Righteousness joined to fraternal feelings,
The dharma returning to its own nature:
Docile Metal and Gentle Wood will bear right fruit.
Mind Monkey and Wood Mother fuse with elixir source—1
Both ascending to the world of ultimate bliss,
Both arriving at the gate of undivided truth.2
Sūtras are the main path of self-cultivation;
Buddha should unite with one’s own spirit.
Brothers, elder and younger, make the kinship of the three;
Forms of monsters and demons match the Five Phases.
Exterminate the Sixfold Path
And you’ll reach the Great Thunderclap.
We were telling you about Idiot, who was caught by those monkeys; pulling and tugging at him, they ripped open his shirt as they hauled him away. Over and over again, he muttered to himself, “Finished! I’m finished! This time, I’m going to be beaten to death!” In no time at all, they reached the entrance of the cave, where the Great Sage was sitting again on top of the boulder. “You overstuffed coolie!” he shouted. “You should have just left. Why did you abuse me?” Kneeling on the ground, Eight Rules said, “Elder Brother, I did not abuse you. If I did, I would bite off this tongue! I only said that if you didn’t want to go, I would go back to tell Master and that would have been the end of it. How would I dare abuse you?”
“How could you possibly deceive me?” asked Pilgrim. “If I pull up this left ear of mine, I can find out who’s speaking up in the Thirty-third Heaven; if I pull down this right ear of mine, I can discover how the Ten Kings of Hell are sett ling the cases with the judges. You were maligning me as you walked away, and you thought that I couldn’t hear you?”
Eight Rules said, “Elder Brother, now I know. You are something of a crook and a shakedown artist! You must have changed into some kind of creature and followed me. That’s how you found out.” “Little ones,” cried Pilgrim, “select for me a large cane! Give him twenty strokes on his shanks as a greeting; then give him another twenty on his back. Thereafter let me use my iron rod to send him on his way!” Eight Rules was so terrified that he kowtowed at once, saying, “Elder Brother, I beg you to spare me for the sake of Master.”
“O, Master is so just and kind!” said Pilgrim.
“Elder Brother,” said Eight Rules again, “if not for the sake of Master, at least for the sake of the Bodhisattva, please forgive me.”
When Pilgrim heard him mention the Bodhisattva, he relented somewhat, saying, “Brother, if you put it that way, I won’t hit you for the moment. But you must be honest with me and not try to deceive me. Where is that Tang Monk facing an ordeal that has caused you to come and call for me?”
“Elder Brother,” said Eight Rules, “there’s no ordeal. He is truly thinking of you.”
“Coolie, you must love to be beaten!” shouted Pilgrim. “Why are you still trying to dupe me? Though old Monkey’s body has returned to the Water-Curtain Cave, his heart follows the scripture monk. Our master faces an ordeal with each step of the way; he is fated to suffer at every place. You better tell me quickly, or you’ll be whipped!”
When Eight Rules heard such words, he kowtowed and said, “Elder Brother, I did quite clearly attempt to deceive you into going, but I had no idea how smart you were. Please spare me from a beating and let me tell you standing up.” “All right,” said Pilgrim, “rise and talk.” The monkeys took away their hands and Idiot, jumping up at once, began to look wildly left and right. Pilgrim said, “What are you doing that for?” “To see which road is wide and smooth so that I can run,” said Eight Rules. “To where?” asked Pilgrim. “I’ll let you have a three days’ head start, and old Monkey still has the ability to chase you back. You’d better speak up! If you get me mad again, I won’t spare you this time.”
Eight Rules said, “To tell you the truth, Elder Brother, since you left us, Sha Monk and I accompanied Master to go forward and we arrived at a black pine forest. Master dismounted and told me to go beg for vegetarian food. Because I didn’t find even a single household after walking a great distance, I got a bit tired and napped a little in the grass. Sha Monk, I didn’t realize, also left Master to try to find me. You know that Master couldn’t sit still, and he took a walk by himself in the forest to enjoy the scenery. When he got out of the forest, he saw a luminescent jeweled pagoda of yellow gold, which he thought was some sort of monastery. He didn’t know that there was a monster-spirit beneath the pagoda, who had the name of Yellow Robe, and he was caught by the fiend. Later, when Sha Monk and I returned to look for him, we saw only the white horse and the luggage, but we didn’t see Master. We searched until we went to the door of the cave, where we fought the fiend. Meanwhile, Master met a saving star inside, who happened to be the third princess of the Precious Image Kingdom, abducted some time ago by that fiend. She wrote a letter to her family and wanted Master to send it for her; that was the reason why she persuaded the monster to let Master go. When we arrived at the kingdom, we presented the letter, whereupon the king asked Master to subdue the monster. Elder Brother, you should know. How could that old priest subdue any monster? It had to be the two of us again who went back to do battle, but the magic power of the fiend was tremendous and he seized Sha Monk instead. I managed to escape by hiding in the grass. Thereafter, the monster changed himself into a handsome scholar to gain admittance into the court and imperial recognition. Master, on the other hand, was changed by him into a tiger. That evening, it was fortunate that the white dragon-horse revealed himself to go search for Master; he didn’t find him, but he saw the fiend drinking in the Silver Peace Palace. Changing into a palace maid, the dragon poured wine for him, did a sword dance, and was about to use that opportunity to try to kill the monster. He was wounded instead by him with a candelabrum, and it was the dragon who told me to come get you. He said that Elder Brother was a just and benevolent gentleman, one who would not dwell on old wrongs and would be willing to go and save Master. I beg you, Elder Brother, remember the truth of ‘Once a teacher, always a father,’ and do try to save him.”
“You Idiot!” said Pilgrim. “At the time of my leaving, I told you again and again that if Master were caught by a monstrous demon, you should tell him that old Monkey was his eldest disciple. Why didn’t you say so?” Eight Rules thought to himself, “To ask a warrior is not as effective as to provoke a warrior. Let me provoke him a bit.” He said therefore, “Elder Brother, it would have been better had I not mentioned you. Once I said something about you, the monster became even more impudent.”
“What do you mean?” asked Pilgrim.
Eight Rules replied, “I said, ‘Monster, don’t you dare be insolent, and don’t you dare harm my master. I still have an elder brother, who is called Pilgrim Sun. His magic power is great and he is especially capable of subduing monsters. When he gets here, he’ll make you die without picking a place for burial.’ When that fiend heard my words, he became more aroused, crying, ‘Who’s this Pilgrim Sun that I should be afraid of him? If he shows up, I’ll skin him alive, I’ll pull out his tendons, I’ll debone him, and I’ll devour his heart. He might be thin, this monkey, but I’ll still chop him to pieces and fry him in oil.’” When Pilgrim heard these words, he became so enraged that he jumped up and down, madly scratching his cheeks and pulling at his ears. “Who is this that dares abuse me thus?” he bellowed. Eight Rules said, “Elder Brother, calm yourself. It’s the Yellow Robe Fiend who is thus abusing you. I was just giving you a rehearsal of what he said.” “Worthy Brother,” said Pilgrim, “get up. I’ve got to go. If that monster-spirit dared abuse me so, it would be impossible for me not to subdue him. I’ll go with you. When old Monkey caused great disturbance in the Celestial Palace five hundred years ago, all the divine warriors of Heaven would bend their backs and bow to him when they saw him. Every one of them addressed me as the Great Sage. This fiend is truly impudent. He dares abuse me behind my back! I’ll go, I’ll catch him, and I’ll smash him to pieces to avenge myself for being so insulted. When I’ve done that, I’ll come back.” “Exactly, Elder Brother,” said Eight Rules. “You go and catch the monster first, and when you have avenged yourself, you can then decide whether you want to come back or not.”
Leaping down at once from the boulder, the Great Sage dashed into the cave and took off his monster garment. Tucking in his silk shirt and tightly fastening his tiger-skin kilt, he walked right out of the door holding his iron rod. Startled, the various monkeys barred the way and asked, “Father Great Sage, where are you going? Isn’t it better that you look after us and have fun with us for a few more years?” Pilgrim said, “Little ones, watch what you are saying. My accompaniment of the Tang Monk is no private matter, for Heaven and Earth know that Sun Wukong is his disciple. He didn’t banish me back here; he told me to come home and relax a little before joining him again. That’s what this whole thing is about. You all must take good care of our property and don’t fail to plant the willows and the pines in due seasons. Wait till I finish accompanying the Tang Monk and taking the scriptures back to the Land of the East. After that merit is achieved, I’ll return to enjoy the joys of nature with you.” Each monkey obeyed the instructions.
The Great Sage then mounted the clouds with Eight Rules to leave the cave and cross the Great Eastern Ocean. When they reached the western shore, he stopped the cloudy luminosity, saying, “Brother, please stop for a moment and let me go down to the ocean to clean up my body.” “We are in a hurry,” said Eight Rules. “Why do you need to clean up your body?” Pilgrim said, “You have no idea that the few days since I went back there have caused me to pick up some monster odor. Master loves cleanliness, and I fear that he might be disgusted with me.” Only then did Eight Rules fully realize that Pilgrim was utterly sincere. In a moment the Great Sage finished bathing and mounted the clouds again to proceed westward. Soon they saw the luminescent gold pagoda, to which Eight Rules pointed and said, “Isn’t that the house of the Yellow Robe Fiend? Sha Monk is still inside.” “Stay in the air,” said Pilgrim, “and let me go down to his door to see what I can do about fighting with the monster.” Eight Rules said, “Don’t go, the monster is not at home.” “I know,” said Pilgrim. Dear Monkey King! Lowering his auspicious luminosity, he went straight to the entrance of the cave, in front of which he found two young boys playing field hockey. One was about eight or nine years of age, and the other was over ten years old. As they were playing, Pilgrim rushed forward and, with no regard at all for whichever family they belonged to, grabbed them by the tufts of their hair and picked them up. Terrified, the boys began to brawl and scream so loudly that the little fiends in the Current-Moon Cave ran to report to the princess, saying, “Lady, some unknown person has carried off the two young princes.” The two boys, you see, were the sons of the princess and the monster.
When the princess heard that, she ran out of the cave, where she saw Pilgrim holding the two boys. Standing on top of a cliff, he was about to dash them to the ground below. “Hey, you!” screamed the horrified princess. “I have no quarrel with you. Why did you take them away? Their old man is rather mean, and if anything happens to them, he won’t let you get away with it.” “You don’t recognize me?” said Pilgrim. “I’m Pilgrim Sun Wukong, the eldest disciple of the Tang Monk. My younger brother, Sha Monk, is in your cave. You go and release him, and I’ll return these boys to you; two for one, you’re getting a bargain already.” When the princess heard what he said, she went quickly inside and told the few little monsters guarding the door to step aside. With her own hands, she untied Sha Monk. “Princess, you’d better not untie me,” said Sha Monk. “When your fiend comes home and demands the prisoner from you, I fear that you would take the blame again.” The princess said, “Elder, you are my benefactor; not only did you send a letter to my home in my behalf, but you also saved my life. I was trying to think of a way to release you when your eldest brother Sun Wukong showed up at the door of our cave. He told me to release you.” Holla! When Sha Monk heard the name of Sun Wukong, he felt as if his head had been anointed with mellow wine, as if his heart had been moistened with sweet dew. Joy flooded his countenance; his whole face lit up with spring. He did not behave like someone who heard the announcement of a person’s arrival, but rather like someone who had just discovered a block of gold or jade. Look at him! Flapping his hands to brush off the dust on his clothes, he ran out the door and bowed to Pilgrim, saying, “Elder Brother, you have truly descended from Heaven! Save me, I beseech you.” “O, you Sandy Bonze!” said Pilgrim with a chuckle. “When Master recited the Tight-Fillet Spell, were you willing to say a word for me? You were just as much a braggart! Why aren’t you accompanying Master to go to the West? What are you squatting here for?” “Elder Brother,” said Sha Monk, “no need to talk like that anymore. A gentleman forgives and forgets. We are commanders of a defeated army, hardly worthy to speak of courage. Please save us.” Pilgrim said, “Come up,” and Sha Monk leaped up to the cliff.
When Eight Rules, who was standing in midair, saw Sha Monk coming out of the cave, he dropped down from the clouds, crying, “Brother Sha! You’ve had a hard time!” Seeing him, Sha Monk said, “Second Elder Brother, where did you come from?” Eight Rules said, “After I was defeated yesterday, I went into the city at night where I learned from the white horse that Master was in great difficulty. He was changed into a tiger by the magic of Yellow Robe. The white horse suggested to me that I should go ask Big Brother to come back.” “Idiot,” said Pilgrim, “let’s not chitchat. Each of you take one of these boys and go into the Precious Image City to provoke the fiend to come here, so that I can slay him.” “Elder Brother,” said Sha Monk, “how do you want us to provoke him?” Pilgrim said, “The two of you should mount the clouds and stand above the Palace of the Golden Chimes. Don’t bother about the consequence: just hurl the boys down to the ground before the white jade steps. If anyone asks you whose kids they are, just tell them that they are the sons of the Yellow Robe monster caught by the two of you. When the fiend hears this, he will certainly want to return here. I don’t want to fight with him inside the city because our battle will scatter cloud and mist, throw up dirt and dust. The officials of the court and the city’s whole populace will then be disturbed.”
“Elder Brother,” said Eight Rules with a giggle, “the moment you do anything, you start to bamboozle us.” “What do you mean?” asked Pilgrim. Eight Rules replied, “These two kids, after having been seized by you like that, are already shocked beyond cure. Just now they cried till they became voiceless; after awhile, they will die for sure. If we hurl them to the ground from the air, they’ll turn into meat patties. You think the fiend will let us go once he catches up with us? He will surely make us pay with our lives, while you get away scot free. There’s not even a witness against you! Aren’t you bamboozling us?” “If he tangles with the two of you,” said Pilgrim, “just lure him here. We have a smooth and wide battlefield at this place, and I’ll be waiting for him.” “Exactly, exactly,” said Sha Monk. “Big Brother is right. Let’s go.” Riding on the power and assurance of Pilgrim, the two of them picked up the boys and left.
Pilgrim leaped down from the boulder and went before the door of the pagoda. “Hey, Monk,” said the princess, “you are completely untrustworthy. You said that you would give me back my boys once your younger brother was released. Now that he is, you are still detaining my boys. What are you doing here instead?” Pilgrim smiled at her and said, “Don’t be offended, princess. You have been here for a long time, and I thought that we should take your sons to present them to their maternal grandfather.” The princess said, “Monk, you’d better behave! My husband, Yellow Robe, is no ordinary person. If you have frightened my boys, you should try to comfort them first.”
“Princess,” said Pilgrim with a chuckle, “do you know what is considered a crime for a human being living in this world?” “I do,” said the princess. Pilgrim said, “You are a woman! What do you know?” “Since the time of my youth in the palace,” said the princess, “I was taught by my parents. I recall an ancient book said, ‘Set against the Five Punishments are some three thousand crimes, but none is greater than an unfilial act.’”3 Pilgrim said, “You are precisely an unfilial person. Remember:
O my father,4 who begot me!
O my mother, who had nursed me! . . .
Pity my father and mother,
How hard they toiled to bear me!
Therefore, filial piety is the foundation of a hundred virtuous acts, the source of all morality. How could you entrust your body to be the mate of a monster-spirit and not think of your parents at all? Haven’t you committed the crime of an unfilial act?”
When the princess heard these words of rectitude, she was so embarrassed that she blushed for a long time before blurting out her reply, saying, “The words of the elder are most righteous. How could I not think of my parents? But all my troubles began when the monster kidnapped me here. His orders are very strict, and I cannot travel at all. The distance, furthermore, is great and there is no one able to send word for me. I wanted to commit suicide, but I was afraid that my parents would suspect that I had eloped with someone, and the whole matter would not be cleared up. I had, therefore, no alternative but to prolong my fragile existence. Indeed, I am a great criminal in this whole wide world!” When she finished speaking, tears streamed down her face.
Pilgrim said, “Princess, there’s no need for you to be sorrowful. Zhu Eight Rules did tell me that you wrote a letter and you saved my master’s life. You did express your thoughts for your parents in the letter. Now that old Monkey has arrived, you may be assured that he will catch the monster for you and bring him back to court to see the Throne. You can then find a worthy mate and look after your parents in their old age. How about it?”
“Monk,” said the princess, “don’t look for certain death. Those two younger brothers of yours were quite tough, but they could not overcome my husband, Yellow Robe, during the fight yesterday. Now look at you! You look like a ghost with more tendons than bones! You look like a crab or a walking skeleton! What kind of ability do you have that you dare speak of catching the monster?” Laughing, Pilgrim said, “You really don’t have much judgment, and you can’t discriminate between persons. As the common saying has it,
A urine bladder, though large, has no weight;
A steelyard weight, though small, licks a thousand pounds.
They may look big, but they are useless: creating wind resistance as they walk and wasting cloth when they put on clothes. They may be big as a mountain but they are hollow inside; their heads may touch door frames but they are slack of torsos; and they may eat a lot but food won’t do them any good. I, old Monkey, am small, all right, but hardy.”
“You really have the skills?” asked the princess. “Nothing that you have ever seen,” said Pilgrim, “but I specialize in subduing monsters and taming demons.” “You’d better not get me into trouble,” said the princess. “Certainly not,” said Pilgrim. “If you are able to subdue monsters and tame demons,” said the princess, “how will you go about catching him?” Pilgrim said, “You’d better be out of sight, or else I can’t really move when he gets here. I’m afraid that you still have a lot of feelings for him and can’t give him up.” “What do you mean by not giving him up?” said the princess. “My remaining here is not of my choice!” “If you have been husband and wife for thirteen years,” said Pilgrim, “you can’t be wholly without affection. But when I see him, I won’t be fooling around: a stroke of the rod will be a stroke, and a punch will be a punch. I have to slay him before I can take you back to court to see the Throne.” The princess indeed followed Pilgrim’s advice and went off to a secluded spot. Her marriage to the monster, moreover, was fated to end, and that was why the Great Sage made his appearance. After he had the princess hidden, the Monkey King shook his body once and changed into the form of the princess to enter the cave and wait for the monster.
We tell you now about Eight Rules and Sha Monk, who took the two boys to the Precious Image Kingdom and dashed them to the ground before the white jade steps. Alas! They were reduced to two meat patties; their bones were all crushed and blood splattered all over. “Terrible! Terrible!” cried the officials in court. “Two persons have been thrown down from the sky!” “These boys,” shouted Eight Rules from above, “are the sons of the monster, Yellow Robe. They were caught by old Hog and Brother Sha.”
Still under the effect of wine, the fiend was sleeping in the Silver Peace Palace when he heard someone shouting his name. He turned over and looked up: there were Zhu Eight Rules and Sha Monk standing on the edge of the clouds hollering. The monster thought to himself: “If it were just Zhu Eight Rules, I could understand this, but Sha Monk was tied up in my house. How could he get here? Why would my wife let him go? How could my boys land in their hands? Could it be that Zhu Eight Rules, fearful of my unwillingness to do battle with him, is using this to trick me? I can take the bait and go fight with him. Hey! I’m still hungover. If he gives me a whack with his rake, I’ll lose all my credibility. Let me go home first and see if they are indeed my sons or not. Then I can speak to these monks.”
Dear monster! Without taking leave of the king, he headed straight for his cave in the mountain forest to investigate. At this time, people in the court knew full well that he was indeed a monster. For, you see, he ate one of the palace maids during the night, but the seventeen others who escaped made a thorough report to the king after the hour of the fifth watch. Since he left so abruptly, they knew all the more that he was without doubt a monster. All the king could do was to order the many officials to guard the specious tiger, and we shall speak no more of them for the moment.
We now tell you about the fiend, who went back to the cave. When Pilgrim saw him arriving, he at once devised a plan of deception. He blinked a few times and tears began to fall like rain; stamping his feet, pounding his chest, and calling for the boys all the time, he bawled lustily in the cave. So sudden an encounter made it impossible for the fiend to recognize that this was not his wife. He went forward instead and embraced Pilgrim, saying, “Mistress, why are you so upset?” With artful invention, with imaginative fable, the Great Sage said tearfully, “Dear Husband! As the proverb says,
If a man has no wife, his wealth has no boss;
If a girl has no mate, she’s completely lost!
After you went into court yesterday to present yourself to the kinfolks, why didn’t you return? This morning Zhu Eight Rules came back and robbed us of Sha Monk. Furthermore, they took away our two boys by force despite my desperate pleadings. They said that they would also bring the boys into court to present them to their maternal grandfather. Half a day has gone by already and there’s no sight of our boys or even news of whether they are alive or dead. And you didn’t turn up until just now. How could I part with my babies? That’s why I’m so broken up.” When the fiend heard those words, he grew very angry, saying, “Did that really happen to my sons?” “Yes,” said Pilgrim, “and they were taken away by Zhu Eight Rules.”
The demon was so incensed that he jumped about madly, crying, “Undone! Undone! My sons have been dashed to death by him! They can’t be revived! The only thing left is to catch that monk and make him pay with his life. Mistress, don’t cry. How do you feel now? Let’s take care of you first.” “I’m all right,” said Pilgrim, “but I miss my babies so much, and all that weeping has caused my heart to ache.” “No need to worry,” said the demon. “Get up first. I have a treasure here; all you need to do is to rub it on the painful spot and it will not hurt anymore. But you must be careful not to fillip your thumb onto the treasure, for if you do, my true form will reveal itself.” When Pilgrim heard this, he said, smiling, to himself, “This brazen creature! He’s quite honest; even without torture he has made a confession already. Wait till he brings out his treasure. I’m going to strike at it with my thumb and see what kind of monster he is.” Leading Pilgrim, the fiend took his companion into the murky depth of the cave before spitting out from his mouth a treasure having the size and shape of a chicken egg. It was an internal elixir, formed crystalline white like a śarīra.5 Secretly delighted, Pilgrim said to himself, “Marvelous thing! God knows how many sedentary exercises had been performed, how many years of trials and sufferings had elapsed, how many times the union of male and female forces had taken place before this śarīra of internal elixir was formed. What great affinity it has today that it should encounter old Monkey!”
The monkey took it over. Of course, he did not have any pain, but he rubbed it deliberately on his body somewhere before filliping his thumb at it. Alarmed, the fiend immediately stretched forth his hand to try to snatch it away. Think of it! This monkey is just too slick and shifty a character! He popped the treasure in his mouth and with one gulp swallowed it whole. The demon raised his fist and punched at him, only to be parried by the arm of Pilgrim. With his other hand, Pilgrim wiped his own face once and changed back to his original appearance, crying, “Monster, don’t be unruly! Take a look! Who am I?”
When the fiend saw what he saw, he was greatly shaken, saying “Gosh, Mistress! How did you manage to bring out a face like that?” “You impudent imp!” chided Pilgrim. “Who’s your mistress? You can’t even recognize your own ancestor!” Suddenly comprehending, the fiend said, “I think I know you.” Pilgrim said, “I won’t hit you just yet, take another look.” The fiend said, “Though you do look familiar, I just can’t think of your name at the moment. Who indeed are you? Where do you come from? Where have you moved my wife? How dare you come to my house to cheat me of my treasure? This is most reprehensible!” “So you don’t recognize me,” said Pilgrim. “I am the eldest disciple of the Tang Monk, and my name is Pilgrim Sun Wukong. I’m also your old ancestor of five hundred years ago!” The fiend said, “No such thing! No such thing! When I caught the Tang Monk, I found out that he had only two disciples named Zhu Eight Rules and Sha Monk. No one had ever mentioned that there was someone by the name of Sun. You must be a fiend from somewhere who came here to deceive me.” “The reason why I didn’t accompany the two of them,” said Pilgrim, “was because my habitual slaying of monsters had offended my master. A kind and compassionate person, he dismissed me when I slaughtered one too many. That’s why I was not traveling with him. Are you still ignorant of your ancestor’s name?” “How feckless you are!” said the fiend. “If you were banished by your master, how could you have the gumption to face people here?” Pilgrim said, “You impudent creature! You wouldn’t know about the sentiment of ‘Once a teacher, always a father,’ nor would you know that ‘Between father and son, there’s no overnight enmity.’ If you plan to harm my master, you think I wouldn’t come to rescue him? And you didn’t stop at that; you even abused me behind my back. What have you got to say to that?”
“Since when did I abuse you?” asked the fiend. Pilgrim replied, “Zhu Eight Rules said you did.” “Don’t believe him,” said the fiend. “That Zhu Eight Rules, with his pointed snout, has a tongue like an old maid’s! Why do you listen to him?” “No need for such idle talk,” said Pilgrim. “I’ll just say that during old Monkey’s visit to your house today, you have not shown your distant guest sufficient hospitality. Though you may not have food and wine to entertain your visitor, you have a head. Stick it over here quickly and let old Monkey beat it once with the rod. I’ll consider that my taking tea.” When the fiend heard this, he roared with laughter, saying, “Pilgrim Sun, you’ve miscalculated! If you wanted to fight, you shouldn’t have followed me here. The various imps under my command, young and old, number in the hundreds. Though you may have arms all over your body, you won’t be able to fight your way out.” Pilgrim said, “Don’t talk rot! And don’t mention a few hundreds! Even if you have hundreds of thousands, just call them up one by one and I’ll slay them. Every stroke of my rod will find its mark. I guarantee that they will be wiped out! Exterminated!”
When the monster heard these words, he quickly gave the order and called up all the monsters before and behind the mountain, all the fiends in and out of the cave. Each holding weapons, they lined up thickly and completely barricaded the several doors inside the cave. When Pilgrim saw this, he was delighted. Gripping his rod with both hands, he shouted “Change!” and changed at once into a person having three heads and six arms. One wave of the golden-hooped rod and it changed into three golden-hooped rods. Look at him! Six arms wielding the three rods, he plunged into the crowd—like a tiger mauling a herd of sheep, like an eagle alighting on chicken coops. Pity those little fiends! One touch, and heads were smashed to pieces! One brush, and blood flowed like water! He charged back and forth, as if he had invaded an uninhabited region. When he finished, there was only one old monster left, who chased him out the door, crying, “You brazen ape! You are nasty and noxious! You dare oppress people right at their own door!” Spinning around, Pilgrim waved at him, crying, “Come! Come! It’s no merit until I’ve struck you down.” Lifting his scimitar, the monster aimed at his opponent’s head and hacked away, as dear Pilgrim brandished the iron rod to face him. This time they fought on top of the mountain, halfway between mist and cloud.
Great Sage had great magic power;
The demon had vast abilities.
This one struck sideways with the raw iron rod;
That one raised aslant the steel scimitar.
The scimitar rose softly, and bright mist glowed;
The rod parried lightly, and colored clouds flew.
Back and forth it circled to protect the head;
Round and round it turned to guard the body.
One followed the wind to change his looks;
One shook his body standing on the ground.
This one widened his fiery eyes and stretched his simian arms;
That one flared his golden pupils and bent his tigerlike waist.
Coming and going, they fought round and round—
Rod and scimitar giving blow for blow.
The Monkey King’s rod conformed to battle art;
The fiend’s scimitar followed the rules of war.
One had always worked his skills to be a demon-lord;
One had used his vast power to guard the Tang Monk.
The fierce Monkey King became more fierce;
The violent monster grew more violent.
Heedless of life or death they fought in the air,
All for Tang Monk’s quest for Buddha from afar.
The two of them fought for over fifty rounds, but a decision could not be reached. Secretly pleased, Pilgrim thought to himself, “The scimitar of this brazen monster is quite a match for the rod of old Monkey! Let me pretend to blunder and see if he can detect it.” Dear Monkey King! He raised the rod above his head with both his hands, using the style of “Tall-Testing the Horse.” The fiend did not perceive that it was a trick. When he saw that there was a chance, he wielded the scimitar and slashed at the lower third of Pilgrim’s body. Pilgrim quickly employed the “Great Middle Level” to fend off the scimitar, after which he followed up with the style of “Stealing Peaches beneath the Leaves” and brought the rod down hard on the monster’s head. This one blow made the monster vanish completely. He retrieved his rod to look around, but the monsterspirit was nowhere to be seen. Greatly startled, Pilgrim said, “O my child! You can’t take much beating! One stroke, and you’re dead! But even if you were beaten to death, there had to be some blood or pus left. Why isn’t there a trace of you? You must have escaped, I suppose.” Leaping up quickly to the edge of the clouds, he stared in all four directions, but there was not the faintest movement anywhere. “These two eyes of old Monkey,” he said, “can see everything anywhere. How could he vanish just like that? Ah, I know! That fiend said that he recognized me somewhat, and that meant that he couldn’t possibly be an ordinary monster of this world. Most likely he was a spirit from Heaven.”
Unable to suppress his anger, the Great Sage somersaulted all at once and leaped up to the South Heavenly Gate, wielding his iron rod. Pang, Liu, Gou, Bi, Zhang, Tao, Deng, Xin, and the other celestial captains, were so startled that they bowed on both sides of the gate and dared not stop him. He fought his way in and arrived before the Hall of Perfect Light. Zhang, Ge, Xu, and Qiu, the Celestial Masters, asked him, “Why did the Great Sage come here?” “Because I accompanied the Tang Monk until the Precious Image Kingdom,” said Pilgrim, “where there was a demon who had seduced the princess and sought to harm my master. Old Monkey waged a contest with him, but as we were fighting I suddenly lost him. I don’t think he’s an ordinary fiend of Earth; he has to be a spirit from Heaven. I came especially to investigate whether any monster deity has left the ranks.” When the Celestial Masters heard this, they entered the Hall of Divine Mists to make the report, and an order immediately was issued to take the roll among the Nine Luminaries, the Twelve Branches, the Five Planets of the Five Quarters, the numerous gods of the Milky Way, the Gods of the Five Mountains, and the Four Rivers. Every one of the Heavenly deities was present, for none dared to leave his post. The investigation was then extended beyond the Big Dipper Palace, and the count, back and forth among the Twenty-eight Constellations, had turned up only twenty-seven members. Revatī, the WoodWolf Star,6 was missing.
The Preceptors returned to report to the Throne, saying “Revatī, the WoodWolf Star, has left for the Region Below.” The Jade Emperor said, “For how long has he been away from Heaven?” “He was absent for four muster-roll calls,” said the Preceptors. “The roll is taken once every three days, so today is the thirteenth day.” “The thirteenth day in Heaven,” said the Jade Emperor, “is the thirteenth year on Earth.” He thereupon gave the order for the Star’s own department to recall him back to Heaven.
After having received the decree, the Twenty-seven Constellations went out of the Heavenly Gate and each of them recited a spell, which aroused Revatī. “Where was he hiding?” you ask. The Star, actually, had been a celestial warrior who was terror stricken when the Great Sage caused great disturbance in Heaven previously. Just now, the Star hid himself in a mountain stream, and the water vapor had covered up his monster-cloud. That was why he could not be seen. Only when he heard his own colleagues reciting their spells did he dare emerge and follow the crowd to return to the Region Above. He was met by the Great Sage at the gate, who wanted to hit him, but fortunately the other Stars managed to put a stop to it. He was then taken to see the Jade Emperor. Taking out the golden plaque from his waist, the fiend knelt below the steps of the hall and kowtowed, admitting his guilt.
“Revatī, the Wood-Wolf Star,” said the Jade Emperor, “there is boundless beauty in the Region Above. Instead of enjoying this, you chose to visit in secret another region. Why?”
“Your Majesty,” said Revatī the Star, kowtowing, “please pardon the mortal offense of your subject. The princess of the Precious Image Kingdom is no ordinary mortal; she is actually the jade girl in charge of incense in the Spread Incense Hall. She wanted to have an affair with your subject, who was afraid, however, that this act would defile the noble region of the Celestial Palace. Longing for the world, she went first to the Region Below where she assumed human form in the imperial palace. Your subject, not wanting to disappoint her, changed himself into a demon. After I occupied a famous mountain, I abducted her to my cave dwelling where we became husband and wife for thirteen years. Thus ‘not even a sup or a bite is not foreordained,’ and it is fated that Great Sage Sun should accomplish his merit at this time.” When the Jade Emperor heard these words, he ordered that the Star’s golden plaque be taken away from him; he was then banished to the Tushita Palace to be a paid fire-tender for Laozi, with the stipulation that he would be restored to his rank if he made merit, and that he would be punished further if he did not.
When Pilgrim saw how the Jade Emperor disposed of the matter, he was so pleased that he bowed deeply to the Throne. Then he said to the other deities, “All of you, thanks for taking the trouble.” “This ape,” said one of the Masters, laughing, “is still so uncouth! We have taken captive for him the monster-god, and instead of showing his gratitude to the Heavenly Grace properly, he leaves after only taking a bow.” The Jade Emperor said, “We count it our good fortune already if he doesn’t start any trouble and leaves Heaven in peace.”
Lowering the direction of his auspicious luminosity, the Great Sage went back directly to the Current-Moon Cave of the Casserole Mountain, where he found the princess. As he was just giving her an account of all that went before, they heard Eight Rules and Sha Monk shouting in midair, “Elder Brother, save a few monster-spirits for us to beat, too.” “They are all finished,” said Pilgrim. “In that case,” said Sha Monk, “nothing should detain us here. Let’s bring the princess back to court. Brothers, let’s do the magic of Shortening the Ground.”
All the princess heard was the rushing of wind, and in a moment, they were back in the city. The three of them brought the princess up to the Palace of the Golden Chimes, where she bowed reverently to her parents and met again her sisters. Thereafter, the various officials all came to pay their respects. “We are truly beholden to Elder Sun,” said the princess to the Throne, “whose boundless dharma power subdued the Yellow Robe Fiend and brought me back to our kingdom.” “What kind of monster is that Yellow Robe?” asked the king. Pilgrim said, “The son-in-law of Your Majesty happens to be the Star Revatī from the Region Above, and your daughter was the jade girl in charge of incense. Because of her longing for the world, they both descended to Earth to assume human forms. It was no small thing that they should consummate a marriage contracted in their previous existence. When old Monkey went to the Celestial Palace to report to the Jade Emperor, it was discovered that the fiend had not answered the muster-roll for four times. This meant that he had left Heaven for thirteen days, and correspondingly thirteen years had passed on Earth, for a day in Heaven is a year down here. The Jade Emperor ordered the Constellations of his department to recall him to the Region Above, where he was then banished to work for further merit in the Tushita Palace. Old Monkey was then able to bring back your daughter.” After the king had thanked Pilgrim for his kindness, he said, “Let’s go and take a look at your master.”
The three disciples followed the king and descended from the treasure hall to go into one of the chambers in the court, where the officials brought out the iron cage and loosened the chains on the specious tiger. Everyone still saw the tiger as a tiger, but Pilgrim alone saw him as a man. The master, you see, was imprisoned by diabolical magic; though he understood everything, he could neither walk nor open his eyes or mouth. “Master,” said Pilgrim, laughing, “you are a good monk. How did you manage to end up with a fearsome look like that? You blamed me for working evil and violence and banished me. You claimed that you wanted to practice virtue single-mindedly. How did you acquire such features all at once?”
“Elder Brother,” said Eight Rules, “please save him. Don’t just ridicule him.” “You pick on me in everything,” said Pilgrim, “and you are his favorite disciple. Why don’t you save him? Why do you ask old Monkey instead? Remember what I said originally, that after I had subdued the monster to avenge myself from his abuse, I would go back.” Sha Monk drew near and knelt down, saying, “Elder Brother, the ancients said, ‘If you don’t regard the priest, do regard the Buddha.’ If you are here, I beseech you to save him. If we could do so, we wouldn’t have traveled all that distance to plead with you.” Raising him with his hands, Pilgrim said, “How could I possibly be content not to save him? Get me some water, quick!” Eight Rules rushed back to the post-house and took out the purple gold alms bowl from the luggage. He returned and handed to Pilgrim the bowl half-filled with water. As he took the water in his hand, Pilgrim recited a magic spell and spat a mouthful of water on the tiger. At once the diabolical magic was dispelled and the tigerish illusion was broken.
After the elder had appeared in his original body, he recovered sufficiently to open his eyes and recognize Pilgrim, whom he took hold of with his hands immediately. “Wukong,” he cried, “where did you come from?” Standing to one side, Sha Monk gave a thorough account of what had taken place, and Tripitaka was filled with gratitude, saying, “Worthy disciple, I owe you everything! I owe you everything! Let’s hope that we’ll reach the West soon. When we return to the Land of the East, I’ll report to the Tang emperor that yours is the highest merit.” “Don’t mention it! Don’t mention it!” said Pilgrim with laughter. “Just don’t recite that little something, and your living kindness will be most appreciated.” When the king heard this, he also gave thanks to all four of them before preparing a huge vegetarian banquet for them in the Eastern Palace. After they had enjoyed these royal favors, master and disciples took leave of the king and headed for the West. The king led all his ministers through great distance to send them off. So it was that
The king returned to the palace, his empire secured;
The monk went to worship Buddha at Thunderclap.
We do not know what took place thereafter or when they would reach the Western Heaven; let’s listen to the explanation in the next chapter.