Traditional Chinese legend, retold in simple Mandarin
The Cricket
促织
The Cricket (促织, Cùzhī) is a story from the Chinese classic by Pu Songling, retold in simple Mandarin as a 4-chapter story with audio for learners at about HSK 4 (Upper intermediate).
Retold from Pu Songling's classic strange tale: a poor father must find a champion cricket for the court, and his small son's mistake sets off a strange, bittersweet chain of events.
Meet the voices
- Narrator · 旁白 — A warm older storyteller who sets the scene.
- Cheng Ming · 程明 — A poor, anxious village head and failed scholar who must find a champion cricket.
- Cheng's Wife · 娘子 — His sharp-tongued, loving wife who jokes to keep going.
- Xiaobao · 小宝 — Their curious nine-year-old son.
- Constable Zhang · 张差爷 — A bossy county constable who delivers the order.
- Zhao Da · 赵大 — A loud farmer proud of his champion cricket, Black General.
- The Magistrate · 县官 — A plump, ambitious county official who wants promotion.
4 chapters, one journey
Chapter 1: The Order
县官的命令
The emperor wants a champion cricket, and poor Cheng Ming has three days to find one. When his family catches a marvelous one, his son is curious.
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Chapter 2: The Broken Cricket
断腿的蟋蟀
Xiaobao's curious peek ruins everything, and he runs into the morning. That night, a tiny cricket calls outside the door.
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Chapter 3: The Little Champion
小小冠军
The tiny cricket beats the village's best, then the magistrate's rooster. Cheng Ming should be happy, but he cannot stop thinking about his son.
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Chapter 4: The Long Dream
长长的梦
A year on, the family is rich but Xiaobao still sleeps. When he wakes, he tells of an amazing dream.
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Key words in The Cricket
Behind the story
The Cricket (促织) comes from Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio (聊斋志异), a collection of supernatural stories by the Qing dynasty writer Pu Songling (蒲松龄), who lived from 1640 to 1715. Chinese students often meet this story in school, where it is read as a sharp comment on officials who chase the ruler's whims while ordinary families pay the price.
Cricket fighting is a real old Chinese pastime. People kept crickets in small clay jars, listened to their songs and matched them in contests. The Xuande emperor of the Ming dynasty is famous for loving the game, which is the world this story grows out of.
Did you know?
- Pu Songling's Strange Tales gathers nearly five hundred stories about ghosts, fox spirits and odd happenings, told with a wink at real society.
- In many parts of China, people still keep singing crickets in little cages or gourds, especially in autumn.
- Chinese readers often quote the story's message: a small person can suffer greatly when those in power indulge a hobby.