It is odd, then, that Luca would want to use this birthday to celebrate an American Thanksgiving, given these circumstances, but I do like the idea of it. Thanksgiving is a nice holiday, something an American can freely be proud of, our one national festival that has remained relatively uncommodified. It's a day of grace and thanks and community and—yes—pleasure. It might be what we all need right now. 因此在这个情况下，卢卡想利用他的生日来庆祝美国的感恩节可是件怪事，但我确实喜欢这个点子。感恩节是很棒的节日，让美国人引以为傲的节日，我国尚未废弃的一个节庆日。这是感恩、欢聚以及快乐的日子。或许正是我们每个人现在所需要的东西。

My friend Deborah has come to Rome from Philadelphia for the weekend, to celebrate the holiday with me. Deborah's an internationally respected psychologist, a writer and a feminist theorist, but I still think of her as my favorite regular customer, back from the days when I was a diner waitress in Philly and she would come in for lunch and drink Diet Coke with no ice and say clever things to me over the counter. She really classed up that joint. We've been friends now for over fifteen years. Sofie will be coming to Luca's party, too. Sofie and I have been friends for about fifteen weeks. Everybody is always welcome on Thanksgiving. Especially when it also happens to be Luca Spaghetti's birthday. 我的朋友黛博拉从费城来罗马度周末，和我一同过节。黛博拉是享誉国际的心理学家、作家兼女性主义理论家。但她在我心目中仍是我最喜爱的常客，打从我在费城担任餐厅服务员的时候，她常来吃午饭，喝不加冰块的健怡可乐，和柜台后面的我谈论机智的东西。她确实提高了那家小餐厅的格调。我们是交往十五年多的朋友。苏菲也会参加卢卡的生日派对。苏菲和我是交往十五个礼拜的朋友。在感恩节的时候，每个人都受到欢迎。尤其碰巧还是卢卡的生日。

We drive out of tired, stressed-out Rome late in the evening, up into the mountains. Luca loves American music, so we're blasting the Eagles and singing "Take it . . . to the limit . . . one more time!!!!!!" which adds an oddly Californian sound track to our drive through olive groves and ancient aqueducts. We arrive at the house of Luca's old friends Mario and Simona, parents of the twin twelve-year-old girls Giulia and Sara. Paolo—a friend of Luca's whom I'd met before at soccer games—is there, too, along with his girlfriend. Of course, Luca's own girlfriend, Giuliana, is there, as well, having driven up earlier in the evening. It's an exquisite house, hidden away in a grove of olive and clementine and lemon trees. The fireplace is lit. The olive oil is homemade. 我们晚上开车离开疲乏紧张的罗马，进入山区。卢卡喜欢美国音乐，因此我们大声播放老鹰合唱团的歌曲，高唱“Take it...to the limit...one more!!!!!!”（再一次到达极限），为我们开车穿越橄榄树丛和水道古桥的时候，添加某种奇特的加州音乐。我们抵达卢卡的老友马里奥和席莫娜的家，他们有一对十二岁的双胞胎女儿茱莉亚和莎拉。保罗——卢卡的朋友，我们曾在足球赛上见过面——也来了，带来他的女朋友。当然，卢卡自己的女朋友茱莉亚 娜也来了，傍晚从南边开车过来。这是一栋美妙的房子，隐藏在橄榄丛、柑橘树和柠檬树当中。壁炉在燃烧。还有自制的橄榄油。

No time to roast a twenty-pound turkey, obviously, but Luca sautés up some lovely cuts of turkey breast and I preside over a whirlwind group effort to make a Thanksgiving stuffing, as best as I can remember the recipe, made from the crumbs of some high-end Italian bread, with necessary cultural substitutions (dates instead of apricots; fennel instead of celery). Somehow it comes out great. Luca had been worried about how the conversation would proceed tonight, given that half the guests can't speak English and the other half can't speak Italian (and only Sofie can speak Swedish), but it seems to be one of those miracle evenings where everyone can understand each other perfectly, or at least your neighbor can help translate when the odd word gets lost. 显然没有时间烤二十磅的火鸡，但卢卡煎了几块漂亮的火鸡胸肉，我则率领一大群人尽力制作内馅，就我记忆所及的食谱，以高档意大利面包屑作材料，以及必要的文化替代物（以蜜枣取代杏脯；以茴香取代芹菜）。结果竟相当好。卢卡担心今晚对话如何进行，因为半数的客人不会讲英语，另一半则不会讲意大利语（仅苏菲一人讲瑞典语），但这似乎是个神奇之夜，大家都听得懂对方的话，至少找不到某个单字时，由邻近的人帮忙翻译。

I lose count of how many bottles of Sardinian wine we drink before Deborah introduces to the table the suggestion that we follow a nice American custom here tonight by joining hands and—each in turn—saying what we are most grateful for. In three languages, then, this montage of gratitude comes forth, one testimony at a time. 我们不知喝了多少瓶撒丁酒后，黛博拉向席间的人建议我们今晚按照美国习俗，大家携手轮流说出自己最感谢的一切。于是，这场“感恩蒙太奇”以三种语言开演，人人轮流表白。