(2017-6-A)Benjamin West, the father of American painting, showed his talent for art when he was only six years of age. But he did not know about brushes before a visitor told him he needed one. In those days , a brush was made from camel’s hair. There were no camels nearby. Benjamin decided that cat hair would work instead. He cut some fur from the family cat to make a brush.
Benjamin West，美国绘画之父，在他年仅6岁的时候，就表现出非凡的绘画天赋。在一位访客告诉他要用毛笔时，他才知道毛笔这回事。在过去，毛笔是用骆驼的毛发做成的。那时候附近没有骆驼。Benjamin 决定用猫咪的毛来代替骆驼毛。他从家养的猫身上拨来皮毛做毛笔。
The brush did not last long. Soon Benjamin needed more fur. Before long, the cat began to look ragged（蓬乱）. His father said that the cat must be sick. Benjamin was forced to admit what he had been doing.
这样制成的毛笔不经用，很快他就需要更多的皮毛。不久之后，那只猫看起来乱蓬蓬的。他的父亲说，这猫一定时生病了。这时候，本杰明被迫承认，他干的好事。
The cat’s lot was about to improve. That year, one of Benjamin’s cousins, Mr.Pennington, came to visit. He was impressed with Benjamin’s drawings. When he went home, he sent Benjamin a box of paint and some brushes. He also sent six engravings（版画）by an artist. These were the first pictures and first real paint and brushes Benjamin had ever seen. In 1747，when Benjamin was nine years old，Mr.Pennington returned for another visit .He was amazed at what Benjamin had done with his gift.He asked Benjamin’s parents if he might take the boy to Philadelphia for a visit.至此，猫的命运才有好转。那一年，本杰明的一个表兄，Pennington来看望他。表兄记得本杰明的画作。但他去本杰明家的时候，他送本杰明一盒蜡笔和几只毛笔，还有一个画家的6幅版画。这是本杰明第一次见到这些绘画作品，第一次见到真正的蜡笔和毛笔。1747年，本杰明9岁，.Pennington哥哥又一次来看望他。他惊奇地发现本杰明绘画的天赋，他问本杰明的父母，他是否能带本杰明去费城看一看。
In the city, Mr.Pennington gave Benjamin materials for creating oil paintings.The boy began a landscape (风景) painting.Wiliams ,a well-known painter,came to see him work . Wiliams was impressed with Benjamin and gave him two classic books on painting to take home .The books were long and dull. Benjamin could read only a little,having been a poor student.But he later said,”Those two books were my companions by day,and under my pillow at night.”While it is likely that he understood very little of the books,they were his introduction to classical paintings.The nine-year-old boy decided then that he would be an artist.
在费城，.Pennington给本杰明一些画油画的材料。本杰明就能画出风景油画，一个著名的油画家，wiliams来看本杰明作画。本杰明给Wiliams留下了深刻的印象，送了两本有关古典油画的书给他带回家。书又厚又乏味，本杰明只能读懂一点点，因为他还是一个小学生，后来他说，两本书的日日伴我左右，晚上放在枕边，当我可能读懂一点书的内容时，这两本书就是我了解古典绘画的引子。9岁的本杰明决心成为一个艺术家。
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