英美文化节日：愚人节的来历故事

愚人节来源于一个神秘故事。

The origins of April Fools’Day are shrouded in mystery, experts say. Themost popular theory is that France changed its calendar in the 15gOs so that the New Year would begin in January to match the Roman calendar instead of beginning at the start of spring, in late March or early April.

专家称，愚人节的起源笼罩着神秘的面纱。最流行的说法是，法国在十六世纪初更改了历法，这样新年就出现在一月份，和罗马历法保持一致，而不是之前的落在三月底或四月初的初春。

However, word of the change traveled slowly, and many people in rural areas continued to celebrate the New Year in the spring. These country dwellers became known as "April fools", the story goes.

然而，历法更改执行得非常缓慢，很多乡村地区的人们仍然是在春季欢度新年。于是，这些乡村的人们就被称为“四月傻瓜”，故事就此传播开来。

But Boese, who’s studied the holiday's origin, said the "theory is completely wrong, because the day that the French celebrated the beginning of the year,legally, was Easter day, so it never really was associated with April first”

但是，伯泽在研究了这个节日的起源后说:“这种说法完全是错误的，因为按照法定节日，法国人民欢度新年是在复活节，所以这和四月一号根本没有任何联系。”

"Traditionally it was only a legal start to the year, people in France did actually celebrate the New Year on January first for as long as anybody could remember." Boese believes instead that April Fools’Day simply grew out of age-old European spring festivals of renewal, in which pranks and camoutlaging one's identity are common.

“而从传统上来看，新年只是一年法定的开始—直以来法国人民都确实是在一月一号欢庆新年的，这是任何人都不会忘记的。”伯泽认为，愚人节仅仅来自于古老的欧洲春节的延续，在那时，人们常常爱开玩笑，并伪装自己。

Today in France, April Fools' Day is called 1e Poisson d'Avril-"the April fish"-and a classic prank is to stick a paper fish to an ur}suspecting passerby's back.

现今在法国，愚人节被称为“四月鱼”—其一个常开的玩笑就是在毫无察觉的过路人背上贴上一个纸剪鱼。

April Fools’Day: The Joke's on Us.

四月一日愚人节:发生在美国的恶作剧

Joseph Boskin, professor emeritus of American humor at Boston University,has offered his own interpretation of the holiday’s roots-as a prank.

约瑟夫·布希金，一个擅长美国幽默的波士顿大学退休教授，他给出了自己对于节日起源的理解—同样是一个恶作剧。

In 1983 Boskin told an Associated Press reporter that the idea came from Roman festers during the time of Constantine I in the third and fourth centuries A.D.

1983年，布希金告诉联合出版社的记者，恶作剧这种主意来自于公元3}4世纪康士坦丁一世时期的一个罗马弄臣。

As the story goes, jesters successfully petitioned the ruler to allow one of their elected members to be icing for a day. So, on April first, Constantine handed over the reins of the Roman Empire for one day to King Kugel, his jester. Kugel decreed that the day forever would be a day of absurdity.

据说，弄臣们成功地恳请统治者允许他们中的一位做一天皇帝。之后，就在四月一号那天，康士坦丁一世把罗马帝王的王位转交给库高王—他的一位弄臣。库高颁布法令，将当天定为永久的“荒诞日”。

Kugel, incidentally, is an Eastern European dish that one of Boskin’s friends had been craving.

顺便提及一下，“库高”这一名称还是一种东欧菜名，也正是布希金的一位朋友钟爱的一道菜。

The news agency was less than thrilled about the gambit, Boskin said. "I thought I should have been complimented for a quacky, quirky story that was fitted to the occasion."

可是资讯社对布希金的这一“诡计”并不买账，于是他说道:“我觉得我应该得到肯定赞扬，因为我这个离奇的故事正是为那个节日量身定做的解释。”

Fact or Fiction: How About Both?

事实，还是虚构?或者两者都有?

According to Marc Abrahams, creator of the Ig Nobel Prizes, traditional April Fools’Day fake news is being out-absurded by actual discoveries.

据搞笑诺贝尔奖创始人马克·亚拉伯罕称，传统的愚人节虚假消息因许多真实的发明与发现而变得已经不再荒诞。

Every year the Ig Nobel Prizes in science, medicine, and technology are awarded for research that "first make people laugh, and then make them think.”In 2010 prizes went to legitimate research that found a new way to collect whale snot using a remote-controlled helicopter, proved that swearing does indeed relieve pain, and revealed that asthma can be treated with roller coaster rides.

每年都有科学、医学和技术因研究“先让人们发笑，继而让他们深思”而获得搞笑诺贝尔奖。在2010年，奖项颁发给了一项合法研究，由于它发现了用远程遥控直升机收集鲸鱼鼻涕的新方法，并且证实了:发誓并不能减轻痛苦，坐过山车可以治疗哮喘。

"The real stuff is funnier, simply because it is real,”said Abrahams. "In that sense, the things that are real and funny are a superior form of April Fools’joke,because you can tell them and people will think you are making it up.”

亚拉伯罕说:“真实的事情因其真实而简单有趣。从这个角度来讲，真实而有趣的事情才是愚人节玩笑中的高级形式，因为你把真事说出来后，人们会以为你在胡编乱造。”