Add the Final Touch

◎Micky

“畫龍點睛”出自唐朝張彥遠《歷代名畫記·張僧繇》。后用以比喻寫作文或講話時，于關鍵處用一兩警句點明要旨，使內容更為精辟有力。

南北朝時期，有一位畫家名叫張僧繇，他的繪畫技術非常高超,尤其善于人物故事畫和宗教畫。

據說，張僧繇在一座寺廟的墻上畫了四條龍，但沒有給龍點上眼珠。旁人問他為什么不點上眼珠，他說：“一旦點上眼珠，龍就會飛走。”大家認為他的話是無稽之談，再三勸他點上眼珠。張僧繇最終給四條龍中的兩條龍點上了眼珠。突然，天空電閃雷鳴，兩條點上眼珠的龍竟然真的飛走了，而另外兩條沒點眼珠的龍還留在墻壁上。

人們驚嘆不已。

Track 2

Zhang Sengyao, a painter of the Southern and Northern Dynasties, was well known for his excellent painting skills, especially good at drawing figure stories and religious paintings.

Legend has it that Zhang Sengyao painted four dragons on the wall of a temple, but he did not paint pupils to their eyes.When someone asked him why he didn’t paint pupils.He said, “if I did, the dragons would fly into the sky.” People considered his words1)absurd and repeatedly2)urged him to add pupils to the dragons’ eyes.He eventually did it on two of the four dragons.Suddenly, lightning and thunder struck, and the two dragons with pupils added to their eyes flew into the clouds.The other two remained on the wall.

People were amazed.

1) absurdadj.荒謬的

2) urgev.強烈要求；催促

True or False:

After Zhang Sengyao added the pupils to the eyes of the dragons, the four dragons flew into the clouds.

Know More

Mencius believed that when observing a person, one should look directly into his eyes because the eyes reveal his nature, be it good or evil.

When painting portraits, Gu Kaizhi in the Eastern Jin Dynasty did not add pupils to the eyes in haste for years.He stressed that the key to painting a vivid portrait lied in painting the eyes.

孟子認為，觀察一個人，最好觀察他的眼睛，因為眼睛最容易表露一個人內心的善良和丑惡。

東晉顧愷之畫人物，曾數年不肯輕易下筆點睛。他強調人物傳神之關鍵在于畫出眼神。