《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 - 春 02的内容，让我们一起来感受吉辛的四季吧!

The exquisite quiet of this room! I have been sitting in utter idleness, watching the sky, viewing the shape of golden sunlight upon the carpet, which changes as the minutes pass, letting my eye wander from one framed print to another, and along the ranks of my beloved books. Within the house nothing stirs. In the garden I can hear singing of birds, I can hear the rustle of their wings. And thus, if it pleases me, I may sit all day long, and into the profounder quiet of the night.

多么恬静雅致的房间啊！我完全无所事事地坐着，仰望天空，看着金色阳光洒在地毯上，光影随时间的推移变化着，我的目光从墙上的一幅幅画作，游移到我钟爱的一排排书上。房间里没有一丝动静，我听见鸟儿在花园里唱歌，听到它们拍打翅膀的沙沙声。如果我乐意的话，我可以这样坐上一整天，一直坐到万籁俱寂，夜幕深沉。

My house is perfect. By great good fortune I have found a housekeeper no less to my mind, a low-voiced, light-footed woman of discreet age, strong and deft enough to render me all the service I require, and not afraid of solitude. She rises very early. By my breakfast-time there remains little to be done under the roof save dressing of meals. Very rarely do I hear even a clink of crockery; never the closing of a door or window. Oh, blessed silence!

我的房子真是完美。非常幸运的是，我还找到了很中意的管家—一位声音柔和、脚步很轻的中年女人。她健壮能干，服务周到，并且安于寂寞。她起床很早，除了准备各餐饭的调味品，早饭后她就没什么家务事了。我很少听见锅碗的叮当声，更是从没听到过门窗关闭的声音。哦，这宁静真令人愉快！

There is not the remotest possibility of any one's calling upon me, and that I should call upon any one else is a thing undreamt of. I owe a letter to a friend; perhaps I shall write it before bedtime; perhaps I shall leave it till to-morrow morning. A letter of friendship should never be written save when the spirit prompts. I have not yet looked at the newspaper. Generally I leave it till I come back tired from my walk; it amuses me then to see what the noisy world is doing, what new self torments men have discovered, what new forms of vain toil, what new occasions of peril and of strife. I grudge to give the first freshness of the morning mind to things so sad and foolish.

有人来访的可能性微乎其微，我去拜访别人更是做梦都不会想的事。我还欠朋友一封信，也许会在睡觉前写，也许要等到明天一早。给友人的信一定要待到兴致来时再写。报纸我还没有看，通常我会等到散步回来累了的时候才看。那时来看这个嘈杂世界的众生百态，看人们发现了什么自我折磨的新法子，什么徒劳无功的新形式，什么犯险争斗的新机会，会让我觉得有趣。我可不愿让清新的头脑一大早就接触这些悲哀和愚蠢的事情。

My house is perfect. Just large enough to allow the grace of order in domestic circumstance; just that superfluity of intramural space, to lack which is to be less than at one's ease. The fabric is sound; the work in wood and plaster tells of a more leisurely and a more honest age than ours. The stairs do not creak under my step; I am waylaid by no unkindly draught; I can open or close a window without muscle-ache. As to such trifles as the tint and device of wall-paper, I confess my indifference; be the walls only unobtrusive, and I am satisfied. The first thing in one's home is comfort; let beauty of detail be added if one has the means, the patience, the eye.

我的房子真是完美。大小正好可以让家里的物什一应俱全、井井有条；屋内多出的空间也刚刚好，缺了它感觉就不那么舒服。房子建得很牢固，木工和泥工的手艺表明那个年代比我们现在更闲适、诚实。我踩在楼梯上不会有嗄吱作响的声音，也没有穿堂风出其不意地来袭击我，我开关窗户也不会感觉肌肉酸痛。至于其他一些琐事，比如墙纸的色彩和图案，我承认自己并不关心；只要不碍眼，我就心满意足了。家的第一要义是舒服，如果有财资、耐心和鉴赏力，还可以增添些美丽的细节。

To me, this little book-room is beautiful, and chiefly because it is home. Through the greater part of life I was homeless. Many places have I inhabited, some which my soul loathed, and some which pleased me well; but never till now with that sense of security which makes a home. At any moment I might have been driven forth by evil hap, by nagging necessity. For all that time did I say within myself: Some day, perchance, I shall have a home; yet the "perchance" had more and more of emphasis as life went on, and at the moment when fate was secretly smiling on me, I had all but abandoned hope. I have my home at last. When I place a new volume on my shelves, I say: Stand there whilst I have eyes to see you; and a joyous tremor thrills me. This house is mine on a lease of a score of years. So long I certainly shall not live; but, if I did, even so long should I have the wherewithal to pay my rent and buy my food.

在我眼里，这间小小的书屋美丽极了，主要因为它是家的缘故。我大半生都无家可归，虽然住过很多地方，有些让我从心底里厌恶，有些还算舒服，但直到现在我才找到那种家之为家的安全感。以前我随时会被厄运或穷困驱使着四处漂泊。那时我曾对自己说，有一天，也许，我会有一个家；但是日长年久，“也许”这两个字的分量越来越重了。在命运偷偷向我微笑的那个时刻，我差不多都要放弃希望了。现在，我终于有了属于自己的家。当我把一卷新书放在书架上时，我对它说“呆在这儿永远别动，一直到我闭眼的时候”，这话让我兴奋得颤栗了。这座房屋的租期是二十年，我一定活不了那么长时间；不过，即使能活那么久，我也有钱来付租金和填饱肚子。

I think with compassion of the unhappy mortals for whom no such sun will ever rise. I should like to add to the Litany1 a new petition: "For all inhabitants of great towns, and especially for all such as dwell in lodgings, boarding-houses, flats, or any other sordid substitute for Home which need or foolishness may have contrived." In vain I have pondered the Stoic virtues. I know that it is folly to fret about the spot of one's abode on this little earth.

我满怀同情地想到那些不幸的人们，那些生命中永远不会再有太阳升起的人。我想在连祷文里加上一句祈祷：“为了大城市的所有居民，尤其为了那些因为窘迫或愚蠢而住在寄宿舍、家庭旅馆、公寓或其他‘家’的可怜替代品里的人们。”我苦苦思索斯多葛派的美德却不得其要。我知道一个人为自己在这小小地球上的住所而烦恼是愚蠢的。

All places that the eye of heaven visits

天堂之眼眷顾的所有地方

Are to the wise man ports and happy havens.

对于智者都是避风港和幸福地。

But I have always worshipped wisdom afar off. In the sonorous period of the philosopher, in the golden measure of the poet, I find it of all things lovely. To its possession I shall never attain. What will it serve me to pretend a virtue of which I am incapable? To me the place and manner of my abode is of supreme import; let it be confessed, and there an end of it. I am no cosmopolite. Were I to think that I should die away from England, the thought would be dreadful to me. And in England, this is the dwelling of my choice; this is my home.

然而，我对智慧从来都是遥遥相拜的。在哲学家洪亮的句读中，在诗人耀目的诗节间，我发现智慧在所有的事物中是最可爱的。我永远不会想要占有它，假装有智慧对我有什么好处呢？对我来说，住所的位置和样式是最重要的；我承认了，就此打住。我也不是四海为家的人，只要一想到客死异国他乡，我便感到恐惧。英格兰是我心仪的栖身之处，这里是我的家。