A long time ago, in China, the Jade Emperor decided that there should be a way to measure time. He told the animals they were to compete in a race. The first twelve animals would be rewarded by having a year named after them. 很久很久以前，玉皇大帝决定想个办法帮助人们计算时间和年份。随后他让所有的动物们参加一场比赛。最 快到达的12个动物将会按照先后顺序作为年份的名称。

On the day of the race, all the animals lined up beside the river. The rat and the cat, who were good friends were worried as they were not very good at swimming. They asked the ox if he would carry them across on his back. 所有的动物都在河边站成一排准备进行比赛。那时候猫和老鼠是非常好的朋友，但它们都非常担心，因为它 们不会游泳。所以它们就想到问牛，是否可以把它们放到牛背上带着它们一起过河。

The Ox agreed and they jumped on his back. When the race started, the rat and the cat were very pleased that the ox took the lead. They were almost across at the other side when the rat pushed the cat into the water and jumped on the bank to finish first! 牛同意了，将猫和老鼠放在它自己的背上。当比赛开始后，猫和老鼠非常开心因为牛一直遥遥领先。当它们 马上就要抵达终点的时候，老鼠将猫推下了河，自己直接跳到了岸上，成为了第一名。

“Well done!” said the Jade Emperor to the rat. “The first year of the Zodiac will be named after you.” The poor ox was tricked into second place and so the second year of the Zodiac was named after him. “太棒了！”玉皇大帝对老鼠说， “你将是十二生肖中的第一个年份”。然而讽刺的是牛却得到了第二名， 所以牛是十二生肖中的第二个年份。

Shortly after, the exhausted tiger arrived on the river bank. Swimming the river had been very difficult, as he had to fight strong currents. 过了一会，老虎筋疲力尽的游到了岸边。由于要逆着水流前行，游泳对于老虎来说是非常困难的事情。

The next to arrive was the rabbit, who hadn’t swum across but hopped across on some stepping stones, and then onto a floating log which carried him to the river bank. “I shall call the fourth year after you,” the surprised Jade Emperor said. 接下来到达岸边的是兔子。兔子并不是游泳过来的，而是借助河中的石块跳跃，然后跳到一块漂浮的木头上 到了岸边。

Taking fifth place was the dragon. “How come you didn’t win the race, when you could fly across?” the Emperor asked. “I stopped to help some animals,” the dragon explained. 龙是第无名。玉皇大帝问龙：“你会飞，为什么没有直接飞过来赢得比赛呢？”。 龙解释到：“我去帮助 别的动物了。”

Heading towards the line was the horse. Just as he thought the horse would cross, the sly snake wriggled from around one of the horse’s hooves. The horse was so surprised that he jumped backwards, giving the snake a chance to slither forward and take sixth place. The horse made it for seventh place. 接下来即将到达岸边的应当是马。正当这个时候，狡猾的蛇缠住了马的蹄子。马由于受了惊吓了向后跳了 一下，蛇借此机会爬到前面获得了第六名。结果马是第七名。

Not long afterwards, a raft arrived carrying the monkey, the rooster and the goat. They explained how they had worked as a team to get across. The Emperor was very pleased, he said the goat would be the eighth year, the monkey the ninth and the rooster tenth. 不久后，猴子，鸡和山羊搭乘这一个木筏抵达岸边。它们跟玉皇大帝解释说他们是一起合作，通过共同的努 力过河而来。玉皇大帝非常开心，于是山羊是第八名，猴子是第九名，鸡是第十名。

The next animal to arrive was the dog. “What took you so long, when you’re such a good swimmer?” asked the Emperor. “The river was so clean that I decided to have a bath along the way,” the dog explained. He was rewarded with the eleventh year 接下来到达的动物是狗。玉皇大帝问狗：“你游泳游得那么好，怎么用了那么长时间才到？” 狗解释到： “这个河水太干净了，我就决定在河里先洗了个澡。”所以狗是十二生肖中的第十一个年份。

There was one place left in the Zodiac and the Emperor wondered who the last winner would be. All of a sudden the pig turned up. “You took a long time, what happened?” the Emperor asked. “I was hungry and stopped to eat, then I fell asleep,” said the pig. The twelfth year was given to the pig. 这个时候，已经有11个动物确定了下来，玉皇大帝在想哪个动物会是最后的胜利者呢。突然间，猪出现了。 玉皇大帝问：“你用了这么长时间才到，发生了什么？”猪说：“我饿了就停下来吃东西，然后睡着了”。 最终，猪是十二生肖中的最后一个动物。

As for the cat, he finally crawled out of the river, but was too late to have a year named after him. He was very angry with the rat for pushing him in, and since then cats have never been friends with rats! 最终，猫从河水中爬了出来，但是为时已晚，十二个动物都已经被确定了，没有年份会以它来命名。猫对老 鼠推它到河水中非常的气愤，从那以后猫和老鼠就再也不是朋友了。

From that day to this, the Chinese Zodiac has followed this cycle of years, named after the twelve animals. 从那天起，中国就开始用这十二个动物的名字记录一个年份周期，称为十二生肖。