1 A Boy Who Loved Drawing

Chapter 1 A Boy Who Loved Drawing The artist Claude Monet was born in Paris, France, on November 14, 1840. But when he was five, his family moved to Le Havre, a great seaport.

1840年11月14日，艺术家克劳德·莫奈出生在法国巴黎。 但在他五岁的时候，他的家人搬到了勒阿弗尔，一个伟大的海港。

As a boy Claude hated school. His school was open only two hours in the morning and two hours in the afternoon. Still, he could barely stand it. School always made him feel like he was in "a prison." When the sun was shining, he wanted to be outdoors, in the fields, or by the sea. Throughout his life he was a person who never wanted to stick by the rules.

克劳德小时候讨厌上学。 他的学校只在上午和下午各开两个小时。 尽管如此，他还是难以忍受。 学校总是让他觉得自己像在“监狱”里。 当阳光灿烂的时候，他想去户外，在田野里，或者在海边。 他一生都是一个从不墨守成规的人。

Claude's father was a grocer. He sold supplies to

克劳德的父亲是个杂货商。 他把物资卖给

the captains of the tall ships in the harbor. Claude loved to go down to the docks. He liked to watch the men unload cargo from ships. There was mahogany from South America, sugar from the West Indies, coffee beans from Java, tea from India, and dates from Persia. He liked to hear the men speaking foreign languages. Claude's mother died when he was sixteen. His Aunt Marie-Jeanne had no children of her own so she helped to raise him. He was a tall, cheerful boy. He always liked to draw. He began drawing pictures of imaginary animals and funny pictures of his teachers.

海港里高大船只的船长们。 克劳德喜欢去码头。 他喜欢看人们从船上卸下货物。 有南美的红木、西印度群岛的糖、爪哇的咖啡豆、印度的茶和波斯的枣子。 他喜欢听人们讲外语。 克劳德的母亲在他16岁时去世了。 他的阿姨玛丽-让娜没有自己的孩子，所以她帮忙抚养他。 他是一个高大、开朗的男孩。 他一直喜欢画画。他开始画想象中的动物和有趣的老师的画。

Claude also took drawing classes. His teacher taught the way everybody taught art then. Students first drew pictures of statues. After years of this, the students were allowed to draw living people. If they took classes long enough, the students would learn to paint.

克劳德还参加了绘画班。 他的老师用当时大家教艺术的方式来教。 学生们首先画雕像。 多年以后，学生们被允许画活人。 如果上课时间够长，学生们就会学会画画。

Claude did not like the teacher or the class. He kept on with his own drawing, using a pencil or pen and ink to turn out quick sketches of people in Le Havre. A store that sold art supplies framed his drawings and put them in the window. Claude sold many of his pictures.

克劳德不喜欢这个老师，也不喜欢这个班。 他继续自己的绘画，用铅笔或钢笔和墨水画出勒阿弗尔人的速写。 一家卖美术用品的商店把他的画框起来放在橱窗里。 克劳德卖掉了他的许多画。