New Concept English three（14）

06:55:29

32w/m

45words.

There was a time when the owners of shop 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 'protechon 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

notes:

曾经有段时间，芝加哥的商店和企业主不得不向黑帮支付大笔的钱以换取“保护”。如果不及时给钱，歹徒们就会捣毁店铺，使之破产。获取保护费并不是现代才有的犯罪。早在14世纪，英国人约翰·霍克伍德就有了一个惊人的发现:人们宁愿花大笔的钱也不愿毕生的心血毁于歹徒之手。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下来。他很快就成名了，并被意大利人称为Giovanni Acuto。每当意大利城邦互相交战时，霍克伍德就把他的士兵租给愿意支付高价的王子。在和平时期，生意不好时，霍克伍德和他的手下进军一个国家的城市，烧毁了一些农场，如果人民给予保护金，他们就会主动离开。霍克伍德用这种方法赚了大笔钱。尽管如此，意大利人还是认为他是一个英雄。当他80岁去世时，佛罗伦萨人为他举行了国葬，并画了一幅画，以纪念“最骁勇的战士和最著名的领袖乔凡尼·阿库托先生”