Journey to the West (vol. 2)

by Wu Cheng-En

  Then a penetrating shout was heard from mid-air: “Sun Wukong, I am here.” Monkey quickly looked up and saw that it was the Bodhisattva Guanyin holding her vase of pure water in her left hand and a sprig of willow in her right with which to sprinkle sweet dew and put out the flames. In his alarm Monkey hid the bells at his waist, put the palms of his hands together and prostrated himself in a kowtow. The Bodhisattva flicked a few drops of sweet dew from her willow sprig and in an instant both flames and smoke disappeared, while no sign of the yellow sand remained to be seen.

  “I did not realize, Most Merciful One, that you were coming down to the mortal world,” said Brother Monkey as he kowtowed, “and it was wrong of me to fail to keep out of your way. May I venture to ask where you are going, Bodhisattva?”

  “I am here especially to find and take this evil monster,” the Bodhisattva replied.

  “What is the monster's background, and how can he put you to the trouble of capturing him in your illustrious person?” Monkey asked.

  “He is a golden-haired giant hound on which I used to ride,” the Bodhisattva replied. “The boy in charge of it fell asleep and failed to keep proper guard over it, so that the wicked beast bit through its iron chains and escaped to save the king of Purpuria from disaster.”

  When Monkey heard this he hastily bowed and said, “You have it the wrong way round, Bodhisattva. He's been mistreating the king and his queen, and thus damaging public morality. So how can you say that he has saved the king from disaster when in fact he has brought him disaster?”

  “You would not know,” the Bodhisattva replied, “that when the previous king of Purpuria was reigning and the present king was the crown prince and had not yet taken the throne he was a superb archer and huntsman. Once he led his men and horses hunting with falcon and hound. They came to the Fallen Phoenix Slope, where a young peacock and peahen, two children of the Buddha's mother in the West, the Bodhisattva Maurya Vidya Rani were resting. When the king shot with his bow he wounded the cock, while the hen died with an arrow still in her. After the Buddha's mother realized to her regret what had happened she ordered that the prince should be separated from his wife for three years and suffer himself the way birds do when they are parted from their mates. At the time I was riding that hound and we both heard her say that. I never imagined that the beast would remember it and come back to mistreat the queen and thus save the king from disaster. That was three years ago, and now that the misdeed has been paid for it was fortunate that you came along to cure the king. I am here to recover the wicked and evil creature.”

  “Bodhisattva,” said Monkey, “this may well be so, but he did sully the queen, damage public morality, offend ethics and break the law. You can't let him off a non-capital punishment. Let me give him twenty blows before handing him over for you to take back.”

  “Wukong,” said the Bodhisattva, “as you know I am here you really ought to show me the respect I deserve and spare him completely. This still counts as one of your successes in subduing a demon. If you hit him with your cudgel it'll kill him.”

  Monkey dared not disobey, but bowed and said, “If you're taking him back to the ocean with you, Bodhisattva, you mustn't let him escape and come down to the human world again. That would be quite a catastrophe.”

  Only then did the Bodhisattva shout, “Wicked beast! Turn back into your own form! What are you waiting for?” The monster could be seen doing a roll and turning back into himself. Then he shook his fur for the Bodhisattva to mount on his back. The Bodhisattva looked down at his neck to see that the three golden bells were missing. “Wukong,” she said, “give me my bells back.”

  “I don't know where they are,” Monkey said.

  “Thieving ape,” the Bodhisattva shouted. “If you hadn't stolen those bells then ten Sun Wukongs, never mind one, would have dared go nowhere near him. Hand them over at once.”

  “I really haven't seen them,” Monkey replied with a smile.

  “In that case I'll have to recite the Band-tightening Spell,” said the Bodhisattva.

  This scared Monkey, who could only plead, “Don't say it, don't say it. The bells are here.” This was indeed a case of

  Who could untie the bells from neck of the giant hound?

  To find that out ask the one who first fastened them on.

  The Bodhisattva then placed the bells round the giant hound's neck, and flew up to her high throne. Watch as the

  Four-stalked lotus flowers blazed with fire;

  Her whole body was thickly clad in cloth of gold.

  We will say no more of how the Great Merciful One returned to the Southern Ocean.

  The Great Sage Sun Wukong then tidied up his clothing and charged into the Horndog Gave swinging his iron cudgel and killing to his heart's content. He wiped all the demons out till he reached the inner quarters of the palace and asked the Golden Queen to go back to her country. She prostrated herself to him for a long time. Monkey told her all about how the Bodhisattva had subdued the demon and why she had been separated from her husband. Then he gathered some soft grasses that he twisted together into a long straw dragon.

  “Sit on this, ma'am,” he said, “and shut your eyes. Don't be afraid. I'm taking you back to court to see your master.” The queen followed his instructions carefully while he used his magic power. There was a sound of the wind whistling in her ears.

  An hour later he brought her into the city. Bringing his cloud down he said, “Open your eyes, ma'am.” When the queen opened her eyes and looked she recognized the phoenix buildings and dragon towers. She was very happy, and getting off the straw dragon she climbed the steps of the throne hall. When the king saw her he came straight down from his dragon throne to take the queen by her jade hand.

  He was just going to tell her how much he had missed her when he suddenly collapsed, shouting: “My hand hurts, my hand hurts.”

  “Look at that mug,” Pig said, roaring with laughter, “he's out of luck. No joy for him. The moment he meets her again he gets stung.”

  “Idiot,” said Monkey, “would you dare grab her?”

  “What if I did?” Pig asked.

  “The queen's covered with poisonous spikes,” Monkey replied, “and she has poison on her hands. In the three years she was with the Evil Star Matcher in Mount Unicorn the monster never had her. If he had, his whole body would have been in agony. Even touching her with his hand made his hand ache.”

  “Then what is to be done about it?” the officials asked. While all the officials were wondering what to do in the outer palace and the consorts and concubines in the inner palace were full of terror, the Jade and the Silver Queen helped their king to his feet.

  Amid-the general alarm a voice was heard in the sky shouting, “Great Sage, I'm here.” Brother Monkey looked up, and this is what was to be seen:

  The cry of a crane soaring through the heavens,

  Then flying straight down to the palace of the king.

  Beams of auspicious light shone about;

  Clouds of holy vapors drifted all around.

  Mists came from the cloak of coconut that covered his body:

  Rare were the straw sandals on which he trod.

  The fly-whisk in his hand was made of dragon whiskers,

  And silken tassels hung around his waist.

  He joined human destinies together throughout heaven and earth

  As he roamed free and easy all over the world.

  He was the Purple Clouds Immortal of the Daluo Heaven,

  Come down to earth today to lift an enchantment.

  Monkey went over to him to greet him with, “Where are you going, Zhang Boduan of the Ziyang sect?”

  The True Man of Ziyang came to the front of the hall, bowed and replied, “Great Sage, the humble immortal Zhang Boduan greets you.”

  “Where have you come from?” Monkey replied.

  “Three years ago I passed this way when going to a Buddha assembly,” the True Man said. “When I saw that the King of Purpuria was
suffering the agony of being parted from his wife I was worried that the demon would defile the queen. That would have been an affront to morality and made it hard for the queen to be reunited with the king later on. So I turned an old coconut cloak into a new dress of many colours and gave it to the demon king. He made the queen wear it as her wedding dress. As soon as she put it on poisonous barbs grew all over her body. They were the coconut cloak. Now that you have been successful, Great Sage, I've come to lift the spell.”

  “In that case,” said Monkey, “thank you for coming so far. Please remove the barbs at once.” The True Man stepped forward, pointed at the queen, and removed the coconut cloak. The queen's body was once more as it had originally been.

  The True Man shook the cloak, put it over his shoulders, and said to Monkey, “Please forgive me if I leave now, Great Sage.”

  “Don't go yet,” said Monkey. “Wait till the king has thanked you.”

  “I won't trouble him,” said the True Man with a smile, then raised his hands together in salute, rose up into the sky and went. The king, queen and the officials high and low were so astonished that they all bowed to the sky.

  When the bowing was over the king ordered that the Eastern hall of the palace be thrown open so that they could give thanks to the four monks. The king led all his officials to go down on their knees and kowtow to them, and husband and wife were reunited. In the middle of the celebratory banquet Monkey said, “Master, bring out that declaration of war.”

  The venerable elder produced it from his sleeve and handed it to Monkey, who passed it in turn to the king. “This was a letter that the demons sent his lieutenant to deliver,” Monkey said. “He was the officer I killed and brought here as a trophy. Then I turned myself into the officer and went back to the cave to report. That was how I saw Her Majesty and stole the golden bells. He almost caught me, but I did another change, stole them again, got them out and fought him. It was lucky for him that the Bodhisattva Guanyin came to collect him and tell me why you and Her Majesty were parted.”

  He told the whole story from beginning to end in great detail. Everyone in the country-whether ruler or ministers, whether within the palace or outside-expressed admiration and gratitude.

  “In the first place,” said the Tang Priest, “it was because of Your Majesty's own good fortune, and in the second place it was thanks to my disciple's efforts. We are deeply obliged to you for this sumptuous banquet today, and now we must take our leave of you. Please do not delay us poor monks on our pilgrimage to the West.”

  When the king realized that his efforts to keep them there would be of no avail he inspected and returned the passport and arranged a great procession of royal coaches. The Tang Priest was invited to sit in his own dragon carriage, while the king, his queens and his consorts themselves all pushed it along as they saw them on their way then bade them farewell. Indeed:

  He was fated to have his melancholy washed clean away:

  The mind finds peace of itself when thought and worrying cease.

  If you do not know what of good or ill lay in store for them on the way ahead listen to the explanation in the next installment.

  Chapter 72

  The Seven Emotions Confuse the Basic in Gossamer Cave

  At Filth-Cleansing Spring Pig Forgets Himself

  The story tells how Sanzang took his leave of the king of Purpuria, got everything ready, saddled the horse and headed Westwards. They crossed many a mountain and river. Before they realized it autumn and winter were over and spring's brightness and charm were back. Master and disciples were enjoying the scenery as their way led them across the greenery when they suddenly noticed a building amid trees. Sanzang dismounted and stood beside the main track.

  “Master,” Brother Monkey asked, “the road is easy and there is no evil about, so why have you stopped?”

  “You aren't at all understanding, brother,” Pig said. “The master is feeling sleepy after being in the saddle for so long. You ought to let him come down and have a rest.”

  “It's not that,” Sanzang said. “I can see a house over there. I was thinking of going there myself to beg for some food.”

  “What a thing for the master to say,” said Monkey with a smile. “If you want some food I'll go and beg some for you. As the saying goes, 'Your teacher for a day is your father for the rest of your life.' It would be outrageous for me, your disciple, to sit here idly and let my master go begging.”

  “There's no need to say that,” Sanzang replied. “Usually you three have to cross enormous distances as far as the eye can see to beg for our food. Today there's a house so close it's in shouting distance, so let me beg this time.”

  “But, Master, you wouldn't know what to do,” said Pig. “As the saying goes, when three people go travelling it's the youngest who does the rough jobs. You're the senior one and we're all only disciples. As the old book says, 'When there is a job to be done the disciple does it.' Let me go.”

  “Disciples,” said Sanzang, “the weather is good today. It's not at all like the times when you all have to go far away in wind and rain. Let me go to this house. Whether I get any food or not I shall soon be back and we shall be on our way.”

  Friar Sand, who was standing beside them, smiled and said, “Stop arguing so much, brother. As the master has made his mind up you shouldn't disobey him. If you upset him he won't eat any of the food you are able to beg.”

  Pig accepted this suggestion and brought out the begging bowl and a change of hat and cassock for the master, who went straight to the farm building to look at it. It really was a fine place. He could see:

  A high-rising stone bridge,

  Ancient trees growing close together.

  Where the stone bridge rose high

  A babbling brook joined a long stream;

  Amid close-growing ancient trees

  Hidden birds sang sweetly on the distant hill.

  Across the bridge were several thatched houses

  As pure and elegant as an immortal's hermitage.

  There was also a thatched hut

  So pure and white it would put a Taoist temple to shame.

  Before the hut could be seen four beauties

  All busily embroidering phoenix designs.

  As there were no males but only these four girls to be seen the reverend gentleman did not dare go inside, but slipped back under the tall trees and stood stock still. He could see that each of the girls

  Were rock-hard in their ladylike propriety,

  And happy as the spring in their orchid natures.

  Red glows set off their tender cheeks;

  Crimson make-up was spread on their lips.

  Their moth brows were as fine as a crescent moon,

  While their clouds of hair were piled up like cicada wings.

  Had any of them stood among the flowers

  Wandering bees would have taken them for blossoms.

  He stood there for an hour. The silence was complete, unbroken by dog or cock. “If I'm not even capable of begging us a meal my disciples will laugh at me,” he thought. “If the master can't beg a meal, what hope do his disciples have of ever getting to see the Buddha?”

  He did not know what to do, but it seemed wrong to stay there any longer, so he went back towards the bridge, only to notice a pavilion inside the compound of thatched cottages. In the pavilion three more girls were juggling a ball with their feet. Look at them. They were different from the other four:

  Their turquoise sleeves are waving

  And their embroidered skirts are swaying.

  The waving turquoise sleeves

  Cover their delicate jade bamboo-shoots of fingers,

  The swaying embroidered skirts

  Half show their tiny golden lotus feet.

  Perfect are their faces and bodies,

  Endless the movements of their slippered heels.

  As they grab for the head they vary in height;

  They pass the ball around most smoothly.

 
One turns around and kicks an “over-the-wall flower,”

  Then does a backward somersault called “crossing the sea.”

  After lightly taking a pass like a lump of clay

  A single spear is hard pressed by a pair of sticks.

  A shining pearl is put on the Buddha's head

  And held between the tips of their fingers.

  Skillfully they hold the ball as a narrow brick,

  Twisting their feet in the sleeping fish position.

  Their backs held level, they squat with bended knee;

  Turning their necks they kick their heels in the air.

  They can make benches fly around;

  Very stylish are the capes upon their shoulders.

  Their trouser-legs are bound with tapes to let them move,

  While their necklaces swing as they sway.

  They kick the ball like the Yellow River flowing backwards.

  Or goldfish purchased on the beach.

  When you mistake one of them for the leader

  Another one turns to carry the ball away.

  They all hold their calves so trimly in the air,

  Pointing their toes to catch the ball.

  They raise their heels to spin straw sandals,

  Planting them upside-down and picking them up in a turn.

  As they step back their shoulder-capes spread out