PART 1 Expressions
1. Two brothers set out by boat from their hometown Boa-ah, a mountain hamlet in Fujian Province on the southern coast of China.
hamlet: a very small village （無教堂的）小村莊
Across hills and rivers, they walked more than two hundred kilometres and arrived at a little hamlet nestling in the green mountains.
2. I can lay bare her troubles because I have not lost hope.
lay sth bare:
1. to uncover sth that was previously hidden
When the river is low, vast stretches of sand are laid bare.
2. to make known something that was secret
historical writing which seeks to lay bare the true nature of an event
the bare facts: a statement that tells sb only what they need to know, without additional details
The newspaper had simply published the bare facts.
the bare bones: the most important parts or facts of sth without any detail
We have outlined only the bare bones of the method.
3. A vivid personality is always an enigma.
enigma: [?'n?ɡm(xù)?] sb or sth that is strange and difficult to understand SYN mystery
The neighbors regarded him as something of an enigma.
PART 2 Thoughts
初中時第一次讀林語堂的《蘇東坡傳》的中文版，那時候并沒有太多的想法烤惊，只覺得蘇東坡才華橫溢但是天妒英才嚷狞，幾番大起大落谆吴。后來我的生活中遭遇了一些變故，有好一陣我一直悶在家中不愿出門麸折，那段時間里我又重讀了一次《蘇東坡傳》砍艾，卻意外地找到了很多問題的答案悯衬，治愈了我一些內(nèi)心的傷痛。我至今印象最深刻的是蘇東坡晚年給自己最小的兒子起名叫蘇遁追迟，并且說“唯愿吾兒愚且癡溶其，無災無難到公卿《丶洌”這得經(jīng)歷了怎樣的大災大難才會有這樣的想法啊瓶逃。林語堂在序言里有一句話總結(jié)地非常精辟，"Metaphysically he was Hindu, but temperamentally he was Chinese. Out of the Buddhist faith to annihilate life, the Confucian faith to live it, and the Taoist faith to simplify it, a new amalgam was formed in the crucible of the poet's mind and perceptions. " 蘇東坡的經(jīng)歷每瞒、他的情感金闽、他的思想比他的詩詞更加豐富，讀著他的故事剿骨，很多時候能找到我們自己心鎖的鑰匙代芜，能夠幫助我們抵御自己人生里的嚴寒。
再來說一下參加這期讀書會的目的和期待浓利。之前參加了三期讀書會挤庇，12月有幾個重要的考試，本來想休息一個月的贷掖，然而當時看到書目是蘇東坡傳的英文版的時候有毅然地報了名嫡秕。讀英文版算是彌補我自己的一個小小的遺憾吧。讀中文版的時候覺得稍稍有點不帶勁苹威，總覺得文字表達上缺少底蘊昆咽，當時讀中文版的時候就覺得不像是林語堂的文風，后來一查，原來中文版是別人翻譯過來的掷酗。曾經(jīng)想去讀讀英文版调违，但又無限期的擱置了，一則因為愛偷懶泻轰，二則這本書英文版有點略長了讓我有點望而卻步技肩。通過參加這期的讀書逼迫和敦促自己去把英文版讀下來，總覺得現(xiàn)在再不讀浮声，估計以后也不太會再去讀了虚婿。所以對這期讀書會最大的期待感受一下林語堂的英文原版的語言魅力，收獲一些中文版里"lost in translation"的部分泳挥。
