Chinese stories

One day, the Lord Buddha called all the animals to a meeting. He told them that he had decided to pick the 13 most faithful animals, and reward each of them with their own year. As soon as the animals heard this, they began to quarrel among themselves about who should have the honour of the first year, the second, the third, and so on. The Buddha decided to settle this squabble with a contest. He gathered the 13 animals on the bank of a gushing river, and told them that they must swim across to the other side.