西方的银行(一)
* r& H A/ c' D8 q) f Situation 11 ~' R% d' W$ k
情景 1+ G+ f1 _" A$ e. ^+ M! F4 l6 d
Jiro Ito is visiting with his friend ,Bob Jenson ,a banker in NewYork .5 `! f' u' W4 M' E3 _, Y& V# B
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。1 M# o4 E M6 P& J( l4 i0 _- ~
They are talking about the history of banking in the west .- {/ l$ y2 {2 _/ E% } F" ]
他们正在谈论有关西方银行的历史。
3 r( R% Z& k& a# O/ S Ito:I’m curious about the history of banking in the west ,Bob.Can you tell me something about it ?1 \$ t) b0 i2 I5 Y1 L" `/ @; h
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 O% S2 E5 i6 _6 A- I0 N, K
Jensen:Well,Jiro,the earliest banks started in Babylon almost 4,000 years ago .9 i+ P/ r V3 g. ?
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。
. f' U f8 J4 o2 z. C( J They were really temples which collected deposits and made loans .
+ j. h$ p- v& b' k2 ?1 n 实际上,那些银行只是一种收集存款并进行放款的场所。0 E, a& {1 I" g! n/ P! f% m
I :That surprises me .I had always thought that banking started during the Renaissance in Europe .
: G4 q/ T6 B. b# P 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。: |/ m3 e; @" o
J:No ,it was much earlier than that.Actually ,private firms that handled deposits and loans ,9 g& S9 _; s. g* i6 ^ J! h( C
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。% A, I# F: S) ]( a
changed coins and even arranged for credit transactions existed as early as the 6th century B.C.
+ k9 u, X, ]6 `/ {$ v0 U! k 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。
' s7 [1 S; o! U# u I:Then ,there were banks in ancient Greece and Rome,too?
2 S K* d+ h9 ^3 t6 z& z( d 伊 滕:当时,古希腊和罗马也有银行吗?
d5 W# ^' k) ]; B4 y- ~/ N J:Yes ,laws in Both Greece and Rome recognized banks and many bank functions .4 p( U- i5 i/ `; i9 D1 ^
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。4 r( j' Q+ v' r8 t; @
It wasn’t until the breakup of the Roman Empire and the decline in trade and commercialtransactions that banking lost its previous importance .! u1 I$ {+ q* x9 ?$ x- s
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。9 h9 a) p6 T$ \- r0 V
I:What about the laws against usury during the Middle Ages?Didn’t such laws made it illegal tocharge interest on loans?' [% g, `9 G% b: m! N: c. m4 q
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?
2 u8 b$ d2 M P" S5 W 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 .# {/ N4 F7 L, P0 O% ]5 [, x! [
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。) S g7 [: ~1 F0 h8 g
I:I see .So we can really say that banking restarted during the Renaissance .
- O! Z# j& Y2 B$ B* R7 z 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。 |