中國兔年怎么就成了越南貓年？

十二生肖中，越南有十個與中國相同：鼠、虎、龍、蛇、馬、羊、猴、雞、狗和豬。而其余兩個，兔被越南人用貓替代，牛被水牛替代。至于為何這兩個生肖的動物有所不同，原因已無從可考，但是許多專家稱這種區別可以追溯到十二生肖的傳說。

　　傳說中，佛祖邀請萬物生靈參加渡河大賽，最先到達彼岸的十二個動物將獲得成為生肖的榮耀。由于不會游泳，貓和老鼠這對密友決定伏在水牛背上搭個便車。但是當他們即將到達終點的時候，兩面三刀的耗子將貓推下了水，從此這對摯友翻臉成了天敵。

　　在越南民間傳說中，這個故事的版本稍有不同。據傳，是道教中至高無上的神——玉皇大帝舉辦了這場比賽，而在越南版中，貓是會游泳的。

　　“這個問題要從人類學和文化的角度來解釋，”巴黎高等學術研究院的專家菲利普-帕潘稱，由于如今許多越南人都有中國血統，最佳解釋還是在于語言的不同：“在漢語中，表示兔子這個含義的漢字是‘卯’，它的發音近似越南語的‘meo’，后者在越南語中是貓的意思。由于發音的混淆造成了詞義的改變。”

　　不管生肖之別是如何陰差陽錯產生的，如今的越南人并無意愿將生肖象征物與中土大國保持一致。

　　“對越南人來說，沒有徹底復制中國是體現了民族自尊心，”來自曼谷近代東南亞研究機構的貝努瓦-德-特雷哥羅德說：“這種相似中的差異貫穿越南文化始終。”

　　政治因素在其中也起到微妙的作用。兩國長期在邊界領土問題上存在爭議。一名來自河內的自由撰稿人陶清玄說：“我們不知道為什么會選這十二種動物作為生肖，但如今‘中國’和‘中國人’成為兩個常常引發爭議的敏感詞。盡管把這些太當回事顯得有點蠢，許多越南人慶幸沒有與鄰國一樣。”

　　76歲的越南資深演員洪柏兆說，越南人僅僅是更喜愛貓。“大部分的越南人都出身農民，”他說：“兔子對越南農民毫無幫助，但是貓卻是農民的好幫手，它能捉老鼠，防止稻谷遭遇鼠害。”

　　本周四當越南人開始歡度春節的時候，那些鼠年、馬年和雞年出生的人要避諱最先邁入家門，據說這樣會招致霉運。“算命先生說今年是運勢平平的一年，誰都知道貓狗相克。”陶清玄說道，她與許多人一樣，期望算命先生的預言能有助于自己的運程。但她仍希望同樣屬狗的丈夫和兒子在今年能夠打破令人失望的預言，過得豐富多彩。至少在這一點上，中國人和越南人是一樣的。

　　How the Chinese rabbit became a cat in Vietnam

　　HANOI - While much of Asia celebrates the Year of the Rabbit, Vietnam is striking a note of independence from the dominance of Chinese culture and marking the beginning of the Year of the Cat。

　　The two communist countries remain ideological allies and have endorsed a similar transition to a market-oriented economy。

　　But their relationship evokes strong emotions and contradictions in Vietnam, where many bitterly recall 1,000 years of Chinese occupation and, more recently, a 1979 border war。

　　While the smaller nation has held onto many Chinese words, customs and traditions, it still feels a strong need to set itself apart from its giant neighbor。

　　The two countries share 10 of the zodiac calendar's 12 signs-- the rat, tiger, dragon, snake, horse, goat, monkey, rooster, dog and pig. But the Vietnamese replace the rabbit with the cat and the ox with the buffalo。

　　Exactly why they opted for different animals remains unclear, but several scholars say the split can be traced back to the founding legends of the zodiac calendar。

　　One of these stories goes that Buddha invited animals to take part in a race across a river and the first 12 to reach the shore would have the honor of appearing on the calendar。

　　Unable to swim, close friends the cat and rat decided to hitch a ride on the ox's back. But as they approached the finish line, the two-faced rodent allegedly pushed the cat into the water -- and the pair have been sworn enemies ever since。

　　The Vietnamese tell the tale somewhat differently. According to them, it was the Jade Emperor, a Taoist god, who organized the race. And in their version, the cat knows how to swim。

　　"There are anthropological and cultural explanations," said Philippe Papin, an expert on Vietnamese history at the Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes in Paris。

　　But since many of today's Vietnamese have Chinese origins, the most likely explanation lies in linguistics, he said。

　　"The Chinese word for rabbit is 'mao', which sounds like 'meo' in Vietnamese, where it means cat. As the sound of the word changed, so did its meaning," Papin said。

　　Regardless of how the split came about, the Vietnamese today have no interest in bringing their zodiac signs into line with the Middle Kingdom。

　　"For the Vietnamese, it's a matter of national honour not to have copied China completely," said Benoit de Treglode, from the Research Institute on Contemporary Southeast Asia in Bangkok。

　　"This form of distinction in imitation can be found throughout Vietnamese culture," he added。

　　Politics play a role too with Beijing and Hanoi increasingly at odds over a number of long-running territorial disputes。

　　"We don't know exactly how the selection of these 12 animals happened," said Dao Thanh Huyen, an independent journalist based in Hanoi。

　　But "now that the words 'China' and 'Chinese' can become a source of controversy or even lead to arguments, many Vietnamese are happy not to be like their neighbor, even if it is fairly silly to take these things too seriously."

　　Hoang Phat Trieu, a retired Vietnamese actor, says his compatriots simply prefer cats to rabbits。

　　"Most of the Vietnamese people are farmers," the 76-year-old said. "The rabbit has nothing to do with Vietnamese farmers, while the cat has always been a very good friend of farmers, trying to kill the rats that threaten their crops."

　　As Vietnam marks its Tet Lunar New Year on Thursday, those born in the Years of the Rat, the Horse or the Rooster will be careful not to be the first to enter a house -- as this is said to attract bad luck。

　　"This year is going to be an average year according to fortune tellers," said Huyen. But she hopes her husband and son, both Dogs in the zodiac calendar, will make the year more interesting than the disappointingly dull prediction。

　　"Everybody knows how cats and dogs get on," she said, proving that the desire to make astrological predictions work in your favour is universal。

　　In that, at least, the Chinese and the Vietnamese are alike