"Old Chinese folk tale about why the rabbit is so respected, and how it earned its place on the zodiac. Basically, there was a tall mountain that all the zodiac lived upon, and they lived in discord. The rabbit was the weakest of them, even weaker than the rat, because of his scheming and shrewd ways. But the rabbit loved to play games and was very nimble. One day the rabbit had had enough of being the least respected, and decided he would be king of the mountain. Through cunning, taunts, traps, and persuasion, he got each zodiac to understand his strengths and respect him as a fellow zodiac. The tiger, however, refused. He was too proud, and saw no merit in the rabbit's weak form and gentle demeanor. Knowing this, the rabbit challenged him to a duel, only to lead him into a patch of bamboo shoots that he had bound tight before hand. When tiger thought he was going to win, rabbit released the bamboo shoots, and as they shot up to their full height, tiger was impaled along his flanks, and the blood left blackened stripes all along his hide. Trapped in the air, he roared and cursed the rabbit, but eventually admitted defeat. Afterwards, the rabbit asked each of the zodiacs to rule over the mountain for one year, then to pass it to the next."