At the book's heart lies the Ibis, a former slave ship, bound from Calcutta to Mauritius.

全书的核心故事发生在一艘从加尔各答驶往毛里求斯的前贩奴船“伊比斯”号上。

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Yet as in a slave system, they were bound to their masters, guaranteeing a fixed and permanent workforce that could neither organize nor strike nor freely depart as might laborers in a market context.

但是又同奴隶制一样，他们依附于自己的主人，这就保障其成为固定、终生的劳动力，既不会组织起来、也不会罢工或者自由离开，而在市场体制下的劳动力是可以这样做的。

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