There are two legends which claim to explain the tradition of eating mooncakes.

关于吃月饼这个传统的泉源有两个传说。

One Tang Dynasty myth holds that the Earth once had 10 suns circling it. One day all 10 suns appeared at once, scorching the planet with their heat. It was thanks to a skillful archer named Hou Yi that the Earth was saved. He shot down all but one of the suns.

一个是唐朝的神话故事，说的是其时地球被10个太阳困绕着。有一天10个太阳同时呈此刻天空中，庞大的热量险些把地球烤焦了。多亏一位名叫后羿的神箭手射下了9个太阳，地球才被保住。

As his reward, the Heavenly Queen Mother gave Hou Yi the Elixir of Immortality, but she warned him that he must use it wisely. Hou Yi ignored her advice and, corrupted by fame and fortune, became a tyrannical leader.

为了嘉奖后羿，王母娘娘赏给后羿一种永生不老药，可是王母告诫他必需合法行使。然尔后羿没有分析王母娘娘的告诫，他被名利冲昏了脑子，酿成了一个暴君。

Chang-Er, his beautiful wife, could no longer stand by and watch him abuse his power so she stole his Elixir and fled to the moon to escape his angry wrath.

后羿瑰丽的老婆嫦娥对他的暴行再也不能袖手傍观，于是她偷走了后羿的永生不老药，飞到玉轮上躲避后羿的狂怒。

And thus began the legend of the beautiful woman in the moon, the Moon Fairy.

以后就有了关于月宫仙子嫦娥，这个玉轮上的瑰丽姑娘的传说。

The second legend has it that during the Yuan Dynasty, an underground group led by Zhu Yuan Zang was determined to rid the country of Mongolian dominance.

第二个传说讲的是在元朝，朱元璋率领的叛逆军打算叛逆来挣脱蒙古族的统治。

The moon cake was created to carry a secret message. When the cake was opened and the message read, an uprising was unleashed which successfully routed the Mongolians.

他们用月饼来转达密信。掰开月饼就可以找到内里的密信，叛逆军通过这种方法乐成的动员了叛逆，赶走了元朝的统治者。

It happened at the time of the full moon, which, some say, explains why mooncakes are eaten at this time.

这场叛逆产生在八月十五之时，于是中秋节吃月饼的习俗便在民间传开来。