《四季隨筆》節(jié)選 - 春 03

《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(guó)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 - 春 03的內(nèi)容，讓我們一起來感受吉辛的四季吧!

I am no botanist, but I have long found pleasure in herb-gathering. I love to come upon a plant which is unknown to me, to identify it with the help of my book, to greet it by name when next it shines beside my path. If the plant be rare, its discovery gives me joy. Nature, the great Artist, makes her common f lowers in the common view; no word in human language can express the marvel and the loveliness even of what we call the vulgarest weed, but these are fashioned under the gaze of every passer-by. The rare flower is shaped apart, in places secret, in the Artist's subtler mood; to find it is to enjoy the sense of admission to a holier precinct. Even in my gladness I am awed.

我雖然不是植物專家，但長(zhǎng)久以來一直以收集花草為樂。偶然遇見一株陌生植物，遍查書本得其名，小徑重逢之際以名呼之，這在我是一件樂事。若這植物是稀有品種，那就更令我歡喜。大自然這偉大的藝術(shù)家賦予普通花草普通的外表。然而即使是最尋常的野草，人類也無法找到語(yǔ)言來描述其神奇和可愛，它們還都是路人皆見的。稀有的花草則不然，它們是大自然這位藝術(shù)家更精巧構(gòu)思的作品，并將它們隱于偏僻之處，遇之則有受允步入神圣疆域的歡欣之感。然而在這歡欣中我不能不心存敬畏。

Today I have walked far, and at the end of my walk I found the little whiteflowered wood-ruff. It grew in a copse of young ash. When I had looked long at the flower, I delighted myself with the grace of the slim trees about it—their shining smoothness, their olive hue. Hard by stood a bush of wychelm; its tettered bark, overlined as if with the character of some unknown tongue, made the young ashes yet more beautiful.

今天散步走得很遠(yuǎn)，最后我在幼嫩的樹叢中，發(fā)現(xiàn)了開著小白花的車葉草，我凝視了它許久?；ǖ闹車且恢曛昀w細(xì)的樹，它們長(zhǎng)得油亮光滑，呈橄欖色，讓我心里好不歡喜。近旁有一叢堅(jiān)挺的山榆樹，樹皮坑坑洼洼，似乎橫七豎八地刻著某種未知的文字，將幼嫩的樹襯托得愈發(fā)美麗了。

It matters not how long I wander. There is no task to bring me back; no one will be vexed or uneasy, linger I ever so late. Spring is shining upon these lanes and meadows; I feel as if I must follow every winding track that opens by my way. Spring has restored to me something of the longforgotten vigour of youth; I walk without weariness; I sing to myself like a boy, and the song is one I knew in boyhood.

我漫游多久都無所謂。沒什么等待處理的事務(wù)，也沒有什么人會(huì)因?yàn)槲以谕獾R太久而惱怒或不安。美好春光在這些小徑和草地上閃耀，我感覺自己好像不由自主地想走一走每一條延伸至腳下的蜿蜒小路。春天復(fù)蘇了我體內(nèi)沉酣許久的年輕活力；我不知疲倦地散著步，哼著小曲，像小男孩一樣，曲子也正是兒時(shí)學(xué)來的。

That reminds me of an incident. Near a hamlet, in a lonely spot by a woodside, I came upon a little lad of perhaps ten years old, who, his head hidden in his arms against a tree trunk, was crying bitterly. I asked him what was the matter, and, after a little trouble—he was better than a mere bumpkin—I learnt that, having been sent with sixpence to pay a debt, he had lost the money. The poor little fellow was in a state of mind which in a grave man would be called the anguish of despair; he must have been crying for a long time; every muscle in his face quivered as if under torture, his limbs shook; his eyes, his voice, uttered such misery as only the vilest criminal should be made to suffer. And it was because he had lost sixpence!

這勾起了我一件往事。在一個(gè)小村莊附近，樹林旁一個(gè)偏僻的地方，我碰見一個(gè)約莫十歲的小男孩。當(dāng)時(shí)他正靠著一棵樹，抱頭痛哭。我上前詢問，費(fèi)了一番功夫，才從這個(gè)愣頭愣腦的鄉(xiāng)下小子嘴里得知，原來他被差去還六個(gè)便士的債，結(jié)果把錢丟了。這個(gè)可憐的小家伙那時(shí)的心境，對(duì)于一個(gè)嚴(yán)肅的成年人來說，可以稱之為“絕望的痛苦”。他一定哭了好一陣子，臉上的每一塊肌肉都在顫動(dòng)，好像在遭受折磨一樣，他的四肢在發(fā)抖；他的眼睛和聲音里流露出的是只有最十惡不赦的罪犯才該承受的痛楚。而一切只是因?yàn)樗麃G了六個(gè)便士！

I could have shed tears with him—tears of pity and of rage at all this spectacle implied. On a day of indescribable glory, when earth and heaven shed benedictions upon the soul of man, a child, whose nature would have bidden him rejoice as only childhood may, wept his heart out because his hand had dropped a sixpenny piece! The loss was a very serious one, and he knew it; he was less afraid to face his parents, than overcome by misery at the thought of the harm he had done them. Sixpence dropped by the wayside, and a whole family made wretched! What are the due descriptive terms for a state of "civilization" in which such a thing as this is possible?

我?guī)缀跻退黄鹆鳒I—為這一幕情景流下同情和憤怒的眼淚。那天，陽(yáng)光燦爛得無法用言語(yǔ)描繪，天地向人的靈魂播灑祝福，一個(gè)本該縱情歡樂的孩子卻哭得死去活來，僅僅是因?yàn)樗獊G了六便士！這件事情非常嚴(yán)重，他清楚這一點(diǎn)。比起父母的責(zé)難，他更無法忍受的是自己的過失給他們帶來的痛苦。真是“路上丟了六便士，一大家子都遭罪”！一個(gè)容許這種事情發(fā)生的“文明”，我們?cè)撚檬裁春线m的詞匯來描述它呢？

I put my hand into my pocket, and wrought sixpenny worth of miracle.

我把手伸進(jìn)口袋，變出了六個(gè)便士的“魔法”。

It took me half an hour to recover my quiet mind. After all, it is as idle to rage against man's fatuity as to hope that he will ever be less a fool. For me, the great thing was my sixpenny miracle. Why, I have known the day when it would have been beyond my power altogether, or else would have cost me a meal. Wherefore, let me again be glad and thankful.

半個(gè)小時(shí)后，我的心情才平靜下來。畢竟，為人們的愚蠢發(fā)火，和希望他能少做蠢事，都是徒然的。對(duì)于我，最可自豪的是那六個(gè)便士的魔法。是這樣的，我也經(jīng)歷過那樣的日子，我根本愛莫能助，或者說，我要付出一頓飯錢的代價(jià)。為此，請(qǐng)容許我再次感到喜悅并且感恩。