Britons had only just begun to digest the results of their referendum when cities and companies across Europe leapt into action, all of them jockeying to lure¹ businesses, entrepreneurs and investment from London, the region's economic behemoth.

英国人才开始试着理解他们公投的后果，全欧洲的城市和公司已经迅速行动起来，竞相抛出诱饵，想要把企业、创业者以及投资从身为欧洲经济巨擘的伦敦吸引过去。

Much remains² up in the air, as the country embarks³ on a yearslong process to leave the 28-nation bloc⁴. Britain has not even officially filed to leave, and there will be painful negotiations⁵ on matters including trade and whether people from European Union nations will have the freedom to work in Britain, as they do now.

英国要花费数年时间，才能脱离由28个成员国组成的欧盟。当它踏上这漫漫征程的时候，许多事情都悬而未决。英国甚至尚未正式提交脱欧申请，而且要就一些事情——比如贸易，再比如来自欧盟成员国的人们是否还能像现在这样拥有在英国工作的自由——进行艰苦的谈判。

Despite the high levels of uncertainty⁶, others in Europe are, in effect, looking to gain from Britain's pain.

尽管存在太多不确定性，但欧洲其他国家其实正期待从英国的痛苦中获益。

Across the Continent, officials are already vocally⁷ trying to entice⁸ financial services firms, technology startups and others to forgo⁹ the British capital for cities like Paris, Luxembourg, Frankfurt and even the relatively¹⁰ tiny Lithuanian capital, Vilnius. They warn that businesses will suffer if they stay in a Britain that no longer has unfettered access to the EU and its hundreds of millions of potential customers.

欧洲大陆各地的官员已经纷纷发声，竭力怂恿金融服务公司、科技初创企业以及其他机构抛弃英国首都伦敦，前往巴黎、卢森堡、法兰克福，甚至是相对较小的立陶宛首都维尔纽斯之类的城市。他们警告说，如果留守不再拥有无条件进入欧盟市场、接触其亿万潜在消费者资格的英国，企业的日子会很不好过。

"We didn't want the vote to turn out that way," said Tarek Al-Wazir, economics minister for the German state of Hesse, which includes Frankfurt. But, he added, "we prepared just in case."

"我们并不希望看到这样的投票结果，"法兰克福所在的德国黑森州经济部长塔里克·瓦齐尔说。但他也说，"我们做了准备，以防万一。"

Several companies — including banks like HSBC and JPMorgan Chase and the telecommunications giant Vodafone — have said they will consider moving at least a few jobs to the Continent.

若干家公司--包括汇丰、摩根大通等银行以及电信巨头沃达丰--已经表示，会考虑至少把少量工作岗位迁移到欧洲大陆。

"A 2 percent loss for London is a 20 percent gain for Frankfurt," said Hubertus Vaeth, managing director of Frankfurt Main Finance, a coalition¹¹ of businesses and local government organizations that were behind the campaign.

"伦敦失去2%，法兰克福会收获20%，"法兰克福美因河金融协会常务董事胡贝图斯·韦思说。该协会由一些企业以及前述游说活动背后的地方政府机构组成。

When it comes to the financial services industry, several cities have rolled out the red carpet to lure London-based companies.

至于金融服务业，若干城市已经铺开红毯，以便吸引总部位于伦敦的公司。

Before the referendum, local and regional government officials held an event in Paris at the offices of Euronext, the stock market operator. Called "Welcome to Europe!" it encouraged financial services companies to consider the French capital as an alternative.

英国举行公投前，地方和地区政府官员在巴黎股市运营机构泛欧交易所的办公室里举办了一场以"欧洲欢迎你！"为主题的活动，鼓励考虑迁址的金融服务企业把法国首都作为备选。

Valérie Pécresse, the president of the region that surrounds Paris, has extolled¹² the city's virtues¹³, noting the opening of new bilingual schools as well as its quality of life and available office space.

巴黎大区主席瓦莱莉·佩克雷斯对巴黎的优点大加颂扬，她说那里有新开的双语学校，有优越的生活品质，还有可资利用的办公空间。

"When Britain goes out, a lot of firms will have to relocate in Europe," Pécresse said. "There is a competition that is going to take place. It is already taking place between the big metropolises¹⁴ in Europe."

"当英国退出时，许多公司都会在欧洲重新选择办公地点，"佩克雷斯说。"届时肯定会有竞争。事实上，欧洲各个大都会之间的竞争已经开始了。"

Along with those large cities, smaller financial centers — in Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands — are also getting involved. Even Lithuania, a country not typically noted¹⁵ as a hub for business in Europe, much less high finance, is involved.

除了这些大城市，比利时、卢森堡以及荷兰的一些较小的金融中心也正加入战团。就连通常不会被视为欧洲商业中心，更别说是金融中心的立陶宛也加入了进来。

On the day the referendum results were announced, Antanas Guoga, a Lithuanian member of the European Parliament, wrote to several financial institutions with large London staffs, suggesting they move some of their European operations to Vilnius, Lithuania's capital, with a population of just over 500,000.

公投结果宣布当天，欧洲议会立陶宛议员安塔纳斯·古欧加致信若干在伦敦有大批员工的金融机构，建议它们将一些欧洲分支机构迁移到维尔纽斯。维尔纽斯是立陶宛的首都，人口只有50万多一点。

Guoga, a former professional poker¹⁶ player and chief investment officer for Vilnius, noted in his letter that the British bank Barclays, the Danish lender Danske Bank and the stock market operator Nasdaq all had operations in the city.

古欧加曾是一名职业扑克玩家，目前是维尔纽斯的首席投资官。他在信中指出，英国的巴克莱银行、丹麦的丹斯克银行以及股市运营商纳斯达克都在该市设有分支机构。

"It's an opportunity now to let everyone know about our success stories," he said.

"这是一个让所有人了解我们的成功的机会，"他说。

Despite the overtures¹⁷ from elsewhere, officials in London still believe they will retain most of the business and finance that is currently based there.

尽管其他地方纷纷抛出橄榄枝，但伦敦的官员仍然相信，自己可以留住大多数总部设在伦敦的商业和金融企业。

"There will be no mass exit of banks and financial institutions from the Square Mile," Mark Boleat, policy chairman of the City of London Corp., said in a statement, referring to the British capital's financial center.

"不会出现银行和金融机构大规模撤离'方里'的情况，"伦敦金融城政府政策委员会主席包墨凯在一份声明中表示。"方里"指的是伦敦的金融中心。

"The City of London has thrived as a financial and trading center for more than 1,000 years," he said, "and will continue to do so."

"伦敦作为一个金融和贸易中心已经繁荣了1000多年，"他说，"必将继续繁荣下去。"

The competition, though, extends outside of financial services — Europe's tech hubs are turning on the charm offensive, as well.

不过，竞争已经超出金融服务的范畴——欧洲的一些科技中心也发动了魅力攻势。

While cities are fiercely competing to steal companies from London, others are hoping to profit by helping¹⁸ companies sort through their options.

当一些城市为了挖走伦敦的公司而激烈竞争的时候，另外一些人希望通过帮助公司梳理面前的选择来获利。

Major law firms in the British capital are gearing up for a surge in business: A spokesman for Allen And Overy said that before the results of the referendum, 500 clients registered to take part in a conference call discussing the fallout from the so-called Brexit. After the results, 1,200 more signed up.

伦敦各大律所正开足马力，应对业务的猛增：安理国际律师事务所的发言人表示，公投结果出炉前，有500个客户报名参加一场讨论英国脱欧影响的电话会议。结果出炉后，又有1200个客户报名。

Real estate¹⁹ agents in major cities across the Continent, including Stockholm and Frankfurt, are also reporting increased interest from banks and technology companies casting their eyes away from London.

斯德哥尔摩、法兰克福等欧洲大陆各大城市的房地产经纪机构也纷纷表示，银行和科技公司现在更愿意把目光从伦敦转向其他地方。

All of this has been a long time coming. The referendum was officially announced in February, but has been in the cards for more than a year, and those hoping to profit from a Brexit have been planning extensively.

所有这些由来已久。英国于今年2月正式宣布了将要举行公投的消息，但早在一年多以前人们就知道很可能迎来公投。那些希望从英国脱欧中获利的人已经做了大量准备。