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39 The Prefecture of Tongtai

The ruined temple was a sorry place: broken walls, a caved-in roof. To make matters worse, black clouds pressed low, and a downpour of rain broke over them. The four pilgrims huddled together, and not one of them closed an eye the whole night through. Now, in the Prefecture of Bronze Terrace there lived a band of thieves who made their living by robbery. That very night, some twenty of them gathered to plan their next raid. One said, "That Squire Kou who sent off the Tang monks is plainly rich. Why not take advantage of the night's rain and rob his house?" The thieves clapped their hands in glee, snatched up their short swords and clubs, and set out through the rain. The thieves reached the squire's house, burst the gate open, and rushed inside. The squire dodged behind the door, his wife crept under the bed, while Kou Liang, Kou Dong and the servants scattered in panic. The thieves lit torches, broke open the chests, and began scooping up gold, silver, and jewellery by the fistful into their bags. The squire, heartsick at the sight, threw all caution aside, stepped forward and begged the thieves to leave him a few things. A burly, brutal-faced thief, hearing no argument, drove a fierce kick into the squire's lower belly. The squire shrieked and fell to the ground. In a little while the thieves dispersed. The squire's wife, the two sons, and the servants crept out trembling, and, taking a close look, found the squire dead. They burst into a howl of grief. In the midst of her weeping, the squire's wife, recalling that it was the Tang Monk and his disciples who could not be kept from leaving, and that the farewell had brought this disaster upon them, conceived a wicked thought of bringing a false charge against the four pilgrims. With that in mind, she drew her two sons aside and said, "I saw clearly from under the bed: the one who lit the torch was the Tang Monk; the one who held the knife was Zhu Bajie; the one who carried off the gold and silver was Sha Heshang; the one who struck your father dead was Sun Wukong!" The two sons, taking her word for truth, drew up a charge that very night, and at the first light of dawn laid it before the yamen of the Prefecture of Bronze Terrace. The prefect, seeing the charge and knowing the case to be grave, mustered a hundred and fifty soldiers on the spot and set out to seize the four pilgrims. The Tang Monk and his disciples, meanwhile, had endured in the ruined temple until dawn, before leaving it and setting out once more upon the road. It so happened that the very thieves who had robbed the Kou house were now gathered on the west side of the ruined temple, dividing their spoils. One of them, catching sight of the four pilgrims, cried, "These are the four monks we saw off yesterday! They may have some silver on them — let's rob them into the bargain!" Greedy for gain, the thieves let out a great shout, charged onto the road, and lined up across it, weapons in hand. The leader of the band roared, "Monks! Hand over your road-toll quick, and we may spare your lives!" At the sight, the Tang Monk trembled all over. Wukong, pretending to be afraid, said, "Do not be hasty. There is a precious cassock and some silver in my bundle — take it all."

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