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A debt of just 2 pounds would get you locked up in a debtor's prison.
哪怕只欠了两磅的债务 也足以把你打入欠债人监狱
The prison, like almost everything else in greedy, managerial, hanoverian Britain,
在这个利欲熏心的汉诺威王朝 监狱也和其他事物一样
was a business,a matter of pounds, shillings and pence.
成为了充斥金钱的交易场合
5,000 was the price one John Huggins paid for the wardenship of the Fleet Prison,
一个叫约翰·哈金斯的人 曾用五千磅买得舰队监狱典狱长之职
the equivalent of half-a-million pounds today.
这相当于现在的五十万英镑
The way he could recoup his investment was to charge inmates for their stay.
想要收回投资成本 他就得在狱中敲诈犯人
The hotel from hell, including, of course,the rent for their shackles.
牢房的陈设可以天差地别 当然也包括 租用镣铐
A fiver would get you your own cell,a few shillings more, something approximating food.
五英镑即可换得单人牢房 再加几先令 就能得到可下咽的饭菜
Less than that, you took your chance in the packed common prison,
如若付不起 就只能和其他犯人挤牢房
sleeping on the floor,no air, no sanitation,and smallpox waiting to get you.
夜宿地板 没有新鲜空气 没有卫生设施 极有可能染上天花
"Who are the real criminals?"
到底谁才是真正的罪犯
Was the cry on the streets, in coffee houses,and in the newspapers of London.
这个话题在街头巷尾 在咖啡馆 甚至在报纸上都有广泛讨论
Everywhere you looked,the line between the law enforcers and the law breakers seemed arbitrary.
环顾四周 你会发现执法者与犯法者的界线 模糊不清
In 1725,the Lord Chancellor was convicted of embezzling 80,000 pounds.People had had enough.
1725年 大法官因挪用公款八万磅被判罪 人们已忍无可忍
