Until the middle of the 16th century, France celebrated the New Year on the first of April.

直到 16 世紀中葉，法國一直在 4 月 1 日慶祝新年。

Then, in 1564, King Charles IX decided to change this, and the New Year began on the first of January.

1564 年，國王查理九世決定改變這一做法，新年從 1 月 1 日開始。

The message about this change traveled through the country very slowly.

有關這一變化的資訊在全國的傳播非常緩慢。

And some people did not know about the change or did not like it.

有些人不知道這一變化，或者不喜歡這一變化。

When these people tried to give New Year presents on the 1st of April,

當這些人試圖在 4 月 1 日贈送新年禮物時、

other people laughed at them.

其他人嘲笑他們。

and called them fools or stupid people.

並稱他們為傻瓜或愚蠢的人。

After this, the 1st of April was called All Fool's Day, and later, April Fool's Day.

此後，4 月 1 日被稱為 "愚人節"，後來又被稱為 "愚人節"。

In many countries, it became a day to play jokes on people and laugh at them.

在許多國家，這一天成了戲弄和嘲笑別人的日子。

Some people play little jokes on their friends and family.

有些人會跟親朋好友開一些小玩笑。

Perhaps they change the time on the clocks.

也許他們改變了時鐘上的時間。

or put salt in the sugar bowl, so someone's tea tastes terrible.

或者在糖碗裡放鹽，讓別人的茶變得難喝。

Some play jokes on thousands of people on this day.

有些人在這一天與成千上萬的人開玩笑。

In 1957, the BBC, British Broadcasting Corporation, showed a television program about Swiss spaghetti trees.

1957 年，英國廣播公司（BBC）播放了一個關於瑞士麵條樹的電視節目。

At that time, not many people ate spaghetti in Britain.

當時，在英國吃意大利麵的人並不多。

It was a new food, so they did not know much about it.

這是一種新的食物，所以他們對它瞭解不多。

On the program, women took spaghetti from trees and put it in the sun to dry.

在節目中，婦女們從樹上摘下麵條，放在太陽下晒乾。

When the program finished, a lot of people telephoned the BBC.

節目結束後，很多人給 BBC 打了電話。

They all wanted to buy spaghetti trees for their gardens.

他們都想為自己的花園買意大利麵條樹。

In 1998, there was Burger King's new hamburger.

1998 年，漢堡王推出了新漢堡包。

Millions of people in the USA usually use their left hand to write with, and the left-handed hamburger was for them.

在美國，數百萬人通常用左手寫字，左撇子漢堡包就是為他們準備的。

Thousands of people went to Burger King to get a left-handed hamburger.

成千上萬的人去漢堡王買左手漢堡。

and thousands of others asked for a right-handed hamburger, please, not a left-handed one.

和成千上萬的人要求吃右手漢堡包，請不要吃左手漢堡包。

Every year, there are new jokes on TV, in the newspapers, and on the radio.

每年，電視、報紙和廣播上都會出現新的笑話。