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

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“小老鼠打頭來，牛把蹄兒抬。老虎回頭一聲吼，兔兒跳得快。龍和蛇尾巴甩，馬兒羊兒步兒邁。小猴機(jī)靈蹦又跳，雞唱天下白。狗兒跳，豬兒叫，老鼠又跟來?！庇羞@么十二個動物，它們被賦予了神圣的使命，它們是十二生肖！但為何十二生肖中有老鼠卻沒貓？而小老鼠又憑什么獨(dú)占鰲頭呢？

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.

單詞講解

zodiac /?z??di?k/ n.黃道十二宮

Chinese Zodiac十二生肖

——What’s your Chinese zodiac/animal sign？你屬什么？

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