新概念英语3--（一天学一篇）---课14

ltlong52010

课文14  贵族歹徒
$ z& K- k' y4 g: X226. There was a time when the owners of shops and businesses in Chicago had to pay large sums of money to gangsters in return for 'protection.'
- i6 K: @" D8 ?" I        曾经有一个时期,芝加哥的店主和商行的老板们不得不拿出大笔的钱给歹徒以换取'保护'。
$ Q3 A/ O5 H' r/ K. i8 a" v9 Z6 K/ ~227. If the money was not paid promptly, the gangsters would quickly put a man out of business by destroying his shop.
        如果交款不及时,歹徒们就会很快捣毁他的商店,让他破产.
3 T, ?$ R# `2 l5 p4 K1 F& I228. Obtaining 'protection money' is not a modern crime.
1 _9 ^! Q4 k) Q" s# J        榨取'保护金'并不是一种现代的罪恶行径.
$ S% x* n# D1 w229. As long ago as the fourteenth century, an Englishman, Sir John Hawkwood, made the remarkable discovery
" w: I% H( W. m& A        早在14世纪,英国人约翰.霍克伍德就有过非凡的发现:
3 t4 H, ?# _8 d; Y2 R230. that people would rather pay large sums of money than have their life work destroyed by gangsters.
/ z  _- J7 n% j: E" K. L$ H. o* R        '人们情愿拿出大笔的钱,也不愿毕生的心血毁于歹徒之手.
$ ]! n3 b9 W- M8 x0 z231. Six hundred years ago, Sir John Hawkwood arrived in Italy with a band of soldiers and settled near Florence.
5 j% A5 _( R7 L. b! p        600年前,约翰.霍克伍德爵士带着一队士兵来到意大利,在佛罗伦萨附近驻扎下来,
8 k1 C  p( @2 y+ W232. He soon made a name for himself and came to be known to the Italians as Giovanni Acuto.
2 g$ A' {' y* j' s1 K6 X4 @        很快就出了名.意大利人叫他乔凡尼.阿库托.
( |8 ~5 D6 v0 I! v# A233. Whenever the Italian city-states were at war with each other,
        每次意大利各城邦之间打伏,
$ J0 G. v( {) i1 k234. Hawkwood used to hire his soldiers to princes who were willing to pay the high price he demanded.
        霍克伍德把他的士兵雇佣给愿给他出高价的君主。
: c" Z, V; z4 d: T8 @' M+ Y( l235. In times of peace, when business was bad, Hawkwood and his men would march into a city-state and,
! O9 q  N; b, M, @1 V+ W        和平时期,当生意萧条时,霍克伍德便带领士兵进入某个城邦,
+ O" R' f' Z6 O( u* b$ d236. after burning down a few farms, would offer to go away if protection money was paid to them.
        纵火烧毁一两个农场,然后提出,如向他们缴纳保护金,他们便主动撤离。
237. Hawkwood made large sums of money in this way.
! f, l+ Q- R3 \, t5 t        霍克伍德用这种方法挣了大笔钱.
238. In spite of this, the Italians regarded him as a sort of hero.
        尽管如此,意大利人还是把他视作某种英雄。
3 v, ]2 Z' R+ b! }% e" c239. When he died at the age of eighty, the Florentines gave him a state funeral
        他80岁那年死去时,佛罗伦萨人为他举行了国葬,
240. and had a picture painted which was dedicated to the memory of 'the most valiant soldier and most notable leader, Signor Giovanni Haukodue.'
8 \  D- N/ d8 t# _) n8 A% \5 g        并为他画像以纪念这位'骁勇无比的战士、杰出的领袖乔凡尼.阿库托先生.'