The Jade Emperor, ruler of the heavens gazed down on Earth and was curious about the animals that roamed there. He called to his trusted aide and asked him to bring the animals to visit him in his palace. His aide advised that Earth had thousands upon thousands of creatures and to summon them all would be impossible. The Jade Emperor advised his aide to bring only the 12 most interesting.

The Emperor’s aide went down to Earth and his first encounter was with a rat. He invited the rat to the Emperor’s place and ordered him to bring along his friend the cat. The aide believing that the cat’s furry coat would please the Emperor. The aide continued on his journey and invited the ox, the tiger, the rabbit, the dragon, the snake, the horse, the ram, the monkey, the rooster, and finally the dog. He ordered them all to be ready to parade before the Emperor at dawn the next day.

All of the animals prepared themselves for the invitation to an audience before the ruler of the heavens. The rat sought out his friend the cat and advised him of the invitation. The cat was excited to be chosen to meet the Emperor but was afraid that he would not wake up at dawn, as he was a heavy sleeper. The rat promised to wake him well before the meeting. However, as the rat returned to his shelter the more he thought about his friend the cat the more he became jealous of the cat’s elegant and handsome looks. The rat believing that the cat would outshine him before the Emperor. He decided then that he would not wake the cat, as he knew the cat would sleep through until noon and miss the meeting.

The next morning the 11 animals paraded before the Emperor in the palace courtyard. The Emperor studied them in turn however noticed that there were only 11 animals before him. He called to his aide and demanded to see the last animal immediately. His anger shaking the heavens and all of the Emperor’s aides shook with fear.

The aide charged with the duty of finding 12 animals quickly returned to Earth to look for the cat. On his way he noticed a servant holding a pig and grabbed the pig as a replacement for the cat.

Back at the palace the 11 animals tried to impress the Emperor. The first to be noticed was the rat that sat on top of the Ox’s back and played music on a flute to please the Emperor. The Emperor was pleased with this and gave the rat first position. The ox was awarded second place, as he was kind enough to let the rat sit on his back.

The majestic tiger was awarded third and the rabbit with his soft white fur was placed fourth. The dragon was placed fifth as he reminded the Emperor of a powerful snake with legs and the snake was placed sixth. The remaining animals were placed in the following order: the horse, the ram, the monkey, the rooster, the dog and finally the ugliest of them all, the pig.

As soon as the Emperor had made his decree the cat stormed into the palace and begged to be included in the 12 chosen animals. However the Emperor had made his decision and had assigned the 12 animals to the Chinese Horoscope and their earthly branches.

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