Retired racehorse finds calling as abstract painter 退休賽馬改行當抽象畫家

Retired racehorse finds calling as abstract painter
退休賽馬改行當抽象畫家
2013-06-21◎張沛元

The horse is an American icon. It races gracefully, performs heavy farm tasks, can do tricks and, if television is to be believed, may even talk. But only one is an accomplished painter.
馬是美國的象徵。牠的跑姿優雅，能從事繁重農務，也會耍把戲，而且要是電視說的事能信的話，馬甚至還會說話。但只有一匹馬是個成就斐然的畫家。

Metro Meteor, a 10-year-old thoroughbred bay in rural Maryland, is enjoying singular success. Within just months of applying his first brush stroke to paper, he is juggling requests for public appearances, weighing endorsement offers and earning thousands of dollars for his work.
（美國）馬里蘭州鄉下的10歲棗紅色純種馬Metro Meteor，就享有這項非凡成就。就在初次叼起畫筆作畫的幾個月，牠就得應付公開亮相的請求、評估各種代言邀約，還靠牠的畫作賺進數千美元。

Slowed by bad knees, the racehorse was retired in 2009 and adopted by Ron and Wendy Krajewski. Unable to ride the crippled horse, Ron, a local artist, decided to teach the horse to paint in order to spend more time with him.
由於膝蓋不佳拖累跑速，這匹賽馬在2009年退休，並被朗恩與溫蒂˙克拉傑斯基收養。因為無法騎乘這匹殘障馬，身為當地畫家的朗恩決定教導這匹馬畫畫，以便能有更多時間與牠相處。

The paintings caught on, and success ensued. Metro is now the best-selling artist at Gallery 30, a small shop in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, which started selling his work four months ago.
這些畫作大為流行，成功接踵而至。Metro如今是賓州蓋茲堡一家小藝廊Gallery 30的最暢銷畫家。該藝廊4個月前開始販售牠的畫作。（路透）

新聞辭典

calling：名詞，職業，天職。

accomplished：形容詞，熟練的、有造詣的。例句：He is an accomplished pianist.（他是一名有造詣的鋼琴家。）

catch on：慣用語，流行。例句：I think this funny phrase will catch on soon.（我想這個好笑的說法很快就會流行。）