英語(yǔ)經(jīng)典美文誦讀100篇：078.april fool’s day

[00:05.08]078. April Fool’s Day [00:11.24]While popular in the U.S., the April Fool’s Day tradition is even more prevalent in European countries, [00:17.68]such as France and Great Britain. Although the roots of the traditional trickings are unclear, [00:24.42]the French and the British both have claims on the origin of the celebration. [00:29.72]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. [00:38.59]This new system placed the day that had formerly been the first day of a new year on April 1. [00:45.77]Many people were reluctant to adjust to the new calandar and continued to celebrate New Year’s Day on what had become the first day of April. [00:54.36]Thus, they become the first April fools. [00:58.12]Others began to give gag gifts on the day to mock the foolishness of those [01:02.32]who continued to celebrate the new year on April 1. [01:06.80]An English story about the day, however, holds that it began sometime during the 1200s. [01:13.45]At the time, King John of England was in the habit of making a road out of nearly every path he walked regularly. [01:21.04]The citizens of one particular farm village were aware of this. [01:25.41]To avoid having their green meadows and pastures disturbed with one of the king’s roads, [01:30.73]they built a fence that prevented the king from walking through their countryside. [01:35.35]The king sent a group of messengers to inform the villagers that they must remove the barrier. [01:41.48]Upon hearing that the king was planning to do this, however, the villagers developed a plan of their own. [01:48.20]When the messengers arrived, they found what appeared to be a community of lunatics, [01:53.50]with people behaving in a bizarre manner, throwing things and running around wildly. [01:59.32]The messengers, alarmed at what they had found, [02:02.52]reported to king John that these people were so mad as to be beyond punishment. [02:07.86]So, the villagers saved their farmland by tricking the King. In Great Britain, [02:13.14]tradition only allows April Fool’s tricks from midnight to noon on April 1. [02:18.92]Those who try to play tricks in the afternoon become the fools themselves.

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