In the last few weeks, we've been looking at various aspects of the social history of London, and this morning we're continuing with a look at life in the area called the East End.

在过去的几周当中，我们已经了解了伦敦社会史的多种方面。今天上午我们继续来了解一下这个叫做伦敦东区的地方的人们的生活。

I'll start with a brief history of the district, and then focus on life in the first half of the twentieth century.

我会以这个区的简短历史介绍为开始，然后重点放在二十世纪前半叶当地人民的生活上。

Back in the first to the fourth centuries AD, when the Romans controlled England, London grew into a town of 45,000 people, and what's now the East End - the area by the river Thames, and along the road heading north-east from London to the coast - consisted of farmland with crops and livestock which helped to feed that population.

回到公元一到四世纪罗马人控制英格兰的时候，当时的伦敦发展成了一个拥有4万5千人口的城镇。这个区域的划分是以泰晤士河，以及一条从伦敦通往东北方向海岸的公路为界限，整个区域都是庄稼地以及牲畜，用来供养伦敦的人口。

The Romans left in 410, at the beginning of the fifth century, and from then onwards the country suffered a series of invasions by tribes from present-day Germany and Denmark, the Angles, Saxons and Jutes, many of whom settled in the East End.

五世纪初，410年罗马人离开伦敦，从那时起，这个国家遭受了一系列的来自现在的德国和丹麦，盎格鲁、撒克逊和朱特地区的部落的入侵，他们中很多都定居在了东部地区。

The technology they introduced meant that metal and leather goods were produced there for the first time. And as the East End was by the river, ships could transport goods between there and foreign markets.

他们引入的技术使得那里第一次造出了金属和皮质的物品，而且因为当时的伦敦位于河边，因此可以通过船在伦敦和外国市场之间运送货物。

In the eleventh century, in 1066 to be precise, the Normans conquered England, and during the next few centuries London became one of the most powerful and prosperous cities in Europe.

在11世纪，准确的说是1066年，诺曼人征服了英格兰，在之后的几个世纪中伦敦变成了欧洲最有实力并且最繁华的城市之一。

The East End benefited from this, and because there were fewer restrictions there than in the city itself, plenty of newcomers settled there from abroad, bringing their skills as workers, merchants or money-lenders during the next few hundred years.

伦敦东区得利于此，而且因为当时那里的管制条例比城内的少，之后的几百年里国外大批的新移民都扎根在此，并且带来他们的各种技能如工人、商人或者放贷者。

In the sixteenth century the first dock was dug where ships were constructed, eventually making the East End the focus of massive international trade.

在16世纪时，第一个船坞的挖建意味着可以轮船可以开始建造了，最终使得当时的伦敦成为国际大宗贸易的焦点。

And in the late sixteenth century, when much of the rest of England was suffering economically, a lot of agricultural workers came to the East End to look for alternative work.

在16世纪后期，当英格兰其余地区的经济不好的时候，大批的农业工作者都来到伦敦找寻其他的工作。

In the seventeenth century, the East End was still a series of separate, semi-rural settlements.

在17世纪时，伦敦东区仍然是一系列分隔的、半乡村化的居住地。

There was a shortage of accommodation, so marshland was drained and built on to house the large numbers of people now living there.

那里紧缺住宿，所以沼泽地的水分被排干用来建造房屋，现在大量的人口在那里居住。

By the nineteenth century London was the busiest port in the world, and this became the main source of employment in the East End.

到了19世纪伦敦成为了世界上最繁忙的港口，这也成为了当时伦敦最主要的就业资源。

Those who could afford to live in more pleasant surroundings moved out, and the area became one where the vast majority of people lived in extreme poverty, and suffered from appalling sanitary conditions.

那些能够负担起更好环境的人们搬出伦敦，剩下的绝大多数人生活的极其贫困，并且忍受着极其恶劣的卫生条件。