英文外刊，漲知識！為何二月份只有28天？
為什麼2月份只有28天
Why only 28 days in February？
為什麼二月份只有28天？
The reason can be traced back to ancient Rome。
原因可以追溯到古羅馬。
In the 8th century BC，the Romans used the calendar of Romulus，a ten month calendar that kicked the year off in March with the spring equinox， and ended in December。
公元前8世紀，羅馬人使用羅穆盧斯曆法，該曆法有十個月，從三月春分開始到十二月結束。
January and February didn‘t even exist。
1月和2月甚至都不存在。
The calendar year was only 304 days long。
該曆法下，一年只有304天。
Back then， winter was a nameless monthless period that no one cared for。
在當時，冬天沒有名字、沒有月份也沒人關心。
The calendar was primarily used as a timetable for planting and harvesting agriculture。
該曆法主要用作農業種植和收穫的時間表。
To farmers， winter wasn’t worth counting·
對農民來說，冬天不值得考慮。
So for 61 days out of the year， Romans couldask， what month is it？
所以，對於一年中的61天，羅馬人可能會問，現在是幾？
And you could correctly answer， none！
你可以正確地回答，沒有月份！
King Numa Pompilius thought that was stupid。
國王努瑪蓬皮留斯認為這很愚蠢。
Why have a calendar if you‘re going to neglect one sixth of the year？
如果忽略一年中的六分之一，為什麼還要日曆呢？
So in 713 BC， he lined the calendar up with the years twelve lunar cycles， a span of about 355 days。
所以，公元前713年， 他用12個農曆週期（大約355天）排列了該日曆。
And introduced January and February。
並引入了一月和二月。
The months were added to the end of the calendar， making February the last month of the year。
這兩個月份被新增到日曆的末尾，二月便成了一年的最後一個月。
However the Romans were highly superstitious。
然而，羅馬人非常迷信。
They believed even numbers were unlucky，and invited attacks from evil spirits。
他們認為偶數不吉利，會招來邪靈的攻擊。
So Numa tried to make each month odd。
所以，努瑪試著讓每個月的天數都為奇數。
But to reach the quota of 355，one month hadto be even。
但要達到355天這一固定天數，某-個月的天數必須是偶數。
February ended up pulling the short stick。
結果是2月份吃虧。
Probably because it was simply the last month on the list。
可能因為二月是該日曆的最後一個月。
Of course， a 355 day calendar had its bugs。
當然，355天的日曆也有缺陷。
After а few years went by，the seasons and months would fall out of sync。
幾年後，季節和月份就不同步了。
Summer would arrive in October and winter would end up in June。
10月是夏天，6月是冬天。
So to keep things straight，the Romans would occasionally insert а twenty seven day leap month，called Mercedonius。
所以，為了讓該日曆更清楚，羅馬人偶爾會插入一個27天的閏月，即“Mercedonius （拉丁語閏月）’
The Romans would erase the last couple days of February，and start the leap month on February 24。
羅馬人會抹去2月的最後幾天，並在2月24日開始閏月。
Further evidence that no one ever cared much for February。
更多證據表明，沒有人對2月份感興趣。
This caused headaches everywhere。
閏月給各地帶來了麻煩事。
The leap month was inconsistent，mainly because Rome’s high priests determine when it would arrive。
閏月時間不一致，主要是因為羅馬的大祭司決定它何時到來。
Not only did they insert Mercedonius randomly，but the priests being politicians abused the power，using it to extend the terms of friends and trim the terms of enemies。
他們不僅隨意插入閏月，而且身為政客的牧師也濫用權力，利用它來延長朋友的任期，削減敵人的任期。
By Julius Caesar‘s time，the Roman people had no clue what day it was。
到了尤里烏斯。凱撒時代，羅馬人根本不知道日子是哪一天。
So Caesar looked back to the solar calendar of the Egyptians to reform his calendar。
所以，凱撒回顧了埃及人的陽曆改革他的歷法。
Tо get Rome back on track，the Year 46 BC had to be 445 days long。
為了讓羅馬回到正軌，公元前46年必須是445天。
Caesar aligned the calendar with the Sun and added a few days。So that everything added up to 365。
凱撒以太陽為參照編排日曆，並增加了幾天。所以，所有天數加起來是365天。
February which by now is at the top of the calendar kept its 28 days。
現在，2月是該日曆的開始，保持28天不變。
However it takes 365。24 days for the earth to make a complete rotation around the Sun。
然而，地球繞太陽一週需要365。24天。
That extra 0。24 days adds up to just about one full day every four years。
這額外的0。24天加起來大約是每四年湊夠一天。
So once every four years，February gets an extra 29th day，also known as leap year day。
所以每隔四年，二月就有一個額外的第29天，也被稱為“閏年日”。
But 0。24 times 4 doesn’t quite make a full day。
但是，0。24乘以4不夠一 整天。
So to make sure that we don‘t get ahead of ourselves，once every 100 years we skip leap year day。
所以，為了確保我們不會超越自己，每100年 我們就跳過一次閏年。
So these are the origins of our chaotic calendar。
這些就是我們混亂日曆的起源。
It may not be pretty but it does seem to work now。
它可能不盡善盡美，但現在看起來確實有效。
