Stories from Around the World

One time, all the people went to hide on the mountain, but one old woman stayed in the village. Nien had eaten her son the year before. She wanted to die like her son.

The old man answered, "Don't be scared. I will make him go away."

The old woman asked, "Are you sure?"

The old man said, "Yes, if I have red paper, red clothes, and bamboo." The old woman gave him these things.

The monster was coming. When it came out of the sea, Nien saw so many pieces of this red paper everywhere. Nien hated it. Then Nien saw the old man wearing red clothes and burning bamboo. It made a terrible sound like "pie lie pa la." Nien was scared. It went back to the sea.

The next day, all the people came down from the mountain and they saw the old woman had not died. All the people asked how to make this monster go away. The old woman told them how to do it.

So every year, all the people wore red clothes and put red paper on the doors and windows. The Nien monster did not come back.

Now on New Year's all the people use candles and incense. We burn special paper that looks like old money.

People make scrolls with poems about the new year written on them. We stick the red scrools on the wall beside the door to scare the monster.

We also light fire crackers. Now people wear new clothes instead of red clothes.

Added to the WWW on 06/29/99

© 1999 Catherine Howland and Sarah Wait
Cedar Falls Community Schools
Cedar Falls, Iowa

May not be reproduced without written permission

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