愚人节：起源与历史 April Fools' Day: Origin and History

April Fools' Day, sometimes called All Fools' Day, is one of the most light-hearted days of the year. Its origins are uncertain. Some see it as a celebration related to the turn of the seasons, while others believe it stems from the adoption of a new calendar. 愚人节有时称作万愚节（All Fools' Day），是一年里最开心的一天之一。它身世不明，有人认为是庆祝季节交替，有人认为源于历法更换。

New Year's Day Moves换了元旦
Ancient cultures, including those of the Romans and Hindus, celebrated New Year's Day on or around April 1. It closely follows the vernal equinox (March 20th or March 21st.) In medieval times, much of Europe celebrated March 25, the Feast of Annunciation, as the beginning of the new year.
古代罗马人和印度人等在4月1日或其前后庆祝元旦。这一天紧接春分（3月20日或3月21日）。在中世纪，欧洲大部分地区都庆祝3月25日的天使报喜节（the Feast of Annunciation），作为新年的开始。

In 1582, Pope Gregory XIII ordered a new calendar (the Gregorian Calendar) to replace the old Julian Calendar. The new calendar called for New Year's Day to be celebrated Jan. 1. That year, France adopted the reformed calendar and shifted New Year's day to Jan. 1. According to a popular explanation, many people either refused to accept the new date, or did not learn about it, and continued to celebrate New Year's Day on April 1. Other people began to make fun of these traditionalists, sending them on "fool's errands" or trying to trick them into believing something false. Eventually, the practice spread throughout Europe.
1582年，教皇格里高利十三世下令用新历法（格里高利历）取代旧的儒略历（the Julian Calendar）。新历法规定1月1日庆祝元旦。当年，法国采用了改革后的日历，把元旦挪到1月1日。广为流传的说法是，很多人都拒绝接受新的元旦日，或者不知道，于是继续在4月1日庆祝元旦。别的人就开始愚弄这些墨守传统的人，打发他们做些“傻差事”或者编假话，让他们信以为真。后来，这种风俗传遍了整个欧洲。

Problems With This Explanation说法存疑
There are at least two difficulties with this explanation. The first is that it doesn't fully account for the spread of April Fools' Day to other European countries. The Gregorian calendar was not adopted by England until 1752, for example, but April Fools' Day was already well established there by that point. The second is that we have no direct historical evidence for this explanation, only conjecture, and that conjecture appears to have been made more recently.
这种说法至少存在两个疑点。首先，它并没有完全说清楚愚人节是如何流传到其他欧洲国家的。例如，英国直到1752年才采用格里高利历，但那时愚人节在英国已经是固定节日了。其二，这个说法缺乏确凿的历史依据，只是后来出现的猜测而已。 Constantine and Kugel君士坦丁和库格尔

Another explanation of the origins of April Fools' Day was provided by Joseph Boskin, a professor of history at Boston University. He explained that the practice began during the reign of Constantine, when a group of court jesters and fools told the Roman emperor that they could do a better job of running the empire. Constantine, amused, allowed a jester named Kugel to be king for one day. Kugel passed an edict calling for absurdity on that day, and the custom became an annual event.
愚人节起源的另一种说法是波士顿大学历史学教授约瑟夫•博斯金（Joseph Boskin）提出来的。他说，这一风俗始于君士坦丁统治时期，当时王宫的小丑和傻子们告诉罗马皇帝，他们可以把帝国管理得更出色。君斯坦丁大帝乐了，赐一位名叫库格尔（Kugel）的小丑当一天的国王。库格尔发布敕令，要求这一天尽情做荒诞之事，于是形成了这个一年一度的盛事。

"In a way," explained Prof. Boskin, "it was a very serious day. In those times fools were really wise men. It was the role of jesters to put things in perspective with humor."
约瑟夫•博斯金教授解释说：“在某种程度上，这是很严肃的一天。在那个时代，大智者若愚。小丑们用幽默的眼光诠释了世道。”

This explanation was brought to the public's attention in an Associated Press article printed by many newspapers in 1983. There was only one catch: Boskin made the whole thing up. It took a couple of weeks for the AP to realize that they'd been victims of an April Fools' joke themselves.
1983年，美联社的一篇文章做出的这种解释被许多报纸转载，受到公众的关注。唯一的隐情是：这全是博斯金杜撰的。过了好几个星期美联社才意识到自己成了愚人节的笑料。

Spring Fever春的气氛
It is worth noting that many different cultures have