骗局(英中对照)

古德明《征服英语》之英语军事故事，古德明，香港英语教育作家，他开了一个《征服英语专栏》，在专栏中专门用英语写了世界近代史上的军事小故事，用英语讲述历史中那些惊心动魄的战争。
骗　局

the widespread belief in the french royal family's extravagance before the french revolution may be seen in the diamond necklace affair.
in 1784, cardinal de rohan was persuaded by countess de la motte, a descendant of henry ii of france, that she was the queen's confidante, and that the queen wanted to acquire secretly a necklace of 500 diamonds. royal gratitude, even physical favours, seemed forthcoming when rohan was granted a meeting in a grove at versailles with"her majesty", who was in fact a prostitute impersonating the queen. rohan obtained the necklace from the jewellers, and turned it over to the countess, whose husband took it to london, where it was broken up for sale.

the affair became public after rohan failed to meet the payments to the jewellers. the countess was imprisoned, but soon escaped to london.
法国大革命之前，王室穷奢极侈传说深入民心，从钻石项链事件中可见一斑。
德拉莫特伯爵夫人是法王亨利二世后裔。一七八四年，她向枢机主教德罗昂自称是王后心腹，又说王后想悄悄获得一串五百颗钻石的项链，德罗昂都信以为真。「王后」还在凡尔赛宫一个小树林里接见德罗昂，似乎许以报答之余，还准备为他荐枕：那「王后」其实是个婊子扮的。德罗昂向珠宝商买下项链，交给德拉莫特。德拉莫特的丈夫把项链拿到伦敦，拆散卖出。
由于德罗昂无法付清欠珠宝商的金钱，这件事公开了。德拉莫特被捕入狱，但不久逃脱，去了伦敦。