We were telling you about that fiend who hauled Eight Rules into the cave, crying, “Elder Brother, we caught one!” Delighted, the old demon said, “Bring him here for a look.” “Isn’t this the one?” said the second demon. “Brother,” said the old demon, “you caught the wrong one. This monk is useless.” Eight Rules at once jumped at this opportunity and said, “Great King, please release a useless monk and let him go. It’s a crime!” “Elder Brother,” said the second demon, “don’t release him. Even if he’s useless, he is part of the Tang Monk’s company, and he’s called Zhu Eight Rules. Let’s soak him thoroughly in the pure water pool in the back; when the bristles are plucked and the hide is peeled after the soaking, we can pickle him with salt and sun him dry. He’ll be a good appetizer with wine on a cloudy day.” When Eight Rules heard these words, he said, “What rotten luck! I’ve met up with a monster who traffics in pickled food!” The little fiends hauled Eight Rules inside and threw him into the water, and we shall speak of him no further.
We tell you now about Tripitaka sitting before the slope; his ears became flushed and his heart began to pound. Growing very restless, he called out, “Wukong, why is it that Wuneng has taken so long to patrol the mountain this time and hasn’t returned?” Pilgrim said, “Master still doesn’t know anything of how his mind works!” “How does it work?” asked Tripitaka. “Master,” said Pilgrim, “if this mountain truly has monsters, he will find it difficult to advance even half a step. Instead, he will run back to report to us with all sorts of exaggerations. I suppose, however, that there are no monsters, and he must have gone ahead directly when he found the road quiet and safe.” “If he really has gone ahead,” said Tripitaka, “where shall we meet him? This a wild, mountainous region, not like somewhere in a village or town.” Pilgrim said, “Don’t worry, Master, please mount up. That Idiot is rather lazy, and without doubt he moves very slowly. Urge your horse a little and we’ll certainly catch up with him to proceed together again.” The Tang Monk indeed climbed on his horse; as Sha Monk poled the luggage, Pilgrim led the way in front to ascend the mountain.
We tell you now instead about the old fiend, who said to the second demon, “Brother, if you have caught Eight Rules, there must also be the Tang Monk somewhere. Go and patrol the mountain again, and make certain that you don’t miss him.” “At once! At once!” said the second demon, who immediately called up some fifty little fiends to go patrol the mountain with him. As they journeyed, they saw auspicious clouds and luminous ether circling. The second demon said, “Here comes the Tang Monk!” “Where is he?” asked the various little fiends. The second demon said, “Auspicious clouds will alight on the head of a virtuous man, whereas the black ether emitted from the head of a wicked man will rise up to the sky. That Tang Monk is actually the incarnation of the Elder Gold Cicada, a virtuous man who has practiced austerities for ten existences. That’s why he is encircled by these auspicious clouds.” Those little fiends, however, still could not perceive where the monk was. Pointing with his finger, the second demon said, “Isn’t that he?” Immediately, Tripitaka on the horse shuddered violently; the demon pointed again, and Tripitaka shuddered once more. This went on for three times, and Tripitaka grew very anxious, saying, “Disciples, why am I shuddering like this?”
“You must have an upset stomach,” said Sha Monk, “and that’s why you are feeling the chill.”
“Nonsense!” said Pilgrim. “Going through this tall mountain and rugged cliff must have made Master rather apprehensive, that’s all. Don’t be afraid! Don’t be afraid! Let old Monkey put on a show for you with my rod to calm your fears somewhat.” Dear Pilgrim! Whipping out his rod, he began to go through a sequence of maneuvers with the rod as he walked before the horse: up and down, left and right, the thrusts and parries were made in perfect accord with the manuals of martial arts. What the elder saw from the horse was a sight incomparable anywhere in the world!
As Pilgrim led the way toward the West, the monster, who was watching on top of the mountain, almost fell over with fear. Scared out of his wits, the monster blurted out, “I have heard about Pilgrim Sun for several years, but today I know that this is no false rumor.” Drawing closer to him, the various fiends said, “Great King, why do you ‘magnify the determination of others to diminish your own authority’? Of whom are you boasting?” “Pilgrim Sun,” said the second demon, “truly possesses vast magical powers. We won’t be able to eat the Tang Monk.” “Great King,” said the fiends, “if you don’t have the abilities, let a few of us go and report to the Great, Great King. Ask him to call up all the fighters, young and old, of our cave, and we will all join to form a solid battle front. You fear that he’ll be able to escape then?” “Can’t you all see that iron rod of his?” asked the second demon. “It’s powerful enough to vanquish ten thousand foes. We have but four or five hundred soldiers in the cave, and they won’t be able to take even a single stroke of his rod!”
The fiends said, “If you put it that way, the Tang Monk certainly will not be our food. Doesn’t that mean that we have also made a mistake in seizing Zhu Eight Rules? Let’s return him to the monks.”
“We haven’t quite made a mistake,” said the second demon, “nor should we send him back so easily. In the end, we are determined to devour the Tang Monk, but we can’t do it just yet.” “If you put it that way,” said the fiends, “should we wait for a few more years?” The second demon said, “No need for a few more years. I perceive now that that Tang Monk must be sought for with virtue and not be taken by violence. If we want to use force to catch him, we won’t be able to get even a whiff of him. The only way we can move him is to feign virtue, so that his mind will be made to fuse with our minds, in the process of which we shall plot against him, exploiting the very virtue of his.” The fiends said, “If the Great King wants to devise a plan to catch him, will you want to use us?” “Each of you may return to our camp,” said the second demon, “but you are not permitted to report this to the Great King. If you disturb him and leak the news, my plan may be ruined. I have my own power of transformation, and I can catch him.”
The various monsters dispersed; the demon by himself leaped down from the mountain. Shaking his body by the road, he changed into an aged Daoist. “How was he dressed?” you ask. You see
A shining star-patterned cap,
And tousled whitish hair;
A feathered gown wrapped in silk sash,
And sandals tied with yellow coir;
Nice features and bright eyes like a man divine,
A light, healthy body as the Age Star’s.
Why speak of the Blue Buffalo Daoist?1
He’s as strong as White Tablet Master2—
A specious form disguised as the true form,
Falsehood feigning to be the honest truth!
By the side of the main road, he masqueraded himself as a Daoist with a bloody, broken leg, whimpering constantly and crying, “Save me! Save me!”
We were telling you about Tripitaka, who, relying on the strength of Great Sage Sun and Sha Monk, was proceeding happily when they heard repeatedly the cry, “Master, save me!” When this reached the ears of Tripitaka, he said, “My goodness! My goodness! There is all around not a single village in the wilderness of this mountain. Who could it be that’s calling? It must be, I suppose, someone terrified by the tiger or the leopard.” Reining in his fine horse, the elder called out, “Who is the person facing this ordeal? Please show yourself.” The fiend crawled out of the bushes and at once banged his head on the ground without ceasing, facing the elder’s horse. When Tripitaka saw that it was a Daoist, and an elderly one at that, he felt sorry for him. Dismounting at once, he tried to take hold of him with his hands, saying, “Please get up! Please get up!” The fiend said, “It hurts! It hurts!” When Tripitaka released his hold, he discovered that the man’s leg was bleeding. “O Master,” said the startled Tripitaka, “where did you come from? How is it that your leg is wounded?”
With clever speech and specious tongue, the fiend answered falsely, saying, “Master, west of this mountain is a clean and secluded temple, of which I am a Daoist.” Tripitaka said, “Why are you not tending the incense and fires or rehearsing the scriptures and the rituals in the temple? Why are you walking around here?” “A patron at the southern part of this mountain,” said the demon, “invited the Daoists to pray to the stars and distribute the blessings day before yesterday. Last night my disciple and I were walking home when we ran into a ferocious striped tiger in a deep canyon. It seized my disciple and dragged him away in its mouth, while your terrified Daoist, madly attempting to flee, broke his leg when he fell on a pile of rocks. I couldn’t even find my way back. But it must be a great Heavenly affinity that caused me to meet Master today, and I beseech you in your great compassion to save my life. When I get to our temple, I will repay your profound kindness even if it means selling myself into slavery!”
When Tripitaka heard these words, he thought they were the truth and said to him, “O Master, we two belong to the same calling—I’m a monk and you’re a Daoist. Though our attire may differ, the principles in cultivation, in the practice of austerities, are the same. If I don’t save you, I shouldn’t be ranked among those who have left the family. But though I intend to save you, I see that you can’t walk.” “I can’t even stand up,” said the fiend, “so how can I walk?” “All right, all right!” said Tripitaka. “I can still walk. I’ll let you take my horse for this distance. When you get to your temple, you can return the horse to me.” The fiend said, “Master, I’m grateful for your profound kindness, but my inner thigh is hurt. I can’t ride.” Tripitaka said, “I see,” and he said to Sha Monk, “Put the luggage on my horse, and you carry him.” “I’ll carry him,” said Sha Monk.
Stealing a quick glance at Sha Monk, the fiend said, “O Master, I was so terrified by that ferocious tiger. Now that I see this priest with such a gloomy complexion, I’m even more frightened. I dare not let him carry me.” “Wukong,” said Tripitaka, “you carry him then.” Pilgrim immediately answered, “I’ll carry him. I’ll carry him.” Having made certain that it was Pilgrim who would carry him, the monster became very amiable and did not speak anymore. “You cockeyed old Daoist!” said Sha Monk, laughing. “You don’t think it’s good for me to carry you, and you want him instead. When he is out of Master’s sight, he’ll smash even your tendons on a sharp, pointed rock!”
Pilgrim, meanwhile, had agreed to put the monster on his back, but he said, chuckling, “You brazen demon, how dare you come to provoke me! You should have made some inquiry on how many years old Monkey has been around! Your fib can deceive the Tang Monk, but do you really think you could fool me? I can tell that you are a fiend of this mountain who wants to eat my master, I suppose. But is my master an ordinary person, someone for you to eat? And even if you want to devour him, you should at least have given a larger half to old Monkey!”
When the demon heard Pilgrim muttering like this, he said, “Master, I am the descendant of a good family who has become a Daoist. It’s my misfortune this day to have met this adversity of the tiger. I’m no monster.” “If you fear the tiger and the wolf,” said Pilgrim, “why don’t you recite the Scripture of the Northern Dipper?”3 When Tripitaka heard these words just as he was mounting, he chided, “This wanton ape! ‘Saving one life is better than erecting a seven-tiered pagoda.’ Isn’t it enough that you carry him? Why speak of the Classic of the Northern Dipper or the Classic of the Southern Dipper?”
When Pilgrim heard him, he said, “Lucky for this fellow! My master happens to be someone who is inclined toward compassion and virtue, but also someone who prefers external appearance more than inward excellence. If I don’t carry you, he’ll blame me, so I’ll carry you, all right. But I have to make it clear to you: if you want to piss or shit, tell me first. For if you pour it down my back, I can’t take the stink, and there is no one around to wash and starch my clothes when they are soiled.” “Look at my age,” said the fiend, “you think I don’t understand what you said?” Only then did Pilgrim pull him up and put him on his back before setting out on the main road to the West with the elder and Sha Monk. When they reached a spot in the mountain where the road became bumpy, weaving up and down, Pilgrim took care to walk more slowly, allowing the Tang Monk to proceed first. Before they had gone four or five miles, the master and Sha Monk descended into a fold of the mountain and became completely out of sight. More and more annoyed, Pilgrim thought to himself, “Master is such a fool even though he’s a grown man! Traveling this great distance, one gets weary even if one were empty-handed—and he tells me instead to carry this monster! I wish I could throw him off! Let’s not say he’s a monster; even if he were a good man, he should die without regret for having lived so long. I might as well dash him to the ground and kill him. Why carry him any further?”
As the Great Sage was about to do this, the monster knew instantly of his plan. Knowing how to summon mountains, he resorted to the magic of Moving Mountains and Pouring out Oceans. On Pilgrim’s back he made the magic sign with his fingers and recited a spell, sending the Sumeru Mountain into midair and causing it to descend directly on Pilgrim’s head. A little startled, the Great Sage bent his head to one side and the mountain landed on his left shoulder. Laughing, he said, “My child, what sort of press-body magic are you using to pin down old Monkey? This is all right, but a lopsided pole is rather difficult to carry.”
The demon said to himself, “One mountain can’t hold him down.” He recited a spell once more and summoned the Emei Mountain4 into the air. Pilgrim again turned his head and the mountain landed on his right shoulder. Look at him! Carrying two mountains, he began to give chase to his master with the speed of a meteor! The sight of him caused the old demon to perspire all over, muttering to himself, “He truly knows how to pole mountains!” Exerting his spirit even more, he recited another spell and sent up the Tai Mountain to press down on Pilgrim’s head. With this magic of the Tai Mountain Pressing the Head, the Great Sage was overpowered as his strength ebbed and his tendons turned numb; the weight was so great that the spirits of the Three Worms5 inside his body exploded and blood spouted from his seven apertures.6
Dear monster! After he used his magic power to pin down Pilgrim, he himself mounted quickly a gust of violent wind to catch up with the Tang Monk. From the edge of the clouds, he stretched down his hand to try to seize the rider of the horse. Sha Monk was so startled that he threw away the luggage and whipped out his fiend-routing staff to block the attempt. Wielding the sword of the seven stars, the demon met him head on and it was some battle!
The sword of seven stars,
The fiend-routing staff,
All flashed golden beams as lightning bright.
This one, eyes glowering, seemed the black god of death;
That one, iron-faced, was the true Curtain-Raising Captain.
The fiend before the mountain showed his power,
Solely bent on catching Tripitaka Tang.
This man, earnestly guarding the true monk,
Would not let go e’en at the threat of death.
The two belched fog and cloud to reach Heaven’s Palace;
They sprayed dirt and dust to cover the stars.
They fought till the red sun grew dim and lost its light—
The great earth, the cosmos, turned dusky all.
Back and forth they scuffled for eight, nine rounds:
’Twas quick defeat for which Sha Monk was bound!
The demon was exceedingly ferocious; the thrusts and slashes of his sword fell on his opponent like meteor showers. Growing weaker by the moment, Sha Monk could no longer withstand him and turned to flee, when the precious staff was forced aside and he was seized by a huge hand. Wedging Sha Monk beneath his left arm, the demon dragged Tripitaka off the horse with his right hand; with the tip of his feet hooked on to the luggage and his mouth tugging at the mane of the horse, he used the magic of removal and brought them all to the LotusFlower Cave in a gust of wind. Shouting at the top of his voice, he cried, “Elder Brother, all the monks are caught and brought here!”
When the old demon heard these words, he was very pleased, saying, “Bring them here for me to have a look.” “Aren’t these the ones?” asked the second demon. “Worthy brother,” said the old demon, “you caught the wrong ones again.” “But you told me to catch the Tang Monk,” said the second demon. The old demon said, “It was the Tang Monk, all right, but you did not manage to catch the able Pilgrim Sun. We have to catch him first before we can enjoy eating the Tang Monk. If we haven’t caught him, be sure not to touch any of his companions. That Monkey King, you see, has vast magic powers and knows many ways of transformation. If we devour his master, you think he’ll accept that? He will certainly come to quarrel with us at our door and we will never be able to live in peace.” “Elder Brother,” said the second demon with a laugh, “you know only how to exalt others! According to your words, that monkey is unique on Earth, and rare even in Heaven. But as I see him, he’s so-so only, with not many abilities.” “You caught him, then?” asked the old demon. “He has already been pinned down by three large mountains that I summoned,” said the second demon, “and he can’t move even an inch. That’s how I managed to transport the Tang Monk, Sha Monk, the white horse, and even the luggage back here.” When the old demon heard these words, he was filled with delight, saying, “What luck! What luck! Only after we have caught this fellow can the Tang Monk be food in our mouths.” He thereupon said to the little fiends, “Prepare some wine at once. Let’s present to our Second Great King the goblet of merit.” The second demon said, “Elder Brother, let’s not drink wine yet. Let’s order the little ones to scoop Zhu Eight Rules out of the water and hang him up.” Eight Rules was thus hung up in the east side of the cave, Sha Monk in the west side, and the Tang Monk in the middle. The white horse was placed in a stable while the luggage was brought inside the cave.
Smiling, the old demon said, “Worthy Brother, what marvelous ability! You went out twice and you caught three monks. Though Pilgrim Sun, however, has been pressed beneath the mountains, we must find a way to bring him here so that he can be steamed together with the others.” The second demon said, “If Elder Brother wants to bring Pilgrim Sun here, there’s no need for us to move. Please take a seat. We need only order two little monsters to put him in two treasures of ours and bring him here.” “Which treasures should they take along with them?” asked the old demon. The second demon said, “Take my red gourd of purple gold and your pure mutton-jade vase.” Bringing out the treasures, the old demon said, “Whom should we send?” The second demon said, “Let’s send Sly Devil and Wily Worm, the two of them.”
He then gave the instructions to the two, saying, “Take these treasures and go to the tallest peak of the three mountains. Turn one of them upside down so that its mouth will face the ground and its bottom, the sky. Call out the name, ‘Pilgrim Sun,’ and if he answers, he will be sucked immediately inside. You will then seal the container with the tape bearing the words, ‘May Laozi Act Quickly According to This Command.’7 In one and three-quarter hours, he will be reduced to pus.” The two little fiends kowtowed before they left to fetch Pilgrim, and we shall speak no more of them for the moment.
We tell you now about the Great Sage, who was pressed beneath the mountains by the magic of the demon.
Suffering, he thought of Tripitaka;
In adversity, he recalled the holy monk.
He cried out with a loud voice, “O Master! I remember how you went to the Mountain of Two Frontiers to lift up the tape that had me pressed down, and it was then that old Monkey escaped his great ordeal to embrace the vow of complete poverty. Thanks to the Bodhisattva, I was given the dharma decree so that you and I could stay together and practice religion together, so that we would be brought under the same affinity and attain the same enlightenment and knowledge. How should I expect that we would run into such a demonic obstacle here, and that I would be pinned down again by his mountains. O pity it all! You may be fated to die, but pity Sha Monk, Eight Rules, and the little dragon who took all that trouble of changing into a horse. Truly as the saying goes,
A tall tree beckons the wind, the wind will rock the tree;
A man lives for his name, his name will wreck the man.”
When he finished this lamentation, tears rained down his cheeks.
All that noise, however, immediately disturbed the mountain god, the local spirit, and the Guardians of Five Quarters, who came together with the GoldenHeaded Guardian. The last one said, “Whose mountains are these?” “Ours,” said the local spirit. “Do you know who it is that you have pinned down beneath the mountains?” “No, we don’t,” said the local spirit. “So, you don’t know,” said the Guardian, “but he happens to be the Great Sage, Equal to Heaven, the Pilgrim Sun Wukong who caused tremendous disturbance in Heaven five hundred years ago. Now he has embraced the right fruit to follow the Tang Monk as his disciple. How could you permit the demon to borrow these mountains to pin him down? You are as good as dead! If he ever finds release and comes out, you think he’ll spare you? Even if he lets you all go lightly, the local spirit will be demoted to an attendant in a post-house, the mountain god will be banished to military service, and even we will be placed under a terrible obligation.” Only then did the mountain god and the local spirit become frightened; they said, “We really didn’t know. All we heard was the spell for moving mountains recited by the demon and we transferred the mountains here. How could we know that it was the Great Sage Sun?”
The Guardian said, “Don’t be afraid now. The Law says, ‘The ignorant will not be held culpable.’ You and I can discuss the matter and see how we can release him without making him beat us.” “This is becoming rather ridiculous,” said the local spirit. “Will he beat us even after we have released him?” “You have no idea,” said the Guardian, “that he possesses a compliant golden-hooped rod, a most powerful weapon indeed. One stroke of it means death; one touch, a bad wound! A small tap and the tendons snap, a tiny brush and the skin collapses!”
Growing more and more alarmed, the mountain god and the local spirit had a discussion with the Guardians of Five Quarters before walking up to the front of the three mountains and crying, “Great Sage, the mountain god, the local spirit, and the Guardians of Five Quarters have come to see you.” Dear Pilgrim! Though he might be like a lean tiger at the moment, his prowess remained. When he heard the announcement, he replied at once resolutely in a ringing voice, “Why do you want to see me?” The local spirit said, “Allow me to report this to the Great Sage. I ask your permission to move the mountains away so that the Great Sage might come out and pardon the crime of disrespect unknowingly committed by this humble deity.” Pilgrim said, “Move the mountains away. I won’t hit you.” When he said this, it was as if an official pardon had been announced! The various gods began reciting their spells and the mountains were sent back to their original locations.
Once released, Pilgrim leaped up; shaking off the dirt and tightening up his skirt, he whipped out his rod from behind his ear and said to the mountain god and the local spirit: “Stick out your shanks. Each of you will receive two strokes so that old Monkey may find some relief for his misery!” Terrified, the two gods said, “Just now the Great Sage promised to pardon us. How could you change your word, now that you have come out, and want to hit us?” “Dear local spirit! Dear mountain god!” said Pilgrim. “You are not afraid of old Monkey, you are afraid of the monsters instead!” The local spirit said, “Those demons have vast magical powers. With their incantations and spells, they would summon us into their cave and we would have to take turns to be on duty.”
When Pilgrim heard these two words “on duty,” he, too, was quite shaken. Lifting his head to face the sky, he cried in a loud voice, “O Azure Heaven! Since the division of chaos and the creation of Heaven and Earth, and since the Flower-Fruit Mountain gave birth to me, I did search all around for the enlightened teacher to transmit to me the secret formula for longevity. Think of it, I can change with the wind, tame the tiger, and subdue the dragon; I even caused great disturbance in the Celestial Palace and acquired the name Great Sage. But I never dared to be so insolent as to order a mountain god or a local spirit around. These demons today are truly lawless! How could they be so arrogant as to make the mountain god and the local spirit their servants, forcing them to take turns to be on duty? O Heaven, if you had given birth to old Monkey, why did you give birth to these creatures also?”8
As the Great Sage was thus sighing, he saw in the distance beams of light rising from a mountain valley. “Mountain god, local spirit,” said Pilgrim, “since you have been on duty in the cave, you must know what objects are those emitting the light.” “They must be the luminescent treasures of the demons,” said the local spirit. “Some monster spirits, I suppose, are coming with the treasures to subdue you.” Pilgrim said, “This is a lot more fun! Let me ask you quickly, who would socialize with them in the cave?” The local spirit said, “Those they love are are persons who heat the cinnabar and refine the herbs; those whom they delight in are the Quanzhen Daoists.” “No wonder he changed into an old Daoist to lure my master away,” said Pilgrim. “Since this is the case, your beating will be deferred for the moment. You may leave, let old Monkey himself catch them.” The various deities rose into the air and left.
This Great Sage shook his body once and changed into an old adept. “How was he dressed?” you ask.
His head had two buns of hair;
He wore a clerical robe;
His hand struck a bamboo fish;9
A Master Lü10 sash circled his waist.
Reclining by the main road,
He waited for the little fiends.
In awhile the fiends arrived;
The Ape King released his tricks.
In no time at all, the two little fiends came before him and Pilgrim stuck out his golden-hooped rod. Unprepared for this, one of the little fiends tripped on it and fell; only when he scrambled up did he see Pilgrim. “Villainy! Villainy!” he began to cry. “If our Great Kings didn’t have a special fondness for your kind of people, I would scrap with you.” “What’s there to scrap about?” said Pilgrim, smiling amiably. “A Daoist meeting a Daoist, we are all in the same family!” “Why did you lie here,” said the fiend, “and cause me to stumble?” Pilgrim said, “A Daoist youth like you, when you run into an aged Daoist like me, must take a fall—it’s a sort of substitute for presenting an introductory gift.” The fiend said, “Our Great Kings only demand a few ounces of silver as introductory gifts. Why do you insist on someone taking a fall? This must be the custom of another region, and you can’t possibly be a Daoist from around here.” “Indeed, I’m not,” said Pilgrim, “for I came from Penglai Mountain.” The fiend said, “But Penglai is an island in the territory of immortals.” “If I’m not an immortal,” said Pilgrim, “who’s an immortal?” Turning all at once from anger to delight, the fiend approached him and said, “Old Immortal, Old Immortal! We are of fleshly eyes and mortal stock, and that’s why we can’t recognize you. Our words have offended you. Please pardon us.” “I won’t blame you,” said Pilgrim, “for as the saying goes, ‘The immortal frame does not tread on ground profane.’ How could you know? The reason why I have landed on your mountain today is that I want to enlighten a good man to become an immortal, to understand the Dao. Which of you is willing to follow me?” Sly Devil said, “Master, I’ll follow you,” while Wily Worm also said, “Master, I’ll follow you.”
Though he knew the reason already, Pilgrim nonetheless asked, “Where did you two come from?” “From the Lotus-Flower Cave,” said one of the fiends.
“Where are you going?”
“Our Great Kings have ordered us,” said the fiend, “to go capture Pilgrim Sun.” “To capture whom?” asked Pilgrim. “To capture Pilgrim Sun,” said the fiend again. Pilgrim said, “Could it be Pilgrim Sun, the one who’s following the Tang Monk to seek scriptures?” “Exactly, exactly,” said the fiend. “You know him too?”
“That monkey is rather rude,” said Pilgrim. “I know him all right, and I am a little mad at him. I’ll go with you to capture him; we’ll consider this my assisting you in making merit.”
“Master,” said the fiend, “no need for you to assist us in making merit. Our Second Great King has considerable magic powers: he summoned three huge mountains and had that monkey pinned down, unable to move even an inch. He then told us to come with treasures to store him up.”
“What kind of treasures?” asked Pilgrim. Sly Devil said, “Mine is a red gourd, while his is a pure jade vase.” “How do you plan to store him up?” asked Pilgrim. The little fiend replied, “Turn my treasure upside down so that its mouth will face the earth and its bottom the sky. I’ll then call him once, and if he answers me, he will at once be sucked inside. I will then seal the treasure with a tape bearing the words, ‘May Laozi Act Quickly According to This Command.’ In one and three-quarter hours, he will be reduced to pus.”
When Pilgrim heard that, he said to himself in secret alarm, “Formidable! Formidable! Previously the Day Sentinel said that they had five treasures, and these must be two of them. I wonder what sort of things are the other three?” He smiled and said to the two of them, “Could you two permit me to have a look at the treasures?” Completely unsuspecting, the little fiends took out from their sleeves at once the two treasures and presented them to Pilgrim with two hands. When Pilgrim saw them, he was delighted, saying to himself, “Marvelous things! Marvelous things! I could wag my tail once and leap clear of this place, making off with the treasures as if they had been presented to me as gifts.” He then thought to himself, “It’s no good! I can rob them of these things, but old Monkey’s reputation will be ruined. This is nothing but committing robbery in broad daylight.” He therefore returned the treasures to the fiends, saying, “You haven’t seen my treasure yet.” One of the fiends said, “What kind of treasure does Master have? Would you permit us profane people to have a look, to ward off calamities, perhaps?”
Dear Pilgrim! Stretching forth his hand, he pulled off a piece of hair from his tail and gave it a squeeze, crying “Change!” It changed at once into a huge red gourd of purple gold, about seventeen inches tall. He took it out from his waist, saying, “You want to see my gourd?” Having received it in his hands and examined it, Wily Worm said, “Master, your gourd is big, and it has nice form. It’s good to look at all right, but I’m afraid that it’s not good to use.” “What do you mean by not good to use?” asked Pilgrim. The fiend said, “Each one of our treasures can store up to a thousand people.” “So,” said Pilgrim, “yours can store up people. What’s so rare about that? This gourd of mine can even store up Heaven!”
“It can?” said the fiend. “Indeed,” said Pilgrim. “I’m afraid you are lying,” said the fiend. “Store it up for us to see and we’ll believe you; otherwise, we’ll never believe you.” “If Heaven irritates me,” said Pilgrim, “I usually store it up seven or eight times within a single month. If it doesn’t bother me, I will not store it up for as long as half a year.” “Elder Brother,” said Wily Worm, “a treasure that can store up Heaven! Let’s exchange ours with his.” Sly Devil said, “How would he be willing to exchange his with ours, which can only store up people?” “If he’s unwilling,” said Wily Worm, “we’ll make it good with our vase also.” Secretly delighted, Pilgrim thought to himself:
A gourd repays a gourd,
We add a vase of jade.
Two things exchanged for one:
That’s what I call fair trade!
He therefore went forward and caught hold of Wily Worm, saying, “If I store up Heaven, you will trade with me?” “If you do, yes,” said the fiend. “If I don’t, I’ll be your son!” “All right! All right!” said Pilgrim. “I’ll store it up for you to see.”
Dear Great Sage! Bowing his head and making the magic sign, he recited a spell that brought him the God of Day Patrol, the God of Night Patrol, and the Guardians of Five Quarters, to whom he gave the following instruction: “Report for me at once to the Jade Emperor and say that old Monkey has embraced the right fruit to accompany the Tang Monk to acquire scriptures in the Western Heaven. Our path has been blocked at a tall mountain, where my master encounters grievous calamity. I would like to entice certain demons, who possess some treasures, into trading with me. I therefore beseech His Majesty with due reverence to let old Monkey borrow Heaven to be stored up for half an hour so that I may accomplish my task. If he but utters half a ‘No,’ I shall ascend to the Divine Mists Hall and start a war!”
The deities went past the South Heaven Gate and stood below the Hall of Divine Mists to report to the Jade Emperor. “This impudent ape!” said the Jade Emperor. “He still speaks in such an unruly manner. Some time ago when Guanyin came to inform us that he had been released to accompany the Tang Monk, we even sent him the Guardians of the Five Quarters and the Four Sentinels to take turns ministering to him. Now he even wants to borrow Heaven to be stored up! How could Heaven be stored up?” Hardly had he finished speaking when the Third Prince Naṭa stepped forward from the ranks and memorialized, saying, “Your Majesty, Heaven, too, can be stored up.”
“How?” inquired the Jade Emperor.
Naṭa said, “When Chaos first divided, that which was pure and light became Heaven, and that which was heavy and turbid became Earth. Heaven, then, is a round mass of clear ether that nonetheless supports the Jasper Palace and the Heavenly ramparts. In principle, therefore, Heaven cannot be stored up. However, the matter of Pilgrim Sun’s accompaniment of the Tang Monk journeying westward to acquire scriptures is itself a source of blessings great as Mount Tai and deep as the sea. Today we should help him to succeed.”
The Jade Emperor said, “How would our worthy minister help him?”
“Let Your Majesty issue a decree,” said Nata, “and ask Zhenwu, the Lord of the North at the North Heaven Gate, to lend us his banner of black feathers, which should then be unfurled across the South Heaven Gate. The sun, the moon, and the stars will be covered, and it will be so dark on Earth that people cannot see each other even if they are standing face to face. The fiends will be deceived into thinking that Heaven has been stored up, and that is how we may help Pilgrim to succeed.” The Jade Emperor gave his consent to this suggestion, and the prince received the command to go to the North Heaven Gate, where he gave the account to Zhenwu. The patriarch at once handed the banner to the prince.
Meanwhile, the Day Patrol God swiftly returned to the Great Sage and whispered in his ear, “Prince Naṭa has come to help you.” Looking up, Pilgrim saw auspicious clouds looming up: indeed a deity was approaching. He turned to the little fiends, saying, “I’m going to store up Heaven.” “Go ahead,” said one of them. “Why keep dragging your feet?” “I was just exercising my spirit and reciting a spell,” said Pilgrim. The two little fiends stood there wide-eyed and determined to find out how he was going to store up Heaven. Pilgrim gave the specious gourd a mighty heave and tossed it up into the air. Think of it: that gourd was changed from a piece of hair. How heavy could it be? Lifted up by the mountain wind, it drifted here and there for at least half an hour before dropping down. Meanwhile, Prince Naṭa at the South Heaven Gate flung wide the black banner and in one instant covered the sun, the moon, and all the planets. Truly
The cosmos seemed dyed by ink,
The world was made indigo.
Astounded, the little fiends said, “It was just about noon when we were talking. How is it that it’s dusk already?” “Heaven has been stored up,” said Pilgrim. “You can’t tell time! How can it not be dusk?” “Why is it so dark?” they cried. Pilgrim said, “The sun, the moon, and the stars are all contained inside. There’s no light outside. How can it not be dark?” “Master,” said one of the little fiends, “where are you speaking?” “Am I not in front of you?” asked Pilgrim. The little fiend stretched out his hand to try to touch him, saying, “I can hear you, but I can’t see your face. Master, where are we?” To deceive them further, Pilgrim said, “Don’t move. This is the shore of the Gulf of Zhili. If you stumble and fall into the sea, you won’t reach bottom even after seven or eight days.” “Stop! Stop! Stop!” cried the horrified fiends. “Release Heaven, please! We know now how it is stored up. If we fool around anymore and drop into the sea, we’ll not get home.”
Dear Pilgrim! When he saw that they took the whole thing for the truth, he recited the spell again to alert the prince, who rolled up the banner and the sunlight of noon was seen once more. “Marvelous! Marvelous!” cried the little fiends, laughing. “Such fantastic treasure, if we don’t exchange for it, we are certainly no better than bastards!” Sly Devil at once took out the gourd and Wily Worm the pure vase; both of them then handed the treasures to Pilgrim. In return, Pilgrim gave them the specious gourd. After the exchange, Pilgrim wanted to make certain that the bargain stuck. Pulling off a piece of hair from beneath his belly, he blew on it and it changed into a copper penny. “Young man,” he said, “take this penny and buy us a piece of paper.” “What for?” asked the little fiend. “So that I can draw up a contract with you,” said Pilgrim. “The two of you used your human-storing treasures to exchange with me a single piece of Heaven-storing treasure. I fear that you may not consider that quite fair and that after a few years you will come to regret our deal. That’s why I want a contract for all of us.” “We don’t even have brush or ink around here,” said one of the fiends. “Why bother about writing a document? Let’s exchange vows instead.” “What kind of vow?” asked Pilgrim. The two little fiends said, “We gave two human-storing treasures to you in exchange for one Heaven-storing treasure. If we ever regret our decision, may we be stricken with plague in all four seasons.” “I’ll never regret mine,” said Pilgrim, smiling. “If I do, may I also be stricken like you.” After he made this vow, he leaped up and with one wag of his tail arrived before the South Heaven Gate, where he thanked Prince Naṭa for unfurling the banner and lending him assistance. The prince then went back to the palace to report to the Jade Emperor and to return the flag to Zhenwu. Pilgrim, meanwhile, stood in the air and looked at those little fiends. We do not know what happens thereafter; let’s listen to the explanation in the next chapter.