In the morning, a little cricket was playing in the grass, it jumped onto a blade of grass, the blade shook, and the cricket flew out, landing in a big mouth
Snap, the teeth closed, everything went dark
Splash, the cricket tumbled into the first room. This was the rumen, filled with wet grass. The grass was fermenting, it was hot and steamy, the cricket almost got cooked
It swam hard and swam into the second room
This was the reticulum, like a big sieve. The cricket saw grass scraps, dry grass balls, and round woolly clumps, all sieved here
Splash, it got washed away again
The third room was called the omasum, like a grinding machine. The grass was squeezed, ground, and pressed, turning into tiny pieces
"Help", the cricket cried, nobody heard
The fourth room arrived. This was the abomasum, with sour liquid. The grass started to melt, the cricket's skin stung
"No, I must escape"
It saw light ahead, where food was becoming liquid
The cricket swam hard toward the light, toward the light, toward the light
Puff, it got spit out
The cricket lay on fresh grass, soaking wet, but it was alive
Not far away, the cow was walking
"Thank you for showing me your four stomachs", the cricket said quietly
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