The Gay Genius 12.4

一 words and expressions

1. Innocent and honest, such poems of protest against the government's doings, at a time when all good scholars were hounded out of the capital

hound sb out (of / from sth)：to make things so unpleasant for someone that they are forced to leave a place, job etc 逼使某人离开（某事物）

2. Through these outpourings of his spirit, he found himself, to his sorrow, at the head of all decent-minded scholars of his time,

outpouring：（感情、反应等的）迸发，爆发，倾泻An outpouring of something such as an emotion or a reaction is the expression of it in an uncontrolled way.

3. During the aftermath of the social reforms he worked passionately and singlehandedly at famine relief, against the colossal obstruction of bureaucracy.

aftermath：the period which follows an unpleasant event or accident, and the effects which it causes（不愉快事件）结束后的一个时期；（不愉快事件的）后果

singlehandedly：if one person does something single-handedly, they do it without help from anyone else独力地，单独地

二 sentences

1. There is a current Chinese saying that final judgment upon a man is possible only when the cover is nailed on his coffin. 盖棺定论

2. It fitted perfectly in rhyme and tone, and in effect the poem was like a little gem, written as usual with the poet's effortless grace.

3. Exactly like Tu Fu of the West River;

    Of the best flower, begonia, he sang the least.

却似西川杜工部，海棠虽好不吟诗

三 中文感悟

令我有所触动的是林语堂在文章的开头提出的

IT is really not so difficult to know a man dead a thousand years ago. Considering how incomplete our knowledge usually is of people who live in the same city with us, or even of the private life of the mayor, it seems sometimes easier to know a dead man than a living one.

评价一个在世的人是困难的，但我认为评价一个不在世的人也是很困难的。期待作者在之后几章用他已有的资料如何写苏轼。