『年』的故事 The story of the monster Nian

很久很久以前，高山上有一隻長得很可怕、很愛睡覺的怪獸。 它的名字叫「年」。
The legend says, long ago, there was a ferocious and lazy monster call Nain who lived in the mountains and always was asleep.
每到冬天牠就會醒來一天。
Every winter, the monster was up for one day.
天黑以後，年就下山找東西吃。
After dark, Nian came down from the mountains to find something to eat.
年喜歡吃動物也喜歡吃人。Nian likes to eat animals as well as people.
天黑以後，大家都不敢出門。After dark, nobody dared to go out.
有一回，天還沒黑，年突然跑下山來，Once Nian came down before it was dark，
年聽見霹啪的聲音，就嚇得跑開了。
Nian suddenly heard some cracking noise, he got scared and ran away.
年又看見一個穿紅衣服的人坐在大門外，年就嚇得跑回山上了。
Nian saw someone in red sitting outside of the door, Nian was frightened away and ran back to the mountains.
那個人告訴大家，年怕看見紅色，還怕聽到霹啪的聲音，
Someone figured out that Nian was afraid of the color of red, Afraid to hear the sound of crackling,
大家就在大門上貼紅紙，在門外燒竹子。
Everyone put red paper on the gate, also burn bamboo to make the cracking noise.
那天晚上，年不敢再下山來。
As a result, on that night, Nian dared not come down the mountain again.
第二天大家出來一看，每個人都很平安，
The next day everyone came out to see that everyone was safe，
每個人都很平安，就互相說：「恭喜」。
everyone is safe, They said “Congratulations” to each other.
後來，年沒有再出來過。
Later, Nian never came out again.
有人說年已經餓死了。
Some people say that Nian has starved to death.
從此以後，那個晚上就叫除夕。From then on, that night was called New Year’s Eve.
家家放鞭炮、吃年夜飯。Every family sets off firecrackers and eats New Year’s Eve dinner.
除夕晚上，家家祭祖。On New Year’s Eve, every family worships their ancestors,
Every family holds a memorial ceremony for the ancestors,
小孩子給長輩拜年，
Children have to wish the seniors a happy new Year in a respectful way New Year’s greetings to their elders，
長輩給小孩子紅包叫壓歲錢。The elders give children red envelopes called lucky money.
第二天是新年，大家互相拜年，The next day is the New Year， everyone wishes each other a New Year，
互相說：「恭喜！ 恭喜！ 新年好」。Say to each other: “Congratulations! Congratulations! Happy New Year”.