西方的银行（一）
　　Situation 1
　　情景 1
　　Jiro Ito is visiting with his friend ,Bob Jenson ,a banker in NewYork .
　　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。
　　They are talking about the history of banking in the west .
　　他们正在谈论有关西方银行的历史。
　　Ito:I’m curious about the history of banking in the west ,Bob.Can you tell me something about it ?
　　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？
　　Jensen:Well,Jiro,the earliest banks started in Babylon almost 4,000 years ago .
　　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。
　　They were really temples which collected deposits and made loans .
　　实际上，那些银行只是一种收集存款并进行放款的场所。
　　I :That surprises me .I had always thought that banking started during the Renaissance in Europe .
　　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。
　　J:No ,it was much earlier than that.Actually ,private firms that handled deposits and loans ,
　　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。
　　changed coins and even arranged for credit transactions existed as early as the 6th century B.C.
　　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。
　　I:Then ,there were banks in ancient Greece and Rome,too?
　　伊 滕：当时，古希腊和罗马也有银行吗？
　　J:Yes ,laws in Both Greece and Rome recognized banks and many bank functions .
　　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。
　　It wasn’t until the breakup of the Roman Empire and the decline in trade and commercialtransactions that banking lost its previous importance .
　　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。
　　I:What about the laws against usury during the Middle Ages?Didn’t such laws made it illegal tocharge interest on loans?
　　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？
　　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 .
　　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。
　　I:I see .So we can really say that banking restarted during the Renaissance .
　　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。