Where did the name March come from?

　　March一词的由来

　　The name March is derived from the Latin word Martius (named after Mars, the Roman god of war). Martius was the name of the first month in the Roman calendar. It is one of the only months named after a god.

　　March一词来源于拉丁词Martius，以罗马战争之神玛尔斯(Mars)命名。 Martius曾是罗马历法中的第一个月份，也是以众神命名的月份之一。

　　While many have adopted the Gregorian calendar (The Roman ruler, Numa Pompilius, added January and February to the calendar thus making March the third month of the year), some cultures and religions still celebrate the start of the New Year on March 1st.

　　虽然现在大多数人都采用格里历(即现行公历)(由罗马教皇努马·庞皮留斯颁行，他将一月和二月加入历法之中，因而三月便成了一年中的第三个月份)，在一些文化和宗教中，人们仍然将三月一日作为新年的第一天来庆祝。

　　Is there a connection between the month and the word marching?

　　“三月(March)”和“行进(marching)”一词有关系吗?

　　In ancient Rome, it’s believed that March 1 marked the first day of spring, which coincided with the start of the military campaign season. This may explain why soldiers “march into battle.”

　　在古罗马，人们认为三月一日是春季的第一天，又恰逢军事战役季的开始，所以这可能是士兵“行军投入战争”使用march(行军)一词的原因。

　　What does the phrase mad as a March hare mean?

　　“疯如三月兔”是什么意思?

　　Hares (big rabbits) mate during the month of March, and a female hare may be seen “boxing” off a male to prevent an act of procreation, hence mad as a March hare—a phrase that appeared for the first time in Sir Thomas More’s The supplycacyon of soulys, published in 1529.

　　野兔(大兔子)在三月份进行交配，此时雌兔会和雄兔进行“拳击比赛”，来避免不情愿时雄兔对自己的交合，所以才有了“疯如三月兔”的说法。该说法第一次出现在托马斯·莫尔1529年的作品《灵魂的祈祷》中。

　　Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, under the pseudonym Lewis Carroll, also referenced this annual event in 1865’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland (often shortened to Alice in Wonderland) in the passage: “The March hare … as this is May, it won’t be raving mad—at least not so mad as it was in March.”

　　查尔斯·路特维奇·道奇森，化名刘易斯·卡罗尔，他在自己1865年的作品《爱丽丝梦游仙境》(Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland/Alice in Wonderland)中也引述了野兔的这一年度活动：“三月兔……现在是五月份，它大概也不会疯疯癫癫的——至少不会三月份那样。”

　　What is the Ides of March?

　　“三月半”有什么说法?

　　The Ides of March is a reference to the date Julius Caesar was stabbed to death in 44BC and is observed on the 15th day of the month.

　　“三月半”是暗杀者阴谋刺杀凯撒大帝的日子，凯撒大帝也就是在公元前44年的三月十五日被刺杀而亡的。