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04 |
感恩节
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背景介绍
感恩节是美国和加拿大的节日，原意是为了感谢上帝赐予的好收成。在美国，感恩节是在每年11月的第四个星期四。1620年，102名英国清教徒为了躲避宗教迫害，乘坐“五月花号”帆船离开英国驶向美洲新大陆。他们到达时正值严冬，结果近一半的人死在那个冬天。1621年的春天，他们得到一个会说英语、信奉基督教的印第安人司光恩徒的帮助。司光恩徒教会他们种植玉米、蔬菜和制作枫树糖浆等生存技能。当年他们得到了一个极好的收成。清教徒们认为是神带领他们来到新大陆，而且还赐给他们印第安朋友帮助他们生存下来，还和当地印第安人建立了友好的关系。他们就把11月的一天定为感谢上帝的日子。
情景对话
Francie: Wow, look at all the turkey leftovers! We'll be eating turkey sandwiches for a week! I wonder why we always eat turkey for Thanksgiving anyway. Every year we always have the same turkey and dressing, pumpkin pie and cranberry sauce.
Louis: My favorite is the cornbread and green bean casserole. Oh, and the pecan pie! I look forward to the Thanksgiving feast every year! And there is a reason why we eat the types of foods we do on Thanksgiving.
Francie: Really? What's the reason?
Louis: Supposedly, the foods we eat on Thanksgiving are the same as the foods they ate way back in 1621 at the fi rst Thanksgiving feast.
Francie: The fi rst Thanksgiving feast?
Louis: Oh, come on… You know the story of the fi rst Thanksgiving feast, don't you?
Francie: Something about Pilgrims and Indians? Plymouth Rock? The Mayfl ower ?
Louis: Yes, that's right. When the Puritans left England to fi nd religious freedom in the new world, they sailed in a ship called the Mayfl ower . They fi nally landed in America much further North and much later in the year than they had anticipated. They named the place where they landed Plymouth Rock. In the Plymouth settlement, the winter was harsh and half of the settlers died. In the spring, they met the local Native American tribe and were helped immensely by their new friends. They learned how to grow crops like corn in the sandy soil, they learned how to take advantage of the local resources of wild fish and turkeys. They learned the skills needed to survive in a new world. And at the end of harvest in the fall, they held a three-day long feast with the Native Americans to offer thanks for their friendship, thanks for the harvest, and thanks to God that they were still alive.
Francie: Yeah, everyone knows that story. So the traditional foods we eat are the same as what was eaten in the feast then. But what I want to know is why in the United States we have our Thanksgiving on the fourth Thursday of November, and in Canada it is much earlier, on the second Monday of October.
Louis: Well, that's easy… Canada is further North than the United States, so they have an earlier harvest. It only makes sense that they would have an earlier Thanksgiving, or Jour de l'Action de grâce as they say in French Canada.
弗朗西： 哇，看看那些剩下的火鸡肉吧！我们得吃一个星期的火鸡三明治了！真不明白我们为什么总是在感恩节吃火鸡。一样的火鸡和配菜，一样的南瓜派，一样的蔓越莓果酱，每年都是一个样。
路易斯： 我最喜欢玉米面包和焖青豆。噢，还有核桃派！我每年都盼着这顿感恩节大餐！我们在感恩节吃这些食物是有缘由的。
弗朗西： 是吗？有什么缘由呢？
路易斯： 我们在感恩节吃的食物大概和1621年第一次感恩节宴会的食物差不多。
弗朗西： 第一次感恩节宴会？
路易斯： 哦，我说 …… 你知道第一次感恩节宴会的故事吧？
弗朗西： 关于清教徒移民和印第安人的故事？普利茅斯海岸巨砾？“五月花号”?
路易斯： 对，就是那个故事。一些清教徒离开英国到新世界去寻找宗教自由，他们乘坐的帆船叫“五月花号”。最后，他们抵达美洲大陆，不过抵达的位置不是事先预期的位置，而是向北很远的地方，抵达的时间也比预期的晚了很久。他们把自己登陆的地方命名为普利茅斯海岸巨砾。普利茅斯的冬天酷寒，他们中有一半人死在了那个冬天。次年春天，他们遇到了当地的印第安部落。部落里的新朋友给了他们极大的帮助。他们学会了如何在沙土地里种植玉米等农作物、如何利用当地的野生鱼和火鸡资源，以及如何在新世界里生存的各种技巧。在那年秋天收获结束后，他们与当地的印第安部落一起举行了长达三日的宴会，感谢友好的印第安人的帮助，感恩于这一年的丰收，感激上帝保佑他们活下来。
弗朗西： 是呀，大家都知道那个故事。所以我们的感恩节传统食物和当时宴会的食物是一样的。不过美国的感恩节是11月的第四个星期四，加拿大的感恩节却比这早很多，是10月的第二个星期一，这是为什么呢？
路易斯： 哦，这很容易解释 …… 加拿大在美国北面，所以加拿大的收获季节早于美国的收获季节，加拿大的感恩节也就早一些。在加拿大，感恩节在法语里叫作“ Jour de l'Action de grâce ”。
词汇注解
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supposedly |
大概，据推测 |
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Pilgrim |
清教徒前辈移民 |
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religious freedom |
宗教自由 |
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anticipate |
预期 |
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immensely |
巨大的，无限的 |
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make sense |
有意义 |