PART 1 Sentences
But it was an impulse so fine and beautiful that the poet could not resist it, regardless of consequences for his own family. If that was a beautiful thing to do, it was a beautiful thing to do——that was all.
I really like the sentence that "if that was a beautiful thing to do, it was a beautiful thing to do -- that was all". Not every input is calculated to bring about an output, for example, donation, charity, travelling, reading, to name but a few. A touching story which hit the headline today, tells that a man who spent 50 dollars on food left 3,000 dollars' tip to help the waiters spend a happier Christmas holiday. The only benefit he could gain, if there was any, was the fulfillment and the gaiety he had in the process of helping others. The kindness per se is beautiful enough to justify the generosity.
PART 2 Expressions
1. In order to carry out my duty I had to wrangle with the farmers and merchants about weights and measures.
wrangle with sb: to argue with sb angrily for a long time
The various government departments are wrangling with each other.
wrangle over/ about sth
They are still wrangling over ownership of the house.
2. There was a story that once Su Tungpo outmatched Wang in writing verse on a given rhyme and subject, and Wang gave up halfway.
outmatch: 優(yōu)于；勝過， to surpass to be better than sb or sth else
類似表達： outdo; outperform
skaters trying to outdo each other in grace and speed
Stocks generally outperform other investments.
4. The son, who he knew was a scoundrel, was pilloried and in chains.
scoundrel: [?ska?ndr?l] a bad or dishonest man, especially someone who cheats or deceives other people 惡棍；壞蛋
a lying scoundrel, an incorrigible scoundrel
類似表達： ruffian, bully, villain, rogue, wretch
5. Between the two of them, they hatched a plan for Su to buy a farm at Ishing and then petition the Emperor for permission to stay there on the ground that the farm was his only means of support.
hatch 本意是孵（小雞、小鳥等）
hatch a plot/ plan/ deal etc: to form a plan etc in secret
Together with his hilarious friend they hatched a genius plan to alter your work life, so there's no need to worry.
6. At long last, Su Tungpo believed he was going to settle there for life.
at long last: last這里是 n., 我們比較熟悉的是 at last, 兩者其實是同一個表達。
We reached the summit at long last.
At last it was time to leave.
last 作名詞還可以表示剩余的東西（the remaining part of sth）
John ate the last of the bread at lunchtime.
PART 3 Thoughts
這一章里寫到蘇軾的小兒子蘇遁夭折了。對于這個小兒子我印象挺深的，因為前文有說到他出生的時候蘇東坡說:"惟愿吾兒愚且癡，無災(zāi)無難到公卿。"不求大富大貴，只求無災(zāi)無難，甚至愚笨無為。然而上天連這個小小的祈愿也沒有允諾，那個可憐的孩子終究沒有活到“公卿”，不禁讓人感到命運的冷酷和造化的弄人。蘇東坡本人其實也是如此，當(dāng)他有志于為民謀利的時候?qū)掖卧熨H，政治才華無法施展。如今他已經(jīng)完全放下名利，忘卻朝堂，打算過閑云野鶴的生活的時候，朝廷卻將高管厚祿強塞到他手上，天地之大，卻沒有他歸隱的一畝容身之所。如果不是神宗的突然去世，或許蘇軾的人生會舒心和安定很多吧。但是上天卻偏偏給了他波折起伏的命運，不容他自己去選擇，或許上天不滿足成就一個滿腹經(jīng)綸的天才，而是要成就一個偉大的天才。
這一章還提到了晚年的王安石和蘇軾在一起敞開心扉聊天的事。那一部分讀起來讓我為之動容。兩個曾經(jīng)的死敵在年過半百之后能夠待在一個屋子里閑聊往事、泯卻恩仇，這個畫面特別美好。我很佩服蘇軾的胸襟和豁達。相比之下我還離這種境界太遠。今天晚上我收到一個高中同學(xué)的短信，曾經(jīng)的五年里我們曾是彼此最好的朋友。她后來狠狠地整了我一次，我曾經(jīng)一度在家里不愿出門，而這兩年我們完全斷了聯(lián)絡(luò)。她在短信里說，“好久不聯(lián)系了，很想念你，很想和你好好聊聊天，畢竟我們高中是那么好的朋友”，那種如無其事的語氣仿佛那些不開心的事從來沒有發(fā)生過。我讀到這段話的時候只覺得手心發(fā)涼。如果她在短信里和我說，對不起，我很內(nèi)疚，我想我會選擇原諒的，但是我無法去原諒一個我到現(xiàn)在也看不透是真心還是假意的“朋友”。我不缺少聊天對象，更不需要那種只是為了以后互相幫忙而存在的廉價朋友關(guān)系?；乇茉?jīng)的傷痛不代表那根扎在心里的刺就拔出來了，至少于我而言是如此。也許原諒一個人是需要漫長的時間的，也或許原諒一個傷害過你的朋友要比原諒一個曾經(jīng)的敵人更難一些。
