We were telling you about the Great Sage Sun, who had no alternative but to mount an auspicious cloud by means of his somersault to head directly for the Wudang Mountain on the South Jambūdvīpa Continent, where he hoped to solicit the help of the Demon-Conquering Celestial Worthy to rescue Tripitaka, Eight Rules, and Sha Monk, and the various celestial warriors from their ordeal. Without a moment’s pause in midair, he soon caught sight of the patriarch’s immortal realm. Gently lowering his cloud, he stared around. A marvelous place, it was!
Grandly it guards the southeast,
This towering divine mountain.
The soaring Hibiscus Peak:
The rugged Purple-Canopy Summit.
Nine Streams1 flow from it to distant Jing and Yang.2
It joins the Yue mountains reaching the state of Chu.
On top are the treasure cave of Grand-Void,
The numinous estrades of Zhu and Lu.3
Golden stones resound in thirty-six halls,
Where to offer incense ten thousand pilgrims come.
King Shun visits it and King Yu prays at this place,4
Adorned with jade tablets and letters of gold.
Bluebirds fly about the towers;
Banners flap like scarlet skirts.
A land set on a mountain famed in all the world,
A Heav’n-born region touching the spacious void.
A few sprigs of plum trees just now in bloom;
A mountain of rare grasses spreading their verdure.
Dragons lie beneath the brooks;
Tigers crouch by the cliffs.
The birds sound as if they’re talking;
By people tame deer are walking.
White cranes perch with clouds on old junipers;
Facing the sun, blue and red phoenixes sing.
This has the looks of a true, immortal realm,
Where portals of gold and mercy rule the world.
The august patriarch was the off spring of King Pure Joy and Queen Triumphant Virtue, who was conceived with child after she dreamed that she had swallowed the sun. After carrying the child for fourteen months, she gave birth
to him in the palace at noon on the first day of the third month, in the jiachen
year, which was the first year of the Kaihuang reign period. This Holy Father was
Fierce and bold in his youth,
Astute and keen when he grew up.
Declining the throne of kingship,
He sought only austerities.
His parents could not stop him
From leaving the royal palace.
The mysteries and meditation
He embraced on this mountain.
Merit and work accomplished,
He rose in daylight to Heaven.
The Jade Emperor forthwith decreed
That he be titled Zhenwu.
Above, the dark void blessed him;
Below, the snake and turtle5 joined him.
The entire Heaven and Earth
Addressed him as All Efficacious,
From whom no secret was hidden,
For whom no act e’er met failure.
From start to end of each kalpa,
He routed the demon-spirits.
As he was enjoying the sight of this immortal scenery, the Great Sage Sun soon arrived before the Palace of Grand Harmony, having passed through the first, the second, and the third Heaven gates. There in the midst of hallowed light and auspicious air he found a group of five hundred spirit-ministers, who met him and said, “Who are you?” “I’m Sun Wukong, the Great Sage, Equal to Heaven,” replied the Great Sage, “and I’d like to have an audience with the patriarch.” After the spirit-ministers went inside to make the report, the patriarch left the main hall to escort his visitor into the Palace of Grand Harmony. Pilgrim saluted the patriarch and said, “I must trouble you with a matter.” “What is it?” the patriarch asked.
“I was accompanying the Tang Monk on his way to the Western Heaven to acquire scriptures,” said Pilgrim, “and our path has landed us in a dangerous ordeal. At the West Aparagodānīya Continent, there is a mountain by the name of the Little Western Heaven, in which a demonic fiend has set up a Little Thunderclap Monastery. When my master entered the monastery gate and laid eyes on rows of arhats, guardians, bikṣus, and sage monks, he thought that he had come upon the real Buddha. Just as he bent low to bow to them, he was seized and bound. I, too, was caught off guard and was clamped within a pair of gold cymbals that the fiend threw up into the air. Those cymbals had me completely sealed inside, and there was not even the slightest crack for me to escape. It was a good thing that the Golden-Headed Guardian went to memorialize to the Jade Emperor, who commanded the Twenty-Eight Constellations to descend to earth that very night. Even they, however, could not pry the cymbals open. Luckily, Gullet the Gold Dragon managed to pierce the cymbals with his horn and took me out with him. I smashed the cymbals afterwards and aroused the fiendish creature. When he gave chase and fought with us, he threw up a white cloth wrap which had all of us, including the Twenty-Eight Constellations, stored away. We were tied up with ropes once more, but that evening I managed to escape and free the Constellations and our Tang Monk. Thereafter, my search for our robe and almsbowl again disturbed the fiend, who chased us down once more to do battle with the celestial warriors. When that fiend took out his white cloth wrap and fiddled with it, I recognized his tune and fled at once. The rest of my companions were stored up by him as before. I had no other alternative but to come here to beg assistance from the patriarch.”
The patriarch said, “In years past, I ruled over the north and that was the reason I had assumed the position of Zhenwu to extirpate the fiends and deviates of the world by the decree of the Jade Emperor. Thereafter, by the command of the Celestial Worthy of Original Commencement I led, with loosened hair and naked feet and with the soaring serpent and divine turtle under my feet, the Five Thunder Deities, the huge-maned lion, and various ferocious beasts and poisonous dragons to subjugate the dark and fiendish miasmas of the northeast. Today I am enjoying the peace of Wudang Mountain and the serenity of the Palace of Grand Harmony, the calm seas and clear universe, only because the fiendish demons and devious spirits have all been exterminated in our South Jambūdvīpa Continent and in our North Uttarakuru Continent. Now that the Great Sage has come to make this request, it is difficult for me not to respond, but without the decree from the Region Above, it is also difficult for me to respond in arms. If I were to send forth the gods with my formal command, I fear that the Jade Emperor would be offended. But if I refuse the Great Sage, I would go utterly against human sentiments. I suppose, however, that those fiends on the road to the West could not be too terribly formidable. I’ll ask Turtle and Serpent, the two generals, and the Five Divine Dragons to assist you. I’m certain they will capture the monster-spirit and rescue your master from this ordeal.”
After he bowed to thank the patriarch, Pilgrim went back to the region of the West accompanied by Serpent, Turtle, and the dragon deities, all wielding their powerful weapons. In less than a day, they arrived at the Little Thunderclap Monastery, where they dropped from the clouds and began to provoke battle before the monastery gate.
We tell you now about that Great King Yellow Brow, who gathered the various fiends below his treasure tower and said, “These two days Pilgrim Sun has not even shown up. I wonder where he has gone to seek help.” Hardly had he finished speaking when the little fiend guarding the gate came in to report: “Pilgrim is leading several persons with the looks of dragon, serpent, and turtle to provoke battle outside our gate.” “How did this little monkey,” said the demon, “manage to acquire people with looks like that? Where did such people come from?”
He put on his armor immediately and walked out of the monastery gate, crying, “What dragon deities are you that you dare transgress our immortal territory?” With looks most rugged and spirited, the five dragons and the two generals shouted, “You brazen fiend! We are the Five Dragon Deities and Turtle and Serpent, the two generals, before the Demon-Conquering Celestial Worthy, who is the Pontiff of Composite Prime in the Palace of Grand Harmony, located on Wudang Mountain. By the invitation of the Great Sage, Equal to Heaven, and the amulet summons of the Celestial Worthy, we came here to arrest you. You, monster-spirit, send out the Tang Monk and the Constellations quickly and we shall spare your life. If not, we will hew to pieces the fiends of this entire mountain, and we will burn to ashes your several buildings!”
On hearing this, the fiend grew enraged. “You beasts!” he cried. “What great magic power do you have that you dare mouth big words like that? Don’t run away! Have a taste of my club!” Whereupon these five dragons churned up cloud and rain, and those two generals sprayed dust and dirt, as they rushed forward together to attack with spears, scimitars, swords, and halberds. The Great Sage Sun, too, followed them, wielding his iron rod. This was another terrific battle:
The vicious demon used force—
Pilgrim sought armed assistance—
The vicious demon used force
As he took a precious tower to set up the Buddha’s form;
Pilgrim sought armed assistance,
Going far to a treasure region for the dragon gods.
Turtle and Serpent started water and fire;
The fiend raised weapons and arms.
Five dragons were ordered to the Westward way,
Followed by Pilgrim for his master’s sake.
Swords and halberds flashed like electric bolts;
Spears and knives glowed like lightning bright.
The wolf-teeth club of this one,
Strong but short and pliant;
The golden-hooped rod of that one,
Both yielding and compliant.
You hear loud bangs and booms like firecrackers,
And clanging chords like gold being struck.
Water and fire came to conquer the fiend;
Arms and weapons encircled a monster-spirit.
Their cries startled tigers and wolves;
Their brawl alarmed spirits and gods.
This raucous battle had just reached a draw,
When the demon seized the treasures once more.
Leading the five dragons and the two generals, Pilgrim battled the demon for half an hour. Then the fiend untied his wrap and held it in his hand. Alarmed by what he saw, Pilgrim shouted, “Be careful, all of you!” Not realizing why they had to be careful, the dragon deities, the turtle, and the serpent all lowered their weapons and stepped forward to look. With a loud whoosh, the monster-spirit threw up the wrap again. Unable to care for the five dragons and the two generals any longer, the Great Sage Sun leaped up to the Ninefold Heaven with his somersault and fled. Those dragon deities along with the turtle and the serpent were stored up also in the wrap and taken captive. After the monsterspirit returned to the monastery in triumph, he had his prisoners bound with ropes and locked in the underground cellar, where we shall leave them for the moment.
Look at the Great Sage, who dropped down from the clouds! Reclining listlessly on the mountain slope, he said spitefully to himself, “This fiendish creature is most formidable!” Unwittingly, his eyes became shut and he looked as if he had fallen asleep. Suddenly, he heard someone crying, “Great Sage, don’t sleep! Go get help quickly! Your master’s life won’t last very long!”
Opening wide his eyes and leaping up, Pilgrim saw that it was the Day Sentinel. “You clumsy deity!” shouted Pilgrim. “Where have you been all this time lusting after your bloody offerings? You haven’t shown up to answer your roll call, and yet you dare come to disturb me today! Stick out your shanks, and let old Monkey give you a couple of strokes of my rod—just to relieve my boredom!”
Bowing hurriedly, the sentinel said, “Great Sage, you are the joyous immortal
among men. How could you be bored? By the decree of the Bodhisattva, all of
us are to give secret protection to the Tang Monk. We thus work with the local spirits and the like, not daring to leave him at all. That’s why we have not come to see you. How could you blame us instead?” “If you’re giving him protection,” said Pilgrim, “tell me where has that monster-spirit imprisoned my master, the Constellations, the guardians, the protectors of monasteries, and the rest of them? What sort of suffering are they enduring now?”
“Your master and your brothers,” replied the sentinel, “are all hanging in the corridor by the side of the treasure hall, while the Constellations have heen herded into the underground cellar to suffer there. We haven’t had any news from you for these two days. Only when we saw just now that the monster-spirit had captured some divine dragons, a turtle, and a snake, and sent these, too, into the cellar did we realize that they were warriors fetched here by the Great Sage. Your humble deity came especially to find you. The Great Sage must not grow weary. You must go again quickly to seek help.”
When he heard these words, Pilgrim began to shed tears as he said to the sentinel, “At this moment,
I’m ashamed to go up to Heaven,
I’m embarrassed to go down to the seas.
I dread the Bodhisattva’s queries;
I’m sad to see the Buddha’s jade mien.
Those who had been taken captive just now were Turtle, Snake, and the Five Dragon sages of Patriarch Zhenwu. I have no other place to go for help. What am I to do?”
Smiling, the sentinel said, “Please do not worry, Great Sage. Your humble deity can think of another powerful army which, if you succeed in bringing it here, will certainly subdue this monster. Just now, the Great Sage went to Wudang of the South Jambūdvīpa Continent. Well, this army is also stationed at the same continent, in the city of Bincheng on the Xuyi Mountain, what is now called Sizhou. Located there is the Preceptor of State-King Bodhisattva, who has vast magic powers. Under his tutelage is a disciple of his by the name of Prince Little Zhang. He has in his service also four great divine warriors, who brought to submission in years past the Lady Water Mother. If you go there now in person and ask for his kind assistance, I am certain that the fiend will be captured and your master rescued.” Delighted, Pilgrim said, “You go back to protect my master and don’t let him be harmed. Let old Monkey go for help.”
Mounting his cloud somersault, Pilgrim left the fiend’s place and headed straight for the Xuyi Mountain. He arrived there in less than a day. As he stared at it carefully, it was a marvelous place indeed!
To the south it’s near river fords;
To the north, it presses on the River Huai;
To the east it reaches the sea coast;
To the west it connects with Fengfou.
On the peak there are towering edifices;
In its fold there are surging streams.
Strange, craggy boulders;
Handsome, knotty pines;
A hundred kinds of fruits all in season and fresh;
A thousand sprigs of flowers blooming in the sun.
People, teeming like ants, go back and forth;
Like rows of wild geese the boats come and leave.
On top there are the Temple of Auspicious Cliff,
The Palace of Eastern Mountain,
The Shrine of Five Miracles,
And the Monastery of Turtle Mountain,
Where bell-tones and incense rise toward the sky.
There are also the Crystal Stream,
The Five Pagoda Valley,
The Immortals Terrace,
And the Apricot Garden—
All lighting up the city with their pastoral hues.
Languid white clouds stretch o’erhead;
Birds, though tired, serenely sing.
Why mention the charm of Tai, Song, Heng, and Hua?6
Here’s immortal beauty like Peng and Ying!
The Great Sage could hardly make an end of enjoying this scenery. After he passed the River Huai, he went through the city of Bincheng and went up to the gate of the Great Sage Chan Monastery, where he found magnificent halls and elegant long corridors. There was, moreover, a towering pagoda, truly
A thousand cubits tall, jabbing clouds and sky,
A golden flask piercing the jade-green void.
Up and down its halo holds the universe;
Not one shade darkens its screens both east and west.
Treasure bells, windblown, will make celestial chimes;
Shell-bark pines, sun-drenched, face this Sanskrit hall.
Spirit birds, in flight or rest, speak frequently
When you gaze on the Huai’s endless eddy.
Enjoying the scenery as he walked along, Pilgrim went straight up to the second-level door. By then, the Preceptor of State-King Bodhisattva had already learned of his arrival and he went out of the door with Prince Little Zhang to meet his visitor. After they saluted each other, Pilgrim said, “I’m accompanying the Tang Monk to go to the Western Heaven for scriptures. On our way we ran into The Little Thunderclap Monastery, where a Yellow Brow Fiend disguised himself as the Buddhist patriarch. Unable to distinguish the true from the false, my master immediately bowed before him and was caught. The fiend then had me sealed inside a pair of cymbals, but fortunately I was rescued by the Constellations descending from Heaven. I smashed his cymbals and fought with him, but he used a cloth wrap and took captive all of the gods, the guardians, my master, and my brothers. I went just now to the Wudang Mountain to seek the help of the August One of the Mysterious Heaven, who ordered the Five Dragons, Turtle, and Serpent to capture the fiend. But they, too, were caught by his wrap. Your disciple now has neither refuge nor home, and that’s why he has come especially to see the Bodhisattva. I beg you to exercise your mighty power —the magic that brought the Water Mother to submission and the wondrous potency that redeemed the multitudes—and go with your disciple to rescue his master from this ordeal. When we succeed in acquiring the scriptures so that they may be forever implanted in China, we shall proclaim the wisdom of our Buddha and his everlasting perfection.”
“Your affair today,” said the Preceptor of State-King, “indeed concerns the prosperity of our Buddhist religion, and I should go with you in person. But this is early summer, a time when the River Huai threatens to overflow. It was only recently that I brought to submission the Great Sage Water Ape.7 That fellow, however, tends to grow restless whenever he comes into contact with water. I fear that my departure from this place will lure him into mischief, and there’s no other god who can bring him under control. Let me ask my young disciple and four other warriors under his command to go with you. They’ll assist you in capturing this demon.” Pilgrim gave thanks before mounting the clouds with Prince Little Zhang and the four warriors to return to the Little Thunderclap Monastery.
Prince Little Zhang used a mulberry-white lance while the four warriors all wielded red-steel swords. When they went forward with the Great Sage Sun to provoke battle, the little fiends again went inside to report. Leading the rest of the monsters, the fiendish king came roaring out and cried, “Monkey! What other persons have you brought here this time?” Ordering the four warriors forward, Prince Little Zhang shouted, “You lawless monster-spirit! You have no flesh on your face and no pupils in your eyes, and that’s why you can’t recognize us.”
“Where are you from, little warrior,” said the fiendish king, “that you dare come here to give him assistance?” “I’m the disciple of the Preceptor of StateKing Bodhisattva,” replied the prince, “the Great Sage of Sizhou. These are the four divine warriors under my command, who have been ordered here to arrest you.”
With a laugh, the fiendish king said, “What sort of martial prowess does a little boy like you possess that you dare to be so insulting?” “If you want to know about my martial prowess,” said the prince, “listen to my recital:
The state, Flowing Sand, was my ancestral home.
My father was Flowing Sand Kingdom’s king.
Illness plagued me at the time of youth,
A victim of a baleful natal star.
For long life I sought a teacher far away;
I was lucky to meet him and be giv’n a cure.
Half a pellet and my ailments dispelled,
I left my princeship to follow his way
And acquired the art of ne’er growing old.
My features are those of eternal youth!
I have attended Buddha’s Birthday Feast.
I have trod the clouds to reach his great hall.
I’ve caught a water fiend with the wind and fog;
I’ve tamed tigers and dragons on the mount.
The grateful race built me a pagoda tall,
And śarī light illumed the deep, calm sea.
My mulberry lance is quick to bind a fiend;
My cleric sleeve can a monster subdue.
In Bincheng now a peaceful life I lead;
The earth resounds with fame of Little Zhang.”
When the fiendish king heard what was said, he smiled scornfully, saying, “Prince, what method of longevity did you manage to cultivate, when you left your own country and followed that Preceptor of State-King Bodhisattva? Good enough, I suppose, to capture a water fiend of the River Huai! How could you allow those false and specious words of Pilgrim Sun to goad you across a thousand hills and ten thousand waters and into surrendering your life here? You think you still have long life without growing old when you look me up!”
Enraged by what he heard, Little Zhang picked up the lance and stabbed at his opponent’s face, while the four great warriors also joined in the attack at once. The Great Sage Sun, too, struck with his iron rod. Dear monster-spirit! Not the least daunted, he wielded his short, pliant, wolf-teeth club and parried the blows left and right, charging forward and sideways. This was another fierce battle!
The youthful prince,
His mulberry-white lance,
And four even stronger red-steel swords.
Wukong, too, used his golden-hooped rod
To encircle together the fiendish king,
Who, in truth, possessed vast magic powers.
Not daunted at all, he charged left and right.
The wolf-teeth club being a Buddhist prize
Could not be harmed by blows of spear and sword.
You could only hear the howl of violent gale;
You could only see the dark, baleful air.
That one in worldly lust would show his ability;
That one steadfastly sought Buddha for the holy writ.
They dashed about a few times;
They battled now and again.
Belched out cloud and fog
Concealed the Three Lights.8
Their anger and wrath would do each other ill.
All for the Three Vehicles’9 perfect law
A hundred arts engaged in bitter strife.
The multitude fought for a long time but no decision could be reached. Once more the monster-spirit untied his wrap, and again Pilgrim cried out, “Be careful, all of you!” The prince and the rest of the warriors, however, did not comprehend what Pilgrim meant by “be careful”! With a loud whoosh, the fiend also wrapped up the prince and the four great warriors. Only the prescience of Pilgrim enabled him to escape. Returning in triumph to the monastery, the fiendish king again had his prisoners bound with ropes and sent to be locked up in the underground cellar, where we shall leave them for the moment.
Mounting his cloud somersault, our Pilgrim rose to midair, and he lowered his auspicous luminosity only after he saw the fiend had withdrawn his troops and shut the gates. As he stood on the west mountain slope, he wept dejectedly, saying, “Oh, Master!
Since I entered by faith the grove of Chan,
When from my ordeal Guanyin set me free,
I squired you westward to seek the great Way,
And, by mutual help, hoped Thunderclap to see.
We thought our twisted path would smooth out at last,
Not knowing such fiendish seige there would be.
A thousand plans seem hard to have you saved.
Vain efforts east and west had stalked my plea.”
As the Great Sage was thus grieving, he suddenly saw toward the southwest a colored cloud descending to earth as torrential rain fell on the mountain. “Wukong,” someone called out, “do you recognize me?” Running forward to have a look, Pilgrim came upon a person with
Huge ears, jutting jaw, and a squarelike face;
Broad shoulders, large belly, and stoutish grace.
His complexion was filled with joys of spring;
Two autumnal pools were his eyes sparkling.
His wide sleeves flapped and fluttered with good luck;
In smart straw sandals he looked full of pluck.
The first among the blissful ones of worth,
All hail to Matireya, the monk of mirth!
On seeing him, Pilgrim quickly kowtowed, saying, “Buddhist Patriarch coming from the East, where are you going? Your disciple has improperly barred your way! I’m guilty of ten thousand crimes!”
“I came,” replied the Buddhist patriarch, “especially on account of the fiend in the Little Thunderclap.” “I’m grateful for the profound grace and virtue of the holy father,” said Pilgrim. “May I ask from what region did that fiend originate? What sort of treasure is that wrap of his? I beg the holy father to reveal it to me.”
The patriarch said, “He happens to be a yellow-browed youth in charge of striking the sonorous stone before me. On the third day of the third month, I went to attend a festival of Original Commencement and left him to guard my palace. He stole several treasures of mine and, disguising himself as Buddha, became a spirit. That wrap is my fertility bag, its common name being ‘The Bag of Human Seed.’ That wolf-teeth club is the mallet for striking the sonorous stone.”
On hearing this, Pilgrim raised his voice to a shout: “Dear laughing monk! You let this boy escape to give himself the false name of Buddhist patriarch and to ensnare old Monkey. Aren’t you guilty of negligence in domestic
governance?” “It is my negligence in the first place,” said Maitreya, “but it is
also because you and your master have yet to pass through all your mara
hindrances. That is why a hundred deities must descend to earth to inflict upon you your fated ordeals. I’ve come now to bring this fiend to submission for you.” “But the monster-spirit,” said Pilgrim, “has vast magic powers. You don’t even have a weapon. How could you bring him to submission?”
Laughing, Maitreya said, “I’ll set up below this mountain slope a grass hut and a huge melon field. You go to provoke battle, but you are not permitted to win when you fight with him. Lure him to my melon field. All my melons, however, will be raw, but you yourself will change into a large, ripe melon. When he arrives, he will certainly want to eat some melon, and I’ll present you for him to eat. When he swallows you into his stomach, you may do whatever you please with him. By then, I should be able to retrieve that wrap from him and take him back inside it.”
“Although this is a marvelous plan,” said Pilgrim, “I wonder how you would be able to recognize the ripe melon that will be my transformation. Moreover, how would he be willing to follow me here?” Laughing again, Maitreya replied, “I’m the Worthy who governs the world. How could my percipient eyes of wisdom not recognize you? You may change into whatever you like and I’ll recognize you. But fearing that the fiend might not want to pursue you, I’ll teach you some magic.”
“What he most certainly wants to do,” said Pilgrim, “is to catch me with that
wrap of his. He won’t chase me here! What sort of magic do you have that will
make him come here?” Smiling, Maitreya said, “Stretch forth your hand.”
Pilgrim stretched out his left palm; dipping his right index finger into his mouth, Maitreya wrote on his palm the word, restrain, with the divine saliva. Pilgrim was told to hold his left hand in a fist and open it only toward the face of the monster-spirit. Then the monster-spirit would certainly follow him.
Holding fast his fist and obeying amiably these instructions, Pilgrim wielded his iron rod with a single hand and went before the monastery gate. “Fiendish demon,” he cried, “your Holy Father Sun’s here again! Come out quickly so that we may decide who’s the stronger!”
Those little fiends again dashed inside to make the report. “How many warriors has he brought with him this time?” asked the fiendish king. “There are no other warriors,” replied one of the little fiends. “He’s the only one.” “That little monkey has used up all his plans and exhausted his strength,” said the fiendish king, laughing. “He has nowhere to go to ask for help, and he has just come to give up his life for sure.”
After he had put on his armor properly, the fiend took his treasure and held up his light and soft wolf-teeth club to walk out of the door. “Sun Wukong,” he cried, “you can’t struggle anymore this time!” “Brazen fiend!” scolded Pilgrim. “What do you mean that I can’t struggle anymore?” “I see that you have used up all your plans and exhausted your strength,” said the fiendish king. “You have nowhere to go for help, and you’ve forced yourself here to do battle. There won’t be any divine warriors to assist you this time, and that’s why I say you can’t struggle anymore.”
Pilgrim said, “This fiend doesn’t know what’s good for him! Stop bragging! Have a taste of my rod!” When the fiendish king saw that he was wielding the rod with only one hand, he could not refrain from laughing. “This little ape!” he said. “Look how mischievous he is! Why are you fooling around with only one hand?” “My son,” said Pilgrim, “you can’t stand up to the attack of both my hands! If you don’t use your wrap, even if there are three or five of you, you won’t be able to overcome this one hand of old Monkey.”
On hearing this, the fiendish king said, “All right, all right! I won’t use my treasure. I’ll fight in earnest with you this time, and we’ll see who’s the stronger.” Thereupon he raised his wolf-teeth club to rush into battle. Aiming directly at his face, Pilgrim let loose his fist before gripping the iron rod with both his hands. The monster-spirit was immediately bound by the spell; with no thought at all for retreat or for using the wrap, he only had in mind using the club to attack his opponent. After delivering a weak blow with his rod, Pilgrim immediately retreated, and the monster-spirit chased him all the way to the west mountain slope.
When Pilgrim saw the melon field, he rolled right into it and changed at once into a huge melon, both ripe and sweet. The monster-spirit stood still and glanced everywhere, but he did not know where Pilgrim had gone to. When he ran up to the grass hut, he cried, “Who’s the planter of these melons?” Having changed himself into a melon farmer, Maitreya walked out of the hut, saying, “Great King, I’m the one who has planted them.” “You have any ripe ones?” asked the fiendish king. “Yes,” replied Maitreya. “Pick a ripe one for me to relieve my thirst,” cried the fiendish king.
Maitreya at once presented with both hands the melon into which Pilgrim had changed himself. Without even examining it, the fiendish king took it and began to bite at it. Using this opportunity, Pilgrim somersaulted at once down his throat, and without waiting for another moment, he began to flex his limbs. He grabbed the intestines and bent the stomach; he did handstands, cartwheels, and whatever he felt like doing at the time. The pain was so intense that the monsterspirit clenched his teeth and opened wide his mouth as big drops of tears welled up in his eyes. He rolled so hard on the ground that the patch of melon field was completely flattened like a plot of land for pounding grain. “Finished! Finished!” he could only mutter. “Who will save me?”
Changing into his original form, Maitreya giggled loudly and said, “Cursed beast! You recognize me?” When the fiend raised his head and saw the figure before him, he went hurriedly to his knees. Hugging his stomach with both hands and pounding his head on the ground, he cried, “My lord! Please spare my life! Please spare my life! I’ll never dare do this again!” Maitreya strode forward and grabbed the fiend. After he had untied the bag of fertility and taken away the mallet for striking the sonorous stone, he cried, “Sun Wukong, for my sake, please spare him.” Pilgrim, however, was so bitter that he started punching and kicking left and right, madly pounding and scratching inside. Unable to bear the terrible pain, the fiend slumped to the ground.
“Wukong,” cried Maitreya again, “he has had enough! Spare him!” Only then did Pilgrim cry, “Open wide your mouth, and let old Monkey come out.” Though that fiend had been racked by sharp pains in his stomach, his heart had not yet been hurt. As the proverb says,
Before the heart breaks a person can’t die;
Flowers fade and leaves drop when roots are dry.
When he heard that he should open wide his mouth, he did so at once, trying desperately to endure the pain. Pilgrim leaped out, and, as he changed back into his original form, he wanted immediately to strike with his rod. The monsterspirit, however, had already been stuffed into the wrap by the Buddhist patriarch and fastened to his waist. Picking up the sonorous stone mallet, the patriarch said, “Cursed beast! Where are the stolen cymbals?”
Having only concern for his life, the fiend in the bag of fertility moaned, “The gold cymbals were smashed by Sun Wukong.” “If they have been smashed,” said the Buddhist patriarch, “return my gold.” The fiend said, “The gold fragments are piled on the lotus throne in the hall.”
Holding the bag and the mallet, the Buddhist patriarch said, giggling, “Wukong, I’ll go look for my gold with you.” When Pilgrim saw this kind of dharma power, he did not dare tarry another moment. He had no other alternative, in fact, than to lead the Buddha up the mountain to return to the monastery, where they found the gates tightly shut. The Buddhist patriarch pointed his mallet at them and at once the gates flew open. When they went inside, all the little fiends were just in the process of packing and fleeing, having learned already that the old fiend had been captured. When Pilgrim ran into them, he struck them down one by one, until some seven hundred of them were slain. As they revealed their original forms, they were all spirits of mountains and trees, the monsters of beasts and fowl. After the Buddhist patriarch had gathered the gold fragments together, he blew at them a mouthful of divine breath and recited a spell. Immediately they changed back into their original form of a pair of gold cymbals. He then took leave of Pilgrim and mounted the auspicious clouds to return to the world of ultimate bliss.
Thereafter our Great Sage untied the Tang Monk, Eight Rules, and Sha Monk from the rafters. Having been hung for several days, our Idiot was so hungry that he did not even bother to thank the Great Sage. His torso bent low, he dashed into the kitchen to try to find rice to eat. The fiend, you see, was just preparing lunch, but he was interrupted when Pilgrim came to provoke battle. When Idiot saw the rice, he ate half a pot first before taking two large bowls to his master and brother. Then they thanked Pilgrim and asked about the defeat of the fiend. Pilgrim gave a thorough account of how he went first to solicit the help of the Taoist patriarch and his two warriors, turtle and serpent, how he went next to see the Great Sage and the prince, and finally how Maitreya brought the fiend to submission. When Tripitaka heard this, he could not make an end of his thanksgiving for all the devas. “Disciple,” he said afterwards, “where are these gods and sages imprisoned?” “The Day Sentinel told me yesterday that they had all been sent to an underground cellar,” replied Pilgrim. “Eight Rules, you and I must go and free them.”
After he had had some food, our Idiot had grown strong once more. Picking up his muckrake, he went to the rear with the Great Sage and broke open the cellar door to untie all the prisoners. When they came back out to the jewelled tower, Tripitaka put on his cassock to bow to each one of the deities to thank them. Thereafter the Great Sage sent the five dragons and two warriors back to Wudang, Prince Little Zhang and the four warriors back to Bincheng, and finally the Twenty-Eight Constellations back to Heaven. The guardians and the protectors of monasteries, too, were released to return to their stations.
Master and disciples then rested for half a day at the monastery, where they also fed the white horse and tidied up the luggage before starting out again in the morning. As they left, they lit a fire and had all those jeweled towers, treasure thrones, tall turrets, and lecture halls reduced to ashes. So it was that,
Without care or hindrance, they escaped their ordeal;
Their calamity dispelled, they were free to leave.
We do not know how long it was before they reached the Great Thunderclap; let’s listen to the explanation in the next chapter.