The Night of the Nian · chapter 3 of 3
Why We Stay Up
守岁
The longest night of the year ends, but Xiao Dong still has questions: who was the stranger, and why do families stay up together?
Hear the chapter
Read what you hear
- Xiao Dong 爷爷，您看窗户外边！年跑了，它跑回大海里去了！
Yéye, nín kàn chuānghu wàibian! Nián pǎo le, tā pǎo huí dàhǎi lǐ qù le!
Grandpa, look out the window! Nian ran away! It's running back into the sea!
- Grandpa 好孩子……你今天真勇敢。
Hǎo háizi… nǐ jīntiān zhēn yǒnggǎn.
Good girl… you were so brave tonight.
- Xiao Dong 可是我的心还跳得好快。爷爷，我不敢睡觉。
Kěshì wǒ de xīn hái tiào de hǎo kuài. Yéye, wǒ bù gǎn shuìjiào.
But my heart is still racing. Grandpa, I'm too scared to sleep.
- Grandpa 那我们都不睡。坐在火边，一起等天亮。
Nà wǒmen dōu bú shuì. Zuò zài huǒ biān, yìqǐ děng tiān liàng.
Then none of us will sleep. We'll sit by the fire and wait for morning together.
- Xiao Dong 天亮了……爷爷，老爷爷呢？他去哪儿了？
Tiān liàng le… Yéye, lǎo yéye ne? Tā qù nǎr le?
It's morning… Grandpa, where's the old man? Where did he go?
- Grandpa 你看，桌子上有他的布袋。里边还有好多红纸。
Nǐ kàn, zhuōzi shang yǒu tā de bùdài. Lǐbian hái yǒu hǎo duō hóng zhǐ.
Look, his cloth bag is on the table. There's still lots of red paper inside.
- Xiao Dong 爷爷，他是谁啊？
Yéye, tā shì shéi a?
Grandpa, who was he?
- Grandpa 我也不知道。也许，是神仙吧。
Wǒ yě bù zhīdào. Yěxǔ, shì shénxiān ba.
I don't know either. Maybe he was an immortal.
- Narrator 村子里的人从山上回来了。看见小冬家好好的，大家都很吃惊。
Cūnzi lǐ de rén cóng shān shang huílái le. Kànjiàn Xiǎo Dōng jiā hǎohǎo de, dàjiā dōu hěn chījīng.
The villagers came back down the mountain. When they saw Xiao Dong's house safe and sound, they were amazed.
- Xiao Dong 大家别怕！年怕红色，怕火，也怕很大的声音！这些红纸，一家一张！
Dàjiā bié pà! Nián pà hóngsè, pà huǒ, yě pà hěn dà de shēngyīn! Zhèxiē hóng zhǐ, yì jiā yì zhāng!
Don't be afraid, everyone! Nian is afraid of red, of fire, and of loud noises! Here's red paper: one sheet for every family!
- Narrator 第二年的最后一天，村子里谁也没有跑。
Dì èr nián de zuìhòu yì tiān, cūnzi lǐ shéi yě méiyǒu pǎo.
On the last day of the next year, no one in the village ran away.
- Xiao Dong 爷爷，您听，家家都在放鞭炮！门上也都贴着红纸！
Yéye, nín tīng, jiājiā dōu zài fàng biānpào! Mén shang yě dōu tiēzhe hóng zhǐ!
Grandpa, listen, every family is setting off firecrackers! And there's red paper on every door!
- Grandpa 今天晚上，我们一家人坐在一起，一夜不睡。这就叫“守岁”。
Jīntiān wǎnshang, wǒmen yì jiā rén zuò zài yìqǐ, yí yè bú shuì. Zhè jiù jiào “shǒusuì”.
Tonight our family will sit together and stay up all night. That's called shousui, keeping watch over the year.
- Xiao Dong 守岁？好，我们一起守岁！
Shǒusuì? Hǎo, wǒmen yìqǐ shǒusuì!
Shousui? Great! Let's keep watch together!
- Grandpa 小冬，你看，天亮了。过年好！
Xiǎo Dōng, nǐ kàn, tiān liàng le. Guònián hǎo!
Look, Xiao Dong, it's morning. Happy New Year!
- Xiao Dong 过年好，爷爷！我们真的一夜没睡！
Guònián hǎo, yéye! Wǒmen zhēn de yí yè méi shuì!
Happy New Year, Grandpa! We really did stay up all night!
- Xiao Dong 爷爷，为什么叫“过年”？
Yéye, wèishénme jiào “guònián”?
Grandpa, why do we call New Year guonian?
- Grandpa 一家人在一起，过了“年”这一关，就叫“过年”。
Yì jiā rén zài yìqǐ, guò le “Nián” zhè yì guān, jiù jiào “guònián”.
When a family sticks together and gets past (guo) Nian, that's guonian.
- Grandpa 小冬，你知道吗？那天晚上，最亮的不是蜡烛。
Xiǎo Dōng, nǐ zhīdào ma? Nà tiān wǎnshang, zuì liàng de bú shì làzhú.
Xiao Dong, do you know something? That night, the brightest thing wasn't the candles.
- Xiao Dong 那是什么？
Nà shì shénme?
Then what was it?
- Grandpa 是你的心。你不肯走，留下来陪着爷爷。
Shì nǐ de xīn. Nǐ bù kěn zǒu, liú xiàlái péizhe yéye.
It was your heart. You wouldn't leave. You stayed here with Grandpa.
- Narrator 小冬笑了，眼睛红红的，像门上的红纸一样。
Xiǎo Dōng xiào le, yǎnjing hónghóng de, xiàng mén shang de hóng zhǐ yíyàng.
Xiao Dong smiled, her eyes as red as the paper on the door.
- Narrator 所以过年的时候，最重要的，是一家人在一起。
Suǒyǐ guònián de shíhou, zuì zhòngyào de, shì yì jiā rén zài yìqǐ.
And so, at New Year, what matters most is being together as a family.
What changed in the story?
- What does the old man leave on the table?
“桌子上有他的布袋。里边还有好多红纸”
- What does Xiao Dong do with the red paper?
“这些红纸，一家一张”
- What is shousui?
“我们一家人坐在一起，一夜不睡”
- What does guonian mean, according to Grandpa?
“一家人在一起，过了年这一关”
- What does Grandpa say was the brightest thing that night?
“最亮的不是蜡烛……是你的心”