The Gay Genius-Preface

今天上午上课我用PPT介绍杭州，其中就讲到东坡肉的由来。苏东坡在杭州做官时，组织民工在西湖筑了一道堤。能使四周的田地不怕涝，不愁旱．庄稼连年丰收。百姓们为了感谢他，送猪肉给他，而他却把猪肉烧好后又给老百姓们送去。他与老百姓之挚友。"... and down below I can associate with the poor folks."

这本书叫The Gay Genius, gay: a gay person is fun to be with because they are lively and cheerful. 在自序中林语堂写道，他写苏东坡只是以此为乐而已，苏东坡的读者以阅读他的作品为乐，那我们读林语堂的The Gay Genius就是从通过林语堂对苏东坡描写中来体会苏东坡的作品给读者带来的阅读之乐。因为苏东坡写作也是为了自得其乐，别无理由，字字出自他的真纯。非常期待接下来苏东坡的生活。

好词好句

1. Political chicanery and calculation were foreign to his character. 政治上的勾心斗角与利害谋算不是他的性格所在 Something that is foreign to a particular person or thing is not typical of them or is unknown to them. e.g. The whole thing is foreign to us.

2. He wrote for no other reason than that he enjoyed writing, and today we enjoy his writing for no other reason than that he wrote so beautifully, generously, and out of the pristine inncence of his heart.别无理由

3. "... and stung him with a phrase which made the victim smart, and... " 这里的smart表示剧痛 e.g. My eyes smarted from the smoke.

4. "... as he put it once; or again they may be likened to ... " liken... to... 表示 把... 比作 Life is often likened to a journey.

感悟

Since hatred is an expression of incompetence. 恨别人是无能的表现，所以不要去嫉妒别人有多么多么的有才，不要恨他们。我们只需要做好自己，提高自己的才能就行。

When sorrow came and misfortune fell, he accepted them with a smile. 遭遇人生苦难与失落时，依旧笑然处之。这种人生态度值得我们学习。