In a fusty(霉味的，陈腐的) room at the Royal Courts of Justice, a man in a tricorn hat(三角帽) receives a payment. He is the king’s remembrancer(债务记录官), an office once charged with keeping track of(记录，掌握……的动态) money owed to the crown. This is the annual Ceremony of Quit Rents, held this year on October 14th. The earliest recorded one was in 1211. Each year the City of London pays a levy(征收的款项，税款) to the monarch for two plots of land: six giant horseshoes, 61 nails and two knives, one blunt(钝的) and one sharp.
在皇家法院一间散发着霉味的房间里，一位头戴三角帽的男子接收一笔款项。他是国王的债务记录官，这一职位曾经负责记录臣民欠王室的债务。这就是一年一度的“免役地租仪式”，今年于10月14日举行。有记载的最早一次是在1211年。每年，伦敦金融城都要为两块土地向君主缴纳一笔费用：六只巨型马蹄铁、六十一枚钉子和两把刀，一把钝刀，一把利刀。
The remembrancer then inspects the wares(物品，商品). An official tries the blunt knife—traditionally a billhook—which should be able to bend a hazel stick without cutting it.(一名官员试用那把钝刀——传统上是一把钩刀——它应该能够把一根榛木棍弯折而不将其切断。) Next he wield(挥舞，使用)s the sharp one, which needs to chop through the wood. Once the horseshoes and nails have been counted, the payment is accepted and the City can enjoy its tenancies(租约，租赁权) for another 12 months.
随后，债务记录官会检查这些物品。一名官员会试用那把钝刀——传统上是一把钩刀——它应该能够把一根榛木棍弯折而不将其切断。接着他挥舞那把利刀，它需要能砍断木头。等马蹄铁和钉子清点完毕，这笔款项就被接受，金融城便可以再享有十二个月的租约。
In theory, at least. These days no one knows exactly where the rented land is, though some have made educated guesses(有根据的推测). The first parcel(一块（土地）) is somewhere in Shropshire, where a man named Nicholas rented moorland(荒地，荒野) before passing his tenancy on(转让租约). The other is near London’s Strand, a stone’s throw from(离……很近) The Economist’s office. It came from a blacksmith called Walter, who paid for access to a forge(铁匠铺，锻炉) (hence the horseshoes). Uncertainty over the postcodes has not stopped the crown claiming its due(索取应得之物). In today’s Square Mile firms hire armies of lawyers to draft agreements and then wriggle out of(设法摆脱，逃避) them. But for the king’s remembrancer contracts are sacred(神圣的).
至少理论上如此。如今没人确切知道这两块租来的土地在哪里，不过有人做过有根据的推测。第一块地在什罗普郡某处，一个叫尼古拉斯的人曾租下那里的荒地，后来把租约转让出去。另一块在伦敦的河岸街附近，离《经济学人》办公室只有一步之遥。它来自一个叫沃尔特的铁匠，他付钱获得了使用一座铁匠铺的权利（马蹄铁由此而来）。邮编不明并没有阻止王室索取应得之物。在今天的伦敦金融城，公司聘请大批律师起草协议，然后设法脱身。但对国王的债务记录官来说，契约是神圣的。
