According to tales and legends， Chinese New Year started with a mythical beast called the Nian . The Nian would eat villagers， especially children in the middle of the night.One year， all the villagers decided to hide from the beast. An older man appeared before the villagers went into hiding and said that he would stay the night and would get revenge on the Nian. The old man put red papers up and set off firecrackers. The day after， the villagers came back to their town and saw that nothing had been destroyed. They assumed that the old man was a deity who came to save them. The villagers then understood that the Nian was afraid of the color red and loud noises.Then the tradition grew when New Year was approaching， and the villagers would wear red clothes， hang red lanterns， and red spring scrolls on windows and doors and used firecrackers and drums to frighten away the Nian. From then on， Nian never came to the village again.
乙巳蛇年已如约而至，双语君给大家拜年啦，祝大家蛇年所愿皆成，幸福安康。英语表示“蛇”的词有snake（蛇）、serpent（巨蛇）、viper（蝰蛇）、 cobra（眼镜蛇）等。 蛇年的英文该怎么说很多朋友的第一反应可能会直译为 Snake Year，但这个说法不够准确。
每到新的生肖年，大家满心欢喜用英文分享这份传统喜悦时，却常常掉进翻译的 “坑” 里。你是不是下意识觉得 “蛇年” 就是 “snake year”？这么直译，虽然字面看着直白，却妥妥偏离了正宗英文表达，还错失了向外国朋友精准传递中华文化的好机会。“蛇年” 英文怎么说？
The night before Chinese New Year， Li Mei’s father puts lucky money into a red envelope. He hides it in the house for Li Mei to find. Li Mei loves to hunt for the red envelope. It is so much fun!
