Long ago in China, people were afraid of Nian, the dragon beast.
Nian had a sharp horn and a huge mouth.
He could eat five people in one big bite! Glump!
All year long, Nian slept deep in the ocean.
By the end of winter, he was very hungry.
Each year, just before the Chinese New Year, Nian would climb out of the ocean.
He would look for people to eat.
Nian liked to eat children best. people would run away and hide in a cave.
One New year’s Eve, a very old man came.
He said he could scare away the beast.
No one believed him so they hid in the cave.
That night, people heard boom, bang, and clang.
They heard Nian roar.
On New Year’s morning, the old man was gone.
Nian was gone, too-and he never came back again.
The old man had left a bag for them.
Inside, they found red shirts, firecrackers, tin pans, and sticks.
Nian was afraid of noise and the color red!
Now, on New Year’s Eve people know how to keep Nian away.
They wear bright red, light firecrackers, and make noise all night long!
年并不是神兽，在民间的一种传说中，“年”是个天上的神童。
传说有种怪兽叫”夕”，它在年关时都要出来伤人，连灶王爷也拿它没办法，于是灶王爷上天请来了一位叫做”年”的神童，这位神童用红绸和竹竿消灭了夕兽，这一天正好是腊月的最后一天，老百姓为了感谢和纪念年在这一天除掉了夕，就把农历每年的最后一天叫”除夕”，把新年的第一天叫做过年，因为“年”把竹竿放在火中烧得劈啪，后来红绸和竹竿于逐渐演变成了家家户户过年时都有的红对联、红鞭炮了。
而在另一种传说中，“年”成了一种魔兽，头长触角，尖牙利齿，目露凶光，凶猛异常。”年”长年深居海底，每到除夕才爬上岸，吞噬牲畜伤害人命。因此，每到除夕这天，人们就会扶老携幼逃往深山，以躲避”年”的伤害。
这后来一位神仙用红色的纸，火光和响声赶走了年，并把这个方法交给了人们。从此每年除夕，家家贴红对联、燃放爆竹，户户烛火通明、守更待岁。
还有一种传说，说年兽头大身小，身长十数尺，眼若铜铃，来去如风;嗷叫时发出”年~”的声音，故名年兽。后来，人们发现年兽害怕三样东西，即红色、火光和巨大的响声;于是后来的人们在除夕年兽将要到来的时候就会聚到一起，贴红纸(后来演变为贴红对联)，挂红灯笼，放鞭炮等等，目的就是为了赶走年兽。当年兽被赶走以后，人们总是会高兴地互道:”又熬过一个年了。”慢慢的就有了过年的说法，也由此出现过年的习俗了。
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