关于愚人节的英语故事

2017-05-17

愚人节曾经是中世纪法国最重要的狂欢节庆。与一般的理解不同,愚人节并非只是低级教士的节日,它实际上囊括了各个阶层、性别和年龄的支持者和参与者。小编分享关于愚人节的英语故事,希望可以帮助大家!

关于愚人节的英语故事:愚人节的起源与传说揭秘

April 1 Insixteenth-century France,the start of the new year was observed on April first. It was celebrated in muchthe same way as it is today with parties and dancing into the late hours of thenight. Then in 1562, Pope Gregory introduced a new calendar for the Christian world,and the new year fell on January first. There were some people, however, whohadn't heard or didn't believe the change in the date, so they continued to celebrateNew Year's Day on April first. Others played tricks on them and called themApril fools. In Francetoday, April first is called Poisson d'Avril. French children fool their friendsby taping a paper fish to their friends' backs. When the young fool discoversthis trick, the prankster yells Poisson d'Avril!

愚人节16 世纪的时候,法国人是在4月1号庆祝新年的。他们那时候过新年的方法和我们现在几乎一样,人们设宴、跳舞直到深夜。到了1562年,教皇格里高利颁布了基督教新历,按照新历,新年这一天改到了1月1号。但是,有些人没能听说或者听说了但不相信新年改天了。他们还是按照老习惯在4月1号这天过年。其他人就拿 他们开玩笑,把他们叫做“愚人”。如今,法国人把愚人节叫做“上钩的鱼”。法国孩子会在朋友的背上贴一条鱼,以此来戏弄别人。当那个受骗上当的小朋友发现 以后,开玩笑的人就大叫“上钩的鱼儿”!

Today Americans play small tricks on friends and strangersalike on the first of April. One common trick on April Fool's Day, or AllFool's Day, is pointing down to a friend's shoe and saying, Your shoe lace is untied.School children might tell a classmate that school has been cancelled. Whateverthe trick, if the innocent victim falls for the joke the prankster yells, April Fool!

如今,每逢愚人节,不管对方是否相识,美国人都会开些小玩笑。在愚人节比较常见的把戏是指着别人的鞋子说:“你鞋带没系。”学生可能会骗同学说学校放假了。不管是什么样的招数,只要那个无辜的受害者中技了,恶作剧的人就会尖叫:“愚人!”

Most April Fool jokes are in good fun and not meant toharm anyone. The most clever April Fool joke is the one where everyone laughs,especially the person upon whom the joke is played. American humorist MarkTwain has said that the first of April is the day we remember what we are theother 364 days of the year。

愚人节开的玩笑基本都是挺逗人的,没什么恶意。最高明的愚人节玩笑能让在场的每个人都捧腹大笑,即使是那个被作弄的人也会忍俊不禁。正如美国幽默作家马克吐温所说的“只有在四月的第一天,我们才记起在过去一年的364天中我们是多么的愚蠢”。

关于愚人节的英语故事:愚人节的起源和历史

Consider yourself warned. Sunday is April Fools' Day, a day when you are encouraged to pull pranks on loved ones, co-workers, casual acquaintances, and even that one guy at the bus stop. It's an odd tradition, but how did it get started? What's the history of April Fools' Day, anyway?

别说我没有警告你,星期天就是愚人节了。在这天你被鼓励去和你的爱人、同事、熟人甚至公车站遇见的人开玩笑。这真是一个古怪的传统,但它是如何开始的呢?愚人节的由来到底是怎么一回事呢?

Nobody is completely sure about the origin of this, the silliest of holidays. However the urban legend experts at Snopes.com say that most experts give credit to Pope Gregory XIII, who, in the 1500s, gave the world the Gregorian calendar.

没人可以完全肯定这个最愚蠢的节日的起源。不过,Snopes.com的都市传说专家称,大多数专家将其归功于在16世纪颁行格列高利历(公历)的教皇格列高利十三世。

In 1562, the Gregorian calendar moved the first day of the year from April 1 to January 1. Word did eventually get around, but some people were a bit slow to hear the news. These folks continued celebrating the new year on April 1, unaware that they were now three months behind the times. These "April fools" were tricked by those in the know. The tradition eventually made its way to the USA.

1562年,格列高利历将一年的第一天从4月1日移到1月1日。这一消息后来传开了,不过有些人比较后知后觉。这些人依然在4月1日庆祝新年,没有意识到他们已经落后了三个月时间。这些“四月愚人”被那些知情者耍了一把。这一传统最后传到了美国。

And it's still going strong. Over the past week, Web searches on "april fools day jokes" and "april fools day pranks" have more than doubled, and related lookups for "easy april fools day pranks" and "april fools day jokes for work" also spiked. Bottom line: Keep your guard up, especially if somebody offers you a word search puzzle. Lookups for "impossible april fools day word searches" are up 200%.

而现在愚人节依然很流行。在过去一周里,对“愚人节笑话”和“愚人节恶作剧”的网络搜索量增加了一倍多,对“简易的愚人节恶作剧”和“职场愚人节笑话”的相关搜索量也大大增加了。底线是:保持警惕,特别是当有人让你做单词搜索迷宫题时。对“让人受不了的愚人节单词搜索”词条的搜索量增加了200%。

But really, there is no way to be certain you'll escape trickery. Because on April 1, even corporations are out to trick you. In 1998, Burger King tricked its customers by releasing "the left-handed Whopper." In 1957, the BBC reported Swiss farmers were harvesting spaghetti from trees. And in 1996, Taco Bell took out ads in major newspapers announcing that the company had purchased the Liberty Bell and renamed it the Taco Liberty Bell. Shudder.

实际上,没有什么方法可以保证你不被捉弄。因为在4月1日,甚至连公司也会开你玩笑。1998年,汉堡王宣布推出“左撇子巨无霸汉堡”,结果是和顾客开的玩笑。1957年,英国广播公司报道说,瑞士农民从树上收割意大利面。1996年,提供墨西哥美食的餐饮公司“塔可钟”在各大报纸上发布广告,宣布公司已经买下了自由钟,并把它的名字改成了“塔可自由钟”。天哪。

关于愚人节的英语故事:“愚人节”的三种传说

As it was called years ago, All Fools' Day is observed in many countries around the world. The origin of April Fool's Day remains clouded in obscurity. But what is clear is that the tradition of a day devoted to foolery had ancient roots. As we look back in time, many ancient predecessors of April Fool's Day are found.

A French legendary

The most widespread theory about the origin of April Fool's Day links theGregorian calendar reform.

In 1582 France became the first country to switch from the Julian to the Gregorian calendar. This meant that the beginning of the year was moved from the end of March to January 1. If someone failed to keep up with the change and continued to celebrate the New Year between March 25th and April 1st, various jokes would be played on him. This story might explain why April 1st specifically became the date of the modern holiday.

Mythological roots

There have been quite a few attempts to provide mythological explanations for the rise of April Fool's Day.

One story dates back to Roman mythology, particularly the myth of Ceres andProserpina. In Roman mythology Pluto, the God of the Dead, abducted Proserpina and brought her to live with him in the underworld. Proserpina called out to her mother Ceres for help, but Ceres, who could only hear the echo of her daughter's voice, searched in vain for Proserpina. The fruitless search of Ceres for her daughter was commemmorated during the Roman festival of Cerealia and believed by some to have been the mythological antecedent of the fool's errands popular on April 1st.

British folklore linked April Fool's Day to the town of Gotham. According to the legend, it was traditional in the 13th century for any road that the King travelled over to become public property. People in Gotham didn't want to lose their main road and spread a false story to stop the King. A messenger was sent to Gotham after King John learned the people's trick. But when the messenger arrived in Gotham he found the town was full of lunatics who were engaged in foolish activities such as drowning fish or attempting to cage birds in roofless fences. The King fell for the hoax and declared the town too foolish to warrant punishment. And ever since then, April Fool's Day has supposedly commemmorated their trickery.

Anthropological explanations

Anthropologists and cultural historians provide their own explanations for the rise of April Fool's Day. According to them, the celebration traces its roots back to festivals marking the Springtime.

Spring is the time of year when the weather becomes fickle, as if Nature is playing tricks on man, and festivals occurring during the Spring traditionally mirrored this sense of whimsy and surprise. They often involved temporary inversions of the social order. Normal behavior no longer governed during the brief moment of transition as the old world died and the new cycle of seasons was born. Practical jokes,trickery, and the turning upside down of status expectations were all allowed.

In addition,the linkage between April Foolery and the Springtime is seen in another story that traces the origin of the custom back to the abundance of fish to be found in French streams during early April when the young fish had just hatched. These young fish were easy to fool with a hook and lure. Therefore, the French called them 'Poisson d'Avril' or 'April Fish.' Soon it became customary to fool people on April 1, as a way of celebrating the abundance of foolish fish.

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