壓歲錢

湖北省潛江市園林高中 倪達虎供稿

壓歲錢

湖北省潛江市園林高中 倪達虎供稿

Ya Sui Money

編者注

小朋友們，馬上過新年了！你們是不是又要收到很多壓歲錢啊？你們知道壓歲錢的來歷嗎？你們計劃怎樣花你的壓歲錢呢？寫信告訴我們，有禮物等著你們哦！

Brief Introduction 簡介

In the old days,New Year’s money was given to the children in the form of one hundred copper coins strung together on a red string.They symbolized the hope that one would live to be a hundred years old.Today,money is placed inside red envelopes,which represents luck and happiness.在過去，壓歲錢都是用紅線把一百個銅錢串在一起給孩子們的，代表長命百歲。 如今，壓歲錢都是用紅色信封包好后給孩子們的，代表吉祥與好運！

Origin由來

During the Spring Festival visits,the seniors will give the prepared gift money to the younger generation.It’s said that gift money can suppress the evil,for the two Chinese words share the same pronunciation.The younger generation who get the gift money can spend the coming New Year peacefully.春節拜年時，長輩要將事先準備好的壓歲錢分給晚輩。據說壓歲錢可以壓住邪“祟”，因為“歲”與“祟”諧音。得到壓歲錢的晚輩就可以平平安安度過一歲。

小朋友們，你們知道壓歲錢的來歷嗎？讓我們一起來看下面的傳說吧！

In the ancient time,there was a fairy named “Sui”,who would come out to touch the sleeping children’s foreheads.The child was scared to cry,and then he or she would suffer fever and become an idiot.So each family would light the lamps to stay up,which was called“stay up!”古時候，有一種小妖叫“祟”。大年三十晚上出來用手去摸熟睡著的孩子的頭。孩子往往嚇得哭起來，接著頭疼發熱，變成傻子。因此，家家都在這天亮著燈坐著不睡，叫做“守祟”。

One old couple got their son in their late years,so they regarded the son as their treasure.It was Spring Festival Eve,and they gave eight coins to the son as a toy.The child was tired and fell asleep.And then they wrapped the coins in a red paper and put them under the pillow.The couple didn’t dare to close their eyes.有一家夫妻倆老年得子，把他們的兒子視為心肝寶貝。到了年三十夜晚，他們拿出八枚銅錢給孩子玩。孩子玩累了就睡著了，他們就把八枚銅錢用紅紙包著放在孩子的枕頭下，夫妻倆不敢合眼。

At midnight,a ghostly wind blew the door open,and put out the light.When Sui reached for the child’s forehead,there came a flash under the pillow,and scared the Sui away.半夜里，一陣陰風吹開房門，吹滅了燈火。“祟”剛伸手去摸孩子的頭，枕頭邊就迸發道道閃光，嚇得“祟”逃跑了。

The eight coins were fairies in fact.The next day,the old couple told the story to the neighbors and every one followed their examples.And all the children could lead a peaceful life from then on.And later,the gift money came into being.原來，這八枚銅錢是神仙變的。第二天，夫妻倆把用紅紙包八枚銅錢嚇退“祟”的事告訴了大家，以后大家學著做，孩子們都平安無事了。因為“祟”與“歲”諧音，之后逐漸演變為“壓歲錢”。