Nor did it maximize its fury

它也没有恶劣到
by targeting young adults and the middle-aged,

将年轻人或中年人这些
who were the mainstays of families and of the economy.

家庭经济收入的支柱作为袭击目标
Smallpox was an endemic disease that was ever-present,

天花是一种频繁的地方性疾病
and so it was considered almost normal,

因而它几乎被认为是一种很平常的疾病
especially because it targeted infants and children as a rule;

尤其因为它通常以婴幼儿及儿童作为目标
although, as I've said,

尽管我曾说过
it did lead sporadically to broader epidemics.

它偶尔也会导致大范围的传染
So, as a result everyone had some experience with smallpox,

因此几乎人人都得过天花
and half the people you might meet on the street,

并且你在西欧城市的街上遇到的人们
in a city of Western Europe, would be pockmarked,

其中一半可能都有痘疤
as a reminder of its passage.

这正是得天花的后遗症