《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 19的内容，让我们一起来感受吉辛的四季吧!

On my breakfast table there is a pot of honey. Not the manufactured stuff sold under that name in shops, but honey of the hive, brought to me by a neighbouring cottager whose bees often hum in my garden. It gives, I confess, more pleasure to my eye than to my palate; but I like to taste of it, because it is honey.

我的早餐桌上有一罐蜂蜜。不是商店里卖的那种加工品，而是蜂箱里的蜂蜜，一个邻居送来的，他的蜜蜂经常光顾我的花园。得承认，我的眼睛从这罐蜂蜜中得到的愉悦感要超过味蕾；但我还是喜欢尝一尝，因为它毕竟是蜂蜜。

There is as much difference, said Johnson, between a lettered and an unlettered man as between the living and the dead; and, in a way, it was no extravagance. Think merely how one's view of common things is affected by literary association. What were honey to me if I knew nothing of Hymettus14 and Hybla15?—if my mind had no stores of poetry, no memories of romance? Suppose me town-pent, the name might bring with it some pleasantness of rustic odour; but of what poor significance even that, if the country were to me mere grass and corn and vegetables, as to the man who has never read nor wished to read. For the Poet is indeed a Maker: above the world of sense, trodden by hidebound humanity, he builds that world of his own whereto is summoned the unfettered spirit. Why does it delight me to see the bat flitting at dusk before my window, or to hear the hoot of the owl when all the ways are dark? I might regard the bat with disgust, and the owl either with vague superstition or not heed it at all. But these have their place in the poet's world, and carry me above this idle present.

约翰逊说过，饱读诗书者与目不识丁者之间的差别，犹如生死之间的不同。从某个角度讲，这并不是夸张，只要想想人们看待平常事物怎样受到文学联想的影响。如果我对伊米托斯山和海布拉一无所知—如果我的头脑中没有诗歌的积累，没有传奇故事的记忆，那么蜂蜜对我来说有什么意味？如果我是一个久居城市的人，蜂蜜这个名字也许能让我想到令人愉悦的乡野风情；而假如我是一个从没读过书也不愿读书的人，这一联想意义会是多么贫乏，乡下对我来说不过是青草、玉米和蔬菜而已。因为诗人的确是一个“创造者”：他在感官的世界之上，偏狭人性的践踏之下，构建起自己的世界，将无拘无束的灵魂召集来。看到薄暮中蝙蝠在我窗前飞来飞去，听到暗夜中猫头鹰咕咕的叫声，我为什么会感到愉快？我也许会对蝙蝠感觉厌恶，对猫头鹰有迷信的含糊联想，或者根本注意不到它。但它们在诗人的世界里占据着一席之地，所以它们让我从无意义的现实中超脱出来。

I once passed a night in a little market-town where I had arrived tired and went to bed early. I slept forthwith, but was presently awakened by I knew not what; in the darkness there sounded a sort of music, and, as my brain cleared, I was aware of the soft chiming of church bells. Why, what hour could it be? I struck a light and looked at my watch. Midnight. Then a glow came over me. "We have heard the chimes at midnight, Master Shallow16!" Never till then had I heard them. And the town in which I slept was Evesham, but a few miles from Stratford-on-Avon17. What if those midnight bells had been to me but as any other, and I had reviled them for breaking my sleep?—Johnson did not much exaggerate.

有一次，我在一个小集镇上过夜。到达的时候已经筋疲力尽，便早早上了床，我很快地入睡了，但没有多久就被不知是什么弄醒了。我听到黑暗中传来某种音乐，等脑袋清醒后，我意识到那是教堂柔和的钟声。怎么回事，几点钟了？我擦亮一根火柴，看看手表，时针指向午夜。我心头灵光一闪，“我们曾听见午夜的钟声，谢洛老爷！”这午夜的钟声我之前从没听到过。那一天，我过夜的小镇是离埃文河畔斯特拉特福只有几英里远的伊夫舍姆。试想一下，如果我和其他人一样，对这午夜钟声毫无感觉，还咒骂它打搅了我的好梦，那会怎样？—约翰逊确实没有夸张。