相傳十二生肖的動物是從天庭的賽跑中選出，玉皇大帝舉辦賽跑則是為了給予人類衡量時間的方式。

只有十二隻動物可以獲選成為生肖，為了獲勝，動物們必須穿過湍急的河流到達對岸的終點。

Originally, there was a cat and a rat, who hated each other with a passion. It is hard to believe that they were once friends. These two were the worst swimmers in the animal kingdom, but they were both smart.

They discovered that the fastest way to the river is to hop on top of the ox. The generous ox agreed to carry them across the river.

然而，老鼠為了求勝，偷偷把貓推到河裡。因此，貓失去了比賽資格，也永遠與老鼠勢不兩立。

不過，有另一版的故事則是貓把老鼠推進河裡。

Shortly after the exahusted tiger clawed his way to shore. Explaining to the Jade Emperor how difficult it was to cross the river with the heavy currents pushing it downstream all the time.

The Emperor was delighted with his efforts and rewarded his hard work by naming the third year after him.

突然傳出砰的一聲巨響，原來是兔子。

兔子從河面一顆石頭跳到另一顆，一切都很順利，直到滑了一大跤。幸好，河面有一塊木頭飄過，兔子抓住浮木，漂浮著到了終點，獲得了比賽的第四名。

第五名的是龍，大家都以為龍會得第一，因為龍可以騰雲駕霧。

到達終點後。龍告訴玉皇大帝自己那麼慢到終點的原因。原來龍沿路停下好幾次來幫助村民。快到終點時，看到小兔子在浮木上，決定吹一口氣，協助兔子漂上岸。

緊跟在龍之後的是馬，一路奔向終點。

但鬼鬼祟祟的蛇躲在馬的腳後，突然出現嚇了馬一跳。蛇趁機越過終點，排名第六，而馬則是落到第七。

很快的，猴、雞、羊也陸續抵達對岸。

這三隻動物彼此互助，不像前面幾名的動物一樣互相競爭，順利抵達終點。

雞找到一塊木筏，猴子跟羊也一起跳上去。

他們三個一起努力抵抗強力的水流和水草，抵達對岸。羊是第八名，猴子第九，雞則是第十名。

In eleventh place was the dog.

Even though it was a great swimmer, it was late. It told the emperor that it needed a bath, and the fresh water from the river was too tempting.

正當玉皇大帝要宣布比賽結束時，大家聽到了豬的叫聲。小豬慢慢的爬上岸了。

他在比賽途中覺得有點餓，所以就停下來吃了點東西，不知不覺就睡著了。醒來之後，急急忙忙完成比賽，變成第十二名，也是最後一個抵達對岸的生肖。

農曆生肖的順序就依照比賽的結果，老鼠為首，豬則最後。豬年之後，生肖就會重頭開始循環。農曆便成為亞洲地區十分重要的曆法，全世界取多其他地區對於農曆也十分熟悉。

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