【The Chinese Zodiac 】     
（首页订阅胖胖阿姨讲故事，就能听到精彩的音频咯~）

There were 12 different animals representing each year by turn in the Chinese zodiac.
They were the mouse, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, goat, monkey, rooster, dog, and pig.
It was said that the jade emperor wanted to choose 12 different animals to be the protectors of new born babies in every year.
After the news came out, all animals knew about the zodiac contest.
At that time the mouse and the cat were good friends.
"The jade emperor said the first 12 animals would be winners."
The mouse told the cat excitedly.
Thus the cat had a deal with the mouse to help each other win the contest.
Almost all kind of animals were looking forward to the contest except the lion.
"I am the king of the beasts already. There is no need to take part in the contest." the yawning lion said.
However the dragon that could go up to the sky and go down in the sea did not think that way.
"As a noble dragon, I should not miss the chance." he thought.
At first, the dragon had no horns on his head. To make himself more beautiful, the dragon went to the rooster to borrow his horns.
"With the heavy horns on your head, how can you run fast tomorrow, why don't you lend them to me?" The dragon found the centipede to guarantee that he would return them back, so the rooster agreed.
The next morning, the jade emperor waited at the contest site.
The mouse got up very early and started out, he did not wake up the cat because he thought the cat was faster than him.
All kinds of animals headed for the destination together.
At last, they came to a wide river.
"I can't swim." Many of them stopped and said.
At this time, they came to the kind hearted ox, "Would you please give us a ride?"
"No problem", the ox said.
Soon many animals jumped on his back, including the mouse, rabbit, snack, rooster, and so on.
As the mouse held onto the horns, he jumped off as the ox was near the shore.
Therefore the mouse was the first, and the ox the second.
The next winners in order were the tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, goat, monkey, rooster, dog, and pig.
Thus the jade emperor declared that the 12 animals got the great job.
Every 12 years, they took turns to take care of the new born babies of each year.
Since then, every child belonged to his or her own zodiac.
From then on, the cat always tries to eat mouse for his betrayal.
The dragon never gave the horns back, the rooster could only go to the centipede,
but the centipede not only laughed at him, but also called him an idiot.
The rooster was so angry that his rooster's comb turned red.
That is the reason why cats chase mice and roosters eat centipedes.


好啦，今天的故事就到这啦~

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