The Story of the Chinese Zodiac

1TheStory of theChinese Zodiac

2A long, long time ago

A long, long time ago, the god of heaven wanted to choose twelve animals to represent the years.3

He told the animals that there would be a race.4

All the animals would have to swim across a river. The first twelve to get across would get to represent the years.5

As the day of the race got closer, all the animals were very excited. They all wanted to be the first year.6

The cat couldnt swim, so he asked his good friend the mouse, what am I going to do?7

Dont worry, said the mouse. Well ask the big water buffalos to carry us on their backs.8

9

When the day of the race came, all the animals swam very hard.10

The cat and mouse were riding on the back of a buffalo.11

12

13

Later, the god of heaven announced the winners. Here they are in Chinese. Please repeat after me.14Shu

shu15Niu

niu16Hu

hu17Tu

18Long

19She

20Ma

21Yang

22Hou

23Ji

24Gou

25Zhu

26

27

28

29

30

31Produced by Evan Jarvisin association with Janet Luu

This slide show made possible by a grant from:

Arlington Public Schools

Special thanks to:

Mark Jarvis

The Microsoft Corporation

And very special thanks to viewers like you

Thank You3233