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The Vietnam News

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Vietnamese hoping for extra virility during Year of the Goat

HANOI - The Year of the Goat is eagerly awaited in Vietnam, where the animal is revered for its sexual capacity. "The sexual power (of one male goat) is legendary: it can satisfy 30 or 50 goats," said the French-language Courrier du Vietnam weekly newspaper. Restaurateurs are also convinced of the animal's aphrodisiac qualities, saying that eating goat meat can boost a man's performance in the bedroom.

They also recommend drinking rice wine distilled for six months in a bottle containing a goat's penis. "In general, the goat has an easy-going nature and prefers to work in a team rather than on his own. He hates any sort of discord or uneasiness and does not like to be bound by a strict routine or rigid timetable," says Dao Dang Phong, a US-based expert on Vietnamese culture.

"Among the signs in the Chinese zodiac, the goat is probably the most gifted artistically." No one knows the real origins of the Chinese horoscope representing the cycles of the lunar year, but there are many different interpretations, according to Phong. One Chinese legend has it that the Jade Emperor asked for twelve representatives of the animal species on earth to be brought to his heavenly kingdom. He then classified them in order of merit. However, another version says the order of the 12 animals was decided thousands of years ago by Buddha, who called for a New Year's meeting of animals.

The first to arrive was the rat, followed by the ox. Then came the tiger, the rabbit, the dragon, the snake, the horse, the goat, the monkey, the chicken, the dog and the pig. However, the Vietnamese prefer the buffalo to the ox and the cat to the rabbit.

Agence France Presse - January 30, 2003