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According to the folk legend， the 2nd day of the second lunar month is the very day for the dragon king who is in charge of clouds and rains to raise his head. After that day， there will be more and more rain， so that day is also called Spring Dragon Day. Every year when this day comes， those Chinese northern people will carry the lanterns in the morning to fetch water from the wells and the rivers. They will light the candles， burn incense1 and offer tributes2 to the dragon king and have haircut. In the old times， people called this “welcome the fields dragon”.

根据民间传说，农历二月初二是掌管云雨的龙王抬头之日。过了龙抬头这天，雨水充沛，所以这天被称为“春龙节”。每年春龙节到来，我国北方地区的人们在这天早晨会家家户户提着灯笼到井边或河边挑水。回到家里便点灯、烧香、给龙王上供、理发。旧时，人们把这种仪式叫做“引田龙”。

A popular fairy tale in the north of China can tell the origin of the day. When Wu Zetian， the empress， in the Tang Dynasty came into power， the Heaven God was so angry that he ordered the dragon king to stop raining for three years. Soon after this， the dragon king who was in charge of the heaven river heard the bitter cries from the folk， saw many people starve to death. He was afraid that there would be no life in no time. Then he went against the Heaven Gods order and gave the folk a heavy rain. Because of this， the dragon king was thrown into the folk world by the Heaven God and pressed under a large mountain. The Heaven God claimed that only when the gold beans were in blossom3 could the dragon king return to the heaven palace.

春龙节的来源，在我国北方民间还流传着这样一个传说。相传唐朝，武则天登基做了皇帝，玉帝大怒，命令龙王三年之内不能降雨。不久，掌管天河的龙王日日听闻老百姓哭泣，见无数百姓因饥饿而死，他担心人间很快会没有生命。于是他违背玉帝的旨意，给老百姓降了一场大雨。玉帝得知后，将龙王打入凡间，压在一座大山下面。玉帝下令，只有当金豆开花之时才允许龙王返回天庭。

Then the folk hurried to look for gold beans everywhere in order to save him. On the 2nd day of the 2nd lunar month the next year， when people were drying the corn seeds in the sun， they thought of the corn seeds as gold beans because when they were roasted4， they would pop in blossom like gold beans. So all the families began to pop corn and burn incense and put gold beans on desks. When the dragon king raised his head， he knew the folk were trying to save him， so he shouted to the Heaven God， “Gold beans are in blossom， so let me out.” After the Heaven

God saw all gold beans in blossom in all families， he had to give his order to ask the dragon king to return to the heaven palace and go on with his job of making clouds and rains for the folk. Since then， it has been the folk custom to eat pop corn on the 2nd day of the 2nd lunar month.

老百姓为了拯救龙王，四处寻找开花的金豆。到了第二年农历二月初二这一天，人们正在太阳底下翻晒玉米种子，猛然想起，这玉米种子就像金豆，因为它们一经烘烤就像金豆炸开了花一样。于是家家户户爆玉米花，并在院里设案焚香，供上“开花的金豆”。当龙王抬头一看，他知道老百姓在救他，就向玉帝大声喊道：“金豆开花了，放我出去！”玉帝看到人间家家户户院里的金豆花开花，只好传谕，诏龙王回到天庭，继续给人间兴云布雨。从此以后，民间形成风俗，每到农历二月二，人们就爆玉米花吃。endprint