1、The Story ofChinese Zodiac Long, long time ago, people always forgot in which year they were born and couldnot figure out exactly how old they were. The Jade Emperor came up with an idea. Its too difficult to remember a year. It would be easier to remember an animal. Why dont we choose twelve animal
2、s to represent the years? 福德宮福德宮The Jade Emperor asked the Earth God to tell every animal how to be chosen as one of the animals for the twelve signs of the zodiac. 玉皇大帝公告玉皇大帝公告TheThe river river- crossing - crossing racerace All animals are welcome to compete. The first twelve animals across the fi
3、nish line will be chosen as the twelve animals of the Chinese zodiac. After the announcement, all the animals got very excited and everyone was talking about the race. At that time, the cat and the ratrat were very good friends. They met to discussdiscuss the race. We cant swim. How are we gonna cro
4、ss the river? Lets join the ox, We can point the way and he can carry us across the river. The cat and the rat went to see the ox. The ox said okay at once. 十十二二生生肖肖渡渡河河比比賽賽十十 二二 生生 肖肖 渡渡 河河 比比 賽賽The day of the race soon came. Early that morning, before the roosterrooster woke up, the oxox, the cat
5、and the rat were already at the riversideriverside. The cat and the rat climbed onto the back of the ox. And then they started swimming across the river. The cat became sleepy because he got up so early that morning. He fell asleep as soon as he got on top of the oxs back.How eager the rat wanted to
6、 win first place. When the ox was a few second away from the opposite bank of the river, the rat pushed the cat into the water and went into one of the oxs ears. The ox had no idea of what had just happened but heard the rat saying “ Big Brother Ox, Go! Go! Go! We are almost there! We can make it.”
7、The ox climbed up the shore and ran to the finish line. The rat jumped out of the oxs ear and rushed to the finish line to win first place. The ox was very angry. Ever since then, the ox always looked at the rat with his enormous eyes. Then came the tiger. T h e t i g e r w a s roaring,” I am the fi
8、rst, right?” N o , y o u a r e t h e third,” said the Jade Emperor.A whirlwindwhirlwind came in the sky as the dragondragon arrived. B u t t h e r a b b i tr a b b i t sprintedsprinted ahead and took the forth place. The rabbit could not swim but jumped across the river on the backs of the other ani
9、mals.降降 雨雨 大大 典典You could fly. Why did you arrive so late? I had gone to the South China Sea to host a rainmaking ceremony and rushed back in a hurry but was too late.The sky was filled with flying dust. The horsehorse was dashing at full speed, but as he was about to cross the finish line, the snak
10、esnake suddenlysuddenly shot through to come in sixth. Poor horse. Originally, the horse was very boldbold and bravebrave, but after being scared by the snake, he became very shy. Originally, the snake had legs, but he raced so hard, he ran his legs off.Working together, the goatgoat, the monkey mon
11、key and the rooster rowed on a loglog. As a result, they earned themselves eighth, ninth, and tenth places respectivelyrespectively. 十一Then came the dogdog. He was a playfulplayful fellow. As he crossed the river, he had such a good time in the water that he forgot the time. O n l y o n e o p e n i
12、n go p e n i n g w a s left. All the people wanted to see who was in the lead.The pig arrived and said Im starving, Is there any food to eat here?一二三四五六七八九十十一十二The race was over. The Jade Emperor at once announced the places of the twelve animals in the zodiac. At that time, the cat arrived dripping
13、 At that time, the cat arrived dripping wet.wet. What is my place? You came in thirteenth. The cat was mad. “ You bad rat!” He said. “ I wont spare you!”The cat slapped the rat across the face and knocked out all of his teeth except the two in front.Today when the rat sees the cats shadow, he runs l
14、ike crazy. Even in daytime he hides in a hole, not daring to show his face. The EndJade EmperorJade Emperor 玉皇大帝玉皇大帝福福 德德 宮宮Earth GodEarth God 土地公土地公 鼠鼠Ratox 牛牛 tiger 老虎老虎RabbitRabbit兔子兔子dragon dragon 龍龍 snakesnake 蛇蛇horse horse 馬goatgoat羊羊monkey monkey 猴子猴子可编辑 roosterrooster 雞雞狗狗dog dog 豬豬PigPigAni
15、malAnimal 動物一二三四五六七八九十十一十二Chinese zodiacChinese zodiac 中國生肖finish line 終點 river 河川玉皇大帝公告玉皇大帝公告 announcement 公公 告告riverside 河 邊whirlwind 旋旋 風風shadow 影影 子子hole 洞洞Difficult 困 難across 越 過excited 興奮的eager 渴望的enormous 巨大的starving 飢 餓Remember 記 得 represent 表示;象徵競爭;比賽compete 討 論discuss 吼叫;怒吼roar 饒恕spare 掌擊;摑slap 藏;躲hide log原木分別地respectivelyKnock out壓倒;使屈服Rush 匆促back返回dare敢;膽敢sprint全力衝刺ceremony典禮bold大膽的勇敢的braveplayfuplayful l喜遊玩的opening空缺place次序suddenly突然地可编辑
