Sara: Who decided the order of the birth-year animals, Yangyang?
萨拉:谁决定生肖的顺序,阳阳?
Yangyang: That’s a good question. There are many different stories about it.
阳阳:那是个好问题。有很多关于它的不同的故事。
Sara: Please tell me one of them.
萨拉:请给我讲它们中的一个。
Yangyang: In one story, the Jade Emperor held a swimming race to choose animals for the names of the years. Those twelve animals were faster than others.
阳阳:在一个故事中,玉皇大帝为了年的名字举办了一场游泳比赛挑选动物。那十二个动物比其他动物快。
Sara: Which animal was the first of the twelve?
萨拉:哪一个动物是十二个中的第一个?
Yangyang: It was the rat.
阳阳:是老鼠。
Sara: Then the Jade Emperor decided to name a year after each of them. The rat starts the cycle.