Happy Chinese New Year!
Are you proud to be a Rat? You should be!
For Western cultures, the rat is a symbol of filth, deception and skullduggery. To be called a “rat” is an insult, and to “rat on someone” is to betray them to the authorities for a misdeed that they committed. The Black Plague was at one time believed to have been caused by rats, but was actually transmitted by fleas, that infected both rats and humans. While the modern wild rat can carry diseases that can be transferred to humans, these conditions are rarely found.
Some people actually keep rats as pets. This species of rat originated from the grasslands
of…wait for it…CHINA, and spread to Europe, and eventually to the US. Rats are sociable, intelligent animals than can be trained to use a litter box, come when called, and perform a variety of tricks. Get this, rats laugh and giggle. It was discovered that rats emit short, high frequency, ultrasonic, socially induced vocalization during rough and tumble play, and when tickled! In a study, rats chirped when wrestling one another, and before receiving morphine or having sex…not necessarily in that order.
According to Wikipedia, “In Indian tradition rats are recognized as the vehicle of Lord Ganesh and a rat’s statue is always found in a temple of Ganesh. In the northwestern Indian city of Deshnoke, the rats at the Karni Mata temple are held to be destined for reincarnation as Sadhus (Hindu holy men). The attending priests feed milk and grain to the rats, of which the pilgrims also partake. Eating food that has been touched by rats is considered a blessing from god.
While the Chinese culture falls short of inviting their rats to the dinner table, they do not generally associate as much negativity to the rat as do Western cultures. The Rat is the first animal of the lunar zodiac, having beaten all the other animals in a race to determine the calendar sequence. According to legend, the wily Rat tricked the Tiger by telling it the wrong date and won the race by crossing a river on the back of the Ox, which finished second. The Tiger swore to kill the Rat for generations after being fooled, and thus was born the animosity between the two
animals. The story demonstrates the character of the Rat, and people born in the Year of the Rat, which is smart, likeable, and lucky but also can be selfish, cowardly, and manipulative.
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