02.20 十二生肖的排名是怎麼來的？媽媽們對寶寶的生肖都是怎麼解釋的?

十二生肖自古就是中國傳統文化中非常重要的一部分，那麼十二生肖的排名又是怎麼來的？媽媽們對寶寶的生肖都是怎麼解釋的呢？

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十二生肖的故事

The Chinese Zodiac

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.

每年有12只動物在中國十二生肖中輪流出現。他們是老鼠，牛，老虎，兔子，龍，蛇，馬，山羊，猴子，公雞，狗和豬。

It was said that the jade emperor wanted to choose 12 different animals to be the protectors of new born babies in every year.

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傳說在很久很久以前，玉皇大帝要挑選十二種動物來保護每年新出生的寶寶。After the news came out, all animals knew about the zodiac contest.At that time the mouse and the cat were good friends.

這個消息傳來，所有的動物都知道，會有一場動物比賽。當時，貓和老鼠還是好朋友。

"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.

“玉帝說前12只到達目的地的動物就會勝出。”老鼠興奮地對貓說。因此，貓與老鼠達成協議，以幫助彼此贏得比賽。

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.

幾乎所有的動物都很期待比賽。除了獅子。 “我已經是獸中之王了，就沒有必要參加這種比賽了。”獅子邊打哈欠邊說。儘管如此，龍可不這麼想，龍本領可大了，上可入天，下可入海。他想 “作為一條高貴的龍，我不能錯過這個機會。”

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.

起初，龍的頭上並沒有角。為了讓自己更好看，龍去公雞那裡借他的角。

"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.

“你頭上有很重的角，明天你怎麼能跑得快呢，你為什麼不借給我？”龍找到了蜈蚣來保證他用完一定會把角還給公雞，所以公雞就同意了。

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.

第二天早上，玉帝早就在比賽現場等著他們了。老鼠起得很早，但是他沒有叫醒貓，怕貓比他快。各種各樣的動物都出發了，一起前往目的地。最後，他們來到一條寬闊的河流。

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"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.

“我不會游泳。”他們中的許多人停下來說道。此時，他們來到了善良的牛。“你能可以帶我們過去嗎？” “沒問題”，牛說。

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.

很快，很多小動物都爬到了牛的背上，包括老鼠，兔子，蛇，公雞等。當快到岸的時候，老鼠一下子抓到了牛的角，跑到了牛的前面。

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.

因此，鼠成為了第一名，牛第二名。他們的順序依次是虎，兔，龍，蛇，馬，羊，猴，雞，狗和豬。

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.

因此，玉帝宣稱這12只動物勝出。他們每年輪流照顧新生的寶寶，十二年一個輪迴。從此以後，人人都有一個屬相。

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.

從那時起，貓吃老鼠來懲罰它的背叛。公雞隻能去蜈蚣去理論，但蜈蚣不僅嘲笑他，還罵他是個笨蛋。