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15 Lotus Cave

The Silver-Horned King said, "I will call your name once; if you dare answer, I will let him go." He leapt into the air, held the mouth of the gourd downward, and called, "Zhe Xingsun!" Wukong thought that since it was not his true name, there could be no harm in answering. But before the sound had left his lips, he had been drawn into the gourd. For that treasure cared nothing whether a name was true or false; whoever breathed out a sound in answer was sucked inside. The Silver-Horned King went into the cave and said to the Golden-Horned King, "Zhe Xingsun is already in this gourd; within an hour or so he will have melted away." And he was beside himself with joy. Wukong heard this and called from inside, "Mother! My legs have melted away! Even my hip bones are gone!" The Golden-Horned King said, "It has reached the waist; lift the lid and let us look." Wukong hastily plucked a hair and turned it into half a body floating at the bottom of the gourd, while his true self became a tiny cicada clinging to the mouth of the gourd. As the Silver-Horned King lifted the lid to look, Wukong seized his chance and flew out, rolled over, and turned himself into a demon who poured the wine. The Golden-Horned King saw the half body stirring at the bottom of the gourd and cried in alarm, "Brother, close it; he is not melted yet!" The Silver-Horned King snapped the lid back on. Wukong laughed to himself at their side. The Silver-Horned King handed the gourd to Wukong and went on drinking with the Golden-Horned King. While the two demons were off their guard, Wukong hid the real gourd in his sleeve, plucked a hair to make a counterfeit gourd which he set upon the table, and stole quietly away. Once out of the cave Wukong resumed his true shape and shouted in a fearsome voice, "Go quickly and tell that old wretch of a demon that Xingzhesun has come!" The demons guarding the cave hurried in to report it. The Golden-Horned King cried out in great alarm, "Good brother, this is bad! The whole monkey family has been stirred up! The golden rope holds Sun Wukong, the gourd holds Zhe Xingsun, and now here is an Xingzhesun as well?" The Silver-Horned King said, "This gourd can hold a thousand men. Let me go out and bottle him." The Silver-Horned King came out with the counterfeit gourd and his sword in his hand, and saw that the man before him looked exactly like Wukong. He did not join battle, but brought out the gourd and asked, "If I call your name once, will you dare to answer?" Wukong also produced a gourd and waved it. "I will dare to answer if you call me, but will you dare to answer if I call you?" The Silver-Horned King was aghast. "How is it that your gourd is exactly like mine?" Wukong said, "Our gourds are a pair that grew on one immortal vine; mine is the male and yours the female." The Silver-Horned King said, "Never mind male and female; a treasure that holds men is a good treasure." Wukong let him call first. The Silver-Horned King sprang into the air and cried, "Xingzhesun!" Wukong answered eight or nine times without pausing for breath, and not a hair of him was harmed. The Silver-Horned King beat his breast and stamped his foot. "The world has changed! Even a treasure fears its husband now!" Wukong laughed. "Now it is this old monkey's turn!" He sprang up with a somersault, pointed the mouth of the gourd straight at the demon, and called, "Silver-Horned King!" The Silver-Horned King answered, and with a rush was sucked into the gourd. The Silver-Horned King had not yet shed his mortal clay; inside the gourd he at once melted into pus, and when Wukong shook it the sloshing never ceased. The lesser demons saw it and ran back to the cave to report, "Your Majesty, terrible news! Xingzhesun has bottled our Second King and melted him!" At this the Golden-Horned King wept without ceasing. Bajie could not help saying, "Do not weep, demon. The three who came, one after another, were all my eldest brother alone. He changed his shape, stole your treasures, and melted your brother. Better prepare a vegetarian meal, ask my master and us down, and have a scripture of rebirth read for your brother." The Golden-Horned King flew into a rage and would have had Bajie put in the pot and steamed. Just then a lesser demon came to report, "Xingzhesun is at the gate again, shouting defiance!" The Golden-Horned King thought no more of Bajie, but caught up his seven-star sword, stuck the palm-leaf fan at his back, and led every demon in the cave out in a body to fight Wukong to the death. Out of the cave came the Golden-Horned King, slashing with his sword, and Wukong met him with his staff. After a bout of fighting the Golden-Horned King roared, "At him, my lads!" The lesser demons at once ringed Wukong round. His one staff whirled like a wheel, yet the demons only pressed in thicker, clutching at his waist and legs and refusing to fall back.

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