《四季随笔》节选 - 春 14

《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 14的内容，让我们一起来感受吉辛的四季吧!

To-day's newspaper contains a yard or so of reading about a spring horse-race. The sight of it fills me with loathing. It brings to my mind that placard I saw at a station in Surrey a year or two ago, advertising certain races in the neighbourhood. Here is the poster, as I copied it into my note-book:

今天，报纸上刊登了一则关于春季赛马的长篇报道，看到它我就觉得很反感。这让我想起一两年前在萨里郡某车站看到的一张布告，是为附近举办的赛马活动做宣传的。下面是布告原文，我当时把它抄在了笔记本上：

Engaged by the Executive to ensure order and comfort to the public attending this meeting: “为维持本次大会的秩序，保证公众顺利观看比赛，特以行政命令安排以下人员： 14 detectives (racing), 十四名侦探（比赛专用）， 15 detectives (Scotland Yard14 ) , 十五名侦探（来自苏格兰场）， 7 police inspectors, 七名督察， 9 police sergeants, 九名巡佐， 76 police, and a supernumerary contingent of specially selected men from the Army Reserve and the Corps of Commissionaires. 七十六名警官，以及一支由陆军预备役部队和退伍士兵之精英组成的分遣队。 The above force will be employed solely for the purpose of maintaining order and excluding bad characters, etc. They will have the assistance also of a strong force of the Surrey Constabulary.

上述人员力量仅用于维持秩序、驱逐破坏分子等目的。另外，萨里郡警察将提供有力支援。”

I remember, once, when I let fall a remark on the subject of horseracing among friends chatting together, I was voted "morose." Is it really morose to object to public gatherings which their own promoters declare to be dangerous for all decent folk? Every one knows that horseracing is carried on mainly for the delight and profit of fools, ruffians, and thieves. That intelligent men allow themselves to take part in the affair, and defend their conduct by declaring that their presence "maintains the character of a sport essentially noble," merely shows that intelligence can easily enough divest itself of sense and decency.

我记得有一次，在友人相聚闲谈之际，我对赛马发表了一句评论，结果被众人贴上“孤僻不合群”的标签。反对一场连倡导者都承认会给所有体面人士带来威胁的集会真的就是孤僻不合群吗？人人都知道，举办赛马主要是让愚人、暴徒和小偷高兴并有利可图。智慧的人参加这样的集会时，宣称自己的到场“维护了一场本质上高贵运动的品质”，以此来进行自我辩护，而这也正显示了智慧要脱去理智和体面的外衣是多么容易！