A practical joke
一个恶作剧
Read this article on a humour website to see an example of a practical joke.
阅读这篇登在一个幽默网站上的文章，看一个恶作剧的实例。
We can define a joke as something you say that causes laughter, and a practical joke as something you do that causes laughter.
我们可以把笑话定义为引人发笑的言语，把恶作剧定义为引人发笑的行为。
A practical joke is a trick that is played on an unsuspecting victim to make him or her look silly or embarrassed.
恶作剧是在一名毫不怀疑的受害人身上实施的诡计，使他看起来愚蠢或尴尬。
In Richard Boston's Book of Practical Jokes, the writer tells the story of a practical joke played on a Mr Potts who worked in a newspaper office.
在里查德·波士顿的《恶作剧之书》中，作者讲述了一个关于恶作剧的故事，这个恶作剧发生在在报社工作的伯茨先生身上。
The impression that Mr Potts regarded his colleagues as inferiors made him unpopular.
伯茨先生对待同事居高临下的姿态让他很不受欢迎。
His co-workers decided to play a joke on him that might make him feel more humble.
他的同事们决定在他身上搞一次恶作剧，好让他更谦逊一些。
Now it so happened that Mr Potts always wore the same hat to work. It was a rather unpleasant-looking green colour.
恰巧伯茨先生总戴同一顶帽子去上班。这顶帽子是绿色的——一种很难看的绿色。
When he arrived at the office every morning at precisely ten o'clock, he would hang his hat on a peg near the door and proceed to his desk.
他每天早晨准时在十点到达办公室，他会把他的帽子挂在门附近的衣帽架上然后走向他的桌子。
When he left in the afternoon, he reversed the process.
下午他离开时，他会将这套程序倒着进行一遍。
He took his hat from the peg, placed it on his head, said 'Good afternoon,' and departed for home.
他从衣帽架上取下帽子，戴在头上，说：“下午好。”然后就回家了。
One day, when he was out of the room, his colleagues examined the hat very carefully.
一天，当他不在办公室时，他的同事们非常仔细的看了看他的帽子。
Then they went to a nearby shop and bought another hat exactly like it, but quite a bit larger.
然后他们去了附近一家商店，买了一顶一模一样但大一些的帽子。
When they returned to the office, Mr Potts was still out, so they exchanged the new hat for the old one.
他们回到办公室时，伯茨先生还没回来，于是他们用这顶新帽子换掉了以前的那顶。