感恩节

Thanksgiving Day origin dates back in the 16th century. A sailing vessel called Mayflower crossed the Atlantic carrying about 102 pilgrims. The journey was arduous because of terrible storms in the sea. The passengers comforted themselves by singing.

感恩节的起源可以追溯到16世纪。一艘名为“五月花”的船载着102名朝圣者横渡大西洋。因为海上可怕的暴风雨，旅途十分艰辛。乘客们以唱歌来安慰自己。

After 66 days, they arrived in Plymouth and could not proceed to their initial intended destination, Virginia because of bad weather. The survivors learned how to grow food from a native Indian. However, a severe drought followed and the pilgrims dedicated themselves to fasting and praying to ask God for a bountiful harvest. Their prayers were answered by rains that grew their corn, beans and pumpkins.

66天后，他们到达了普利茅斯。但由于天气原因，他们无法前往原定的目的地维吉尼亚。幸存者们从当地印第安人那里学会了如何种植食物。然而，一场严重的干旱接踵而至，清教徒们开始禁食祈祷，祈求上帝赐予他们丰收。他们的祈祷得到了雨水的回应，雨水浇灌着他们的玉米、豆子和南瓜。

In the autumn of 1621, Governor William Bradford organized a 3-day feast to thank God for his favors. In the following years, such events became quite common and were celebrated every year. On October 3, 1789, the first president of the United States, George Washington proclaimed the day of thanksgiving. The day was later declared a public holiday in 1863 by the then President Abraham Lincoln.

1621年秋天，总督威廉·布拉德福德举办了一场为期3天的宴会，感谢上帝的恩典。在接下来的几年里，这样的活动变得相当普遍，每年都举行庆祝活动。1789年10月3日，美国第一任总统乔治·华盛顿宣布这一天为感恩节。后来亚伯拉罕·林肯总统于1863年将这一天定为公共假日。

Source: calendarlabs, "Thanksgiving Day (USA)"