are tremendous in REM dream content, are argued as representing the specifics of a given case.» — con el contraste que la afila: en los sueños REM el psicoanálisis lee las enormes diferencias individuales como lo específico de cada caso

«In typical attacks of SP with REM HH, the striking interindividual similarities would have to be reconciled.» — mientras aquí habría que dar cuenta de las semejanzas entre individuos

«The second objection is that the entire experience seems to be too common, as well as too consistently patterned, to be pathognomic.» — la segunda: la experiencia es demasiado común y demasiado pautada para ser patognomónica

«Any condition afflicting 15 percent or more of the general population, but remaining largely undiagnosed, must hopefully not be too serious.» — con la fórmula, dicha con ironía y en modo esperanzado: algo que afecta al 15 por ciento o más sin diagnosticarse no puede ser muy grave

«Of course, neither of these objections removes the possibility that when this experience does occur in a psychiatrically ill individual the phenomenology, which may even be somehow “obligatory,” could be used to “express” or “work out” conflicts and so forth.» — y la posibilidad que sus objeciones no cierran: en un enfermo psiquiátrico esa fenomenología, quizá hasta obligatoria, podría usarse para expresar o elaborar conflictos

«Whatever the case may be for such secondary psychodynamic significance, it seems that only a lack of awareness of the surprisingly high rate of occurrence and consistency of contents has allowed this state to be described as being of pathological significance.» — su conclusión sobre lo patológico: solo el desconocimiento de la alta frecuencia y de la consistencia del contenido permitió describir este estado como patológico

«The strongest genuine connection between this state and any disorder is that with narcolepsy, and even there the significance may be of greater theoretical than diagnostic importance.» — con la única conexión genuina que le reconoce, y su acotación: la narcolepsia, y aun ahí quizá más importante en teoría que en diagnóstico

«The Old Hag corresponds to the old meaning of “nightmare,” but all academic literature on the nightmare, including Jones’s work, has moved farther and farther from dealing directly with that limited entity.» — la primera de sus cuatro conclusiones terminológicas: la Old Hag corresponde al sentido antiguo de *nightmare*, del que toda la literatura académica se ha ido alejando

«Sleep paralysis with hypnagogic hallucinations (which should be understood to imply the sensations of wakefulness and accurate perception of real surroundings) includes the Old Hag.» — la segunda, con la aclaración dentro del paréntesis: la parálisis del sueño con alucinaciones hipnagógicas —entendiendo que implica sensación de vigilia y percepción exacta del entorno real— incluye la Old Hag

«The term “incubus” in popular usage means an explicitly erotic experience and is distinct from Old Hag accounts as gathered in the present study, but that meaning has been so muddied by interpretations concerning unconscious meanings and by varied applications through the centuries that the word no longer has any single, clear referent in the literature.» — la tercera: *incubus* es en uso popular una experiencia explícitamente erótica y distinta de sus casos, y en la literatura ya no tiene referente claro

«“Night terror” clearly refers to a well-documented stage 4 phenomenon that is distinct from the Old Hag despite some connections suggested in recent literature.» — y la cuarta: el terror nocturno es un fenómeno bien documentado de etapa 4, distinto de la Old Hag pese a las conexiones sugeridas

«A striking feature of the two bodies of literature concerning the nightmare and sleep paralysis is their isolation from one another.» — lo que le llama la atención de las dos literaturas, la de la pesadilla y la de la parálisis del sueño: su aislamiento mutuo

«An outstanding exception is Sim Liddon’s paper “Sleep Paralysis and Hypnagogic Hallucination: Their Relationship to the Nightmare,” published in 1967 in the Archives of General Psychiatry.» — con la excepción que destaca: el artículo de Sim Liddon de 1967

«Liddon takes Jones as his basic authority on the nightmare and uses that word in its limited sense and suggests the possible connection with SP.» — y lo que Liddon hace: tomar a Jones como autoridad, usar el término en sentido limitado y sugerir la conexión con la parálisis del sueño

«He does accept the idea that pavor nocturnus is “a condition closely allied to the nightmare,”98 an understandable conclusion both because of the constant confusion surrounding the two terms and because he wrote before Broughton’s Science article called widespread attention to the stage 4 origin of night terrors.» — le señala un error y lo disculpa por su fecha: acepta el *pavor nocturnus* como condición cercana a la pesadilla, y escribió antes de que Broughton difundiera el origen en la etapa 4

«Even though he appreciated the basic connection Liddon did not have access to enough clear and careful descriptions of content, especially modern ones, to fully appreciate the implications of this connection for the culture-nightmare nexus.» — y el límite que le atribuye: sin descripciones modernas de contenido bastante claras, no pudo ver del todo lo que su conexión implicaba para el nexo entre cultura y pesadilla

«He notes the “convincing sense of reality” in SP and suggests that it may have played a major role in the development of “superstitious belief.”» — recoge lo que Liddon sí vio: un sentido convincente de realidad, con papel mayor en el desarrollo de la creencia supersticiosa

«But he follows the lead of many other writers in saying that the basic experiences were “embellished” in a manner “consistent with the culture at the time.”» — y donde Liddon vuelve al carril común: las experiencias básicas quedarían adornadas en forma consistente con la cultura de cada época

«If he had been familiar with the details of more modern accounts, I think he would have found that the embellishment has been less than» — frente a lo cual pone su hipótesis contrafáctica, en primera persona: con relatos modernos detallados, Liddon habría hallado menos adorno del supuesto; la frase se corta en el cambio de plana

«most have assumed and that the acceptance of the experiences as real is by no means absent even among many sophisticated modern victims.» — con su cierre, ya en la plana siguiente: y una aceptación de la realidad viva aun entre muchas víctimas modernas ilustradas

«Nonetheless, Liddon’s article remains the best one yet written on these connections. It has not, however, had a great impact.» — con su balance: el mejor artículo escrito sobre estas conexiones, y de poco impacto

«Mack, for example, cites Liddon on the changes in the meaning of the word “nightmare” over the past hundred years but does not use the article to sharpen his own excessively inclusive definition.» — y el ejemplo con que lo mide: Mack lo cita sobre los cambios de significado y no lo usa para afinar su propia definición demasiado inclusiva

«Schneck’s brief article “Henry Fuseli, Nightmare and Sleep Paralysis” is another careful analysis that has had less impact than it warrants.» — y el segundo artículo que rescata, el de Schneck sobre Fuseli, también con menos impacto del que merece

«Although brief, Schneck’s essay outlines the major differences among SP with HH, REM nightmares, and night terrors.» — con lo que Schneck sí distingue: parálisis con alucinación, pesadillas REM y terrores nocturnos

«The differences are illustrated using the Fuseli painting that must be familiar to many readers by now because it has been reproduced in so many books and articles containing a section dealing with nightmares, regardless of the definition in use.» — y el recurso con que las ilustra, el cuadro de Fuseli, reproducido en tantos libros y artículos sea cual sea la definición que usen

«Still, as noted above with Hersen’s citation of Schneck’s article in connection with what Hersen took to be old-fashioned nightmare content, the implications of these distinctions have not been readily picked up.» — con el destino que registra: las implicaciones de esas distinciones no se recogieron, como muestra el uso que Hersen hizo del mismo artículo

«The phenomena of SP with REM HH have been treated as varieties of ordinary bad dreams from Jones to the present by many who have written about the nightmare. They are not. They are distinct in content and physiology.» — el primero de los cuatro puntos con que resume la relación entre las dos literaturas: la parálisis con alucinación REM se ha tratado como variedad de mal sueño y no lo es, difiere en contenido y en fisiología

«Subjects’ reports of SP with REM HH have been considered post hoc elaborations of the experience of night terror. They are not. This distinction is even greater than that which separates these phenomena from ordinary REM dreams.» — el segundo: tampoco son elaboraciones posteriores del terror nocturno, del que las separa aún más que de los sueños REM

«The contents of SP with REM HH have not been well described in the SP literature, where subjective data have been of relatively little interest. The connection of SP with nightmare in the old sense has been obscured as a result.» — el tercero: la literatura de la parálisis del sueño describió mal esos contenidos por poco interés en lo subjetivo, y con eso se oscureció la conexión con la pesadilla en sentido antiguo

«Attempts to provide post hoc explanations of the contents of both modern and historical Old Hag accounts (i.e., SP with REM HH and nightmare in the old sense), often very superficial, have greatly contributed to the confusion of both literatures.» — y el cuarto: las explicaciones post hoc, a menudo muy superficiales, contribuyeron a la confusión de ambas literaturas

«All of the cultural and social forces that have mitigated against open discussion of the Old Hag experience in its isolated form have allowed it to wander through the sleep literature as a confounding “false positive.”» — lo que junta las dos cosas: las mismas fuerzas que impidieron hablar de la experiencia la dejaron circular por la literatura del sueño como falso positivo confusor

«frequency, and distribution were as well known in twentieth-century academia as they are in rural Newfoundland, much of the confusion in the nightmare literature would not have occurred.» — con su comparación, dicha en condicional: si en la academia del siglo XX se supiera de contenidos, frecuencia y distribución lo que se sabe en la Terranova rural, buena parte de la confusión no habría ocurrido

«It is the existence of an experience with stable contents which is widespread, dramatic, realistic, and bizarre—but practically unknown—that has been largely responsible for the difficulty.» — y su diagnóstico: la dificultad viene de que la experiencia sea a la vez extendida, dramática, realista, extraña y prácticamente desconocida

«The situation is one in which folk observation is ahead of scientific observation.» — con la fórmula que resume su tesis: la observación popular va por delante de la científica

«Without sleep laboratories and without polygraphs, folk tradition has apparently maintained an awareness of the distinction between REM intrusions into wakefulness and REM occurring in its proper place.» — y en qué: sin laboratorios ni polígrafos, la tradición mantuvo la distinción entre la intrusión del REM en la vigilia y el REM en su sitio

«Tradition has not said what REM is, but that would be explanation, not observation.» — con el límite que le pone a ese elogio: la tradición no dijo qué es el REM, y eso sería explicación, no observación

«Confusion between observation and explanation by scholars is one reason why students of sleep from before Jones to some of the most recent writers have not seriously considered the possibility that the folk observations could be basically accurate: that the victims are awake and that they do hear and see and feel odd-sounding things.» — y la razón que da del rechazo académico: confundir observación con explicación impidió considerar que los testigos estén despiertos y oigan, vean y sientan cosas de sonido extraño

«the subjective content in which they were interested appear so malleable as to be almost without any form of its own.» — describe el efecto de forzar el contenido en la teoría: lo subjetivo acaba pareciendo tan maleable que se queda sin forma propia

«Jones’s monograph provides many examples of such forcing. This approach has been at least partially responsible for the reluctance of the more objective investigators to broach the topic, because it appears to support all theories slightly but none well.» — con Jones de ejemplo, y con la consecuencia que le atribuye: los investigadores más objetivos rehúyen el tema porque parece apoyar todas las teorías un poco y ninguna bien

«This impression has been cast into doubt for the contents of SP with REM HH by the cases presented in Chapter 3 above. Such full accounts make it clear that there is in fact a pattern or perhaps several patterns.» — y lo que sus propios casos ponen en duda: hay de hecho un patrón, o quizá varios

«These patterns are visible and researchable; although they cannot be easily or superficially dealt with.» — con su acotación: son visibles e investigables, y no se tratan de manera fácil ni superficial

«thought they were discussing etymologies to lend historical interest to their papers they were manipulating observations that constituted potentially useful data.» — su reproche a los autores que creían adornar sus artículos con etimologías: manipulaban observaciones que eran datos potencialmente útiles

«On the other hand, the use of a neologism permitted sleep paralysis research to escape many of the obstacles which the careless use of a folk term brought to nightmare research.» — y el reverso que reconoce: el neologismo le ahorró a la investigación de la parálisis del sueño los obstáculos que el uso descuidado de un término popular trajo a la de la pesadilla

«If this is what the Old Hag has told us about the psychological literature, what have psychologists told us about the Old Hag? There seem to be five major points:» — invierte la pregunta y anuncia cinco puntos: qué le ha dicho la psicología a la Old Hag

«The Old Hag experience probably occurs when REM phenomena intrude into wakefulness.» — el primero, dicho como probabilidad: la experiencia ocurriría cuando fenómenos REM se meten en la vigilia

«Narcoleptics who experience the Old Hag may be likely to do so more frequently than other victims, and those rare individuals who have reported experiencing the Old Hag in the midst of physical activities may be narcoleptics having cataplexy attacks.» — el segundo, también en modo hipotético: los narcolépticos la tendrían más seguido, y quienes la reportan en plena actividad física podrían estar teniendo ataques de cataplejía

«Night terrors may well have been included by observers (since the sleepers themselves are generally amnestic for the episodes) in the traditional picture of the Old Hag, constituting a kind of false positive in the cultural record.» — el tercero: los terrores nocturnos habrían entrado en el cuadro tradicional por vía de los observadores, ya que el durmiente no recuerda, y serían un falso positivo del registro cultural

«Confused accounts with limited similarity to “classic Old Hag accounts” may in fact be closely related, constituting REM intrusion into partially obscured consciousness. The Newfoundland second meaning for Old Hag involving certain kinds of dreams, for example, may refer to REM HH without SP.» — el cuarto: los relatos confusos podrían ser intrusión REM en conciencia parcialmente nublada, y el segundo sentido terranovense de Old Hag remitiría a alucinación hipnagógica sin parálisis

«Finally, the nightmare literature has raised the possibility that the Old Hag may have a special subcategory of explicitly sexual experiences, or she may have a less frightening cousin who is no more widely recognized in modern culture than the Old Hag herself. This will all depend on how close to the mark Ernest Jones was.» — y el quinto, cuya suerte hace depender expresamente de cuánto acertara Jones: un subgrupo explícitamente sexual, o una prima menos aterradora igual de desconocida

«These conclusions allow reasonable give and take between science and tradition. No favors are being granted that are not also returned.» — con la fórmula del intercambio que buscaba: ningún favor que no se devuelva

«Can we say that sleep research has “explained” the Old Hag? No, we cannot.» — su respuesta a la pregunta del capítulo, sin rodeos: la investigación del sueño no ha explicado la Old Hag

«We cannot because what has been gained has been a description of physiological events that seem to account for the production of the state, that is, paralysis in wakefulness, preceding or following sleep, during which a complex and frightening experience may take place.» — y qué sí se ganó: una descripción de sucesos fisiológicos que parece dar cuenta de la producción del estado

«The specific contents of the experience, however, have not been explained. They seem if anything more odd than they did before.» — mientras el contenido específico queda sin explicar y, dice, más raro que antes

«If they are related to ordinary dreams by the presence of REM physiology, why is their content so consistently the same without apparent regard for culture?» — con la pregunta que deja abierta: si los emparenta con los sueños ordinarios la fisiología REM, por qué su contenido es tan constante sin atender a la cultura

«We have completely ignored one large and important area of the overall problem. Our understanding of hallucinations and dreams will be complete only when we can account for specific details, that is, when we know exactly why one particular dream or hallucinatory episode is experienced in preference to all other possibilities. Post hoc deductions about psychological determinants of specific dream content may be rejected out of hand. The only excuse for the massive literature in this realm is a semantic confusion in which “meaning” and “causality” are equated.» — cita a Dement y colaboradores en bloque: el entendimiento de alucinaciones y sueños solo será completo cuando se explique por qué se vive un episodio y no otro, y la excusa de la literatura sobre determinantes psicológicos es una confusión semántica entre significado y causalidad

«Dement was speaking of the content of individual experiences. When the same proposition is applied to a particular kind of content repeated in the experiences of many independent subjects, both the need and the potential importance of such an accounting are greatly multiplied.» — y el giro que Hufford le da: Dement hablaba de experiencias individuales, y aplicado a un contenido que se repite en muchos sujetos independientes el problema se multiplica

«Perhaps, then, the most important aid the Old Hag can offer psychology at the moment is a new class of observations and a new problem.» — con lo que ofrece a la psicología, dicho en modo tentativo: una clase nueva de observaciones y un problema nuevo

«For example, the Church explained many of the alleged experiences of witches as dreams for hundreds of years before the time of the witch hunts. George Kittredge dates one authoritative church document on this point as having been written well before A.D. 906» — en nota, y apoyándose en Kittredge: la Iglesia explicaba como sueños muchas de las experiencias atribuidas a las brujas siglos antes de las cazas, con un documento fechado bien antes del año 906

«The nature of this problem may lead those interested in Jungian psychology to question my failure to discuss here the theory of the collective unconscious. One reason for the omission is that the only two Jungian essays I have found that touch on the classic nightmare have suffered from the same lack of access to a thorough and accurate description of the experience as have those of Freudian writers.» — declara en nota por qué no discute el inconsciente colectivo, y da su primera razón: los dos únicos ensayos junguianos que halló sobre la pesadilla clásica adolecen de lo mismo que los freudianos, falta de una descripción cuidadosa de la experiencia

«These two are James Hillman, “An Essay on Pan,” in Pan and the Nightmare, trans. A. V. O’Brien, Dunquin Series 4 (Zurich: Spring Publications, 1972), pp. i–lxiii; and Jolande Jacobi, “Dream Demons,” in F.J. Sheed, ed., Soundings in Satanism (New York: Sheed & Ward, 1972), pp. 36–45.» — y nombra los dos, con su referencia: el ensayo de Hillman sobre Pan y *Dream Demons* de Jolande Jacobi

«The other reason is that the theory of the collective unconscious has not generally been held to provide a sole and sufficient source for such detailed and complex psychological products as the Old Hag.» — con su segunda razón: no suele sostenerse que el inconsciente colectivo baste por sí solo como fuente de productos psicológicos tan detallados y complejos

«One point to consider, although I do not have enough information for an extensive discussion, concerns the posture of the victim.» — abre en nota una cuestión que no cierra, y lo dice: la postura de la víctima, sobre la que no tiene información bastante

«I have been told by those working with narcoleptics that there is no apparent connection between the supine position and SP or HH in these patients, nor is any connection mentioned in the literature.» — con lo que le han dicho quienes trabajan con narcolépticos: ninguna conexión aparente entre posición supina y parálisis o alucinación en esos pacientes, ni en la literatura

«If the attacks occur in narcoleptics without regard to posture, whereas about 90 percent of first attacks in normals take place in the supine position, this difference may be an important clue to the mechanisms involved.» — y lo que esa asimetría le sugiere, en condicional: si en narcolépticos la postura da igual y en normales el 90 por ciento de los primeros ataques es boca arriba, la diferencia sería una pista importante

«In normals the supine position (probably interacting with other factors) may somehow mimic the effects of the lesion responsible for the attacks in narcoleptics.» — con su conjetura, doblemente acotada: en normales la posición supina, probablemente junto con otros factores, imitaría de algún modo el efecto de la lesión de los narcolépticos

«This point is raised by William Dement in the discussion section following Hishikawa’s article “Sleep Paralysis” in Narcolepsy, p. 123. He states that he has found an incidence of at least one SP attack as high as 40 to 50 percent in a sample of more than three thousand undergraduate students.» — y la cifra que atribuye a Dement en la discusión del artículo de Hishikawa: entre 40 y 50 por ciento con al menos un episodio, en más de tres mil universitarios

«The same connection was made in Case 3 above from Newfoundland.» — y anota que la misma conexión con la epilepsia aparece en el caso 3 de Terranova

«The literature reviewed in the preceding chapter represents the efforts of one segment of American culture (i.e., the academic community) to assimilate the occasional dramatic report of what Newfoundlanders know as the Old Hag to existing knowledge. Given the general lack of information about the nature and frequency of the attacks, it is not surprising that these efforts went in so many conflicting directions.» — resume el capítulo anterior como el intento de un segmento de la cultura —el académico— por asimilar la Old Hag a lo que ya sabía, y explica por su falta de información las direcciones contradictorias

«Analogous efforts must be expected when Old Hag attacks occur in the presence of traditions of the supernatural which lack beliefs tightly focused on these attacks. In some cases interpretations are likely to be ad hoc; in others the attacks actually form a stable subcategory within a larger stream of tradition.» — y anuncia lo análogo en el nivel popular: donde no hay creencia enfocada, unas veces la interpretación será ad hoc y otras el ataque formará una subcategoría estable dentro de una tradición mayor

«It is also intended to demonstrate that the examination of the Old Hag in its various cultural contexts requires as much caution in the analysis of experience and establishment of identities as did the first stages of this investigation.» — y su segundo propósito: mostrar que examinar la Old Hag en sus contextos culturales exige la misma cautela que la primera etapa

«If an experience is missing some of the primary features, it cannot be identified as an Old Hag attack, although in written accounts such omissions cannot definitely rule out the identification.» — con la regla de identificación y su reverso: sin alguno de los rasgos primarios no hay ataque, aunque en un relato escrito la omisión no permita descartarlo

«If this is not kept in mind, the painstakingly discovered Old Hag experience can disappear among a welter of loose associations as surely as facile symbolic interpretations often overwhelm the very texts they are used to explicate.» — y el riesgo, con su símil: la experiencia trabajosamente hallada puede desaparecer entre asociaciones laxas como los textos bajo las interpretaciones simbólicas fáciles

«I do not consider hauntings to be more closely connected with the Old Hag attack than the other categories» — y aclara que ese lugar no significa mayor cercanía con la Old Hag que el de las otras categorías

«A lack of comment, though, does not suggest a lack of importance. These accounts are rich in their implications and their suggestions for future research.» — con la advertencia contra leer mal ese silencio: no comentar no es restar importancia

«Nor am I suggesting that the Old Hag attacks are a “key” to the complete explanation of any tradition.» — y niega expresamente estar proponiendo la Old Hag como clave explicativa de ninguna tradición

«Whenever a single theory or method is advanced as providing the complete explanation of a complex body of cultural or psychological data, we should be very skeptical.» — con la regla general que invoca: escepticismo ante toda teoría única que prometa la explicación completa de un cuerpo complejo de datos

«I have no aspirations toward the erection of such a monolith using the Old Hag as a foundation sacrifice. I also caution others who find these data as exciting as I do to resist the temptation to use them in that way.» — y la imagen con que se desmarca: no aspira a levantar ese monolito con la Old Hag de sacrificio fundacional, y pide a otros resistir la tentación

«I use “haunting” here to refer generally to the association of a place with spectral beings. These may or may not be ghosts, and the word “ghost” has different meanings for different people.» — define su uso de *haunting* y acota el de *ghost*: la asociación de un lugar con seres espectrales, que pueden ser fantasmas o no

«Well, I have a friend … and he heard of the ghost being so rapid there, so he came on purpose several miles to sleep in the house to see if he could hear anything. And behold, it got on him that night and like to smothered him to death in the bed. He said when it got off it went like newspapers being torn up and went right down through the head of the bed.» — del caso 19, el fragmento del Lineback Ghost que le parece sugerente: algo se le echó encima y casi lo asfixió, y al salir sonó como periódicos rasgándose

«sensations were present or requests to clarify ambiguous descriptive elements because such texts are conceived of by many collectors as literature rather than as documentation of events that actually took place.» — explica por qué los relatos impresos no le sirven para identificar: los recolectores los conciben como literatura y no como documentación de sucesos

«Of the four primary features, two—impression of wakefulness and realistic perception of actual environment—are apparently present. A third—fear—seems a reasonable inference.» — su cotejo del caso 19 rasgo por rasgo: vigilia y percepción realista aparentemente presentes, y el miedo como inferencia razonable

«But the fourth—paralysis—is uncertain. We may infer that the informant’s being nearly smothered in bed indicates restraint, and it is possible that the “main kick”» — con el cuarto sin resolver: la parálisis queda incierta

«The presence of pressure (see Cases 4, 6, 10, 13, 14, and 15 above) and suffocation (see Case 10)— both well-documented secondary features—reinforces the suggestion of an Old Hag attack.» — y lo que refuerza la sospecha: presión y asfixia, dos rasgos secundarios bien documentados en sus casos

«Nonetheless, the information is inadequate to make a positive identification.» — pese a lo cual se abstiene: la información no basta para identificar

«The presence of these features in a narrative that includes traditional haunting themes and motifs unconnected with the Old Hag makes the need for a stronger case that much more pressing.» — y por qué la abstención importa aquí: los mismos rasgos conviven con temas de casa encantada ajenos a la Old Hag

«They had sought advice and help at the university and around Bowling Green because the haunting was rendering the house uninhabitable.» — y el motivo por el que ellas habían pedido ayuda: la casa se estaba volviendo inhabitable

«The result was an opportunity to compare the two interviews point by point, and I was surprised to find that there were no substantial differences as a result of either time or the addition of a third point of view.» — con el resultado que le sorprende: ninguna diferencia sustancial entre las dos entrevistas, pese al tiempo y al tercer punto de vista

«At the time I had one article on the Old Hag in press, but nothing about my research had appeared in print, and I had not yet spoken on it in Bowling Green, so there was no way that the three young women could have fabricated the Old Hag-like parts of the account.» — y la garantía de no contaminación que aduce: nada suyo había aparecido impreso ni lo había expuesto en Bowling Green

«This complicated narrative is not presented in its entirety to argue any specific connection between the Old Hag elements and the great variety of other described features. Rather it is presented in this manner to indicate the complex cultural and experiential context in which the Old Hag phenomenon is sometimes embedded.» — y para qué lo presenta entero, dicho en negativo primero: no para defender una conexión concreta sino para mostrar el contexto cultural y experiencial en que la Old Hag a veces está incrustada

«Soon after they moved into the house on July 15, 1974, all three developed gastrointestinal symptoms, chiefly nausea and diarrhea. Their malady was tentatively diagnosed as hepatitis and blamed on contaminated well water.» — del caso 20 consigna una variable física: las tres enfermaron del estómago poco después de mudarse, con diagnóstico tentativo de hepatitis achacado al agua del pozo

«They stressed that the diagnosis was not certain and said that the symptoms had disappeared about two months after they moved into the house, which would have been roughly two months before their interview by Lyn Montell.» — con la reserva que las propias testigos ponen y las fechas: el diagnóstico no era seguro y los síntomas desaparecieron unos dos meses después de mudarse

«Montell also asked them about drug use in connection with their experiences in the house, and they insisted that although they drank alcoholic beverages and occasionally smoked marijuana, the experiences recounted were not temporally connected with marijuana use, nor was there a consistent connection with alcohol.» — y la otra variable que Montell descartó preguntando: bebían y a veces fumaban marihuana, sin conexión temporal con las experiencias

«She’d wake up. She’d realize where she was. She’d see the doorway. And she’d try to get up off the couch and leave the room, and wouldn’t be able to. She’d fall back to sleep, and have the same dream.» — el episodio de Ruth en el caso 20, referido por sus compañeras: despertar, reconocer el cuarto, ver la puerta y no poder levantarse del sofá, una y otra vez

«And finally when we walked in she was able to move. JOAN: Well, it was really a hot day, too, and she said she was just freezing. CAROL: Uh-huh. JOAN: She was just really cold.» — con el fin del episodio al entrar ellas, y el frío que Ruth sentía en un día caluroso

«It was a persecution-type dream where she was trying to flee from them for some reason——the details are kind of vague. But, you know, like she couldn’t get away from them. And then she’d wake up and try to leave the room and couldn’t move.» — y el sueño previo que Ruth contaba: de persecución, huyendo de los padres de su novio, tras el cual despertaba sin poder moverse

«It was a real paranoid dream. Everybody was persecuting her. Nobody was on her side. Just all these horrible——What did she say? A few——Did she say wolfish looking faces? Everybody was like horribly distorted. Nobody looked——Everybody was really cruel looking. It was just a real paranoid dream!» — con la versión de Joan del mismo sueño, y las caras distorsionadas y crueles

«As we continued to discuss Ruth’s experience, Carol and Joan expressed the impression that she had been lying on her back and stated that “it obsessed her for about three days after that. Like she was just——That’s all she could think of for about three days.”» — y lo que Hufford recoge de las otras dos: la impresión de que Ruth estaba boca arriba, y que el episodio la obsesionó tres días

«Although such elements as the feeling of coldness could not be checked in Ruth’s absence, some can be accepted, such as Carol’s estimate that Ruth was found around four o’clock in the afternoon.» — declara qué puede y qué no verificar sin Ruth presente

«The account is credible because the elements that repeat Ruth’s own account are faithfully recounted, including the uncertainty about the connection between this and the other events in the house.» — y por qué da crédito al relato de segunda mano: reproduce fielmente lo que Ruth contaba, incluida su duda sobre si aquello se relacionaba con lo demás

«This first time it happened there was no way anyone was in that house to do it…. Like no one did it and it was smeared off completely. And someone did it on purpose, you know. It wasn’t like the dog licked the refrigerator, which we thought of, you know.» — del caso 20, el episodio del refrigerador pintado, con la explicación natural que ellas mismas consideraron y descartaron: el perro lamiéndolo

«We had already thought of the possibility of a ghost before that. Like when Joan and I——Joan and I first mentioned it, I think. Did something happen before that? It seemed like we had heard some noises, because I remember the first thing I thought of when I found out about the refrigerator being smeared was that it was a ghost. We were thinking at this time, you know, that there was a ghost.» — y el orden en que llegó la interpretación: ya habían pensado en un fantasma por unos ruidos previos, así que el refrigerador se leyó desde ahí

«It was like something that we all three were intent on not submitting to. Like, “We can overcome this,” you know. “We are not going to tuck our tails and run.» — la actitud inicial que las tres declaran ante los fenómenos: no ceder

«We’re going to be friendly with you. We can all live in this house together” (laughter) you know. CAROL: Sure. There’s room for——you know, “Bring a friend.” (More laughter.)» — con el tono jocoso de esa etapa, en sus propias palabras y con la risa anotada por el transcriptor

«But you eventually decided that was wrong? JOAN: Oh, definitely! Definitely!» — y el cambio de tono que Hufford les hace declarar

«They would hear, like, voices, and footsteps on the stairs going up into my room. And noises in my room. That’s usually where it seemed to hang out.» — los fenómenos de esa etapa, según Carol: voces, pasos en la escalera y ruidos en su cuarto, donde aquello parecía instalarse

«But Ruth, I think, heard her name called a couple of times. I heard mine called maybe five or six times altogether.» — el llamado espectral por el nombre en el caso 20, con las cifras que cada una da

«I was lying on the couch reading in the afternoon. And I heard this “Ruth,” you know. This type thing. Called my name about twice. A couple of times. But I can’t really say that it was a male or a female’s voice. I’m not sure.» — y la abstención de la testigo sobre el timbre: no sabe si era voz de hombre o de mujer

«And neither of you were asleep? CAROL: No. I was wide awake reading. RUTH: I was reading also, when it happened to me.» — con el dato que Montell les hace precisar: las dos estaban despiertas, leyendo

«It didn’t even frighten me. Like I say, I immediately thought it was my mother, you know. Like it was some kind of communication between my mother and I. I didn’t even consider any kind of force or anything in the house. I just thought, you know, somebody needed me.» — y la interpretación que Carol le dio en el momento, sin miedo: comunicación con su madre, no una fuerza de la casa

«I woke up to this INSANE racket in Carol’s room. I mean, it was so loud! It was the loudest thing that’s ever happened in the house. It sounded like someone was just picking her iron bed up and throwing it on the floor. And picking it up——Just throwing it all around!» — el ruido mayor de la casa según Ruth: como si alzaran la cama de hierro de Carol y la tiraran al suelo una y otra vez

«And we heard this knock on the door. This prominent loud knock. And we thought, “Well, that’s weird.” Because any friend of ours would not come to that door, they know, you know, that we don’t use that door.» — del caso 20, el golpe en la puerta que no usaban, con la razón que las testigos dan para descartar a un conocido

«Yeah. The lights would shine. There were no cars. Nothing. You know, no cars at all around. And you’ve got a very long driveway. No one would walk all the way up there just to pull a prank, I’m sure.» — y las razones con que Ruth descarta la broma: sin coches, con los faros visibles desde la casa y un camino muy largo

«So I ran into the kitchen. We turned out all the lights. Ran into the kitchen. I got a knife and Joan got an ax. And we were really panic-stricken.» — la reacción de las dos: apagar las luces y armarse con un cuchillo y un hacha

«We just heard the sound of the door opening. So, you know, we waited and we heard footsteps in the hallway, and we weren’t going to wait around any longer to find out who it was, or what it was!» — y lo que las hizo huir: oír abrirse una puerta que no tenía bisagras, y pasos en el pasillo

«And we all went up to the house with these two guys. We all went up to the house, and we made them go through every room. And there was nothing there. There was nothing strange about the house at all.» — con la comprobación que hicieron esa noche: dos amigos revisaron cuarto por cuarto y no había nada

«And that was the beginning of, you know, the panic, I think. That night.» — y la fecha que Ruth le pone al pánico

«You start thinking, “Well, what really did you expect to happen when you heard this banging on the door?” And it wasn’t like——You start feeling like, “Well, am I just scared to live out here in the country by ourselves?» — y la resistencia que Hufford les hace declarar frente a ese miedo, en palabras de Joan

«And I was in there in bed. I was lying on my side facing the doorway. The light was out in the room, but it was on in the hallway. And the door opened. The door knob jiggled and I just thought it was the wind from the windows because there was windows all along one side of the wall opposite the door. And I just thought it was wind, and didn’t think anything about it.» — del episodio anterior de Carol, en otra casa: acostada de lado frente a la puerta, con el pomo girando que atribuyó al viento

«But then I looked back at the doorway and there was this bright shimmering——substance, you know. Like, this very vaporous looking thing. And as soon as I saw it, I was just stiff. And I couldn’t move. I was just s-s-scared stiff. Paralyzed!» — la aparición vaporosa y luminosa, y la inmovilidad inmediata

«And it just sort of floats over to the foot of the bed. And I heard this “hhhhhhhh-hhhhhhhh” heavy breathing, and I thought, “Oh, my God!” And I’m rationalizing, I’m saying, “It’s a dog! It’s a dog! It’s me! It’s me breathing!” And so I held my breath and the breathing continued.» — con la prueba que Carol se hace en el momento: contiene el aliento y la respiración sigue

«And whatever it was came around to the side of the bed and walked behind my back. And I’m straining my eyes trying to see it, but I can’t move my head, because I knew as soon as I did I was just going to be this close to it, and I couldn’t stand the thought. Well, I just——I couldn’t move!» — y lo que sigue: aquello pasa detrás de su espalda y ella no puede girar la cabeza, sabiendo que lo tendría encima

«And so, I started to tingle. Like my spine, all up and down my back was just intensely tingling. But that’s the only part of my body that was.» — el hormigueo del caso, localizado en la columna y solo ahí

«I felt like this ghost or whatever it was, was trying to tell me, This is what happened to me.’” And so I ran into them two months later, at this diner, and I said, “Hey, Frank, did you find out how that guy was killed?” He said, “Yeah. He was stabbed in the back with a knife.» — y la coincidencia que Carol relata: sintió que aquello quería contarle cómo había muerto, y dos meses después supo que al hombre lo habían apuñalado por la espalda

«Yes. Except this was all centralized, located in my back. The rest of it, has been like all over my body.» — con la comparación que Montell le hace hacer entre los dos hormigueos: uno localizado en la espalda, el otro por todo el cuerpo

«Returning to the chronology of events in the house, Carol and Ruth described an evening watercoloring session with friends during which one of their guests painted what they called a “demon.” Carol said that it was “a horrible looking picture,” but that they hung it on the wall along with the others done that evening.» — el episodio del cuadro: un invitado pinta lo que ellas llaman un demonio y lo cuelgan igual

«That night Carol had a frightening dream in which this demon chased her through a huge building.» — y el sueño de Carol esa noche, con el demonio persiguiéndola

«Though neither the painting nor the dream appears related to the other events recounted, it is evident that at this point all three were unsure as to which happenings in the house were part of the “haunting” and which were mundane.» — con la lectura de Hufford, que separa lo que ellas ya no separaban: ni el cuadro ni el sueño parecen ligados a lo demás, y a esa altura las tres no sabían qué era parte del encantamiento y qué era corriente

«their search for someone who could help them render their home less exciting led them to a fellow student who was reputed to be “really heavy into the occult.” Ruth said that this student, Jack, “was really interested. He was real eager to help. I think he was too eager.» — del caso 20, la búsqueda de ayuda: un compañero de estudios reputado de estar metido en lo oculto, a quien Ruth describe como demasiado dispuesto

«Although Carol considered him to be a “phony,” they invited him to the house. Jack decided that Carol was a witch and was somehow involved in the etiology of the haunting.» — con el juicio de Carol sobre él y lo que él dictaminó: que la bruja era Carol

«He administered an ESP test to the women. He went into what they considered a fake trance and claimed contact with miscellaneous spirits. He attempted to force the spirits in the house to materialize. Finally, he left an amulet and asked to be invited back to hold a seance.» — lo que hizo Jack en la casa, según ellas: prueba de ESP, un trance que tuvieron por fingido, contacto con espíritus varios, un intento de materializarlos y un amuleto

«He was firmly told that they did not want a seance, and they have not spoken with him since.» — y cómo acabó: le negaron la sesión y no volvieron a hablarle

«Following Jack’s disappointing effort at assistance, Carol had a terrifying experience which she described in detail. Several features are similar to those in the attack she experienced in Frank and Rose’s house.» — Hufford enlaza el episodio siguiente de Carol con el de la casa de Frank y Rose por rasgos comunes

«I hear this rustling on the stairs. It wasn’t really footsteps, but it was just a noise out there. And then I smelled this really foul odor.» — del episodio: un roce en la escalera que no llega a pasos, y un olor fétido

«And I’m still dazed and confused and I’m thinking a dog——One of the dogs has come and gone to the bathroom in my room.» — con la primera explicación natural que la testigo se da mientras ocurre: uno de los perros ensuciando el cuarto

«And then I was touched on the neck and in the shoulder area, right in here. And from that point outward I just tingled all over. And again I couldn’t move and I couldn’t scream.» — el toque en el cuello y el hombro, el hormigueo desde ahí y la imposibilidad de moverse o gritar

«Until I finally thought the word “No!” And as soon as I thought, “No!” I thought, “I can’t fight this.” And then it went away.» — y la salida: pensar la palabra *no*, y a la vez reconocer que no podía luchar contra aquello

«So then I turned on the light. And I checked and there were no dogs in my room. They were hardwood floors at the time, and we had no rugs down. So a dog or any person you would have heard walking. And there was no dogs, no indication that a dog had gone to the bathroom in my room.» — con la comprobación posterior, que descarta las explicaciones que se había dado: ni perros, ni suciedad, y suelos de madera donde se habría oído cualquier paso

«But I was awakened by this noise in your room. It sounded like somebody was throwing your bed around.» — y el testimonio ajeno que corrobora una parte: Joan, en el cuarto de abajo, oyó el ruido de la cama aunque no la risa

«In my interview five months later, Joan agreed that she had heard the noise. She had just remarked, “There were so many times we heard noises, voices» — Hufford consigna que cinco meses después, en su propia entrevista, Joan dice también haber oído el ruido

«occupied the house immediately before them was a witch, and they began to wonder if she might be involved in what was happening.» — la hipótesis que se abre entonces: que la ocupante anterior de la casa, tenida por bruja, estuviera implicada

«Subsequently, both Joan and Ruth questioned the woman, and Carol spoke with her boyfriend. Joan thought the response she received was rude and perhaps suspicious, although Ruth later found the woman reasonable.» — y cómo la indagaron, con el desacuerdo entre las testigos consignado: a Joan le pareció grosera y sospechosa, a Ruth razonable

«Eventually, they decided that they had “pretty much ruled that out completely,” meaning this woman’s alleged activities as a witch.» — con el resultado: descartaron esa vía

«The last night I spent in the house it happened to me, although it wasn’t the first time it had happened. I just——I’ll take this one night because it was the most intense.» — del episodio de Joan: la última noche que pasó en la casa, y no la primera vez, aunque sí la más intensa

«And I was just at the point in my head that I wasn’t going to be driven out of my house by this ghost.» — y su disposición, que ella misma subraya: no dejarse echar de su casa

«And you’d been sick for two days. JOAN: I’d been sick. CAROL: That’s when you had that virus. Remember, you were having really bad stomach cramps, and diarrhea and nausea.» — con la variable física que Carol le recuerda dentro de la misma entrevista: Joan llevaba dos días enferma

«It wasn’t like waking up. It was like being in——Like watching a TV screen through your——although your eyes are closed ——and just watching——It wasn’t like a dream, really. It was like you were, you were made to watch these things going on before you.» — la cualidad del episodio, según Joan: no despertar, sino como mirar una pantalla con los ojos cerrados, obligada a ver

«It was like there was a tingling sensation that just——that you realize is not, you know, coming from within your body, or something. It is in your body, but you know it’s not originating there.» — y el hormigueo que describe con su distinción: dentro del cuerpo y sin originarse en él

«Because I had been sick a couple of days. And I just felt, you know, like I’d been crampy and had a lot of diarrhea and shit. And then I just felt good!» — con el dato que la desconcierta: llevaba días enferma y de pronto se sintió bien

«And I just ——think——well, “I can’t move!” I tried to get up. My first thought was to get up and turn the light on. I could not do it. And I don’t think my eyes were open——I’m sure they weren’t. And then I opened my eyes, and I just said, “Get away.” I said it out loud.» — la parálisis y la salida de Joan: no poder levantarse ni encender la luz, y al fin decirlo en voz alta

«So I tried to go back to sleep. Well, within fifteen minutes I could feel it again. And it was——I felt like it was urging me to do something I didn’t want to do.» — y la repetición a los quince minutos, con la sensación de ser urgida a algo que no quería hacer

«And I started thinking, “Well, am I going crazy?” Or, you know, “Is this real or am I making it up? Am I doing this to myself?» — con la duda sobre su propia cordura, dicha por la testigo

«At this point we were all doubting our sanity.» — y la frase con que Carol la generaliza a las tres

«While my name was being called, I thought, you know, “What am I going to do?!” And every now and then I’d say “Carol! Ruth! Wake up!” But I couldn’t get out of bed. I was——I just couldn’t move. I wouldn’t move. It didn’t even cross my mind to get out of that bed and, you know, run away or do anything. I was just, like, listening. Just sweating it out.» — del episodio de Joan: el llamado incesante de su nombre, sin poder ni querer salir de la cama, solo escuchando

«I started hearing my name called, and then I heard these steps. Footsteps coming up the steps to the bedroom. And I thought, “Well, Skip—who’s sleeping in Ruth’s room—is freaked out. He’s scared about something too, and he’s coming up to sleep in the room with us too.” You know. He had, I guess he had just come over there to sleep because he’d just moved out of his house. And I thought, “Well, it’s Skip.”» — con la explicación natural que Joan se da: los pasos serían de Skip, que dormía en el cuarto de Ruth

«The light’s on in the room. It’s not dark at all. It’s bright. And I heard the footsteps coming up, and I heard this heavy breathing like somebody was chugging up those stairs, you know. You know, having a bit of difficulty maybe. And then I hear this moaning. And like a presence in the doorway, and a moaning. Just, “Ooohhh.” Just like——Oh, classic moan!» — y lo que oye con la luz encendida: pasos subiendo, respiración pesada como de quien sube con esfuerzo, y un gemido en la puerta

«But I couldn’t move, you know. I was looking at the doorway. My head was kind of turned … I was just there! I didn’t even want to move. That’s what they asked me afterwards.» — la inmovilidad de Joan, que ella describe como no querer moverse

«They said, “Well why didn’t you just make us get up?” And I just said, “Well, you know, there was no explanation for it. I guess I could have gone over and just said, ‘Get up! Get up!’ but I just couldn’t do it.” I just didn’t——It just wasn’t in my mind to do it. I just, you know, went through this thing. You know, this——I was supposed to go through it or something. I don’t know. I have no explanation for it.» — y su respuesta a lo que después le preguntaron, que es una abstención de la propia testigo: no supo por qué no pudo

«And then physically it’s like a tingling through your shoulders. And then kind of a heaviness, maybe. Or a pressure. A heaviness in your chest and it kind of just spreads down through your body until you just can’t move.» — la secuencia sensorial que Joan describe a pedido de Hufford: hormigueo en los hombros, pesadez o presión en el pecho y luego la inmovilidad

«Well, or like you just don’t think about moving really, at first. It’s not like you’re really concentrating on, “Well, I’ve gotta get out of this thing,” you know. “I can’t let this happen,” right away. Because it feels good. It’s not a bad feeling.» — con el matiz que la testigo insiste en dar: al principio no piensa en moverse porque la sensación es agradable

«Like when your leg’s waking up from being asleep? CAROL: No. It’s not like that at all. That’s more of an irritation type.» — la analogía que alguien más propone en la sala y que Carol rechaza: no es el miembro dormido, que es más bien irritación

«Yeah. This is a very pleasant like, rippling—— CAROL: Very sensual3——(Laughs.) HUFFORD: Rippling? JOAN: Yeah. HUFFORD: Through the surface of your skin? JOAN: No, more inwardly. CAROL: Inward.» — y la que ellas prefieren: un ondular agradable, hacia dentro

«It’s like your nerve ends are just all being stimulated by some real pleasant— vibration or something. And it’s a real pleasant sensation.» — con la formulación de Carol: terminaciones nerviosas estimuladas por una vibración placentera

«It depends on what you mean by a vibration, but I don’t know——You know, I wouldn’t really think of it as that.» — y la resistencia de Joan a aceptar el término *vibración* que Hufford le ofrece

«No, it was in——It was physically away from me in the room. Like maybe five feet away from me in the room.» — la presencia del caso 20, que Joan sitúa a unos cinco pies de ella y fuera de su cuerpo

«Well, because my bed is——the foot of my bed is maybe six feet and from there my head is——you know——it seemed like maybe at the foot of my bed. Like in the room and the room wasn’t that big.» — con el cálculo que da al preguntársele cómo lo sabe, midiendo por su propia cama

«So you had a sensation of its location without seeing it? JOAN: Yes.» — y la confirmación de que percibía la ubicación sin ver nada

«The intent, maybe. I felt like it was trying to control me. It was trying——After, you know, after I thought about it for awhile—all night long—I realized that I had to get away. That I wasn’t strong enough to overpower it. That it——it wanted to overcome my will. That it was intent on either doing something to make me—I don’t know—freak out mentally——Or it wanted me to do something evil physically.» — la intención que Joan sí le atribuye: dominarle la voluntad, hacerla enloquecer o hacerle cometer algo malo

«I just call it the force because I have no theories about it——But whatever it is it takes its time to know you, and know the people in the house, and just everybody’s little routines. CAROL: Yeah. JOAN: And their personalities and their strong points and their weaknesses. And kind of get to know everybody before anything happens.» — con el nombre que la propia testigo elige por no tener teoría, *la fuerza*, y lo que le atribuye: tomarse su tiempo para conocer a la gente de la casa y sus rutinas

«Oh, by the way, how were you lying? On your side? JOAN: On my back.» — y la pregunta con que Hufford recoge el dato de postura: boca arriba

«In a house that Judy and Betty and I——Well, we had just moved out there. I was in the house by myself and I was sleeping. I had gone to bed and I was expecting other people to come home that night. And I thought I heard somebody come home, close the door, and walk in the house. And I thought somebody had come home, but nobody——I called out somebody’s name and nobody was there, so I went back to sleep.» — el episodio anterior que Joan añade, en otra casa: pasos y una puerta que se cierran sin nadie

«When I had kind of gone back into a sleep I started having this tingling sensation, and just a freezing, you know. Like just total paralysis. Total paralysis.» — y el hormigueo con congelamiento y parálisis total al volver a dormirse

«While in Bowling Green, I was able to contact this priest and discuss the case with him at some length. He said that he had in fact been skeptical at first, but that their account included details that rang true and that he did not think they would be likely to know about.» — declara haber verificado con el sacerdote que bendijo la casa: dice que era escéptico al principio y que el relato traía detalles que sonaban ciertos y que ellas no habrían podido conocer

«He did not specify these details. He did bless the house, but the frightening events continued» — con el límite de esa verificación, dicho en la misma frase: el sacerdote no especificó cuáles, y los sucesos siguieron tras la bendición

«He had left this crucifix hanging in our house. And he also left some holy water and a blessed candle. And that night that we went out there we couldn’t find the holy water anywhere.» — y el detalle que la testigo consigna al volver: el agua bendita desaparecida, con el crucifijo y la vela todavía en su sitio

«And the cat, Ruth’s cat, came and jumped on my bed, and started curling up around my neck. So I had to throw the cat off the bed about ten times. So I was wide awake, and I was just trying to get back to sleep when it touched me again and I couldn’t move!» — del último episodio de Carol: el gato de Ruth trepándose a su cuello la deja bien despierta, y al intentar dormirse otra vez llega el toque y la inmovilidad

«(He) said that he did this, had these dreams——he called them dreams——like during his childhood repeatedly. You know, like recurring dreams. And he said they were always frightening experiences.» — de Bill, amigo de Ruth, referido por Carol: episodios recurrentes en la infancia, que él llamaba sueños y describía como aterradores

«He said for like about seventeen years or fifteen years, he hadn’t had this dream. And this night … he said he had that recurring dream. And he said he woke up and he couldn’t move, and he was just lying there thinking, “I’m never going to come to this house again! These girls are foolish for staying here!» — y su reaparición esa noche en la casa, tras quince o diecisiete años, con la inmovilidad al despertar

«So he had, in the past, fifteen or sixteen years before, experienced this where he would wake up from dreams and be unable to move? And it happened to him again there? CAROL: Yes. And it happened to him in the house. And he thought that the house was, like, the cause.» — con la adjudicación que el propio Bill hizo, y que Hufford recoge sin suscribir: la casa era la causa

«I feel something really weird from you. Like I know you’re really upset about something. And you know, I’m just wondering if it has anything to do with witchcraft or anything like this?» — del encuentro casual en el bar: una desconocida le dice a Ruth que percibe algo raro en ella y pregunta si tiene que ver con brujería

«And she told me that her father was a warlock. And that he had left her family when she was pretty young, maybe 10 years old or so. He left her family because of the fact that he was a warlock, and he didn’t want to involve his family in it. You know, black magic, or whatever it was he was into. And she said, you know, “I myself am not into it a whole lot, but I am receptive to it.» — y lo que esa mujer declara de sí misma: su padre era brujo y dejó a la familia por eso, y ella no practica pero es receptiva

«But it blew me away that someone who didn’t even know me could feel the vibes. Could feel that something was present. That something was wrong.» — con lo que a Ruth le impresiona del encuentro

«coming up the driveway we saw the porch light was on and several of the lights in the house were on, that we had not left on. Especially the porch light, I’m sure was off when we left. So we go around and we parked in back of the house. We go inside the house. And by the time we get in the house, the porch light has been turned off.» — y el episodio de esa misma noche: luces encendidas que no habían dejado así, y la del porche apagándose mientras entraban

«So far, it is possible to support a hypothesis about the role—or lack thereof—of culture in the production of one class of personal experience frequently interpreted by the subject as supernatural.» — declara hasta dónde llega su apoyo: una hipótesis sobre el papel de la cultura, o su falta, en producir una clase de experiencia que el sujeto interpreta como sobrenatural

«The more obvious ways of explaining away this class of experience can be rejected, and it can be tentatively associated with a particular state of consciousness. Any further leap to final explanations would still be premature.» — con lo que da por hecho y donde se detiene: se pueden rechazar los modos obvios de despachar la experiencia y asociarla tentativamente a un estado de consciencia, y cualquier salto a explicaciones finales sería prematuro

«All of the Old Hag-paralysis accounts given in both interviews were provided spontaneously.» — y la segunda: todos los relatos de parálisis salieron espontáneamente en las dos entrevistas

«Montell treated Carol and Ruth as observers rather than as storytellers, asking questions about both their observations and their interpretations that are often omitted in the collection of “folk tales.”» — le atribuye a Montell el método que hizo posible el detalle: tratarlas como observadoras y no como narradoras, preguntando por observaciones e interpretaciones

«I obviously did the same, but Montell’s use of this approach is to be commended because he did not have the specific motivation that I did.» — con el mérito que le reconoce: Montell no tenía la motivación específica que él sí tenía

«Clearly, if we wish to know more about the nature and role of personal experience in traditional accounts of the supernatural this is the most effective way to conduct interviews.» — y la conclusión metodológica que saca de ahí

«The most intriguing aspect of this case from the perspective of the present study is the number of paralysis attacks reported to have taken place at the house. Five episodes seem identifiable as Old Hag attacks:» — lo que más le interesa del caso 20: el número de ataques de parálisis en una misma casa, cinco identificables

«Ruth’s experience in the afternoon in the living room, which begins the story; Carol’s episode that included the sounds of laughter, the foul smell, and the bed-banging; Joan’s repeated attacks the night before she left, which theoretically could be separated into at least two discrete parts, one downstairs and one upstairs; Carol’s second described attack in the house following which she called Ruth and Bill into her room; and Bill’s subsequent attack.» — con el inventario de los cinco, uno por uno, incluida la salvedad de que los de Joan podrían separarse en dos

«Each of these also includes references to similar attacks that are not described in detail but are said to have happened in the house.» — y anota que cada uno remite a otros no descritos en detalle

«Two additional attacks—one described by Carol and one by Joan—had happened before they rented the house, and they believed these were identical to the ones they experienced during the haunting.» — más dos anteriores a la mudanza, que las testigos daban por idénticos

«And Bill stated, as reported by Ruth and Carol, that he had a personal history of such attacks, but that none had occurred for over ten years before the night he spent at their house.» — y el historial de Bill, referido de segunda mano por Ruth y Carol