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After 10 months in office, US President Barack Obama granted his first pardon Wednesday to "Courage," a 45-pound (20-kilogram) turkey spared from theThanksgivingdinner table. Accompanied by daughters Sasha and Malia, Obama stood under the NorthPorticoof the White House to honor a holiday tradition that dates to 1947 — receiving a bird from the National Turkey Federation.
"I'm told Presidents Eisenhower and Johnson actually ate their turkeys," Obama said. "You can'tfaultthem for that; that's a good-looking bird."
On the Thanksgiving holiday, the last Thursday in November, many Americans have turkey for lunch or dinner.
President George H.W. Bush was the first to officially pardon a turkey.
Obama joked about wanting toforgothe tradition and eat "Courage."
"Thanks to the interventions of Malia and Sasha — because I was planning to eat this sucker — 'Courage' will also be spared this terrible and delicious fate," he said.
Obama said he wished all American service members at home and abroad a happy Thanksgiving, saying it is a "tremendous honor it is to serve as commander in chief of the finest military in the world."
He also spoke about the first family's plans for the holiday dinner.
"Just like millions of other families across America, we'll take time to give our thanks for many blessings," Obama said. "We'll also remember this is a time when so many members of our American family are hurting."
Obama noted that President Abraham Lincoln made Thanksgiving a holiday in the midst of the Civil War in the 1860s, "when the future of our very union was most in doubt."
"This is an era of new perils and new hardships," he added. "So on this quintessentially American holiday, as we give thanks for what we've got, let's also give back to those who are less fortunate."
After his remarks, the turkey was lifted to a table and Obama raised his hand over its head to deliver a mock-serious pardon.
"You are hereby pardoned," he said.
Obama said "Courage" will get to spend the rest of his life in "peace and tranquility" at a Disneyland amusement park.
(Read by Lee Hannon. Lee Hannon is a multimedia journalist at the China Daily Web site.)
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(Agencies)
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本周三，上任10個月的美國總統巴拉克?奧巴馬首次赦免了一只重45磅（20公斤）、名叫“勇氣”的火雞，使之免于成為感恩節大餐。當天，在女兒薩沙和瑪莉亞的陪伴下，奧巴馬站在白宮的北門廊下赦免了一只來自全國火雞聯盟的火雞。美國總統赦免火雞的感恩節傳統始于1947年。
奧巴馬說：“我聽說艾森豪威爾總統和約翰遜總統其實都把他們的火雞給吃了。這不能怪他們，火雞看起來的確很誘人。”
每年11月的最后一個星期四是美國的感恩節，這一天，很多美國人通常會在中午或晚上享用火雞大餐。
正式的火雞赦免儀式始于喬治?H?W?布什總統時期。
奧巴馬開玩笑說他想打破這一傳統，嘗嘗“勇氣”的味道。
他說：“我本來打算把這家伙給吃了，但多虧瑪莉亞和薩莎的阻攔，‘勇氣’才逃過成為盤中餐的命運。”
奧巴馬祝愿駐扎在國內外的所有美國士兵度過一個愉快的感恩節，并稱“能夠成為世界上最精良軍隊的總指揮，他感到無上榮耀”。
奧巴馬還提到了第一家庭的節日晚餐安排。
奧巴馬說：“和全美數百萬的其它家庭一樣，我們也會好好感謝我們現在擁有的很多幸福。我們還會記住我們中間的很多人正在經受痛苦。”
奧巴馬指出，感恩節要追溯到19世紀60年代的內戰期間，當時亞伯拉罕?林肯總統將其定為國家假日，“那時我們國家的未來還十分不確定。”
他說：“當今時代充滿了新的風險和困難。因此，在這個美國特有的節日里，我們在感謝我們所擁有的幸福的同時，也讓我們向那些不那么幸運的人們伸出援手。”
奧巴馬的講話結束后，火雞被抬到了桌上，奧巴馬則把手舉到它的頭上，假裝嚴肅地發表赦免講話。
他說：“你被特赦了。”
奧巴馬說，“勇氣”將在迪斯尼樂園“平靜安詳地”度過它的余生。
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（中國日報網英語點津 陳丹妮 編輯蔡姍姍）
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