《四季隨筆》節(jié)選 - 冬 18

《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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Somebody has been making a speech, reported at a couple of columns' length in the paper. As I glance down the waste of print, one word catches my eye again and again. It's all about "science"—and therefore doesn't concern me.

某人做了一次演講，報紙用了幾個欄目的篇幅來進(jìn)行報道。我掃視這文章時，一個詞頻繁跳入我的眼簾，通篇都是關(guān)于“科學(xué)”的——所以與我無關(guān)。

I wonder whether there are many men who have the same feeling with regard to "science" as I have? It is something more than a prejudice; often it takes the form of a dread, almost a terror. Even those branches of science which are concerned with things that interest me—which deal with plants and animals and the heaven of stars—even these I cannot contemplate without uneasiness, a spiritual disaffection; new discoveries, new theories, however they engage my intelligence, soon weary me, and in some way depress. When it comes to other kinds of science—the sciences blatant and ubiquitous—the science by which men become millionaires—I am possessed with an angry hostility, a resentful apprehension. This was born in me, no doubt; I cannot trace it to circumstances of my life, or to any particular moment of my mental growth. My boyish delight in Carlyle10 doubtless nourished the temper, but did not Carlyle so delight me because of what was already in my mind? I remember, as a lad, looking at complicated machinery with a shrinking uneasiness which, of course, I did not understand; I remember the sort of disturbed contemptuousness with which, in my time of "examinations," I dismissed "science papers." It is intelligible enough to me, now, that unformed fear: the ground of my antipathy has grown clear enough. I hate and fear "science" because of my conviction that, for long to come if not for ever, it will be the remorseless enemy of mankind. I see it destroying all simplicity and gentleness of life, all the beauty of the world; I see it restoring barbarism under a mask of civilization; I see it darkening men's minds and hardening their hearts; I see it bringing a time of vast conflicts, which will pale into insignificance "the thousand wars of old,"11 and, as likely as not, will whelm all the laborious advances of mankind in blood-drenched chaos.

我不知道有許多人對“科學(xué)”抱有和我相同的感覺。這不只是偏見，還經(jīng)常會表現(xiàn)為一種害怕，幾乎就是恐懼。即使是以我感興趣的事物為研究對象的科學(xué)分支——如研究植物、動物和天體的科學(xué)——即使是那些我想起來內(nèi)心也會感到不安和反感；新發(fā)現(xiàn)，新理論，不管它們?nèi)绾挝业闹腔?，我很快就會厭倦，并感到某種沮喪。而對于其他種類的科學(xué)——那種喧囂和無所不在的科學(xué)——那種人們借以成為百萬富翁的科學(xué)——我都有一種憤怒的敵意，一種厭惡的憂懼。無疑，這是與生俱來的。我不能將之歸因于我的生活環(huán)境，或者思想成熟的某個特定時刻。無疑，少年時期對卡萊爾的喜愛助長了這一性情，但是我喜歡卡萊爾，不正是由于頭腦中原本就有的東西嗎？還記得在孩提時，看到復(fù)雜的機(jī)器，我不安地退縮，當(dāng)時自己不理解這一點；我還記得，在應(yīng)付“考試”的時候，我對待“科學(xué)試卷”的態(tài)度是慌亂和輕蔑。那種莫可名狀的恐懼現(xiàn)在我足可以理解了，我反感的原因已經(jīng)變得足夠清晰。我痛恨和恐懼“科學(xué)”，因為我確信，在未來很長時間，如果不是永遠(yuǎn)的話，科學(xué)將是人類冷酷的敵人。我看到它毀滅了生活中所有的簡樸和親切，和世界所有的美麗；我看到它復(fù)蘇了文明面具掩飾下的野蠻行徑；我看到它讓人們的思想變得黑暗，心靈變得冷酷；我看到它引領(lǐng)人類進(jìn)入了一個充滿爭斗的時代，讓“昔日的千年戰(zhàn)爭”變得不值一提，并且可能讓人類辛苦取得的進(jìn)步成果淹沒在鮮血淋漓的混亂里。

Yet to rail against it is as idle as to quarrel with any other force of nature. For myself, I can hold apart, and see as little as possible of the thing I deem accursed. But I think of some who are dear to me, whose life will be lived in the hard and fierce new age. The roaring "Jubilee" of last summer was for me an occasion of sadness; it meant that so much was over and gone—so much of good and noble, the like of which the world will not see again, and that a new time of which only the perils are clearly visible, is rushing upon us. Oh, the generous hopes and aspirations of forty years ago! Science, then, was seen as the deliverer; only a few could prophesy its tyranny, could foresee that it would revive old evils and trample on the promises of its beginning. This is the course of things; we must accept it. But it is some comfort to me that I—poor little mortal—have had no part in bringing the tyrant to his throne.

但是對它進(jìn)行嚴(yán)厲指責(zé)，就像與其他任何自然力量爭吵，一樣的無益。就我自己來說，我可以離得遠(yuǎn)遠(yuǎn)地，盡可能不看我厭惡的事物。但我想到我愛的那些人，他們將生活在一個冷酷狂熱的新時代里。對我來說，這個夏天熱鬧的“六十周年紀(jì)念日”是一個悲傷的場合；它意味著許多已經(jīng)結(jié)束并成為歷史——許多美好和高尚的東西，世界再也看不到它們了，一個帶著明顯危險的嶄新時代正向我們滾滾駛來。噢，四十年前那些慷慨的希望和抱負(fù)！那時候，科學(xué)被視為一個拯救者；幾乎沒人能預(yù)料到它的暴政，預(yù)見到它會讓古老的邪惡復(fù)活，踐踏它萌動的期待。這是事物的發(fā)展歷程，我們必須接受。但我還有一絲安慰，那便是我——一個可憐而渺小的人——沒有為這位暴君的登基提供任何幫助。