Thanksgiving Day

　　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.

　　感恩節是美國國定假日中最地道、最美國式的節日，而且它和早期美國歷史最為密切相關。

　　During their first winter, over half of the settlers died of 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. 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.

　　在第一個冬天，半數以上的移民都死于饑餓和傳染病，活下來的人們在第一個春季開始播種。整個夏天他們都熱切地盼望著豐收的到來，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的收成。后來，莊稼獲得了意外的豐收，所以大家決定要選一個日子來感謝上帝的恩典。多年以后，美國總統宣布每年十一月的第四個星期四為感恩節。感恩節慶?；顒颖愣ㄔ谶@一天，直到如今。

　　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.

　　今天的感恩節是一個不折不扣的國定假日。在這一天，具有各種信仰和各種背景的美國人，共同為他們一年來所受到的上蒼的恩典表示感謝，虔誠地祈求上帝繼續賜福。