Tallulah Pixie Bell said...
Your answer is even more baffling then the original problem posed but then I am not as intellectual as yourself hugh because I would therefore not b asking for your advice & singing your praises. Well done on investigating such oddities & being that we celebrate the daft tradition on this very day can you explain what a 'April Fool' is & how to spot such a person?
posted by hughevans at 9:18 AM
1 Comments:
Tallulah,
Thank you for your most apt observations and your complex and intriguing enquiry.
So complicated in fact, I decided to take the entire contents of April to complete my investigation. Loyal fans will have observed this lengthy absence and for this I apologise. Rest assured, however, my efforts have been far from nil – I have been pondering many a riddle, and I am now ready to begin verbalising some of my findings for you all.
Interestingly, the origins of April Fools Day date back to the time of King Charles IX. The King was out one day walking the streets wearing ordinary clothes. He liked to do this so that he could integrate with the common man, and get a feel, first-hand, of any plots to over-throw his Kingdom. On this particular day, however, he stumbled across a man in a back alley being beaten by thugs. King Charles jumped to the rescue scared the bullies away into the shadows.
After the dust had settled, Charles took the man aside and asked him his name. “My name is Alf” he said, “but everyone calls me Poor Alf because I have no money”. The King enquired as to why he was being beaten if not for money, and Poor Alf revealed that he was mocking the gang for he was cursed with an ability to make people laugh at others’ expense. He promptly demonstrated by taking Charles over to the market – right next to the fish stall. He shouted at the top of his voice “Free Fish – Get your free fish!”. The busy marketplace turned and ran to the fish stall, knocking over the stall in a bid to get their free fish. The fishmonger ran screaming toward Alf, but Charles was quick enough to run him to safety – back in the Palace Grounds.
From that thoroughly entertaining day, Charles appointed Poor Alf as his Court Jester. He over used him however – working his poor funny bones to the ground with endless requests for japes and capers. In the end, Poor Alf’s body froze. The doctors came and gave their prognosis – he would need to remain still – only to be used once a year, at which point he would need to receive a special oil for a magic lubricant that would last only until 12pm that day. King Charles declared the 1st April as Oil Poor Alf Day.
Eventually Alf died, as did Charles, but the day lived on. One year, however, around the turn of the Twentieth Century some highly skilled prankster managed to convince the world that the day had always been called April Fool’s Day (the more observant of you will have noticed that this is actually an anagram of Oil Poor Alf Day). The name has stuck ever since.
To spot an ‘April Fool’ nowadays look for people who do not appear to move all year long. Keep an eye out in the morning of April the 1st for a gang of thunderrodents who go around oiling them so that they can get up to their cheeky springtime stunts!
Look out for the next exciting installment of Hugh Evans Investigates!
Hugh Evans PI
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