水果视频bodies - The origin of the April Fool
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- Published on Saturday, April 2, 2016
By Rita Friesen
The Neepawa Banner
Got to wondering about April Fool鈥檚 Day, so I googled it. [The practice has become so common, even for people of my generation 鈥� when a grandchild called grandma to find out what a 鈥榮tick of butter鈥� meant in cup portions- it was grandma that said, I鈥檒l google it!] Back to April Fool鈥檚 Day. There are conflicting reports about the origin.
Going way, way back, one theory is that the introduction of the Gregorian Calendar, back when popes could make major decisions like re-doing time, not all rural or far away people knew that they now lived with a new New Year鈥檚 Day, continued to celebrate on April 1. Perhaps they didn鈥檛 accept the calendar, just like some people today fuss about Daylight Savings Time?
Another supposition was that the Roman Emperor Constantine was told by his jesters that they could do a better job of running the empire than he was doing. Constantine supposedly appointed a jester 鈥榢ing for the day鈥�, but that theory was proved to be a hoax in the 1980s. Perhaps the best April Fool鈥檚 joke ever! All research indicated that people needed a day of levity after a long difficult winter. That makes sense to me.
What I do recall from my childhood is the warm summer day when the family鈥檚 hired hand came into our kitchen and called us to the window to see the great lake that had come overnight to our back yard. The flax as in full blossom and it did indeed look like a body of water. A testimonial to our upbringing is that we did not mock the man, knowing that with his limited social skills he was delighted to have caught us in a prank/joke. I do recall that one could exercise the freedom of foolishness until noon. The chant ended with something like, 鈥楢pril Fool鈥檚 is come and past, you are the greatest fool at last?鈥� There were ditties for everything.
School tricks were simple back in the day. Not hurtful or harmful, perhaps a little embarrassing. Not worse than my class mates sticking a 鈥榯ake care, she bites鈥� message on my back after reading a particular novel. I wasn鈥檛 known as 鈥楻ed Rita鈥� for nothing!
Rather like what the French do. The French call April 1 Poisson d鈥橝vril, or 鈥淎pril Fish.鈥� French children sometimes tape a picture of a fish on the back of their schoolmates, crying 鈥淧oisson d鈥橝vril鈥� when the prank is discovered.
I do know that a merry heart is like a medicine. A good laugh can build friendships and ease social situations. April 2 would have been Ed鈥檚 89th birthday and if ever a person enjoyed a laugh, it was he. There is seldom a day I don鈥檛 recall a saying or groaner that he cherished. I leave you with this 鈥� I was his angel. Always up in the air harping about something and not an earthly thing to wear!
