《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 08的内容，让我们一起来感受吉辛的四季吧!

The early coming of spring in this happy Devon gladdens my heart. I think with chill discomfort of those parts of England where the primrose shivers beneath a sky of threat rather than of solace. Honest winter, snow-clad and with the frosted beard, I can welcome not uncordially; but that long deferment of the calendar's promise, that weeping gloom of March and April, that bitter blast outraging the honour of May—how often has it robbed me of heart and hope. Here, scarce have I assured myself that the last leaf has fallen, scarce have I watched the glistening of hoar-frost upon the evergreens, when a breath from the west thrills me with anticipation of bud and bloom. Even under this grey-billowing sky, which tells that February is still in rule:

春天早早地来到了德文郡，我的心情好不欢畅。一想到在英格兰的某些地方，迎春花在阴云密布的天空下瑟缩发抖，我便感到浑身发凉，很不舒服。冬天是真诚的，银装素裹，胡须结霜，我并非不欢迎它；但是日历上的承诺一再被推迟，三、四月份阴雨连绵令人郁闷，五月份寒风凛冽又蹂躏春天的荣光—屡屡让我失望,心情不佳。这里，我自己刚刚确信最后一片叶子已经落下，也刚刚看到常青树上挂着晶莹白霜时，一缕西风就悠然而至，让我对春暖花开充满期待。即使在今天这个仍是二月掌管的乌云翻滚的天空下—

Mild winds shake the elder brake,

和风摇动着接骨木丛，

And the wandering herdsmen know

漫游的牧人晓得

That the whitethorn soon will blow.3

山楂花快要开放了。

I have been thinking of those early years of mine in London, when the seasons passed over me unobserved, when I seldom turned a glance towards the heavens, and felt no hardship in the imprisonment of boundless streets. It is strange now to remember that for some six or seven years I never looked upon a meadow, never travelled even so far as to the tree-bordered suburbs. I was battling for dear life; on most days I could not feel certain that in a week's time I should have food and shelter. It would happen, to be sure, that in hot noons of August my thoughts wandered to the sea; but so impossible was the gratification of such desire that it never greatly troubled me. At times, indeed, I seem all but to have forgotten that people went away for holiday. In those poor parts of the town where I dwelt, season made no perceptible difference; there were no luggage-laden cabs to remind me of joyous journeys; the folk about me went daily to their toil as usual, and so did I. I remember afternoons of languor, when books were a weariness, and no thought could be squeezed out of the drowsy brain; then would I betake myself to one of the parks, and find refreshment without any enjoyable sense of change. Heavens, how I laboured in those days! And how far I was from thinking of myself as a subject for compassion! That came later, when my health had begun to suffer from excess of toil, from bad air, bad food and many miseries; then awoke the maddening desire for countryside and sea-beach—and for other things yet more remote. But in the years when I toiled hardest and underwent what now appear to me hideous privations, of a truth I could not be said to suffer at all. I did not suffer, for I had no sense of weakness. My health was proof against everything, and my energies defied all malice of circumstance. With however little encouragement, I had infinite hope. Sound sleep (often in places I now dread to think of) sent me fresh to the battle each morning, my breakfast, sometimes, no more than a slice of bread and a cup of water. As human happiness goes, I am not sure that I was not then happy.

我回想起早年在伦敦度过的岁月，那时，我几乎从没在意过四季变迁，也很少抬头仰望天空，身处无边无际的街道的围困中也不觉得痛苦。现在，回想到我居然有六七年的时间没看过草地一眼，甚至连绿树环绕的郊区都不曾去过，便会感到奇怪。我当时在为宝贵的生活而打拼，大多数时间，我都不能确定一周后我还能否有吃有住。当然，在八月炎热的午后，我的思绪可能会飘到大海上；这种愿望实现的希望太渺茫，所以并没有让我太烦恼。有时，我似乎已经忘记世人还有度假这种消遣。在我栖身的伦敦的贫穷区域，四季没有明显的分别，也没有载着行李的马车让我想起愉快的旅途。我身边的人们都在日复一日地奔波劳碌，我也是如此。记得在倦怠的下午，书本让人昏昏欲睡，困乏的脑子里挤不出任何思想。这时我会到公园去恢复一下精神，但不会享受到季节变化带来的愉悦。天哪，我那时多么辛苦啊！当时的我却根本不觉得自己是值得同情的对象！直到后来，因为过度劳累，糟糕的空气，粗劣的食物和许多磨难，我的健康开始受损。那时，我对乡村、海滩还有更遥远事物的疯狂渴望开始在心底苏醒。然而，在最辛苦的那些岁月，现在看来简直是可怕的穷困潦倒，但事实上我却不能说自己那时候在受苦。我没有受苦，原因是我没有软弱的感觉。我的健康是抵御一切遭遇的屏障，我的精神抗阻着一切厄境的进攻。不管受到的鼓励多么微不足道，我心里都存着无限的希望。美美睡上一觉后（通常在我至今都怕想起的地方），第二天一早我就能重整旗鼓投入战斗，而我的早餐有时只是一片面包一杯水。如人类幸福所言，我不能说自己当时就不快活。

Most men who go through a hard time in their youth are supported by companionship. London has no pays latin4, but hungry beginners in literature have generally their suitable comrades, garreteers in the Tottenham Court Road district, or in unredeemed Chelsea; they make their little vie de Boheme, and are consciously proud of it. Of my position, the peculiarity was that I never belonged to any cluster; I shrank from casual acquaintance, and, through the grim years, had but one friend with whom I held converse. It was never my instinct to look for help, to seek favour for advancement; whatever step I gained was gained by my own strength. Even as I disregarded favour so did I scorn advice; no counsel would I ever take but that of my own brain and heart. More than once I was driven by necessity to beg from strangers the means of earning bread, and this of all my experiences was the bitterest; yet I think I should have found it worse still to incur a debt to some friend or comrade. The truth is that I have never learnt to regard myself as a "member of society." For me, there have always been two entities—myself and the world, and the normal relation between these two has been hostile. Am I not still a lonely man, as far as ever from forming part of the social order?

许多年轻时吃苦头的人都有朋友的支持。伦敦没有拉丁区，但是如饥似渴的文学新手们通常都有相处融洽的同伴，大都是托特纳姆法院路或破败的切尔西区阁楼房客。他们创造着自己的“波希米亚人的生活”，并且心下为之自豪。而我的特殊之处在于不是任何圈子的成员，我有意避免滥交朋友，在那段阴暗的岁月中，只有一个时常谈心的朋友。我本能地不愿求人帮忙，或者寻求晋升的机会，我的任何一点进步都是凭自己的力量取得的。我对外界的帮助不屑一顾，也藐视别人的建议；我从不会采纳除自己头脑和心灵之外任何人的建议。曾经不止一次，我迫不得已向陌生人乞讨谋生的机会，这在我所有经历中是最苦涩的，但可能让我更无法忍受的是欠某个朋友或同事的债。事实上，我从没学会将自己视作“社会成员”。对我来说，永远只有两个实体存在—我自己和世界，两者的正常关系是敌对的。就组成社会秩序之一部分这个意义上来讲，现在的我不仍然是一个孤独的人吗？

This, of which I once was scornfully proud, seems to me now, if not a calamity, something I would not choose if life were to live again.

曾经我对此还有一种居高临下的自豪感，而现在，即使这不算什么灾难，如果生活能重新来过，我想我也不会作出同样的选择了。