In Plymouth，Massachusetts，in the autumn of 1621，53men，women and children celebrate d their first harvest in the new world。

1621年秋天，在马萨诸塞州普利茅斯，53人庆祝了在有男人、女人和孩子的新世界(美洲)的首次丰收。

The great Indian chief,Massasoit, brought 90 of his men to the three-day party.

伟大的印第安酋长马萨索德带着90个部落里的人和他们一起举办了盛会，为期三天。

From all reports, a good time was had by all.

之后人们口耳相传，都开始庆祝这个节日。

How did this event, which happened almost 400 years ago, become a part of the American story and our oldest national tradition?

说起来这件事发生在400年前，那么它又是如何融入美国故事，成为这个国家最古老的传统的呢?

Credit goes to many people, but two stand out.

许多人都做出了贡献，但有两位最为出色。

One you know, and one you should know: Abraham Lincoln and Sarah Josepha Hale.

一位家喻户晓，另一位你也应该知道——亚伯拉罕·林肯总统和萨拉·约瑟法·黑尔。

More on both in a moment.

一会儿我们再详细介绍这两位。

As a religious people, Americans have always had a keen sense they have been blessed by Providence.

美国是一个宗教国家，人们一直坚信上帝在保佑他们。

The pilgrims certainly felt this, and so did subsequent generations, including George Washington.

清教徒们无疑能感受到这一点，包括乔治·华盛顿在内的后人们也能感受到。

Washington was the first president to declare a national day of public thanksgiving and praise.

华盛顿总统首先宣布感恩节要举国同庆。

But it wasn't until the Civil War that the idea of a national Day of Thanksgiving fully took hold.

但直到美国内战感恩节才成为全国性的节日。

In the autumn of 1863—at the height of the Civil War, when Americans were bitterly divided—Abraham Lincoln nevertheless called for a day of national thanksgiving.

1863年秋天，当时美国内战正酣，人民内部分裂严重，而林肯总统在此时呼吁要设立一个全国性的感恩节。

Lincoln began his proclamation this way: "The year that is drawing toward its close has been filled with the blessings of fruitful fields and healthful skies."

林肯总统在公告中如此说：“年关将至，（过去的一年里）充满了我们对田地里硕果累累和亲人们身康体健的美好憧憬。”

It was an extraordinary way to characterize 1863—the bloodiest year of the war.

用这句话概括血流成河的1863年真是再特别不过了。

But even "in the midst of a civil war of unequaled severity and magnitude," Lincoln continued, the nation had much to be thankful for and much to look forward to.

即使在内战激烈无比、规模空前之时，林肯总统仍表示，人们要感激的和期盼的还有很多。

The day was coming when America would again be united and experience, as Lincoln put it,"a large increase of freedom".

正如他所说，当美国再次团结起来，人民更加自由之时，正是人们表达感激之时。

It was a profoundly hopeful message,reminding Americans of their nation's capacity for renewal.

这句话给人们带去了希望，提醒他们美国会重新恢复生机。

Lincoln's decision to call for a national Thanksgiving came at the urging of a far-sighted and persistent magazine editor who believed such a celebration would have a "deep moral influence" on the American character.

林肯号召全国庆祝感恩节的决定是在一位卓有远见的杂志编辑坚持不懈地劝说下做出的，她认为，这样的节日会在伦理方面对美国文化产生深远影响。

Her name was Sarah Josepha Hale.

她就是萨拉·约瑟法·黑尔。

More than any single person, she is the reason we celebrate Thanksgiving today.

相比其他任何人，她才是我们今天得以庆祝感恩节的原因。

By the 1840s, many states had established an annual day of thanksgiving, but the date varied widely from state to state.

到了19世纪40年代，许多州都设立了一年一度的感恩节，但具体的日期却不尽相同。

Hale saw the value of a day in which the entire nation celebrated as one.

黑尔预见了全国在同一天庆祝感恩节的重要性。

For two decades, she conducted a campaign to consolidate public support for her idea.

在之后的20年里，她领导了一项运动来让更多人支持她的想法。

As the influential editor of one of the most popular periodicals of the 19th century, year after year she wrote columns making the case for the holiday;she published fiction and poems with a Thanksgiving Day theme; and she offered her readers recipes for traditional Thanksgiving dishes such as roast turkey and pumpkin pie.

作为19世纪最流行期刊的编辑的她在当时很有影响力，她日复一年地发表感恩节专栏和以感恩节为主题的诗歌、小说；她还为读者提供感恩节传统美食的菜谱，如烤火鸡，南瓜饼。

And, by the way, she also wrote the nursery rhyme,"Mary Had a Little Lamb".

顺便说一下，摇篮曲《玛丽有只小羊羔》也是她的作品。

Presidents Zachary Taylor, Millard Fillmore, and Franklin Pierce, to whom she had written letters, showed little interest in her cause.

扎卡里·泰勒总统、米勒德·菲尔莫尔总统和富兰克林·皮尔斯总统都收到过她的的来信，但对她的想法并没有兴趣。

But Lincoln saw its potential.

但林肯总统却发觉了这个想法的潜力。

His proclamation was the first in what became an unbroken string of annual Thanksgiving proclamations by every subsequent president.

自林肯总统发表感恩节宣言以后，之后的每任总统都会在感恩节发表宣言，未曾间断。

Congress finally sealed the deal in 1941, when President Franklin Roosevelt signed legislation making Thanksgiving an official national holiday.

国会最终在1941年达成一致，由富兰克林·罗斯福总统签署法案，宣告感恩节正式成为法定节日。

Lincoln and Hale believed the act of expressing gratitude had tremendous healing power.

林肯总统和黑尔都认为表达感激的这种行为有强大的治愈力。

In his Thanksgiving proclamation, Lincoln spoke not as commander-in-chief of the Union forces, but as president of the entire nation—North and South.

在发表感恩节宣言时，他的身份不是北方军总司令，而是包括南方和北方在内的整个国家的总统。

He made no reference to "rebels" or "enemies".

他没有提到“反叛者”或“敌人”。

Rather, the president spoke of "the whole American people".

相反，他说的是“整个美利坚合众国”。

It's a message that resonates today, when Americans,even within families, are divided over issues of politics and culture.

尽管在今天，当家庭内部就政治或文化发生分歧时，这句话也总能让大家产生共鸣。

Thanksgiving, our nation's oldest tradition, brings us together just as it brought the pilgrims and Indians together in 1621.

感恩节是美国最古老的节日，就像在1621年把清教徒和印第安人聚在一起一样，它也把我们美国人聚在了一起。

Lincoln said it best when he called on every American to celebrate Thanksgiving "with one heart and one voice".

林肯总统在号召所有美国人共同庆祝感恩节时说得好，“我们要同心协力”。

Thanksgiving gives us a moment to focus on the blessings of being Americans, on the prosperity, security and freedom we enjoy.

感恩节让我们有机会留意作为美国人所享有的福分，包括我们的财富，安稳和自由。

If Lincoln could focus on these blessings in the middle of the Civil War, we should certainly be able to do so today.

如果林肯总统在战时都能懂得感恩，那么当今的我们就更应如此。

Here's a suggestion: at this year's Thanksgiving table, ask everyone to spend a minute to say what they are grateful for.

给大家提个建议：今年感恩节聚餐时，给每个人一分钟的时间，让他们表达自己的感激之情。

I suspect you'll find your guests will have a long and eloquent list.

我猜你的客人们要感谢很多人。

And if they don't, you can help them out: suggest they start with family, friends, and living in the freest country in the world.

如果他们不想这样做，你可以帮他们从亲人、朋友开始，或者感谢国家给我们的自由。

After all, if we don't give thanks, what's the point of Thanksgiving?

毕竟感恩节的意义就在于感恩嘛！

I'm Melanie Kirkpatrick, senior fellow at the Hudson Institute and author of Thanksgiving: The Holiday at the Heart of the American Experience, for Prager University.

我是Melanie Kirkpatrick，是哈德逊研究所高级研究员，同时也是在普拉格大学发表的文章《感恩节——美国的心路历程》的作者。