《四季随笔》节选 - 冬 26

《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 - 冬 26的内容，让我们一起来感受吉辛的四季吧!

Impatient for the light of spring, I have slept lately with my blind drawn up, so that at waking, I have the sky in view. This morning, I awoke just before sunrise. The air was still; a faint flush of rose to westward told me that the east made fair promise. I could see no cloud, and there before me, dropping to the horizon, glistened the horned moon.

我急不可耐地等着春光的到来，最近睡觉时我总将窗帘卷起，这样一觉醒来就能看到天空了。今天早晨，我在日出前醒来。空气是安静的，西方天空微微泛起玫瑰红，告诉我今天会是一个好天气。我看不到一丝云彩，在我面前，一钩月牙闪着微光，就要沉到地平线上。

The promise held good. After breakfast, I could not sit down by the fireside; indeed, a fire was scarce necessary; the sun drew me forth, and I walked all the morning about the moist lanes, delighting myself with the scent of earth.

兆头不错。早饭后，我在炉火旁坐不住了，事实上，炉火几乎是不必要的。阳光引我出了门，我在露水润湿的小路上散了一个早晨的步，嗅着土地的芬芳，心情愉快。

On my way home, I saw the first celandine.

在回家的路上，我看到了第一棵白屈菜。

So, once more, the year has come full circle. And how quickly; alas, how quickly! Can it be a whole twelvemonth since the last spring? Because I am so content with life, must life slip away, as though it grudged me my happiness? Time was when a year drew its slow length of toil and anxiety and ever frustrates waiting. Further away, the year of childhood seemed endless. It is familiarity with life that makes time speed quickly. When every day is a step in the unknown, as for children, the days are long with gathering of experience; the week gone by is already far in retrospect of things learnt, and that to come, especially if it foretells some joy, lingers in remoteness. Past mid-life, one learns little and expects little. To-day is like unto yesterday, and to that which shall be the morrow. Only torment of mind or body serves to delay the indistinguishable hours. Enjoy the day, and, behold, it shrinks to a moment.

一年又转完了一整圈。时间可过得真快，真是白驹过隙啊！从去年春天到现在十二个月已经这样过去了吗？就因为我对生活感到满足，生命就要这样飞逝吗，好像它不愿让我快乐似的？在辛苦焦虑的时候，一年的时间总过得很慢，让人们等待得不耐烦了。时间再往前推移，童年的岁月似乎是没有尽头的。正是对生活的熟悉让时间流逝得飞快。如果像孩子那样，每天都是迈向未知的一步，每天会因为经验积累而显得漫长；回想学到的那些东西，一周的时间过去，在感觉中已经是很遥远了，而将要到来的一周，特别是当预示着快乐时，它就好像在远处徘徊，不肯早来。中年以后，人们几乎不学什么，也没什么期待了。今天和昨天没什么不同，明天和今天也大致一样。只有在精神和身体遭受折磨时，才能拖住那不易察觉的时间。要好好享受这一天，看吧，它会缩为短短一瞬。

I could wish for many another year; yet, if I knew that not one more awaited me, I should not grumble. When I was ill at ease in the world, it would have been hard to die; I had lived to no purpose, that I could discover; the end would have seemed abrupt and meaningless. Now, my life is rounded; it began with the natural irreflective happiness of childhood, it will close in the reasoned tranquility of the mature mind. How many a time, after long labour on some piece of writing, brought at length to its conclusion, have I laid down the pen with a sigh of thankfulness; the work was full of faults, but I had wrought sincerely, had done what time and circumstance and my own nature permitted. Even so may it be with me in my last hour. May I look back on life as a long task duly completed—a piece of biography; faulty enough, but good as I could make it—and, with no thought but one of contentment, welcome the repose to follow when I have breathed the word "Finis."

我还有希望活很多年，但是，如果知道大限就在今年，我不会抱怨。当我在世界上感觉不自在时，死可能是件难事；如果我发觉自己一直没有目的地活着，生命的终止也许会显得突然和没有意义。而现在，我的生命圆满了；它开始于童年时期自然而无忧无虑的欢乐，终结于成熟思想的缜密和平静。有许多次，在费了许多心力完成一篇文章后，我放下笔，感激地吐出一口气；作品中纰漏很多，但我创作时是真诚的，在时间、环境和我的性情允许的范围内，我做到了最好。愿我在生命最后一刻也还是如此。愿我在回首一生时，看到的是一项适时完成的艰巨任务——一本传记；虽然有缺陷，但我尽我所能做到了最好——现在我只有满足的感觉，在吐出那个“终”字时，我欢迎随之而来的安息。