by Unknown
Three parties together thus feud and strive,
Each showing his talents to try to win.
Seize the bull to plow and gold coins will grow;
Recall hog to stove, and wood breath’s retrieved.
With absent mind, how could one practice Dao?
To make spirit guard home’s to bind the ape.
They brawl and growl
In bitter quest:
Three kinds of weapon thus crackle and clang.
The rake rakes, the swords cut with wicked aim
And with good cause rises the gold-hooped rod.
They fight till stars lose their brightness and the moon its light,
Till the sky’s full of cold fog dense and dark.
Plunging into the battle with fresh courage, the Demon King fought as he moved along. They strove for a whole night but no decision could be reached. By morning, they had arrived at the entrance of the Cloud-Touching Cave of the Hoard-Thunder Mountain. The deafening din created by the three fighters, the local spirit, and the band of ghost soldiers soon alerted the Princess Jade Countenance, who asked the maids to see who was making all the racket. The little fiends came back to report: “It’s the sire of our family fighting with the fellow who came here yesterday, the one who had a thunder-god beak. Joining the battle are also a monk with long snout and huge ears and the local spirit of the Mountain of Flames with his followers.”
When she heard this, Princess Jade Countenance at once summoned the captains, young and old, of the external guards and ordered them to give armed assistance to her husband. The various soldiers, tall and short, that they managed to call up numbered over a hundred, all of them eager to show off their vigor. Gripping lances and waving rods, they swarmed out of the door, shouting, “Sire Great King, by the order of Madam, we have come to assist you.” Highly pleased, the Bull King said, “Welcome! Welcome!” The fiends rushed forward to attack. Taken completely by surprise, Eight Rules could not fend off so many opponents and he fled in defeat, his rake trailing behind him. The Great Sage too mounted his cloud somersault to leap free of the encirclement, and the various ghost soldiers immediately scattered. Having thus achieved his victory, the old Bull gathered back the various fiends to return to the cave and to shut the door tightly, where we shall leave them for the moment.
We tell you now about Pilgrim, who, after getting away, said to Eight Rules and the local spirit, “This fellow’s very tough! Since about the hour of shen2 yesterday, he fought with old Monkey until nightfall and we couldn’t reach a decision. Then the two of you arrived to relieve me. But after we went through the bitter struggle of half a day and one whole night, he still didn’t seem to tire very much. And the band of little fiends who came out just now also appeared to be quite tough. Now that he has shut his door tightly and refused to come out, what shall we do?”
“Elder Brother,” said Eight Rules, “you left Master yesterday in the morning. How was it that you didn’t start fighting with him until some time in the afternoon? Where were you during those few hours in between?”
Pilgrim said, “Since I left you people, I was on this mountain in an instant. I ran into a young woman whom I saluted, and she turned out to be the Princess Jade Countenance, his beloved concubine. I gave her a scare with my iron rod, and she ran into the cave to bring out the Bull King, who harangued old Monkey for some time before we began to fight. After about two hours, someone came to invite him to a banquet. I followed him to the Green Wave Lagoon at the Scattered-Rocks Mountain, where I spied on him and his hosts by changing into a crab. I then succeeded in stealing his water-repellent golden-eyed beast and took on the appearance of the Bull King. Returning to the Palm-Leaf Cave on the Jade Cloud Mountain, I fooled Rākṣasī and wangled the fan from her. After leaving her door, I tried to work the magic: the fan was enlarged all right, but I forgot to ask her for the formula to make it small again. As I journeyed back carrying the fan on my shoulder, the Bull King met me, having assumed your features, and wangled the fan back. That’s what happened during all that time.”
Eight Rules said, “It’s like what the proverb says,
A bean-curd boat capsized in the ocean3—
In liquid they come,
In water they go!
If it’s so difficult to get his fan, how can we help Master cross this mountain? Let’s go back, find another way, and scat!”
“Please don’t be anxious, Great Sage,” said the local spirit, “and you shouldn’t slacken, Heavenly Reeds. When you mention finding another way, you are bound to fall into heterodoxy, and you are no longer someone concerned with the proper method of cultivation. As the ancients said, where can one walk but on the main road? How can you possibly think of finding another way? Remember your master, now sitting with bulging eyes by the road and waiting for you to succeed!”
Growing vehement, Pilgrim said, “Exactly! Exactly! Don’t talk nonsense, Idiot! What the local spirit said is quite right. With that demon we are just about to
Wage a contest
And try our gifts.
Let me exploit my vast transforming powers.
Since coming West I’ve ne’er met a true foe,
For Bull King in fact was from Mind Monkey changed.
Now’s the best time for us to meet the source.
We must fight to borrow the treasure fan.
With pure and cool
To snuff the flames,
The stubborn void smashed, we’ll see Buddha’s face.
Merit fulfilled we’ll rise to ultimate bliss:
We’ll all then attend Buddha’s Birthday Feast!”
Greatly inspired by these words he heard, Eight Rules exerted himself even more and replied earnestly:
Yes! Yes! Yes!
Go! Go! Go!
Who cares if the Bull King says yes or no!
Wood’s born at Boar,4 the hog’s its proper mate,
Who’ll lead back the Bull to return to earth.
Monkey is the metal born under shen:
Peaceful and docile, how harmonious!
Use the palm-leaf
As water’s sign.
When flames are extinct, Completion’s attained.5
In hard work we persist both night and day
And rush, merit done, to Ullambana Feast.
Leading the local spirit and the ghost soldiers, the two of them rushed forward and, with their muckrake and iron rod, smashed to pieces the front door of the Cloud-Touching Cave. The captain of the external guards was so terrified that he dashed inside to make his report, trembling all over: “Great King, Sun Wukong has led a crowd to break down our front door!”
The Bull King was just telling the Princess Jade Countenance all that had taken place and how deeply he hated Pilgrim. When he heard that his front door had been broken down, he became enraged. Putting on his armor hurriedly, he took up the iron rod and came out. “Wretched ape!” he expostulated as he emerged. “How big do you think you are, that you let loose such violence here and break down my door?” Eight Rules rushed forward and roared, “You old carcass! What sort of a person are you that you dare measure someone else? Don’t run away! Watch my rake!” “An overgorged coolie like you,” shouted the Bull King, “isn’t that impressive! Tell that monkey to come up here quickly!” “You stupid grass-eater!” said Pilgrim. “Yesterday, I was still talking to you as a bond-brother, but today you are my enemy. Take care to taste my rod!” Boldly the Bull King met the two of them, and the conflict this time was even more fierce than the last one. Three valiant persons, all tangled together. What a battle!
Muckrake and rod exert their godly might.
They lead ghost soldiers the old bull to fight,
Who displays alone his violent trait
And his magic powers vast as Heaven.
One uses his rake to rake;
One uses his rod to strike;
The heroic iron’s more uncanny still.
Three kinds of weapon make clangorous sounds:
&nbs
p; They block, they parry, they will yield to none.
He claims he’s the first;
He claims he’s on top.
Ghost soldiers, looking on, can’t separate
Wood and earth feuding and darting up and down.
These two say, “Why don’t you lend us the palm-leaf fan?”
That one says, “How dare you be so bold as to trick my wife?
I have yet to avenge my hunted mistress and my son,
When you alarm us some more by breaking our door.”
This one says, “You just watch out for my compliant rod.
One tiny brush and it will tear your skin!”
That one says, “Do try to dodge the rake’s sharp teeth!
One wound will make nine bloody holes!”
Undaunted the Bull Demon lets loose his power;
His iron rod held high, he waits for his chance.
They churn up rain and cloud, going back and forth.
They belch out wind and fog and do as they please.
For this bitter struggle they risk their lives.
They, full of hate, with each other strive.
The stylized limbs
Go up and down;
They cover the front, the back without let up.
Two brothers together now strain and toil;
One man with one rod performs all alone.
From dawn till late morning they fight and fight;
At last the Bull Demon will leave with his hands tied.
With no thought for life or death, the three of them again fought for over one hundred rounds, when Eight Rules, his idiotic nature aroused and strengthened by the magic power of Pilgrim, began to attack madly with his rake. No longer able to ward off the blows, the Bull King fled in defeat and headed straight for the cave’s entrance. Leading the ghost soldiers to bar the way, the local spirit shouted, “King Powerful, where are you fleeing to? We are here!” Unable to enter the cave, the old Bull turned swiftly and saw Eight Rules and Pilgrim rushing toward him. He became so flustered that he abandoned his armor and his iron rod; with one shake of his body, he changed into a swan and flew into the air.
When Pilgrim saw it, he chuckled and said, “Eight Rules, the old Bull’s gone!” That Idiot was completely ignorant of the matter, and the local spirit did not perceive either what had happened. All of them were staring this way and that, madly searching before and behind the Hoard-Thunder Mountain. “Isn’t he up there flying in the air?” said Pilgrim as he pointed with his finger. “That’s a swan,” said Eight Rules. “A transformation of the old Bull,” said Pilgrim. “In that case,” said the local spirit, “what shall we do?” “Fight your way in, the two of you,” said Pilgrim, “and exterminate all those fiends. In short, we’ll break up his lair and cut off his retreat. Let old Monkey go and wage a contest of transformation with him.” Eight Rules and the local spirit followed his instruction and we shall leave them for the moment.
Putting away his golden-hooped rod, the Great Sage shook his body and changed into a Manchurian vulture, which spread its wings and darted up to a hole in the clouds. It then hurtled down and dropped onto the swan, seeking to seize its neck and peck at the eyes. Knowing also that this was a transformation of Pilgrim Sun, the Bull King hurriedly flapped his wings and changed himself into a yellow eagle to attack the vulture. At once Pilgrim changed himself into a black phoenix, the special foe of the yellow eagle. Recognizing him, the Bull King changed next into a white crane which, after a long cry, flew toward the south.
Pilgrim stood still, and shaking his feathers, changed into a scarlet phoenix that uttered a resounding call. Since the phoenix was the ruler of all the birds and fowl, the white crane dared not touch him. Spreading wide his wings, he dived instead down the cliff and changed with one shake of the body into a musk deer, grazing rather timorously before the slope. Recognizing him, Pilgrim flew down also and changed into a hungry tiger which, with wagging tail and flying paws, went after the deer for food. Greatly flustered, the demon king then changed into a huge spotted leopard to attack the tiger. When Pilgrim saw him, he faced the wind and, with one shake of his head, changed into a golden-eyed Asian lion, with a voice like thunder and a head of bronze, which pounced on the huge leopard. Growing even more anxious, the Bull King changed into a large bear, which extended his paws to try to seize the lion. Rolling on the ground, Pilgrim at once turned himself into a scabby elephant, with a trunk like a python and tusks like bamboo shoots. Whipping up his trunk, he tried to catch hold of the bear.
With a loud guffaw, the Bull King then revealed his original form of a gigantic white bull, with a head like a rugged mountain and eyes like bolts of lightning. The two horns were like two iron pagodas, and his teeth were like rows of sharp daggers. From head to toe, he measured more than ten thousand feet, while his height from hoof to neck was about eight hundred.
“Wretched ape!” he roared at Pilgrim. “What will you do with me now?” Pilgrim also changed back to his true form; yanking out his golden-hooped rod, he bent his back and then straightened out, crying, “Grow!” At once he grew to a height of one hundred thousand feet, with a head like Mount Tai, eyes like the sun and the moon, a mouth like a bloody pond, and teeth like doors. Lifting high his iron rod, he brought it down on the bull’s head, and it was met by a pair of flinty horns. This battle truly rocked the ridges and the mountains, alarmed both Heaven and Earth. We have a testimonial poem, and it says:
Dao is one foot, though the demon’s ten thousand feet,
Which clever Mind Monkey must toil to beat.
If one wants the mountain flameless to be,
The treasure fan must bring cold purity.
Yellow Dame’s resolved the elder to uphold;
To clear the fiends Wood Mother makes bold.
Five Phases, peaceful, to right fruit return
And, ascending West, dirt and demons spurn.
Releasing their vast magic powers, the two of them battled in midmountain, and it soon alerted all those deities inhabiting the empty void: the Golden-Headed Guardian, the Six Gods of Darkness and the Six Gods of Light, and the Eighteen Guardians of Monasteries all came to surround the Demon King, who was not the least daunted. Look at him!
He headed east,
He headed west,
With two erect and gleaming iron horns
Charging back and forth;
He bunted north,
He bunted south,
His dark, hairy hard tendonous tail
Whipping left and right.
The Great Sage Sun met him head-on, while the various deities attacked him from all sides. Exasperated, the Bull King rolled on the ground and changed back into his original form to flee to the Palm-Leaf Cave. Changing back to his normal size, Pilgrim also gave chase from behind with the deities. Dashing inside the cave, the Demon King shut the door and refused to come out, while the gods had the Jade Cloud Mountain tightly surrounded.
As they were about to charge the door, they heard the noisy arrival of Eight Rules, the local spirit, and his band of ghost soldiers. When Pilgrim saw them, he asked, “What happened at the Cloud-Touching Cave?” “The mistress of that old Bull,” replied Eight Rules, chuckling, “was killed by one blow of my rake. When I stripped her, she turned out to be a white-faced fox. The rest of the fiends were all donkeys, asses, cows, stallions, badgers, foxes, musk deer, goats, tigers, antelopes, and the like—they have all been wiped out. We set fire also to his cave-dwelling. The local spirit then told me that he has another household in this mountain, and that’s why we’ve come back here to make a clean sweep of them.”
“You have achieved great merit, Worthy Brother,” said Pilgrim. “Congratulations! Old Monkey has waged in vain a contest of transformation with him, for I have not yet achieved a victory. He finally changed into the biggest possible white bull, and I therefore assumed the appearance that imitated Heaven and Earth. As I clashed with him, the various deities were kind enough to descend on us and have him completely surrou
nded. He then changed back into his original form and fled inside the cave.” “Is this that Palm-Leaf Cave?” asked Eight Rules. Pilgrim said, “Indeed it is. This is where Rākṣasī lives.” “In that case,” said Eight Rules, growing more vehement, “why don’t we fight our way in, attack him, and demand from him the fan? Why should we let him wait and get wiser, or let him enjoy the company of his wife?”
Dear Idiot! Rousing his strength, he lifted high his rake and brought it down on the door; with a loud crash, both the door and one side of the ledge collapsed. One of the maids fled into the cave to report, “Sire! Someone has wrecked our front door!” The Bull King had just dashed inside; still panting, he was telling Rākṣasī about how he took the fan from Pilgrim and then waged the contest with him. When he heard the report, he became enraged. Spitting out the fan, he handed it over to Rākṣasī, who, when she received it, began to weep. “Great King,” she said, “let’s give that monkey the fan so that he’ll withdraw his troops.” “Oh Madam,” said the Bull King, “the fan’s a small thing, but my hatred is deep. You sit here, while I go to contend with them once more.”
Putting on his armor again, the demon took up the two treasure swords and walked out. Eight Rules was still using his rake on the door; when the old Bull saw him, he hacked away with his swords without another word. Eight Rules retreated a few steps, protecting himself with the upraised rake. After they left the doorway, the Great Sage immediately joined them with his iron rod. Mounting a violent gust of wind, the Bull Demon leaped clear of the cave-dwelling, and they began a fresh skirmish above the Jade Cloud Mountain, encircled by the many gods, the local spirit, and the band of ghost soldiers. This was again some battle!
Clouds conceal the world;
Mist shrouds the cosmos;
Dark wind blows soughing, sand and rocks roll;
Angry breaths rise up and ocean waves churn.
Two swords are sharpened again;
The whole body’s armed once more.
There’s hatred deep as the sea,
As anger grows from enmity.
Watch the Great Sage, Equal to Heaven who, for merit’s sake,
Rejects now a friend he has known for years.