SE-Ed: Why Does a Week Have Seven Days?

Why does a week have seven days?

為什麼一週有七天？

Why not five, or ten, or even twelve?

為什麼不是五天、十天，甚至十二天？

A day comes from the Earth turning once.

一天來自地球自轉一圈。

A year comes from one trip around the Sun.

一年來自繞太陽一圈。

But the week? That one is a little stranger.

那一週呢？這個就有點奇怪了。

Let's start with the Moon.

我們從月亮說起。

Every night, its shape changes a little.

每天晚上，它的形狀都會變一點。

Each big change takes about seven days.

每一次大的變化大約需要七天。

Long ago, this made the Moon a handy clock.

很久以前，這讓月亮成了一個方便的時鐘。

There's just one problem, though.

不過，有一個問題。

The numbers don't fit perfectly,

這些數字並不完全吻合，

so the Moon isn't the whole story.

所以月亮並不是全部答案。

Thousands of years ago, people in Babylon studied the sky.

幾千年前，巴比倫人仔細觀察著天空。

They noticed seven bright lights that moved among the stars.

他們注意到有七個明亮的光點在群星間移動。

The Sun, the Moon, and five planets they could see.

太陽、月亮，還有他們能看到的五顆行星。

For them, seven became a very special number.

對他們來說，七成了一個非常特別的數字。

The Jewish calendar also has a rest day every seventh day.

猶太曆也是每到第七天就有一個休息日。

You can still see these old ideas in English.

這些古老的觀念至今仍保留在英語裡。

Sunday is the Sun's day, and Monday is the Moon's.

Sunday是太陽日，Monday是月亮日。

Saturday was named after the planet Saturn.

Saturday是以土星Saturn命名的。

And Thursday comes from Thor, the Norse god of thunder!

而Thursday來自北歐雷神Thor！

In French, Tuesday is "mardi", the day of Mars.

在法語裡，星期二是「mardi」，也就是火星日。

Believe it or not, the Romans once had eight-day weeks!

信不信由你，羅馬人曾經一週八天！

Slowly, the seven-day week spread across their empire.

慢慢地，七天一週在整個帝國傳開了。

In the year 321, Emperor Constantine made Sunday a day of rest.

西元321年，君士坦丁大帝把星期日定為休息日。

Since then, much of the world has followed the same pattern.

從那以後，世界上大部分地方都沿用了這個模式。

Some countries tried to change it, though.

不過，也有一些國家試圖改變它。

After the French Revolution, France switched to ten-day weeks.

法國大革命後，法國改用十天一週。

Workers got only one day off in ten!

工人十天裡只能休息一天！

Not surprisingly, people hated it,

不出所料，人們很討厭這種安排，

so Napoleon brought back the old week.

於是拿破崙恢復了原來的一週。

In 1929, the Soviet Union tried five-day weeks instead!

1929年，蘇聯則嘗試了五天一週！

Family members often had different days off, so they rarely met.

一家人常常不在同一天休息，所以很少見面。

By 1940, the seven-day week was back again.

到了1940年，七天一週又回來了。

So the week isn't really a law of nature.

所以，一週其實並不是自然法則。

It's a habit we've shared for thousands of years.

它是我們共同延續了幾千年的習慣。

And honestly, who would want to give up the weekend?

說實話，誰願意放棄週末呢？