《四季随笔》节选 - 春 04

《四季随笔》是吉辛的散文代表作。其中对隐士赖克罗夫特醉心于书籍、自然景色与回忆过去生活的描述，其实是吉辛的自述，作者以此来抒发自己的情感，因而本书是一部富有自传色彩的小品文集。

吉辛穷困的一生，对文学名著的爱好与追求，以及对大自然恬静生活的向往，在书中均有充分的反映。本书分为春、夏、秋、冬四个部分，文笔优美，行文流畅，是英国文学中小品文的珍品之一。

以下是由网友分享的《四季随笔》节选 - 春 04的内容，让我们一起来感受吉辛的四季吧!

There was a time in my life when, if I had suddenly been set in the position I now enjoy, conscience would have lain in ambush for me. What! An income sufficient to support three or four working-class families—a house all to myself—things beautiful wherever I turn—and absolutely nothing to do for it all! I should have been hard put to it to defend myself. In those days I was feelingly reminded, hour by hour, with what a struggle the obscure multitudes manage to keep alive. Nobody knows better than I do quam parvo liceat producere vitam. I have hungered in the streets; I have laid my head in the poorest shelter; I know what it is to feel the heart burn with wrath and envy of "the privileged classes." Yes, but all that time I was one of "the privileged" myself, and now I can accept a recognized standing among them without shadow of self-reproach.

我的生命中曾有一个时期，如果我突然置于现在的舒适环境，良心会暗中谴责我。什么！足够养活三四户工人阶级家庭的收入—完全属于自己的房子—满眼都是漂亮的东西—而且绝对地坐享其成！我应该很难为自己辩护。那时候，我常常由衷地想到，无名小卒们要维持生存是多么艰难。没有人比我更了解“用多么少的东西，就可以维持生命”。我曾在街头忍饥挨饿，也曾在最龌龊的寓所栖身；我了解对“特权阶层”的愤怒和妒忌在心中燃烧时火辣辣的感觉。然而，那时候我已是“特权阶层”的一员，但现在我可以接受这个阶层的一席之地，而心中全无自责的阴影。

It does not mean that my larger sympathies are blunted. By going to certain places, looking upon certain scenes, I could most effectually destroy all the calm that life has brought me. If I hold apart and purposely refuse to look that way, it is because I believe that the world is better, not worse, for having one more inhabitant who lives as becomes a civilized being. Let him whose soul prompts him to assail the iniquity of things, cry and spare not; let him who has the vocation go forth and combat. In me it would be to err from Nature's guidance. I know, if I know anything, that I am made for the life of tranquility and meditation. I know that only thus can such virtue as I possess find scope. More than half a century of existence has taught me that most of the wrong and folly which darken earth is due to those who cannot possess their souls in quiet; that most of the good which saves mankind from destruction comes of life that is led in thoughtful stillness. Every day the world grows noisier; I, for one, will have no part in that increasing clamour, and, were it only by my silence, I confer a boon on all.

这并不代表我的大众同情心迟钝了。去到某些地方，看到某些场景，我就能把生活带给我的平静破坏无遗。如果我保持距离，有意不往那个方向看，那是因为我觉得，多一个过上文明生活的人，世界会变得更加美好，而不是更糟。让那些受灵魂驱策的人去抨击世间所有的不公，大声疾呼，毫不留情吧；让那些专司此职的人走上前去斗争吧。我如果那样做，便是有悖本性的引导了。如果我有所知的话，我知道自己是为平静和冥思的生活而生的。我知道，只有过这样的生活，我身上的优点才有发挥的空间。在世上活了大半个世纪，我认识到，玷污人间的大多数错误和蠢事都是那些不肯让灵魂宁静的人搞出来的；大多数挽救人类免受灭顶之灾的善举都是那些在沉思和宁静中生活的人做出的。每一天，世界都变得更加喧闹，而在这片愈演愈烈的喧嚷声中我是没份的。虽然我做的只是保持沉默，但这对所有人都是一份恩惠。

How well would the revenues of a country be expended, if, by mere pensioning, one-fifth of its population could be induced to live as I do!

如果仅仅靠提供养老金，能使一个国家五分之一的人口都过上我这样的优裕生活，那会是使用国家税收岁入多么好的方法啊！