The lucky crickets (Traditional French story)
ittle Marc, who was just about 5 years old, was standing quite still and silent in the middle of Olivia’s bakery. “Wake up, Marc,” the baker scolded him. “Do you want a loaf of bread?” “No, madam,” the boy answered, “my mother doesn’t have any money to buy bread. I’m listening to the crickies singing.” “Crickies? Oh, of course, you mean the crickets,” the woman laughed. “The crickets love the fire and that’s why every day a few of them meet up next to the oven.” “Could you give me one?” Marc begged. “It’s just that I’ve heard that crickies bring good luck. If we had one at home, maybe things would be better and my mother wouldn’t cry so much.” Worried, Olivia wanted to know why Marc’s mother was crying. “Because of our debts,” the little boy explained. “Although she works all the hours of the day, my mother can’t earn enough money to pay everything we owe.” The baker didn’t give it a second thought. She went straight to the oven, caught four crickets and gave them to Marc inside a little box, together with the biggest of her loaves. The little boy was so grateful that he walked home without taking his eyes off his crickets. But Olivia didn’t settle for that. She gathered up all the money in the cash register, put it in an envelope and got on her bicycle and pedalled over to Marc’s house. Because the little boy was lost in his thoughts, Olivia had no trouble in overtaking him. She reached the house before he did and left the envelope containing the money outside the door. When Marc reached his house, he found his mother jumping for joy, holding the envelope. The little boy could hardly believe it: it was true, the crickies had brought him good luck!