鸡的守信

民间现在还流传着这样一个传说，鸡天生喜欢争强好胜，成天到处惹事，打架。

There is still a popular legend that the chicken is naturally competitive and often causes troubles, getting into fights.

玉皇大帝当时封生肖有个要求，就是生肖必须对人类有很大的贡献才能当上。

The Jade Emperor had a requirement for the selection of the zodiac animals, which was that the animal must have made a significant contribution to humanity in order to be chosen.

所以鸡当然就当不上生肖了。

Therefore, the chicken could not be selected as a zodiac animal.

有一天，鸡激动的对已经对封为生肖的马说，马大哥为什么你会被封为生肖。

One day, the chicken excitedly asked the horse, who had already been chosen as a zodiac, "Brother Horse, why were you chosen as a zodiac animal?"

马就这样说道，他对人类有很大的贡献。

The horse replied, "I have made great contributions to humanity. I work hard in farming and charge bravely into battle, establishing great merit for humanity; that's why I was selected as a zodiac animal. Why don't you use your golden voice? It might also be of help to humanity."

我平时勤于耕耘，战时冲锋陷阵，为人类立下大功，当然会被封为生肖。

The next day, the chicken crowed early.

你为啥不用用你的金嗓子，可能对人类有帮助也说不定。

It woke people up so they could start working early and not waste time.

第二天，鸡很早的就打鸣。

However, the Jade Emperor's criteria for choosing zodiac animals only included terrestrial animals, not flying ones. Among the livestock, the horse, cow, sheep, dog, and pig were all included, but the chicken was left out.

唤醒人们，让人们很早的就起来工作，以免耽搁了时辰。

Consequently, the chicken became even more anxious and shouted with a hoarse voice, but it was of no avail.

可是，天帝封生肖的标准只要走兽，不要飞禽，六畜中马、牛、羊、狗、猪都有份，唯独无鸡。

That night, the chicken was unable to come to terms with this, could not sleep, and flew straight to the heavenly palace, where it cried to the Emperor about how it crowed every day to awaken all beings, and despite its great contributions, it still was not selected as a zodiac animal, which it found truly perplexing.

因而鸡更加急红了脸，喊粗脖子，但无结果。

After finishing its tale, it burst into tears. The Jade Emperor pondered for a moment and realized that what the chicken had said was indeed true; there was an error in the criteria he had set for the zodiac animals.

那天晚上，鸡为此事想不通，睡不着，于是直飞天宫，在天帝殿前向帝哭诉，自己每天司晨，唤起众生，功高劳大，都未入选生肖，实在想不通。

Thus, he plucked a red flower from in front of the palace and placed it on the chicken's head as a sign of commendation.

说完，泪流不止。天帝思考起来，鸡功劳正如所说，自己规定的生肖标准确实有误。

When the chicken woke up, it found there really was a flower on its head, so it went to see the "Four Heavenly Kings." Upon seeing the "Imperial Red Flower," the "Four Heavenly Kings" guessed that the Jade Emperor valued the chicken, and thus they allowed the chicken to participate in the competition.

于是，摘下一朵殿前红花，戴在鸡头上，以示嘉奖。

On the day of the zodiac selection, the chicken and dog got up at the same time and walked together.

鸡醒来后，发现头上真有一朵花，于是去见“四大天王”。“四大天王”一见“御前红花”，料想天帝看重鸡，就破格让鸡参与竞争。

As they approached the heavenly palace, the chicken, fearing that the dog would get ahead, hurriedly flew and ran in front of it.

到了争排生肖的那一天，鸡与狗同时起床，相并而行。

The dog quickly chased after, but was still a step behind and ended up being ranked after the chicken.

快到天宫时，鸡怕狗占先，就连飞带跑赶到前面去了。

From then on, the dog had no goodwill left for the chicken and chased it whenever it saw it. Thus, the expression "chicken flying and dog jumping" originated from this event.

狗奋起直追，却仍迟了一步，结果排在鸡后。

从此，狗对鸡再无好感，见鸡就追，至今气也未消，“鸡飞狗跳”就是这样来的。