愚人節(jié)又來了!每年的這一天總要提心吊膽，深怕背后被貼張紙，寫著“踢我”;又怕座位上被粘了膠水;這些愚人節(jié)小把戲已經(jīng)out了。來看看英國人是如何過愚人節(jié)的?那些經(jīng)典的英式愚人節(jié)冷笑話，你看得懂嗎?

　　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."

　　Origin

　　In Britain, fooling at this time of year has gone on for centuries, however the origin of thecustom still remains obscure. There are several theories to account for it.

　　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 revisioncontinued 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.

　　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.

　　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.

　　4月1日，人們會去和他們的朋友開開玩笑，讓他們做一些傻事。在愚人節(jié)那天，從精心設(shè)計(jì)的惡作劇到一些諸如“你拉鏈開了”這樣的玩笑，不知情的人往往不知不覺地成了受害者。沒有人會在愚人節(jié)那天免于被捉弄。但是，中午一到，玩笑必須馬上終止，或是玩笑馬上得轉(zhuǎn)為詼諧的小段子： “愚人節(jié)，過了啊，大笨蛋，是你哦!”

　　起源

　　在英國，愚人節(jié)的傳統(tǒng)已經(jīng)有好幾個(gè)世紀(jì)的歷史了，即便如此，這項(xiàng)的傳統(tǒng)的起源還是一個(gè)迷。下面介紹兩個(gè)較為人熟知的愚人節(jié)的起源。

　　第一種說法是，在16世紀(jì)前的歐洲，3月25日是春分節(jié)的第一天，也是新年。而4月1日是春分節(jié)的最后一天，在這天，人們常常會去給別人送禮。在1564年，法國皇帝查爾斯九世正式采用公歷，規(guī)定每年的1月1日為新年。而那些不接受這一規(guī)定的人則仍舊在4月1日送禮或進(jìn)行新年旅行來表示他們的不滿。幾年后，那些依然遵循舊歷慶祝新年的頑固派被當(dāng)成了愚人，其他人會嘲笑和捉弄這些愚人，并戲稱他們?yōu)?ldquo;Poisson d'avril”，就是“愚人”的意思。這種捉弄愚人的風(fēng)俗肯定給人們帶去了很多的歡樂，所以，愚人節(jié)傳遍世界，人們不僅僅捉弄那些不接受新歷的人，還對周圍所有的人都開起了玩笑。

　　另一種說法認(rèn)為，愚人節(jié)只是為了向凱爾特的歡樂之神致敬而流傳下來的一個(gè)節(jié)日。不過，大多數(shù)人相信，愚人節(jié)標(biāo)志著季節(jié)的變化和春天的來臨。不管起源如何，愚人節(jié)當(dāng)天的愚人活動已經(jīng)成了一項(xiàng)盛行于英國的風(fēng)俗了。

　　在蘇格蘭，人們會用兩天時(shí)間慶祝愚人節(jié)。第二天是專門讓人們?nèi)プ脚獎e人的，你可以在這一天去踢別人的屁股。這天被稱為“續(xù)愚人節(jié)”，而在別人后背上貼上“踢我”的標(biāo)簽就起源于此。