A Day in the Life of a Peasant | Teen Ink

A Day in the Life of a Peasant

November 21, 2011
By Mortimer-Micheals-Jacob-Joyce GOLD, Edgar, Wisconsin
Mortimer-Micheals-Jacob-Joyce GOLD, Edgar, Wisconsin
12 articles 0 photos 185 comments

Favorite Quote:
"And when I'm gone, just carry on, don't mourn
Rejoice every time you hear the sound of my voice
Just know that I'm looking down on you smiling
And I didn't feel a thing, So baby don't feel my pain
Just smile back"-Eminem


This peasant did not know how to write.





Just kidding! My work starts on the next page…
















Writing Assignment: Peasant Life
Jacob Joyce
10/28/2010
Dear Journal,





10/28/1010
Today the Baron had a grand feast for the many knights and ladies under his rule. It makes me sick to think about how they can sit up there in their big, fancy castle, eating their fine food, and laughing at each others jokes, while we sit, huddled in our cottage around a fire with barely enough food to survive each day. The Baron robs us blind with his terrible taxes. I hate him. The knight who owns our fief, Sir Bercilak, is very good to us, and tries to lower our taxes, but there is only so much he can do.
Father had to chop more wood today. It looks as though it will be an unusually cold winter this year. We were lucky to have gotten the harvest in as quickly as we did, as there is already a thin wisp of snow in the air today.
Sir Bercilak’s fief is not very large. There are six (extended) families that live and work on it. Our houses are all quite small, barely big enough to be called huts. They all have thatched roofs, and some have only dirt floors. They may not be much, but this place is the only home I have ever known. The fief itself is roughly 200 rods by about 150, besides the fields. Sir Bercilak owns about 50 sheep and 20 cows, as well as a number of pigs.
I can hear the hounds baying with hunger all the way from the castle. They have not eaten anything today, in preparation for the Baron’s big boar hunt tomorrow. I hope that none of Sir Bercilak’s serfs get hurt during it. My best friend, Anthony, is supposed to be there, to assist Sir Bercilak in case he may need something.
It is time to feed the chickens now. This is my sister’s job, but she is sick now, and I am well. I am praying continuously that she will not die. My poor mother has lost three children in the last four years. But anyway, I will be back soon.

*******

I am back now. I hate chickens. Oh, the things I would give to be a noble, if only just for a day. When I go outside, I have to wear my woolen coat to protect me from the cold, while the nobles can wear fine fur capes – when they wish to go out in the cold at all. On the other hand, I take pride in knowing that my father is the one who sheared the sheep, and that my mother is the one who spun the wool and made my coat.
In January, the Danes conquered East Anglia. This worries me, as I live in Kent. I wish we could be sure that King Ethelred could protect us from those barbarians, but he seems completely unready and incapable. I fear that we will be conquered, and utterly destroyed, even though nearly one third of the men on Sir Bercilak’s fief were conscripted during the summer.
It is late, and I will need to get up well before the sun does tomorrow, so now I will say goodnight.
-Styles Morgan


The author's comments:
This was the first piece that I wrote that anyone ever told me was any good. Styles Morgan was a pen name I was considering at the time, and still might use some day. Anyway, given the stuff I write now, I really don't think this is very good, but it means a lot to me, so I figured I might as well publish it.

Similar Articles

JOIN THE DISCUSSION

This article has 25 comments.


Annabell said...
on Mar. 11 2017 at 2:00 am

Mrs Nipps said...
on Jul. 6 2016 at 4:49 am
Fucking shit

on Jun. 3 2015 at 6:42 pm
VintageRoses GOLD, Houston, Texas
15 articles 0 photos 2 comments

Favorite Quote:
"Sometimes at night I would sleep open-eyed underneath a sky dripping with stars. I was alive then." -Albert Camus


on Jan. 13 2012 at 3:57 pm
Choosing2Live4Christ PLATINUM, Wausaukee, Wisconsin
28 articles 13 photos 66 comments
HA! This was once picked as #1. Well, now I can brag too :D you no longer have the right to feel superior :P

Tiggerlily14 said...
on Dec. 8 2011 at 12:19 pm
I just had to write another diary entry for world cultures, and this one inspired me to be more creative than I was last time.  aaaaaannnnnnnddddd, this morning I checked my grade...I got 100%!!!!  :D   so, in a way, you helped me.  Danke Schön!  :D

Tiggerlily14 said...
on Dec. 6 2011 at 5:35 pm
o__O  you have never met me to know how fat I really am......

Tiggerlily14 said...
on Dec. 6 2011 at 5:34 pm
haha  ijr, I am terrible at coming up with nicknames  :P

on Dec. 6 2011 at 4:50 pm
Mortimer-Micheals-Jacob-Joyce GOLD, Edgar, Wisconsin
12 articles 0 photos 185 comments

Favorite Quote:
"And when I'm gone, just carry on, don't mourn
Rejoice every time you hear the sound of my voice
Just know that I'm looking down on you smiling
And I didn't feel a thing, So baby don't feel my pain
Just smile back"-Eminem

You need a cheeseburger.  There, now it's more than twice a month.  And I say that because you are skinny...

on Dec. 6 2011 at 4:49 pm
Mortimer-Micheals-Jacob-Joyce GOLD, Edgar, Wisconsin
12 articles 0 photos 185 comments

Favorite Quote:
"And when I'm gone, just carry on, don't mourn
Rejoice every time you hear the sound of my voice
Just know that I'm looking down on you smiling
And I didn't feel a thing, So baby don't feel my pain
Just smile back"-Eminem

Yeah, because your nickname for me would be rude and demeaning. I like my username the way it is, by the way...

Tiggerlily14 said...
on Dec. 6 2011 at 11:53 am
haha  ok, but I still think it is rediculous......I should come up with a nickname for you.....haha  and I am positive you wouldn't like it if I do think of one  :D

on Dec. 6 2011 at 11:51 am
Mortimer-Micheals-Jacob-Joyce GOLD, Edgar, Wisconsin
12 articles 0 photos 185 comments

Favorite Quote:
"And when I'm gone, just carry on, don't mourn
Rejoice every time you hear the sound of my voice
Just know that I'm looking down on you smiling
And I didn't feel a thing, So baby don't feel my pain
Just smile back"-Eminem

The Lord was always part of the name, I just didn't feel like changing it to that until yesterday.

Tiggerlily14 said...
on Dec. 6 2011 at 10:16 am
I think you got to far into the Middle Ages.  I mean, changing your name to Lord-Flavius-Jacobius-Ossummuss....the first name was rediculous, but now this......

Tiggerlily14 said...
on Dec. 5 2011 at 3:50 pm
why do you always say I need a Cheeseburger?  you say that to me like, once a month......

on Dec. 5 2011 at 3:32 pm
Mortimer-Micheals-Jacob-Joyce GOLD, Edgar, Wisconsin
12 articles 0 photos 185 comments

Favorite Quote:
"And when I'm gone, just carry on, don't mourn
Rejoice every time you hear the sound of my voice
Just know that I'm looking down on you smiling
And I didn't feel a thing, So baby don't feel my pain
Just smile back"-Eminem

Haha.......................................................

 

 

You need a cheeseburger...


Tiggerlily14 said...
on Dec. 5 2011 at 3:29 pm
haha  it actually helps me, it tells me I am not fat enough to count for more than one person  hehehehe

on Dec. 5 2011 at 3:28 pm
Mortimer-Micheals-Jacob-Joyce GOLD, Edgar, Wisconsin
12 articles 0 photos 185 comments

Favorite Quote:
"And when I'm gone, just carry on, don't mourn
Rejoice every time you hear the sound of my voice
Just know that I'm looking down on you smiling
And I didn't feel a thing, So baby don't feel my pain
Just smile back"-Eminem

You count a person, not people.  Sorry if that kind of bursts your bubble...

Tiggerlily14 said...
on Dec. 5 2011 at 10:51 am
hehe  I comment enough, don't I?  

on Dec. 5 2011 at 10:42 am
Mortimer-Micheals-Jacob-Joyce GOLD, Edgar, Wisconsin
12 articles 0 photos 185 comments

Favorite Quote:
"And when I'm gone, just carry on, don't mourn
Rejoice every time you hear the sound of my voice
Just know that I'm looking down on you smiling
And I didn't feel a thing, So baby don't feel my pain
Just smile back"-Eminem

250 views, and the rating is up to 5 stars, now. People may not be commenting, but you are rating, and I thanks you for that!

on Nov. 29 2011 at 1:27 pm
yeah, i see that  :)  congratulations 

on Nov. 29 2011 at 1:23 pm
Mortimer-Micheals-Jacob-Joyce GOLD, Edgar, Wisconsin
12 articles 0 photos 185 comments

Favorite Quote:
"And when I'm gone, just carry on, don't mourn
Rejoice every time you hear the sound of my voice
Just know that I'm looking down on you smiling
And I didn't feel a thing, So baby don't feel my pain
Just smile back"-Eminem

I guess it is on the front page of the historical fiction section...