6 Giverny

Chapter 6 Giverny Monet first saw Giverny in April. Apple trees were in bloom and wild flowers sparkled in the fields. Monet was on a train, but he got off. Right beside the main road was a big farmhouse for rent. It was beautiful. The walls were pink; it had a slate roof and gray shutters. At each end of the house was a low barn with a dirt floor. The house came with two acres of land that included an apple orchard and a walled garden. A path led down to the railway and, on the other side of the tracks, was a small river. It was an ideal spot for a painter. Monet could see willow trees and all sorts of plants along the river, and lines of tall poplars marking the edges of meadows. "I can produce masterpieces here," Monet said.

莫奈第一次见到吉维尼是在四月。 苹果树开花了，野花在田野里闪闪发光。 莫奈在火车上，但他下了车。 在主干道的右边有一间大农舍在出租。 它是美丽的。墙壁是粉红色的；它有石板屋顶和灰色百叶窗。 房子的两端各有一个低矮的谷仓，地上铺着泥土。 这栋房子有两英亩的土地，包括一个苹果园和一个有围墙的花园。 一条小路通向铁路，铁路的另一边是一条小河。 对画家来说，这是一个理想的地方。 莫奈可以看到沿河的柳树和各种各样的植物，以及草地边缘一排排高大的杨树。 “我可以在这里创作杰作，”莫奈说。

He first rented the house. (Later on he bought it.) The family came with all their furniture and Monet's boats. He now had four—the studio boat, two rowboats, and a skiff. He moored the boats at a place called Nettle Island. It was an easy walk from the house to Nettle Island.

他先把房子租了下来。 （后来他买下了它。）这家人带着他们所有的家具和莫奈的船来了。 他现在有了四艘船——一艘画室船，两艘划艇和一艘小艇。 他把船停泊在一个叫荨麻岛的地方。 从房子走到荨麻岛很容易。

Monet turned one of the dirt-floored barns into a studio. Later, he built a second studio that was much larger and had a skylight. He planted a vegetable garden. It was the job of the children to weed and water it. He tore out the hedges around the gardens. They looked too neat and orderly. He also began work on a big flower garden. (Irises were his favorite flower.) He planted climbing roses on metal arches over the walkways and filled the flower beds with all sorts of plants and flowers. He wanted to make sure there was something blooming from early spring until late fall.

莫奈把一个脏兮兮的谷仓改成了画室。 后来，他又建了第二个工作室，面积大得多，还带了天窗。 他种了一个菜园。 给它除草和浇水是孩子们的工作。 他拆掉了花园周围的树篱。 他们看起来太整齐了。 他还开始在一个大花园工作。 （鸢尾花是他最喜欢的花。）他在走道上方的金属拱门上种植了攀缘玫瑰，花坛里种满了各种各样的植物和鲜花。 他想确定从早春到深秋都有开花的东西。

Next to painting, the garden at Giverny became the most important thing in his life. It, too, was a work of art. Monet was a man of habit. He got up every day at sunrise, ate some bread and sausage, and set out with his palette and paints and easel in a wheelbarrow. He wore a beret and wooden shoes like the local farmers wore. He came back home for lunch. It was always served at 11:30 A.M. on the dot. After the meal, he would drink a cup of coffee in his studio and sometimes a glass of brandy as

除了绘画之外，吉维尼的花园成了他生活中最重要的事情。 它也是一件艺术品。 莫奈是个墨守成规的人。每天日出时，他就起床，吃点面包和香肠，然后带着调色板、颜料和画架，坐上手推车出发。 他戴着贝雷帽，穿着当地农民穿的木鞋。 他回家吃午饭。 它总是在上午11点半供应 正点。饭后，他会在画室里喝一杯咖啡，有时还会喝一杯白兰地

well. Then he went back to paint outside if the light was still good.

好。然后，如果光线还好，他就回到外面画画。

When he was pleased with his work, the whole family was happy. If a picture didn't turn out the way he wanted it to, he got rid of it. Monet had a terrible temper. Once he was painting on his studio boat and got so mad at the way the picture looked that he threw the canvas in the river and his paints and brushes after it. He swore that he would never paint again.

当他对自己的工作感到满意时，全家人都很高兴。 如果一幅画的结果不像他想要的那样，他就把它扔掉。 莫奈的脾气很坏。 有一次，他在工作室的船上画画，对画的样子很生气，就把画布扔进了河里，把颜料和刷子也扔了出去。 他发誓再也不画画了。