While popular in the U. S. , the April Fool’s Day tradition is even more prevalent (流行的) in European countries, such as France and Great Britain. Although the roots of the traditional tricking are unclear, the French and the British both have (47) on the origin of the celebration. The English story about the day holds that it began sometime during the 1200s. At the time, King John of England was in the habit of making a road out of nearby every path he walked (48) The citizens of one particular farm village were (49) of this. To avoid having their green meadows and pastures (50) with one of the king’s roads, they built a fence that prevented the king from walking through their countryside. The king sent a group of messengers to (51) the villagers that they must remove the (52) Upon hearing that the king was planning to do this, however, the villagers (53) a plan of their own. When the messengers arrived, they found what appeared to be a (54) of lunatics (疯子) with people behaving in a (55) manner, throwing things and running around wildly. The messengers, (56) at what they have found, reported to King John that these people were so mad as to be beyond punishment. So, the villagers saved their farmland by tricking the King.