Do you know why cats always chase mice? There is a good Chinese legend around this.
[otw_shortcode_tabslayout tabs=”2″ tab_1_title=”Simplified Chinese” tab_1_content=”你知道自己属什么吗？有属大老虎的，有属小老鼠的。有属猫的吗？没有。怎么会有属老鼠的，但没有属猫的呢？这里有个故事。
很久以前，有一天，人们说：「我们要选十二种动物作为人的生肖，一年一种动物。」但是天下的动物有很多种，要怎么选择呢？这样吧，定好一个日子，这一天，动物们来报名，先到的十二种动物就变成十二生肖。
猫和老鼠是邻居，又是好朋友，它们都想去报名。猫说：「我们得一早起来去报名，可是我爱睡懒觉，怎么办呢？」老鼠说：「别着急，别着急，我一醒来，就去叫你，我们一起去。」猫听了很高兴，说：「你真是我的好朋友，谢谢你了。」
到了报名的一天，老鼠早就醒来了，可是它只想到自己的事，把好朋友猫的事忘了。它就自己去报名了。结果，老鼠被选上了。猫呢？猫因为睡懒觉，太晚起床了，等它到时，十二种动物已经被选了。猫没有被选上，就生老鼠的气，怪老鼠没有叫醒它。
从这以后，猫一看到老鼠就要吃它。
” tab_2_title=”Traditional Chinese” tab_2_content=”
你知道自己屬什麼嗎？有屬大老虎的，有屬小老鼠的。有屬貓的嗎？沒有。怎麼會有屬老鼠的，但沒有屬貓的呢？這裡有個故事。
很久以前，有一天，人們說：「我們要選十二種動物作為人的生肖，一年一種動物。」但是天下的動物有很多種，要怎麼選擇呢？這樣吧，定好一個日子，這一天，動物們來報名，先到的十二種動物就變成十二生肖。
貓和老鼠是鄰居，又是好朋友，牠們都想去報名。貓說：「我們得一早起來去報名，可是我愛睡懶覺，怎麼辦呢？」老鼠說：「別著急，別著急，我一醒來，就去叫你，我們一起去。」貓聽了很高興，說：「你真是我的好朋友，謝謝你了。」
到了報名的一天，老鼠早就醒來了，可是牠只想到自己的事，把好朋友貓的事忘了。牠就自己去報名了。結果，老鼠被選上了。貓呢？貓因為睡懶覺，太晚起床了，等牠到時，十二種動物已經被選了。貓沒有被選上，就生老鼠的氣，怪老鼠沒有叫醒牠。
從這以後，貓一看到老鼠就要吃牠。
“][/otw_shortcode_tabslayout]
English translation:
Do you know is your Chinese zodiac? There is tiger zodiac, and there is mouse zodiac. Is there a cat zodiac? No. How can there be a mouse, but not a cat? There is a story here.
A long time ago, one day, people said, “We have to choose twelve kinds of animals as the zodiac, one animal a year.” But there are many kinds of animals in the world, how do we choose? How about this, we set a day, and on this day, the animals will sign up, and the first twelve animals will become the zodiac.
Cats and mice are neighbors and good friends, and they all want to sign up. The cat said, “We have to get up early to sign up, but I love to sleep late. What should I do?” The mouse said, “Don’t worry, don’t worry, I will wake you up and call you, and we will go together.” The cat listened and felt happy, said: “You are really my good friend, thank you.”
On the day of registration, the mouse woke up very early, but it only thought of its own things and forgot about the good friend cat. It went to sign up on its own. As a result, the mouse was selected. What about the cat? The cat got up too late because he overslept, and when it arrived, the twelve animals had already been selected. When the cat was not selected, it then became angry to the mouse, and the blamed the mouse for not waking the cat up.
From then on, the cat wants to eat the mouse as soon as it sees it.
Special notes:
- 屬 – shǔ – belongs to (Chinese zodiac)
- 生肖 – shēngxiào – Chinese zodiac. For more explanations, you can read it on the wiki
- 睡懶覺 – shuìlǎnjiào – sleep late
The photo is taken from here.