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No one knew it at the time,but the tightly-packed streets, alleys and houses of a place like Bristol made a perfect factory farm for the bacillus.
当时没人了解这种疾病 但像布里斯托尔这样街道 小巷及屋舍 都紧紧挤在一起的市镇 成为了杆菌上佳的培养皿
Vermin, crawling with fleas,lived alongside the crowded population of people and animals.
爬满跳蚤的害虫到处乱窜 和拥挤的人群及牲畜 共居一处
The nibble of a flea was a common irritation in this lousy, ant-heap world.
在这个藏污纳秽 人口密集的地方 跳蚤叮咬是很常见的烦恼
And even when the buboes appeared,there was no reason to suppose that fleas or rats were responsible.
即使之后出现了淋巴结炎 也没有丝毫理由怀疑 跳蚤和老鼠是罪魁祸首
But there was no doubt about what would happen next.
当然 结果可想而知
The youngest, the oldest and the poorest those with least resistance would be taken first.but then everyone else, too.
老人 小孩和穷人 这些抵抗力最低的人 首先死去 接下来 无人能幸免
In a town this ripe for infection,almost half the population would have perished in the first year.
这一个小镇的疫情 使得在第一年里 就有将近一半的人口死亡
Among them, 15 of Bristol's 52 city councillors,their names struck through as they died.
包括布里斯托尔52名市议员中的15人 他们的名字被划去 表示死亡
Terrified and bewildered,the healthy abandoned the sick to their fate.
惊恐又困惑的健康人 抛下了病患 任由他们自生自灭
Whole towns, villages, even families,were cruelly divided into the living and the dying.
城镇 村寨 甚至家族 都被残忍划分为活着和将死的人
Husbands would have shunned their wives,fathers and mothers recoiled from contact with their children.
丈夫躲避着妻子 父母不再愿意和自己孩子亲近
