That's s what Thanksgiving has come to mean to many Americans.

這就是許多美國人對感恩節的理解。

Back in 2007, Seattle public school officials made national news by describing the holiday as a "time of mourning"and a "bitter reminder of 500 years of betrayal."

2007年，西雅圖公立學校官員在全國新聞中描述這個節日為一個「哀悼的時刻」，是「500年背叛的痛苦提醒」。

This new narrative describes the Pilgrims as arrogant oppressors who fled persecution only to become persecutors themselves, depriving Native Americans of their land and their lives.

這種新的敘述將清教徒描述為傲慢的壓迫者，他們逃離迫害只是為了成為迫害者，剝奪印第安人的土地和生活。

But this is wrong on every count.

但這在每一點上都是錯的。

First of all, the Pilgrims didn't cross the ocean to flee persecution—or even England.

首先，清教徒並不是為了逃避迫害──甚至不是英格蘭而渡海而來。

They'd been living for over a decade in Holland, Europe's most tolerant nation, and a haven for religious dissenters.

他們在荷蘭生活了十多年，這是歐洲最寬容的國家，也是宗教異議人士的避風港。

Free from interference by the Church of England, they feared seduction—not persecution, worrying that their children would be corrupted by the materialistic Dutch culture.

在英國教會的干擾下解脫出來，他們擔心受到荷蘭的物質文化腐化，特別是擔心他們的孩子會被這種文化腐化。

That's why they risked their dangerous 1620 voyage to a wilderness continent: not because they were running from oppression,

這就是為什麼他們冒險於 1620 年渡過危險的航程到一個荒涼的大陸：不是因為他們在逃避壓迫，

but because they were running toward holiness—fulfilling a fateful mission to build an ideal Christian commonwealth.

而是因為他們在追求聖潔──實現建立理想基督教共和國的使命。

They initially planned to plant this model society on the wild, wolf-infested island known to natives as Manhattan,

他們最初計劃在野生、充滿狼的島上建立這個模範社會，該島是印第安人稱之為曼哈頓的地方，

but winds and tides blew them 250 miles off course, dumping the Mayflower on the frozen coast of Massachusetts.

但風向和潮汐將他們吹離250英里，將五月花號拋在馬薩諸塞州的冰凍海岸。

Somehow, the Pilgrims saw their dire situation as a demonstration of providential power—especially after a giant wave picked up the flimsy boat of a scouting party on a stormy December night.

不知怎的，清教徒將自己的困境視為天命的展示，尤其是在一個風雨交加的十二月夜晚，一個巨大的海浪將一支偵察隊的脆弱小船抬起。

The turbulent sea then deposited them safely—miraculously—on a little island within sight of the ideal location for their settlement.

然後，湍急的海洋將他們奇蹟般地安全地運送到一個適合他們定居的理想位置附近的小島上。

It was a deserted Indian village with cleared land, stored supplies of corn, and a reliable source of fresh water.

那是一個被遺棄的印第安村，有開墾的土地、儲存的玉米和可靠的淡水來源。

No, these supposedly cruel conquerors never actually invaded that village.

不，這些據稱殘酷的征服者實際上從來沒有侵入那個村莊。

Instead, they expressed a fervent desire to pay the natives for the dried corn they found, if only they could find someone to pay.

相反，他們表示熱切希望向當地人支付他們發現的乾玉米，只要他們能找到人付款即可。

But the former inhabitants had perished during three years of plague—probably smallpox—that immediately preceded the Pilgrims' arrival.

但在清教徒到達之前的三年裡，前居民死於一場可能是天花的瘟疫。

One of the few survivors of that devastation turned up several months later to welcome the English newcomers.

這場災難的幾位倖存者之一在幾個月後現身，歡迎英國新來者。

Against all odds, he proved to be the single human being on the continent best-suited to help the struggling settlers, since he spoke English and had already embraced Christianity.

不容置疑，他竟然是整個大陸上最適合幫助這些挣扎的移民的人，因為他講英語，並已經接受了基督教。

His name was Squanto, and he had grown up in this very village before a ruthless sea captain kidnapped him as a boy and sold him into slavery in Spain.

他的名字叫斯坎托（Squanto），他在這個村莊長大，但在他還是個男孩的時候，一位無情的海船船長將他綁架並賣給了西班牙的奴隸主。

After four years, he was freed by kindly monks, then made his way to England, and finally sailed across the Atlantic—only to find his friends and family all wiped out by disease.

四年後，他被善良的修道士釋放，然後前往英格蘭，最終橫渡大西洋──只是發現他的朋友和家人都被疾病消滅了。

Over the next few months, Squanto helped the English newcomers plant crops and negotiate a friendly trade agreement with the region's most important chief—Massasoit.

在接下來的幾個月裡，斯坎托幫助英國新來者種植庄稼，與該地區最重要的酋長─馬薩索伊特─達成友好的貿易協議。

No wonder Pilgrim leader William Bradford called Squanto "a special instrument sent of God for their good."

難怪清教徒領袖威廉·布拉德福德（William Bradford）稱斯坎托「上帝為他們的好而派來的特殊工具」。

The celebration later known as "The First Thanksgiving," actually involved a three-day harvest festival in October, apparently inspired by the Biblical holiday of Sukkot, or The Feast of Tabernacles.

後來被稱為「第一次感恩節」的慶祝活動實際上是十月份的一個為期三天的豐收節日，顯然受到聖經的住棚節或棚節的啟發。

Ninety hungry Indian warriors joined the 53 surviving Pilgrims for this occasion (nearly half the colonists had died during the brutal winter).

在這個場合，90名飢餓的印第安戰士與53名倖存的清教徒聚在一起（在嚴冷的冬天中，近一半的殖民者死亡）。

The Englishmen provided some vegetables, fish, and perhaps wild turkeys, while the natives brought five recently hunted deer as house gifts.

英國人提供了一些蔬菜、魚，可能還有野生火雞，而土著則帶來了五頭最近獵到的鹿作為贈禮。

The preferred sport on this occasion wasn't football, but shooting, with settlers and Indians sharing a fierce fascination with guns.

在這個場合上最受歡迎的運動不是足球，而是射擊，定居者和印第安人共同對槍械充滿著激烈的著迷。

Though these hardy Pilgrims loom large in the American imagination, they never built their Plymouth settlement into a major colony.

盡管這些堅韌的清教徒在美國的想像中占有重要地位，但他們從未將他們的普利茅斯定居點建成一個重要的殖民地。

In nearby Boston, the later colony of Massachusetts Bay grew so much faster that it swallowed up the great-grandchildren of the Pilgrims in 1691.

在附近的波士頓，後來的馬薩諸塞灣殖民地增長得更快，以至於在 1691 年吞噬了清教徒的曾孫。

But the sense of purpose of the original Pilgrims left a permanent imprint on the national character.

但是最初清教徒的使命感在國家性格上留下了永久的印記。

They maintained unshakable confidence that God protected them—not to grant special privileges, but to impose special responsibilities.

他們堅定地相信上帝保護著他們──不是為了給予特權，而是為了賦予特殊的責任。

They saw themselves as instruments, not authors, of a mysterious master plan.

他們視自己為神秘主計劃的工具，而非作者。

Today, with our continued blessings so obvious and so overwhelming,

今天，由於我們持續的祝福是如此明顯和壓倒性，

the only reason to treat this beloved national holiday as "a time of mourning" is that some foolish Americans actually think that's a good idea.

將這個深受喜愛的國家節日視為「哀悼的時刻」的唯一原因是，有些愚蠢的美國人實際上認為這是個好主意。

The Pilgrims knew better: they understood that people of every culture and every era can gain more from gratitude than from guilt.

但是清教徒知道得更好：他們了解到每個文化和時代的人都比懷有罪疚感更容易從感激中獲益。

I'm Michael Medved for Prager University.

我是Prager大學的 Michael Medved。