Traditional Culture Encyclopedia - Traditional festivals - April Fool's Day is?

April Fool's Day is?

Introduction to April Fool's Day

April Fool's Day, also known as April Fool's Day, is called April Fool's Day in English. This is a traditional western and American folk festival, which is held every April 1 day. April Fool's Day has been around for hundreds of years, and there are different opinions about its origin. One view is that this custom originated from India's "Interpretation Festival". This section stipulates that every year on March 3 1 day, men, women and children can play jokes on each other and fool each other for entertainment.

In the beginning, any American can concoct shocking news without any moral and legal responsibility, and the government and judicial departments will not pursue it. On the contrary, whoever fabricates the most bizarre lies and who can deceive people the most will win the championship. This practice has brought a lot of confusion to the society, which has caused people's dissatisfaction. Nowadays, people's fooling and cheating during festivals are no longer as outrageous as in the past, but for relaxation and joy.

Today, April Fool's Day has developed into an international festival, which is almost popular in Europe and North America. Scotland calls the deceiver of this day "cuckoo", which seems to be related to the goddess of agriculture. The French call it "April fish", probably because the April fish just hatched, muddled through the bait and easily swallowed it.

As time goes by, the tricks of April Fool's Day are also bringing forth the new and bringing forth the new. For example, a newly married wife may receive a letter accusing her husband of disloyalty, a mediocre civil servant may receive a promotion order, and a son may receive a telegram about his father's death. On April 1 a certain year, the British Daily Mirror published a photo of a man who looked like the president of a country, holding an almost naked beauty in one hand. If you believe all these things, you will be taken in. Of course, if you are really fooled, you don't have to be as furious as Demeter. You'd better be a gentleman and laugh it off, which is in line with the true meaning of April Fool's Day and be kind to others.

April fool's day customs

In western countries, April Fool's Day 1 every April means that one can play all kinds of tricks without having to bear the consequences. Call it "April Fool's joke" and your prank will be forgiven.

This is a day to distinguish between soft-hearted and hard-hearted, but soft-hearted people make deceived people look stupid. A woman collected the business cards she got from other women over the years, then asked some unsuspecting friends, and then brought many such business cards to the April Fool's Day party. She flirted with people unscrupulously, suggesting that spending the night with her would be "unusual" fun, and then gave each man who asked to meet again a business card of another woman.

There is no doubt that the magic shop will provide many refurbished tricks every holiday. For example, a cushion that makes harsh noise when sitting on it; Matches that turn into fireworks when lit; There are also sarcomas, fake noses, glasses, beards and putty for those who want to change their faces at the dance.

Sometimes some practical jokes have the opposite effect. A wine tasting expert, always proud of his knowledge of wine, found an inferior wine shop on the corner and took out a bottle of inferior Planck wine from the wine cabinet. On April Fool's Day, he appeared at the door of a hostess with this bottle of wine that he thought was "a hillbilly's wine and delicacies" and gave it to her as a gift. When he stood there, expecting a disgusting expression on his hostess's face so that she could shout "idiot", the hostess was too polite to show disdain for his taste. On the contrary, she sincerely thanked him and said that the wine was "just what she liked", then put it in the refrigerator and enjoyed it at dinner.

More than one prankster used the quarrel in the tape to make the guests fall into the "April Fool's Day" situation. The host and hostess left the living room, as if going to the kitchen, and there was a fierce quarrel inside. In fact, the two directors who recorded this dramatic quarrel in advance are hiding in the living room at this time, so as to stand behind the living room and check the various reactions of the guests.

There is a man who holds an April Fool's Day lunch for those who have strange similarities every year. One year, he invited three people from different occupations. They had no common interest in anything ... because each of them had a beard. The guests didn't realize why they were invited until the last dessert was served. Another year, three women with red hair were invited. Among all his practical jokes, the meanest one, and the one that kept the guests in the dark for the longest time, was a luncheon for the dwarves. All the guests were less than 5 feet 3 inches, and they didn't understand their similarities until the lunch ended and the guests stood up.

Grimau, a French prankster ending in 18, is famous for compiling the Cooking Yearbook? Renech, on an April Fool's Day, held a dinner party to imitate the funeral arrangements. In the room decorated with black, there is a mourning platform in the center of the dining table. During the endless meal, onlookers will walk up and down the verandah around the restaurant, and the undertaker will be invited to watch the diners' guests. Renic is worried that some guests will leave early, thus ruining his dinner party. Since the atmosphere of the dinner was so good, he might have reason to be worried, but he took measures-he closed all the exits and refused anyone to leave before announcing the end of the dinner.

On April Fool's Day, people often organize family gatherings and decorate rooms with daffodils and daisies. The typical traditional practice is to decorate a fake environment, which can decorate the room like Christmas or New Year's Day. When the guests come, it is unique and interesting to congratulate "Merry Christmas" or "Happy New Year".

April 1 fish feast. It is also unique. Invitations to fish banquets are usually colored fish made of cardboard. The dining table is decorated in green and white. There is a fish tank and a small fishing rod in the middle. Each fishing rod is tied with a green ribbon and hung with a gift for the guests, a delicate celluloid fish or a fish basket full of candy. It goes without saying that all the dishes at the fish feast are made of fish.

There is also the custom of cooking fake dishes at April Fool's Day parties. Someone once described a typical April Fool's Day recipe: first, it was a "salad" with green peppers on the leaves of lettuce, but after uncovering the leaves, it was discovered that it was an oyster cocktail underneath; The second course is "baked potato", in fact, there are sweet bread crumbs and fresh mushrooms below; Since then, there have been roast chicken disguised with crab meat and raspberry ice cream buried under tomato salad. After dinner, guests can also take candy out of the pill box.

However, the most typical activity of April Fool's Day is that everyone plays jokes on each other and plays tricks on each other with lies. Some people tie their wallets to the street with a thin thread and pull the other end in the dark. Once someone finds a wallet, they will suddenly drag it away. Others put bricks under the broken hat in the middle of the road, waiting to see who will kick them. Children will tell their parents that there is a hole in their schoolbags or a black spot on their faces. When adults bend over to see it, they will shout "Happy April Fool's Day". Run away with a smile. In a word, on April Fool's Day, zoos and aquariums will also receive many phone calls to Mr. Yu and Mr. Cheng Leon, which often leads staff to cut off telephone lines in order to reduce trouble.

Fool 12 points.

On April Fool's Day, jokes can only be played until noon 12, which is a strict rule by convention. People who have fun after noon are more stupid than those who are teased by them. People who joke after midnight will immediately find themselves in trouble. There is a little poem that describes it like this:

April Fool's Day is past twelve o'clock.

You big fool are late.

Until April Fool's Day next year,

You will be the biggest fool.

The origin of April fool's day

It is said that April Fool's Day originated from a famous Greek myth and legend.

Demeter, the goddess of agriculture, is known to all Greek women and children. She has infinite magic power, which can make the land fertile and the grain abundant, and can also make the countryside barren and everything wither. Among the Greek gods, she is also one of the most revered goddesses. Zeus, the king of the gods, is her brother and husband. This identity alone is enough to make the gods fall at her feet. However, the life of this power goddess is not perfect. Zeus, by virtue of his position as the king of the gods, created many troubles and brought endless troubles to Demeter. The only thing that can make her enjoy life is her daughter Persephone, who was born with Zeus. She is a smart, beautiful, naive and lively girl, and no one will be sad with her.

On this day, Hades drove around Sicily and was just seen by Aphrodite, the god of love and beauty walking in the clouds. At the same time, she saw Persephone walking in the field and her companion Athena, the goddess of hunting. Aphrodite was furious when she saw these people. These men and women never talk about love or marriage. Do they still have the status of loving God? Athena and Artemis are famous chastity goddesses, both of whom are famous for their martial arts and divine power. Better not mess with them. But for this little girl Persephone, you're welcome. So Aphrodite, with a sacred aura on her head, called her son little love god urrows and said to him, "Look, how do these people treat love? How can we rule the world if people and God learn from them? Come on, shoot Hades a golden arrow and make him fall madly in love with Persephone! "

Urrows is a good marksman. He drew his bow and shot an invisible arrow of desire, stabbing Hades in the heart. Then, he followed Aphrodite and roared off, waiting for the performance. Sure enough, Hades had an unforgettable love for Persephone after he was shot. But he knows very well that this well-known beauty will never give up the sunny earth and sky and go to the dark underworld with him. So he found his brother Zeus, the king of the gods, and asked him to decide to marry his daughter to Hades. "Well ... I can't be the Lord," said the Lord of the gods thoughtfully. "You know, Demeter is difficult to deal with. However, if you have the ability to take Persephone away, I have no objection. " With the acquiescence and hint of the God King, Hades was filled with joy, and he immediately returned to the ghost land to rob his relatives.

One day, when Persephone was bending down to pick a wild flower in the field, a big crack suddenly opened in the earth. Then, a glittering golden car rushed to the ground, driven by the majestic Pluto. He jumped, picked up Persephone, put it on the seat beside him, shouted, and the carriage sank into the ground at an unpredictable speed. The cracked earth suddenly closed, and it was still sunny. In full of green, nothing seemed to happen except Persephone's cry for help echoed in the sky. Demeter in the distance heard her daughter's heartbreaking cry for help. But when she flew back as fast as she could, her daughter was gone. She only knew that her daughter had been robbed by "robbers", but she couldn't find any clues about who the robbers were. The gods who knew the whereabouts of Persephone were silent. They know the background of this matter, Zeus and Hades are not easy to mess with, and no one wants to get burned. A few gods were forced to worry, and they were also pulling east and west, pulling south and pulling north. According to their instructions, the goddess ran headless like a fly. Needless to say, all this has become a futile trek.

However, the love for her daughter made Merte look for it endlessly. No matter what God says, she is convinced. Although it turned out that those were outright lies. In desperation, she lit two Song Ming in the unfathomable Mount Etna crater, illuminating the whole world. Since then, neither the goddess of dawn nor the goddess of night has seen her sit down and rest. In this way, Demeter traveled all over the world. However, her daughter seems to have been swept away by the wind, melted by the sun, or turned into steam and clouds, and still disappeared. The gods gradually turned from sympathy to disgust for her. Because this "crazy woman" is looking for her daughter, there is no moment of peace in the world. The more they took her up, the more they pointed east and west, just to send her away and lead a quiet life in a few days.

Finally, Demeter had to drag himself back to Sicily, where Persephone disappeared. After running around for many days, no one knows who the culprit is, and the goddess' anger can be imagined. So, she vented all her grievances on the peasants in Sicily. She killed all the cows on the island, ordered the land to be as hard as steel, sealed the seeds in the land, and made all the plants turn yellow and wither. Let this huge island be naked and hungry everywhere. Zeus saw her make a scene and kindly advised her to look elsewhere and not to take it out on innocent farmers. Dmitry didn't know there was fraud, so he set foot on a shopping trip again. This is a terrible thing. I don't know how many places have become barren because of the anger of the goddess, and there is a desperate atmosphere of hunger and famine everywhere.

When she realized that she was her husband's freshman year again, she calmed down and thought about what to do in the end. Inadvertently, she looked up and saw Apollo, the sun god, patrolling the vast space in a golden car. It suddenly occurred to me that only he was above, radiant and observant. Nothing in the world can escape his eyes. This just holding a torch, fly to the front of Helius, ask him for advice.

The great sun god pities the goddess, but he is not afraid of the power of hades. Moreover, he didn't want Demeter to make such a fuss again, embarrassing the gods and suffering the people. He described the kidnapping of Hades. Demeter suddenly realized, but it was too late. At this moment, Persephone became a noble queen under the coercion and inducement of Hades, and could never reunite with her mother on the ground. Besides, no matter how powerful Demeter was, he could not take his daughter away from Hades.

Demeter knew that he had been deceived and fooled by the gods, and his anger and irritation deepened. She simply gave an order to let all the plants in the world wither together, all the crops died, and there was no trace of green on the earth. I hid in a remote place and never appeared again. Gal, heaven and earth all messed up. People have no food, and thousands of people starve to death every day. Crowds of dead people crowded into Hades, making a noise, which upset Hades and disturbed him. The gods are yellow, emaciated and hungry because they can't get human sacrifices and gifts. Zeus had no choice but to live in Jean Patel's hades 1/3 years, return to earth for 2/3 years, and serve his mother. From then on, whenever Persephone stayed in the ghost land, Demeter would frown, and the land would become depressed and become winter. Once the daughter is reunited with her, the goddess will smile and the world will reproduce the scene of vegetation recovery. The vitality of the group is spring, summer and autumn.

Obviously, Demeter is a complete fool in this story. She doesn't know the trick of cupid, and she doesn't know her husband and Hades' accomplice. After the incident, she was fascinated and repeatedly cheated and teased. Since then, people have set up April Fool's Day to warn those who think they are smart with white lies, and don't make people laugh and be generous because of credulity.

Other origin theories

Every April 1 day, people can give full play to their imagination to tease, cajole, make fun of and fool others.

On this day, whether charming French, enthusiastic Italians or serious Germans, they may play some tricks to fool you and entertain me.

In addition to the above story, there are two versions about the origin of April Fool's Day: English and French.

English Version: Air Show Dream Lost (1 545 April1)

1545 One day, King Henry VIII suddenly received a letter from a scientist named LoofLirpa. The scientist claimed that he had uncovered the secret of flying and invited the king to visit the Palace of Westminster on April 1 to watch his flight show.

On April 1 day, the king and politicians stood in the square of Westminster Palace, waiting for Mr. Lebo to fly through the air. However, after waiting for several hours, they saw nothing. The king and important officials thought Leopold had been cheated. Since then, a custom has formed in Britain, and April 1 has been designated as "April Fool's Day".

However, according to experts' research, Li Erbo didn't mean to joke. He may have mastered the skills of flying, but his plane broke down in flight. In addition, his driving skills were not skilled enough, so the plane crashed into a tree and did not show up at Westminster Palace, and he himself was killed. This may be called the first air crash in aviation history. At present, most people think that the first flight of the plane was in 1903, but there were planes flying in the air more than 300 years ago, but the plane and flying technology were lost with Lebo's death.

Coincidentally, the pilot's name is LoofLirpa. If you read it backwards, you will find that it is an AprilFool!

French Version: Conservatives Become April Fool's Day (1564 April 1)

It is generally believed that April Fool's Day originated in France, but there are two versions:

One version is: April Fool's Day originated in France and has a history of more than 800 years. The time is around New Year's Day, and activities include election of fake bishops or fake popes, simulation of church etiquette, and mutual translocation of superior and subordinate officials.

The second version is: In the Middle Ages, most Christian countries used the julian calendar to celebrate New Year's Day from March 25th to April 1. According to the custom, on April 1 day, people will exchange gifts to congratulate each other. 1564, French king Charles IX first adopted a newly reformed calendar-Gregorian calendar (the current universal solar calendar), with 65438+ 10/0 as the beginning of the year.

Some conformists oppose this reform and still stubbornly celebrate the New Year by giving gifts on April 1 according to the old calendar. Advocates of reform laugh at the perverse practices of these conservatives. Smart and funny people gave them fake gifts in April 1 and invited them to a fake wine party. And called the deceived conservatives "April fools" or "hooked fish". Since then, it has become a custom for people to fool each other in April 1. Today, the French call the person who was cheated on April Fool's Day "April Fish", probably because the little fish just gave birth in April and swallowed the bait in a confused way, so it is easy to take the bait!

April Fool's Day in Britain

On April Fool's Day in Britain, people can play tricks on their relatives and friends skillfully. For example, children can run to their parents in a panic and tell them, "The kitchen is on fire!" "or" there is a snake on my bed! "If their parents rush to rescue them without thinking, they will become April fools.

On this day, not only children will play such jokes, but also British TV stations, radio stations and newspapers sometimes elaborate traps to deceive listeners and readers. For example, a British daily newspaper published an "exclusive" photo showing British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher kissing Soviet leader Gorbachev on a park bench.

Another time, the radio played a wonderful joke. A science and technology reporter reported that due to strange geological phenomena, the gravity of the earth in some parts of Britain has weakened. He asked the listeners who listened to the radio to jump up and down, and if they jumped higher than usual, they called the BBC. The broadcasting company actually received hundreds of calls. One man said that he became lighter, so light that he could swing from the ceiling. It was not until noon 12 that the broadcaster gently told the audience that it was all an April Fool's joke.

Furthermore, Branson, the boss of British Atlantic Airlines, made a big bright silver box and a big flashing balloon to fool people. In the sunlight, it looks like alien ufo in the sky. The UFO circled for a while and landed slowly. People ran in the direction of UFO landing, only to see the UFO slowly open, not aliens, but the big boss Branson. People began to doubt, and then they all burst into laughter for being fooled.

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