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Egyptian bread crisis
埃及面包危機
In Egypt, a shortage of subsidized bread has resulted in long lines and occasional clashes in which several people have been killed. The president has ordered the army to use its bakeries to try to end the bread crisis, but the roots of the problem are more than just simple supply and demand.Rising food prices and poverty have combined with corruption to create a bread problem that will not be easily solved.
在埃及，由政府補貼的平價面包出現短缺，結果買面包的隊伍越來越長甚至發生沖突，造成人員死亡。埃及總統命令軍方的面包房向市場供貨，以求緩解面包危機。不過,這場危機的根源并不僅限 于供求失衡。食品漲價、貧困以及腐敗等問題交織在一起，才造成了 這個棘手難題.
About 30 people are crowding around two small windows at a Cairo bakery, shouting at each other and jostling for the best place in line. The heat is blistering already, and women in the crowd shade themselves from the sun with plastic bags.
在開羅的一家面包店的兩扇狹小的窗前，大約有3等候買面 包的顧客吵吵嚷嚷地擠成一團。炎炎烈日下，人群里的婦女只好把 塑料袋罩在頭上遮陽。
A woman named Fatma says she waits here for two to three hours every day to buy bread for her family of five.
一名叫法塔瑪的女顧客說,為了一家5口人能吃上飯，她每天都 要在這里排上兩三個小時的隊。
Gesturing toward the chaos at the bakery window, she says, “What can I say? You can see this bread problem for yourself. The prices of everything have gotten so high.”
法塔瑪指著眼前亂作一團的景象,無可奈何地表示能說什么呢？面包的問題大家有目共睹。什么東西現在都貴得離譜。”
This bakery is selling round loaves of government-subsidized bread, known locally as “balady” or country bread. The price is fixed at five Egyptian piasters, or less than one US cent a loaf.
這家面包店賣的是政府補貼的平價圓面包。當地人把這種面包稱為“巴拉迪”,就是鄉下面包的意思^這種面包的單價固定在5個皮阿斯特，還不到1美分。
In recent months, rising food prices have fueled a shortage of this subsidized bread, leading to long lines and short tempers. Several people have been killed in fighting that has broken out in bread lines or clashes between customers and bakers.
最近幾個月來，食品漲價導致這種平價面包出現短缺。于是,排隊買面包的隊伍越來越長,情緒也越來越焦躁。搶購面包引發的沖 突已經造成幾人死亡。
“All other food prices have risen. There are a lot of food prices which rose sizably look at the oil price for instance, rice，sugar, everything is rising~but balady bread has been kept at five piasters a loaf, and the flour which goes into it is delivered at a much lower price while the baker can sell it on the black market at several times the price，，’ said Kheir el-Din.
Kheirel-Din說:“其他食品都在漲價。很多食品漲幅相當大,比如食用油、大米、糖等等,這些都在漲。但是巴拉迪面包的價格始終固定在5個皮阿斯特。烘烤這 些平價面包的面粉也是低價進的,但是面包房可以在黑市上以幾倍的價錢出售這些面包。”
The corruption is not limited to selling subsidized wheat flour on the black market.
有人把平價面包拿到黑市上高價出售只是腐敗現象的表現之一。
At the bakery, a heavy metal door swings open and then clangs shut quickly, and a man scurries away holding five round pieces of freshly baked bread.
在一家面包店,一扇沉重的金屬門突然打開,然后又很快地關上。一名男子捧著5個剛剛出爐的圓面包迅速離去。
Another man who gives his name only as Samir waves his hand angrily toward the door.
面包店前，一位名叫薩米爾的男子手指面包店，忿忿不平。
He says the bakery employees let some people inside to get bread quickly while he and the rest are waiting in line outside in the sun for hours.
薩米爾抱怨說,面包店的工作人員讓一些人插隊買到面包，而他和其他顧客卻要在炎熱的太 陽下苦等幾個小時。
In Egypt, the bread crisis is a symptom of a larger problem~one of stagnant wages that have failed to keep up with the cost of living. There is no shortage of bread for those willing and able to pay higher prices for it Some people who buy the subsidized product resell it just down the street for twice the price. And unsubsidized bread is in plentiful supply at local markets, but that costs five times as much.
在埃及,面包危機只是一個表象,其深層問題是工資停滯不前,而生活開支卻在不斷增長。對 于那些能夠并且愿意支付高昂價格的人來說,并不存在面包短缺問題。一些購買了平價面包的人 走到街道另一端,轉手就以雙倍的價格賣掉。在地方市場上,議價面包隨處可見,但價格往往是平 價面包的5倍左右。
Fatma says the unsubsidized bread is too expensive, and the loaves are smaller than the real balady ones. She says she simply cannot afford to feed her children that way.
法塔瑪說,議價面包太貴,個頭也不如巴拉迪面包那么大,所以她根本沒有辦法靠議價面包養 活她的孩子。
She says her family of five lives on a single pension of only 350 Egyptian pounds a month，or just over $ 60. That is similar to the wages earned by civil servants and factory workers, and even doctors in public hospitals.
她說，她們一家5 口人的全部收入來源只有每個月350埃磅的補助金,這筆錢折合一下大約是 60美元。埃及的公務員、工人，甚至國營醫院的醫生也就掙這么多錢。
Fatma says each of her family members eats two pieces of bread a day. If she had to buy unsubsidized bread at five cents apiece, she would end up spending about one quarter of her monthly income on bread alone.
法塔瑪說,她家每人每天吃兩塊面包。如果花上5倍的價錢買議價面包的話,她們家每個月光是買面包就要花掉收人的1/4。
At the bakery, Fatma sighs as she stares at the raucous crowd pushing and shoving to get closer to the front. She shakes her head and moves into line, saying under her breath, “May God have mercy on the poor."
在面包店,法塔瑪看著眼前擠成一團的顧客,無可奈何地嘆了口氣。她搖了搖頭,小聲嘀咕了 —句“老天保佑窮人”,然后向人群里擠去。
