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While the plague took, it could also give.
瘟疫盡管有奪 但也有予
In the first year of the Black Death,John Crudchate, who is a minor,
在黑死病的第一年 約翰·克魯切特 一個小孩
became an orphan, but an orphan with assets,because he could now inherit the lots left to him by his father and another relative.
成為了孤兒 但卻是個有錢的孤兒 因為他可以繼承他父親和另一個親戚 給他留下的財產
This must have been the making of a small but serious village fortune.
瘟疫使得零散的農村資源開始整合
In another place in the rolls, we learn that the harvest had become twice as expensive to gather in.
在卷宗中提到的另一個地方 可以看到 為獲豐收 需投入的成本整整提高了一倍
Twelve pence, written in Roman numerals, per acre,because, the rolls say,of the plague and the scarcity of labour.
每英畝需十二便士 那是用羅馬數字寫的 按照卷宗中所說 這是因為瘟疫和勞動力缺乏
Workers, it seems, were thin on the ground and were beginning to charge accordingly.
看起來 市面上的工人越來越少 要價自然也就水漲船高
Farnham's story could be repeated all through Britain.
法納姆的故事在英國隨處可見
The countryside after the Black Death was an irreversibly altered world.
黑死病后的農村 發生了永久性的改變
For one thing, there were no more serfs.
其中之一就是 再也沒有農奴了
For centuries, being a serf meant being tied by custom and by birth to your local lord.
幾個世紀以來 成為農奴意味著 你在道義和血統上都依附于你的領主
He gave you a tiny spot of land on which you could farm,and in return, you put in hours of grinding toil,unpaid, on his very big farm.
他給你一塊小得可憐的土地讓你耕種 而作為回報 你得在他的大農場中 無償地做苦力
There were other ways, too, in which you were not free.
生活的方方面面 你都沒有自由
You had to ask his permission to marry,and you were not, repeat not, ever to leave.until, that is, the Black Death.
得到領主的允許才能結婚 而且你永遠永遠不得離開 直到 黑死病的降臨
