a long time ago in china lived the jade emperor. it was his birthday. he wanted to measure time to know how old he was.
很久很久以前住着一位玉皇大帝，有一天他的生日到了，他想测量一下时间，好让他知道自己已经多少岁了。

all the animals arrived. the emperor decided to have a race to give a name to each year of the chinese zodiac.
所有的小动物们都到了，玉帝决定举行一个比赛，来决定每一年的名字。

the rat and the cat couldn't swim very well.
"can you take us across the river?"
"yes, jump and quick!"
老鼠和猫都不太会游泳，
（他们对牛说）"你能带我们过河吗？"
"可以，快来上来吧。"