Nearly four hundred years ago, a great many of the people in England were very unhappy because their king would not let them pray to God as they liked. The king said they must use the same prayers that he did; and if they would not do this, they were often thrown into prison, or perhaps driven away from home.

«Let us go away from this country,» said the unhappy Englishmen to each other; and so they left their homes, and went far off to a country called Holland. It was about this time that they began to call themselves «Pilgrims.» Pilgrims, you know, are people who are always traveling to find something they love, or to find a land where they can be happier; and these English men and women were journeying, they said, «from place to place, toward heaven, their dearest country.»

In Holland, the Pilgrims were quiet and happy for a while, but they were very poor; and when the children began to grow up, they were not like English children, but talked Dutch, like the little ones of Holland, and some grew naughty and did not want to go to church any more.

«This will never do,» said the Pilgrim fathers and mothers; so after much talking and thinking and writing they made up their minds to come here to America. They hired two vessels, called the Mayflower and the Speedwell, to take them across the sea; but the Speedwell was not a strong ship, and the captain had to take her home again before she had gone very far.

The Mayflower went back, too. Part of the Speedwell’s passengers were given to her, and then she started alone across the great ocean.

There were one hundred people on board — mothers and fathers, brothers and sisters and little children. They were very crowded; it was cold and uncomfortable; the sea was rough, and pitched the Mayflower about, and they were two months sailing over the water.

The children cried many times on the journey, and wished they had never come on the tiresome ship that rocked them so hard, and would not let them keep still a minute.

But they had one pretty plaything to amuse them, for in the middle of the great ocean a Pilgrim baby was born, and they called him «Oceanus,» for his birthplace. When the children grew so tired that they were cross and fretful, Oceanus’ mother let them come and play with him, and that always brought smiles and happy faces back again.

At last the Mayflower came in sight of land; but if the children had been thinking of grass and flowers and birds, they must have been very much disappointed, for the month was cold November, and there was nothing to be seen but rocks and sand and hard bare ground.

Some of the Pilgrim fathers, with brave Captain Myles Standish at their head, went on shore to see if they could find any houses or white people. But they only saw some Indians, who ran away from them, and found some Indian huts and some corn buried in holes in the ground. They went to and fro from the ship three times, till by and by they found a pretty place to live, where there were «fields and little running brooks.»

Then at last all the tired Pilgrims landed from the ship on a spot now called Plymouth Rock, and the first house was begun on Christmas Day. But when I tell you how sick they were and how much they suffered that first winter, you will be very sad and sorry for them. The weather was cold, the snow fell fast and thick, the wind was icy, and the Pilgrim fathers had no one to help them cut down the trees and build their church and their houses.

The Pilgrim mothers helped all they could; but they were tired with the long journey, and cold, and hungry too, for no one had the right kind of food to eat, nor even enough of it.

So first one was taken sick, and then another, till half of them were in bed at the same time, Brave Myles Standish and the other soldiers nursed them as well as they knew how; but before spring came half of the people died and had gone at last to «heaven, their dearest country.»

But by and by the sun shone more brightly, the snow melted, the leaves began to grow, and sweet spring had come again.

Some friendly Indians had visited the Pilgrims during the winter, and Captain Myles Standish, with several of his men, had returned the visit.

One of the kind Indians was called Squanto, and he came to stay with the Pilgrims, and showed them how to plant their corn, and their pease and wheat and barley.

When the summer came and the days were long and bright, the Pilgrim children were very happy, and they thought Plymouth a lovely place indeed. All kinds of beautiful wild flowers grew at their doors, there were hundreds of birds and butterflies, and the great pine woods were always cool and shady when the sun was too bright.

When it was autumn the fathers gathered the barley and wheat and corn that they had planted, and found that it had grown so well that they would have quite enough for the long winter that was coming.

«Let us thank God for it all,» they said. «It is He who has made the sun shine and the rain fall and the corn grow.» So they thanked God in their homes and in their little church; the fathers and the mothers and the children thanked Him.

«Then,» said the Pilgrim mothers, «let us have a great Thanksgiving party, and invite the friendly Indians, and all rejoice together.»

So they had the first Thanksgiving party, and a grand one it was! Four men went out shooting one whole day, and brought back so many wild ducks and geese and great wild turkeys that there was enough for almost a week. There was deer meat also, of course, for there were plenty of fine deer in the forest. Then the Pilgrim mothers made the corn and wheat into bread and cakes, and they had fish and clams from the sea besides.

The friendly Indians all came with their chief Massasoit. Every one came that was invited, and more, I dare say, for there were ninety of them altogether.

They brought five deer with them, that they gave to the Pilgrims; and they must have liked the party very much, for they stayed three days.

Kind as the Indians were, you would have been very much frightened if you had seen them; and the baby Oceanus, who was a year old then, began to cry at first whenever they came near him.

They were dressed in deerskins, and some of them had the furry coat of a wild cat hanging on their arms. Their long black hair fell loose on their shoulders, and was trimmed with feathers or fox-tails. They had their faces painted in all kinds of strange ways, some with black stripes as broad as your finger all up and down them. But whatever they wore, it was their very best, and they had put it on for the Thanksgiving party.

Each meal, before they ate anything, the Pilgrims and the Indians thanked God together for all his goodness. The Indians sang and danced in the evenings, and every day they ran races and played all kinds of games with the children.

Then sometimes the Pilgrims with their guns, and the Indians with their bows and arrows, would see who could shoot farthest and best. So they were glad and merry and thankful for three whole days.

The Pilgrim mothers and fathers had been sick and sad many times since they landed from the Mayflower; they had worked very hard, often had not had enough to eat, and were mournful indeed when their friends died and left them. But now they tried to forget all this, and think only of how good God had been to them; and so they all were happy together at the first Thanksgiving party.

All this happened nearly four hundred years ago, and ever since that time Thanksgiving has been kept in our country.

Every year our fathers and grandfathers and great-grandfathers have «rejoiced together» like the Pilgrims, and have had something to be thankful for each time.

Every year some father has told the story of the brave Pilgrims to his little sons and daughters, and has taught them to be very glad and proud that the Mayflower came sailing to our country so many years ago.

Почти четыреста лет назад многие в Англии были очень несчастны, потому что их царь не позволял им молиться Богу так, как им хотелось. Царь сказал, что они должны использовать те же молитвы, что и он; и если они не будут этого делать, их будут заключать в тюрьму или, возможно, изгонять из дома.

«Давайте уйдем из этой страны», — сказали несчастные англичане друг другу; и поэтому они покинули свои дома и уехали далеко в страну под названием Голландия. Примерно в это же время они стали называть себя «Пилигримы». Паломники, вы знаете, это люди, которые всегда путешествуют, чтобы найти то, что они любят, или найти страну, где они могут быть счастливее; и эти английские мужчины и женщины путешествовали, по их словам, «с места на место, к небу, к своей любимой стране».

В Голландии пилигримы некоторое время были спокойны и счастливы, но они были очень бедны; и когда дети начали взрослеть, они не были похожи на английских детей, но говорили по-голландски, как маленькие голландцы, а некоторые стали непослушными и больше не хотели ходить в церковь.

«Такого никогда не будет», — говорили отцы и матери Пилигрима; поэтому после долгих разговоров, размышлений и писем они решили приехать сюда в Америку. Они наняли два судна, названные Mayflower и Speedwell, чтобы переправить их через море; но «Спидвелл» не был сильным кораблем, и капитану пришлось снова вернуться домой.

Мэйфлауэр тоже вернулся. Часть пассажиров Speedwell была передана ему, а затем он отправился один через огромный океан.

На борту находилось сто человек — мамы и папы, братья, сестры и маленькие дети. Было очень многолюдно; было холодно и неудобно; море было бурным и разбило Мэйфлауэр, два месяца они находились на воде.

Дети плакали в пути, хотели, никогда не находиться на этом утомительном корабле, который так сильно их качал, и не давал им помолчать ни минуты.

Но у них была одна красивая игрушка, чтобы развлечь их: в середине большого океана родился младенец Пилигрим, и они назвали его «Океан», за место его рождения. Когда дети становились настолько уставшими, что были рассержены и раздражительны, мать Океана позволила им прийти и поиграть с ним, что всегда возвращало улыбки и счастливые лица.

Наконец Mayflower появился в поле зрения земли; но если бы дети думали о траве, цветах и ​​птицах, они, должно быть, были очень разочарованы, поскольку месяц был холодным ноябрем, и ничего не было видно, кроме камней, песка и твердой голой земли.

Некоторые из отцов-пилигримов во главес отважным капитаном Майлсом Стэндишем отправились на берег, чтобы посмотреть, найдут ли они какие-нибудь дома или белых людей. Но они увидели только нескольких индейцев, которые убежали от них, и нашли несколько индийских хижин и кукурузу, закопанную в ямах в земле. Они трижды ходили туда-сюда с корабля, пока не нашли красивое место для жизни, где были «поля и маленькие бегущие ручьи».

Затем, наконец, все уставшие пилигримы высадились с корабля на месте, которое теперь называется Плимут Рок, их первый дом стал убежищем на Рождество. Но когда я расскажу вам, как они были больны и как сильно они пострадали в ту первую зиму, вам будет очень грустно и жаль их. Погода была холодной, снег падал быстро и густо, ветер был ледяным, и отцам-пилигримам некому было помочь срубить деревья и построить церковь и дома.

Матери Пилигрима помогали всем, чем могли; но они были уставшими от долгого путешествия, и холодными, и голодными, потому что ни у кого не было правильной пищи, и даже ее не было достаточно.

Итак, сначала один заболел, а затем еще один, пока половина из них не легла в постель одновременно, Храбрый Майлз Стэндиш и другие солдаты ухаживали за ними изо всех сил; но до наступления весны половина людей умерла и, наконец, отправилась на «небеса, в свою любимую страну».

Но постепенно солнце светило ярче, снег растаял, листья начали расти, и снова наступила сладкая весна.

Некоторые дружелюбные индейцы посетили пилигримов зимой, а капитан Майлс Стэндиш, вместе с несколькими его людьми, посетили индейцев.

Одного из добрых индейцев звали Скванто, он приехал, чтобы остаться с Паломниками, показал им, как сажать их кукурузу, а также горох, пшеницу и ячмень.

Когда наступило лето и дни были долгими и яркими, дети Пилигрима были очень счастливы, и они думали, что Плимут действительно прекрасное место. У их дверей росли всевозможные красивые полевые цветы, было сотни птиц и бабочек, а большие сосновые леса всегда были прохладными и тенистыми, когда солнце было слишком ярким.

Когда была осень, отцы собрали ячмень, пшеницу и кукурузу, которые они посадили, и обнаружили, что они выросли настолько хорошо, что их будет вполне достаточно для предстоящей долгой зимы.

«Давайте поблагодарим Бога за все это».