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Many people in Asia and around the world will celebrate the Lunar New Year starting on January 22.
从1月22日开始，亚洲和世界各地的许多人开始庆祝农历新年。
The new year is called the Year of the Rabbit in China and the Year of the Cat in Vietnam.
新的一年在中国被称为兔年，在越南被称为猫年。
How the cat replaced the rabbit in Vietnam is still the subject of debate.
在越南，猫是如何取代兔子的仍然是人们争论的话题。
Both countries follow a calendar based on 12 signs of a zodiac represented by 12 animals.
这两个国家都遵循以十二生肖为基础的日历，十二生肖由12种动物代表。
No one knows exactly how the 12 animals came to be named.
没有人确切地知道这12种动物是如何被命名的。
But ancient storytellers said the Jade Emperor, or the Buddha, organized a race across a river for all the animals in the world.
但古代讲故事的人说，玉皇大帝，即佛陀，为世界上所有的动物组织了一场过河比赛。
The first 12 to reach the other side would appear in the zodiac.
最先到达对岸的12只动物会出现在黄道十二宫。
In the Chinese version of the story, the cat and the rat were riding across a river on an ox when the rat pushed the cat into the water.
在这个故事的中国版本中，猫和老鼠骑着牛过河时，老鼠把猫推入水中。
The rat won the race, turning the two animals into enemies.
老鼠赢得了比赛，却把这两只动物变成了敌人。
That is why cats have been hunting rats ever since.
这就是为什么猫从那时起就一直在捕老鼠。
In the Chinese story, the rabbit crossed the river by jumping on the tops of stones in the river.
在中国的故事中，兔子通过跳到河里的石头上过河。
When the rabbit got there, no others were around, so it went off to the side and slept.
当兔子到达那里时，周围没有其他动物，所以它就跑到一边去睡觉了。
By the time the rabbit woke up, three others had already arrived.
当兔子醒来时，另外三只动物已经到了。
However, in the Vietnamese version – which did not have a rabbit – the cat could swim and ended up arriving fourth.
然而，在没有兔子的越南版本的故事中，猫会游泳，最终获得了第四名。
The top twelve finishers which appear in the zodiac were rat, ox, tiger, cat (or rabbit), dragon, snake, horse, goat, monkey, rooster, dog, and pig.
出现在黄道12宫中的前十二名是鼠、牛、虎、猫（或兔子）、龙、蛇、马、羊、猴、鸡、狗和猪。
Philippe Papin is an expert on Vietnamese history at the Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes in Paris.
菲利普·帕平是巴黎高级研究院的越南历史专家。
He told the Northwest Asian Weekly in 2011 that one possible explanation for replacing rabbit with cat might have to do with language.
2011年，他在接受《西北亚洲周刊》采访时表示，用猫代替兔子的一个可能解释可能与语言有关。
He said in old Chinese, there is a little-used word tied to the sign of the rabbit (卯) that is pronounced like mao.
他说，在古汉语中，有一个与生肖兔有关的很少使用的词“卯”，发音为mao。
The pronunciation is similar to mèo, the Vietnamese word for cat.
它的发音与越南语中表示“猫”的词的发音相似。
The Chinese New Year website says males who are born in the Year of the Rabbit are polite and do whatever they can to avoid conflicts.
中国新年网站称，兔年出生的男性很有礼貌，会尽其所能避免冲突。
They like organizing and often help their wives with work around the house.
他们喜欢整理，经常帮助妻子做家务。
Females born in the Year of the Rabbit, the website says, love being social.
该网站称，兔年出生的女性喜欢社交。
They are also thoughtful and polite.
她们也很体贴，有礼貌。
And they hate violence and arguments.
她们讨厌暴力和争吵。
The Year of the Cat last came around in 2011.
上一次猫年是在2011年。
The website Vietnam+ reported at the time that the number of newborn babies increased in the first days of the Lunar New Year, called Tet in Vietnam.
Vietnam+网站当时报道称，在农历新年（越南称Tet）的头几天，新生儿的数量有所增加。
At a hospital in Ho Chi Minh City, 72,000 pregnant women visited the hospital in January, an increase of 19,000 over the year before.
在胡志明市的一家医院，1月有7.2万名孕妇到医院就诊，比去年增加了1.9万人。
Doctors said that the Year of Cat is considered a lucky year.
医生说猫年被认为是幸运年。
This year, another website, VNExpress, said many Vietnamese are buying new cat-themed cases for their mobile phones.
今年，另一家网站VNExpress表示，许多越南人都在为他们的手机购买新的猫主题手机壳。
And one of the top Google searches in Vietnam is "why there is no cat in the Chinese zodiac."
在越南，谷歌上搜索量最多的问题是“中国十二生肖中为什么没有猫”。
I’m Jill Robbins.
吉尔·罗宾斯为您播报。
译文为可可英语翻译，未经授权请勿转载！
