十二生肖的故事

原版英语网

Jade Emperors birthday was coming. He wanted to measure time to know how old he was.

玉皇大帝的生日到了，他想测量一下时间，以便知道自己有多少岁。

All the animals arrived. The Emperor decided to have a competition to give a name to each year of the Chinese Zodiac1.

所有的动物都到了，玉帝决定举行一个比赛，来决定每一年的生肖名称。

The rat and the cat couldnt swim very well. They said to the ox， “Can you take us across the river？”

老鼠和猫都不太会游泳，它们对牛说：“你能带我们过河吗？”

“Yes， jump and quick！”

“可以，快上来吧！”

They swam across the river. Then the rat pushed the cat into the water and jumped onto land.

它们游到河边，然后老鼠把猫推下了河，自己跳到了岸上。

“Well done， rat！The first year will be the Year of the Rat and the second will be the Year of the Ox.”

“干得好，老鼠！第一年就是鼠年，第二

年就是牛年。”

“Look！Heres the tiger. The third year will be the Year of the Tiger.”

“看！老虎来了。第三年就是虎年。”

“The rabbit cant swim but its very clever. The fourth year will be the Year of the Rabbit.”

“兔子不会游泳但它很聪明，第四年就是兔年。”

“Why are you late， dragon？ You can fly！”

“龙，你为什么迟到呢？你会飞啊！”

“I had to make some rain for thirsty people to drink.”

“我必须给干渴的人们下雨。”

“Well done！ The fifth year is the Year of the Dragon.”

“干得好！第五年就是龙年。”

“Whats this？ I can hear a horse. No， its a snake. So the sixth year was the Year of Snake.”

“谁来了？我好像听到了马的声音。不，是蛇，所以第六年是蛇年。”

“Well done！It is good to see you working

together！The goat is the eighth， the monkey is the ninth and rooster2 is the tenth.”

“干得好！很高兴看到你们这么齐心合力！第八是羊，第九是猴子，第十是鸡。”

“Sorry， Im late. The water is clean and I needed a bath.” the dog said.

“抱歉，我来晚了。河水很干净，我得洗个澡。”狗说。

“The eleventh is the Year of the Dog.”

“第十一年就是狗年。”

“You are the last.”

“你是最晚的。”

“Yes， I had to eat and sleep on the way.” the pig explained.

“是的，我得在路上吃个饭再睡个觉。”猪解释道。

“The last is the Year of the Pig.”

“最后一年就是猪年吧。”

And that is how the Emperor chose twelve animals for Chinese Zodiac.

玉皇大帝就是这么选拔十二种动物作为生肖属相的。endprint