《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 17的内容，让我们一起来感受吉辛的四季吧!

I was taking a meal once at a London restaurant—not one of the great eating-places to which men most resort, but a small establishment on the same model in a quiet neighbourhood—when there entered, and sat down at the next table, a young man of the working class, whose dress betokened holiday. A glance told me that he felt anything but at ease; his mind misgave him as he looked about the long room and at the table before him; and when a waiter came to offer him the card, he stared blankly in sheepish confusion. Some strange windfall, no doubt, had emboldened him to enter for the first time such a place as this, and now that he was here, he heartily wished himself out in the street again. However, aided by the waiter's suggestions, he gave an order for a beefsteak and vegetables. When the dish was served, the poor fellow simply could not make a start upon it; he was embarrassed by the display of knives and forks, by the arrangement of the dishes, by the sauce bottles and the cruet-stand, above all, no doubt, by the assembly of people not of his class, and the unwonted experience of being waited upon by a man with a long shirt-front.

有一次，我在伦敦的一家餐厅吃饭—不是那种宾客满座的大饭店，而是一个安静社区的雅致小餐馆—这时走进来一个年轻的工人，坐在我旁边的桌子前，他穿的衣服有节日的气氛。我瞥了一眼，看出他非常不自在。他先是环顾这个长长的房间，又盯着面前的餐桌，心里似乎很不安。侍者过来给他看菜单，他只是呆呆地看着，神情羞怯又无所适从。无疑他得了一笔意外收入，所以鼓起勇气第一次踏进这样的地方，而现在进来了，他又真心希望自己离开回到街上。然而，在侍者的引导下，他点了一份牛排和蔬菜。菜上来后，这个可怜人简直不知从何下手；他窘迫地看着摆在面前的刀叉、菜肴、调味瓶和五味瓶架，当然最让他尴尬的是周围有一群和他不属于同一阶层的人，还有一个穿高领衬衫的人为自己服务，这都是陌生的体验。

He grew red; he made the clumsiest and most futile efforts to transport the meat to his plate; food was there before him, but, like a very Tantalus13, he was forbidden to enjoy it. Observing with all discretion, I at length saw him pull out his pocket handkerchief, spread it on the table, and, with a sudden effort, fork the meat off the dish into this receptacle. The waiter, aware by this time of the customer's difficulty, came up and spoke a word to him. Abashed into anger, the young man roughly asked what he had to pay. It ended in the waiter's bringing a newspaper, wherein he helped to wrap up meat and vegetables. Money was flung down, and the victim of a mistaken ambition hurriedly departed, to satisfy his hunger amid less unfamiliar surroundings.

他的脸红了；他极为笨拙地试图把肉移到自己的盘子里，但没有成功；食物就摆在面前，而他就像坦塔罗斯一样，被禁止享用。我小心观察着，最后看到他从兜里掏出手绢，摊开在餐桌上，用叉子一下子将肉从盘子转移到手绢上。这时，侍者发现了这位顾客的难处，他走过来对他说了一句话。这位年轻人恼羞成怒，粗鲁地质问要付多少钱。最后侍者拿来一张报纸，帮他把蔬菜和肉包起来，事情才算结束。这位雄心受挫的年轻人扔下钱，仓皇离开，回到一个感觉自在的环境去大快朵颐了。

It was a striking and unpleasant illustration of social differences. Could such a thing happen in any country but England? I doubt it. The sufferer was of decent appearance, and, with ordinary self-command, might have taken his meal in the restaurant like any one else, quite unnoticed. But he belonged to a class which, among all classes in the world, is distinguished by native clownishness and by unpliability to novel circumstance. The English lower ranks had need be marked by certain peculiar virtues to atone for their deficiencies in other respects.

这是一个让人不快的表现社会差别的突出事例。这种事情会在英格兰之外的地方发生吗？我表示怀疑。那个受窘的年轻人长相体面，如果有正常的自控力，很可以像其他人一样在那里用餐，而不会受到注意。但是他所属的社会阶层，在世界上的所有阶层中，是以乡下人的粗俗和对新环境的不适应而著称的。英国的下层人民必须具备某些特殊的美德，以弥补他们在其他方面的不足。