Word Entry #2 - "The Grasshopper and the Bell Cricket"

1. "Even when you have become a young man, laugh with pleasure at a girl's delight when, told that it's a grasshopper, she's given a bell cricket; laugh with affection at a girl's chagrin when told that it's a bell cricket, she is given a grasshopper."

2. My Guess: I think that the word means annoyance, because the narrator tells the boy to laugh with affection when the girl is told something but gets something else in return.

3. Definition: "A keen feeling of mental unease, as of annoyance or embarrassment, caused by failure, disappointment, or a disconcerting event." (Freedictionary.com)

4. Explanation: This short story is about two young kids falling in love. I believe that the "grasshopper" and the "bell cricket" symbolize something deeper. I think that the bell cricket is that one in a million person you fall in love with and a grasshopper is just any ordinary person. This sentence is told to Fujio by the narrator and the narrator is giving advice based on previous experiences. He saying that Fujio needs to laugh with happiness when the girl is adored with a "bell cricket", and he needs to laugh with love and care when the girl is disappointed when she is told she's going to get a "bell cricket" but is given a "grasshopper". The reason the narrator says this is because the boy is the girl's "bell cricket" and she doesn't want any old "grasshopper", she's in love with the "bell cricket".