The Cricket 蟋蟀◎ Wu Guanzhong ◎ 吴冠中Grey-templed as I'm，I still always keep myself occupied．Everyday I bustle about town having little time to indulge in pleasant reminiscences of how I used to catch crickets in my childhood．One day，however，my wife and I were pleasantly surprised by the sudden chirping of a cricket in our apartment．How did it get into this tall building？

As the sound seemed to come from a corner of our kitchen，I guessed it had probably come with the vegetables my wife bought from the food market.

鬓发斑斑，仍总是忙碌，城中天天忙于无穷事，未有余闲品味童年捉蟋蟀的回忆。

然而居室里突然听到了蟋蟀的叫声，我和老伴都感惊喜，高楼里哪来的蟋蟀？

那声音似乎发自厨房的一角，我想可能是老伴买蔬菜时挟带回来的。

On Sunday，when our youngest granddaughter Xiao Qu was with us，the cricket started chirping again at supper time with a rising clear and loud sound like in a performance．Xiao Qu was overjoyed and stopped eating as she was eager to catch the insect．Torch in hand，I found my way to a corner of the kitchen by tracing the sound and then cleared away everything in the way，like brooms，discarded outer leaves of vegetables，leftovers，waste paper，used empty bottles，etc．until my eyes fell on a big cricket on the damp cement floor near a water pipe．It stayed still as I lit it up with the torch．So I got it easily．The whole family was wild with joy．I put it into an empty colour-tube cardboard box and handed it to my granddaughter．But she said she wanted to have it kept in a transparent container so that she could see it chirp．Then she found a plastic bottle and happily watched the pitiable little captive therein moving about in panic．Her grandma，however，fearing that the cricket might suffocate，punctured a few holes in the plastic bottle with a pair of scissors.

星期天，小孙女小曲来家，吃晚饭的时候，蟋蟀又高叫起来，一声高于一声，清脆响亮，仿佛是鸣奏。

小曲高兴极了，饭也不吃了，要捉蟋蟀。

我找来手电，顺着叫声到厨房角落里拨开扫帚、残菜、剩羹、废纸、旧瓶一直清理到自来水管道周围湿漉漉的水泥地面，果然一只肥大的蟋蟀伏在那里。

用手电照准它，它一动也不动，我轻易地将它捉住了。

全家欢腾起来，我将蟋蟀放进装颜料用的硬纸匣里，交给小曲。

小曲说她要看着蟋蟀叫，她自己找了一个半透明的小塑料瓶，将蟋蟀装入瓶里，观赏这可怜的小俘虏团团转。

她奶奶怕蟋蟀窒死，用剪刀将塑料瓶戮了几个透气的小洞。

Xiao Qu left for home with the cricket.

小曲将蟋蟀带回去了。

That night a complete silence reigned in our house．Our children had already gone to bed behind the closed door．My wife and I felt unusually lonesome in our bedroom．She blamed it on my having got rid of the cricket.

夜晚屋里特别寂静，孩子们也都关门睡觉了，我和老伴两人在自己卧室里感到分外孤独。

似乎是前所未有的孤独。

老伴埋怨我不该捉掉了蟋蟀！

Late at night，we heard the chirping of a cricket again．Ah，that must be another one！

My wife and I were too excited to sleep．We were lost in memories of our child life in our rural home with the starry sky outside the antique window，the glowing of fireflies，the warbling of nightingales，the ever-present accompaniment of crickets' chirrupsWe chatted on and on recalling elders at home，fellow villagers，kids in the neighbourhood，and so on and so forth．All the while，we were transported by nostalgia to our old home remote from Beijing．May the cricket settle down permanently under our roof！

夜半，蟋蟀又叫起来了，呵，原来不止一只！

我和老伴都高兴得不想入睡了。

我们不由得回忆起我们当年住在农村老家的日子：古老窗外的星空、萤火虫星星的亮光、夜莺的歌喉、自然总有蟋蟀的伴奏我们的谈话没完没了：父老、乡亲、谁家和谁家的孩子这一夜我们似乎远离了北京。

愿蟋蟀就在我家定居吧！

蟋蟀　是著名画家兼散文家吴冠中写于1987年8月的一篇随笔。

作者从寓所内的蟋蟀不由得回忆起当年住在农村老家的日子”。

文章质朴真挚，表现了作者对一方乡井的眷恋，堪称乡情精品。

【双语|现代散文:吴冠中 蟋蟀查看网站：[db:时间]】