希腊与德国

　　Angela's Athens

　　安吉拉在希腊

　　Greeks bearing grudges

　　希腊怨声载道

　　AS a stiff Aegean breeze fluttered the hair and lapels of Angela Merkel’s pale-green jacket, one Greek reporter thought the outfit looked familiar. The German chancellor, making a one-day working visit to Athens, seemed to have picked the same jacket she wore in July while watching Germany trounce Greece 4-2 at this year’s European football championship. Was Mrs Merkel planning to blast the Greeks again, this time for foot-dragging over economic reforms?

　　德国总理正对希腊进行为期一日的工作访问，安吉拉·默克尔身着淡绿色夹克站立在爱琴海的微风中，头发和衣领随风翩翩起舞。此情此景令一名希腊记者觉得似曾相识。七月份的欧洲足球锦标赛决赛上她穿的也是这件衣服。她似乎特意挑选过，难道默克尔打算再一次扇希腊一嘴巴吗？上次是因为希腊以2-4大败于德国，这次难道是因为停滞不前的经济改革？

　　Antonis Samaras, the prime minister, need not have worried. The European Union’s toughest advocate of austerity gave a positive message, even if it was typically cautious. Mrs Merkel said she hoped and wished that Greece would remain a member of the euro zone, praised the country’s progress with cutting expenditure and offered “practical” assistance with structural reforms, such as German expertise on overhauling tax administration and modernising local government.

　　希腊总理安东尼斯·萨马拉斯不必忧心忡忡。欧盟中态度最强硬的紧缩政策拥护者虽然仍保持谨慎态度，但其已向希腊传达了积极的信号。默克尔表示她希望希腊能维持其欧元区成员国的地位，她表扬了希腊在削减财政支出方面所取得的进展，并切实为希腊提供结构改革方面的援助，其中包括为希腊税收管理大检修提供德国专家的指导，以及为当地政府现代化提供帮助。

　　The chancellor’s efforts to empathise with ordinary Greeks suffering the pain of a five-year recession were less successful. Hostile protesters outside parliament waved banners declaring “Angela you are not welcome”. Alexis Tsipras, leader of the radical left-wing Syriza, now the main opposition party in parliament, joined the demonstration, railing against “barbarous” measures imposed by international lenders. Several municipal workers in full Nazi uniform, one of them with an Adolf Hitler moustache, drove a jeep flying swastika flags through a central boulevard as a tasteless reminder of the German occupation of Athens in the second world war.

　　德国总理向5年经济衰退中受苦的希腊民众表示同情，但是却并不受待见。满怀怨恨的抗议者在国会大厦外面挥舞旗帜扬言“安吉拉，我们不欢迎你”。极左派联盟西里扎（Syriza）是议会中主要反对党，其领导人亚历克西斯·西普拉斯也参加了这次游行示威，斥责国际借贷者强制实行的政策“惨无人道”。更有些市政工作者穿上纳粹全套制服，其中一人还留着阿道夫希特勒的八字须，开着吉普车，挥舞带有卍标志的旗帜，穿行于中央林荫大道，不痛不痒地提醒着人们二战时德国侵占希腊的罪行。

　　At one point, as riot police briefly used tear gas and stun grenades to block protesters from approaching the parliament building, it looked as if the visit might backfire disastrously. Shortly afterwards Karolos Papoulias, the plain-speaking Greek president, told Mrs Merkel the Greeks could not endure much more austerity. At a business gathering, Greece’s senior industrialist complained about pressure on Athens to legislate a lower minimum monthly wage of 580 ($747), aimed at making Greek companies more competitive, The chancellor said mildly she would consult the troika-the EU, European Central Bank, and IMF officials working with the Greek finance ministry on a new 13.5 billion austerity package.

　　当防暴警察用烟雾弹闪光弹阻止游行者靠近国会大厦时，人们一度觉得此次访问会产生灾难性的反作用。此后不久，希腊总统卡罗洛斯·帕普利亚斯明确的告诉默克尔，希腊没法承受这么大幅度的紧缩。在商业聚会上，希腊资深企业家也抱怨紧缩给希腊的巨大压力，法定最低月工资降到了580 ($747)，尽管此举旨在提升企业竞争力。德国总理态度很柔和，表示将与“三头马车”商讨，即欧盟，欧中央行和国际货币基金组织，努力与希腊财政部长达成新的135亿的紧缩方案。

　　Mr Samaras’s approval rating at home may benefit from having hosted Europe’s most powerful politician. Even so, he must wrap up the new economic package and persuade the socialist and left-wing party leaders, his coalition partners, to back it before the European summit on October 18th. He must also push the measures through parliament before Greece can draw down a long-overdue 31.2 billion loan disbursement. For as long as government suppliers continue to be unpaid and banks undercapitalised, the cash-starved economy has no prospect of moving again.

　　萨马拉斯在国内的支持率会因为接待欧洲这位最有实力的政治家而提升。尽管如此，他必须完成新经济计划，并在10月18日欧洲峰会前说服其联合党派社会党和其他左翼党派领导人。他必须先在议会上通过紧缩方案，然后才能获得期盼已久的312亿的贷款援助。若政府资金提供方一直不提供贷款，银行便资金不足，亟待资金的希腊便没可能挪动步子向前走。

　　All the measures for 2013, amounting to 9 billion of spending cuts, have been agreed on, including reductions in farmers’ modest pensions and a new tonnage tax that patriotic shipowners whose vessels fly the Greek flag have unexpectedly agreed to pay. The gap for 2014 is “fairly small” and could be closed within days, barring an upset in talks with the troika, negotiators say. Greece should be able to balance its budget next year (before interest repayments). Yet if reforms start falling behind, talk of a “Grexit” from the euro will quickly resurface.

　　2013年的财政削减共达90亿，对此各方都已达成一致，其中包括削减农民适度养老金。另外插有希腊旗帜的爱国船商竟然出乎意料地答应交付巨额税款。2013与2014的差距已经相当小了，并且这个缺口将在数天内填补，但是与三头马车的协商却不是很顺利，谈判者如是说。希腊应能在明年平衡预算（不包括利息偿还），但是如果改革跟不上，“希腊退出欧元区”的议题又会被放到议桌上。

　　Mr Samaras has come a long way since his centre-right New Democracy party scraped a narrow election victory in June. As opposition leader he denounced Greece’s first bail-out in 2010. Advisers recall that afterwards Mrs Merkel and the troika berated him as an irresponsible southern European politician. Mr Samaras says Greece has turned a page; he chose to make his first trip abroad as prime minister to Berlin. His efforts may be starting to show results, but Mr Samaras still has a long road ahead.

　　自从萨马拉斯领导的中右翼新民主党在6月的选举中勉强获胜以来，他已经取得了很多突破。作为反对党领导人，他曾谴责2010年对希腊的救援行为。据回忆，那次救援行动后，默克尔和三头政治批评他为不负责任的南欧政治家。萨马拉斯则表示希腊已经改过自新，并且决定对柏林进行成为总理以来的第一次访问。萨马拉斯的努力将初显成效，但他还有很长的路要走。 翻译：郁炳睿

　　1.foot-dragging 拖拉；懒散

　　例句:He accused the company of 'shameful foot-dragging'.

　　他批评这家公司“极其拖沓”。

　　2.wrap up 包裹；席卷

　　例句:I can't wrap up the peace talk in less than fifty pages.

　　我无法以不到50页纸的篇幅写出和平会谈总结。

　　3.fall behind 拖欠；落后

　　例句:Don't fall behind with your rent.

　　不要拖欠房租。

　　4.draw down 引来；招致

　　例句:If you go on behaving like that, you'll draw down blame on our heads.

　　你如果再这样胡闹，就会招惹我们生气的。