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36 The Rake Feast

Hearing that a holy monk from the Great Tang in the east had come, the prince at once gave orders to receive him. The Tang Monk entered the hall and bowed. The prince was struck by his noble bearing and took a great liking to him, and bade his men prepare a vegetarian feast. The Tang Monk rose and said in thanks, "This poor monk has three disciples waiting in the guest house." The prince then ordered the court official to invite them in as well. The official went out, and in a little while led the three of them into the hall. When the prince saw how strange and ugly they were, he could not help starting back in fright. The Tang Monk pressed his palms together and explained, "Set your heart at rest, Your Highness. Ugly though my three disciples are, their hearts are kind." The prince plucked up his courage and ordered the monk and his party to be taken to the Gauze Pavilion for their meal; then he withdrew from the hall to his own chambers. Now the prince had three sons, all of a warlike turn, who loved nothing so much as a rake or a staff. Coming back from abroad, they saw their father's frightened look and asked, "What has happened, Father, to terrify you so?" And he told them how the looks of Wukong and the rest had scared him. At this the three princes rolled up their sleeves and clenched their fists. "Can they be demons out of the mountains?" they cried in anger. "Let us go and see!" Thereupon the eldest prince took a staff as high as his brows, the second swung a nine-toothed rake, the third brandished a black oiled cudgel, and in a fury they burst into the Gauze Pavilion. Seeing the Tang Monk and his disciples, they shouted, "Are you men or spirits? Speak quickly, and we will spare your lives." The Tang Monk turned pale with fright and bowed low in haste. "I am a monk of the Great Tang, sent to fetch the scriptures," he said. "I am no demon." "You at least look like a man," cried the youngest prince, "but those three ugly ones, what else could they be but demons?" Bajie kept his head down over his rice and paid them no heed. Wukong and Sandy stood up. "Who are you," they asked, "to talk so wildly?" A servant of the palace standing by said, "These three are the young princes, sons of the prince." Hearing that, Bajie thought to tease them. He set down his bowl and asked, "You carry weapons, young princes. Do you mean to match arms with us?" The second prince answered nothing, but raised his rake to strike. Bajie said with a grin, "That rake of yours is only fit to be a grandson to mine!" With that he took up the nine-toothed rake and gave it a shake; ten thousand shafts of golden light blazed out, and the second prince's arms went weak with terror and he dared not come on. Seeing the eldest prince with a brow-high staff, Wukong drew the golden-hooped rod from his ear, shook it till it was thick as a bowl, and planted it on the ground. "I will make you a gift of this staff," he said with a laugh. The eldest prince took him at his word and came forward to pull it out. But though he strained and heaved at it for a long while, the rod stood as if rooted in the earth and would not stir. When the third prince saw his two brothers made fools of, he lost his temper and swung his cudgel at Sandy. Sandy struck the blow aside, drew out his demon-quelling staff and poised it; it shone most dazzlingly, and all who watched stood agape. Only then were the three princes convinced. Together they bowed low and said, "Forgive us; our eyes were too dull to know true gods. We beg you, reverend sirs, to show your arts and open our eyes."

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