There are plenty of things you can feel positive knowing about Garfield - the cat who loves lasagna, hates Mondays and adores a teddy bear named Pooky.
在加菲猫身上我们能看到很多优秀的品质：喜欢吃千层面，讨厌周一和喜欢一只名叫布奇的泰迪熊。
But last week, without warning, there rose a strange and sudden debate around a question about the famous feline that even creator Jim Davis needed to weigh in on: Is Garfield a boy, a girl, or no gender at all?
但在上周，突然毫无征兆地展开了一场奇怪的辩论，连创作者吉姆?戴维斯都卷了进来：加菲猫的性别是什么？还是根本没有性别？
The argument appears to have begun when writer Virgil Texas came across a 2014 Mental Floss interview with Davis where he described his tabby creation as 'not really male or female or any particular race or nationality, young or old.'
这个争论似乎在2014年《心理牙线》杂志作家维吉尔?德克萨斯采访戴维斯时就被提出，戴维斯形容加菲猫为“非男非女、不属于任何特定的种族或民族、没有年龄。”
In response to the quote, Virgil wrote on Twitter: 'FACT: Garfield has no gender. This. Is. Canon.'
维吉尔在推特上回应戴维斯的话说：“事实上：加菲猫没有性别。这是真正的标准。”
So sure was he of Garfield's true gender status that Virgil even took it upon himself to update the Garfield character Wikipedia page with the information.
维吉尔非常肯定加菲猫的真实性别状态，他甚至把这个信息更新到加菲猫维基百科页面上。
But it was quickly clear that not everyone agreed with Virgil's hasty edits, and thus began a war over the Wikipedia entry edits.
但不是每个人都同意维吉尔的草率编辑，这引发了一场对维基百科条目编辑的争论。
The Washington Post reported that the battle took place over 60 hours and eventually ended when Wikipedia shut things down by locking the page.
据《华盛顿邮报》报道称，争论超过60个小时，以维基百科锁定页面为结局。
One editor cited multiple moments when Garfield is referred to as 'he' or 'him' or even 'good boy' by other characters in the comic strip.
一位编辑表示，加菲猫被漫画中的其他角色多次称为“他”，甚至是“好男孩”。
Another user wrote: 'Garfield is male. Any other view is Fringe.'
另一位用户写道：'加菲猫是男性。任何其他观点都是不正确的。”
Others rooting for the genderless option added that it shouldn't matter at all whether Garfield is male or female and the gender classification from the Wikipedia entry should be removed entirely.
支持无性别的网友则说，加菲猫是男是女根本不重要。维基百科上加菲猫的性别分类应被删除。
The war became so overblown that even Capitol Hill appeared to jump in the fray, with Twitter boy chronicling Wikipedia entries made from US Congress IP addresses reporting that someone in the House of Representatives did some editing of their own.
争论变得如此夸张，美国国会山都加入争论。使用美国国会IP地址记载维基百科词条的男孩发推特表示，在众议院有人选择自己编辑。
As for Virgil, he warded off plenty of naysayers over his theory before writing: 'If one could locate another source where Jim Davis states, as explicitly as he states in the Mental Floss article, that Garfield's gender is male or female, then this would give rise to a serious controversy in Garfield canon. Yet no such source has been identified, and I highly doubt one will ever emerge.'
至于维吉尔，他避开了很多反对其理论的声音，写道：“吉姆?戴维斯在《心理牙线》的采访中明确提到了加菲猫的性别。如果他在别处有不一样的说法，那确实会引发严肃的争论。然而，没有出现任何他的其他说法，我也不认为有出现的可能。”
It was a statement that soon appeared to have been made in haste as Jim Davis indeed soon joined the debate, shutting everything down in one line to Washington Post: 'Garfield is male.'
这个声明很快就被证明非常草率，因为吉姆?戴维斯确实很快加入了辩论，他用一句话终结了讨论，告诉《华盛顿邮报》：“加菲猫是男性。”

The 71-year-old cartoonist also pointed out that Garfield has a girlfriend, Arlene, and claimed that his 2014 quotes had been 'taken out of context.'
71岁的戴维斯表示，加菲猫有一个女朋友叫阿琳。并称在2014年的采访中，他的言论被“断章取义”。
'I’ve always said that I wanted to work with animals because they're not perceived as being any particular gender, race, age or ethnicity,' he said. 'In that sense, the humor could be enjoyed by a broader demographic.'
他说：“我一直说我想和动物一起工作，因为它们不被认为是特定的性别、人种、年龄或种族。这样可以为更多的人带来幽默。”
The news was enough for Virgil to admit defeat in the argument, later taking to Twitter once again to say: 'Friends, we should not view the Garfield gender ruling as a loss. We should view it as a victory for what matters most: Canon.'
这一消息让维吉尔在辩论中认输，此后他又一次发推特说道：'朋友们，我们不应该把这次加菲猫的性别争论当作一次失败。我们还是胜利的，因为我们认识到，‘标准’是最重要的。”