 |
| |
Fourth thursday in NovrAlmost every culture in the world has held celebrations ofthanksfor a plentiful harvest. The American Thanksgiving holidaybegan asa feast of thanksgiving in the early days of the Americancoloniesalmost four hundred years ago.
In 1620, a boat filled with more than one hundred peoplesailedacross the Atlantic Ocean to settle in the New World（新大陆）.Thisreligious group had begun to question the beliefs of the ChurchofEngland and they wanted to sete from it. The Pilgrims settledinwhat is now the state of Massachusetts. Their first winter intheNew World was difficult. They had arrived too late to growmanycrops, and without fresh food, half the colony died fromdisease.The following spring the IroquoisIndians（美国纽约州东北部易洛魁族印第安人）taughtthem how to grow corn, a new foodfor the colonists. They showedthem other crops to grow in theunfamiliar soil and how to hunt andfish.
In the autumn of 1621, bountiful crops of corn, barley（大麦）,beansand pumpkins were harvested. The colonists had much to bethankfulfor, so a feast was planned. They invited the local Indianchiefand 90 Indians. The Indians brought deer to roast with theturkeysand other wild game offered by the colonists. The colonistshadlearned how to cook cranberries and different kinds of cornandsquash dishes from the Indians. To this first Thanksgiving,theIndians had even brought popcorn.
In following years, many of the original colonists celebratedtheautumn harvest with a feast of thanks.
After the United States became an independent country,Congressrecommended one yearly day of thanksgiving for the wholenation tocelebrate. George Washington suggested the date Novr 26asThanksgiving Day. Then in 1863, at the end of a long andbloodycivil war, Abraham Lincoln asked all Americans to set asidethelast Thursday in Novr as a day of thanksgiving.
Thanksgiving falls on the fourth Thursday of Novr, adifferentdate every year. The President must proclaim that date astheofficial celebration.
Thanksgiving is a time for tradition and sharing. Even iftheylive far away, family mrs gather for a reunion at the house ofanolder relative. All give thanks together for the good thingsthatthey have.
In this spirit of sharing, civic groups andcharitableorganizations offer a traditional meal to those inneed,particularly the homeless. On most tables throughout theUnitedStates, foods eaten at the first thanksgiving havebecometraditional.
Symbols of Thanksgiving
Turkey, corn, pumpkins and cranberry sauce（酸果曼沙司）are symbolswhichrepresent the first Thanksgiving. Now all of these symbolsare drawnon holiday decorations and greeting cards. The use ofcorn meant thesurvival of the colonies. Indian corn as a tableor doordecoration represents the harvest and the fall season.
Sweet-sour cranberry sauce, or cranberry jelly, was on thefirstThanksgiving table and is still served today. The cranberry isasmall, sour berry. It grows in bogs（沼泽）, or muddy areas,inMassachusetts and other New England states. The Indians usedthefruit to treat infections. They used the juice to dye theirrugsand blankets. They taught the colonists how to cook theberrieswith sweetener（甜味佐料）and water to make a sauce. The Indianscalledit ibimi which means bitter berry. When the colonists sawit,they named it crane-berry because the flowers of the berrybentthe stalk over, and it resembled the long-necked bird calledacrane. The berries are still grown in New England.
In 1988, a Thanksgiving ceremony of a different kind took placeatthe Cathedral of St. John the Divine. More than four thousandpeoplegathered on Thanksgiving night. Among them were NativeAmericansrepresenting tribes from all over the country anddescendants ofpeople whose ancestors had migrated to the NewWorld.
The ceremony was a public acknowledgment of the Indians roleinthe first Thanksgiving 350 years ago. Until recentlymostschoolchildren believed that the Pilgrims cooked theentireThanksgiving feast, and offered it to the Indians. In fact,thefeast was planned to thank the Indians for teaching them howtocook those foods. Without the Indians, the first settlers wouldnothave survived.
(实习编辑:顾萍) | |
|
精彩生活 
