《四季隨筆》節(jié)選 - 夏 17

《四季隨筆》是吉辛的散文代表作。其中對隱士賴克羅夫特醉心于書籍、自然景色與回憶過去生活的描述，其實(shí)是吉辛的自述，作者以此來抒發(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，對文學(xué)名著的愛好與追求，以及對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、冬四個部分，文筆優(yōu)美，行文流暢，是英國文學(xué)中小品文的珍品之一。

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I was taking a meal once at a London restaurant—not one of the great eating-places to which men most resort, but a small establishment on the same model in a quiet neighbourhood—when there entered, and sat down at the next table, a young man of the working class, whose dress betokened holiday. A glance told me that he felt anything but at ease; his mind misgave him as he looked about the long room and at the table before him; and when a waiter came to offer him the card, he stared blankly in sheepish confusion. Some strange windfall, no doubt, had emboldened him to enter for the first time such a place as this, and now that he was here, he heartily wished himself out in the street again. However, aided by the waiter's suggestions, he gave an order for a beefsteak and vegetables. When the dish was served, the poor fellow simply could not make a start upon it; he was embarrassed by the display of knives and forks, by the arrangement of the dishes, by the sauce bottles and the cruet-stand, above all, no doubt, by the assembly of people not of his class, and the unwonted experience of being waited upon by a man with a long shirt-front.

有一次，我在倫敦的一家餐廳吃飯—不是那種賓客滿座的大飯店，而是一個安靜社區(qū)的雅致小餐館—這時走進(jìn)來一個年輕的工人，坐在我旁邊的桌子前，他穿的衣服有節(jié)日的氣氛。我瞥了一眼，看出他非常不自在。他先是環(huán)顧這個長長的房間，又盯著面前的餐桌，心里似乎很不安。侍者過來給他看菜單，他只是呆呆地看著，神情羞怯又無所適從。無疑他得了一筆意外收入，所以鼓起勇氣第一次踏進(jìn)這樣的地方，而現(xiàn)在進(jìn)來了，他又真心希望自己離開回到街上。然而，在侍者的引導(dǎo)下，他點(diǎn)了一份牛排和蔬菜。菜上來后，這個可憐人簡直不知從何下手；他窘迫地看著擺在面前的刀叉、菜肴、調(diào)味瓶和五味瓶架，當(dāng)然最讓他尷尬的是周圍有一群和他不屬于同一階層的人，還有一個穿高領(lǐng)襯衫的人為自己服務(wù)，這都是陌生的體驗(yàn)。

He grew red; he made the clumsiest and most futile efforts to transport the meat to his plate; food was there before him, but, like a very Tantalus13, he was forbidden to enjoy it. Observing with all discretion, I at length saw him pull out his pocket handkerchief, spread it on the table, and, with a sudden effort, fork the meat off the dish into this receptacle. The waiter, aware by this time of the customer's difficulty, came up and spoke a word to him. Abashed into anger, the young man roughly asked what he had to pay. It ended in the waiter's bringing a newspaper, wherein he helped to wrap up meat and vegetables. Money was flung down, and the victim of a mistaken ambition hurriedly departed, to satisfy his hunger amid less unfamiliar surroundings.

他的臉紅了；他極為笨拙地試圖把肉移到自己的盤子里，但沒有成功；食物就擺在面前，而他就像坦塔羅斯一樣，被禁止享用。我小心觀察著，最后看到他從兜里掏出手絹，攤開在餐桌上，用叉子一下子將肉從盤子轉(zhuǎn)移到手絹上。這時，侍者發(fā)現(xiàn)了這位顧客的難處，他走過來對他說了一句話。這位年輕人惱羞成怒，粗魯?shù)刭|(zhì)問要付多少錢。最后侍者拿來一張報紙，幫他把蔬菜和肉包起來，事情才算結(jié)束。這位雄心受挫的年輕人扔下錢，倉皇離開，回到一個感覺自在的環(huán)境去大快朵頤了。

It was a striking and unpleasant illustration of social differences. Could such a thing happen in any country but England? I doubt it. The sufferer was of decent appearance, and, with ordinary self-command, might have taken his meal in the restaurant like any one else, quite unnoticed. But he belonged to a class which, among all classes in the world, is distinguished by native clownishness and by unpliability to novel circumstance. The English lower ranks had need be marked by certain peculiar virtues to atone for their deficiencies in other respects.

這是一個讓人不快的表現(xiàn)社會差別的突出事例。這種事情會在英格蘭之外的地方發(fā)生嗎？我表示懷疑。那個受窘的年輕人長相體面，如果有正常的自控力，很可以像其他人一樣在那里用餐，而不會受到注意。但是他所屬的社會階層，在世界上的所有階層中，是以鄉(xiāng)下人的粗俗和對新環(huán)境的不適應(yīng)而著稱的。英國的下層人民必須具備某些特殊的美德，以彌補(bǔ)他們在其他方面的不足。