38 Victorious Crickets

Crickets in the ordinary scheme of things, are unexceptional insects. But in ancient China, crickets were the stars of a national pastime. They functioned as highly trained athletes.

People would search the fields vigorously for the biggest and strongest crickets that could be found. They were carefully selected to keep crickets were cared for recording and exercising by being forced to jump and jump until they were tired. They were always well fed and strong muscles were built to keep them to far beyond what they were accustomed. In this manner, the crickets produced strength. When the cricket-trainers felt their crickets were sufficiently strong, they would announce a challenge. A public bout would take place.

Like the gladiators of Rome, crickets were forced to face each other in high-stake duels to the death. They were placed in a small pie, and a referee irritated their sensitive antennae to goad them into attacking one another. The insects would set about one another and attempt to rip each other apart. The survivor, of course, was the much celebrated and applauded insect, especially if several bets had been placed on it and the crickets had earned some members of the audience a few dollars. Extremely successful crickets could be sold for roughly $100 each, and there was a rumor that one cricket made over $90,000 in winnings for its owner. When the champion of champions died, it was interred in a miniature silver coffin and given the honorable title "Victorious Cricket."

38 获胜的蟋蟀

在普通的生活中，蟋蟀是不起眼的昆虫。但在古代中国，蟋蟀是全国性消遣活动的明星，它们就像训练有素的运动员。

人们会在田野里奋力搜寻最大、最强壮的蟋蟀，经过精心挑选后，蟋蟀会被精心照料：它们被强迫反复跳跃直到疲惫，以此进行训练；它们总是吃得很好，肌肉变得强壮，远超平常状态。通过这种方式，蟋蟀变得更有力量。当蟋蟀训练师觉得自己的蟋蟀足够强壮时，就会发起挑战，公开的比赛随之展开。

就像罗马的角斗士一样，蟋蟀被迫在高赌注的决斗中至死方休。它们被放进一个小容器里，裁判会刺激它们敏感的触角，促使它们互相攻击。这些昆虫会扑向对方，试图将彼此撕碎。获胜者当然会受到热烈的赞美和欢呼，尤其是如果观众在它身上下了注，且这只蟋蟀为一些观众赢了几美元的话。极其成功的蟋蟀每只能卖到大约100美元，甚至有传言说一只蟋蟀为它的主人赢得了超过9万美元的奖金。当“冠军中的冠军”死去时，它会被安葬在微型银棺中，并被授予“胜利蟋蟀”的荣誉称号。