2月18日，美国人民将庆祝“国父”诞辰日——他出生于1732年。

这一天是联邦假日。在这天，乔治·华盛顿（George Washington）的故居、现为博物馆的弗农山庄(Mount Vernon)将举行特别的庆祝活动，其中包括美国陆军军乐队（U.S. Army Old Guard Fife & Drum Corps）的音乐和军事表演，向华盛顿墓碑献花圈仪式，以及由演员扮演的“将军”和他的同代人的演出。

弗农山庄每年迎来大约100万参观游客，并致力于将华盛顿作为一位爱国者的形象生动地展现在人们面前。人们在这里看到的不是一美元纸币上的那位表情凝滞不苟言笑的华盛顿，而是博物馆斥资100多万美元打造的一座座真人般大小的雕像，图中所示为雕像之一。这座雕像再现了华盛顿在大约19岁、担任土地勘测员时的模样。

有关乔治·华盛顿的更多介绍，请见弗农山庄网站。

On February 18, Americans will be celebrating the birthday of the “father” of their country, who was born in 1732.

This federal holiday will be noted with special festivities at Mount Vernon, George Washington’s estate and now a museum. There the day will feature musical and military performances by the U.S. Army Old Guard Fife & Drum Corps, a wreath-laying ceremony at Washington’s tomb, and performances by re-enactors portraying "the general” and his contemporaries.

Mount Vernon, which welcomes an estimated 1 million visitors each year, has made special efforts to portray Washington as a flesh-and-blood patriot. To counter the impression given by the stodgy, stern face of Washington found on the U.S. dollar bill, officials at the museum spent more than $1 million for life-size sculptures like the one seen here, which portrays Washington as he might have looked at the age of 19 when he worked as a surveyor.

Learn more about George Washington at the Mount Vernon website.