这是Calgary Sun(May 2, 2010, Sunday)报第二十八版的一篇评论希腊经济危机的文章。题目是,“把希腊从废墟中挖掘出来”。希腊是西方文明的发祥地,古迹众多,顾借此义,暗喻把希腊从此次金融危机中解救出来。
副题是:Banks across Europe could start to wobble if Greek bonds aren’t shored up,作者是:Eric Margolis,
下面是这篇文章,我把写得好的句子翻译下来。
Ah, romantic springtime Paris! Angry farmers drove 1,100 tractors through the City of Light last week. They fired volleys of wet manure from a terrifying farm machine. Train unions, teachers and postmen threaten more strikes.
作者的文章写于巴黎,所以开头说:“哦,浪漫的春天的巴黎啊!上周,一千一百个愤怒的农民开着拖拉机进入这座‘灯光之城’。他们从一架恐怖的农用机械中焚烧潮湿的粪肥。铁路工会,教师和邮递员威胁要举行更多的示威。”
But France’s biggest headache is being caused by Greece and other members of Europe’s Club Med of debt. France’s banks are Europe’s biggest holders of Greek debt, some $67 billion, that is fast losing value. There is talk of a bond market crash.
Greece cooked its books. Italy, Spain and Portugal may have done the same.
What is it about sunshine that makes people forget the basics of sound finance and live on debt?
The great 17th century French fabulist Jean de la Fontaine epitomized financial imprudence in his wonderful tale of the grasshopper and the ant. The grasshopper parties all summer while the ant labours to store food. When winter arrives, the imprudent grasshopper starves in the cold. The ant refuses to help him.
“伟大的十七世纪法国寓言家拉丰丹在他的蚱蜢和蚂蚁的故事中概括了这种经济上的轻率行为,当蚱蜢在夏天狂欢的时候,蚂蚁却在拼命地储存食物。当冬天来临,蚂蚁拒绝给蚱蜢食物。”
So far, the EU is not ready to spurn wayward Greece. A $160-billion European Union/International Monetary Fund rescue package for Athens is being assembled. But irate Germans are demanding more painful austerity from the unwilling Greeks, who are already rioting daily over budget cuts.
If the rescue fails, Athens may default on its bonds or extend their duration, a humiliation usually associated with banana republics. Italy, no financial Gibraltar itself, holds $27-billion worth of iffy Greek bonds.
Portugal and Spain face a growing financial crisis. Foreign exchange speculators mercilessly savage currencies of nations showing the slightest signs of weakness. Bond rating agencies have downgraded Greece and Spain to junk status.
Last week, the euro dropped to its lowest level in a decade.
This decline should boost Europe’s exporters, particularly its leading one, Germany. But the Club Med crisis threatens the EU’s financial institutions with another near-death financial experience after 2008.
Greek government bonds are playing a similar role in the EU’s growing crisis that bogus mortgage-based securities did in America’s self-inflicted financial disaster.
German, French, Dutch and Italian banks hold billions of depreciating Greek and other Club Med bonds. Unless these securities are shored up, Europe’s banks will have to sharply cut lending and may themselves begin to wobble.
All eyes on Spain
All eyes are now on Spain. Like that other sunny but financially derelict paradise, California, Spain’s economy soared on inflated housing and now is in deep trouble. Fortunately, Spain’s well-run national banks so far remain solid, though its savings and loans banks are a mess.
Up in the gloomy north, the fretful German ants are furious at the grasshoppers of the south. As in the U.S., irate German taxpayers are asking why they should bail out Greeks who pay little taxes and retire around age 60 on generous pensions. Why bail out Spaniards who gambled with their houses, as did so many Sun Belt Americans?
在不明朗的(也是指其态度)北方,焦躁的德国“蚂蚁”(继续引用上面的寓言)对南方的“蚱蜢们”感到愤怒。像在美国一样,恼怒的德国纳税人想知道为什么要对希腊进行援助,在那里,人们赋税很低,在六十岁就可以退休,并且养老金丰厚?为什么要援助西班牙,那里的人们拿自己的住房去赌博,就像在“阳光地带”的美国人一样?(用了两个排比,增强说服力)
Germans have an admirable tradition of financial rectitude, a product of stern Lutheran teachings and frightful economic suffering after two world wars.
德国令人尊敬的趋向传统的金融模式,源于严格的路德教传统和两次战后的痛苦。(引用宗教和历史,拉开时间的维度)
But they are painfully torn between telling the Greeks to go jump in the Aegean and trying to hold Europe’s finances together. German Chancellor Angela Merkel faces a key election May 9 in North Rhine-Westphalia, which has more voters than Greece.
但是,他们苦于在让希腊跳入爱琴海和让欧洲金融分裂之间做出选择。默克尔面临五月九日北莱茵-威斯特伐利亚的关键选举,那里的选民比希腊要多得多。(当然,希腊根本没有德国的选民)
Some German wits have proposed Greece make good on its debts by selling its gorgeous islands.
一些德国的聪明人提议让希腊出售那些放光秀丽的海岛。
European critics claim the European Union expanded too far, too quickly, and should not have admitted Greece, Portugal, Bulgaria, Romania and Cyprus because they were unready for admission to the northern rich men’s club. Most Germans want Greece evacuated from the euro zone — schnell!
These poor but sunny Club Med nations tried to keep up with their rich northern neighbours by borrowing like crazy and hiding their debts through sleazy, Goldman Sachs-style financial hipper dipper.
这些贫穷的但是地处热带阳光下的国家试图赶上北方富裕国家的步伐,手段是通过疯狂地借钱、以高盛的方式来藏匿自己的债务。
The bouzouki music has stopped. Club Med’s credit cards are maxed out. The repo men are at the door.
希腊的曼陀铃已经停止奏响,地中海俱乐部的信用卡已经透支,债权人登门了。
编后:我把这篇文章一口气读下来,毫无滞涩,英语平白流畅,引经据典如随手拈来。一篇经济评论文章写成这样,作者的功底深厚。