The Shepherd Boy Painter (Ⅰ) 牧童画师(上)

ByV. M. Hillyer

——V. M. 希利尔（仲秋译）

V. M.希利尔（1875—1931），美国著名儿童教育家、科普作家，创建了卡尔弗特教育体系。他为孩子们编写了一套趣味盎然的历史、地理、艺术读物，即《写给孩子看的世界历史》《写给孩子看的世界地理》《写给孩子看的艺术史》。本文选自《写给孩子看的艺术史》，该书写于20世纪二三十年代。

Probably you have never seen a great painting. Few people have， unless they have been abroad or have visited some of the largest art galleries. All they have seen are small pictures of such paintings. That is about the same as seeing a picture postcard of Niagara Falls instead of seeing the Falls themselves. We know what the Falls look like， so we know what some of the great pictures look like， but thats not the same as seeing the real thing. So you have to use your imagination to understand what a great picture in color is like， when all you can see is a small black and white copy of it.

你可能从没有见过名画的实物。其实很少有人见过，除非他们出过国，或者去过大型的艺术展览馆。大多数人见到的都只是名画的小图片。这有点像我们看尼亚加拉大瀑布的明信片也可以大概了解到尼亚加拉大瀑布的模样一样，尽管我们没有真正去过那儿。所以我们通过名画的图片也可以基本了解那些名画是什么样子的。但是，看图片和你亲眼去看实物的感觉还是不一样的。所以，如果你只能看到一张很小的、黑白色的图片，你必须发挥你的想象力去理解这幅名画原本有色彩的样子。

There lived a man who is called the father of Greek painting. His name is Polygnotus. About two thousand years later， there lived a man who is called the father of Italian painting. His name is Cimabue. Cimabue lived in Florence， which means the City of Flowers. It is in the central part of Italy. There are very few of his paintings in existence， and we are not sure that certain pictures are really his. And you may not see from the paintings we have why he was supposed to be such a great painter.

有一位偉大的绘画大师，名叫波利格诺托斯，他被人们称为“古希腊绘画之父”。在波利格诺托斯之后大约两千年的样子，又有一位伟大的绘画大师出现了，他叫契马部埃，被人们称为“意大利绘画之父”。契马部埃住在位于意大利中部的佛罗伦萨。“佛罗伦萨”直接翻译过来是“花城” 的意思。契马部埃的绘画作品保存下来的很少，就算是他那些为数不多的、被保存下来的画作，我们也不能确定就是他画的。从那些保留下来的画作中，你可能看不出他为什么被称为伟大的画家。

If Cimabue were painting now， probably he would not be considered great， but in his time he was thought very great， because he was so much better than any other painter had been for a thousand years before him.

如果契马部埃生活在今天，他可能不会被称为伟大的画家。不过，在契马部埃生活的那个时代，他被认为是十分优秀的画家，因为他的绘画作品比在他一千多年前的其他画家的作品都要好。

When he had finished painting a large picture of the Virgin Mary， it is said the people of Florence thought it so beautiful that they formed a procession and， with trumpets sounding and banners flying， carried the picture through the streets from his house to the church where it was placed.

契马部埃画过一幅圣母玛利亚的画像，据说画作完成以后人们觉得画得太棒了，于是就为他举行了一次庆祝活动。人们吹着喇叭，挥舞旗帜，把圣母玛利亚的画像从契马部埃的家里一直抬到教堂，并把画像存放在那里。

Another picture that Cimabue painted is of a Saint Francis monk. I must warn you not to expect a pretty picture. Very likely you will exclaim， “What an ugly old man！” The circle round Saint Franciss head is called a halo. A halo was painted round the heads of saints to show that they were holy persons. The spots on this saints hands are not an accident. It is said that Saint Francis wanted so to be like Christ that an angel came to him and made on his hands and feet nail holes like those that Christ had received on the cross. These nail marks are called stigmata.

契马部埃的另一幅名画画的是一个圣方济修士。我得提醒你，不要期待那是一幅很好看的画像。看到画像，你可能会很惊讶：“这修士真是又老又丑！”这个圣方济修士头顶的光圈叫作“光晕”。圣人画像的头顶上一般都有一圈光晕，表示他们是神圣的人物。圣方济手上的小黑点并不是不小心弄上去的。据说圣方济非常虔诚，他希望自己能够像耶稣一样，有一天一个天使来到他身边实现了他的愿望，就像耶稣被钉在十字架上时手掌、脚掌都被钉出洞一样，天使也在圣方济的手掌和脚掌上钉上孔。这种像钉孔一样的标记叫作“圣痕”。