感恩节，对我们来说不完全是一个节日，而是一个特殊的日子，用以感激那些在我们生命中重要的人。感谢天地，感谢命运，天地宽广，道路坎坷，但只要心中有爱，心存感恩，我们就会努力，我们就可以前行。

　　【Thanksgiving Day】

　　Thanksgiving Day is the most truly American of the national Holidays in the United States and is most closely connected with the earliest history of the country.

　　In 1620， the settlers， or Pilgrims， they sailed to America on the May flower， seeking a place where they could have freedom of worship. After a tempestuous two-month voyage they landed at in icy November， what is now Plymouth， Massachusetts.

　　During their first winter， over half of the settlers died of[1] starvation or epidemics. Those who survived began sowing in the first spring.

　　All summer long they waited for the harvests with great anxiety， knowing that their lives and the future existence of the colony depended on the coming harvest. Finally the fields produced a yield rich beyond expectations. And therefore it was decided that a day of thanksgiving to the Lord be fixed[2]. Years later， President of the United States proclaimed the fourth Thursday of November as Thanksgiving Day every year. The celebration of Thanksgiving Day has been observed on that date until today.

　　The pattern of the Thanksgiving celebration has never changed through the years. The big family dinner is planned months ahead. On the dinner table， people will find apples， oranges， chestnuts， walnuts and grapes. There will be plum pudding， mince pie， other varieties of food and cranberry juice and squash. The best and most attractive among them are roast turkey and pumpkin pie. They have been the most traditional and favorite food on Thanksgiving Day throughout the years.

　　Everyone agrees the dinner must be built around roast turkey stuffed with a bread dressing[3] to absorb the tasty juices as it roasts. But as cooking varies with families and with the regions where one lives， it is not easy to get a consensus on[4] the precise kind of stuffing for the royal bird.

　　Thanksgiving today is， in every sense， a national annual holiday on which Americans of all faiths and backgrounds join in to express their thanks for the year' s bounty and reverently ask for continued[5] blessings.

　　【感恩节：美国人喜爱的节日】

　　Thanksgiving in the United States is a timeto gather with family and friends, share a traditional meal and expressgratitude for the good things in life. It can also be a time of service toothers in the community.

　　美国每年一度的感恩节(Thanksgiving)是家人和朋友团聚的日子。在这一天，亲朋好友共进传统风格的大餐，对生活中的诸多恩惠表示感激。还有很多人为邻里社区的其他人提供服务。

　　Celebrated on the fourth Thursday in November, Thanksgiving traces its originsto harvest festivals. It was customary to express gratitude for a bountifulharvest in the cultures of both the Pilgrims who sailed from England in 1620and the Native Americans they encountered.

　　人们在每年11月的第四个星期四欢庆感恩节。庆祝传统的传统最早来自庆丰收的活动。不论是1620年从英国跨海来美洲的清教徒，还是他们遇见的美洲印第安人，他们对盛大的丰收表示感激都已形成习俗，成为各自文化的一部分。

　　A three-day harvest celebration held in 1621 in Plymouth Colony (part oftoday’s Massachusetts) is generally considered to be the first AmericanThanksgiving. The Pilgrims had arrived the year before on the ship TheMayflower. They hadn’t brought enough food, and it was too late to plant crops.Half the colony died during the winter of 1620–1621. In the spring, localWampanoag Indians taught the colonists how to grow corn (maize) and othercrops, and helped them master hunting and fishing. They also showed thecolonists how to cook cranberries, corn and squash.

　　1621年在普利茅斯殖民地(Plymouth Colony)，即今天的马萨诸塞州(Massachusetts)，人们举行为时三天的丰收庆典活动，一般被视为美洲的第一个感恩节。前一年，英国清教徒们乘坐“五月花”号(The Mayflower)抵达美洲大陆。他们没有带足够的粮食，重新种庄稼又太晚。1620至1621年冬，这个殖民地的一半人口不幸丧生。到了春天，当地万帕诺亚格部落的印第安人(Wampanoag Indians)向外来移民介绍如何种植玉米和其他庄稼，并帮助他们学会狩猎和捕鱼。他们还教他们如何烹制越橘、玉米和南瓜。

　　The colonists had bountiful crops in the fall of 1621. They invited theirWampanoag benefactors to feast on wild turkeys, duck, geese, fish andshellfish, corn, green vegetables and dried fruits. Wampanoag Chief Massasoitand his tribe brought venison.

　　1621年秋，移民们大获丰收。他们邀请当地万帕诺亚格部落的印第安族恩人前来就餐，食物十分丰盛，有野火鸡、鸭、鹅、鱼虾贝、玉米、蔬菜和干果。部落酋长马萨索伊特(Massasoit)及部落成员则带着鹿肉前来赴宴。

　　Harvest festivals became a regular affair in New England. Thanksgiving wasobserved on various dates in the states until 1863, when President AbrahamLincoln proclaimed the last Thursday in November as the national Thanksgivingholiday. In 1941, President Franklin Roosevelt signed a law fixing Thanksgivingon the fourth (not always the last) Thursday in November.

　　丰收庆典逐渐成为新英格兰地区的固定节日。1863年前，各州往往在不同日子庆祝感恩节。1863年，林肯(Abraham Lincoln)总统宣布11月份的最后一个星期四为全国感恩节。1941年，罗斯福(Franklin Roosevelt)总统签署法律，将感恩节确定为11月的第四个星期四(因为第四个星期四不一定总是最后一个星期四)。