《四季隨筆》節(jié)選 - 秋 08

《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(gè)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 have been reading Sainte-Beuve's16 Port-Royal, a book I have often thought of reading, but its length, and my slight interest in that period, always held me aloof. Happily, chance and mood came together, and I am richer by a bit of knowledge well worth acquiring. It is the kind of book which, one may reasonably say, tends to edification. One is better for having lived a while with "Messieurs de Port-Royal”; the best of them were, surely, not far from the Kingdom of Heaven.

我近來在讀圣伯夫的《波爾-羅亞爾》，其實(shí)早就想讀這本書了，但是它的長度讓人望而生畏，加上我對那段歷史缺乏興趣，所以一直對它敬而遠(yuǎn)之。令人開心的是，機(jī)會和心情終于湊在了一起，而我獲得了一點(diǎn)有價(jià)值的知識，覺得學(xué)問更深了。我有足夠理由說這是一本給人教育啟迪的書。與“波爾-羅亞爾修道院的先生們”相處一段時(shí)間，會讓人受益良多，他們中最好的實(shí)在離天國不遠(yuǎn)。

Theirs is not, indeed, the Christianity of the first age; we are among theologians, and the shadow of dogma has dimmed those divine hues of the early morning, yet ever and anon there comes a cool, sweet air, which seems not to have blown across man's common world, which bears no taint of mortality.

他們信仰的確實(shí)已不是初世紀(jì)的基督教，我們處在神學(xué)者之中，教條的陰影黯淡了督教那種清晨的神圣光彩，然而不時(shí)吹來的一陣涼爽甜美的風(fēng)，似乎并非來自尋常人間，因?yàn)樗粠б唤z死亡的氣息。

A gallery of impressive and touching portraits. The great-souled M. de Saint-Cyran17, with his vision of Christ restored; M. Le Maitre, who, at the summit of a brilliant career, turned from the world to meditation and penitence; Pascal, with his genius and his triumphs, his conflicts of soul and fleshly martyrdom; Lancelot, the good Lancelot, ideal schoolmaster, who wrote grammar and edited classical books; the vigorous Arnauld, doctoral rather than saintly, but long-suffering for the faith that was in him; and all the smaller names—Walon de Beaupuis, Nicole, Hamon—spirits of exquisite humility and sweetness—a perfume rises from the page as one reads about them. But best of all I like M. de Tillemont; I could have wished for myself even such a life as his; wrapped in silence and calm, a life of gentle devotion and zealous study. From the age of fourteen, he said, his intellect had occupied itself with but one subject, that of ecclesiastical history. Rising at four o'clock, he read and wrote until half-past nine in the evening, interrupting his work only to say the Offices of the Church, and for a couple of hours'breathing at mid-day. Few were his absences. When he had to make a journey, he set forth on foot, staff in hand, and lightened the way by singing to himself a psalm or canticle. This man of profound erudition had as pure and simple a heart as ever dwelt in mortal. He loved to stop by the road and talk with children, and knew how to hold their attention whilst teaching them a lesson. Seeing boy or girl in charge of a cow, he would ask: "How is it that you, a little child, are able to control that animal, so much bigger and stronger?" And he would show the reason, speaking of the human soul. All this about Tillemont is new to me; well as I knew his name (from the pages of Gibbon), I thought of him merely as the laborious and accurate compiler of historical materials. Admirable as was his work, the spirit in which he performed it is the thing to dwell upon; he studied for study's sake, and with no aim but truth; to him it was a matter of indifference whether his learning ever became known among men, and at any moment he would have given the fruits of his labour to any one capable of making use of them.

這本書就像一個(gè)美術(shù)館，里面陳列著一幅幅讓人印象深刻、感人至深的肖像畫。心靈偉大的圣昔朗先生，恢復(fù)了重見耶穌基督的想象力；勒邁特先生，在輝煌事業(yè)的巔峰時(shí)刻，遁世絕俗，在沉思和贖罪中度過余生；帕斯卡爾，才華過人，成就斐然，卻在靈魂和肉體的殉道之間掙扎；朗瑟洛，善良的朗瑟洛，他著有法語語法書，還編輯典籍，是一名完美的老師；精力充沛的阿爾諾，與其說是圣徒，不如說是飽學(xué)之士，他為了心中的信仰長期遭受煎熬；還有那些不太有名的人物——瓦隆·德博皮、妮科爾、哈莫——這些心思細(xì)膩、天性恭謙純良的人們——讀到這些人的時(shí)候，一縷芬芳便從書頁上散發(fā)出來。但是我最喜歡的是蒂耶芒先生，我希望自己能擁有他那樣的生活，在沉默和安寧的懷抱中，過著誠心奉教和潛心向?qū)W的生活。他說，從十四歲起，他的智慧便專注于一個(gè)主題，即教會歷史的研究。他凌晨四點(diǎn)鐘起床，一直讀寫到晚上九點(diǎn)半，只有在做禱告和中午外出透氣的幾小時(shí)，才中斷工作。他很少出門不在家。如果必須外出，他會步行，手里拿一根杖，一路上唱贊美詩或圣歌來減輕勞頓。這個(gè)學(xué)識精深的人，有著世間最純凈和質(zhì)樸的心靈。他喜歡在路上停下和孩子們談話，教授知識時(shí)，知道怎樣抓住他們的注意力?？吹侥泻⒒蚺⒃诜排?，他會問道：“你這樣一個(gè)小孩子，為什么能夠控制這頭身體和力氣都比你大得多的牲畜呢？”然后，他會談起人類的靈魂，將原因揭示出來。所有這些關(guān)于蒂耶蒙的故事，我都是第一次聽到。我雖然熟知他的名字（從吉本的作品中），卻一直只將他視為一個(gè)勤勉嚴(yán)謹(jǐn)?shù)臍v史資料編纂者。他的作品讓人仰慕，而他的治學(xué)精神更值得人們稱道；他為研究而研究，目標(biāo)只有一個(gè)，就是真理；他不在乎自己的學(xué)識是否會名譽(yù)四海，隨時(shí)準(zhǔn)備將自己的學(xué)術(shù)成果交給任何有能力利用它們的人。

Think of the world in which the Jansenists18 were living; the world of the Fronde19, of Richelieu20 and Mazarin21, of his refulgent Majesty Louis XIV. Contrast Port-Royal with Versailles, and—whatever one's judgment of their religious and ecclesiastical aims—one must needs say that these men lived with dignity. The Great Monarch is, in comparison, a poor, sordid creature. One thinks of Moliere22 refused burial—the king's contemptuous indifference for one who could do no more to amuse him being a true measure of the royal greatness. Face to face with even the least of these grave and pious men, how paltry and unclean are all those courtly figures; not THERE was dignity, in the palace chambers and the stately gardens, but in the poor rooms where the solitaries of Port-Royal prayed and studied and taught. Whether or not the ideal for mankind, their life was worthy of man. And what is rarer than a life to which that praise can be given?

想想詹森教派生活的那個(gè)世界，那是投石黨、黎塞留和馬薩林，還有偉大的路易十四陛下生活的世界。將波爾-羅亞爾和凡爾賽相比照——不管我們對前者的宗教和教會宗旨的評價(jià)如何——我們都必須承認(rèn)，這些人是帶著尊嚴(yán)活著的。相形之下，偉大的君主不過是一個(gè)可憐卑下的人物。人們會想起莫里哀的葬禮受阻撓的事——國王對一個(gè)再也無法取悅他的人的那份蔑視和漠然，是衡量君主之偉大的真正尺度。即使與這些莊重虔誠的人中最沒有名氣的一位面對面，那些宮廷人物都會顯得那么可鄙和骯臟。尊嚴(yán)并不存在于巍峨宮闈、尊貴花園之中，而在波爾-羅亞爾修道院的那些獨(dú)居之士祈禱、鉆研和授業(yè)解惑的陋室里。他們的生活也許稱不上是人類的理想，但總歸是沒有虛度的。有什么比值得褒揚(yáng)的人生更珍貴呢？