中國(guó)網(wǎng)站品牌欄目（頻道）
沒有最小，只有更小。這也許就是微雕迷格雷厄姆?肖特所追求的目標(biāo)。年過花甲的肖特一生沉迷于微雕，螺絲釘和曲別針的尖端都是他挑戰(zhàn)的對(duì)象。多少個(gè)萬籟俱寂的夜晚，他總是“靜靜地”伏案精雕細(xì)作，每一筆出手，都仿佛在“心跳停止的瞬間”。最近，肖特又給我們帶來了驚喜：號(hào)稱世界上最小的微雕作品。它刻在哪里？刻的什么內(nèi)容？我們一起去探個(gè)究竟吧！
By Phillip Lumberton
天心 選 湯寶莉 譯
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The world’s smallest engraving by human hand has been completed on the edge of a razor blade. Graham Short etched the motto “Nothing is impossible” which measures just a tenth of a millimetre. The letters are invisible to the naked eye, and can only be read with a medical microscope at 400 times magnification. Engraving at such a level requires almost superhuman effort and dedication to remain completely still. It took Mr. Short, 64, around 150 attempts before he was able to complete it. He was only able to work at night, when traffic vibrations are at a minimum, with his right arm bound to the arm of his chair with a luggage strap to minimise unwanted movement. He uses a stethoscope to monitor his heart, attempting a stroke[1] of the letter only between beats, when his body is perfectly still. He swims 10,000 metres a day and can slow his heart rate to 30 beats a minute. He worked from midnight to 5:30 am most nights of the week, for seven months on his razor blade. The Wilkinson’s Sword[2] blade is now available to buy, with a ￡47,500 price tag. Mr. Short, a copper and steel engraver by profession. He is, by his own admission, obsessed with miniature engravings. He has perfected a technique of etching letters onto microscopic surfaces—including the tip of a screw, the head of a pin and the pointed end of a paperclip. Now he believes he can go no smaller. “I honestly think this is as small as it’s possible to with the human hand,” said Mr. Short. “Since I started engraving in the early 1960s, I’ve always wanted to engrave smaller than anyone else in the world. And now I think I’ve done it. It’s a matter of minute[3] amounts of pressure. I admit I’ve become a bit obsessed by it, but I just can’t resist the idea of going smaller and smaller. When I finished the razor blade I was absolutely thrilled. I had been almost there so many times and then ruined it with one slip[4]. This was probably the 150th blade, but I must admit I lost count.” Mr. Short, from Birmingham, says that many years of swimming have boosted his fitness levels and mean his heart rate is just 30 at rest.[5] He sits still for 90 minutes, breathing slowly before each microscopic engraving session to fully calm his body. He works with a magnifying glass and says the relentless strain on his eyes is beginning to take its toll.[6] His first major microscopic achievement was engraving The Lord’s Prayer, all 278 letters and of it, on the head of a gold pin. He says there are 1,841 separate engraved strokes, each of which must be perfect. He put the 35-word 2nd Amendment of the American Bill of Rights onto the firing pin[7] indentation of a silver bullet. He inscribed “Birmingham city of a thousand trades” on the tip of a brass screw. And onto the pointed end of a standard paperclip he managed to fit Shakespeare’s “All the world’s a stage: And all the men and women merely players,” from As You Like It. And for the World Cup he’s catalogued on a single football stud all the England goal scorers from Wilf Mannion in 1950 to Steven Gerrard.[8] “Compared to a razor blade that was easy, but there were still 36 names to fit in,” said Mr. Short. Engraving takes up many of his hours, but he says his second wife Luba is right behind him. “Nobody else is mad enough to do it, but she positively encourages me.” |
世界上最小的手工雕刻作品是在一片剃須刀的刀刃上完成的。格雷厄姆?肖特在刀刃上刻下了“一切皆有可能”的名言，其長(zhǎng)度只有0.1毫米。肉眼根本看不見這些字母，需要借助醫(yī)學(xué)顯微鏡放大四百倍才能瞧得清楚。如此高水準(zhǔn)的微雕作品要求其雕刻者付出超人般的努力、具備非凡的定力，才能保證身體紋絲不動(dòng)。 64歲的肖特先生在完成最終的成品之前，試刻過大約150次。他只能在夜深人靜的時(shí)候工作，這時(shí)來往車輛所帶來的震動(dòng)最小。肖特用一根行李帶將自己的右臂綁到椅子扶手上，以最大限度地減少不必要的動(dòng)作。他使用聽診器檢測(cè)自己的心跳，在兩次心跳之間，當(dāng)身體完全靜止時(shí)，他才下刀刻上字母的一個(gè)筆畫。肖特先生每天游泳1萬米，這樣心跳的次數(shù)可降到每分鐘30次。整整七個(gè)月的時(shí)間，每周的大部分夜晚，肖特都從午夜工作到凌晨五點(diǎn)半，對(duì)著剃須刀刃精雕細(xì)琢?，F(xiàn)在這片“威爾金森之劍”牌子的刀片已經(jīng)上架銷售，明碼標(biāo)價(jià)47,500英鎊。 肖特先生是一名專業(yè)的銅器和鋼鐵雕刻師。肖特本人卻表示自己十分醉心于微雕。他已練就了在微觀物體表面雕刻字母的絕佳技藝，包括雕刻螺絲釘?shù)募舛?、飾針的頂部和曲別針的尖端?，F(xiàn)在他覺得自己刻不了更小的東西了。 “坦誠(chéng)地說，我認(rèn)為這是人類手工雕刻能處理的極限了，”肖特先生說，“自從20世紀(jì)60年代早期我開始雕刻以來，就總想比世界上其他任何人都雕刻得更小?，F(xiàn)在，我覺得我已經(jīng)做到了。只是感到有一點(diǎn)點(diǎn)兒壓力。我承認(rèn)自己有點(diǎn)兒沉溺其中，但我就是忍不住想刻得越來越小。完成剃須刀刃的時(shí)候，我確實(shí)激動(dòng)不已。好多次，我都差一點(diǎn)兒成功，卻總是一個(gè)失誤就功虧一簣。完成的這個(gè)差不多是第150枚刀片，但我得承認(rèn)還有很多我都忘了數(shù)?！?/p> 肖特先生來自伯明翰。他談到多年的游泳鍛煉增強(qiáng)了他的身體素質(zhì)，這意味著他的心率在休息時(shí)僅有每分鐘30次。每次開始雕刻之前，肖特會(huì)靜坐90分鐘，放慢呼吸，讓身體完全平靜下來。由于使用放大鏡雕刻，肖特表示用眼過度已開始損壞他的視力。 肖特第一件主要的微雕作品是“上帝的祈禱文”，共計(jì)278個(gè)字母，刻在一枚金飾針的頂端。肖特說這件作品上共有1,841個(gè)單獨(dú)的筆畫，每一筆都必須完美無瑕。他還在一顆銀子彈被撞針撞擊的凹痕處刻下了美國(guó)《權(quán)利法案》的第二條修正案，共計(jì)35個(gè)單詞。 肖特還在一個(gè)黃銅螺絲釘?shù)募馍系窨塘恕安骱彩校邪贅I(yè)”的字樣。在一個(gè)標(biāo)準(zhǔn)曲別針的尖端，他成功地刻下了莎士比亞《皆大歡喜》中的名句“全世界是一個(gè)大舞臺(tái)，所有的男男女女只不過是演員”。他還專門為了世界杯，在一個(gè)足球飾釘上編刻了英格蘭隊(duì)所有的進(jìn)球明星，從1950年的威爾福?曼尼恩到史蒂文?杰拉德?！氨绕鹛觏毜度校@容易多了，但也得刻上36個(gè)名字呢，”肖特先生如是說。 微雕占用了肖特大量的時(shí)間，但他說自己的第二任妻子魯巴十分支持他?！皼]有人會(huì)像我這么瘋狂地去做微雕，然而她卻毅然決然地鼓勵(lì)我?！?/p> （來源：英語學(xué)習(xí)雜志） |
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Vocabulary: 1. stroke: （寫字、繪畫的）一筆。 2. Wilkinson's Sword: 威爾金森之劍是英國(guó)威爾金森刀具公司出產(chǎn)的一個(gè)剃須刀品牌。 3. minute: 微小的。 4. slip: 過失，失誤。 5. Birmingham: 伯明翰，英格蘭中部的工業(yè)城市，是僅次于倫敦的第二大城市；boost: 增強(qiáng)，提高。 6. strain: 過度勞累；take its toll: 造成損失。 7. firing pin: （手槍的）撞針。 8. catalogue: 將……編入目錄，記載；stud: 飾釘，飾紐；Wilf Mannion: 威爾福?曼尼恩（1918—2000），被認(rèn)為是米德爾斯堡隊(duì)“最了不起的球員”；Steven Gerrard: 史蒂文?杰拉德(1980— ),現(xiàn)效力英格蘭老牌俱樂部利物浦，是球隊(duì)核心和精神領(lǐng)袖。 |
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