ChineseZodiacLegendhasitthattheEmperorofHeavenintendedtopickuptweleanimalsinordertorepresenttheChinesezodiac.Andhesaid,"Thefirsttwelveanimalsofyouwhocomeherethedayaftertomorrow

willbeelected."Thelittleanimalsweresoexcitedwhilehearingthenews.Thecatandthemouseweregoodfriendsandbothofthemwantedtotakepartintheactivity.Thecatsaidtothemouse，"Let'ssignupforit!ButIusedtogetuplate,whatshouldIdo?"Themouseensuredthat,"Itdoesn'tmatter.Youcouldsleepaslongasyoulike.TrustmeandIwillwakeyouuptomorrowmorning."Thenextdayis

thedaytosignup.

Earlyinthemorning,the

littlemousegotup

immediatelywhilethefirstsunshinejustcameinthroughthewindow.Oh!Itwastooearly.Therewasnoneofanimalsontheroad.

Thelittlemousewentouthappily,butitforgottokeepitswordthatitwouldwakethecatup.Unexpectedlytherewasawideandragingriverwhichstoppedthelittlemouse'sway.Soitwasworriedandsaidtoitself,"Ican'tswimandwhatcanIdo?"Atthistime,acowcametothebankoftheriverslowly.Thecowlookedcalmwithouthurryorbustle.ItturnedoutthatthecowwasabletoswimHowever,thelittlemouseflutteredabout.Suddenlyitcameagoodidea.Themousewentuptothecowandsaidtoit,"Brothercow,shallIsingyouasong?"Thecowthoughttherewasstill

alongwayaheadanditwasahappytimetolistentoasong.Sothecowhappilyagreedwithit.Sothelittlemousejumpedontothecow'sbackandbegantosinghappily.

Atthesametimethecowhadcarriedthemouseacrosstheriver.hadAsthemousesangthesongs,theyarrivedattheplacewheretheyshouldsignup.Thecowwasfullofjoybecausealltheotheranimalshadnotyetarrived.Attherightmoment,themousejumpedfromthecow'sbacktothefrontofthecowandsaidproudly,"Iamthefirst."Inthisway,thelittlemousebecamethefirstanimalintheChinesezodiac,whilethecowcameinaclosesecond.Thelastonetoarrivewasthepigwhoranhereinasweatfinally.Becausethecatgotuptoolate,itcouldnotbeselectedintothetwelveanimalsof

Chinesezodiac.Whilethecathurriedtotheplace,itonlyfounditsfriendgotthefirstplace.Therefore,thecatwassoangrythatitfrownedattemouseandglaredwithrage.Fromthenon,aslongasthecatsawthemouse,itwouldcatchthemouseundoubtedly.DrillWoodtoMakeFire

鉆

木

取

火Longtimeago,peoplehadn'tlearnedhowtomakefire,letalonecookfood.Peopleaterawfoodanddrankcoldwater.Everythingtheyatewasraw,sopeopleusedtogetsickandevendieeasily,andtheirlifespanwasnotlong.Oneday,theforestcaughtfire.Afterthefirewasputout,peoplefoundbeaststhatwereburntbythefire.Peoplefoundthatthesmellwasgood.Theytookabite,anditwasdelicious,too.Hence,peoplelearnedthatmeattastesbetterwhencookedwithfire.Theyalsodiscoveredthatfirecanbringlightanddriveawaywildanimals.Withfire,thebeastswouldn'tdaretogetnearpeople.Theyalsodiscoveredthatfirecanbringlightanddriveawaywildanimals.Withfire,thebeastswouldn'tdaretogetnearpeople.Onamountain,theregrewakindoftreecalledSuimu.IntheSuimuwoods,therelivedakindofbirdwithalongandhardbeak.Thiskindofbirdlikedtopeckthewoodwithitsbeak.Itpeckedandpecked,andsometimesitcouldpeckoutsparks.Onedayamanwalkedthroughthewoodsandsawthesparks.Hethought:"Ifbirdscanmakesparks,canIdothesame?"HefoundapieceofSuimuwoodandahardbranch,andstruckthewoodwiththebranchjustlikethebirddid.However,hecouldn'tmakeanysparksnomatterhowhardhetried.Buthedidn'tgiveup.HefoundapieceofdrySuimuwoodandputsomehayonit.Hekeptdrillinganddilingonthewoodwithabranch.Finally,thewoodsparkedandlitsomehayandthewood.Hekeptdrillinganddilingonthewoodwithabranch.Finally,thewoodsparkedandlitsomehayandthewood.Wordspreadquickly,andpeoplegraduallylearnedtomakefireontheirownandcookfoodwithtorches.Thedaysofeatingrawmeathadfinallyended.Whenthenightcomes,peopleallgatheraroundthefire,andthewildanimalsdarenotapproachthemeasily.Themanwhoinvented"dillingwoodtomakefire"wasnamedSulRenShi.Peoplewereverygratefulltohimandelectedhimasthe,leaderofthetribe.SuiRenShiisregardedasthe"ancestoroffire"bylatergenerations,and