(原版)澳大利亞語文第四冊 LESSON 31

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LESSON 31 HOW THE MONTHS ARE NAMED

HOW THE MONTHS ARE NAMED

“DOES not the Latin word decem mean ten, Harry?” asked young Fred.

Harry had been to college, and whenever Fred found a difficulty in his reading or his lessons he referred it to his elder brother.

“Certainly,” was the reply. “Why ask?”

“Because December, then, ought to be the tenth month of the year, and yet it is the twelfth. How is that?”

“Oh! that is easy enough,” returned Harry. “The Romans began their year with March. They named it Mars’ month. Mars was the god of war, and they thought it wise to dedicate [1] the first month to him, I suppose, so that he would help them to win all their battles. If you count from Mars onward, you will find that December is just the tenth.”

“So it is!” said Fred, who had been busy on his fingers. “And November the ninth, and October the eighth, and September the seventh, and August—”

He stopped. “There must be a mistake here,” he said, half to himself. “Does August mean ‘ sixth’?” he asked Harry.

“No,” was the reply, “nor does July mean ‘fifth.’ There is an interesting fact behind those two names. July was at first called Quintilis by the Romans (for quintus , as you know, means ‘fifth’), but when the Romans were casting about for the best way of giving lasting honour to one of their greatest men, C?sar [2] , they hit on the plan of naming a month after him. C?sar had reformed the calendar [3] for them. Julius was his first name, so as he was born in the month Quintilis, they changed its name to Julius, and we call it July to this day.”

“August?” asked Fred.

“August was first called Sextilis, that is ‘sixth’ month. But the first Emperor of Rome, whose name was Augustus C?sar [4] , was vain enough to wish a month to be called after him, too. So the name was changed by his command, and we still call it August.”

“But how about April, May, and June? Should they not have been called second, third, and fourth after March?”

“April,” explained Harry, “is commonly supposed to have been named from a Latin word aperio , which means ‘ I open.’ It is the month when, in the northern hemisphere, spring commences and Nature begins to open all her charms. The trees blossom, the buds open, all the beauties of forest and vale begin to show themselves after being locked up in the snow- houses of winter.

“As for May, that month is said to have been named by Romulus, the founder of Rome, in honour of Maia. According to the legends [5] of those days, she was the mother of Mercury, one of the gods of Rome. Some writers think that the word June comes from the name of a famous Roman family; others think the month is called after Juno, a famous Roman goddess. There are no other months, are there, Fred?”

“Ah, no! you don’t cut it short like that!” said Fred merrily. “How about January and February?”

“January is named,” answered Harry, “from a peculiar god Janus. He was always pictured as having two faces, one looking towards the past, the other towards the future. Some say he was the very first King of Italy, and was supposed to preside over the beginnings of enterprises [6] . The old Romans called the door of their houses janua , after this god.

“February was so named because on the 15th day of this month a festival was held every year in honour of Februus, an ancient Italian god of the nether world. The original Roman year was ten months long. Numa, one of the early Roman kings, added the two months, January and February, making twelve in all.

“When C?sar reformed the calendar the two months January and February were assigned [7] to their present position as the first and second months of the year; and they have kept in that position ever since.”

“Why not call them all by English names?” said Fred, “and have them all the same length? Let us see—365 days; that is just thirteen months of 28 days each!”

“And one day over?” interposed Harry.

“Yes, one day over,” echoed Fred reluctantly. “Where did that day come from, Harry?”

But Harry had gone for his cricket bat.

“That’s another story,” he replied, returning, and throwing the ball to Fred. “What about a few overs?”

So they went out to cricket and left the months of the year just as they are.

—E. W. H. F.

* * *

[1] dedicate: Set apart.

[2] C?sar,Caius Julius (100 to 44 B.C.): One of the greatest men of antiquity; Roman general, historian, statesman.

[3] C?sar had reformed the calendar: Before this reform of the calendar the year was reckoned as 365 days instead of nearly . The result of this was that, as time went on, the seasons ceased to fall within their proper months. In 46 B. C. the error, which then amounted to about three months, was corrected, and the year 45 B.C. started the new calendar. To prevent the error in future, it was ordered that every fourth year should consist of 366 days.

[4] C?sar Augustus (63 B.C, to 14 A.D,): First of the Roman Emperors.

[5] legend: An ancient story; a fable.

[6] preside over the beginning of enterprises: To watch over and guard the beginnings of undertakings, hence his name was appropriately applied to the first month of the year.

[7] assigned: Allotted or given.