Ears for a Cricket
StoryIllustration★★★★An Indian was in downtown New York, walking along with his friend, who lived in New York City. Suddenly he said, “I hear a cricket.”
“Oh, you’re crazy,” his friend replied.
The Indian insisted, but his friend pointed out, “It’s the noon hour. You know there are people bustling around, cars honking, taxis squealing, noises from the city. I’m sure you can’t hear it.”
The man disagreed. He listened attentively and then walked to the corner, crossed the street, and looked all around. Finally, on the other corner, he found a shrub in a large cement planter. He dug beneath the leaf and found a cricket.
His friend was duly astounded. But the Indian said, “No, my ears are no different from yours. It simply depends on what you are listening to. Here, let me show you.”
He reached into his pocket, pulled out a handful of change, and dropped it onto the concrete.
Every head within a block turned.
“You see what I mean?” the Indian said as he began picking up the coins. “It all depends on what you are listening for.” –Tim Hansel, “What to Listen For,” When I Relax I Feel Guilty (Chariot Victor Publishing, Colorado Springs, 1979) and also quoted in (1001 Great Stories & Quotes, R. Kent Hughes (Wheaton, Illinois: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., 1998), 311-312.
Tim Hansel, What to Listen For.
The point
An Indian hears a cricket in downtown NYC amid honking/noise, finds it using focused listening; drops coins to show how context matters—we hear what we listen for.