There are many stories about the twelve zodiacs, which have a long history and can not even be verified. So there are some myths and legends.

The Jade Emperor wanted to choose 12 kinds of animals as his representatives, so he sent the immortals down to tell the animals about it and set a time to run for election at the Tiangong Palace one day. The sooner they came, the front of them then;  the later and behind them. At that time, cats and rats were still good friends, and cats loved sleeping, but he wanted to be elected as well. So let the mouse wake up him.

But the mouse forgot calling the cat. The mouse went to the cow and said that he got up early and ran fast. He asked the cow to take him with him. The cow promised。

The Dragon had no horns at that time, but Chicken had horns at that time. Dragon said to Chicken that the chicken was very beautiful，and the horns are not needed. Chicken lended horns to Dragon, and the chicken was very pleasure for the dragon's flattery.  

At the end of the next year, many animals rushed to the heavenly palace. Cats were still sleeping. Rats were sitting on the back of cattle. When they reached the heavenly palace, the Jade Emperor said that the mice were the earliest to arrive, Cow was the second; the tiger was the third; the rabbit was the fourth.

The dragon came very late, but he was big. The Jade Emperor saw him at a glance and found how beautiful he was. Then the dragon ranked fifth. Then the snake behind him ran and said, "I rank sixth!" Horses and sheep arrived, but they pushed back and forth, and the Jade Emperor saw how polite they were, and made them rank seventh and eighth.

The monkey was in the back, but he jumped on his own. He jumped to the front of the Chicken and pulled up to ninth. Then the dogs and pigs were picked up. After the race, the cat woke up. The mouse just came back and was chased by the cat here and there.

There was no light stick at that time. It would be a classic action if they could have a party to celebrate it.