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23 The False Monkey King

Now Sandy, who had come back from Flower-Fruit Mountain, told the whole story. The Tang Monk said in regret, "It was I who wronged Wukong. At the time I thought it was he who had struck me and stolen the luggage, but who would have known it was a monster in his shape?" Just then a hubbub of noise was heard in mid-air. The three of them looked up and saw two Wukongs fighting toward them. Bajie said, "Let me go and have a look." He leapt up into the air and called out, "Stop your brawling, brothers! Old Pig is here!" Both Wukongs answered together, "Brother, come and help us fight the monster!" Bajie took hold of each of them by the hand, looked left, looked right, and still could not tell which was the true one. He had to say, "Let us go before the Master and have him decide." When they had come down from their cloud, the Tang Monk at once began the band-tightening spell. The two of them cried out together, "After such a bitter fight, Master, you still recite the spell? Stop, stop!" The Tang Monk, merciful at heart, ceased the spell, but he too could not tell the true from the false. The two of them broke free and began to fight again, saying, "Brothers, look after the Master while I take this fellow down to King Yama's court to settle the matter!" They tugged and twisted at each other, and in a moment were out of sight. Bajie asked Sandy why the luggage had not been found, and Sandy said he had not been able to locate it. Bajie said, "I know the Water-Curtain Cave well. Let me go and look for it." So saying, he took leave of the Master and mounted a cloud toward Flower-Fruit Mountain. The two Wukongs fought and brawled all the way to the realms of the dead below. The little devils were so frightened that they trembled and hid themselves. The swift-footed ones hurried to the Hall of Yama to report, "Your Majesties, two Great Sages, Equal of Heaven, are fighting their way in!" The Ten Kings of Hell mustered their ghostly troops, and sent little devils to invite the Bodhisattva Ksitigarbha. The gloomy winds rolled and the dreary mist spread on every side, and the two Wukongs were already fighting at the foot of the Hall of Yama. The King of the Dead stepped forward and asked, "Great Sage, what is your business, that you should brawl in my netherworld?" The two Wukongs told the whole story and asked the King of the Dead to look up the Register of Life and Death to find out the false Wukong's origin. The registrar of the Register brought it out and searched it page by page, but no name for the false Wukong could be found. They then searched the entry for the class of monkey, but because years ago Wukong had thrown the nether world into turmoil and wiped out his own record of death, there was no name to be found. The King of the Dead said, "Great Sage, in the realm of the dead there is no name to look up. You had best go up to the world of the living and settle the matter there." At this, the Bodhisattva Ksitigarbha said, "Wait. I have a beast called Diting, who can hear all things under heaven and knows the past and the future. Let it hear and tell the true from the false for you." Diting, acting on the Bodhisattva Ksitigarbha's order, lay prostrate on the ground in the courtyard of the Hall of Yama and listened with care. After a while, it understood the matter perfectly in its heart. Diting raised its head and whispered to Ksitigarbha, "This monster is as great in magic power as the Great Sage Sun, so its name cannot be spoken to its face. I fear it would disturb this holy hall and leave the realm of the dead in turmoil." Ksitigarbha asked, "Then how shall we deal with the monster?" Diting said, "The Buddhist dharma is boundless." Ksitigarbha took the hint and understood at once. Ksitigarbha said to the two Wukongs, "You two are exactly alike in form and power. If you wish to settle the matter, you must go to the Thunderclap Monastery and Shakyamuni the Buddha, and there the truth will be made clear." The two of them cried out at once, "Just so! Come with me to the West and settle it before the Buddha!" They tugged at each other, leapt into the air, and went on fighting all the way toward the Western Heaven.

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