CNN News:追尋自由的火雞

Today, many families get together, give thanks, enjoy a day off work and gobble up some turkey.

今天呢，許多家庭團(tuán)聚，感恩，然后享受一天的休閑時(shí)間并享用美食火雞。

Every year at Thanksgiving, the president pardons one special turkey that gets to live out the rest of its life in peace. This ain`t it. It`s a crucial part of tradition, one that says Thanksgiving isn`t Thanksgiving without turkey! And maybe a nap.

每年感恩節(jié)，總統(tǒng)就會(huì)赦免一只火雞，讓它安穩(wěn)的度過(guò)余生。重點(diǎn)不在這里，重點(diǎn)是這是一個(gè)重要的傳統(tǒng)，有人說(shuō)，感恩節(jié)沒有火雞就不是感恩節(jié)。可能感恩節(jié)只是睡覺罷了。

Tryptophan, an essential amino acid in turkey that functions as a precursor to serotonin, a substance that helps regulate sleep.

色氨酸，是火雞體內(nèi)一種必要的氨基酸，其功能是作為血清素的前體，可幫助調(diào)節(jié)睡眠。

And if your feasting leads to sleeping, you might dream of smoked turkey, stuffed turkey, roasted turkey, fried turkey, turkey sandwiches, turkey dogs, turkey legs, turkey bacon, turkey jerky. It doesn`t matter as long as it`s on the table and you`re not a vegetarian.

如果美食你睡著了，你可能會(huì)夢(mèng)到煙熏火雞、料塞火雞、烤火雞、油炸火雞、火雞三明治、火雞熱狗、火雞培根、火雞腿、火雞嫩干。沒關(guān)系的，這些菜都會(huì)在桌子上，而你只要不是一個(gè)素食主義者就可以了。

But get this: there`s actually no proof that turkeys were part of the first Thanksgiving harvest feast back in 1621.

但是，還沒有證據(jù)證明在1621年第一次感恩節(jié)豐收宴會(huì)受，有火雞。

What was on the table? Probably venison or goose; they were more readily available.

那么當(dāng)時(shí)餐桌上都有什么呢?可能是鹿肉或者鵝肉吧，那時(shí)這些肉更容易取材。

That wouldn`t have mattered much to folks like Ben Franklin. The Founding Father was a huge fan of turkeys. He once went so far as to call the bald eagle, our national symbol, "a bird of bad moral character," adding that the turkey was "more respectable."

這些可能與本·富蘭克林沒有太大的關(guān)心。但是富蘭克林酷愛火雞。他曾經(jīng)甚至叫禿鷹,我們國(guó)家的象征,“品質(zhì)惡劣,”并補(bǔ)充說(shuō)火雞是“更值得尊敬的”。

We couldn`t reach any eagles for comment, and the turkeys we had were cooked.

我們不做過(guò)多的評(píng)論，但是，現(xiàn)在我們見到的火雞是用來(lái)烹飪的。

But there`s no denying a connection between turkeys and freedom. Take for example this brash birdbrain, who exercised his freedom to stop traffic without giving up his freedom to run away. These audacious adventurers were seeking freedom on the railways, hoping to catch the first train out of Jersey before Thanksgiving. And this costumed creature is free to roam about a house as a pet without having to worry about the oven.

但這并沒有否認(rèn)火雞和自由之間的關(guān)系。看這個(gè)傲慢的小笨蛋，即使造成交通阻塞也不會(huì)放棄自由要逃走。這些大膽的冒險(xiǎn)家在鐵路上追尋自己的自由，希望在感恩節(jié)之前搭上第一班火車逃離澤西。這是盛裝的動(dòng)物是一只寵物自由的房子里慢走，不用擔(dān)心進(jìn)入烤箱的命運(yùn)。

He`s like a little dog with wings.

他就像一只長(zhǎng)了翅膀的狗狗。

Not to mention strong, birdlike features.

不要提一些明顯的鳥的特征。

But besides the oven, what`s a turkey`s biggest fear?

但是除了烤箱，火雞最懼怕的是什么呢?

The turkey eating competition, where gorgers guiltlessly gobble all the turkey they can. It`s definitely not for the birds. They`ll all tell you it`s a fowl idea.

吃火雞比賽，是參賽人員盡量吃掉所有的火雞。這當(dāng)然不是為火雞舉辦的比賽。但是這絕對(duì)是參加這個(gè)比賽絕對(duì)是一個(gè)愚蠢的想法。