Where there is unknown, there are mythology and folk stories. Mystery generates stories and legends. 哪裡有未知，哪裡就有神話和民間故事。故事和傳說都來源於未解之謎。
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.作為十二生肖中最小的，也是排名第一的動物，老鼠從一開始就面臨著各種各樣的問題和挑戰。有很多故事可以解釋這一點。
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.在最廣為人知的版本中，黃帝（華人的神和祖先）號召所有的動物在國家初建之時登記十二生肖，以“先到先得”為原則。所有的動物都起了大早，匆匆趕往目的地，只有老鼠例外，它找到了一條捷徑，藏在牛背上。當黃帝開始下令時，站在牛頭上的老鼠被命名為十二生肖之首。
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.在其他一些版本中，據說老鼠忘記叫醒貓，因此貓失去了被列入十二生肖的資格。從那以後，它們的友誼就結束了，成了敵人。
Everybody knows that folk stories are fictional, but it doesn"t stop them from being told from generation to generation. 每個人都知道民間故事是虛構的，但這並不妨礙這些故事代代相傳
一、
中國古人的智慧都是來自於大自然的規律，所以十二生肖的排序也是根據這十二種動物的生活習性和特點來安排的。根據這十二種動物的不同習性，古人將一天十二個時辰分別命名為子、醜、寅、卯、辰、巳、午、未、申、酉、戌、亥。也稱為十二地支，與十二生肖結合分別為，子鼠、丑牛、寅虎、卯兔、辰龍、巳蛇、午馬、未羊、申猴、酉雞、戌狗、亥豬。
二、
Another Explanation: folk stories另一種解釋：民間故事
Where there is unknown, there are mythology and folk stories. Mystery generates stories and legends. 哪裡有未知，哪裡就有神話和民間故事。故事和傳說都來源於未解之謎。
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.作為十二生肖中最小的，也是排名第一的動物，老鼠從一開始就面臨著各種各樣的問題和挑戰。有很多故事可以解釋這一點。
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.在最廣為人知的版本中，黃帝（華人的神和祖先）號召所有的動物在國家初建之時登記十二生肖，以“先到先得”為原則。所有的動物都起了大早，匆匆趕往目的地，只有老鼠例外，它找到了一條捷徑，藏在牛背上。當黃帝開始下令時，站在牛頭上的老鼠被命名為十二生肖之首。
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.在其他一些版本中，據說老鼠忘記叫醒貓，因此貓失去了被列入十二生肖的資格。從那以後，它們的友誼就結束了，成了敵人。
Everybody knows that folk stories are fictional, but it doesn"t stop them from being told from generation to generation. 每個人都知道民間故事是虛構的，但這並不妨礙這些故事代代相傳