Part 8
Chester makes his decision: he will retire. When he announces it in the drainpipe, Tucker erupts with every objection a business-minded mouse can raise — the fame! the fortune! the sold-out stand! — but Harry Cat asks the quiet question that ends the argument: what good is fame if it makes you unhappy? So Chester gives New York a farewell worthy of Orpheus. For his final performance he plays an Italian song Papa loves — and plays it so beautifully that the impossible happens: traffic halts, crowds stand still, and for a few shining minutes Times Square itself stops, hushed as a meadow at evening. That night Chester spends with Mario — games, laughter, and a last private concert, improvised just for the sleeping boy, from the heart, on no schedule at all. Then, with his silver bell, Chester rides Harry’s back through the midnight tunnels to Grand Central Station, where the friends say goodbye on the platform and a chirping farewell floats from the late train as it departs for Connecticut. In the morning the cage stands empty. Mario feels the truth at once — and, loving his friend, is glad for him. The book closes in the drainpipe, where Tucker and Harry make a promise: next summer, they might just take a train of their own — to the country, to a meadow, to hear an old friend sing for joy.
| Section | What you will practice |
|---|---|
| Vocabulary | Words of farewell: retire, announce, objection, improvise, depart… |
| Literary Elements | Climax, resolution, and a story that comes full circle |
| Cross-Curricular | Orpheus, whose music stopped the world — and the great hall of Grand Central |
| Ch. | What happens |
|---|---|
| 14 | Orpheus — Chester announces his retirement; Tucker objects, Harry understands; the farewell concert stops Times Square cold — then one last private, improvised recital for a sleeping Mario. |
| 15 | Grand Central Station — with his silver bell, Chester rides Harry to Grand Central and takes the late train home; Mario understands and is glad; Tucker and Harry plan a country visit next summer. |
ⓘ The vocabulary words in this list are selected to help you understand and complete this workbook. Some may not appear verbatim in the original novel.
- The farewell concert stops Times Square.
- Chester announces his retirement in the drainpipe.
- Harry carries Chester through the tunnels to Grand Central.
- Tucker and Harry plan a country visit for next summer.
- A private, improvised recital plays for sleeping Mario.
Think back over the final chapters. A mouse shouts about fortunes while a cat asks one quiet question, and the question wins. A cricket plays an old Italian song so purely that taxicabs stop rolling and a thousand hurrying people stand still, remembering fields they have never seen. At midnight a cat pads through the tunnels toward the great starred ceiling of Grand Central, a cricket and a silver bell riding between his ears. And in the morning a boy looks at an empty pagoda cage and smiles — because somewhere northeast of the city, in the browning September grass, the best musician in New York is playing for no audience at all, for no schedule at all, for joy.
Long before radios or concert halls, the ancient Greeks told of Orpheus, the greatest musician who ever lived. His instrument was the lyre, a small harp of seven strings, and when he played and sang, the legendary power of his music changed the world around him. Wild beasts — lions, wolves, bears — lay down gently at his feet to listen. Trees pulled their roots and leaned closer. Rivers, it was said, paused in their beds so their splashing would not spoil the song. His music charmed everything that heard it — not by force or magic spells, but by pure beauty. The Greeks told this story to make a bold claim about music itself: that a perfect song does not simply entertain the world — it can stop the world, holding every listener in silence for as long as the melody lasts. Thousands of years later, writers still reach for Orpheus whenever a musician's gift seems too great to explain. Poets, composers, and novelists have all borrowed his name for the very same purpose. To call a performer an Orpheus is the highest praise music knows: it means the whole world might stand still to listen.
“Even the stones, it was said, rolled closer to hear him.”
This writing task is optional and is not part of your auto-graded score. The feedback below checks only the basics — length, spelling, and grammar — not whether your ideas are right or wrong. It is meant for classroom discussion and creative practice, so feel free to use your imagination!
Writing Task — Part 8 “The Best Kind of Goodbye”
Chester’s goodbye is happy and sad at the same time: he leaves the people who love him — because they love him. Write about a goodbye (real or imagined) that was also a kind of gift: a friend moving away, a season ending, a pet going to a better home, a farewell concert of your own. In 6–10 sentences, show both feelings at once, and end — like Selden — with a promise or a hope rather than a tear.
No right or wrong — tell someone nearby what happened in this part. Can’t find anyone? Tell yourself out loud. The moment you teach it, you truly understand it.
Part 8 Complete — You Finished the Book! 🎉
You finished Chapters 14–15 — the final part of The Cricket in Times Square.
Here are your auto-graded results:
The best last step is to teach it. In your own words, explain what happened — retell a favorite scene, teach a character’s big choice, or sum up the main idea for a parent, friend, or classmate. When you can teach it clearly, you truly own it.
Independent study guide by Garden Heights. Not affiliated with or endorsed by George Selden. Contains original analysis only; no text from the novel is reproduced. Reference text: This workbook follows George Selden’s classic text (the standard Puffin edition sold worldwide). Revised 2023 UK editions change some wording and may not match the vocabulary studied here.