The Pilgrims and America’s First Thanksgiving

清教徒和美国第一个感恩日

来源：festival.com

翻译&配图：Richard Jun Wu（吴骏） 

最早用“爱孩子并支持孩子”发布于2018-11-21

此次发布前有两三个字的修改

The Pilgrims, who celebrated the first thanksgiving in America, were fleeing religious persecution in their native England. In 1609 a group of Pilgrims left England for the religious freedom in Holland where they lived and prospered. After a few years their children were speaking Dutch and had become attached to the Dutch way of life. This worried the Pilgrims. They considered the Dutch frivolous and their ideas a threat to their children’s education and morality.

在美洲庆祝第一个感恩日的清教徒，是从英格兰（他们出生的地方）的宗教迫害中逃离的。1609年，一群清教徒离开英格兰，前往荷兰寻找宗教自由。在荷兰息养了几年之后，他们的孩子说起了荷兰语，并开始依附荷兰的生活方式。这让清教徒担忧。他们认为荷兰人轻浮，还认为荷兰人的思想对他们孩子的教育和道德有威胁。

So they decided to leave Holland and travel to the New World. Their trip was financed by a group of English investors, the Merchant Adventurers. It was agreed that the Pilgrims would be given passage and supplies in exchange for their working for their backers for 7 years.

所以他们决定离开荷兰前往新世界。他们的旅行得到了“商人冒险家公司”（一群英国投资者）的资助。按照协议，清教徒会被运送，并得到补给，交换条件是他们为资助者工作7年。

On Sept. 6, 1620 the Pilgrims set sail for the New World on a ship called the Mayflower. They sailed from Plymouth, England and aboard were 44 Pilgrims, who called themselves the “Saints”, and 66 others, whom the Pilgrims called the “Strangers.”

1620年9月6日，清教徒乘坐一艘名为“五月花”的船驶向了新世界。他们从英国普利茅斯启航，船上44名清教徒自称“圣徒”，把另外66人称为“陌生人”。

The long trip was cold and damp and took 65 days. Since there was the danger of fire on the wooden ship, the food had to be eaten cold. Many passengers became sick and one person died by the time land was sighted on November 10th.

寒冷潮湿的长途旅行共65天。由于木船上有火灾的危险，乘客只能吃冷的食物。许多人生病，11月10日看到陆地的那天有一人死去。

The long trip led to many disagreements between the “Saints” and the “Strangers”. After land was sighted a meeting was held and an agreement was worked out, called the Mayflower Compact, which guaranteed quality and unified the two groups. They joined together and named themselves the “Pilgrims.”

漫长的旅行导致了“圣徒”和“陌生人”之间的许多分歧。在看到陆地之后，举行了一次会议，并制定了一项名为“五月花契约”的协议，它保证了两个群体的平等和联合。他们联合起来并自称“清教徒（Pilgrims，朝圣者的意思）”。

Although they had first sighted land off Cape Cod they did not settle until they arrived at Plymouth, which had been named by Captain John Smith in 1614. It was there that the Pilgrims decide to settle. Plymouth offered an excellent harbor. A large brook offered a resource for fish. The Pilgrims biggest concern was attack by the local Native American Indians. But the Patuxets were a peaceful group and did not prove to be a threat.

尽管他们最早看到陆地是在科德角，但直到普利茅斯（Plymouth）才安顿下来，普利茅斯是1614年约翰·史密斯船长命名的，在这里，清教徒决定定居。普利茅斯是极好的港口。一条大河是捕鱼的好地方。清教徒最担心的是美洲印第安人的袭击。但Patuxets是一个和平的部落，并没有构成威胁。

The first winter was devastating to the Pilgrims. The cold, snow and sleet was exceptionally heavy, interfering with the workers as they tried to construct their settlement. March brought warmer weather and the health of the Pilgrims improved, but many had died during the long winter. Of the 110 Pilgrims and crew who left England, less than 50 survived the first winter.

第一个冬天对清教徒来说是毁灭性的。在他们试图建造定居点的时候，严寒、大雪和雨雪暴干扰了工人们。三月带来了温暖的天气，清教徒的健康状况有所改善，但很多人在漫长的冬季里死掉了。来自英格兰的110名清教徒和船员中，第一个冬天的幸存者不到50人。

On March 16, 1621 , what was to become an important event took place, an Indian brave walked into the Plymouth settlement. The Pilgrims were frightened until the Indian called out “Welcome” (in English!).

1621年3月16日，发生了一件事情（后来它变得很重要），一位印第安人勇敢地走进了普利茅斯定居点。清教徒们吓坏了，直到这位印第安人用英语喊出“欢迎”。

His name was Samoset and he was an Abnaki Indian. He had learned English from the captains of fishing boats that had sailed off the coast. After staying the night Samoset left the next day. He soon returned with another Indian named Squanto who spoke better English than Samoset. Squanto told the Pilgrims of his voyages across the ocean and his visits to England and Spain. It was in England where he had learned English.

他的名字是Samoset，来自Abnaki印第安部落。他从海边的渔船的船长们那里学过英语。Samoset住了一晚，第二天离开。他很快就和另一位名叫Squanto的英语更好的印第安人一起回来了。 Squanto告诉清教徒他的航行经历，他去过英格兰和西班牙。他的英语是在英格兰学的。

Squanto’s importance to the Pilgrims was enormous and it can be said that they would not have survived without his help. It was Squanto who taught the Pilgrims how to tap the maple trees for sap. He taught them which plants were poisonous and which had medicinal powers. He taught them how to plant the Indian corn by heaping the earth into low mounds with several seeds and fish in each mound. The decaying fish fertilized the corn. He also taught them to plant other crops with the corn.

Squanto对清教徒太太重要了，可以说，如果没有Squanto的帮助，他们就活不下去。是Squanto教清教徒怎么从枫树取汁液。他告诉他们哪些植物有毒，哪些植物能治病。他教他们怎么种植印第安玉米——把土堆起来，在每个土堆中放进几粒种子和鱼。腐烂的鱼给了玉米养分。他还教他们套玉米种植其他作物。

The harvest in October was very successful and the Pilgrims found themselves with enough food to put away for the winter. There was corn, fruits and vegetables, fish to be packed in salt, and meat to be cured over smoky fires.

The Pilgrims had much to celebrate, they had built homes in the wilderness, they had raised enough crops to keep them alive during the long coming winter, they were at peace with their Indian neighbors. They had beaten the odds and it was time to celebrate.

十月迎来了大丰收，清教徒有了足够过冬的食物：玉米、水果和蔬菜、咸鱼、熏肉。清教徒们有很多值得庆祝的事：他们在荒野中建造了家；为即将到来的漫长冬天攒够了粮食；和印第安邻居和平相处。他们已经战胜了艰难，庆祝的时候到了。

The Pilgrim Governor William Bradford proclaimed a day of thanksgiving to be shared by all the colonists and the neighboring Native Americans. They invited Squanto and the other Indians to join them in their celebration. Their chief, Massasoit, and 90 braves came to the celebration which lasted for 3 days. They played games, ran races, marched and played drums. The Indians demonstrated their skills with the bow and arrow and the Pilgrims demonstrated their musket skills. Exactly when the festival took place is uncertain, but it is believed the celebration took place in mid-October.

清教徒总督威廉·布拉德福德宣布花一天感恩，和所有的殖民者和附近的美洲原住民分享这一天。他们邀请Squanto和其他印第安人加入庆祝活动。印第安头领Massasoit和90名勇士参加了为期3天的庆祝活动。他们玩游戏，赛跑，游行和打鼓。印第安人用弓箭展示了他们的射术，清教徒展示了他们的步枪技法。这个节日究竟在什么时候现在不能确定，但人们认为是在10月中旬。

The following year the Pilgrims harvest was not as bountiful, as they were still unused to growing the corn. During the year they had also shared their stored food with newcomers and the Pilgrims ran short of food.

第二年，清教徒的收成不好，因为他们对玉米种植还不熟悉。这一年里，他们还和新来的人分享了储存的食物，于是食物不够了。

The 3rd year brought a spring and summer that was hot and dry with the crops dying in the fields. Governor Bradford ordered a day of fasting and prayer, and it was soon thereafter that the rain came. To celebrate –November 29th of that year was proclaimed a day of thanksgiving. This date is believed to be the real true beginning of the present day Thanksgiving Day.

第三年的春夏两季炎热干燥，田里的庄稼枯死。总督布拉德福德下令禁食和祷告一天，不久之后，雨就来了。为了庆祝，那年的11月29日被宣布为感恩日。这个日期被认为是现在的感恩日的真正的开始。

The custom of an annually celebrated thanksgiving, held after the harvest, continued through the years. During the American Revolution(late 1770’s) a day of national thanksgiving was suggested by the Continental Congress.

在每年丰收之后都庆祝感恩日的习俗持续了多年。在美国独立战争期间（1770年代末），大陆会议提议庆祝一个全国性的感恩日。

In 1817 New York State had adopted Thanksgiving Day as an annual custom. By the middle of the 19th century many other states also celebrated a Thanksgiving Day. In 1863 President Abraham Lincoln appointed a national day of thanksgiving. Since then each president has issued a Thanksgiving Day proclamation, usually designating the fourth Thursday of each November as the holiday.

1817年，纽约州把感恩日作为一年一度的习俗。到19世纪中叶，许多州也庆祝感恩日。 1863年，亚伯拉罕·林肯总统确定了全国性的感恩日。从那时起，每位总统都发布了感恩日公告，通常将每年11月的第四个星期四作为假期。