原味人文风情：

The Legend of Chinese New Year
中国新年的传说
A long, long time ago in China, there was a big, scary, nasty beast named "Nian," whose name means "year."He had razor-sharp teeth, giant claws, and a really mean growl. Most of the time he lived in the wilderness,but on the darkest night of the year, when the new moon was in the sky, he would sneak into the village and scare everyone inside, even the animals.
很久很久以前在中国，有一只又大又吓人又坏的怪兽叫「年」，他的名字是「一年」的意思。他有很锐利的牙齿、巨大的爪子，还有十分可怕的低吼声。他大多时候住在荒野中，但在一年中最黑暗的夜里，新月高挂空中之际，年兽就会溜进村庄吓村里的每个人，就连动物也不例外。

People dreaded the new moon for many, many years,until a wise man taught them the three things Nian was afraid of: loud noises, fire, and the color red. The next time Nian came, the villagers fought back. They hit their drums as loud as they could, lit every firecracker they had, and wore the color red from head to toe. Nian ran far away and never came back.
人们许多年来都惧怕新月，直到一位智者教他们年兽害怕的三件事物：巨大的噪音、火，以及红色。年兽下一次来时，村民们反击回去。他们使尽全力让鼓声大作、点燃他们拥有的每支鞭炮，并且从头到脚都穿着大红色。年兽逃得远远地，而且再也没回来过。

After that, the people started celebrating the new moon instead of fearing it. That celebration became a 15-day festival of family, food, and good fortune called Chinese New Year.
在那之后，人们开始庆祝新月而非害怕新月。那庆典变成一个名为中国新年，关于家人、美食和福气且为期十五天的节日。