"Sarrazin affair" opens can of worms in Germany 「薩拉欽辭職事件」揭發德國的頭痛問題

The resignation of a controversial German central banker came as a relief for Chancellor Angela Merkel’s government but his comments on immigration have opened a Pandora’s Box. 一名引發爭議的德國央行理事辭職，讓總理梅克爾政府鬆了口氣，但他對移民問題的評論卻引發更多棘手問題。 Considerable public support for Thilo Sarrazin have revealed that there is potential for a new political party for voters uneasy about the presence of some four million Muslims in their midst, analysts say. 分析家表示，許多民眾表態支持薩拉欽，反映出德國有可能因此誕生一個新政黨，獲得對德國境內400萬穆斯林移民感到不安的選民支持。 The Bundesbank central bank said in a surprise statement that Sarrazin would clear his desk in Frankfurt by the end of September "by mutual accord." 德國央行意外發表聲明指出，根據「相互協議」，薩拉欽會在9月底清出法蘭克福總部的辦公室。 The furore followed the publication of a new book by Sarrazin, "Germany Does Itself In", that said that Germany was being made "more stupid" by poorly educated and unproductive Muslim immigrants and their numerous offspring. 這場政壇風暴是由薩拉欽出版的新書「德國自我毀滅」所引發，書中指稱德國受到教育程度低落又不事生產的穆斯林移民，以及他們的大量後代所拖累，已經「變得更笨」。 "If I want to hear the muezzin’s call to prayer, then I’ll go to the Orient," he says in the book, saying that allowing in millions of "guest workers" in the 1960s and 1970s was a "gigantic error". 「假如我想聽叫拜者呼喚大家做禮拜，我會去東方，」他在書中表示，他還說德國在1960及1970年代准許數百萬「客工」入境是一項「巨大錯誤」。 Surveys have indicated that Sarrazin’s opinions on the integration of Muslims enjoy considerable sympathy, and his book is a best-seller. 民調顯示，薩拉欽有關穆斯林融合問題的看法受到廣泛民眾認同，他的書更是一出版就變成了暢銷書。 新聞辭典 open （up） a can of worms：成語，指讓情勢變得一發不可收拾或更為棘手，如The investigation into how these expensive trips were paid for certainly opened a can of worms.（調查這些高價旅遊的付款方式反而引出了更多問題。） open （a） pandora’s box：成語，指發現意外的問題，如Sadly, his reforms opened up a Pandora’s box of domestic problems.（不幸的是，他的改革卻製造出更多內政問題。） pandora’s box：名詞，潘朵拉的盒子，指製造出更多意外新麻煩的事物。 breathe a sigh of relief：片語，指鬆了一口氣，放下心中的大石頭，如Coastal residents breathed a sigh of relief when the hurricane was downgraded to a tropical storm.（當颶風減弱為熱帶風暴時，沿岸居民都鬆了一口氣。）