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Thanksgiving Day

感恩节

Thanksgiving Day is a very important traditional holiday in America. On the fourth Thursday of each November, families and friends gather together for the occasion to celebrate with a traditional turkey dinner, usually in the mid-afternoon. Thanksgiving Day originated as a celebration of the year’s harvest and is similar to the Mid-Autumn Festival in China.

感恩节是美国一个很重要的传统节日。每年11月的第四个星期四,人们都会与家人、朋友欢聚一堂,下午3时左右吃传统的火鸡大餐。该节日最初主要是为了庆祝一年的丰收,与中国的中秋节有些相似。

This American tradition started in 1621 before the United States of America was established. It was a huge celebration for a hard-earned harvest in the first year after the first group of immigrants arriving in the New World.

这个美国传统节日始于1621年,美国成立以前。来源于美洲新大陆第一批移民为庆祝到达新大陆之后第一年的辛苦劳作获得的丰收而举行的盛大宴会。

On September 6，1620，the Mayflower ship set sail from Plymouth, Devon, England, taking all the English Pilgrims to the New World. The English Pilgrims numbered about a hundred people, and left England to escape religious persecution. They had earlier fled their home in England and sailed to Holland (The Netherlands) to escape religious persecution. There, they enjoyed more religious tolerance，but they eventually became disenchanted with the Dutch way of life, thinking it ungodly. Seeking a better life, the Separatists negotiated with a London stock company to finance a pilgrimage to America.

1620年9月6日，一批不堪忍受国内宗教迫害的英国清教徒乘坐“五月花”号从英格兰德文郡普利茅斯出发，开始了驶向美洲新大陆的航行。这批清教徒大约有100人。他们最初逃亡到荷兰。在荷兰，他 们享受到了更多的宗教信仰自由，但最终却意识到在荷兰的这种生活方式是对他们的主的亵渎。为了寻求更好的生活,他们与伦敦贸易公司协商,由该公司资助他们到美国。

The Pilgrims sailed sixty-six days, arrived in the New World in November of the same year. They first settled m a cornfield abandoned by Native Indians and named it Plymouth Plantation.

淸教徒们在海上航行了 66天,终于在当年的11月到达美洲新大陆。他们最初在当地印第安人废弃的一个玉米地安顿下来，并把它命名为“普利茅斯种植园”。

They worked on the land with much difficulty and were beset by a devastating plague in which half of the Pilgrim died in the long winter of 1620. In the spring of 1621，an Indian brave named Squanto and her Wampanoag tribe came to their help. The tribe taught the Pilgrims how to woric the earth and plant com, beans, pumpkins and other crops.

在1620年那个寒冷而漫长的冬天,他们在这块土地上不辞辛苦地劳作着,困难重重,还逋遇了一场灾难性的痕疫，一半人在这场瘟疫中死去。到了1621年的春天,一个名叫Squanto的印第安英雄率领其瓦帕浓部落开始主动帮助他们。部落里的人教这些清教徒怎样耕种土地,怎样种植玉米、大豆、南瓜以及其他农作物。

In late September 1621, the Pilgrims were pleased with their great harvest. To celebrate their first harvest, the Pilgrims wanted to thank God and the Native Indian. They invited Squanto and the entire Wampanoag tribe to celebrate together in a shared feast.

到1621年9月底,他们的辛勤劳作终于获得了大丰收，清教徒们欢欣鼓舞。为了庆祝这第一次来之不易的大丰收,他们想要好好感谢一下上帝和当地的印第安人，便邀请Squanto及其瓦帕浓部落参加他们的庆祝盛宴。

The first Thanksgiving dinner is said to have lasted from three days to one week. It was indeed a time of happiness, fellowship and rejoicing for the Pilgrims. They arranged a friendly treaty with the Native American Indians, built houses in the wilderness, and raised sufficient crops to feed themselves for the upcoming long winter. The Pilgrims had become the first generation of settlers in this new land holding so much promise.

据说第一次丰收庆祝盛宴从3天一直延长到一个星期。对于清教徒们来说，这的确是一段享受髙兴、愉悦和友谊的时间。他们和当地善良的印第安人一起准备了庆祝盛宴，在荒野中盖了房子，并为即将来临的漫长冬天储存了充足的食物。于是,在这块充满希望、憧憬和向往的新大陆上,清教徒们便成了第一代移民定居者。

This "thanksgiving" feast was not repeated the following year. But in 1623, during a severe draught, the pilgrims gathered in a prayer service, praying for rain. When a long, steady rain followed the very next day, Governor Bradford proclaimed another day of Thanksgiving, again inviting their Indian friends. It wasn't until June of 1676 that another Day of Thanksgiving was proclaimed.

第二年(1622)人们却没有举行“感恩”庆典。到了1623年，发生了一场严重的旱灾,清教徒们聚集到一起,举行了虔诚的祈雨仪式，刚好在第二天,一场充沛的大雨从天而降。威廉布雷德福总督宣布再次庆祝感恩节，并再次邀请了他们的印第安朋友。之后数年无感恩节,直到1676年6月,感恩节才再次被提出。

On June 20, 1676, the governing council of Charlestown, Massachusetts, held a meeting to determine how best to express thanks for the good fortune that had seen their community securely established. By unanimous vote they instructed Edward Rawson, the clerk, to proclaim June 29 as a day of thanksgiving. It is notable that this thanksgiving celebration probably did not include the Indians, as the celebration was meant partly to be in recognition of the colonists' recent victory over the ''heathen natives”，so it was quite probable that the Indians would not attend it.

1676年6月20日，马萨诸塞州的查尔斯顿政府委员会召开了一次会议,讨论如何才能最好表达对主的谢意:主赐予他们好运，庇佑他们安全地建立了他们的邦联。经过一致投票决定，由牧师爱德华劳森宣布6月29日为当年的感恩节。值得注意的是,因为此次庆典在一定程度上是殖民者对战胜“野蛮的土著人”的庆祝，所以印第安人极有可能未参加此次庆典。

The first National Thanksgiving was declared by the Continental Congress in 1777. On October 3, 1789, President George Washington declared that the people of the United States should observe “a day of public thanksgiving and prayer” on Thursday, 26 November. In 1941，a Congressional Joint Resolution set the fourth Thursday of November as a national holiday for Thanksgiving.

1777年，美国大陆会议第一次宣布感恩节为全国性节日。1789年10月3日，美国总统乔治·华盛顿号召美国人民把当年的11月26日（星期四)看作“一个感恩、祈祷的公开纪念日”。1941年,一项国会联合决议把感恩节定为全国性节日，时间定在每年11月的第四个星期四。