西方的银行(一) B4 r+ l7 r. r* r
Situation 13 |* A% o4 `& C6 P
情景 1* `" F4 V( s4 e5 Z) @7 v% E
Jiro Ito is visiting with his friend ,Bob Jenson ,a banker in NewYork .
, ?" L9 p/ _* ^: d9 r, _ 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。4 v3 ^, N" q1 ?% B$ M9 [: E
They are talking about the history of banking in the west ., f' V% n2 e1 I! Q
他们正在谈论有关西方银行的历史。8 |2 {6 o$ r9 l8 B. `
Ito:I’m curious about the history of banking in the west ,Bob.Can you tell me something about it ?/ {: q/ ~& z8 l3 R6 h9 l
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?
3 v- |) C: O7 Q Jensen:Well,Jiro,the earliest banks started in Babylon almost 4,000 years ago .2 y. o1 N% z% s1 b V) v! Q5 s/ n
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。* }+ |( c3 k4 _7 {( \5 H! ?' d, g* q
They were really temples which collected deposits and made loans .
( C# ?0 u" Z' m 实际上,那些银行只是一种收集存款并进行放款的场所。
9 n% U# d; |* O7 _ I :That surprises me .I had always thought that banking started during the Renaissance in Europe .: b" R2 E2 B5 K$ ]$ u# z# u
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。
" A! p: [- I0 o5 X9 p3 n4 L5 X8 { J:No ,it was much earlier than that.Actually ,private firms that handled deposits and loans ,
8 S* O" Q$ b. u Z3 M5 n7 b 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。! U! _. o. I$ f+ b3 _! [3 [
changed coins and even arranged for credit transactions existed as early as the 6th century B.C.& E6 V" |$ p: H$ O( d* W0 p
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。
3 G0 h+ D, A6 I9 K! r I:Then ,there were banks in ancient Greece and Rome,too? }. l( C5 d; N, ^ {7 s5 M3 T
伊 滕:当时,古希腊和罗马也有银行吗?* Y; a3 ?# Z3 O: j
J:Yes ,laws in Both Greece and Rome recognized banks and many bank functions .
# A3 A: k# M# I! K! d4 C 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。
8 q( r6 N* C6 U! S8 I* ? It wasn’t until the breakup of the Roman Empire and the decline in trade and commercialtransactions that banking lost its previous importance .
% z) z: s9 U- T# ?9 l$ [ 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。3 B0 y+ a* f, q
I:What about the laws against usury during the Middle Ages?Didn’t such laws made it illegal tocharge interest on loans?. l% q: K9 s: Y; G
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?" Q3 u+ A5 P* O$ u; F$ M0 S5 |" I: ^
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 .% t H! d9 j& z$ w8 b- M
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。
5 @; g% f" w/ x9 n8 `% k2 E I:I see .So we can really say that banking restarted during the Renaissance .
: y$ U" R# H7 _4 y) x 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。 |