如果你不知道感恩節(jié)……

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 參考譯文

感恩節(jié)是美國(guó)國(guó)定假日中最地道、最美國(guó)式的節(jié)日，而且它和早期美國(guó)歷史最為密切相關(guān)。

1620年，一些朝圣者（或稱(chēng)為清教徒）乘坐“五月花”號(hào)船去美國(guó)尋求宗教自由。他們?cè)诤Ｉ项嶔ふ垓v了兩個(gè)月之后，終于在嚴(yán)寒的十一月里，在現(xiàn)在的馬薩諸塞州的普里茅斯登陸。

在第一個(gè)冬天，半數(shù)以上的移民都死于饑餓和傳染病，活下來(lái)的人們?cè)诘谝粋€(gè)春季開(kāi)始播種。整個(gè)夏天他們都熱切地盼望著豐收的到來(lái)，他們深知自己的生存以及殖民地的存在與否都將取決于即將到來(lái)的收成。后來(lái)，莊稼獲得了意外的豐收，所以大家決定要選一個(gè)日子來(lái)感謝上帝的恩典。多年以后，美國(guó)總統(tǒng)宣布每年十一月的第四個(gè)星期四為感恩節(jié)。感恩節(jié)慶祝活動(dòng)便定在這一天，直到現(xiàn)在。

感恩節(jié)慶祝模式許多年來(lái)從未改變。豐盛的家宴早在幾個(gè)月之前就開(kāi)始著手準(zhǔn)備。人們?cè)诓妥郎峡梢猿缘教O(píng)果、橘子、栗子、胡桃和葡萄，還有葡萄干布丁、碎肉餡餅、各種其他食物以及紅莓苔汁和鮮果汁，其中最妙和最吸引人的大菜是烤火雞和南瓜餡餅，這些菜一直是感恩節(jié)中最富于傳統(tǒng)意義和最受人喜愛(ài)的食品。

人人都贊成感恩節(jié)大餐必須以烤火雞為主菜。火雞在烘烤時(shí)要以面包作填料以吸收從中流出來(lái)的美味汁液，但烹飪技藝常因家庭和地區(qū)的不同而各異，應(yīng)用什么填料也就很難求得一致。今天的感恩節(jié)是一個(gè)不折不扣的國(guó)定假日。在這一天，具有各種信仰和各種背景的美國(guó)人，共同為他們一年來(lái)所受到的上蒼的恩典表示感謝，虔誠(chéng)地祈求上帝繼續(xù)賜福。

注釋

{1} died of：

死于……當(dāng)死于身體內(nèi)部原因的，die后面要接介詞of，如：饑餓（starvation）、悲傷（sadness）等；當(dāng)死于外因時(shí)則要用die from，比如死于受傷（wound）。

{2} it was decided that a day of thanksgiving to the Lord be fixed：

decide可是個(gè)讓你省事兒的好詞了。它后面如果接從句，往往接虛擬語(yǔ)氣。所以看見(jiàn)decide后面的從句，你就可以大膽地用“動(dòng)詞（should）+原形”啦！

{3} dressing：

調(diào)味品、填料。這里的dressing可不是穿的呀，a bread dressing可不是“面包衣服”！和bread在一起，dressing自然就是吃的啦！它是“調(diào)味品”的意思，“穿”在食物的身上了。

{4} consensus on：

就……達(dá)成一致。注：consensus后面的介詞要用on，而不用about。

{5} continued：

繼續(xù)的。這里的continued看似動(dòng)詞continue的過(guò)去式，但它卻是有自己的含義的，它是形容詞“繼續(xù)的”意思。這樣continued blessings就是上帝“繼續(xù)的賜福”了。

編輯/孫櫟櫟