The Story of American Thanksgiving

The Story of American Thanksgiving Contributed by Bing Wei Granny Betty s Story Time 每逢 11 月第四个星期四 美国人迎来了自己最重要的传统节日感恩节 感恩节 原是清 教徒为感谢上天赐与的好收成 同时 也表达了新英格兰 移民 对印第安土著居民最初的 谢意 如今 这一传统节日更多意味着合家团聚 下文以历史为脉络 探究了感恩节的 渊源 并把目光锁定在 1621 年翔实的感恩 盛宴 上 阅读完文字 别忘点击附带的小测 试 Thanksgiving Day is an American holiday and not celebrated in continental Europe On the fourth Thursday of each November families and friends gather together for the occasion to celebrate with a traditional turkey dinner usually in the mid afternoon Thanksgiving originated as a celebration of the year s harvest and is similar to the Mid Autumn Festival in China The origin of the Thanksgiving Day This American tradition started in 1621 before the United States of America was established It was a huge celebration for a hard earned harvest the first year after arriving in the New World On September 6 1620 the Mayflower ship set sail from Plymouth Devon England taking all the English Pilgrims 清教徒 to the New World The English Pilgrims numbered about a hundred people and left England to escape religious persecution Their voyage to the New World was financed by Merchant Adventurers an English investor group The Pilgrims sailed sixty six days arrived in the New World in November of the same year They first settled in a cornfield abandoned by Native Indians and named it Plymouth Plantation They worked on the land with much difficulty and were beset by a devastating plague in which half of the Pilgrim died in the long winter of 1620 In the spring of 1621 an Indian brave named Squanto and her Wampanoag 瓦帕浓人 北美印第安人阿尔琴族一部 落 tribe came to their help The tribe taught the Pilgrims how to work the earth and plant corn beans pumpkins squash and other crops The Thanksgiving feast in 1621 In late September 1621 the Pilgrims were pleased with their great harvest To celebrate their first harvest the Pilgrims wanted to thank God and the Native Indian They invited Squanto and the entire Wampanoag tribe that celebrate together in a shared feast It was said about ninety Wampanoag turned up much to the surprise of the Pilgrims whose population had shrunk to no more than 50 The chief of the tribe had his men hunt five deer to bring to the feast The first Thanksgiving dinner had an elaborate menu with venison wild turkey goose duck crane swan and other waterfowl they also had local seafood clams 蛤肉 lobsters mussels 蛤贝 贻贝 蚝 壳菜 淡菜 salmon cod 鳕 bass 鱼类 欧洲鲈鱼 herring 鲱鱼 鰽白鱼 shad 美洲 河鲱 bluefish 美洲大西洋海岸 产的 青鱼 lots of eel 鳝鱼 鳝类 and oysters They also cooked plenty of vegetables among them squash 倭瓜 荀瓜 西葫芦 pumpkins and beans were the most popular They ate raspberries 山莓 strawberries grapes plums cherries blueberries walnuts chestnuts 板栗 acorns 橡子 槲果 hickory and ground nuts wheat flour Indian corn and corn meal and they made beer out of barley The pumpkin pudding was later developed into the traditional pumpkin pie The first Thanksgiving dinner is said to have lasted from three days to one week with much food beer and liquor The Pilgrims and the Native Indian sat together on the ground shared food with fingers or used rough plates made of wood or stale bread They ran races played old English games and staged parades during the festive with marches drums and firing of their muskets Thanksgiving related to the Bible The phrase thanksgiving initially comes from the Bible The Pilgrims of Plymouth however were mainly Puritans and strict Calvinist Protestants They only observed three religious holidays from the New Testament Sunday Sabbath Days of Fasting and humiliation and Thanksgiving Thanksgiving marked favourable mercies in community life The first Thanksgiving festival was indeed a time of happiness fellowship and rejoicing for the Pilgrims They arranged a friendly treaty with the Native American Indians built houses in the wilderness and raised sufficient crops to feed themselves for the upcoming long winter The Pilgrims had become the first generation of settlers in this new land holding so much promise From then on Thanksgiving became a holiday for celebrating the harvest in the New World dates varied from October to November each year over the next 150 years Thanksgiving the National holiday The first National Thanksgiving was declared by the Continental Congress in 1777 On October 3 1789 President George Washington declared that the people of the United States should observe a day of public thanksgiving and prayer on Thursday 26 November Many say the credit for the establishment of an annual Thanksgiving holiday should be given to Sarah Josepha Hale Being the editor of Ladies Magazine and Godey s Lady s Book she lobbied to the governors senators and presidents for a national holiday and published stories and recipes for that day in her magazine After 36 years of crusading she won her battle In 1863 buoyed by the Union victory at Gettysburg President Lincoln proclaimed that November 26 would be a national Thanksgiving Day to be observed every year on the fourth Thursday of November In 1941 a Congressional Joint Resolution set the fourth Thursday of November as a national holiday for Thanksgiving There you are the brief history of Thanksgiving a day in America for families and friends to gather together The festival is also celebrated by Americans living abroad Thanks to the Native Americans and the Pilgrims who created this idea of a day of Thanksgiving all those live in the New World can be thankful for all we have and share the joy with our family members and friends Core Listening Task 3 For many of us apologising can be a difficult thing to do However our level of discomfort is ususally relative to the offence Most of us have no problem saying I am Sorry when we accidentally bump into someone on the street In fact that type of situation is so common to us that the ensuing apology has become a reflex an automatic response with natural timing But what will happen when we h