The northern Esquimaux live in houses built of snow or ice; but the huts in the south of Greenland are made of stone or wood, and covered with brush, turf, and earth. In the summer they live in tents made of skins. It is not uncommon to find several families crowded together in the smallest possible space, where they eat, drink, and sleep, with fish and flesh lying all around, and dogs reposing on every side.
北方的爱斯基摩人住在冰或雪建造起来的房子里；但是格陵兰岛南部的棚屋则是用石头或木头建造的，上面覆盖着灌木丛，草皮和土。夏天，他们会住在兽皮搭制的帐篷里。人们可以经常看到这样的很常见的场景：几个家庭挤在一个狭小的空间，吃，喝，睡都在一起，鱼和肉遍布于他们的周围，猎狗随处可见。
The food of the Esquimaux includes almost every animal found within their region, but the seal and the walrus are their principal support for nine months of the year. Their improvidence often reduces them to terrible straits. Captain Parry speaks of meeting with some who had no food, and who, to keep themselves from starvation, were devouring the very skins which composed their clothes!
爱斯基摩人的食物几乎包括了他们居住区域内所有的动物，但是海豹和海象是它们一年内长达九个月的主要食物。浪费现象常常让他们处于可怕的饥饿困境之中。队长帕里曾经说过，他曾遇到过几个没东西吃的人，为了免于饿死，他们甚至在吞噬自己身上做成衣服的兽皮!
The children are carried about by the mother very carefully on her back, in a fur hood, until they are two or three years of age, and then they take care of themselves, being expected to imitate what they see their elders do. A boy very early has a bow and arrows put into his hands, that he may practise shooting at a mark. Towards his tenth year his father provides him with a kayak, that he may initiate him in the arts of rowing, rising, oversetting and coming up again, fowling, fishing, and all those dexterous feats in which he is himself skilled. In his sixteenth year he is expected to accompany his father in seal-catching; and his first seal is made the occasion of great festivity. The girls at fourteen years of age are required to sew, cook, and dress leather; and two or three years later they must learn to row the woman's boat, and build houses!
爱斯基摩族的母亲们把自己的孩子放在一个皮袋子里，小心地随身背着他们，直到孩子两三岁后，父母才期望他们能模仿着大人的样子自己照顾自己。男孩的手里很早就握有弓和箭，而且还会在标记的地方练习射箭。等到孩子十岁时，父亲还会给他一个爱斯基摩人用的小皮艇，让他开始学习划船，学着如何逆流而上，学着如何在翻船之后再次准备出发，还让他学习捕鸟、钓鱼等其他必备的生存技巧。等到了十六岁，他就要随着父亲出去捕猎海豹；而他捕猎到的第一只海豹则会迎来一场欢宴。女孩们十四岁时就要学会缝补、烹饪。并且开始穿皮装；两三年后，她们必须学会划行女人使用的船并且还要学会建造房屋！
The traffic of the Greenlanders is, of course, limited to a very small number of articles. They not unfrequently load their sledges and boats with various commodities, and start off with their families on a trading expedition. They often stay away for a year or more, during which time they build a house in the neighbourhood of some settlement.
当然了，格陵兰人的交通局限于一个非常狭小的范围内。他们经常驾驭着载有各种物品的雪橇和小船，带着全家人行进在物品交易的探险征途上。他们常常离家一年多，期间他们会在附近建造一所房子做暂时的安顿。
They rarely cheat, much less rob, each other; but they think it fair, and even to the credit of their shrewdness, to cheat Europeans, or steal from them all they can! The blubber and skins which they sell to them are in exchange for almost any article manufactured from iron or steel. They are ignorant of the value of gold, which they do not prize more than tin or brass; but iron, in any shape, is invaluable to them.
爱斯基摩人之间很少会相互欺骗，更不会去抢劫；但是，他们相信自己的精明，欺骗欧洲人，或者说从外人身上偷些东西等行为，在他们看来，这都是公平合理的，他们甚至坚信这样做是正确的！他们卖给欧洲人的鲸油和皮子都用来交换铁质或钢质的各种物品。他们对黄金的价值一无所知，觉得它的价值不高于锡或黄铜；但是，对他们来说，任何形状的铁都是非常贵重的。
The Esquimaux are not without their festivities. The chief of these is called the Sun Feast, at the winter solstice, to celebrate the reappearance of the sun, and the renewal of hunting and fishing opportunities. Throughout the country they assemble together in companies, and do their best in the way of entertainment.
爱斯基摩人并非没有自己的节庆活动，其中最主要的就是太阳节——冬至那天，他们会庆祝太阳的再次出现，并且会庆祝可以恢复狩猎和钓鱼活动。那天，全体的爱斯基摩人都聚集在一起，尽情娱乐享受。
The perfection to which the Esquimaux carry such work as they attempt is quite wonderful, when we consider the scarcity of material and the want of emulation and of any division of labour among them. Their houses are built with mathematical regularity, and are well adapted for securing warmth and protection against the encroachments of the weather.
当我们考虑到爱斯基摩人资源的匮乏，竞争的需要，以及当中劳动分工的需要时，他们从事这些工作的完美就相当绝妙了。他们按照数学的规律来建造房屋，让其很好的适应保温，免受恶劣天气的侵袭。
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