April Fool‘s Day is traditionally a day to play practical jokes on others, send people on fool‘s errands, and fool the unsuspecting. No one knows how this holiday began but it was thought to have originated in France.
　　传统上来讲，愚人节这一天，人们可以相互搞恶作剧，骗人跑腿，欺骗不知情的人。没人知道这个节日是怎么来的，但人们普遍认为它源自法国。

　　The closest point in time that can be identified as the beginning of this tradition was in 1582, in France. New Year‘s was celebrated on March 25 and celebrations lasted until April 1st. When New Year‘s Day as changed from March 25 to January 1st in the mid-1560‘s by King Charles IX, there were some people who still celebrated it on April 1st and those people were called April Fools.

　　庆祝愚人节最早是在1582年，在法国。那时，当时法国新年是在3月25日，一直持续到4月1日。16世纪60年代中期，国王查理九世把新年从3月25日变为1月1日，而还有一些人在4月1日过新年，这些人就被称作四月傻瓜了。

　　Pranks performed on April Fool‘s Day range from the simple, （such as saying, "Your shoe‘s untied!）， to the elaborate. Setting a roommate‘s alarm clock back an hour is a common gag. The news media even gets involved. For instance, a British short film once shown on April Fool‘s Day was a fairly detailed documentary about "spaghetti farmers" and how they harvest their crop from the spaghetti trees. Whatever the prank, the trickster usually ends it by yelling to his victim, "April Fool!"

　　愚人节那天的恶作剧有的很简单（比如，说句“你鞋带开了！”），有的却是精心设计的。把室友的闹钟往后调一小时是常见的。甚至新闻媒体都来凑热闹。比如，在愚人节那天，曾经有一部英国短片较为详细地记录了“种意大利面的农民”，以及他们如何从意大利面树上收获意大利面。不管是什么恶作剧，搞恶作剧的人通常在最后会对被搞的人喊一句："四月傻瓜！"

　　April Fool‘s Day is a "for-fun-only" observance. Nobody is expected to buy gifts or to take their "significant other" out to eat in a fancy restaurant. Nobody gets off work or school. It‘s simply a fun little holiday, but a holiday on which one must remain forever vigilant, for he may be the next April Fool!

　　愚人节是一个“仅为娱乐”的节日。谁也不用买礼物，也不用带着男/女朋友出去到一家豪华餐厅去吃饭。人们也不会放假。它仅仅是个搞笑的小节日，但是在这一天，每个人都要保持警醒，不然就要被人耍啦。

　　Each country celebrates April Fool‘s differently. In France, the April Fool‘s is called "April Fishh" （Poisson d‘Avril）。 The French fool their friends by taping a paper fish to their friends‘ backs and when some discovers this trick, they yell "Poisson d‘Avril!".

　　每个国家用不同的方式过愚人节。在法国，愚人节被称作“April Fish”。法国人和他们的朋友是这样开玩笑的：把一张裁成鱼形的纸用胶带粘到朋友的后背上，当有人发现的时候，他们就会喊：“Poisson d‘Avril!”。

　　In England, tricks can be played only in the morning. If a trick is played on you, you are a "noodle". In Scotland, April Fools Day is 48 hours long and you are called an "April Gowk", which is another name for a cuckoo bird. The second day in Scotland‘s April Fool‘s is called Taily Day and is dedicated to pranks involving the buttocks. Taily Day‘s gift to posterior posterity is the still-hilarious "Kick Me" sign.

　　在英国，只能在早上搞恶作剧。如果你被耍了，那你就是“面条”。在苏格兰，愚人节要持续2天，被耍的人被称为“四月布谷”。苏格兰第二天的愚人节叫做Taily Day，恶作剧主要在别人的*上做文章。