Слово "menial". Англо-русский словарь Мюллера

The whisper--for it was whispered always--flew from menial to menial, from lord to lady, down all the long corridors, from story to story, from saloon to saloon,

From his complete inattention to the tidings, you would think that moody Ahab had not heard his menial.

            'I've had a good look at the sort of life writers lead. They have such delightfully simple relationships with each other. They may be Stalin Prize winners, but they're all on firstname terms. They're such unconceited, straightforward people. We imagine a writer as someone sitting up in the clouds with a pallid brow, unapproachable. Not a bit of it! They enjoy the pleasures of life - eating, drinking, getting around the place - and always with friends. They tease each other the whole time, there's plenty of laughter. I should call their life a merry one. But when the time comes to write a novel they lock themselves away in their houses in the country for two or three months, and there's your novel! It's exactly the life for me. Independence, freedom and dignity - Yes, I'm going to put every ounce of energy into getting into the Writers' Union.'             'You mean, you're not going to use your university qualifications to work professionally?' Pavel Nikolayevich was rather worried.             'Father' - Aviette lowered her voice - 'whichever way you look at it, journalism's a menial sort of job. They give you an assignment - do this, do that - you've got no scope. All you do is go and interview various well-known personalities. You can't compare that life with the other. Do you know, there's one writer who the moment he started his career taught his wife to write and his niece too. Now all three of them are authors!'             'Bravo!'             'Because it pays.'             'Alia, whatever you say, I'm still a bit worried. Suppose it doesn't work out?'             'How can it fail to work out? You're being naive! Gorky said, "Anyone can become a writer." With hard work anyone can achieve anything. If the worst comes to the worst I can become a children's writer. Anyone can do that.'             'All right, that's fine in principle,' said Pavel Nikolayevich thoughtfully. 'In principle that's splendid. Of course, it's perfectly right for morally healthy people like you to take over literature.'             She began to take some books out of her bag. 'Here,' she said. 'I've brought you A Baltic Spring and Kill Him! - that one's poetry, I'm afraid. Will you read it?'             'Kill Him H All right, leave it.'

You'll start with the usual menial job, stock clerk or something, just for form's sake—but you'll be an executive before you can catch your breath, because I'm not getting any younger and the quicker you can pick up the load, the better.

Did robots do all the menial work, or did you need a Ph.D. even to lug a wheelbarrow?