《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 10的内容，让我们一起来感受吉辛的四季吧!

I sometimes think I will go and spend the sunny half of a twelvemonth in wandering about the British Isles. There is so much of beauty and interest that I have not seen, and I grudge to close my eyes on this beloved home of ours, leaving any corner of it unvisited. Often I wander in fancy over all the parts I know, and grow restless with desire at familiar names which bring no picture to memory. My array of county guide-books (they have always been irresistible to me on the stalls) sets me roaming; the only dull pages in them are those that treat of manufacturing towns. Yet I shall never start on that pilgrimage. I am too old, too fixed in habits. I dislike the railway; I dislike hotels. I should grow homesick for my library, my garden, the view from my windows. And then—I have such a fear of dying anywhere but under my own roof.

有时我想，要用一年中晴朗的六个月，来周游不列颠群岛。许多美景名胜我都没有看过，面对这美丽的家园，如果我没有去过它的任何一个角落，我就会死不暝目。我经常在想象中到我知道的所有地方漫游，如果听到熟悉的地名，而记忆里没有一幅画面，就会坐立不安，渴望出游。那一本本英格兰各郡旅游指南（这些书摆在货摊上，对我总有无法抵挡的诱惑）让我神游，其中唯一乏味的内容是对工业城镇的介绍。但是我永远不会出发走上那个朝圣之旅了，我太老了，习惯已经根深蒂固了。我不喜欢铁路，不喜欢旅馆。我会想念我的图书馆，我的花园，我窗外的景色，而且—我非常害怕自己会死在家以外的任何地方。

As a rule, it is better to re-visit only in imagination the places which have greatly charmed us, or which, in the retrospect, seem to have done so. Seem to have charmed us, I say; for the memory we form, after a certain lapse of time, of places where we lingered, often bears but a faint resemblance to the impression received at the time; what in truth may have been very moderate enjoyment, or enjoyment greatly disturbed by inner or outer circumstances, shows in the distance as a keen delight, or as deep, still happiness. On the other hand, if memory creates no illusion, and the name of a certain place is associated with one of the golden moments of life, it were rash to hope that another visit would repeat the experience of a by-gone day. For it was not merely the sights that one beheld which were the cause of joy and peace; however lovely the spot, however gracious the sky, these things external would not have availed, but for contributory movements of mind and heart and blood, the essentials of the man as then he was.

通常，对于曾经让我们着迷的地方，或者说，在回忆里似乎让我们着迷的地方，最好只是在想象中重温。之所以说“似乎”，是因为我们对曾经逗留过的地方的回忆，经过一段时间后，和当时形成的印象之间几无相似之处。其实当时感受到的可能只是很一般的快乐，或者是受到内在外在原因纷扰的快乐。隔上一段时间来看，就会变成高度的愉悦，或者深沉宁静的快乐。另一方面，如果记忆不曾制造幻象，某个地名和生命中某个金色时刻联系在一起，而你希望故地重游能够让你重温过往的经历，那就轻率了。因为让人感觉快乐和平静的原因，不仅仅是你看到的景色。不管那个地方多么可爱，天空多么灿烂，如果没有当时你的头脑、心情和热血这些人类重要元素的共同作用，这些外在的东西不会产生美感。

Whilst I was reading this afternoon my thoughts strayed, and I found myself recalling a hillside in Suffolk, where, after a long walk I rested drowsily one midsummer day twenty years ago. A great longing seized me; I was tempted to set off at once, and find again that spot under the high elm trees, where, as I smoked a delicious pipe, I heard about me the crack, crack, crack of broom-pods bursting in the glorious heat of the noontide sun. Had I acted upon the impulse, what chance was there of my enjoying such another hour as that which my memory cherished? No, no; it is not the PLACE that I remember; it is the time of life, the circumstances, the mood, which at that moment fell so happily together. Can I dream that a pipe smoked on that same hillside, under the same glowing sky, would taste as it then did, or bring me the same solace? Would the turf be so soft beneath me? Would the great elmbranches temper so delightfully the noontide rays beating upon them? And, when the hour of rest was over, should I spring to my feet as then I did, eager to put forth my strength again? No, no; what I remember is just one moment of my earlier life, linked by accident with that picture of the Suffolk landscape. The place no longer exists; it never existed save for me. For it is the mind which creates the world about us, and, even though we stand side by side in the same meadow, my eyes will never see what is beheld by yours, my heart will never stir to the emotions with which yours is touched.

今天下午读书时我走神了，回忆起二十年前，一个仲夏日，散了很长时间的步后，在萨福克郡的一个山腰，我坐下休息，昏昏欲睡。一种巨大的渴望攫住了我的心，我有一种马上动身的冲动，想再次找到那个地方。那里有许多高大的榆树，我坐在树下，美美地抽着雪茄，听到了皂角在正午阳光的曝晒下发出“啪啪啪”的爆裂声。如果我果真在冲动之下去那里，有多大可能再次感受到记忆中的那份快乐？不，不，留在我记忆中的不是那个地方，而是生命的那个时间，那个环境，那种情绪，在那一刻它们快乐地交汇了。如果在同一个山腰抽上一根雪茄，天空是一样的晴朗，我能够奢望雪茄的滋味和当初一样，抑或给我带来同样的抚慰吗？我身下的草地会是一样的柔软吗？正午的阳光击打在榆树的枝叶上时，它们会跟当初一样愉悦地接受吗？休息够了，我能和当时一样跳起来，热切地再次踏上旅途吗？不，不，我记住的只是早年生活的一个瞬间，只是碰巧和萨福克郡的景色联系在一起而已。那个地方已经不复存在，如果没有我，它也许从来没有存在过。因为是我们的思想创造了周围的世界，即使我们并排站在同一片草地上，我的眼睛也不会看到你眼里的景色，触动你心灵的情感也永不会拨动我的心弦。