感恩節，對我們來說不完全是一個節日，而是一個特殊的日子，用以感激那些在我們生命中重要的人。感謝天地，感謝命運，天地寬廣，道路坎坷，但只要心中有愛，心存感恩，我們就會努力，我們就可以前行。
【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.
【感恩節：美國人喜愛的節日】
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.
美國每年一度的感恩節(Thanksgiving)是家人和朋友團聚的日子。在這一天，親朋好友共進傳統風格的大餐，對生活中的諸多恩惠表示感激。還有很多人為鄰里社群的其他人提供服務。
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.
人們在每年11月的第四個星期四歡慶感恩節。慶祝傳統的傳統最早來自慶豐收的活動。不論是1620年從英國跨海來美洲的清教徒，還是他們遇見的美洲印第安人，他們對盛大的豐收表示感激都已形成習俗，成為各自文化的一部分。
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 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)，即今天的馬薩諸塞州(Massachusetts)，人們舉行為時三天的豐收慶典活動，一般被視為美洲的第一個感恩節。前一年，英國清教徒們乘坐“五月花”號(The Mayflower)抵達美洲大陸。他們沒有帶足夠的`糧食，重新種莊稼又太晚。1620至1621年冬，這個殖民地的一半人口不幸喪生。到了春天，當地萬帕諾亞格部落的印第安人(Wampanoag Indians)向外來移民介紹如何種植玉米和其他莊稼，並幫助他們學會狩獵和捕魚。他們還教他們如何烹製越橘、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，移民們大獲豐收。他們邀請當地萬帕諾亞格部落的印第安族恩人前來就餐，食物十分豐盛，有野火雞、鴨、鵝、魚蝦貝、玉米、蔬菜和乾果。部落酋長馬薩索伊特(Massasoit)及部落成員則帶著鹿肉前來赴宴。
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.
豐收慶典逐漸成為新英格蘭地區的固定節日。1863年前，各州往往在不同日子慶祝感恩節。1863年，林肯(Abraham Lincoln)總統宣佈11月份的最後一個星期四為全國感恩節。1941年，羅斯福(Franklin Roosevelt)總統簽署法律，將感恩節確定為11月的第四個星期四(因為第四個星期四不一定總是最後一個星期四)。
