After the bear children stared at each other for a while, Dongzi said, "Brother Han, we don't know about this problem, and we have never thought about it. Do you know why?"

Li Han smiled: "This question can only speculate on the answer. The formation of the zodiac is very early, as early as the pre-Qin period, it was almost formally formed. At that time, there was no such thing as a 'domestic cat' in our country. Therefore, there are no cats in the zodiac. ”

I see! The bears nodded.

Although they don't know exactly when the pre-Qin period was, the reason is that they understand. Even when the zodiac was formed, there was no such thing as a domestic cat.

Although the reason was understood, the children's reaction was relatively flat. They obviously have little interest in this reason.

Li Han was not surprised, he knew that these little guys had no interest in this kind of formal answer.

Therefore, Li Han said again: "Actually, there is another reason. ”

"What's the reason? Brother Han. The bears said in unison.

They may not be interested in the answer, but what is the answer? They are curious.

Li Han said: "This reason is a long story. That was a long, long time ago. At that time, there was no such thing as a zodiac sign.

One day, in order to let people in the world remember the belonging of the year of his birth, the Jade Emperor decided to choose twelve animals as the genus in the world.

Therefore, the Jade Emperor informed all the animals in the world that all animals who want to become a phase animal can go to a certain place to sign up the next morning. The first 12 animals to reach their destination are the 12 physiognomy animals. ”

Li Han said as he observed the expressions of the bear children, and saw that the bear children all looked very interested and listened very seriously, which was completely different from the reaction when they heard the previous answer.

Sure enough, it's a story-based answer that can interest these little guys.

So, Li Han continued to finish the story.

This story was widely circulated in the previous life, and later it was that both the cat and the mouse wanted to be physiognomy animals, and at that time they were still good friends, so they made an appointment to set off together the next morning.

But the cat likes to sleep in, so let the mouse wake it up the next morning.

As a result, the next morning, the rat thought that one less animal would have one less competitor. I didn't wake up the cat, and I set off alone.

The final result, of course, was that the mouse was selected and the cat was defeated.

It's a legend, of course it's not true, but people tend to like it and are willing to process it.

And this can also be said to be a valuable cultural wealth.

Such an interesting story will definitely be of great interest to the bear children.

And that's exactly what happened.

After listening to the story, the bear children all had very excited expressions. Dongzi said, "Brother Han, where did you see this story? ”

Li Han smiled: "You kid haven't heard of it." Because, this is the story I came up with on my own. ”

"That's right. The bear children did not doubt it, they all knew that Li Han was writing stories.

"The Adventures of Shuke and Beta" and "Hulu Brothers" are stories written by Li Han, and they all like to read them very much.

"Brother Han, according to your story, isn't the reason why the cat wants to catch mice is because the mice went to run for the zodiac animal alone, and didn't wake it up to go with it? Ryoko said with some excitement.

Li Han smiled: "You kid can! That's right, you can think so." However, this is just a story, and it can't be taken seriously!"

Liangzi said: "Brother Han, we are not children anymore, of course we know that it is just a story." ”

Li Hanwan said, "You little kid still thinks you've grown up. ”

Ryoko smiled: "It's not small." Brother Han, let me tell you, you can use your story to deceive Li Tao and Li Tong. They're small, and they might take it seriously. ”

Li Han said angrily: "Didn't you say you were going to cheat? This is a story, a story, a legend, this is a kind of culture, do you kid understand it?"

"Culture?" Ryoko really didn't understand, and said, "Brother Han, this is also culture?"

Dongzi said at this time: "Of course this is culture. This is a story about the 12 zodiac signs. The zodiac is culture, and the story about it must also be culture. Right? Brother Han. ”

Li Han said: "It's okay to understand it this way. ”

After Dongzi heard this, he looked at Liangzi with some pride, looking like you kid didn't know anything.

Before the zodiac signs had a battle for sheep or not, he lost. This time it's kind of to get some face back.

Ryoko rolled her eyes, and then said: "Brother Han, do you still have the story of the 12 zodiac signs? It is good that the mouse can be selected as a phase animal, why can it still rank first? There are dragons, tigers and other powerful animals behind it." ”

Li Han said: "Yes, there are many stories about the zodiac. Of course, the question you are talking about can be explained by a story. ”

"You really can. Why is it because? Brother Han, you say it again. Ryoko urged, and the rest of the bear children also looked very interested.

Li Han was a little funny in his heart, these little guys still thought they were not small. It turned out that I wasn't so interested in the story yet.

In that case, let's talk about another story.

This story can be linked to the story just now.

To put it simply, it means that the mouse did not wake up the cat, after a person went on the road. Met a cow on the road and sat on the cow's back.

The ox was the first to reach the place designated by the Jade Emperor, and it thought it was the first, but the mouse on its back suddenly jumped up and rushed through the finish line first.

In this way, the little mouse became the boss of the zodiac.

Except, of course, for this story. There are other legends about why rats come first.

For example, if the rat and the cow compete for the first place, whoever is bigger will be the first.

Then they went out into the street together, and everyone said "what a big mouse", but no one said "what a big cow".

The result was, of course, the rats won.

There are a lot of such stories, and these interesting stories all explain very well why the mouse is the boss? This is a somewhat incomprehensible question.

Of course, it is precisely because it is difficult to understand that so many interesting stories are born.

These stories are absurd and inconspicuous in previous lives, but they can be said to be very precious.

Of course, in addition to these fictional and interesting stories, there are also scientific analyses and speculations.

For example, the reason why rats are ranked first may be related to the behavior of animals.

As we all know, the ancient astronomical calendar divides the day into twelve hours, namely: Zi, Chou, Yin, Mao, Chen, Si, Wu, Wei, Shen, You, Xu, and Hai.

These twelve hours correspond to the twelve zodiac signs.

Therefore, it is said that the rat, the ugly cow, and the tiger are ...... And so on.

The main time of activity of the rat is exactly in the child time. And the time of the child is the intersection of heaven and earth in one day, and the beginning of the chaos of yin and yang.

And the rat is consumed, and if it is not consumed, the qi of heaven and earth will not be opened.

The ancient five elements of yin and yang believed that only rats could bite away the chaotic qi produced when heaven and earth intersected, so as to separate the boundaries of yin and yang.

In addition, among the twelve hours, the son is the youngest and the youngest, and the mouse is the smallest animal of the twelve genera.

The above reasons add up, and the rat is at the top of the zodiac.

In addition, it is also said that the ancients emphasized yin and yang, and divided into yin and yang according to the odd and even numbers of animal toes in the twelve genera.

The rat has four toes on its forefoot and five toes on its hind foot, which is the most bullish and the most special existence, and belongs to the species of yin and yang.

Its main activity time is also the time when heaven and earth are intertwined.

That is, the moment when the end of the first day (yin) and the beginning of the second day (yang) are connected.

With such a bull batch and a special mouse, it is naturally ranked first among the 12 zodiac signs.

These can be said to be scientific and technical speculations, maybe true, maybe not, no one can be 100% sure.

However, people tend to prefer interesting stories to scientific and technical speculations.

And in this world, there are those speculations with scientific and technological content, but there are no interesting stories, which is really a pity.

However, it doesn't matter now, because Li Han has already told those stories to the bear children.

......