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28 The Purple-Gold Bells

The queen said, "They are three purple-gold bells." Wukong asked at once where the bells were kept. The queen said the demon king tied them to his waist and never let them leave his person, whether he walked, stood, sat or lay down. Wukong asked her to beguile the demon king and wheedle the purple-gold bells from him, so that he might steal them and subdue the demon and bring her home. The queen agreed at once. Wukong changed back into Come-and-Go and opened the door to call in the waiting maids. The queen gave her orders: "Come-and-Go, go quickly to the front pavilion and ask your great king to come, for I wish to speak with him." Wukong answered with a grunt, went back to the Flaying Pavilion, and fetched the demon king. The demon king was overjoyed at the news and came at once with Wukong to the queen's quarters. Queen Jin Sheng met him with a smiling face and took him by the hand. The demon king cried in alarm, "I dare not accept such condescension from the queen! I fear it will make my hand ache." They sat down, and the queen complained that the demon king kept secrets from her and would not give her any of his treasures. The demon king made haste to apologize. He untied the three bells he wore next to his skin, stopped their mouths with cotton, put them in a leopard-skin pouch and handed them to the queen, saying, "Keep them safely, and on no account shake them." The queen took the pouch and set it on the dressing table beside her. Then she bade the maids lay out a feast, and drank with the demon king. She put on all her alluring ways, and coaxed the demon king into such good humor that he drank cup after cup. Seizing a moment when the demon king was off his guard, Wukong crept up to the dressing table and made off with the leopard-skin pouch. Wukong slipped out of the palace gate and came to a deserted spot before the Flaying Pavilion, where he took out the purple-gold bells. Not knowing how dangerous they were, he pulled away the cotton. At once there came a loud clang, and fire, smoke and yellow sand burst roaring from the bells, so that the whole pavilion was ablaze in an instant. Alarmed by the glare, the demon king came out to look, and saw Come-and-Go holding the purple-gold bells. He cried in rage, "How dare the base slave steal my treasure and play the fool with it here!" And he ordered his tiger generals, bear captains, leopard chiefs and tiger-cat marshals to go and seize him. Wukong lost his head for a moment. He flung down the bells, resumed his true form, drew out his golden-hooped rod and laid about him wildly. The demon king gathered up his treasure and ordered the demons to shut the cave gates and close in on Wukong. Seeing that he could not break free, Wukong changed himself into a fly and settled on a stretch of the stone wall where there was no fire. The demons searched everywhere without finding him, and reported, "The thief has run away!" The demon king ordered a thorough search. Then the bear captain stepped forward and said, "This must be Sun Wukong. He wounded Come-and-Go, took the yellow banner, the bronze gong and the tablet, changed himself into his likeness, and came here to deceive our great king." The demon king nodded in agreement. Wukong saw that the guard in front was very tight, and shook his wings and flew into the inner palace. Queen Jin Sheng was bent over the imperial table, weeping. Wukong settled lightly by the queen's hair and told her not to be afraid, for he was not dead. The queen would not believe it. Wukong told her to open her hand, and let himself drop into her palm, where he showed his true shape, though still no bigger than a fly. Then at last she believed. Wukong told her to coax the demon king in to sleep, so that he might slip away about his business, steal the bells and rescue her. The queen consented. The queen sent for the demon king, saying she would hold a feast to celebrate his victory. The demon king was delighted and came to the banquet. The queen bade her maids come forward in companies and sing and dance for his pleasure, and Wukong took the chance to change himself into one of the serving maids and pour wine for the demon king, pitcher in hand. Wukong saw the purple-gold bells fastened at the demon king's waist. Secretly he pulled out a handful of hairs and chewed them to powder. Then he edged softly up to the demon king, scattered the hairs over his body, breathed out a breath of immortal air and whispered the word "Change!" At once the hairs turned into a swarm of lice, fleas and bedbugs, which burrowed into the demon king's clothes and bit savagely at his skin. Burning and itching beyond endurance, the demon king thrust a hand inside his robe to scratch, and fished out several lice. The queen laughed and said, "My lord, your underclothes must have gone long unwashed for such creatures to breed there." The demon king said sheepishly, "I have never had such things before. Today I have made a sorry show of myself before the queen."

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