Monday, January 28, 2008

IF: Tales and Legends - The Story of the Chinese Zodiac 鼠年故事



The Story of the Chinese Zodiac

The Chinese zodiac has twelve signs, here's the story of why the year of the Rat is the first year in the cycle.

Once upon a time, the Emperor announced a contest, a race for all the animals. The first twelve animals to cross the finish line will have a year named in their honor.

At that time, Cat and Rat were best friends. When they heard about the great news, they agreed they should both enter the race. The day of the race arrived. All the animals gathered at the starting line and with a "BANG!" the race began.

With fantastic speed, Rat and Cat grabbed the lead, scurrying through prickly bushes and running over grassy meadows until they came upon a vast river. The current was so strong that they could not swim across. Just as they were thinking of what to do, the sturdy Ox came upon them. Immediately the Rat came up with a brilliant idea.

"Ox, since your eyesight is very poor, let's help each other. Cat and I will get on your back and direct you across the river." The Ox agreed with the plan. He was very strong and had no trouble swimming across the river.

As the party neared the other side, The Cat crouched on the Ox’s head and swished his tail. The Rat could see that his friend was getting ready to leap onto the bank ahead of them and take the first prize. Even though they were best friends, Rat wanted to be first more than ANYTHING in the world. Without hesitating, Rat pushed Cat off Ox into the fast moving river. Then he jumped off the ox's head and got through the finish line first.

Therefore, the Emperor declared the rat as the first zodiac animal, the tired Ox as second, followed by the Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Goat, Monkey, Rooster, Dog and the sluggish Pig as the last.

This is why there is no year named after the Cat. And if you’ve ever wondered why cats hate rats so much - now you know!

Wishing all of you a very Happy and Prosperous Chinese New Year. Gong Xi Fa Cai!


鼠年故事
  “万千禽兽尊为子,十二生肖独占先”。十二生肖中为何有鼠无猫,为何鼠占首位。

  玉皇大帝为了排十二种动物先后,举办了一场竞赛,依越过终点线的先后排定名次。

  猫与鼠本是最好的朋友。当他们听说了这一个好消息,就決定一起参加比赛。

  比赛开始了,老鼠和猫皮披荆斩棘,一路领先,直到他们被一条波涛汹涌的大河挡住了去路。正当他们一筹莫展时,健壮的牛大哥也到了。老鼠立即想出一个好点子。

  "牛大哥,您的视力不好,我们可以同心協力,请让猫和我在您的背部指引您过河"。牛同意了这个计划,横渡这条大河对强壮的他来说一点问题也沒有。

  接近对岸了,猫蹲在牛的头部,尾巴搖得嗖嗖响,准备一跃上岸。老鼠看到他的朋友摩拳擦掌准备拔得头筹,他开始担心了。雖然他们是最好的朋友,但是成为第一却比什么都重要。老鼠当机立断用力把猫推下湍急的河流,然后他自己跳下牛的头部率先抵达终点。

  因此,玉帝宣布老鼠为首位十二生肖动物,疲累的牛得了第二名,其次是虎,兔,龙,蛇,马,羊,猴,鸡和狗,慢吞吞的猪得了最后一名。

  这就是为什么十二生肖中沒有猫。猫和老鼠也从此成了冤家!


  祝大家新年快乐,鼠年行大运,恭喜发财!

Saturday, January 26, 2008

IF: Tales and Legends



Aunt held Girl's small hand, leading her
Girl inclines her head to gaze at the night sky
Seeing the moon above smiling gently down at her
A move to the left, a curve to the right,
Girl swivels around to look backwards
"Auntie, auntie,
the moon is just behind us
following us as we walk~~"

Wednesday, January 23, 2008

You Make My Day



Julia was amazed at getting the “You Make My Day” award from the very talented Linda. I'm honoured to receive this award on her behalf.

Here are the rules for “You Make My Day” award works:
  1. Write a post with links to five blogs that make your day or make you think.
  2. Acknowledge the post of the award giver.
  3. Display the “You Make My Day” link to the post. (optional)
  4. Tell the blog winners that they have won by commenting on their blog.
She has chosen the following talented and creative bloggers for their passionate, fun and lovable content, adorable sketches and illustration.

  • May 五月媽媽
  • Ginger Pixels
  • Kathleen Rietz
  • Pepper Cats
  • Sketched Out (Well, she insisted to put you in.)
  • Dreamapet 海之音の宠物乐园 for her sweet writing about her pet kitty and her two dogs.

  • She knows some of you must have received this before, and maybe it's time to start counting how many awards you have received, heeheee...

    Julia: And thanks Bobo for making me smile all day long.

    IF: Plain


    Plain

      Julia is trying to teach me how to throw rubbish into the dustbin. And the result: FAIL! Nowadays her imagination goes wild, she's expecting a kitty to do whatever that crosses her mind. She really is a "genius", isn't she?

      Julia 大人突发奇想要训练我幇她丟垃圾,结果当然是以失败告终啦!她最近老是想些奇怪的新点子要我做,真当我是天才呀?!我还封她作“天兵”咧!

    Tuesday, January 15, 2008

    OOPS! Did something wrong!



      Yes! This is exactly what I'll do if I did something wrong! Julia is serious in educating me, and I would get punish for being too naughty.

      对!做错事時第一时间要赶快躲起來,要不然免不了一顿好打!可惜 Julia 大人的记忆力超强,不管躲再久,最后还是逃不了被處罚的命运。Julia 大人是个完美主义者,她不能忍受心爱的东西存有瑕疵,她会心痛好久好久的!

    Monday, January 14, 2008

    IF: Stitch (Patchwork Art) 跳呼啦圏-完成!



      It's time to report my training progress. Instead of walking under the hula hoop, I finally understand that in order to obtain my rewards, I need to jump through the hoop. And I did it perfectly, of course! LOL+! I love this trick, it's an interesting game to play with. Another full mark for this, hehe!

      Tired after training, allow me to take a nap first! But before that, I got something to tell Julia, "No! I refuse to do the ballet dancing, it's a mission impossible, MASTER!"

    Julia: This week IF theme reminded me of those beautiful handmade blankets, bedsheets, pillow and bolster case by my grandma, she turned remnant cloth into enchanting art!

      大家好!上次預告的跳呼拉圏順利完成了。啧!沒什么难度嘛 (不过一开始我是在圏下走的,嘻嘻~~)!我一次过可以來回跳好多次,还蛮好玩的!不过 Julia 大人,跳芭蕾舞真的不行啦,妳别太强“猫”所难,放过我罢!

    Saturday, January 5, 2008

    Oh! I am a 100% Genius!



      Hohoho~~ I can do "turn-over"! For just half an hour, I managed to handle this new trick! My perfect perfomance making Julia laughed madly!
      "Bobo, you are worth more money now! You want me to sell you to some rich people? Then you can have a better life!"
      Oh No! How cruel for her to say that, after I learned all this new tricks to please her! Please... say that you are just joking, my MASTER!

      SO FAR, I SCORED 100% IN LEARNING NEW TRICKS !  Oh! I adore my cleverness!

    Julia: Not expecting Bobo can do this, since she have to take three days to learn "lie-down"! For me "turn-over" is a more difficult trick, but she did it, amazing!

    Next trick to learn: Jump through the hula hoop!

      哈哈哈~~大家叫我天才吧!我只用了半个小時就学会了“翻滚(turn-over)”这个动作!Julia 大人乐得仰头哈哈大笑,笑得眼泪都飙了出來,开心得不得了!
      但是她接下來的话却让我乐不起來,“Bobo,你现在学会了这么多东西,卖掉你应该值不少錢罢!把你卖给有錢人过好日子,好不好?”听听!这是人话吗!
      Julia 大人!我努力学了一堆把戏逗你开心,可不是为了等妳这句话!唉唉!心淡呀!


    Julia 按: 本來不指望 Bobo 可以学会这个动作,之前的“躺下”教了好久,差点就放弃了!这次出乎意料之外倒很快就学会了,儍眼!

    下一个目标: 跳呼啦圏!