There is a story: how to choose the zodiac, which is a topic that people have spread through the ages. Legend has it that one year, the Jade Emperor celebrated his birthday, ordered all animals to come to celebrate their birthdays on the ninth day of the first month, and decided to choose 12 kinds of animals to celebrate their birthdays in the order of reporting, as the guards in heaven, and took turns to be on duty every year.
According to legend, mice and cats were neighbors at that time, but big cats often bullied weak mice, and mice often just got angry with cats and dared not speak. This cat has a problem with sleepiness. After receiving the jade emperor's order, the mouse secretly rejoiced that the opportunity to retaliate against the cat had finally come. Sure enough, the cat knocked on the door of the mouse's house and asked the mouse to wake him up for the jade emperor's birthday. The mouse readily agreed. In order to get back at the cat, the mouse set off quietly in the early morning of the ninth day of the first month.
Although the mouse got up early and ran fast, it was worried when it reached the wide river facing Taotao River, so it had to sit by the river and wait for other animals to cross the river, jump on their backs and cross the river with their help. After waiting for a long time, the earliest Niu Yi walked silently to the river. At the moment the cow swam into the water, the mouse jumped into the cow's ear. Cows are usually known for their simplicity and helpfulness, so they don't care about mice's guesses. After crossing the river, the mouse felt comfortable and labor-saving lying in the cow's ear. It didn't mean to jump. Near noon, the cow carried the mouse outside the Jade Emperor's mansion.
When Niu Gang wanted to enter the door, the mouse jumped out of the cow's ear and jumped to the jade emperor first. In this way, the mouse finally won the first place. And the cow that carried it all the way won the second place. Later, tigers, rabbits, dragons, snakes, horses, sheep, monkeys, chickens and dogs also came one after another. Although the pig is stupid, it still arrived on time, ranking twelfth. The Jade Emperor awarded them as annual rotation students in the order of their registration, and the order of the zodiac was thus determined.
On the tenth day of the first month, before dawn, the cat finally woke up after sleeping for several days. While it was dark, it continued on its way. When it was proud of the cold along the way and thought that other animals had not set off, it came to the jade emperor's door. As he knocked at the door, he shouted "Jade Emperor-,the cat came to report-". The man who answered the door smiled and said to the cat, "You are such a stupid cat. You're already a day late. You'd better go back and wash your face and clear your head! " "Don't always look sleepy and forget the jade emperor's instructions." At this point, the cat has been extremely angry. Since then, it has forged an indissoluble enemy with the mouse. When it saw the mouse and vowed to kill it, it had great fearless spirit, courage and determination not to stop until it ate all the mice in the world!