April Fool's Day is traditionally a day to play practical jokes on others, send people on fool's errands, and fool the unsuspecting. No one knows how this holiday began but it was thought to have originated in France.
傳統上來講，愚人節這一天，人們可以相互搞惡作劇，騙人跑腿，欺騙不知情的人。沒人知道這個節日是怎麼來的，但人們普遍認爲它源自法國。
The closest point in time that can be identified as the beginning of this tradition was in 1582, in France. New Year's was celebrated on March 25 and celebrations lasted until April 1st. When New Year's Day as changed from March 25 to January 1st in the mid-1560's by King Charles IX, there were some people who still celebrated it on April 1st and those people were called April Fools.
慶祝愚人節最早是在1582年，在法國。那時，當時法國新年是在3月25日，一直持續到4月1日。16世紀60年代中期，國王查理九世把新年從3月25日變爲1月1日，而還有一些人在4月1日過新年，這些人就被稱作四月傻瓜了。
Pranks performed on April Fool's Day range from the simple, (such as saying, "Your shoe's untied!), to the elaborate. Setting a roommate's alarm clock back an hour is a common gag. The news media even gets involved. For instance, a British short film once shown on April Fool's Day was a fairly detailed documentary about "spaghetti farmers" and how they harvest their crop from the spaghetti trees. Whatever the prank, the trickster usually ends it by yelling to his victim, "April Fool!"
愚人節那天的惡作劇有的很簡單（比如，說句“你鞋帶開了！”），有的卻是精心設計的。把室友的鬧鐘往後調一小時是常見的。甚至新聞媒體都來湊熱鬧。比如，在愚人節那天，曾經有一部英國短片較爲詳細地記錄了“種意大利麪的農民”，以及他們如何從意大利麪樹上收穫意大利麪。不管是什麼惡作劇，搞惡作劇的人通常在最後會對被搞的人喊一句:"四月傻瓜！"
April Fool's Day is a "for-fun-only" observance. Nobody is expected to buy gifts or to take their "significant other" out to eat in a fancy restaurant. Nobody gets off work or school. It's simply a fun little holiday, but a holiday on which one must remain forever vigilant, for he may be the next April Fool!
愚人節是一個“僅爲娛樂”的節日。誰也不用買禮物，也不用帶着男/女朋友出去到一家豪華餐廳去吃飯。人們也不會放假。它僅僅是個搞笑的小節日，但是在這一天，每個人都要保持警醒，不然就要被人耍啦。
Unlike most of the other nonfoolish holidays, the history of April Fool's Day, sometimes called All Fool's Day, is not totally clear. There really wasn't a "first April Fool's Day" that can be pinpointed on the calendar. Some believe it sort of evolved simultaneously in several cultures at the same time, from celebrations involving the first day of spring.
April fool：愚人節時受愚弄的人，中文多譯作“四月傻瓜”。沒有人能夠在日曆上準確地標出第一個愚人節的位置，即“沒有人知道第一個愚人節是什麼時候開始的。”pinpoint：精確地確定......的位置(性質、原因等)，確認。有些人認爲它可能是同時從幾種文化演變而來的，源自與春季第一天有關的慶祝活動。sort of:(口)近似，有那麼點兒。
The closest point in time that can be identified as the beginning of this tradition was in 1582, in France. Prior to (4)that year, the new year was celebrated for eight days, beginning on March 25. The celebration culminated on April 1. With the reform of the calendar under Charles IX, the Gregorian Calendar was introduced, and New Year's Day was moved to January 1(5).
查理九世在位期間進行了曆法改革，引進了陽曆，並且把新年第一天移至1月1日。Charlex IX：查理九世，法蘭西國王[1560-1574]；Gregorian Calendar：格列高利曆，即目前全世界通用的陽曆。
However, communications being what they were in the days when news traveled by foot, many people did not receive the news for several years(6). Others, the more obstinate crowd, refused to accept the new calendar and continued to celebrate the new year on April 1(7). These backward folk were labeled as "fools" by the general populace. They were subject to some ridicule, and were often sent on "fools errands" or were made the butt of other practical jokes(8).
然而，在那個消息還有靠徒步旅行傳播的年代裏，有許多人過了好幾年後纔得到這個消息。一幫冥頑不化的傢伙卻拒絕接受新曆法，依舊在4月1日那天慶祝新年。他們受到嘲笑，並且經常被派去做只有笨蛋才做的差事，或者成爲惡作劇的對象。butt：(嘲弄等的)對象，笑柄；practical joke：惡作劇。
This harassment evolved, over time, into a tradition of prank-playing on the first day of April(9). The tradition eventually spread to England and Scotland in the eighteenth century. It was later introduced to the American colonies of both the English and French. April Fool's Day thus developed into an international fun feast(10), so to speak, with different nationalities specializing in their own brand of humor at the expense of their friends and families.
這種折磨人的行爲隨着時間慢慢演變成在4月的第一天搞惡作劇的傳統。
In Scotland, for example, April Fool's Day is actually celebrated for two days. The second day is devoted to pranks involving the posterior region of the body. It is called Taily Day(11). The origin of the "kick me" sign can be traced to this observance(12).
例如在蘇格蘭，愚人節實際上要過兩天。第二天專門對人身後部位(謔指屁股)胡鬧。這一天被稱作Taily節，這一天專門玩跟臀部有關的惡作劇，通常做法是悄悄地在別人的臀部貼上寫着“踢我”的標籤，顯得十分滑稽。
Mexico's counterpart of April Fool's Day is actually observed on December 28. Originally, the day was a sad remembrance of the slaughter of the innocent children by King Herod. It eventually evolved into a lighter commemoration involving pranks and trickery(13).
最初這一天是用來紀念被希律王屠殺的那些無辜的孩童，結果卻演變成了一個充滿惡作劇和詭計的較爲輕鬆的紀念日。King Herod：希律王(希律大帝)，羅馬統治時期的猶太國王，統治後期兇惡殘暴，曾下令屠戮伯利恆城男嬰；commemoration：慶祝會，紀念儀式；trickery：詭計，耍花招。
Pranks performed on April Fool's Day range from the simple, (such as saying, "Your shoe's untied!), to the elaborate(14). Setting a roommate's alarm clock back an hour is a common gag(15). Whatever the prank, the trickster usually ends it by yelling to his victim, "April Fool!" (16)
無論哪種惡作劇，都會以其始作俑者朝受害者大喊：“四月傻瓜！”而宣告結束。
Practical jokes are a common practice on April Fool's Day. Sometimes, elaborate practical jokes are played on friends or relatives that last the entire day. The news media even gets involved. For instance, a British short film once shown on April Fool's Day was a fairly detailed documentary about "spaghetti farmers" and how they harvest their crop from the spaghetti trees. (17)
例如，曾在愚人節放映過一部英國短片，那是一部相當詳盡的紀錄片，講述了“種麪條的人”以及他們是如何從麪條樹上收割麪條的。spaghetti：意大利式細麪條。
April Fool's Day is a "for-fun-only" observance. Nobody is expected to buy gifts or to take their "significant other(18)" out to eat in a fancy restaurant. Nobody gets off work or school. It's simply a fun little holiday, but a holiday on which one must remain forever vigilant(19), for he may be the next April Fool!
While popular in the U.S., the April Fool’s Day tradition is even more prevalent in European countries,such as France and Great Britain. Although the roots of the traditional trickings are unclear,the French andthe British both have claims on the origin of the celebration.
One theory holds that the first April Fool’s Day was on April 1 of the year when King of France instituted the new new system placed the day that had formerly been the first day of a new year on April people were reluctant to adjust to the new calandar and continued to celebrate New Year’s Day on what had become the first day of , they become the first April rs began to give gaggifts on the day to mock the foolishness of thosewho continued to celebrate the new year on April 1.
An English story about the day, however, holds that it began sometime during the the time, King John of England was in the habit of making a road out of nearly every path he walked citizensof one particular farm village were aware of avoid having their green meadows and pastures disturbed with one of the king’s roads,they built a fence that prevented the king from walking through their king sent a group of messengers to inform the villagers that they must remove the hearing that the king was planning to do this, however, the villagers developed a plan of their the messengers arrived, they found what appeared to be a community of lunatics,with people behaving in a bizarre manner, throwing things and running around messengers, alarmed at what they had found, reported to king John that these people were so mad as to be beyond , the villagers saved their farmland by tricking the King. In Great Britain,tradition only allows April Fool’s tricks from midnightto noon on April 1. Those who try to play tricks in the afternoon become the fools themselves.
愚人節的習俗在美國是很流行的,在歐洲國家如法國和英國就更是如此了。雖然這種愚弄人習俗的起源不甚清楚，但是法國人和英國人卻都宣稱這種慶祝活動是由他們開始的。
有一種說法認爲，第一個愚人節始於法國國王設立新曆法那一年的4月1曰。這種新曆法將以前新的一年的第一天定在4月1曰。很多人都不願意按照新的歷法行亊，還繼續在根據新的歷法已經是4月的第一天慶祝新年，於是他們就成了第一批愚人。另有一些人開始在這一天送戲弄人的禮物來取笑那些繼續在4月1曰慶祝新年的人。
然而關於愚人節這一天，英國的一則故亊卻認爲它始於13世紀的某一天。那時，英格蘭的約翰國王習慣於將他經常走的幾乎每條小道都修成一條路。有一個鄉村的居民覺察到了這一點。爲了保護他們綠油油的草地和牧場免受國王修路所造成的破壞，他們築了一道籬笆來阻擋國王在他們的鄉間穿行。國王派遺了一隊使者去通報村民們必須撤掉障礙。在聽到國王正要打算這麼做時，村民們也想出了自己的辦法。當使者到達的時候，他們看到這裏的人像一羣瘋子似的，舉止古怪，亂扔東西，並且四下瘋跑。此情此景令使者們驚恐萬分，後來趕緊向約翰國王報告說，這些人瘋瘋癱癲的，根本沒辦法處置。村民們就這樣騙過了國王，保護了自己的農田。在英國，按習俗在4月1曰這—天只允許從子夜到中午的這段時間搞惡作劇，到下午還這麼做的人自己就成了愚人了。
