西方的银行(一) 3 e$ I" N( X( d! Z
Situation 1
' e0 E1 ]; R; q3 w. ^# x) X 情景 1
9 b, r6 w1 w5 _% D' q' ]( ?$ Z Jiro Ito is visiting with his friend ,Bob Jenson ,a banker in NewYork . % z2 F& A; {* c" ]+ z
伊滕次郎正与他的朋友鲍勃·詹森闲谈。鲍勃是纽约的一位银行职员。
2 g6 ^% f# s! w3 I5 Q6 O8 G7 ` They are talking about the history of banking in the west . ; r$ w C% e9 A0 ~1 D& B
他们正在谈论有关西方银行的历史。
4 ~1 |5 g: v8 m4 \. w* j Ito:I’m curious about the history of banking in the west ,Bob.Can you tell me something about it ?
0 s# T. c/ J, Z9 ^3 I+ @ 伊 滕:我很想知道有关西方银行史的一些情况。鲍勃,您能给我讲一讲吗? ! s+ ^ }8 a* A8 H) Z! t' h6 n
Jensen:Well,Jiro,the earliest banks started in Babylon almost 4,000 years ago . 1 ` @5 }0 g7 P; J1 f% T6 D& d
詹 森:好的,次郎。最早的银行大约是4,000年前在巴比伦建立的。 : ?0 v' F" I: Q3 s" ?+ ]
They were really temples which collected deposits and made loans . 6 p6 b/ v3 Z1 J4 O
实际上,那些银行只是一种收集存款并进行放款的场所。 . }& l; N5 _' p! k; _. @
I :That surprises me .I had always thought that banking started during the Renaissance in Europe .
$ R- u7 x7 }/ L5 n& ^' J+ F2 Y/ Q: E 伊 滕:这可真是出乎我的意料之外,我原来一直以为银行业务始于欧洲文艺复兴时期呢。 8 k9 d: T6 p" z% w p( I+ A* A$ c
J:No ,it was much earlier than that.Actually ,private firms that handled deposits and loans , - S/ U' p1 D; \3 y
詹 森:不,比那个时期要早多了。实际上,早在公元前6世纪就有了私营的商行。 # w0 k9 T# F# s
changed coins and even arranged for credit transactions existed as early as the 6th century B.C.
0 b) ~$ D2 m7 S3 ~/ f 这些商行从事储蓄存款和贷款,兑换硬币以至安排信贷交易。 " P( e! _! Q: \) ~" V; O0 Y
I:Then ,there were banks in ancient Greece and Rome,too?
0 g' {+ a! o: D, K7 k 伊 滕:当时,古希腊和罗马也有银行吗?
. t& G9 n, X8 {. |; ^ J:Yes ,laws in Both Greece and Rome recognized banks and many bank functions .
) \) \% o6 d* s, t( i8 M1 `" y 詹 森:是的,希腊和罗马都在法律上承认了银行和银行的许多作用。
/ X/ s+ r) @9 |* s: `( F( J; L It wasn’t until the breakup of the Roman Empire and the decline in trade and commercialtransactions that banking lost its previous importance . ( f8 L$ Q( P7 b- c. T( c3 }6 Z q
直到罗马帝国崩溃,商贸业务衰落,银行业才失去了它以往的重要性。 0 j( O% S5 z6 s6 i
I:What about the laws against usury during the Middle Ages?Didn’t such laws made it illegal tocharge interest on loans? * G4 L: }9 Y, S0 b) s% y
伊 滕:中世纪时,法律禁止放高利贷是怎么回事?这些法律没有规定贷款收取利息是非法的吗?
. g, a# a! F. L6 Z( g% G/ d0 H J:Yes,they did ,but these laws were gradually changed during the 14th and 15th centuries,andbanking functions started appearing again in Italy and Belgium and later in France ,Germany andEngland . 9 U! R" m& r c$ o% N7 @. o
詹 森:规定了,但是这些法律在14,15世纪时逐步地改变了,银行的作用又在意大利和比利时开始出现,后来又显现在法国、德国和英国。
8 K! t- D f \( ?' Y I:I see .So we can really say that banking restarted during the Renaissance . q; G2 }7 m* O+ o; W
伊 滕:我明白了。实际上我们可以说,银行业在文艺复兴时期又重新开始了。 |