humanities.lit.authors.shakespeare

On Apr 1, 1:14 am, Greg Reynolds wrote:
>
> The Shakespeare Fellowship has elected to modernize its image
> and become more relevant and will henceforth be known as
> "The Home of the Whopper."
>
> April Fool!
>
> (but just barely)
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<could get a Whopper for left-handed people whose condiments were
designed to drip out of the right side. Not only did customers order
the new burgers, but some specifically requested the "old", right-
handed burger.>>
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<festival in Great Britain in antiquity, it was apparently not until
the beginning of the 18th century that the making of April-fools was a
common custom. In Scotland the custom was known as "hunting the gowk,"
i.e. the cuckoo, and April-fools were "April-gowks," the cuckoo being
a term of contempt, as it is in many countries. One of the earliest
connections of the day with fools is Chaucer's story the Nun's
Priest's Tale (c.1400), which concerns two fools and takes place
"thritty dayes and two" from the beginning of March, which is April 1.
The significance of this is difficult to determine.>> - (from
Wikipedia)
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The Man Who Would be King
By Rudyard Kipling

'Brother to a Prince and fellow
to a beggar if he be found worthy.'

'Neither drunk nor sunstruck,' said
Dravot. 'We have slept over the notion
half a year, and require to see Books and
Atlases, and we have decided that there is
only one place now in the world that two
strong men can Sar-a-whack. They call it
Kafiristan. By my reckoning its the top
right-hand corner of Afghanistan, not more
than three hundred miles from Peshawar.
.
They have *two and thirty* heathen idols there,
and we'll be the *thirty-third* .
.................................
'There is no use your waiting,' said
Dravot, politely. 'It's about four o'clock
now. We'll go before six o'clock if you
want to sleep, and we won't steal any of
the papers. Don't you sit up. We're two
harmless lunatics, and if you come, to-morrow
evening, down to the Serai we'll say
good-by to you.'

'You are two fools,' I answered. 'You'll
be turned back at the Frontier or cut up the
minute you set foot in Afghanistan. Do
you want any money or a recommendation
down-country? I can help you to the
chance of work next week.'
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<and Dutch references from 1508 and 1539 respectively describe April
Fools' Day jokes and the custom of making them on the first of April.
France was one of the first nations to make January 1 officially New
Year's Day (which was already celebrated by many), by decree of
Charles IX. This was in 1564, even before the 1582 adoption of the
Gregorian calendar. Thus the New Year's gifts and visits of
felicitation which had been the feature of the 1st of April became
associated with the first day of January, and those who disliked or
did not hear about the change were fair game for those wits who amused
themselves by sending mock presents and paying calls of pretended
ceremony on the 1st of April. In France the person fooled is known as
poisson d'avril (April fish). This has been explained as arising from
the fact that in April the sun quits the zodiacal sign of the fish.
The French traditionally celebrated this holiday by placing dead fish
on the backs of friends. Today, real fish have been replaced with
sticky, fish-shaped paper cut-outs that children try to sneak onto the
back of their friends' shirts. Candy shops and bakeries also offer
fish-shaped sweets for the holiday.

Some Dutch also celebrate the 1st of April for other reasons. In 1572,
the Netherlands were ruled by Spain's King Philip II. Roaming the
region were Dutch rebels who called themselves Geuzen, after the
French "gueux," meaning beggars. On April 1, 1572, the Geuzen seized
the small coastal town of Den Briel. This event was also the start of
the general civil rising against the Spanish in other cities in the
Netherlands. The Duke of Alba, commander of the Spanish army could not
prevent the uprising. Bril is the Dutch word for glasses, so on April
1, 1572, "Alba lost his glasses." The Dutch commemorate this with
humor on the first of April.>> - (from Wikipedia)
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Art Neuendorffer