愚人节又来了！每年的这一天总要提心吊胆，深怕背后被贴张纸，写着“踢我”；又怕座位上被粘了胶水；这些愚人节小把戏已经out了。来看看英国人是如何过愚人节的？那些经典的英式愚人节冷笑话，你看得懂吗？

     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 prankrebounds on the joker with the rhyme "April Fool is gone and past， You're the bigger fool at last."

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.

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.

April Fool's Jokes

经典愚人节笑话：

1.The Sun reported that British Police were fitting hawks with speed cameras to catch lawbreakingmotorists.

《太阳报》报道称，英国警方在老鹰上面安装超速摄像头，以便捕捉违法驾驶者。

2.The Daily Mail included photographs purporting to be the Queen gambling on horse racing amongst her subjects at a local Bookmaker.

《每日邮报》刊图指出，英国女王和她的臣民们在当地的一家博彩店里赌马。

3.BMW printed a full page ad in a number of national UK newspapers (including The Times， The Guardian， The Independent， and the Daily Mail) saying that in 2007 the EU was to ban right-handed cars being driven in mainland Europe (effectively banning every British car)， and that they had invented steering wheel-less technology.

4.The Today programme on BBC Radio 4 reported that， as a result of an obscure 19th century rule of succession of the House of Saxe-Coburg， Camilla Parker-Bowles's son， Thomas Parker-Bowles， who is older than Prince William， will become second in line to the British throne following the wedding of Prince Charles and Camilla on 8th April 2005.

5.The Sun reported that EU bureaucrats wanted to ban April Fools' Day because of physical and mentalinjury caused to the victims of jokes.

《太阳报》报道称，由于被开玩笑受害者受到肉体和精神上的创伤，部分欧盟官员要禁止愚人节。

6.The Sun: reported that Nicolas Sarkozy was to enter surgery to make him as tall as his wife， Carla Bruni， after being subject to ridicule over his height during his trip to London.