by Wu Cheng-En
“Oh well,” said Sanzang, “never mind. But you will have to stay with me.” Indeed:
The Great Sage Sun guarded Tang Sanzang well;
The pilgrim priest depended on the Handsome Monkey King.
Master and disciple had not even finished their discussion when the evil spirit, who had arranged everything, came in along the corridor, unlocked the doors and called, “Reverend sir.” The Tang Priest dared not reply. She addressed him again, and again he dared not reply. Why was that? He was thinking that
Divine energy is dispersed by an open mouth;
Trouble starts when the tongue begins to move.
He was thinking with all his heart that if he obstinately refused to open his mouth she might turn vicious and murder him in an instant. Just when he was feeling confused, wondering which difficult alternative to choose and asking himself what to do, the evil spirit addressed him as “Reverend sir” for the third time.
The Tang Priest had no choice but to answer, “Here I am, madam.” For him to give this reply was to make all the flesh fall off him. Now everybody says that the Tang Priest is a sincere monk, so how could he reply to the she-devil when he was on his way to worship the Buddha and fetch the scriptures from the Western Heaven? What you would not realize is that this was a crisis in which his very survival was at stake, that he had absolutely no alternative; and although he went through the form of replying he was free of desire inside. But when the evil spirit heard his reply she pushed the door open, helped the Tang Priest to his feet, held his hand, stood with her side pressed against his and whispered in his ear. Just look at her as she lays on the charm and makes herself alluring in every possible way. She did not realize that Sanzang was full of revulsion.
“From the way she's making herself so seductive,” Monkey thought with a wry grin to himself, “I'm worried that she might get the master interested.” Indeed:
The monk in demon trouble met a pretty girl;
The she-devil's beauty was truly superb.
Her slender jade eyebrows were like two willow leaves;
Her round face was set off with peach blossom.
Embroidered shoes gave a sight of a pair of phoenixes;
Her crow-black hair was piled high at the temples.
As smiling she led the master by his hand
His cassock was tinged with orchid and musk.
Her arms around him, the she-devil took the master to a thatched pavilion and said, “Reverend sir, I've had a drink brought here to have with you.”
“Lady,” said the Tang Priest, “as a monk I can take no impure food.”
“I know,” the evil spirit replied. “As the water in the cave isn't clean I've sent for some of the pure water from the mating of the Yin and the Yang up on the mountain, and had a banquet of fruit and vegetables prepared. After that you and I are going to have some fun.” When the Tang Priest went into the pavilion with her this is what could be seen:
All within the gates
Was decked in silks and embroideries;
Throughout the hall
Incense rose from golden lion censers.
Black-painted inlaid tables were set in rows,
On which stood dark-lacquered bamboo dishes.
On the inlaid tables
Were all kinds of delicacies;
In the bamboo dishes
Were vegetarian delights:
Crab apples, olives, lotus seeds, grapes, torreya-nuts,
hazelnuts, pine-nuts, lichees, longans, chestnuts, water caltrops, jujubes, persimmons, walnuts, gingko nuts, kumquats and oranges.
There was the fruit that grows on every hill,
The fresh vegetables of each season;
Beancurd, wheat gluten, tree-ear fungus, fresh bamboo shoots, button mushrooms, gill fungus, yams, sealwort, agar, day lily fried in vegetable oil,
Hyacinth beans, cowpeas prepared with mature sauces.
Cucumbers, gourds, gingko, turnip greens.
Peeled aubergines were cooked like quails;
Seeded wax gourds
Taro stewed tender and sprinkled with sugar,
Turnips boiled in vinegar.
Pungent chili and ginger made it all delicious;
All the dishes were a balance of bland and salty.
Revealing the tips of her jade fingers she raised a dazzling golden goblet that she filled with fine wine. “Dearest reverend gentleman,” she said, handing it to him, “my darling, have a drink to celebrate our happy union.” Sanzang was covered with embarrassment as he took the wine.
He poured a libation into the air as he prayed silently, “Devas who guard the Dharma, Guardians of the Four Quarters and the Centre, Four Duty Gods: your disciple Chen Xuanzang has benefited from the secret protection of all you deities sent by the Bodhisattva Guanyin on my journey to pay my respects at the Thunder Monastery, see the Buddha and seek the scriptures. I have now been captured by an evil spirit on my way. She is forcing me to marry her and has now handed me this cup of wine to drink. If this really is pure wine I can force myself to drink it and still be able to succeed and see the Buddha. But if it is impure wine I will be breaking my vows and fall for ever into the bitterness of the wheel of rebirth.”
The Great Sage Sun made himself tiny and was like a secret informant behind his master's ear. When he spoke Sanzang was the only one who could hear him. Knowing that his master was normally fond of the pure wine of grapes he told him to drain the goblet. Sanzang had no choice but to do so, quickly refill the goblet and hand it back to the evil spirit. As he filled it bubbles of happiness formed on the surface of the wine. Brother Monkey turned himself into the tiniest of insects and flew lightly under the bubbles. But when the spirit took the goblet she put it down instead of drinking from it, bowed twice to the Tang Priest and spoke loving words to him with charming bashfulness. By the time she lifted the cup the bubbles had burst and the insect was revealed. Not realizing that it was Monkey transformed the evil spirit took it for a real insect, lifted it out with her little finger and flicked it away.
Seeing that as things were not going as he intended he would be unable to get into her belly Monkey turned himself into a hungry eagle.
Indeed:
Jade claws, gold eyes and iron wings;
In terrible might he rose above the clouds.
Cunning hares and foxes felt faint at just the sight,
And hid among mountains and rivers for hundred of miles around.
When hungry it chased small birds into the wind,
And rose to the gate of heaven when replete.
Murderous were its talons of steel;
In times of triumph it stayed aloof in the clouds.
Monkey flew up, swung his jade claws, and noisily overturned the tables, smashing all the fruit, vegetables and crockery, and leaving the Tang Priest alone there as he flew off. This was so terrifying that the she-devil's heart and gall were split open, and the Tang Priest's flesh and bones were turned crisp. Shivering and shaking, the evil spirit threw her arms round the Tang Priest and said, “Dearest reverend gentleman, wherever did that come from?”
“I don't know,” Sanzang replied.
“I went to a great deal of trouble to arrange this vegetarian feast for you,” the she-devil said. “Goodness only knows where that feathered brute flew in from and smashed our crockery.”
“Smashing the crockery doesn't really matter,” the junior demons said, “but all the food has been spilt on the floor. It's too dirty to eat now.” Sanzang by now realized that this was all the result of Monkey's magic, but he dared not say so.
“Little ones,” said the she-devil, “I realize now. It must be heaven and earth that sent that thing down here because they can't tolerate my holding the Tang Priest prisoner. Clear all the broken dishes up and lay on another banquet. Never mind whether it's vegetarian or not. Heaven can be our matchmaker and the earth our guarantor. After that the Tang Priest and I will become man and wife.” We will say no more of her as she took the Tang Pr
iest to sit in the East corridor.
Instead the story tells of how Monkey flew out, turned back into himself, reached the entrance to the cave and shouted, “Open up!”
“Friar Sand,” Pig shouted, “our big brother's here.” As the two of them drew their weapons away Monkey sprang out.
“Is there an evil spirit in there?” Pig asked, grabbing hold of him. “Is the master in there?”
“Yes, yes,” said Monkey.
“The master must be having a hard time in there,” said Pig. “Are his arms tied behind his back? Or is he all roped up? Is she going to steam him or boil him?”
“None of them,” Monkey replied. “She'd just had a vegetarian feast served and was going to do it with him.”
“So you've been lucky then,” said Pig. “You must have drunk a wedding toast.”
“Idiot!” retorted Monkey, “Never mind about having a wedding drink. I can hardly keep him alive.”
“Then why are you here?” Pig asked.
Monkey told how he had seen the master and done his transformations, ending, “Don't let your fears run away with you, brothers. The master's here, and when I go back in this time I'll definitely rescue him.”
Going back inside, Monkey turned into a fly and landed on the gate-tower to listen. He could hear the she-devil snorting with fury as she gave instructions within the pavilion.
“Little ones, bring whatever there is, vegetarian or not, and burn paper as offerings to the deities. I'll ask heaven and earth to be the matchmakers. I'm definitely going to marry him.”
When Monkey heard this he smiled to himself and thought, “That she-devil's completely shameless. She's locked a monk up in her home and now she's going to mess around with him in broad daylight. But don't be in too much of a hurry. Give me time to go in and have a look round.” With a buzz he flew along the corridor to see the master sitting inside, tears streaming down his face.
Monkey squeezed in, landed on Sanzang's head and called, “Master.” Recognizing the voice, Sanzang sprang to his feet and said with tooth-gnashing fury, “Macaque! Other people get their courage from a big gall, but they have to wrap their bodies around it. Your gall is so big that you wrap it round your body. You used your magical powers of transformation to smash the crockery, but what use is that? By fighting that she-devil you've only made her more sex-crazed than ever. She is arranging a banquet with vegetarian and impure food all mixed up and is determined to mate with me. Where will this all end?”
Smiling to himself again, Monkey replied, “Don't be angry with me, Master. I've got a way to save you.”
“How will you save me?” the Tang Priest asked.
“When I flew up just now,” said Monkey, “I saw that she has a garden behind here. You must lure her into the garden to fool around and I'll rescue you from there.”
“How will you rescue me from the garden?” the Tang Priest asked.
“Go to the peach trees in the garden with her and stay there. Wait till I've flown to a branch of the peach tree and turned into a red peach. When you want to eat a peach pick the red one first-that will be me. She'll be bound to pick one too. You must insist on giving her the red one. Once she's swallowed it I'll be in her stomach. When I tear her stomach to pieces and rip her guts to shreds she'll be dead and you'll be freed.”
“With your powers you ought to fight her,” said Sanzang. “Why do you want to get into her stomach?”
“You don't understand, Master,” Monkey replied. “If it were easy to get in and out of this cave of hers I would be able to fight her. But this place is very hard to get into or out of: the way out is complicated and difficult. If I started a fight with her all the fiends in her den, young and old, would overpower me. Then how would it end? We must act carefully if we're all to make a clean getaway.”
Sanzang nodded, believing all that Monkey said, adding only, “You must stay with me.”
“I know,” said monkey, “I know. I'll be on your head.”
When master and disciple had settled their plan Sanzang leaned forward, took hold of the bars in the corridor's gates and called out, “Lady, lady.”
As soon as she heard this the evil spirit came rushing over, a simpering smile on her face, to ask, “What do you have to say to me, my wonderful darling?”
“Lady,” replied Sanzang, “ever since leaving Chang'an and starting on my journey to the West I have had to cross mountains and rivers every single day. When I was staying in the Zhenhai Monastery last night I caught a bad chill and I have been in a sweat today. I was just beginning to feel a little better today when in your kindness, good lady, you brought me into your immortals' palace. As I have been sitting here all day I am now feeling in rather low spirits again. Could you take me somewhere to cheer myself up and have a little fun?”
The evil spirit was utterly delighted. “So you're feeling a bit interested, are you, my wonderful darling?” she said. “You and I will go into the garden for some fun. Little ones,” she called, “fetch the key, open the garden gates, and sweep the paths in the garden.” The demons all hurried off to open the gates and tidy the place up.
Meanwhile the evil spirit was opening the screen and helping the Tang Priest out. Just watch the many young demons-all willowy beauties with oiled hair and powdered faces-crowding around the Tang Priest as they head for the garden. What a splendid monk he was, walking amid these beauties in their gauze and brocade for no other purpose than to be deaf and dumb. If instead of having an iron heart set on the Buddha he had been any ordinary man susceptible to wine and women he would never have succeeded in fetching the scriptures.
When they reached the entrance to the garden the evil spirit whispered seductively, “My wonderful darling, let's have some fun here-it'll cheer you up.” They went into the garden hand in hand, and when he looked up he saw that it was indeed a splendid place. This is what could be seen:
All over the winding paths
Bluish lichens grow.
Secluded gauze windows
Kept dark by embroidered curtains.
When the breeze arises
Silks and brocades float in the air.
When the gentle rain stops falling
The smooth white skin and jade-like flesh are revealed.
The sun-scorched apricot
Is red as an immortal's rainbow clothes spread out to dry;
The plantain in the moonlight
Is bluer than Lady Taizhen waving her feather fan.
Whitewashed walls enclose
The golden orioles that sing in ten thousand willows.
Within the empty halls
Butterflies flit among begonias in the courtyard.
Look at the Hall of Crystallized Perfumes,
The Green Moth Hall,
The Hall to Recover from Drunkenness,
The Hall of Longing,
Rolling up the brilliance, one behind the other.
On the red curtains
Hooks hold tassels like prawn whiskers.
Now look at the Pavilion to Ease Pain
The Pavilion of Simplicity,
The Pavilion of Thrushes,
The Four Rains Pavilion,
All towering and lofty,
And bearing on decorated tablets
Their names in archaic script.
Look too at the Pool Where Cranes Bathe,
The Goblet-washing Pool,
The Pool of Delight in the Moon,
The Pool for Cleansing Tassels,
Where amid duckweed and algae the gold scales shine.
Then there is the Kiosk of Ink Flowers,
The Kiosk of Strange Boxes,
The Interesting Kiosk,
The Kiosk for Admiring the Clouds
Where bubbles like green ants float on the wine in jade ladles and goblets.
Around the pools and pavilions
Stand rocks from Lake Taihu,
Rocks of purple crystal,
Yingluo rocks,
Jin River rocks,
&
nbsp; Greenish and overgrown with tiger-whisker rushes.
East and West of the kiosks and balls are found
A Wooden Mountain,
A Turquoise Screen Mountain,
A Howling Wind Mountain,
A Jade Mushroom Mountain,
All covered in phoenix-tail bamboo.
Trellises of briar roses,
And garden roses,
Growing by a swing,
As a curtain of silk and brocade.
A Pine Pavilion,
A Magnolia Pavilion,
Opposite a Saussurea Pavilion,
Forming a wall of jade with embroidered hangings.
Herbaceous and tree peonies are rivals in luxuriance;
The night-closing magnolias and the jasmine
Are charming every year.
Moist with dewdrops are the purple buds:
They ought to be painted or drawn.
The red hibiscus fills the sky with flaming splendor,
A marvellous subject for poetry.
When it comes to fine scenery
This makes Lang Garden or Penglai not worth a mention;
And as for the flowers,
The finest peonies of Luoyang count for nothing beside them.
In the battle of the blossoms late in the spring
The garden lacks only the flowers of jade.
The venerable elder led the she-devil by the hand as they strolled in the garden, admiring the endless displays of rare and exotic blooms. As they went through many a hall and pavilion he really did seem to be going into an exquisite place. Looking up, he realized that he was by the peach grove. Monkey pinched his master's head to remind him.
Flying to a branch of a peach tree Brother Monkey shook himself and turned into a red peach, and a most fetchingly red one at that. “Lady,” the venerable elder said to the evil spirit, “what beautifully scented flowers and ripe fruit you have in this garden.
The blooms are so fragrant bees vie for their nectar;
The birds all compete for the fruit on the branches.
Why are some of the peaches on the trees red and some green?”
