The British and Scotch1 called April 1st “All Fools' Day”, and brought their customs with them when they immigrated to the American colonies. One Scotch joke was to give a letter to an unsuspecting2 person, telling him to deliver it to a certain house. The receiver opened the letter and saw,
This is a joke． Seal the letter again, and say that the letter should go to Another house down the road． Send him there with the letter．
The person would take the letter to that place, only to be told it should go somewhere else, and so on, until the person realized something was strange. When he got back home, his friends would be there to call him an April fool, and to laugh with him over their joke. The first written record of April Fools' Day in America is found in an old almanac3, a book of Calendars4 and information about weather and many other things. For April 1st has a poem about this Scotch custom:
The first of April, some do say,
Is set apart for All Fools＇ Day．
But why the people call it so,
I, or themselves, do not know．
But on this day are people sent
For purpose of pure enjoyment．
Now April Fools' Day is mostly a day for children to play tricks on their friends.
Sometimes we boys would play a trick on someone after April 1st, but would still say “April Fool!” We knew the other children would answer with a rhyme5:
April Fool is past,
And you＇re the fool at last!
But we had made up a new reply:
Apple tree． Apple tree．
You＇re the fool for telling me．
An April Fools' joke must always be done in kindness, and only to a friend.
What are you going to do this next April Fools' Day, April 1st?
英国人和苏格兰人把四月一日叫做“愚人节”,当他们移居到美洲殖民地时，也 把他们的这种风俗带到了这个地方。有一个苏格兰笑话，说的是把一封信交给一位不起疑心的人，叫他把这封信送到某一栋房子去。收信者打开信看到：
这是一个玩笑。请你把信再封起来，并且对来人说这封信必须沿着这条路送到另一家去。让他把这封信送到那里去。
这个人就会把这封信送到那个地方去，结果人们告诉他信必须送到下一个什么地方去，依此下去，直到这个人意识到事情有点奇怪。当他回到家时，他的朋友们会等在那里叫他傻瓜，并且和他一起就这个玩笑大笑个够。
美国第一个有文字记载的愚人节是在一本旧历书里发现的，这是一本有关历法、天气资料和许多其他事情的书。有一首写四月一日的诗写到过苏格兰的这个风俗：
有人说，四月一日，
是专门留给愚人节的。
为什么人们叫它愚人节，
我，抑或是他们自己，都不知道。
但是在这一天，人们相互馈赠的
只是纯粹的快乐！
现在，愚人节主要成了孩子们捉弄他们朋友的节日。
有时，我们男孩子还会在四月一日之后开别人的玩笑，但仍然说“愚人！”我们知道另一些孩子会用一首诗来回敬我们：
转眼愚人节已过去！
最终你们被人戏弄！
我们早早就想好答案：
苹果树，苹果树，
你是愚人才来告诉我。
愚人节的玩笑必须始终是善意的，而且只对朋友。
这个愚人节，四月一日，你打算如何做呢？
1． Scotch n． 苏格兰
2． unsuspecting adj． 不怀疑的，无疑虑的，信任的
3． almanac n． 历书，年鉴
4． calendar n． 日历，历法
5． rhyme [raim] n． 押韵， 押韵的词