《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 - 冬 09的内容，让我们一起来感受吉辛的四季吧!

There is to me an odd pathos in the literature of vegetarianism. I remember the day when I read these periodicals and pamphlets with all the zest of hunger and poverty, vigorously seeking to persuade myself that flesh was an altogether superfluous, and even a repulsive, food. If ever such things fall under my eyes nowadays, I am touched with a half humorous compassion for the people whose necessity, not their will, consents to this chemical view of diet. There comes before me a vision of certain vegetarian restaurants, where, at a minim outlay, I have often enough made believe to satisfy my craving stomach; where I have swallowed "savoury cutlet," "vegetable steak," and I know not what windy insufficiencies tricked up under specious names. One place do I recall where you had a complete dinner for sixpence—I dare not try to remember the items. But well indeed do I see the faces of the guests—poor clerks and shopboys, bloodless girls and women of many sorts—all endeavouring to find a relish in lentil soup and haricot something-orother. It was a grotesquely heart-breaking sight.

素食主义的文献，让我感受到一种奇特的悲哀情绪。记得那个时候，我带着饥饿和贫穷生活的全部热情，阅读这些期刊和宣传册，极力劝说自己相信，肉完全是一种多余的甚至令人厌恶的食物。如果今天这种读物再出现在我眼前，我会对那些因为困窘而非自愿认同这种饮食的化学观点的人，怀有一种半是幽默的同情。我眼前出现了一些素食饭店，曾经，我常到那里自以为可以花最少的钱让饥饿的肚皮满意；我在那儿吃过“美味肉排”，“素牛排”，和其他一些华而不实的似是而非的东西。我还记得一个地方，花六个便士你就能享受一顿正餐——我不敢去回忆那里的食谱。但是我看清楚了那些顾客的面孔——贫穷的职员和伙计，各种各样的脸色苍白的女孩和妇人——所有人都试图从扁豆汤和菜豆中寻找美味。这真是极其让人伤心的怪异景象。

I hate with a bitter hatred the names of lentils and haricots—those pretentious cheats of the appetite, those tabulated humbugs, those certificated aridities calling themselves human food! An ounce of either, we are told, is equivalent to—how many pounds?—of the best rump-steak. There are not many ounces of common sense in the brain of him who proves it, or of him who believes it. In some countries, this stuff is eaten by choice; in England only dire need can compel to its consumption. Lentils and haricots are not merely insipid; frequent use of them causes something like nausea. Preach and tabulate as you will, the English palate—which is the supreme judge—rejects this farinaceous makeshift. Even as it rejects vegetables without the natural concomitant of meat; as it rejects oatmeal-porridge and griddle-cakes for a mid-day meal; as it rejects lemonade and ginger-ale offered as substitutes for honest beer.

我对扁豆和菜豆的名字深恶痛绝——这些自命不凡的食欲的骗子，这些被定格的欺诈之徒，这些已被证明乏味的自称为人类食物的东西！他们告诉我们，一盎司的扁豆或菜豆，相当于——记不得多少磅——最好的牛臀肉。证明这一点的人，或者相信这一点的人，他的头脑里恐怕没有多少常识吧。在有些国家，这种东西都是人们自愿食用的；在英格兰，只有在最窘迫的情况下，人们迫于无奈才会食用。扁豆和菜豆不仅仅乏味，经常食用还会导致反胃恶心。你自管鼓吹宣传，英国人的味觉——也是最高的法官——拒绝这种含淀粉的临时替代品。就像它拒绝没有自然搭配着肉的蔬菜，拒绝用燕麦粥和薄饼一起充当午餐，也拒绝用柠檬水和姜汁饮料替代真正的啤酒。

What is the intellectual and moral state of that man who really believes that chemical analysis can be an equivalent for natural gusto?—I will get more nourishment out of an inch of right Cambridge sausage; aye, out of a couple of ounces of honest tripe; than can be yielded me by half a hundredweight of the best lentils ever grown.

真正相信化学分析能够和自然风味相当的人，他的智力和精神状态是怎样的呢？我从一英寸正宗剑桥香肠或是几盎司牛肚中摄取到的营养，要远多于五六十磅最好的扁豆所能给予的。