Once upon a time,there lived a mother goat and her three little kids.One day,the mother goat had to go to the forest for food.Before leaving ,she said,"Keep the door locked and open it if you hear me singing our special song."
But a wolf heard the words.Soon he tried to sing the special song.The oldest kid wanted to open the door.But the young kid said,"Wait.That doesn't s...like our mum.The voice is deep."
The wolf heard this.He drank some water and his voice became nice.This time,the oldest kid opened the door.The wolf ran in and ate the two older kids.The young kid hid in the fireplace .The wolf didn't find him and left.
The mother goat came,and the young kid told her everything.The mother goat cooked a big meal and dug a deep hole in the garden.She covered the hole with wood and put a chair on it.She invited the wolf to have a meal.He sat on the chair.Suddenly he fell into the hole.The mother goat and her kid filled the hold with stones and the wolf was gone..
Long ago,the Jade Emperor organized an animal race.The first 12 animals to win could get the place in the Chinese Zodiac,and have a year named after each of them.
The cat and the mouse both asked the ox to wake them up early on the day of the race.
That day,the ox tried to wake them up,but he didn't succeed.So the kind ox carried them on his back and started running when the race began.The mouse woke up just when the ox was going across the last river.He knew that he could never beat the cat.So he pushed the cat off the ox's back.When the ox reached the other side of the river ,the mouse jumped off and ran to the finishing line,just before the ox.The tiger came third.
So the 12-year cycle begins with the mouse.The ox comes after him.The tiger follows the ox.The rabbit,loong,snake,horse,goat,monkey,rooster,dog and pig come after them.The cat was lucky to finish the race,almost dying in the river,but he has no place in the Chinese Zodiac.
So that's why cats hate mice.They can never forget what happened in that race long ago!After mice are caught,the cats often play tricks on them until the mice are too tired to move.
