欧美人文风情第87篇:愚人节的由来

 April Fools Day or All Fools Day is one day of the year when you're allowed to mercilessly prank¹ your friend, family and coworkers. 四月愚人节或是愚人节是一年之中可以无情的恶整你的朋友、家人和同事的日子。

How exactly did this day come about? We don't actually know for sure what started the celebration of April Fools Day. 这天到底是怎么来的呢？我们不真确地知道是什么起始了四月愚人节的庆祝。

References can be found as early as 1500s, but these accounts are infrequent and not very detailed². 文献可追溯早至十六世纪，但这些记载很少也不是很详细。

Most popular theories had begun around 1582 in France during the reformation of the calendar. 大部分盛行的理论源自于大约西元1582年法国的历法改革之时。

Before France adopted the Gregorian calendar, they celebrated³ the New Years for eight days, 在法国采用公历之前，他们用八天庆祝新年，

beginning on March 25th, and ending on April 1st. 从三月二十五日开始，四月一日结束。

When they switch calendar system, the eighth day moved from April 1st to January 1st. 当他们转换日历系统时，那第八天从四月一日挪到一月一日。

Because they didn't have internet, phones, social media and a mail system, 因为他们没有网路、电话、社群媒体和邮务系统，

a lot of people didn't hear about this change until years later. 很多人直到多年以后才知道这项改变。

Those who did not hear about the change continued to celebrate New Years in April. 那些没听到改变的人继续在四月庆祝新年。

Others refused to celebrate out of rebellion. 其他人因为反对而拒绝庆祝。

Those who had been informed of the change and adjusted their calendars began to make fun of these fools who were uninformed or rebellious⁴. 那些被告知改变，且已调整他们日历的人开始嘲笑这些没有被通知到或是反对的笨蛋。

This harassment⁵ evolved into a tradition of playing pranks⁶ on the first day of April, 这样的骚扰发展成一个在四月的第一天去恶作剧的传统，

and then spread to other countries. 然后散布到其他国家。

However, April Fools Day was already established in England, which didn't switch calendar system until 1752. 然而，四月愚人节在英国早已建立，他们直到西元1752年才改变日历。

Also people are already engaging in pranks and light-heartedness around this time of year, 人们也已经在一年中这个时间，致力于恶作剧和轻松作乐，

long before the French switch their calendar systems, such as in the case of the ancient Roman festival of Hilaria. 远早于法国人变换他们的历法系统，就像是古罗马的快活节的例子一般。

Modern celebrations of April Fools Day have slightly different traditions, depending on the country you are in. 现代的四月愚人节的庆祝有些微不同的传统，取决于你身处哪个国家。

But they all have the similar theme of pranking or humiliating individuals. 但是它们都有相似的恶作剧或是羞辱人的主题。

In France, they try to tape an image of fish to your back without you noticing. 在法国，他们试着在你背后贴上鱼的图案而不被你发现。

And in Portugal, they throw flour at you. In England, you are always supposed to pull jokes until noon, 而在葡萄牙，他们泼你面粉。在英格兰，你永远应该在中午之前说笑话，

and if you pull a joke after noon, you are called an April Fool. 而如果你过了中午说笑话，你就被称为四月傻瓜。

And in the United States and Britain, even popular media outlets⁷ and companies have been known to get involved in the fun. 在美国和英国，甚至连受欢迎的媒体和公司行号都因参与这趣味而为人知晓。

In 1996, Taco Bell announced that it had purchased the Liberty Bell from the city of Philadelphia, 1996年，Taco Bell宣布他们跟费城市买下了独立钟，

and it was going to rename it as Taco Liberty Bell. 而且要把它重新命名为Taco独立钟。

In 1992, NPR claimed that Richard Nixon would be running again for president. 1992年，美国全国公共广播电台声称尼克森要再次参选总统。

British publication, theguardian, famously pranked the public in 1977, 英国出版社，卫报，在1977年出名的恶搞了大众，

when they said that a Semicolon shaped island in the Indian Ocean had been discovered. 他们说一个分号形状的岛屿在印度洋中被发现。

This hoax⁸ is credited for launching the trend of April Fools Day pranks by British tabloids⁹. 这骗局归功于英国八卦小报的发动四月愚人节恶作剧风潮。

So hopefully you now know a little more about the history of April Fools Day, or at least what we think the history of it is. 所以希望你现在知道了多一点关于四月愚人节的历史，或至少那些我们认为是的历史。

Now that we're at the end of this video, 既然我们到了影片结尾，

you might be wondering if all this information is accurate, thinking it "IS" a video about April Fools Day! 你也许会怀疑这所有的讯息是否正确，想着“这的确是”一个关于四月愚人节的影片!

YEAH! It's ACCURATE! But seriously, it's accurate. I wouldn't do that to you. 耶!是正确的!但说真的，这是真的。我不会那样对你的。

 

1 prank   

n.开玩笑，恶作剧；v.装饰；打扮；炫耀自己

参考例句：

• It was thought that the fire alarm had been set off as a prank.人们认为火警报警器响是个恶作剧。
• The dean was ranking the boys for pulling the prank.系主任正在惩罚那些恶作剧的男学生。

2 detailed   

adj.详细的，详尽的，极注意细节的，完全的

参考例句：

• He had made a detailed study of the terrain.他对地形作了缜密的研究。
• A detailed list of our publications is available on request.我们的出版物有一份详细的目录备索。

3 celebrated   

adj.有名的，声誉卓著的

参考例句：

• He was soon one of the most celebrated young painters in England.不久他就成了英格兰最负盛名的年轻画家之一。
• The celebrated violinist was mobbed by the audience.观众团团围住了这位著名的小提琴演奏家。

4 rebellious   

adj.造反的，反抗的，难控制的

参考例句：

• They will be in danger if they are rebellious.如果他们造反，他们就要发生危险。
• Her reply was mild enough,but her thoughts were rebellious.她的回答虽然很温和，但她的心里十分反感。

5 harassment   

n.骚扰，扰乱，烦恼，烦乱

参考例句：

• She often got telephone harassment at night these days.这些天她经常在夜晚受到电话骚扰。
• The company prohibits any form of harassment.公司禁止任何形式的骚扰行为。

6 pranks   

n.玩笑，恶作剧( prank的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Frank's errancy consisted mostly of pranks. 法兰克错在老喜欢恶作剧。 来自辞典例句
• He always leads in pranks and capers. 他老是带头胡闹和开玩笑。 来自辞典例句

7 outlets   

n.出口( outlet的名词复数 )；经销店；插座；廉价经销店

参考例句：

• The dumping of foreign cotton blocked outlets for locally grown cotton. 外国棉花的倾销阻滞了当地生产的棉花的销路。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• They must find outlets for their products. 他们必须为自己的产品寻找出路。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

8 hoax   

v.欺骗，哄骗，愚弄；n.愚弄人，恶作剧

参考例句：

• They were the victims of a cruel hoax.他们是一个残忍恶作剧的受害者。
• They hoax him out of his money.他们骗去他的钱。

9 tabloids   

n.小报，通俗小报（版面通常比大报小一半，文章短，图片多，经常报道名人佚事）( tabloid的名词复数 )；药片

参考例句：

• The story was on the front pages of all the tabloids. 所有小报都在头版报道了这件事。
• The story made the front page in all the tabloids. 这件事成了所有小报的头版新闻。