VOA常速英语2015--德国归还意大利被窃古董书籍（在线收听）

Germany Returns Antique Books Stolen in Italy 德国归还意大利被窃古董书籍

Germany is returning to Italy more than 500 valuable antique books stolen from Italian libraries about three years ago. An Italian librarian has been convicted in the theft of the collection that includes such priceless texts such as the first editions of scientific manuals by Galileo and Copernicus.

Most of the books are from the 16th and 17th centuries. Their total value is estimated at close to $3 million. German authorities say that the auction house in the Bavarian city of Munich has agreed to return them to their owners at Italy's request.

大部分书籍要追溯到16及17世纪。总价值估计接近300万美元。德国当局表示慕尼黑巴伐利亚市的这家拍卖行已同意按照意大利所有者们的请求将书籍归还。

"These books come from Italy, from Naples, from the Girolamini library. They are very valuable, from the 15th to the 17th century. They are scientific books, some by Galileo, by Copernicus. They are extremely valuable, and they were stolen from the library over the course of a couple of months," said Elisabeth Zumbruch, chief crime commissioner at Bavaria's National Crime Office.

“这些书来自意大利,那不勒斯,来自格罗拉米尼图书馆。它们是15到17世纪非常具有价值的书籍。这些科学书籍中有的是伽利略、哥白尼所著。非常具有价值,刚从图书馆偷来几个月时间。”

Naples-based prosecutor Vincenzo Piscitelli said the director of the Baroque-era library, Massimo de Caro, had been convicted of the theft and sentenced to prison.

那不勒斯检察官文森佐·普西特利表示巴洛克时代图书馆主任马西莫·德·卡罗已被判处盗窃罪并处以监禁。

"He deactivated the security alarm systems, carried out his activities during night hours or during the holidays, when the library staff was not there, he was alone, he had the keys, everyone knew he was the director - therefore he was able to work in complete freedom," said Piscitelli.

“他解除了安全报警系统, 利用图书馆工作人员不在,只剩他一个人时在夜间或节假日期间进行自己的活动,他有钥匙,每个人都知道他大权在身,因此他能够完全自由的进行盗窃。”

He also said that the full extent of the thefts had not yet been determined.

检察官还表示盗窃的全部内容仍尚未确定。

"We don't know yet how many books in total were taken," he said. "However, since we are talking about more than 500 books that were returned, this is one of the most important recoveries in our investigations to reconstruct the compendium of the library."

“我们还不知道被窃书籍的总共数量。但是,因为我们刚才所讲500多本书被归还,这是我们致力于重建图书馆的调查中最为重要的环节。”

Italian mathematician and astronomer Galileo Galilei and Polish Nicolaus Copernicus are among the most influential natural scientists of the early modern age, and their findings are documented in the texts that were stolen over a period of time in 2012. Bavarian police said the books would be placed in special boxes for their return to Italy.

意大利数学家，天文学家伽利略及波兰的尼古拉斯·哥白尼是现代早期最具影响力的自然科学家,而2012年记载着他们研究精髓的文本曾被盗窃。巴伐利亚警方表示这些书籍在回到意大利后将被安置在特殊的箱子中。