A story was told of a young Chinese Princess who could not choose the best animal was. So in that case she had 12 animals race to see who was the best. After the race had started the Rat knew that he was not strong or fast enough to win. In that case, for the first part of the race he hitched a ride on the Tiger.
    The Tiger raced ahead until he came upon a river. Because cats are afraid of water, he would not go as fast as he would normally go on land. Then, the Rat rode all the way to the end of the river. After all the animals had crossed, most of them were tired to go any farther, so the Rat ran with all his energy to the finish where the Princess was waiting and won the race. 
    The Rat may not have been the fastest or the strongest to win, but he had the smartness and swiftness to win.