Are You an April Fool

□刘晓妮



Are You an April Fool

□刘晓妮

同学们，想必你们都听说过愚人节，那你们会不会一不小心成为“四月的傻瓜”呢？你们知道愚人节的由来吗？让我们一起来了解一下吧！

April Fool’s Day is traditionally1a day to play practical2jokes on others, send people on fool’s errands3, and fool the unsuspecting4. No one knows how this holiday began but it was thought to have originated5in France.

传统上来讲，愚人节这一天，人们可以相互恶作剧，骗人跑腿，欺骗不知情的人。没人知道这个节日是怎么来的，但人们普遍认为它源自法国。

1. traditionally adv.传统上，传说上;其名词是tradition，形容词是tra⁃ditional。

2. practical adj.实践的，实际的；可实现的，实用的；其名词是practice。

3. errand n.差事；差使

4. unsuspecting adj.不怀疑的；可信任的；未料到的，未猜想到的

5. originate vi.产生；起源于，来自。如：Where does it originate?它起源于哪里？

The closest point in time that can be identified1as the beginning of this tradition was in 1582, in France. New Year was celebrated on March 25 and celebrations lasted until April 1st. When New Year’s Day was 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.

庆祝愚人节最早是在1582年的法国，那时法国新年是在3月25日，一直持续到4月1日。16世纪60年代中期，国王查理九世把新年从3月25日变为1月1日，而还有一些人在4月1日过新年，这些人就被称作“四月傻瓜”了。

1. identify vt.确定；识别，认出；使参与；把……看成一样

Each country celebrates April Fool’s Day differently. In France, the April Fool is called“April Fish”. The French fool their friends by tap⁃ing a paper fish to their friends’backs and when someone discovers this trick, they yell“Poisson d’Avril!”

每个国家用不同的方式过愚人节。在法国，四月愚人节被称作“四月鱼”。法国人和他们的朋友是这样开玩笑的：把一张裁成鱼形的纸用胶带粘到朋友的后背上，当有人发现的时候，他们就会喊：“Poisson d’Avril!”。

In England, tricks can be played only in the morning. If a trick is played on you, you are a“noodle”. In Scotland, April Fool’s Day is 48 hours long and you are called an“April Gowk”, which is another name for a cuckoo bird. The second day in Scotland’s April Fool’s Day is called Taily Day and is dedicated1to pranks involving the buttocks.

在英国，只能在早上恶作剧。如果你被耍了，那你就是“面条”。在苏格兰，愚人节要持续两天，被耍的人被称为“四月布谷”。苏格兰第二天的愚人节叫做续愚人节，恶作剧主要在别人的屁股上做文章。

1. dedicate vt.奉献，献身

April Fool’s Day is a“for-fun-only”observance1. Nobody is expect⁃ed to buy gifts or to take their“significant2other”out to eat in a fancy restaurant. Nobody gets off work or school. It’s simply a fun little holi⁃day, but a holiday on which one must remain forever vigilant3, for he may be the next April Fool!

愚人节是一个“仅为娱乐”的节日。谁也不用买礼物，也不用带着朋友去豪华餐厅吃饭；人们也不会放假，它仅仅是个搞笑的小节日。但是在这一天，每个人都要保持警醒，不然就要被人耍啦！

1. observance n.庆祝；惯例；遵守；奉行

2. significant adj.重要的；有意义的；有重大意义的；值得注意的n.有意义的事物；象征，标志

3. vigilant adj.机警；警惕的，警觉的；警戒的

插图：杨明