-- Continued from << The Cricket in Times Square>>
When the cricket finished playing, the stage erupted in thunderous applause, and 783 fans (fans) went up to embrace it and gave it a kiss and a dollar each. The Cricket saw one of them carrying a food basket, which turned out to be the tourist, and couldn't help but be overjoyed, shaking his hand and saying, "Take me back to my hometown of Connecticut!" "Yes!" So he stuffed the crickets into the basket, slipped another copy of the New York Times in by hand, and got in the car. On the way, the bored tourist flipped through the paper and read, "The day after tomorrow, the Connecticut area is going to get a thousand-year rainstorm, then flash floods, then a mudslide, and the police have evacuated all residents ........" Cricket can't help but return to his home town and worry about his four friends back home, only that they haven't heard about it yet, and that the day after won't be in vain.
When he reached his hometown, the traveler said, "I can only send here, when I used to come here to travel I had seen a broken house on the high mountain over there, the door is locked, you can go to hide from the rain." "Thanks, bye!" Cricket flew across the creek with his luggage and looked to see that the duck was indeed still sleeping in its nest, with its fur tattered and torn. Cricket called out, "Quick, hell get to the top of the hill to get out of the rain!" "Hmph, you're rich now? Wear a suit and tie and dare to come and order me around? I'll ignore you! The weather is fine now, no rain, hide your head!" "You~~~ I'll give you 20 dollars, just go!" "Well then, for the love of money, I'll go!" Duck took the money and headed for the top of the hill.
The cricket found three other friends and led them to the top of the hill, and when they looked, the door was really locked,
and everyone couldn't get in and was fuming, the cricket busied himself by saying, "Who can make a hole? I'll give you 20 dollars!" The groundhog and the rabbit said in unison, "Me!" So they took the money and quickly dug out a tunnel, and together they got in and opened the lock from the inside.
Just as they came in, dark clouds were gathering outside. Cricket looks up at the roof, which is full of holes, and says, "Who's going to fly up there and fix it? I'll pay 20 dollars!" The chickens and ducks said together, "Me!" So the cricket paid the money and sent them up to fix the roof. Suddenly, it pours rain outside, and then you hear a knock on the door, and the cricket opens the door, and it's the mouse, shivering, and says, "Let me in, will you? My hole is flooded!" "Fine! Come on in!"
Let it in, and just as he closed the door, a dark shadow rushed in and pounced on the mouse, and Cricket looked and saw that it was the cat. Cricket was busy screaming, "Don't eat it! I'll give you 20 dollars to beg you to spare its life!" "Fine! I have one more request, and that is to spend the night here, because my hole is flooded too!" "OK!" So those who could drill holes dug holes and slept in them, and those who couldn't drilled holes slept where they were. Cricket went to the kitchen and found a matchbox and dug in and slept. The sound of clattering water was ringing in everyone's ears, and they were on tenterhooks for the rest of the night.
The next morning, the sky cleared, opened the door, the mudslide swept away everything under the mountain, the crowd hijacked, jumping up and down with joy, Cricket said, "Let's have a PARTY!" "Yeah!" So everyone goes to their rooms and picks and chooses and rummages around and finds an expired bottle of Coca-Cola, and then they have a PARTY. The crickets played "Return to Solento" and everyone was mesmerized. The mouse, always a glutton for punishment, took advantage of the situation and drank the whole bottle of Coke
Getting excited, he stomped on his legs and tipped over the matchbox, which caught fire and burned the newspaper, and the crickets rushed to say, "Put out the fire with the Coke!" "I've drunk it all!" "Then who can put out the fire? I'll give you twenty dollars! (With the face of an American capitalist, heh.) The groundhog was busy responding, "Me! I'm specially trained!" "Good!" After collecting the money, the groundhog ruffled up the sand and put out the fire in three tries. Cricket's luggage was fine, the money was fine, half the matchbook was burned off, half the tentacles were missing, two of the mouse's whiskers were missing, half the duck's fur was burned, the cocktail was gone, and the cat whiskers were completely missing. Everyone complained to each other have gone out, to the bottom of the hill each looking for each home, but see each person's nest and hole are gone, the grass has no grass, all yellow mud, the big stumps are still there, next to the cricket hole does not
see. Cricket folded a branch of the newly grown willow, biting the tender green willow leaves on it, thinking about the future. Luckily, everyone had a lot of dollars in their pockets and happily set about rebuilding their homes. The money is good, after a short while, they are living in a new home.
This time it is really a blessing in disguise, everyone remembers that it was the cricket that saved their lives, and embraced it as the king, and the palace was set in that hilltop house.
And so the story ends.
2.
The Cricket Returns Home (A Continuation of The Cricket in Times Square)
When Chester had finished playing, he bowed y to every member of the audience. The audience in New York was still immersed in the beautiful music, and the night was one of the quietest in New York, very quiet even in the busiest part of the city. The moon crept up, and the bright moonlight shone on the trees, which seemed to be clothed in a silver-white evening dress. Under the trees, Chester was saying goodbye to his friends in town.
Chester proudly bragged to his friends about his hometown, telling them how wonderful it was and how free it was. He wants to be free, so he's going back to his beloved hometown. He welcomed everyone to be his guest in his hometown.
The next day, Chester boarded a train back to Connecticut with the help of a friend. Chester hid in a passenger's line of bags, not trying to avoid a ticket, but fearing that the passengers would recognize him. Chester sleeps in the bag, and in his sleep he sees his hometown as well as his buddies. With the sweet voice of the conductor announcing the stop, he returned home.
Returning to his hometown, Chester searched for his former friends and family, but could not find them. Chester had to sit on a tree stump and eat the leaves. Chester saw his best friend, the groundhog, coming from far away. He asked and realized that his hometown came a group of city people, they cut down trees everywhere, capture small animals, friends were scared to flee to various places. The groundhog had come back to find out what was going on here. Chester hastened to ask the groundhog, "Groundhog, where are its divided friends now?" The groundhog replied, "They are all hiding in one place, I will take you to them." Chester followed the groundhog to a hole, and the groundhog said that the pals were hiding in this makeshift dug hole. Chester saw his pals, but everyone was no longer happy, just sad. Chester tells the group what happened to him in New York, and the group wants to go back to the city with Chester, but Chester shakes his head and says to the group, "Guys, that's not the place for us to live, there's no freedom or happiness there that we want. Maybe I can get my friends in town to help us get rid of the bad people."
Chester wrote a letter to Harry and Tucker in a leaf and asked them to help deliver it to Mario's family's newsstand. They saw the cricket design on the letter and figured it must be Chester's desperate need for help. So, Mario and his parents, along with Harry and Tucker, had a rush to the Connecticut countryside. As soon as they got off the train, they hollered due Chester's call. Mario's family missed the musical genius very much. Mario and the others realized what was going on when they saw Chester's changed hometown and his displaced friends. Chester introduced Mario and the others to his buddies and told them that these weren't bad people, they were very friendly, and they would help figure things out.
At night, Chester played for his friends in the grass. There was a sadness in his song, and the sky echoed with this beautiful piece of music. Mario proposes to bring the situation to the attention of the mayor and ask for his help.
The mayor received the letter and was so surprised that he rushed over. He looked at Branch Chester and took a keen interest in him. The mayor said, "He will take ma protective measures for this place and also send some people to help Mario and the others. The mayor thought that this place was so beautiful and free that it shouldn't be destroyed or have its peace and quiet broken. The mayor hoped that Chester would continue to sing in his hometown, singing the song of freedom that belonged to them. Soon, beauty, peace and freedom returned to the land.
One day, a few years later, Mario and the men returned and they did not see Chester. They heard crickets chirping and a melodic song in the night time. Every note of this song was filled with joy and freedom. The song floated through the silent night air of the countryside, and every one of them was there to be mesmerized as if in a dream. And the name of the song is True Love.
A glimmer of light in the night shone on them, and at the same time into their hearts.