The Crafty Rat takes its name from the first animal in the Chinese Zodiac.  There are many stories about how the rat became the first animal, but they all have one thing in common; the crafty rat uses guile, trickery, or deceit to win its spot at the head of the zodiac. In most stories, the Buddha or Jade Emperor sends the rat out with an invitation for all of the animals to visit him.  Twelve animals make the journey.  Each animal is honored with a year of the zodiac in the order of their arrival.  The crafty rat talks one of the animals into allowing it to ride on their back.  The ox and the cat are the animals most often ridden by the rat.   When the rat and its ride arrive before the Buddha or Jade Emperor, the rat scampers off its ride and leaps ahead to win first place in the Chinese Zodiac.  Sometimes the story ends there, but sometimes the Buddha is grateful enough that the rat brought the animals together in the first place that he overlooks the rat's cheating. This Crafty Rat shares a name with the original crafty rat, but its craftiness is limited to the items crafted for your ratties.  This Crafty Rat wants to become famous for its honesty and integrity.  After all, we have our famous ancient ancestor's reputation to overcome. The Chinese characters to the right say "(The) Crafty Rat is clever and ingenious, not cunning or deceitful." Home    Shopping    Subscribe Links    Downloads    Policies Where's Rattie? (Back To Top) Questions or comments about these pages? Click HERE to E-Mail The Crafty Rat. Please be patient, it might take a minute or two for your computer to bring up the e-mail form. All text and images Copyright © 2003 L. Bradley / The Crafty Rat All pages rated with the Internet Content Rating Association