We were telling you about the three brothers, who went to the main hall and said to their master, "The rice is almost done. Why did you call us?" "Disciples:' said Tripitaka, "I didn't want to ask you about the rice. They have something called the ginseng fruit in this Abbey, which looks like a newborn infant. Which one of you stole it and ate it?" "Honestly," said Eight Rules, "I don't know anything about it, and I haven't seen it." "It's the one who is laughing! It's the one who is laughing!" said Clear Breeze. "I was born with a laughing face!" snapped Pilgrim. "Don't think because you have lost some kind of a fruit that you can keep me from laughing!" "Dis~ ciple, don't get angry:' said Tripitaka. "Those of us who have left the family should not lie, nor should we enjoy stolen food. If you have in truth eaten it, you owe them an apology. Why deny it so vehemently?" When Pilgrim perceived how reasonable this advice of his master was, he said truthfully, "Master, it's not my fault. It was Eight Rules who overheard those two Daoist lads eating some sort of ginseng fruit. He wanted to try one to see how it tasted and told me to knock down three of the fruits; each of us brothers had one. It's true that we have eaten them. What's to be done about that?" "He stole four of the fruits," said Bright Moon, "and still this monk could claim that he's not a thief!" ·~mitabha Buddha!" said Eight Rules. "If you stole four of them, why did you only bring out three for us to divide among ourselves? Didn't you skim something off the top already?" So saying, Idiot began to make a fuss again.
When the immortal lads found out the truth, they became even more abusive in their language; the Great Sage became so enraged that he ground his steel~ like teeth audibly and opened wide his fiery eyes. He gripped his golden-hooped rod again and again, struggling to restrain himself and say~ ing to himself, "These malicious youths! They certainly know how to give people a lashing with their tongues! All right, so I have to take such abuse from them. Let me offer them in return 'a plan for eliminating posterity: and none of them will have any more fruit to eat!" Dear Pilgrim! He pulled off a strand of hair behind his head and blew on it with his magic breath, crying "Change!" It changed at once into a specious Pilgrim, standing by the Tang Monk, Wujing, and Wuneng to receive the scolding from the Dao~ ist lads. His true spirit rose into the clouds, and with one leap he arrived at the ginseng garden. Whipping out his golden~ hooped rod, he gave the tree a terrific blow, after which he used that mountain-moving divine strength of his to give it a mighty shove. Alas,
Leaves fell, limbs cracked, and roots became exposed;
The Daoists lost their grass of reverted cinnabar.
After the Great Sage had pushed down the tree, he tried to look for the fruits on the branches but he could not find even half a fruit. The treasure, you see, would fall when it met with gold, and both ends of his rod were wrapped in gold. Moreover, iron is also one of the five metallic elements. The blow of the rod, therefore, shook loose all the fruits from the tree, and when they fell, they became assimilated to the earth once they touched the ground, so that there was not a single fruit left on the tree. "Fine! Fine!" he said. "Now all of us can scram!" He put away his iron rod and went back to the front. With a shake of his body he retrieved his hair, but the rest of the people, like those of fleshly eyes and mortal stock, could not perceive what had taken place.
We now tell you about the two immortal lads, who ranted at the pilgrims for a long time. Clear Breeze said, "Bright Moon, these monks do take our reproach quite well. We have been upbraiding them as if they were chickens all this time, but not once have they even attempted to answer us. Could it be that they really did not steal the fruits? With the tree so tall and the leaves so dense, we could have made a mistake in our tallying, and we might have chided them unjustly. We should go and investigate further." "You are right;' said Bright Moon, and the two of them accordingly went back to the garden. But what they saw was only a tree on the ground with broken boughs and fallen leaves, without so much as a single fruit on it. Clear Breeze was so aghast that his legs gave way and he fell to the ground; Bright Moon shook so violently that he could hardly stand up. Both of them were scared out of their wits! We have, as testimony, this poem:
Tripitaka went westward to the Long Life Mount;
Wukong cut down the grass of reverted cinnabar.
Boughs broken and leaves fallen, the divine root exposed:
The two of them lay on the ground, hardly able to speak coherently. They could only blurt out, "What shall we do? What shall we do? The magic root of our Five Villages Abbey is severed! The seed of this divine house of ours is cut offl When our master returns, what shall we tell him?" Then Bright Moon said, "Elder Brother, stop hollering! Let's pull ourselves together and not alarm those monks. There's no one else here; it has to be that fellow with a hairy face and a thundergod beak who used magic unseen to ruin our treasure. If we try to talk to him, he will probably deny it, and further argument may well lead to actual combat. In the event of a fight, how do you suppose the two of us could stand up to the four of them? It would be better if we deceived them now by saying that the fruits were not missing, and that since we made a mistake in our counting, we were offering them our own apology. Their rice is almost cooked. When they eat, we shall even present them with a few side dishes. When each of them is holding a bowl, you stand on the left of the door and I'll stand on the right, and we'll slam the door shut together. We'll lock it and all the other doors of this Abbey too, so that they will not be able to escape. We can then wait for Master to return and let him do with them what he wills. Since the Tang Monk is an old acquaintance of Master, he might decide to forgive them, and that would be his act of kindness. Should he decide not to, however, we have at least managed to catch the thieves, for which we ourselves might be forgiven:' When he heard these words, Clear Breeze said, "You are right! You are right!"
The two of them forced themselves to look cheerful as they walked back to the main hall from the rear garden. Bowing to the Tang Monk, they said, "Master, our coarse and vulgar language just now must have offended you. Please pardon us!" "What are you saying?" asked Tripitaka. "The fruits were not missing,'' said Clear Breeze, "but we couldn't see them clearly because of the dense foliage. We went back again to have a second look and we found the original number."
Hearing this, Eight Rules chimed in at once. "You lads, you are young and impulsive, quick to condemn before you even know the truth of the matter. You throw out your castigations at random, and you have accused us unjustly. It's blasphemy!" Pilgrim, however, understood what was going on; though he did not say anything, he thought to himself, "It's a lie! It's a lie! The fruits were done with! Why do they say such things? Could it be that they have the magic of revivification?" Meanwhile, Tripi taka said to his disciples, "In that case, bring us some rice. We'll eat and leave,''
Eight Rules went at once to fetch the rice, while Sha Monk set the table and chairs. The two lads brought out seven or eight side dishes, including pickles, pickled eggplants, radishes in wine sauce, string beans in vinegar, salted lotus roots, and blanched mustard plants for master and disciples to eat with their rice. They also brought out a pot of fine tea and two mugs, and stood on either side of the table to wait on them. As soon as the four of them had taken up their bowls, however, the lads, one on each side, took hold of the door and slammed it tightly shut. They then bolted it with a double-shackle brass lock. "You lads made a mistake,'' said Eight Rules with a laugh, "or else your custom here is rather strange. Why do you shut the door before you eat?" "Indeed!" said Bright Moon. "For good or ill, we will not open the door until after we have eaten:' Then Clear Breeze lashed out at them, saying, "You bulimic and gluttonous bald thieves! You stole and ate our divine fruits, and you were thus already guilty of eating the produce of someone's garden without permission. Now you have even knocked over our divine tree and destroyed this immortal root of our of Five Villages Abbey. And you still dare to speak to us defiantly? If you think you can reach the Western Heaven to behold the face of Buddha, you will have to ride the Wheel of Transmigration and do it in the next incarnation!" When Tripitaka heard these words, he threw down his rice bowl and sat there weighed down as if by a huge boulder on his heart. The lads then went to lock both the front gate and the second gate before returning to the main hall to revile them once more with the most abusive language. Calling them thieves again and again, the two lads assailed them until it was late, when they then left to eat. After the meal, the lads went back to their own room.
The Tang Monk began to complain at Pilgrim, saying, "You mischievous ape! Every time it's you who cause trouble! If you stole and ate their fruits, you should have been more forbearing to their reproach. Why did you have to knock down even their tree? If you were brought into court, even if your old man were the judge, you would not be able to defend yourself when you behave like that!" "Don't scold me, Master," said Pilgrim. "If those lads have gone to sleep, let them sleep. We'll leave tonight:' "Elder Brother:' said Sha Monk, "all the doors have been locked securely. How can we leave?" Pilgrim said with a laugh, "Never mind! Never mind! Old Monkey will find a way!" "You have a way, all right!" said Eight Rules.'~ you need to do is to change into some sort of an insect, and you can fly out through a hole or a crack in the window. But what about those of us who don't know how to change into these tiny things? We have to stay and take the blame for you." "If he does something like that:' said the Tang Monk, "and leaves us behind, I'll recite
that Old-Time Sūtra and see whether he can take it!" When he heard this,
Eight Rules did not know whether to laugh or not. "Master:' he said, "what
are you saying? I have only heard the Siiranaama Sūtra, the Lotus Sūtra, the
Peacock Sūtra, the Guanyin Sūtra, and the Diamond Sūtra in Buddhism, but I
have never heard of anything called the Old-Time Sūtra."
"You don't know about this, Brother:' said Pilgrim. "This fillet that I wear on my head was given to Master by the Bodhisattva Guanyin. Master deceived me into wearing it, and it took root, as it were, on my head so that it could never be removed. There is, moreover, the Tight-Fillet Spell or the Tight-Fillet Sūtra. The moment he recites that, I'll have a terrible headache, for it's the magic trick designed to give me a hard time. Master, don't recite it. I won't betray you. No matter what happens, all of us will leave together."
As they spoke, it grew dark and the moon rose in the East. Pilgrim said, "When all is quiet and the crystal orb is bright, this is the time for us to steal away." "Elder Brother," said Eight Rules, "stop this hocus-pocus. The doors are all locked. Where are we going to go?" "Watch my power!" said Pilgrim. He seized his golden-hooped rod and exercised the lock-opening magic; he pointed the rod at the door and all the locks fell down with a loud pop as the several doors immediately sprung open. "What talent!" said Eight Rules, laughing. "Even if a little smith were to use a lock pick, he wouldn't be able to do this so nimbly." Pilgrim said, "This door is nothing! Even the South Heaven Gate would immediately fly open if I pointed this at it!" They asked their master to go outside and mount the horse; Eight Rules poled the luggage and Sha Monk led the way toward the West. "Walk slowly, all of you," said Pilgrim. "Let me go and see to it that the Daoist lads will sleep for a month." "Disciple;' said Tripitaka, "don't harm them, or you will be guilty of murder as well as robbery." "I won't harm them," said Pilgrim.
Going inside again, he went to the door of the room where the lads were sleeping. He still had around his waist a few sleep-inducing insects, which he had won from the Devaraja Vinlp~ when they had played a game of guess-fingers at the East Heaven Gate. Taking out two of these insects, he filliped them through a hole in the window. They headed straight for the faces of the lads who fell at once into a sleep so deep that it seemed nothing could arouse them. Then Pilgrim turned around and caught up with the Tang Monk, and all of them fled, following the main road to the West.
Throughout that whole night, the horse did not pause to rest, and they journeyed until it was almost dawn. "Monkey;' said the Tang Monk, "you have just about killed me! Because of your mouth, I've had to spend a sleepless night." "Stop this complaining!" said Pilgrim. "It's dawn now, and you may as well take some rest in the forest here by the road. After you have re-
gained a little strength, we'll move on:' All that elder could do was to dis-
mount and use a pine root as his couch. As soon as he put down the luggage, Sha Monk dozed off, while Eight Rules fell asleep with a rock as his pillow. The Great Sage Sun, however, had other interests. Just look at him! Climbing the trees and leaping from branch to branch, he had a grand time playing. We shall leave them resting and make no further mention ofthemnow.
We now tell you about the Great Immortal, who left the Tushita Palace with the lesser immortals after the lecture was over. Descending from the Green Jasper Heaven and dropping down from the auspicious clouds, they arrived before the Five Villages Abbey at the Long Life Mountain, where they found the gates wide open and the grounds neat and clean. "Well," said the Great Immortal, "Clear Breeze and Bright Moon are not that useless after all! Ordinarily, they don't even bestir themselves when the sun is high, but today when we are away, they are willing to rise early to open the gates and sweep the grounds:' All the lesser immortals were delighted, but when they reached the main hall, they discovered neither fire and incense nor any trace of a human person. Clear Breeze and Bright Moon were simply nowhere to be seen!
"Because of our absence, the two of them must have stolen away with our things," said the rest ofthe immortals. "Nonsense!" said the Great Immortal. "How could those who seek the way of immortality dare to engage in such wickedness? They must have forgotten to close the gates last night and gone to sleep. They are probably not yet awake this morning:' When they all reached the door of the Daoist lads, they found the door tightly shut and heard heavy snoring from within. They pounded on the door and attempted to rouse them, but the lads could not be wakened by all that clamor. Finally, the immortals managed to pry open the door and pull the lads off their beds; even then they did not wake up. "Dear immortal lads!" said the Great Immortal, laughing. "Those who have attained immortality should not be so desirous of sleep, for their spirits are full. Why are they so fatigued? Could it be that someone has played a trick on them? Quickly, bring me some water!" One of the lads brought half a cup of water to the Great Immortal, who recited a spell before spitting a mouthful of water on the lads' faces. The Sleep Demon was thus exorcised.
Both lads woke up, and as they opened their eyes and wiped their faces, they suddenly saw all the familiar faces of their teacher, Lord, Equal to Earth, and the other immortals. Clear Breeze and Bright Moon were so startled that they knelt down at once and kowtowed, saying, "Master, your old friends, the monks who came from the East, were a bunch of vicious thieves!" "Don't be afraid!" said the Great Immortal, smiling. "Take your
time and tell me about them:'
"Master," said Clear Breeze, "Shortly after you left that day, a Tang Monk from the Land of the East did indeed arrive with three other monks and a horse. In obedience to your command, your disciples, having ascertained their origin, took two of the ginseng fruits and served them. That elder, however, had worldly eyes and a foolish mind, for he could not recognize the treasures of our immortal house. He insisted that they were newborn infants not yet three days old and absolutely refused to eat them. For this reason, each of us ate one of the fruits instead. We didn't expect, however, that one of his three disciples, a fellow whose surname was Sun and whose given name was Wukong Pilgrim, would steal and eat four of the fruits. When we discovered the theft, we tried to reason with him, speaking rather forthrightly to that monk. But he refused to listen to us and instead used the magic of the spirit leaving the body to-oh, this is painful!" When the two lads reached this point in their discourse, they could not hold back their tears. "Did that monk strike you?" asked the rest of the immortals. "He
did not hit us," said Bright Moon, "but he struck down our ginseng tree:'
When the Great Immortal heard this, he was not angry. Instead, he said, "Don't cry! Don't cry! What you don't know is that the fellow with the name of Sun is also a minor immortal of the Great Monad; he has great magic power and has caused much disturbance in Heaven. If our treasure tree is struck down, all I want to know is whether you will be able to recognize these monks if you see them again." "Certainly," said Clear Breeze. "In that case," said the Great Immortal, "follow me. The rest of you disciples can prepare the instruments of punishment. When I return, they shall be whipped:'
The various immortals took this instruction, while the Great Immortal mounted the auspicious luminosity with Clear Breeze and Bright Moon to give chase to Tripitaka. In a moment they had covered a thousand miles, but when the Great Immortal looked toward the West at the tip of the cloud, he could not see the Tang Monk anywhere. When he turned around and stared eastward instead, he found that he had overtaken the pilgrims by some nine hundred miles, for that elder, even with his horse galloping nonstop all night, had managed to travel only one hundred and twenty miles. Reversing the direction of his cloud, the Great Immortal made the trip back in an instant. "Master," said one of the lads, "that's the Tang Monk sitting beneath a tree by the road." "I see him;' said the Great Immortal. "You two go back and prepare the ropes. Let me capture them by myself'' Clear Breeze and Bright Moon went back to the Abbey at once.
Dropping down from the clouds, the Great Immortal changed himself into a mendicant Daoist1 with one shake of his body. "How was he dressed?" you ask.
A priestly robe patched a hundred times
And a sash in the style of Mr. Lii. 2
His hands waved ayak's-tail
And lightly tapped a .fish-drum.
Straw sandals with three loops shod his feet;
A sinuous turban wrapped around his head.
With wind-filled sleeves all aflutter,
He sang of the rising moon.
He came straight to the tree and said in a loud voice to the Tang Monk, "Elder, this poor Daoist raises his hands!" Hastily returning the salutation, the elder said, "Pardon me for not paying respects to you first." "Where did the elder come from," asked the Great Immortal, "and why is he sitting in meditation here beside the road?" Tripi taka said, "I am a scripture seeker sent by the Great Tang of the Land of the East to the Western Heaven:' Feigning surprise, the Great Immortal said, "When you came from the East, did you pass through my humble mountain abode?" "Which precious mountain is the abode of the venerable immortal?" asked the elder. The Great Immortal said, "The Five Villages Abbey in the Long Life Mountain is where I reside:'
The moment he heard this, Pilgrim, having something very much on his mind, replied, "No! No! We came by another route up there." Pointing a finger firmly at him, the Great Immortal said with a laugh, "Brazen ape! Who are you trying to fool? You struck down my ginseng fruit tree in my Abbey, and then you fled here in the night. You dare deny this? Why try to cover up? Don't run away! Go quickly and bring back another tree for me!" When Pilgrim heard this, he grew angry and whipped out his iron rod; without waiting for further discussion, he struck at the head of the Great Immortal. Stepping aside to dodge the blow, the Great Immortal trod on the auspicious luminosity and rose into the air, closely followed by Pilgrim, who also mounted the clouds. The Great Immortal changed back into his true form in midair, and this was how he appeared:
He wore a cap of purple gold,
And a carefree gown trimmed with crane's down.
He had on his feet a pair of shoes;
A silk sash was tied round his waist.
His body seemed that of a lad
His face, that of a lady fair,
But with flowing moustaches and beard.
Some crow feathers adorned his hair.
He faced Pilgrim but without a weapon,
Save ajadeyak's-taiP which he twirled in his hand.
Above and below, Pilgrim struck wildly with his rod, only to be parried again and again by the Great Immortal wielding his jade yak's tail. After two or three rounds of fighting, the Great Immortal displayed his magic of the cosmos in the sleeve. Standing on the tip of a cloud and facing the wind, he gendy flipped open the wide sleeve ofhis gown and sent it toward the earth in a sweeping motion. All four of the monks and the horse were at once scooped up into the sleeve. "This is dreadful!" said Eight Rules. "We have been placed in a clothes bag!" "It isn't a clothes bag, Idiot!" said Pilgrim. "We've been scooped up into his sleeve." "In that case," said Eight Rules, "it shouldn't be too difficult! Let me use my rake and make a hole in his gown. When we make our escape, we can claim that he was careless and didn't hold us securely, so that we fell out of his sleeve." Idiot started to dig into the garment madly with his rake, but all to no avail: although the material was soft to the touch, it was harder than steel when it came into contact with the rake.
'fuming around the direction ofhis auspicious cloud, the Great Immortal went back to the Five Villages Abbey and sat down, ordering his disciples to fetch some ropes. As the little immortals went about their business, he fished out the pilgrims one by one like puppets from his sleeve: first he brought out the Tang Monk and had him bound to one of the large pillars in the main hall. Then he took out the three disciples and had them tied to three other pillars. Finally he took out the horse and had it tied up in the courtyard; it was given some hay while the luggage was thrown into one of the corridors. "Disciples," said the Great Immortal, "these monks are persons who have left home, and they should not be harmed by knives or spears, hatchets or battle-axes. Bring out my leather whip instead and give them a beating-as an act of vengeance for my ginseng fruit!" Some of the immortals went quickly to fetch the whip-not the sort made of cow hide, sheep hide, suede, or buffalo hide. It was, rather, a whip of seven thongs made of dragon hide. After soaking it in water for a while, one of the more robust little immortals took it up and asked, "Master, which one shall be flogged first?" The Great Immortal replied, "Tripitaka Tang is the unworthy senior member of his party. Beat him first."
When Pilgrim heard what he said, he thought to himself, "That old monk of mine cannot stand such flogging. If he's destroyed by the whip, wouldn't that be my sin?" Unable to remain silent any longer, he said, "Sir, you are mistaken! It was I who stole the fruits, and it was I who ate the fruits. Moreover, I also pushed down the tree. Why don't you flog me first? Why do you have to whip him?" "This brazen ape," said the Great Immortal, laughing, "does know how to speak courageously! All right, let's flog him first." "How many lashes?" asked the little immortal. "As many as the original number of the fruits;' said the Great Immortal. "Thirty lashes:' Lifting high the whip, the little immortal was about to strike. Fearing that this weapon of an immortal's house might be a formidable one, Pilgrim opened his eyes wide to see where he was going to be struck and found that the little immortal was about to flog his legs. With a twist of his torso, Pilgrim said, "Change!" and his two legs became hard as steel, all ready to be flogged. With measured strokes, the little immortal gave him thirty lashes before putting down the whip.
It was already almost noon when the Great Immortal said again, "We should now give Tripitaka a flogging, since he did not know how to discipline his mischievous disciples and permitted them to indulge in unruly behavior:' As the immortal took up the whip again, Pilgrim said, "You are again mistaken, sir. When the fruits were stolen, my master was conversing in this hall with the two lads; he had no knowledge whatever of what we brothers had perpetrated. Though he might be guilty of not being strict enough in his discipline of us, those of us who are his disciples should receive the punishment for him. Flog me again." "This lawless ape!" said the Great Immortal. "Though he is sly and devious, he does possess some filial sentiments! In that case, let's flog him again:' The little immortal again gave him thirty lashes. When Pilgrim lowered his head to take a look, he saw that his two legs had been beaten until they were shining like mirrors, though he had no sensation whatever, either of pain or of itching. By this time it was getting late, and the Great Immortal said, "Soak the whip in water. Wait until tomorrow, and then we shall punish them again:' The little immortals retrieved the whip and placed it in water, after which everyone retired to his own chamber. When they had finished their evening meal, all went away to sleep, and we shall say no more of them now.
With tears flowing from his eyes, the elder began to complain bitterly to his three disciples, saying, "You all have caused this trouble, but I have to suffer with you in this place. What are you going to do about it?" "Stop this complaining," said Pilgrim. "They flogged me first, and you haven't even had a taste of it yet. Why do you have to grumble like that?" "Though I have not been flogged;' said the Tang Monk, "this rope is causing me to ache all over:' "Master," said Sha Monk, "there are others here who are your companions in bondage!" "Stop this racket, all of you!" said Pilgrim. "In a little while, we'll all be on our way again:'
"Elder Brother:' said Eight Rules, "you are fibbing again. We are tightly bound now in hemp ropes sprayed with water. They are not like the locks on those doors that you opened so easily with your magic!"
"This is no exaggeration;' said Pilgrim, "but I'm not afraid of a three-ply hemp rope sprayed with water. Even if it were a coir cord as thick as a small bowl, I would consider it as insubstantial as the autumn wind!" Hardly had he finished speaking when it became completely quiet everywhere. Dear Pilgrim! He contracted his body and at once freed himself from the ropes, saying, "Let's go, Master!"
"Elder Brother," said a startled Sha Monk, "save us, too!" "Speak softly! Speak softly!" said Pilgrim. He untied Tripitaka, Sha Monk, and Eight Rules; they put on their clothes, saddled the horse, and picked up the luggage from the corridor. As they walked out of the Abbey gate, Pilgrim said to Eight Rules, "Go to the edge of the cliff there and bring back four willow trees:' "What do you want them for?" asked Eight Rules. "I have use for them. Bring them quickly:'
Idiot did possess some sort of brutish strength. He did as he was told, and with one shove of his snout he felled one of the willow trees. Knocking down three more, he gathered them up into a bundle and hauled them back. Pilgrim stripped the branches off the trunks, and the two of them carried the trunks inside, where they fastened them to the pillars with the ropes with which they had earlier been tied up themselves. Then the Great Sage recited a spell; biting the tip of his own tongue, he spat some blood on the trees and cried, "Change!" One of them changed into the elder, another changed into a figure like himself, and the two other trees changed into Sha Monk and Eight Rules. They all seemed to look exacdy alike; when questioned, they knew how to make replies; when their names were called, they knew how to answer. Only then did the two of them run back out and catch up with their master. As before, the horse did not pause to rest for that whole night as they fled the Five Villages Abbey. When morning arrived, however, the elder was nodding on the horse, hardly able to remain in the saddle. When Pilgrim saw him like that, he called out, "Master, you are terribly soft! How is it that a person who has left home like yourself has so litde endurance? If I, old Monkey, went without sleep even for a thousand nights, I still would not feel fatigue. Well, you had better get off the horse, so that travelers won't see your condition and laugh at you. Let's find a temporary shelter beneath the mountain slope and rest awhile before we move on again:'
We shall not tell you any more now about master and disciples resting by the way; we shall tell you instead of the Great Immortal, who rose at the crack of dawn and went out at once to the main hall after taking his morning meal. He said, "Bring out the whip. It's Tripitaka's tum today to be flogged." The litde immortal wielded the whip and said to the Tang Monk, "I'm going to beat you." "Go ahead," said the willow tree, and he was given thirty lashes. Changing the direction of his whip, the litde immortal
said to Eight Rules, ''I'm going to flog you:' "Go ahead," said the other wil-
low tree, and the one that was changed into the form of Sha Monk gave the same reply when it was his tum. By the time they reached Pilgrim, the real Pilgrim, resting by the wayside, was suddenly sent into a violent shudder. "Something's wrong!" he exclaimed. "What do you mean?'' asked Tripitaka. Pilgrim said, "I transformed four willow trees into the four of us, thinking that since they flogged me twice yesterday, they would not beat me again today. But they are giving my transformed body a beating, and that's why my true body is shivering. I had better stop the magic." Hastily, Pilgrim recited a spell to suspend the magic.
Look at those frightened Daoist lads! The one who was doing the flogging threw away the whip and ran to report, saying, "Master, at first I was beating the Great Tang Monk, but now I am only striking at some willow roots!" When the Great Immortal heard these words, he laughed bitterly, saying, "Pilgrim Sun! Truly a marvelous Monkey King! It was rumored that when he caused great disturbance in Heaven, even the cosmic nets that the gods set up could not hold him. I suppose there must be some truth to that! So, you escaped! But why did you have to tie up these willow trees here to impersonate you and your companions? I'm not going to spare you! I'll pursue you!" Saying this, the Great Immortal at once rose into the clouds; he peered toward the West and saw the monks fleeing, poling the load of luggage and riding the horse. The Great Immortal dropped down from the clouds, crying, "Pilgrim Sun! Where are you running to? Give me back my ginseng tree!" Hearing this, Eight Rules said, "We're finished! Our foe is here again!" "Master:' said Pilgrim, "let's pack up that little word 'Kindness' for the moment. Allow us to indulge in a little violence and finish him off so that we can make our escape." When the Tang Monk heard these words, he trembled all over, hardly able to reply. Without even waiting for his answer, however, Sha Monk lifted his precious staff, Eight Rules brought out his muck-rake, and the Great Sage wielded his iron rod. They all rushed forward to surround the Great Immortal in midair and began to strike at him furiously. For this vicious battle, we have the following poem as testimony:
Wukong knew not that Zhenyuan Immortal-
Lord, Equal to Earth-was wondrous and strange.
Though three weapons divine showed forth their might,
One yak's-tail flew up with natural ease
To parry the thrusts on the left and right,
To block the blows struck at the front and back.
Night passed, day came, still they could not escape!
How long would it take them to reach the West?
The three brothers all raised their divine weapons and attacked the immortal together, but the Great Immortal had only the fly brush with which to meet his adversaries. The battle, however, had not lasted for half an hour when the Great Immortal spread open his sleeve and with one scoop, recaptured the four monks, the horse, and their luggage. Reversing the direction of his cloud, he went back to his Abbey, where he was greeted by the other immortals. The Master Immortal took a seat in the main hall and again took out the pilgrims one by one from his sleeve. The Tang Monk was bound to a short locust tree in the courtyard, while Sha Monk and Eight Rules were fastened to two other trees, one on each side. Pilgrim, however, was tightly bound but left on the ground. "I suppose:' thought Pilgrim to himself, "they are going to interrogate me." After the immortals had finished tying up the captives, they were told to bring out ten large bales of cloth. "Eight Rules," said Pilgrim with a laugh, "this gentleman must have the good intention of making us some clothes! He might as well be more economical and just cut us a few monl{s' bells!"4 After the little immortals had brought out the homespun cloth, the Great Immortal said, "Wrap up Tripi taka Tang, Zhu Eight Rules, and Sha Monk entirely in the cloth." The little immortals obeyed and wrapped the three of them completely. "Fine! Fine! Fine!" said Pilgrim, laughing. "We are prepared to be buried alive!" After they were wrapped, the Daoists brought out some lacquer that they had made themselves, and the Great Immortal gave the order that the wrappings of the pilgrims be completely coated with the varnish. Only their faces were left uncovered. "Sir:• said Eight Rules, "I'm all right on top, but leave me a hole down below so that I can unburden myselfl"
The Great Immortal next gave the order that a huge frying pan be brought out. "Eight Rules, we are lucky!" said Pilgrim, laughing. "If they are hauling out a pan, they must want to cook some rice for us to eat:' "That's all right with me," said Eight Rules. "If they let us eat some rice, we'll be well-fed ghosts even if we die!" The various immortals duly brought out a huge pan, which they set up before the steps of the main hall. After giving the order that a big fire be built with plenty of dry firewood, the Great Immortal said, "Fill the pan with clear oil. When it boils, dump Pilgrim Sun into the pan and fry him! That'll be his payment for my ginseng tree!"
When Pilgrim heard this, he was secretly pleased, saying to himself, "This is exactly what I want! I haven't had a bath for some time and my skin is so dry that it's getting itchy. For good or ill, I'll enjoy a little scorching and be most grateful for it:' In a moment, the oil was about to boil. The Great Sage, however, was quite cautious; fearing that this might be some form of formidable divine magic that would be difficult for him to handle once he was in the pan, he looked around quickly. In the east he saw a little terrace with a sundial on top, but to the west he discovered a stone lion. With a bound, Pilgrim rolled himself toward the west; biting the tip of his tongue, he spat a mouthful ofblood on the stone lion, crying, "Change!" It changed into a figure just like himself, all tied up in a bundle. His true spirit rose into the clouds, from where he lowered his head to stare at the Daoists.
Just then, one of the little immortals gave this report, "Master, the oil is sizzling in the pan." "Pick up Pilgrim Sun and throw him in!" said the Great Immortal. Four of the divine lads went to carry him, but they could not lift him up; eight more joined them, but they had no success either. They added four more, and still they could not even budge him. "This monkey loves the earth so much that he can't be moved!" said one of the immortals. "Though he may be rather small, he's quite tough!" Finally, twenty little immortals managed to lift him up and hurl him into the pan; there was a loud splash, big drops of boiling oil flew out in every direction, and the faces of those little Daoists were covered with blisters. Then they heard the lad who was tending the fire crying, "The pan's leaking! The pan's leaking!" Hardly had he uttered these words when all the oil was gone. What they saw in the pan with its bottom punctured was a stone lion.
Enraged, the Great Immortal said, "That wretched ape! He's wicked indeed! And I've allowed him to show off right in front of my nose! So, he wanted to escape, but why did he have to ruin my pan? I suppose it's exceedingly difficult to catch the wretched ape, and even if one does catch him, trying to hold him is like trying to grasp sand or handle mercury, to catch a shadow or seize the wind! All right! All right! Let him go. Untie Tripitaka Tang and bring out a new pan. We'll fry him instead in order to avenge my ginseng tree." The various little immortals accordingly went to untie the lacquer cloth, but Pilgrim, who heard this clearly in the air, thought to himself, "Master is utterly helpless! If he arrives in the pan, the first boiling bubble will kill him and the second will burn him up; by the time the oil sizzles three or four times, he'll be a messy monk! I had better go and save him!" Dear Great Sage! He lowered the direction of his cloud and went back to the main hall. With his hands at his waist, he said, "Don't untie the lacquer wrapping to fry my master. Let me go into the pan ofboiling oil instead:'
"You wretched ape!" cried a somewhat startled Great Immortal. "How dare you display such tricks to wreck my stove?"5 "If you have the mis-
fortune of meeting me:' said Pilgrim, laughing, "your stove deserves to be
overturned! Why blame me? Just now, I was about to receive your kind hospitality in the form of oily soup, but I suddenly had the urge to relieve myself If I opened up right in the pan, I was afraid that I might spoil your hot oil so that it could not be used for cooking. Now that I'm completely relieved, I feel quite good about going into the pan. Don't fry my master; fry me instead:' When the Great Immortal heard these words, he laughed menacingly and ran out of the hall to catch hold of Pilgrim. We do not know what sort of things he has to say to him, or whether Pilgrim manages to escape again. Let's listen to the explanation in the next chapter.