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 （无教堂的）小村庄

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: [ɪ'nɪɡmə] sb or sth that is strange and difficult to understand SYN mystery

The neighbors regarded him as something of an enigma.

PART 2 Thoughts

初中时第一次读林语堂的《苏东坡传》的中文版，那时候并没有太多的想法，只觉得苏东坡才华横溢但是天妒英才，几番大起大落。后来我的生活中遭遇了一些变故，有好一阵我一直闷在家中不愿出门，那段时间里我又重读了一次《苏东坡传》，却意外地找到了很多问题的答案，治愈了我一些内心的伤痛。我至今印象最深刻的是苏东坡晚年给自己最小的儿子起名叫苏遁，并且说“唯愿吾儿愚且痴，无灾无难到公卿。”这得经历了怎样的大灾大难才会有这样的想法啊。林语堂在序言里有一句话总结地非常精辟，"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. " 苏东坡的经历、他的情感、他的思想比他的诗词更加丰富，读着他的故事，很多时候能找到我们自己心锁的钥匙，能够帮助我们抵御自己人生里的严寒。

再来说一下参加这期读书会的目的和期待。之前参加了三期读书会，12月有几个重要的考试，本来想休息一个月的，然而当时看到书目是苏东坡传的英文版的时候有毅然地报了名。读英文版算是弥补我自己的一个小小的遗憾吧。读中文版的时候觉得稍稍有点不带劲，总觉得文字表达上缺少底蕴，当时读中文版的时候就觉得不像是林语堂的文风，后来一查，原来中文版是别人翻译过来的。曾经想去读读英文版，但又无限期的搁置了，一则因为爱偷懒，二则这本书英文版有点略长了让我有点望而却步。通过参加这期的读书逼迫和敦促自己去把英文版读下来，总觉得现在再不读，估计以后也不太会再去读了。所以对这期读书会最大的期待感受一下林语堂的英文原版的语言魅力，收获一些中文版里"lost in translation"的部分。