12 · 银行和顾客
Banks and Their Customers
区分观点、依据、例子与限制，用自己的话准确重建论述。
课文精读整篇课文
点选一句，句末即可听读；连起意思，大声读一遍。
When anyone opens a current account at a bank, he is lending the bank money, repayment of which he may demand at any time, either in cash or by drawing a cheque in favour of another person. Primarily, the banker-customer relationship is that of debtor and creditor—who is which depending on whether the customer's account is in credit or is overdrawn. But, in addition to that basically simple concept, the bank and its customer owe a large number of obligations to one another. Many of these obligations can give rise to problems and complications but a bank customer, unlike, say, a buyer of goods, cannot complain that the law is loaded against him.
The bank must obey its customer's instructions, and not those of anyone else. When, for example, a customer first opens an account, he instructs the bank to debit his account only in respect of cheques drawn by himself. He gives the bank specimens of his signature, and there is a very firm rule that the bank has no right or authority to pay out a customer's money on a cheque on which its customer's signature has been forged. It makes no difference that the forgery may have been a very skillful one: the bank must recognize its customer's signature. For this reason there is no risk to the customer in the practice, adopted by banks, of printing the customer's name on his cheques. If this facilitates forgery, it is the bank which will lose, not the customer.
本课原文与译文
展开完整文本 · 便于查阅与检索
整篇课文
When anyone opens a current account at a bank, he is lending the bank money, repayment of which he may demand at any time, either in cash or by drawing a cheque in favour of another person. Primarily, the banker-customer relationship is that of debtor and creditor—who is which depending on whether the customer's account is in credit or is overdrawn. But, in addition to that basically simple concept, the bank and its customer owe a large number of obligations to one another. Many of these obligations can give rise to problems and complications but a bank customer, unlike, say, a buyer of goods, cannot complain that the law is loaded against him.
The bank must obey its customer's instructions, and not those of anyone else. When, for example, a customer first opens an account, he instructs the bank to debit his account only in respect of cheques drawn by himself. He gives the bank specimens of his signature, and there is a very firm rule that the bank has no right or authority to pay out a customer's money on a cheque on which its customer's signature has been forged. It makes no difference that the forgery may have been a very skillful one: the bank must recognize its customer's signature. For this reason there is no risk to the customer in the practice, adopted by banks, of printing the customer's name on his cheques. If this facilitates forgery, it is the bank which will lose, not the customer.
一个人在银行开立活期账户，就等于把钱借给银行；他可以随时要求归还，既可以提取现金，也可以开一张以他人为收款人的支票。银行与顾客的关系，首先是债务人与债权人的关系；究竟谁欠谁的钱，要看顾客的账户是有余额，还是已经透支。除了这一基本关系，银行和顾客还对彼此负有许多义务。这些义务可能引发各种问题和纠纷，不过，银行顾客不能像某些商品买家那样，说法律一味偏向对方、对自己不公。
银行必须遵从顾客本人的指令，而不是其他任何人的指令。例如，顾客初次开户时，会要求银行只凭本人签发的支票从账户扣款。他会向银行留下签名样本，而一条十分明确的规则是：银行无权凭伪造顾客签名的支票支付顾客的钱。即使伪造得再高明，也不能改变这一点；银行有责任认出顾客的签名。正因如此，银行把顾客姓名印在支票上的做法，并不会使顾客承担风险。即使这方便了伪造，蒙受损失的也会是银行，而不是顾客。
学完这一课
用定语从句解释一笔款项何时、如何归还。
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—53页，2022年2月第2版。