The Journey to the West, Revised Edition, Volume 3

by Unknown

  “Master’s all right,” said Pilgrim with a groan. “I changed into a bee to fly inside, and I found that woman sitting inside a flower arbor. In a little while, two maids brought out two plates of buns: one had human flesh for stuffing and the other, red bean paste. Then she asked two other maids to help Master out to eat, just to calm his fear. She also said something about her desire to be Master’s companion on the Way. At first, Master did not say anything to the woman, nor did he eat the buns. Later, perhaps it was because of all her sweet talk or some other odd reason, he began to speak with her and told her that he kept a vegetarian diet. The woman broke one of those vegetarian buns into halves to hand to Master, and he presented her with a meat one whole. ‘Why didn’t you break it?’ the woman asked, and Master said, ‘Those who have left the family dare not break into something made with meat.’ ‘In that case,’ asked the woman, ‘how was it that you were willing to eat water pudding the other day? And you still insist on eating stuffing made of red bean paste?’ Master didn’t quite understand her puns, and he replied:

  ‘At high tide a boat leaves quickly;

  In sand traps a horse trots slowly.’

  I heard everything on the trellis, and I was afraid that Master’s nature might be confounded. That was when I revealed my true form and attacked her with my iron rod. She, too, used her magic power; blowing out some mist or fog to cover the arbor, she shouted for the girls to take away the ‘royal brother’ before she picked up her steel trident and fought her way out of the cave with old Monkey.” When Sha Monk heard this, he bit his finger and said, “We’ve been picked up and followed by this bitch from who knows where, but she certainly has knowledge of what has happened to us recently.”

  “If you put it that way,” said Eight Rules, “it looks as if we wouldn’t be able to rest, doesn’t it? Let’s not worry if it’s dusk or midnight. Let’s go up to her door and provoke battle. At least our hubbub will prevent them from sleeping, so that she can’t pull a fast one on our master.” “My head hurts,” said Pilgrim. “I can’t go!” Sha Monk said, “No need to provoke battle. In the first place, Elder Brother has a headache, and in the second, our master is a true monk. He won’t allow either form or emptiness to confound his nature. Let us sit here for the night beneath the mountain slope where there’s no draft and regain our energy. Then we can decide what to do by morning.” And so, the three brothers, after having tied up the white horse firmly, rested beneath the mountain slope, guarding the luggage.

  We now tell you about that female fiend, who banished violence from her mind and once again took on a pleasant appearance. “Little ones,” she said, “shut the front and back doors tightly.” Two little fiends were instructed to stand watch against the intrusion of Pilgrim. If there were any sound at all at the door, they were told to report at once. Then she gave this order also: “Maids, fix up the bedroom nicely. After you have lit the candles and the incense, go and invite royal brother Tang to come here. I want to make love with him.” They therefore brought out the elder from the rear. Putting on her most seductive charms, she caught hold of the Tang Monk and said, “As the proverb says,

  Though gold may have its price,

  Our pleasure’s more worthwhile.

  Let’s you and I play husband and wife and have some fun!”

  Gritting his teeth, our elder would not permit even a sound to escape from his mouth. He was about to refuse her invitation, but he was afraid that she might decide to take his life. He had no alternative but to follow her into the perfumed room, trembling all the while. Completely in a stupor, he raised neither his eyes nor his head; he did not see what sort of coverlets or bedding there was in the room, nor was he eager to find out what kinds of furniture or dresser were placed therein. As for all the amorous declaration and sultry speech of the female fiend, he did not hear a word. Marvelous monk! Truly

  His eyes saw no evil form;

  His ears heard no lustful sound;

  He regarded as dirt and dung this coy, silken face,

  This pearl-like beauty as ashes and dust.

  His one love in life was to practice Chan,

  Unwilling to step once beyond Buddha-land.

  How could he show affection and pity

  When all he knew was religion and truth?

  That fiend, all vibrant

  With boundless passion;

  Our elder, most deadpan

  And filled with Buddhist zeal.

  One was like soft jade and warm perfume;

  One seemed like cold ashes or dried wood.

  That person undid her collar,

  Her passion overflowing;

  This person tied up his robe,

  His resolve unswerving.

  That one wanted to mate, breast to breast with thighs entwined;

  This one wished to face the wall and seek Bodhidharma in the mount.

  The fiend loosened her clothes

  To display her fine, scented flesh;

  The Tang Monk bundled up his cloak

  To hide his coarse and thickset skin.

  The fiend said, “My sheets and pillows are ready, why don’t you sleep!”

  The Tang Monk said, “How could my bald head and strange clothes join you there!”

  That one said, “I’m willing to be the former period’s Liu Cuicui.”2

  This one said, “This humble monk is not a lovesick priest!”

  The fiend said, “I’m pretty as Xi Shi and e’en more lissome.”

  The Tang Monk said, “Like King Yue I have long been mortified!”

  The fiend said, “Royal brother, remember

  He who dies beneath the flowers;

  E’ven his ghost’s a happy lover.”

  The Tang Monk said, “My true yang is treasure most precious.

  How could I give it to a powdered cadaver?”

  The two of them prattled on like that deep into the night, but the elder Tang showed no sign whatever that he had been aroused. Though the female fiend tugged and pulled at him and refused to let go, our master doggedly rejected her advances. By midnight, all this hassle made the fiend mad, and she shouted, “Little ones, bring me a rope!” Alas! The dearly beloved was at once trussed up until he looked like a shaggy ape! After telling her subordinates to drag the monk back to the corridor, she blew out the lamps and all of them retired.

  Soon the cock crowed three times, and beneath the mountain slope our Great Sage Sun rose up, saying, “I had a headache for quite awhile, but now my head feels neither painful nor numb. In fact, I have a little itch.” “If you have an itch,” chuckled Eight Rules, “how about asking her to give you another stab?” Pilgrim spat at him and said, “Go! Go! Go!” Eight Rules laughed again and replied, “Go! Go! Go! But it was Master last night who went wild! Wild! Wild!” “Stop gabbing, the two of you,” said Sha Monk. “It’s light. Go quickly to catch the monster.” “Brother,” said Pilgrim, “stay here to guard the horse and don’t move. Zhu Eight Rules will go with me.”

  Arousing himself, our Idiot straightened out his black silk shirt and followed Pilgrim; they took their weapons and leaped up to the mountain ledge to go before the stone screen. “Stand here,” said Pilgrim to Eight Rules, “for I fear that the fiend might have harmed Master during the night. Let me go inside to snoop around a bit. If Master truly had lost his primal yang and his virtue because of her deception, then all of us could scatter. If he has not been confounded and if his Chan mind has remained unmoved, then we could in all diligence fight to the end, slaughter the monster-spirit, and rescue Master to go to the West.” “You are quite numbskulled!” said Eight Rules. “As the proverb says, ‘Could dried fish be used for a cat’s pillows?’ Like it or not, it would receive a few scratches!” Pilgrim said, “Stop babbling! I’ll go and see.”

  Dear Great Sage! He left Eight Rules in front of the stone screen and shook his body again to change into a bee. After he flew inside, he found two maids sleeping, their heads resting on the watch-rattles. He went up to the flower ar
bor to look around. The monster-spirit, you see, had struggled for half the night; she and her attendants were all very tired. Everyone was still fast asleep, not knowing that it was dawn already. Flying to the rear, Pilgrim began to hear the faint moans of the Tang Monk, and then he saw that the priest was left, hogtied, in the corridor. Pilgrim gently alighted on his head and whispered, “Master.” Recognizing the voice, the Tang Monk said, “Have you come, Wukong? Save my life, quick!” “How were the night’s activities?” asked Pilgrim. Tripitaka, clenching his teeth, replied, “I would rather die than do anything of that sort!” “I thought,” said Pilgrim, “I saw her showing you a good deal of tenderness yesterday. How is it that she is putting you through such torment today?”

  “She pestered me for half the night,” answered Tripitaka, “but I did not even loosen my clothes or touch her bed. When she saw that I refused to yield to her, she had me tied up like this. Please rescue me, so that I can go acquire the scriptures.” As master and disciples spoke to each other like that, they woke up the monster-spirit. Though she was furious at the Tang Monk, she was still very fond of him. When she stirred and heard something about going to acquire scriptures, she rolled off the bed at once and shouted: “You mean to tell me that you don’t want to get married and still want to go and seek scriptures?”

  Pilgrim was so startled that he abandoned his master, spread his wings, and flew out of the cave. “Eight Rules,” he cried, and our Idiot came around the stone screen, saying, “Has that thing been concluded?” “Not yet! Not yet!” said Pilgrim, laughing. “She worked on the old master for quite some time, but he refused. She got mad and had him hogtied. He was just telling me all this when the fiend woke up, and I became so startled that I came back out here.” Eight Rules asked, “What did Master actually say?” “He said,” replied Pilgrim, “that he did not even loosen his clothes nor did he touch her bed.” “Good! Very good!” chuckled Eight Rules. “He’s still a true monk! Let’s go rescue him!”

  As he had always been a roughneck, our Idiot did not wait for further discussion. Lifting high his muckrake, he brought it down on the stone doors with all his might, and with a loud crash they broke into many pieces. The two maids sleeping on the watch-rattles were so terrified that they ran back to the second-level door and screamed: “Open up! Those two ugly men of yesterday have come again and smashed our doors!” The female fiend was just leaving her room. “Little ones,” she cried, “bring some hot water for me to wash my face. Carry the royal brother, all tied up like that, and hide him in the rear room. I’m going out to fight them.”

  Dear monster-spirit! She ran out with her trident uplifted and shouted: “Brazen ape! Wild boar! You don’t know when to stop, do you? How dare you break my doors?” “You filthy bitch!” scolded Eight Rules. “You have our master imprisoned, and you still dare to talk with such insolence? Our master was only your kidnapped husband! Send him out quickly, and I’ll spare you. If you dare but utter half a no, the blows of old Hog’s rake will level even your mountain.”

  The monster-spirit, of course, did not permit such words to intimidate her. With enormous energy and using magic as before, she attacked with her steel trident while her nose and mouth belched fire and smoke. Eight Rules leaped aside to dodge her blow before striking back with his rake, helped by the Great Sage Sun and his iron rod on the other side. The power of that fiend was tremendous indeed! All at once she seemed to have acquired who knows how many hands, waving and parrying left and right. After they fought for several rounds, she again used some kind of weapon and gave the lip of Eight Rules a stab. His rake trailing behind him and his lips pouting, our Idiot fled in pain for his life. Pilgrim also became somewhat envious of him; making one false blow with the rod, he, too, fled in defeat. After the fiend returned in triumph, she told her little ones to place rock piles in front of the door.

  We now tell you about Sha Monk, who was grazing the horse before the mountain slope when he heard some hog-grunting. As he raised his head, he saw Eight Rules dashing back, lips pouted and grunting as he ran. “What in the world . . .?” asked Sha Monk, and our Idiot blurted out: “It’s awful! It’s awful! This pain! This pain!” Hardly had he finished speaking when Pilgrim also arrived. “Dear Idiot!” he chuckled. “Yesterday you said I had a brain tumor, but now you are suffering from the plague of the swollen lip!” “I can’t bear it!” cried Eight Rules. “The pain’s acute! It’s terrible! It’s terrible!”

  The three of them were thus in sad straits when they saw an old woman approaching from the south on the mountain road, her left hand carrying a little bamboo basket with vegetables in it. “Big Brother,” said Sha Monk, “look at that old lady approaching. Let me find out from her what sort of a monster-spirit this is and what kind of weapon she has that can inflict a wound like this.” “You stay where you are,” said Pilgrim, “and let old Monkey question her.” When Pilgrim stared at the old woman carefully, he saw that there were auspicious clouds covering her head and fragrant mists encircling her body. Recognizing all at once who she was, Pilgrim shouted, “Brothers, kowtow quickly! The lady is Bodhisattva!” Ignoring his pain, Eight Rules hurriedly went to his knees while Sha Monk bent low, still holding the reins of the horse. The Great Sage Sun, too, pressed his palms together and knelt down, all crying, “We submit to the great and compassionate, the efficacious savior, Bodhisattva Guanshiyin.”

  When the Bodhisattva saw that they recognized her original light, she at once trod on the auspicious clouds and rose to midair to reveal her true form, the one which carried the fish basket. Pilgrim rushed up there also to say to her, bowing, “Bodhisattva, pardon us for not receiving you properly. We were desperately trying to rescue our master and we had no idea that the Bodhisattva was descending to earth. Our present demonic ordeal is hard to overcome indeed, and we beg the Bodhisattva to help us.” “This monster-spirit,” said the Bodhisattva, “is most formidable. Those tridents of hers happen to be two front claws, and what gave you such a painful stab is actually a stinger on her tail. It’s called the Horse-Felling Poison, for she herself is a scorpion spirit. Once upon a time she happened to be listening to a lecture in the Thunderclap Monastery. When Tathāgata saw her, he wanted to push her away with his hand, but she turned around and gave the left thumb of the Buddha a stab. Even Tathāgata found the pain unbearable! When he ordered the arhats to seize her, she fled here. If you want to rescue the Tang Monk, you must find a special friend of mine, for even I cannot go near her.” Bowing again, Pilgrim said, “I beg the Bodhisattva to reveal to whom it is that your disciple should go to ask for assistance.” “Go to the East Heaven Gate,” replied the Bodhisattva, “and ask for help from the Star Lord Orionis3 in the Luminescent Palace. He is the one to subdue this monster-spirit.” When she finished speaking, she changed into a beam of golden light to return to South Sea.

  Dropping down from the clouds, the Great Sage Sun said to Eight Rules and Sha Monk, “Relax, Brothers, we’ve found someone to rescue Master.” “From where?” asked Sha Monk. Pilgrim replied, “Just now the Bodhisattva told me to seek the assistance of the Star Lord Orionis. Old Monkey will go immediately.” With swollen lips, Eight Rules grunted, “Elder Brother, please ask the god for some medicine for the pain.” “No need for medicine,” said Pilgrim with a laugh. “After one night, the pain will go away like mine.” “Stop talking,” said Sha Monk. “Go quickly!”

  Dear Pilgrim! Mounting his cloud somersault, he arrived instantly at the East Heaven Gate, where he was met by the Devarāja Virūḍhaka. “Great Sage,” said the devarāja, bowing, “where are you going?” “On our way to acquire scriptures in the West,” replied Pilgrim, “the Tang Monk ran into another demonic obstacle. I must go to the Luminescent Palace to find the Star God of the Rising Sun.” As he spoke, Tao, Zhang, Xin, and Deng, the four Grand Marshals, also approached him to ask where he was going. “I have to find the Star Lord Orionis,” said Pilgrim, “and ask him to rescue my master from a monster-spirit.” One of the grand marshals said, �
��By the decree of the Jade Emperor this morning, the god went to patrol the Star-Gazing Terrace.” “Is that true?” asked Pilgrim. “All of us humble warriors,” replied Grand Marshal Xin, “left the Dipper Palace with him at the same time. Would we dare speak falsehood?” “It has been a long time,” said Grand Marshal Tao, “and he might be back already. The Great Sage should go to the Luminescent Palace first, and if he’s not there, then you can go to the Star-Gazing Terrace.”

  Delighted, the Great Sage took leave of them and arrived at the gate of the Luminescent Palace. Indeed, there was no one in sight, and as he turned to leave, he saw a troop of soldiers approaching, followed by the god, who still had on his court regalia made of golden threads. Look at

  His cap of five folds ablaze with gold;

  His court tablet of most lustrous jade.

  A seven-star sword, cloud patterned, hung from his robe;

  An eight-treasure belt, lucent, wrapped around his waist.

  His pendant jangled as if striking a tune;

  It rang like a bell in a strong gust of wind.

  Kingfisher fans parted and Orionis came

  As celestial fragrance the courtyard filled.

  Those soldiers walking in front saw Pilgrim standing outside the Luminescent Palace, and they turned quickly to report: “My lord, the Great Sage Sun is here.” Stopping his cloud and straightening his court attire, the god ordered the soldiers to stand on both sides in two rows while he went forward to salute his visitor, saying, “Why has the Great Sage come here?”

  “I have come here,” replied Pilgrim, “especially to ask you to save my master from an ordeal.” “Which ordeal,” asked the god, “and where?” “In the Cave of the Lute at the Toxic Foe Mountain,” Pilgrim answered, “which is located in the State of Western Liang.” “What sort of monster is there in the cave,” asked the god again, “that has made it necessary for you to call on this humble deity?”