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It happened with astounding, terrifying swiftness,
它突如其來 氣勢(shì)洶洶
and it started where you'd least expect it not some destitute mud-hole in the back of beyond,
起源于最始料未及的地方 不在那些赤貧的邊疆之地
but in the most economically developed region of rural England,
而在英國農(nóng)村經(jīng)濟(jì)最為發(fā)達(dá)的地區(qū)
the belt of rich, fertile country stretching from Kent,over the Medway and Thames,to Essex and southern East Anglia.
在那片富饒地帶 由肯特開始 跨梅德韋郡和泰晤士河 直到埃塞克斯及東英格蘭南部
The thing about the Peasants' Revolt is that the people who started it weren't really peasants at all.
這次所謂的農(nóng)民起義 根本不是 由農(nóng)民發(fā)起的
At any rate, they certainly weren't the straw-chewing,pitchfork-waving yokels of legend.
至少 肯定不是那些嚼著麥稈 揮舞干草叉的鄉(xiāng)下佬所為
No, they were people with something to lose the village elite,
而是一些有點(diǎn)權(quán)勢(shì)的 村莊的精英們所為
men who'd served as constables and stewards and jurors,
治安官 管理員 法官等
men who'd moved into those vacant lots that had been left behind by victims of the plague.
他們因禍得福 得到了感染瘟疫而死之人空出的職位
They'd made some money and weren't about to see it go down the drain to line the pockets of some pen-pusher in Westminster.
他們賺了一些錢 不想眼看自己前功盡棄 任由威斯敏斯特的官員盤剝
What's more, they knew how to make an army out of those one rung down on the social ladder,
而且 他們知道如何號(hào)召 下層人民奮起反抗
families just above the poverty line,who had to sell their labour to make ends meet.
號(hào)召那些掙扎在貧困線上 勉強(qiáng)收支相抵的家庭
They were already angry at government attempts to peg back their steadily rising wages to pre-plague levels.
他們已經(jīng)對(duì)政府試圖將他們 正在上升的薪金拉回瘟疫前水平的做法 多有不滿
The balance had tipped in favour of the survivors and they were determined to keep it that way.
天平已經(jīng)向幸存者傾斜 他們決心保持如此
