Once upon a time, the Heavenly Emperor had a magical pet bird. The bird was magnificent, and the Heavenly Emperor loved to look at it. One day, the bird went out to play and lost its way home. The bird kept flying until it was too tired and dropped down to earth. A hunter saw the bird and shouted excitedly,“I have never seen such a beautiful bird! Let me shoot it with my bow and arrow.”And so, the hunter shot the bird with an arrow and killed it. 

The Heavenly Emperor found out and said angrily,“Humans killed my beloved bird! I will send my heavenly army to set fire to humankind and kill them all.”The daughter of the Heavenly Emperor was kind, and she begged her father not to do so. She said, “Father, please do not be angry. The humans did not know that the bird was yours, please show mercy!” Hearing his daughter’s words, the Heavenly Emperor decided to delay his punishment. He would wait until the fifteenth day of the new year, after the humans finished their new year celebrations.

The Heavenly Emperor’s daughter could not bear to see humans suffer. So, she risked her life and came to earth to tell the humans about her father’s plan. Everyone was scared after they heard what was going to happen, and they did not know what to do. They gathered together and whispered,“The Heavenly Emperor is going to burn us all, what shall we do?”“Oh dear, why is this happening?” They thought long and hard.

Finally, an old man said,“I have an idea! On the fourteenth, fifteenth and sixteenth day of the new year, let us all hang red lanterns, light firecrackers, and set off fireworks. Then, the Heavenly Emperor will think that the heavenly army has set fire on us, and believe we are all dead.” Everyone thought this was a great idea, and started to make red lanterns and firecrackers. On the fifteenth day of the new year, the heavenly army looked down from the heavens, and saw red lights everywhere. They thought that it was fire, and told the Heavenly Emperor,“Humankind is already on fire, you do not need to go to earth to set fire to them anymore.”

In the end, the humans got to keep their lives and belongings, and because of this, each and every family hangs red lanterns and lights firecrackers on the fifteenth day of the new year, to remember how their ancestors survived.
 

阿碧姐姐的話：

元宵節這天小朋友們除了吃甜甜的元宵湯圓之外，還會高興地提燈籠、放煙火，好好的慶祝一下，但這是為什麼呢？民間流傳了一個感人又有趣的故事，也成為往後提燈籠及放煙火的由來，現在就讓我們一起往下看吧！

傳說天帝有一隻寵愛的神鳥，這隻美麗的神鳥有一天卻因為貪玩而迷路了，牠漫無目的的飛翔，最後體力無法負荷而降落到人間。有位獵人看到牠高興的大叫：「從來沒見過這種鳥兒，實在是太漂亮了，我要趕緊用弓箭把牠射下來。」於是，不知情的獵人就把神鳥射死了。

天帝知道後非常生氣地說：「太可惡了，真是不知好歹，竟然把我最心愛的神鳥射死了，天兵天將我要你們立刻到人間放火，把人類通通燒死。」天帝的女兒心地很善良，她聽到之後連忙向天帝求情說：「父親，請您不要生氣，人類是無辜的，請您三思而後行啊！」最後天帝決定等到正月十五日這一天再去放火。

天帝的女兒不忍心看到百姓受災難，就冒著生命的危險，偷偷跑到人間散布這個消息。大家聽了都嚇得不知如何是好，害怕的說：「天帝要放火燒我們了，該怎麼辦呢？」、「怎麼會發生這種事呢？」就這樣討論了好久，忽然有個白髮老人說：「我想到了一個法子，那就是在正月十四、十五、十六日這三天，每一戶在家裡掛上紅燈籠、點燃爆竹及放煙火。這麼一來，到處充滿紅紅的火光，天帝就會以為人們都被燒死了。」大家聽完後全都表示贊同，就開始分頭準備。

到了正月十五日當晚，天兵往人間一看，發現到處都是紅光，以為是熊熊燄火正在燃燒，就稟告天帝說：「現在人間正被大火燃燒著，您不需下凡放火了。」最後人們不但保住了生命，每到正月十五這天，家家戶戶都會用懸掛燈籠及放煙火來紀念。