皮雕匠的治愈人生

湖南 何高伦

宠物离世后，你会选择什么方式纪念你们互相陪伴的时光呢？一张皮革、一把雕刻刀、一支画笔，皮雕手艺人就能将宠物的神态还原，栩栩如生。

主题语境：人与社会 篇幅：372词 建议用时：7分钟

1Wu Haidong, 34, has focused on creating tailor-made leather objects carved with images of deceased (亡故的) pets. He is an inheritor of the intangible cultural heritage of North China's Hebei Province. Each of his leather carving works is not only a piece of art,but also a unique carrier of memories.

2With a piece of leather, a carving knife and a paintbrush, Wu is like a magician,bringing the remembered animals to life with his proficient carving skills.Upon the request of pet owners, Wu makes the handicrafts into products such as bags, tags and key chains.“By touching the carvings, people feel as if they were touching their pets gently. It is kind of comfort for them,”Wu says.

3Leather carving is not a very popular art and many people are not familiar (熟悉的)with it.So he uses social media apps to introduce his work and attract customers.The video of him making a purse attracted over 300,000 online likes. Since then, he started to focus on carving deceased pets for their sad owners.“The combination of traditional craftsmanship and these special subjects is not only beautiful,but also healing,giving the pet owners much comfort and warmth,”he says.

4Wu learned to draw at an early age. During his college years, as a student majoring in graphic design, he came across some leather carving works online and was attracted by the art.Making up his mind to dive into the craft,he spent two years learning from a master in Baoding.

5Wu says there are two main steps to making leather carved products—the carving itself and the coloring.Craftsmen usually choose natural leather, with a fine grain and tough texture, to carve the patterns, which will be colored with special dyes.“It takes a long time to color the leather, since we have to do it layer by layer so that the images will look vivid,”he says.

6“My love and passion have been encouraging me to carry on with this job,and it has been rewarding for me.”Looking into the future, Wu says that he will heal the hearts of more people with his art.

Reading Check

1.What does the underlined word“them”in paragraph 2 refer to?

A.Handicrafts. B.Animals. C.Carved pictures. D.Pet owners.

2.How does Wu make people know more about his works?

A.By making some videos on the Internet.

B.By cooperating with some magicians.

C.By turning to pet owners for help.

D.By learning from famous masters.

3.What does paragraph 5 mainly focus on?

A.Influences of leather carved products.

B.Procedures for making leather carved products.

C.The market for leather carved products.

D.The materials used to make leather carved products.

4.What does Wu think of his work?

A.It is profitable. B.It is boring. C.It is worthwhile. D.It is confusing.

Language Study

Difficult sentence

Craftsmen usually choose natural leather, with a fine grain and tough texture, to carve the patterns,which will be colored with special dyes.工匠通常选择纹理细腻、质地坚韧的天然皮革来雕刻图案，并用特殊的染料为这些图案着色。

【点石成金】该句中，which引导非限制性定语从句，对先行词patterns进行补充说明。