《四季隨筆》節(jié)選 - 夏 01

《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。

以下是由網友分享的《四季隨筆》節(jié)選 - 夏 01的內容，讓我們一起來感受吉辛的四季吧!

Today, as I was reading in the garden, a waft of summer perfume—some hidden link of association in what I read—I know not what it may have been—took me back to schoolboy holidays; I recovered with strange intensity that lightsome mood of long release from tasks, of going away to the seaside, which is one of childhood's blessings. I was in the train; no rushing express, such as bears you great distances; the sober train which goes to no place of importance, which lets you see the white steam of the engine float and fall upon a meadow ere you pass. Thanks to a good and wise father, we youngsters saw nothing of seaside places where crowds assemble; I am speaking, too, of a time more than forty years ago, when it was still possible to find on the coasts of northern England, east or west, spots known only to those who loved the shore for its beauty and its solitude. At every station the train stopped; little stations, decked with beds of flowers, smelling warm in the sunshine where country-folk got in with baskets, and talked in an unfamiliar dialect, an English which to us sounded almost like a foreign tongue. Then the first glimpse of the sea; the excitement of noting whether tide was high or low—stretches of sand and weedy pools, or halcyon wavelets frothing at their furthest reach, under the sea-banks starred with convolvulus. Of a sudden, OUR station!

今天，我在花園讀書，一縷夏日的香氣悠然而至—和讀的書有某種潛在聯系，是什么我也說不清—恍惚我被帶回到了學生時代的假期。那真是童年的一樁樂事，從課業(yè)中長時間地解脫出來，到海邊肆意玩耍，我好像重溫了那種輕松愉快的心情，奇異而強烈。我坐在火車上，不是那種長途旅行乘坐的高速快車，而是慢車，去的都是一些小地方，能看到火車頭冒出的白色蒸汽在草地上飄起又沉下，慢慢從眼前掠過。感謝慈愛睿智的父親，我們小時候沒有看過人潮洶涌的海灘。我說的是四十多年前，那時候，在英格蘭北部的海岸上，熱愛美麗、僻靜海灘的人們還能找到幾處清靜的去處?；疖嚪暾颈赝?，那些小站，裝飾著幾方花壇，陽光下散發(fā)著溫暖的氣息，鄉(xiāng)下人挎著籃子上車來，用我們不熟悉的方言交談著，他們的英語聽起來簡直像外語。接下來，大海闖進了視線。好興奮，終于看見了潮漲潮落—遠處有幾段沙灘和幾個長滿水草的水塘，白色小浪花歡快地向沙灘最遠處奔去，上方是綴著點點旋花的海岸。忽然間，我們到站了！

Ah, that taste of the brine on a child's lips! Nowadays, I can take holiday when I will, and go whithersoever it pleases me; but that salt kiss of the sea air I shall never know again. My senses are dulled; I cannot get so near to Nature; I have a sorry dread of her clouds, her winds, and must walk with tedious circumspection where once I ran and leapt exultingly. Were it possible, but for one half-hour, to plunge and bask in the sunny surf, to roll on the silvery sand-hills, to leap from rock to rock on shining sea-ferns, laughing if I slipped into the shallows among starfish and anemones! I am much older in body than in mind; I can but look at what I once enjoyed.

啊，孩子嘴唇上海水的那種味道呀！現在，我可以隨時去度假，想去哪里都隨心所欲；但是大海印在唇上的咸咸的吻我再也感受不到了。我的感官都已經麻木，我已不能像當年那樣親近自然，我甚至害怕云朵和風吹，真是無可奈何。在曾經歡呼雀躍的地方，現在我必須小心地移動著單調的步子。如果可能，哪怕只有半小時，讓我縱身躍入陽光下的波濤之中，在銀光點點的沙崗上打滾，踩著閃閃發(fā)亮的蕨從一塊巖石躍到另一塊，在不慎滑倒在海星和海葵包圍著的淺灘上時縱聲歡笑！現在我心有余而力不足，曾經可以盡情玩耍的地方現在只能飽飽眼福了。