宣德間，宮中尚促織之戲，歲征民間。此物故非西產。有華陰令，欲媚上官，以一頭進，試使鬥而才，因責常供。令以責之里正。
宣德间，宫中尚促织之戏，岁征民间。此物故非西产。有华阴令，欲媚上官，以一头进，试使斗而才，因责常供。令以责之里正。
In the Xuande reign there was a fashion in the palace for cricket fighting, and every year crickets were levied from the people. These creatures were never native to the west. But a magistrate of Huayin, wishing to please his superior, presented one. It was tried in a fight and showed talent, so a regular supply was demanded of him. The magistrate passed the demand on to his village heads.
市中游俠兒，得佳者籠養之，昂其直，居為奇貨。里胥猾黠，假此科斂丁口，每責一頭，輒傾數家之產。
市中游侠儿，得佳者笼养之，昂其直，居为奇货。里胥猾黠，假此科敛丁口，每责一头，辄倾数家之产。
In the market, young toughs who got hold of a good one kept it in a cage and pushed up its price, hoarding it as a rare commodity. The village clerks were sly and crafty. On this pretext they levied money from every household by head, and each time one cricket was demanded, several families were ruined.
邑有成名者，操童子業，久不售。為人迂訥，遂為猾胥報充里正役，百計營謀不能脫。不終歲，薄產累盡。會征促織，成不敢斂戶口，而又無所賠償，憂悶欲死。妻曰：「死何益？不如自行搜覓，冀有萬一之得。」成然之。早出暮歸，提竹筒銅絲籠，于敗堵叢草處探石發穴，靡計不施，迄無濟。即捕三兩頭，又劣弱，不中于款。宰嚴限追比，旬餘，杖至百，兩股間膿血流離，并蟲不能行捉矣。轉側床頭，惟思自盡。時村中來一駝背巫，能以神卜。成妻具資詣問，見紅女白婆，填塞門戶。入其室，則密室垂簾，簾外設香幾。問者爇香于鼎，再拜。巫從旁望空代祝，唇吻翕辟，不知何詞，各各竦立以聽。少間，簾內擲一紙出，即道人意中事，無毫髮爽。成妻納錢案上，焚香以拜。食頃，簾動，片紙拋落。拾視之，非字而畫，中繪殿閣類蘭若，後小山下怪石亂臥，針針叢棘，青麻頭伏焉；旁一蟆，若將跳舞。展玩不可曉。然睹促織，隱中胸懷，折藏之，歸以示成。成反復自念：「得無教我獵蟲所耶？」細矚景狀，與村東大佛閣真逼似。乃強起扶杖，執圖詣寺後，有古陵蔚起。循陵而走，見蹲石鱗鱗，儼然類畫。遂于蒿萊中側聽徐行，似尋針芥，而心、目、耳力俱窮，絕無蹤響。冥搜未已，一癩頭蟆猝然躍去。成益愕，急逐之。蟆入草間，躡跡披求，見有蟲伏棘根，遽撲之，入石穴中。掭以尖草不出，以筒水灌之始出。狀極俊健，逐而得之。審視：巨身修尾，青項金翅。大喜，籠歸，舉家慶賀，雖連城拱璧不啻也。土于盆而養之，蟹白栗黃，備極護愛。留待限期，以塞官責。
邑有成名者，操童子业，久不售。为人迂讷，遂为猾胥报充里正役，百计营谋不能脱。不终岁，薄产累尽。会征促织，成不敢敛户口，而又无所赔偿，忧闷欲死。妻曰：「死何益？不如自行搜觅，冀有万一之得。」成然之。早出暮归，提竹筒铜丝笼，于败堵丛草处探石发穴，靡计不施，迄无济。即捕三两头，又劣弱，不中于款。宰严限追比，旬余，杖至百，两股间脓血流离，并虫不能行捉矣。转侧床头，惟思自尽。时村中来一驼背巫，能以神卜。成妻具资诣问，见红女白婆，填塞门户。入其室，则密室垂帘，帘外设香几。问者爇香于鼎，再拜。巫从旁望空代祝，唇吻翕辟，不知何词，各各竦立以听。少间，帘内掷一纸出，即道人意中事，无毫发爽。成妻纳钱案上，焚香以拜。食顷，帘动，片纸抛落。拾视之，非字而画，中绘殿阁类兰若，后小山下怪石乱卧，针针丛棘，青麻头伏焉；旁一蟆，若将跳舞。展玩不可晓。然睹促织，隐中胸怀，折藏之，归以示成。成反复自念：「得无教我猎虫所耶？」细瞩景状，与村东大佛阁真逼似。乃强起扶杖，执图诣寺后，有古陵蔚起。循陵而走，见蹲石鳞鳞，俨然类画。遂于蒿莱中侧听徐行，似寻针芥，而心、目、耳力俱穷，绝无踪响。冥搜未已，一癞头蟆猝然跃去。成益愕，急逐之。蟆入草间，蹑迹披求，见有虫伏棘根，遽扑之，入石穴中。掭以尖草不出，以筒水灌之始出。状极俊健，逐而得之。审视：巨身修尾，青项金翅。大喜，笼归，举家庆贺，虽连城拱璧不啻也。土于盆而养之，蟹白栗黄，备极护爱。留待限期，以塞官责。
In that county there was a man named Cheng Ming, who had long been a candidate for the licentiate examination and had never passed. He was a pedant and slow of speech, so the crafty clerks put him down for the duty of village head, and though he tried every scheme he could not get out of it. Before the year was out, his small property was all used up. Then came the levy of crickets. Cheng did not dare squeeze the households, and he had nothing of his own to pay with. He was so worried and wretched he wished he were dead. “What good will dying do?” said his wife. “Better go and hunt for them yourself. There may be one chance in ten thousand.” Cheng agreed. He went out early and came home late, with a bamboo tube and a cage of copper wire, turning over stones and digging out holes among broken walls and thick grass. There was no method he did not try, and none of them worked. When he did catch two or three, they were poor, weak things that did not meet the standard. The magistrate set him a strict deadline and had him flogged each time it passed. In ten days and more he took a hundred strokes; pus and blood ran between his thighs, and he could not even go out to catch crickets any more. Tossing on his bed, he thought only of killing himself. At that time a hunchbacked witch came to the village who could divine through the spirits. Cheng’s wife got some money together and went to consult her. She found the doorway packed with young women and white-haired old women. Inside was a closed room with a curtain hanging down, and an incense table set before the curtain. Those who came to ask burned incense in the censer and bowed twice. The witch, standing to one side, gazed into the empty air and prayed for them. Her lips opened and closed, but no one could tell what she said. Each of them stood listening in awe. After a little while a slip of paper would be thrown out from behind the curtain, and it would tell exactly what the asker had in mind, without a hair’s breadth of error. Cheng’s wife laid her money on the table, burned incense and bowed. In about the time it takes to eat a meal the curtain stirred, and a slip of paper dropped out. She picked it up and looked. It was not writing but a picture. In the middle was a hall like a temple; behind it, at the foot of a little hill, strange rocks lay every which way among bristling thorns, and a Green Hemp-Head crouched there. Beside it was a toad, as if about to leap. She studied it but could make nothing of it. Still, seeing the cricket, she felt it touched what was hidden in her heart. She folded it away and took it home to show Cheng. Cheng turned it over and over in his mind. “Can it be showing me where to hunt for crickets?” He looked closely at the scene: it was the very image of the Great Buddha Pavilion east of the village. So he forced himself up and, leaning on a stick, took the picture to the back of the temple. There an ancient grave mound rose, thick with growth. He walked along the mound and saw squatting rocks, row on row like fish scales, just as in the picture. So he moved slowly through the weeds, head cocked to listen, as if hunting for a needle or a mustard seed. But though he strained mind, eyes and ears to the utmost, there was no trace, no sound. He was still searching blindly when a scabby-headed toad suddenly leapt away. Cheng was more startled than ever and went after it fast. The toad went into the grass. Following its track, parting the grass, he saw a cricket crouching at the root of a thornbush. He pounced, but it went into a hole in the rocks. He poked at it with a sharp blade of grass, but it would not come out; only when he poured in water from his tube did it come out. It looked very fine and strong. He chased it and caught it. He examined it: a big body and a long tail, a green neck and golden wings. Overjoyed, he caged it and took it home. The whole family celebrated; a jade disc worth whole cities would not have been more precious. He kept it in a bowl of earth and fed it crab meat and chestnut kernels, caring for it with every attention. He was keeping it for the deadline, to meet the magistrate’s demand.