Chinese people held the first New Year Festival more than 3,000 years ago. Farmers gave thanks for the harvest and prayed. They asked the gods for good crops in the coming year. But there is a story behind all the celebration; below is the legend of how the Chinese New Year celebration began.

中國人慶祝中國傳統(tǒng)新年已經(jīng)有3000多年的歷史了，農(nóng)民感謝上蒼賜予好的收成，同時禱告來年有好的收成。但是慶祝新年的背后，有一個故事，下面就是慶祝新年的傳說。

According to the legend, there was a man-eating wild monster "Nian" with an extremely large mouth, capable of swallowing several people in a single bite. This beast appeared in a country village. At the end of winter when there was nothing to eat, it would visit the villages and attack and eat whatever it could. The villagers would live in terror over the winter.

據(jù)傳說，有一個吃人的野生怪物“年”它的嘴巴相當(dāng)?shù)拇螅豢诰涂梢酝滔潞脦讉€人。年在冬季末段的時候沒有吃的就會出現(xiàn)在鄉(xiāng)村里，它跑到村里去，看見什么能吃，它就吃什么，所以整個冬天村民們都生活在恐懼之中。

The next year it returned and the same thing happened. The monster seemed too strong to be defeated. So all the villagers would take their old and young deep into the mountains to hide from Nian.

來年冬天，怪獸如期而至，同樣的悲劇再次發(fā)生，怪獸之強壯非常人能夠擊倒，所以所有村民都攜帶全家老小到深山躲藏，以避免成為“年”的食物。

One day, a wise old man passed through the village and told an old woman, "I will teach you how to scare Nian away!"

有一天，一個充滿智慧的老人經(jīng)過村莊，告訴一個老婦人：“我教你怎么把年嚇跑”。

That evening when Nian arrived at the village, he saw that all the houses were dark except the house in which the old woman lived. Nian approached the house, licking his lips in anticipation. Suddenly, the deafening noise of firecrackers sounded endlessly.

當(dāng)天晚上，當(dāng)年踏進村子時，它見村里所有的屋子沒有燈光，除了那個老夫人家亮著燈。年靠房子，舔著嘴唇，期待著自己的晚餐。突然，震耳欲聾的鞭炮聲在耳邊響個不停。

The monster was startled and jumped. Suddenly he realized that the house was covered in red paper. This scared him even more and he ran off into the mountains. When the villagers returned they saw that the old woman was unharmed! People later learned that "Nian" was afraid of loud noises and the color red; the villagers came together and agreed that when it was time for Nian's annual visit at the end of winter they would start a fire in front of every door and not go to sleep but rather make noise.

“年”被鞭炮聲嚇得跳起來，突然發(fā)現(xiàn)那個房子外面貼著紅紙，這個把怪獸嚇得落荒而逃，村民回到村莊發(fā)現(xiàn)老婦人毫發(fā)無傷。后來，村民知道了這個叫“年”的怪獸害怕噪聲和紅色，于是村里的村名都贊同，在“年”下一次“光顧”村莊的時候，家家戶戶都在門前點起火，守歲然后制造“動靜”。

The following year, the villagers were ready for it. They set off firecrackers, lit all their lamps and decorated their houses in red, they pasted red paper on the doors, wore red clothing, hung up red lanterns. They made loud music, played the gong and drums and they danced and burnt the fireworks whenever Nian was about to arrive, ready to scare away the beast.

第二年，村名們都做足了準(zhǔn)備，他們準(zhǔn)備好了鞭炮，點燃了所有的燈，把房子裝飾成紅色，在門上貼紅紙，穿紅色的衣服，手里拎著紅燈籠。他們敲鑼打鼓大聲彈唱，跳舞，走到哪里鞭炮就點到哪里。

Nian had not come down the mountain to cause any trouble thereafter.

年從此以后再沒敢下山來惹麻煩了

This eventually become a tradition of China and leads to the celebration for another year of safe life. Chinese people celebrate in remembrance of this legend and it still continues till today!

這就成了中國的一個傳統(tǒng)，慶祝一年的平安，中國人以此傳說慶祝新年，直到今天。