Long ago, the Ox Star was sent to Earth to deliver a message from the Emperor of the Heavens. He was instructed to tell the people that the Emperor promised they'd eat once every three days, but he garbled the message and instead told them that the Emperor promised they'd eat three times a day. Of course, the people would need help in order to produce enough food to feed themselves so often. Bold, stylized paintings illustrate the Chinese folktale which explains how oxen came to be beasts of burden. (Ages 4-7)

According to this old Chinese story, oxen once lived lives of luxury in the heavens. There were no beasts of burden on the earth. People had to do all the work of growing food on their own, and they often could not grow enough. When the Ox Star is sent to deliver a message to the people from the Emperor of All the Heavens, he garbles the words and is banished from the heavens forever to become a beast of burden on the earth. What was a celestial blunder becomes an earthly blessing.