14 · 贵族歹徒
A Noble Gangster
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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". If the money was not paid promptly, the gangsters would quickly put a man out of business by destroying his shop. Obtaining "protection money" is not a modern crime. As long ago as the fourteenth century, an Englishman, Sir John Hawkwood, made the remarkable discovery that people would rather pay large sums of money than have their life work destroyed by gangsters.
Six hundred years ago, Sir John Hawkwood arrived in Italy with a band of soldiers and settled near Florence. He soon made a name for himself and came to be known to the Italians as Giovanni Acuto. Whenever the Italian city-states were at war with each other, Hawkwood used to hire his soldiers to princes who were willing to pay the high price he demanded. In times of peace, when business was bad, Hawkwood and his men would march into a city-state and, after burning down a few farms, would offer to go away if protection money was paid to them. Hawkwood made large sums of money in this way. In spite of this, the Italians regarded him as a sort of hero. When he died at the age of eighty, the Florentines gave him a state funeral and had a picture painted which was dedicated to the memory of "the most valiant soldier and most notable leader, Signor Giovanni Haukodue."
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整篇课文
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". If the money was not paid promptly, the gangsters would quickly put a man out of business by destroying his shop. Obtaining "protection money" is not a modern crime. As long ago as the fourteenth century, an Englishman, Sir John Hawkwood, made the remarkable discovery that people would rather pay large sums of money than have their life work destroyed by gangsters.
Six hundred years ago, Sir John Hawkwood arrived in Italy with a band of soldiers and settled near Florence. He soon made a name for himself and came to be known to the Italians as Giovanni Acuto. Whenever the Italian city-states were at war with each other, Hawkwood used to hire his soldiers to princes who were willing to pay the high price he demanded. In times of peace, when business was bad, Hawkwood and his men would march into a city-state and, after burning down a few farms, would offer to go away if protection money was paid to them. Hawkwood made large sums of money in this way. In spite of this, the Italians regarded him as a sort of hero. When he died at the age of eighty, the Florentines gave him a state funeral and had a picture painted which was dedicated to the memory of "the most valiant soldier and most notable leader, Signor Giovanni Haukodue."
曾经有一段时期，芝加哥的商店和企业老板必须向匪徒缴纳大笔钱财，以换取所谓的“保护”。如果不及时交钱，匪徒就会砸毁店铺，让店主再也做不成生意。收取“保护费”并不是现代才有的罪行。早在14世纪，英国人约翰·霍克伍德爵士就有了一个非同寻常的发现：人们宁可付出大笔金钱，也不愿让匪徒毁掉自己一生的心血。
六百年前，约翰·霍克伍德爵士带着一队士兵来到意大利，在佛罗伦萨附近定居。他很快声名鹊起，意大利人称他为乔瓦尼·阿库托。每逢意大利各城邦交战，只要哪位君主肯出他索要的高价，他就把手下的士兵租给对方。和平时期没什么生意，他便带人开进某个城邦，先烧毁几处农场，再提出：只要交保护费，他们就撤走。霍克伍德靠这种办法赚了大钱。尽管如此，意大利人却把他当成某种英雄。他八十岁去世时，佛罗伦萨人为他举行了国葬，还请人绘制肖像，纪念这位“最英勇的战士、最杰出的领袖，乔瓦尼·霍克杜埃先生”。
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译文依据整理稿，由本站按中文表达重新校订；解析据吴应时、何景霖整理资料及首轮审校稿；词伙与练习提示为本站学习设计。原PDF第50—52页，2022年2月第3版。