The Chinese Year of the Ox, dedicated to Sophia and Jonathan in Canada.

Hello, this is Jana, and I'm here with a story for the Chinese Year of the ox, which starts on February 12, 2021.

If you were born 12 years ago in 2009, the ox may well be your star sign.

An ox is a large animal that looks like a ball, but he is generally patient, hardworking and easygoing.

And people who are born in the Year of the Ox are said to be like that too.

If you've heard our story the Chinese Year of the Animals,

you will know that the ox is the second animal in the Chinese zodiac.

You may recall that all the animals took part in a swimming race to decide what order they should come in.

The powerful ox was the strongest swimmer, and he kindly allowed the rat to ride on his back.

But when he was close to the other side of the river, the sneaky rat jumped off the ox's back and arrived first.

So how is it that humans are so fortunate as to have this strong and useful animal to help them grow food?

This story gives you the answer.

In the old days, the ox lived among the stars with the gods and worked as a messenger.

If the Jade Emperor who ruled heaven and earth wanted to make an announcement to humankind,

he would send the ox to deliver the message.

Now one day the Emperor looked down at the earth and saw how miserable human beings were feeling,

because they did not have enough to eat.

The gods, of course, had everything they wanted to eat and more,

and it occurred to him that it would be nice if people could eat more often too.

At least once every three days.

In order to make things better for the humans, he decided to sprinkle the earth with

more frequent rain so that the crops would grow faster.

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