What's your sign?
你的属相是什么？
In Western astrology, it's a constellation determined by when your birthday falls in the calendar.
依据西方的星座学，星座是由出生日期来决定的。
But according to the Chinese zodiac, or shēngxiào, it's your shǔxiàng, meaning the animal assigned to your birth year.
但根据中国的黄道十二宫，或者说“生肖”，即你的属相，指的是代表你出生年份的动物。
And of the many myths explaining these animal signs and their arrangement,
在众多解释属相的由来和排序的传说中，
the most enduring one is that of the Great Race.
“渡河大赛”的故事流传最广。
As the story goes, Yù Dì, or Jade Emperor, Ruler of the Heavens,
传说中，天庭的统治者玉帝，
wanted to devise a way to measure time, so he organized a race.
想要发明一种计量时间的方式，因此他组织了一场比赛。
The first twelve animals to make it across the river would earn a spot on the zodiac calendar in the order they arrived.
最先过河的12个动物可以根据他们到达的顺序成为农历的纪年。
The rat rose with the sun to get an early start, but on the way to the river, he met the horse, the tiger, and the ox.
老鼠为此起了个大早，但在过河时他遇到了马、虎和牛。
Because the rat was small and couldn't swim very well, he asked the bigger animals for help.
因为老鼠很小也不太会游泳，他向体型更大的动物求助。
While the tiger and horse refused, the kind-hearted ox agreed to carry the rat across.
但是老虎和马都拒绝了他，好心的牛同意背老鼠过河。
Yet, just as they were about to reach the other side, the rat jumped off the ox's head and secured first place.
但当他们将要抵达岸边时，老鼠从牛头上蹦到岸上，拿到了第一名。
The ox came in second, with the powerful tiger right behind him.
牛则成了第二名，紧随其后的是强壮的老虎。
The rabbit, too small to battle the current, nimbly hopped across stones and logs to come in fourth.
兔子体型太小，无法游过湍急的河水，但它敏捷地跳过石头和浮木，成为了第四名。
Next came the dragon, who could have flown directly across,
接下来是龙，她本来可以直接飞过去，
but stopped to help some creatures she had encountered on the way.
但她在途中停下来，帮助那些她在路上遇到的动物们过河。
After her came the horse, galloping across the river.
接着是马，在河中飞奔而来。
But just as she got across, the snake slithered by.
但正当马快抵达对岸时，蛇滑到了她的脚边，
The startled horse reared back, letting the snake sneak into sixth place.
把马吓得抬起了前蹄，让蛇拿到了第六名。
The Jade Emperor looked out at the river and spotted the sheep, the monkey,
这时玉帝往河边望去，发现了羊、猴子和鸡，
and the rooster all atop a raft, working together to push it through the weeds.
坐在同一个木筏上，一起在水草中划动木筏。

When they made it across, the trio agreed to give eighth place to the sheep,
当他们一起抵达时，大家同意把第八名给羊，
who had been the most comforting and harmonious of them, followed by the monkey and the rooster.
因为他一路上不停鼓舞队友，使团队配合默契，之后是猴子和鸡。
Next came the dog, scrambling onto the shore.
随后是狗爬上了岸。
He was a great swimmer, but frolicked in the water for so long that he only managed to come in eleventh.
狗本来就很会游泳，但因为在水里嬉戏太久，他最后只得到了第十一名。
The final spot was claimed by the pig,
最后一名是猪，
who had gotten hungry and stopped to eat and nap before finally waddling across the finish line.
他在途中肚子饿，就停下吃东西还打盹，最后才摇摇晃晃地走过终点。
And so, each year is associated with one of the animals in this order, with the cycle starting over every 60 years.
由此，这些动物按顺序分别对应不同的年份，每60年一个循环。
Why 60 and not twelve?
为什么是60不是12呢？
Well, the traditional Chinese calendar is made up of two overlapping systems.
因为传统的中国历法由两个计时系统相互搭配。
The animals of the zodiac are associated with what's called the Twelve Earthly Branches, or shí'èrzhī.
十二生肖对应的纪年系统，与被称为十二地支的系统相互关联。
Another system, the Ten Heavenly Stems, or tiāngān,
另外一套纪年体系是天干，
is linked with the five classical elements of metal, xīn, wood, mù, water, shuǐ, fire, huǒ, and earth, tǔ.
是由五个传统的元素组成：金、木、水、火、土。
Each element is assigned yīn or yáng, creating a ten-year cycle.
每个元素又分阴阳两种，创造出一个十年的循环。
When the twelve animals of the Earthly Branches are matched with the five elements plus the yīn or the yáng of the Heavenly Stems,
当地支的十二生肖和五个元素相匹配，加上天干的阴或阳，
it creates 60 years of different combinations, known as a sexagenary cycle, or gānzhī.
创造了60年的不同组合，称为一干支。
So someone born in 1980 would have the sign of yáng metal monkey, while someone born in 2007 would be yīn fire pig.
所以，1980年出生的人是阳金属猴，而2007年出生的人则是阴火属猪。
In fact, you can also have an inner animal based on your birth month,
事实上，你能按照出生月算出你的“内在动物”，
a true animal based on your birth date, and a secret animal based on your birth hour.
按照出生日算出“真实动物”，按照你的出生时算出“隐秘动物”。
It was the great race that supposedly determined which animals were enshrined in the Chinese zodiac,
渡河大赛确定了哪些动物作为中国的十二生肖，
but as the system spread through Asia, other cultures made changes to reflect their communities.
但随着生肖系统在亚洲传开，其他国家为适应其民族文化对生肖系统做了调整。
So if you consult the Vietnamese zodiac, you may discover that you're a cat, not a rabbit,
因此，在越南的生肖中，你可能会发现你属猫，而不是兔。
and if you're in Thailand, a mythical snake called a Naga replaces the dragon.
如果你在泰国，神话中的海蛇那伽取代了龙。
So whether or not you place stock in what the zodiac says about you as an individual,
无论你信不信属相那回事儿与你个人的关联，
it certainly reveals much about the culture it comes from.
它显然能反映很多有关其起源的文化。