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19 The Kingdom of Chechi

Seeing that neither thunder nor lightning came, the Tiger-Strength Immortal grew more frantic still and struck the rain token. The Dragon Kings of the Four Seas came at the command, but Wukong stopped them with a shout. Now that wind, rain, thunder and lightning were all assembled, Wukong charged them, "That demon Daoist has finished his four tokens; now it is old Sun's turn to spread the clouds and send the rain, and you must lend me your aid today." The gods answered as one, "As you command!" Having given his instructions, Wukong brought his cloud down, drew his spirit back into his body, and shouted from below the altar, "The royal preceptor has struck four tokens and still there is no thunder or rain. Now it is my turn to mount the altar and pray for rain." Tiger-Strength had no choice but to come down from the high platform and present himself before the king. He reported, "It is not that my prayer lacks power; it is simply that the dragon gods are all away from home." Wukong followed him in and presented his petition: "Your Majesty, the royal preceptor cannot summon them; let this monk summon them for you to see." The king gave his consent. Wukong helped the Tang Monk up onto the high platform and told him simply to recite the scriptures. When the king saw the Tang Monk sitting there doing nothing, neither striking a token nor burning a talisman, he sent a mounted messenger to ask about it. Wukong answered, "We pray for rain by quiet meditation; there is no need to strike tokens or burn talismans." When his Master had finished reciting the scriptures, Wukong took the golden-hooped rod from his ear, shook it in the wind until it grew twelve feet long, and pointed twice towards the sky. Seeing the signal of the Great Sage, the Wind Matron, Xun Erlang, the Cloud-Pushing Lad and the Mist-Spreading Lord hastened to display their might and work their spells, spreading the clouds and raising the wind. In an instant the sky was thick with dark clouds, stones rolled and sand flew. Wukong raised his rod and pointed a third time, and at once the lightning flashed and the thunder rumbled. Wukong pointed a fourth time towards the sky, the Dragon Kings gave their commands, and in a moment the rain came down over the Kingdom of Chechi in torrents, with white waves rolling everywhere. The king was overjoyed and gave word that there had been rain enough; Wukong pointed a fifth time at the sky, and the clouds dispersed and the rain ceased. The king praised the Tang Monk and his disciples again and again, and returning to the Golden Throne Hall he at once exchanged their pass, so that the master and his disciples might soon continue westward. The three royal preceptors stepped forward to object: "Your Majesty, this rain was in truth obtained by us. Just now all the gods were away from home, and were hurrying back in answer to our command when they chanced upon that monk mounting the platform, and he simply bumped into them." The king said, "No matter. If the royal preceptors can make the Dragon King show himself, the credit shall be yours." The king was greatly pleased and said, "In three and twenty years upon the throne I have never seen what a Dragon King looks like. Can the royal preceptors call him?" The preceptors had no such power, and could only defer to the monk and let him do the calling. Wukong turned his face to the sky and shouted in a stern voice, "Where are you, Ao Guang? Show yourself to me at once!" Hearing the summons, the Dragon King at once resumed his true form, and coiling through cloud and mist flew up to the Golden Throne Hall, so that the king and all his civil and military officers lit incense and bowed in alarm. The Dragon King departed and the gods returned to their stations. The king sealed the pass with the royal seal and was about to hand it to the Tang Monk when the three royal preceptors Tiger-Strength, Deer-Strength and Goat-Strength flung themselves down in the hall in great haste. The preceptors said, "For twenty years we have guarded this state and given its people peace, yet today, on the strength of a single shower, Your Majesty would pardon them for the crime of murder. This cannot be. We beg you to withhold the pass a while and let us brothers wager with them once more." The king asked how they would wager, and Tiger-Strength said: sitting in meditation. The king urged him against it, saying, "That monk comes of the school of meditation; how can you match him at it?" Tiger-Strength replied, "My sitting in meditation is called 'revealing holiness on the cloud ladder': fifty tables are piled up to make a meditation platform, and one must ride the clouds up to it and sit there without stirring." The king came to ask the Tang Monk and his disciples, and Wukong kept silent. Churning the sea and overturning the river, shouldering mountains and chasing the moon - none of that held any terrors for Wukong, but sitting still in meditation was truly a hard matter. The Tang Monk said, "I can sit in meditation well enough; it is only that I cannot get up onto that platform." Wukong said joyfully, "With old Sun here, what difficulty is there in getting up there?"

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