The Cricket summary and four level discussion by Pu Sung-ling
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About the Author
Pu Sung-ling (1640-1715) was born in
China. He is from a poor landlord merchant family belonging to Mongol ancestry.
He spends most of his life span in working as a private tutor and collecting
the stories. He is one of the influential story writers during the Qing Dynasty.
Summary of The Cricket by Pu Sung-ling
The Cricket is based on the Chinese
context of cricket fighting that began in the Tang Dynasty. It also shows the
cultural importance of cricket fight along with the faith in lick and
coincidence. The Cricket is a biting satire against the Chinese communism of
the past based on dictatorship. In an autocratic system of government, one does
not feel security and freedom without any obvious reason, people get punished
and tortured. They cannot go against the rulers. In this sense, this story is
trying to show the importance of freedom.
Cricket fighting was very famous
during Ming reign in the Chinese Court. Each year ordinary people needed to
supply crickets for rich men to test in the battle. In Floral Shade, Magistrate
wanted a favor from his superiors; He managed on mighty warrior, by which ingot
appointed a royal supplier of crickets to the court. Naturally, the Magistrate
handed over this responsibility to the neighborhood's heads. Soon crickets
became rare and valuable in the country, many young people kept crickets
secretly to sell them at a high price. The local government officials searched
their houses. They took away valuable things, and ruined several families while
searching for the cricket collections.
There used to live an ordinary person
named Mr. Make- good in Floral Shade,. He was appointed as a Neighbourhood Head
to collect an outstanding specimen of crickets to fulfill the quota demanded by
the Magistrate and the governor. Mr. Make-good could not fulfill the quota. As
a result, he was severely punished. He was given 100 strokes. Blood runs down
from his knees. He was badly wounded. Being entrapped in this troublesome
situation, he wanted to die. However, his wife convinced him rather look for
crickets himself with the hope of luck.
Meanwhile, a famous fortune-teller
came to that village. Her door was crowded with people. Mrs. Make-good also
went there to offer some money. When she offered them money and bowed her head,
they shook and a piece of paper fell in front of her feet. There was just a
picture of a deserted shrine behind a small mountain. The rocks were among
trees. A greenhead cricket was sitting near a frog. Being confused Make-good's
wife returned home to show the paper to her husband. There was a Buddhist
temple and behind it, there was a large cricket in the thicket. Mr. Make-good
understood the meaning of the picture. He followed the instruction. Then, he went
behind the Buddhist temple. He actually found a large cricket in the bush.
Being overjoyed, he captured it and returned home. He took good care of it.
Once, his 9 years old son uncovered
cricket. Then, it jumped away. The desperate boy hunted the cricket and trapped
it under his hand. It was dead. The son frightened by his father run away and
jumped away into a wall where Mr. Make-good found him dead there. So, his rage
to him turned into sorrow.
Mr. and Mrs. Make-good took their son
to be buried. Surprisingly, there was a slight sign of breathing. They became
happy with this condition and took their son back home and put him on the bed.
Gradually, he collected his senses.
However, Mr. Make-good was still tensed
about the lost cricket. But fortunately, he found a small cricket the next
morning. He thought the authorities might not be happy with him because the
cricket was smaller. But one-day small cricket defeated all other larger
crickets in the fight. The winner of his cricket made Mr. Make - good very
happy.
The next day, Mr. Make-good brought
his small cricket to the Magistrate and governor. In the battle, the small
cricket became victorious. The emperor was so happy with Mr. Make - good that he
was awarded several prizes including a university degree. He obtained land,
building, sheep, and oxen, too. His son's health and spirit got restored after
one year,. Finally, Mr. Make-good leads a luxurious life like the noblemen of
his place.
Application of Four Levels of the story The
Cricket
Literal
Comprehension
The Cricket shows the cultural importance of
cricket fighting along with faith in luck and coincidence. Cricket fighting was
very famous during Ming reign in the Chinese court. There used to live an
ordinary man called Mr. Make-good in Floral shade. He was appointed as a
Neighbourhood Head to collect outstanding crickets. However, he could not
fulfill the quota. Therefore, he was bitterly punished with hundred strokes. He
got wounded and wanted to die leaving all his profession. But his wife
convinced him that he would find better crickets with luck.
One day his wife went to see a fortune-teller
with money and flower, when she was shaking her head in front of the
fortune-teller, she found something else on the paper having a picture of
Buddha and cricket behind it. Recently, she went to her house to show her
husband. As Mr. Make-good looked at that picture, then he understood its
meaning.
Immediately he went towards the Buddhist
temple and moved to the bush nearby. He found big cricket as shown in the
picture. Being happy he captured it, behaved well, and returned to his house.
He took well care of that cricket at his house.
But one day his 9 years old son uncovered it
and the cricket jumped away. Then, the son being angry with it, hold the
cricket strongly and killed it. Afraid of his father, he run away and jumped
into a well where he was found unconscious by his father. His father’s anger
turned into grief.
Both Mr. and Mrs. Make-good took the son to
be buried but the son started breathing. It made them happy. They brought their
son to their house. However, Mr. Make-good was still worried about the lost
cricket. Luckily, he found a small cricket the next morning and he thought
himself that Magistrate and governor would not be happy with it. He brought it
there and the small cricket defeated big crickets in the battle. This made Mr.
Make-good happier.
Similarly, Magistrate and the governor became
satisfied and happy. In the end, Mr. Make- good was awarded a University degree
and given land, a building, sheep, and oxen.
Next year, his son turned out to be a normal
one. So, Mr. Make-good started living a luxurious life like that of noblemen.
Interpretation of The Cricket
The Cricket tries to show us the cultural
importance of cricket fight along with the faith in luck and coincidence which
began in the Tang Dynasty. Similarly, it also makes a bitter satire on an
autocratic system of the government where one does not feel free and secure
with peace and rights. In addition, it suggests to us that one can get the
achievement if he/she has belief in his work and fate.
Critical Thinking of the story The Cricket
This story teaches us the importance of
freedom, rights, and justice. It shows us the cultural importance of cricket
fighting based in the Chinese context. It satirizes the autocratic system of the
Chinese government where ordinary people like Mr. Make - good, could not get
justice and freedom from the rulers.
However, some ideas in this story are less
convincing. Despite the truth of cricket fighting, the suffering of an ordinary
man in the hands of powerful rulers, the assumed death of his son, and his
sudden survival, defeating the battle by very small cricket to all big crickets
are more fantastic and less realistic in the story.
Assimilation
The Cricket is an interesting and satirical
story. It is a cultural story that reflects the cricket-fighting custom of
China. After reading this story, I am greatly influenced and it has reminded me
to share the tradition of bull-fighting that is done once every year in my
village.
Last year, I saw the oxen fighting in the
whole village and later our ox got victory over all oxen. We were awarded by
the chairman and my father received the prize. Though it was very tough for our
bull to fight with all the other bulls, we enjoyed a lot.
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A discussion question of The Cricket
Would the
writer of "he Cricket" agree that it is better to live in a free
country than in an authoritarian one?
We know people in an authoritarian system of
government suffer a lot. The writer describes the autocratic communalism system
adopted by China where the officers used to exploit the common people for the
favor of senior people. The magistrate appointed Mr. Make-good to the position
of a Neighbourhood Head. However, he was bound to collect the required amount
of taxes, which he was to deposit from his property. He lost his property. He
could not collect and supply the required quota of crickets. He was beaten to
bleeding from his body. At last, Mr. Make-good was in a state of committing
suicide. Therefore, all these mental and physical suppression and exploitation
of the lower class and ordinary people by the elite and higher class people
suggest that it is better to live in a free country (democratic) than in an
authoritarian country.
In the story, the writer advocates the peace,
justice, freedom, and rights of human beings. In fact, people are pleased to
live in a free state or society enjoying liberty, freedom, justice, and the
pursuit of happiness. This is not possible in an authoritarian system of
communalism in China. Authoritarian people in China suppress, torture, and
exploit very poor, innocent, and ordinary people in the name of communalism.
There is no justice for victimized people. They might be punished without any
obvious reason or work.
Hence, presenting the example of Mr. Make -
good as the symbol of all common, poor, and innocent people who suffered during
Ming reign in China, it is quite better to live in a free or democratic country
than an authoritarian or autocratic country. Why do people enjoy watching
animals (and sometimes even people) fight to the death? Killing animals,
watching violent scenes, and enjoying animal fighting are the reflections of
our innate qualities.
Moreover, at the unconscious level, we have a
pleasure-seeking instinct. Hence, impulses drive us to enjoy our animals fighting
and killing each other. Man enjoys bullfighting, cockfighting, dogfighting, and
several other kinds of fighting among animals. The fundamental reason is that
they are guided by death instincts. They also enjoy watching even the fights of
human beings.
Human beings often link them with their
ancestors. In primitive ages, people used to live in caves. Hunting was their
basic method of managing food.
So, this tradition developed savage quality
in them. Similarly, it is said that human being a social animal, who often
maintains control over animal instinct. Frequently it appears on the surface
level like at the time of war, the desire for sex, hunger, and conflict.