《四季隨筆》節(jié)選 - 夏 20

《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，是英國文學中小品文的珍品之一。

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It is the second Jubilee. Bonfires blaze upon the hills, making one think of the watchman on Agamemnon's citadel. (It were more germane to the matter to think of Queen Elizabeth and the Armada.) Though wishing the uproar happily over, I can see the good in it as well as another man. English monarchy, as we know it, is a triumph of English common sense. Grant that men cannot do without an overlord; how to make that over-lordship consist with the largest practical measure of national and individual liberty? We, at all events, have for a time solved the question. For a time only, of course; but consider the history of Europe, and our jubilation is perhaps justified.

女皇登基六十周年紀念日到了。山上燃起了熊熊篝火，讓人想起了阿伽門農(nóng)堡壘上的值夜人（也許更貼切的聯(lián)想應該是伊麗莎白女王和西班牙艦隊）。我愿這次喧鬧的慶典勝利結束，我也和其他英國人一樣能看到它的好處。我們知道，英國君主制是英國人民常識的一個勝利。我們得承認，沒有一個最高統(tǒng)治者不行；怎樣才能使君主與保障國家和個人享有最大限度自由的實用制度共存呢？無論如何，我們暫時解決了這個問題。當然，僅僅是暫時，但如果想想歐洲的歷史，我們的慶祝也許便有了正當?shù)睦碛伞?/p>

For sixty years has the British Republic held on its way under one President. It is wide of the mark to object that other Republics, which change their President more frequently, support the semblance of overlordship at considerably less cost to the people. Britons are minded for the present that the Head of their State shall be called King or Queen; the name is pleasant to them; it corresponds to a popular sentiment, vaguely understood, but still operative, which is called loyalty. The majority thinking thus, and the system being found to work more than tolerably well, what purpose could be served by an attempt at novasres? The nation is content to pay the price; it is the nation's affair. Moreover, who can feel the least assurance that a change to one of the common forms of Republicanism would be for the general advantage? Do we find that countries which have made the experiment are so very much better off than our own in point of stable, quiet government and of national welfare? The theorist scoffs at forms which have survived their meaning, at privilege which will bear no examination, at compromises which sound ludicrous, at submissions which seem contemptible; but let him put forward his practical scheme for making all men rational, consistent, just. Englishmen, I imagine, are not endowed with these qualities in any extraordinary degree. Their strength, politically speaking, lies in a recognition of expediency, complemented by respect for the established fact. One of the facts particularly clear to them is the suitability to their minds, their tempers, their habits, of a system of polity which has been established by the slow effort of generations within this sea-girt realm.

六十年來，大英共和國在一個元首的看護下正常發(fā)展。而元首更替頻繁的其他共和國，以人民付出的更低的代價維持著一種類似君主制的政體，對此有異議是完全錯誤的。英國人現(xiàn)在已經(jīng)習慣地認為，國家元首應該稱為國王或女王；這個稱謂他們樂意接受，它順應了一種民意，雖有點難理解，但仍然行得通，它叫做“忠誠”。多數(shù)人都抱此想法：依此建立的制度也運轉相當良好，那還有什么必要進行改革呢？這個國家樂意付出代價，這是它自己的內政。更何況，誰又敢保證，將英國改成一種普通的共和制度，會符合國家的整體利益呢？那些改革社會制度的國家，在政府穩(wěn)定和社會福利上比我們國家好很多嗎？理論家們嘲笑那些已經(jīng)失去本來意義的形式，經(jīng)不起審查的特權，聽起來荒謬的妥協(xié)，顯得可鄙的屈服；那就讓他提出一個切實的方案，讓所有人變得理性、堅定和正義。我想，上天賜予英國人的這些品質并不是特別多。他們的優(yōu)勢，從政治上講，來自于對權宜之計的認可，并輔以對既定事實的尊重。他們尤其清楚的一點是，一種經(jīng)過世世代代的緩慢努力在這個四面環(huán)海的領土上建立起來的政體，應該適合他們的思想、性情和習慣。

They have nothing to do with ideals: they never trouble themselves to think about the Rights of Man. If you talk to them (long enough) about the rights of the shopman, or the ploughman, or the cat'smeat-man, they will lend ear, and, when the facts of any such case have been examined, they will find a way of dealing with them. This characteristic of theirs they call Common Sense. To them, all things considered, it has been of vast service; one may even say that the rest of the world has profited by it not a little. That Uncommon Sense might now and then have stood them even in better stead is nothing to the point. The Englishman deals with things as they are, and first and foremost accepts his own being.

他們不關心理想，也不會費心去想什么“人權”。如果你和他們談店員或者莊稼漢或者賣貓食者的權利（時間要足夠長），他們會傾聽，細細分析完該案例的所有事實，他們會找出解決方法。他們的這個特征就是所謂的“常識”，對他們來說，全面考慮，廣泛應用，你甚至可以說它讓全世界都受益匪淺。非常識也許有時候對他們更有用，但無關緊要。英國人按照事情的本來面目來對待它們，最主要是首先接受他自己。

This Jubilee declares a legitimate triumph of the average man. Look back for threescore years, and who shall affect to doubt that the time has been marked by many improvements in the material life of the English people? Often have they been at loggerheads among themselves, but they have never fl own at each other's throats, and from every grave dispute has resulted some substantial gain. They are a cleaner people and a more sober; in every class there is a diminution of brutality; education—stand for what it may—has notably extended; certain forms of tyranny have been abolished; certain forms of suffering, due to heedlessness or ignorance, have been abated. True, these are mere details; whether they indicate a solid advance in civilization cannot yet be determined. But assuredly the average Briton has cause to jubilate; for the progressive features of the epoch are such as he can understand and approve, whereas the doubt which may be cast upon its ethical complexion is for him either non-existent or unintelligible. So let cressets flare into the night from all the hills! It is no purchased exultation, no servile flattery. The People acclaims itself, yet not without genuine gratitude and affection towards the Representative of its glory and its power. The Constitutional Compact has been well preserved. Review the record of kingdoms, and say how often it has come to pass that sovereign and people rejoiced together over bloodless victories.

這次慶典活動宣告了普通人的合法勝利?；厥琢陙?，誰能矯情地懷疑這個時期英國人民的物質生活沒有多次得到明顯的改善？雖然他們經(jīng)常發(fā)生內部不和，但是從沒有彼此為敵，相互拆臺，而每次嚴重的爭端都會帶來某種重大進步。他們現(xiàn)在更誠實，也更清醒；各個社會階層的蠻性都有所消減；教育—不管它代表什么—已經(jīng)明顯地普及；某些形式的暴政已經(jīng)廢除；某些因為草率和無知而遭受苦難的情況也已經(jīng)減少。確實，這些只是細節(jié)；它們是否代表文明的長足進步還無法判定。然而英國人民確實有理由歡慶；因為這個時代的進步特色是他能理解和贊同的，而對這個時代道德風貌的疑問，對他來說，要么是不存在的，要么是他不能理解的。所以，讓彩燈在所有的山頭亮起，照徹這個夜晚！這不是花錢買來的狂歡，不是奴顏婢膝的奉承。整個民族為自己歡呼喝彩，對民族榮耀和權力的君主代表，他們也不乏真誠的感激和愛戴。憲法條文得到了很好的遵守?；仡櫼幌逻@個王國的歷史，你可以看到有多少次君主和人民一起為不流血的勝利歡呼慶祝。