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As the Greek crisis escalated in recent days, Europe’s common currency crossed a line that could taint it forever.
近日，随着希腊危机日益加剧，欧洲的通用货币越过了一条界限，而这种情况可能会对其造成极为长久的负面影响。
The crucial moment occurred when Greece’s debt dispute with other European countries became a fight to stay in the euro. The prospect of a country leaving the currency was once unthinkable. Europe’s goal is to form an “ever closer union” — and the euro’s creators expected the currency to play a driving role in that process.
当希腊与欧洲其他国家的债务纠纷演变成一场关于是否要留在欧元区的斗争时，欧元也走到了决定性的时刻。曾经，很难想象哪个国家会离开欧元区。欧洲的目标是形成一个“日益紧密的联盟”，而欧元的缔造者希望欧元能在这一过程中起推动作用。
“You are the euro, and upon this currency we will build our Europe,” is how one fervent European leader put it two decades ago. But as relations between Greece and its creditors broke down last month, the currency stopped being a force for unity. In many ways, it became a weapon that each side seized upon to advance its cause.
20年前，一位热衷于此的欧洲领导人曾经宣称，“你就是欧元，而我们将在这个货币的基础上建立自己的欧洲。”但是，随着希腊和债权人的关系于上个月破裂，欧元已不再是一股团结的力量。从很多方面而言，它变成了一件武器，被各方用来为己谋利。
Greece’s creditors, mostly other European countries, appeared to gain the most leverage from this tactic. Knowing that the Greek people greatly favor being in the euro, European leaders have raised the specter of an exit, in part as a way to press Greece’s government into a compromise.
作为希腊最主要的债权人，欧洲其他国家似乎从这种策略中获得了最大的筹码。在知道希腊民众非常支持继续留在欧元区的情况下，欧洲领导人祭出了让希腊退出的可怕前景，部分原因就是为了以此胁迫希腊政府作出妥协。
“We have a Grexit scenario prepared in detail,” Jean-Claude Juncker, the president of the European Commission, said on Tuesday, using the term for a Greek exit from the euro. On the other side, Greece’s leaders have decried similar comments as “blackmail.” But they, too, have tried to stoke fears about the euro to get their way, raising concerns about the damage that a Greek departure might cause to the euro and the Continent’s economy.
“我们已经为‘希腊退出’(Grexit)的情景做了详尽准备，”欧盟委员会主席让-克洛德·容克(Jean-Claude Juncker)周二表示。“希腊退出”指的是该国退出欧元区。另一方面，希腊领导人对类似的言论表示谴责，称其为“敲诈”。不过，为了达到自身的目的，他们也在煽动人们对欧元的担心。他们强调，倘若希腊退出，可能会对欧元和整个欧洲大陆的经济造成负面影响。
The common currency became a cudgel.
这种共同货币演变为了一根大棒。
Analysts are assessing the damage done to the euro, used by Greece and 18 other countries, as well as the potential for a shock to the Continent’s wider economy. A chaotic Grexit could disrupt financial markets and damp economic activity.
分析人士正在评估欧元遭受的损害，以及欧洲大陆的宏观经济受到冲击的可能性。欧元区包括希腊和其他18个国家。混乱的“希腊退出”可能会扰乱金融市场、遏制经济活动。
Still, the currency is not expected to fall apart completely. It is possible that the euro would in some ways strengthen if a Greek departure left behind a group of participating countries that got along better. Greece accounts for only 2 percent of the euro area’s gross domestic product.
不过，欧元区不大可能完全分崩离析。如果希腊退出后，剩下的国家能更融洽地相处，欧元或许还会在某种程度上得到强化。希腊在欧元区的GDP中仅占2%。
Even so, many analysts say that some of the important ideals behind the euro — such as cooperation and inclusivity — have suffered a big blow.
尽管如此，许多分析人士仍然表示，欧元背后的一些重要理念——比如合作与包容——受到了重创。
“To be honest, the dream has died regardless of what happens with Greece, because that dream was just a fantasy,” said Jens J. Nordvig, an analyst with Nomura Securities and the author of “The Fall of the Euro.”
野村证券(Nomura Securities)分析师、《欧元的覆灭》(The Fall of the Euro)的作者延斯·J·诺德维克(Jens J. Nordvig)表示，“老实说，不论希腊情况如何，梦想都已经破灭，因为这个梦想只是个白日梦。”
On Wednesday, Greece submitted a request for a new loan that expressed its intent to carry out the sort of overhauls that its creditors favor. Yet even if a deal is done, and Greece remains within the common currency, the last few months have fully revealed the potential fault lines within the euro.
周三，希腊提交了申请新贷款的计划，并表达了实施其债权人支持的全面改革的意愿。不过，就算能达成协议，希腊留在欧元区，过去几个月的情况也完全暴露了欧元区潜在的内部鸿沟。
The struggle over Greece could set an unforgettable precedent for the next time any country runs afoul of a European majority. “You have an incomplete currency area that is vulnerable,” Mr. Nordvig said. “It doesn’t mean it’s going to totally disintegrate, but it’s going to remain vulnerable.”
关于希腊的斗争，可以为下一个与欧洲大部分地区对抗的国家设立一个难忘的先例。“这个不完整的货币区很脆弱，”诺德维克说。“这并不是说它将完全瓦解，但它会一直很脆弱。”
Greece’s problems show just how different the euro is from, say, the dollar. In the United States, if one region goes into a slump, it does not face being cut off from the rest of the country. The federal government usually provides fiscal support to the region without igniting a firestorm of resistance from other parts of the United States. And the Federal Reserve can make emergency loans to the banks in the region to prevent runs on the financial system there.
希腊的问题说明了欧元与其他货币的区别，比如美元。在美国，如果一个地区陷入经济困境，它不会面临被其他地区隔绝的问题。联邦政府通常会为该地区提供财政支持，这种做法也不会引起其他地区的激烈反对。美联储可以向该地区的银行提供紧急贷款，从而防止当地的金融系统出现挤兑。
In Europe, the process for helping troubled countries is much more difficult and fragmented.
在欧洲，帮助陷入困境的国家的过程要艰难得多、分散得多。
Greece has received some assistance from the rest of Europe, through bailouts in 2010 and 2012, and the European Central Bank has provided considerable emergency loans to Greek banks. Greece even followed through on some of the austerity measures that its creditors demanded. But after several years of hard times, staggeringly high unemployment and debt loads that remained stifling, the Greeks in January voted for a leftist government. It did not want to have to agree to more austerity to receive fresh aid, which was then going to be used to pay off a large amount of debt coming due this year and next.
希腊通过2010及2012年的救助计划从欧洲其他国家获得了一些帮助，欧洲央行也向希腊银行提供了可观的紧急贷款。希腊甚至还采用了债权人要求的一些紧缩举措。但经过几年的苦日子，希腊失业率居高不下、债务负担依然沉重，民众在今年1月投票让左翼政府上台。希腊不想通过被迫同意采取更多紧缩举措来获取新的援助，再把这些援助资金用于支付今年或明年到期的大量债务。
The parallels are not exact, but if Greece were a heavily indebted city in the United States, things could have turned out quite differently. Greece could have filed for bankruptcy. And during the ordeal, it is highly unlikely that the city and all its banks would face the prospect of losing their access to dollars.
这样的对比并不准确，但如果希腊是一座负债累累的美国城市，事情可能会截然不同。希腊可以申请破产。在这场灾难中，这样的一座城市及其所有银行不大可能面临无法获得美元的前景。
Greece, however, is now being deprived of fresh euros. This has caused the banks to allow only the tiniest withdrawals, and it means that Greece may soon have to introduce a new currency, which would almost certainly be worth far less than the euro. Fears of the latter may yet persuade Greece’s government to give some ground and make a deal before a Sunday deadline that Europe laid down this week.
然而，希腊现在被剥夺了获得新的欧元的权利。这导致银行只允许民众最小限度地取款，还意味着希腊可能很快就需要推出新货币，而这种货币的价值几乎肯定会比欧元低得多。对于后一种情况的担心可能会说服希腊政府作出一些让步，在欧洲本周设定的截止日期周日到来之前达成协议。
If the Greek government wants to stay within the eurozone, it may yet try to hold firm after Greek voters expressed strong opposition to creditor demands in a referendum on Sunday.
就算希腊政府希望留在欧元区，它仍然可能会坚守阵地，因为选民在周日举行的公投中对债权人的要求表示强烈反对。
“They basically said, ‘Find a way to keep us in the euro area without these crazy policies,’ ” said Charles Wyplosz, a professor of international economics at the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies in Geneva. “I find that very reasonable.”
“他们基本上是在说，‘找到一种使我们既留在欧元区又不用采取这些疯狂政策的方法，’”日内瓦高级国际关系及发展学院(Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies)的国际经济学教授查尔斯·维普洛斯(Charles Wyplosz)说。“我觉得这很合理。”
Europe’s leaders have shown little regard for that message — and in the coming days they may use the euro to apply more pressure on Greece.
欧洲领导人并不怎么在意这条讯息。他们可能会在未来几天利用欧元对希腊进一步施压。
Still, Greece and its creditors may yet pull back from the brink to avoid a Greek departure from the euro.
不过，希腊及其债权人还是可能会从悬崖撤回，避免希腊离开欧元区。
“I don’t think the Greeks want that and I don’t think the Europeans want that,” said David R. Cameron, a professor of political science at Yale. “At the end of the day, it is a lot easier to write another check.”
“我觉得希腊并不希望离开，欧洲人也不想看到这样的结果，”耶鲁大学政治学教授戴维·R·卡梅伦(David R. Cameron)说。“说到底，再开一张支票总要容易得多。”
