感恩节：布什最后一次赦免火鸡

With nostalgic words, US President George W. Bush Wednesday pardoned his last national Thanksgiving turkey, which will now fly first-class to Disneyland in California instead of ending up on a dinner table.

With the necessary gravity and gobbling accompanying the ceremony, Bush pardoned the bird, dubbed Pumpkin and a backup bird, Pecan, who was nowhere to be seen, "in an undisclosed location," Bush joked.

"In recent weeks, I've talked a lot about sprinting to the finish. Yet I've assured these turkeys they will not be trotting to their finish," Bush said on the eve of the Thanksgiving holiday, his last before his term ends in January.

"That's because in keeping with a longstanding tradition, Pumpkin and Pecan are hereby granted a full and unconditional presidential pardon."

Both birds will fly to Disneyland, where Pumpkin is set to be the honorary marshal of the Thanksgiving Day Parade.

"Together, these birds will gobble the rest of their days in 'The Happiest Place on Earth.' I just hope they stay humble there," Bush added to laughter from the crowd.

But in a letter to Bush on Tuesday, the animal rights group PETA called on the president to send the turkeys to an animal sanctuary instead.

"You might be a lame duck, but you still have the power to help lame turkeys, who are made that way by the cruelty of the meat industry," PETA president Ingrid Newkirk wrote in the letter.

Bush expressed his thanks to American troops and his family and gave a shout out to the newest addition to the Bush family, Henry Hager, Jenna's husband.

"We are looking forward to having another place at our Thanksgiving table with a son-in-law." 

带着浓浓的怀旧之情，布什总统于本周三在他任期内最后一次赦免感恩节火鸡，这只火鸡幸免一死，并将乘坐头等舱飞往加州的迪斯尼乐园。

特赦仪式气氛庄严，火鸡“咕咕”地叫个不停，布什总统赦免了这只名叫“南瓜”的火鸡，同时获得赦免的还有一只名叫“胡桃”的替补火鸡，但“胡桃”并未出现在典礼上，布什开玩笑说：“它在一个秘密地点。”

布什在节前发表他的最后一次感恩节讲话时说：“这几周，我说了很多关于结束的话。但我要保证这两只火鸡不会很快结束（生命）。”

“因为按照长期以来的传统，‘南瓜’和‘胡桃’得到了总统的免死金牌。”

这两只火鸡将飞往迪斯尼乐园，“南瓜”将担任在此举行的感恩节游行活动的荣誉大礼官。

人群中发出阵阵笑声，布什接着说：“这两只火鸡将在‘地球上最快乐的地方’度过它们的余生，我只希望它们能表现得谦逊一点。”

PETA动物保护组织于本周二致信布什，希望他能将这两只火鸡送往动物收容所。

PETA主席英格里德．纽科克在信中说：“现在你可能成了跛脚鸭，但你仍然能决定跛脚火鸡的命运，这都是残忍的肉禽业干的好事。”

在节前的讲话中，布什对美国士兵及他的家人表示了感谢，并向新“进门”的女婿、詹娜的老公亨利．哈格发出了节日邀请。

“希望女婿能与我们共进感恩节大餐”。

Vocabulary: 

shout-out: a greeting or acknowledgment of a person, group, or organization of significance. It is often done as a sign of respect, synonymous with "giving props".（对某人或某组织的重要性予以承认）