The Journey to the West, Revised Edition, Volume 3

by Unknown

  As he sat there all by himself enduring his agonies, the elder suddenly heard a loud noise near him. He was so startled that he jumped up, and then he saw that Pilgrim Sun was kneeling on one side of the road, his two hands holding high a porcelain cup. “Master,” he said, “without old Monkey, you don’t even have water. This is a cup of nice, cool water. Drink it to relieve your thirst, and let me then go beg some food for you.” “I won’t drink your water!” replied the elder. “If I die of thirst on the spot, I’ll consider this my martyrdom! I don’t want you anymore! Leave me!” “Without me,” said Pilgrim, “you can’t go to the Western Heaven.”

  “Whether I can or not,” said Tripitaka, “is no business of yours! Lawless ape! Why are you bothering me again?” Changing his color all at once, that Pilgrim became incensed and shouted at the elder, “You cruel bonze! How you humiliate me!” He threw away the porcelain cup and slammed the iron rod on the back of the elder, who fainted immediately on the ground. Picking up the two blue woolen wraps, the monkey mounted his cloud somersault and went off to some place.

  We now tell you about Eight Rules, who went to the south slope of the mountain with his almsbowl. As he passed the fold of the mountain, a thatched hut, the sight of which had been blocked previously by the mountain, came into view. He walked up to it and discovered that this was some sort of human residence. Idiot thought to himself, “I have such an ugly face. They will no doubt be afraid of me and refuse to give me any food. I must use transformation . . .”

  Dear Idiot! Making the magic sign with his fingers, he recited a spell and shook his body seven or eight times. At last he changed into a yellowish, consumptive monk, still rather stoutish. Moaning and groaning, he staggered up to the door and called out: “Patron,

  If your kitchen has surplus rice,

  Let it starved wayfarers suffice.

  This humble cleric is from the Land of the East, on his way to seek scriptures in the Western Heaven. My master, now sitting by the road, is hungry and thirsty. If you have any cold rice or burnt crusts, I beg you to give us some.”

  Now, the men of the household, you see, had all gone to plant the fields, and only two women remained behind. They had just finished cooking lunch and filled two large bowls with rice to be sent to the fields, while some rice and crusts were still in the pot. When they saw his sickly appearance, and when they heard all that muttering about going to the Western Heaven from the Land of the East, they thought that he was babbling because of his illness. Afraid, moreover, that he might fall dead right before their door, the women hurriedly packed the almsbowl with the leftovers, crust and all, which Idiot gladly received. After he left on the road from which he came, he changed back into his original form.

  As he proceeded, he heard someone calling, “Eight Rules!” Raising his head, he found that it was Sha Monk, standing on a cliff and shouting, “Come this way! Come this way!” Then he leaped down from the cliff and approached Eight Rules, saying, “There’s lovely, clean water here in the brook. Why didn’t you bail some? Where did you run off to?” “When I reached here,” said Eight Rules, chuckling, “I saw a house in the fold of the mountain. I went there and succeeded in begging from them this bowl of dried rice.” “We can use that,” said Sha Monk, “but Master is terribly thirsty. How can we bring back some water?” “That’s easy,” replied Eight Rules. “Fold up the hem of your robe, and we’ll use that to hold the rice. I’ll take the alms-bowl to bail some water.”

  In great spirits, the two of them went back to the spot by the road, where they saw Tripitaka lying down with his face hugging the earth. The reins were loosened, and the white horse was rearing up and neighing repeatedly by the road. The pole with the luggage, however, was nowhere to be seen. Eight Rules was so shaken that he stamped his feet and beat his breast, shouting, “This has to be it! This has to be it! The cohorts of those bandits whom Pilgrim Sun beat to death must have returned to kill Master and take the luggage.” “Let’s tie up the horse first,” said Sha Monk, and then he too began to shout: “What shall we do? What shall we do? This is truly the failure that comes in midway!” As he turned to call but once “Master,” tears streamed down his face and he wept bitterly. “Brother,” said Eight Rules, “stop crying. When we have reached this stage of affairs, let’s not talk about that scripture business. You watch over Master’s corpse, and let me ride to some village store in whatever county or district nearby and see if I can buy a coffin. Let’s bury Master and then we can disperse.”

  Unwilling, however, to give up on his master, Sha Monk turned the Tang Monk over on his back and put his own face up to the corpse’s face. “My poor master!” he wailed, and presently, the elder’s mouth and nose began to belch hot air as a little warmth could also be felt on his chest. “Eight Rules,” cried Sha Monk hurriedly, “come over here. Master’s not dead!” Our Idiot approached them and lifted up the elder, who woke up slowly, groaning all the time. “You lawless ape!” he exclaimed. “You’ve just about struck me dead!” “Which ape is this?” asked both Sha Monk and Eight Rules, and the elder could do nothing more than to sigh. Only after he drank several gulps of water did he say, “Disciples, soon after both of you left, that Wukong came to bother me again. Because I adamantly refused to take him back, he gave me a blow with his rod and took away our blue woolen wraps.”

  When Eight Rules heard this, he clenched his teeth as fire leaped up from his heart. “This brazen ape!” he said. “How could he be so insolent? Sha Monk, you look after Master and let me go to his home to demand the wraps.” “Stop being so angry,” said Sha Monk. “We should take Master to that house in the fold of the mountain and beg for some hot liquids to warm up the rice we managed to get just now. Let’s take care of Master first before you go look for him.”

  Eight Rules agreed; after having helped their master to mount up, they held the almsbowl and carried the cold rice up to the house’s door, where they found only an old woman inside. Seeing them, she quickly wanted to hide. Sha Monk pressed his palms together and said, “Old Mama, we are those from the Land of the East sent by the Tang court to go to the Western Heaven. Our master is somewhat indisposed, and that is why we have come here especially to your house to beg some hot tea or water, so that he may eat some rice.” “Just now,” said the old woman, “there was a consumptive monk who claimed to have been sent from the Land of the East. We have already given him some food. How is it that you are also from the Land of the East? There’s no one in the house. Please go to someplace else.” On hearing this, the elder held onto Eight Rules and dismounted. Then he bent low and said, “Old Popo, I had originally three disciples, who were united in their efforts to accompany me to see Buddha for scriptures at the Great Thunderclap Monastery in India. My eldest disciple, whose name is Sun Wukong, has unfortunately practiced violence all his life and refused to follow the virtuous path. For this reason, I banished him. Little did I expect him to return in secret and give my back a blow with his rod. He even took our luggage and our clothing. I must now send a disciple to go find him and ask for our things, but the open road is no place to sit. Hence we have come to ask your permission to use your house as a temporary resting place. As soon as we get back our luggage, we’ll leave, for we dare not linger.”

  “But there was a yellowish, consumptive monk just now,” said the old woman, “who received our food. He also claimed to be part of a pilgrimage going to the Western Heaven from the Land of the East. How could there be so many of you?” Unable to restrain his giggles, Eight Rules said, “That was I. Because I have this long snout and huge ears, I was afraid that your family might be frightened and refuse me food. That was why I changed into the form of that monk. If you don’t believe me, just take a look at what my brother’s carrying in the fold of his robe. Isn’t that your rice, crust and all?”

  When the old woman saw that it was indeed the rice that she had given him, she no longer refused them and asked them to go inside and take a seat. She then prepared a pot of hot tea, which she ga
ve to Sha Monk for him to mix with the rice. After the master had eaten several mouthfuls, he felt more calm and said, “Which of you will go ask for the luggage?” “In that year when Master sent him back there,” said Eight Rules, “I went to look for him. So I know the way to his Flower-Fruit Mountain and the Water-Curtain Cave. Let me go! Let me go!” “You can’t go!” replied the elder. “That monkey has never been friendly with you, and you are so rough with your words. A tiny slip when you talk to him and he may want to attack you. Let Wujing go.”

  “I’ll go! I’ll go!” said Sha Monk agreeably, whereupon the elder gave him this further instruction: “You must size up the situation as soon as you get there. If he’s willing to give you our wraps, just pretend to thank him and take them. If he’s unwilling, be sure not to argue or fight with him. Go directly to the Bodhisattva’s place at the South Sea and tell her everything. Ask the Bodhisattva to demand the luggage from him.” After he had listened most attentively, Sha Monk said to Eight Rules, “When I’m gone, you must not be slack in your care of Master. And don’t cause any mischief in this family, for I fear that they would not serve you rice then. I’ll be back soon.” “I know,” said Eight Rules, nodding. “But you must come back quickly, whether you succeed or not in getting our things back. I don’t want something to happen like ‘Hauling firewood with a pointed pole: you lose at both ends’!” And so, Sha Monk made the magic sign and mounted the cloudy luminosity to head for the East Pūrvavideha Continent. Truly,

  Body’s here but spirit has flown its lodge.

  How could fireless oven heat elixir?

  Yellow Dame leaves her lord to seek Metal Squire;

  Wood Mother bids a teacher in sickly looks.

  This journey’s of unknown returning date,

  A time, hard to surmise, of coming home.

  Five Phases work no smooth conquest or growth.

  Wait till Mind Monkey reenters the pass.4

  Only after he had traveled in the air for three nights and days did Sha Monk finally reach the Great Eastern Ocean. As the sound of waves reached his ears, he lowered his head and saw that

  Black fog swelling skyward makes the dark air dense;

  The brine holds the sun to chill the light of dawn.

  He was, of course, too preoccupied to enjoy the scenery. Passing the immortal island of Yingzhou, he hurried toward the Flower-Fruit Mountain, riding on the oceanic wind and tide.

  After a long while, he saw towering peaks jutting up like rows of halberds and sheer cliffs like hanging screens. He dropped down on the highest summit and began to search for his way to the Water-Curtain Cave. As he drew near his destination, he began to hear a noisy din made by countless monkey spirits living in the mountain. Sha Monk walked closer and found Pilgrim Sun sitting high on a rock terrace, his two hands holding up a piece of paper from which he was reading aloud the following statement:

  Emperor Li, King of the Great Tang in the Land of the East, now commands the sage monk, Chen Xuanzang, royal brother before the throne and master of the Law, to go to India in the West, and ask for scriptures in all sincerity from the Buddhist Patriarch, Tathāgata, in the Great Thunderclap Monastery on the Spirit Mountain.

  Because of grave illness invading our body, our soul departed for the region of Hades. It was our good fortune to have our life span unexpectedly lengthened, and the Kings of Darkness kindly returned us to life. Whereupon we convened a vast and goodly assembly to erect a Plot of the Way for the redemption of the dead. We were indebted to the salvific and woe-dispelling Bodhisattva Guanshiyin, who appeared to us in her golden form and revealed that there were both Buddha and scriptures in the West, which could deliver and redeem the lost souls of the dead. We have, therefore, commissioned Xuanzang, master of the Law, to traverse a thousand mountains in order to acquire such scriptures. When he reaches the various states of the Western region, we hope that they will not destroy such goodly affinity and allow him to pass through on the basis of this rescript.

  This is an imperial document promulgated on an auspicious day in the autumn of the thirteenth year in the Zhenguan reign period of the Great Tang.

  Since leaving my5 noble nation, I have passed through several countries, and in midjourney, I have made three disciples: the eldest being Pilgrim Sun Wukong, the second being Zhu Wuneng Eight Rules, and the third being Sha Wujing Monk.

  After he read it aloud once, he started again from the beginning. When Sha Monk realized that it was the travel rescript, he could no longer contain himself. Drawing near, he shouted: “Elder Brother, this is Master’s rescript. Why are you reading it like that?” When that Pilgrim heard this, he raised his head but could not recognize Sha Monk. “Seize him! Seize him!” he yelled. The other monkeys immediately had Sha Monk surrounded; pulling and tugging at him, they hauled him before that Pilgrim, who bellowed, “Who are you, that you dare approach our immortal cave without permission?”

  When Sha Monk saw how he had changed color and refused to recognize his own, he had little choice but to bow low and say, “Let me inform you, Elder Brother. Our master previously was rather impetuous and wrongly put the blame on you. He even cast the spell on you several times and banished you home. Your brothers did not really try to pacify Master for one thing, and for another, we soon had to look for water and beg for food because of Master’s hunger and thirst. We didn’t expect you to come back with all your good intentions. When you took offense at Master’s adamant refusal to take you in again, you struck him down, left him fainted on the ground, and took the luggage. After we rescued him, I was sent to plead with you. If you no longer hate Master, and if you can recall his previous kindness in giving you freedom, please give us back the luggage and return with me to see Master. We can go to the Western Heaven together and accomplish the right fruit. But if your animosity is deep and you are unwilling to leave with me, please give me back the wraps at least. You can enjoy your old age in this mountain, and you will have done at the same time all of us a very good turn.”

  When he heard these words, that Pilgrim laughed scornfully and said, “Worthy Brother, what you said makes little sense to me. I struck the Tang Monk and I took the luggage not because I didn’t want to go to the West, nor because I loved to live in this place. I’m studying the rescript at the moment precisely because I want to go to the West all by myself to ask Buddha for the scriptures. When I deliver them to the Land of the East, it will be my success and no one else’s. Those people of the South Jambūdvīpa Continent will honor me then as their patriarch and my fame will last for all posterity.”

  “You have spoken amiss, Elder Brother,” said Sha Monk, smiling, “Why, we have never heard anyone speaking of ‘Pilgrim Sun seeking scriptures’! When our Buddha Tathāgata created the three canons of true scriptures, he also told the Bodhisattva Guanyin to find a scripture pilgrim in the Land of the East. Then she wanted us to traverse a thousand hills and search through many states as protectors of that pilgrim. The Bodhisattva once told us that the scripture pilgrim was originally Tathāgata’s disciple, whose religious designation was the Elder Gold Cicada. Because he failed to listen attentively to a lecture of the Buddhist Patriarch, he was banished from the Spirit Mountain to be reborn in the Land of the East. He was then instructed to bear the right fruit in the West by cultivating once more the great Way. Since it was preordained that he should encounter many demonic obstacles in his journey, we three were liberated so that we might become his guardians. If Elder Brother does not wish to accompany the Tang Monk in his quest, which Buddhist Patriarch would be willing to impart to you the scriptures? Haven’t you dreamed up all this in vain?”

  “Worthy Brother,” said that Pilgrim, “you’ve always been rather blockish! You know one thing, but you fail to perceive another. You claim that you have a Tang Monk who needs both of us to protect him. Do you really think that I don’t have a Tang Monk? I have already selected here a truly enlightened monk, who will go acquire the scriptures and old Monkey will only help him. Is there anything w
rong with that? We have, in fact, decided that we’ll begin the journey tomorrow. If you don’t believe me, let me show you.” He then cried: “Little ones, ask the old master to come out quickly please.” The little fiends indeed ran inside and led out a white horse, followed by a Tripitaka Tang, an Eight Rules poling the luggage, and a Sha Monk carrying the priestly staff.

  Enraged by the sight, Sha Monk cried, “Old Sand here changes neither his name when he walks nor his surname when he sits. How could there be another Sha Monk? Don’t be impudent! Have a taste of my staff!”

  Dear Sha Monk! Lifting high his fiend-routing staff with both his hands, he killed the specious Sha Monk with one blow on the head. He was actually a monkey spirit. That Pilgrim, too, grew angry; wielding his golden-hooped rod, he led the other monkeys and had Sha Monk completely surrounded. Charging left and right, Sha Monk managed to fight his way out of the encirclement. As he fled for his life by mounting the cloud and fog, he said to himself: “This brazen ape is such a rogue! I’m going to see the Bodhisattva to tell on him!” When that Pilgrim saw that the Sha Monk had been forced to flee, he did not give chase. He went back to his cave instead and told his little ones to have the dead monkey skinned. Then his meat was taken to be fried and served as food along with coconut and grape wines. After they had their meal, that Pilgrim selected another monkey monster who knew transformation to change into a Sha Monk. He again gave them instructions on how to go to the West, and we shall leave them for the moment.

  Once Sha Monk had left the Eastern Ocean by mounting the clouds, he reached the South Sea after journeying for a day and night. As he sped forward, he saw the Potalaka Mountain approaching, and he stopped his cloud to look around. Marvelous place it was! Truly