Home > Journey to the West > 30-kingdom-of-lion-camel

30 The Kingdom of Lion-Camel

The old fiend pointed at him. "How dare you work your body-splitting magic before me?" Wukong laughed. "Do not be afraid, demon. Strike ten thousand blows and I will give you twenty thousand men!" The old fiend said, "If you have the skill to gather yourself into one again, then take a blow at me with your rod." "No tricks, now," said Wukong. He rolled his two bodies together and became one again; then he whipped out his rod and struck at the fiend's head, and the old fiend raised his blade with trembling hands to parry. The two fought first before the cave, but soon both sprang into mid-air to continue the struggle, till the clouds of the whole sky grew heavy and mist drifted over the fields. They fought some twenty rounds with neither the better. Bajie, watching below, could hold back no longer. Whirling his rake, he rode the wind and leapt up, striking at the demon's face. The old fiend panicked, dropped his blade, broke off the fight and turned to run. "After him!" cried Wukong. Bajie raised his rake and gave chase. When the old fiend saw Bajie closing in, he stopped short on the slope, faced into the wind, and with a shake resumed his true form. He opened his great jaws to swallow Bajie, but Bajie took fright and dived headlong into the grass. Wukong came up right behind, and the fiend opened his mouth to swallow him too. Wukong shortened his iron rod, went forward to meet him, and was swallowed down in one gulp. Bajie crawled out of the grass and slunk back the way he had come. Weeping and wailing, he told the Tang Monk and Sandy, "Our brother has been swallowed whole by the demon!" The Tang Monk fell to the ground in fright, stamping his feet and beating his breast. "All my disciple's labours have turned to dust!" Bajie did not even try to comfort his master. "Brother Sandy," he called, "bring out the baggage and let us divide it between us. You go back to the Flowing Sand River and live on men again; I will go to Gao Village and see my wife. We will sell the white horse and buy our master a coffin to see him out." At these words the Tang Monk burst into bitter weeping. Meanwhile the old fiend, having swallowed Wukong, thought himself well served and went straight back to his cave. The demons asked how the battle had gone, and the old fiend said, "I have Sun Wukong swallowed in my belly." The third demon chief was aghast. "Elder brother, Sun Wukong is not fit to eat!" And Wukong said from inside, "Oh, I am very fit to eat, and I stay the stomach too; you will never be hungry again." The young demons cried in terror, "Great king, this is bad! Sun Wukong is talking inside your belly!" "If I had the skill to eat him," said the old fiend, "surely I have the skill to deal with him!" He ordered the young demons to mix a basin of salt water and drank it off at a gulp. But Wukong had taken root within, and had jammed himself against the throat. The old fiend retched hard and vomited till his head swam and his eyes blurred and his very gall was near to bursting. "Bring me my medicated wine," cried the old fiend, plucking up courage, "and let it poison the ape to death!" The young demons warmed two pots of it and filled a cup to the brim. The old fiend took it and swallowed seven or eight cups in a row. Little knowing that Wukong drank every drop as it came. Inside the belly, Wukong began to run riot: he struck postures, sprawled flat, kicked high, swung on the liver as on a swing, stood on his hands and turned somersaults without end. The fiend could not bear the pain and fell to the ground, crying, "Grandfather! Grandfather! It is all my fault! In your great mercy, spare my life, and I will see your master over the mountain." Seeing the demon beg for mercy, Wukong relented. "So be it. Open your mouth and I will come out." The fiend was about to do so when the third demon king stepped up and whispered to the old fiend, "Elder brother, when he comes out, bite down and chew the ape to pieces, and he will plague you no more."

 6/13   Home Previous 4 5 6 7 8 9 Next Last