手機(jī)版
在美國(guó)，感恩節(jié)是一個(gè)感謝恩賜，家庭團(tuán)聚，合家歡宴的日子；是一個(gè)家家餐桌上都有火雞、填料、南瓜餡餅的日子；是一個(gè)充滿了印第安玉米、假日游行和巨型氣球的日子。
Thanksgiving is celebrated on the 4th Thursday of November, which this year (2005) is November 24th.
每年十一月的最后一個(gè)星期四是感恩節(jié)，在今年（2005）則是11月24日。下面讓我們來(lái)看看感恩節(jié)的由來(lái)吧：
The Pilgrims who sailed to this country aboard the Mayflower were originally members of the English Separatist Church (a Puritan sect). 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. Most of those making the trip aboard the Mayflower were non-Separatists, but were hired to protect the company's interests. Only about one-third of the original colonists were Separatists.
乘"五月花"來(lái)到這個(gè)國(guó)度的旅行者（朝圣者）原本是英國(guó)分離者地下教會(huì)清教徒，他們的家在英國(guó)，因不堪忍受?chē)?guó)內(nèi)的宗教迫害，他們逃亡到荷蘭。在荷蘭，他們享受了更多的宗教信仰自由，但最終卻意識(shí)到在荷蘭的這種生活方式是對(duì)他們的主的褻瀆。為了尋求更好的生活，他們與倫敦貿(mào)易公司協(xié)商，由該公司資助他們到美國(guó)。在這趟旅途中，船上只有大約1/3的乘客是清教徒，其他大多數(shù)人并非分離派清教徒，而是公司雇傭來(lái)保護(hù)其利益的人員（契約奴）。
The Pilgrims set ground at Plymouth Rock on December 11, 1620. Their first winter was devastating. At the beginning of the following fall, they had lost 46 of the original 102 who sailed on the Mayflower. But the harvest of 1621 was a bountiful one. And the remaining colonists decided to celebrate with a feast -- including 91 Indians who had helped the Pilgrims survive their first year. It is believed that the Pilgrims would not have made it through the year without the help of the natives. The feast was more of a traditional English harvest festival than a true "thanksgiving" observance. It lasted three days.
1620年12月11日，旅行者們?cè)?普利茅斯石"登陸。他們的第一個(gè)冬季是災(zāi)難性的，第二年秋天來(lái)臨時(shí)，原來(lái)的102名乘客只剩下56人。但1621年他們獲得了大豐收，這些幸存的殖民者們決定和幫助他們度過(guò)困難的91名印第安人一起饗宴慶祝。他們相信，若沒(méi)有當(dāng)?shù)鼐用竦膸椭麄兪遣豢赡芏冗^(guò)這一年的。這次節(jié)日的盛宴不僅僅是一個(gè)"感恩"儀式，它更像英國(guó)傳統(tǒng)的豐收慶典。慶典持續(xù)了三天。
Governor William Bradford sent "four men fowling" after wild ducks and geese. It is not certain that wild turkey was part of their feast. However, it is certain that they had venison. The term "turkey" was used by the Pilgrims to mean any sort of wild fowl.
總督布雷德福派了“四人捕鳥(niǎo)隊(duì)”去捕捉野鴨和野鵝。我們現(xiàn)在并不能確定是否有野生火雞在當(dāng)時(shí)的筵席上，但筵席上肯定有鹿肉。當(dāng)時(shí)，朝圣者用 "火雞"一詞來(lái)代表各種野禽。
Another modern staple at almost every Thanksgiving table is pumpkin pie. But it is unlikely that the first feast included that treat. The supply of flour had been long diminished, so there was no bread or pastries of any kind. However, they did eat boiled pumpkin, and they produced a type of fried bread from their corn crop. There was also no milk, cider, potatoes, or butter. There was no domestic cattle for dairy products, and the newly-discovered potato was still considered by many Europeans to be poisonous. But the feast did include fish, berries, watercress, lobster, dried fruit, clams, venison, and plums.
現(xiàn)在，幾乎每家感恩節(jié)餐桌上都有南瓜餡餅――感恩節(jié)的另一種主食。但在當(dāng)年的第一次慶典上卻不可能有這種食品。因?yàn)槊娣燮嫒保悦姘W餅、糕點(diǎn)等食物都沒(méi)有。但他們卻吃了煮南瓜，并用收獲的玉米制成了一種油炸面包。也沒(méi)有牛奶、蘋(píng)果酒、土豆和黃油。沒(méi)有馴養(yǎng)的奶牛，自然沒(méi)有牛奶；而新發(fā)現(xiàn)的土豆被很多歐洲人認(rèn)為是有毒的。第一次慶典上有魚(yú)、草莓、豆瓣菜、龍蝦、干果、蛤、鹿肉、李子等。
This "thanksgiving" feast was not repeated the following year. But in 1623, during a severe drought, 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.
緊接著的第二年(1622)卻沒(méi)有舉行"感恩"慶典。到了1623年，發(fā)生了一場(chǎng)嚴(yán)重的旱災(zāi)，朝圣者們聚集到一起，舉行了虔誠(chéng)的祁雨儀式，剛好在第二天，一場(chǎng)充沛的大雨從天而降。威廉布雷德福總督宣布再次慶祝感恩節(jié)，并再次邀請(qǐng)了他們的印第安朋友。之后數(shù)年無(wú)感恩節(jié)，直到1676年6月，感恩節(jié)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,"
1676年6月20日，馬薩諸塞州的查爾斯頓政府委員會(huì)召開(kāi)了一次會(huì)議，討論如何才能最好表達(dá)對(duì)主的謝意：主賜予他們好運(yùn)，庇佑他們安全地建立了他們的邦聯(lián)。經(jīng)過(guò)意見(jiàn)不統(tǒng)一的投票，由書(shū)記愛(ài)德華.勞森宣布6月29日為當(dāng)年的感恩節(jié)。值得注意的是，因此次慶典在一定程度上是殖民者對(duì)戰(zhàn)勝"野蠻的土著人"的慶祝，故印第安人極有可能未參加此次慶典。
October of 1777 marked the first time that all 13 colonies joined in a thanksgiving celebration. It also commemorated the patriotic victory over the British at Saratoga. But it was a one-time affair.
1777年10月，13個(gè)殖民地第一次聯(lián)合舉辦了感恩節(jié)慶典，這也是對(duì)薩拉托加一役中戰(zhàn)勝英國(guó)人所取得的愛(ài)國(guó)主義的勝利的紀(jì)念。但只舉行了這一年。
George Washington proclaimed a National Day of Thanksgiving in 1789, although some were opposed to it. There was discord among the colonies, many feeling the hardships of a few Pilgrims did not warrant a national holiday. And later, President Thomas Jefferson scoffed at the idea of having a day of thanksgiving.
1789年，盡管出現(xiàn)反對(duì)的呼聲，華盛頓總統(tǒng)還是宣布感恩節(jié)為全國(guó)性節(jié)日。在殖民地中也存在意見(jiàn)的分歧，不少人認(rèn)為，僅僅一小撮朝圣者所經(jīng)歷的那些艱難困苦并不值得用一個(gè)全國(guó)節(jié)日來(lái)紀(jì)念。之后，杰弗遜總統(tǒng)還對(duì)這件事嗤之以鼻。
It was Sarah Josepha Hale, a magazine editor, whose efforts eventually led to what we recognize as Thanksgiving. Hale wrote many editorials championing her cause in her Boston Ladies' Magazine, and later, in Godey's Lady's Book. Finally, after a 40-year campaign of writing editorials and letters to governors and presidents, Hale's obsession became a reality when, in 1863, President Lincoln proclaimed the last Thursday in November as a national day of Thanksgiving.
若沒(méi)有薩拉·J·黑爾――一位雜志編輯的努力，最終就不會(huì)有我們現(xiàn)在所謂的感恩節(jié)。在她主編的"波士頓婦女雜志"及稍后的"Godey's 女士手冊(cè)"中，她撰寫(xiě)了大量的社論，支持將感恩節(jié)定為全國(guó)性節(jié)日。40年中，她堅(jiān)持不懈地發(fā)表評(píng)論，不斷致信州長(zhǎng)乃至總統(tǒng)，最后，理想終于變?yōu)楝F(xiàn)實(shí)：1863年，林肯總統(tǒng)發(fā)表聲明，將11月的最后一個(gè)星期四定為感恩節(jié)――一個(gè)全國(guó)性的節(jié)日。
Thanksgiving was proclaimed by every president after Lincoln. The date was changed a couple of times, most recently by Franklin Roosevelt, who set it up one week to the next-to-last Thursday in order to create a longer Christmas shopping season. Public uproar against this decision caused the president to move Thanksgiving back to its original date two years later. And in 1941, Thanksgiving was finally sanctioned by Congress as a legal holiday, as the fourth Thursday in November.
從此歷屆總統(tǒng)都按此行事。但具體時(shí)間也發(fā)生過(guò)幾次變化。最近的一次是富蘭克林·羅斯福總統(tǒng)宣布的。為開(kāi)創(chuàng)一個(gè)更長(zhǎng)的圣誕購(gòu)物季節(jié)，羅斯福總統(tǒng)宣布將感恩節(jié)日期改在11月的倒數(shù)第二個(gè)星期四，即提前了一個(gè)星期。但公眾反對(duì)呼聲太高，兩年后，總統(tǒng)不得不將感恩節(jié)日期改回到原來(lái)的時(shí)間。1941年，美國(guó)國(guó)會(huì)最終通過(guò)決議，將感恩節(jié)定為美國(guó)法定假日，的時(shí)間是每年11月的最后一個(gè)星期四。
