圣诞节已近 经济依然没起色

While the Greek government is now lobbying for a greater bailout loan, Greek citizens are feeling the cinch. Despite Christmas coming in just days, most Greeks are tightening their wallets.
在希腊政府正在游说争取一个更大的援助贷款时，希腊人正在感受拮据。虽然圣诞节即将到来，但是很多希腊市民都在勒紧他们的钱包。

For Katerina Grapsa, Christmas always provided a business boost in the past.
对Katerina Grapsa来说，去过，圣诞节总是能刺激生意。

Since 1925 Grapsa has operated a store that sells decorative items. The shop was popular for the annual good luck charms Greeks give as gifts around Christmas and the new year.
从1925年开始，Grapsa家就在经营一间装饰品商店。圣诞节和新年期间，这间商店销售的吉祥物很受欢迎，希腊人把这些吉祥物当成礼物送出去。

But this year, Grapsa’s decorative Santas are still sitting on the shelves and her baskets remain full of good-luck pomegranates and lucky horse shoes.
但是今年，Grapsa的装饰圣诞老人还站在架子上，她的篮子里装满了吉祥石榴和幸运马鞋。

Katerina Grapsa, shop owner in Greece, said: "Unfortunately, the year has not gone well. We’re already 30 percent down compared to last year’s sales. Now with the holidays coming, there’s no sign of things improving. The daily traffic is insignificant. It gives us no hope that anything better will happen. I hope to be proved wrong, but I don’t think so."
希腊的商店老板Katerina Grapsa表示：“不幸的是，今年的行情并不好。和去年相比，今年我们的销售额已经下降了30%。现在，随着假期的临近，没有改善的迹象。日交易量微不足道。这让我们看不到任何会好转的希望。我希望是我想错了，但是我认为不是这样。”

She says that because of austerity measures people will buy only immediate necessities.
她表示，由于紧缩措施，人们只买当前需要的必需品。

Grapsa adds that people will come in to buy a token 5-euro present for the sake of making a simple gift-giving gesture, but are tightening their pockets from purchasing any larger gifts. Grapsa said: "Based on my grandmother’s stories, during the German occupation, business was destroyed, but they were able to restart the business. Now we have another world war, a financial one, and I don’t know where it will lead us. We have nothing giving us hope that things will go well, based on what is happening in Europe, too. We’re not alone."
Grapsa还补充道，为了作个简单的赠礼表示，人们会来买一个5欧元的代币，但是他们勒紧钱包，没有买任何大一点的礼物。Grapsa表示：“以我祖母的故事为基础，在德国占领期间，生意曾被破坏了，但是他们能重新开业。现在我们有另一场世界战争，一场金融战争，我不知道它会把我们带到哪里去。也以欧洲正在发生的事为基础，没有什么可以给我们事情会变好的希望。我们并不孤单。”

She says she sees no hope in the immediate future and will wait to see what the cash register reports on December 31st before taking decisions on the 86-year-old shop’s future.
她表示，对不久的将来，她看不到希望，在为这个有86年历史的老店的将来做决定之前，她会坐等收银机会报道什么。