doesn't mean it's not there."

「目に見えないからといって 存在しないわけではない」

My work is -- it's a reflection of myself.

こんな古いことわざがある

What I wanted to do is to

私の作品は 自分自身を反映したものだ

show the world that the little things

私がやりたかったのは

can be the biggest things.

小さなものが 大きなことになり得ると

We all seem to think that,

世界に示すこと

you know, if we look down on the ground, there's nothing there.

人間って誰でも地面を見下ろすと

And we use the word "nothing."

そこには何もないって思いがちだね

Nothing doesn't exist, because there is always something.

人は「何もない」って言うけど

My mother told me that, when I was a child,

必ず何かがあるので 何もないなんてない

that I should always respect the little things.

子どもの頃 母は言った

What made me do this work? I shall go into my story.

小さなものへの尊敬を忘れるなってね

This all started when I was age five.

この仕事を始めたきっかけを話そう

What made me do it? At school, I will admit this:

それは５歳のときのことだった

academically, I couldn't express myself.

正直に言うと 学校では

So I was, more or less, classed as "nothing."

自分を表現できない子どもで

My world was seen as less.

「何もない」子どもとして見られていたんだ

So I decided I didn't really want to be a part of that world.

私の世界は 低くみられてた

I thought, I need to retreat

だからそんな世界にはいたくなくて

into something else.

どこか逃げ場が

So when my mother used to take me to school,

必要だと思ったんだ

she thought I was at school,

私を学校に連れて行った母は

and I used to do a U-turn, when her back was turned,

私が学校にいると思い込んでいたけど

and run off and hide in the shed at the back of the garden.

私は家へと引き返して

Now, the one time I was in the shed,

さっと 庭の物置へと隠れてた

and my mother suspected something,

物置に隠れていたあるとき

thinking I was at school.

母は何かを感じ取ったようだった

My mother was like the woman in Tom and Jerry.

私は学校にいると思っていたようだけどね

So you'd just see her feet.

母はトムとジェリーに出てくる女の人のようだった

(Laughter)

足しか見えないのさ

So I was hiding in the shed, like that.

（笑）

And all of a sudden ...

だから私は物置にこんな感じで隠れていたら

And then I saw her legs.

突然…

And then she said -- grabbed me like that, because my mother was quite big --

母の足が目に入ってきた

and she lifted me up and she says,

体が大きかった母は私をこうやってつかみ

"How come you're not at school?"

持ち上げて言ったんだ

I told her I couldn't face it because the way

“なんで学校にいないんだい？”

the teacher was treating me, ridiculing me,

先生が優しくしてくれず

and using me as an example of failure.

自分が馬鹿にされたり

So I told her.

落ちこぼれだと言われていると

At that age, obviously, I couldn't express it that way,

母に伝えた

but I told her I didn't feel right.

でも 当時はそのようにうまく言えず

And then she just said, "You're going back to school tomorrow."

気分がよくないと伝えたんだ

And walked off. And I didn't expect that,

母は“明日は行くんだよ” とだけ言った

because I expected one of these ...

予想外だったね

But I didn't get it.

ひどくしかられるだろう って思ったから…

So I'm sitting there thinking.

でも違ったんだ

And as I looked down on the ground,

それで 私はそこに座って考えた

I noticed there was some ants running around.

地面を見たら

And I went into this little fantasy world.

アリがいるのに気がついた

And I thought,

そして空想の世界へと入り込んだ

"These ants, are they looking for the queen ant?

私はこう思ったんだ

Or do they need somewhere to live?"

“女王アリを探しているのかな”

So I thought "Perhaps,

“それとも 家が必要なの？”

if I made these ants some apartments,

“僕がアリの家をつくったら―”

they'll move in."

“きっと アリは”

(Laughter)

“引っ越してくるんじゃないかな”

So I did.

（笑）

And how I set about that, I got some splinters of wood.

それで 家をつくったんだ

And I sliced the little splinters of wood with a broken shard of glass,

木のとげを集めてきて

constructed this little apartment.

ガラス片で切り裂いた

Well it looked like a little shanty shed when I'd finished.

そして 小さなアパートを作ったのさ

But I thought, perhaps the ant won't know, it'll probably move in.

出来あがったとき 掘っ立て小屋のようにしか見えなかったけど

And so they did.

アリは住んでくれるんじゃないかと思ったよ

That was a bit crude, at the time. And I made all these little apartments

予想通りだったね

and little merry-go-rounds, seesaws and swings, little ladders.

出来は良くなかったけど それから小さなアパートや

And then I encouraged the ants to come 'round by putting sugar and things like that.

メリーゴーランド　シーソー　ブランコ　 梯子などを作ったんだ

And then I sat down and all the ants came along.

アリに住んでもらいたくて 砂糖でおびき寄せたりもした

And all I could hear was "Is this for us?"

座って様子を伺っていると アリがやって来て

(Laughter)

“僕たちに作ってくれたの？” って言うのさ

And I say, "Yes, they're all for you."

（笑）

And they moved in, and decided not to pay me any rent.

“君たちのお家だよ” って答えると

(Laughter)

アリはそこで暮らし始めたんだ　 家賃は払ってくれなかったけど

And from there I was watching this little world.

（笑）

It became part of me.

それ以来 この小さな世界を見てるってわけ

When I discovered that I had this gift,

私の一部になったんだ

I wanted to experiment with this world

このような才能に気づいたとき

that we can't see.

目には見えない世界を

So I realized that there was more to life

作りだしたいと思った

than just everything that we see around us that's huge.

私たちを取り囲む大きなものだけではなく

So I started to educate myself on this molecular level.

もっと人生には大切なことがあると 気づいたのさ

And as I got older, I continued. I showed my mother.

それで私は小さな分子のような物について独学を始めた

My mother told me to take it smaller.

大きくなってからも続け 母に見せたら

Now I shall show you something here.

もっと小さくしたらと言われたんだ

And I'll explain.

ここで作品をお見せしよう

As you can see,

ここで作ったのは

that's a pinhead.

ご覧の通り

(Laughter)

ピンの頭さ

(Applause)

（笑）

Now that is called the Huf Haus.

（拍手）

The gentleman who commissioned me to do this

これはハフ ハウスという作品

was a gentleman called Peter Huf.

作品の依頼をしてきた紳士が

And he says to me "Willard, can you put my house on a pinhead?"

ハフさんという方でね

(Laughter)

“ピンの頭に家を作れるかな？” って尋ねてきた

So I say, "How are you going to fit in there?"

（笑）

(Laughter)

“そんなに小さかったら入れないだろう” って 返したさ

And then he said to me,

（笑）

"I don't believe you can do it. Can you really do it?"

そしたら彼は言った

And I says, "Well, try me."

“作れると思わないな　本当にできるかい？”

And then he said, "But I don't believe that you can do this." So I said, "OK."

“できるとも”

So, to cut a long story short,

”いや できるとは思えないな”という彼に ”わかったよ”と答えたね

I went home, went underneath the microscope,

手短にいうと

and I crushed up a piece of glass,

家に帰って

crushed it up.

ガラス片を砕いたんだ

And underneath the microscope

それを

there were splinters of glass.

顕微鏡で見た

Some of them were quite jagged.

ガラス片をね

So I was crushing up these pieces of glass,

ギザギザしてた

which, as you can see,

ガラス片を粉々にして

that's the actual frame of the house.

ここでわかるように

And the actual roof is made up of a fiber,

家のフレームにしたのさ

which I found in my sister's old teddy bear.

屋根は本物の繊維だ

(Laughter)

姉のテディベアから取ったのさ

So I got the teddy bear and I said,

（笑）

"Do you mind if I pull out one of your fibers?"

テディベアには尋ねたよ

So I did.

“繊維をもらってもいいかな？” ってね

And I looked at it beneath the microscope. And some of it was flat.

繊維を拝借して

So I decided to slice these up

顕微鏡で見たら 平らな繊維が見つかった

with the tool that I make

その繊維を切り裂いた

by -- I sharpen the end of a needle into a blade.

針の先を鋭く研いで作った―

And then I actually

道具を使って切り裂いた

slow down my whole nervous system.

だんだん私の神経は

And then I work between my heartbeat,

落ち着いてきた

I have one-and-a-half seconds

鼓動と鼓動の間に仕事をするのさ

to actually move.

作業ができるのは

And at the same time I have to watch I don't inhale

1.5秒なんだ

my own work, at the same time.

気をつけなくちゃいけないのは

(Laughter)

息を吸って 作品を吸い込まないこと

(Applause)

（笑）

Because that has happened to me.

（拍手）

(Laughter)

吸い込んじゃったことがあるからね

So what I did, like I said, come back to the glass.

（笑）

I found these little bits of glass.

ガラスの話に戻ると

And I had to make them square.

この小さなガラス片を

So I'm thinking "How can I do this?"

どうにか四角い形にしたかった

So what I did, I got an oilstone. Broke the edge of an oilstone off.

どうやってやろうかと思案してた

And what I did, I took pieces of glass. And I started to rub them.

オイルストーンを手に入れ 角を砕き

I used a little tweezer which I made from a hair clip.

ガラス片をこすり始めた

And I built rubber around the end of the tweezer so it wouldn't crush the glass.

髪留めで作ったピンセットを使うんだけど

And then I started rubbing, very very gently,

ガラスを割らないように ピンセットにはゴムを巻き付けた

till some of the edges were quite square. And then I constructed it.

そして優しくこすり始めたんだ

And how I constructed it,

形が四角になるまでこすってから組み立てた

is by making grooves in the top of the pinhead.

組み立て方は

And then pushing the glass in with its own friction.

ピンの頭に 溝をつけて

And as I was doing it, what happened?

その中に摩擦でガラスが入り込むようにした

The instrument that I used turned into a catapult.

その作業をしてるとき

And it went like this ...

使っていた道具が射出機のようになって

And then that was it.

ピョーンと飛んでしまった

(Laughter)

時すでに遅し

Gone.

（笑）

So I'm thinking, "Mr. Huf isn't going to be very happy

失くしちゃったのさ

when I told him his house has gone to another,

“家を失くしたって言ったら”

into the atmosphere somewhere."

“ハフさんは よく思わないだろうなあ”

So to cut the story short,

どっかに飛んで行ってしまったんだから…

I decided that I had to go back and do it.

結局わたしは

So I found some more. And I decided to, sort of,

もう一度やり直すことにしたんだ

construct it very, very slowly,

飛び散った一部を見つけたので

holding my breath, working between my heartbeat,

ゆっくりと組み立てることにした

and making sure everything is leveled.

息を止めて 心臓の鼓動の間に手を動かし

Because it's such a small sculpture,

全てが平らなことを確かめながらね

nothing can go wrong.

あまりにも小さいから

And I decided to build it up.

間違いは許されないんだ

Then I used fibers out of my jumper,

組み立てることを決めて

which I held and stretched.

ジャンパーの繊維を使った

And made the beams going around the house.

その繊維を伸ばして

And the actual windows and the balcony

家の周りの梁を作った

had to be sort of constructed.

窓とバルコニーを

I used a money spider's web

組み立てなくてはいけなかった

to actually attach certain things,

サクラグモの糸を

which sent me insane.

糊の代わりに使ったんだけど

But I managed to do it.

厄介で しょうがなかった

And when I finished it, I came back the next day.

どうにかやりとおしたけどね

I noticed that the house was occupied.

家を完成させた翌日

Have we ever heard of a dust mite?

住人がいることに気づいたんだ

Darren dust mite and his family moved in.

塵ダニの声を聞いたことがある方は？

(Laughter)

塵ダニ一家が引っ越してきたんだ

So basically I'd completed the house.

（笑）

And there you are.

こうやって家を完成させた

(Applause)

ほらね

(Laughter)

（拍手）

Right. As you can see,

（笑）

Bart Simpson is having a little argument.

ご覧の通り

I think they're arguing about the space on the pin.

バート・シンプソンが何やら怒っているね

There's not enough room for the two of them.

ピンの頭のスペースに関して議論しているようだ

So I didn't think he was going to throw Bart off.

二人分なんてないぞってね

I think he was just warning him actually.

バートを突き落とすつもりはなかったと思う

But this one was made out of a nylon tag

きっと脅してたんだろうね

out of my shirt.

これは わたしのナイロン製のシャツから

What I did, I plucked the tag out

生地をはぎ取って作ったんだ

and put it underneath the microscope.

タグを取って

I used the needle which has got a slight blade on the end.

顕微鏡で覗き

Can anybody see the blade on the end of that needle?

先が刃のようになった針を使った

Audience: No.

針の先の刀が見えるかな？

WW: So what I did is the same process where I

客席： いいえ

just kind of hold my breath

ここでも同じように

and just work away very, very slowly,

息を止めて

manipulating the plastic, cutting it, because it behaves different.

ゆっくりと仕事を続けるんだ

Whenever you work on that level, things behave different.

プラスチックを使って 切ったり 工夫が必要

Because it's on this molecular level things change

これだけの作業になると 予想がつかないこともある

and they act different.

分子レベルになると普通のようにはいかず

And sometimes they turn into little catapults and things go up in the air.

違った性質をもつんだ

And, you know, all different things happen.

時にはピョーンと飛んだり 空中に投げだされてしまう

But I had to make a little barrier, going around it, out of cellophane,

いろんなことが起こるのさ

to stop it moving.

セロファンを使って固定できるように

Then static electricity set in.

周囲に囲いをつけたら

And it went ...

静電気が起きて

And I'm trying to remove it. And the static is interfering with everything.

大変だった

So there is sweat dripping off my head,

静電気には困ったね

because I have to carve Homer Simpson like that, in that position.

額から汗がしたたり落ちたよ

And after I've cut out the shape,

ホーマー・シンプソンを あんな格好に削らないといけないからね

then I have to make sure that there is room for Bart's neck.

その形に削った後

So after I've done the same thing,

バートの首の部分のスペースも 確保しなくちゃいけない

then I have to paint it.

同じことをした後に

And after I've actually sculpted them,

色を塗るんだ

I have to paint them.

彼らを彫ってから

I experimented with a --

色を塗るんだ

I found a dead fly.

死んだハエを使って

And I plucked the hair off the fly's head.

ある事を試した

Decided to make a paintbrush.

ハエの頭から毛を抜いて

(Laughter)

筆にすることにしたんだ

But I would never do it to a living fly.

（笑）

(Laughter)

生きているハエには 絶対にしないよ

Because I've heard a fly in pain.

（笑）

And they go "Meow! Ow!"

ハエが苦しんでいるのが聞こえたのさ

Even though they get on our nerves,

“痛いよー” ってね

I would never kill an insect

彼らには イライラさせられるけど

because, "All creatures great and small" --

わたしは 虫を殺しはしない

there is a hymn that says that.

“生き物は大きくても小さくても”

So what I decided to do

そんな讃美歌があるしね

is to pluck fine hair out of my face.

だから 自分の顔のうぶ毛を

And I looked at it underneath the microscope.

抜くことにしたんだ

That was the paintbrush.

顕微鏡で覗いて

And whilst I'm painting I have to be very careful,

筆にすることにした

because the paint starts to turn into little blobs.

色をつけるときは慎重にしないとだめだ

And it starts to dry very quickly.

ペンキがダマになってしまうんだ

So I have to be very quick.

それにすぐに乾いてしまう

If I'm not, it will end up looking

素早く作業をしないといけない

not like what it's supposed to look like.

じゃないと なるべき姿に

It could end up looking like Humpty Dumpty or somebody else.

近づけないんだ

So I have to be very very careful.

ハンプティダンプティのようになっちゃうからね

This one took me approximately,

だから 十分気をつけなくちゃいけない

I would say, six to seven weeks.

これは完成までに

My work, rough estimate,

６、７週間かかった

sometimes five, six to seven weeks;

作品はだいたい

you can't always anticipate.

５～７週間くらいで完成させる