陳娟

April Fools Day is a traditional holiday to play jokes on each other and send people on fools errands1. No one knows how this holiday began but it was thought to have originated2 in France.

愚人節(jié)是個傳統(tǒng)的節(jié)日，在那天人們互相惡作劇，捉弄他人去做些小差使。沒人知道這個節(jié)日的起源，但人們較普遍認為它源于法國。

The beginning of this tradition can be traced back to 1582. In France， New Year was celebrated on March 25th and celebrations lasted until April 1st. When New Years Day was changed from March 25th to January 1st in 1582 by King Charles IX， there were some people who still celebrated it on April 1st and those people were called April Fools.

這項傳統(tǒng)的起源最早可以追溯到1582年。在法國，人們在3月25日慶祝新年，并且慶祝可一直持續(xù)到4月1日。后來法國國王查理九世于1582年將新年從3月25日改到1月1日，然而當時還有一群人仍然在4月1日慶祝新年，這些人就被稱作“四月愚人”。

April Fools Day is a “for-fun-only” holiday. Nobody is expected to buy gifts or to take their “significant3 other” out to eat in a restaurant. Nobody gets off work or school. Its simply a little funny holiday， but a holiday on which one must remain forever alert4， for he may be the next April Fool anytime！

愚人節(jié)是一個“僅僅為了快樂”的節(jié)日。人們不需要給他們“重要的另一半”買禮物或帶他們去餐廳吃飯。人們照常上班或者上學。這僅僅是一個小小的有趣的節(jié)日，但是在那天人們得時刻保持警惕，因為他隨時可能成為下一個“四月愚人”！

Each country celebrates April Fools differently. In France today， children fool their friends by tapping5 a paper fish to their friends backs. When the “young fool” discovers this trick6， the tricker yells “April Fish”. Today Americans play small tricks on friends and strangers alike on the same day. One common trick is pointing down to a friends shoe and saying， “Your shoelace is untied！” Teachers in the nineteenth century used to say to pupils， “Look！A flock7 of geese！” and point up. School children might tell a classmate that school has been canceled. Whatever the trick is， if the innocent victim8 falls for the joke， the tricker yells， “April Fool！”

每個國家慶祝愚人節(jié)的方式都不同。在當今的法國，孩子們用紙做的魚輕拍他們朋友的后背來愚弄他們。當那個“小愚人”發(fā)現這一把戲時，惡作劇者就喊道“四月的魚（上鉤的魚）”?，F在美國人也在四月一日對朋友和陌生人開些小玩笑。一個很常見的伎倆就是指著一個朋友的鞋說：“你鞋帶沒系！”。在十九世紀，老師經常捉弄學生說：“看，天上有一群鵝！”并指向空中。學生則可能捉弄同學說學校今天不用上課。不論是什么惡作劇，只要那天真的有人上當了，做惡作劇的人就會叫到：“四月愚人！”

The “fools errands” we play on people are practical jokes. Filling the sugar bowl with salt， stuffing9 a cookie with cotton and offering an empty egg shell10 at breakfast， are good old tricks. Most April Fool jokes are in good fun and not meant to harm anyone. The most clever April Fool joke is the one where everyone laughs， especially the person upon whom the joke is played.

我們愚弄人的小差事都是一些無傷大雅的玩笑。把裝糖的碗中放滿鹽，在餅干中間塞棉花夾心，在早餐里放雞蛋殼都是些不錯的老招數了。大多數的愚人節(jié)玩笑都很有趣而且是沒有惡意的。最聰明的愚人節(jié)玩笑會讓每個人哈哈大笑，就連被愚弄的人也會忍俊不禁。

There are also April Fool letters. They are composed of11 jokes， deception and love. The letters are never signed， but girls， apparently， make a game of trying to guess who send them. To receive an April Fool letter during April is usually deemed a most flattering honor and the contents are shared among envious12 people.

另外還要說的就是愚人節(jié)的信了。這些信有開玩笑的，騙人的，也有表達愛意的。這些信都沒有署名，但是女孩們顯然會玩游戲似的猜測寫信人。通常在四月份收到愚人節(jié)信件會被認為是最討人歡喜的榮譽，收信人也樂意和那些投來羨慕目光的人們一起分享信的內容。

[1] errand n. 使命；差事 [2] originate vi. 發(fā)源；發(fā)生

[3] significant adj. 有重大意義的 [4] alert adj. 警惕的，警覺的；留心的

[5] tap vt. 輕敲；輕打 [6] trick n. 詭計；惡作劇

[7] flock n. 群 [8] victim n. 受害人

[9] stuff vt. 塞滿；填塞 [10] shell n. 殼

[11] be composed of 由……組成 [12] envious adj. 羨慕的；嫉妒的