《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 24的内容，让我们一起来感受吉辛的四季吧!

Time is money—says the vulgarest known to any age or people. Turn it round about, and you get a precious truth—money is time. I think of it on these dark, mist-blinded mornings, as I come down to find a glorious fire crackling and leaping in my study. Suppose I were so poor that I could not afford that heartsome blaze, how different the whole day would be! Have I not lost many and many a day of my life for lack of the material comfort which was necessary to put my mind in tune? Money is time. With money I buy for cheerful use the hours which otherwise would not in any sense be mine; nay, which would make me their miserable bondsman. Money is time, and, heaven be thanked, there needs so little of it for this sort of purchase. He who has overmuch is wont to be as badly off in regard to the true use of money, as he who has not enough. What are we doing all our lives but purchasing, or trying to purchase, time? And most of us, having grasped it with one hand, throw it away with the other.

时间就是金钱——这句最俗的话是所有时代所有人都耳熟能详的。把它倒过来，你就得到了一个宝贵的真理——金钱就是时间。我是在黑暗的雾气漫天的早晨想到这句话的，当时我下楼来，看到书房里炉火烧得正欢，噼啪作响。想想吧，如果我很穷，根本没钱来享受这样欢快的炉火，我这一整天将会是另一番景象！物质上的舒适是我思想正常运作的必要条件，而我不正是因为物质上的匮乏，失去了生命中的许多时光吗？金钱就是时间。有了钱，我可以购买到可以愉快支配的时间，否则，这时间怎么都不能说是我的。不，那样我会成为时间悲惨的奴隶。金钱就是时间，感谢老天，这宗买卖只需要很少的一点钱。太有钱的人和钱不够的人，在对金钱的真正使用上，往往是一样地糟糕。我们的一生不就是在购买或者试图购买时间吗？而我们中大多数人，都是一只手抓住它，另一只手又将它扔掉了。