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26 The Lesser Thunder Monastery

The demon king saw him wielding the rod with one hand and could not help laughing, "Why do you use the rod with only one hand?" Wukong said, "You cannot withstand me using two hands! And if you do not use your bag, you cannot defeat Old Sun even with this one hand!" The demon king said, "Very well! I will not use my treasure today — let us match strength." He raised his wolf-tooth club and came forward to fight. Sun Wukong faced him, opened his clenched fist, and swung the rod with both hands. The demon, struck by the binding spell, thought not of retreating, and indeed did not reach for his bag but pursued with his club alone. They chased clear to the western slope. Wukong saw a melon patch, rolled, burrowed in, and transformed himself into a large ripe melon. The demon stopped and looked about in all directions, unable to tell where Wukong had gone. He came to a grass hut and called, "Who planted these melons?" Maitreya had transformed himself into an old melon-grower and came out to answer, "My lord, I planted these melons." The demon king said, "Pick a ripe one for me to quench my thirst." With his wisdom eye keen, Maitreya took the melon that Wukong had become and handed it with both hands to the demon king. The demon did not examine it but took it and bit into it at once. Seizing this opportunity, Wukong rolled into the demon's throat, tumbled into his belly, clawed at his guts, turned somersaults and stood on his head, wreaking havoc within to the fullest extent. The demon writhed in agony, baring his teeth and twisting his face, tears streaming. He rolled the melon patch flat as a threshing floor, crying out, "Who will save me!" Maitreya revealed his true form and chuckled, "Abomination! Do you know me?" The demon looked up, saw him, and fell to his knees in terror, clutching his belly, kowtowing and banging his head, crying only, "Master! Spare my life! I will never dare again!" Maitreya stepped forward, snatched away the Posterior Pouch, seized the chime-mallet, and called, "Wukong, for my sake, spare his life." But Wukong, burning with hatred, punched and kicked from within, gouging and pounding at random. The monster, in agony beyond endurance, collapsed to the ground. Maitreya persuaded him a while longer before Wukong at last called, "Open your wide — let Old Sun come out!" The monster, enduring the pain, opened his mouth wide. Wukong leaped out, resumed his true form, and was about to strike with his rod when the Buddha swiftly swept the demon into the bag and slung it at his waist. Maitreya demanded, "Abomination! Where have you hidden the golden cymbals?" From inside the Posterior Pouch the demon whimpered, "Sun Wukong smashed the golden cymbals." The Buddha said, "The cymbals are broken — return my gold to me." The demon said, "The broken gold is piled on the lotus platform in the hall." Wukong, seeing this divine power, dared not disobey. He led the Buddha up the mountain, returned to the monastery, and gathered the gold fragments. The minor demons, learning that their master was captured, fled in all directions. Wukong slew each one he encountered — five or seven hundred minor demons in all — and each revealed its true form: mountain sprites, tree spirits, beast-devils, and bird-demons. The Buddha gathered the gold fragments in one place, blew upon them with divine breath, recited a spell, and instantly they were restored to their original state — a complete pair of golden cymbals. Then he took leave of Wukong, mounted a cloud of blessing, and returned to the Paradise of Bliss. Wukong entered and freed the Tang Monk, Bajie, and Sandy. He recounted in detail how he had first sought the Patriarch's aid with the Turtle and Snake Generals, then borrowed the prince from the Great Sage, and finally how Maitreya had subdued the demon. The Tang Monk, hearing this, thanked him without cease and bowed in reverence to all the heavenly beings. Master and disciples then, following the Duty Deity's instructions, opened the cellar, untied all the captured deities, and ushered them out beneath the jeweled pavilions. The Tang Monk donned his kasaya and bowed in thanks to each one in turn.

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