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 pumin 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 and backgrounds join in to express their thanks for the year' s bounty and reverently ask for continued blessings.

　　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。

　　1620年，一些朝圣者(或稱為清教徒)乘坐"五月花"號船去美國尋求宗教自由。他們在海上顛簸折騰了兩個月之后，終于在酷寒的十一月里，在現在的馬薩諸塞州的普里茅斯登陸。

　　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。感恩節慶祝活動便定在這一天，直到如今。

　　感恩節慶祝模式許多年來從未改變。豐盛的家宴早在幾個月之前就開始著手準備。人們在餐桌上可以吃到蘋果、桔子、栗子、胡桃和葡萄，還有葡萄干布丁、碎肉餡餅、各種其它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番瓜餡餅，這些菜一直是感恩節中最富于傳統意義和最受人喜愛的食品。

　　人人都贊成感恩節大餐必需以烤火雞為主菜。火雞在烘烤時要以面包作填料以吸收從中流出來的美味汁液，但烹飪技藝常因家庭和地區的不同而各異，應用什幺填料也就很難求得一致。

　　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。