Diary of a Cricket

All day long, I worked in my hole, enlarging an embellishing it into a nice bedroom.. And he was not the kind of fellow to do things seriously: his hole was shallow and had no galleries

Diary of a Cricket

» Tác giả: Tô Hoài

» Thể lọai: English

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An independent life since childhood - a prank that costs dearly

I have lived an independent life since early childhood Such

is the rule among us crickets My mother used to tell her children, "It’s good for you to learn to fly with your own wings Children who are a burden to their parents develop parasitic habits and will grow up into never-do-wells."

Following her principles, she would arrange for her children

to live on their own

My two brothers and myself, for instance, lived with her for only two days The third evening, my mother took each of

us to a hole she had dug in the corner of a rice field As the youngest of the brood, I was provided with a small supply

of food But that was all: my mother didn’t turn back once

Far from bewailing the situation, I rather enjoyed it After thoroughly exploring my new premises, I stood at the door, looking at the stars twinkling among the top blades of tall grass Feeling elated, I rubbed my wings and uttered a few enthusiastic loud cries

From that day on, I started a life on my own My personal happiness would depend on whether I would be wise or stupid But I didn’t think of that at the time I merely

enjoyed my independence

All day long, I worked in my hole, enlarging an embellishing

it into a nice bedroom Then I dug two new galleries leading

to back doors for emergencies When dusk fell, I would stop for a rest Together with the whole neighbourhood, I would start a joyful concert in honour of the setting sun During the whole night, we would hold riotous dancing and singing parties, stopping from time to time to drink dew drops or

nibble at juicy blades of young grass Only when the

austere-looking sun appeared again in the East, did we part

to go back home Such was the joyful routine of my life A quite pleasant one, wasn’t it?

As I lived soberly and worked moderately, I grew up rapidly and in no time became a healthy and strong adolescent My wings shone with a dark lustre The spikes on my legs were spear-pointed To try their effectiveness, I would sometimes raise my legs and give powerful kicks at the grass whose blades would then fall down as at the blow of a cutting blade My wings extended to the tip of my tail When

flapped, they gave out a powerful noise My head grew bigger and bigger and pugnacious-looking bumps started bulging out on my forehead My two white mandibles were always moving crosswise, like the blades of some mowing machine I was particularly proud of my two long and

martial-looking antennae which I kept caressing with my forelegs My whole body was of a glossy brown

I adopted a stately gait When I walked, I solemnly swayed

on my legs, my two antennae shaking in a bellicose

manner I took on daring airs and would pick a quarrel with every one of my neighbours When I started shouting, they would remain silent, probably not so much because they were afraid to answer back but merely because of a

peaceable disposition But that made me feel too big for my breeches Young people often are like that: bragging is for them a sign of talent! When I had played the bully with some timid grasshoppers or a waterspider who had stayed from his native pond, I believed myself a real hero

Alas, I didn’t know that one is likely to pay dearly for foolish bluster Unconsciously I was doing myself a bad disservice Later, I would many times narrowly escape death My heart would then be filled with remorse But remorse was not of much help in setting things right again This was how the first mishap came about:

Near my place lived a mole-cricket, about my age He

belonged to the weaker kind of cricket, so I rather looked down on him And he was truly afraid of me! Thin and pale like an opium-addict, he had ridiculously short wings which made him look as though a waistcoat was his only clothing His hindlegs were thick and utterly inelegant In addition to

all that, he had ludicrous stumps in place of antennae, and the dazed look of a hopeless country bumpkin! And he was not the kind of fellow to do things seriously: his hole was shallow and had no galleries like mine

One day I paid him a visit After having a look at his shabby home, I reproachfully told him, " What a careless and

slovenly way of living! What a home to live in! Suppose an enemy comes: you will have no way to escape! Look, every time you move in your hole, your back will show up through the ceiling Any hawk could easily get you My poor chap, you are no longer a child, yet you haven’t the wisdom of mature age!"

The mole-cricket answered in a sad voice, "Big Brother, I surely want to have wisdom, but I can’t I work all night for

a living, and am too tired when daylight comes to do any more work and make this place safer and more

comfortable I have no time to sing like you! I know it is dangerous to live in such a shallow hole, but I have neither the strength nor the money to improve it Wise Brother, the poor are always in such straits! But now, I think that… but, I dare not speak to you about it…"

I said in a condescending way, "Just tell me what you think

I permit you to do so."

The mole-cricket timidly said, " Thank you, Big Brother As you have deigned to take pity on me, I would ask for

permission to dig a gallery linking my hole to yours In case

of danger, I can thus escape to your place."

Baring my teeth, I snarled, " What! A gallery linking my place to yours? How could I stand it? You smell as badly as

an owl Now, stop it! It’s no use whimpering It serves you right for being such a lazy fellow."

I went back to my place and paid no more attention to my unfortunate neighbour

One afternoon, I stood at my doorstep It had rained the day before, so the neighbouring ponds and lakes were

overflowing Egrets, cranes, cormorants… were coming to search for food All day long, they kept quarrelling, noisily disputing every tiny shrimp Egrets, being the weakest,

could never get enough food to eat and so grew horribly thin Such is the fate of the weak! While philosophising over the facts of life, I suddenly noticed a cormorant who had just alighted a few steps from my place

A wicked idea came to my mind I called my neighbour the mole-cricket When I heard his answer, I asked him, "Would you like to have some fun?"

"How so?"

"Just playing a joke on somebody."

"On whom?"

"On yonder cormorant."

"What, that big, fat female standing a few steps from our doors?"

"Precisely."

"My God, no! I can’t afford that And I would advise you not

to either."

"Me! Not to? What are you talking about? I fear nobody, Mister Coward."

"Then, do it alone, please I humbly confess that I’m afraid."

"You poltroon! Look, I’m going to play a good joke on the cormorant."

I waited for a favourable moment then started singing

"Bong, bong, bong!

The egret, the crane, the pelican!

All three are fat enough, which one should I pluck, Sir?

- Pluck the cormorant for me, my boy!

I will have it cooked, broiled, fried, and I’ll eat it!"

This gave the cormorant a start! Opening her eyes wide and stretching her wings, she strutted toward where the song came from and asked in an angry voice, "Who just

said that insolent thing about me? Who?"

I quickly backed down to the bottom of my hole, saying to myself, "You’re angry, eh? But you won’t get me, even if you break your silly head knocking it on my door." The cormorant didn’t get me, as a matter of fact But she

caught sight of the mole-cricket in his shallow hole I heard her angry shout, "Mole-cricket! What did you just say about me?"

"I said nothing, Big Sister."

"How dare you deny it? How dare you?"

A heavy stroke of the cormorant’s bill accompanied each of her rebukes I heard the mole-cricket’s painful whine

Having relieved herself of her anger, the cormorant flew away to look for fish Carefully, I crept up When he saw

me, my poor neighbour cried bitterly, "Heavens! You’ve caused my death, Big Brother!"

"What happened?" I asked

But mole-cricket could not stand on his legs He was lying

on the ground, half-dead Tears came to my eyes I spoke softly, "How could I know things would happen this way? Brother, my heart is filled with bitter remorse My silly

bragging is the cause of this tragedy."

Mole-cricket was in agony, but he found the strength to give me some advice, "Being in poor health," he murmured

"I won’t live long anyway So I am not really sad at having

to die now But before leaving this world, I would like to advise you not to be such a foolish braggart Before you do anything, pray, think the matter over carefully Less danger will befall you."

Moved to tears, I bowed my head and said, "Big Brother, thank you for your wise advice I promise to follow it."

Mole-cricket breathed his last My heart was filled with pity and remorse Had it not been for the silly joke I played on the cormorant, he would not have died And I myself had had a close shave, too Far from being the smart fellow I thought I was, I was a confounded fool My heart swelled

with remorse

I buried Mole-cricket in a grassy piece of land I heaped earth on his grave so that ants would not be able to disturb his rest I stood for a long moment before his tomb, my eyes filled with tears I was so sad and felt so much pity for

my friend

II

Start on my adventurous journey - unwittingly become a children's plaything - I get a hard lesson from the longicorn

Thus, I began to revise all my thinking and actions

drastically Promised to myself that I would forthwith

renounce all foolish swaggering I started a more peaceful life But this didn’t last long, although I don’t know precisely how long this episode in my life lasted This was how

everything began

It was the beginning of summer One morning, as I was nibbling at some young blades of grass, I saw coming from the other end of the ground two young boys carrying sticks and a water can I quickly ran back to my hole Soon, I

heard steps overhead, then the sound of voices:

"Hey, Lam!"

"What?"

"Here it is!"

"Ha, ha! Sure enough! Look at the earth thrown out of the hole And those footprints! Hiep, give me the knife so that I can widen the entrance to the hole Now, go and fetch me a canful of water! Quick!"

I heard the knife being bored into the ground and bits of earth soon started falling on my head Hardly had I climbed

up an emergency gallery than water was poured in But thanks to the many emergency galleries I had dug, through which the water could flow out, the place I was in was not flooded

However, the two wicked brats did not give up the chase;

especially the one named Lam He said to his partner, "I bet there is a cricket in this hole And a big one too It takes some time to drive a cricket out of its hole It can stay

immersed in water for hours on end Now let us block up all the side galleries so that the water won’t flow out."

No sooner said than done All of a sudden, I found myself plunged in darkness: all the side exits had been obstructed Only one gallery was left, the main one That was the one down which the water was being poured That was also the one by which I should creep out if I did not want to be

drowned Now the water level kept going up It reached my back, then my head Finally even my antennae were

immersed But I held on, hoping that the water would seep through However, the children kept pouring in canful after canful of water All the galleries were submerged I was panic-stricken Soon, I would have to creep out of my hole and be caught Was I to serve as food for some fighting-cock or pet blackbird? My tender flesh would be a real treat for these voracious devils

To get some air, I had to creep up the main gallery

Little by little I was unconsciously approaching the

entrance At a given moment, I heard a joyful shout, "Here

it comes! My! What a glossy forehead!" I hastily backed down, but it was too late More water came in, more shouts were heard A spike of bamboo was driven into the ground behind me and prevented me from going further down One child worked on the bamboo spike as a lever to push me out, while the other frantically beat on an empty can which resounded like a tocsin These absurd kiddies were acting

as though they were giving chase to some bandit! Finally, unable to resist further I jumped out Savage shouts broke out!

"Attaboy! What a cricket!"

"Ho, ho! A real warrior-cricket!"

"It's as big as a cicada!"

"You bet!"

The boy called Lam caught hold of me I gave him a good

bite He uttered a painful cry and released his grip

I started running like mad But they were immediately after

me, one brandishing a butterfly net and the other his hat In the twinkling of an eye, the net landed on me I tried to gnaw at a thread, but to no avail The children would no longer touch me for fear of being bitten, using the net as a cage to keep me in Then they washed their hands,

arranged their tools and went home, singing joyfully

I cast a last glance at the familiar surroundings: the green grass, the silver-white water, the golden shine of the sun on the tree-tops I felt as though a knife were being driven through my heart Tears welled in my eyes Death was near!

They took me out of the grassy field, along a winding

pathway bordered with bamboo hedges, then through a bamboo gate: we were in their home My fate was to be decided! Hiep said, "Let us give it to our fat duck!"

Good Heaven! Such was to be my tragic end! But Lam did not agree He had his own idea "No, it's not often that one catches such a big cricket That one is a real

warrior-cricket This fellow Thinh has been quite highfalutin about his cricket He said it would kick the life out of any other cricket Let's have a fight between his champ and ours." Hiep noisily clapped his hands, "Good! Let's do that."

They put me in a cage previously destined for

grasshoppers, with a door that could slide up and down At noon, they took me to the place where the fellow called Thinh lived The latter readily accepted the challenge All three of them went to a shaded place, Thinh carrying his own cricket cage They lay face down on the grass and put the cages close to each other, the two doors facing Then they lifted the sliding barriers

The cricket in the other cage was a bit smaller than myself But he looked as vain as a peacock His very way of walking showed utter conceit As soon as he saw me, he said in a sneering voice, "I don't suppose a bumpkin like you will be able to stand just a few of my kicks!"

At the time, I was surprised that a cricket should behave in such a way toward another cricket Later on, I realised how naive I was Being young, I could not be a penetrating judge

of people's minds

Although deeply offended by the other cricket's insolence, I softly said to him, "Why kick up such a row? Don't you know

we are kith and kin? Why use such nasty language?"

Showing his teeth, the young coxcomb snarled out

arrogantly, "Nonsense! Just come up here if you're a man!"

Anger seethed in me, I jumped into his cage A savage fight began, amidst the clapping and cheering of the three

children

After exchanging a few blows with my adversary I realised that his strength was far from equalling his insolence A powerful wallop knocked him down A few more kicks made him spit blood and broke one of his legs Lying on the

ground, he cried out painfully Putting my mouth close to his ears, I said, "A good lesson it was for you, young

braggart! I hope you'll show better manners next time." Trembling with fear, he repeatedly kowtowed to me

Alas, though from then on, my unfortunate adversary had become more sensible, his impudence had shifted onto me

I started adopting the very manners for which I gave him such a sound beating Why should this be?

The reason was that I had not entirely been cured of my native bumptiousness and arrogance After I had knocked the poor squirt down, I started having a very high opinion of myself "I'm really strong indeed Only a few kicks of mine laid this fellow down Surely, the young masters must be highly satisfied with such brilliant feats They will look for more fighting crickets to be matched against me I shall have more occasions to test my strength That will give me the opportunity to get still further into their good graces Perhaps I shall eventually recover my freedom."

Things happened the way I had predicted All the children

in the hamlet went out to the fields for crickets to be set against me My reputation as a tough fighter began to

spread far and wide All my opponents cleared out after a few blows I was at that time in the prime of manhood and the best of health Easy success fans up arrogance and vain-gloriousness: I looked down upon everybody I adopted the insolent speech and manners of my first unfortunate opponent

On account of my frequent victories, I was very much loved

by my two young owners At each triumphal return, I was given the daintiest food At night, they set my perch on a pergola where I could drink fresh dew To please my

masters, I stayed all day long close to the matchbox they gave me as a lodging, and thought no more of recovering

my freedom Sometimes, filled with self-complacency, I would rub my wings and start singing: reee reee I forgot completely about my statute as a slave and a plaything What a confounded fool I was!

One day, something happened that opened my eyes That day, my masters took me to a fight, as usual My opponent was a pitiful adolescent, perhaps no bigger than my belly Hardly had he seen me when he cried out for mercy But I wasn't a bit moved by compassion I pitched ruthlessly into him, to the great pleasure of my owners Suddenly, I heard

a sharp rebuke from a near-by branch

"Aren't you ashamed of assailing someone so much weaker than yourself?"

I looked up The reproachful words were addressed to me

by a powerful, armour-clad, savage-looking longicorn But I was not afraid I knew that the longicorn would not dare come down on me for fear of being caught by the children

So I snapped back at him, "Leave me alone, will you? It's no business of yours!"

I went on raining blows on my unfortunate victim, now

more dead than alive Far from feeling any pity I was quite pleased with the spectators' cheering and clapping Beside himself with anger, the longicorn shouted, "You ruffian! I'll teach you!"

"Come down here if you want a fight!" I replied defiantly The longicorn ground his teeth His antennae were