On Sunday, Willa bought an old paintbrush. She found it at the flea market. It cost two coins. The handle was dark wood. The hairs were soft and blue at the tips. The woman at the stall said only one thing. "It likes to paint what is true."
星期天，薇拉买了一支旧画笔。她是在跳蚤市场上找到的，只花了两个硬币。笔杆是深色的木头，笔毛很软，尖端是蓝色的。摊位上的女人只说了一句话。“它喜欢画真实的东西。”
Willa did not understand. But the brush felt good in her hand. So she bought it.
薇拉没听懂。但是画笔握在手里很舒服，所以她买下了它。
On Wednesday, she went to her painting class. It was in the park. The teacher put a bowl of apples on a table. Everyone sat on the grass with paper and paint.
星期三，她去上绘画课。课在公园里上。老师在桌子上放了一碗苹果。大家坐在草地上，面前是纸和颜料。
Willa dipped the new brush in water. She drew a gray cloud at the top. It was a small cloud. She made it softer with one stroke.
薇拉把新画笔蘸了蘸水。她在上方画了一朵灰色的云。那是一朵小云。她轻轻一笔，让它变得更柔和。
Then something touched her hand. It was cold and wet. She looked at the paper. A small drop of water sat on the cloud. She looked up at the sky. It was clear and blue.
这时有什么东西碰到了她的手，又冷又湿。她看了看纸。云上有一小滴水。她抬头看天。天空晴朗湛蓝。
"That is strange," she said to herself.
“真奇怪，”她自言自语。
She put the brush in the yellow paint. She made a sun. The paper grew warm under her hand. It felt like a cup of tea. She smiled.
她把笔放进黄色颜料里，画了一个太阳。纸在她手下变得暖暖的，像一杯茶。她笑了。
"What a nice sun," said the girl next to her. The girl's name was Nora. "Mine looks like a lemon."
“好漂亮的太阳，”她旁边的女孩说。女孩名叫诺拉。“我的看起来像柠檬。”
Willa wanted to say, "Mine is a magic sun." But she kept quiet.
薇拉很想说：“我的是魔法太阳。”可是她没有出声。
Next, she painted a small blue bird on a branch. She finished the last feather. Then she heard a sound. It was very quiet. It was just one note. Tweet.
接着，她在树枝上画了一只蓝色的小鸟。她画完了最后一根羽毛。然后她听到了一个声音，非常轻，只有一个音符。啾。
Willa looked around. No one else heard it. The teacher walked past and looked at the apples. The other students bent over their papers.
薇拉环顾四周。没有别人听到。老师从旁边走过，看着那些苹果。其他同学都低头看着自己的纸。
Willa laughed softly. The old woman was right. The brush painted what was true. Or maybe it made true what she painted. She did not know. She only knew she loved it.
薇拉轻轻地笑了。那位老太太说得对。这支笔画的是真实的东西。或者，是它让她画的东西变成了真的。她不知道。她只知道她爱它。
She painted a tiny house. A light came on in its window.
她画了一间小小的房子。窗子里亮起了灯。
After half an hour, Nora called out, "Oh no!" Her painting was wet. Her red apple ran down the paper in long lines. A cloud sat over the picture, and it rained. Willa saw her own gray cloud on Nora's paper. The brush was still in her hand.
半小时后，诺拉喊了起来：“哎呀，不好！”她的画湿了。她的红苹果顺着纸面流下一道道长长的线。一朵云停在画的上方，下起了雨。薇拉在诺拉的纸上看到了她自己画的那朵灰云。画笔还在她手里。
"I am so sorry," Willa said. "My brush did that."
“真对不起，”薇拉说，“是我的画笔干的。”
"Your brush?" Nora asked. "Don't be silly. The paper is just wet."
“你的画笔？”诺拉问，“别傻了。是纸被弄湿了而已。”
Willa did not argue. She painted a bright sun on her own paper. Then she held the brush over Nora's picture. A warm light fell on it. Slowly, the paper dried. The red apple stopped running. Nora's mouth fell open.
薇拉没有争辩。她在自己的纸上画了一个明亮的太阳。然后她把画笔举到诺拉的画上方。一道温暖的光落在画上。慢慢地，纸干了。红苹果不再流淌。诺拉张大了嘴。
"How did you do that?" she said.
“你是怎么做到的？”她说。
"I think it is a good brush," said Willa.
“我想这是一支好画笔，”薇拉说。
At the end, the teacher walked around the circle. She stopped at Willa's painting. It showed the sun and the cloud. It showed the bird and the house. The teacher looked at it for a long time.
最后，老师绕着大家围成的圈走了一圈。她在薇拉的画前停了下来。画里有太阳和云，有小鸟和房子。老师看了很久。
"This is very alive," she said quietly.
“这幅画非常有生命力，”她轻声说。
Willa dipped the brush in brown paint one more time. She painted a small cup of tea. The smell of mint filled the air. She lifted the paper. She slid it across the grass to her teacher.
薇拉又把画笔蘸上棕色颜料，画了一小杯茶。薄荷的香气弥漫在空气中。她拿起画纸，在草地上把它滑到老师面前。
The teacher picked up the cup. She smiled and took a sip.
老师拿起那只杯子。她微笑着，喝了一小口。
