What do table football, a doll's house and a remote-control car all have in common? They are all smaller versions of real things. And humans have long been intrigued by all things miniature. The Chinese ancient art of nut carving sees artists sculpt intricate designs, including microscopic people, into fruit or nut stones. English author Mary Norton wrote the fictional book series The Borrowers – they are tiny people who live secretly in the walls and floors of a normal-sized house. And then there are the online channels all about miniature cooking. 

桌上足球、娃娃屋和遥控车有什么共同点？ 它们都是真实事物的较小版本。 人类长期以来对所有微型事物都很感兴趣。 在中国古代的坚果雕刻艺术中，艺术家们将复杂的图案（包括微观人物）雕刻成水果或坚果核。 英国作家玛丽·诺顿（Mary Norton）撰写了小说系列《借款人》（The Borrowers）——他们是秘密生活在普通大小房子的墙壁和地板上的小人物。 还有一些关于微型烹饪的在线频道。

Valarmathi and Rajkumar, who run The Tiny Foods, film tiny versions of traditional Indian dishes being made, set amongst the backdrop of a minuscule village complete with teeny cooking utensils. Speaking to the BBC, Valarmathi says she was inspired by her grandmother who 'used to cook in really tiny pots'. Similarly, Kate Murdoch, who runs Tiny Kitchen, makes meals cooked on a hob that's powered by a tealight. Her videos include whisking eggs in a tiny mixing bowl and then cooking omelettes in pans the size of a postage stamp.

经营 The Tiny Foods 的 Valarmathi 和 Rajkumar 拍摄了制作传统印度菜肴的微型版本，背景是一个小村庄，配有微型炊具。 瓦拉玛蒂在接受 BBC 采访时表示，她的灵感来自于她的祖母，她“过去常常用非常小的锅做饭”。 同样，小厨房的经营者凯特·默多克 (Kate Murdoch) 也用小蜡烛驱动的炉灶做饭。 她的视频包括在一个小搅拌碗中搅拌鸡蛋，然后在邮票大小的平底锅中煮煎蛋卷。 

And then there's the art world… The miniature artist and photographer Tanaka Tatsuya has been rising to online fame. He takes everyday small objects and turns them into new fun-size dioramas. His creations include a face mask resembling lanes in a swimming pool, watermelon mountains and some penguins on an iceberg, which is in fact a bar of soap. 

然后是艺术世界……微型艺术家兼摄影师田中达也（Tanaka Tatsuya）在网上声名鹊起。 他将日常小物品变成新的有趣的立体模型。 他的创作包括一个类似于游泳池泳道的面罩、西瓜山和冰山上的一些企鹅，而冰山实际上是一块肥皂。 

So, why do we love small things? Simon Garfield, author of In Miniature, says that holding a scaled-down world in our hands, gives us a feeling of control and helps us understand what is too big to envision at full scale, like skyscrapers and railways. With models, we can observe, learn and appreciate what we have – with less. He discusses how the fascination may also relate to childhood. Toy dolls and plastic construction kits make us conquerors of worlds. 'We may never have such dominion over the world again, unless we continue the play into adulthood.' 

那么，我们为什么喜欢小东西呢？ 《缩影》一书的作者西蒙·加菲尔德表示，将一个按比例缩小的世界握在手中，会给我们一种掌控感，并帮助我们理解什么太大而无法按比例想象，例如摩天大楼和铁路。 有了模型，我们就可以用更少的钱观察、学习和欣赏我们所拥有的东西。 他讨论了这种迷恋如何与童年有关。 玩具娃娃和塑料建筑套件使我们成为世界的征服者。 “我们可能永远不会再对世界拥有这样的统治权，除非我们继续这种游戏到成年。” 

So, just like the worlds of art and literature, why not embrace a little love of miniature? 

那么，就像艺术和文学的世界一样，为什么不拥抱一点对微型模型的热爱呢？ 

词汇表

miniature 微型的，袖珍的
intricate 复杂精细的
microscopic 极小的，需要用显微镜才能看到的
tiny 微小的
normal-sized 正常尺寸的
backdrop 背景
minuscule 微小的，极小的
teeny 很小的
tealight 茶蜡
postage stamp 邮票
turn into 将…变成…
fun-size 比普通尺寸小的
diorama （重现故事场景或自然世界样貌的）立体透视模型
resemble 看起来像，与…相似
scaled-down 缩小比例的
full scale 全尺寸，原物大小
model 模型