Legend 1 Why doesn’t Ox have upper teeth?

传说古时候，牛是玉帝殿前的差役，往返于天宫和大地之间。一天，农民托牛给玉帝传个口信，说是人间寸草不生，大地光秃秃的，请玉帝撒些草籽给人间。玉帝听了，问殿下众神谁愿去人间撒草种。

Legend has it that in ancient times, the ox was a servant in front of the palace of the jade emperor, going back and forth between heaven palace and the earth. One day, the farmer asked the ox to send a message to the jade emperor, saying that nothing on earth could grow and the land was deserted. The farmer hoped that the jade emperor would send some seeds to the earth.

牛自告奋勇：“我愿意去。”
“你粗心大意，恐怕不行吧。”玉帝不放心地说。
“玉帝放心，这点小事我都办不好，甘愿受罚。”

The ox volunteered, “I’ll go.”
“I’m afraid you’re careless.” Said the jade emperor uneasily.
“If I can’t make it, I’m willing to accept the punishment.”

玉帝同意了牛的请求，嘱咐牛到人间后，走三步撒一把草籽。牛带着草籽，刚跨出南天门，不小心跌了一跤，头脑晕乎乎的，把玉帝的旨意搞反了，愣是走一步撒了三把草籽。于是，第二年，大地野草丛生，农民根本就无法种庄稼。玉帝知道这件事后非常生气，一脚就把牛踹飞，牛啪嗒一下从天而降，掉到了地上，上排的牙全都磕碎了，至今都没长出来。牛从此便在人间一辈子给农民当苦力干农活，并且从未停止啃青草，一直都是任劳任怨，勤勤恳恳，踏踏实实地帮助农民干活，为农民做了不少工作，深得人们的喜爱与好评。

The jade emperor agreed and asked the ox to scatter grass seed every three steps. The ox took grass seeds. Just as the ox stepped out of the southern gate, it fell down and felt so dizzy that it got the jade emperor’s meaning backwards. At last the ox scatter three seed every one step. So, the next year, the land was so full of weeds that farmers could not grow crops at all. The jade emperor was so angry that he kicked the ox away. The ox fell from the heaven palace with a snap and fell to the ground with its upper teeth all broken and never grown back. Since then, the ox has been doing farm work for farmers on the earth all its life, and has never stopped nibbling grass. It has been working hard and diligently to help the farmers, and has done a lot of work for the farmers, which has won people’s love and praise.

传说二 生肖【牛】为什么叫丑牛？
Legend 2 Why is the Zodiac Ox called Ox patient?

传说十二生肖的排列顺序，是古人依据十二种动物的生活习性和活动特点来安排的，即每一种动物为一个时辰。在农耕时代，农民以牛耕田，为了让牛白天有力气下地干农活，夜晚必须要把牛喂饱喂好是农家的头等大事。每天的丑时（一点至三点），农民就要深夜起来挑灯喂牛吃草，因此，表示十二时辰的十二个字与十二生肖相结合，牛与丑时联系在一起，便成了“丑牛”。

According to legend, the order of the twelve zodiac animals was based on the living habits and activity characteristics of the twelve animals, that is, each animal was one Chinese ancient hour. During the agrarian age, farmers plowed their fields with oxen. In order for the cows to be strong enough to work during the day, feeding them at night was the first order of business. Every day, the period of the day from 1 a.m. to 3 a.m farmers would get up late at night to feed their ox. Therefore, the twelve characters representing the twelfth Chinese ancient hours were associated with twelve zodiac animals. The ox is associated with the period of the day from 1 a.m. to 3 a.m, so called Ox patient.

摘录与【牛】相关的有趣说法
Excerpts of interesting sayings relating to Ox

1. 比喻大材小用：牛刀小试、杀鸡焉用牛刀、牛鼎烹鸡。
Metaphor of wasting one’s talent on a petty job: （Chinese idiom）
A master hand’s first small display. (Literal meaning: Small display of butcher’s knife for killing oxen)
Don’t use an elephant to crack a nut. (Literal meaning: It’s unnecessary to use a knife for killing oxen to kill chickens.)
Break a butterfly upon the wheel. ( Literal meaning: Boil a chicken in the same pot as an ox)

2. 宣示自己宁在小地方做首领，也不在大地方做部下：宁为鸡口，勿为牛后。
(Literal meaning)Better be the mouth of a chicken than the tail of an ox:
Better be first in a village than second at Rome

3. 牛体大，毛自然多，因此以多如牛毛喻众多而细密。《抱朴子》书里说：“为学如牛毛，获者如麟角”，强调做学问之不易。
Oxen are big and naturally hairy. Therefore, as many as ox hair refers to numerous and detailed. A Chinese book called Baopuzi says that there are as many scholars as ox hair, but as few successful ones as unicorn horns, which emphasizes the difficulty of learning.

4. 汗牛充栋是指用牛运书，牛累得出汗；用屋子放书,要放满整个屋子，形容藏书很多。
(Literal meaning) Sweat ox fills the house: To have enough books to make the ox carrying them sweat. Metaphor of an immense number of books.

5. 牛有四个囊，食下物后能反刍，食量很大，因此讥笑人食量大者为牛肚，称善饮者为牛饮， 称脾气大者为牛脾气。
An ox has four stomachs and can chew the cud. It eats a lot.
(Literal meaning)Ox stomach: tripe.
(Literal meaning)Ox drinking : swig.
(Literal meaning)Ox temper: stubborn temper.

6. 称夸耀不实者为吹牛或吹牛皮
(Literal meaning) Blow the ox : One who boasts falsely, brag.

7. 凡事两情不符者为风马牛不相及或牛头不对马嘴。
(Literal meaning) The wind, the ox and the horse are irrelevant or the head of an ox does not match the mouth of a horse: It’s irrelevant; apples and oranges.

8. 钻牛角尖是指一个人死脑筋，遇事不灵活的表现。
(Literal meaning) go into the tip of a horn: a hair-splitter.

9. 泥牛入海意思是泥塑的牛掉到海里，比喻一去不再回来。
(Literal meaning) like a clay ox entering the sea: Once gone, never to return.

10. 对牛弹琴意思是听话的人不懂对方说得是什么，用以讥笑说话的人不看对象。
(Literal meaning) Play Chinese Lyre to the ox: The listener doesn’t understand what the other person is saying. To sneer that the speaker does not consider the listener.

11. 当牛做马表达感恩之人的报恩诚意深厚，甘被当作牛马驱使，听从别人使唤。
(Literal meaning) To be the ox and horse: The gratitude of the grateful is so profound that he is willing to follow other’s order like the ox and the horse.

12. 归马放牛比喻战事结束，士兵解甲归田永息兵弋。
(Literal meaning) Return the ox and horse: The war is over. The soldier took off his armour and returned to the field

13. 九牛一毛指极多数中的一小部分
(Literal meaning) A single hair out of nine ox hides: A drop in the ocean.

14. 九牛二虎形容极大的力量
(Literal meaning) Nine oxen and two tigers: Infinite power and strength.

15. 骑牛找马比喻一面保持既有的状况,一面找寻其他更好的机会
(Literal meaning) Riding the ox to look for the horse: While maintaining the status quo, look for other better opportunities

16. 犟牛是形容一个人固执
(Literal meaning) Stubborn ox: To describe a stubborn person.

17.蚊子叮牛角意即无关痛痒，一点知觉都没有。
(Literal meaning) A mosquito bites an ox on the horn: No esthesis