Once upon a time, God decided to create a ‘pattern of time,’ and he announced to the people: ‘I am creating a 12-year calendar; however, I need 12 different animals to distinguish each year. I’ve decided that tomorrow afternoon, the first twelve animals that appear before me will receive one of the names until I have named all 12. So, the following day, animals appeared before him.

The first 11 were the monkey, cow, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, sheep, cock, dog, and pig. However, the 12th animal that appeared was actually two: the camel and the mouse. God did not know which to choose. Both would be good representatives because he created both. God decided to have a contest for the 12th year because both were equal to him.

The following day, the mouse and camel were to watch for the sun to rise. The first to see it rise would go back immediately to God and tell him. The camel, being proud, propped himself on a hill facing east where the sun always rises. He was confident that he would see the sunrise first because he thought of himself as very intelligent. The little mouse, sitting on the camel’s hump, faced the west. When the sun began to rise, the mouse first saw its reflection on the mountains it was staring at. Thus, the mouse had won the contest and became the 12th animal on the calendar.

A folktale sourced from the Eternal Landscapes of Mongolia

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