感恩節大遊行Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade

感恩節快到了！ It was almost Thanksgiving.

星期二早上。 明明全家坐飛機去奶奶家。

Tuesday morning, Ming-Ming’s family flew to grandma’s house.

飛機上坐滿了人，好像都是趕著回家過節。

The plane was packed with people, and everyone looked like they were rushing home for the holidays.

飛機飛了六個小時才到紐約市，The plane took six hours to get to New York City,

姑姑和表弟表妹也到了，Auntie and two younger cousins were there already,

大家在機場見面，高興的抱在一起。When we met at the airport everyone felt so happy and hugged each other.

奶奶說，明天去看梅西大遊行，Grandma said, we were going to see the Macy’s Parade tomorrow,

大家聽了都很歡喜。Everyone was excited to hear that.

奶奶說一定要早去，不然交通會太擠，車子走不通。
Grandma said that we needed to go early, so that we would not get stuck in the heavy traffic.

(Otherwise, the traffic would be too crowded. The car gets stuck.)

感恩節一大早，大家吃過早飯，就開車上路了。Early on Thanksgiving, they got on the road soon after breakfast!

因為來得早，所以佔到路邊的好位子。Because they arrived early, I got a good seat on the side of the road.

十點鐘左右，樂隊過來了，吹吹打打很熱鬧。Around ten o’clock, the marching band came over, and playing trumpets and drums is very lively.

哇，卡通氣球也有一個個過來了，有chicken little– Wow, cartoon balloons are coming one by one, like chicken little–

哦！還有SpongeBob，這些氣球都非常的大，Oh! There was SpongeBob, All the balloons were so big.

每個氣球都是由一、二十個人拉著走。Each balloon was pulled away by ten or twenty people.

All the balloons were so big that it took 10to20 people to pull each one.

今年參加遊行的卡通人物很多，Many cartoon characters were participating in the parade this year,

孩子們高興地一直拍手叫好，All the kids were so thrilled they kept clapping and shouting.

The children clapped their hands and shout happily,

明明和姊姊也拍了許多照片。Mingming and her sister also took a lot of photos.

胖胖的耶誕老人公公來了，Finally, the pot-bellied Santa Clause showed up!

這是每年遊行的最後一個節目，This was the last show in the parade every year.

因為感恩節一過耶誕節就快來了！Because after Thanksgiving Christmas was right around the corner.

回到家以後，全家說說笑笑一起準備感恩節大餐，

After returning home, (After getting home)the whole family chatted and laughed together to prepare the Thanksgiving feast.

孩子們做蔥油餅和小蛋糕，The children made scallion pancakes and cupcakes,

其他的食物都有大人們準備。The rest of the meals are prepared by adults.

晚飯時，飯桌上有烤火雞、紅莓醬，洋芋泥、玉米麵包、南瓜餅等可口的食物，

During dinner, the table was laden with such mouth -watering dishes as roast turkey, cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes, cornbread, pumpkin pie,

另外還有香噴噴的蔥油餅和紅莓小蛋糕。As well as great smelling scallion pancakes and cranberry cupcakes.

明明、姊姊、表妹、表弟，一起抱著奶奶，Mingming, her elder sister and younger cousins hugged grandma together,

感恩奶奶給他們一個最難忘的感恩節。Thanking grandma for giving them a most unforgettable Thanksgiving.

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石頭湯 Stone Soup

很久以前，有一個農村，

Once upon a time, there was a village,

這裡的村民都很自私又很小氣，所以大家很少有往來。The villagers were all very selfish and stingy, so they hardly saw one another.

(So they rarely communicate)

有一年冬天，有個老人來到這裡，

One winter, an old man came here,

他帶來一個大鍋子，He brought a big cauldron,

他把冰塊和雪放進鍋子裡，

He placed ice cubes and snow into the pot,

就在路邊生火煮了起來。

They built a fire by the side of the road and started cooking.

老人又從皮箱裡拿出一個小石頭，放進鍋里。

The old man took out a small stone from the suitcase and put it into the cauldron.

他高聲叫道：美味的石頭湯唷！
He shouted: “Delicious stone soup!”

快來吃，不要錢唷。 Come and have some, free of charge.(no money required.)

大家一聽，不要錢！ 就連忙打開大門，拿著碗出來，

When everyone heard it was free, they hurriedly opened the doors and rushed out with their bowls,

大家圍著大鍋子等著喝美味的石頭湯。

Everyone gathered around the cauldron and couldn’t wait to taste the delicious stone soup.

老人用大湯杓攪著攪著鍋里的湯，自言自語地說：

The old man stirred the soup with a ladle and murmured to himself,

如果再加點兒胡椒，蔥和油，

If we add a little ground pepper, scallions, and oil,

就是世界上最美味的湯了！

It will be the most delicious soup in the world!

有人想：這些都是小東西，要不了幾個錢，

Some people thought: These are trivial and don’t cost much.

於是，他們就回家拿來了。

So, they returned home and fetch them.

老人把這些東西加進湯里。

The old man added these ingredients to the soup.

老人喝了一口湯，說道：不錯！ 不錯！

The old man took one sip of the soup and said: Not bad! good!

假如湯里有自己最愛吃的東西，那就更好喝了！

If the soup has everyone’s favorite thing, it would be even better!

大家聽了，覺得老人說的話很有道理。

Everyone listened and felt that what the old man said was very reasonable. (thought it made sense.)

於是，匆忙回家把自己最愛吃的東西都拿來了。

So, they hurried home and brought back their favorite food.

老人把大家拿來的肉、玉米、白菜、青豆、杏仁、洋蔥芹菜、番茄—都加進湯裡。

The old man added the meat, corn, cabbage, green beans, almonds, onions, celery, and tomatoes into the soup.

石頭湯果然更香了。

Which of course smelled even better.

於是，大家高高興興地吃著。

So, everyone happily consumed the soup.

這時候老人忽然不見了，

At this moment, the old man suddenly disappeared.

只見鍋子上有“合作”兩個字。

I saw the word “cooperation” on the caldron.

這時候大家才明白：

Then everyone finally understood:

每個人拿出一點兒食物，

Everyone chipped in a little food,

合在一起才煮成這麼美味的湯，

Combined to make such a delicious soup,

從此以後，村民們互助合作，過著幸福快樂的人日子。

Since then (from then on), the villagers learned to help and cooperate with one another and lived happily ever after.