Kevin sat up so quickly that he almost bumped1 his head on the shelf above his bed. Someone was pounding on his bedroom door.

 "Kevin! It’s time to get up," he heard his sister calling. "Hurry up! You’ve slept in again."

 Kevin stumbled2 to the door and yanked it open. April was standing in the hall.

 "Hurry up!" she said. "You’re going to be late."

 Kevin dashed past her and ran downstairs. The kitchen was empty. The house was dark and silent. As he switched on the light, he glanced at the clock. It was 6:00 a.m.! The calendar beside the refrigerator caught his eye. There was a big red circle around the first day of the month. Kevin let out a loud groan.

 Behind him, April giggled. "April Fool!" she teased as Kevin spun around. "I got you, just like I promised." With that, she flipped3 into a handstand and looked at Kevin with an upside down grin.

 Kevin turned and stomped upstairs. As he got back into bed, thoughts of his sister cartwheeled through his mind. April Bateman, expert gymnast and expert joke-player, was driving everyone crazy. She never walked when she could bounce, flip, or somersault4. She never missed an opportunity to play a joke on someone. And of course, April Fool’s Day was April’s favorite day of the year.

 Later that morning, Mr. Bateman discovered that his shoes wouldn’t tie and his shaver wouldn’t shave. Someone had removed the laces from his shoes and the batteries from his shaver. Mrs. Bateman found a huge spider in the middle of the kitchen table. Before she realized that it was plastic, she dropped two soft-boiled eggs on the floor and knocked over a pitcher of orange juice. Kevin discovered that every one of his T-shirts had been turned inside out.

 "Where’s April?" he asked when the family sat down to breakfast.

 "She had an early gym practice," said his father.

 "There’s a gymnastics competition at the Y this afternoon," his mother said as she buttered a slice of toast. "April has her heart set on winning a medal."

 When Kevin came home at noon, his mother rushed into the kitchen. "Kevin, April’s gym coach phoned. The competition may have to be switched to a different location. If that happens, Mr. Boyer will phone back by 12:30." She paused to catch her breath. "It’s 12:00 now and I have to be at the office in fifteen minutes. If Mr. Boyer calls, leave me a note." She pointed to the note pad by the phone. "This is very important, Kevin. Be sure that you write down the message."

 "Trust me, Mom," said Kevin. "I promise I’ll take care of it."

 Shortly after his mother left, the phone rang. It was Mr. Boyer. "The competition has been switched from the Y to the Oakville Arena," he explained. Kevin wrote down the new address and directions. "Be sure to leave the note where your mother will see it, Kevin," he added.

 "I’ll take care of it, Mr. Boyer. I promise," Kevin assured him.

 Late that afternoon, Kevin came home from soccer practice. When he went into the den, April was sitting in the rocking chair, staring out the window. "How did the competition go?" he asked. "Did you win a medal?"

 April looked up. Her face was red and tear-streaked. "No, I didn’t. I didn’t even have a chance to compete," she said in a shaky voice.

 "What happened?" Kevin asked. "We were late and I was disqualified, thanks to your stupid joke!" April sniffed and tears ran down her cheeks.

 Kevin stared at her. "What joke? What are you talking about?"

 Suddenly their mother appeared in the doorway. She looked right at Kevin. "What happened to Mr. Boyer’s message?" she asked holding up a blank note pad.

 Kevin’s eyes widened in surprise. "I wrote everything down like you told me to," he said.

 His mother tapped the blank note pad. "Kevin, there’s nothing written here." She went on quickly. "When I came home and found this, I figured that the competition was at the Y as scheduled. So that’s where we went."

 "But we were the only ones there," April interrupted. She glared at Kevin. "By the time we found out the competition had been switched, it was too late."

 "Kevin, what happened to Mr. Boyer’s message?" his mother asked.

 Kevin pointed to the note pad she was holding. "When Mr. Boyer phoned, I grabbed that pad and the orange pen that was beside it. I wrote down the message just like I promised I would."

 There was a loud gasp from the rocking chair. Kevin and his mother turned to April. April’s mouth was a round "O" of surprise. "You used my trick pen," she spluttered5.

 "What? Trick? Pen?" her mother asked. Each word was a separate question.

 "I...It’s...It looks okay when you write with it." April stumbled over the words. "But when the ink dries, the writing disappears. I was going to take it to school to play a joke on my teacher." She shut her eyes. "Me and my dumb jokes!" she wailed.

 Kevin looked at his sister. He wanted to say, "Joke’s on you, April Fool," but the words wouldn’t come out. Instead he said, "There’s another competition next week, isn’t there?"

 April nodded and managed a weak smile.

下一頁：中文翻譯

愚人節(jié)傻瓜

[參考譯文]
凱文一骨碌爬起身，腦袋幾乎撞到了床上方的架子上。有人正猛敲臥室的門。

"凱文！ 該起來了，" 他聽到他的妹妹在喊。" 快點兒！ 你又睡著了。 "

凱文跌跌撞撞地來到門前，猛地拉開。艾普爾正站在客廳中。

" 快點兒！" 她喊道。 " 你要遲到了。"　凱文從她身旁一躍而過，沖下樓去。廚房里空無一人。整個房子漆黑寂靜。凱文打開房燈，瞟了一眼掛鐘。剛剛早上6點鐘！ 冰箱旁的日歷引起了他的注意。 本月的第一天標著一個大紅圈。凱文不禁發(fā)出一聲呻吟。

身后的艾普爾咯咯地笑了起來。 " 愚人節(jié)傻瓜！"當凱文轉身之際，艾普爾開始取笑他。" 我到底騙了你一回，正如我許諾的一樣。" 說著話，她來了個拿大頂，頭朝下對著凱文嗤笑。

凱文反轉身，雙腳重重地踏在了樓梯上。回到床上，滿腦子都是妹妹的影像。艾普爾 貝特曼，既是一名體操專家，又是一位惡作劇大王。她令每一個人都感到發(fā)瘋。她從來都是能不走路就不走路，取而代之的是蹦、跳，或者翻跟頭。她從不放過每一個戲弄別人的機會。當然了，愚人節(jié)是艾普爾一年中最得意的一天。

那天早上，貝特曼先生發(fā)現(xiàn)他的鞋系不上了，剃須刀也不轉了，原來有人把他的鞋帶和剃須刀中的電池給卸走了。貝特曼太太在廚房桌子中央發(fā)現(xiàn)了一只巨大的蜘蛛。驚慌之中，她掉落了兩個半煮熟蛋，又打翻了一個橙汁罐，隨后才發(fā)現(xiàn)那只蜘蛛竟是一個塑料玩意兒。凱文也發(fā)現(xiàn)他的一件T恤衫從里到外翻了個個兒。

“艾普爾哪兒去了？”吃早餐時凱文向家人問道。

" 她去體育館晨練去了，" 父親答道。

" 今天下午在Y 處有一個體操比賽，" 母親一邊在面包上涂黃油一邊說著。 "艾普爾可一直憋著拿冠軍呢。"

凱文中午回家時，母親急匆匆地走進廚房。 "凱文，艾普爾的教練練剛才來電話了。比賽可能會換在另一個地方舉行。如果是這樣的話，博耶先生會在12：30 以前打電話通知。 "她停了一下，喘了口氣。"現(xiàn)在是12：00。我一刻鐘后要去趟辦公室。如果博耶先生來電話，給我留個條。 " 她指了指電話機旁的便箋接著說，"凱文，這非常重要。 一定要記下來。 " 　" 相信我，媽媽，" 凱文回答說。 " 我保證辦好。"

母親剛離開，電話鈴就響了。 正是博耶先生。 " 比賽已經(jīng)被從Y 處改成歐克維爾競技場了，" 他解釋說。凱文邊聽邊記下新的地址和路線。 " 一定要留個條讓你媽媽看到，凱文。" 博耶先生又補充了一句。

"我保證會的，博耶先生。" 凱文向他許諾道。 下午的晚些時候，凱文練足球回到了家。當他走進小屋時， 見艾普爾正坐在搖椅中望著窗外。 " 比賽怎么樣？"他問道。 " 你得到獎牌了嗎？"

艾普爾抬起頭。 面頰通紅，淚眼汪汪。 "不，不！ 我連一個比賽機會都沒有得到！"她的話語顫抖著。

" 到底怎么了？" 凱文問道。

" 我們晚了。我被取消了比賽資格。都是你愚人節(jié)玩笑鬧的！" 艾普爾鼻孔一顫，淚水順著臉頰淌了下來。凱文望著她，問道， "什么笑話？ 你在說些什么？ "

這時母親在門口出現(xiàn)了。 她的雙眼緊盯著凱文。 " 博耶先生的口信到底是怎么一回事？" 她邊問邊舉起一張白紙條。

凱文睜大了驚奇的眼睛。 " 我確實按您的吩咐記下了所有內容。" 他辯解說。

母親拍了拍白紙條， " 凱文，這上面可什么也沒有寫。" 她繼續(xù)說道。 "我一回家就見到了這張紙條。我以為比賽還按計劃在Y處呢。所以我們就直奔那兒了。”

" 可是就我倆去了那兒，" 艾普爾打斷媽媽的話，怒視著凱文。 " 當我們弄明白比賽已經(jīng)換地時，一切都太遲了。"

" 凱文，博耶先生留的口信到底是怎么一回事？" 母親問道。

凱文指著母親手中的便條，說， "博耶先生打電話時，我便抓起那個便箋和旁邊的那枝黃筆記錄。我就是照向您許諾的那樣做的呀！” 突然間，搖椅那邊傳來巨大的一聲嘆息。凱文和母親一起轉向艾普爾。艾普爾正呆呆地圓張著嘴巴，不知所措。“你用了我的惡作劇筆，”她急促地說道。

"什么？惡作劇？筆？ "母親忙問。 每一個詞都帶著一個疑問。

"我 ...它 ...你寫字時它看上去沒有什么異同。 " 艾普爾結結巴巴地解釋說。" 但是當墨水干了時，字就消失了。我本來打算把它帶到學校去捉弄老師來的。 " 她閉上了雙眼。" 我和我的笨把戲！ "她開始痛哭流涕起來。

凱文望著他的妹妹，本想說" 你自作自受，愚人節(jié)傻瓜"。可是，到了嘴邊的話又吞了回去。他于是轉而安慰道，"下周不是還有一場比賽嗎？"

艾普爾點了點頭，勉強地苦笑了一聲。