Tales of a Chinese Grandmother

by Frances Carpenter

  XIII

  THE KING OF THE MONKEYS

  ONE sunny spring morning Grandmother Ling stepped through the gate in the white wall that was shaped like a flower vase and that led into the Garden of Sweet Smells beyond the family courts. Ah Shung and Yu Lang and several of the other children followed her. They walked along the main paths, which were paved with little stones arranged in neat patterns. On one of these the pebbles were fitted together to form daisies, on another they made a long twisting dragon. The smaller paths were of earth packed hard and smooth.

  The Lings loved their garden. At each season of the year there were different flowers and shrubs in the gay china pots that were set along its winding paths. Little dwarf pine trees with twisted brown trunks were green summer and winter, and other evergreen bushes, trimmed to curious shapes, lined the garden walks. Here was a bush shaped like a fish, with china eyes added to make it more real. Nearby was a huge evergreen bird, and along down the path there was a bush cut like a basket. Ah Shung liked best the two little trees on either side of the pathway which were trimmed to look like two old Chinese gentlemen. Bits of wood formed their heads, their hands, and their feet. The boy often made them low bows as he walked past.

  Ah Shung and Yu Lang were carrying red bird cages shaped like pagodas. Inside were tiny yellow singing birds, favorite pets of their father. Each fair day the birds were taken for a walk through the Garden of Sweet Smells and their cages hung up on the limb of a tree, where they sang even louder than the wind bells under the ends of the curving tiled roofs of the family dwellings.

  "Spring has wakened the goldfish. How they dart about under the lily pads!" Yu Lang cried as the little procession stopped on the white bridge that rose in a half circle over the lotus pool. Its water reflected their faces like a mirror as they looked down at the fat red dragon-eyed fish with their long phoenix-tails.

  "Oh, see the peach trees," the Old Old One exclaimed. "They have blossomed since yesterday. " On the arm of her faithful maid, Huang Ying, she hurried past the tiny mountain, built up of rocks and mossy earth, to the little summer house at the very end of this garden path. Beside the open pavilion were two flowering peach trees whose branches almost touched its roofs of curving green tile. Each little brown bud seemed to have burst in the night, for the trees were covered with clouds of pink blossoms.

  "We shall sit here in our summer house and view the peach blossoms," the Old Old One said to the children. "How like the sunset they are! How fortunate for us that our peach trees are not as that one in the kingdom of the Empress of the West!"

  "Why, Lao Lao?" asked Ah Shung. "Why are our peach trees better than hers?"

  "Because, Little Bear, our trees blossom each spring, while her tree turns pink only once in three thousand years. Sit quietly here and I will tell you about it.

  "Far, far to the west are the mountains of Kun Lun. So high do they rise into the air that snow covers their peaks all the year through. But at their feet there is warmth and beauty and splendor. Bushes whose branches are laden with pearls grow beside trees whose leaves are of precious green jade stone. Near a lake, whose crystal waters lap shores covered with gems, stands the Western Empress's great peach tree.

  "Now this tree of hers is three hundred miles around and the peaches it bears—how can I show you how enormous they are? If Ah Shung will make a circle with his two arms, just touching his finger tips, that circle will be no larger than this fairy fruit. More wonderful still, whoever eats of this fruit will never die. He will live forever. Because of this fact we think a peach of some kind is the very best birthday gift. When we send our friends peaches they know we are wishing that they will live a long time."

  "Who dwells in the Kun Lun Mountains, Lao Lao?" Yu Lang asked her grandmother.

  "All the people who have eaten the peaches-of-long-life live there with the Western Empress, whom men call Si Wang Mu. Fair princesses wait upon her, and all in her court wear robes of the most splendid silk of the brightest of colors. The long-life ones walk in beautiful gardens, among white marble palaces. In one place there is a nine-storied pagoda made of red jasper stone. When we return to the courtyards I will unroll before you a scroll which shows Si Wang Mu with the white crane upon which she rides through the sky. She holds a huge long-life peach in her hand, for she is the guardian of this wonderful peach tree, and she alone may pluck its fruit.

  "Every three thousand years Si Wang Mu's peach tree blossoms. And it is three thousand years more before its fruit is ripe. As soon as the peaches are ready the Royal Mother of the West celebrates her birthday with a great banquet. She spreads her table beside a fountain which drips shining jewels, on the shores of the Gem Lake. What food she brings forth! Rich meat, rare fruits, the peaches-of-long-life! Bears' tongues, dragon livers, and phoenix eggs! Nothing could be finer than Si Wang Mu's birthday feast. Only once was it spoiled, and that was because of the wicked King of the Monkeys."

  "Tell us about that, Lao Lao," the children cried as their grandmother paused in her tale.

  "Well, that Monkey King was a mischievous creature. No doubt the Jade Emperor meant well when he brought him into the world, but he was sorry later on, that I can tell you. The old books say this monkey was born on the rocky side of a mountain, far to the east. At first he was only a stone shaped like a monkey. Then the Emperor of Heaven put life into his body, and he breathed and moved.

  "'This monkey shall give pleasure to the mountains, ' the Jade Emperor said. 'He shall leap from one peak to another. He shall ride on the winds. He shall walk through the sea. He shall live in the caves high in the hills, and he shall eat the fruit of the trees that grow on their sides. Of all the beasts on the mountains he shall be cleverest. '

  "With such gifts from heaven, my children, it is not at all strange that this fairy creature soon became King of the Monkeys. He learned to dress himself like a man, although he could not get rid of his furry face. With one jump he could travel from one end of the earth to the other, and he could fly even as high as the Jade Emperor's palace in the Heavenly Kingdom. People called him Sun Wu Kung, the One-Who-Finds-Out-All-Secrets.

  "During one of Sun's journeys he came to the palace of the mighty Lung Wang, the King of the Dragons, who lives under the sea.

  "'What is the most wonderful thing in all your realm, O Dragon King?' Sun asked politely.

  "'It is this,' Lung Wang replied, showing Sun a slender iron rod. 'The great Emperor Yu himself put this rod here to keep the sea waters level. It is a magic rod. It can become long enough to reach from earth into heaven, or it can shrink to the size of a needle, half an inch long, which you could easily hide behind your ear. By means of it wishes come true and miracles happen.'

  "Without warning, the wicked Monkey King pulled the iron rod out of its place, and with one leap he escaped from the Sea Dragon's realm. As he passed through the water kingdoms he seized silks and gems with which to deck himself out, and when he appeared upon earth again he looked so very fine that seven kings were eager to have him for their friend. They made him a feast at which Sun drank and ate so much that he fell fast asleep.

  "Now the Dragon King was angry at the loss of the magic rod that held the sea waters level. He sent after the thief and had him seized during his slumber. But as soon as he woke, Sun used the magic rod and set himself free.

  "So much mischief was done by the wicked King of the Monkeys that his fame spread over the earth from the east to the west and from the north to the south. He feared no one, not the Jade Emperor himself. It is said that in one fit of temper he even upset the Emperor's throne and broke down the South Gate of his Heavenly Kingdom. He boldly declared that in due time he, Sun, would become the Ruler of Heaven.

  "In order to quiet him, the Jade Emperor gave this wicked King of the Monkeys a splendid post in his kingdom, and he built him a palace almost as fine as his own. Now at just about this time it so happened that the fruit-of-long-life on the peach tree in the Kun Lun Mountains was ready for eating, and Si Wang Mu
was preparing for her great birthday banquet. To her Feast of the Peaches the Western Empress invited all the gods and the goddesses who lived in the Heavenly Kingdom. But she did not invite Sun, the wicked King of the Monkeys.

  "When he heard of the feast Sun grew very angry. In a fury he set forth for the mountains of Kun Lun, his magic rod in his hand. When all was in readiness for the birthday feast he laid a spell upon the whole kingdom. Everyone, men servants and maid servants, princes and princesses, and even the Royal Mother herself, fell into a deep sleep.

  "There was only one guest at that birthday table, and that guest was Sun. He ate the fairy peaches and all the best foods. He drank the best wines. So much did he eat and drink that he could not think clearly, and on his way back to heaven he took the wrong turning. Somehow or other he came to the palace of the great teacher, Lao Chun, who just then was away from home on a long journey. Now Sun knew that Lao Chun had in his keeping some of the heavenly pills which, like the peaches of Kun Lun, will make men live forever.

  "In the time that it takes to swallow a mouthful of tea the wicked King of the Monkeys found those pills-of-long-life hidden in gourds. He gulped down one just as he had eaten the peach-of-long-life at the birthday feast of Si Wang Mu. He was happy indeed because he was now doubly sure of living forever.

  "How angry the gods were when they heard of these deeds of the wicked King of the Monkeys! The Jade Emperor summoned his warriors, and Sun called to his aid all the troops of his monkey army. The gods spread a net across the broad heavens. What a battle they fought! But still they could not conquer Sun. Then Lao Chun, the wise teacher, whose pill had been stolen, and every god in the Heavenly Kingdom joined in the fight. At last the monkey army was driven into the net. But Sun was not taken. By the aid of his iron rod he had changed himself into a cloud and floated safely away.

  "Well, my small ones, it is a long tale. Each time Sun was captured he would make his magic rod small and hide it behind his ear. With it in his possession he could always change his shape and escape. Then too, nothing could kill him, neither sword, fire, nor lightning because, you remember, he had eaten the peach and he had swallowed the pill which gave him the power of living forever.

  "At last, in despair, the Jade Emperor called upon the greatest god of them all, Buddha, to whose red-roofed temple in the city we go so often to pray.

  "'How dare you think of yourself as the Ruler of Heaven?' Buddha said to the Monkey King.

  "'I have power enough,' was the bold monkey's reply.

  "'There are those more powerful than you,' Buddha said calmly. 'What have you beside power?'

  "'I cannot die. I can change myself into seventy-two different shapes. I can ride on the winds and I can walk through the sea. In one jump I can travel from one end of the earth to the other.'

  "'And yet,' Buddha said, 'you cannot go further than the palm of my hand. Let us make a bargain. If you can go out of my reach I will indeed make you the Ruler of Heaven.'

  "The Monkey King made a mighty leap. Before you could blink your eyes, my children, he had flown to the other end of the earth. There on the red pillar that holds up the heavens he wrote his name so as to show he had really been there. Then he returned to face Buddha.

  "'Now make me the Ruler of Heaven,' the Monkey King cried.

  "'No, Foolish One,' Buddha said, 'You have not yet left the palm of my hand.'

  "'How can that be?' the Monkey King cried. 'I set down my name on the red pillar of heaven at the other end of the earth. '

  "'Still, the words that you wrote are here on my hand,' Buddha said as he held up his forefinger. Sun grew weak and trembled, for he saw that the name he had written on the red pillar of heaven was, indeed, there before him on the finger of Buddha. And he knew that no one could become greater than the god Buddha, who held the whole earth in the palm of his hand.

  "It was Buddha who drove the Monkey King out of the Heavenly Kingdom and put him in prison under the five rocky mountains. For while the monkey stood on his palm Buddha suddenly turned his hand upside down with his finger tips firmly set on the earth. The monkey was caught. It was Buddha's own fingers that made the five mountains, so people say. Whether the Monkey King ever got out again I do not know. But I never heard of his spoiling the Feast of the Peaches again."

  XIV

  TWO DUTIFUL SONS

  AH SHUNG! Ah Shung! Your honorable father has work for you in his library. Ah Shung! Ah Shung! Where are you? Come quickly!"

  Old Wang Lai, the number one nurse of the Ling family, was calling and calling. She hurried from one courtyard to the other, looking everywhere for the boy. The other maid servants ran out to help her, and at last the Old Mistress herself came to the door of her room to see what the noise meant.

  "O Honorable Old Lady, I have looked in the stables, in the entrance court, and in all the family houses. I have searched the Court of Politeness. I have asked Scholar Shih in the House of Learning. I have even gone down the paths in the Garden of Sweet Smells. Nowhere can we find Ah Shung whose father calls for him."

  "And the Court of the Ancestors, have you searched there?" the Old Mistress inquired. Her black eyes, usually so calm, were troubled. She feared lest some accident might have befallen her grandson.

  The procession of servants followed the Old Mistress through the gateway that led into the Court of the Ancestors. The old woman's sharp eyes darted quickly from this side to that. Suddenly she gave a soft cry. She had spied a red top-cord hanging over the side of a huge blue-and-white porcelain jar that stood in one corner. She hurried across the paving stones and peered into the jar. A small boy with a spinning top in his hand was curled up like a ball inside it. He looked up at her with blinking black eyes like those of a scared rabbit.

  "O Worthless Puppy," Grandmother Ling scolded as Wang Lai pulled Ah Shung out of the jar, "it was wicked to cause your old nurse so much trouble. But it was far more wicked to act so toward your father."

  The Old Old One's eyes were twinkling but her mouth was stern. Ah Shung had looked comical huddled there in the jar, but to disobey his father was the greatest of sins, and the boy would have to be punished.

  "Go to your father at once, naughty boy," said Grandmother Ling, "and when he has done with you, come back here to me. We shall go into the Hall of the Ancestors and you shall kneel down before them and pray for their forgiveness."

  The stone floor of the Hall of the Ancestors was hard. Lao Lao made the naughty boy kneel upon it in front of the red tablets and below the scroll paintings of the forefathers. She kept him there until his bones ached. As he kowtowed again and again before his grandfather and his great-grandfather he decided that another time it would be best to go when he was called, especially if it was his father who wanted him.

  When his prayers were over and his punishment ended, Grandmother Ling sent him to fetch the other children. She gathered them about her on the veranda just outside her door.

  "It is time I spoke to you once again about your duty to your honorable parents," the old woman said. She settled herself in the chair which her maid, Huang Ying, brought her, and arranged her blue silk gown smoothly over her knees. "Duty to parents comes first of all. You may become wise. You may become famous. But if you do not obey and respect your father and mother, the gods will not bring you good luck.

  "Our wise teacher, Confucius, used to sing the praises of dutiful sons. He tells us of one who laid down on the ice in order to thaw a hole in the frozen river with the warmth of his own body so that he could get fish for his old mother to eat. He writes of another who went to bed early each night so that the mosquitoes should satisfy their hunger and thirst upon him before his parents came to their rest.

  "It pleases the gods, my children, when parents are cared for. Once long ago there lived a poor fisher youth whose old father died. The young man had no money, so he sold all his belongings in order to give his father's spirit a proper start on its journey to the World of Shadows.

  "With the money he receive
d from the sale of his belongings the young man bought paper gowns, paper shoes, a paper hat, and even a small paper house. He burned these so that they should go along with the spirit to the Shadowy World. He knew that there, as here on earth, one must have shelter, clothing, and food, and he wished to be sure that his father's spirit should have all of these comforts. He burned heaps of round bits of paper shaped just like coins so that the spirit should have money to buy other things it might need. And he laid his father's coffin in a neat grave mound which he planted with grass and which he tended with care.

  "Every morning the young fisherman, who now lived alone, went out in his boat to catch fish from the sea. One day, not long after the funeral, when he drew in his net he found in it a huge shell shaped like a horn. With its creamy outside and its lining of rose, he thought the shell so pretty that he carried it home with him to his hut.

  "The next evening when he returned from his fishing he saw to his surprise that his house had been dusted and the floor had been swept. Bowls of steaming white rice and spicy salt turnips were set out on the table.

  "'Who can have done this for me?' he asked himself. 'No doubt it was some traveler who stopped here to rest and who has repaid me in this way.' But the next evening, also, his hut was swept clean and his dinner was cooked. As the same thing happened day after day, the fisher youth grew more and more curious.

  "One morning he did not go to his boat. Instead, he hid outside his hut and peeked in at the window. All was quiet inside. There was no one about. Suddenly he saw a figure rise from the pink-and-white shell. It was a maiden so fair that the room seemed as light as though one hundred candles were burning.

  "For a long time the young fisherman watched the maiden busy herself with setting the place in order. Then at last he stepped inside the door.

  "'O Shining Shell Maiden,' he said, 'how come you here in my poor humble hut?'