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29 The Spider Cave

Bajie looked up and could see neither sky nor sun, and he hurried to work his way out. But the ground was covered with silk cords; the moment he moved a foot he was tripped and fell, and no sooner had he got to his feet than down he went again, head over heels. Who can tell how many falls he took; his head swam and his eyes blurred, and he could not crawl another inch but lay on the ground groaning. The women did him no further harm and went back to Cobweb Cave. When the women reached the cave they muttered a spell to draw in the silken canopy, then ran stark naked into the cave, giggling as they passed before the Tang Monk. He hastily shut his eyes and murmured, "Good, good!" The women went into the stone chamber and put on their old clothes, then called from the back gate, "Where are my children?" In an instant there flew to them honey bees, wasps, hornets, blister beetles, gadflies, wax insects and dragonflies. These flying insects had once been caught in the spider demons' webs, and to beg for their lives they had taken the spider demons as foster mothers. When the insects drew near they asked, "What do you command, mother?" The women said, "We have foolishly provoked the Tang Monk, and his disciples will surely come in pursuit. Go and hold the front gate for a while, then join us at your uncle's house." With that they fled. The insects rubbed their claws together and waited only to meet the foe. Now Bajie, bruised and muddle-headed from his falls, looked up and saw that the silken canopy had been withdrawn; then he bore the pain and climbed to his feet and went back to find Wukong. Sandy said, "This is bad! The demons must have gone back to the cave to do our master harm. Let us hurry and save him!" The three brothers hurried to the front of the manor, and there upon the stone bridge stood seven little imps blocking the road, each of them less than three chi in height and under ten jin in weight. Wukong thought it laughable and shouted, "Who are you?" The little imps said, "We are the sons of the seven fairy-maidens. You insulted our mothers, and do you still dare to come beating at our door? If you have any courage, do not run away!" They waved their arms and pranced about and flung themselves at him all together. Bajie, who had taken so many tumbles and was still smouldering, grew fierce at the sight of these imps and raised his rake to strike. When the little imps saw how fierce Bajie was, they cried, "Change!" and each resumed his true form; one became ten, ten became a hundred, a hundred became a thousand. In an instant the whole sky was full of flying insects, blotting out the sun and the heavens as they swooped to sting and bite Bajie. Bajie was alarmed and yelled, "Brother Monkey, the road to the west is cruelly hard, when even insects bully a man!" Wukong called out, "Fear not, Bajie; old Sun has a way of his own!" He plucked a handful of his hairs and blew them forth. At once the hairs turned into yellow hawks, speckled hawks, eagles, ospreys and kestrels. Hawks are the best of all at pecking insects; one peck for each bird, striking with claw and beating with wing, and in a moment the flying insects had all dropped to the ground and the clear sky was restored. The three brothers fought their way across the bridge and rushed into the cave, where they found the Tang Monk hanging, weeping. Bajie said, "Master, you hang there comfortably enough, and little you know how many tumbles Old Pig took to rescue you!" Wukong let the Tang Monk down and asked where the demons had gone. The Tang Monk said, "They ran off naked toward the back." The three brothers took up their weapons and chased into the garden behind, but when they looked, the women had long since vanished without a trace. Wukong helped the Tang Monk onto his horse and said, "Master, the next time there is alms to be begged, let us go for you." The Tang Monk promised, "Disciples, hereafter I would rather starve to death than go begging myself." Wukong had Bajie gather some dry branches, and with a single fire they burned Cobweb Cave. Then master and disciples took to the high road again and travelled on toward the west.

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