陈娟

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.

愚人节是个传统的节日，在那天人们互相恶作剧，捉弄他人去做些小差使。没人知道这个节日的起源，但人们较普遍认为它源于法国。

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.

这项传统的起源最早可以追溯到1582年。在法国，人们在3月25日庆祝新年，并且庆祝可一直持续到4月1日。后来法国国王查理九世于1582年将新年从3月25日改到1月1日，然而当时还有一群人仍然在4月1日庆祝新年，这些人就被称作“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！

愚人节是一个“仅仅为了快乐”的节日。人们不需要给他们“重要的另一半”买礼物或带他们去餐厅吃饭。人们照常上班或者上学。这仅仅是一个小小的有趣的节日，但是在那天人们得时刻保持警惕，因为他随时可能成为下一个“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！”

每个国家庆祝愚人节的方式都不同。在当今的法国，孩子们用纸做的鱼轻拍他们朋友的后背来愚弄他们。当那个“小愚人”发现这一把戏时，恶作剧者就喊道“四月的鱼（上钩的鱼）”。现在美国人也在四月一日对朋友和陌生人开些小玩笑。一个很常见的伎俩就是指着一个朋友的鞋说：“你鞋带没系！”。在十九世纪，老师经常捉弄学生说：“看，天上有一群鹅！”并指向空中。学生则可能捉弄同学说学校今天不用上课。不论是什么恶作剧，只要那天真的有人上当了，做恶作剧的人就会叫到：“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.

我们愚弄人的小差事都是一些无伤大雅的玩笑。把装糖的碗中放满盐，在饼干中间塞棉花夹心，在早餐里放鸡蛋壳都是些不错的老招数了。大多数的愚人节玩笑都很有趣而且是没有恶意的。最聪明的愚人节玩笑会让每个人哈哈大笑，就连被愚弄的人也会忍俊不禁。

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.

另外还要说的就是愚人节的信了。这些信有开玩笑的，骗人的，也有表达爱意的。这些信都没有署名，但是女孩们显然会玩游戏似的猜测写信人。通常在四月份收到愚人节信件会被认为是最讨人欢喜的荣誉，收信人也乐意和那些投来羡慕目光的人们一起分享信的内容。

[1] errand n. 使命；差事 [2] originate vi. 发源；发生

[3] significant adj. 有重大意义的 [4] alert adj. 警惕的，警觉的；留心的

[5] tap vt. 轻敲；轻打 [6] trick n. 诡计；恶作剧

[7] flock n. 群 [8] victim n. 受害人

[9] stuff vt. 塞满；填塞 [10] shell n. 壳

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