Over the Town 《飛越小鎮》

愛藝

Over the Town （oil on canvas， 45 cm × 56 cm， 1918） shows Chagall and his wife flying above Vitebsk， which is a small town where he grew up. Chagall is holding his wife close as she waves one hand open through the air. The homes below them are all the same color， except for one red house in the background. There are also wooden fences present around most of the homes. The sky is more of a white than a blue and both people are wearing darker clothes to make them stand out among all the light colors.

Chagall enjoyed creating pieces that showed him and his wife， Bella Rosenfeld Chagall， flying around in the air. Over the Town is a celebration of their love and how they became unified as a couple once married.

Thats how Chagalls fiancée， Bella， remembered the elation of their engagement：

I suddenly felt as if we were taking off. You too were poised on one leg， as if the little room could no longer contain you. You soar up to the ceiling. Your head turned down to me， and I turned mine up to you... We flew over fields of flowers， shuttered houses， roofs， yards， churches.

Over the Town is currently located at the Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow， Russia.? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ■

《飛越小鎮》（布面油畫，45厘米×56厘米，1918年）一畫描繪了夏加爾帶著妻子在小鎮維捷布斯克上空飛翔的情景，夏加爾就是在這個鎮子長大的。畫中，夏加爾緊緊抱著妻子，妻子伸出一只手在空中揮舞。除了背景中的一棟紅房子，他們身下的房子都是同樣的顏色。大多數房子四周還圍有木柵欄。天空與其說是藍色不如說是白色，兩人都穿著深色衣服，在淺色背景下格外醒目。

夏加爾喜歡創作表現他和妻子貝拉·羅森菲爾德·夏加爾在空中飛翔的畫作。《飛越小鎮》是為贊美他們的愛情和紀念他們結為夫婦而作。

貝拉還是夏加爾未婚妻時，曾這樣回憶他倆訂婚時的興奮喜悅之情：

我突然感覺我們像要飛起來了。你也擺出一條腿站立的姿勢，好像這個小小的房間再也容納不了你。你沖上天花板。你轉頭俯視我，我抬頭仰望你……我們飛過開滿鮮花的田野、門窗緊閉的房子、屋頂、庭院、教堂。

《飛越小鎮》現藏于俄羅斯莫斯科的特列季亞科夫畫廊。

Top 10 Most Common Errors by English Learners （1）

1. Articles

Indefinite and definite articles， or “a，” “an” and “the” as they are more commonly known， are difficult for even native English learners to keep straight. “The” is only used when youre talking about something that is known to both the writer and the reader， while “a” or “an” can be referring to anything. Confusing indeed. Additionally， “an” is only used before a vowel. Yet， why do you say an hour but a horse？ （“An” is used before a vowel sound， even if its not actually a vowel.）

2. Mass nouns

These are nouns that act “singular” but refer to more than one thing. A family or group is made up of more than one person， but functions like a single unit in sentences. Other often confused mass nouns are advice， news， garbage and water.

3. Adverbs vs. Adjectives

Confused by many native English speakers as well， English learners often mix up adverbs and adjectives. Well is an adverb， good is an adjective. So technically you ran well but your run was good and the test was good but went well.

4. Prepositions

These are difficult in every language because every language uses them a bit differently. In English， “IN” is used both for closed spaces and periods of time， “AT” is used for a specific time or place and “ON” is used to describe the surface something is on or a day.