《四季隨筆》節(jié)選 - 冬 09

《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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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.

素食主義的文獻(xiàn)，讓我感受到一種奇特的悲哀情緒。記得那個時候，我?guī)е囸I和貧窮生活的全部熱情，閱讀這些期刊和宣傳冊，極力勸說自己相信，肉完全是一種多余的甚至令人厭惡的食物。如果今天這種讀物再出現(xiàn)在我眼前，我會對那些因為困窘而非自愿認(rèn)同這種飲食的化學(xué)觀點的人，懷有一種半是幽默的同情。我眼前出現(xiàn)了一些素食飯店，曾經(jīng)，我常到那里自以為可以花最少的錢讓饑餓的肚皮滿意；我在那兒吃過“美味肉排”，“素牛排”，和其他一些華而不實的似是而非的東西。我還記得一個地方，花六個便士你就能享受一頓正餐——我不敢去回憶那里的食譜。但是我看清楚了那些顧客的面孔——貧窮的職員和伙計，各種各樣的臉色蒼白的女孩和婦人——所有人都試圖從扁豆湯和菜豆中尋找美味。這真是極其讓人傷心的怪異景象。

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.

我對扁豆和菜豆的名字深惡痛絕——這些自命不凡的食欲的騙子，這些被定格的欺詐之徒，這些已被證明乏味的自稱為人類食物的東西！他們告訴我們，一盎司的扁豆或菜豆，相當(dāng)于——記不得多少磅——最好的牛臀肉。證明這一點的人，或者相信這一點的人，他的頭腦里恐怕沒有多少常識吧。在有些國家，這種東西都是人們自愿食用的；在英格蘭，只有在最窘迫的情況下，人們迫于無奈才會食用。扁豆和菜豆不僅僅乏味，經(jīng)常食用還會導(dǎo)致反胃惡心。你自管鼓吹宣傳，英國人的味覺——也是最高的法官——拒絕這種含淀粉的臨時替代品。就像它拒絕沒有自然搭配著肉的蔬菜，拒絕用燕麥粥和薄餅一起充當(dāng)午餐，也拒絕用檸檬水和姜汁飲料替代真正的啤酒。

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.

真正相信化學(xué)分析能夠和自然風(fēng)味相當(dāng)?shù)娜?，他的智力和精神狀態(tài)是怎樣的呢？我從一英寸正宗劍橋香腸或是幾盎司牛肚中攝取到的營養(yǎng)，要遠(yuǎn)多于五六十磅最好的扁豆所能給予的。