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V. M.希利尔（1875—1931），美国著名的儿童教育家、科普作家，创建了卡尔弗特教育体系。他为孩子们编写了一套趣味盎然的历史、地理、艺术读物，即《写给孩子看的世界历史》《写给孩子看的世界地理》《写给孩子看的艺术史》。本文选自《写给孩子看的艺术史》。
SUPPOSE you were a sculptor and wanted to make a statue meaning thought. Thought is an idea. In grammar we would call it an abstract noun. How， then， could a sculptor make as solid a material as bronze or marble represent an abstract idea like thought？
Of course a sculptor could make a statue of a person sitting as one sits when thinking. He could label this statue “Thought”， but without the label it might just as well be “Sleep” or “Rest” or “Fatigue”.
The Greeks solved the problem in their way by imagining a goddess of thought or wisdom and then making a statue of the goddess. The statue would look wise， but still it would be just a likeness of a goddess， not of thought. Any thoughtful or wise-looking woman might serve for the model.
Let’s try another way. A person who does much thinking is generally able to think easily. Often， if he is a very wise and thoughtful person， you may not see him thinking at all. Probably he would not look as if he were thinking， because he could think so easily. He thinks with his brain and not with his muscles.
But watch a boy who is not very bright at his lessons trying to do an arithmetic problem. He does not think easily. He sticks out his tongue. He twists his legs about his chair. He bends his head on one side. He holds his pencil so tight that his fingers hurt. You can see him thinking because it is hard for him to do it.
假設你是一名雕塑家，那么如果让你雕刻一件表现“思想”的作品，你会怎么做呢？“思想”就是你大脑里面的观念、想法。在语法里它被称为“抽象名词”。现在的问题是，雕塑家是否可以雕刻出表现思想的作品呢？他们能够用青铜或者大理石这样具体的物质，去表现“思想”这种抽象的概念吗？
如果你要说形态，那么雕塑家肯定可以雕刻出一个人坐着思考的样子，这点当然没有问题。但是这座雕像必须有“思想”这个题目作为这个形象的标签，否则，你可以说它代表的是“睡觉”“休息”“疲惫”之类的形象，不是吗？
人们很早就开始寻找解决这个问题的路径，古希腊人有自己的方法——他们先想象出一位思想女神或智慧女神，然后制作出这个女神的雕像。这类雕像可以被雕刻得看上去很智慧，但是她们看起来也只是像女神，而不是“思想”。因此，用这种方法制作出的任何有思想，或者看起来很聪明的女性，都可以被当成这类雕像的模特儿了。
让我们来想想其他的办法吧。其实对于经常思考的人而言，思考问题是一件轻松的事情。因此对于真正有智慧、有思想的人，他在思考的时候可能你根本看不出来。正因为他思考问题时不费力，所以其他人很可能根本看不出来他在思考。当然，还有一个原因就是他是用头脑思考，而不是用我们可以看见的肌肉之类的在思考。
不过，如果你观察一个学习成绩不太好的小男孩做算术题，你很容易就会发现他在思考的时候一点儿也不轻松。他很可能会眉头紧锁，把腿盘在椅子上，头部侧向一边，手里紧紧地握住笔，甚至把手指都握疼了。仅仅从外表你就可以明显地看出他在思考，这是因为他思考的问题对于他来说太难了。
statue /'st?t?u?/ n. 雕塑，雕像
label /'le?bl/ v. 贴标签于;用标签标明
We carefully labeled each item with the contents and the date.
muscle /'m?sl/ n. 肌肉
arithmetic /?'r?θm?t?k/ n. 算术
twist /tw?st/ v.（使）弯曲变形 He grabbed me and twisted my arm behind my back.
Now， instead of the boy， imagine a cave man. His muscles are big and powerful. He is more like an animal than a man. As he is a man， however， he has a soul and sooner or later he will wonder about his life and what is going to come of it. Why is he here in this world？ What happens when he dies？ Does he just go out like a dying fire or does part of him live on in some other world that he knows nothing about？ He begins thinking， wondering， pondering with his brute-like mind. Even more than the schoolboy， you can see him thinking. The first thing you would say if you saw him would be， “How hard he is thinking！”
A statue of such a cave man would show thinking much better than a goddess of thought or a brilliant thinker. A sculptor who used this idea of showing thinking by a statue of some one trying hard to think， was a Frenchman. This sculptor died in 1917. His name was Auguste Rodin. His most famous statue is called “The Thinker”. It isn’t thinking—but a man thinking—a thinker. It is probably as near as any one can get to showing thinking or thought.
The statue is of a brute-like man. It isn’t smooth and pretty like Canova’s “Mercury”. It is roughly and strongly modeled. This rough modeling helps make the man look more brute-like and unused to thinking. He sits pondering， head in hand， pondering so intensely that even his toes are tightly clutching the ground.
Rodin loved contrasts. Often he carved delicate and beautiful forms as though they were just coming out of the uncarved marble block. The beauty is increased by the contrast of the finished part with the unfinished.
如果是這样，那么我们可以来想象一下洞穴人思考问题时的样子。洞穴人头脑简单、四肢发达、肌肉充满力量。相比我们现代人，他们更像动物一些。不过呢，他们的确是人，也有着自己的灵魂，而且迟早有一天会开始思考生命的价值，甚至是人生意义的问题。他会思考：自己为什么会来到这个世界上？死后会变成什么？是会消失得无影无踪，就像一团熄灭的火苗那样呢，还是会进入另外一个未知的世界继续生活呢？虽然洞穴人与动物的智力水平相差无几，但是他们已经会思考、质疑，并开始追问了。如果你遇到他们在思考，那么一眼就能看出来，因为他们在思考的时候比那位冥思苦想数学题的小男孩还要困难很多倍。假如你能看到这样场景下的一个洞穴人，你肯定想说的第一句话就是：“多么努力思考的人啊！”
与智慧女神或者思想家的雕像相比，一座洞穴人的雕像能够更好地表现这个“思考或思想”的概念。一位法国雕塑家就想到了这一点，并且很好地利用了这个方法雕刻出了一座正在思考的人物雕像。这个雕塑家的名字叫奥古斯特·罗丹，于1917年逝世。罗丹最著名的一件雕塑作品就是《思想者》，雕像表现的正是“思考”这一个抽象的概念。虽然雕像本身并不是“思考”，而是思想者——一个正在思考的人，但这可能是表现“思想”这个概念的所有作品中，最贴近这个抽象概念本身的作品了。
这座《思想者》雕像中的人物，是一个大脑尚不发达、智力还没有发育完全的野人。这座雕像与卡诺瓦的《墨丘利》那座平滑圆润的雕像相比简直是天渊之别，罗丹雕刻的《思想者》显得非常粗糙，不过意境却相得益彰，粗糙的模型使得人物看起来更加粗野，也更加凸显了雕塑人物不善于思考的一面。这个野人坐在那儿，用一只手撑着下巴，用力地想啊想。因为想得太费力，也太专注，连脚趾头都紧紧地抓着地面，用力地绷着。
罗丹喜欢对比。在雕像完成后，罗丹常常保留后面剩下的、未经雕刻的大理石块。于是罗丹的外形精美的雕像，看上去就像是从大理石里天然长出来似的，而已雕刻和未雕刻的大理石部分又很鲜明地形成了对比，从而更加突显出了雕像的美感。
soul /s??l/ n. 灵魂
ponder /'p?nd?（r）/ v. 沉思;考虑;琢磨
They are pondering whether the money could be
better used elsewhere.
brilliant /'br?li?nt/ adj. 聪颖的
clutch /kl?t?/ v. 紧握;抓紧
contrast /'k?ntrɑ?st/ n. 对比
SUPPOSE you were a sculptor and wanted to make a statue meaning thought. Thought is an idea. In grammar we would call it an abstract noun. How， then， could a sculptor make as solid a material as bronze or marble represent an abstract idea like thought？
Of course a sculptor could make a statue of a person sitting as one sits when thinking. He could label this statue “Thought”， but without the label it might just as well be “Sleep” or “Rest” or “Fatigue”.
The Greeks solved the problem in their way by imagining a goddess of thought or wisdom and then making a statue of the goddess. The statue would look wise， but still it would be just a likeness of a goddess， not of thought. Any thoughtful or wise-looking woman might serve for the model.
Let’s try another way. A person who does much thinking is generally able to think easily. Often， if he is a very wise and thoughtful person， you may not see him thinking at all. Probably he would not look as if he were thinking， because he could think so easily. He thinks with his brain and not with his muscles.
But watch a boy who is not very bright at his lessons trying to do an arithmetic problem. He does not think easily. He sticks out his tongue. He twists his legs about his chair. He bends his head on one side. He holds his pencil so tight that his fingers hurt. You can see him thinking because it is hard for him to do it.
假設你是一名雕塑家，那么如果让你雕刻一件表现“思想”的作品，你会怎么做呢？“思想”就是你大脑里面的观念、想法。在语法里它被称为“抽象名词”。现在的问题是，雕塑家是否可以雕刻出表现思想的作品呢？他们能够用青铜或者大理石这样具体的物质，去表现“思想”这种抽象的概念吗？
如果你要说形态，那么雕塑家肯定可以雕刻出一个人坐着思考的样子，这点当然没有问题。但是这座雕像必须有“思想”这个题目作为这个形象的标签，否则，你可以说它代表的是“睡觉”“休息”“疲惫”之类的形象，不是吗？
人们很早就开始寻找解决这个问题的路径，古希腊人有自己的方法——他们先想象出一位思想女神或智慧女神，然后制作出这个女神的雕像。这类雕像可以被雕刻得看上去很智慧，但是她们看起来也只是像女神，而不是“思想”。因此，用这种方法制作出的任何有思想，或者看起来很聪明的女性，都可以被当成这类雕像的模特儿了。
让我们来想想其他的办法吧。其实对于经常思考的人而言，思考问题是一件轻松的事情。因此对于真正有智慧、有思想的人，他在思考的时候可能你根本看不出来。正因为他思考问题时不费力，所以其他人很可能根本看不出来他在思考。当然，还有一个原因就是他是用头脑思考，而不是用我们可以看见的肌肉之类的在思考。
不过，如果你观察一个学习成绩不太好的小男孩做算术题，你很容易就会发现他在思考的时候一点儿也不轻松。他很可能会眉头紧锁，把腿盘在椅子上，头部侧向一边，手里紧紧地握住笔，甚至把手指都握疼了。仅仅从外表你就可以明显地看出他在思考，这是因为他思考的问题对于他来说太难了。
statue /'st?t?u?/ n. 雕塑，雕像
label /'le?bl/ v. 贴标签于;用标签标明
We carefully labeled each item with the contents and the date.
muscle /'m?sl/ n. 肌肉
arithmetic /?'r?θm?t?k/ n. 算术
twist /tw?st/ v.（使）弯曲变形 He grabbed me and twisted my arm behind my back.
Now， instead of the boy， imagine a cave man. His muscles are big and powerful. He is more like an animal than a man. As he is a man， however， he has a soul and sooner or later he will wonder about his life and what is going to come of it. Why is he here in this world？ What happens when he dies？ Does he just go out like a dying fire or does part of him live on in some other world that he knows nothing about？ He begins thinking， wondering， pondering with his brute-like mind. Even more than the schoolboy， you can see him thinking. The first thing you would say if you saw him would be， “How hard he is thinking！”
A statue of such a cave man would show thinking much better than a goddess of thought or a brilliant thinker. A sculptor who used this idea of showing thinking by a statue of some one trying hard to think， was a Frenchman. This sculptor died in 1917. His name was Auguste Rodin. His most famous statue is called “The Thinker”. It isn’t thinking—but a man thinking—a thinker. It is probably as near as any one can get to showing thinking or thought.
The statue is of a brute-like man. It isn’t smooth and pretty like Canova’s “Mercury”. It is roughly and strongly modeled. This rough modeling helps make the man look more brute-like and unused to thinking. He sits pondering， head in hand， pondering so intensely that even his toes are tightly clutching the ground.
Rodin loved contrasts. Often he carved delicate and beautiful forms as though they were just coming out of the uncarved marble block. The beauty is increased by the contrast of the finished part with the unfinished.
如果是這样，那么我们可以来想象一下洞穴人思考问题时的样子。洞穴人头脑简单、四肢发达、肌肉充满力量。相比我们现代人，他们更像动物一些。不过呢，他们的确是人，也有着自己的灵魂，而且迟早有一天会开始思考生命的价值，甚至是人生意义的问题。他会思考：自己为什么会来到这个世界上？死后会变成什么？是会消失得无影无踪，就像一团熄灭的火苗那样呢，还是会进入另外一个未知的世界继续生活呢？虽然洞穴人与动物的智力水平相差无几，但是他们已经会思考、质疑，并开始追问了。如果你遇到他们在思考，那么一眼就能看出来，因为他们在思考的时候比那位冥思苦想数学题的小男孩还要困难很多倍。假如你能看到这样场景下的一个洞穴人，你肯定想说的第一句话就是：“多么努力思考的人啊！”
与智慧女神或者思想家的雕像相比，一座洞穴人的雕像能够更好地表现这个“思考或思想”的概念。一位法国雕塑家就想到了这一点，并且很好地利用了这个方法雕刻出了一座正在思考的人物雕像。这个雕塑家的名字叫奥古斯特·罗丹，于1917年逝世。罗丹最著名的一件雕塑作品就是《思想者》，雕像表现的正是“思考”这一个抽象的概念。虽然雕像本身并不是“思考”，而是思想者——一个正在思考的人，但这可能是表现“思想”这个概念的所有作品中，最贴近这个抽象概念本身的作品了。
这座《思想者》雕像中的人物，是一个大脑尚不发达、智力还没有发育完全的野人。这座雕像与卡诺瓦的《墨丘利》那座平滑圆润的雕像相比简直是天渊之别，罗丹雕刻的《思想者》显得非常粗糙，不过意境却相得益彰，粗糙的模型使得人物看起来更加粗野，也更加凸显了雕塑人物不善于思考的一面。这个野人坐在那儿，用一只手撑着下巴，用力地想啊想。因为想得太费力，也太专注，连脚趾头都紧紧地抓着地面，用力地绷着。
罗丹喜欢对比。在雕像完成后，罗丹常常保留后面剩下的、未经雕刻的大理石块。于是罗丹的外形精美的雕像，看上去就像是从大理石里天然长出来似的，而已雕刻和未雕刻的大理石部分又很鲜明地形成了对比，从而更加突显出了雕像的美感。
soul /s??l/ n. 灵魂
ponder /'p?nd?（r）/ v. 沉思;考虑;琢磨
They are pondering whether the money could be
better used elsewhere.
brilliant /'br?li?nt/ adj. 聪颖的
clutch /kl?t?/ v. 紧握;抓紧
contrast /'k?ntrɑ?st/ n. 对比