The Gay Genius |Chapter 9 & 10阅读笔记

《苏东坡传》

1. 中文感悟

第九章的政治斗争中感觉领导的知人善任非常重要，不负责任的人会为了一己私利排除异己，王安石为了改革把不利于他改革的人全都罢免或者降级了，但是自己也受到了别人的勒索，导致自己的儿子抑郁而终，这种白发人送黑发人的晚景也是异常地凄凉。

反观苏轼兄弟二人做事坦荡，兄弟情深，互相畅谈国家政策和自己的未来仕途，会叮嘱对方小心行事，非常珍惜家庭聚在一起的快乐时光。这两者形成巨大的反差，更加突出了人物的性格特点。

2. guiding task

Q: What evil did the men do?

A: Wang Anshih and his followers cashiered or degraded many righteous men who disagreed with him or blocked his reforms. But Wang Anshih was also blackmailed by a man who once followed him and Wang's son died young because of this event.

Q: What did the brothers do after being cashiered and leaving the capital?

A: Su Tungpo served successively in the beautiful cities of Hangchow, Michow and Suchow while Tseyu was working as a poor college professor at Chengchow. Sometimes they would get together talking about politics, domestic affairs and their future.

3. 词汇学习

... he sent a conundrum for the Emperor to solve.

conundrum    [kə'nʌndrəm]  n.

A conundrum is a problem or puzzle which is difficult or impossible to solve. 难解之谜[正式]

"I found," replied the Emperor, "that among all the countries only Wang Anshih is willing to shoulder all the responsibilities."

shoulder      v.

If you shoulder the responsibility or the blame for something, you accept it. 肩负

eg: He is able to shoulder the resposibility for the family now.