Day 18 | Daily Note | The Gay Genius

ARREST AND TRIA 逮捕与审判 | Chapter 14
2017年12月21日, 星期四

He wrote on that day in his journal an entry typical of his whimsy, describing his friendship with Yuko, which is the courtesy name of Wen Tung.

在查字典的时候正好在entry的一个释义下，了解到关于“词目”与“词条”的区分：

a.b.二者都可以用entry表达

正好也看到headword在以上情况也意为词目。

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下面这段话无论是文言还是英语，都非常的有意思。可以看到两个插科打诨，正直得可爱的文人，将艺术视若珍宝，对彼此心有戚戚又嘴不饶人。精神世界的丰富在生活细部动情流露：

When Yuko started to paint bamboos, he did not think highly of it himself, but people from all places came with their silks and crowded his doorstep to beg for his paintings. Yuko was quite annoyed and, throwing the silks to the floor, said angrily, "I am going to cut these up and have them made into stockings."
“吾将以为袜。”
When Yuko returned from Yangchow [modern Yangshien in Shensi] and I was at Suchow, he wrote to me, "Recently I have been telling scholars that my school of bamboo painting in ink has moved over to Suchow, and that collectors should all go there. I am sure all the material for stockings will come to you now."
“近语士大夫，吾墨竹一派近在彭城，可往求之。袜材当苹于子矣。”
He added two lines in postscript saying that he wished to paint a bamboo grove ten thousand feet high on a piece of Goose Valley silk.
“拟将一段鹅帮绢，扫取寒梢万尺长。”
I said to him that for painting a bamboo grove ten thousand feet high one would require two hundred and fifty pieces of silk, and that I knew he was tired of painting but only wanted to get the silk.
“与可村长万尺，当用绢二百五十匹，知公倦与笔砚，愿得此绢而已。”
Yuko could not reply and only said that I was talking nonsense, and there were no bamboo groves ten thousand feet high anyway.
I replied in a poem with the two lines "There are bamboos ten thousand feet high, when you look at their shadows cast by the moonlight."
“世间亦有千寻月，竹落庭空影许长。”
Yuko laughed and said, "Su always knows how to argue, but if I had two hundred and fifty pieces of silk I would buy a farm in the country and retire."
“苏子辩则辩矣，然二百五十匹吾将买田而归老焉。”
He gave me this painting of the Valley of Yuntang [tall bamboos], and said to me, "This painting is only several feet high, but the bamboos appear to be ten thousand feet in height…"
“此竹数尺耳，而有万尺之势。”

被好友苏东坡肆意流淌、夸张而不失恰当的文思噎住，只能道“吾言妄矣”——英文的表达是 was talking nonsense 。字典中对 talk nonsense 有这么几个口语的例子：

• Nonsense / Don't talk nonsense! 一派胡言／别胡说！
• You're talking nonsense! 你胡说八道！
• Don't talk nonsense! 废话少说！

nonsense 在书中几次出现，包括本章的句子，正好能选出三个，逐一对应柯林斯对 nonsense 释义的前三条：

（以上关于nonsense的三个例句分别选自第14、6、3章）

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这一章涉及乌台诗案。乌台诗案在变法到改制的转折关头发生。案件先由监察御史告发，后在御史台狱受审。“乌台”即御史台；因官署内遍植柏树，又称“柏台”；柏树上常有乌鸦栖息筑巢，乃称“乌台”。

作者在记叙的前后一以贯之的是苏东坡旷达通彻的性格表现，对文字诗词、对家庭亲友，对自己的未来与生死，苏东坡都有种一笑了之的坦然。读至最揪心处，也被其有关鸮鸟乌鸦的掌故，龙泉丹菊的譬喻所拍案叫绝。

和这样的人相处，特别“真”，特别可爱，一定特别舒服也特别愉快。

独鹤不须惊夜旦，群乌未可辨雌雄。

以上。