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 24的内容，让我们一起来感受吉辛的四季吧!
Yesterday I passed by an elm avenue, leading to a beautiful old house. The road between the trees was covered in all its length and breadth with fallen leaves—a carpet of pale gold. Further on, I came to a plantation, mostly of larches; it shone in the richest aureate hue, with here and there a splash of blood-red, which was a young beech in its moment of autumnal glory.
昨天，我走过一条榆树夹道的林阴路，它通向一座古老美丽的房子。路上铺满了落叶——织就了一条淡金色的地毯。我继续走，来到一片树林前，这里最多的是落叶松，整个树林闪耀着饱满的金色光泽，间或有一抹血红色，那是山毛榉幼树到了秋日辉煌的时刻。
I looked at an alder, laden with brown catkins, its blunt foliage stained with innumerable shades of lovely colour. Near it was a horse-chestnut, with but a few leaves hanging on its branches, and those a deep orange. The limes, I see, are already bare.
我看到一棵桤木，缀满了棕色的柔荑，坚实的叶子染上了无数层可爱的颜色。它的旁边是一棵七叶树，树枝上只剩下几片叶子，都是深橘红色。而酸橙树呢，它已经是光秃秃的了。
To-night the wind is loud, and rain dashes against my casement; tomorrow I shall awake to a sky of winter.
今晚，风声很大，雨点撞击着我的窗扉；明天早晨醒来，我看到的将是冬日的天空了。
