There are various stories about the Chinese zodiac,
though the commonality of the bunch is that the base of the tale is a race
for the Jade Emperor. One day he decided that there needed to be a way to
count time, and on his birthday he devised a race to award a year to each of
the animals in the order in which they completed the race. Then he brought
together all the animals and informed them of the race, which would be in
crossing a rushing river.
This is where the tale differs in the telling. Some say
the race was across land, some water; but the point is still the same.
Another variation is the conflict between the rat and the cat. One of the
stories tells that the cat asked the rat to wake him up for the race so that
they could leave for it together. But the rat did not wake his friend the
cat and he arrived much too late to place in the race. The rat’s thinking on
this was that there were 13 animals and only twelve spots for the years,
therefore one animal would be left behind. With the cat not in the race, it
ensured rat’s own place with the zodiac animals.
The other story of the cat and rat happened during the
river race. The account this time was that the cat and rat asked the kind ox
to carry them across the raging waters, which of coarse he did. But half way
through the crossing, the wicked little rat shoved the poor cat into the
current, sweeping the feline away. Eventually the cat pulled himself to the
bank, finishing, but not winning a place of honor like the other animals.
These injustices done by the rat are the reason why the cat hates the rat
and hunts him for his prey.
The
race began and the animals charged into the river. The rat and cat asked the
ox to carry them, or they would surly perish in the river. Half way through
the cat was pushed off by the rat and was pulled under the torrent of water.
The ox chugged on through the water and to the bank before any other animal.
But just before reaching the bank, the clever rat hopped from the beast’s
back to finish in first, acquiring him the first year and the ox the second.
The third
animal to finish was the exhausted tiger. The next animal after him was the
quick rabbit, which did not even take a step into the river. Instead he
hopped from rock to rock and then unto a floating log. The log did not move
for there was no wind, however when the dragon in the race flew by it blew a
great wind to carry the rabbit to shore. The rabbit was awarded fourth place
and the dragon fifth.
When the Emperor asked the dragon why he
did not finish first for he could easily fly over the river, he replied that
he saw people without water for themselves and their animals. Being as kind
as he was, the dragon made it rain for the unfortunate people and then took
his leave for the race.
The next animal
to arrive was the horse, though just before he reached the Emperor, the
sneaky snake slithered out from around one of the horse’s hooves. This
startled the poor horse so, that he reared back, allowing the snake to come
into sixth place and the horse seventh.
Soon came a group of animals floating on a raft. These
were the rooster, monkey, and ram. The rooster had found the raft, while the
ram and monkey cleared the weeds keeping in to the ground. At this the Jape
Emperor was proud; the animals had worked together to reach a common goal.
The goat was given the eighth year, the monkey given the ninth and the rooster given the tenth.
After that, the next animal to arrive was the dog,
though the Emperor inquired why he was in eleventh place since he was one of
the best swimmers of the animals. To this the dog replied that the river was
so clean that he just had to take a bath.
Expecting the last animal to come swiftly behind the
canine, the Emperor waited patiently. But the final animal did not come till
much later in the day when the others were just about to leave. The
pig came waddling to the bank, shaking the water off of himself, and walk
right up to the Emperor like he was not hours late. The Emperor asked why he
had made them wait for such a long time, the answer being that the pig had
stopped to eat along the way and had accidentally fallen asleep. For this he
was forgiven and he acquired the last year.
The
race began and the animals charged into the river. The rat and cat asked the
ox to carry them, or they would surly perish in the river. Half way through
the cat was pushed off by the rat and was pulled under the torrent of water.
The ox chugged on through the water and to the bank before any other animal.
But just before reaching the bank, the clever rat hopped from the beast’s
back to finish in first, acquiring him the first year and the ox the second.
The third
animal to finish was the exhausted tiger. The next animal after him was the
quick rabbit, which did not even take a step into the river. Instead he
hopped from rock to rock and then unto a floating log. The log did not move
for there was no wind, however when the dragon in the race flew by it blew a
great wind to carry the rabbit to shore. The rabbit was awarded fourth place
and the dragon fifth.
The next animal
to arrive was the horse, though just before
he reached the Emperor, the
sneaky snake slithered out from around one of the horse’s hooves. This
startled the poor horse so, that he reared back, allowing the snake to come
into sixth place and the horse seventh.
Soon came a group of animals floating on a raft. These
were the rooster, monkey, and ram. The rooster had found the raft, while the
ram and monkey cleared the weeds keeping in to
the ground. At this
the Jape
Emperor was proud; the animals had worked together to reach a common goal.
The goat was given the eighth year, the monkey given the ninth and the rooster given the tenth.
After that, the next animal to arrive was the dog,
though the Emperor inquired why he was in eleventh place since he was one of
the best swimmers of the animals. To this the dog replied that the river was
so clean that he just had to take a bath. 
Expecting the last animal to come swiftly behind the
canine, the Emperor waited patiently. But the final animal did not come till
much later in the day when the others were just about to leave. The
pig came waddling to the bank, shaking the water off of himself, and walk
right up to the Emperor like he was not hours late. The Emperor asked why he
had made them wait for such a long time, the answer being that the pig had
stopped to eat along the way and had accidentally fallen asleep. For this he
was forgiven and he acquired the last year.