Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving was first celebrated in 1621,when Plymouth governor William Bradford invited neighboring Native Americans1) to join the Pilgrims2) for a three-day festival in gratitude for the successful harvest that followed a hard winter.
The feast they sat down to3) had very little in common with today's celebration,however.It is quite likely that their feast consisted of fish,venison4),corn and other vegetables.Today's traditional dinner of turkey,mashed5) potatoes,green bean casserole6),cranberry7) sauce8) and pumpkin9) pie is mainly the result of a strong advertising campaign by turkey producers.
Thanksgiving was proclaimed a national holiday by President Abraham Lincoln in 1863.Many Americans consider this to be only an American holiday although it is also celebrated in Canada and harvest festivals are held throughout the world.
感恩節(jié)
感恩節(jié)始于1621年。那年,普利茅斯總督威廉·布雷德福邀請(qǐng)鄰近的印第安人與早期的移民一起歡慶3天,共同慶祝在經(jīng)過(guò)了一個(gè)艱難的冬天之后取得的豐收。
那時(shí)他們享用的盛宴和現(xiàn)在的活動(dòng)卻少有共同之處。他們當(dāng)時(shí)的宴會(huì)可能有魚(yú)、鹿肉、玉米和其他的蔬菜。如今傳統(tǒng)晚餐上的火雞、土豆泥、豆角焙盤(pán)菜、越桔醬和南瓜餅這些東西主要是火雞生產(chǎn)商們大做廣告的結(jié)果。
1863年亞伯拉罕·林肯總統(tǒng)宣布感恩節(jié)為全國(guó)假日。許多美國(guó)人都認(rèn)為這是美國(guó)獨(dú)有的節(jié)日。其實(shí)加拿大也慶祝它,許多其他國(guó)家也都有自己的豐收節(jié)。
NOTE 注釋:
Native American 印第安人
The Pilgrims = Pilgrim Fathers 清教徒前輩移民(指1620年到達(dá)北美洲創(chuàng)立普里茅斯殖民地的一批英國(guó)清教徒)
sit down to (使)坐下來(lái)從事
venison [5venizn] n. 鹿肉
mash [mAF] vt. 搗碎
casserole [5kAsErEul] n. 焙盤(pán)菜
cranberry [5krAnbEri] n. [植]酸果蔓的果實(shí)
Sauce [sC:s] n. 沙司, 醬油, 調(diào)味料
pumpkin [5pQmpkin] n. 南瓜,倭瓜