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12 The Ginseng Fruit

Passing the second gate, they saw a couplet: "The mansion of immortals who live forever without aging; the home of Taoists who share longevity with Heaven." Wukong laughed. "This Taoist talks big. When I made havoc in Heaven five hundred years ago, I never saw such boasts even in Taishang Laojun's palace." Bajie said, "Never mind him, let's go in!" The four went in and met two fresh-faced young Taoists who bowed and said, "Venerable Master, forgive us for not greeting you sooner. Please come in and sit." They came to the main hall, where two characters, "Heaven and Earth," hung in many colors. The Tang Monk offered incense and bowed, then asked, "May I ask why your master does not worship the Three Pure Ones and Four Emperors, but only these two characters?" The boys smiled. "The Three Pure Ones and Four Emperors are my master's friends; how could he worship them?" The Tang Monk asked where the abbot was. The boys replied, "Our master has been invited by the Primordial Heavenly Venerable to the Miro Palace in Shangqing Heaven to hear the discourse on the Primal Dao." The Tang Monk thanked them and told his disciples to tend the horse and prepare food so they could rest and leave soon. This Wuzhuang Temple on Longevity Mountain was home to a great immortal called Zhenyuanzi. In the temple grew a ginseng-fruit tree whose fruits looked like infants, complete with limbs — an immortal fruit of eternal youth. The Great Immortal Zhenyuan had gone up to heaven with his disciples to hear the sermon, leaving Qingfeng and Mingyue to watch the temple. Before leaving, Zhenyuanzi instructed Qingfeng and Mingyue, "An old friend will pass this way soon. Do not slight him. Pluck two ginseng fruits from my garden for him to eat, as a token of old friendship." The boys asked who this friend was. Zhenyuanzi said, "He is the monk journeying west to fetch the scriptures, the reincarnation of the Buddha's second disciple, Jin Chanzi. We met five hundred years ago at the All-Souls Feast, and he once passed tea to the Buddha's son to offer me." The boys memorized his words. Qingfeng and Mingyue saw that the Tang Monk had an extraordinary bearing; upon asking, they learned he was indeed their master's old friend. They returned to their room, brought out a cup of fragrant tea, and offered it to him. Following their master's instructions, the two boys went back to their room, one taking a gold mallet and the other a red dish, and went straight to the ginseng garden to pick the fruit. Arriving in the ginseng garden, Qingfeng climbed the tree and knocked down two ginseng fruits with the gold mallet; Mingyue caught them in the dish. The two boys brought the immortal fruit to the Tang Monk and said, "This is the ginseng fruit of our Wuzhuang Temple; please enjoy it, Master Tang." Seeing two infants on the dish, the Tang Monk hastily refused. "Goodness! These are clearly newborn children!" When the Tang Monk would not eat, the boys took the fruit back to their room. Qingfeng said, "That monk does not recognize an immortal treasure. These fruits cannot be kept long; you and I shall eat them." So each ate one. At that moment Bajie was cooking next door. Hearing what Qingfeng and Mingyue said, he could not help drooling. Bajie had no heart left for cooking. He waited until Wukong returned with the horse and urgently waved him over. "Brother Monkey, come here! Come here!" Bajie pulled Wukong aside and repeated the boys' conversation. Wukong exclaimed, "This old monkey has eaten no few immortal pills and exotic fruits, but though I've heard of this ginseng fruit, I've never seen it." Bajie begged, "I heard you need a gold mallet to pick it. Brother, why not steal a few for us to taste?"

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