DEEP DIVES

Today, Minecraft is made by a team of brilliant people in several places around the globe, but the game was born in Sweden and its Nordic roots have had a profound influence on its look and feel. You can see that influence in Minecraft’s pine forests, mushroom soup,snowy tundra, and most of all in today’s featured biome – the birch forest.
现如今的 Minecraft 已是由遍布全球各地的杰出团队来进行制作的了。不过，这款游戏出身于瑞典，它的北欧血统为游戏的外表和体验带来了深远的影响。游戏内有很多地方体现了这类影响：针叶林，蘑菇汤，积雪的冻原，以及今天要介绍的生物群系——桦木森林。

Minecraft's birch trees were added to the game in January 2011 in version Beta 1.2, at the same time as sugar cane, squid, and lapis lazuli. But it wasn’t until The Update That Changed The World that birch got a biome to call home. Today, in fact, there are four birch biomes in Minecraft.
Minecraft 里的白桦登场于 2011 年 1 月的 Beta 1.2 版本，这个版本也加入了甘蔗，鱿鱼和青金石。但是直到世界生成器更新^注2之后，白桦才有了属于自己的生物群系。事实上，在 Minecraft 里有四种白桦群系。

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The standard “birch forest” biome is the most common. Its terrain is hilly and – you guessed it – covered in birch trees, with their distinctive silvery bark. There’s also a “birch forest hills” variant, with hillier terrain. But if you want to live somewhere a bit more special, then hunt out a “tall birch forest” or “tall birch hills” biome, which are rarer but include old birch trees that reach much higher into the sky.
最常见的是标准的「桦木森林」。这种群系的地形多为丘陵，而且和你想的一样，表面被白桦树所覆盖，每棵白桦树上都有独特的银斑。有一种群系变种叫做「桦木森林丘陵」，那里的地形更加崎岖。不过，如果你想到一些比较特殊的地方生活的话，那么不如找找「高大桦木森林」或者「高大桦木丘陵」，这些生物群系更加稀有，但是生长着树龄较老的白桦树，它们的枝干高高伸展，直通云霄。

All of these biomes are home to the same flora and fauna. There are lots of birch trees (obviously), which make for good building material, and those who like to decorate their homes can harvest rose bushes, lilacs, dandelions, lilies of the valley poppies, and peonies. It’s home to sheep, pigs, chickens, and cows, as well as beehives – so you’ll always have some friendly company when you need it.
所有这些群系都有着同样的动植物构成。这里有许多的白桦树（当然），可以拿来做良好的建筑材料。而有家园装饰需求的，可以采摘到玫瑰丛、丁香、蒲公英、铃兰和牡丹。在这里还居住着羊、猪、鸡和牛，以及蜂巢——所以只要你想，总能找到友好的生物来陪伴你。

At night, though, you’ll want to watch out – the dense forest creates lots of places where spiders, zombies, skeletons, and creepers can spawn – as well as the occasional slime, witch, and enderman. Smart players will cut a well-lit clearing around their home before bedding down for the night, so they can spot any intruders when the morning comes.
不过，到了晚上，你可就得小心了——这片密集的丛林会产生蜘蛛、僵尸、骷髅和苦力怕，有时候还会生成是史莱姆、女巫和末影人。在夜幕降临前，聪明的玩家们就会在家的周围清出一片区域，并做好照明，然后才睡下去。这样，当清晨来临时，他们就能观察到所有的入侵者了。

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Scandinavia is well-known in the real world for its lowland birch forests, which can happily tolerate the colder temperatures. Birch-scented soaps, shampoos, and even drinks are very popular in the northernmost parts of Europe and Siberia. But offer some sympathy to allergy sufferers – birch pollen is probably the most common cause of tree pollen allergies, making life rubbish for about one in five hayfever sufferers every year.
在现实中，斯堪的纳维亚^注3便因其低地白桦林而闻名于世，那里的白桦可以轻松承受更低的温度。白桦芬芳的香皂、洗发露，甚至是饮料，在欧洲和西伯利亚极北地区大受欢迎。不过，我们也得同情一下有过敏体质的朋友——由桦木花粉引起的过敏或许是最常见的树木花粉过敏了，每年都有五分之一的花粉症患者因桦木花粉而饱受折磨。

It grows in the rest of the world too – all over Earth's northern hemisphere, from the shores of Greenland to southern Japan. And there are between 30 and 60 different species, from tiny dwarf birch bushes to the large silver and white birch trees. They’re particularly popular among butterflies and moths, which make their home among its bark and branches.
世界上的其他地方也生长有桦树——从格陵兰岛的海岸到日本南部，遍布整个北半球。而且，桦木的种类有 30 到 60 种之多，小的有矮桦灌木，大的有银桦白桦。蝴蝶和飞蛾最喜欢在桦木林生活，桦木的树皮和枝干最能吸引它们安家。

While Minecraft’s birch forests don’t feature any special structures or mobs, the plentiful building materials, subtle landscapes, and diverse wildlife make them an excellent place to set up home.
虽然 Minecraft 的桦木森林没有任何特殊的结构和生物，不过，这里有着丰富的建筑材料，精细的景观，以及多样的野生生物，足以成为定居的绝佳地点。

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注释

• 副标题中的"quite all white"，是"quite a while"的双关。鉴于这个双关梗非常的烂，译者也自己弄了个非常烂的双关梗以求信达雅。
• 世界生成器更新，即 1.7 版本。
  
• 斯堪的纳维亚，是欧洲西北部的一个大型半岛，有着瑞典、挪威、芬兰、丹麦等国家。
  
  

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【Ricolove 译自官网 2021 年 02 月 11 日发布的 Around the Block: Birch Forest；原作者 Duncan Geere】
【本文转载自 Ricolove 的公众号：https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/SkbjYoyNoidAFh795ubPZA】
【在移植时，排版借助了：SPX】

2021.12 数据，可能有更多内容

DEEP DIVESAround the Block: Birch Forest
群系漫游：桦木森林


It’s quite all white!
白年树人^注1


Today, Minecraft is made by a team of brilliant people in several places around the globe, but the game was born in Sweden and its Nordic roots have had a profound influence on its look and feel. You can see that influence in Minecraft’s pine forests, mushroom soup,snowy tundra, and most of all in today’s featured biome – the birch forest.
现如今的 Minecraft 已是由遍布全球各地的杰出团队来进行制作的了。不过，这款游戏出身于瑞典，它的北欧血统为游戏的外表和体验带来了深远的影响。游戏内有很多地方体现了这类影响：针叶林，蘑菇汤，积雪的冻原，以及今天要介绍的生物群系——桦木森林。


Minecraft's birch trees were added to the game in January 2011 in version Beta 1.2, at the same time as sugar cane, squid, and lapis lazuli. But it wasn’t until The Update That Changed The World that birch got a biome to call home. Today, in fact, there are four birch biomes in Minecraft.
Minecraft 里的白桦登场于 2011 年 1 月的 Beta 1.2 版本，这个版本也加入了甘蔗，鱿鱼和青金石。但是直到世界生成器更新^注2之后，白桦才有了属于自己的生物群系。事实上，在 Minecraft 里有四种白桦群系。


[album]
[aimg=https://www.minecraft.net/content/dam/games/minecraft/screenshots/birch-%20(3).jpg]--[/aimg][aimg=https://www.minecraft.net/content/dam/games/minecraft/screenshots/birch-%20(4).jpg]--[/aimg][aimg=https://www.minecraft.net/content/dam/games/minecraft/screenshots/birch-%20(2).jpg]--[/aimg]
[/album]


The standard “birch forest” biome is the most common. Its terrain is hilly and – you guessed it – covered in birch trees, with their distinctive silvery bark. There’s also a “birch forest hills” variant, with hillier terrain. But if you want to live somewhere a bit more special, then hunt out a “tall birch forest” or “tall birch hills” biome, which are rarer but include old birch trees that reach much higher into the sky.
最常见的是标准的「桦木森林」。这种群系的地形多为丘陵，而且和你想的一样，表面被白桦树所覆盖，每棵白桦树上都有独特的银斑。有一种群系变种叫做「桦木森林丘陵」，那里的地形更加崎岖。不过，如果你想到一些比较特殊的地方生活的话，那么不如找找「高大桦木森林」或者「高大桦木丘陵」，这些生物群系更加稀有，但是生长着树龄较老的白桦树，它们的枝干高高伸展，直通云霄。


All of these biomes are home to the same flora and fauna. There are lots of birch trees (obviously), which make for good building material, and those who like to decorate their homes can harvest rose bushes, lilacs, dandelions, lilies of the valley poppies, and peonies. It’s home to sheep, pigs, chickens, and cows, as well as beehives – so you’ll always have some friendly company when you need it.
所有这些群系都有着同样的动植物构成。这里有许多的白桦树（当然），可以拿来做良好的建筑材料。而有家园装饰需求的，可以采摘到玫瑰丛、丁香、蒲公英、铃兰和牡丹。在这里还居住着羊、猪、鸡和牛，以及蜂巢——所以只要你想，总能找到友好的生物来陪伴你。


At night, though, you’ll want to watch out – the dense forest creates lots of places where spiders, zombies, skeletons, and creepers can spawn – as well as the occasional slime, witch, and enderman. Smart players will cut a well-lit clearing around their home before bedding down for the night, so they can spot any intruders when the morning comes.
不过，到了晚上，你可就得小心了——这片密集的丛林会产生蜘蛛、僵尸、骷髅和苦力怕，有时候还会生成是史莱姆、女巫和末影人。在夜幕降临前，聪明的玩家们就会在家的周围清出一片区域，并做好照明，然后才睡下去。这样，当清晨来临时，他们就能观察到所有的入侵者了。


[album]
[aimg=https://www.minecraft.net/content/dam/games/minecraft/screenshots/birch-%20(1).jpg]--[/aimg][aimg=https://www.minecraft.net/content/dam/games/minecraft/screenshots/birch-%20(5).jpg]--[/aimg][aimg=https://www.minecraft.net/content/dam/games/minecraft/screenshots/birch-%20(6).jpg]--[/aimg]
[/album]


Scandinavia is well-known in the real world for its lowland birch forests, which can happily tolerate the colder temperatures. Birch-scented soaps, shampoos, and even drinks are very popular in the northernmost parts of Europe and Siberia. But offer some sympathy to allergy sufferers – birch pollen is probably the most common cause of tree pollen allergies, making life rubbish for about one in five hayfever sufferers every year.
在现实中，斯堪的纳维亚^注3便因其低地白桦林而闻名于世，那里的白桦可以轻松承受更低的温度。白桦芬芳的香皂、洗发露，甚至是饮料，在欧洲和西伯利亚极北地区大受欢迎。不过，我们也得同情一下有过敏体质的朋友——由桦木花粉引起的过敏或许是最常见的树木花粉过敏了，每年都有五分之一的花粉症患者因桦木花粉而饱受折磨。


It grows in the rest of the world too – all over Earth's northern hemisphere, from the shores of Greenland to southern Japan. And there are between 30 and 60 different species, from tiny dwarf birch bushes to the large silver and white birch trees. They’re particularly popular among butterflies and moths, which make their home among its bark and branches.
世界上的其他地方也生长有桦树——从格陵兰岛的海岸到日本南部，遍布整个北半球。而且，桦木的种类有 30 到 60 种之多，小的有矮桦灌木，大的有银桦白桦。蝴蝶和飞蛾最喜欢在桦木林生活，桦木的树皮和枝干最能吸引它们安家。


While Minecraft’s birch forests don’t feature any special structures or mobs, the plentiful building materials, subtle landscapes, and diverse wildlife make them an excellent place to set up home.
虽然 Minecraft 的桦木森林没有任何特殊的结构和生物，不过，这里有着丰富的建筑材料，精细的景观，以及多样的野生生物，足以成为定居的绝佳地点。

---

注释

• 副标题中的"quite all white"，是"quite a while"的双关。鉴于这个双关梗非常的烂，译者也自己弄了个非常烂的双关梗以求信达雅。
• 世界生成器更新，即 1.7 版本。
  
• 斯堪的纳维亚，是欧洲西北部的一个大型半岛，有着瑞典、挪威、芬兰、丹麦等国家。
  

---

【Ricolove 译自官网 2021 年 02 月 11 日发布的 Around the Block: Birch Forest；原作者 Duncan Geere】
【本文转载自 Ricolove 的公众号：https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/SkbjYoyNoidAFh795ubPZA】
【在移植时，排版借助了：SPX】