The Twelve Zodiac Animals

How the Cat Missed the Race

Jade Emperor’s race decides the zodiac; the rat wins on the ox’s back and the cat never arrives.

To mark the years, the Jade Emperor announces a race and promises the first twelve animals a place in the calendar. The ox runs fastest, but the rat hides in his ear and leaps out at the finish to take first place; the cat, who overslept because the rat failed to wake him, arrives too late and has hated the rat ever since. The race thus fixes the order of the zodiac — and explains why cats chase mice.