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02 The Golden-Hooped Rod

‘I truly have none here,’ said the Dragon King helplessly. Growing impatient, Wukong gave way to his temper. ‘I don’t believe it! I don’t believe it! If you do not give me a weapon today, I shall not leave!’ Even as they argued, the Dragon Mother and the Dragon Daughter came in and drew the Dragon King into the inner chamber. The Dragon Mother offered counsel: ‘My king, why not take him to see the Sea-Taming Divine Iron in the ocean treasury?’ Before she had finished, the Dragon King shook his head in haste. ‘It is the treasure that holds the sea in check. How can it be given away?’ The Dragon Mother smiled. ‘Not give it to him. Consider, my king: this Sea-Taming Divine Iron weighs thirteen thousand five hundred catties. How could that monkey lift it? He will only make a fool of himself, and then he will go.’ The Dragon King nodded in agreement. Returning to the main hall, the Dragon King said to Wukong, ‘In the ocean treasury there is a Sea-Taming Divine Iron, the treasure left behind by the Great Yu when he tamed the floods. But it is too heavy to move. I beg your immortality to come with me and see it.’ Wukong leapt to his feet and cried, ‘Where is it? Lead me there!’ And the Dragon King went with him. They came to the heart of the ocean treasury, and gazing into the distance they saw ten thousand shafts of golden light and a swirling aura of good fortune. The Dragon King pointed. ‘The place that shines — that is it.’ Wukong stepped forward and felt it: a pillar of iron as thick as a bushel measure and some ten fathoms long. ‘Too thick and too long,’ he said. ‘If only it were shorter and thinner.’ The words had hardly left his mouth when the iron pillar shrank a size and shortened several feet. Seeing this, Wukong knew it for a treasure, and cried again, ‘Smaller! Smaller!’ The pillar shrank and shrank, and in an instant became a rod some ten feet long and as thick as the rim of a bowl. Wukong took the rod in his hands and examined it closely. At either end was a golden hoop, and between them a length of black iron, upon which were engraved twelve seal-script characters: ‘The As-You-Will Golden-Hooped Rod, thirteen thousand five hundred catties.’ Wukong was overjoyed at the treasure and could not help but whirl the golden-hooped rod about. Its power was beyond compare: the sea churned from top to bottom, the Dragon Palace rocked and swayed, and the dragon sons and grandsons, the shrimp soldiers and crab generals, tumbled over one another and lay flat upon the ground. Wukong roared with laughter and whirled it all the harder, crying again and again, ‘A fine treasure! A fine treasure!’ The Dragon King’s heart quaked with terror and he shouted, ‘Stay your hand, Immortality! Stay your hand!’ At this Wukong finally stopped. Holding the golden-hooped rod, Wukong said with a smile, ‘Many thanks for the Old Dragon King’s great kindness!’ Seeing the pretense had become reality, the Dragon King was filled with regret; but he forced a smile and said, ‘Not at all! Not at all!’ Wukong returned to the hall and sat down. ‘Now that I have the golden-hooped rod in my hand,’ he said, ‘I have no proper armor to wear, and that does me no credit. Old Dragon King, you have been kind so far — be kind to the end, and give me a suit of armor as well.’ The Dragon King shook his head. ‘There is no armor in my palace. I must trouble your immortality to try elsewhere.’ Wukong asked twice more, and twice the Dragon King said he had none. Then Wukong’s face darkened. ‘If you truly have none, then let me show you what this golden-hooped rod can do!’ The Dragon King cried out in fright, ‘Do not be hasty, Immortality! Let me summon my three dragon brothers to take counsel.’ With that, the Dragon King ordered the Turtle Marshal to beat the drum and the Alligator General to strike the bell, summoning the three other Dragon Kings.

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