The Journey to the West, Revised Edition, Volume 3

by Unknown

  Walking up to her and bowing, Pilgrim said, “Greetings!” “This insolent imp!” barked the lady. “How brash could he be! During the time when I shared the glory with the Scarlet-Purple ruler, those grand preceptors and prime ministers would prostrate themselves before me and dared not even raise their heads. How could this wild fiend just address me with a ‘Greetings’? Where did this rustic boor come from?”

  Some of the maids went forward and said, “Madam, please do not be angry. He is a trusted junior officer of Father Great King, and his name is Going and Coming. He was the one sent to deliver the declaration of war this morning.” On hearing this, the lady suppressed her anger and said, “When you delivered the declaration, did you reach the Scarlet-Purple Kingdom?” “I took the declaration,” replied Pilgrim, “straight into the capital, reaching, in fact, the Hall of the Golden Chimes. After I saw the king in person, I took his reply back here.”

  “When you saw the king,” said the lady, “what did he have to say?” Pilgrim said, “He claimed he was ready to fight, and just now, I have already told the great king about how the enemy forces were being disposed. That ruler, however, also expressed great longing for Madam. He wanted to convey a few words of special interest to you, but there are too many people around and I can’t speak here.”

  On hearing this, the lady shouted for the two rows of vixen and deer to leave. After he closed the palace door, Pilgrim gave his own face a wipe and changed back into his original form. He said to the lady, “Don’t be afraid of me. I am a priest sent by the Great Tang in the Land of the East to go seek scriptures from Buddha in the Thunderclap Monastery of India in the Great Western Heaven. My master is Tripitaka Tang, the bond-brother of the Tang emperor, and I am Sun Wukong, his eldest disciple. When we passed through your kingdom and had to have our travel rescript certified, we saw a royal proclamation issued for the recruitment of physicians. I exercised my great ability in the therapeutic arts, and I cured the king of his illness of ardent longing. During the banquet he gave to thank me, he told me while we were drinking about how you were abducted by the fiend. Since I have the knowledge of subduing dragons and taming tigers, he asked me specially to come arrest the fiend and rescue you back to the kingdom. It was I who defeated the vanguard, and it was I, too, who slew the little fiend. When I saw, however, how powerful the fiend was outside the gate, I changed myself into the form of Going and Coming in order to take the risk of contacting you here.”

  On hearing what he said, the lady fell silent. Whereupon Pilgrim took out the treasure bracelets and presented them with both hands, saying, “If you don’t believe me, take a good look at these objects.”

  The moment she saw them, the lady began to weep, as she left her seat to bow to Pilgrim, saying, “Elder, if you could indeed rescue me and take me back to the kingdom, I would never forget your great favor!”

  “Let me ask you,” said Pilgrim, “what sort of a treasure that is that releases fire, smoke, and sand?” “It’s no treasure!” replied the lady. “They are actually three golden bells. When he gives the first bell one wave, he can release up to three thousand feet of fire to burn people. When he waves the second one, he can release three thousand feet of smoke to fumigate people. When he waves the third one, he can release three thousand feet of yellow sand to confound people. The smoke and the fire are not even as potent as the yellow sand, which is most poisonous. If it gets into someone’s nostrils, the person will die.” “Formidable! Formidable!” said Pilgrim. “I had the experience, all right, and even I had to sneeze a couple of times! Where, I wonder, does he put these bells?”

  “You think he’d put them down!” said the lady. “He has them tied to his waist, and whether he is in or out of doors, whether he is up or lying down, they’ll never leave his body.” “If you still have some feelings for the Scarlet-Purple Kingdom,” said Pilgrim, “if you want to see the king once more, you must banish for the moment all sorrow and melancholy. Put on your looks of pleasure and romance, and allow him to enjoy with you the sentiments of wedlock. Tell him to let you keep the bells for him. Then, when I have stolen them and brought this fiendish creature into submission, it will be simple to take you back to your dear mate so that both of you can enjoy peace and harmony once more.” The lady agreed.

  Our Pilgrim changed again into that trusted junior officer and opened the palace door to summon the various maids. Then the lady called out, “Going and Coming, go to the pavilion in front quickly and ask the great king to come here. I want to speak to him.” Dear Pilgrim! He shouted his consent and dashed out to the Skinning Pavilion to say to the monster-spirit, “Great King, Lady Sage Palace desires your company.” Delighted, the fiend king said, “Normally our lady has nothing but abuse for me. How is it that she desires my company today?” “Our lady,” replied Pilgrim, “asked me about the ruler of the Scarlet-Purple Kingdom, and I told her, ‘He doesn’t want you anymore. He has chosen another queen from among his subjects.’ When our lady heard this, she had to stop thinking about him, and that was why she asked for you.” Exceedingly pleased, the fiend king said, “You are quite useful! When I have destroyed that kingdom, I’ll appoint you a special court assistant.”

  Thanking him casually for his promised favor, Pilgrim walked quickly with the fiend king to the entrance of the rear palace, where the lady met them amiably and reached out with her hands to greet the monster. Backing off immediately and bowing, the fiend king said, “I’m honored! I’m honored! Thank you for your love, but I’m afraid of the pain in my hands, and I dare not touch you.” “Please take a seat, Great King,” said the lady, “for I want to speak to you.” “Please do so without hesitation,” replied the fiend king.

  The lady said, “It has been three years since you first bestowed your love on me. Though we have not been able to share a bed together, it is still our foreordained affinity that we should become husband and wife. I think, however, that you must have some sentiments against me, and you are not treating me truly as your spouse. For I can recall the time when I was queen at the Scarlet-Purple Kingdom. Whenever the foreign nations presented their tributary treasures, the queen was asked to keep them after the king had inspected them. You have hardly any treasures here, of course; what you wear are furs, and what you eat are raw meats. I haven’t seen any silks or damasks, any gold or pearls. All our coverings are only skins and furs. You may have some treasures, I suppose, but the distance you feel toward me prevents you from letting me see them or asking me to keep them for you. I have heard that you have some kind of bells or gongs—three of them, in fact—which, I suppose, must be treasures. Or else why would you keep them with you when you are walking or when you are seated? You should let me keep them for you, and when you need them, I can take them out. After all, we are husband and wife, and you should at least show me some trust. If you don’t, you must feel that I’m still an outsider!”

  Breaking into loud guffaws as he bowed to her, the fiend king said, “Madam, your reprimands are just! Your reprimands are just! The treasures are right here. Today, I turn them over to you for safekeeping.” He at once hitched up his clothes to take out the treasures. With unblinking eyes on one side, Pilgrim saw that after the fiend had hitched up two or three layers of clothing, he had tied to his body three small bells. These he took down and, having stuffed some cotton into the mouths of the bells, had them wrapped up in a piece of leopard skin before he handed them over to the lady. “Though these are lowly objects,” he said, “you must guard them with care. Never shake or rattle them.” Taking them over with her hands, the lady said, “I know. I’ll put them right here on my dressing table. No one will shake them.”

  Then the lady said, “Little ones, prepare us some wine. I want to drink a few cups with the great king to celebrate our happiness and love.” On hearing this, the servant girls at once spread out a table full of vegetables and fruits and laden with venison and rabbit meat. After they poured out some coconut wine, the lady put on her most seductive charms to deceive the
monster-spirit.

  On the side Pilgrim Sun also began his work; slipping slowly up to the dresser, he gently picked up those three golden bells before he inched his way out of the palace. When he arrived at an empty spot before the Skinning Pavilion, he opened up the leopard skin wrap to look at the contents. The middle bell was about the size of a tea mug, while the two on both ends were as big as fists. Not knowing how formidable these objects were, he yanked out the cotton. All he heard was a loud clang, and then the flame, the smoke, and the yellow sand poured out from the bells. He tried desperately to stuff the cotton back into the bells but to no avail. Instantly, flames leaped up and engulfed the pavilion.

  Those monsters and fiends were so terrified that they rushed into the rear palace to report to the fiend king, who shouted, “Go put out the fire! Go put out the fire!” When he dashed out with the rest to the pavilion, he saw Going and Coming with the golden bells in his hands. “You wretched slave!” bellowed the fiend king, rushing up to him. “How dare you steal my treasure bells and mess with them here? Seize him! Seize him!” Those tiger warriors, bear commanders, leopard captains, striped-cat marshals, brown elephants, grey wolves, clever deer, sly hare, long serpents, huge pythons, and the chimpanzee all mobbed the pavilion.

  Terribly flustered, our Pilgrim dropped the bells and changed back into his original form. Whipping out his golden-hooped compliant rod, he plunged into the crowd and fought furiously. After the fiend king had put away his treasures, he shouted the order: “Shut the front door!” On hearing this, some of the fiends went to shut the door while others surrounded Pilgrim to do battle. Suspecting that it would be difficult for him to flee, Pilgrim put away his rod and, with one shake of his body, changed himself into a tiny fly which alighted on one of the stone walls that was not burning. When the various fiends could not find him, they said, “Great King, the thief has escaped!”

  “Did he walk out of the door?” asked the fiend king. “The front door is firmly bolted,” they replied. “He hasn’t left that way.” “Then search carefully!” said the fiend king. Some of the fiends put out the fire with water, while others conducted a careful search all around, but there was not a trace of the thief.

  “Who is the thief,” said the fiend king angrily, “who is so audacious that he dared change into the shape of Going and Coming, come in here to speak to me, and stay by my side until he found the chance to steal my treasures? It’s a good thing that he didn’t take the bells out of the cave. If he had taken them up to the summit and had exposed them to natural wind, I wouldn’t know what to do!”

  “It’s partly the profound luck of the Great King,” said the tiger general, approaching him, “and partly the fact that we are not yet destined to perish. That’s why we were able to discover him in time.” “Great King,” said the bear commander, “this thief is not just any other person. He must be that Sun Wukong who has defeated our vanguard. He probably ran into Going and Coming on the way and took our officer’s life. After he robbed him of his yellow banner, brass gong, and nameplate, he changed into his appearance to come here and deceive you.” “Exactly! Exactly!” said the fiend king. “What you say is quite right! Little ones, continue the search, and be careful that you do not let him slip out the door.” So, that was how things stood:

  A clever move has turned to folly;

  A playful act becomes something real.

  We do not know how Pilgrim Sun managed to escape from the fiend’s door; let’s listen to the explanation in the next chapter.

  SEVENTY-ONE

  By a false name Pilgrim defeats the fiendish wolf;

  In epiphany Guanyin subdues the monster-king.

  Form’s emptiness, that’s ancient truth;

  Emptiness, too, is so-called form.

  If one fully knows Chan’s emptiness-form,

  Who needs cinnabar ground and burnt?

  Don’t slack in work on virtue and act;

  Your labor requires bitter toil.

  You will face Heaven when merit’s fulfilled

  With godly features e’er preserved.1

  We tell you now about that Jupiter’s Rival, who ordered all the front and back doors tightly shut in order to search for Pilgrim. All the commotion lasted until dusk, but not a trace of the intruder could be found. Taking a seat in the Skinning Pavilion, the fiend king assembled the rest of the fiends and gave the order that guards were to be posted at all the doors, holding handbells and shouting passwords, beating drums and rattles. Every one of them was to put the arrow to the bow and go on patrol through the night with drawn swords. However, the Great Sage Sun, you see, had changed into a tiny fly and alighted on a doorpost. When he saw that the front was tightly guarded, he spread his wings and flew instead into the rear palace, where he found the Lady Golden Sage slumped on a table.

  In clear drops the tears rolled down;

  In low tones she voiced her grief.

  Flying through the door, Pilgrim gently landed on her disheveled black tresses to listen to how she was weeping. In a little while, the lady suddenly cried out, “O, my lord! You and I must have burned

  The broken-head incense2 in our former lives,

  So that we meet in this one a fiend king.

  Parted for three years, which day will we meet?

  Stranded at two places—that is our grief.

  The elder you sent has just conveyed the news;

  Our union’s thwarted when he lost his life.

  Since it’s hard to untie the bells of gold,

  Our longings are keener than those of old.”

  When Pilgrim heard this, he moved up to the base of her ear and whispered, “Lady Sage Palace, I’m Elder Sun, the divine monk sent here by your country, and I haven’t lost my life. What happened had to do with my impetuousness. When you were drinking with the fiend king, I approached the dresser and stole the golden bells. I managed to slip out to the pavilion in front, but I couldn’t resist untying the wrap to take a look. Little did I realize that when I pulled out the cotton stuffed in the bells, smoke, fire, and yellow sand would pour out all at once with a clang. I was so flustered that I dropped the bells and changed back into my original form. I wielded my iron rod to wage a bitter battle, but when I couldn’t break free, I feared that I might be harmed. That was why I changed into a tiny fly to fly up to a doorpost and hide until now. Now the fiend king is guarding the place more tightly than ever and refuses to open the doors. You must, therefore, trick him, in the name of conjugal duties, into coming in here to rest. Then I’ll be able to escape and make another plan to rescue you.” The moment the lady heard these words,

  She shook all over

  As if gods were pulling her hair;

  Weak and fearful,

  She felt her heart thump and pound.

  “Are you,” she asked tearfully, “a ghost or a human being?” “I’m neither a human,” replied Pilgrim, “nor am I a ghost. At the moment, I have changed into a tiny fly here. Don’t be afraid. Go quickly and invite the fiend king to come.” The lady refused to believe him. Shedding tears, she said softly, “You’re not trying to bewitch me?” “Why would I want to bewitch you?” said Pilgrim. “If you don’t believe me, spread open your palm and I’ll land on it for you to see.”

  The lady indeed stretched forth her left palm, and Pilgrim gently alighted on her lovely hand. How he seemed like

  A black pea nailed to the lotus bud;

  A bee resting on peony flower;

  A grape having landed on silk brocade;

  A thick black dot by the lily branch!

  Holding high her jadelike hand, the Golden Sage Palace uttered the cry, “Divine monk!” “I’m the transformation of the divine monk,” answered Pilgrim with a buzz. Only then did the lady believe him.

  “When I manage to get that fiend king here,” she whispered to him, “how will you proceed?” Pilgrim said, “As one ancient person put the matter,

  To ruin one’s whole life there’s only wine.

  And he also
said,

  To break up all cares there’s nothing like wine.3

  There are many uses for wine, and so the best thing you can do is still to make him drink. Summon now one of the maids closest to you and point her out to me. I’ll change into her appearance and serve you by your side. When there’s a chance, I’ll act.”

  The lady indeed agreed, and she called out, “Spring Grace, where are you?” From behind a screen stepped forth a white-faced vixen, who knelt down and said, “Madam, what is your pleasure?” “Tell the rest of the maids,” replied the lady, “to light up gauze lanterns, burn the musk-gland, and accompany me to the front court to ask the king to retire.” Spring Grace at once went out to summon seven or eight deer fiends and vixen spirits, who came in with a pair of lanterns and a pair of portable urns. They stood on both sides of the lady, who arose with hands folded while the Great Sage soared into the air.

  Dear Pilgrim! Spreading his wings, he headed straight for the head of the white-faced vixen. There he pulled off one piece of hair and blew a mouthful of immortal breath on it, crying, “Change!” It changed at once into a sleep-inducing insect, which he gently placed on her face. The moment that this insect reaches a person’s face, you see, it will crawl toward one’s nostril, and when it gets inside, the person will fall asleep. Our Spring Grace, therefore, gradually felt so fatigued that she could hardly remain on her feet. Rocking from side to side and nodding her head, she ran back to her previous resting place, laid down her head, and snored away. Pilgrim flew down and with one shake of his body changed into the form of Spring Grace. He walked out from behind the screen to stand at attention with the rest of the maids, and we shall leave them there for the moment.

  We tell you now about that Lady Golden Sage Palace, who was walking out to the front. When the little fiends saw her, they immediately reported to Jupiter’s Rival: “Great King, Madam has arrived.” The fiend hurried out of the Skinning Pavilion to meet her. “Great King,” said the lady, “the smoke and the fire have subsided, and the thief, too, has vanished. The night is deep, and I have come especially to ask you to retire.”