The Journey to the West, Revised Edition, Volume 2

by Unknown

  We tell you instead about the Great Sage Sun who sat in the forest with Sha Monk. A gust of putrid wind blew past and, sneezing immediately, he said, “Bad! Bad! This wind betokens misfortune more than good luck! Zhu Eight Rules, I think, must have taken the wrong way.” “If he did,” said Sha Monk, “couldn’t he ask someone?” Pilgrim said, “He must have run into the monster-spirit.” “If he ran into the monster-spirit,” said Sha Monk, “couldn’t he run back to us?” “It’s not right,” said Pilgrim. “You sit here and guard our belongings. Let me dash over the stream and find out what’s going on over there.” Sha Monk said, “Your body is still sore, Elder Brother, and I fear that you’ll be hurt even more by him. Let me go.” “You won’t do,” said Pilgrim, “let me go instead.”

  Dear Pilgrim! Gritting his teeth to endure the pain, he took up his iron rod and ran across the stream to reach the entrance to the Fiery Cloud Cave. “Brazen monster!” he cried, and those fiends guarding the door ran inside to report, “Pilgrim Sun is shouting again at the door!” The demon king gave the order for him to be seized, and all those little fiends, teeming with spears and swords, rushed out the door shouting, “Seize him! Seize him!” Pilgrim indeed was too weak to fight and he dared not oppose them. Diving to one side of the road, he recited a spell, crying, “Change!” He changed at once into a cloth wrapper adorned with gold. When the little fiends saw it, they took it inside and reported, “Great King, Pilgrim Sun is scared. When he heard the word ‘seize,’ he was so frightened that he dropped this wrapper and fled.” Laughing, the demon king said, “That wrapper is not worth much! All it contains must be the torn shirts of those monks and their old hats. Bring it in and wash it clean; the piece of material can be used for mending or lining.” One of the little fiends put the wrapper on his back to carry it inside, not knowing that it was the transformation of Pilgrim. Pilgrim said, “That’s good! That’s how you ought to carry this cloth wrapper adorned with gold!” Not thinking much about the thing, the monster-spirit left it inside the door.

  Dear Pilgrim! Even in the midst of falsehood he knew greater falsehood, and each fakery of his produced more fakery! He pulled off one piece of his hair on which he blew a mouthful of divine breath: it changed at once into the wrapper, while his true body took on the form of a tiny fly that alighted on the door post. Then he heard Eight Rules moaning and muttering somewhere in a muffled voice, somewhat like a hog stricken with plague! With a buzz, Pilgrim flew up to look around and saw at once that there was a leather bag hung high on the beam. When he alighted on the bag, he heard Eight Rules expostulating the demon in all sorts of vile language. “Wretched fiend,” he said, “how dare you change yourself into a specious Bodhisattva Guanyin to trick me here? How dare you hang me up and want to eat me? One day, when my Elder Brother

  Uses his boundless power, equal to Heav’n,

  All monsters of this mountain will then be caught.

  When I’m freed after this leather bag’s untied,

  I’ll rake you a thousand times before I stop!”

  When Pilgrim heard these words, he laughed silently, saying to himself, “Though the idiot must be suffocating in there, he hasn’t dropped his banner or spear yet! Old Monkey must catch hold of this fiend! If I don’t, I’ll not be able to rid myself of my hostility!”

  He was just trying to think of a plan to rescue Eight Rules when he heard the call of the demon king: “Where are the six mighty commanders?” There were, you see, six little fiends who became special friends of his, and these spirits received the appointment of mighty commander. Their names were: Cloud-in-Fog, Fog-in-Cloud, Quick-as-Fire, Swift-as-Wind, Hurly-Burly, and Burly-Hurly. The six mighty commanders went forward and knelt down. The demon king asked, “Do you all know the way to the house of the Venerable Great King?” “We do,” they replied. The demon king said, “Go at once, and journey in the night if you have to, to give this invitation to the Venerable Great King. Tell him that I have caught the Tang Monk, who will be steamed and served for him to eat so that his age may be lengthened a thousandfold.” Obeying this order, the six fiends swarmed out of the door and left. With a buzz, Pilgrim flew away from the bag and followed those fiends to leave the cave. We do not know who they want to invite to come here; let’s listen to the explanation in the next chapter.

  FORTY-TWO

  The Great Sage diligently calls at South Sea;

  Guanyin with compassion binds the Red Boy.

  We were telling you about those six mighty commanders, who walked out of the cave entrance and followed the road directly toward the southwest. Pilgrim thought to himself, “They wanted to extend an invitation for the Venerable Old King to eat my master, and that Venerable Old King has to be the Bull Demon King. Since old Monkey met him that year, our friendship was a deep one, as ours were the most congenial spirits and sentiments. Now I have returned to the path of rectitude; though he’s still a perverse demon, I can remember his looks despite our lengthy separation. Let old Monkey transform himself into the Bull Monster King and see if they could be deceived.” Dear Pilgrim! He slipped away from those six little fiends; spreading his wings, he flew to a distance of some ten miles ahead. With one shake of his body he changed into the form of Bull Monster King and, pulling off several strands of hair, he cried, “Change!” They changed into several little fiends who were mounting falcons, leading hounds, and brandishing bows and arrows as if they were hunting in the fold of the mountain. There they waited for the six mighty commanders.

  As that motley crew shuffled along, they suddenly saw the Bull Monster King seated before them. So startled were Burly-Hurly and Hurly-Burly that they fell to their knees at once, crying, “Venerable Great King is here!” Since Cloud-in-Fog, Fog-in-Cloud, Quick-as-Fire, and Swift-as-Wind were all of fleshly eyes and mortal stock, how could they possibly distinguish between the true and the false? They all knelt down also and kowtowed, saying, “Father, these little ones have been sent by the Great King Holy Child from the Fiery Cloud Cave. We are here to invite Father Venerable Great King to dine on the flesh of the Tang Monk, so that your age will be lengthened a thousandfold.” “Children,” rejoined Pilgrim, “get up. Follow me home; I’ll go with you after I’ve changed my clothes.” Kowtowing again, the little fiends said, “We beg our Father not to stand on ceremony. There’s no need to return to your residence. The distance is great, and we fear that our Great King will chide us for our delay. We beseech you to begin your journey at once.” Laughing, Pilgrim said, “What nice children you are! All right, all right! Clear the way and I’ll go with you.” The six fiends roused their spirits and shouted to clear the way, while the Great Sage followed them.

  In no time at all they returned to their own place. Swift-as-Wind and Quick-as-Fire dashed into the cave, crying, “Great King, Father Venerable Great King has arrived.” Delighted, the monster king said, “All of you are quite useful! You’ve returned so quickly!” He at once gave the order for all his captains to arrange their troops and to unfurl the flags and drums to receive the Venerable Great King. The fiends of the entire cave all obeyed this command and they formed an orderly formation all the way out to the entrance. Shaking his body once to retrieve his hairs, who were leading dogs and falcons, Pilgrim with chest thrust forward walked loftily inside in big strides. After he took a seat in the middle facing south, Red Boy faced him and knelt down to kowtow to him. “Father King,” he said, “your child gives you obeisance.” Pilgrim said, “My child is exempted from such ceremonies.” Only after he had prostrated himself four times did the monster king rise from the ground and stand below the seat of Pilgrim.

  “My child,” said Pilgrim, “why did you ask me to come here?” Bowing again, the monster king said, “Though your child is not talented, he has managed to capture a certain person yesterday, a monk from the Great Tang in the Land of the East. I have often heard people say that he is someone who has practiced self-cultivation for ten incarnations. If anyone eats a piece of his flesh, this person will enjoy the same age a
s an immortal from P’êng-lai or Ying-chou. Your foolish boy does not dare eat the Tang Monk by himself. That is why I have invited Father King especially to enjoy with me the flesh of the Tang Monk, so that your age may be lengthened a thousandfold.” When Pilgrim heard these words, he shuddered and said, “My child, which Tang Monk is this?” “The one journeying to the Western Heaven to acquire scriptures,” said the monster king. “My child,” said Pilgrim, “is he the master of Pilgrim Sun?” “Indeed,” said the monster king. Waving his hand and shaking his head, Pilgrim said, “Don’t provoke him! You can provoke others, but you don’t know what sort of person that Pilgrim Sun happens to be! My worthy boy, you haven’t met him, I suppose? That monkey has vast magic powers and knows many ways of transformation. Once when he caused great disturbance in the Heavenly Palace, the Great Jade Emperor sent against him one hundred thousand celestial soldiers, but they did not succeed in capturing him even after they had set up the cosmic nets. How dare you want to eat his master? Quickly, send him back to his disciple, and don’t provoke that monkey. If he finds out that you have eaten his master, he need not come to fight with you; all he has to do is use that golden-hooped rod of his to drill a hole halfway into the mountain and he will shovel it right out of its roots! My child, where will you find shelter then? Who will take care of me when I grow old?”

  “Father King,” said the monster king, “what are you saying? You are magnifying the powers of others to belittle the abilities of your son. Though that Pilgrim Sun and his two brothers—altogether three of them—attempted to lead the Tang Monk to cross our mountain, they permitted me to use a transformation to abduct their master back here. Afterwards, he and Zhu Eight Rules searched their way to our door, and he then made some such foolish claim that he was a kin of ours. I grew angry and fought with him, though the several rounds we went through did not indicate that he was such a hot shot! Zhu Eight Rules stepped in from the side to join the fray, and that was when your child spat out his true fire of samādhi and defeated them all at once. They were so frightened, in fact, that they went to ask the Dragon Kings of the Four Oceans to assist them with rain, but the rainwater, of course, could not extinguish my true fire of samādhi. Pilgrim Sun was so severely burned this time that he went into a little coma! Then he told Zhu Eight Rules to seek help from the Bodhisattva Guanyin of the South Sea. I changed into a specious Guanyin and tricked Eight Rules back here; he’s now hung in our compliant bag waiting to be steamed and fed to the little ones. This morning, that Pilgrim returned to our door to make noises once more; when I gave the order to seize him, he was so frightened that he even abandoned a wrap of his and fled. It was then that I decided to invite Father King to come here so that you can see him live before he is steamed for food. My hope is for your age to lengthen, so that you will enjoy long life without ever growing old.”

  Chuckling, Pilgrim said, “My worthy boy! You know only that you can overpower him with your true fire of samādhi. You don’t know that he knows seventy-two ways of transformation.” “He can change into whatever he wants to,” said the monster king, “but I can still recognize him. I don’t think he dares enter our door.” “My child,” said Pilgrim, “you may recognize him when he changes into something big, and that will be difficult indeed for him to get inside your door. But if he changes into something small, it will be difficult for you to recognize him.” “Let him!” said the monster king. “Every door of mine here has four or five little fiends standing guard over it. How could he possibly enter?” Pilgrim said, “So you don’t know about this! He is able to change into a fly, a mosquito, a flea, or a bee, a butterfly, a mole cricket, or some such creature. He can even change into a form like me! How could you possibly recognize him?” “Don’t worry!” said the monster king. “Even if he had a gall of iron and a heart of bronze, he wouldn’t dare approach my door.”

  “According to what you have told me, my worthy boy,” said Pilgrim, “you certainly are more than able to withstand him, and this explains why you are eager to invite me to come and dine on the Tang Monk’s flesh. Unfortunately, however, I can’t eat it today.” “Why not?” asked the monster king. Pilgrim said, “I’m feeling my age these days, and your mother often tells me to do some good deeds. There’s not much I can do, I thought, but I have decided to keep a vegetarian diet.” The monster king said, “Is Father King keeping a permanent one or a monthly diet?” “Neither,” said Pilgrim, “but mine is called a ‘Thunder Vegetarian Diet,’ and I keep it for only four days in a month.” “Which four?” asked the monster king. Pilgrim said, “During those three days when the celestial stem xin appears in the sexagesimal representations1 and during the sixth day of the month. Today happens to be the day of xinyou: I should maintain a vegetarian diet in the first place, and in the second place, a you day means that I myself should not meet any guests. Therefore, let’s wait until tomorrow; I’ll personally see to it that the Tang Monk is scrubbed clean to be steamed and enjoyed along with all of you.”

  When the monster king heard these words, he thought to himself, “My Father King has always fed on humans; that’s been his livelihood, in fact, for over a thousand years. How is it that he has taken up a vegetarian diet now? He has, after all, committed many evil acts. How could three or four days of vegetarian diet atone for them? His words make no sense! Something’s fishy!” He turned at once and walked out the second door, calling together the six mighty commanders to ask them, “Where did you find the Venerable Great King?” The little fiends said, “On our way.” “I remarked that you all returned so quickly,” said the monster king. “Didn’t you reach his house?” “No,” said the little fiends, “we did not.” “That’s bad!” said the monster king. “We have been deceived by him! This is no Venerable Great King.” All those little fiends knelt down immediately, saying, “Great King, can’t you even recognize your own father?” “The features and the gestures seem genuine,” said the monster king, “but he doesn’t talk like him. I fear that we may be deceived by him and become his victim. Take care, all of you: those who use swords unsheath your swords; those who use spears keep your spears sharp; those who use staffs and ropes have them ready. Let me question him some more and see how he talks. If indeed he is the Venerable Great King, we can wait even a month until he is pleased to eat the Tang Monk. But if his words are not right, I’ll give a yell and all of you will attack together.” The various demons obeyed.

  This monster king went inside again and bowed once more to Pilgrim. “My child,” said Pilgrim, “there’s no need to stand on ceremony in the family. No need to bow to me. If you have something to say, say it.” Prostrating himself on the ground, the monster king said, “Your foolish boy invited you to come here for two reasons: first, I wanted to present to you the flesh of the Tang Monk, and second, I have a small question to ask you. Some days ago, I was taking a leisure trip; as I mounted the auspicious luminosity to rise to the Ninefold Heaven, I ran suddenly into Master Zhang Daoling, the Daoist Patriarch.”2 “Is he the Celestial Master?” asked Pilgrim. “Yes,” said the monster king. Pilgrim said, “What did he have to say?” “When he saw how well formed my features were,” said the monster king, “and how level were my shoulders, he inquired after the hour, date, month, and year of my birth. Your child, however, was too young to remember the exact time. An expert in astrological divination, the Master wanted to tell my fortune through calculations based on the five planets. That is the reason why I have asked Father King to come here. Please tell me the times of my birth, so that I can ask him to tell my fortune the next time I see him.”

  When Pilgrim heard these words, he sat smiling to himself, thinking, “Dear monster! Since old Monkey has returned to the Buddhist fruit, I have caught, as a guardian of Master Tang, several monster-spirits on our way, but none of them matches this one for jugglery! If he asks me about some trivial matters in the household, I can fabricate an answer with whatever comes into my mind. But now he wants to have the date, month, and year of his birth! How could I kn
ow?” Dear Monkey King! He was most resourceful indeed! Sitting augustly in the middle, he did not betray the slightest fear; instead, his face beaming with pleasure, he said, smiling, “My worthy boy, please rise. Because of my age, I have been troubled by all sorts of things of late, and I have quite forgotten the exact time of your birth. Let me ask your mother when I return home tomorrow.”

  The monster king said to himself, “Father King has never stopped talking about the eight nativity characters3 of my birth, saying that I have an age as lengthy as Heaven’s. How could he forget them today? Nonsense! He has to be false!” He gave a yell, and the various fiends rushed forward to hack at Pilgrim’s head and face with their spears and swords. Using the golden-hooped rod to parry the blows, this Great Sage changed back into his original form and said to the monster-spirit, “My worthy child! How unreasonable you are! How could a son attack his own father?” Filled with embarrassment, the monster king did not even dare look at him, as Pilgrim transformed himself into a beam of golden light and left the cave dwelling. “Great King,” said the little fiends, “Pilgrim Sun has escaped.” The monster king said, “All right, all right! Let him go! I’ll admit defeat this time! Let’s shut the door and say nothing to him. We will wash and scrub the Tang Monk so that he can be steamed and eaten.”