《四季隨筆》節(jié)選 - 冬 15

《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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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:-

在荷馬所有的文字中，我最喜歡的莫過于對奧德修斯床架的描寫了。我試著將這段描述性文字翻譯成英語詩歌的形式，譯文如下：

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.

我的花園里，長著一棵壯碩的橄欖樹，它正值盛年，枝繁葉茂，拔地而起像一根雕刻的石柱。圍著它我修起房屋的墻壁，大石頭一塊塊壘起來，仔細加個頂，再安上一扇漂亮的門，牢固結實，密不透風。然后我拿起斧頭，斫掉橄欖樹枝葉繁茂的樹冠，將樹干砍成四四方方的模樣，像木匠一樣，刨光樹身，開槽穿孔，在樹生長之地，讓這扎根地下的木頭，變成我床的一角。我繼續(xù)苦干，做出整個床架；完成之后，給木頭鑲上華麗的裝飾，有金，有銀，還有象牙。最后，在直立的木架間，我拉上一張在紫色顏料中浸過的厚實牛皮。《奧德賽》第二十三卷，190-201頁

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.

這令人羨慕的前例可曾有人模仿過？如果我還年輕，且擁有一塊土地，那我肯定會這樣做。選一棵高大挺拔的好樹，將樹冠枝葉全部砍掉，只留下樹干，然后圍著它來修建房屋，讓這木頭的頂端，高出你臥室地板幾英尺。房屋的下半部分不必露出樹干，但我喜歡讓它露出來。我是一個樹的崇拜者，它應該是家神的具體可見的形象。家的神圣還能找到更尊貴的象征嗎？沒有永久的感覺，便不成其為家；沒有家，也便沒有文明——當英格蘭大半人口變成棲身公寓的流浪者之時便會發(fā)現這個道理。在某個理想的共和國，你可以想象奧德修斯的床是普遍的風俗，每個一家之主，不管是村民還是貴族（因為共和國一定有自己的貴族），都像他的祖先一樣，在“樹屋”里躺下休息。人們會想，比起飯店房間，這里不是更適合做婚房嗎？奧德修斯建造自己的房屋，表現出一個人至高的虔誠行為；多少個世紀過去了，這個畫面一定還保存著它深刻的意義。注意他選的那棵樹，那棵橄欖樹，對雅典娜來說它是神圣的，是和平的象征。當他和智慧女神一起籌劃如何打垮王子們時，他們“靠著橄欖樹干坐下”。他們談的是流血殺戮，沒錯；但這是為了懲罰那些褻瀆了神圣壁爐的人，是為了在凈化之后，重建家庭的平靜和安全。自然象征主義的消亡，是現代生活沉悶的一個方面。我們沒有奉為神圣的樹，橡樹曾經在英國人的心中占有一席之地，但現在還有誰會尊崇它呢？——我們現在信任的是掌管鐵的神靈們。圣誕節(jié)期間，人們靠冬青樹和槲寄生小枝掙錢，但是除了商販外，誰還那么在意是否能獲得綠色樹枝？事實上，有一種象征已經遮蔽了所有的一切，這就是鑄造的金屬圓片。我們可以肯定地說，在硬幣開始成為權力象征后的幾世紀中，在我們時代，對大多數的錢幣所有者而言，它能給予的讓人心滿意足的回報是最貧乏的。