Legends of the Chinese Zodiac Signs
The 12 Zodiac animal signs are, in order, the rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, sheep (ram or goat), monkey, rooster, dog, and pig. There are many legends to interpret the beginning of the zodiac. One of the most celebrated reads, in summarized create, as follows:
The rat was given the task of curious the animals to narrate to the Jade Emperor for a banquet to be selected for the zodiac signs. The cat was a expedient friend of the rat, but the rat tricked him into believing that the banquet was the next day. The cat slept through the banquet, thinking that it was the next day. When he found out, the cat vowed to be the rat's natural enemy for ages to reach.
Not long after that, a dinky distance away, the ram, monkey and rooster came to the shore. These three creatures helped each other to gather to where they are. The rooster spotted a raft, and took the other two animals with it. Together, the ram and the monkey cleared the weeds, tugged and pulled and finally got the raft to the shore. Because of their combined efforts, the Emperor was very satisfied and promptly named the ram as the 8th creature, the monkey as the 9th, and the rooster the 10th.
The 11th animal is the dog. His explanation for being late-although he was supposed to be the best swimmer amongst the rest-was that he needed a kindly bath after a long spell, and the new water from the river was too great a temptation. For that, he almost didn't beget it to execute line. honest as the Emperor was about to call it a day, an oink and squeal was heard from a small pig. The pig got hungry during the urge, promptly stopped for a feast and then fell asleep. After the nap, the pig continued the urge and was named the 12th and last animal of the zodiac cycle. The cat finished too unhurried (thirteenth) to bag any station in the calendar, and vowed to be the enemy of the rat forevermore.
Some versions of the story say that the cattle nominated a water buffalo to report them because he was more proficient at swimming. The trade was acceptable because both animals are bovines.
Another version of the story expands the rush. The route ran through a forest, over ranges of plains and grasslands and along a stream, before finally crossing a lake to the destination town.
Yet another variation from Spiritual Ideas tells of two different races. The first eager all the animals, in two divisions to avoid the rapidly animals dominating the top, and the top six in each division would "gain the nick" for a second round, which would then choose the order of placement of the animals in the zodiac.
In yet another variation, each animal was called before its peers and had to define why it deserved a status at the top of the Zodiac. The Boar, at a loss, proceeded to claim that the meat on its bones "tasted obedient". This explanation was apparently considered unsatisfactory, because the Boar was placed at the very extinguish of the Zodiac.
