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想必喜欢美剧的小伙伴们一定都看过《美国恐怖故事第四季畸形秀》吧，不造你们有木有被剧中演员的畸形造型“吓尿”呢。英语君提醒各位胆小的小伙伴，千万不要一个人的时候看哦，不然……后果自负……而对于那些胆小的单身汪们，英语君劝你们，还是直接弃剧吧~~~不然，漆黑的雨晚不好过呀！
但是，看过剧的小伙伴们一定不知道，《美国恐怖故事第四季》中的角色大部分在历史上都有真实的人物原型！（有木有感觉头皮发麻嘞？）下面就跟着英语君一起来了解下那些角色背后的故事吧!（胆小慎入~~~）。

声明：本文系沪江英语原创内容，转载请注明出处。中文翻译仅代表译者个人观点，仅供参考。如有不妥之处，欢迎指正。

1

These conjoined twins are probably the most famous freak show act. Did you know they got married to sisters and had 21 children between them? Chang died of a stroke first, and Eng died the next day.
这些连体双胞胎可能是最为著名的畸形秀演员了。你知道吗，他们甚至娶了一对姐妹，还生了21个孩子。昌先死于中风，而第二天，恩也过世了。

2

Isaac Sprague toured with P.T. Barnum as the “Human Skeleton.” In his 40s, he weighed about 40 lbs and eventually died due to his strange condition.
Isaac Sprague有“骷髅人”之称，他跟随巴纳姆巡回演出。四十多岁的他仅18公斤重，最终死于这种奇怪的症状。

3

The Snow sisters (pictured above) and Schlitze suffered from microcephaly, which meant their brains and skulls were abnormally small. They’re developmentally delayed as well, possessing a child-like innocence. At the time, they were referred to as “pinheads.” All three starred in the classic 1930s film FREAKS.
雪姐妹（如上图）和Schlitze患有小头畸形，她们的大脑和头盖骨异常之小。同时，她们发育迟缓，像孩童般天真无邪。那时候，她们被称为“pinhead”(意为针头，也意为畸形小头的白痴)。她们参演了上个世纪30年代的经典电影《畸形人》。

4

Obviously we know now that the Fiji Mermaid was just a hoax designed to attract crowds. P.T. Barnum was nothing if not savvy. He attached a monkey skeleton’s upper half to that of a large fish, thus creating what could have been a “mermaid” skeleton. An ugly mermaid for sure, but it worked. Barnum tripled his crowds solely by promising a “free” sneak peek at the mermaid with purchase of a ticket.
我们都知道斐济美人鱼只是一个吸引眼球的骗局。巴纳姆靠他的精明，使得斐济美人鱼轰动一时。他将猴子的上半身骨架和一条大鱼缝合在一起，这样便制造出一具“美人鱼”骨架。虽然很丑，但确实管用——只要买票就可以“免费”先睹为快，巴纳姆靠此吸引了3倍观众。

5

Lentini had three legs, yes—that’s pretty crazy on its own. But he ALSO had two sets of genitals.
伦蒂尼有三条腿——听起来已经足够疯狂，但是，他还有两套生殖系统！

6

Both Jo Jo and his father had hypertrichosis, which means an abnormal amount of hair growth all over the face and body. He moved from Russia to the U.S., where he joined up with who else—Barnum—and became a famous sideshow performer. He would often bark like a dog and growl at the crowds.
Jo Jo和父亲都患有多毛症，因此他们身体和脸上长了大量毛发。他从俄罗斯搬去美国，跟随巴纳姆成为了著名的畸形秀表演者。他通常会像狗一样吠叫，并向观众嚎叫。

7

Stiles’ extremities were fused together like LOBSTER CLAWS, hence the name. Two of his children inherited this condition and they toured the country. However, Stiles was a nasty alcoholic, and shot and killed his daughter’s fiancé. He escaped jail time despite confessing because no prison or facility could care for someone with his disability. Later, Stiles’ wife hired another sideshow performer to murder her husband in 1992, claiming his abuse had gotten worse and she was afraid for her family.
斯泰尔斯的四肢像龙虾爪子一样，并由此得名。他的两个孩子遗传了这种疾病，也同样进行全国巡演。然而斯泰尔斯是个脾气暴躁的酒鬼，开枪射杀了女儿的未婚夫。尽管他承认了自己的罪行，但仍无需坐牢，因为没有任何监狱或机构能够照料他的残疾。之后，他妻子雇佣了另一名畸形秀表演者，并在1992年将丈夫谋杀。她声称他的虐待日趋严重，她为自己的家庭感到担忧。

8

Ruth Davis was born with phocomelia—“seal limbs.” She toured the sideshow circuit as “Mignon, the Penguin Girl” and married twice before retiring from sideshow life in the ‘60s.
露丝·戴维斯生下来就患有短肢畸形，又称海豹肢症。她在马戏团以“米尼翁企鹅女孩”的旗号进行畸形秀巡回演出，退休于上个世纪60年代，在此之前结过两次婚。

9

This man could stretch the skin out from any part of his body AND bend his toes and fingers all over the place. He suffered from what is known as Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome. The Elastic Man toured with Barnum & Bailey shows for years.
这个男人能够拉伸出任意身体部位的皮肤，且能随意弯曲脚趾和手指。他患有“埃勒斯-当洛综合征”（又称弹力过度性皮肤），跟随巴纳姆演出多年。