2 Chapter 1 An Unwanted Boy

Chapter 1 An Unwanted Boy On April 15, 1452, in a tiny hill town in Italy, a baby boy was born. His father was a well-to-do businessman, Ser Piero. His mother, Caterina, was a poor young peasant girl. We don't even know her last name. Their baby was named Leonardo. Because the town he came from was called Vinci,

1452年4月15日，在意大利的一个小山城，一个男婴出生了。 他的父亲塞尔·皮耶罗是一个富裕的商人。 他的母亲卡特琳娜是一个贫穷的年轻农家女孩。 我们甚至不知道她姓什么。 他们的孩子被命名为莱昂纳多。 因为他的家乡叫芬奇，

he was known as Leonardo da Vinci. That means Leonardo from Vinci. Leonardo's parents weren't married. His father was ashamed of the baby and left him with his mother. Ser Piero married another woman, someone more respectable, and started a new family. He moved nearby to the busy city of Florence. Caterina did not want to keep her baby, either. She cared for him for only a year or two. Then she, too, married someone else and began a new family. So what was to become of little Leonardo? Ser Piero's answer was to leave the baby with his parents. But Leonardo's grandparents were old

他被称为列奥纳多·达·芬奇。 就是《达芬奇》里的莱昂纳多。 列奥纳多的父母没有结婚。 他的父亲为这个孩子感到羞愧，把他留给了他的母亲。 皮耶罗爵士娶了另一个女人，一个更受人尊敬的女人，组建了一个新的家庭。 他搬到了附近繁忙的城市佛罗伦萨。 卡特琳娜也不想留下她的孩子。 她只照顾了他一两年。 后来，她也嫁给了别人，组建了一个新的家庭。 那么小列奥纳多后来怎么样了呢? 皮耶罗的回答是把孩子留给他的父母。 但是莱昂纳多的祖父母都很老了

—his grandfather was eighty-five at the time. At their age, what did they want with a toddler? Still, they took him in. They fed him, clothed him, and gave him a home. But little else. No one loved the little boy. The only person who showed interest in him was an uncle named Francesco. Francesco was a farmer and he loved the beautiful countryside around Vinci. He would take long walks in the hills, which were covered with olive trees.

他的祖父当时已经85岁了。 在他们这个年纪，他们想要一个蹒跚学步的孩子做什么? 尽管如此，他们还是收留了他。他们给他吃的，给他穿的，给他一个家。 但仅此而已。没有人爱这个小男孩。 唯一对他感兴趣的人是一个叫弗朗西斯科的叔叔。 弗朗西斯科是个农民，他喜欢芬奇周围美丽的乡村。 他会在长满橄榄树的山上散步很久。

Leonardo would go with him. It was there on these walks that Leonardo grew to love the natural world. The rolling shapes of the hills. The silvery leaves of the olive trees. The flight of birds. And the soft misty sunlight. Everywhere he went, Leonardo took a little notebook with him. He made drawings of anything that interested him. A plant. Ducks in a stream. Flowers. An insect. Some cows. Paper was very valuable, but Leonardo was lucky. Because of his father's business, there was always a supply. It was one of the most important things Ser Piero ever gave his son.

列奥纳多愿意和他一起去。 正是在这些散步中，列奥纳多渐渐爱上了自然世界。 丘陵起伏的形状。 橄榄树银色的叶子。 鸟的飞行。还有柔和朦胧的阳光。 无论走到哪里，列奥纳多都随身带着一个小笔记本。 他画任何他感兴趣的东西。 一种植物。鸭子在小溪里。 花。一只昆虫。一些牛。 纸很值钱，但列奥纳多很幸运。 因为他父亲的生意，所以总是有货源。 这是皮耶罗给儿子的最重要的东西之一。

PARCHMENT AND PAPER PARCHMENT IS MADE FROM THE SKINS OF ANIMALS SUCH AS SHEEP, CALVES, OR GOATS. THE SKIN IS DRIED AND TREATED UNTIL IT BECOMES FLAT AND PAPERLIKE. PARCHMENT IS MUCH STRONGER THAN PAPER. IT IS

羊皮纸和纸质羊皮纸是由动物的皮，如绵羊、小牛或山羊的皮制成的。 皮肤被干燥并处理，直到它变得扁平和像纸一样。 羊皮纸比纸结实得多。 它是