新概念英语3--（一天学一篇）---课14

ltlong52010

课文14  贵族歹徒
3 w; L) N1 {1 }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'。
6 O0 H' S! |! Q227. If the money was not paid promptly, the gangsters would quickly put a man out of business by destroying his shop.
9 }. ?/ j; C+ r0 W. t' U5 l5 m' J. u6 d        如果交款不及时,歹徒们就会很快捣毁他的商店,让他破产.
228. Obtaining 'protection money' is not a modern crime.
        榨取'保护金'并不是一种现代的罪恶行径.
7 x7 g3 h* T8 V9 D& K; O9 C! {229. As long ago as the fourteenth century, an Englishman, Sir John Hawkwood, made the remarkable discovery
        早在14世纪,英国人约翰.霍克伍德就有过非凡的发现:
3 L, F1 W4 E) S& u* k5 A9 g, r230. 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.
# F, Y; L. K9 b8 U6 ]1 I        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,
232. He soon made a name for himself and came to be known to the Italians as Giovanni Acuto.
0 [1 O! `7 h! E7 T        很快就出了名.意大利人叫他乔凡尼.阿库托.
5 j' w# n  H1 Y! k* I; |233. 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.
+ d1 Y: l; O; z8 L8 q        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,
& D# d. I; G: l/ ]! Z4 K$ Q        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,
236. after burning down a few farms, would offer to go away if protection money was paid to them.
3 S  ]# \1 C3 m/ l6 U9 w        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。
1 N5 o. `7 ]3 {8 U237. Hawkwood made large sums of money in this way.
        霍克伍德用这种方法挣了大笔钱.
1 h0 L  b2 e- J7 l4 c2 r# ^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。
# Q* K! q$ q+ z2 e. q! A0 y3 H239. 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.'
& m- z% v* S- \+ e# v        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.'