We were telling you about the Great Sage Sun, who recovered his goldenhooped rod and fought his way out of the door. He was filled with delight as he leaped up to the tall summit to face the various gods. “How did you do this time?” asked the Devarāja Li. “By his transformation,” said Pilgrim, “old Monkey managed to get inside the cave. That fiend and his subordinates were all singing and dancing, drinking their victory wine. I did not succeed in detecting where he put his treasure, but when I went to the rear of the cave, I heard horses neighing and dragons whining and I knew that they had to be the belongings of the fire department. The golden-hooped rod was leaning against the east wall; old Monkey picked it up and fought his way out.” “You got your treasure,” said the deities, “but when could we get back ours?” “It’s easy! It’s easy!” said Pilgrim. “When I have this iron rod, I’ll strike him down and recover your treasures for you, no matter what.” Hardly had he finished speaking when they heard a great din coming from below the mountain slope punctuated by the roll of drums and the sounding of gongs. The Bovine Great King, you see, was leading the various spirits to give chase to Pilgrim, who, when he saw the throng approaching, shouted: “Good! Good! Good! This is exactly my wish! Have a seat, all of you, and let old Monkey go again to catch him.”
Dear Great Sage! Lifting high his iron rod, he met them head-on, crying, “Brazen demon, where are you going? Watch my rod!” Using his lance to parry the blow, the fiend scolded him: “You thievish ape! You’re indeed ill-behaved! How dare you rob me in broad daylight?” “You cursed beast!” said Pilgrim. “You don’t know that you’re about to die. You are the one who robbed us in broad daylight with your fillet. Which of these things really belongs to you? Don’t run away. Have a taste of your Venerable Father’s rod!” What a great battle this was!
The Great Sage displays his might;
The demon’s no longer tame.
The two wage a fierce contest,
For neither’s willing to quit.
This one’s iron rod seems like a dragon’s tail;
That one’s long lance resembles a python’s head.
From this one, the strokes of the rod roar like the wind;
From that one, the blows of the lance flow like strong currents.
You see colored mists close in to darken the peaks
And auspicious clouds hover o’er the woods.
The birds in the air all stop their wings;
The beasts in the wilds all hide their heads.
On the battlefield the little fiends cheer;
On this side the Great Sage rouses himself.
His one iron rod that none can withstand
Has fought throughout the West’s ten thousand miles.
But that long lance is truthfully his match,
E’re ruling Golden Helmet with all success.
They meet this time and they won’t leave in peace;
Till one obtains a victory they’ll never cease.
For three hours the demon king fought with the Great Sage Sun, but no decision could be reached. Soon it was getting dark. Using the lance to hold back the rod, the demon said, “Wukong, you stop now. When it’s dark everywhere, it’s no time to fight. Let’s each of us take some rest. We’ll resume our contest tomorrow morning.” “Shut up, you lawless beast!” scolded Pilgrim. “Old Monkey’s just getting inspired! Who cares if it’s getting late! I’m determined to find out which of us is better.” With a shout, however, the fiend turned and fled, leading all those fiends and their arms back into the cave, after which they had the door tightly shut.
As the Great Sage walked back to the peak with his rod trailing behind him, the Heaven deities all congratulated him with these words: “Truly a mighty power Equal to Heaven! What boundless, what limitless powers!” “Thanks for the compliments! Thanks for the compliments!” said Pilgrim. “We haven’t exaggerated in our praise,” said Devarāja Li, drawing near. “You are indeed quite a man! The way you fought just now reminded us of the time when you defied the cosmic nets.” “Let’s not revive old gossip,” said Pilgrim. “After he had fought with old Monkey all this while, that fiend must be tired. I won’t complain of fatigue; while all of you sit here and relax, I want to go into the cave to find out where he has hidden that fillet of his. I’m determined to steal it and to catch the fiend. Then we can find your weapons so that you all may return to Heaven.” “It’s getting late,” said the prince. “Why not rest for the night and go there tomorrow morning?” Laughing, Pilgrim said, “Our little boy is still ignorant of the ways of the world! Who has ever seen a thief starting something in daytime? To sneak inside, one must go during the night, undetected; that’s how this business is done!” Both Fiery Virtue and one of the thunder squires said, “Don’t talk anymore, Third Prince. This sort of thing may be foreign to us, but the Great Sage is an expert. He has to make use of this time, for the demon is tired and his guard may be down during the night. Let the Great Sage go now. Go quickly!”
Dear Great Sage! Grinning broadly, he put away his iron rod and leaped down from the tall summit to go once more before the cave. He shook his body once and immediately changed into a small cricket. Truly he has
Hard mouth, long whiskers, and black skin,
With keen eyes and legs forked like branches.
Midst bright moon and clear breeze he chirps on the wall,
Like someone speaking in silent night.
He weeps when dew saddens prospect,
A proud voice, though halting and faint.
The window’s pensive guest dreads hearing him,
This lodger ’neath the steps or the bed.1
Stretching forth his long legs, he jumped up to the door with three or four leaps and crawled inside through a crack. He squatted near the foot of the wall and, by the light of lamps and torches inside, looked carefully around. The various fiends, young and old, were just wolfing down their dinners. Pilgrim creaked and cricked for a while, and soon after, the fiends finished eating and put away their utensils. After laying out their bedding, all the fiends retired. Not until the time of the first watch did Pilgrim go to the rear chamber, where he heard the old demon give this command: “All the little ones guarding the doors should sleep lightly. I fear that Sun Wukong may change into something to come in here to steal again.” Those who were taking turns to stand watch began to beat their rattles or ring their bells. Our Great Sage, however, was most eager to do what he came to do!
After he crawled into the bedroom, he found a stone bed, on both sides of which were several mountain ghosts or tree spirits all powdered and rouged. They were making the bed and helping the old demon to retire; some were unlacing his boots while others were untying his robe. After the demon king took off his clothes, at once the fillet—all ghostly white—could be seen. It was attached to his left shoulder like an armlet made of a string of pearls. Look at him! Instead of taking the fillet off, he pushed it up a couple of times until it was snugly clamped to his shoulder. Only then did he lie down to sleep. With one shake of his body again, Pilgrim changed into a flea with yellow skin. Leaping onto the stone bed and crawling inside his covers, he crept up to the left shoulder of the fiend and gave him a sturdy bite. The fiend was so stung by it that he turned over, shouting, “These slaves! They ought to be beaten more often! They didn’t shake the covers, nor did they brush the bedding. Now I’ve been bitten by I don’t know what!” He gave his fillet two further shoves before dozing off once more. Crawling above the fillet, Pilgrim gave him another bite. Unable to sleep, the fiend sat up, yelling, “I’m itching to death!”
When Pilgrim saw how carefully he guarded the fillet, refusing to let it leave his body for even a moment, Pilgrim knew that he would not be able to steal it. He leaped down from the bed, changed once more into a cricket, and left the bedroom to go to the rear, where he again heard dragons whining and horses neighing. Behind two doors tightly locked, you see, fire dragons and fire horses all hung inside. Pilgrim changed back to his original form as he walked up to the door to exercise his lock-opening magic. He recited a spell and gave the padlock a wipe: immediately the double patches snapped open. Pushing open the doors, he walked into a room so brightly lit by fire equipment that it seemed like daylight. Several weapons were seen leaning against the east and the west walls: they were the fiend-slashing scimitar of the prince, the fire bows and fire arrows of Fiery Virtue, and the like. In the glow of the light, Pilgrim looked carefully around and saw on top of a stone table behind the door a small basket woven of bamboo. Inside was placed a bunch of hairs. Filled with delight, the Great Sage picked up the hairs and blew on them two mouthfuls of hot air, crying, “Change!” They changed at once into forty or fifty little monkeys, who were then told to pick up the scimitar, the sword, the club, the wheel, together with the bows, the arrows, the lances, the carts, the gourds, the fire crows, the fire rats, and the fire horses—all those things sucked away by the fillet. After they had mounted the fire dragons, they started a huge blaze that burned outward from deep inside the cave. All you could hear were the snapping and cracking—bingbing, bang-bang—as if thunderbolts or fire cannons were let loose inside. Those monster-spirits, young and old, were utterly terrified; in a stupor, they hugged their blankets or covered their heads, some screaming, some weeping. None of them knew which way to run and more than half of them were burned to death by the fire. The Handsome Monkey King thus returned to his camp in triumph at about the hour of the third watch.
We now tell you about Devarāja Li and his companions on the tall summit. They suddenly saw a bright flare of lights rushing toward them, and then they discovered Pilgrim riding on a dragon and shouting commands to a team of little monkeys as they ascended the mountain. After reaching the peak, he yelled: “Come and get your weapons! Come and get your weapons!” Fiery Virtue and Naṭa immediately answered his call, while Pilgrim shook his body to retrieve his hairs. Prince Naṭa took back his six weapons, and Fiery Virtue told his subordinates to put away the fire dragons and other equipment. All of them were full of smiles and praises for Pilgrim, and we shall leave them there for the moment.
We tell you instead about the Golden Helmet Cave, where flames were still shooting up everywhere. The Bovine Great King was scared out of his wits; dashing out of his room, he held his fillet up high with both hands. He pushed it toward the fire this way and that way, and it immediately went out. Though the air was filled with flame and smoke, they all subsided after he and his treasure had run through the entire cave. He tried to rescue the other fiends, but over half of them had been burned to death. Those who survived, male and female, did not number a hundred. Then he went to inspect the place where he had hidden the weapons, but not a single item could be found. Finally, he reached the rear of the cave where he saw Eight Rules, Sha Monk, and the elder still securely bound. The white dragon horse was tied to the stall, and even the load of luggage remained in the room. Angrily, the demon said, “I wonder which of the little fiends was so careless that he started the fire and brought all this on us!” “Great King,” one of the attendants by his side said, “This fire could not have been started by any one of our own. It had to be the work of someone intent on raiding our camp; after he had released the equipment of the fire department, he also stole the divine weapons.” Only then did the old demon realize what had
happened. “There is no one else!” he said. “It has to be that thief, Sun Wukong!
No wonder I had such a hard time when I tried to sleep just now! That larcenous ape must have gotten in here by means of transformation and gave my shoulder a couple of bites. Undoubtedly he wanted to steal my treasure, but when he saw how tightly it was attached to my body, he could not do it. That was the reason he stole the other weapons instead and let loose the fire dragons. How vicious of him! He wanted to burn me to death! Oh thievish ape! You’ve made vain use of your trickery! When I have this treasure on me, I can’t be drowned even when I plunge into the ocean, nor can I be burned if I leap into a pool of fire. But when I catch you, thief, this time, I’m going to skin and cut you up alive. Only then will I be satisfied.”
He spoke sullenly in this manner for a long time, and soon thereafter it was dawn. On the tall summit, the prince, holding his six weapons that had just been recovered, said to Pilgrim, “Great Sage, it’s getting bright. Let’s not wait any further. We should make use of this opportunity when that demon’s will to fight has been blunted by you. With the help of the fire department, let us go again to do battle with him. Most probably he’ll be captured this time.” “You are right,” said Pilgrim, chuckling. “Let us unite and go have some fun!”
In high spirits and eager to fight, each of them went up to the cave entrance. “Lawless demon, come out!” bellowed Pilgrim. “Come and fight with old Monkey!” The two stone doors of the cave, you see, had been reduced to ashes the night before by the intense heat. At the moment, several little fiends by the entrance were just in the process of gathering up the ashes and sweeping the ground. When they saw the various sages approach, they were so terrified that they abandoned their brooms and ash forks and dashed inside to report: “Sun Wukong has led many gods to provoke battle outside our door!” So astounded was he by this report that the bovine fiend gnashed his teeth and rolled his ringlike eyes. He picked up his lance and his treasure, and no sooner had he emerged from the door when he began to castigate his adversary, saying, “You thievish ape! You camp-raider and arsonist! What skills do you have that you dare treat me so contemptuously?” Smiling broadly, Pilgrim said, “You brazen fiend! If you want to know my skills, come up here and listen to my recital.
My skills were great since the time of my birth,
As was my name throughout the universe.
Enlightened, I practiced the transcendent way;
In days past came the means to eternal youth.
I willed to bow at the place of the Heart,2
To seek with reverence the home of a sage.
I learned how to change with endless power,
Taking as my playground the whole cosmos.
At leisure I tamed tigers on the mount;
When bored I subdued dragons in the sea.
I claimed a throne at native Flower-Fruit,
Flaunting my strength in Water-Curtain Cave.
A few times I lusted for Heaven’s realm;
Ignorant, I robbed the Region Above.
My royal name: Great Sage, Equal to Heaven;
I was called also Handsome Monkey King.
When the Feast of Peaches was under way,
I took offense for no invitation came.
In secret I stole jade juice at Jasper Pool
And drank it in stealth at the treasure tower.
Dragon and phoenix organs I did taste;
A hundred dainties I would steal and eat.
Millennial peaches I freely enjoyed,
Stuffing my guts with long-life drugs and pills.
Strange things of Heav’n I took piece by piece,
And rare goods from sage mansions bit by bit.
When Jade Emperor learned what great skills I had,
He sent divine soldiers to the battlefield.
I banished those fierce Nine Luminaries;
And wounded the Five Quarters’ Vicious Stars.
All Heaven’s warriors were no match of mine;
A hundred thousand troops dared not meet me.
Hard pressed, the Jade Emperor gave a decree:
Libation Stream’s Little Sage then raised his sword.
Seventy-two transformations we struggled through,
Each rousing his spirit, each showing his might.
Guanyin of South Sea came, too, at length
To lend them her help with willow and vase.
Laozi then made use of his diamond snare
To have me captured and brought up there
To see, bound firmly, the Great Emperor Jade,
As judge and tribunal indicted me.
They told God Powerful to cut me dead,
But sparks flew up when knives fell on my head.
Since no means was found to put me to death,
They sent me all shackled to Laozi’s hall:
A brazier, watched by the Six Gods of Light,
Refined me till I became hard as steel.
With vessel opened on day forty-ninth,
I leaped out to work violence yet once more.
When gods hid themselves and none withstood me,
The sages agreed that Buddha be called.
Tathāgata’s power was mighty indeed!
His wisdom, truly vast and limitless!
A somersault match waged upon his hand
Made a mountain press me, now no more strong.
When the Emperor gave the Feast of Heaven’s Peace,
The West regained its name of Ultimate Bliss.
Old Monkey jailed for full five hundred years
Did not once taste a bit of tea or rice.
But when Elder Gold Cicada came to earth,
The East sent him to go to Buddha’s home
To fetch true scriptures for a noble state,
Where the Great Tang ruler might save the dead.
Guanyin taught me to submit to the Good
And let faith held firmly my wildness check.
Free of my ordeal at that mountain root,
I now go West to fetch the scripture texts.
Lawless demon, cease your foxlike cunning!
Return my Tang Monk, bow to Dharma King!”
When he heard these words, he pointed at Pilgrim and cried, “So, you were the big thief who robbed Heaven! Don’t run away! Swallow my lance!” The Great Sage met him with the rod and the two of them began to fight. On this side Prince Naṭa became angry and the Star of Fiery Virtue grew vicious: they hurled those six divine weapons together with the fire equipment at the demon. The Great Sage Sun fought even more fiercely as the thunder squires took up their thunderbolts and the devarāja his scimitar to rush at their enemy. Smiling scornfully, the demon calmly took out from his sleeve his treasure and tossed it in the air, crying, “Hit!” With a loud whoosh, the six divine weapons, the fire equipment, the thunderbolts, the scimitar of the devarāja, and the rod of Pilgrim were all snatched away. Once again, the deities and the Great Sage Sun were empty-handed. After the demon returned in triumph to his cave, he gave this order: “Little ones, gather rocks and boulders to rebuild our doors, and tidy up our rooms and hallways. When we finish our work, we shall slaughter the Tang Monk and his companions to thank the Earth. Then all of us can disperse the blessing and enjoy.” The little fiends all obeyed, and we shall leave them for the moment.
We tell you now about the Devarāja Li, who led the rest of the gods back to the tall summit. Fiery Virtue then began to rail at Naṭa for being too impulsive, while the thunder squires blamed the devarāja for acting too recklessly. Water Lord, however, stood to one side and sulked. When Pilgrim saw how distraught they looked, he had little alternative but to appear cheerful and said to them, forcing a smile, “Please don’t be so distressed, all of you. After all, the ancient proverb says, ‘Victory or defeat is a common thing for the soldier.’ If we want to consider the demon’s fighting skill, it’s no more than so-so. The reason he can cause so much harm is that fillet in his possession, which has again sucked away all our weapons. Nonetheless, try to relax. Let old Monkey go and see if he can find out something more about his pedigree.” “When you first presented your memorial to the Jade Emperor,” said the prince, “there was a thorough search made throughout the celestial realm, but not a trace of this monster could be found. Now where are you going to make further investigation?” Pilgrim replied, “Come to think of it, the dharma power of Buddha is boundless. I shall go now to the Western Heaven to question our Buddha Tathāgata; I shall ask him to scan with his eye of wisdom the four great continents of Earth and see where this fiend was born and raised. I want to learn what sort of treasure his fillet is, and no matter what, I’m determined to have him arrested. Only then will all of you be avenged and have a happy trip back to Heaven.” “If that’s your intention,” said the gods, “don’t delay. Go quickly! Go quickly!”
Dear Pilgrim! He said he would go, and at once he mounted his cloudsomersault. Instantly he arrived at the Spirit Mountain. Lowering his auspicious luminosity, he looked everywhere. Marvelous place!
The noble Mount Spirit,
Fine, pure cloud-layers;
A divine summit touching jade-green sky.
A great town seen in Western Heaven,
Its form, its air surpassing even China’s.
The primal breath flows to widen Heav’n and Earth;
Strong wind scatters a platform full of flowers.3
Long notes of bells and stones are often heard,
And clear, loud scripture recitations.
You see, too, lay-sisters lecturing beneath green pines
And arhats walking among jadelike cedars.
White cranes with feelings come to Vulture Peak;
Blue phoenixes wish to stand by quiet arbors.
Black apes in pairs hold up immortal fruits;
Aged deer in twos present purple blooms.
Rare birds call often like some tale-telling,
And flowers too strange and fair to have names.
The ranges turn and circle, fold upon fold;
The old path meanders, though it’s level.
A place where pure void of spirit’s the norm—
Buddha’s solemn and great awakened form.
As Pilgrim enjoyed the sight of the mountain scenery, he heard someone calling him: “Sun Wukong, where did you come from? Where are you going?” He turned quickly and found that it was the Honored One Bhikṣuṇi.4 The Great Sage greeted her and said, “I have a matter that requires an audience with Tathāgata.” “You rascal!” said Bhikṣuṇi, “if you want to see Tathāgata, why don’t you ascend the treasure temple? Why stay here to look at the mountain?” “This is the first time I have been to this noble region,” replied Pilgrim, “and that’s why I am acting boldly.” “Follow me quickly,” said Bhikṣuṇi, and Pilgrim ran after her up to the gate of the Thunderclap Monastery, where their way was barred by the heroic figures of the Eight Great Diamond Guardians.5 “Wukong,” said Bhikṣuṇi, “wait here for a moment and let me announce your arrival.” Pilgrim had no choice but to wait outside the gate. Going before the Buddha, Bhikṣuṇi pressed her palms before her and said, “Sun Wukong needs to have an audience with Tathāgata.” Whereupon Tathāgata commanded him to enter, and only then did the diamond guardians allow him to pass.
After Pilgrim touched his head to the ground, Tathāgata asked, “Wukong, I heard previously that after the Honored One Guanyin had freed you, you made submission to Buddhism and agreed to accompany the Tang Monk to seek scriptures here. Why have you come all by yourself? What is the matter?” Again touching his head to the ground, Pilgrim said, “Let me report this to our Buddha. Since your disciple embraced the faith, he has followed the master from the Tang court in his journey west. We reached the Golden Helmet Cave of the Golden Helmet Mountain, where we ran into an evil demon, who had the name of Bovine Great King. He had such vast magic powers that he abducted my master and brothers into his cave. Your disciple demanded their return, but he had no good will at all and we fought it out. My iron rod was snatched away by a ghostly white fillet of his. As I suspected that he might be some celestial warrior who longed for the world, I went to the Region Above to investigate. The Jade Emperor was kind enough to lend me the assistance of the father-and-son team of Devarāja Li, only to have him rob the prince of his six weapons. Then I asked the Star of Fiery Virtue to burn him with fire, but he took the fire equipment also. Next we asked the Star of Watery Virtue to drown him with water, but we couldn’t even touch a single hair of his. After your disciple spent enormous energy to steal back the iron rod and other things, we went again to provoke battle. Once again his fillet sucked away all our weapons, and we are powerless to subdue him. That’s why I have this special request for our Buddha, in his great compassion, to survey the world and find out what is the true origin of this creature. I shall then be able to capture his kin or neighbor so that it will facilitate the arrest of the demon and the rescue of my master. All of us then will be able to bow, with palms pressed together and with utter sincerity, to seek the right fruit.”
After Tathāgata heard this, he trained his eyes of wisdom to peer into the distance and immediately he had knowledge of the whole affair. “Though I’ve learned the identity of that fiendish creature,” he said to Pilgrim, “I can’t reveal it to you because you have such a loose, apish tongue. If somehow you pass on the fact that it was I who disclosed his identity, he would not fight with you but he would start a quarrel up here in Spirit Mountain. That would cause me a lot of trouble. Let me give you the assistance of my dharma power instead to help you capture him.” Bowing deeply again, Pilgrim thanked him and said, “What sort of dharma power will you bestow on me?” Tathāgata immediately ordered the Eighteen Arhats to open the treasury and take out eighteen grains of golden cinnabar sand to assist Wukong. “What will this golden cinnabar sand do?” asked Pilgrim. “Go before the cave,” said Tathāgata, “and ask the demon for a contest. Entice him to come out and the arhats will at once release the sand, which will entrap him. Since he won’t be able to move his body or raise his feet, you can beat him up at will.” “Wonderful! Wonderful!” cried Pilgrim, laughing. “Bring them out quickly!”
Not daring to delay, the arhats at once took out the golden cinnabar sand and walked out of the gate. After Pilgrim thanked Tathāgata again, he ran after the crowd and found there were only sixteen arhats. “What sort of a place is this,” yelled Pilgrim, “that you are taking bribes and releasing prisoners?” “Who is taking bribes and releasing prisoners?” asked the arhats, and Pilgrim said, “Originally eighteen of you were sent. Why is it that there are only sixteen now?” Hardly had he finished speaking when Dragon Subduer and Tiger Tamer, the two Honored Ones, walked out from inside. “Wukong,” they said, “how could you be so mischievous? The two of us remained behind because Tathāgata had further instructions for us.” “That’s a wretched way to take bribes!” said Pilgrim. “If I waited even a moment in hollering, you probably would not come out.” Laughing uproariously, the arhats mounted the auspicious clouds.
In a moment, they arrived at the Golden Helmet Mountain, where they were met by Devarāja Li leading the rest of the deities. “No need to go into the details,” said one of the arhats. “Go quickly and ask him to come out.” Holding his fists high, our Great Sage went before the cave entrance and shouted, “Blubbery fiend! Come out quickly and try your hands with your Grandpa Sun.” Again those little fiends dashed inside to make the report. Infuriated, the demon king said, “This thievish ape! I wonder whom he has invited to come make a nuisance here!” “There’s no other warrior,” said the little fiends, “he’s all by himself.” “I’ve already taken away his rod,” said the demon king. “How is it that he shows up all by himself again? Could it be that he wants to box some more?” Picking up his treasure and his lance, he ordered the little fiends to move away the boulders and leaped out of the cave. “Larcenous ape!” he scolded. “For several times you haven’t been able to gain the upper hand, and that should make you stay away. Why are you here again making noises?” Pilgrim said, “This brazen demon doesn’t know good or evil! If you don’t want your Grandpa to show up at your door, you make submission, apologize, and send out my master and brothers. Then I’ll spare you.” “Those three monks of yours,” said the fiend, “have been scrubbed clean. Soon they will be slaughtered. And you are still making a fuss? Go away!”
When Pilgrim heard the word “slaughter,” fire leaped up to his cheeks. Unable to suppress the anger of his heart, he wielded his fists and attacked the demon with hooks and jabs. Spreading out his long lance, the fiend turned to meet him. Pilgrim jumped this way and that to deceive the monster. Not knowing it was a trick, the demon left the entrance of the cave and gave chase toward the south. At once Pilgrim shouted for the arhats to pour the golden cinnabar sand down on the demon. Marvelous sand! Truly,
Like fog, like mist, it spreads out at first;
In great profusion it drops from afar.
One mass of white
Blinding vision every where.
A dark expanse
Flaring up to lead you astray.
The working woodsman has lost his partner;
The fairy youth picking herbs can’t see his home.
It drifts and soars like fine wheat-flour;
Some grains are coarse like sesame.
The world seems opaque as the summits darken;
The sun’s hidden and the sky disappears.
It’s not quite the noise and dust at a horse’s heels,
Nor the light fluffiness chasing a scented car.
This sand is by nature a ruthless thing
Which can blot out the world to seize the fiend.
Because a demon assails the right Way,
The arhats by Law release their power.
Though your hand may hold a bright shiny pearl,
Soon the blown sand will your eyesight obscure.
When the demon saw that the flying sand was clouding up his vision, he lowered his head and discovered that his feet were already standing in three feet of the stuff. He was so horrified that he tried to jump upward; before he could even stand up properly the sand grew another foot. In desperation, the fiend tried to pull up his legs while taking out his fillet. Throwing it up into the air, he cried, “Hit!” With a loud whoosh, the eighteen grains of golden cinnabar sand were sucked away. The demon then strode back to the cave.
All of those arhats with bare hands stopped their clouds, while Pilgrim drew near and asked, “Why are you not sending down the sand?” “There was a sound just now,” one of them said, “and instantly our golden cinnabar sand vanished.” “That little something has sucked them away again!” sighed Pilgrim with a laugh. “If he’s so hard to catch,” said Devarāja Li to the rest, “how could we ever arrest him? When will we be able to return to Heaven? How could we face the Emperor?” On one side, Dragon Subduer and Tiger Tamer, the two arhats, said, “Wukong, did you know why we delayed in coming out of the door just now?” “Old Monkey only feared that you were trying to find some pretense not to come,” said Pilgrim. “I don’t know any other explanation.” One of the two arhats replied, “Tathāgata told the two of us that the demon had vast magic powers. If we lost the golden cinnabar sand, he said, we should ask Sun Wukong to search for his origin at the place of Laozi, the Tushita Palace of the Griefless Heaven. The demon would be caught with one stroke.” When Pilgrim heard this, he said, “That’s most despicable! Even Tathāgata is trying to hornswoggle old Monkey! He should have told me right then and there, and there would have been no need for all of you to travel.” “If Tathāgata made such a clear revelation,” said Devarāja Li, “let the Great Sage go up there quickly.”
Dear Pilgrim! “I’m off!” he said, and at once he mounted the cloud somersault to enter the South Heaven Gate. There he was met by the four grand marshals, who raised their folded hands to their chins to salute him, asking, “How’s the affair of arresting that monster?” Answering them as he walked along, Pilgrim said, “It’s unfinished! It’s unfinished! But I’m on his trail now!” The four grand marshals dared not detain him and permitted him to walk inside the Heaven Gate. Going neither to the Hall of Divine Mists nor to the Dipper Palace, he went instead straight up to the Tushita Palace of the Griefless Heaven, which was beyond the thirty-third Heaven. Two immortal youths were standing outside the palace. Without announcing who he was, however, Pilgrim walked right inside the door, so startling the youths that they tugged at him, crying, “Who are you? Where are you going?” Only then did Pilgrim say, “I’m the Great Sage, Equal to Heaven. I wish to see Laozi, Mr. Li.” “Why are you so rude?” asked one of the youths. “Stand here and let us announce you.” But Pilgrim would have none of that. With a shout, he dashed inside and ran smack into Laozi, who was just coming out. Bowing low hurriedly, Pilgrim said, “Venerable Sir, haven’t seen you for awhile.”
“Why is this ape not going to seek scriptures?” said Laozi, chuckling. “What’s he doing here?” Pilgrim replied,
Scripture-seeking—
Toil unending.
My way was blocked:
I came shuffling.
“If the road to the Western Heaven is blocked,” said Laozi, “what has that got to do with me?” Again Pilgrim said,
Ah, Heaven West!
Stop your protest!
I find my trail:
You I’ll contest.
“This place of mine,” said Laozi, “is an incomparable immortal palace. What sort of trail can you find?”
Eyes unblinking, Pilgrim went inside and looked left and right. He walked past several corridors and all at once he discovered a boy sound asleep by the corral. The green buffalo, however, was not inside. “Venerable Sir,” said Pilgrim, “your buffalo has escaped! Your buffalo has escaped!” “When did this cursed beast escape?” asked Laozi, highly astonished. All that clamor woke up the boy, who immediately went to his knees and said, “Father, your disciple fell asleep. I don’t know when he escaped.” “How could you fall asleep, you rogue?” scolded Laozi. The boy kowtowed several times before he answered, “Your disciple picked up one pellet of elixir in the elixir chamber. As soon as I ate it, I fell asleep.” “It must be the Elixir of Seven Returns to the Fire that we made the other day. One pellet fell out, and this rogue picked it up and ate it. Well, anyone who eats one of those pellets will sleep for seven days. Because you fell asleep, no one looked after that cursed beast, and he took the opportunity to go to the Region Below. Today is the seventh day.” Immediately Laozi wanted to make an investigation to see if any treasure was stolen, but Pilgrim said, “He doesn’t have any treasure except a fillet, and it is quite formidable.”
Laozi made a quick inventory; everything was there except the diamond snare. “This cursed beast stole my diamond snare!” said Laozi. “So, that’s the treasure!” said Pilgrim. “It was the same snare that hit me that time!6 Now it’s going wild down below, sucking away who knows how many things.” “Where’s the cursed beast now?” asked Laozi. Pilgrim replied, “At the Golden Helmet Cave of the Golden Helmet Mountain. He caught my Tang Monk first and robbed me of my golden-hooped rod. When I asked the celestial soldiers to come help me, he also took away the divine weapons of the prince. When the Star of Fiery Virtue arrived, his equipment was also taken. Only Water Lord did not lose anything to him, but his water could not drown the demon either. Finally, I asked Tathāgata to order the arhats to use sand, but even that golden Cinnabar sand was snatched away. When someone like you, Venerable Sir, lets loose a fiendish creature to rob and harm people, with what kind of crime should we charge him?” Laozi said, “That diamond snare of mine is a treasure perfected since the time of my youth, and it was also an instrument with which I converted the barbarians when I passed through the Hangu Pass.7 Whatever weapons you may have, including fire and water, you can’t touch it. If the demon had stolen my plantain-leaf fan also, then even I would not be able to do anything to him.”
Thereafter, Laozi took up his plantain-leaf fan and mounted the auspicious cloud, followed by a happy Great Sage. They left the celestial palace, went through the South Heaven Gate, and lowered their clouds on the Golden Helmet Mountain. There they were met by the eighteen arhats, the thunder squires, Water Lord, Fiery Virtue, and Devarāja Li and his son, to whom they gave a thorough account of what had taken place. “Sun Wukong,” said Laozi, “may go again to entice him to come out; I’ll put him away then.”
Jumping down from the summit, Pilgrim again shouted, “You cursed blubbery beast! Come out quickly and submit to death!” Once more the little fiends went inside to report, and the old demon said, “This larcenous ape has asked someone to come again.” Quickly he took up his lance and treasure and walked out of the door. “You brazen demon!” scolded Pilgrim. “This time you will die for sure! Don’t run away. Have a taste of my palm!” He leaped right onto the chest of the demon and gave him a terrific whack on the ear before turning to flee. Wielding his lance, the demon gave chase, only to hear someone calling on the tall summit: “If that little buffalo doesn’t come home now, what’s he waiting for?” When the demon raised his head and saw that it was Laozi, his heart shook and his gall quivered. “This thievish ape,” he said, “is truly a devil of the Earth! How did he manage to find my master?”
Reciting a spell, Laozi fanned the air once with his fan. The fiend threw the fillet at Laozi, who caught it immediately and gave him another fan. All at once the fiend’s strength fled him and his tendons turned numb; he changed back into his original form, which was that of a green buffalo. Blowing a mouthful of divine breath on the diamond snare, Laozi then used it to pierce the nostrils of the fiend. Next, he took off the sash around his waist and fastened one end of it to the snare while his hand held the other. Thus the custom of leading the buffalo with a ring in its nose was established, a custom in use even now. This is also
what we call binlang.8 After he took leave of the various deities, Laozi climbed
onto the back of his green buffalo.
Mounting colored clouds,
He went back to Tushita Palace;
Having bound the fiend,
He ascended to the Griefless Heaven.
Then the Great Sage Sun fought his way with the other deities into the cave and slaughtered all the remaining little fiends, some one hundred of them. Each of the gods recovered his weapons, after which the father-and-son team of Devarāja Li went back to Heaven; the thunder squires to their mansions; Fiery Virtue to his palace; Water Lord to his rivers; and the arhats to the West. Pilgrim then took back his iron rod and untied the Tang Monk, Eight Rules, and Sha Monk, who also gave thanks to him. After they got the horse and the luggage ready, master and disciples left the cave and found the main road to journey once more.
As they proceeded, they heard someone by the road calling, “Holy Tang Monk, eat the food first before you go.” The elder was terribly frightened. We do not know who it was that called them; let’s listen to the explanation in the next chapter.