精选新概念英语必背优秀文章 36 篇新概念三 Lesson 14 A noble gangster 贵族歹徒There was a time whenThere was a time when the owners of shops and businesses in Chicago had to pay large sums of money to gangsters in return forin return for ' protection .' If the money was not paid promptly, the gangsters would quickly put a man out of businessout of business by destroying his shop. Obtaining 'protection money' is not a modern crime. As long ago asAs long ago as the fourteenth century, an Englishman, Sir John Hawkwood, made the remarkable discovery that people would ratherwould rather pay large sums of money than have their life work destroyed by gangsters. Six hundred years ago, Sir Johan Hawkwood arrived in Italy with a band of soldiers and settled near Florence. He soon made a name for made a name for himselfhimself and came to be known tocame to be known to the Italians as Giovanni Acuto . Whenever the Italian city-states were at war withat war with each other, Hawkwood used to hire his soldiers to princes who were willing to pay the high price he demanded. In times ofIn times of peace, when business was bad, Hawkwood and his men would march into a city-state and, after burning downburning down a few farms, would offer tooffer to go away if protection money was paid to them. Hawkwood made large sums of moneymade large sums of money in this way. In spite of thisIn spite of this, the Italians regarded him as a sort of hero. When he died at the age ofat the age of eighty, the Florentines gave him a state funeral and had a pictured painted which was dedicated to the memory ofto the memory of 'the most valiant soldier and most notable leader, Signor Giovanni Haukodue.' 曾经有...
