西方的银行(一) - }( f L$ t0 e+ W z6 l" D
Situation 1 0 a- C8 \0 O+ \( V f, ^' E
情景 1 6 X. ?0 u" G5 s0 L2 h: R! W
Jiro Ito is visiting with his friend ,Bob Jenson ,a banker in NewYork .
$ b1 J" h: f4 I& {2 a 伊滕次郎正与他的朋友鲍勃·詹森闲谈。鲍勃是纽约的一位银行职员。
+ d; N0 P, n" `' x( ~ They are talking about the history of banking in the west . * r* U1 T, k' r
他们正在谈论有关西方银行的历史。
! F' {3 o3 w0 k% q& U' V Ito:I’m curious about the history of banking in the west ,Bob.Can you tell me something about it ?
5 i6 O/ a& ~1 @7 f 伊 滕:我很想知道有关西方银行史的一些情况。鲍勃,您能给我讲一讲吗?
5 J1 S* E `1 |4 E* j V Jensen:Well,Jiro,the earliest banks started in Babylon almost 4,000 years ago .
8 M% l X% x3 s7 V7 V6 K+ I 詹 森:好的,次郎。最早的银行大约是4,000年前在巴比伦建立的。
% }' o6 a( n2 g1 ]$ L& W9 C They were really temples which collected deposits and made loans . 9 h% x1 Y n% g, J
实际上,那些银行只是一种收集存款并进行放款的场所。 H/ N: V7 W' s( ]) B# K6 g
I :That surprises me .I had always thought that banking started during the Renaissance in Europe .
& L3 C) ~+ R" M6 G# r8 g 伊 滕:这可真是出乎我的意料之外,我原来一直以为银行业务始于欧洲文艺复兴时期呢。 % T, X+ z( c7 G. z+ S+ p! \) p
J:No ,it was much earlier than that.Actually ,private firms that handled deposits and loans , 0 I" [0 {4 E/ H; K, u
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。 J8 h: { t5 H( S3 H" y2 ~2 b+ ^
changed coins and even arranged for credit transactions existed as early as the 6th century B.C.
2 N1 Y! J5 t: \' I, W- l 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。
# M5 N) v. S8 d' l Q3 x I:Then ,there were banks in ancient Greece and Rome,too? + A8 n2 e3 O6 `% z
伊 滕:当时,古希腊和罗马也有银行吗? # x2 ^% _9 B* L
J:Yes ,laws in Both Greece and Rome recognized banks and many bank functions .
, X0 [2 P/ u0 ], p% U 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。
; A F L# q8 d6 W v! o It wasn’t until the breakup of the Roman Empire and the decline in trade and commercialtransactions that banking lost its previous importance . 5 U# @* R# D' ?
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 r6 U2 m5 i$ c2 {0 a/ n
I:What about the laws against usury during the Middle Ages?Didn’t such laws made it illegal tocharge interest on loans? ) G7 b5 {1 w: {4 i3 j0 ~
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? ' M2 [( s1 q* b( m$ q% l
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 .
1 H6 u! m. t+ c 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。
( |; |! j! Z4 s: A7 ~2 @ I:I see .So we can really say that banking restarted during the Renaissance .
8 U# a" A2 p# H" F0 ] 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。 |