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数千年前，中国的玉皇大帝组织了一次动物赛跑，前十二个到达终点的动物可以在十二生肖中各占一个席位，每年分别以一个动物来命名猫和老鼠，平常起得都很晚，于是让牛比赛那天早晨喊他们起床。 这一天终于到了，牛无论如何都喊不醒猫和老鼠，他们只是睁一下眼睛，转到另一边继续睡。比赛就要开始了，为了不丢下他们，牛把他们哄到了自己背上，带他们参加了比赛。最后一道障碍是一条河，过河时，老鼠在牛背上醒了。狡猾的老鼠知道自己在比赛中永远也赢不了猫，便抓住这个机会，把猫从牛背上推了下去。牛到了对岸，老鼠跳下来，把牛甩在后面，飞一样跑到了终点。老虎第三个到达终点，但他作弊了，他是踩着其他动物的背过河的，从一个身上跳到另一个身上，直到对岸。 于是中国十二生肖中老鼠排名第一，牛第二，老虎第三,随后依次是兔子、龙、蛇、马、羊、 猴、鸡、狗和猪。 值得注意的是，猫却没有占到一席之地，没有排到前十二位。实际上她很幸运:跑完了比赛，而没有淹死在河里。 难怪猫会追老鼠呢！他们永远不会忘记老鼠对他们祖先的羞辱！ Why Cats Chase Rats Thousands of years ago, the Jade Emperor of China organized a race for animals. The first 12 animals to finish were to be given a place in the Chinese Zodiac, and have a year named after them. The cat and the rat, both late-risers asked the ox to wake them at dawn on the day of the race. Came the day. The ox tried to wake the cat and the rat. but without success. They would open their eyes, turn to the other side and go back to sleep. The race was about to start. Unwilling to leave them, the ox coaxed them onto his back and started running. The rat woke up just as the ox was crossing the last hurdle, a river. The sly rat knew that he could never beat the cat in the race. He took the chance fate offered him and pushed the cat off the ox's back. When the ox reached the other side, the rat jumped off and scampered to victory, just ahead of the ox. The tiger came third, but he cheated. He crossed the river by using the backs of the animals swimming across as stepping stones, leaping from one to another. So the 12-year cycle of the Chinese Zodiac begins with the rat. After him comes the ox who is followed by the tiger. After them come the rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, goat, monkey, rooster, dog and pig, in that order. The cat, it must be noted, has no place in the zodiac. She wasn’t among the first twelve. In fact she was lucky to finish, having almost drowned in the river. So is it any wonder that cats chase rats? They can never forget the humiliation heaped on their ancestor by a tricky rodent! |
