如何用英語介紹中國十二生肖的故事？

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What's your sign? In western astrology. it's a constellation determined by when your birthday falls in the calendar. But according to the Chinese zodiac or sheng xiao, it's your shuxiang, meaning the animal assigned to your birth year.

你的符號是什么？在西方占星學中，它是你的生日所處日歷中的位置決定的星座，但是依據中國的十二屬性或者生肖，它是你的屬相，意思就是你出生年份的代表動物。

And of the many myths explaining these animal signs and their arrangement. The most enduring one is that of the Great Race. As the story goes, Yu Di, or Jade emperor, ruler of the heavens, wanted to devise a way to measure time.

而且喲很多解釋這些動物標志和排序的傳說，流傳最久遠的是生肖賽跑的傳說。故事是這樣的，天庭的統(tǒng)治者玉帝，想要設計一種衡量時間的方法。

So he organized a race. The first 12 animals to make it across the river would earn a spot on the zodiac calendar in the order they arrived, the rat rose with the sun to get an early start, but on the way to the river, he met the horse, the tiger and the ox.

所以他安排了一場賽跑比賽。最快渡河到達終點的十二中動物，可以以他們到達的順序贏得生肖日歷中的一席。老鼠起了個大早想要搶占先機，但是到了河邊，它遇到了馬，虎和牛。

Because the rat was small and couldn't swim very well. He asked the bigger animals for help.While the tiger and horse refused, the kind hearted ox agreed to carry the rat across. Yet, just as they were about to reach the other side, the rat jumped off the ox`s head and secured first place.

因為老鼠太小而且也不太會游泳，它尋求大的動物的幫助，但是遭到馬和老虎的拒絕，心底善良的牛答應帶著老鼠過河。當他們馬上到河對岸的時候，老鼠從牛的頭上跳到對岸 贏得了第一。

The ox came in second with a powerful tiger right behind him. The rabbit, too small to battle the current, nimbly hopped across stones and logs to come in forth. Next came the dragon, who could have flown directly across, but stopped to help some creatures she had encountered on the way.

牛只能排在第二，老虎排在第三位。兔子，太小無法和激流對抗，但敏捷的踩著石頭和木頭跳過了河，第四個到達。接著是龍，他本來可以直接飛過去，但是在路上停下來幫助了遇到困難的其他動物。

After her came the horse, galloping across the river. But just as she got across, the snakes slithered by. The startled horse reared back, letting the snake sneak into six place.

跟著龍的是馬，它大跳的趟過河，但是就在他要到的時候，蛇刺溜一下滑了過去。馬被嚇得倒退了幾步，就讓蛇搶走了第六位。

The Jade Emperor looked out at the river and spotted the sheep, the monkey, and the rooster all atop a raft, working together to push it through the weeds. When they made it across the trio agreed to give 8th place to the sheep, who had been the most comforting and harmonious of them, followed by the monkey and the rooster.

玉帝看著河，看到養(yǎng)，猴，和雞在一個木筏上，通力協(xié)作通過了水草叢，他們過河之后，一致決定把第八位讓給羊，因為羊是他們中最溫柔的，然后猴子和雞也過去了。

Next came the dog scrambling onto the shore. He was a great swimmer, but frolicked in the water for so long that he only managed to come in 11th. The final spot was claimed by the pig, who had gotten hungry and stopped to eat and nap before finally wadding across the finish line.

接著是狗，撲騰撲騰的爬上岸，他是游泳高手，但是在水里邊玩的太嗨了，結果只排在第十一位。最后一個席位被豬得到，它中途餓了，停下來吃飽還睡了一會，最后慢悠悠的過了終點線。

And so each year is associated with one of the animals in this order, with the cycle starting over every 60 years, why 60 and not 12? well, The traditional Chinese calendar is made up of two overlapping systems. The animals of the zodiac are associated with what's called the 12 earthly branches or shierdizhi(十二地支).

每一年就以這樣的順序和一種動物聯(lián)系起來，每60年一個循環(huán)，為什么是60不是12？中果農歷是由兩個疊加系統(tǒng)組成的，一個系統(tǒng)是十二地支，與十二生肖相關。

Another system, the 10 heavenly stems or tiangan(天干), is linked with the five classical elements of metal. Jin ,wood,mu, water, shui, fire ,huo and earth, tu. Each elements is assigned yin(陰) or yang（陽）, creating a 10 year cycle when the 12 animals of the earthly branches are matched with the five elements, push the yin or yang of the heavenly stems, it creates 60 years of different combinations, known as a sexagenary cycle or ganzhi(干支).

另一個系統(tǒng)，十天干，與五大元素相關，就是金木水火土。每個元素被賦予陰或者陽，形成一個十年循環(huán)，當地支的十二動物與五大元素配對，再加上天干的陰和陽就形成了一個60年不重復的組合。被稱為干支。

So someone born in 1980 would have the sign of yang metal monkey, while someone born in 2007 would be in fire pig. In fact, you can also have an inner animal based on your birth month, a true animal based on your birth date, and a secret animal based on your birth hour.

所以，1980年出生的人，生肖是陽金猴，2007年出生的人，生肖是陰火豬。實際上，你還可以依據你的出生月份判斷內生肖，根據出生日期判斷真生肖，根據出生時辰判斷秘生肖。

It was the great race that supposedly determined which animals were enshrined in the Chinese zodiac. But as the system spread through Asia, other cultures made changes to reflect their communities. So if you consult the vietnamese zodiac, you may discover that you're a cat, not a rabbit.

生肖賽跑的故事決定了中國十二生肖中那些動物被作為代表銘記。但隨著這個體系傳遍亞洲，其他國家依照自己的文化做了些改動，所以如果你參照越南十二生肖，你會發(fā)現(xiàn)你屬貓，而不是屬兔。

And if you're in Thailand, a mythical snake called a Naga replaces the dragon. So whether or not you place stock in what the zodiac says about you as an individual, it certainly reveals much about the culture it comes from.

不管你信不信生肖所描述的你個人的情況，它都無疑體現(xiàn)了很多文化方面的東西。