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To give you an idea between 1331 and 1360 noble dowries averaged 500 ducats
为了让你们好理解1331和1360年间，贵族嫁妆平均是500金币
During the period 1361 to 90, the following three decades
1361到1390年间，即之后的三十年
the average grew from 500 to 873 ducats
嫁妆平均数由500增加到873金币
By the second half of the 15th century, a century later the average had risen to 1,230 ducats
到15世纪下半页，即一个世纪之后，平均增长到1230金币之多
Nearly a 50 percent increase
增幅将近50%
And they still kept going up
此后仍不断攀升
By the first decade of the 16th century the average noble dowry had grown to 1,700 ducats
到16世纪前十年，贵族嫁妆的平均数增至1700金币
That's a 350 percent increase during the 180 years since 1331
自1331年起的180年间增加了350%
Here I want to say a bit more about Venetian dowries
我想再说一下威尼斯人的嫁妆
Because they are the thread connecting love marriage and lineage
因为它维系着爱情，婚姻与血统
Their breathtaking rise posed serious financial problems for families of marrying daughters
嫁妆的惊人的增长为女方家人造成了一个重大的财政难题
The preamble to one of the futile dowry limiting laws
当时产生了一项限制嫁妆法
That the Senate enacted to stem the tide stated that
由上院制定以抑制此趋势，其中一部的序言写到
the relentless inflation prevented many nobles from arranging marriages for their daughter
无情的通胀使众多贵族家庭无法为女儿们定亲
with the result that many girls were
导致了许多闺秀们
in the words of the law imprisoned in convents amid tears and wailing
用法规的话来说，禁闭在修道院中以泪洗面
One estimate is that by the middle of the 16th century
一项预计显示，到16世纪中页
more than half of all patrician women were locked up or in convents
有大半的适婚女儿被束之闺阁或修道院
Although some of them went voluntarily
当然有一些是自愿的
But even fathers who did manage to gather enough wealth for a respectable marriage
但即使一个父亲有足够的财富为女儿筹办体面的亲事
did so in the words of one dowry limiting act to the detriment of their male heirs
其结果却如法规所言，对他儿子们造成损害
That was no exaggeration
这并不夸张
One woman writing her will left all her property to her father because
一个女人在遗嘱中写到，死后所有财产留给父亲
as she put it he was so unmindful of his other daughters and his sons
她说他如此不顾其他儿女
that he put half of his wealth into my dowry
而将大半财产为我置办嫁妆
And she asked her husband pardon for not leaving him anything
她请求丈夫的原谅，因为她并未给他留下任何遗产
And a patrician father was even more explicit
另外一位贵族父亲更加直接
he denied his married daughter any share in his estate
死后他已婚的女儿不能分到他一丁点房产
Because he said and there's a quote she has received much more than her brothers will get
引用他说的，她得到的已经多过她兄弟将得到的
Another woman the mother of one girl and one boy divided her estate between them
另一个育有一儿一女的母亲将她的财产分给了两人
Except that her daughter in her words should have over and above her share as much extra
但她的女儿，据她所说应享有她份额之外另外的部分
as my executors deem necessary for her dowry
只要遗嘱执行人认为是嫁妆所需就行
All of this points to the exquisite dilemma faced by parents of daughters
所有这些说明了这些女儿的父母所面临的微妙困境
Either they imposed hardships on their families by allocating large dowries
如果置办大额嫁妆的话，他们会为家庭带来困境
or they risked forfeiting patrician honor
或置其贵族荣耀于险地
And the advantages of well-placed sons and brothers in law by not doing so
如果不置办的话，会损害有好着落的女婿叔侄的利益
