比利時鑄硬幣紀念滑鐵盧之戰惹法國不滿

LONDON — Perhaps befitting a battle that ended French hegemony in Europe, Paris, it seems, has been outflanked once again.

倫敦——或許與終結法國在歐洲的霸權的那場戰役一樣，巴黎似乎再次被打敗了。

After it objected to a decision in March by Belgium to introduce a new 2 euro coin to commemorate the 200th anniversary of Napoleon’s defeat at Waterloo, the Belgians retreated, scrapping 180,000 coins they had already minted.

爲了紀念拿破崙在滑鐵盧戰敗200週年，比利時於今年3月決定推出一款新的2歐元硬幣。但是在巴黎對此表示反對之後，比利時人作出了讓步，銷燬了他們已經制造出來的18萬枚硬幣。

But victory for France is proving elusive.

不過事實證明，勝利對於法國來說似乎轉瞬即逝。

This week, Belgium decided to circumvent French resistance by invoking a little-known European Union rule that allows countries to issue euro coins of their choice, provided they are in an irregular denomination.

本週，比利時決定援引一條鮮爲人知的歐盟規定，從而繞開法國的阻撓。根據這條規定，各國可以自行選擇發行歐元硬幣，只要面值不常見即可。

That led to the unveiling of a 2.50 coin — a first in Belgium — and 70,000 of them have now been minted. The coins, which can only be spent inside Belgium, display a monument of a lion atop a cone-shaped hill on the site of France’s humiliation, as well as lines indicating where troops were positioned when forces led by Britain and Prussia defeated Napoleon in the countryside near Brussels.

於是，比利時推出了面值爲2.5歐元的硬幣——這在比利時歷史上是頭一遭——並已鑄造了7萬枚。這些硬幣只能在比利時境內使用，上面的圖案是一座獅子紀念碑聳立在法國受辱之地的錐形山丘上，下方還有線條代表着由英國和普魯士帶領的軍隊在這片靠近布魯塞爾的郊區擊敗拿破崙時軍隊部署的位置。

Johan Van Overtveldt, the Belgian finance minister, insisted on Monday that the new coins were not meant to provoke Gallic anger.

比利時財政大臣約翰·範奧維爾威爾特(Johan Van Overtveldt)週一堅稱，鑄造這些新硬幣並不是爲了挑起法國人的憤怒情緒。

“The goal is not to revive old quarrels in a modern Europe — and there are more important things to sort out,” he was quoted as saying by Agence France-Presse. “But there’s been no battle in recent history as important as Waterloo, or indeed one that captures the imagination in the same way.”

“這樣做並非是想在當今的歐洲重燃舊的紛爭——我們還有更重要的事情需要解決，”法新社(Agence France-Presse)援引他的話報道。“但是在近代歷史中，沒有哪場戰役比滑鐵盧戰役更重要，也的確沒有哪場戰役像它一樣激起人們的興趣。”

There is no doubt that the European Union has bigger struggles to wage at the moment. But in its small way, the skirmish has signaled the challenges facing European integration, and the limits of Europe’s open borders at overcoming old nationalist impulses.

毫無疑問，歐盟有更大的問題需要處理。但從小的方面來看，這次糾紛表明了歐洲一體化面臨的挑戰，以及在克服由來已久的民族主義衝動方面，歐洲開放的邊界存在的侷限性。

Tensions among the 19 countries that use the euro have mounted as Greece teeters perilously close to defaulting on its debt.

隨着希臘債務違約的風險加大，使用歐元的19個國家間的關係也愈加緊張。

Yet history has its own currency in Europe, which even a common currency has yet to overcome. Back in March, officials in Paris wrote a letter to the European authorities insisting that the Battle of Waterloo, which took place on June 18, 1815, and altered the shape of European history, had a deep and damaging resonance in the collective French consciousness.

不過在歐洲，各家自有通行的歷史論斷，即便使用統一貨幣也不能改變這一點。今年3月，巴黎的官員致函歐盟當局，堅稱滑鐵盧戰役深深傷害了法國民衆的集體情感。這場於1815年6月18日爆發的戰役改變了歐洲歷史的格局。

France protested Belgium’s plans for its original coin by saying that basking in France’s defeat threatened to undermine European unity, troubled enough already. The 2 coin, it said, could spur an “unfavorable reaction in France.” In Belgium, the victory embodied in the 2.50 coin is being lauded as if the tiny country had itself triumphed on the battlefield.

法國反對比利時的鑄幣計劃，理由是以法國的戰敗爲樂可能會破壞歐洲的團結，而這裏的麻煩已經夠多了。法國稱，這款面值2歐元的硬幣可能會在法國引發“令人不快的反應”。在比利時，推出2.5歐元硬幣代表的勝利卻受到了人們的稱讚，就好像這個小國自己在戰場上打了勝仗一樣。

“Belgium creativity at its best!” Jean-Yves Jault, the Brussels-based head of corporate communications for Toyota Europe, boasted on Twitter.

豐田歐洲(Toyota Europe)駐布魯塞爾的企業公關部門負責人讓-伊夫·若(Jean-Yves Jault)在Twitter上誇讚，“這是比利時最好的創意！”

Nevertheless, the move has inspired no little annoyance in France. An article on the website of Bfmtv, the French broadcaster, noted that 200 years later, the defeat of Napoleon was “still hard to swallow.”

儘管如此，此舉在法國引發了不少惱怒情緒。法國電視臺Bfmtv的網站上有一篇文章指出，200年後，拿破崙戰敗的事實“仍然讓人難以接受”。

The article asked whether France was a “poor loser,” even as it stressed that the 2.50 coin would not be legal tender outside of Belgium, where it is to be sold in plastic bags at a cost of 6.

這篇文章提出，法國是不是一個“輸不起的敗者”？但又同時強調，除了在比利時，這款面值2.5歐元的硬幣不屬合法貨幣。在比利時，它裝在塑料包裝裏售賣，標價6歐元。

In Britain, where the 19th-century poet laureate Robert Southey called the Battle of Waterloo “the greatest deliverance that civilized society has experienced” since Charles Martel repelled an Islamic conquest of Europe in 732, the new 2.50 coin aroused similar adulation.

19世紀的英國桂冠詩人羅伯特·騷塞(Robert Southey)稱，滑鐵盧戰役是自查爾斯·馬特爾(Charles Martel)於公元732年擊退攻取歐洲的伊斯蘭大軍以來，“文明社會經歷的最偉大的解救”。這款新的2.5歐元硬幣引發了類似的吹捧。

“Well done Belgium beat the French at their own game of finding ways around EU rules, the English should take note!!” Michael Dunn, from Stratford-upon-Avon, wrote on Twitter.

來自英格蘭埃文河畔斯特拉福德鎮的邁克爾·鄧恩(Michael Dunn)在Twitter上寫道，“幹得漂亮。比利時用法國慣用的想方設法繞過歐盟規定的把戲擊敗了法國，英國人該好好看看！！”

Others were less impressed. On Facebook, Manuel Di Pietrantonio suggested that the value of the dispute was about 2.50.

其他一些人則沒有這麼強烈的感覺。曼紐爾·迪彼得蘭託尼奧(Manuel Di Pietrantonio)在Facebook上表示，這場爭端就值2.5歐元。