The Story of the Chinese Zodiac十二生肖的故事

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“小老鼠打头来，牛把蹄儿抬。老虎回头一声吼，兔儿跳得快。龙和蛇尾巴甩，马儿羊儿步儿迈。小猴机灵蹦又跳，鸡唱天下白。狗儿跳，猪儿叫，老鼠又跟来。”有这么十二个动物，它们被赋予了神圣的使命，它们是十二生肖！但为何十二生肖中有老鼠却没猫？而小老鼠又凭什么独占鳌头呢？

There are 12 animals in the Chinese Zodiac. Each animal represents a year. The 12 animals are Rat， Ox， Tiger， Rabbit， Loong， Snake， Horse， Goat， Monkey， Rooster， Dog and Pig. Do you know why there is Rat but no Cat in the Chinese Zodiac？ There is a story.

Long ago， the Jade Emperor invited all the animals to a race， and the first 12 animals to arrive there would represent the Chinese Zodiac.

Cat and Rat were close friends and good neighbors. They both wanted to be in the Chinese Zodiac. Cat got up very late every day， so he asked Rat， “What shall I do？ I can’t wake up early in the morning.” Rat said， “Don’t worry， I will wake you up and we will go together.” Cat was very happy and said， “Thank you very much.”

On the day of the race， Rat woke up first， but he forgot to wake up Cat. He went to the race himself. So Rat is in the Chinese Zodiac but Cat missed it.

Cat was very angry with Rat. Since then， cats will eat rats when they meet.

Rat won the race by riding on the Ox’s back. Rat jumped off and ran to the final first. The poor Ox was just the second.

The brave Tiger， kind Rabbit， and wise Loong also joined. The Snake， Horse， Goat， Monkey， Rooster， Dog， and Pig completed the race.

Now， each year is named after one of these special animals in China， bringing unique qualities to people born in that year.

单词讲解

zodiac /ˈzəʊdiæk/ n.黄道十二宫

Chinese Zodiac十二生肖

——What’s your Chinese zodiac/animal sign？你属什么？

——I’m a Monkey in the Chinese zodiac.我属猴。（剩余289字）