Legend has it that one day, the Jade Emperor will arrange the Zodiac, and he designated cows, tigers, rabbits, dragons, snakes, horses, sheep, monkeys, chickens, dogs, pigs and cats. The next day, the Jade Emperor ranked them.
At that time, cats and mice were good friends. The cat said to the mouse, "You should wake me up early tomorrow. I am one of the 12 Zodiacs, and I will be ranked second in heaven tomorrow. " The mouse readily agreed.
The next day, the mouse woke up early. He didn't wake the cat, but went to heaven by himself. At that time, it happened to be the second time. The Jade Emperor arranged the twelve zodiac animals in the order of ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, sheep, monkey, chicken, dog, pig and cat.
The jade emperor asked the animals if they had any opinions. The mouse objected: "I don't think cats should be chosen. He has no respect for you at all. " You see, he is still sleeping, and he doesn't care about your arrangement of the zodiac at all. "
The jade emperor saw the cat really sleeping! He broke out in a rage. In a rage, he decided never to allow cats to go to heaven again. At the same time, he replaced the cat with a mouse.
The mouse spoke again: "I must be the first!" " "
"Why? Is your contribution greater than that of cattle? "
"People think I'm much bigger than an ox."
The Jade Emperor had no choice but to let people judge him.
People from the world to the clouds say, "Oh! What a big cow! " Then, they saw the mouse standing on the cow's head and said, "What a big mouse! It is even bigger than a cow! "
The jade emperor had to put the mouse first.
Extended data:
Stories related to mice:
1. There is a festival in history when mice marry women. Generally, on the 25th night of the first month, every household doesn't light a lamp that night, and the whole family sits on the kang in the hall, silently eating food such as "mouse claws" made of flour in the dark, so as to provide convenience for the mouse to marry a daughter, so as not to offend the mouse and bring hidden dangers to the next year.
Taiwan Province residents believe that the third day is a small year, and it is said that the night of the third day is the day when mice get married. The folk paper-cut story of "mice get married" is a reflection of this belief. Therefore, people will not light a lamp in the middle of the night when they sleep in the morning, will not scatter rice and salt on the ground, and will not affect the happy event of mice.
In the past, there was a custom in Shanghai to avoid the failure of mice. When a mouse goes out for food, it falls to the ground, which is called "mouse failure". It is said that most people you see are unlucky. If you are sick, you will die. You must solve it. Its method is to beg for white rice along the street, call it 100 meters, go home and cook, and it will be solved after eating.
3. In Jianghan Plain, Hubei Province, the first night is regarded as the day when mice marry their daughters, commonly known as "adding boxes to mice". On that day, every household should put bread with flowers in the dark, and it is forbidden to grind rice and flour. Adults and children are not allowed to make noise. If they disturb the mice, they will make trouble in the coming year.
References:
Baidu encyclopedia-mouse