《四季隨筆》節(jié)選 - 春 11

《四季隨筆》是吉辛的散文代表作。其中對隱士賴克羅夫特醉心于書籍、自然景色與回憶過去生活的描述，其實是吉辛的自述，作者以此來抒發(fā)自己的情感，因而本書是一部富有自傳色彩的小品文集。

吉辛窮困的一生，對文學(xué)名著的愛好與追求，以及對大自然恬靜生活的向往，在書中均有充分的反映。本書分為春、夏、秋、冬四個部分，文筆優(yōu)美，行文流暢，是英國文學(xué)中小品文的珍品之一。

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Would I live it over again, that life of the garret and the cellar? Not with the assurance of fifty years' contentment such as I now enjoy to follow upon it! With man's infinitely pathetic power of resignation, one sees the thing on its better side, forgets all the worst of it, makes out a case for the resolute optimist. Oh, but the waste of energy, of zeal, of youth! In another mood, I could shed tears over that spectacle of rare vitality condemned to sordid strife. The pity of it! And—if our conscience mean anything at all—the bitter wrong!

閣樓和地下室的生活，我還愿意重新來過嗎？不，即使給我五十年現(xiàn)在這樣優(yōu)裕生活的保證，我也不干！憑借著極為可悲的逆來順受的忍耐力，人們總能夠在困境中看到光明的一面，忘記所有糟糕的，最后成為一個堅定的樂觀主義者。但這是對精力、熱情和青春多大的浪費！在另一種心境下，看到人們在貧窮中掙扎卻一派生機勃勃的情景，我也許會流下眼淚。多可憐的景象！良心會告訴我們這是讓人心痛的錯事！

Without seeking for Utopia, think what a man's youth might be. I suppose not one in every thousand uses half the possibilities of natural joy and delightful effort which lie in those years between seventeen and seven-and-twenty. All but all men have to look back upon beginnings of life deformed and discoloured by necessity, accident, wantonness. If a young man avoid the grosser pitfalls, if he keep his eye fixed steadily on what is called the main chance, if, without flagrant selfishness, he prudently subdue every interest to his own (by "interest" understanding only material good), he is putting his youth to profit, he is an exemplar and a subject of pride. I doubt whether, in our civilization, any other ideal is easy of pursuit by the youngster face to face with life. It is the only course altogether safe. Yet compare it with what might be, if men respected manhood, if human reason were at the service of human happiness. Some few there are who can look back upon a boyhood of natural delights, followed by a decade or so of fine energies honourably put to use, blended therewith, perhaps, a memory of joy so exquisite that it tunes all life unto the end; they are almost as rare as poets. The vast majority think not of their youth at all, or, glancing backward, are unconscious of lost opportunity, unaware of degradation suffered. Only by contrast with this thick-witted multitude can I pride myself upon my youth of endurance and of combat. I had a goal before me, and not the goal of the average man. Even when pinched with hunger, I did not abandon my purposes, which were of the mind. But contrast that starved lad in his slum lodging with any fair conception of intelligent and zealous youth, and one feels that a dose of swift poison would have been the right remedy for such squalid ills.

如果不考慮對烏托邦理想的追求，想想青春可能會是什么模樣。我想，在十七到二十七歲之間，一千個人中也許都挑不出一個人能夠享用一半生就的快樂和勞動的愉悅?；厥走^去，所有人看到的都是早年生活因為窘迫、不幸或是放蕩而變形和褪色。如果一個年輕人能避免犯下愚蠢的錯誤，如果他把目光始終盯住所謂的重大機會，如果他能審慎地將所有物質(zhì)利益都置于自己的興趣之下而不讓別人覺得他極端自私（“利益”這里指物質(zhì)利益），他就是在最有效益地享用青春，他就是一個榜樣，值得驕傲。我懷疑，在我們的文明中，對于面對生活的年輕人，還有其他更容易追尋的人生理想，這也是唯一安全的道路。但是如果人們尊重人性，如果人們的理智是為幸福服務(wù)的，那么請將這樣的青春與它可能的模樣比一比。有很少的人，在他們的回憶中，少年時光是天真愉快的，接下來的十來年，有一份體面的工作可以發(fā)揮青春活力，還伴著一段歡樂的回憶，就這樣享受美好人生直到終點，這樣的人幾乎和詩人一樣稀有。大多數(shù)人從不回憶青春時代，或者即使回憶起來，也意識不到那些失去的機會和慘遭揮霍的青春。只有在與這些愚鈍之眾相比時，我才對自己年輕時的忍耐和奮斗感到驕傲。當時的我面前有一個目標，不同于普通人的目標。即使在饑腸轆轆時，我也沒有放棄過它，這目標是思想層面上的。但是，將破舊寓所中忍饑挨餓的青年與正常觀念中那種聰穎和熱情的青春相比，你便會覺得一劑見效快的毒藥可能會是對這種卑賤生活的合理救贖。