E35 苏洵：秉赋颖异，大器晚成

E35 苏洵：秉赋颖异，大器晚成
2023.03.29
夏鹏
难度：CSE7
课程导读

上节课我们了解到，在中国不称祖辈名讳是很古老的风俗，上到皇帝下至平民百姓都在遵守这个传统。苏东坡为避讳其祖父名讳，改称他的“序”为“引”。那么讲完苏东坡的祖父，他的父亲苏洵又是怎样的一个人？是什么样的家庭，才能培养出苏轼和苏辙两位文学天才呢？一起进入今天的讲解。

英文原文

Su Tungpo's father, Su Shün, was a reticent man, and as far as his political ambitions were concerned, he died disappointed, although his hopes for literary and official honours were realized in the persons of his two sons before he died.

Possessing a high intelligence, severe in temperament, independent in mind, and crotchety in character, Su Shün was not a man easy to get along with.

He is known to this day as the one great scholar who did not seriously begin to study until he was twenty-seven.

This is usually pointed out to young children as an example to prove that with determination and industry, success always awaits a man; though a bright child might deduce the opposite conclusion that one did not have to begin to study in childhood.

And the fact is, Su Shün had full opportunity to learn to read and write in childhood; it seems that there was enough ruggedness in this individual to resist coercion and resent the formal education of those times.

We know that many brilliant children do. It cannot be true that he did not learn to read and write at all in childhood, but rather that he completely wasted his childhood years.

Yet, he made enough impression as a young man for the Cheng family to be willing to make him their son-in-law.

Equally amazing is the fact that, starting at the late age of twenty-seven, he did achieve such a high literary fame, a fame which was by no means totally eclipsed by his brilliant sons.

About the time when his son was born, he began to take himself seriously, regretting rather late, but with a sharp sense of remorse, the wasted years of his youth.

He must have been bitten with shame to see that his own brother and his wife's brother, and his two sisters' husbands, had all passed state examinations and were going out as officials.

Such a state of affairs might not affect a mediocre person, but to one gifted with the mental powers that he showed in his Complete Works, the situation must have become unbearable.

In this sacrificial prayer to his wife on her death, he afterward indicated that she had prodded him along, for the wife, Su Tungpo's mother, was a very well-educated woman.

The grandfather, however, had said and done nothing about the son, who to all intents and purposes appeared to be nothing better than a stubborn, erratic, loafing genius.

When friends asked him why his son did not study and why he had done nothing about it, he replied placidly, "I am not worried", suggesting an enormous confidence that his brilliant but erring son would himself realize the mistake in due time.

生词好句

1.reticent
英 [ˈretɪsənt]美 [ˈretəsənt]
adj. 缄默寡言的

2.as far as … be concerned
对于……而言（as for）

3.in the person of …
……的载体，借助……

4.possess
英 [pəˈzes]美 [pəˈzes]
v. 具有

5.severe
英 [sɪˈvɪər]美 [səˈvɪr]
adj. 严苛的

6.temperament
英 [ˈtempərəmənt]美 [ˈtempərəmənt]
n. 性格
拓展:
temperament 本能性格，天生禀赋
character 习得性格

7.industry
英 [ˈɪndəstri]美 [ˈɪndəstri]
n. （本文）勤奋；工业
拓展:
industrious adj. 勤奋的

8.await
英 [əˈweɪt]美 [əˈweɪt]
v. 等待

9.deduce
英 [dɪˈdʒuːs]美 [dɪˈduːs]
v. 演绎

10.ruggedness
英 ['rʌgidnis]美 ['rʌgidnis]
n. 个性强烈
拓展:
rugged adj. 崎岖不平的；衣衫褴褛的
rugged handsome 痞帅

11.coercion
英 [kəʊˈɜːʃn]美 [koʊˈɜrːʃn]
n. 威胁
拓展:
coercive adj. 胁迫的

12.by no means
绝不

13.eclipse
英 [ɪˈklɪps]美 [ɪˈklɪps]
n. 月食；v. 遮蔽
拓展:
solar eclipse 日食

14.remorse
英 [rɪˈmɔːs]美 [rɪˈmɔːrs]
n. 忧伤

15.bite
英 [baɪt]美 [baɪt]
v. 咬；刺激

16.state examination
科举考试

17.mediocre person
平庸的、碌碌无为的人

18.unbearable
英 [ʌnˈbeərəbl]美 [ʌnˈberəbl]
adj. 不能忍受的

19.sacrificial prayer
祭文
拓展:
sacrifice v. 牺牲

20.prod
英 [prɒd]美 [prɑːd]
v. 催促

21.well-educated
英 [ˌwel ˈedjʊkeɪtɪd]美 [ˌwel ˈedjʊkeɪtɪd]
adj. 受到良好教育的

22.to all intents and purposes
各种角度

23.stubborn
英 [ˈstʌbən]美 [ˈstʌbərn]
adj. 固执的

24.erratic
英 [ɪˈrætɪk]美 [ɪˈrætɪk]
adj. 古怪的

25.placidly
英 [ˈplæsɪdli]美 [ˈplæsɪdli]
adv. 平静地

26.err
英 [ɜːr]美 [ɜrː er]
v. 犯错