《四季随笔》节选 - 秋 06

《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 - 秋 06的内容，让我们一起来感受吉辛的四季吧!

How I envy those who become prudent without thwackings of experience! Such men seem to be not uncommon. I don't mean cold-blooded calculators of profit and loss in life's possibilities; nor yet the plodding dull, who never have imagination enough to quit the beaten track of security; but bright-witted and large-hearted fellows who seem always to be led by common sense, who go steadily from stage to stage of life, doing the right, the prudent things, guilty of no vagaries, winning respect by natural progress, seldom needing aid themselves, often helpful to others, and, through all, good-tempered, deliberate, happy. How I envy them!

我多么羡慕那些没有经过现实中的频频碰壁，就变得谨慎的人啊！这种人似乎并不少见。但我不是指那些对生活中可能的盈利和亏损斤斤计较的冷血者；也不是那些终日劳作的愚钝者，他们从没有足够的想象力可以离开久经风雨的安全老路；我指的是那些智慧而慷慨的人，他们似乎一直凭常识引导，从生命的一个阶段稳步跨入另一个阶段，行事合宜谨慎，从不异想天开，自然而然地赢得尊重，很少需要帮助，经常对别人施以援手，始终都是待人和蔼，行事周全，生活幸福。我多么羡慕他们啊！

For of myself it might be said that whatever folly is possible to a moneyless man, that folly I have at one time or another committed. Within my nature there seemed to be no faculty of rational self-guidance. Boy and man, I blundered into every ditch and bog which lay within sight of my way. Never did silly mortal reap such harvest of experience; never had any one so many bruises to show for it. Thwack, thwack! No sooner had I recovered from one sound drubbing than I put myself in the way of another. "Unpractical" I was called by those who spoke mildly; "idiot"—I am sure—by many a ruder tongue. And idiot I see myself, whenever I glance back over the long, devious road. Something, obviously, I lacked from the beginning, some balancing principle granted to most men in one or another degree. I had brains, but they were no help to me in the common circumstances of life. But for the good fortune which plucked me out of my mazes and set me in paradise, I should no doubt have blundered on to the end. The last thwack of experience would have laid me low just when I was becoming really a prudent man.

因为就我自己来说，一个没钱的人可能做的任何蠢事，我在不同的时期都做过了。我天性似乎就没有理性的自我引导的能力。从少年到成年，我错误地踏入了所有道路上出现的沟渠和泥沼。从来没有一个愚人像我收获了这许多的经验，从来没有人有我这么多的伤疤。哐！哐！我从来都是刚吃一堑，又摔进一沟。“不现实”，措词委婉的人这样评价我；“蠢材”，说话粗鲁的人一定会这样说。每每回首漫长曲折的人生道路，我发现自己的确是一个蠢材。显然从一开始我身上就缺少某种东西，某种大多数人或多或少都天生具备的平衡原则。我有智慧，但是它在生活的寻常境况下对我没有什么帮助。要不是好运将我从生活的迷宫中救出，放在天堂里，我毫无疑问会一直犯错，跌跌撞撞直至生命尽头。生活中最后一次碰壁可能会最终让我一蹶不振，而当时我正要变成一个非常谨慎的人。