The Journey to the West, Revised Edition, Volume 3

by Unknown

  Look at them! Wielding spears, swords, scimitars, and axes, they began to pry at the pair of cymbals and stab at them, hauling them back and forth. They did this until about the time of the third watch, but the cymbals could not be loosened at all. The pair seemed to be like a wonton that had been forged together. Pilgrim inside was looking this way and that; he crawled over here and rolled to the other side, but he could not detect even the faintest speck of light.

  “Oh, Great Sage,” said Gullet the Gold Dragon,8 “please be more patient. As I see it, this treasure must be a compliant thing which knows transformation also. Try to feel with your hands inside along the edges where the cymbals come together. I’m going to use the tip of my horn and see if I can wedge it inside. Then you can use some kind of transformation and escape through the spot where it comes apart.” Pilgrim agreed and started to use his hands to feel along the edges. Meanwhile, this Constellation made his body smaller until his horn became like a pointed needle. At the top of the cymbals where they were joined, he tried to stick the horn through. Alas, he had to use every ounce of his strength before he managed to reach inside. Then he caused his body and his horn to take on the dharma form, crying, “Grow! Grow! Grow!” The horn grew to the thickness of a rice bowl. The edge of the cymbals, however, did not behave like any metallic object at all; instead, they seemed to have been made of skin and flesh, which had the horn of Gullet the Gold Dragon in a viselike grip. There was not the slightest crack anywhere around the horn. When Pilgrim felt the horn with his hands, he said, “It’s no use! There’s no crack above or below! I have no choice. You must bear a little pain and take me out.” Marvelous Great Sage! He changed the golden-hooped rod into a steel drill and drilled a hole on the tip of the horn. Transforming his body into the size of a mustard seed, he stuck himself inside the hole and yelled, “Pull the horn out! Pull the horn out!” Again, the Constellation exerted who knows how much strength before he yanked it out and fell exhausted to the ground.

  As soon as Pilgrim crawled out from the hole he drilled in the tip of the Constellation’s horn and changed back into his true form, he whipped out the iron rod and slammed it down with a crash on the cymbals. It was as if a copper mountain had been toppled, a gold mine blown open. What a pity! An instrument belonging to the Buddha was instantly reduced to a thousand fragments of gold! The Twenty-Eight Constellations were terrified and the Guardian of Five Quarters’ hair stood on end. All those various fiends, old and young, were roused from their dreams, and even the old monster-king was startled in his sleep. He scrambled up, and as he put on his clothes, he ordered a roll of drums to assemble the rest of the fiends and arm them. It was about dawn at this time when they rushed beneath the treasure throne. There they saw Pilgrim Sun and the various Constellations hovering over the pieces of the golden cymbals. Paling with fright, the monster-king gave this order: “Little ones! Shut the front door quickly and don’t let anyone out.”

  On hearing this, Pilgrim led the star spirits to mount the clouds and rose into the air. After the monster-king had put away the gold fragments, he ordered his troops to line up in formation outside the monastery gate. Nursing his anger, the monster-king hurriedly put on his armor and picked up a short, pliant wolf-teeth club9 to walk out of his camp, crying, “Pilgrim Sun, a brave man shouldn’t run away! Step forward quickly and fight three rounds with me!” Unable to contain himself, Pilgrim led the star spirits to lower their clouds and to take a good look at that monster-spirit. They saw he had

  Disheveled hair,

  Strapped down by a thin and flat gold band;

  Glowering eyes,

  Topped by thick, bushy yellow brows;

  A gall-like nose

  With nostrils flaring;

  A four-square mouth

  With sharp, pointed teeth.

  He wore a cuirass of chain mail.

  Tied with a sash spun with raw silk.

  His feet were shod in calfskin boots;

  His hands held up a wolf-teeth club.

  His form was beastlike, though he was no beast;

  With looks nonhuman, still he seemed like man.

  Sticking out his iron rod, Pilgrim shouted, “What kind of fiendish creature are you, that you dare play the Buddhist patriarch, occupy this mountain, and falsely set up the Small Thunderclap Monastery?”

  “So, the little monkey doesn’t know my name!” replied the monster-king, “and that’s why you’ve transgressed the territory of this divine mountain! This place is called the Little Western Heaven. By my self-cultivation I have attained the right fruit, and thus Heaven bestowed on me these treasure bowers and precious towers. My name is the Old Buddha of Yellow Brows, but the people of this region, ignorant of that, address me as the Great King Yellow Brows or Holy Father Yellow Brows. I have known all the while that you are on your way to the West, and that you have some abilities. That’s why I displayed my powers and set up the image to lure your master to enter. I want to make a wager with you. If you can withstand me, I’ll spare you all, master and disciples, so that you, too, can perfect the right fruit. If you can’t, I’ll slay all of you, and I’ll go myself to see Tathāgata for the scriptures, so that I can attain the right fruit for China.” “Monster-spirit,” said Pilgrim with a laugh, “no need to brag! If you want this wager, come up quickly and receive the rod!” Very amiably the monster-king met him with the wolf-teeth club, and this was some battle!

  The club and rod

  Are not the same.

  To speak of them, they have their own form and shape!

  One is a short and pliant Buddhist arm;

  One is a deep-sea treasure stiff and hard.

  Both can transform according to one’s wish;

  They join this time and each strives to be strong.

  The short, pliant wolf-teeth’s jewel bedecked;

  The sturdy golden-hooped is dragonlike.

  They can turn thick or thin, how marvelous!

  They can grow long or short with perfect ease.

  Demon and ape

  Together fight

  A hot, furious battle—that’s not a lie!

  The ape tamed by faith Mind Monkey becomes;

  The fiend mocks Heaven in his image false.

  Raging and fuming, they both turn cruel;

  Vicious and violent they both look the same.

  This one aims at the head and refuses to quit;

  That one stabs at the face with no let up.

  Spat-out clouds darken the sun;

  Belched-out fog cover the mount.

  Rod and club, as they join, swing back and forth;

  For Tripitaka they slight life or death.

  Look at the two of them! They closed in for more than fifty times, but no decision could be reached. Before the gate of the monastery, those various monster-spirits began to shout their encouragements, beating their drums and gongs at the same time and waving their banners. On this side, the Twenty-Eight Constellations, the Guardian of Five Quarters, and the other sages immediately uttered a cry and, each wielding his weapon, had the demon surrounded. The fiends before the monastery were so terrified that they could no longer beat the drums; trembling all over, they could hardly sound the gongs.

  The old fiendish demon, however, was not in the least afraid. With one hand he used his wolf-teeth club to fence off all those weapons; with his other hand he untied from his waist a little wrap made of old white cloth. He flung the wrap skyward and, with a loud whoosh, the Great Sage Sun, the Twenty-Eight Constellations, and the Guardian of Five Quarters were all wrapped up inside it. Retrieving the wrap, the monster swung it on his shoulder and turned to stride back to his camp, while all those little fiends were elated by this sudden triumph.

  Asking his little ones to fetch him several dozen ropes, the old fiend told them to untie the wrap: as each of the prisoners was fished out, he was immediately bound. All of the deities were weak and numb, and even their skin seemed to be wrinkled and their appearance emaciated. After they were bound,
they were hauled to the rear of the monastery and thrown to the ground. Then the monster-king ordered a large banquet for himself and his subjects, and they drank until dusk before scattering to retire. We shall thus leave them for the moment.

  We tell you now about the Great Sage Sun, who was tied up along with the other deities. By about midnight there suddenly came to them the sound of someone weeping. When the Great Sage listened closely, he discovered that it was the voice of Tripitaka, who wailed, “Oh, Wukong!

  I loathe myself for not not giving you heed,

  Thus landing us all in such dire need!

  Now you are hurt in the cymbals of gold.

  I am rope bound, which person had been told?

  Most bitter fate caused what we four had met;

  Merits, three thousand, have been all upset.

  What will grant us from this bondage reprieve

  That we may reach smoothly the West and leave?”

  On hearing this, Pilgrim was moved to compassion, saying to himself, “Though that master refused to believe my words and landed in this calamity, he nonetheless does think of old Monkey when he is in such straits. Since the night is quiet and the fiend is sleeping, I may as well make use of this unguarded moment and go free the rest of them.”

  Dear Great Sage! Using the Magic of Body-Vanishment, he caused his body to shrink and immediately became free of the ropes. He approached the Tang Monk and whispered, “Master!” Recognizing his voice, the elder said, “How did you get here?”

  Softly Pilgrim gave him a thorough account of what had happened, and the elder was exceedingly pleased. “Disciple,” he said, “please rescue me quickly! Whatever happens hereafter I’ll listen to you. I won’t ever overrule you again.” Then Pilgrim raised his hands and freed his master, after which he untied Eight Rules, Sha Monk, the Twenty-Eight Constellations, and the Guardian of Five Quarters. Dragging the horse over, he told them to hurry out the door. Just as they stepped outside, however, he remembered the luggage and wanted to go back inside to search for it.

  “You really value things more than the person!” said Gullet the Gold Dragon. “Isn’t it enough that you have saved your master? Why must you look anymore for luggage?” “The person’s important, of course,” said Pilgrim, “but the cassock and the bowl are even more important. In our wrap are the imperial travel rescript, the brocaded cassock, and the almsbowl of purple gold, all superior Buddhist treasures. How could we not want them?” “Elder Brother,” said Eight Rules, “you go look for them, and we will wait for you by the road.”

  Look at those star spirits who had the Tang Monk surrounded! Using the Magic of Displacement, they called up a gust of wind and had themselves taken clear out of the high walls. After they reached the main road, they headed straight down the mountain slope until they arrived at a level region. There they waited.

  It was about the hour of the third watch that the Great Sage Sun walked slowly and stealthily inside. The doors at every level, you see, were tightly shut. When he climbed to the tallest tower to take a look, he found that even the windows and casements were completely closed. He wanted, of course, to go inside down below, but afraid that windows or the shutters might make a noise, he dared not push at them. Making the magic sign with his fingers, therefore, he shook his body once and changed into a divine mouse, commonly called the bat. How does he look, you ask?

  A pointed head like a rat’s,

  Like it his eyes shine, too.

  With wings he comes out at dusk;

  Sightless he sleeps in the day.

  He hides in hollow tiles

  To find mosquitoes for food.

  He loves most the bright, fair moon

  And knows when to fly and soar.

  Through the space that was not sealed up between the rafters and the roof tiles, he crawled inside. Passing through several doors, he reached the very center of the building, where under the third-level casement he came upon something glowing. It was not the light of lamps or fireflies, neither the glow of twilight nor the blaze of lightning. Half leaping and flying, he went near there to have another look and found that it was the wrap of their luggage that was emitting the glow. That monster-spirit, you see, had stripped the Tang Monk of his cassock, and instead of folding it properly, he merely stuffed it inside the wrap again. The cassock was, after all, a Buddhist treasure which had on it compliant pearls, Mani pearls, red cornelian beads, purple coral, relics, and the night-luminescent pearls. That was why it glowed.

  Exceedingly pleased by this discovery, Pilgrim changed back into his own form and picked up the luggage. Without even bothering to check whether the ropes were properly attached to the pole or not, he threw the load on his shoulder and began to walk out. One end of the luggage unexpectedly slipped off the pole and fell with a thud to the floor. Alas! This was what had to happen! The old monster-spirit was sleeping on the floor immediately down below, and he was wakened by that loud thud. Jumping up, he screamed, “Someone’s here! Someone’s here!” Those various fiends, old and young, all arose and lit torches and lamps. In a noisy throng, they rushed about to inspect the front and rear. One of them arrived to say, “The Tang Monk has escaped!” Another came to report: “Pilgrim and the rest are gone, too!” The old fiend immediately gave this order: “Guard all the doors!” When he heard this, Pilgrim feared that he might fall into their net again. Abandoning his load of luggage, he mounted the cloud somersault and leaped clear of the building through a window.

  The monster-spirit led a thorough search for the Tang Monk at the front and back of the monastery but they failed to turn up anyone. When he saw that it was almost light, he took his club and led his troops to give chase. Beneath the mountain slope, still shrouded by cloud and fog, were the Twenty-Eight Constellations, the Guardian of Five Quarters, and the other deities. “Where do you think you’re going?” shouted the monster-king. “Here I am!” “Brothers!” cried Horn the Wood Dragon, “the fiendish creature’s here!”

  Whereupon Gullet the Gold Dragon, Woman the Earth Bat, Chamber the Sun Hare, Heart the Moon Fox, Tail the Fire Tiger, Winnower the Water Leopard, Dipper the Wood Unicorn, Ox the Gold Bull, Base the Earth Badger, Barrens the Sun Rat, Roof the Moon Swallow, House the Fire Hog, Wall the Water Porcupine, Straddler the Wood Wolf, Harvester the Gold Hound, Stomach the Earth Hog, Mane the Sun Rooster, Net the Moon Crow, Beak the Fire Monkey, Triaster the Water Ape, Well the Wood Hound, Ghost the Gold Ram, Willow the Earth Antelope, Star the Sun Horse, Spread the Moon Deer, Wing the Fire Serpent, and Axeltree the Water Earthworm led the Golden-Headed Guardian, the Silver-Headed Guardian, the Six Gods of Light and Darkness, the Guardians of Monasteries, Eight Rules, and Sha Monk to meet their pursuers. Abandoning the Tripitaka Tang and forsaking the white dragon horse, they rushed into battle, each with weapon in hand.

  When this monster-king saw them, he laughed scornfully and gave a loud whistle. Immediately some four or five thousand monster-spirits, old and young, surged forward, all strong and sturdy, and they began a terrific battle on the west mountain slope. Marvelous fight!

  The vile, vicious demon mocks the true Self.

  The true Self’s so gentle, what could it do?

  A hundred plans used up, they can’t escape their pain.

  A thousand schemes cannot achieve their peace.

  The gods lend their protection;

  The sages help with their arms.

  Wood Mother may still be kind,

  But Yellow Dame has made up its mind.

  Their brawl stirs Heaven and shakes the Earth;

  Their fight expands like a net spread out.

  On this side, banners wave and soldiers shout;

  On that side, they roll drums and beat gongs.

  A mass of swords and spears coldly gleaming;

  Thick rows of halberds veiled in dealthy pall.

  The fiendish troops are so fierce and brave,

  What could those divine fighters do?

  Wretched clouds hide both sun and moon;
/>   Grievous fog shroud mountains and streams.

  They strain and struggle in a bitter row,

  All for to Buddha Tang Monk’s faulty bow.

  Growing more fierce all the time, the monster-spirit led his troops to charge again and again. Just at that moment when neither side proved to be the stronger, they heard the roar of Pilgrim: “Old Monkey’s arrived!”

  Eight Rules met him and asked, “Where’s the luggage?” “Old Monkey almost lost his life already,” answered Pilgrim. “Don’t mention any luggage!” Gripping his precious staff, Sha Monk said, “Stop talking now! We must go fight the monster-spirit!” The star spirits and those Gods of Darkness and Light by now were encircled completely by the various fiends, and the old fiend wielded his club to attack the three of them. Pilgrim, Eight Rules, and Sha Monk opened up their rod, staff, and rake to meet him head-on. They fought till truly the Heaven grew dim and the Earth darkened, but they could not prevail against the demon. They fought some more until the sun sank down in the west and the moon arose in the east.

  When the fiend saw that it was getting late, he signaled his subjects to be on guard by whistling loudly; then he took out his treasure. When Pilgrim saw clearly that the fiend had untied his wrap and held it in his hand, he cried, “Look out! Let’s run!” Without further regard for Eight Rules, Sha Monk, and the other dēvas, he somersaulted all the way up to the Ninefold Heaven. The gods and his companions, however, were not quick enough to understand why he fled, and they were all captured once more inside the wrap after the monster-spirit had thrown it in the air. Only Pilgrim thus managed to escape.

  After the monster-king and his troops returned to the monastery, he asked for ropes again and ordered the prisoners to be tied up as before. The Tang Monk, Eight Rules, and Sha Monk were to be hung up high on the rafters, while the white horse was to be tied up in the back. After the deities had been trussed up, they were to be thrown into the cellar and the entrance would be covered and sealed. The little fiends obeyed each of his instructions, and we shall leave them for the moment.