We were telling you about how Tripi taka Tang had safeguarded his primal yang and escaped the bitter ordeal of the fair sex. As he followed Pilgrim to head for the West, it was soon again the time of summer, when warm breezes freshly stirred, and rain of the plum season drizzled down in fine strands. Marvelous scenery, it is:
Lush and dense is the green shade;
In light breeze young swallows parade.
New lilies unfold on the ponds;
Old bamboos spread slowly their fronds.
The sky joins the meadows in green;
Mountain blooms o'er the ground are seen.
Swordlike, rushes stand by the brook;
Pomegranates redden this sketchbook.
Master and diciples, the four of them, had to endure the heat, of course.
As they proceeded, they came upon two rows of tall willows flanking the road; from within the willow shade an old woman suddenly walked out, leading a young child by the hand. "Priest," she cried aloud to the Tang Monk, "you must stop right now! Tum your horse around and return to the East quickly! The road to the West leads only to death!"
So startled was Tripi taka that he leaped down from the horse and bowed to her, saying, "Old Bodhisattva, as the ancients have said,
The ocean is wide so fishes may leap;
The sky is empty so birds may fly.
How could it be that a road to the West is lacking?"
Pointing westward with her finger, the old woman said, ''About five or six miles from here is the Dharma-Destroying Kingdom. In some previous incarnation somewhere the king must have contracted evil karma so that in this life he sins without cause. Two years ago he made a stupendous vow that he would kill ten thousand Buddhist priests. Until now he has succeeded in slaughtering nine thousand, nine hundred, and ninety-six nameless monks. All he is waiting for now are four more monks, preferably with names, and the perfect score of ten thousand will be reached. If you people arrive at his city, you will all become life-giving king bodhisattvas!"
Terror-stricken by these words, Tripitaka said, trembling all over, "Old Bodhisattva, I'm profoundly grateful for your kindness, and I can't thank you enough. May I ask whether there is another road that conveniently bypasses the city? This poor monk will gladly take such a road and proceed."
With a giggle, the old woman replied, "You can't bypass the city! You simply can't! You might do so only if you could fly!"
At once Eight Rules began to wag his tongue and said, "Mama, don't speak such scary words! We're all able to fly!" With his fiery eyes and diamond pupils, however, Pilgrim was the only one who could discern the truth: the old woman and the child were actually the Bodhisattva Guanyin and the Boy Skilled in Wealth. So alarmed was he that he went to his knees immediately and cried, "Bodhisattva, pardon your disciples for failing to meet you!"
Gently the bodhisattva rose on a petal of pink cloud, so astounding the elder Tang that he did not quite know where to stand. All he could do was to fall on his knees to kowtow, and Eight Rules and Sha Monk too went hurriedly to their knees to bow to the sky. In a moment, the auspicious cloud drifted away to return to South Sea. Pilgrim got up and raised his master, saying, "Please rise, the bodhisattva has returned to her treasure mountain."
As he got up, Tripi taka said, "Wukong, if you had recognized the bodhisattva, why didn't you tell us sooner?"
"You couldn't stop asking questions," replied Pilgrim, laughing, "whereas I immediately went to my knees. Wasn't that soon enough?" Eight Rules and Sha Monk then said to Pilgrim, "Thanks to the bodhisattva's revelation, what lies before us has to be the Dharma-Destroying Kingdom. What are we all going to do when there's this determination to kill monks?"
"Idiot, don't be afraid!" said Pilgrim. "We have met quite a few vicious demons and savage fiends, and we have gone through tiger lairs and dragon lagoons, but we have never been hurt. What we have to face here is a kingdom of common people. Why should we fear them? Our only trouble right now is that this is no place to stay. Besides, it's getting late, and if any villagers returning from business in the city catch sight of us priests and begin to spread the news, that won't be very convenient. Let's lead Master away from the main road and find a more secluded spot. We can then make further plans."
Tripi taka indeed followed his suggestion; all of them left the main road and went over to a small ditch, in which they sat down. "Brothers," said Pilgrim, "the two of you stay here and guard Master. Let old Monkey go in transformation to look over the city. Perhaps I can find a road that's out of the way, which will take us through the region this very night." "0 Disciple!" urged the Tang Monk. "Don't take this lightly, for you're going against the law of a king. Do be careful!"
"Relax! Relax!" replied Pilgrim with a smile. "Old Monkey will manage!" Dear Great Sage! When he finished speaking, he leaped into the air with a loud whisde. How fantastic!
Neither pulled from above by strings,
Nor supported below by cranes,
Like us all, two parents he owns,
But only he has lighter bones.
Standing at the edge of the clouds, he peered below and saw that the city was flooded by airs of gladness and auspicious luminosity. "What a lovely place!" Pilgrim said. "Why does it want to destroy the dharma?" As he stared at the place, it gradually grew dark. He saw that
At letter-ten crossings2 lampsflared brightly;
At nine-tiered halls incense rose and bells tolled.
Seven glowing stars lit up the blue sky;
In eight quarters travelers dropped their gear.
From the six-corps camps
The painted bugles just faintly sounded;
In the five-watch tower,
By drop the copper pot began dripping.
On four sides night fog thickened;
At three marts chilly mist spread out.
Spouses, in twos, entered the silken drapes,
When one bright moon ascended the east.
He thought to himself: "I would like to go down to the business districts to look over the roadways, but with a face like mine, people will undoubtedly holler that I'm a priest if they see me. I'll transform myself" Making the magic sign and reciting a spell, he changed with one shake of his body into a moth:
A small shape with light, agile wings,
He dives to snuff candles and lamps.
By metamorphosis he gains his true form,
Most active midst rotted grasses.
He strikes flames for love of hot light,
Flying, circling without ceasing.
Purple-robed, fragrant-winged, chasing the fireflies,
He likes most the deep windless night.3
You see him soaring and turning as he flew toward those six boulevards and three marts, passing eaves and rafters. As he proceeded, he suddenly caught sight of a row of houses at the comer of the street ahead, each house having a lantern hung above its door.
"These families:' he thought to himself, "must be celebrating the annual Lantern Feast. Why would they have lighted lanterns by the row?" Stiffening his wings, he flew near and looked carefully. The house in the very middle had a square lantern, on which these words were written: Rest for the Traveling Merchant. Below there were also the words: Steward Wang's Inn. Pilgrim knew therefore that it was a hotel.
When he stretched out his neck to look further, he saw that there were some eight or nine people, who had all finished their dinner. Having loosened their clothes, taken off their head wraps, and washed their hands and feet, they had taken to their beds to sleep. Secretly pleased, Pilgrim said, "Master may pass through, after all!" How did he know so readily that his master might pass through, you ask? He was about to follow a wicked scheme: waiting until those people were asleep, he would steal their clothes and wraps so that master and disciples could disguise themselves as secular folks to enter the city.
Alas! There had to be this disagreeable development! As he was deliberating by himself, the steward went forward and gave this instruction to his guests: "Sirs, do be careful, for our place caters to both gentlemen and rogues. I'd like to ask each of you to take care of your clothing and luggage." Think of it! People doing business abroad, would they not be careful with everything? When they heard such instruction from the innkeeper, they became more cautious than ever. Hastening to their feet, they said, "The proprietor is quite right. Those of us fatigued by travel may not easily wake up once we're asleep. If we lose our things, what are we going to do? Please take our clothes, our head wraps, and our money bags inside. When we get up in the morning, you may return them to us." Steward Wang accordingly took all of their clothes and belongings into his own residence.
By nature impulsive, Pilgrim at once spread his wings to fly there also and alighted on one of the head-wrap stands. Then he saw Steward Wang going to the front door to take down the lantern, lower the cloth curtain, and close the door and windows. Only then did Wang return to his room to take off his own clothes and lie down. The steward, however, also had a wife sleeping with two children, and they were still making so much noise that none of them could go to sleep right away. The wife, too, was patching some garment and refused to retire.
"If I wait until this woman sleeps," thought Pilgrim to himself, "won't Master be delayed?" Fearing also that the city gates might be closed later in the night, he could no longer refrain from flying down there and threw himself on the taper. Truly
He risked his life to dive into flames;
He scorched his brow to tempt his fate.
The taper immediately went out. With one shake of his body he changed again into a rat. After a squeak or two he leaped down, took the garments and head wraps, and began to drag them out. Panic-stricken, the woman said, "Old man, things are bad! A rat has tumed into a spirit!"
On hearing this, Pilgrim flaunted his abilities some more. Stopping at the door, he cried out in a loud voice, "Steward Wang, don't listen to the babblings of your woman. I'm no rodent-spirit. Since a man oflight does not engage in shady dealings, I must tell you that I'm the Great Sage, Equal to Heaven, who has descended to earth to accompany the Tang Monk on his way to seek scriptures in the Westem Heaven. Because your king is without principles, I've come especially to borrow these caps and gowns to adom my master. Once
we've passed through the city, I'll retum them:' Hearing that, Steward Wang
scrambled up at once. It was, of course, pitch black, and he was in a hurry besides. He grabbed his pants, thinking he had his shirt; but no matter how hard he tried, slipping them on this way and that, he could not put them on.
Using his magic of abduction, the Great Sage had already mounted the clouds to leave the city and retum to the ditch by the road. In the bright light of the stars and moon, Tripi taka was standing there staring when he saw Pilgrim approaching. "Disciple;' he asked, "can we go through the DharmaDestroying Kingdom?"
Walking forward and putting down the garments, Pilgrim said, "Master, if you want to go through the Dharma-Destroying Kingdom, you can't remain a priest." "Elder Brother," said Eight Rules, "whom are you trying to fool? It's easy not to remain a priest: just don't shave your head for half a year, and you hair will grow:' "We can't wait for half a year!" said Pilgrim. "We must become laymen right now!"
Horrified, our Idiot said, "The way you talk is most unreasonable, as always! We are all priests, and you want us to become laymen this instant! How could we even wear a head wrap? Even if we tighten the edges, we have nothing on our heads to tie the strings with!"
"Stop the wisecracks!" snapped Tripitaka. "Let's do what's proper! Wu-
kong, what is your plan?"
"Master;' said Pilgrim, "I have inspected the city here. Though the king is unprincipled enough to slaughter monks, he is nevertheless a genuine son of Heaven, for his city is filled with joyful and auspicious air. I can recognize the streets in the city, and I can converse in the local dialect. A moment ago I borrowed several garments and head wraps from a hotel. We must disguise ourselves as laymen and enter the city to ask for lodging. At the fourth watch we should rise and ask the innkeeper to prepare us a meal-vegetarian, of course. By about the hour of the fifth watch, we will walk close to the wall of the city-gate and find the main road to the West. If we run into anyone who tries to detain us, we can still give the explanation that we have been commissioned by the court of a superior state. The Dharma-Destroying King would not dare hinder us. He'll let us go." Sha Monk said, "Elder Brother's plan is most proper. Let's do as he tells us."
Indeed, the elder had little choice but to shed his monk's robe and his clerical cap and to put on the garment and head wrap of a layman. Sha Monk too changed his clothes. Eight Rules, however, had such a huge head that he could not wear the wrap as it was. Pilgrim had to rip open two wraps and sew them together with needle and thread to make one wrap and drape it over his head. A larger garment was selected for him to put on, after which Pilgrim himself also changed into a different set of clothing. "Once we get moving:' he said, "you all must put away the words 'master and disciples:"
''Without these terms:' said Eight Rules, ''how shall we address ourselves?"
Pilgrim said, "We should do so as if we were in a fraternal order: Master shall be called Grand Master Tang, you shall be Third Master Zhu, Sha Monk shall be called Fourth Master Sha, and I shall be called Second Master Sun. When we reach the hotel, however, none of you should talk; let me do all the talking. If they ask us what sort of business we're in, I'll say that we're horse traders, using this white horse of ours as a sample. I'll tell them that there are altogether ten of us in this fraternal order, but the four of us have come first to rent a room in the hotel and sell our horse. The innkeeper will certainly take care of us. If we receive his hospitality, I'll pickup by the time we leave some bits or pieces of broken tiles and change them into silver to thank him. Then we'll get on with our journey:' The elder had no alternative but to comply reluctandy.
The four of them, leading the horse and toting the luggage, hurried into the city. It was fortunate that this happened to be a peaceful region, so that the city gates had not yet been closed even as the time of the night watch began. When they reached the door of the Steward Wang's Hotel, they heard noises from inside, crying, "I've lost my head wrap!" Another person cried, "I've lost my clothes:' Feigning ignorance, Pilgrim led them to another hotel, catercorner from this one. Since that hotel had not yet even taken down its lantern, Pilgrim walked up to the door and called out: "Innkeeper, do you have a room for us to stay in?"
Some woman inside replied at once, "Yes! Yes! Yes! Let the masters go up to the second floor." She had hardly finished speaking when a man arrived to take the horse, which Pilgrim handed over to him. He himself led his master behind the lamplight and up to the door of the second floor, where lounge tables and chairs had been placed. He pushed open the shutters, and moonlight streamed in as they took their seats. Someone came up with lighted lamps, but Pilgrim barred the door and blew out the lamps with one breath. "We don't need lamps when the moon's so bright," he said.
After the person with the lamps had been sent away, another maid brought up four bowls of pure tea, which Pilgrim accepted. From below, a woman about fifty-seven or fifty-eight years old came straight up to the second floor. Standing to one side, she asked, "Gendemen, where have you come from? What treasure merchandise do you have?"
"We came from the north," replied Pilgrim, "and we have a few ordinary horses to sell."
"Well," said the woman, "we haven't seen many guests who sell horses."
"This one is Grand Master Tang," said Pilgrim, "this one is Third Master Zhu, and this one is Fourth Master Sha. Your humble student here is Second Master Sun."
·~ different surnames," said the woman with a giggle.
"Indeed, all different surnames but living together," said Pilgrim. "There are altogether ten of us in our fraternal order; we four have come first to seek lodging at your hotel, and the six others are resting outside the city. With a herd of horses, they don't dare enter the city at such an hour. When we have located the proper place for them to stay, they'll come in tomorrow morning. Once we have sold the horses, we'll leave:'
"How many horses are there in your herd?" asked the woman.
"Big and small, there are over a hundred;' said Pilgrim, "all very much like the horse we have here. Only their colors vary:'
Giggling some more, the woman said, "Second Master Sun is indeed a merchant in every way! It's a good thing that you've come to our place, for any other household would not dare receive you. We happen to have a large courtyard here, complete with stalls and stocked with feed. Even if you had several hundred horses, we can take care of them. You should be aware, too, that our hotel has been here for years and has gained quite a reputation. My late husband, who unfortunately died long ago, had the surname of Zhao, and that's why this hotel is named Widow Zhao's Inn. We have three classes of accommodation here. If you will kindly allow impoliteness to precede courtesy, I will discuss the room rates with you, so I'll know what to charge you:'
"What you say is quite right," said Pilgrim. "What three classes of accommodation do you have in your hotel? As the saying goes,
High, medium, and low, are three prices of goods,
Guests,far and near, are not treated the same.
Tell me a litde of your three classes of accommodation."
Widow Zhao said, "What we have here are the superior, moderate, and inferior classes of accommodation. For the superior, we will prepare a banquet of five kinds of fruits and five courses, topped by lion-head puddings and peck-candies. There will be two persons per table, and young hostesses will be invited to drink and rest with you. The charge per person is five coins of silver, and this includes the room:'
"What a bargain!" said Pilgrim, chuckling. "Where I came from, five coins of silver won't even pay for the young ladies!"
"For the moderate," said the widow again, "all of you will share one table, and you'll get only fruits and hot wine. You yourselves may establish your drinking rules and play your finger-guessing games, but no young hostesses will be present. For this, we charge two coins of silver per person."
"That's even more of a bargain,'' said Pilgrim. "What's the inferior class like?"
"I dare not describe that in front ofhonored guests,'' replied the woman.
"You may tell us,'' said Pilgrim. "We'll find our bargain and do our thing:'
The woman said, "In the inferior class there's no one to serve you. You may eat whatever rice there is in the pot, and when you've had your fill, you can get some straw and make yourself a bed on the ground. Find yourself a place to sleep, and in the morning you may give us a few pennies for the rice. We won't haggle with you."
On hearing this, Eight Rules said, "Lucky! Lucky! That's old Hog's kind ofbargain! Let me stand in front of the pot and stuff myself with rice. Then I'll have a nice damn snooze in front of the hearth!" "Brother,'' said Pilgrim, "what are you saying? You and I, after all, have managed to earn a few ounces of silver here and there in the world, haven't we? Give us the superior class!"
Filled with delight, the woman cried, "Bring some fine tea! Tell the chefs to start their preparations:' She dashed downstairs and shouted some more: "Slaughter some chickens and geese. Have them cooked or cured to go with the rice. Slaughter a pig and a lamb too; even if we can't use them today, we may use them tomorrow. Get the good wine. Cook white-grain rice, and take bleached flour to make biscuits."
When he heard her from upstairs, Tripitaka said, "Second Master Sun, what shall we do? She is planning to slaughter chickens, geese, a pig, and a lamb. When she brings these things up, which one of us, keepers of a perpetual vegetarian diet that we are, dare take one bite?"
"I know what to do,'' replied Pilgrim, and he went to the head of the stairs and tapped the floor with his foot. "Mama Zhao, please come up here,'' he said. The mama came up and said, "What instructions do you have for me, Second Master?" "Don't slaughter anything today,'' said Pilgrim, "for we're keeping a vegetarian diet:'
Astonished, the widow asked, "Do the masters keep a perpetual diet or a
monthly diet?" "Neither," replied Pilgrim, "for ours is named the gengshen
diet. Since the cyclical combination for today is, in fact, gengshen, we must
keep the diet. Once the hour of the third watch is past, it will be the day of
xinyou, and we'll be able to eat meat. You may do the slaughtering tomor-
row. Please go now and prepare us some vegetarian dishes. We'll pay you the price of the superior class just the same:'
The woman was more delighted than ever. She dashed downstairs to say, "Don't slaughter anything! Don't slaughter anything! Take some wood ears, Fujian bamboo-shoots, bean curds, wheat glutens, and pull some greens from our garden to make vermicelli soup. Let the dough rise so that we can steam some rolls. We can cook the white-grain rice and brew fragrant tea
also:' Aha! Those chefs in the kitchen, accustomed to do this every day, fin-
ished their preparations in no time at all. The food was brought upstairs, along with ready-made lion-puddings and candied fruits, so that the four could enjoy themselves to their hearts' content.
"Do you take dietary wine?" the woman asked again. Pilgrim said,
"Only Grand Master Tang doesn't drink, but the rest of us can use a few cups:' The widow then brought up a bottle ofhot wine. Hardly had the three of them finished pouring when they heard loud hangings on the floor down below.
"Mama:• said Pilgrim, "did something fall downstairs?"
"No:· replied the widow. "A few hired hands from our humble village who
arrived rather late tonight with their monthly payment of rice were told to sleep downstairs. Since you masters have come, and we haven't enough help right now, I've asked them to take the carriages to go fetch the young hostesses here to keep you company. The poles on the carriages must have accidentally backed into the boards of the staircase."
"It's a good thing that you mention this," said Pilgrim. "Quickly tell them not to go. For one thing we're still keeping the diet, and for another our brothers have not yet arrived. Wait till they come in tomorrow, then we'll invite some call girls for the whole order to have some fun right here. After we've sold our horses, we'll leave."
"Good man! Good man!" said the widow. "You've not destroyed the peace, but you've saved your own energy at the same time!" She called out, "Bring back the carriages. No need to fetch the girls." After the four had finished the wine and rice, the utensils were taken away, and the attendants left.
Tripitaka whispered behind Pilgrim's ear, "Where shall we sleep?" "Up here," replied Pilgrim. "It's not quite safe," said Tripi taka. ''All of us are rather tired. When we're asleep, if someone from this household chances to come by to fix things up and notices our bald heads if our caps roll off, they will see that we're monks. What shall we do if they begin yelling?"
"Indeed!" replied Pilgim. He went again to the head of the stairs to tap his foot, and the widow came up once more to ask, "What does Master Sun want?"
"Where shall we sleep?" asked Pilgrim. "Why, up here, of course!" said the woman. "There are no mosquitoes. You may open wide the windows, and with a nice southerly breeze, it's perfect for you to sleep."
"No, we can't;' said Pilgrim. "Our Third Master Zhu here is somewhat allergic to dampness, and Fourth Master Sha has arthritic shoulders. Big Brother Tang can only sleep in the dark, and I, too, am rather sensitive to light. This is no place to sleep:' The mama walked downstairs and, leaning on the counter, began to sigh. A daughter of hers, carrying a child, approached and said, "Mother, as the proverb says,
For ten days you sit on the shore;
In one day you may pass nine beaches.
Since this is the hot season, we haven't much business, but by the time of the fall, business may increase so much that we can't even cope with it. Why are you sighing?"
"Child," replied the woman, "I'm not worrying about lack of business, for at dusk today I was ready to close shop. But at the hour when the night watch began, four horse traders came to rent a room. Since they wanted the superior-class accommodation, I was hoping to make a few pennies' profit from them. But they keep a vegetarian diet, and that completely dashes my hopes. That's why I'm sighing."
Her daughter said, "If they have eaten our rice, they can't leave and go to another household. Tomorrow we can prepare meat and wine for them. Why can't we make our profit then?" "But they are all sick;' said the woman again, "afraid of draft, sensitive to light; they all want to sleep in a dark place. Come to think of it, all the buildings in our household are covered by single-tiered transparent tiles. Where are we going to find a dark enough place for them? I think we'd better consider donating the meal to them and ask them to go someplace else."
"Mother;' said her daughter, "there's a dark place in my building, and it has no draft. It's perfect!"
"Where is that?" asked the woman. The daughter said, "When father was alive, he made a huge wardrobe trunk about four feet wide, seven feet long, and at least three feet deep. Six or seven people can probably sleep in it. Tell them to go inside the wardrobe and sleep there:' "I wonder if it's acceptable," said the woman. "Let me ask them. Hey, Master Sun, our humble dwelling is terribly small, and there is no dark place. We have only a huge wardrobe trunk which neither wind nor light can get through. How about sleeping in that?"
"Fine! Fine! Fine!" replied Pilgrim. Several of the hired hands were asked at once to haul out the wardrobe and remove the door before they were told to go downstairs. With Pilgrim leading his master and Sha Monk picking up the pole ofluggage, they walked behind the lamplight to the wardrobe. Without regard for good or ill, Eight Rules immediately crawled in. After handing him the luggage, Sha Monk helped the Tang Monk in before entering himself
"Where's our horse?" asked Pilgrim. One of the attendants on the side replied, "It's tethered at the rear of the house and feeding:'
"Bring it, along with the feed," said Pilgrim, "and tether it tightly beside the wardrobe:' Only then did he himself enter the wardrobe. He cried, "Mama Zhao, put on the door, stick in the bolt and lock it up. Then take a look for us and see whether there are any holes anywhere that light may get through. Paste them up with paper. Tomorrow, come early and open the wardrobe:' "You're much too careful!" said the widow. Thereafter everyone left to close the doors and sleep, and we shall leave those people for the moment.
We tell you now about the four of them inside the wardrobe. How pitiful! For one thing, it was the first time they had ever worn head wraps; for another, the weather was hot. Moreover, it was very stuffy because no breeze could get in. They all took off their wraps and their clothes, but without fans they could only wave their monk caps a little. Crowding and leaning on one another, they all began to doze by about the hour of the second watch.
Pilgrim, however, was determined to be mischievous! As he was the only one who could not sleep, he stretched out his hand and gave Eight Rules's leg a pinch. Pulling back his leg, our Idiot mumbled, "Go to sleep! Look how miserable we are! And you still find it interesting to pinch people's arms and legs for fun?" As a lark, Pilgrim began to say, "We originally had five thousand taels of silver. We sold some horses previously for three thousand taels, and right now, there are still four thousand taels left in the money bags. We can also sell our present herd of horses for three thousand taels, and we'll have both capital and profit. That's enough! That's enough!" Eight Rules, of course, was a man intent on sleeping, and he refused to answer him.
Little did they know that the waiters, the water haulers, and the fire tenders of this hotel had always been part of a band of thieves. When they heard Pilgrim speaking of so much silver, some of them slipped out at once and called up some twenty other thieves, who arrived with torches and staffs to rob the horse traders. As they rushed in, Widow Zhao and her daughter were so terrified that they slammed shut the door of their own building and let the thieves do what they pleased. Those bandits, you see, did not want anything from the hotel; all they desired was to find the guests. When they saw no trace of them upstairs, they searched everywhere with torches and came upon the huge wardrobe in the courtyard. To one of the legs a white horse was tethered. The wardrobe was tightly locked, and they could not pry open the door.
The thieves said, "Worldly people like us have to be observant! If this wardrobe is so heavy, there must be luggage and riches locked inside. What if we steal the horse, haul the wardrobe outside the city, break it up, and divide the contents among ourselves-wouldn't that be nice?" Indeed, those thieves did find some ropes and poles, with which they proceeded to haul the wardrobe out of the hotel. As they walked, the load swayed from side to side.
Waking up with a start, Eight Rules said, "0 Elder Brother, please go to sleep! Why are you shaking us?" "Don't talk!" said Pilgrim. "No one's shak-
ing you:' Tripi taka and Sha Monk also woke up and cried, "Who is carry-
ing us?" "Don't shout! Don't shout!" said Pilgrim. "Let them carry us. If they haul us all the way to the Western Heaven, it'll save us some walking!"
When those thieves succeeded in getting away from the hotel, they did not head for the West; instead, they hauled the chest toward the east of the city, where they broke out after killing some of the guards at the city gate. That disturbance, of course, alerted people in the six boulevards and three marts, the firemen and guards living in various stations. The reports went quickly to the Regional Patrol Commander and the East City Warden's office. Since this was an affair for which they had to assume responsibility, the commander and the warden at once summoned the cavalry and archers to pursue the thieves out of the city. When the thieves saw how strong the government troops were, they dared not contend with them. Putting down the huge wardrobe and abandoning the white horse, they fled in every direction. The government troops did not manage even to catch half a thief, but they did take the wardrobe and caught the horse, and they returned in triumph. As he looked at the horse beneath the lights, the commander saw that it was a fine creature indeed:
Its mane parts like silver threads;
Its tail dangles as strips ofjade.
Why mention the Eight Noble Dragon Steeds?4
This one surpasses Suxiang's5 slow trotting.
Its boneswouldfetch a thousandgold,
This wind-chaser through ten thousand miles.
He climbs mountains oft to join the green clouds,
Neighs at the moon, and .fuses with white snow.
Truly a dragon that has left the isles,
A jade unicorn that man loves to own!
The commander, instead of riding his own horse, mounted this white horse to lead his troops back into the city. The wardrobe was hauled into his official residence, where it was then sealed with an official tape issued jointly by him and the warden. Soldiers were to guard it until dawn, when they could memorialize to the king to see about its disposal. As the other troops retired, we shall leave them for the moment.
We tell you instead about the elder Tang inside the wardrobe, who complained to Pilgrim saying, "You ape-head! You've just about put me to death! If we had stayed outside and been caught and sent before the king of the Dharma-Destroying Kingdom, we could still argue with him. Now we are locked up in a wardrobe, abducted by thieves, and then recovered by government troops. When we see the king tomorrow, we'll be ready-made victims for him to complete his number often thousand!"
Pilgrim said, "There are people outside right now! If they open the wardrobe and take us out, we'll either be bound or hanged! Do try to be more patient, so that we don't have to face the ropes. When we see that befuddled king tomorrow, old Monkey has his own way of answering him. I promise you that you'll not be harmed one whit. Now relax and sleep."
By about the hour of the third watch, Pilgrim exercised his ability and eased his rod out. Blowing his immortal breath on it, he cried, "Change!" and it changed into a three-pointed drill. He drilled along the bottom edge of the wardrobe two or three times and made a small hole. Retrieving the drill, he changed with one shake of his body into an ant and crawled out. Then he changed back into his original form to soar on the clouds into the royal palace. The king at that moment was sleeping soundly.
Using the Grand Magic of Body-Division in the Assembly of Gods, Pilgrim ripped off all the hairs on his left arm. He blew his immortal breath on them, crying, "Change!" They all changed into tiny Pilgrims. From his right arm he pulled off all the hairs, too, and blew his immortal breath on them, crying, "Change!" They changed into sleep-inducing insects. Then
he recited another magic spell, which began with the letter 01!1, to summon
the local spirits of the region into his presence. They were told to lead the small Pilgrims so that they could scatter throughout the royal palace, the Five Military Commissions, the Six Ministries, and the residences of officials high and low. Anyone with rank and appointment would be given a sleep-inducing insect, so that he would sleep soundly without even turning over.
Pilgrim also took up his golden-hooped rod; with a sqeeze and a wave, he cried, "Treasure, change!" It changed at once into hundreds and thousands of razor blades. He took one of them, and he told the tiny Pilgrims each to take one, so that they could go into the palace, the commissions, and the ministries to shave heads. Ah! This is how it was:
Dharma-king would the boundless dhartna destroy,
Which fills the world and reaches the great Way.
All dharma-causes are of substance one;
Triyana's wondrous forms are all the same.
The jade cupboard's drilled through, the truth is known;6
Gold hairs are scattered and blindness is removed.
Dharma-king will surely the right fruit attain:
Birthless and deathless, in the void he'll remain.
The shaving activities that went on for half the night were completely successful. Thereafter Pilgrim recited his spell to dismiss the local spirits. With one shake of his body he retrieved the hairs of both his arms. The razor blades he squeezed back into their true and original form-one goldenhooped rod-which he then reduced in size to store in his ear once more. He next assumed the form of an ant to crawl back into the wardrobe before changing into his original appearance to accompany the Tang Monk in his confinement. There we shall leave them for the moment.
We tell you now about those palace maidens and harem girls in the inner chambers of the royal palace, who rose before dawn to wash and do their hair. Everyone of them had lost her hair. The hair of all the palace eunuchs, young and old, had also vanished. They crowded outside the palatial bedchambers to start the music for waking the royal couple, all fighting hard to hold back their tears and not daring to report their mishap.
In a little while, the queen of the three palaces awoke, and she too found that her hair was gone. Hurriedly she moved a lamp to glance at the dragon bed: there in the midst of the silk coverlets a monk was sleepingf Unable to contain herself, the queen began to speak and her words awoke the king. When the king opened his eyes, all he saw was the bald head of the queen. Sitting bolt upright, he said, "My queen, why do you look like this?"
"But my lord is also like this!" replied the queen. One touch of his own head sent the king into sheer panic, crying, "What has become of us?" In that moment of desperation, the consorts of six halls, the palace maidens, and the eunuchs young and old all entered with bald heads. They knelt down and said, "Our lord, we have all become Buddhist priests!"
When the king saw them, tears fell from his eyes. "It must be the result of our slaughtering the monks," he said. Whereupon he gave this decree: "You are forbidden, all of you, to mention your loss of hair, for we fear that the civil and military officials would criticize the unrighteousness of the state. Let's prepare to hold court at the main hall:'
We tell you now about all those officials, high and low, in the Five Commissions and Six Ministries, who were about to have an audience with the throne at dawn. As each one of them, you see, had also lost his hair during the night, they were all busily preparing memorials to report the incident. Thus you could hear that
Three times the whip struck as they faced the king:
The cause of their shorn hair they would make known.
We do not know what has happened to the stolen goods recovered by the commander of the government troops; let's listen to the explanation in the next chapter.