奇怪的感恩節(jié)傳統(tǒng)

文/林頓·威克斯譯/李瀟驍

奇怪的感恩節(jié)傳統(tǒng)

文/林頓·威克斯譯/李瀟驍

過去，在美國，商店照例在感恩節(jié)那天關(guān)門。人們寄出感恩節(jié)賀卡，穿上千奇百怪的服裝，學(xué)校和社區(qū)舉辦精心編排的游行活動(dòng)和感恩節(jié)盛典，印第安人和移民者相聚在一起，揮手歡笑。

Time was in America that stores routinely closed on Thanksgiving Day. Folks sent Thanksgiving greeting cards, people donned odd costumes and schools and communities staged elaborate parades and Thanksgiving pageants1pageant壯麗的游行隊(duì)伍；露天表演。in which Native Americans and Pilgrims2Pilgrim清教徒前輩移民（1620 年乘“五月花”號(hào)赴美洲，在馬薩諸塞建立英國殖民地）。gathered together and smiled and waved.

[2]《華盛頓郵報(bào)》報(bào)道說，千禧一代不再選擇蔓越莓醬，而是傾向于更為健康的感恩節(jié)晚餐。感恩節(jié)盛典也在政治上引發(fā)了爭議。

[2] Millennials are moving toward more healthful Thanksgiving dinners,The Washington Postnotes, and tossing out3toss out扔掉。the cranberry sauce4cranberry sauce火雞加蔓越莓醬是美國家庭感恩節(jié)的應(yīng)景食物。. And the Thanksgiving pageant has become politically controversial.

[3]數(shù)十年來，傳統(tǒng)的感恩節(jié)盛典都是在學(xué)校舉行，可現(xiàn)在這一傳統(tǒng)已經(jīng)遭到了挑戰(zhàn)。他提到一段加利福尼亞學(xué)區(qū)為幼兒園小朋友制作的教學(xué)視頻，視頻中要求所有由學(xué)校組織的感恩節(jié)慶祝活動(dòng)都要包含“多種不同的觀點(diǎn)”。

[3] The traditional Thanksgiving pageant—celebrated in schools for decades—has become challenging. He cites an instructional video, created by a California school district for kindergartners, that calls on all school-sponsored Thanksgiving celebrations to incorporate “more than one point of view.”

[4]就在我們眼前，感恩節(jié)正在發(fā)生翻天覆地的變化，改頭換面了。

為什么一些傳統(tǒng)得以保留，而另一些（例如感恩節(jié)游行里的花車和氣球）出現(xiàn)后又逐漸消失了呢?

[4] Right before our eyes, Thanksgiving is changing. Shape-shifting. Thanksmorphing.

Why do some traditions abide and others appear—and then fade away—like fl oats and balloons in a Thanksgiving Day parade?

愛國火雞

[5]例如，愛國火雞的概念。

誰知道這個(gè)概念源起何處？也許是18世紀(jì)，本杰明·富蘭克林說出火雞比美國的國家象征——鷹“更值得尊敬”的名言。又或許是19世紀(jì)中期，人們開始習(xí)慣性地將出版作品中的鳥類稱為“尊貴的火雞”。也可能是20世紀(jì)初，將感恩節(jié)火雞視為祭祀鳥類的想法開始逐漸消失。

The Patriotic Turkey

[5] The notion of the patriotic turkey, for instance.

Who knows where it started? Perhaps in the 18th century when Benjamin Franklin famously praised the turkey as“much more respectable” than the national-symbol eagle. Or in the mid-19th century when people started habitually referring to the fowl5fowl家禽。in print as the “noble turkey.” Or maybe it was around the turn of the 20th century, when the idea of the Thanksgiving turkey as sacri fi cial bird began to take fl ight6take flight逃走。.

[6]這個(gè)概念最終形成于1911年11月18日圣弗朗西斯科《舊金山呼聲報(bào)》上的一篇短文。作者進(jìn)行了詳盡的解釋：“火雞是美國表示感恩的象征。在感恩節(jié)，愛國火雞為了它的國家而犧牲自己。”

[6] This last construct was summed up in a Vest Pocket7vest pocket袖珍的,小型的（照片、書等）。Essay published in theSan Francisco Callon Nov. 18, 1911. “The turkey is the national bird of thankfulness,” the writer expounded8ex-pound闡述；詳解。. And “the patriotic turkey dies for his country on Thanksgiving Day.”

[7]現(xiàn)在，人們幾乎快要忘記，渾身上下彩旗遍布、左右兩側(cè)也插上了旗幟的愛國火雞曾經(jīng)是風(fēng)靡一時(shí)的感恩節(jié)傳統(tǒng)特色，而這一傳統(tǒng)如今也一去不復(fù)返了……

[7] All but forgotten nowadays, the patriotic turkey—bestrewn9bestrewn撒滿。with bunting10bunting（裝飾街道、房屋等的）彩旗。, fl anked by flags—was a popular character on another gone-with-thewind Thanksgiving tradition ...

感恩節(jié)賀卡

[8]第一個(gè)感恩節(jié)賀卡的廣告出現(xiàn)在19世紀(jì)晚期。幾十年來，感恩節(jié)賀卡和圣誕節(jié)賀卡一樣，是美國節(jié)日里普遍不可缺少的東西。

The Thanksgiving Greeting Card

[8] First advertised in the late 19th century, the Thanksgiving greeting card—like the Christmas card—was a prevalent holiday fi xture in this country for decades.

[9] 1910年11月18日，賓夕法尼亞州斯克蘭頓的《真理報(bào)》報(bào)道，當(dāng)?shù)匾患視昀镤N售的亞麻布紙感恩節(jié)賀卡上寫著這么一句話：“這是來自寄信人真誠的祝愿，希望你的火雞豐滿鮮嫩。”賀卡和信封共10美分。

[9] A bookstore in Scranton, Pa., according to the localTruthon Nov. 18, 1910, sold linen Thanksgiving greeting cards with the message: “A sincere wish from the sender / That your Bird will be plump and tender.” Card and envelope cost a dime.

[10]“真誠”是最普遍的情感。1932年11月21日，紐約州卡南代瓜的《每日信使報(bào)》報(bào)道：“1932年賀卡中所包含的情感讓人強(qiáng)烈地回想起當(dāng)年清教徒感恩節(jié)的無畏精神。現(xiàn)在的年輕人魯莽無禮，很少能說出這種風(fēng)趣的俏皮話或美好祝詞。”

[10] Sincerity was the mood à la mode11à la mode時(shí)髦的。. “The sentiments of the 1932 cards,” theDaily Messengerin Canandaigua, N.Y., reported on Nov. 21, 1932, “hark back strongly to the courageous spirit of the Puritan Thanksgiving. Wise-cracking12wise-cracking說俏皮話。remarks or good wishes in the pert13pert無禮的；冒失的。spirit of modern youth are rare.”

游行依舊盛行

[11]盡管愛國火雞和感恩節(jié)賀卡已經(jīng)一去不返，但是有許多傳統(tǒng)的感恩節(jié)習(xí)俗仍然流行，例如以火雞為主的晚餐，還有感恩節(jié)盛典。

The Parade Reigns On

[11] Gone are the patriotic fowl and Thanksgiving greeting cards. But many traditional Thanksgiving traditions—such as turkeycentric cuisine and Thanksgiving pageants—prevail.

[12]佩里·格朗德是來自奧農(nóng)達(dá)加烏龜部落的一位教育家，他出色地解構(gòu)了美國感恩節(jié)的故事,對(duì)感恩節(jié)已經(jīng)進(jìn)行了數(shù)年的思考。他在2011年發(fā)表的一篇文章中提出了自己的觀點(diǎn)：“并不是所有的印第安人都對(duì)感恩節(jié)懷有正面的情感。對(duì)于一部分人來說，感恩節(jié)是在提醒他們，歐洲來的移民者、后來的美國人和印第安人之間關(guān)系并不友好。小部分印第安人在一些萬帕諾亞格人社區(qū)成員的帶領(lǐng)下，宣布自1970年起，感恩節(jié)之后的一天為全國哀悼日。”

[12] Perry Ground, an Onondaga14奧農(nóng)達(dá)加人（北美易洛魁部落的印第安人）。Turtle Clan educator who does a fantastic job deconstructing15deconstruct解構(gòu)。the fables of American Thanksgiving, has been thinking about Thanksgiving for years now. “Not all Native Americans have positive feelings about the Thanksgiving holiday,” he observes in a 2011 essay. “To some it is a reminder of the negative relations between European settlers, later Americans and Native peoples. Since 1970, a small group of Native people led by some Wampanoag community members have declared the day after Thanksgiving to be a National Day of Mourning. ”

[13]格朗德在文章中寫道，每年感恩節(jié)，他會(huì)和家人一起吃火雞、蔓越莓以及土豆泥。他說：“我們會(huì)看足球，玩游戲，再打個(gè)盹兒，并為第二天購物做好準(zhǔn)備。”

他也會(huì)心懷感激。文章最后，他總結(jié)道：“感恩是我們可以從這個(gè)節(jié)日中保留下來的情感。我們每天都應(yīng)該感恩自己所擁有的一切。” □

[13] Ground writes that he celebrates Thanksgiving Day by eating turkey, cranberries and mashed potatoes with his family. “We will watch football, play games, take naps and get ready for the next day’s shopping,” he notes.

And he will be thankful. “That is an idea that we can carry away from this holiday,” he concludes. “We can be thankful for what we have every day.”

The Peculiar Parade of Thanksgiving Traditions

ByLinton Weeks

（譯者曾獲第六屆“《英語世界》杯”翻譯大賽二等獎(jiǎng)。）

譯者單位：上海立信會(huì)計(jì)金融學(xué)院