《四季随笔》节选 - 春 23

《四季随笔》是吉辛的散文代表作。其中对隐士赖克罗夫特醉心于书籍、自然景色与回忆过去生活的描述，其实是吉辛的自述，作者以此来抒发自己的情感，因而本书是一部富有自传色彩的小品文集。

吉辛穷困的一生，对文学名著的爱好与追求，以及对大自然恬静生活的向往，在书中均有充分的反映。本书分为春、夏、秋、冬四个部分，文笔优美，行文流畅，是英国文学中小品文的珍品之一。

以下是由网友分享的《四季随笔》节选 - 春 23的内容，让我们一起来感受吉辛的四季吧!

Every morning when I awake, I thank heaven for silence. This is my orison. I remember the London days when sleep was broken by clash and clang, by roar and shriek, and when my first sense on returning to consciousness was hatred of the life about me. Noises of wood and metal, clattering of wheels, banging of implements, jangling of bells—all such things are bad enough, but worse still is the clamorous human voice. Nothing on earth is more irritating to me than a bellow or scream of idiot mirth, nothing more hateful than a shout or yell of brutal anger. Were it possible, I would never again hear the utterance of a human tongue, save from those few who are dear to me.

每天早晨醒来，我都要为这宁静感谢上苍，这是我的祈祷。还记得在伦敦的日子，睡梦被丁零当啷的噪音和人们的咆哮尖叫打断，我意识恢复后的第一感觉便是对周围生活的憎恶。木头和金属发出的噪音，车轮的嘎嘎声，工具的梆梆声，还有钟铃的当当声—这些就已经够烦了，更糟的是嘈杂的人声。对我来说，世上没有什么比愚人欢快的叫嚷和粗人愤怒的咆哮更让人憎恶的了。如果可以，除了几个我亲近的人外，我愿永远听不见人声。

Here, wake at what hour I may, early or late, I lie amid gracious stillness. Perchance a horse's hoof rings rhythmically upon the road; perhaps a dog barks from a neighbour farm; it may be that there comes the far, soft murmur of a train from the other side of Exe; but these are almost the only sounds that could force themselves upon my ear. A voice, at any time of the day, is the rarest thing.

在这里，不管我何时醒来，四周都是一片舒适的宁静。有时会有一串得得的马蹄声有节奏地响在路上，或许有狗吠声从附近农场传来，也许会听到埃克斯河谷对面火车遥远柔和的低语，但这些几乎是进入我耳朵的仅有的声音。而在一天里，最罕有的便是人声。

But there is the rustle of branches in the morning breeze; there is the music of a sunny shower against the window; there is the matin song

不过，在清晨的微风中，树枝会沙沙作响；晴天阵雨忽至，雨点敲窗的音乐便会响起；还有鸟儿晨起的歌声。

of birds. Several times lately I have lain wakeful when there sounded the first note of the earliest lark; it makes me almost glad of my restless nights. The only trouble that touches me in these moments is the thought of my long life wasted amid the senseless noises of man's world. Year after year this spot has known the same tranquility; with ever so little of good fortune, with ever so little wisdom, beyond what was granted me, I might have blessed my manhood with calm, might have made for myself in later life a long retrospect of bowered peace. As it is, I enjoy with something of sadness, remembering that this melodious silence is but the prelude of that deeper stillness which waits to enfold us all.

最近有几天，我醒来躺在床上，听到起床最早的云雀发出的第一声啼叫，我几乎要对那些不眠之夜感到欢喜了。这些时候，唯一让我不安的是想到我曾在人类世界的愚蠢噪音中浪费了那么漫长的人生。年复一年，这个地方都有着同样的宁静；如果我的财富和智慧比上苍的赐予多一点，我也许就能让自己的成长过程多一些平静，也能在晚年有幸拥有一段漫长平静的回忆时光。而现在，我的享受是带着一丝感伤的，想到这悦耳的宁静不过是等待吞噬我们所有人更深沉的死寂的序曲。