248 Thanksgiving Day
248 感恩节
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.
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有着最为密切的联系。
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.
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。在海上颠簸折腾了两个月之后，他们终于在酷寒的11月里登陆了，那个地方现在是马萨诸塞州的普里茅斯。
During their first winter, over half of the settlers died of starvation or epidemics. Those who survived began sowing in the first spring.
在第一个冬天，半数以上的移民都死于饥饿或是传染病，活下来的人们在第一个春季开始播种。
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.
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。最终，庄稼获得了意外的大丰收，所以大家决定要选—个日子来感谢上帝的恩典。多年以后，美国总统宣布每年11月的第四个星期四为感恩节。感恩节庆祝活动便定在了这一天，直到如今依旧如此。
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.
感恩节庆祝模式这么多年来从未改变。丰盛的家庭聚餐会在节日到来几个月前就开始准备。在餐桌上，人们可以吃到苹果、橘子、栗子、胡桃和葡萄，还会有葡萄干布丁，碎肉馅饼，各种其他食物以及红莓汁和鲜果汁，其中最重要最诱人的大菜是烤火鸡和南瓜馅，这么多年来，这些菜一直是感恩节中最具有传统意义也是最受人喜爱的食品。
Everyone agrees the dinner must be built around roast turkey stuffed with a 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.
人人都赞成感恩节人餐必须以烤火鸡为主菜，火鸡要有一块面包作填料，以吸收在烘烤时流出来的美味汁液。但烹饪技习惯常因家庭和地区的不同而各异，因此用什么填料也就很难达成一致了，今天的感恩节是一个不折不扣的国定假日，在这一天，拥有不同信仰和背景的美国人，都会共同为他们一年来所得到的上苍的恩典来表示感谢，并虔诚地祈求上帝继续赐福给他们。