中國網站品牌欄目（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。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的對象。多少個萬籟俱寂的夜晚，他總是“靜靜地”伏案精雕細作，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：號稱世界上最小的微雕作品。它刻在哪里？刻的什么內容？我們一起去探個究竟吧！
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，其長度只有0.1毫米。肉眼根本看不見這些字母，需要借助醫學顯微鏡放大四百倍才能瞧得清楚。如此高水準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。 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候工作，這時來往車輛所帶來的震動最小。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作。他使用聽診器檢測自己的心跳，在兩次心跳之間，當身體完全靜止時，他才下刀刻上字母的一個筆畫。肖特先生每天游泳1萬米，這樣心跳的次數可降到每分鐘30次。整整七個月的時間，每周的大部分夜晚，肖特都從午夜工作到凌晨五點半，對著剃須刀刃精雕細琢。現在這片“威爾金森之劍”牌子的刀片已經上架銷售，明碼標價47,500英鎊。 肖特先生是一名專業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，包括雕刻螺絲釘的尖端、飾針的頂部和曲別針的尖端。現在他覺得自己刻不了更小的東西了。 “坦誠地說，我認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。現在，我覺得我已經做到了。只是感到有一點點兒壓力。我承認自己有點兒沉溺其中，但我就是忍不住想刻得越來越小。完成剃須刀刃的時候，我確實激動不已。好多次，我都差一點兒成功，卻總是一個失誤就功虧一簣。完成的這個差不多是第150枚刀片，但我得承認還有很多我都忘了數。” 肖特先生來自伯明翰。他談到多年的游泳鍛煉增強了他的身體素質，這意味著他的心率在休息時僅有每分鐘30次。每次開始雕刻之前，肖特會靜坐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278個字母，刻在一枚金飾針的頂端。肖特說這件作品上共有1,841個單獨的筆畫，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《權利法案》的第二條修正案，共計35個單詞。 肖特還在一個黃銅螺絲釘的尖上雕刻了“伯明翰市，千行百業”的字樣。在一個標準曲別針的尖端，他成功地刻下了莎士比亞《皆大歡喜》中的名句“全世界是一個大舞臺，所有的男男女女只不過是演員”。他還專門為了世界杯，在一個足球飾釘上編刻了英格蘭隊所有的進球明星，從1950年的威爾福?曼尼恩到史蒂文?杰拉德。“比起剃須刀刃，這容易多了，但也得刻上36個名字呢，”肖特先生如是說。 微雕占用了肖特大量的時間，但他說自己的第二任妻子魯巴十分支持他。“沒有人會像我這么瘋狂地去做微雕，然而她卻毅然決然地鼓勵我。” （來源：英語學習雜志） |
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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威爾金森刀具公司出產的一個剃須刀品牌。 3. minute: 微小的。 4. slip: 過失，失誤。 5. Birmingham: 伯明翰，英格蘭中部的工業城市，是僅次于倫敦的第二大城市；boost: 增強，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），被認為是米德爾斯堡隊“最了不起的球員”；Steven Gerrard: 史蒂文?杰拉德(1980— ),現效力英格蘭老牌俱樂部利物浦，是球隊核心和精神領袖。 |
