| Chirp & Listen |
An
Evergreen Story about Human Nature
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| The
Talking Cricket Hi! I am a cricket -- a fiddler on a hot green roof! [Hee Hee!] There are plenty of us around actually. You don't get to see us most of the time because we hide during the day. At night, however, we are an orchestra --playing for you from the embracing darkness of nature's greatest music hall -- the rain forest. And did you know we fiddle with our wings but listen with our front pairs of knees? Yes, that is where our eardrums are! I am not pulling a leg. It's true! [Ha Ha!] Look at the tailcoat I'll be wearing tonight! |
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Try reading The Cricket by Pu Song Ling (1640-1715). You can find it in his Tales of Liao Zhai. He is a master of supernatural tales in Chinese Literature. The Cricket story ends happily but remains a dark tale. Perhaps you should ask someone like your grandma or grandpa to explain it to you.
As you can see, we crickets are not just fabulous fiddlers, but a part of quintessential literature. "What is Literature?" you might ask. Well, it is like this:
Literature is actually like a bucket of water that we draw from a special old well called The Wellspring of Life [ya, no joke!] and we can drink from it. We can also look at the still water and see our reflection in it. This is what philosophers [unhappy husbands?] call 'the quenching of thirts beyond thirts.'
Well, it is quite a practical thing to do to look at ourselves in the mirror from time to time -- to comb our hair, adjust our ears and dig our nose [ha ha!]. But seriously, have you ever taken a deep look into your own eyes in the mirror? What would you see? Just eyes and nothing else?
While it can be quite sad and scary for some people, it can be pure magic for others who can see the other side of the universe through their eyes. We call these 'mind-eyes'. They see beyond imagination.
That is why literature is so great. Literature helps us to see our human condition whereas Science cannot. You see, children, if we really want to save Nature, we cannot depend on Science alone. We need literature because we need to change the human heart. Scientists need change. Educators need change. Advocators for nature conservation need change. Everyone need change! Literature is a great doctor and teacher to our spirit.
You see how important this Well of Literature is now?
The moral of today's chirping-chirp-chirp is: If the human heart does not change, Mother Nature will lose because human nature will win at the end of the day.
The paradox, however, is that though human nature wins, human beings lose ultimately. This is a Paradoxical Truth that is harder to see than the sun.
Children, do ask your Grandma or Grandpa what the moral means or what a paradox is. They should be able to explain these things to you. If not, ask them read you the evergreen story of The Adventures of Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi (1826-1890). You will find me again as the cricket who helps Pinocchio with good and wise counsel. In that way, you will get to understand what human nature is... yes, from a wooden puppet who learns to become human!
Alright then, boys and girls, say "Goodbye, Mr. Chirp!" See you in rain forest soon. Bye !