Thanksgiving Day (感恩節)
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 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.
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 bread dressing 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 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 blessings.
感恩節
每逢11月第四個星期四，美國人迎來了自己最重要的傳統節日感恩節。感恩節，原是清教徒為感謝上天賜與的好收成，同時，也表達了新英格蘭“移民”對印第安土著居民最初的謝意。如今，這一傳統節日更多意味著合家團聚。感恩節特輯幫您了解一個全方位的“感恩節”。
11月的第四個星期四是感恩節。感恩節是美國人民獨創的一個古老節日，也是美國人合家歡聚的節日，因此美國人提起感恩節總是倍感親切。
感恩節的由來要一直追溯到美國歷史的發端。1620年，著名的“五月花”號船滿載不堪忍受英國國內宗教迫害的清教徒102人到達美洲。1620年和 1621年之交的冬天，他們遇到了難以想像的困難，處在饑寒交迫之中，冬天過去時，活下來的移民只有50來人。這時，心地善良的印第安人給移民送來了生活必需品，還特地派人教他們怎樣狩獵、捕魚和種植玉米、南瓜。在印第安人的幫助下，移民們終於獲得了豐收，在歡慶豐收的日子，按照宗教傳統習俗，移民規定了感謝上帝的日子，並決定為感謝印第安人的真誠幫助，邀請他們一同慶祝節日。
在第一個感恩節的這一天，印第安人和移民歡聚一堂，他們在黎明時鳴放禮炮，列隊走進一間用作教堂的屋子，虔誠地向上帝表達謝意，然後點起篝火舉行盛大宴會。第二天和第三天又舉行了摔交、賽跑、唱歌、跳舞等活動。第一個感恩節非常成功。其中許多慶祝方式流傳了300多年，一直保留到今天。