《四季隨筆》節(jié)選 - 春 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。

以下是由網(wǎng)友分享的《四季隨筆》節(jié)選 - 春 18的內(nèi)容，讓我們一起來感受吉辛的四季吧!

Is it I, Henry Ryecroft, who, after a night of untroubled rest, rise unhurriedly, dress with the deliberation of an oldish man, and go downstairs happy in the thought that I can sit reading, quietly reading, all day long? Is it I, Henry Ryecroft, the harassed toiler of so many a long year?

安穩(wěn)地休息一夜后，不慌不忙地起床，帶著上了年紀(jì)的人的從容穿上衣服，想到自己能坐下安靜地讀上一整天的書，心情愉快地下樓，這個人不正是我亨利·賴克羅夫特嗎？是那個辛苦煎熬了半輩子的亨利·賴克羅夫特嗎？

I dare not think of those I have left behind me, there in the ink-stained world. It would make me miserable, and to what purpose? Yet, having once looked that way, think of them I must. Oh, you heavy-laden, who at this hour sit down to the cursed travail of the pen; writing, not because there is something in your mind, in your heart, which must needs be uttered, but because the pen is the only tool you can handle, your only means of earning bread! Year after year the number of you is multiplied; you crowd the doors of publishers and editors, hustling, grappling, exchanging maledictions. Oh, sorry spectacle, grotesque and heart-breaking!

我不敢去想身后那些還在筆墨世界里摸爬滾打的人們。那會讓我痛心疾首，又有何用呢？但是，既然已經(jīng)回首了，那我必須要想想他們了。唉，你們這些負(fù)擔(dān)沉重、正坐在書桌前絞盡腦汁的人，你們寫作，不是因為所思所感不吐不快，而是因為這筆是你們能駕馭的唯一工具，是你們掙面包的唯一手段！年復(fù)一年，你們的數(shù)量翻倍增長，你們擁擠在出版商和編輯的門前，推推搡搡，罵罵咧咧。唉，這丑陋的一幕真讓人心碎！

Innumerable are the men and women now writing for bread, who have not the least chance of finding in such work a permanent livelihood. They took to writing because they knew not what else to do, or because the literary calling tempted them by its independence and its dazzling prizes. They will hang on to the squalid profession, their earnings eked out by begging and borrowing, until it is too late for them to do anything else—and then? With a lifetime of dread experience behind me, I say that he who encourages any young man or woman to look for his living to "literature," commits no less than a crime. If my voice had any authority, I would cry this truth aloud wherever men could hear. Hateful as is the struggle for life in every form, this rough-and-tumble of the literary arena seems to me sordid and degrading beyond all others. Oh, your prices per thousand words! Oh, your paragraphings and your interviewings! And oh, the black despair that awaits those down-trodden in the fray.

現(xiàn)在賣文謀生的人不計其數(shù)，但靠著它永遠衣食不愁幾乎沒有可能。他們選擇寫作是因為別無所長，不然就是受到文學(xué)職業(yè)的獨立性和各種令人炫目的獎項的誘引。他們將依附這一慘淡的職業(yè)，靠著乞討和借債勉強度日，等到想改行已為時過晚—以后怎么辦呢？憑著一生的痛苦經(jīng)驗，我要說，任何人鼓勵年輕人靠“文學(xué)”謀生，他的行為與犯罪無異。如果我的聲音有任何權(quán)威力，我將大聲疾呼，讓各地的所有人都能聽到這個事實真相。雖然為了生存任何形式的掙扎都令人憎惡，但對我來說，文壇的這種摸爬滾打比其他任何謀生手段都更卑賤和屈辱。噢，你們一千字的標(biāo)價！噢，你們的分章列目和訪談錄！噢，那些窮途潦倒的文人，等待他們的是黑暗的絕望！

Last midsummer I received a circular from a typewriting person, soliciting my custom; some one who had somehow got hold of my name, and fancied me to be still in purgatory. This person wrote: "If you should be in need of any extra assistance in the pressure of your Christmas work, I hope," etc.

去年仲夏，我收到一個打印商寄來的傳單，請我照顧他的生意。不知道他怎么得到了我的名字，以為我還在煉獄里掙扎。這個人寫道：“在圣誕節(jié)的工作壓力下，如果您需要任何幫助，請與我聯(lián)系”等等。

How otherwise could one write if addressing a shopkeeper? "The pressure of your Christmas work"! Nay, I am too sick to laugh.

給一個店老板寫信，措辭也不過如此吧？“圣誕節(jié)的工作壓力！”，我已經(jīng)厭惡得笑不出來了。