《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 12的内容，让我们一起来感受吉辛的四季吧!

A whole day's walk yesterday with no plan; just a long ramble of hour after hour, entirely enjoyable. It ended at Topsham, where I sat on the little churchyard terrace, and watched the evening tide come up the broad estuary. I have a great liking for Topsham, and that churchyard, overlooking what is not quite sea, yet more than river, is one of the most restful spots I know. Of course the association with old Chaucer11, who speaks of Topsham sailors, helps my mood. I came home very tired; but I am not yet decrepit, and for that I must be thankful.

昨天，我漫无目的地散了一整天步；只是漫游而已，一个小时又一个小时，完全自得其乐。最后来到托普瑟姆，坐在教堂墓地的小小露台上，注视着薄暮中潮水涌上宽阔的河口。我很喜欢托普瑟姆，这块墓地是我知道的最安宁的地方之一，它俯视着的安静水面，虽不能称为大海，但远胜于河流。当然，联想到老乔叟曾写过托普瑟姆水手，也助长了我的兴致。回到家的时候，我感觉很疲惫，但还没有筋疲力竭，凭这个我就一定要感恩。

The unspeakable blessedness of having a HOME! Much as my imagination has dwelt upon it for thirty years, I never knew how deep and exquisite a joy could lie in the assurance that one is AT HOME for ever. Again and again I come back upon this thought; nothing but Death can oust me from my abiding place. And Death I would fain learn to regard as a friend, who will but intensify the peace I now relish.

有家的幸福真是一言难尽！我在想象中思量了三十年，却从不知道这种永远在家的安心感觉里，蕴藏了多么深沉细腻的快乐！我一次又一次地回到这个想法，除了死神，什么也不能把我从我的永久居留地里驱逐出去。而死亡，我更愿意把它当作一个朋友，因为它只会加深我现在享受着的平静的感觉。

When one is at home, how one's affections grow about everything in the neighbourhood! I always thought with fondness of this corner of Devon, but what was that compared with the love which now strengthens in me day by day! Beginning with my house, every stick and stone of it is dear to me as my heart's blood; I find myself laying an affectionate hand on the door-post, giving a pat, as I go by, to the garden gate. Every tree and shrub in the garden is my beloved friend; I touch them, when need is, very tenderly, as though carelessness might pain, or roughness injure them. If I pull up a weed in the walk, I look at it with a certain sadness before throwing it away; it belongs to my home.

在家的时候，一个人对附近所有事物的感情都会变得愈来愈深！每每想到德文郡的这一角，我心里就倍觉亲切。然而，跟我心中一日炽似一日的热爱比起来，这又算得了什么！从我的房子开始，每一根木条，每一块石头，对我都犹如自己的心肝那样宝贵。走过时，我会不自觉地把手放在门柱上，慈爱地轻拍一下花园的门。花园里的每棵树、每丛灌木都是我亲爱的朋友，必要的时候，我会非常温柔地触摸它们，好像不小心就会把它们弄疼，用力一点则会让它们受伤。如果在人行道上拔起一根杂草，在扔掉之前，我会怀着一丝悲伤看着它，它是我家的一部分。周围所有的田野也都是我家的一部分。

And all the country round about. These villages, how delightful are their names to my ear! I find myself reading with interest all the local news in the Exeter paper. Not that I care about the people; with barely one or two exceptions, the people are nothing to me, and the less I see of them the better I am pleased. But the PLACES grow ever more dear to me. I like to know of anything that has happened at Heavitree, or Brampford Speke, or Newton St. Cyres. I begin to pride myself on knowing every road and lane, every bridle path and foot-way for miles about. I like to learn the names of farms and of fields. And all this because here is my abiding place, because I am home for ever.

那些村庄，它们的名字可真是悦耳！我饶有兴趣地阅读埃克塞特报纸上所有的本地新闻。我并不关心这里的人，除了一两个例外，对我来说，人没有任何意义，越少看到他们，我就越开心。只是这些地方实在让我感到愈加亲切。我想要知道希维特里或是布拉姆福德斯皮克或是牛顿圣西雷斯发生的任何事。方圆几英里，每条大道小巷，每条马道和人行道的名字我都知道，并开始引以自豪，我想知道那些农场和田地的名字。这一切都是因为这里是我永久的居留地，这里是我永远的家。

It seems to me that the very clouds that pass above my house are more interesting and beautiful than clouds elsewhere.

在我眼里，就连飘过我家屋顶的云朵，都要比别处的更为有趣和美丽。

And to think that at one time I called myself a socialist, communist, anything you like of the revolutionary kind! Not for long, to be sure, and I suspect that there was always something in me that scoffed when my lips uttered such things. Why, no man living has a more profound sense of property than I; no man ever lived, who was, in every fibre, more vehemently an individualist.

想到有一段时期，我自称是社会主义者、共产主义者诸如此类有革命性质的称谓。这种情况当然没有持续多少时间，我怀疑当我口中说出这些名词时，内心总有什么东西在嘲弄我。原因嘛，世上没有谁比我有更强的对私有财产的占有欲，没有谁是比我更狂热的彻头彻尾的个人主义者。