《四季隨筆》節(jié)選 - 秋 13

《四季隨筆》是吉辛的散文代表作。其中對(duì)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(shí)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(duì)文學(xué)名著的愛好與追求，以及對(duì)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(gè)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。

以下是由網(wǎng)友分享的《四季隨筆》節(jié)選 - 秋 13的內(nèi)容，讓我們一起來感受吉辛的四季吧!

Many a time, when life went hard with me, I have betaken myself to the Stoics, and not all in vain. Marcus Aurelius25 has often been one of my bedside books; I have read him in the night watches, when I could not sleep for misery, and when assuredly I could have read nothing else. He did not remove my burden; his proofs of the vanity of earthly troubles availed me nothing; but there was a soothing harmony in his thought which partly lulled my mind, and the mere wish that I could find strength to emulate that high example (though I knew that I never should) was in itself a safeguard against the baser impulses of wretchedness. I read him still, but with no turbid emotion, thinking rather of the man than of the philosophy, and holding his image dear in my heart of hearts.

在生活艱難的許多時(shí)候，我會(huì)向斯多葛教派尋求慰藉，結(jié)果并非無益。馬可·奧勒利烏斯的作品經(jīng)常是我的枕邊書，我曾在因?yàn)橥纯酂o法入眠而守著漫漫長夜時(shí)閱讀他，那時(shí)別的書根本無法讀進(jìn)去。他并沒有解除我的負(fù)擔(dān)，他對(duì)塵世一切煩擾皆虛妄的證明，對(duì)我也沒有任何幫助；但是他的思想中有一種令人寬心的和諧，讓我的頭腦得以休息，我希望獲得力量努力趕上那些高尚的榜樣（盡管我知道我永遠(yuǎn)不可能），這希望本身就讓我能夠抵御悲慘境遇下的卑下沖動(dòng)?，F(xiàn)在我依然讀他的作品，但已沒有那種混亂的感情了，我思考的不是書中的哲學(xué)，而是作者其人，他的形象在我的心中也非常親切了。

Of course the intellectual assumption which makes his system untenable by the thinker of our time is: that we possess a knowledge of the absolute. Noble is the belief that by exercise of his reason a man may enter into communion with that Rational Essence which is the soul of the world; but precisely because of our inability to find within ourselves any such sure and certain guidance do we of today accept the barren doom of scepticism. Otherwise, the Stoic's sense of man's subordination in the universal scheme, and of the all-ruling destiny, brings him into touch with our own philosophical views, and his doctrine concerning the "sociable" nature of man, of the reciprocal obligations which exist between all who live, are entirely congenial to the better spirit of our day. His fatalism is not mere resignation; one has not only to accept one's lot, whatever it is, as inevitable, but to accept it with joy, with praises. Why are we here? For the same reason that has brought about the existence of a horse, or of a vine, to play the part allotted to us by Nature. As it is within our power to understand the order of things, so are we capable of guiding ourselves in accordance therewith; the will, powerless over circumstance, is free to determine the habits of the soul. The first duty is self-discipline; its correspondent first privilege is an inborn knowledge of the law of life.

當(dāng)然，我們這個(gè)時(shí)代的思想家攻擊他的思想體系站不住腳時(shí)，持有一種學(xué)術(shù)假設(shè)，即我們擁有關(guān)于“絕對(duì)”的知識(shí)。認(rèn)為一個(gè)人靠自己理性的力量即可與世界之靈魂的“理性本質(zhì)”交流，這真是崇高的信念；但恰恰因?yàn)槲覀儫o法在自身找到這么一種確定無疑的引導(dǎo)力量，所以今天的我們才接受了懷疑論的無益判決。另外，斯多葛派認(rèn)為人們在宇宙體系中處于從屬地位，認(rèn)為命運(yùn)有至高的統(tǒng)治地位，這和我們自己的哲學(xué)觀點(diǎn)接軌，他們關(guān)于人們“社交”本性，以及一切活著的人對(duì)彼此負(fù)有責(zé)任的學(xué)說，與我們時(shí)代的優(yōu)秀精神完全不謀而合。他的宿命論不僅僅是屈從；人們不僅要將自己的命運(yùn)，無論好歹，視為必然的，而且要快樂和感恩地接受。我們?yōu)槭裁磿?huì)來到世上？和一匹馬或一株植物存在的原因是一樣的，都是要扮演自然賦予我們的角色。因?yàn)槲覀冇心芰砝斫庾匀灰?guī)律，所以我們也能依據(jù)規(guī)律引導(dǎo)自身的行為；意志雖然對(duì)改變境遇無能為力，但卻能自由決定靈魂的習(xí)慣。首要的責(zé)任是自律，與之相應(yīng)的第一個(gè)特權(quán)則是對(duì)生活規(guī)律的先天認(rèn)識(shí)。

But we are fronted by that persistent questioner who will accept no a priori assumption, however noble in its character and beneficent in its tendency. How do we know that the reason of the Stoic is at harmony with the world's law? I, perhaps, may see life from a very different point of view; to me reason may dictate, not self-subdual, but self-indulgence; I may find in the free exercise of all my passions an existence far more consonant with what seems to me the dictate of Nature. I am proud; Nature has made me so; let my pride assert itself to justification. I am strong; let me put forth my strength, it is the destiny of the feeble to fall before me. On the other hand, I am weak and I suffer; what avails a mere assertion that fate is just, to bring about my calm and glad acceptance of this down-trodden doom? Nay, for there is that within my soul which bids me revolt, and cry against the iniquity of some power I know not. Granting that I am compelled to acknowledge a scheme of things which constrains me to this or that, whether I will or no, how can I be sure that wisdom or moral duty lies in acquiescence? Thus the unceasing questioner; to whom, indeed, there is no reply. For our philosophy sees no longer a supreme sanction, and no longer hears a harmony of the universe.

但是我們面對(duì)的是一個(gè)窮追不舍的質(zhì)問者，他不接受任何“演繹的”假定，不管它的品質(zhì)多么高尚，傾向多么有益。我們怎么知道斯多葛派的理性與世界的規(guī)律合拍呢？也許，我看待生命是從一個(gè)完全不同的角度；對(duì)我來說，理性需要的可能不是自制，而是自我放縱；我在所有激情的自由釋放中找到了一種活法，這在我看來更加符合大自然的要求。我是驕傲的，天性使我如此，就讓我的驕傲明明白白而有根有據(jù)。我是孔武有力的，就讓我使出全部力量，虛弱的人命該倒在我的腳下。而反過來說，我是軟弱的，遭受重重磨難；那么僅僅宣稱命運(yùn)是公平的，能幫助我平靜愉快地接受這種受踐踏的運(yùn)命嗎？不，因?yàn)槲业撵`魂中有某種東西讓我奮起反抗，讓我大聲怒斥某種未知力量的不公平。假使不管我愿不愿意，我被迫接受一個(gè)限定自身的事物格局，我又怎能肯定我的默許是一種智慧或道德責(zé)任呢？所以就有了那位無休無止的質(zhì)問者，對(duì)他的問題，確實(shí)沒有答案。因?yàn)槲覀兊恼軐W(xué)再也看不到至高的認(rèn)可，再也聽不到宇宙的和諧之聲。

He that is unjust is also impious. For the Nature of the Universe, having made all reasonable creatures one for another, to the end that they should do one another good; more or less, according to the several persons and occasions; but in no wise hurt one another; it is manifest that he that doth transgress against her will, is guilty of impiety towards the most ancient and venerable of all the Deities. How gladly would I believe this! That injustice is impiety, and indeed the supreme impiety, I will hold with my last breath; but it were the merest affectation of a noble sentiment if I supported my faith by such a reasoning. I see no single piece of strong testimony that justice is the law of the universe; I see suggestions incalculable tending to prove that it is not. Rather must I apprehend that man, in some inconceivable way, may at his best moments represent a Principle darkly at strife with that which prevails throughout the world as known to us. If the just man be in truth a worshipper of the most ancient of Deities, he must needs suppose, either that the object of his worship belongs to a fallen dynasty, or—what from of old has been his refuge—that the sacred fire which burns within him is an "evidence of things not seen." What if I am incapable of either supposition? There remains the dignity of a hopeless cause— "sed victa Catoni." 26 But how can there sound the hymn of praise?

“不公平之人亦不虔誠。因?yàn)橛钪嬷圃斐鏊泻侠淼纳铮康氖菫榱俗屗鼈兓ハ嘣旄?，因各人和場合而稍有差異，但是絕不應(yīng)該傷害彼此；很明顯，違背了宇宙這一意愿的人，也就是對(duì)最古老神圣的神明犯了不虔誠的罪過?！蔽沂嵌嗝丛敢庀嘈胚@話啊！不公平即不虔誠，事實(shí)上是極端的不虔誠，這一點(diǎn)我至死都要主張；但如果我只是用這樣一個(gè)推理來支持我的信仰，那它不過是一種高尚情感的最純粹的偽裝罷了。我沒有看到過一條強(qiáng)有力的證據(jù)，可以證明公平是宇宙的法則；我倒是看到難以計(jì)數(shù)的跡象傾向來證明事實(shí)并非如此。我寧愿這樣想，人們在自己最好的時(shí)刻，以一種不可思議的方式，可能表現(xiàn)著一種原則，這原則在黑暗中與我們知道的統(tǒng)治世界的力量作斗爭。如果主持正義的人真的是最古老神明的崇拜者，那他要么將自己崇拜的對(duì)象視為屬于一個(gè)滅亡的朝代，或者認(rèn)為在他體內(nèi)燃燒的圣火是“無法看到的事物的證據(jù)”，因?yàn)閺墓诺浇襁@就是他的避難所。如果這兩種設(shè)想我都無法作出呢？那還剩下一種堅(jiān)持無望的事業(yè)而雖敗猶榮的尊嚴(yán)——“但是失敗的方面使加圖高興”。不過那里怎么還能回響著贊頌的歌聲呢？

That is best for everyone, which the common Nature of all doth send unto everyone, and then is it best, when she doth send it. The optimism of Necessity, and perhaps, the highest wisdom man can attain unto. "Remember that unto reasonable creatures only is it granted that they may willingly and freely submit." No one could be more sensible than I of the persuasiveness of this high theme. The words sing to me, and life is illumined with soft glory, like that of the autumn sunset yonder. "Consider how man's life is but for a very moment of time, and so depart meek and contented: even as if a ripe olive falling should praise the ground that bare her, and give thanks to the tree that begat her." So would I fain think, when the moment comes. It is the mood of strenuous endeavour, but also the mood of rest. Better than the calm of achieved indifference (if that, indeed, is possible to man); better than the ecstasy which contemns the travail of earth in contemplation of bliss to come. But, by no effort attainable. An influence of the unknown powers; a peace that falleth upon the soul like dew at evening.

“大自然送給每個(gè)人的東西，對(duì)于每個(gè)人來說是最好的，而最好的事情是大自然確實(shí)把東西送給了每個(gè)人”。這種對(duì)必然性的樂觀，也許是人們所能獲得的最高智慧吧。“記住了，上天只賦予理性的生物這種能力，讓他們可以自愿自由地屈服。”沒有人比我更能明白這一高尚主旨的說服力。這些詞匯向我歌唱，生命被溫柔的光輝照亮了，猶如遠(yuǎn)處秋天的落日?！跋胂氚?，人的生命不過短短一瞬，所以請(qǐng)溫順滿足地逝世吧：就像成熟的橄欖墜落枝頭時(shí)，要歌頌孕育它的大地，還要感謝養(yǎng)育它的樹?！痹谏K結(jié)之時(shí)，我愿意抱著這樣的想法。這是奮發(fā)努力的情境，也是安息的情境。它比修成的淡漠所生的平靜（如果人真的可能獲得的話）要好，也比冥想未來之幸福而蔑視人間之勞苦而激發(fā)的狂喜要好，但這不是靠努力可以得到的。它是一種未知力量的影響，一種降落人類靈魂上的安寧，就像露水降臨于夜晚。