《四季随笔》节选 - 秋 19

《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 - 秋 19的内容，让我们一起来感受吉辛的四季吧!

I was at ramble in the lanes, when, from somewhere at a distance, there sounded the voice of a countryman—strange to say—singing. The notes were indistinct, but they rose, to my ear, with a moment's musical sadness, and of a sudden my heart was stricken with a memory so keen that I knew not whether it was pain or delight. For the sound seemed to me that of a peasant's song which I once heard whilst sitting among the ruins of Paestum33. The English landscape faded before my eyes. I saw great Doric columns of honey-golden travertine; between them, as I looked one way, a deep strip of sea; when I turned, the purple gorges of the Apennine; and all about the temple, where I sat in solitude, a wilderness dead and still but for that long note of wailing melody. I had not thought it possible that here, in my beloved home, where regret and desire are all but unknown to me, I could have been so deeply troubled by a thought of things far off. I returned with head bent, that voice singing in my memory. All the delight I have known in Italian travel burned again within my heart. The old spell has not lost its power. Never, I know, will it again draw me away from England; but the Southern sunlight cannot fade from my imagination, and to dream of its glow upon the ruins of old time wakes in me the voiceless desire which once was anguish.

今天，我在小径间漫步，这时远处传来一个农夫的声音——说来也怪——他似乎是在唱歌。那音调不甚清晰，但传到我耳中，一时竟有种音乐的悲伤，忽然一段回忆回到心间，那种强烈的感觉真说不清是痛苦还是喜悦。这声音让我想起在帕埃斯图姆废墟里独坐时听到的一个农夫的歌声。英国的景色逐渐在我眼前消失。我看到了金色石灰华的多利斯型大立柱；在立柱之间，我看到一侧是一片大海；转身便是亚平宁山脉的紫色峡谷；我孤身一人坐着，庙宇周围是一片死寂的荒野，响在耳畔的只有那长长的哀泣的曲调。我从未想到，在这里，在我可爱的家，我几乎不知什么是悔恨和渴望，而那段遥远的回忆却能让我如此烦恼。回家的路上我低着头，那歌声还在记忆中回响着。意大利之行带给我的所有快乐又一次在心中灼烧，意大利那旧时的魔咒还未失去威力。但我知道，它永远不会让我再离开英格兰了。然而我无法将南方的阳光从想象中驱除，梦到它的光芒闪耀在那古老的废墟之上，我心中那一度曾是苦恼的无声渴望便再度被唤醒。

In his Italienische Reise, Goethe tells that at one moment of his life the desire for Italy became to him a scarce endurable suffering; at length he could not bear to hear or to read of things Italian, even the sight of a Latin book so tortured him that he turned away from it; and the day arrived when, in spite of every obstacle, he yielded to the sickness of longing, and in secret stole away southward. When first I read that passage, it represented exactly the state of my own mind; to think of Italy was to feel myself goaded by a longing which, at times, made me literally ill; I, too, had put aside my Latin books, simply because I could not endure the torment of imagination they caused me. And I had so little hope (nay, for years no shadow of reasonable hope) that I should ever be able to appease my desire. I taught myself to read Italian; that was something. I worked (half-heartedly) at a colloquial phrase-book. But my sickness only grew towards despair.

歌德在他的《意大利游记》中提到，在生命的某一时间，他对意大利的渴望成了一种几乎无法忍受的痛苦；最后竟不能忍受听到或读到任何和意大利有关的东西，甚至看到一本拉丁语的书对他也是一种折磨，他不得不避开。终于有一天，他冲破重重阻碍，屈从于这一病态的渴望，秘密地潜往南方。第一次读到这个段落时，它描述的正是我当时的心态。想到意大利，就感觉自己被一种渴望诱惑着，有时，这种渴望还真的让我生病了。我也将拉丁书收了起来，只是因为无法忍受它们引发的想象带给我的折磨。对于这一渴望是否能够满足，我几乎不抱什么希望（不，多年来连希望的影子都没有）。我自学意大利语，这倒是好事。我（三心二意地）按照一本口语书练习，然而，这只是让我的渴望愈加变成一种绝望。

Then came into my hands a sum of money (such a poor little sum) for a book I had written. It was early autumn. I chanced to hear some one speak of Naples—and only death would have held me back.

后来我写了一本书，到手了一笔钱（数目少的可怜），当时正值早秋时节。我偶然听到有人谈起那不勒斯——只有死亡才能阻止我去那里。