The Mouse Gets Married 老鼠娶亲

The Rat is actually the first character in the lunar calendar's twelve-year cycle, thanks to his legendary cleverness. Here is a story how mother mouse finally finds the right husband for her lovely daughter. The plot may be dated, but Lady Mouse Got Married is as entertaining a children's fable today as it was thousands of years ago.

As the story goes, Mommy Mouse is looking for the most powerful male to match her beautiful young daughter, Lady Mouse. After spoken to all potential candidates, she finally discovered that the son-in-law she's looking for has been right under her nose all along. So what if it's about arranged marriages and a life spent in fear, the moral lessons of the cute coming-of-age story still ring true.

Once there was a mouse whose daughter had come of age and was ready to get married. When the mother mouse asked her daughter who she would like to marry, she replied, ‘Whoever is most powerful is who I will marry!’

The mother believed the sun to be the most powerful, so she went to the sun and said, ‘Sun, my daughter would like to marry whoever is most powerful. Since I believe that to be you, I’d like you to marry my daughter.’

On hearing this, the sun immediately shook its head and said, ‘I’m not the most powerful. I still fear the cloud. As soon as he shows up, he blocks all my rays. It’s the cloud that’s most powerful. You should go look for him.’

This sounded reasonable to the mother, so she went and found the cloud. To her surprise, however, he also said, ‘I’m definitely not the most powerful. The most powerful is the wind. He can blow me away without leaving a trace. You should have him marry your daughter.’

When the mother met with the wind he said, ‘I’m not the one you’re looking for. The wall is without a doubt more powerful than I. He can stop me in my tracks and hold me back!’

So the mother rushed to find the wall and said, ‘I suggested that my daughter marry the sun who is afraid of the cloud, then the cloud who fears the wind, and later, the wind who is scared of you. Therefore it must you who is most powerful. You should marry my daughter.’

With a smile, the wall said, ‘I’m also afraid of many things. As a matter of fact, what I fear most of all are mice. The holes they burrow can be devastating!’

Running home the mother mouse sighed and said to her daughter, ‘I think you’d better marry a mouse!’
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老鼠是十二生肖之首，据说靠的是它的机智。这里有一个关于鼠妈妈为她那可爱的女儿找适合对象的故事。情节可能是老套了点，可是几千年以来，这个‘老鼠娶亲’的寓言却在一直娱乐着无数的儿童。

故事是这样的，鼠妈妈要找个最有力量的对象来许配给她的女儿。与所有潜在对象交谈之后，她终于发现她所要找的就在她的眼前。所以，盲婚之下，如果一个人终生活在畏惧之中，这个有趣的古老故事还是值得参考的。
从前，老鼠女儿长大了，到了可以婚嫁时候。鼠妈妈问女儿她想嫁个怎样的对象时，女儿说：‘谁最有力量，我就嫁谁。’
鼠妈妈相信太阳最有力量，所以她去找太阳，对他说：‘太阳，我的女儿想嫁个最有力量的。我相信那是你。我希望你娶我的女儿。’
太阳听了之后，立刻摇摇头说：‘我不是最有力量的。我还是很怕云。他一出现就把我的光芒给遮盖了。云最有力量。你应该去找他。’
鼠妈妈听了觉得有理，所以跑去找云。可是，很意外的，云也说：‘我不是你所要找的对象。无疑的，墙壁比我更有力量。他可以阻止我的步伐，把我挡住。’
于是，鼠妈妈赶紧去找墙壁，说：‘我找太阳，要把女儿嫁给他，但他害怕云；而云又怕风。接着风说他怕你。所以你应该是最有力量。你应该娶我的女儿。’
墙壁微笑着说：‘我害怕东西可不少。事实上，我最怕的就是老鼠。你们的穴居对我的杀伤力很大。’
鼠妈妈跑回家，叹了口气，对女儿说：‘我想你还是嫁给我们老鼠吧！’