新概念英语3--（一天学一篇）---课14

ltlong52010

课文14  贵族歹徒
226. 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.'
        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'。
! k. ?" Y9 j  O227. 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.
0 I7 B5 M" D6 D9 r) G" G# ~; p228. Obtaining 'protection money' is not a modern crime.
& l8 |  b8 U& t        榨取'保护金'并不是一种现代的罪恶行径.
: t! u2 O6 h* K! m' m229. As long ago as the fourteenth century, an Englishman, Sir John Hawkwood, made the remarkable discovery
( X' V4 U8 `2 ?  K        早在14世纪,英国人约翰.霍克伍德就有过非凡的发现:
4 ?  {6 A2 L$ Y& l' x230. that people would rather pay large sums of money than have their life work destroyed by gangsters.
        '人们情愿拿出大笔的钱,也不愿毕生的心血毁于歹徒之手.
231. Six hundred years ago, Sir John Hawkwood arrived in Italy with a band of soldiers and settled near Florence.
- u$ N; h( @1 m* Y, O  W1 }* ?        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,
: W8 {; T5 o# ^* {232. He soon made a name for himself and came to be known to the Italians as Giovanni Acuto.
        很快就出了名.意大利人叫他乔凡尼.阿库托.
9 ^  k- b! s7 U: M. l: q+ V233. Whenever the Italian city-states were at war with each other,
        每次意大利各城邦之间打伏,
234. Hawkwood used to hire his soldiers to princes who were willing to pay the high price he demanded.
% [) Z% [& Y: Z+ X        霍克伍德把他的士兵雇佣给愿给他出高价的君主。
235. In times of peace, when business was bad, Hawkwood and his men would march into a city-state and,
8 G8 ]; ]5 X% ^5 q' F        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,
" U$ X4 z- d1 {3 c/ T7 z236. 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。
  X7 [4 i8 Y  N  ]237. Hawkwood made large sums of money in this way.
5 z/ V4 E- Z5 A! R$ h) ^* I        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.
- f, z7 ]: B  F$ B        尽管如此,意大利人还是把他视作某种英雄。
239. 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,
9 r+ W9 c) ?' i3 ^% ?. f+ c. ]240. and had a picture painted which was dedicated to the memory of 'the most valiant soldier and most notable leader, Signor Giovanni Haukodue.'
  g' W  y1 J+ c# q: i$ c7 P        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.'