《四季隨筆》是吉辛的散文代表作。其中對(duì)隱士賴克羅夫特醉心于書籍、自然景色與回憶過(guò)去生活的描述,其實(shí)是吉辛的自述,作者以此來(lái)抒發(fā)自己的情感,因而本書是一部富有自傳色彩的小品文集。
吉辛窮困的一生,對(duì)文學(xué)名著的愛好與追求,以及對(duì)大自然恬靜生活的向往,在書中均有充分的反映。本書分為春、夏、秋、冬四個(gè)部分,文筆優(yōu)美,行文流暢,是英國(guó)文學(xué)中小品文的珍品之一。
以下是由網(wǎng)友分享的《四季隨筆》節(jié)選 - 夏 10的內(nèi)容,讓我們一起來(lái)感受吉辛的四季吧!
I sometimes think I will go and spend the sunny half of a twelvemonth in wandering about the British Isles. There is so much of beauty and interest that I have not seen, and I grudge to close my eyes on this beloved home of ours, leaving any corner of it unvisited. Often I wander in fancy over all the parts I know, and grow restless with desire at familiar names which bring no picture to memory. My array of county guide-books (they have always been irresistible to me on the stalls) sets me roaming; the only dull pages in them are those that treat of manufacturing towns. Yet I shall never start on that pilgrimage. I am too old, too fixed in habits. I dislike the railway; I dislike hotels. I should grow homesick for my library, my garden, the view from my windows. And then—I have such a fear of dying anywhere but under my own roof.
有時(shí)我想,要用一年中晴朗的六個(gè)月,來(lái)周游不列顛群島。許多美景名勝我都沒有看過(guò),面對(duì)這美麗的家園,如果我沒有去過(guò)它的任何一個(gè)角落,我就會(huì)死不暝目。我經(jīng)常在想象中到我知道的所有地方漫游,如果聽到熟悉的地名,而記憶里沒有一幅畫面,就會(huì)坐立不安,渴望出游。那一本本英格蘭各郡旅游指南(這些書擺在貨攤上,對(duì)我總有無(wú)法抵擋的誘惑)讓我神游,其中唯一乏味的內(nèi)容是對(duì)工業(yè)城鎮(zhèn)的介紹。但是我永遠(yuǎn)不會(huì)出發(fā)走上那個(gè)朝圣之旅了,我太老了,習(xí)慣已經(jīng)根深蒂固了。我不喜歡鐵路,不喜歡旅館。我會(huì)想念我的圖書館,我的花園,我窗外的景色,而且—我非常害怕自己會(huì)死在家以外的任何地方。
As a rule, it is better to re-visit only in imagination the places which have greatly charmed us, or which, in the retrospect, seem to have done so. Seem to have charmed us, I say; for the memory we form, after a certain lapse of time, of places where we lingered, often bears but a faint resemblance to the impression received at the time; what in truth may have been very moderate enjoyment, or enjoyment greatly disturbed by inner or outer circumstances, shows in the distance as a keen delight, or as deep, still happiness. On the other hand, if memory creates no illusion, and the name of a certain place is associated with one of the golden moments of life, it were rash to hope that another visit would repeat the experience of a by-gone day. For it was not merely the sights that one beheld which were the cause of joy and peace; however lovely the spot, however gracious the sky, these things external would not have availed, but for contributory movements of mind and heart and blood, the essentials of the man as then he was.
通常,對(duì)于曾經(jīng)讓我們著迷的地方,或者說(shuō),在回憶里似乎讓我們著迷的地方,最好只是在想象中重溫。之所以說(shuō)“似乎”,是因?yàn)槲覀儗?duì)曾經(jīng)逗留過(guò)的地方的回憶,經(jīng)過(guò)一段時(shí)間后,和當(dāng)時(shí)形成的印象之間幾無(wú)相似之處。其實(shí)當(dāng)時(shí)感受到的可能只是很一般的快樂,或者是受到內(nèi)在外在原因紛擾的快樂。隔上一段時(shí)間來(lái)看,就會(huì)變成高度的愉悅,或者深沉寧?kù)o的快樂。另一方面,如果記憶不曾制造幻象,某個(gè)地名和生命中某個(gè)金色時(shí)刻聯(lián)系在一起,而你希望故地重游能夠讓你重溫過(guò)往的經(jīng)歷,那就輕率了。因?yàn)樽屓烁杏X快樂和平靜的原因,不僅僅是你看到的景色。不管那個(gè)地方多么可愛,天空多么燦爛,如果沒有當(dāng)時(shí)你的頭腦、心情和熱血這些人類重要元素的共同作用,這些外在的東西不會(huì)產(chǎn)生美感。
Whilst I was reading this afternoon my thoughts strayed, and I found myself recalling a hillside in Suffolk, where, after a long walk I rested drowsily one midsummer day twenty years ago. A great longing seized me; I was tempted to set off at once, and find again that spot under the high elm trees, where, as I smoked a delicious pipe, I heard about me the crack, crack, crack of broom-pods bursting in the glorious heat of the noontide sun. Had I acted upon the impulse, what chance was there of my enjoying such another hour as that which my memory cherished? No, no; it is not the PLACE that I remember; it is the time of life, the circumstances, the mood, which at that moment fell so happily together. Can I dream that a pipe smoked on that same hillside, under the same glowing sky, would taste as it then did, or bring me the same solace? Would the turf be so soft beneath me? Would the great elmbranches temper so delightfully the noontide rays beating upon them? And, when the hour of rest was over, should I spring to my feet as then I did, eager to put forth my strength again? No, no; what I remember is just one moment of my earlier life, linked by accident with that picture of the Suffolk landscape. The place no longer exists; it never existed save for me. For it is the mind which creates the world about us, and, even though we stand side by side in the same meadow, my eyes will never see what is beheld by yours, my heart will never stir to the emotions with which yours is touched.
今天下午讀書時(shí)我走神了,回憶起二十年前,一個(gè)仲夏日,散了很長(zhǎng)時(shí)間的步后,在薩福克郡的一個(gè)山腰,我坐下休息,昏昏欲睡。一種巨大的渴望攫住了我的心,我有一種馬上動(dòng)身的沖動(dòng),想再次找到那個(gè)地方。那里有許多高大的榆樹,我坐在樹下,美美地抽著雪茄,聽到了皂角在正午陽(yáng)光的曝曬下發(fā)出“啪啪啪”的爆裂聲。如果我果真在沖動(dòng)之下去那里,有多大可能再次感受到記憶中的那份快樂?不,不,留在我記憶中的不是那個(gè)地方,而是生命的那個(gè)時(shí)間,那個(gè)環(huán)境,那種情緒,在那一刻它們快樂地交匯了。如果在同一個(gè)山腰抽上一根雪茄,天空是一樣的晴朗,我能夠奢望雪茄的滋味和當(dāng)初一樣,抑或給我?guī)?lái)同樣的撫慰嗎?我身下的草地會(huì)是一樣的柔軟嗎?正午的陽(yáng)光擊打在榆樹的枝葉上時(shí),它們會(huì)跟當(dāng)初一樣愉悅地接受嗎?休息夠了,我能和當(dāng)時(shí)一樣跳起來(lái),熱切地再次踏上旅途嗎?不,不,我記住的只是早年生活的一個(gè)瞬間,只是碰巧和薩??丝さ木吧?lián)系在一起而已。那個(gè)地方已經(jīng)不復(fù)存在,如果沒有我,它也許從來(lái)沒有存在過(guò)。因?yàn)槭俏覀兊乃枷雱?chuàng)造了周圍的世界,即使我們并排站在同一片草地上,我的眼睛也不會(huì)看到你眼里的景色,觸動(dòng)你心靈的情感也永不會(huì)撥動(dòng)我的心弦。