双语有声阅读：愚人节

While popular in the U.S., the April Fool’s Day tradition is even more prevalent¹ in European countries,such as France and Great Britain. Although the roots of the traditional trickings are unclear,the French andthe British both have claims on the origin of the celebration.

 

One theory holds that the first April Fool’s Day was on April 1 of the year when King of France instituted the new calendar.This new system placed the day that had formerly² been the first day of a new year on April 1.Many people were reluctant³ to adjust to the new calandar and continued to celebrate New Year’s Day on what had become the first day of April.Thus, they become the first April fools.Others began to give gaggifts on the day to mock⁴ the foolishness of thosewho continued to celebrate the new year on April 1.

 

An English story about the day, however, holds that it began sometime during the 1200s.At the time, King John of England was in the habit of making a road out of nearly every path he walked regularly.The citizensof one particular farm village were aware of this.To avoid having their green meadows⁵ and pastures⁶ disturbed with one of the king’s roads,they built a fence that prevented the king from walking through their countryside.The king sent a group of messengers⁷ to inform the villagers that they must remove the barrier.Upon hearing that the king was planning to do this, however, the villagers developed a plan of their own.Whenthe messengers arrived, they found what appeared to be a community of lunatics,with people behaving in a bizarre⁸ manner, throwing things and running around wildly.The messengers, alarmed at what they had found, reported to king John that these people were so mad as to be beyond punishment.So, the villagers saved their farmland by tricking the King. In Great Britain,tradition only allows April Fool’s tricks from midnightto noon on April 1. Those who try to play tricks in the afternoon become the fools themselves.

 

愚人节的习俗在美国是很流行的,在欧洲国家如法国和英国就更是如此了。虽然这种愚弄人习俗的起源不甚清楚，但是法国人和英国人却都宣称这种庆祝活动是由他们开始的。

 

有一种说法认为，第一个愚人节始于法国国王设立新历法那一年的4月1曰。这种新历法将以前新的一年的第一天定在4月1曰。很多人都不愿意按照新的历法行亊，还继续在根据新的历法已经是4月的第一天庆祝新年，于是他们就成了第一批愚人。另有一些人开始在这一天送戏弄人的礼物来取笑那些继续在4月1曰庆祝新年的人。

 

然而关于愚人节这一天，英国的一则故亊却认为它始于13世纪的某一天。那时，英格兰的约翰国王习惯于将他经常走的几乎每条小道都修成一条路。有一个乡村的居民觉察到了这一点。为了保护他们绿油油的草地和牧场免受国王修路所造成的破坏，他们筑了一道篱笆来阻挡国王在他们的乡间穿行。国王派遗了一队使者去通报村民们必须撤掉障碍。在听到国王正要打算这么做时，村民们也想出了自己的办法。当使者到达的时候，他们看到这里的人像一群疯子似的，举止古怪，乱扔东西，并且四下疯跑。此情此景令使者们惊恐万分，后来赶紧向约翰国王报告说，这些人疯疯癱癲的，根本没办法处置。村民们就这样骗过了国王，保护了自己的农田。在英国，按习俗在4月1曰这—天只允许从子夜到中午的这段时间搞恶作剧，到下午还这么做的人自己就成了愚人了。

1 prevalent   

adj.流行的，普遍的

参考例句：

• The habit of travelling by aeroplane is becoming more prevalent.乘飞机旅行的习惯变得越来越盛行了。
• Colds are prevalent in the winter.伤风在冬季很普遍。

2 formerly   

adv.从前，以前

参考例句：

• We now enjoy these comforts of which formerly we had only heard.我们现在享受到了过去只是听说过的那些舒适条件。
• This boat was formerly used on the rivers of China.这船从前航行在中国内河里。

3 reluctant   

adj.不愿意的；迟迟不合作的；不同意的

参考例句：

• The workers are reluctant to be ordered around by the employers.工人们不愿被雇主们差来遣去地随便使唤。
• I am reluctant about asking him to do this.我极不愿意让他去干此事。

4 mock   

n.嘲笑，戏弄，模仿；adj.假的，伪造的；vt.嘲弄，模仿，轻视；vi.嘲弄

参考例句：

• Those who mock history will be mocked by history.嘲弄历史的人必将被历史所嘲弄。
• The students have done mock A levels at school.学生们在学校参加过模拟高级考试。

5 meadows   

草地，牧场， （河边的）低洼地( meadow的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The trail wends its way through leafy woodland and sunny meadows. 这条小径穿过葱郁的林区和洒满阳光的草地。
• They have railed the meadows off from the new railway cutting. 他们已用栏杆把草地和新铁道的路堑隔离开来。

6 pastures   

牧草地( pasture的名词复数 )； 生活状况； 工作条件

参考例句：

• They move with their flocks to upland pastures. 他们带着牲畜迁往高原上的牧场。
• Nothing can be compared, he maintains, with the first cock crow, the twittering of birds at dawn, the sight of the rising sun glinting on the trees and pastures. 金鸡初啼，黎明鸟语，那闪烁着朝晖的树木和草原的景色，这一切他认为无可比拟。

7 messengers   

n.信使，信差，送信人( messenger的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Messengers will relay your letters. 邮递员将接转你的信件。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• To this monarch also (in 628) came messengers from Muhammad. 穆罕默德的使者也来找过这位君主（628年）。 来自英汉非文学 - 历史

8 bizarre   

adj.奇形怪状的，怪诞的

参考例句：

• They saw a bizarre animal in the lake.他们在湖中看见一个奇怪的动物。
• The building was of bizarre construction.这建筑构造奇异。