By+Anna

Back in the fifteenth century， in a tiny village near Nuremberg， lived a family with eighteen children. Eighteen！ In order to keep food on the table for this group， the father and head of the household， a goldsmith by profession， worked almost eighteen hours a day at his trade and any other paying chore he could find in the neighborhood.

Despite their seemingly hopeless condition， two of the elder children， Albrecht Durer and Albert Durer， had a dream. They both wanted to pursue their talent for art， but they knew full well that their father would never be financially able to send either of them to Nuremberg to study at the academy.

After many long discussions at night in their crowded bed， the two boys finally worked out a pact. They would toss a coin. The loser would go down into the nearby mines and， with his earnings， support his brother while he attended the academy. Then， when that brother who won the toss completed his studies， in four years， he would support the other brother at the academy， either with sales of his artwork or， if necessary， also by laboring in the mines.

They tossed a coin on a Sunday morning after church. Albrecht Durer won the toss and went off to Nuremberg.

Albert went down into the dangerous mines and， for the next four years， financed his brother， whose work at the academy was almost an immediate sensation. Albrechts etchings， his woodcuts， and his oils were far better than those of most of his professors， and by the time he graduated， he was beginning to earn considerable fees for his commissioned works.

When the young artist returned to his village， the Durer family held a festive dinner on their lawn to celebrate Albrechts successful homecoming. After a long and memorable meal， punctuated with music and laughter， Albrecht rose from his honored position at the head of the table to drink a toast to his beloved brother for the years of sacrifice that had enabled Albrecht to fulfill his ambition. His closing words were，“And now， Albert， blessed brother of mine， now it is your turn. Now you can go to Nuremberg to pursue your dream， and I will support you.”

All heads turned in eager expectation to the far end of the table where Albert sat， tears streaming down his pale face， shaking his lowered head from side to side while he sobbed and repeated over and over，“No... no... no... no.”

Finally， Albert rose and wiped the tears from his cheeks. He glanced down the long table at the faces he loved， and then， holding his hands close to his right cheek， he said softly，“No， brother. I cannot go to Nuremberg. It is too late for me. Look... look what four years in the mines have done to my hands！ The bones in every finger have been smashed at least once， and lately I have been suffering from arthritis so badly in my right hand that I cannot even hold a glass to return your toast， much less make delicate lines on parchment or canvas with a pen or a brush. No， brother... for me it is too late.”endprint

More than 450 years have passed. By now， Albrecht Durers hundreds of masterful portraits， pen and silver！ point sketches， watercolors， charcoals， woodcuts， and copper engravings hang in every great museum in the world， but the odds are great that you， like most people， are familiar with only one of Albrecht Durers works. More than merely being familiar with it， you very well may have a reproduction hanging in your home.

One day， long ago， to pay homage to Albert for all that he had sacrificed， Albrecht Durer painstakingly drew his brothers abused hands with palms together and thin fingers stretched skyward. He called his powerful drawing simply“Hands”， but the entire world almost immediately opened their hearts to his great masterpiece and renamed his tribute of love“The Praying Hands”.

15世紀(jì)的時(shí)候，一個(gè)有18個(gè)孩子的家庭生活在德國紐倫堡附近的一個(gè)小村莊里。18個(gè)孩子啊！身為一家之主的父親是一個(gè)金匠，為了不讓孩子們挨餓，他每天工作將近18個(gè)小時(shí)，還在附近打打零工。

雖然生活艱難，前途渺茫，但年長一些的阿爾布雷特·丟勒和他兄弟艾伯特還是有夢想的。他們都想發(fā)揮自己的藝術(shù)天賦，但他們知道，父親無法供他們兩個(gè)中的一人到紐倫堡的專業(yè)院校學(xué)習(xí)。

晚上兩兄弟在擁擠的床上進(jìn)行了多次長談后，有了一個(gè)約定。他們決定拋硬幣。輸?shù)娜艘礁浇牡V場工作，用所得收入供贏的人上學(xué)。贏的人完成四年的學(xué)業(yè)后，要售賣自己的藝術(shù)品，或者必要的話，去礦場工作，用賺來的錢供輸?shù)男值苌蠈W(xué)。

一個(gè)周日早上做完禮拜后，他們拋了硬幣。阿爾布雷特·丟勒贏了，去了紐倫堡。

在接下來的四年里，艾伯特一直在做危險(xiǎn)的礦場工作，以資助他的兄弟。阿爾布雷特·丟勒的作品很快在學(xué)校出名了，他的蝕刻、木版畫和油畫比大多數(shù)教授的作品還要出色。畢業(yè)時(shí)，他的作品已經(jīng)賣了很多錢。

當(dāng)這個(gè)年輕的藝術(shù)家回到家鄉(xiāng)時(shí)，丟勒一家在自家草坪上舉行了晚宴，以慶祝阿爾布雷特學(xué)成歸來。這場難忘的晚宴在音樂和歡笑聲中持續(xù)了很長時(shí)間。飯后，阿爾布雷特·丟勒從桌前的榮譽(yù)座起身，向他親愛的兄弟艾伯特敬酒，感謝他這幾年的犧牲使自己得以圓夢。最后他說：“艾伯特，我的兄弟，現(xiàn)在輪到你了，你可以去紐倫堡追夢了，我會支持你的。”

所有人都轉(zhuǎn)過頭去看坐在桌子末端的艾伯特，他面色蒼白，淚流滿面。他搖了搖低著的頭，抽泣著不斷重復(fù)說：“不……不用了……”

最后，艾伯特站了起來，擦掉眼淚，掃了一眼長桌上在座的親人，然后把手緊緊貼著右臉，輕聲說：“不用了，兄弟，我不能去紐倫堡了，太遲了?？纯此哪甑牡V工工作把我的手弄成什么樣了！我每個(gè)手指都至少骨折過一次，最近右手還患上了嚴(yán)重的關(guān)節(jié)炎，現(xiàn)在的我連舉杯回敬你都做不到，更不用說用筆或刷子在羊皮紙或帆布上畫出精致的線條了，不，兄弟……一切都太遲了?！?/p>

轉(zhuǎn)眼450多年過去了。如今，阿爾布雷特·丟勒的幾百幅大師級肖像畫、鋼筆及銀尖筆素描、水彩、炭筆素描、木版畫和銅版畫在世界各大博物館中展覽。但奇怪的是，你可能和大多數(shù)人一樣，只對他的一幅作品很熟悉，而且不僅僅是熟悉，你家很可能掛著它的復(fù)制品。

很久以前的一天，為了對艾伯特的付出表示敬意，阿爾布雷特·丟勒讓艾伯特雙手合十，指尖朝上，非常心痛地畫下了他那雙飽經(jīng)摧殘的雙手，并將其簡單命名為“手”，但世界各地的人們都被這幅作品感動，并將這幅向愛致敬的畫作重新命名為“祈禱之手”。endprint