The origin of Thanksgiving Day
感恩节的起源
Every year Thanksgiving Day falls on the fourth Thursday in November. It is American people's original festival. Thanksgiving Day in the United States is a festival when the family members gather together, like the Chinese New Year, emphasizing happy reunion. So Thanksgiving Day is one of the most important festivals in America.
感恩节是在每年十一月的第四个星期四到来。它是美国人民的传统节日。在美国，感恩节是一个阖家团聚的节日，就像中国的春节，非常重视幸福团聚。所以，感恩节是美国最重要的节日之一。
How did Thanksgiving Day begin?
感恩节是如何开始的？
As early as in 1620, some pilgrims (清教徒)who had suffered religious persecution（宗教迫害） in the UK sailed to America. But the cold winter made them trapped in trouble. Half of the people died from hunger and coldness. At this time, the kind Indians came to offer them the necessaries of life, and taught them the living skills of farming, hunting and so on. As a result, these immigrants survived luckily. In order to express their thanks from the bottom of heart, the settlers invited the Indians to celebrate the abundant harvest that year. This is the origin of Thanksgiving Day.
早在1620年，一些在英国遭受宗教迫害的清教徒坐船去往美洲。但是寒冷的冬天让他们陷入了困境。一半的人死于饥饿和寒冷。就在这时，善良的印第安人给他们提供了生活必需品，还教会了他们耕种和打猎的生活技能。结果，这些移民就幸存下来。为了表达他们发自内心的感谢，这些移民者在那年丰收的时候邀请印第安人一起庆祝丰收。这就是感恩节的起源。
Dinner on Thanksgiving Day
感恩节的饮食
Thanksgiving food has traditional characteristics. Turkey is a main course in tradition. Usually the turkey's stomach is filled with all kinds of flavorings and some mixed food, and then is toasted wholly. After that, the host will slice it into pieces for the family. In addition, the traditional food at this festival includes sweet potatoes, maize, pumpkin pies, cranberry jam, etc. According to the U.S. National Turkey Federation, it is estimated that at Thanksgiving Day andChristmas , American people will eat tens of millions of turkeys. In the United States, Turkey has become more and more popular, whose consumption is far larger than pork, beef, chicken and mutton. Turkey is served to people in varied forms such as frozen turkey, smoked turkey, the whole turkey......
感恩节的食物有着传统特色。火鸡是一道传统的主菜。通常，火鸡的肚子里塞满了各种香料和一些混合的食物，整个进行烘烤。然后，主人把火鸡切成片给家人们食用。从传统上看，这个节日的传统食物包括甜薯，玉米，南瓜饼，蔓越莓果酱等等。根据美国国家火鸡俱乐部联合会的统计，据估计在感恩节和圣诞节，美国人将吃掉数千万只火鸡。在美国，火鸡已经越来越受欢迎，它的消耗量大大超过了猪肉，牛肉，鸡肉和羊肉。火鸡以各种各样的形式被提供给人们享用，比如：冷冻的火鸡，熏制火鸡，整只的火鸡......
The custom of Thanksgiving Day
感恩节的习俗
Every Thanksgiving Day, the whole country is very busy and crowded. Parades, drama performances and sports competitions are held in both urban and rural places. Schools and shops are closed for the festival. Children imitate the appearance of the Indians at that time, having on strange clothing, making up their faces in color or wearing a mask and go to the street singing loudly, or blowing the horns. On that day, the church is full of people, who have to pray gratefully there according to the custom. The Americans are accustomed to an independent lifesince childhood, separate from their parents. Maybe the family members live in different cities. But at Thanksgiving, they always strive to return home from the distance, and the family sit round together, munch the delicious turkey, and talk happily about the past, all of which make them feel particularly kind and warm.
每年的感恩节，整个国家都是非常热闹和拥挤的。城市和乡村都在举办游行，戏剧表演，运动比赛等活动。学校和商店都放假来庆祝节日。孩子们都模仿印第安人的模样，穿着奇特服装，脸上画着油彩或者戴着面具，去大街上高声歌唱或者吹喇叭。在那一天，教堂里挤满了人，根据习俗他们去那里感恩祷告。美国人从很小就习惯了与父母分开过独立的生活。也许家人们住在不同的城市里。但是在感恩节期间，他们总会尽力从遥远的地方赶回家，家人围坐在一起，吃着美味的火鸡，开心地谈论着过往，所有这一切都让他们感到特别温暖和谐。
At the same time, the hospitable Americans will also invite friends, bachelors or people far from home to observe the festival together. From the 18th century on, the custom of sending a basket of food to poor families began to appear in the United States. There was a group of young women who would like to choose a special day to do good deeds, thinking Thanksgiving Day was the most appropriate. So when Thanksgiving Day came, they would deliver a basket of foodpersonally to the poor. That story spread quickly and soon many people learned from them. So the custom has passed down since then.
同时，好客的美国人也会邀请朋友，单身汉或者离家在外的人来一起庆祝这个节日。从十八世纪以来，送一篮子食物给贫苦人家的习俗就开始在美国实行起来。有一群年轻妇女想要选一个特殊的日子做好事，她们认为感恩节是最恰当不过了。于是，当感恩节来临时，她们就亲自给贫困家庭送去满满一篮子食物。那个故事很快流传开来，不久许多人都向她们学习。自从那时起这个习俗就流传下来了。
