导读

This chapter tells the examinations Su Tungpo and his brother took and the marriage when the two brothers were adolescents. Based on the versatility, both the Su brothers passed the examinations with high honors. Just as he was about to begin his official career, Tungpo's mother died. Su Shiin immersed in great grief. Su Shiin declined the order from the government and developed a phobia about all examinations.He wrote a reply to the emperor declining to go, giving old age and poor health as his excuse.

Words and expressions

1. He was not particularly handsome to look at, but to meet this dean of letters and receive his favor was the dream of all aspiring scholars.

dean: an administrator or a leader

仿写: Our dean hasn't turned 40 yet.

2. But with his aloof and somewhat self-important manner, Su Shiin failed to make a good impression on the government leaders.

aloof: unfriendly and deliberately not talking to other people 超然不俗的

仿写: Beneath that aloof exterior, he is a warm, sympathetic person.

3. While he lived and broke up China's unity, he won the plaudits of foreigners.

plaudit: enthusiastic approval

His excellent show got the plaudit of the audiences.

Sentences

All around the city ran a moat a hundred feet wide, planted on both banks with elms and willows, revealing the white parapetedTHE GAY GENIUSwalls and vermilion, gates behind.

If he considers them good, why should there be further examinations ？ If he cannot believe the best that I have written, how can he rely upon the tests of a day?"

I have done these things in the hope that your soul, if it is still conscious, will either go up to Heaven or float around in the upper or the lower regions in complete comfort and ease, just as I myself am going to roam over the world in complete freedom.