《四季隨筆》節(jié)選 - 秋 24

《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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Waking at early dawn used to be one of the things I most dreaded. The night which made me capable of resuming labour had brought no such calm as should follow upon repose; I woke to a vision of the darkest miseries and lay through the hours of daybreak—too often—in very anguish. But that is past. Sometimes, ere yet I know myself, the mind struggles as with an evil spirit on the confines of sleep; then the light at my window, the pictures on my walls, restore me to happy consciousness, happier for the miserable dream. Now, when I lie thinking, my worst trouble is wonder at the common life of man. I see it as a thing so incredible that it oppresses the mind like a haunting illusion. Is it the truth that men are fretting, raving, killing each other, for matters so trivial that I, even I, so far from saint or philosopher, must needs fall into amazement when I consider them? I could imagine a man who, by living alone and at peace, came to regard the everyday world as not really existent, but a creation of his own fancy in unsound moments. What lunatic ever dreamt of things less consonant with the calm reason than those which are thought and done every minute in every community of men called sane? But I put aside this reflection as soon as may be; it perturbs me fruitlessly. Then I listen to the sounds about my cottage, always soft, soothing, such as lead the mind to gentle thoughts. Sometimes I can hear nothing; not the rustle of a leaf, not the buzz of a fl y, and then I think that utter silence is best of all.

在拂曉醒來曾經(jīng)是我最懼怕的事情之一。那讓我為重新工作養(yǎng)精蓄銳的夜晚，并沒有帶給我休息后本該有的平靜；我醒來，看到是最黑暗苦難的景象，破曉之前，我還得在床上躺幾個小時——時常感到十分的痛苦。但這已成為過去了。有時，在意識清醒之前，我的頭腦會奮力掙扎，好像是在跟夢境里的惡魔斗爭。然后窗戶射進(jìn)的一道光，墻上的幾幅畫，會讓我愉快起來，剛才的噩夢反而使我心情更加愉快?，F(xiàn)在我躺在床上思考時，最折磨我的是對普通人生活的驚異，它在我眼里那么不可思議，就像縈繞不去的幻象一樣壓迫著我的思想。人們發(fā)怒吼叫互相殺戮，真的就因為如此瑣屑的小事，即使在我這樣一個遠(yuǎn)非圣人或哲學(xué)家的人看來，都會不勝驚異。我可以想象，一個過著寧靜獨居生活的人，會逐漸將塵世看作并非真的存在，而視為他感覺不適時幻想的一種產(chǎn)物。什么樣的瘋子會夢到比所謂正常人組成的每個社區(qū)每一分鐘的所思所為更不可理喻的事呢？但是我很快地把這個想法擱置起來；它讓我心神不寧，又徒勞無益。接著我會傾聽我房子周圍的聲音，它總是那么柔和，讓人平靜，讓頭腦能有一些溫和的想法。有時，我什么也聽不到，即使是一片樹葉的沙沙聲，一只蒼蠅的嗡嗡聲，然后我會想，完全的寂靜是最好的了。

This morning I was awakened by a continuous sound which presently shaped itself to my ear as a multitudinous shrilling of bird voices. I knew what it meant. For the last few days I have seen the swallows gathering, now they were ranged upon my roof, perhaps in the last council before their setting forth upon the great journey. I know better than to talk about animal instinct, and to wonder in a pitying way at its resemblance to reason. I know that these birds show to us a life far more reasonable, and infinitely more beautiful, than that of the masses of mankind. They talk with each other, and in their talk is neither malice nor folly. Could one but interpret the converse in which they make their plans for the long and perilous f light--and then compare it with that of numberless respectable persons who even now are projecting their winter in the South!

今天早晨，一陣持續(xù)不斷的聲音把我吵醒，隨之在我耳朵里變成無數(shù)鳥兒的尖叫聲。我知道那意味著什么。過去幾天里，我看到燕群聚集：此時它們就在我的屋頂上，也許正在召開大遷徙前的最后一次會議。我還不至于愚蠢到談?wù)搫游锏谋灸埽膊粫樗c理智的相似而表現(xiàn)出可憐的驚訝。我知道，這些鳥兒讓我們看到的生活，與人類的大眾生活相比，要更加合理和無限美麗。它們彼此交談，談話中沒有惡意或是愚蠢。如果有人能夠破譯它們?yōu)槁L危險的旅行制定計劃時的談話——那么請與現(xiàn)在仍計劃在南方過冬的無數(shù)體面人的談話比上一比！