by Wu Cheng-En
When your efforts are completed you will be an enlightened immortal.
The story tells how Sanzang and his disciples, having broken through the net of desires and escaped from the prison-house of the emotions, let the horse travel West. Before they had been going for very long the summer was over and the new coolness of early autumn was refreshing their bodies. What they saw was:
Driving rains sweeping away the last of the heat,
Alarming the leaf of the parasol tree.
At evening glow-worms flew by the sedge path
While crickets sang beneath the moon.
The golden mallows opened in the dew;
Red knotweed covered the sandbanks.
Rushes and willows were the first to lose their leaves
As cold cicadas sang in tune.
As Sanzang was travelling along a high mountain appeared in front of him. Its peak thrust up into the azure void, touching the stars and blocking out the sun. In his alarm the venerable elder said to Monkey, “Look at that mountain in front of us. It's very high. I don't know whether the path will take us across.”
“What a thing to say, Master,” said Monkey with a smile. “As the old saying goes,
However high the mountain there will be a way across;
However deep the river there's always a ferryman.
There's no reason why we shouldn't get over it. Stop worrying and carry on.” When Sanzang heard this his face broke out in smiles and he whipped his horse forward to climb straight up the high crag.
After a mile or two an old man appeared. His white hair was tangled and flying in the wind while his sparse whiskers were being blown about like silver threads. He wore a string of prayer-beads round his neck and held a dragon-headed walkingstick as he stood far away at the top of the slope shouting, “Venerable gentleman travelling West, stop your worthy steed. Rein in. There is a band of demons on this mountain who have eaten all the people in the continent of Jambu. Go no further!”
At this Sanzang turned pale with terror, and because the horse was not standing steadily and he himself was not well seated in the carved saddle he crashed to the ground and lay in the grass, moaning but unable to move.
Monkey went over to help him to his feet with the words, “Don't be afraid, don't be afraid. I'm here.”
“Did you hear the old man up on the crag telling us that there's a band of demons on this mountain who have eaten everyone in the continent of Jambu?” said Sanzang. “Who'll dare go to ask him what this is really all about?”
“Sit there while I go and ask him,” Monkey replied.
“With your ugly face and coarse language I'm afraid you may shock him,” said Sanzang, “so you won't get the truth from him.”
“I'll make myself a bit better looking before questioning him,” laughed Brother Monkey.
“Do a change to show me,” said Sanzang, and the splendid Great Sage made a spell with his fingers, shook himself, and turned into a very neat little monk, clear-eyed, fine-browed, round-headed and regular of features. He moved in a most refined way and said nothing vulgar when he opened his mouth.
Brushing his brocade tunic he stepped forward and said to the Tang Priest, “Master, have I changed for the better?”
“Yes,” said the delighted Sanzang.
“Marvellous,” said Pig, “but the rest of us look shabby by comparison. Even if I rolled around for two or three years on end I couldn't make myself look as elegant as that.”
The splendid Great Sage left them behind as he went straight up to the old man, bowed to him and said, “Greetings, venerable sir.” Seeing how young and cultivated he looked, the old man returned his greeting and stroked his head in an offhand way.
“Little monk,” the old man said with a smile, “where have you come from?”
“We are from the Great Tang in the East,” Monkey replied, “going to worship the Buddha and fetch the scriptures. When we came here and heard you tell us that there are demons here my master was terrified. He sent me to ask you about them. What sort of evil spirits would dare go in for that sort of crime? I would trouble you, venerable sir, to tell me all the details so that I can put them in their place and send them on their way.”
“You're much too young, little monk,” said the old man with a smile, “to know what's good for you. Your remarks aren't helpful. Those evil spirits have tremendous magical powers. How can you have the nerve to talk of putting them in their place and sending them on their way?”
“From what you are saying,” Monkey replied with a smile, “you seem to be trying to protect them. You must be a relation of theirs, or else a neighbour or a friend. Why else would you be promoting their prestige and boosting their morale, and refusing to pour out everything you know about their background?”
“You certainly know how to talk, monk,” said the old man, nodding and smiling. “I suppose you must have learned some magic arts while travelling with your master. Perhaps you know how to drive away and capture goblins, or have exorcised people's houses for them. But you've never come up against a really vicious monster.”
“What sort of vicious?” Monkey said.
“If those evil spirits send a letter to Vulture Mountain the five hundred arhats all come out to meet them,” the old man said. “If they send a note to the Heavenly Palace the Ten Bright Shiners all turn out to pay their respects. The dragons of the Four Oceans were their friends and they often meet the immortals of the Eight Caves. The Ten Kings of the Underworld call them brothers; the local gods and city gods are good friends of theirs.
When the Great Sage heard this he could not help bursting into loud guffaws. “Stop talking,” he said, grabbing hold of the old man, “stop talking. Even if that demon is friends with all those young whippersnappers, my juniors, that's nothing really remarkable. If he knew I was coming he'd clear off the same night.”
“You're talking nonsense, little monk,” the old man said. “How can any of those sages be juniors and young whippersnappers to you?”
“To be truthful with you,” Monkey replied with a grin, “my people have lived for many generations in the Water Curtain Cave on the Mountain of Flowers and Fruit in the land of Aolai. My name is Sun Wukong. In the old days I used to be an evil spirit too and did some great things. Once I fell asleep after drinking too much at a feast with the other demons and dreamed that two men came to drag me off to the World of Darkness. I got so angry that I wounded the demon judges with my gold-banded cudgel. The kings of the Underworld were terrified and I practically turned the Senluo Palace upside-down. The judges in charge of the case were so scared that they fetched some paper for the Ten Kings to sign. They promised to treat me as their senior if I let them off a beating.”
“Amitabha Buddha!” exclaimed the old man when he heard this. “If you talk big like that you won't be able to grow any older.”
“I'm old enough, fellow,” said Monkey.
“How old are you then?” the old man asked. “Guess,” Monkey replied.
“Six or seven,” the old man said. “I'm ten thousand times as old as that,” laughed Monkey, “I'll show you my old face, then you'll believe me.”
“How can you have another face?” the old man asked.
“This little monk has seventy-two faces,” Monkey replied.
Not realizing that Monkey really had these powers the old man went on questioning him till Monkey rubbed his face and turned back into himself, with his protruding teeth, big mouth, red thighs and tigerskin kilt round his waist. As he stood there at the foot of the rocky scar, holding his gold-banded cudgel, he was the living image of a thunder god. The sight of him made the old man turn pale with terror and go so weak at the knees that he could not keep himself upright but collapsed to the ground. When he got to his feet again he lost his balance once more.
“Old man,” said the Great Sage, going up to him, “don't get yourself so frightened over nothing. I may look evil but I'm good inside. Don't be afraid! You were kind enough just now to tell us th
at there are demons here. Could I trouble you to let me know how many of them there are? I'll thank you very much if you do.” The old man trembled, unable to speak and acting as if deaf. He replied not a word.
Getting no answer from him, Monkey went back down the slope.
“So you are back, Wukong,” Sanzang said. “What did you find out?”
“It's nothing,” said Monkey with a smile, “nothing. Even if there are one or two evil spirits on the way to the Western Heaven, the people here only worry so much about them because they're such cowards. No problem! I'm here!”
“Did you ask him what mountain this was and what cave,” said Sanzang, “how many monsters there are, and which is the way to Thunder Monastery?”
“Please excuse me if I speak frankly, Master,” put in Pig. “When it comes to transformations, trickery and deception, then four or five of us would be no match for Brother Monkey. But a whole parade of Monkeys couldn't touch me for honesty.”
“That's right,” said the Tang Priest, “that's right. You're honest.”
“Goodness knows why,” said Pig, “but he just rushed in without a second thought, asked a couple of questions, and came running back in an awful mess. I'm going to find out the truth.”
“Do be careful, Wuneng,” said the Tang Priest.
The splendid idiot put his rake in his belt, straightened up his tunic, and swaggered straight up the slope to call to the old man, “Respectful greetings, sir.” The old man had finally managed to get back on his feet with the help of his stick after seeing that Monkey had gone, and was still shaking and about to depart when Pig suddenly appeared.
“Sir,” he said, more shocked than ever, “whatever kind of nightmare am I in the middle of? The first monk was ugly enough, but at least he looked a little bit human. But this one's got a snout like a pestle, ears like rush fans, a face like iron plates, and a neck covered in bristles. It doesn't look at all human.”
“You must be in a very bad mood to run me down like that, old man,” laughed Pig. “Is that how you see me? Ugly I may be, but if you can bear to look at me for a while you'll find I get quite handsome.”
Only when the old man heard Pig using human speech did he address him by asking, “Where are you from?”
“I'm the Tang Priest's second disciple,” Pig replied, “and my Buddhist names are Wuneng or Bajie. The one who came and asked you questions just now was Sun Wukong the Novice, the senior disciple. My master has sent me to pay my respects to you because he's angry with Sun Wukong for offending you and not finding out the truth. Could you please tell me, sir, what mountain this is, what caves there are on it, what demons live in them, and which is the main route West?”
“Are you honest?” the old man asked.
“I've never been false in all my life,” Pig replied. “You mustn't talk a whole lot of fancy nonsense like the other monk just now,” said the old man.
“I'm not like him,” Pig replied.
Leaning on his stick, the old man said to Pig, “This is Lion Ridge, and it is 250 miles around. In it there is a Lion Cave where there are three demon chieftains.”
“You're worrying over nothing, old man,” said Pig, spitting. “Why go to all that trouble just to tell us about three demons?”
“Aren't you afraid?” the old man said.
“To tell you the truth,” Pig replied, “my elder brother'll kill one with one swing of his cudgel, I'll kill another with one bash from my rake, and the other disciple will kill the third one with his demon-quelling staff. And with the three of them dead our master will be able to cross the ridge. No problem!”
“You don't know the whole story, monk,” said the old man with a smile. “Those three demon chiefs have the most tremendous magic powers. As for the little demons under their command, there are five thousand on the Southern end of the ridge, five thousand on the Northern end, ten thousand on the road East, ten thousand on the road West, four or five thousand patrollers, and another ten thousand on the gates. Then there are any number who work in the kitchen and gather firewood. There must be 47,000 or 48,000 altogether. They all have names and carry passes, and all they do is eat people.”
On learning this the idiot ran back, shivering and shaking. As soon as he was near the Tang Priest he put down his rake and started shitting instead of reporting back. “What are you squatting there for instead of making your report?” shouted Monkey when he saw the idiot.
“Because I'm shit scared,” Pig replied. “No time to talk now. The sooner we all run for our lives the better.”
“Stupid fool,” said Monkey. “I wasn't frightened when I questioned him, so why should you be in such a witless panic?”
“What is the situation?” Sanzang asked.
“The old man says that this is Lion Mountain,” Pig replied, “and that there's Lion Cave in it. There are three chief demons there, and they have 48,000 little devils under them. All they do is eat people. So if we step on their mountain we'll just be serving ourselves up as a meal to them. Let's forget about it.” On hearing this Sanzang shivered, his hairs standing on end.
“What are we to do, Wukong?” he asked.
“Don't worry, Master,” said Monkey. “It can't be anything much. There are bound to be a few evil spirits here. It's just that the people here are such cowards that they exaggerate about how many demons there are and how powerful they are. They get themselves into a funk. I can cope.”
“You're talking nonsense, brother,” said Pig. “I'm not like you. What I found out was the truth. I wasn't making any of it up. The hills and valleys are all crawling with demons. How are we going to move ahead?”
“You're talking like an idiot,” said Monkey with a grin. Don't scare yourself over nothing. Even if the hills and valleys were crawling with demons I'd only need half a night to wipe them all out with my cudgel.”
“You're shameless,” said Pig, “quite shameless. Stop talking so big. It would take seven or eight days just to call the roll. How could you wipe them all out?”
“Tell me how you'd do it,” laughed Monkey.
“However you grabbed them, tied them up, or fixed them where they are with fixing magic you'd never be able to do it so fast,” said Pig.
“I wouldn't need to grab them or tie them up,” said Monkey. “I'll give my cudgel a tug at both ends, say 'Grow!,' and make it over four hundred feet long. Then I'll wave it, say 'Thicken!,' and make it eighty feet around. I'll roll it down the Southern slope and that'll kill five thousand of them. I'll roll it down the Northern slope and kill another five thousand. Then I'll roll it along the ridge from East to West, and even if there are forty or fifty thousand of them I'll squash them all to a bloody pulp.”
“Brother,” said Pig, “if you kill them that way, like rolling out dough for noodles, you could do it in four hours.”
“Master,” said Friar Sand with a laugh, “as my elder brother has such divine powers we've got nothing to fear. Please mount up so that we can be on our way.” Having heard them discussing Monkey's powers Sanzang could not but mount with an easy heart and be on his way.
As they traveled along the old man disappeared. “He must have been an evil spirit himself,” said Friar Sand, “deliberately coming to frighten us with cunning and intimidation.”
“Take it easy,” said Monkey. “I'm going to take a look.” The splendid Great Sage leapt up to a high peak but saw no trace of the old man when he looked around. Then he suddenly turned back to see a shimmering coloured glow in the sky, shot up on his cloud to look, and saw that it was the Great White Planet. Walking over and grabbing hold of him, Monkey kept addressing him by his personal name: “Li Changgeng! Li Changgeng! You rascal! If you had something to say you should have said it to my face. Why did you pretend to be an old man of the woods and make a fool of me?”
The planet hastened to pay him his respects and said, “Great Sage, I beg you to forgive me for being late in reporting to you. Those demon chiefs really have tremendous magical abilities and their p
owers are colossal. With your skill in transformations and your cunning you may just be able to get over, but if you slight them it will be very hard.”
“I'm very grateful,” Monkey thanked him, “very grateful. If I really can't get across this ridge I hope that you'll go up to Heaven and put in a word with the Jade Emperor so he'll lend me some heavenly soldiers to help me.”
“Yes, yes, yes,” said the Great White Planet. “Just give the word and you can have a hundred thousand heavenly troops if you want them.”
The Great Sage then took his leave of the planet and brought his cloud down to see Sanzang and say, “The old man we saw just now was actually the Great White Planet come to bring us a message.”
“Disciple,” said Sanzang, putting his hands together in front of his chest, “catch up with him quick and ask him where there's another path we could make a detour by.”
“There's no other way round,” Monkey replied. “This mountain is 250 miles across, and goodness knows how much longer it would be to go all the way around it. How ever could we?” At this Sanzang could not restrain himself from weeping.
“Disciple,” he said, “if it's going to be as hard as this how are we going to worship the Buddha?”
“Don't cry,” Monkey said, “don't cry. If you cry you're a louse. I'm sure he's exaggerating. All we have to do is be careful. As they say, forewarned is forearmed. Dismount and sit here for now.”
“What do you want to talk about now?” Pig asked.
“Nothing,” replied Monkey. “You stay here and look after the master carefully while Friar Sand keeps a close eye on the baggage and the horse. I'm going up the ridge to scout around. I'll find out how many demons there are in the area, capture one, ask him all the details, and get him to write out a list with all of their names. I'll check out every single one of them, old or young, and tell them to shut the gates of the cave and not block our way. Then I can ask the master to cross the mountain peacefully and quietly. That'll show people my powers.”
“Be careful,” said Friar Sand, “do be careful!”
