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.
感恩节的由来
感恩节是美国国定假日中最地道、最美国式的节日，而且它和早期美国历史最为密切相关。
1620年，一些朝圣者（或称为清教徒）乘坐"五月花"号船去美国寻求宗教自由。他们在海上颠簸折腾了两个月之后，终于在酷寒的十一月里，在现在的马萨诸塞州的普里茅斯登陆。
在第一个冬天，半数以上的移民都死于饥饿和传染病，活下来的人们在第一个春季开始播种。整个夏天他们都热切地盼望着丰收的到来，他们深知自己的生存以及
殖民地的存在与否都将取决于即将到来的收成。后来，庄稼获得了意外的丰收，所以大家决定要选一个日子来感谢上帝的恩典。多年以后，美国总统宣布每年十一月
的第四个星期四为感恩节。感恩节庆祝活动便定在这一天，直到如今。
感恩节庆祝模式许多年来从未改变。丰盛的家宴早在几个月之前就开始着手准备。人们在餐桌上可以吃到苹果、桔子、栗子、胡桃和葡萄，还有葡萄干布丁、碎肉
馅饼、各种其它食物以及红莓苔汁和鲜果汁，其中最妙和最吸引人的大菜是烤火鸡和番瓜馅饼，这些菜一直是感恩节中最富于传统意义和最受人喜爱的食品。
人人都赞成感恩节大餐必需以烤火鸡为主菜。火鸡在烘烤时要以面包作填料以吸收从中流出来的美味汁液，但烹饪技艺常因家庭和地区的不同而各异，应用什幺填料也就很难求得一致。
今天的感恩节是一个不折不扣的国定假日。在这一天，具有各种信仰和各种背景的美国人，共同为他们一年来所受到的上苍的恩典表示感谢，虔诚地祈求上帝继续赐福。