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19 The Kingdom of Chechi

The Tang Monk replied that he was willing to wager, and the king gave orders for two meditation platforms to be built. The Tiger-Strength Immortal trod the clouds up to the western platform and sat there cross-legged; Wukong changed himself into a five-coloured auspicious cloud, bore the Tang Monk up to the eastern platform, and sat down beside him with a bow. Several hours passed, and Deer-Strength, seeing that Tiger-Strength and the Tang Monk were evenly matched, pulled out a short hair, turned it into a bedbug, and flicked it onto the meditation platform. The bedbug bit the Tang Monk until the pain and itching were past bearing. Wukong saw it, turned himself into a tiny insect, flew onto the Tang Monk's head and picked the bedbug off. Wukong thought to himself: that demon Daoist dares to harm my Master; let old Sun go and play a trick on him too. He flew up into the air, gave himself a shake and changed into a centipede seven inches long, dropped onto Tiger-Strength's face and stung him in the nostril. Tiger-Strength could sit no longer; he toppled over and fell from the platform, barely escaping with his life. The Tang Monk had won and only waited to be allowed to go, when the Deer-Strength Immortal again petitioned: "My elder brother's old ailment came upon him again, and the monk won by luck alone. I wish to wager with him at guessing what is behind the screen. If the monk can outguess me, let him go westward; if he cannot, I beg Your Majesty to avenge me and wipe out this disgrace." The king had no choice but to have the queen place a treasure in a red-lacquered cabinet, and ordered the palace attendants to carry the cabinet into the hall, that both parties might guess what treasure it was. Wukong turned himself into a tiny insect and whispered to the Tang Monk, "Do not worry, Master; let me go and look." Wukong flew to the cabinet and squeezed in through a crack between the boards. Inside he saw a set of embroidered official robes lying on a red-lacquered tray. Wukong shook out the robes and cried "Change!", turning them into a wretched, tattered monk's cassock; and before he left he also passed a stream of urine over them. In a little while the Deer-Strength Immortal was first to guess: "In that cabinet are the jacket of mountain and river, of state and altar, and the skirt of heaven and earth." Wukong flew to the Tang Monk's ear and whispered a few words, and then the Tang Monk guessed, "There is nothing in that cabinet but a ragged, worthless old bell-cassock." The king said angrily, "This monk is insolent; he dares to mock my kingdom for having no treasures! Seize him!" The guards on either side were about to lay hands on him, when the Tang Monk said, "Your Majesty had better open the cabinet and look. If it truly is a treasure, this poor monk will gladly accept his punishment." The king ordered the cabinet opened, and there indeed was a torn and tattered monk's robe. The king resolved to hide a treasure with his own hand, and so he went into the imperial garden, plucked a large and fresh peach and put it into the red-lacquered cabinet. The king had the cabinet carried up into the hall and bade both parties guess again. Wukong squeezed in through the crack once more and found a peach, which suited him perfectly; in two or three bites he had gnawed it down to nothing but the stone, and then he turned himself into a tiny insect again and flew to the Tang Monk's ear. The Goat-Strength Immortal again guessed first: "There is an immortal peach inside." The Tang Monk guessed, "It is not a peach, but a peach stone." The king cried, "I put the immortal peach there with my own hand; how can it be a stone?" The Tang Monk said, "Whether it is peach or stone, open it and we shall know." The king had the cabinet opened, and there indeed was a peach stone; he was greatly astonished. Tiger-Strength rested a while, then came before the hall and petitioned, "Do not be alarmed, Your Majesty. That monk has the art of changing things from a distance, but he cannot change a living person. Let me break his magic." Tiger-Strength hid a Daoist acolyte in the cabinet, had it carried into the hall, and told the Tang Monk to guess again. Wukong turned himself into a tiny insect and squeezed in through the crack a third time. Finding a Daoist acolyte inside, he had a sudden idea: he took on the shape of the Tiger-Strength Immortal and said to the boy, "That monk can see that you went into the cabinet, so let me shave your head for you, that he may not guess aright." The boy agreed again and again. Wukong turned his golden-hooped rod into a razor, and in a trice shaved the boy's head completely bald. Then he plucked out two hairs, turned them into a wooden fish, handed it to the boy and charged him, "Remember, my son: if they call you a Daoist acolyte, on no account come out; only when they call you a monk may you climb out."

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