The Race of the Twelve Zodiac Animals (十二生肖)
- Ages 3–6
- English audio 2 min
- Mandarin audio 2 min
The Race of the Twelve Zodiac Animals is a classic story from Chinese Myths and Legends for Kids, for children aged 3–6. This page has the English story with a native English narration (about 2 min), plus the Chinese version with Mandarin narration (about 2 min). Free to read and listen, no sign-up.
The Jade Emperor holds a race to pick the twelve animals of the Chinese zodiac. Rat rides across the river on Ox and jumps off to come first, while Cat sleeps through it all. The folk tale behind the Chinese zodiac in simple English with narration, plus the Chinese version in Mandarin.
Tap any sentence in the story to start reading from there. It stops at the end.
A narrator, and a voice of its own for each character: The Jade Emperor, Rat, Ox, Cat
Record about a minute of your voice, and every story here can be read to your child in it. Credits come back automatically if it fails.
Read The Race of the Twelve Zodiac Animals
Long ago, the Jade Emperor wanted to name the years. "Come to my palace tomorrow morning. The first twelve will each have a year," he told the animals.
Cat and Rat were friends. Cat loved to sleep. "Wake me up tomorrow," she said. "Of course. Sleep well," said Rat.
But in the morning, Rat crept out alone and forgot Cat. At a wide river, Rat could not swim. Then along came Ox.
Rat jumped onto Ox's back. "Dear Ox, may I ride with you? I will sing for you." "Hop on and hold tight," said Ox.
Ox swam across and ran ahead. At the gate, Rat jumped off and landed first. "Rat is first! Ox is second!" said the Jade Emperor.
Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Goat, Monkey, Rooster and Dog came next. Pig came last.
And Cat? She woke up late, and the race was over. "Rat, why didn't you wake me?" she cried. Since then, cats have chased rats, and the zodiac has no cat.
The Chinese version: 十二生肖的故事
很久很久以前，天上的玉皇大帝想给每一年起个名字。他对动物们说：“明天早上，你们来天宫比赛跑步。最先到的十二个，一个管一年，就叫十二生肖。”
猫和老鼠是好朋友。猫爱睡懒觉，就对老鼠说：“明天你叫我一声，我们一起去。”老鼠答应了：“好，你放心睡吧。”
可是第二天一早，老鼠一个人悄悄出了门，把猫给忘了。路上要过一条大河，老鼠不会游泳，急得团团转。这时候，老牛哞哞地走过来。
老鼠跳上牛背，甜甜地说：“牛大哥，你带我一程好不好？我给你唱歌。”老牛笑了：“上来吧，坐稳了。”
老牛游过大河，一步一步跑在最前面，眼看就要到天宫了。老鼠从牛背上一跳，嗖地一下跳到了门口。玉皇大帝说：“老鼠第一，牛第二！”
后面，老虎、兔子、龙、蛇、马、羊、猴子、鸡、狗跟着跑到了。最后，小猪吃饱了慢悠悠地到了，排第十二名。
猫呢？它一觉醒来，天已经大亮了。它跑到天宫，比赛早就结束了。猫气呼呼地说：“老鼠，你为什么不叫我！”从那以后，猫看见老鼠就追，生肖里也没有猫。
The Race of the Twelve Zodiac Animals (十二生肖): the moral of the story
Keep the promises you make to your friends. Being clever can get you to the front, but keeping your word is what keeps your friends.
Chinese words in The Race of the Twelve Zodiac Animals
Play the Chinese narration and listen for these words. The pinyin shows the tones.
生肖shēng xiào
zodiac animal
玉皇大帝yù huáng dà dì
the Jade Emperor
老鼠lǎo shǔ
rat, mouse
牛niú
ox
猫māo
cat
比赛bǐ sài
race, contest
第一dì yī
first
睡懒觉shuì lǎn jiào
to sleep in
For families learning Mandarin
Mandarin learning pack
Print the story, read it together, then listen and say it back. Made for heritage families and children learning Mandarin.
- A printable PDF (3 pages): the Chinese story with pinyin over every character, the words to know, the English version, questions to talk about, and character writing practice.
- Slow Mandarin audio (4 min): every sentence at a gentler pace, followed by a pause long enough to say it back.
Buy once, download again any time. The story itself stays free to read and hear. Try the free sample pack (The Tortoise and the Hare) first.
Bedtime storytelling tips
- Give each animal a voice: a squeaky Rat, a slow deep Ox, a sleepy Cat and a grand Jade Emperor. Children will soon do the voices with you.
- At the river, stop and ask: “Rat can’t swim. What can he do?” Then let Ox come along.
- Find your child’s zodiac animal and yours, and say them in Chinese: 鼠 (shǔ) rat, 牛 (niú) ox, 虎 (hǔ) tiger, 兔 (tù) rabbit, 龙 (lóng) dragon, 蛇 (shé) snake, 马 (mǎ) horse, 羊 (yáng) goat, 猴 (hóu) monkey, 鸡 (jī) rooster, 狗 (gǒu) dog, 猪 (zhū) pig.
Things to talk about afterwards
- How did Rat get across the river?
- Why is there no cat in the zodiac?
- Rat won the race but lost a friend. Do you think it was worth it?
Read this story to your child in your own voice
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The Race of the Twelve Zodiac Animals (十二生肖): common questions
- What is the moral of The Race of the Twelve Zodiac Animals?
- Keep your promises to your friends. Rat is clever enough to come first, but he forgets to wake Cat and loses a friend for good. Being fast is nice; being someone your friends can count on matters more.
- What is the order of the Chinese zodiac animals?
- Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Goat, Monkey, Rooster, Dog and Pig. In the story, this is the order in which they arrived at the Jade Emperor’s palace. Each animal rules one year, and the cycle repeats every twelve years.
- Why is the cat not in the Chinese zodiac?
- In the folk tale, Cat asks Rat to wake her for the race, Rat forgets, and Cat sleeps through it. That, people say, is why cats chase rats. Historians add a plainer reason: house cats were still rare in China when the twelve animals were chosen.
- Is there a Chinese version of The Race of the Twelve Zodiac Animals?
- Yes. It is called 十二生肖的故事 (shí èr shēng xiào de gù shi), the story of the twelve zodiac animals. This page has our Chinese retelling with Mandarin narration next to the English one.
Source and how we retold it
A Chinese folk tale, passed on by word of mouth for centuries with small differences from place to place; it is in the public domain. The twelve animals themselves are already matched to the twelve earthly branches in the Lunheng by Wang Chong (1st century AD). We retold the most widely told version, with the Jade Emperor’s race, Rat riding on Ox and Cat being forgotten, and wrote the dialogue ourselves. The ending says only that cats have chased rats ever since.
The narration on this page is AI-generated: the English is read by our narrator and the Chinese by our narrator. The audio files are labeled as AI-generated.
If you liked The Race of the Twelve Zodiac Animals (十二生肖), there are more stories in Chinese Myths and Legends for Kids. You can also read this one to your child in your own voice.
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