In the past, an official celebrated1 his birthday.

　　A small official under him heard that he was born in the year of "the rat". To curry2 the official's favour, he had a gold rat cast as a birthday present and went to the official's house to congratulate him on his birthday.

　　The official was very pleased at the sight of the gold rat and said: "Do you know? In a few days my wife will celebrate her birthday too. She was born in the year of 'the ox'".

　　从前，有个官员过生日。

　　他手下的一个小官听说他属“鼠”，为了巴结他，铸了一只金鼠作为寿礼，登门祝寿。

　　这个官员一见金鼠，很是高兴，说：“你们知道吗？过几天，我的夫人也要过生日了，她是属‘牛’”。