DNS, Sendmail, or Smail

[ttrimble@Win95.tdhs.com]

I know I'm very new to Linux, and there is quite a bit I haven't 
caught on to yet.  But, I have a problem that just isn't getting any 
better.  I have Debian 1.1 loaded, running kernel 2.0.6.  The machine 
I'm working in is not directly connected to the Internet, but does 
have a tcp/ip connection to a mail server that is connected.  I loaded 
Smail, and configured it with no DNS server, and all mail goes to the 
smarthost.  The objective is to run Majordomo on the Debian box and 
have all mail sent to the mail server for delivery, but Smail on the 
Debian box reports an error that domain name lookup failed, so my questions 
are.
1. Does Smail require a direct Internet connection to work ?

2. Can Majordomo run on a machine that is not directly connected to 
the Internet ?

3. Is there a way to set-up named to work as a local DNS only ?

Thank You all for your understanding and help;
Tim Trimble