《四季随笔》节选 - 冬 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 - 冬 04的内容，让我们一起来感受吉辛的四季吧!

After two or three days of unseasonable and depressing warmth, with lowering but not rainy sky, I woke this morning to find the land covered with a dense mist. There was no daybreak, and, till long after the due hour, no light save a pale, sad glimmer at the window; now, at mid-day, I begin dimly to descry gaunt shapes of trees, whilst a haunting drip, drip on the garden soil tells me that the vapour has begun to condense, and will pass in rain. But for my fire, I should be in indifferent spirits on such a day as this; the flame sings and leaps, and its red beauty is reflected in the window-glass. I cannot give my thoughts to reading; if I sat unoccupied, they would brood with melancholy fixedness on I know not what. Better to betake myself to the old mechanic exercise of the pen, which cheats my sense of time wasted.

接连两三天，天气都是不合季节的闷热，天空低沉但没有雨意。我今天早晨醒来，发现地上覆盖着浓雾。黎明始终没有到来，过了日出时分好久，窗外才透进一丝昏暗悲伤的光亮；现在已是正午，我开始能模糊分辨出树木憔悴的轮廓，我听到水珠不断滴在花园地上的声音，我知道，水蒸气已经开始凝结，要聚集成雨了。如果没有炉火，在今天这样的日子，我的情绪该是冷淡的；火焰歌唱着，跳跃着，它红火的美丽模样映在窗户玻璃上。我没有读书的心情，要是无所事事地坐下来，我的思绪会哀伤地固定在某个自己也不知道的东西上。不如拿起笔杆子，重复以前的机械笔耕，哄哄自己而不感到浪费了时间。

I think of fogs in London, fogs of murky yellow or of sheer black, such as have often made all work impossible to me, and held me, a sort of dyspeptic owl, in moping and blinking idleness. On such a day, I remember, I once found myself at an end both of coal and of lampoil, with no money to purchase either; all I could do was to go to bed, meaning to lie there till the sky once more became visible. But a second day found the fog dense as ever. I rose in darkness; I stood at the window of my garret, and saw that the street was illumined as at night, lamps and shop-fronts perfectly visible, with folk going about their business. The fog, in fact, had risen, but still hung above the house-tops, impermeable by any heavenly beam. My solitude being no longer endurable, I went out, and walked the town for hours. When I returned, it was with a few coins which permitted me to buy warmth and light. I had sold to a second-hand bookseller a volume which I prized, and was so much the poorer for the money in my pocket.

我想起伦敦的雾，要么是昏黄的，要么是完全黑暗的，让我不可能做任何工作，让我像消化不良的猫头鹰似的，陷入一种无精打采百无聊赖状态中。我记得，曾经在这样一天，我发现煤和灯油都燃尽了，而我又没钱买；我只能爬上床，想一直躺到再次看见天亮。但是第二天，雾气还像昨天那样浓。我在黑暗中起身，站在阁楼的窗前，看见街道像在晚上一样被灯光照亮，路灯和商铺都清晰可见，人们都在忙着自己的事情。雾气其实已经升起，但是还盘踞在屋顶上，任何天光都无法穿透。我无法再忍受孤独，便出门在城中走了几个小时。回来时，兜里多了几个硬币，可以供我购买一些温暖和光明。我把自己珍视的一本书卖给了一个二手书贩，而兜里的钱让我变得更加贫穷了。

Years after that, I recall another black morning. As usual at such times, I was suffering from a bad cold. After a sleepless night, I fell into a torpor, which held me unconscious for an hour or two. Hideous cries aroused me; sitting up in the dark, I heard men going along the street, roaring news of a hanging that had just taken place. "Execution of Mrs."—I forget the name of the murderess. "Scene on the scaffold!" It was a little after nine o'clock; the enterprising paper had promptly got out its gibbet edition. A morning of midwinter, roofs and ways covered with soot-grimed snow under the ghastly fog-pall; and, whilst I lay there in my bed, that woman had been led out and hanged—hanged. I thought with horror of the possibility that I might sicken and die in that wilderness of houses, nothing above me but "a foul and pestilent congregation of vapours." Overcome with dread, I rose and bestirred myself. Blinds drawn, lamp lit, and by a blazing fire, I tried to make believe that it was kindly night.

我又记起多年之后一个黑暗的早晨。这种时候，我通常会患重感冒，那年也不例外。在一夜无眠之后，我陷入了麻痹状态，不省人事有一两个小时。一阵讨厌的叫喊声将我惊醒，我在黑暗中坐起身，听到人们走在街上大声叫卖刚刚发生的一起绞刑的新闻。“处决某某夫人”——我已经忘记那个被绞死的凶手的名字。“绞刑架上的一幕！”当时是九点刚过，尽职的报纸已经立刻为这次绞刑发表了一则消息。冬天此时刚过一半，这个早晨，房顶和道路上都覆盖着被煤灰弄脏的雪，上面覆盖着可怖的雾做成的棺材；在我躺在床上的时候，那个女人被拉出去绞死了——绞死了。我想到自己可能会在这个城市的荒原里病死，身上只盖有“肮脏的致命的水蒸气”，吓得够呛。在极度恐惧之下，我起身活动了一下。我拉上百叶窗，点上油灯，在熊熊燃烧的炉火旁，我努力欺骗自己这是一个温暖的夜晚。