Chapter six provides a fascinating portrait of Su who was enthusiastic about praying for rain, capable of fighting off the devil. But what makes his image even sharper is how he coped with human affairs. Being young, brilliant and not given to compromising, he found it difficult to bow to external authority. In addition, he had so many friends that his wife had to warn him of the side effects of his making friends extensively. This woman of wisdom, however, died young. But hopefully, she could hear her husband's profoundly affectionate poet devoted to her. 

To sum up, the first six chapters portrays Su's early life as a promising young man. But so far, he has led a relative calm and care-free life as he had yet reached the center of the political turmoil as he did in later days. 

Tungpo watched his brother riding on a thin horse in snow outside the West Gate of Chengchow,his head bobbing up and down above the sunken road, until he could see him no more.

The friendship between gentlemen is mild, like the taste of water"―it has no exciting flavor, but one never grows tired of it 君子之交淡如水

Keep this in mind, and don't let us be carried away by our official ambitions. 忘乎所以

Knowing Tungpo's very forthright and sometimes impetuous nature, she felt not so much the need of admiring him as the duty of taking care of him.

[ɪm'pet.ju.əs]adjective

■likely to act on a sudden idea or wish, without considering the results of your actions冲动的，鲁莽的

•He's so impetuous- why can't he think things over before he rushes into them?他太冲动了——为甚么他急着做事前不能仔细考虑一下呢？

■An impetuous word or action is said or done suddenly, without considering the likely results轻率的，草率的

•The Prime Minister may now be regretting her impetuous promise to reduce unemployment by half.首相现在可能后悔她轻率地承诺要将失业人数减少一半。

But he had a silent partner, Tseyu, and an old father, deep in intellectual penetration, uncompromising in spirit, and socially aloof in character, who held the pair of thoroughbreds in check.

[ə'lu:f]adjective

■describes an unfriendly person who refuses to take part in things不友善的；冷漠的

•She seemed rather aloof when in fact she was just shy.她看似孤傲不群，可实际上只是腼腆。

■not interested or involved, usually because you do not approve of what is happening（通常因为对所发生的事情不赞同而）漠不关心的，无动于衷的，不参与的

•Whatever is happening in the office, she always remains aloof.不管办公室发生了甚么事，她都一概不闻不问。

•She kept herself aloof from her husband's business.她对丈夫的事情漠不关心。