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29 The Spider Cave

When Wukong reached the manor he found it wrapped about with thick silk cords; he pressed one with his hand and found it soft and clinging. So Wukong called up the local earth god and questioned him. The god said, "This is Cobweb Ridge, and beneath the ridge there is a cave called Cobweb Cave. In the cave live seven she-demons, and all of them are spider demons." "How great are the demons' powers?" asked Wukong. "Their powers are vast," said the god. "Three li from here lies the Bathing Spring, which was once the bathing pool of the seven fairy-maidens, but these demons have seized it for their own. At this hour every day the demons go there to bathe." When Wukong had heard all this clearly he sent the god away, turned himself into a fly and perched on a blade of grass by the road to wait. Before long, sure enough, seven women came walking along, hand in hand and arm in arm, plucking flowers and grasses, talking and laughing as they went. With a buzz Wukong flew up and settled on the coiled hair of one of the women. He heard them say to one another, "Sisters, once we have bathed we shall steam that fat monk and eat him." Wukong laughed to himself. Before long they came to the Bathing Spring. The pool was five zhang wide and ten zhang long, some four feet deep, and its water was so clear that the bottom could be seen. The seven women took off their clothes, hung them upon a rack and jumped into the water. Wukong thought to himself: It would be easy to strike these wenches dead, but that would sully old Sun's good name. I shall simply see that they cannot come out of the water. So thinking, he changed himself into an eagle, spread his wings and flew forward, and with his sharp talons carried off every scrap of clothing on the rack. Wukong came back over the ridge, resumed his true form, and told Bajie and Sandy what he had done with the clothes. Bajie said with a laugh, "Brother Monkey, when you cut the weeds you must root them out. You should have killed the demons first and then rescued our master." Wukong waved his hand. "I would not strike them. If you wish to go, then you go." Bajie braced his spirits, shouldered his rake and strode out, running straight to the edge of the Bathing Spring. There he saw the seven women crouching in the water, cursing the eagle: "That hairy brute has made off with all our clothes!" Bajie flung down his rake and said with a laugh he could not hold back, "Good ladies, what if you let me wash as well?" At this the women pretended to be angry. "How insolent you are, monk! We are women and you are a man; how can we bathe in the same pool?" "The weather is scorching," said Bajie. "Let me wash a little." And without waiting for leave he stripped off his outer robe and plunged into the water with a splash. The women were furious and all rushed forward to strike him. Little did they know that Bajie was a fine swimmer: in the water he gave himself a shake and turned into a catfish. The women busied themselves groping for the fish but could never catch it. Now Bajie darted east, now west, always circling about them. The women floundered about for a long while until they were panting with exhaustion. Then Bajie leaped ashore, resumed his true form, put on his robe and shouted with his rake in hand, "Fine demons, to take me for a fish spirit! I am Zhu Bajie, disciple of the Tang Monk. Stick out your heads and I will give each of you a stroke of my rake!" The women were frightened out of their wits and knelt in the water, saying, "Blame us, for we had eyes and no pupils, and wrongly seized your master. We beg you, sir, to spare our lives; we will gladly give you travelling money to send your master on his way west." Bajie was coarse by nature and had no tender care for fair flesh; he shook his head. "No fine words will cozen me. Taste my rake!" He raised the rake and came at them, laying about wildly. The women panicked and, heedless of shame, leaped out of the water. The women ran to the pavilion and set their magic to work: silk cords gushed from their navels and wove a great silken canopy that shut Bajie in the middle of it.

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