During the next two centuries, seven other crusades took place. Gradually the Crusaders learned the technique of the trip. The land voyage was too tedious and too dangerous. They preferred to cross the Alps and go to Genoa or Venice where they took ship for the east. The Genoese and the Venetians made this trans-Mediterranean passenger service a very profitable business. They charged exorbitant rates, and when the Crusaders(most of whom had very little money) could not pay the price, these Italian"profiteers" kindly allowed them to "work their way across." In return for a fare from Venice to Acre, the Crusader undertook to do a stated amount of fighting for the owners of his vessel. In this way Venice greatly increased her territory along the coast of the Adriatic and in Greece, where Athens became a Venetian colony, and in the islands of Cyprus and Crete and Rhodes.
在接下來的兩個世紀里，歐洲人又發(fā)動了另外七次東征。十字軍戰(zhàn)士們逐漸學會了前往亞洲的旅行技巧。陸路行程太艱苦，也太危險。他們情愿先越過阿爾卑斯山，到意大利的威尼斯或熱那亞，然后再搭乘海船去東方。精明世故的熱那亞人和威尼斯人把這樁運送十字軍跨越地中海的服務做成了有厚利可圖的大生意。他們索取高額旅費，當十字軍戰(zhàn)士付不出這個價錢時（他們大部分都囊中羞澀），這些意大利"奸商"便做出大發(fā)善心的樣子，先允許他們上船，但要"一路工作以抵償船費"。往往為了償付從威尼斯到阿克的旅費，十字軍戰(zhàn)士得答應為船主從事一定量的戰(zhàn)斗，用獲得的土地還錢。通過這種方法，威尼斯大大增加了它在亞得里亞海沿岸、希臘半島、塞浦路斯、克里特島及羅得島控制的土地，最后，連雅典也成為了一塊名符其實的威尼斯殖民地。
All this, however, helped little in settling the question of the Holy Land. After the first enthusiasm had worn off, a short crusading trip became part of the liberal education of every well-bred young man, and there never was any lack of candidates for service in Palestine. But the old zeal was gone. The Crusaders, who had begun their warfare with deep hatred for the Mohammedans and great love for the Christian people of the eastern Roman Empire and Armenia, suffered a complete change of heart. They came to despise the Greeks of Byzantium, who cheated them and frequently betrayed the cause of the Cross, and the Armenians and all the other Levantine races, and they began to appreciate the virtues of their enemies who proved to be generous and fair opponents.
當然，這一切都無助于解決棘手的圣地問題。當最初的宗教狂熱漸漸退去，一段為時不長的十字軍旅程倒變成了每一個出身良好的歐洲青年的通才教育課程。因此，報名去巴勒斯坦服役的候選人總是源源不絕。不過，古老的熱情已經不復存在。最初，十字軍戰(zhàn)士懷著對穆斯林的刻骨仇恨，對東羅馬帝國及亞美尼亞的基督徒群眾的極大愛心，開始其艱苦的遠征，如今卻經歷了內心的巨變。他們開始憎恨拜占廷的希臘人，因為后者常常欺騙他們，并不時出賣十字架的事業(yè)。他們同樣憎恨亞美尼亞人以及所有東地中海地區(qū)的民族。相反，他們逐漸學會欣賞穆斯林敵人的種種品行，事實證明他們是豪爽公正的對手，值得尊重。
來源:可可英語 http://www.ccdyzl.cn/Article/201707/514182.shtml
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