《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 15的内容，让我们一起来感受吉辛的四季吧!

Nothing in all Homer pleases me more than the bedstead of Odysseus. I have tried to turn the passage describing it into English verse, thus:-

在荷马所有的文字中，我最喜欢的莫过于对奥德修斯床架的描写了。我试着将这段描述性文字翻译成英语诗歌的形式，译文如下：

Here in my garth a goodly olive grew; Thick was the noble leafage of its prime, And like a carven column rose the trunk. This tree about I built my chamber walls, Laying great stone on stone, and roofed them well, And in the portal set a comely door, Stout-hinged and tightly closing. Then with axe I lopped the leafy olive's branching head, And hewed the bole to four-square shapeliness, And smoothed it, craftsmanlike, and grooved and pierced, Making the rooted timber, where it grew, A corner of my couch. Labouring on, I fashioned all the bed-frame; which complete, The wood I overlaid with shining gear Of gold, of silver, and of ivory. And last, between the endlong beams I stretched Stout thongs of ox-hide, dipped in purple dye. Odyssey, xxiii. 190-201.

我的花园里，长着一棵壮硕的橄榄树，它正值盛年，枝繁叶茂，拔地而起像一根雕刻的石柱。围着它我修起房屋的墙壁，大石头一块块垒起来，仔细加个顶，再安上一扇漂亮的门，牢固结实，密不透风。然后我拿起斧头，斫掉橄榄树枝叶繁茂的树冠，将树干砍成四四方方的模样，像木匠一样，刨光树身，开槽穿孔，在树生长之地，让这扎根地下的木头，变成我床的一角。我继续苦干，做出整个床架；完成之后，给木头镶上华丽的装饰，有金，有银，还有象牙。最后，在直立的木架间，我拉上一张在紫色颜料中浸过的厚实牛皮。《奥德赛》第二十三卷，190-201页

Did anyone ever imitate the admirable precedent? Were I a young man, and an owner of land, assuredly I would do so. Choose some goodly tree, straight-soaring; cut away head and branches; leave just the clean trunk and build your house about it in such manner that the top of the rooted timber rises a couple of feet above your bedroom floor. The trunk need not be manifest in the lower part of the house, but I should prefer to have it so; I am a tree-worshipper; it should be as the visible presence of a household god. And how could one more nobly symbolize the sacredness of Home? There can be no home without the sense of permanence, and without home there is no civilization—as England will discover when the greater part of her population have become flat-inhabiting nomads. In some ideal commonwealth, one can imagine the Odyssean bed a normal institution, every head of a household, cottager or lord (for the commonwealth must have its lords, go to!), lying down to rest, as did his fathers, in the Chamber of the Tree. This, one fancies, were a somewhat more fitting nuptial chamber than the chance bedroom of a hotel. Odysseus building his home is man performing a supreme act of piety; through all the ages that picture must retain its profound significance. Note the tree he chose, the olive, sacred to Athena, emblem of peace. When he and the wise goddess meet together to scheme destruction of the princes, they sit [Greek text]. Their talk is of bloodshed, true; but in punishment of those who have outraged the sanctity of the hearth, and to re-establish, after purifi cation, domestic calm and security. It is one of the dreary aspects of modern life that natural symbolism has all but perished. We have no consecrated tree. The oak once held a place in English hearts, but who now reveres it?—our trust is in gods of iron. Money is made at Christmas out of holly and mistletoe, but who save the vendors would greatly care if no green branch were procurable? One symbol, indeed, has obscured all others—the minted round of metal. And one may safely say that, of all the ages since a coin first became the symbol of power, ours is that in which it yields to the majority of its possessors the poorest return in heart's contentment.

这令人羡慕的前例可曾有人模仿过？如果我还年轻，且拥有一块土地，那我肯定会这样做。选一棵高大挺拔的好树，将树冠枝叶全部砍掉，只留下树干，然后围着它来修建房屋，让这木头的顶端，高出你卧室地板几英尺。房屋的下半部分不必露出树干，但我喜欢让它露出来。我是一个树的崇拜者，它应该是家神的具体可见的形象。家的神圣还能找到更尊贵的象征吗？没有永久的感觉，便不成其为家；没有家，也便没有文明——当英格兰大半人口变成栖身公寓的流浪者之时便会发现这个道理。在某个理想的共和国，你可以想象奥德修斯的床是普遍的风俗，每个一家之主，不管是村民还是贵族（因为共和国一定有自己的贵族），都像他的祖先一样，在“树屋”里躺下休息。人们会想，比起饭店房间，这里不是更适合做婚房吗？奥德修斯建造自己的房屋，表现出一个人至高的虔诚行为；多少个世纪过去了，这个画面一定还保存着它深刻的意义。注意他选的那棵树，那棵橄榄树，对雅典娜来说它是神圣的，是和平的象征。当他和智慧女神一起筹划如何打垮王子们时，他们“靠着橄榄树干坐下”。他们谈的是流血杀戮，没错；但这是为了惩罚那些亵渎了神圣壁炉的人，是为了在净化之后，重建家庭的平静和安全。自然象征主义的消亡，是现代生活沉闷的一个方面。我们没有奉为神圣的树，橡树曾经在英国人的心中占有一席之地，但现在还有谁会尊崇它呢？——我们现在信任的是掌管铁的神灵们。圣诞节期间，人们靠冬青树和槲寄生小枝挣钱，但是除了商贩外，谁还那么在意是否能获得绿色树枝？事实上，有一种象征已经遮蔽了所有的一切，这就是铸造的金属圆片。我们可以肯定地说，在硬币开始成为权力象征后的几世纪中，在我们时代，对大多数的钱币所有者而言，它能给予的让人心满意足的回报是最贫乏的。