《四季隨筆》節(jié)選 - 春 04

《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，是英國文學中小品文的珍品之一。

以下是由網(wǎng)友分享的《四季隨筆》節(jié)選 - 春 04的內(nèi)容，讓我們一起來感受吉辛的四季吧!

There was a time in my life when, if I had suddenly been set in the position I now enjoy, conscience would have lain in ambush for me. What! An income sufficient to support three or four working-class families—a house all to myself—things beautiful wherever I turn—and absolutely nothing to do for it all! I should have been hard put to it to defend myself. In those days I was feelingly reminded, hour by hour, with what a struggle the obscure multitudes manage to keep alive. Nobody knows better than I do quam parvo liceat producere vitam. I have hungered in the streets; I have laid my head in the poorest shelter; I know what it is to feel the heart burn with wrath and envy of "the privileged classes." Yes, but all that time I was one of "the privileged" myself, and now I can accept a recognized standing among them without shadow of self-reproach.

我的生命中曾有一個時期，如果我突然置于現(xiàn)在的舒適環(huán)境，良心會暗中譴責我。什么！足夠養(yǎng)活三四戶工人階級家庭的收入—完全屬于自己的房子—滿眼都是漂亮的東西—而且絕對地坐享其成！我應該很難為自己辯護。那時候，我常常由衷地想到，無名小卒們要維持生存是多么艱難。沒有人比我更了解“用多么少的東西，就可以維持生命”。我曾在街頭忍饑挨餓，也曾在最齷齪的寓所棲身；我了解對“特權階層”的憤怒和妒忌在心中燃燒時火辣辣的感覺。然而，那時候我已是“特權階層”的一員，但現(xiàn)在我可以接受這個階層的一席之地，而心中全無自責的陰影。

It does not mean that my larger sympathies are blunted. By going to certain places, looking upon certain scenes, I could most effectually destroy all the calm that life has brought me. If I hold apart and purposely refuse to look that way, it is because I believe that the world is better, not worse, for having one more inhabitant who lives as becomes a civilized being. Let him whose soul prompts him to assail the iniquity of things, cry and spare not; let him who has the vocation go forth and combat. In me it would be to err from Nature's guidance. I know, if I know anything, that I am made for the life of tranquility and meditation. I know that only thus can such virtue as I possess find scope. More than half a century of existence has taught me that most of the wrong and folly which darken earth is due to those who cannot possess their souls in quiet; that most of the good which saves mankind from destruction comes of life that is led in thoughtful stillness. Every day the world grows noisier; I, for one, will have no part in that increasing clamour, and, were it only by my silence, I confer a boon on all.

這并不代表我的大眾同情心遲鈍了。去到某些地方，看到某些場景，我就能把生活帶給我的平靜破壞無遺。如果我保持距離，有意不往那個方向看，那是因為我覺得，多一個過上文明生活的人，世界會變得更加美好，而不是更糟。讓那些受靈魂驅策的人去抨擊世間所有的不公，大聲疾呼，毫不留情吧；讓那些專司此職的人走上前去斗爭吧。我如果那樣做，便是有悖本性的引導了。如果我有所知的話，我知道自己是為平靜和冥思的生活而生的。我知道，只有過這樣的生活，我身上的優(yōu)點才有發(fā)揮的空間。在世上活了大半個世紀，我認識到，玷污人間的大多數(shù)錯誤和蠢事都是那些不肯讓靈魂寧靜的人搞出來的；大多數(shù)挽救人類免受滅頂之災的善舉都是那些在沉思和寧靜中生活的人做出的。每一天，世界都變得更加喧鬧，而在這片愈演愈烈的喧嚷聲中我是沒份的。雖然我做的只是保持沉默，但這對所有人都是一份恩惠。

How well would the revenues of a country be expended, if, by mere pensioning, one-fifth of its population could be induced to live as I do!

如果僅僅靠提供養(yǎng)老金，能使一個國家五分之一的人口都過上我這樣的優(yōu)裕生活，那會是使用國家稅收歲入多么好的方法啊！