只收奶酪的银行

这家银行只收奶酪。把这条转发给那个觉得银行不可能更离谱的人。在意大利北部的山里,有一家银行的金库里放着五十多万个奶酪轮。

This bank only takes cheese. Send this to whoever thinks banking cannot get stranger. In the hills of northern Italy, a bank keeps a vault holding more than half a million wheels of cheese.

那是帕尔马干酪,属于当地的奶农。奶农不用等上好几年,等奶酪熟成再卖掉,而是直接把奶酪轮交给银行做抵押,换一笔贷款,银行当场就先付给他们其中很大一部分价值。

The cheese is Parmigiano Reggiano, and it belongs to local dairy farmers. Instead of waiting years for the cheese to age and sell, farmers hand their wheels straight to the bank as collateral for a loan, and the bank pays them a large share of the value right away.

在贷款期间,银行自己负责储存和熟成这些奶酪轮,一个个检查、翻面,管得像一座奶酪图书馆。等奶酪最后卖出全价,奶农就还清贷款,整套流程再从下一批开始转一遍。

While the loan runs, the bank stores and ages the wheels itself, checking each one and rotating them like a library of cheese. When the cheese finally sells at full price, the farmer settles the loan, and the whole system starts again with the next harvest.