导读：“导读女性主义理论：从现代性到后现代”选文25；单篇选文翻译并不代表译者们的实质立场。 译者注：本篇为美国诗人格特鲁德·斯泰因（Gertrude Stein）所著的著名诗歌，她佬一向以吊诡的语言和反叙事出名，并在这首诗歌中大量使用非标准的句子组织进行叙述。重复性的语言和双关的巧用使得翻译十分艰难，因此采用直译而非意译，若有任何错译／改进的地方还请友善指出。
文本本身不易于阅读的原因在于斯泰因的语言风格使得读者无法通过人物的行为做出判断。斯泰因故意使用有限的词汇构筑出一个没有任何亮点的故事，并大量重复某些词汇，如同性恋（gay）、定期（regularly）和培养（cultivating），且每次使用都改变了词的含义（从她的名言“A rose is a rose is a rose”出发去理解这一写作手法又何尝不可）。如原文开头的第七句“She did not find it gay living in the same place where she had always been living”，译文为“她并不认为自己一直以来生活的地方是幸福的”。这里 gay 一词的使用需要考虑其历史含义和语境。英文单词 gay 实际是由法语单词 gai 构成，而 gai 在法语中指 joyful or pleasant acts，结合诗中语境后译为“幸福的”。英文单词 Gay 在诗歌中被用来描述女同性恋这一行为本身就很值得多唠几句。诗歌中重复提及的培养（cultivating）和声音（voice）是相当具有性意味的，不如说对词汇的严格审核和重复利用这一行为本身就是敏感和色情的，声音（voice）可被理解为女性在性行为中表达舒适的一种方式，而培养（cultivating）可以被简单粗暴地理解为与其他女性进行身体接触。海伦·弗的声音或许意味着她和其他女性之间的性经历。
至于为何本首诗歌会被选入本女性主义选集当中，或许是因为斯泰因在诗歌中大量使用重复性词汇导致的“误解”（misperception）和“不确定性”（uncertainty）具有成为所谓“性别探索的创新繁荣点”（prosperous spots of innovation in explorations on gender）这一因素的存在。感兴趣的读者可以自行去了解作者格特鲁德·斯泰因和阅读诗歌原文（上网一搜就能搜到）。
From “Miss Furr and Miss Skeene”（1922）
摘自《海伦·弗与乔治妮·斯基恩》。
Helen Furr had quite a pleasant home. Mrs. Furr was quite a pleasant woman. Mr. Furr was quite a pleasant man. Helen Furr had quite a pleasant voice a voice quite worth cultivating. She did not mind working. She worked to cultivate her voice. She did not find it gay living in the same place where she had always been living. She went to a place where some were cultivating something, voices and other things needing cultivating. She met Georgine Skeene there who was cultivating her voice which some thought was quite a pleasant one. Helen Furr and Georgine Skeene lived together then. Georgine Skeene liked travelling. Helen Purr did not care about travelling, she liked to stay in one place and be gay there. They were together then and travelled to another place and stayed there and were gay there.
海伦·弗有着一个相当幸福的家。弗夫人是一位相当和气可爱的女人。弗先生是一位相当亲切友好的男人。海伦·弗有着一个相当迷人的声音，一个相当值得培养的声音。她不在意工作。她为培养自己的声音而工作。她并不认为自己一直以来生活的地方是同性恋的（幸福的）。她去了一个某人培养某物的地方，那里在培养声音和其他需要被培养的东西。她在那里邂逅了正在培养自己迷人声音的乔治妮·斯基恩。海伦·弗和乔治妮·斯基恩随后生活在一起。乔治妮·斯基恩喜欢旅行。海伦·弗不在乎旅行，她喜欢呆在一个地方然后在那成为同性恋。她们那时相恋，旅行，驻留，成为同性恋。
They stayed there and were gay there, not very gay there, just gay there. They were both gay there, they were regularly working there both of them cultivating their voices there, they were both gay there. Georgine Skeene was gay there and she was regular, regular in being gay, regular in not being gay, regular in being a gay one who was one not being gay longer than was needed to be one being quite a gay one. They were both gay then there and both working there then.
她们呆在那，在那是同性恋，在那不是很同性恋，在那只是同性恋。她们在那都是同性恋，她们在那匀称地工作，她们在那培养自己的声音，她们在那都是同性恋。乔治妮·斯基恩在那是同性恋，她很自律，在成为同性恋上自律，在不成为同性恋上自律，在成为一个不是同性恋的时间长于需要成为一个相当的同性恋的同性恋上自律。她们那时都是同性恋，她们那时都在那工作。
They were in a way both gay there where there were many cultivating something. They were both regular in being gay there. Helen Furr was gay there, she was gayer and gayer there and really she was just gay there, she was gayer and gayer there, that is to say she found ways of being gay there that she was using in being gay there. She was gay there, nor gayer and gayer, just gay there, that is to say she was not gayer by using the things she found there that were gay things, she was gay there, always she was gay there.
她们某种程度上在那都是同性恋，那里有很多人在培养着什么。她们在那经常成为同性恋。海伦·弗在那是同性恋，她在那越发越同性恋，而实际上她在那就是同性恋，她在那越发越同性恋，也就是说她发现了在那成为同性恋的方法，她通过这个方法在那成为同性恋。她在那是同性恋，并没有越发越同性恋，在那只是同性恋，也就是说她并没有使用在那发现的属于同性恋的东西变得越发越同性恋，她在那是同性恋，她在那一直是同性恋。
They were quite regularly gay there, Helen Furr and Georgine Skeene, they were regularly gay there where they were gay. They were very regularly gay.
她们在那经常搞同性恋，海伦·弗和乔治妮·斯基恩，她们经常在她们是同性恋的地方搞同性恋。她们经常在那搞同性恋。
To be regularly gay was to do every day the gay thing that they did every day. To be regularly gay was to end every day at the same time after they had been regularly gay. They were regularly gay. They were gay every day. They ended every day in the same way, at the same time, and they had been every day regularly gay ...
自律的同性恋便是每天都做日常的属于同性恋的事。自律的同性恋便是每天都在同一时间结束搞同性恋。她们是自律的同性恋。她们每天都是同性恋。她们每天都以相同的方式，在相同的时间结束，她们每天都搞同性恋……
