The land of the sages: The ancestors would rather die than leave to avoid the spread of the plague, but later generations refused to compensate for money

In the age of backward medical treatment, humans will always panic to the point of losing their minds when facing the plague, so that it spreads from a local area to a larger area. Similar tragedies abound in the past few hundred years. The biggest tragedy occurred in 17th century Europe, which is the "European Black Death" and "Plague of the Century" recorded in history books.

Any written record related to the Black Death in Europe cannot be separated from the words " Rats, British and 25 million dead in Europe ", if restored In historical terms, that is, " a diseased mouse infects the virus to the British, and the British infects the plague to the whole of Europe ". It is said that at its worst, more than 7,000 people died of the Black Death every week in London.

But the strange thing is that although the catastrophe that caused the deaths of 25 million people in Europe, although it began to spread in London, the northern part of the United Kingdom was unscathed and unaffected. All this is closely related to the village of Yam in the Derbyshire valley in central England. It can even be said that the villagers kept the plague out of the "gate" in north-central England.

The village of Yam is very small. The residents mainly come from the miners who mine lead mines in England in the Middle Ages. Because the reserves of lead mines are sufficient to supply the needs of the North and the South, the English government will connect the North and the South. The transportation supply point was set up in the village of Yam, which became the only way for British merchants from north and south, and the villagers also benefited from a superior life.

However, the original prosperous and peaceful life was broken by uninvited guests: a cloth merchant from London brought the plague to the village of Yam, the tailor who had the most contact with the cloth merchant Two days later, she fell into a coma with fever and died of skin ulceration. As the doctors and visitors left, the villagers also developed high fever symptoms.

At this time, news of the Black Death came from London hundreds of kilometers away. In order to avoid the plague, the villagers decided to evacuate north.

The first objection was Pastor William. He summoned the villagers in the church to discuss: If you evacuate to the north, you will definitely bring the plague to the north; if Staying in the village may prevent the plague from spreading to most of the remaining British .

After a simple discussion, the villagers made the most painful choice: stay and prevent the plague from spreading through Yam village to the north .

If you go, you may not be able to live, and no one knows if you are infected with the plague; if you don’t go, you will die, and even those who are not infected are easily infected. But we are willing to try, because kindness needs to be passed on, and future generations must remember kindness .

This passage was engraved on the monument in the central clearing of Yam Village, and this history was also written into the 1950 edition of the English textbook.

The villagers who would rather die than go to the north are passed by the resolution. The road was blocked, leaving a few strong men on the side of the road to stop pedestrians, and the others locked themselves in cages or walls with wells, confirmed the infected person and moved them to the wine cellar and basement, uninfected or confirmed Only those who are cured can leave.

Unfortunately, everyone who entered the wine cellar and basement failed to survive . In that era of lack of antibiotics and medical standards, the survival rate of plague infection was negligible.

Over time, more and more villagers were confirmed to be infected with the Black Death, and more and more tombs appeared in the villageIn the end, almost the entire village was there. The reason there are only tombstones is because the infected corpses can only be buried deeply, leaving the tombstones to write a few words to warn those who live.

For example, what the miner Ryder writes to his daughter is: " Dear child, you have witnessed the greatness of parents and villagers "; the doctor wrote to the wife who returned to her natal family: " Forgive me for not giving you More love because they need me "; Pastor William wrote: " Hope you pass on the kindness "……

亚姆村民His selflessness and bravery soon moved the residents of Baili. To express their gratitude, nearby residents agreed to take turns to bring food and medicine. The villagers who stayed behind were afraid that the plague would spread to these people who came to help. They only agreed to put the materials on the wall at the entrance of the village, where the street signs are now erected. The wall that was once two meters high has already collapsed and only half a meter of wall roots remain.

After the villagers voluntarily quarantined for 400 days, the plague disappeared with the death of the infected person. The Derbyshire government then sent someone to confirm. It is said that the newspapers for ten consecutive days have "贤者之乡" as the front page, and the content is " There are only 70 people left in the village alive, 33 of them are children under 16 years old, and the rest are It is the mother and guardian of these children "; the picture is each tombstone with admonishment written on it.

What is worrying is that these 33 children were left alone in each corner of the church. Except for the pastor’s delivery of food once a day, no one can approach or Allow children to have physical contact with each other. The longing for loved ones and long-term mental depression have caused these children to more or less suffer from mental illness, some of them die in depression or commit suicide because of depression.

Ten years later, King Charles II of England accidentally heard a servant girl talk about her parents’ deeds and was moved to tears on the spot. He immediately asked the whole country to know and amnesty. The descendants of Yam Village are inherited from taxation. So far, the deeds of Yam Village have been widely known. In the subsequent works of countless poets and painters, Yam Villagers have been regarded as representatives of "贤者善人".

and the descendants of these villagers have been implementing the ancestor’s admonitions. Not only did they reject the king’s compensation, but even the Derby County government hundreds of years later gave money away countless times. No land. The most recent one happened in early 2019. The reason they refused was: "We can grow crops, raise cattle and sheep for a living, and we are also used to the stone houses here. There are many people who need this money more than us "

​So, the village of Yam is regarded as a holy place for residents of northern England, and some newlyweds will also hold their weddings in this place that was once ravaged by the plague. Although there are not many people who know this period of history, those who know will rush to take a look, and will chase the villagers to buy their own goat’s milk, vegetables and fruits, in order to express a little bit of heart and kindness. Respect.