There was once a man in Yongzhou. As he was born in the year of the rat, he loved rats. He did not allow anyone in his house to catch or harm them, neither did he allow cats and dogs in his home. Though the rats stole his food, and chewed holes in his things, he never got angry at them. And so, the number of rats in his house grew. In the end, all his clothes and furniture had holes in them, and everything he ate had been nibbled before by the rats. Throughout the day, the rats would run around his house and squeak loudly. No one was able to sleep properly with all the noise they made. It seemed that the rats were the actual masters of the house. 

After a few years, the family moved elsewhere, and the house had a new owner. But the rats did not know that the owner had changed. They continued to squeak loudly and chew holes everywhere. The new owner of the house was furious, and he borrowed five or six cats to catch the rats. He also sealed off the rat holes and flooded the nests with water. Many rats drowned, and their bodies piled up like a small mountain. 

From then on, rats were never seen in the house again.

永州有一個人，因為生肖屬鼠，所以他很喜歡老鼠，不但規定家裡的人不可以傷害老鼠，更不准養貓狗。就算老鼠偷吃了食物、咬破了東西，他也不生氣。所以家裡的老鼠越來越多，衣服、家具沒有一件是完整的，吃的東西也差不多都是老鼠吃過的。不分白天晚上，老鼠都在家裡跑來跑去，嘰嘰亂叫，讓人根本沒辦法休息，好像牠們才是這個家的主人。 

過了幾年，這家人搬走了，換了新主人住進來。可是老鼠們不知道，每天還是吵吵鬧鬧，亂吃亂咬東西。新主人非常生氣，於是向人借了五、六隻貓來抓老鼠，還封住所有老鼠的出入口，接著用水灌進老鼠洞，淹死了一大堆老鼠，堆得像小山一樣高。

從此在這個家裡，再也看不到老鼠的影子了。