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38 The Kingdom of Tianzhu

The king at once dispatched men to fetch Bajie and Sandy. Wukong charged them to watch over the Master carefully, then mounted a somersault cloud and shot up into the sky. Wukong returned to the mountain in the due south, but searched a long time without stirring a sound. Growing impatient, he spoke a true word and summoned the tutelary god and the mountain spirit of the neighbourhood, roaring, "What is this mountain called? How many demons does it harbour? Speak the truth, and quickly!" The two deities answered, "Great Sage, this is the Mount of the Fur-Tipped Brush. There are only three rabbit burrows in the mountain; no demons at all." Wukong would not hear of it, and ordered the two gods to lead him to the burrows. From the foot of the mountain to the summit, they startled a great many wild hares into bolting. At last, before the mouth of a burrow on the peak, they saw two great stones blocking the entrance. "The demon must be inside," said the tutelary god. Wukong swung his iron rod and smashed the stones to pieces. The demon was indeed within; with a sudden whoosh, she leapt out. The demon raised her medicine-pestle to strike him; Wukong swung his iron rod and caught the blow. As she fought, she cursed the mountain spirit and the tutelary god. "Who told you to lead him here? I shall settle the account with you presently!" The fight went on until nightfall. The demon gave ground step by step, until at last she could hold out no longer, and flopped down onto the ground with a great splash. Wukong, in cold fury, raised his rod to bring it crashing down. At that very moment, a voice called out, "Great Sage, hold your hand! Spare her beneath the rod!" Wukong looked round, and saw, descending on a cloud, the Star Lord of the Moon and the Lady of Chang'e herself. The Star Lord said, "This demon is the jade hare from my Palace of Broad-Coldness. She slipped her lock and fled the palace a year ago. I beg the Great Sage, for my sake, to spare her." Wukong replied, "No wonder she wields a medicine-pestle! But she carried off the princess of Tianzhu and forced my Master into marriage — how can she be lightly pardoned?" "You do not know, Great Sage," said the Star Lord. "The princess of Tianzhu is no mortal either: she was a moon-lady named Su'e in the Toad Palace. Eighteen years ago she struck the jade hare a blow, and afterwards, sick of the heavens, she descended to the world and was reborn as the princess. The jade hare has borne the grudge of that blow in mind; that is why she left the Palace of Broad-Coldness and cast Su'e out into the wild." Wukong laughed. "To spare the jade hare is one thing, but the king will never believe it. I must trouble you to bear witness." The Star Lord agreed, and, pointing at the demon, cried, "Vile creature, return to your true form!" The demon rolled over on the ground and appeared once more as the jade hare. Wukong led the way, with the Star Lord and his company following close behind, until they all arrived above the kingdom of Tianzhu. It was dusk, and the king and the Tang Monk, still in the hall, gazed in wonder at the coloured clouds that filled the southern sky. Wukong called out in a great voice, "His Majesty of Tianzhu, this jade hare is the false princess of your house. Now the truth stands revealed." At those words the king hastily led his court in obeisance toward the heavens. Unable to contain himself any longer, Bajie leapt into the air, seized the Lady of Chang'e by the hand, and cried, "Sister! Old friends meeting again — why not stay and take a turn with us here?" Wukong rushed up, seized Bajie, and boxed his ears twice. "You fool! What kind of place is this to give rein to your lewd mind?" Bajie mumbled, "I was only making a little friendly talk, to pass the time."

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