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It happened with astounding, terrifying swiftness,
它突如其来 气势汹汹
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 不在那些赤贫的边疆之地
but in the most economically developed region of rural England,
而在英国农村经济最为发达的地区
the belt of rich, fertile country stretching from Kent,over the Medway and Thames,to Essex and southern East Anglia.
在那片富饶地带 由肯特开始 跨梅德韦郡和泰晤士河 直到埃塞克斯及东英格兰南部
The thing about the Peasants' Revolt is that the people who started it weren't really peasants at all.
这次所谓的农民起义 根本不是 由农民发起的
At any rate, they certainly weren't the straw-chewing,pitchfork-waving yokels of legend.
至少 肯定不是那些嚼着麦秆 挥舞干草叉的乡下佬所为
No, they were people with something to lose the village elite,
而是一些有点权势的 村庄的精英们所为
men who'd served as constables and stewards and jurors,
治安官 管理员 法官等
men who'd moved into those vacant lots that had been left behind by victims of the plague.
他们因祸得福 得到了感染瘟疫而死之人空出的职位
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.
他们赚了一些钱 不想眼看自己前功尽弃 任由威斯敏斯特的官员盘剥
What's more, they knew how to make an army out of those one rung down on the social ladder,
而且 他们知道如何号召 下层人民奋起反抗
families just above the poverty line,who had to sell their labour to make ends meet.
号召那些挣扎在贫困线上 勉强收支相抵的家庭
They were already angry at government attempts to peg back their steadily rising wages to pre-plague levels.
他们已经对政府试图将他们 正在上升的薪金拉回瘟疫前水平的做法 多有不满
The balance had tipped in favour of the survivors and they were determined to keep it that way.
天平已经向幸存者倾斜 他们决心保持如此
