The Twelve Sons
A . D .& F . D . of Pok Oi Hospital Mrs Cheng Yam On School , Chan , Yan Ting Chloe - 11
O ne fine morning , some noises woke the Jade Emperor up on his birthday . ‘ I ’ m the eldest son . I should go first in the Chinese zodiac ,’ roared Dragon . ‘ I ’ m the cleverest . I should rank number one ,’ yelled Rat . ‘ I ’ m the most diligent . I should be in the first place ,’ declared Ox . The twelve sons of the Emperor in Heaven quarreled about their order in the zodiac . The Jade Emperor had twelve sons . Dragon was his eldest son . Rat was his second son and Ox was his third son . The other sons were Tiger , Horse , Sheep , Snake , Dog , Pig , Monkey , Rooster and Rabbit .
‘ Stop quarreling on my birthday !’ sighed Father Emperor . ‘ I have an announcement ,’ he added . Everyone was in silence . ‘ I will send each of you to one city on the Earth . You must build this city into a prosperous one and look for a pearl I hide there in eleven days ,’ explained The Jade Emperor . ‘ I will give each of you a score . The one who gets the highest score will be the first place in the zodiac . I will determine the zodiac order by your scores ,’ he continued . ‘ It ’ s a challenge !’ exclaimed Dragon . Father Emperor sent his twelve sons to the Earth . He first sent his three elder sons , Dragon , Rat and Ox , to Beijing , Shanghai and Hong Kong respectively . Then , he sent the other sons to other cities in China . Rat was excited to arrive at Shanghai . He was wandering along the Bund . Suddenly , he heard someone shouting for help . He saw two huge lions being caught in the toils of a hunter ’ s net . ‘ I will help you . Don ’ t struggle ,’ said Rat . ‘ You are not afraid of us , little Rat ?’ asked the two lions . ‘ No . Father says that one should help one another ,’ explained Rat . Rat gnawed the net until it parted and soon the lions were free . They became good friends immediately .
The two lions were called Stephen and Stitt .
Rat told the two lions that he had to do some city planning for Shanghai , made this city becoming prosperous and found the pearl his father hid . Stephen and Stitt would be pleased to help Rat . Then , they hurried away to look for the pearl .
Rat learnt architecture at school . He wanted to use his talent to build some marvelous buildings in the city . Rat built a large bank on the Bund and made two bronze lion sculptures that looked like Stephen and Stitt . He placed the sculptures at the entrance of the bank . He also built some other banks , trading houses and consulates by the riverside .
Rat taught Stephen , Stitt and other people to manage his banks . He taught the inhabitants to grow crops and catch fish . He also invented some tools for catching fish .
After that , Rat opened a hotel so that people could come to dine and dance . He called it The Peace Hotel . Then , he built some temples , gardens , pavilions and tea houses .
Rat designed some nice Shanghainese dishes like lion head meatballs , steamed pork dumplings called xiao long bao and drunken chicken .
Stephen and Stitt helped Rat found the Pearl behind a rock on the Bund when Rat finished making Shanghai a prosperous financial center , a treaty port , as well a trading and shipping town on the eighth day .
On the other part of the world , Ox made Hong Kong ‘ The Pearl of the Orient ’. Ox was very diligent , he worked all day and night . Ox taught the Hong Kong inhabitants to work hard . He taught the people to grow crops , catch fish , do trading and sell incense . Ox studied Finance in Heaven . Thus , he taught people the financial theories , especially the laissez-faire . He also taught them how to make Hong Kong a famous entrepot . Ox liked cooking too . He taught Hong Kong people how to cook delicious food . Ox invented the fish balls , egg tart , pineapple bun , dim sum , milk tea and mini egg puff . Ox made Hong Kong a prosperous financial center and a gourmet heaven , and found the Pearl on the Peak on the tenth day .