《四季隨筆》是吉辛的散文代表作。其中對(duì)隱士賴(lài)克羅夫特醉心于書(shū)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(shū)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(ài)好與追求,以及對(duì)大自然恬靜生活的向往,在書(shū)中均有充分的反映。本書(shū)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 25的內(nèi)容,讓我們一起來(lái)感受吉辛的四季吧!
For two things do my thoughts turn now and then to London. I should like to hear the long note of a master's violin, or the faultless cadence of an exquisite voice, and I should like to see pictures. Music and painting have always meant much to me; here I can enjoy them only in memory.
因?yàn)閮杉?,我時(shí)常會(huì)想起倫敦。第一件,我想聽(tīng)聽(tīng)大師手中小提琴的悠揚(yáng)旋律,或者優(yōu)美嗓音演繹的完美曲調(diào);第二件,我想欣賞繪畫(huà)。音樂(lè)和繪畫(huà)對(duì)我一直意義重大,而在這里,我只能從回憶里欣賞它們。
Of course there is the discomfort of concert-hall and exhibition-rooms. My pleasure in the finest music would be greatly spoilt by having to sit amid a crowd, with some idiot audible on right hand or left, and the show of pictures would give me a headache in the first quarter of an hour. Non sum qualiseram when I waited several hours at the gallery door to hear Patti19, and knew not a moment's fatigue to the end of the concert; or when, at the Academy, I was astonished to find that it was four o'clock, and I had forgotten food since breakfast. The truth is, I do not much enjoy anything nowadays which I cannot enjoy ALONE. It sounds morose; I imagine the comment of good people if they overheard such a confession. Ought I, in truth, to be ashamed of it?
當(dāng)然,音樂(lè)廳和展覽室會(huì)讓人感到不舒適。坐在一大群人中間,聽(tīng)得見(jiàn)旁邊某個(gè)蠢材的說(shuō)話聲,最優(yōu)美的音樂(lè)給我的愉悅感也會(huì)大打折扣;而畫(huà)展呢,十五分鐘就足以讓我頭痛了?!敖裎曳俏粑摇保?dāng)年,為了聽(tīng)帕蒂演唱,我在劇院門(mén)口等上好幾個(gè)小時(shí),直到音樂(lè)會(huì)結(jié)束也沒(méi)有一絲倦意;又或者在美術(shù)學(xué)院,我吃驚地發(fā)現(xiàn)已經(jīng)下午四點(diǎn),而我從早餐后一點(diǎn)東西都沒(méi)吃。事實(shí)上,如果不能獨(dú)自欣賞的東西,我現(xiàn)在都不大喜歡了。這聽(tīng)起來(lái)有些乖僻,我能想象一般人碰巧聽(tīng)到我這番自白會(huì)有什么評(píng)論。我難道真得要為此羞愧嗎?
I always read the newspaper articles on exhibitions of pictures, and with most pleasure when the pictures are landscapes. The mere names of paintings often gladden me for a whole day—those names which bring before the mind a bit of seashore, a riverside, a glimpse of moorland or of woods. However feeble his criticism, the journalist generally writes with appreciation of these subjects; his descriptions carry me away to all sorts of places which I shall never see again with the bodily eye, and I thank him for his unconscious magic. Much better this, after all, than really going to London and seeing the pictures themselves. They would not disappoint me; I love and honour even the least of English landscape painters; but I should not try to see too many at once, and fall back into my old mood of tired grumbling at the conditions of modern life. For a year or two I have grumbled little—all the better for me.
我一直在讀報(bào)紙上關(guān)于畫(huà)展的文章,如果是風(fēng)景畫(huà),那我更會(huì)愉快非常。單是這些畫(huà)作的名字,就常能讓我快樂(lè)一整天—這些名字讓我的腦海中浮現(xiàn)出海濱一角、河畔一景、沼澤地或樹(shù)林的掠影。不管新聞?dòng)浾叩呐u(píng)多么無(wú)力,他在寫(xiě)這些主題時(shí)大都懷著欣賞的態(tài)度;他的描述把我?guī)У搅烁鞣N我再也無(wú)法親眼看到的地方,為了這無(wú)意識(shí)的魔法文筆,我要感謝他。這畢竟要比親身前往倫敦欣賞那些畫(huà)作好得多。報(bào)紙上的畫(huà)作不會(huì)讓我失望,我熱愛(ài)并尊敬甚至最不起眼的英國(guó)風(fēng)景畫(huà)家;但是如果一次欣賞太多,我就會(huì)對(duì)現(xiàn)代生活環(huán)境大發(fā)牢騷,陷入昔日那種疲乏厭世的情緒。這一兩年,我?guī)缀鯖](méi)發(fā)什么牢騷—這對(duì)我是件好事。