世界最迷你的小提琴：1.5英寸
A musician has created the world’s smallest violin, standing just an inch-and-a-half long, and is selling them for more than £1,000.一位音乐家制作出世界上最小的小提琴，这些小提琴只有1.5英寸，每个售价超过1000英镑。
David Edwards, who once played cello in the Scottish National Orchestra, gave up his professional music career to make doll’s house miniatures when he realised there was a gap in the market.
大卫·爱德华兹曾在苏格兰国家交响乐团演奏大提琴，后来当他发现玩偶之家微型玩具市场缺口后就放弃了了自己的音乐事业。
The miniaturist from Edinburgh has made his hobby a full-time career, creating hand-crafted pieces including mini everyday household items such as mini shaving brush and razor and kitchenware.
这位来自爱丁堡的微雕艺术家已经把这个爱好当成了自己的事业来经营，他制作了很多日用品微型作品，比如微型剃须刷、剃刀和厨房用具等。
The violins, based on the world-renowned Stradivarius, stand just one 12th of the normal size and can fetch a small fortune.
作为世界知名的弦乐器，这些迷你小提琴虽然只有正常小提琴的十二分之一，但每个都能小赚一笔。
Mr Edwards, 76, said: ‘I make ordinary things but of a very high quality. I know what a violin looks like, that’s why I have a big advantage over other people where making violins is concerned. There’s no doubt my miniature violins are the best in the world.’
76岁的爱德华兹说道：“我做的都是些日常物品，但都保持着高品质，这就是我的优势所在势。毫无疑问，我的迷你小提琴是世界上最好的。”
He began carving out his career in miniatures after making furniture for his daughter’s doll’s house.
他是在为女儿制作玩偶之家后开始微雕事业的。
He was a professional musician playing with the Covent Garden Orchestra, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, the Edinburgh Quartet and the Scottish National Orchestra before he decided to pursue his passion to become a miniaturist.
在他决定追求微雕事业前，他曾是考文特花园乐团、皇家爱乐乐团、爱丁堡四重奏乐团和苏格兰国家交响乐团的职业音乐家。
Mr Edwards has more than 100 different pieces in his collections and always keeps one piece from every batch he makes.
爱德华兹现在有100多种不同的作品，每一批作品他都会留下一件成品收藏。
Previously, he made miniatures to order but decided against it when his orders came stretched to seven years in advance. He decided it was easier to make the pieces in batches because there was worldwide demand for them.
在此之前，他会依订单制作，当他发现有人已经开始提前7年预定后，他决定成批制作，因为世界各地市场需求很大。
The craftsman uses materials such as pear wood, plumwood and ebony to create the pieces which take from two weeks to three months to make.
这位工匠师的制作材料包括梨木、李子木和乌木，制作过程从两星期到三个月不等。
In 2009 miniaturist Peter Riches sold a 23-room dolls house for £50,000, while some houses on the UK property market were for sale for less than that.
2009年，微雕艺术家彼得·理查斯制作的拥有23个房间的微雕玩具屋卖得50000英镑，而那时英国房地产市场的有些房价都没有那么高。
The mini mansion had its own servants’ quarters, a music room with grand piano, a hand-crafted games room with snooker table and a library with over 1,000 separately bound books, and took Mr Riches a painstaking 15 years to complete.
理查斯的微雕玩具屋包括仆人住所、一个带有三角钢琴的音乐室、一个台球室和带1000册不同封面书籍的图书室，整个微雕大厦制作耗时15年。