VOA标准英语2014--Army of Tiny Soldiers Replicates Battle of Waterloo

 

Army of Tiny Soldiers Replicates¹ Battle of Waterloo

FAIRFAX, VIRGINIA —

Next year marks the bicentennial of the Battle of Waterloo, when French emperor Napoleon Bonaparte was defeated by an international force led by England and Prussia. Just in time for the observance, a retired² U.S. military officer is recreating the battlefield - in miniature, with a quarter-million tiny hand-painted soldiers.

“Each soldier is approximately six millimeters high or one quarter of an inch,” said Steve St. Clair, who has been painstakingly³ painting those tiny figures for 20 years.

So far he has 250,000 of them.

”Actually it is one of the most decisive battles in military history. It ended the Napoleonic era, number one. Number two, it had units from so many different countries in so many different uniforms.  I thought that will be very interesting to paint,” he said.

St. Clair grew up in a military family and served in the Army for 25 years.  He says painting figures is a way to balance his life.

“One of my specialties⁴ was anti-terrorism, which was a very stressful job. And when I come home, this was a way to relax because you can literally⁵ turn your mind off and just paint the figures,” he said.

The soldiers are recreated in precise historical detail, down to the colors of ornaments⁶ on their uniforms.

”I am painting the plumes⁷ on the top of the helmets of the soldiers from grenadier companies. They would have red plumes,” St. Clair said.

“Painting the figures actually is one step of rather long process. First of all, quite a bit of time is spent on research knowing what the units wore. The most complicated figures are Scottish highlanders with their plaid kilts.”  

The Waterloo pieces are stored in a chest of drawers in his basement. St. Clair said, so far, he has put 20,000 man hours of work in the collection.

“Compulsive maybe but not obsessive⁸. There is a bit of difference," he said. "Obsessive means I have to paint every day and do this exclusion⁹ of other things. I have a lot of different hobbies.”

An estimated 200,000 soldiers fought at the Battle of Waterloo. St. Clair painted the extras so he could stage multiple battle poses.

The figures laid out on this model terrain¹⁰ represent about four percent of his entire collection. St. Clair says he would need an area about 190 square meters to put everything on display.

“There are no other collections in the world of a quarter-million figures. By the end of this year all of the extra should be done,” he said.

St. Clair wants to donate his creation to a museum but so far has no takers. But he hopes his tiny troops will find a home and can be on display for the bicentennial celebration of the Battle of Waterloo next year.

1 replicates   

复制( replicate的第三人称单数 )； 重复； 再造； 再生

参考例句：

• The bluetongue virus replicates in the insect. 蓝舌病病毒在这种昆虫体内繁殖。
• The chameleon's skin replicates the pattern of its surroundings. 变色龙的皮肤可随环境的模式而改变颜色。

2 retired   

adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的

参考例句：

• The old man retired to the country for rest.这位老人下乡休息去了。
• Many retired people take up gardening as a hobby.许多退休的人都以从事园艺为嗜好。

3 painstakingly   

adv. 费力地 苦心地

参考例句：

• Every aspect of the original has been closely studied and painstakingly reconstructed. 原作的每一细节都经过了仔细研究，费尽苦心才得以重现。
• The cause they contrived so painstakingly also ended in failure. 他们惨淡经营的事业也以失败而告终。

4 specialties   

n.专门，特性，特别；专业( specialty的名词复数 )；特性；特制品；盖印的契约

参考例句：

• Great Books are popular, not pedantic. They are not written by specialists about specialties for specialists. 名著绝不引经据典，艰深难懂，而是通俗易读。它们不是专家为专业人员撰写的专业书籍。 来自英汉 - 翻译样例 - 文学
• Brain drains may represent a substantial reduction in some labor force skills and specialties. 智力外流可能表示某种劳动力技能和特长大量减少。 来自辞典例句

5 literally   

adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实

参考例句：

• He translated the passage literally.他逐字逐句地翻译这段文字。
• Sometimes she would not sit down till she was literally faint.有时候，她不走到真正要昏厥了，决不肯坐下来。

6 ornaments   

n.装饰( ornament的名词复数 )；点缀；装饰品；首饰v.装饰，点缀，美化( ornament的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• The shelves were chock-a-block with ornaments. 架子上堆满了装饰品。
• Playing the piano sets up resonance in those glass ornaments. 一弹钢琴那些玻璃饰物就会产生共振。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 plumes   

羽毛( plume的名词复数 )； 羽毛饰； 羽毛状物； 升上空中的羽状物

参考例句：

• The dancer wore a headdress of pink ostrich plumes. 那位舞蹈演员戴着粉色鸵鸟毛制作的头饰。
• The plumes on her bonnet barely moved as she nodded. 她点点头，那帽子的羽毛在一个劲儿颤动。

8 obsessive   

adj. 着迷的, 强迫性的, 分神的

参考例句：

• Some people are obsessive about cleanliness.有些人有洁癖。
• He's becoming more and more obsessive about punctuality.他对守时要求越来越过分了。

9 exclusion   

n.拒绝，排除，排斥，远足，远途旅行

参考例句：

• Don't revise a few topics to the exclusion of all others.不要修改少数论题以致排除所有其他的。
• He plays golf to the exclusion of all other sports.他专打高尔夫球，其他运动一概不参加。

10 terrain   

n.地面，地形，地图

参考例句：

• He had made a detailed study of the terrain.他对地形作了缜密的研究。
• He knows the terrain of this locality like the back of his hand.他对这一带的地形了如指掌。