《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 20的内容，让我们一起来感受吉辛的四季吧!

It is the second Jubilee. Bonfires blaze upon the hills, making one think of the watchman on Agamemnon's citadel. (It were more germane to the matter to think of Queen Elizabeth and the Armada.) Though wishing the uproar happily over, I can see the good in it as well as another man. English monarchy, as we know it, is a triumph of English common sense. Grant that men cannot do without an overlord; how to make that over-lordship consist with the largest practical measure of national and individual liberty? We, at all events, have for a time solved the question. For a time only, of course; but consider the history of Europe, and our jubilation is perhaps justified.

女皇登基六十周年纪念日到了。山上燃起了熊熊篝火，让人想起了阿伽门农堡垒上的值夜人（也许更贴切的联想应该是伊丽莎白女王和西班牙舰队）。我愿这次喧闹的庆典胜利结束，我也和其他英国人一样能看到它的好处。我们知道，英国君主制是英国人民常识的一个胜利。我们得承认，没有一个最高统治者不行；怎样才能使君主与保障国家和个人享有最大限度自由的实用制度共存呢？无论如何，我们暂时解决了这个问题。当然，仅仅是暂时，但如果想想欧洲的历史，我们的庆祝也许便有了正当的理由。

For sixty years has the British Republic held on its way under one President. It is wide of the mark to object that other Republics, which change their President more frequently, support the semblance of overlordship at considerably less cost to the people. Britons are minded for the present that the Head of their State shall be called King or Queen; the name is pleasant to them; it corresponds to a popular sentiment, vaguely understood, but still operative, which is called loyalty. The majority thinking thus, and the system being found to work more than tolerably well, what purpose could be served by an attempt at novasres? The nation is content to pay the price; it is the nation's affair. Moreover, who can feel the least assurance that a change to one of the common forms of Republicanism would be for the general advantage? Do we find that countries which have made the experiment are so very much better off than our own in point of stable, quiet government and of national welfare? The theorist scoffs at forms which have survived their meaning, at privilege which will bear no examination, at compromises which sound ludicrous, at submissions which seem contemptible; but let him put forward his practical scheme for making all men rational, consistent, just. Englishmen, I imagine, are not endowed with these qualities in any extraordinary degree. Their strength, politically speaking, lies in a recognition of expediency, complemented by respect for the established fact. One of the facts particularly clear to them is the suitability to their minds, their tempers, their habits, of a system of polity which has been established by the slow effort of generations within this sea-girt realm.

六十年来，大英共和国在一个元首的看护下正常发展。而元首更替频繁的其他共和国，以人民付出的更低的代价维持着一种类似君主制的政体，对此有异议是完全错误的。英国人现在已经习惯地认为，国家元首应该称为国王或女王；这个称谓他们乐意接受，它顺应了一种民意，虽有点难理解，但仍然行得通，它叫做“忠诚”。多数人都抱此想法：依此建立的制度也运转相当良好，那还有什么必要进行改革呢？这个国家乐意付出代价，这是它自己的内政。更何况，谁又敢保证，将英国改成一种普通的共和制度，会符合国家的整体利益呢？那些改革社会制度的国家，在政府稳定和社会福利上比我们国家好很多吗？理论家们嘲笑那些已经失去本来意义的形式，经不起审查的特权，听起来荒谬的妥协，显得可鄙的屈服；那就让他提出一个切实的方案，让所有人变得理性、坚定和正义。我想，上天赐予英国人的这些品质并不是特别多。他们的优势，从政治上讲，来自于对权宜之计的认可，并辅以对既定事实的尊重。他们尤其清楚的一点是，一种经过世世代代的缓慢努力在这个四面环海的领土上建立起来的政体，应该适合他们的思想、性情和习惯。

They have nothing to do with ideals: they never trouble themselves to think about the Rights of Man. If you talk to them (long enough) about the rights of the shopman, or the ploughman, or the cat'smeat-man, they will lend ear, and, when the facts of any such case have been examined, they will find a way of dealing with them. This characteristic of theirs they call Common Sense. To them, all things considered, it has been of vast service; one may even say that the rest of the world has profited by it not a little. That Uncommon Sense might now and then have stood them even in better stead is nothing to the point. The Englishman deals with things as they are, and first and foremost accepts his own being.

他们不关心理想，也不会费心去想什么“人权”。如果你和他们谈店员或者庄稼汉或者卖猫食者的权利（时间要足够长），他们会倾听，细细分析完该案例的所有事实，他们会找出解决方法。他们的这个特征就是所谓的“常识”，对他们来说，全面考虑，广泛应用，你甚至可以说它让全世界都受益匪浅。非常识也许有时候对他们更有用，但无关紧要。英国人按照事情的本来面目来对待它们，最主要是首先接受他自己。

This Jubilee declares a legitimate triumph of the average man. Look back for threescore years, and who shall affect to doubt that the time has been marked by many improvements in the material life of the English people? Often have they been at loggerheads among themselves, but they have never fl own at each other's throats, and from every grave dispute has resulted some substantial gain. They are a cleaner people and a more sober; in every class there is a diminution of brutality; education—stand for what it may—has notably extended; certain forms of tyranny have been abolished; certain forms of suffering, due to heedlessness or ignorance, have been abated. True, these are mere details; whether they indicate a solid advance in civilization cannot yet be determined. But assuredly the average Briton has cause to jubilate; for the progressive features of the epoch are such as he can understand and approve, whereas the doubt which may be cast upon its ethical complexion is for him either non-existent or unintelligible. So let cressets flare into the night from all the hills! It is no purchased exultation, no servile flattery. The People acclaims itself, yet not without genuine gratitude and affection towards the Representative of its glory and its power. The Constitutional Compact has been well preserved. Review the record of kingdoms, and say how often it has come to pass that sovereign and people rejoiced together over bloodless victories.

这次庆典活动宣告了普通人的合法胜利。回首六十年来，谁能矫情地怀疑这个时期英国人民的物质生活没有多次得到明显的改善？虽然他们经常发生内部不和，但是从没有彼此为敌，相互拆台，而每次严重的争端都会带来某种重大进步。他们现在更诚实，也更清醒；各个社会阶层的蛮性都有所消减；教育—不管它代表什么—已经明显地普及；某些形式的暴政已经废除；某些因为草率和无知而遭受苦难的情况也已经减少。确实，这些只是细节；它们是否代表文明的长足进步还无法判定。然而英国人民确实有理由欢庆；因为这个时代的进步特色是他能理解和赞同的，而对这个时代道德风貌的疑问，对他来说，要么是不存在的，要么是他不能理解的。所以，让彩灯在所有的山头亮起，照彻这个夜晚！这不是花钱买来的狂欢，不是奴颜婢膝的奉承。整个民族为自己欢呼喝彩，对民族荣耀和权力的君主代表，他们也不乏真诚的感激和爱戴。宪法条文得到了很好的遵守。回顾一下这个王国的历史，你可以看到有多少次君主和人民一起为不流血的胜利欢呼庆祝。