Chinese New Year started on Friday. It is the year of the Horse. Below is from a Sarah's Silks post.
Chinese New Year Animal Zodiac Story
Long
ago, in China, the Jade Emperor decided there should be a way of
measuring time. On his birthday he told the animals that there was to
be a swimming race. The first twelve animals across the fast flowing
river would be the winners and they would each have a year of the zodiac
named after them.
All the animals lined up along the river bank. The rat and the cat,
who were good friends, were worried because they were poor swimmers.
Being clever they asked the strong ox if he would carry them across the
river.
'Of course' said the kind ox. 'Just climb on my back and I will take you across.'
The rat and the cat quickly jumped up and were very excited when the
ox soon took the lead in the race. They had almost reached the other
bank when the rat pushed the cat into the river leaving him to struggle
in the water. Then just before the ox was about to win the race the rat
leapt on his head and on to the bank to finish first.
'Well done,' said the Jade Emperor to the proud rat. 'The first year of the zodiac will be named after you.'
The poor ox had been tricked into second place and the second year of the zodiac was named after him.
Shortly after the exhausted tiger clawed his way to the river bank to
claim third place. Swimming across the river had been an enormous
struggle for him against the strong currents. The Emperor was so
delighted with his efforts that he named the third year after him.
Next to arrive was the rabbit, who hadn't swum across at all. He
hopped across on some stepping stones and then found a floating log
which carried him to the shore.
'I shall be very happy to call the fourth year after you,' the surprised Jade Emperor explained.
Just then a kind dragon swooped down to take fifth place.
'Why didn’t you win the race, as you can fly as well as swim?' the Jade Emperor asked.
'I was held up because some people and animals needed water to drink.
I needed to make some rain,' the dragon explained. 'Then when I was
nearly here I saw a poor little rabbit on a log in the water and I blew a
puff of wind so that the log would float to the river bank.'
'Well that was very kind of you and now you are here you will have the fifth year of the zodiac named after you.'
The next thing the Jade Emperor heard was the sound of the horse’s
hooves. Just as he was thinking the horse would be the next animal to
arrive, a sneaky snake wriggled out from around one of the horse’s
hooves. The horse was so surprised that he jumped backwards giving the
snake a chance to take the sixth place in the race. The poor horse had
to be satisfied with seventh place.
Not long afterwards a raft arrived carrying the goat, the monkey and
the rooster. They explained to the Emperor how they had shared the raft
that the rooster had found. The goat and monkey had cleared weeds and
pushed the raft to the shore. The Emperor was very pleased that the
animals had worked together. He said the goat would be the eighth zodiac
animal, the monkey the ninth and the rooster the tenth.
The next animal to finish was the dog.
'Why are you so late when you are one of the best swimmers?' asked the Jade Emperor.
'The water in the river was so clean that I had to have a bath on the way,' explained the dog.
His reward was to have the eleventh year named after him.
Now there was one place left in the zodiac and the Emperor wondered
when the last winner would come. He had nearly given up when he heard a
grunt from the boar.
'You took a long time to cross the river,' said the Emperor to the boar.
'I was hungry and stopped to eat,' explained the boar. 'After the meal I felt so tired that I fell asleep.'
'You have still done well,' said the Jade Emperor. 'The last year of the zodiac will be named after you.'
As for the cat who had been pushed into the water by the rat, he
finally crawled out of the water but was too late to have a year named
after him. He felt very cross with the rat and since then cats have
never been friends with rats.
From that day to this the Chinese Zodiac has followed this cycle of years named after these twelve animals.
This is the year of the snake. What year were you born? How about your children?
It is said that a third of the world's population celebrates Chinese
New Year. We celebrate in our home by decorating with playsilks and
animals on the nature table, giving the children little red envelopes
with lucky money inside, and eating noodles for long life!
In China, adult children return to their parents home, their native
villages and celebrate for about 2 weeks during which many services and
businesses are closed.
Thanks to
http://www.topmarks.co.uk/ChineseNewYear/ZodiacStory.aspx for letting me retell this story!
Check out Barefoot Books
The Great Race for another Chinese Zodiac Story.
The Great Race
Race with the animals of the Zodiac as they compete to have the
years of the Chinese calendar named after them. The excitement-filled
story is followed by notes on the Chinese calendar, important Chinese
holidays, and a chart outlining the animal signs based on birth years.
Written By: Dawn Casey
Illustrated By: Anne Wilson
Only $7.99 in paperback.
|
