[英语课]

April 1st is the day people try to trick their friends, to make them behave like fools. Ranging from the elaborate practical joke to the obvious Your zip's undone the joker gloats April Fool when the unsuspecting victim falls for it. No one is exempt until noon but after that the joking must cease or the prank rebounds on the joker with the rhyme "April Fool is gone and past, You're the bigger fool at last."
4月1日，人们会去和他们的朋友开开玩笑，让他们做一些傻事。在愚人节那天，从精心设计的恶作剧到一些诸如“你拉链开了”这样的玩笑，不知情的人往往不知不觉地成了受害者。没有人会在愚人节那天免于被捉弄。但是，中午一到，玩笑必须马上终止，或是玩笑马上得转为诙谐的小段子： “愚人节，过了啊，大笨蛋，是你哦！”


Origin
起源


In Britain, fooling at this time of year has gone on for centuries, however the origin of the custom still remains obscure. There are several theories to account for it.
在英国，愚人节的传统已经有好几个世纪的历史了，即便如此，这项的传统的起源还是一个迷。下面介绍两个较为人熟知的愚人节的起源。


One theory is that in Europe, until the sixteenth century, March 25th, the first day of the Vernal Equinox Festival, was New Year's Day. On April 1st, the last day of the festival, people used to give presents to one another. In 1564, Charles IX, the French king, adopting the Gregorian calendar and fixed January 1st as New Year's Day. Those who were against the revision continued to express their complaints by giving presents or paying New Year's visits on April 1st. In the following years, these traditionalists who insisted on celebrating the New Year at its old time were mocked as fools and people would play pranks and tricks on them and called them ` Poisson d'avril ', meaning April Fish. This must have been so much fun that it spread all over the world and people played tricks on everyone, not just the people who didn't accept the new calendar.
第一种说法是，在16世纪前的欧洲，3月25日是春分节的第一天，也是新年。而4月1日是春分节的最后一天，在这天，人们常常会去给别人送礼。在1564年，法国皇帝查尔斯九世正式采用公历，规定每年的1月1日为新年。而那些不接受这一规定的人则仍旧在4月1日送礼或进行新年旅行来表示他们的不满。几年后，那些依然遵循旧历庆祝新年的顽固派被当成了愚人，其他人会嘲笑和捉弄这些愚人，并戏称他们为“Poisson d'avril”，就是“愚人”的意思。这种捉弄愚人的风俗肯定给人们带去了很多的欢乐，所以，愚人节传遍世界，人们不仅仅捉弄那些不接受新历的人，还对周围所有的人都开起了玩笑。


Other people say it's just a continuation of a festival in honour of the Celtic god of Mirth but most popular belief is that it's a reaction to the change in season and the start of spring. Whatever its origin, making fools of people on this day remains one of the most flourishing of all British customs.
另一种说法认为，愚人节只是为了向凯尔特的欢乐之神致敬而流传下来的一个节日。不过，大多数人相信，愚人节标志着季节的变化和春天的来临。不管起源如何，愚人节当天的愚人活动已经成了一项盛行于英国的风俗了。


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. The origin of the "kick me" sign can be traced to this observance.
在苏格兰，人们会用两天时间庆祝愚人节。第二天是专门让人们去捉弄别人的，你可以在这一天去踢别人的屁股。这天被称为“续愚人节”，而在别人后背上贴上“踢我”的标签就起源于此。

原文：

http://www.kukuspeak.com/kouyu/shiyong/8430.html