"Do Peasants Eat?" And Other Questions Thou Probably Should Have Answered Before Thou Left Them in the Fields Without Food or Drink

Being a noble is a complicated business. Sometymes thou drops thy peasants at the farthest corners of thy dominion to work a fresh plot of land. Sometymes thou forgets that peasants have dietary needs like regular humans. And sometymes thou returns to thy castle to warm thy noble bones by the hearth and forgets to leave them with foode or drink for what is sure to be an arduous few days far from their homes in the frigid winter snows.

Forsooth, the cold chill of wintertide grips the land and ‘tis far too dangerous to return to them now with provisions, but there be lessons to learn in all this. Here beeth some questions to ask next tyme before thou leaves thy peasants shivering in a field far away without food or drink.

“Do peasants eat?”

“Is one shoe enough for all of them?”

“Are peasants good enough at celestial navigation to find their way back in the darkness when I don’t arrive to pick them up at sunset like I said I would?”

“Is 30 miles too far to walk at night in a blizzard without shoes?”

“Did I remember to ask them to pick me up an extra cask of ale on their way back?”

“Is a thin layer of burlap enough to protect their bodies from the blistering cold for a day or more?”

“Seeing as ‘tis winter and the harvest hath already been reaped, what am I sending them to the fields for anyway?”

“Would it be profitable for them to harvest ice?”

“What should I do with all this extra bread in my cart?”

“Will they feel upset and try to revolt when they realize I’ve abandoned them to the cold dark night whilst I am comfortable in here by the balmy hearth?”

“Do peasants have feelings?”

“Do I care about their feelings?”

“Where can I get more peasants?”