苏州翻译公司关于感恩节，你所不知道的五件小事

Ah, Thanksgiving – truly my favorite holiday. A day off with family and friends and football and an exorbitant amount of food. It doesn’t get much more American than that. Let’s look at some interesting Thanksgiving traditions to shed light on this delicious American tradition.

噢，感恩节，我最喜欢的节日。整整一天，你可以放下一切，与家人、朋友一起度过，尽情享受橄榄球和大量美食带来的乐趣。敢问还有哪个节日能比感恩节更富有美国气息呢？现在就跟随我一起探寻这个美味节日的源起，来看看感恩节究竟有什么有趣的风俗吧。

How it started
感恩节因何而设
The story: In the early 1620s, as the first English settlers (called Pilgrims) arrived in America searching for a life free of religious persecution, they experienced very difficult harvests, as the climate was quite different from that of England. They eventually established (temporarily) good relations with the local Native Americans, called the Wampanoag tribe. The Wampanoag leader Squanto, along with his tribe of friendly Native Americans, helped the English settlers learn how to farm and fish in the harsh and rocky climate of Massachusetts. In 1621, they celebrated the Harvest festival together. And the Thanksgiving tradition was born! It became an official American holiday under Abraham Lincoln amidst the turmoil of the American Civil War in 1863.

故事要从17世纪20年代初期开始讲起，第一批英国移民（清教徒）为了躲避宗教迫害逃往美洲大陆，而由于美国与英国截然不同的气候条件，英国人的农耕举步维艰，往往事倍功半。好在最终他们与当地的美国原住民万帕诺亚格部落建立了（暂时的）良好关系，万帕诺亚格部落的首领Squanto，和他那些友好的族人们帮助英国移民们学习如何在马塞诸塞州气候严酷、土壤多石的条件下耕种和打渔。1621年，原住民与他们一同过节，庆祝丰收。也就是在此时，感恩节的传统应运而生。1863年，林肯任总统期间，也是南北战争期间，感恩节正式成为了美国法定节日。
What it means now
感恩节于今何意
Now, after the American colonists destroyed Native cultures and sequestered them onto reservations, the current American Thanksgiving has hardly anything to do with a celebration of cordial relations between peoples. Today, we try to forget America’s guilty past and celebrate our family, friends, and good health on this day. Americans celebrate Thanksgiving much like Chinese people do the Spring festival – with family members pouring in from all directions to catch up and break bread. We play football, watch football, and eat a hell of a lot of turkey.

多年后的今天，在美洲殖民者们大肆破坏美洲原住民文化，并将当地土著驱逐到了保留地之后，感恩节已经丧失了庆祝移民者与土著间友好关系的初衷。如今，在感恩节我们试着忘却美国过去所犯下的罪行，为现在拥有的美满家庭、真挚友谊以及身体康健共同相聚庆祝。美国人庆祝感恩节的方式就和中国人欢度春节差不多——分散在全国各地的家人从四面八方赶来齐聚一堂，吃团圆饭，一起打橄榄球，看橄榄球赛，然后吃火鸡吃到撑。
“American Turkey?”
国鸟火鸡？
Founding Father Benjamin Franklin wanted the turkey to be the national bird of America. In a letter to his daughter, he wrote that the turkey, in comparison to the eagle, was “a far more respectable bird” and a true native of America. Additionally, he thought that bald eagles had a “bad moral character.”

美国的建国者本杰明·富兰克林曾想用火鸡作为美国的国鸟。在给他女儿的一封信中，他写道：相比于鹰，火鸡是一种“更值得尊敬的鸟类”，也是真正美国本地的鸟类。他认为秃鹰（美国国鸟）“品德败坏”。
Presidential Pardon
总统特赦
The American president pardons one turkey (from an imminent execution) every year. Every year since 1947, the National Turkey Federation presents one live turkey to the President, and in 1987, President Ronald Reagan jokingly pardoned the live turkey. This became an official tradition in 1989. Pardoned turkeys are sent off to live the rest of their short lives in luxury. Lucky turkeys!

美国总统每年都要挑选一只火鸡举行赦免仪式（使之免于“死刑”）。从1947年开始，每年全国火鸡协会都会挑选一只活的火鸡赠送给总统，而在1987年，罗纳德·里根总统开玩笑地“赦免”了这只火鸡。到了1989年以后总统特赦就逐渐成为了一项官方传统。被赦免的火鸡们都会被送走，奢华地度过它们余下的短暂生命岁月。啊！幸运的火鸡们！
Black Friday
黑色星期五
This is the most despicable of Thanksgiving traditions. A caveat – many Americans don’t take part in this orgy of capitalistic excess. Your humble author does not. The Friday after Thanksgiving is called “Black Friday,” and all across America, people go out to their local Temples of Consumption (a.k.a WalMarts) to buy discounted everything, in packages of 36. Every year, a few people die from trampling as the doors to the store open. Thankfully, with the rise of eCommerce sites such as Amazon, people are moving more to online shopping to take advantage of Black Friday deals.

这该是感恩节最为世俗的一个传统。不得不表明的是，许多美国人并不参与这场烧钱的狂欢。至少在下是不会参加的。感恩节之后的那个周五被称作“黑色星期五”，在美国的各个角落，人们涌上街头，前往当地的购物圣殿（也就是沃尔玛），大包小包地购买各种打折商品。每年人们都会在商场开门之际蜂拥而入，不少人因此死于踩踏事件。所幸的是，随着诸如亚马逊一类的电子商务网站的日渐兴起，人们开始更多转战网上购物，更平和地享受黑色星期五的折扣狂欢。