华慧考博英语练习：考博双语阅读之十二生肖，为什么“鼠”第一

华慧考博英语练习：考博双语阅读——十二生肖，为什么“鼠”第一

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The year of the Rat has come. It marks the first year of a new round of the Chinese zodiac, since the rat is the first in the cycle of 12 Chinese zodiac signs.

庚子鼠年已然来临。鼠年象征着又一个“十二年”的开始，因为十二生肖可是一“鼠”当先呐！

To those who might not be quite familiar with the zodiac, it is a repeated cycle of 12 years, with each year being represented by an animal. The cycle begins with the Year of the Rat, and goes through Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Goat, Monkey, Rooster, Dog, ending with the Year of the Pig.

还不怎么了解十二生肖的小朋友注意啦！十二生肖以十二年为期，每年都由一只动物表示。这十二年以鼠开头，紧接着是牛、虎、兔、龙、蛇、马、羊、猴、鸡、狗、猪。

It is not difficult to notice that the rat is the smallest animal in the group, so how comes it ranks on top of the list? Well, there are several explanations.

我们很容易就会发现，老鼠是十二只动物里体型最小的，但凭什么“鼠”它最先呢？说法嘛，有以下几种。

One Explanation: Terrestrial Branches

说法一：地支纪时

The 12 Chinese zodiac signs are based on the 12 Terrestrial Branches. Ancient Chinese people invented the system based on observations of the orbit of Jupiter, which has a 12-year rotation basis.

十二生肖是十二地支的形象化代表。木星的公转周期为12年，古代中国人通过观察木星运动，发明了地支纪时。

Chinese people named each of the Terrestrial Branches, and use them to mark the year, month, date, as well as different periods of the day. Therefore, Jupiter is also known as the "Year Star" in ancient China.

中国人为十二地支命名并用之纪年、纪月、纪一天中的不同时辰。因此，古代中国将木星称之为“岁星”。

The order of the zodiacs was based on their habits and activity time during the day. For example, the rats usually come out around midnight, therefore it is arranged at the beginning of the Terrestrial Branches, referring to the period between 23:00 p.m. and 1:00 a.m.

十二生肖的顺序是由动物的习性和活动时间决定的。比如，老鼠总是出没于午夜，而午夜11点到次日凌晨1点为子时，因此，“鼠”代表十二地支中的“子”。

Likewise, the ox is the second because the animal ruminates after 1:00 am, and the tiger comes next for it is believed to start wondering around preying between 3:00 to 5:00 in the morning. The same order was transplanted to the arrangement of the 12 zodiac signs.

同样，牛在凌晨1点后反刍，因而位居第二；凌晨3点到5点，老虎会开始四处狩猎，因而位列第三。其他动物的顺序也是根据这种原理排列的。

Without any records on archives, this is the most believable explanation, since it is more of a summary of the ancient people's observation of nature. Most of the ancient systems used by the Chinese were created in the same way.

这种说法总结了前人对自然的观察和发现，尽管史无记载，却是最可信的一种说法。在古代中国，大多数的发明都是靠这种原理产生的。

Another Explanation: folk stories

说法二：民间故事

Where there is unknown, there are mythology and folk stories. Mystery generates stories and legends.

哪里有未知的事物，哪里就有神话和民间故事。未知的事物总会衍生故事和传说。

Being the smallest of the 12 animals and the one on top of the list, the rat has been faced with various kinds of questions and challenges since the very beginning. There are many stories to explain this.

尽管在十二生肖中体型最小且位居榜首，老鼠在最初的时候仍然遭到了不少质疑和挑战。这在很多故事中都有讲到。

In the most widely known version, Huangdi, or the Yellow Emperor, known as a deity and ancestor of the Chinese people, called on all animals to get registered for the 12 zodiac when the country firstly settled and the animals were placed in a "first come, first serve basis." All the animals got up early in the morning and hurried to the destiny except the rat, which found a shortcut by hiding on the ox's back. When the Yellow Emperor starts to give them orders, the rat standing on the head of the ox was named first.

先说一个最广为人知的版本吧。黄帝是中国人民崇尚的神仙，也是我们的祖先。华夏部落统一之初，黄帝要排十二生肖纪年，于是他召集所有动物前来参加，并且“先到先得”。除了老鼠，所有动物都起了个大早，急急忙忙往黄帝那里去。原来，老鼠躲在了牛背上，倒省了不少事儿。黄帝开始给动物们排顺序时，老鼠站在了牛头上，因此成了第一位。

In some other versions, the rat was also said to have forgotten to wake up the cat, which therefore lost the qualification to be listed as one of the zodiac signs. Since then, the friendship died and they became enemies.

还有故事说，老鼠忘了叫醒猫，猫因此失去了位列十二生肖的资格。自此以后，老鼠和猫便结下梁子，成了冤家。

Everybody knows that folk stories are fictional, but it doesn't stop them from being told from generation to generation.

众所周知，民间故事皆为虚构，但它们仍然代代相传。

The image of rat in the Chinese zodiac

老鼠的形象

No matter how the rat made into the Chinese zodiac in the first place, being part of the group has already changed its destiny and expanded the cultural connotations of the little animal.

不管老鼠究竟如何位居榜首，作为十二生肖的一员，它的命运早已改变，其文化内涵也随之丰富起来。

The zodiac sign of the rat represents qualities like intelligent, flexible and vigorous. People born in the Year of the Rat are also believed to be blessed with such qualities. In some Chinese Kung Fu novels, the rat was also personalized in characters with chivalrous spirits.

“鼠”代表着聪明、机敏和活泼。人们相信，鼠年出生的人也会有同样的特点。中国的一些武侠小说也将老鼠拟化成人，赋以侠义之气。

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