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8、The Village That Sacrificed Itself
自我牺牲的村庄
In 1665, a tailor from the village of Eyam in Derbyshire, England ordered cloth from London. When the delivery came, the village received much more than just cloth—it became infected with the plague, which was already laying waste to the capital. People started dying, but they knew the plague hadn’t spread to nearby villages. So, led by clergyman William Mompesson, the villagers decided to quarantine themselves, staying in the plague-stricken town to prevent the disease from spreading.
1665年，一位英格兰德贝郡Eyam村的裁缝向伦敦订购布料。当货物送达时，这个村庄收到的远不止是布料——还有布料所染上的，在首都垃圾堆中蛰伏已久的鼠疫。人们开始死去，但是他们知道这瘟疫并未向邻近村庄传播。所以，在牧师William Mompesson的领导下，村民们决定自我隔离，驻留这被瘟疫击倒的小村庄里以防止其继续向外扩散。
The quarantine began in June 1666. From that point onward, no one could enter or leave the village. Neighboring towns left food at designated places well outside of the village proper. Pre-quarantine, 78 died, and by the end of the plague, that number climbed to 256. Before the townspeople opened their village once again to outsiders, they burned furniture and clothing, hoping to eradicate any traces of the disease that might still lie dormant.
这场隔离行动开始于1666年6月。从那时起，没人可以出入村庄。附近诸村只能将食物留在该村外的指定地点。在隔离前已有78人死亡，在瘟疫结束时，死亡人数攀升至256人。在村民们重新开放村庄与外界接触时，他们烧毁了家具和衣物，希望彻底销毁任何可能残留瘟疫的遗迹。
The sacrifice was a success. None of the neighboring villages had a single case of the plague. Mompesson lost his wife Katherine to the disease, but he himself survived.
这场牺牲成功了。邻近村庄无一人染上鼠疫。Mompesson 牧师在瘟疫中痛失爱妻，但自己侥幸存活。
