But, in general, they toil with their jack-knives alone;  不过，一般说来，他们大都只用他们那种水手小刀来雕刻；

　　and, with that almost omnipotent tool of the sailor, they will turn you out anything you please, in the way of a mariner's fancy. 他们用了那只可以说是水手的万能工具，凭水手所能想象得出的技巧，就可以给你做出你所喜爱的一切东西来。

　　Long exile from Christendom and civilization inevitably restores a man to that condition in which God placed him, i.e. what is called savagery. 长期离开基督教地区与文明社会而流亡在外的人，必然地会回复到上帝曾经给他安置在那里的那种状态里，也就是所谓野蛮状态。

　　Your true whale-hunter is as much a savage as an Iroquois. 你这个真正的捕鲸者就跟一个易洛魁人一样的野蛮。

　　I myself am a savage, owning no allegiance but to the King of the Cannibals; and ready at any moment to rebel against him. 我自己就是个野蛮人，不过坦白地说，我还没有效忠生番王，而是准备随时反抗他。

　　Now, one of the peculiar characteristics of the savage in his domestic hours, is his wonderful patience of industry. 且说野蛮人在不野蛮的时候的特点之一，就是他具有令人惊叹的刻苦耐劳的精神。

　　An ancient Hawaiian war-club or spear-paddle, in its full multiplicity and elaboration of carving, is as great a trophy of human perseverance as a Latin lexicon. 在那种花样繁多和精工细刻的雕刻品中，一件古代的夏威夷的战棒或者枪桡，就跟一部拉丁辞典一样，是人类的坚持不挠精神的伟大纪念品。

　　For, with but a bit of broken sea-shell or a shark's tooth, that miraculous intricacy of wooden net-work has been achieved; 因为只用那么一点破碎的贝壳或者一只鲨鱼齿，就做出了那种奇迹似的错综复杂的木刻网状细工，

　　and it has cost steady years of steady application. 这可花了多少认真勤勉的岁月呵！

　　As with the Hawaiian savage, so with the white sailor-savage. 夏威夷的野蛮人如此，白种的野蛮化水手也如此。

　　With the same marvellous patience, and with the same single shark's tooth, of his one poor jack-knife, he will carve you a bit of bone sculpture,   他们都以这种不可思议的耐心耐性，使用这样一片鲨鱼牙骨，一把可怜的水手小刀，就给你雕出一点骨雕物来，

　　not quite as workmanlike, but as close packed in its maziness of design, as the Greek savage, Achilles's shield;  虽然不算怎样精巧，可是，就它那错综复杂的结构说来，却跟希腊的野蛮人所做的阿基利斯（阿基利斯——希腊神话，也是荷马的史诗《伊利亚特》中的英雄，据传说，他除脚踵外，全身刀枪不入。）盾牌一样结实，

　　and full of barbaric spirit and suggestiveness, as the prints of that fine old Dutch savage, Albert Durer. 而就其富有野蛮人的神韵和创造性说来，却可跟那位高尚的德国老野蛮人艾柏特·丢勒（艾柏特·丢勒（1471—1528）——德国画家，雕刻家，有“艺术王子”和“绘画大师”之称。）的版画相媲美。