曾经有一段时期，芝加哥的店主和商家不得不向歹徒缴纳大笔金钱，以换取所谓的"保护"。
There was a time when the owners of shops and businesses in Chicago had to pay large sums of money to gangsters in return for 'protection'.
如果钱没有被及时缴纳，歹徒就会迅速通过摧毁店铺的方式让这个人倾家荡产。
If the money was not paid promptly, the gangsters would quickly put a man out of business by destroying his shop.
索取"保护费"并不是一种现代犯罪。
Obtaining 'protection money' is not a modern crime.
早在14世纪，一位英国人——约翰·霍克伍德爵士便有了一个惊人发现：人们宁愿缴纳大笔金钱，也不愿意让毕生的心血被歹徒摧毁。
As long ago as the fourteenth century, an Englishman, Sir John Hawkwood, made the remarkable discovery that people would rather pay large sums of money than have their life work destroyed by gangsters.
六百年前，约翰·霍克伍德爵士率领一队士兵来到意大利，在佛罗伦萨附近安顿下来。
Six hundred years ago, Sir John Hawkwood arrived in Italy with a band of soldiers and settled near Florence.
他很快便声名远播，被意大利人称为乔万尼·阿库托。
He soon made a name for himself and came to be known to the Italians as Giovanni Acuto.
每当意大利各城邦相互交战时，霍克伍德就会把他的士兵雇给那些愿意支付他所要求的高价的君主。
Whenever the Italian city-states were at war with each other, Hawkwood used to hire his soldiers to princes who were willing to pay the high price he demanded.
在和平时期，生意惨淡的时候，霍克伍德和他的手下便会开进一个城邦，在放火烧掉几座农场之后，表示愿意离开——条件是向他们缴纳保护费。
In times of peace, when business was bad, Hawkwood and his men would march into a city-state, and after burning down a few farms, would offer to go away if protection money was paid to them.
霍克伍德就这样赚取了大笔金钱。
Hawkwood made large sums of money in this way.
尽管如此，意大利人却把他视为某种意义上的英雄。
In spite of this, the Italians regarded him as a sort of hero.
当他以八十岁高龄辞世时，佛罗伦萨人为他举行了国葬，并命人绘制了一幅画像，以纪念"最英勇的战士、最杰出的统帅——乔万尼·霍科杜埃爵士"。
When he died at the age of eighty, the Florentines gave him a state funeral and had a picture painted which was dedicated to the memory of 'the most valiant soldier and most notable leader, Signor Giovanni Haukodue'.