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Now there was a desperate labour shortage,and the simple operation of the laws of supply and demand
如今勞動力嚴重短缺 根據簡單的供需關系法則
meant that for the first time,you could set the terms of the deal.
這就意味著有史以來第一次 你可以在交易中提條件
He wanted labour out of you, well, you could say,"Why not start by paying me something?"
他需要你的勞動力 那你可以說 那先付我錢吧
He wants you to move into a piece of land which otherwise would go to rack and ruin,
他希望你移居進入他的土地 不然這塊地就得全荒廢掉了
you respond by saying, "OK, cut the rent."
你就可以回復他 沒問題 但得減租
And if the lord says,"No chance, you impertinent so-and-so,"well, you just up sticks and find someone else
如果領主膽敢妄言 沒門 你算個什么東西等等 你大可以拔腿就走
who's got a more secure grip on the new economic facts of life.
找個更能把握經濟生活新方向的雇主
Well, hundreds of thousands of peasants must have done just that,
成百上千的農民 正是如此做的
and there was nothing anybody could do about it.
對此 無人能改變
It was not just the social order that the plague shook loose.
這場瘟疫撼動的 不僅僅是社會秩序
It also ate away at the sense of security offered by the Church,
它還侵蝕了教堂 賦予人們的安全感
especially since the regular clergy seemed powerless to provide help for the afflicted or even for themselves.
因為普通的牧師對人們的遭遇 無能為力 甚至無力自救
In 1349, the Bishop of Bath and Wells,seeing that there was a serious shortage of priests,
1349年 由于牧師嚴重短缺 巴思和威爾士的主教
authorised laymen to hear the confession of the dying.
授權讓普通人聽取將死之人的懺悔
"Or," He wrote,"Even a woman, if no man is available."
或者 他寫道 如果沒有男人 女人也行
