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The Cricket (Finished!!!!) |
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Long, long ago, when the earth was still young, there lived a powerful emperor in the land of China. He build palaces, and temples, and grand cities in his empire, and he cherished it all. From the humans, to the abundance of game and vegation, from knowledge, to ignorance, and from desert to ocean. He loved it all...except the bugs. The Emperor disdained bugs so much he aspired to build a castle that floated in the sky, but he died before he got to see his plans carried out. Years came and went, and his heir had discarded the plans for the sky-palace. He liked bugs no less than his father did, but he passed a law saying that any bug caught in his sight would be squished.
This law was effective. If any insect spotted the Emperor walking towards them, they quickly scurried to their homes and out of the emperor's sight.
However, one of the wisest bugs in the Empire was not afraid. She was a lonely widowed cricket, and she often times traveled from place to place. She was so wise she offered wisdom and songs to anyone who let her stay in her home at nights. Most people stretched the truth and claimed it was not wisdom the cricket brought them, but luck. Word traveled to the Emperor of a lucky, wise creature with a voice as sweet as honey and who's singing could melt the stars.
The Emperor wanted to see this creature for himself. He sent out messangers to find this creature and invite her to stay at the palace. Three days later the messangers came back and told the Emperor she had accepted, and would be there in one week.
Now, the Emperor did not yet know his guest was an insect, and on the day she was due to arrive, he heard beautiful music. "Surely this must be her!" He said, getting up and waiting for his men to bring forth a lion into the room. His men shook their heads and looked at the Emperor. "Sir, it is not a lion, and the singing you hear is your wife, singing a lullabye to your wife." They assured him.
Once more did the Emperor hear singing, this time more beautiful than the last. He stood up eagerly. "Surely it is she I now hear! Oh, and the voice cannot belong to anything less beautiful than a crane! Bring her forth!" He cried. But his men just shook their heads. "She is not a crane, sir. The singing you hear is the court musician, singing your wife a lullabye." And the Emperor sat down again.
Around midnight a voice wafted through the hall to the Emperor's ears. He jumped up and ran down the hall, so eager and sure it was her he had to greet her himself. "She is a golden Sparrow, tired from her long journey!" He exclaimed giddily, opening the doors. When he saw the creature on the pillow coming towards him, the Emperor smiled. It was a lovely Golden Sparrow. Now the Emperor quite thought this Sparrow was the wise creature, welcomed her warmly. "Hello, dear Sparrow! Why do you sing such a sad song?" He asked.
The wise cricket knew the Emperor didn't like insects and so as she sat under the wing of the Sparrow, she spoke. "Because, your majesty, I am but a lonely widow and travel from place to place in search of happiness. But I cannot seem to find it."
Now, the Emperor was a greedy man, and only wanted the best things for himself. He was not stupid either, and so he made a proposal. "Sparrow, if you jump into this silver cage, then I can garuntee you a spot in the royal court, and your own building made." He said.
The stupid bird thought this sounded like a great idea, and hopped in. SUddenly the door was slammed shut and this started the Sparrow. If the cricket had not been wise, she would have forgotton to grab a feather and surely been exposed. She spoke out and the bird desperatelyt tried to find a way out of her cage. "You, sir, are decietful! I do not sing for inhospitable hosts, and I can tell you right now that no matter where you hide them, all of your socks will have holes in the when you wake up!" She screeched. The Emperor merely laughed and placed the silver cage with the golden sparrow on a nearby table. "I will see you in the morning, Sparrow, and then you shall share with me your incredible wisdom."
The cricket sighed, and waited until the Emperor went to bed. Once the entire palace was quiet, she strted her beautiful chirping, but noone heard her. Nobody but the Sparrow. She jumped out from under the Sparrow's wing and looked up at the bird. "You got me trapped in this cage, bug!" Hissed the sparrow. "Give me one reason not to eat you!"
The cricket stopped chirping, and replied to the Sparrow in her honey-sweet voice. "Because, Sparrow, only I may free you. I have a plan. I shall see you in the morning." And with that she hopped out of the tiny silver cage and ran across the floor, heading straight for the Princess's room. "Princess, Princess." SHe whispered. "I come with news. The Sparrow is not the creature your father seeks. Only if he closes his eyes and promises not to judge will she show herself. Tell him this and you will be rewarded with greater knowledge." She said, and hopped away, into a long abandoned mouse hole.
The mouse hole in itself was still too lavish for the cricket. She preferred a soft blade of grass and food, nothing more, for she knew along with a cozy life-style came corruption and greed. This would be the knowledge with which she would present the Princess. It was the most important thing to realize, and most people did not see the connection.
Before the sun rose that morning, the cricket got up and went back to the Sparrow, telling her that she must not speak, but chirp stupidly like a bird. This would set the Sparrow free, and the Sparrow agreed. When the Emperor awoke that morning, his daughter was waiting for him by the bird. "Father, this bird cannot be the wise creature. She chirps stupidly in responce to everything. Surely you cannot accept wisdom from her." And the Emperor was outraged, but he let the Sparrow go. She quickly flew away laughing, and the Princess hung her head. She had been tricked, and unknowingly tricked her father. "I'm sorry, Emperor. I did not know." He was not angry with her though.
The Princess told her father of the dream she had last night, and of the honey-sweet voice. This alarmed the Emperor, and he sat in his chair, upset by the fact that he had been tricked. "Once I find the smart creature, I shall order it to first give me wisdom, then lock it away in the dungeon for being deceitful!" He declared. The Cricket was sitting under his throne the entire time. Every night she would visit the Princess in her sleep, and whisper wisdom into her ear, telling the Princess to keep these secrets from her father. The Princess listened to the wise old cricket, and never told her father anything.
Soon there was a war at hand. The neighboring kingdom of Mongolia was invading, and if the Emperor could not come up with a winning strategy, then they would surely lose. Once more the cricket visited the Princess in slumber, and this time she offered a war strategy. "But do not tell him it was the wise creature who told you what you this." She said.
The first battle was won using the Cricket's strategy. The Emperor asked his daughter to come up with another so they may have another glorious victory over the mongols.
The pattern repeated several times until the last battle was to be fought. The cricket did not show up in the Princess's dreams that night, and the honey-sweet voice was not heard. Instead, on the bed-stand by the Emperor's pillow she sat, chirping in her sweet singing voice of her sadness. "This place is so dark and dreary, easily, the place I've been thats most melancholy." She chirped. The Emperor tossed uneasily in his sleep.
The next morning he was troubled for his daughter had come up with a strategy for him. The cricket showed herself for the first time to the Emperor. "Perhaps I could help." She offered. The Emperor at first was outraged at her for breaking the law, but the Princess recognized the voice as quickly jumped in to defend the wise cricket. "Father, it is she who has won your battles for you, not I! It is she that is the wise creature with the wonderful voice, and it is she you had mistaken for the Sparrow a while ago! You cannot harm your own guest!"
The cricet simply thanked the Princess, and offered the Emperor a strategy. At first he was hesitant, but he went through with it. And it worked.
That same day the Emperor decided not all bugs were bad, and offered the cricket a permanent home in the palace, but she refused. "I cannot stay here. Three months ago I said I was searching for happiness. I find happiness in simplicity. The mice here even live in comfort. No, I must go once more." SHe said. But before she left, she apologized for chewing holes in all the Emperor's socks, and told him of all the wisdom she knew...well, almost all.
He disregarded it though. He claimed that a cricket in a home meant good luck, and inhospitality to a cricket meant holey socks. He declared this to his people, and through the cricket tried to disprove it, the belief that crickets are lucky still holds, to this very day.
~The End~
I'm going to be the world's best villain ever. Just wait.
Keeping my head held high and a smile on my face (no matter how much it hurts) since 1-15-11
 I_The_Prokaryote · Fri Sep 19, 2008 @ 10:17pm · 1 Comments |
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