曾经有一种唤作“夕”的野兽。每到食物稀缺的严冬，夕就会到附近的村庄觅食，袭击村民，甚至把他们吃掉。
There once was a beast called Xi (夕). When food became scarce in the harsh winter, it would come out looking for food in the nearby villages and attack or even eat the villagers.
村民们非常害怕夕，便向火神灶王爷祈祷，希望他除掉夕。灶王爷百般尝试，但对这头凶猛的野兽毫无办法。玉皇大帝知道了这个情况后，便派仙童“年”来解决难题。
The villagers were so scared of Xi that they begged the kitchen god, who was in charge of fire, to get rid of Xi. The kitchen god tried very hard but could do nothing with the ferocious beast. The Jade Emperor learned of the situation and sent a fairy child, Nian, to solve the problem.
尽管年想了不少办法对付夕，夕仍然逍遥在外。好在年很聪明，并且善于观察。一次偶然的机会，他发现夕惧怕响声。于是，他点燃竹子，用爆炸声去吓唬夕，夕果然被吓跑了。
Even though Nian made several attempts, Xi was still on the run. Fortunately, Nian was smart and good at observing. By chance, he discovered that Xi was afraid of loud noises; therefore, he drove Xi off with the cracking sound of burning bamboo.
但是好景不长，几天后，夕又回来了。
However, the peace only lasted for a few days, after which Xi returned.
这次，年发现了夕惧怕红色，于是他叫村民们在前门贴上红纸，挂上红灯笼，半夜再点燃竹子。正如年料想的那样，夕在当夜逃跑后，就再也没有出来兴风作浪了。这天正好是农历中一年的最后一天。
This time, Nian found Xi was afraid of the color red, so he told the villagers to put red paper on their front door, hang red lanterns and then burn bamboo at midnight. As Nian had expected, Xi ran away that night and never showed up again. That day happened to be the last day of the year according to the Chinese lunar calendar.
