《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 - 秋 03的内容，让我们一起来感受吉辛的四季吧!

Every one, I suppose, is subject to a trick of mind which often puzzles me. I am reading or thinking, and at a moment, without any association or suggestion that I can discover, there rises before me the vision of a place I know. Impossible to explain why that particular spot should show itself to my mind's eye; the cerebral impulse is so subtle that no search may trace its origin. If I am reading, doubtless a thought, a phrase, possibly a mere word, on the page before me serves to awaken memory. If I am otherwise occupied, it must be an object seen, an odour, a touch; perhaps even a posture of the body suffices to recall something in the past. Sometimes the vision passes, and there an end; sometimes, however, it has successors, the memory working quite independently of my will, and no link appearing between one scene and the next.

思维经常让我们产生一种幻觉，这让我莫名其妙。比如，我正在读书或者思考，在没有任何联想或暗示的情况下，眼前突然显现一个我认识的地方。根本无法解释这个特定的地方为什么会浮现在我的脑海中；大脑的活动太难以捉摸，让人无法追本溯源。如果我在阅读，无疑书中出现的一个观点、一个短语，可能只是一个单词就可以唤醒记忆。如果我在忙别的，那肯定是看到一个东西，闻到一种味道，一种触觉；可能甚至是身体的一个姿势，就足以唤起过去的某个回忆。有时，幻影只是一闪而过，如此而已；有时，还会有后续画面，而记忆的运作完全不受我的意志控制，一个场景和下一个场景之间也没有关联。

Ten minutes ago I was talking with my gardener. Our topic was the nature of the soil, whether or not it would suit a certain kind of vegetable. Of a sudden I found myself gazing at--the Bay of Avlona. Quite certainly my thoughts had not strayed in that direction. The picture that came before me caused me a shock of surprise, and I am still vainly trying to discover how I came to behold it.

十分钟前，我还在跟园丁谈话。我们的话题是土质，它是否适合某种蔬菜生长。突然，我发现自己正凝视着——阿弗洛纳湾。我十分肯定自己的思绪根本没转到那个方向。眼前出现的画面让我着实吃了一惊，而我还在徒然地探寻着自己看到这个画面的原因。

A happy chance that I ever saw Avlona. I was on my way from Corfu5 to Brindisi6. The steamer sailed late in the afternoon; there was a little wind, and as the December night became chilly, I soon turned in. With the first daylight I was on deck, expecting to find that we were near the Italian port; to my surprise, I saw a mountainous shore, towards which the ship was making at full speed. On inquiry, I learnt that this was the coast of Albania; our vessel not being very seaworthy, and the wind still blowing a little (though not enough to make any passenger uncomfortable), the captain had turned back when nearly half across the Adriatic, and was seeking a haven in the shelter of the snow-topped hills. Presently we steamed into a great bay, in the narrow mouth of which lay an island. My map showed me where we were, and with no small interest I discovered that the long line of heights guarding the bay on its southern side formed the Acroceraunian7 Promontory. A little town visible high up on the inner shore was the ancient Aulon8.

我曾有幸看见过阿弗洛纳湾。那是在从希腊科孚岛到意大利布林迪西市的路上。时近傍晚，轮船才扬帆出航，有一点风，十二月的夜晚变得有些寒冷，我便很快上床睡觉了。第二天刚破晓，我来到甲板上，原以为船已驶近那个意大利港口。让我吃惊的是，眼前出现了一个山峦起伏的海岸，我们的船正全速朝那里驶去。询问之下，我才知道那是阿尔巴尼亚海岸。由于我们的船有些经受不住惊涛骇浪，而海上还有一点风（虽然并没大到让任何乘客感觉不适），当船在亚得里亚海行驶过半后，船长决定掉头，在山顶积雪的山峦屏障之间寻找一个避风港。我们很快驶进了一个大海湾，窄窄的入口处坐落着一个岛屿。我在地图上找到了我们所处的位置，同时饶有兴趣地发现，护卫着海湾南部连绵不断的高大山脉，原来正是阿克劳瑟拉尼海角。从船上能看到一个小镇坐落在海湾岸边的上方，那便是古代的奥隆。

Here we anchored, and lay all day long. Provisions running short, a boat had to be sent to land, and the sailors purchased, among other things, some peculiarly detestable bread—according to them, cotto al sole. There was not a cloud in the sky; till evening, the wind whistled above our heads, but the sea about us was blue and smooth. I sat in hot sunshine, feasting my eyes on the beautiful cliffs and valleys of the thickly-wooded shore. Then came a noble sunset; then night crept gently into the hollows of the hills, which now were coloured the deepest, richest green. A little lighthouse began to shine. In the perfect calm that had fallen, I heard breakers murmuring softly upon the beach.

我们的船泊在这里，停了一整天。船上的供应出现了短缺，水手们乘一只小船上岸采购，买回的东西中有一种非常难吃的面包——据他们说，是在日光下烘制的。天空中没有一丝云彩，直到傍晚，头顶上一直有海风打着唿哨吹过，但周围的大海是蔚蓝平静的。我坐在温暖的阳光下，尽情欣赏着郁郁葱葱的海岸上美丽的悬崖和山谷。之后是夕阳西下的壮丽景象，最后夜幕悄然笼罩了山谷，当时满山都染上了最深沉最饱满的绿色。一个小小的灯塔亮起来了，四围渐渐变得寂静无比，我听到浪花在沙滩上的喁喁低语。

At sunrise we entered the port of Brindisi.

日出时，我们驶入了布林迪西港。