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11 Flowing Sand River

Meanwhile the monster had retreated to his water palace and was catching his breath when he heard the sound of water. Coming to the door, he saw Bajie with his rake parting the waves right before him. The monster angrily said, "Pig-head, you push too far, daring to invade my water palace! Take that!" He struck with his staff; Bajie parried with his rake and asked, "What kind of monster are you, that you dare block the way here?" The monster told his origins and added, "I love eating people, and I'm ravenous right now. Since you've delivered yourself to my door, I'll fill my belly!" Bajie flew into a rage and rained blows on the monster's head. The monster ducked the rake with a wind-nod and struck back. The two fought from the riverbed to the surface, treading waves and splashing, in a fierce battle. On the bank Wukong guarded the Tang Monk, anxiously watching the two fight on the water, annoyed that Bajie was too eager for combat. Just as he grew worried, he saw Bajie feint with his rake and turn to flee toward the shore. The monster pursued him hotly and reached the bank in a moment. Wukong could wait no longer; he leaped to the river and swung his club at the monster's head. The monster was startled, dared not parry, and with a "whoosh" dived back into the river. Bajie shouted in anger, "Why are you so impatient? If you had waited a little longer, let him come further ashore, and blocked the bank so he couldn't reach the water, how could we not have caught him? Now that he's gone in, I'm afraid he'll never come out again!" The two returned to the Tang Monk, who was even more distressed. Wukong comforted him, "Master, don't worry. It's getting late; I'll beg some vegetarian food, you eat and rest, and tomorrow we'll think of something." Wukong rode off on a cloud and soon returned with a bowl of vegetarian food. The Tang Monk said, "Wouldn't it be better to ask the family where you begged food how to cross the river, rather than fight this monster?" Wukong replied, "That family is five or seven thousand li from here; they wouldn't know how to cross." Bajie accused Wukong of lying. "A single somersault of mine covers a hundred and eight thousand li," Wukong said. "What difficulty is a few thousand li?" Bajie retorted, "If it's so easy, carry Master across the river on your back!" Wukong asked, "You can also ride a cloud; why don't you carry him?" Bajie said, "Master is flesh and blood, heavy as Mount Tai; how could my cloud-riding carry him?" Wukong said, "It's the same for me. Master must travel through foreign lands and suffer many trials to fetch the scriptures. We can only keep him safe; we cannot bear his hardships or fetch the scriptures for him." Bajie accepted this in silence. The three of them ate their plain vegetarian food and rested on a sheltered spot on the bank of the Flowing-Sand River.

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