女权：女孩 [美国媒体]

文名：Girl 女孩

作者：Jamaica Kincaid



背景介绍：
'Girl' is a prose poem written by Jamaica Kincaid that was published in The New Yorker in 1978.'Girl' was Kincaid's first piece of published work. Kincaid is from Antigua, and most of her work contains stories of Antiguan life as a colony of Great Britain and as an independent nation dealing with the aftermath of colonial rule. As a woman of African descent, Kincaid explores gender, race and class issues in her work. 'Girl' is no exception and poignantly exemplifies many of these themes.

《女孩》是1978年Jamaica Kincaid在《纽约客》上发表的散文诗。这是她发表的第一篇作品。Kincaid来自安提瓜（位于加勒比海小安的列斯群岛的北部），她多数作品描写了她在安提瓜的生活故事；安提瓜曾是英国殖民地，独立后成为英联邦成员国（1667年成为殖民地，1981年成为君主立宪制国家，为英联邦成员国）。作为一名非裔女性，Kincaid在她的作品中探索了性别、种族和阶级议题。《女孩》也毫不例外，它尖锐例举了这些议题。

文章介绍：
A prose poem reads like prose, but it follows the rules of conventional poetry. The only characters in 'Girl' are a mother and a daughter. 'Girl' is a somewhat of a stream-of-consciousness narrative of a mother giving her young daughter advice on important life issues and concerns. The poem is one long sentence of various commands separated by semi-colons.

散文诗读起来像散文，但它遵循传统诗歌的规则。《女孩》中出现的人物只有一名母亲和一名女儿。《女孩》的叙事有点意识流，它讲述了母亲给女儿的有关重要生活议题的建议。这首诗只有一句话，由许多被分号隔开的命令组成。

The advice consists of how to do certain domestic behaviors, including making Antiguan dishes, as well as the more assertive points of being a respectable woman and upholding sexual purity. There is a lot of discussion from the mother about how the daughter must interact with people as well as how to behave in a romantic relationship with a man. There are three central themes to the story: sexual reputation, domesticity, and mother/daughter relationships.

建议包括了在家庭内如何做事，包括做安提瓜菜肴，以及母亲下的做一名受人尊敬的女性和维护主张性纯洁的断言。文章有很多讨论有关母亲告诫女儿必须与他人互动，并且在一段恋爱中如何与男人相处。文章有三个中心思想：性声誉，家庭生活和母女关系。

The daughter only speaks twice in the story. First she stands up for herself against one of her mother's questions that turned into an accusation, and again at the end where she asks her mother a clarifying question. It concludes abruptly with a rhetorical question from the mother wondering if her daughter didn't understand how to behave based on everything she was told.

故事中女儿只讲了两次话。第一次她为了维护她自己而反对母亲的其中一个问题，最后成了指控；第二次是在文章末尾的时候她问了母亲一个问题以澄清疑问。文章由一个押韵的问题突然结尾：母亲想知道女儿在听完她说的话后，是否不懂如何行为举止。

（为了防止某些人看不懂或是觉得枯燥乏味，简单来讲，此文就是当妈的如何指导女儿做家务、穿衣服、礼貌待人、做个淑女、别做荡妇，中心思想是母亲言传身教如何做个任劳任怨为丈夫和孩子兢兢业业奉献一生的家庭主妇；更进一步，此文说明的是社会文化和眼光对女性生活的桎梏。）

Wash the white clothes on Monday and put them on the stone heap; wash the color clothes on Tuesday and put them on the clothesline to dry; don't walk barehead in the hot sun; cook pumpkin fritters in very hot sweet oil; soak your little cloths right after you take them off; when buying cotton to make yourself a nice blouse, be sure that it doesn't have gum on it, because that way it won't hold up well after a wash; soak salt fish overnight before you cook it; 

在星期一把白色的衣服洗了，把它们放在石堆上；在星期二把有颜色的衣服洗了，把它们挂在晾衣绳上晾干；在烈日下走路时别不戴帽子；做南瓜饼时要用滚烫的甜油；把你的小衣服脱了之后马上泡起来；为了做衬衫去买棉布时，要保证布上没有胶，不然洗过之后就缩水了；在烧咸鱼之前，要腌一夜；

is it true that you sing benna in Sunday school?; always eat your food in such a way that it won't turn someone else's stomach; on Sundays try to walk like a lady and not like the slut you are so bent on becoming; don't sing benna in Sunday school; you mustn't speak to wharf–rat boys, not even to give directions; don't eat fruits on the street—flies will follow you; but I don't sing benna on Sundays at all and never in Sunday school; 

你在主日学（孩子们在周末上的学校，教授内容多于宗教有关）上唱benna（一种音乐形式）是真的吗？要记得吃饭，别让你的食物进了别人的胃；在星期天时走路要像个淑女，不要像个你这样下去就会变成的荡妇；别在主日学唱benna；禁止和那些像老鼠一样的码头男孩们说话，甚至不要给他们指路；在街上不要吃水果——苍蝇会跟着你的；不过我在星期天根本不唱benna，我从来没去过主日学；

this is how to sew on a button; this is how to make a button–hole for the button you have just sewed on; this is how to hem a dress when you see the hem coming down and so to prevent yourself from looking like the slut I know you are so bent on becoming; this is how you iron your father's khaki shirt so that it doesn't have a crease; this is how you iron your father's khaki pants so that they don't have a crease; this is how you grow okra—far from the house, because okra tree harbors red ants; when you are growing dasheen, make sure it gets plenty of water or else it makes your throat itch when you are eating it;

这就是缝扣子的方法；这就是弄一个扣眼的方法，和你刚才缝上的扣子配套；当你看到衣服起毛边的时候，这就是把衣服缝好的方法，如此你就不会看起来像是我知道你这样下去会变成的荡妇；这就是烫你父亲的卡其色衬衫的方法，这样它就不会起皱；这就是烫你父亲的卡其色裤子的方法，这样它就不会起皱；这就是你种植秋葵的方法——离家远点，因为火蚁会藏在秋葵树里面；这就是你种植芋头的方法，要确保多浇水，否则你吃它的时候会喉咙痒；

this is how you sweep a corner; this is how you sweep a whole house; this is how you sweep a yard; this is how you smile to someone you don't like too much; this is how you smile to someone you don't like at all; this is how you smile to someone you like completely; this is how you set a table for tea; this is how you set a table for dinner; this is how you set a table for dinner with an important guest; this is how you set a table for lunch; this is how you set a table for breakfast;

这就是你扫角落的方法；这就是你如何打扫整栋房子的方法；这就是你打扫院子的方法；这就是你对不太喜欢的人微笑的方法；这就是你对完全不喜欢的人微笑的方法；这就是你对非常喜欢的人微笑的方法；这就是喝茶时你布置餐桌的方法；这就是晚餐时你布置餐桌的方法；这就是有重要客人来时你布置餐桌的方法；这就是午餐时你布置餐桌的方法；这就是早餐时你布置餐桌的方法；

this is how to behave in the presence of men who don't know you very well, and this way they won't recognize immediately the slut I have warned you against becoming; be sure to wash every day, even if it is with your own spit; don't squat down to play marbles—you are not a boy, you know; don't pick people's flowers—you might catch something; don't throw stones at blackbirds, because it might not be a blackbird at all; 

当一个不太认识你的男人出现时，这就是如何言行举止，这样他们就不会立即发现你是个我警告你不许做的荡妇；确保每天都清洗，即使你身上的呕吐物是你自己的（这句是这个意思吗？）；别蹲下来玩弹珠——你知道的，你又不是男孩；别摘别人的花，你可能会碰到虫子（something指代什么搞不清）；别对黑鸟（一类杂食鸟的统称）扔石头，因为它可能根本不是黑鸟；
  
this is how to make a bread pudding; this is how to make doukona; this is how to make pepper pot; this is how to make a good medicine for a cold; this is how to make a good medicine to throw away a child before it even becomes a child; this is how to catch a fish; this is how to throw back a fish you don't like, and that way something bad won't fall on you;
   
这就是做面包布丁（一种甜点，切片面包和水果干、香料、糖、鸡蛋和牛奶一起烤）的方法；这就是做doukona（找不到具体翻译，反正是一种淀粉类甜食）的方法；这就是做胡椒炖菜的方法；这就是做感冒药的方法；这就是甚至在孩子生下来之前用药把孩子流掉的方法，这就是捉鱼的方法；这就是把一条你不喜欢的鱼扔回去的方法，这样你就不会走霉运；

this is how to bully a man; this is how a man bullies you; this is how to love a man; and if this doesn't work there are other ways, and if they don't work don't feel too bad about giving up; this is how to spit up in the air if you feel like it, and this is how to move quick so that it doesn't fall on you; this is how to make ends meet; always squeeze bread to make sure it's fresh; but what if the baker won't let me feel the bread?; you mean to say that after all you are really going to be the kind of woman who the baker won't let near the bread?
  
这就是如何欺凌一个男人；这就是一个男人如何欺凌你；这就是如何爱一个男人；如果这样这办法行不通，还有其他办法；如果所有办法都行不通，放弃时不要感觉太糟糕；如果你感觉嗓子里有痰，这是你朝空中吐痰的方法，同时这是快速移开以免落痰在你身上的方法；这是保持收支平衡的方法；总要按压面包来确保它们新鲜；但是如果烘焙师不让我按压面包怎么办呢？你是说你最后会变成那种烘焙师不让你靠近面包的女人？