《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 - 夏 04的内容，让我们一起来感受吉辛的四季吧!
It is Sunday morning, and above earth's beauty shines the purest, softest sky this summer has yet gladdened us withal. My window is thrown open; I see the sunny gleam upon garden leaves and flowers; I hear the birds whose wont it is to sing to me; ever and anon the martins that have their home beneath my eaves sweep past in silence. Church bells have begun to chime; I know the music of their voices, near and far.
这是礼拜天的早晨，大地上景色美不胜收，头上是今夏最纯净最温柔的天空，让人心情愉快。我的窗户大开，阳光在花园的树叶和花朵上闪耀；鸟儿对我唱歌，这是它们的习惯；屋檐下不时有燕子悄悄掠过，它们把家安在了那里。教堂的钟声开始响起，远近各个教堂的钟声，都是我所熟悉的。
There was a time when it delighted me to flash my satire on the English Sunday; I could see nothing but antiquated foolishness and modern hypocrisy in this weekly pause from labour and from bustle. Now I prize it as an inestimable boon, and dread every encroachment upon its restful stillness. Scoff as I might at "Sabbatarianism," was I not always glad when Sunday came? The bells of London churches and chapels are not soothing to the ear, but when I remember their sound—even that of the most aggressively pharisaic conventicle, with its one dire clapper—I find it associated with a sense of repose, of liberty. This day of the seven I granted to my better genius; work was put aside, and, when Heaven permitted, trouble forgotten.
曾几何时，嘲讽英国的礼拜天在我是一桩乐事。这每周暂时摆脱劳累和喧嚷的日子，我从中看到的只有过时的愚蠢和现代的虚伪。而现在，我将它视为无限的恩惠，憎恶任何对这种悠闲宁静气氛的侵犯。我也许会嘲笑“严守安息日主义”，然而，当这一天来临，我总是很高兴，不是吗？伦敦大小教堂的钟声并不悦耳怡神，然而，回忆起它们的声音—即便是最伪善的非国教教堂的钟锤发出的沉闷刺耳的声音—我都会联想到安详和自由。每周的第七天，我会用来做更有价值的事情，将工作撇在一边，如蒙上苍庇佑，烦恼也抛诸脑后。
When out of England I have always missed this Sunday quietude, this difference from ordinary days which seems to affect the very atmosphere. It is not enough that people should go to church, that shops should be closed and workyards silent; these holiday notes do not make a Sunday. Think as one may of its significance, our Day of Rest has a peculiar sanctity, felt, I imagine, in a more or less vague way, even by those who wish to see the village lads at cricket and theatres open in the town. The idea is surely as good a one as ever came to heavy-laden mortals; let one whole day in every week be removed from the common life of the world, lifted above common pleasures as above common cares. With all the abuses of fanaticism, this thought remained rich in blessings; Sunday has always brought large good to the generality, and to a chosen number has been the very life of the soul, however heretically some of them understood the words. If its ancient use perish from among us, so much the worse for our country. And perish no doubt it will; only here in rustic solitude can one forget the changes that have already made the day less sacred to multitudes. With it will vanish that habit of periodic calm, which, even when it has become so largely void of conscious meaning, is, one may safely say, the best spiritual boon ever bestowed upon a people. The most difficult of all things to attain, the most difficult of all to preserve, the supreme benediction of the noblest mind, this calm was once breathed over the whole land as often as sounded the last stroke of weekly toil; on Saturday at seven began the quiet and the solace. With the decline of old faith, Sunday cannot but lose its sanction, and no loss among the innumerable that we are suffering will work so effectually for popular vulgarization. What hope is there of guarding the moral beauty of the day when the authority which set it apart is no longer recognized?—Imagine a bank-holiday once a week!
身在国外时，我总是会怀念英格兰安息日的静谧，它与平日的不同之处似乎影响了这一天的气氛。这一天，人们到教堂做礼拜，店铺歇业，工厂也安静下来，但这是不够的，这些节日的音符并不能成就一个安息日。想想它的意义吧，我们的“休息之日”有一种独特的神圣感，我想，即使是那些希望看乡下孩子打板球和城里剧院开业的人们，也能模糊地感觉到。对所有不堪负累的人们，这个主意当然是再好不过了。每周拿出一天，让它有别于普通的日子，在这一天，平凡的欢乐可以得到升华，平日的烦恼可以置之不理。虽然它遭到宗教狂热分子的滥用，但还是带着很大的安慰。安息日总是给大多数人带来快乐，但对少数人，它意味着灵魂的生活，尽管其中有些人对灵魂的生活有着离经叛道的理解。如果它的古老作用不复存在，那对我们国家是多大的损失。但是毫无疑问它终会消失，只有在这乡下的僻静中，你才能忘记逐渐消弭安息日神圣感的那些变化。随之消失的，是定期享受平静的习惯，尽管这一习惯的自觉性多半已经消失，但还可以肯定地说，它是赐予一个民族最好的精神恩惠。这种平静是所有事物中最难获得、最难保存的，是最高尚头脑的终极祝福。以前，每当一周劳作结束的钟声响起，这种平静便弥漫整个国土；在周六的七点钟，静谧和安慰便开始扩散。随着古老信仰的衰落，安息日只能丧失它的神圣感；在我们遭受的无数损失中，这种损失对大众生活的庸俗化起到了无可比拟的效用。如果将这一天与平日区别开来的权威不被承认，那还有什么希望来捍卫它的道德之美？—想象每周有一天法定休假日吧！
