A long time ago, the Jade Emperor lived in a majestic palace in heaven. On his birthday, he told all the animals that a race would be held the next morning. The first twelve animals who got to the other side of the river would become the winners. They would each have a year of the zodiac named after them.

Cat was thrilled about the news. He invited his best friend, Rat, to go with him. "Please remember to wake me up tomorrow morning, my friend," said Cat. However, Rat was so excited about the race that he forgot his promise! He left Cat behind!

On the day of the competition, all the animals tried their best to run as fast as they could. Rat was already tired and was worried about crossing the river because of his poor swimming skills. At that time, Ox came. "How can I get to the other side of the river? I have poor eyesight! What can I do now?" said Ox anxiously. Rat came up with an idea and asked Ox, "Can I jump onto your back and guide you to cross the river?" "Yes, jump on quick!" replied Ox. As they got closer to the shore, Rat jumped off Ox’s back as quick as a flash and dashed to the feet of the Emperor. Rat won the first place while Ox became the second.

Not far behind Ox came Tiger. The heavy current kept pushing him downstream, but he finally reached the shore. He came third in the race. When Dragon was approaching the finishing line, he saw a poor rabbit clinging to a floating log. Dragon decided to give Rabbit a helping hand by blowing him to the shore. "Thank you so much, Dragon!" murmured Rabbit. So Rabbit finished fourth, then followed by Dragon.

Next came Horse. He swam across the river with no problem. When he shook himself to dry off, Snake suddenly appeared! Horse was frightened and jumped backwards. Snake took the sixth place while Horse became the seventh. Later, Goat, Monkey and Rooster arrived. They worked together to make a raft to help them cross the river. The Emperor was very pleased that these three animals had helped one another. He decided that Goat would be the eighth zodiac animal, Monkey the ninth and Rooster the tenth.

"Why are you so late, Dog?" asked the Jade Emperor. "The river was so clean that I played in it for a while," replied Dog as he buried his face in his hands. All of a sudden, an oink was heard. Pig finally arrived. “I was so hungry that I stopped to eat. Then I fell asleep because I was tired,” said Pig. Fortunately, he became the twelfth and the last animal of the zodiac cycle.