愚人節(jié)與其說是個(gè)節(jié)日，倒不如說是個(gè)傳統(tǒng)。那天人們可以暫且放下長(zhǎng)幼尊卑，看看誰是愚人！

The Situation: Bill and Ryan are planning to play a trick on Susan when she arrives at work. Susan comes into the office， and finds a large envelope with the company logo on her desk…

情景：比爾和萊恩打算在蘇珊上班的時(shí)候捉弄她一下。蘇珊剛進(jìn)辦公室就發(fā)現(xiàn)桌子上有個(gè)印著公司標(biāo)志的大信封。

Susan: Hey， Ryan， what's this?

蘇珊：嗨，萊恩，這是什么呀？

Ryan: Oh， something from Head Office. It arrived earlier for you.

萊恩：噢，是總部剛才發(fā)給你的。

Susan: Really? That's weird. I wonder what they want. (She opens the package) Okay， this is odd… Why have they sent me a bunch of leaflets about housing in Alaska?

蘇珊：是嗎？有點(diǎn)奇怪。他們要干嗎??？（打開了包裝）好了，奇怪……為什么給我發(fā)了一打阿拉斯加的房屋傳單？

Ryan: No idea. Maybe you should check your voicemail or e-mail， see if there's anything from them there.

萊恩：不知道。或者你該查查你的語(yǔ)音信箱或者電子郵件，看他們有沒有發(fā)什么東西給你。

Susan: Yeah， yeah， I'll do that. (She checks her e-mail) Okay， this is strange…an e-mail from Head Office telling me to go and see Bill in his office at 10… That's in ten minutes!

蘇珊：對(duì)啊，我這就查。（她打開了電子郵件）。真奇怪，有一封總部發(fā)來的郵件，告訴我10點(diǎn)鐘去比爾的辦公室……還剩10分鐘了！

Ryan: Best hurry. Don't want to be late.

萊恩：最好抓緊時(shí)間，別遲到了。

Ten minutes later， in Bill's office

十分鐘后，在比爾辦公室

Susan: Hi， Bill， you wanted to see me?

蘇珊：嗨，比爾，你要見我？

Bill: Yes， I did. Susan， we want you to move to Alaska， to head up our new Admin division there. I have your plane ticket right here， and you have fifteen minutes to accept. Head Office is very keen to get things moving， so you'll have to leave tomorrow.

比爾：是的。蘇珊，我們決定讓你去阿拉斯加，擔(dān)任那個(gè)新管理部門的領(lǐng)導(dǎo)。你的機(jī)票就在我這里，你有15分鐘的考慮時(shí)間?？偛肯Ｍ沁吺聞?wù)能早些運(yùn)轉(zhuǎn)，所以你明早就要出發(fā)。

Susan: But…I live here…

蘇珊：但是，我家住在這里啊……

Bill: I know， Susan， but Head Office has already made the decision. Unfortunately，there's nothing I can do about it. In fact， I've already hired someone to fill your position.

比爾：我知道，但是，蘇珊，總部已經(jīng)決定了。很不幸，對(duì)此我無能為力。其實(shí)我也雇了別人去填補(bǔ)你的崗位。

Susan: What???? You can't do that! I mean， this is my job， my home!

蘇珊：什么？？？？你怎么能這么干！這是我的工作，這是我的家。

Bill: I understand this may come as a shock， but Head Office are confident that you will do fine in Alaska. They've even offered to find you a house.

比爾：我知道這個(gè)決定對(duì)你來說過于突然，但是總部堅(jiān)定地認(rèn)為你會(huì)在阿拉斯加有一番作為。他們甚至已經(jīng)在幫你找住處了。

Susan: But I don't WANT to go to Alaska! I like my job here!

蘇珊：可是我不想去阿拉斯加！我喜歡我這里的工作！

Bill: Well， Head Office have made their decision. You can either accept it， or you can find another job. I guess you have until the end of the day to decide. Do the sensible thing， Susan. Imagine how great it will look on your resume， and you'll get a huge pay increase too.

比爾：呃……總部已經(jīng)做了決定了。你可以接受，或者另謀高就。恐怕今天你必須要做個(gè)選擇了。明智點(diǎn)吧，蘇珊，想想那樣你的簡(jiǎn)歷會(huì)更有份量，你也會(huì)有一筆可觀的加薪。

Susan: How do you expect me to decide something like this in a few hours? This is ridiculous!

蘇珊：怎么可能讓我在幾個(gè)小時(shí)里就決定這樣的事情？荒唐！

Bill (Giving a little shrug): My hands are tied， Susan. I've given you the offer from Head Office， and I trust you'll let me know when you've made your decision.

比爾（聳了聳肩）：我無能為力。蘇珊，我已經(jīng)把總部的調(diào)令傳達(dá)到了，我相信你也會(huì)讓我知道你的決定的。

Susan (Angrily): I've made my decision， alright! You can take your job， and shove it where the sun doesn't shine!

蘇珊（憤怒）：我已經(jīng)決定了！去你的工作吧，我不會(huì)去的！

Susan storms out of the office， and walks to her desk. On the monitor is a brand new Word document， with the words \"Happy April Fool's Day! Love， Bill Ryan\". Bill and Ryan collapse into laughter.

蘇珊奪門而出，走到自己辦公桌前，電腦前又有一個(gè)新的Word文檔，打開是一行字“愚人節(jié)快樂！愛你的比爾、萊恩”。比爾和萊恩突然捧腹大笑。

Susan: I really hate you guys. (She starts to laugh)

蘇珊：你們這些家伙真是太討厭了。（放聲笑了出來）

Links

愚人節(jié)的由來

愚人節(jié)已經(jīng)有幾百年的歷史了。關(guān)于這一傳統(tǒng)節(jié)日的起源卻眾說紛紜。其中最為流行的說法認(rèn)為愚人節(jié)起源于法國(guó)。十六世紀(jì)的法國(guó)，人們?cè)?月1日這天過新年，互贈(zèng)禮物，舉辦晚會(huì)，慶祝新年。當(dāng)時(shí)的慶祝方法與現(xiàn)在相差無幾。1582年，法國(guó)國(guó)王查理九世決定采用一種新的歷法——格高利歷法，新年改在1月1日。在新歷法的推行過程中，各地仍有一些人或是不愿意接受新歷法，或是不知道這一日期的更改，仍然在4月1日這天過新年。其他的人便捉弄他們，贈(zèng)送他們假禮物，邀請(qǐng)他們參加假慶祝晚會(huì)，騙他們?nèi)ヅ芡?，或使他們?duì)某種根本不存在的事情信以為真。這些受騙的人被稱為“四月愚人”。 從此，人們?cè)?月1日這一天便互相愚弄，日久天長(zhǎng)，便成為法國(guó)流行的風(fēng)俗。十八世紀(jì)初，“愚人節(jié)”的習(xí)俗傳到英國(guó)。后來，隨著英國(guó)移民又傳到了美國(guó)。隨著時(shí)間的流逝，這一習(xí)俗已經(jīng)成為國(guó)際性節(jié)日，在歐洲、北美許多國(guó)家都流行。這一天，人們可以不拘一格地“輕松”一下。當(dāng)然愚弄人的手法也是花樣百出。其它國(guó)家也有自己類似愚人節(jié)的節(jié)日，比如3月31日印度的“歡悅節(jié)”，而墨西哥的愚人節(jié)則是在12月18日。

Notes

1. play a trick on… 耍把戲、戲弄某人。

例句：

How dare you play a trick on your boss? You will be fired someday if you keep doing things like that.

你怎么敢捉弄你的老板？你要還這樣哪天你非被炒魷魚不可。

2. My hands are tied 字面含義是“手被綁起來了”，因此意為“無能為力”。

例句：

All the train tickets for hard seats are sold out， let alone berth tickets. My hands are tied.

所有的座票都賣光了，更別說臥鋪票了。我無能為力。

3. collapse into laughter 突然笑起來，和burst into laughter意思相同。

例句：

No one knows why he collapsed into laughter when the manager was making a speech in the front.

沒人知道為什么當(dāng)經(jīng)理正在前面講話的時(shí)候他就突然大笑起來。