It was the first of April, and Julius Barrett, aged fourteen, perched on his father’s gatepost, watched ruefully the low descending sun, and counted that day lost. He had not succeeded in “fooling” a single person, although he had tried repeatedly. One and all, old and young, of his intended victims had been too wary for Julius. Hence, Julius was disgusted and ready for anything in the way of a stratagem or a spoil.

The Barrett gatepost topped the highest hill in Valley View. Julius could see the entire settlement, from “Young” Thomas Everett’s farm, a mile to the west, to Adelia Williams’s weather-grey little house on a moonrise slope to the east. He was gazing moodily down the muddy road when Dan Chester, homeward bound from the post office, came riding sloppily along on his grey mare and pulled up by the Barrett gate to hand a paper to Julius.

Dan was a young man who took life and himself very seriously. He seldom smiled, never joked, and had a Washingtonian reputation for veracity. Dan had never told a conscious falsehood in his life; he never even exaggerated.

4月1日那天,十四岁的朱利叶斯•巴雷特，靠在父亲家的门柱上,看着太阳的降落,心数着即将过去的一天。他没有成功地“愚弄”到任何一个人，尽管他试图多次尝试。无论一个还是多个,无论老或是少，他们都对朱利叶斯很谨慎。因此，朱利叶斯感到很无趣，并且准备另一次尝试。

巴雷特的门柱是这个村庄的视野最高点。朱利叶斯可以看到整个村庄，从西边“年轻”托马斯·埃弗雷特的农场到东边威廉姆斯的小房子。朱利叶斯看着泥泞的道路，然后他看到了丹•切斯特从邮局出来,骑着他的灰色小母驴,然后把它拴在门柱上向朱利叶斯投递一封信。

丹是一个对生活和自己都非常认真谨慎的年轻人。他很少笑，也从不开玩笑，他是华盛顿市真实性的代表。丹从没在他的生活中撒过谎，他甚至从来没有夸张的说过话

这三段对故事的背景做个介绍，引出后文的玩笑。特别是对丹的描写，一个严谨诚实的人，为了加强消息的可靠性

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