চতুর্থ পর্ব : ORIGIN OF APRIL FOOL DAY ( প্রথম অংশ ) The origin and history of April Fools Day [also spelled as April Fools Day], also called All Fools Day, are not entirely clear. Many explanations have been advanced to explain its origin. Most commentaries and researchers maintain that the modern celebrations of the day developed in 1582, in France. As the story goes, prior to that year, the New Year was celebrated for eight days, beginning on March 25. The celebration culminated on April 1. With the reform of the calendar under Charles IX, the Gregorian Calendar was introduced, and New Years Day was moved to January 1. In France, however, many people either refused to accept the new date, or did not learn about it, and continued to celebrate New Years Day on April 1. Other people began to make fun of these traditionalists, sending them on fools errands or trying to trick them into believing something false. The French came to call April 1 Poisson dAvril, or April Fish. An April fish is a young fish and thus, one which is easily caught. French children sometimes tape a picture of a fish on the back of their schoolmates, crying Poisson dAvril when the prank is discovered. Traditionally, French pranks must include or at least relate to a fish. The nickname of Poisson dAvril is said to have been acquired by Napoleon I when he married Marie-Louise of Austria on April 1, 1810. April Fools Day was later introduced to the American colonies of both the English and the French. In Scotland, April Fools Day is actually celebrated for two days. It is also known as April Gowk, Gowkie Day or Hunt the Gowk. Gowk is Scottish for cuckoo -- an emblem of simpletons. The second day is also known as Taily Day. Mexicos counterpart of April Fools Day is actually observed on December 28. In Portugal, April Fools Day is celebrated on the Sunday and Monday prior to the Lenten Season, with the traditional trick being to throw flour at ones friends. In spite of the modern origins of the day, many historians agree that the day has clearly ancient roots. We are told that ancient cultures, including those as varied as the Romans and the Hindus, celebrated New Years Day on April 1. The Encyclopedia Britannica points out: What seems certain is that it is in some way or other a relic of those once universal festivities held at the vernal equinox, which, beginning on old New Years Day, the 25th of March, ended on the 1st of April. This view gains support from the fact that the exact counterpart of April-fooling is found to have been an immemorial custom in India. The festival of the spring equinox is there termed the feast of Huli, the last of which is the 31st of March, upon which the chief amusement is the befooling of people by sending them on fruitless errands. Other sources tell us that throughout antiquity, numerous festivals included celebrations of foolery and trickery. One source, April Fools Day: Early Roots, gives the following noteworthy report: The Saturnalia, a Roman winter festival observed at the end of December, was the most important of these [celebrations of trickery]. It involved dancing, drinking, and general merrymaking. People exchanged gifts, slaves were allowed to pretend that they ruled their masters, and a mock king, the Saturnalicius princeps (or Lord of Misrule), reigned for the day. By the fourth century AD the Saturnalia had been transformed into January 1 New Years Day celebration, and many of its traditions were incorporated into the observance of Christmas... Northern Europeans observed an ancient festival to honor Lud, a Celtic god of humor. And there were also popular Northern European customs that made sport of the hierarchy of the Druids... During the Middle Ages, a number of celebrations developed which served as direct predecessors to April Fools Day. The most important of these was the Festus Fatuorum (the Feast of Fools) which evolved out of the Saturnalia. On this day (mostly observed in France) celebrants elected a mock pope and parodied church rituals. The church, of course, did its best to discourage this holiday, but it lingered on until the sixteenth century. Following the suppression of the Feast of Fools merrymakers focused their attention on Mardi Gras and Carnival.
Posted on: Tue, 01 Apr 2014 07:18:28 +0000