In Chinese mythology, you may notice that we are absent from the zodiac calendar. Legend has it that the cat asked his friend the rat to wake him on the day they were to go to Heaven so he wouldn't oversleep. But the rat was worried that he would seem ugly compared to the cat, so he didn't wake the cat. Consequently, the cat missed the meeting with the Jade Emperor and was replaced by the pig. To this day, we are no friend of any rat.