The Journey to the West, Revised Edition, Volume 2

by Unknown

  Pilgrim indeed went to get a cane for the beating. “You’d better hit me lightly,” said Eight Rules. “If the strokes are even slightly heavy, I’ll yell again that I recognize you.” Pilgrim said, “It’s for the sake of all of you that old Monkey has undergone the transformation. Why did you have to let the truth leak out? All the monster-spirits of this cave can’t recognize me. Why does it have to be you who can recognize me?” “Though you have changed your features,” said Eight Rules, “your ass hasn’t been changed! Aren’t those two patches of red still on your buttocks? That’s why I can recognize you.” Pilgrim slipped out to the kitchen and wiped some soot off the pots to blacken his buttocks before returning to the front. When Eight Rules saw him, he said, chuckling, “This monkey must have gone somewhere to mess around so that he has now come back with a black ass!”

  Pilgrim still remained standing there for he wanted to steal their treasures. Indeed a clever person, he walked up the hall and half-knelt to the fiend, saying, “Great King, look how that Pilgrim Sun is crawling all over the pillar. The yellow-gold rope, I fear, may be ruined by all that rubbing and stretching. We should get something thicker to tie him up.” “You are right,” said the old demon, and he took off a belt with a lion buckle from his own waist to hand to Pilgrim. Taking the belt, Pilgrim fastened his false form to the pillar, but the rope he stuffed instantly into his own sleeve. Then he pulled off another piece of hair, which with one blow of his breath he changed into a fake yellow-gold rope, and which he presented with both hands to the fiend. Eager only for his wine, the fiend did not bother to examine it before putting it away. This is what we mean by

  The Great Sage, ever versatile, displays his skills:

  The hair is now exchanged for the golden rope.

  As soon as he had acquired this treasure, he leaped out the door and changed back into his true form. “Monster!” he shouted. A little fiend guarding the door asked, “Who are you, that you dare shout here?” “Go in quickly,” said Pilgrim, “and report to those lawless demons that a Grimpil Sun is here.” The little fiend indeed made the report as he was told.

  Highly startled, the old demon said, “We have caught Pilgrim Sun already! How is it that there is a Grimpil Sun?” “Elder Brother,” said the second demon, “Why fear him? The treasures are all in our hands. Let me take the gourd out and have him stored up.” “Brother,” said the old demon, “do be careful.” The second demon took out the gourd and walked out the door, where he encountered someone who seemed to be an exact image of Pilgrim Sun but only a little shorter. “Where did you come from?” he asked. Pilgrim said, “I’m the brother of Pilgrim Sun. When I heard that you caught my elder brother, I came to settle the score with you.” “Yes, I caught him all right,” said the second demon, “and he’s locked up in the cave. Now that you have arrived, you want to fight with me, I suppose, but I won’t cross swords with you. Let me call your name once. Do you dare answer me?” “Even if you call me a thousand times, I won’t be afraid,” said Pilgrim. “I’ll answer you ten thousand times!”

  Leaping into the air with his treasure held upside down, the demon called out, “Grimpil Sun!”

  Pilgrim dared not reply, thinking to himself, “If I answer him, I’ll be sucked inside.”

  “Why don’t you answer me?” said the demon.

  “My ears are a little stuffed up,” said Pilgrim, “and I can’t hear you. Call louder.” The fiend indeed shouted, “Grimpil Sun!”

  Squeezing his fingers together to do some calculations down below, Pilgrim thought to himself, “My real name is Pilgrim Sun, but this Grimpil Sun is a fake name that I’ve made up. With the real name I can be sucked inside, but how could it work with a false name?” He could not refrain from answering, and instantly he was sucked into the gourd, which was then sealed by the tape. That treasure, you see, had no regard for whether the name called out was true or false: if one even breathed an answer, one would be sucked inside instantly.

  When the Great Sage arrived inside the gourd, he found only total darkness. He tried to push up with his head but to no avail at all, for whatever was stopping the mouth of the gourd was exceedingly tight. Growing anxious, he thought to himself, “Those two little fiends I met on the mountain at the time told me that if a man was sucked into either the gourd or the vase, he would be reduced to pus in one and three-quarter hours. Could I be dissolved like that?” He thought further to himself, “It’s nothing. I can’t be dissolved! When old Monkey caused great disturbance in the Celestial Palace five hundred years ago and was refined for forty-nine days in the eight-trigram brazier of Laozi, the process in fact gave me a heart strong as gold and viscera hardy as silver, a bronze head and an iron back, fiery eyes and diamond pupils. How could I be reduced to pus in one and three-quarter hours? Let me follow him inside and see what he does.”

  The second demon went inside with the gourd, saying, “Elder Brother, I’ve caught him.” “Caught whom?” asked the old demon. The second demon said, “Grimpil Sun has been stored up in the gourd by me.” Delighted, the old demon said, “Worthy Brother, please take a seat. Don’t move the gourd. We’ll shake it after awhile and we’ll lift the seal only if it swashes.” Hearing this, Pilgrim thought to himself, “If my body remains like this, how could it swash? I have to be reduced to liquid before the gourd can swash when shaken. Let me leave some urine here; when he shakes it and it swashes, he will certainly lift up the seal and I can then beat it!” But he thought again, “No good! No good! The urine can make the noise, but my shirt will be soiled. I’ll wait until he shakes the gourd, and then I’ll spit out a lot of saliva. All that drippy mess will deceive him into lifting the seal, and old Monkey can then escape.” The Great Sage made this preparation, but the fiend was busy drinking and did not try to shake the gourd at all. Devising another plan to deceive them, the Great Sage suddenly cried out, “Heavens! My shanks have dissolved!” The demons did not shake the gourd, and the Great Sage cried out again, “O Mother! Even my pelvic bones are gone!” “When his waist is gone,” said the old demon, “he’s almost finished. Lift up the seal and take a look.”

  When the Great Sage heard this, he pulled off a piece of hair, crying “Change!” It changed into half a body stuck at the bottom of the gourd, while his true self was changed into a tiny insect attached to its mouth. As soon as the second demon lifted up the seal, the Great Sage flew out at once and with a roll changed instantly again into the form of Sea-Lolling Dragon, that little fiend who was sent formerly to fetch the Old Madam. He stood to one side, while the old demon took hold of the gourd and peered inside. Half a body was squirming down below, and he did not wait to determine whether it was genuine or not before he shouted, “Brother, cover it up, cover it up! He hasn’t been completely dissolved yet.” The second demon again taped on the seal, not realizing that the Great Sage on one side was snickering to himself, saying, “You don’t know that old Monkey is right over here!”

  Taking the wine pot, the old demon poured a full cup of wine and presented it with both hands to the second demon, saying, “Worthy Brother, let me toast you with this cup.” The second demon said, “Elder Brother, we have drunk wine for quite a while already. Why do you have to toast me with the cup now?” “It’s no big thing, perhaps, that you caught the Tang Monk, Eight Rules, and Sha Monk,” said the old demon, “but you even managed to tie up Pilgrim Sun and store up Grimpil Sun. For making such great merit, you should be toasted with many cups more.” When the second demon saw how his elder brother sought to honor him, he dared not refuse, but he dared not accept the cup with one hand either, for he was holding the gourd with the other. Quickly passing the gourd to Sea-Lolling Dragon, he then received the cup with both hands. Little did he realize, of course, that Sea-Lolling Dragon was in fact the transformed Pilgrim Sun. Look at him! He waited on the demons with great attentiveness. After the second demon took the wine and drank it, he wanted to return the toast. “No need to toast me,” said the old demon. “Here, I’ll drink a cup with
you.”

  The two of them kept exchanging niceties like that for some time, while Pilgrim, holding the gourd, fixed his eyes on them. When he saw them passing the wine cup back and forth without the slightest regard for what he was doing, he slipped the gourd into his sleeve and used another piece of hair to form a specious gourd exactly the same as the genuine one. The demon, after presenting wine for awhile, took the gourd out of Pilgrim’s hands without bothering to examine it. They sat down at their tables again and continued to drink as before. Having acquired the treasure again, the Great Sage turned and left, highly delighted and saying to himself,

  Though this demon has his wizardry,

  The gourd’s still owned by the Sun family!

  We do not know what he had to do thereafter to exterminate the fiends and rescue his master; let’s listen to the explanation in the next chapter.

  THIRTY-FIVE

  Heresy uses power to oppress the proper Nature;

  Mind Monkey, bagging treasures, conquers deviate demons.

  His nature’s perfect: thus he knows the Way.

  Turning, he leaps clear of the net and snare.

  To learn transformation’s no easy thing,

  Nor is it common to achieve long life.

  Luck changes him to things pure and impure;

  Free of fated kalpas he moves at will.

  For countless aeons he is fancy-free—

  A ray divine fixed always on the void.

  The meaning of this poem, you see, subtly corresponds to the wonders of the Dao attained by the Great Sage Sun. Since he had acquired the true treasure from that demon, he concealed it in his sleeve, saying happily to himself, “Though that lawless demon tries so hard to capture me, his efforts are no better than the attempt to fish the moon out of water. But when old Monkey wants to catch him, it’s as simple as melting ice over fire!” Hiding the gourd, he slipped out the door and changed back into his original form. “Monster spirits,” he shouted, “open the door!” A little fiend said, “Who are you that you dare make noises here?” Pilgrim answered, “Report at once to those old lawless demons that a Sun Pilgrim has arrived.”

  The little fiend dashed inside to make the report, saying, “Great King, there is a so-called Sun Pilgrim showing up outside our door.” “Worthy Brother,” said the old demon, deeply shaken, “that’s bad! We have stirred up a whole nest of pestilence! Look! The yellow-gold rope has caught a Pilgrim Sun, while the gourd has stored up a Grimpil Sun. How can it be that there is another Sun Pilgrim? It must be that they have several brothers and they have all arrived.” “Relax, Elder Brother,” said the second demon. “This gourd of ours can hold up to a thousand people, and we have only one Grimpil Sun inside. Why worry about another Sun Pilgrim? Let me go out and take a look. I’ll store him up also.” “Do be careful, Brother,” said the old demon.

  Look at that second demon! Holding the specious gourd, he walked out the door as resolutely and confidently as before. “Who are you,” he cried, “that you dare make noises around here?” Pilgrim said, “So, you don’t recognize me!

  I lived at Flower-Fruit Mountain.

  My home: the Water-Curtain Cave.

  For disturbing Heaven’s Palace

  I ceased to strive for a long time.

  Lucky to be freed of my woes,

  I left Dao and followed a monk

  To reach, obedient, Thunderclap,

  To seek scriptures and right knowledge.

  When I meet wild, lawless demons,

  I work with my mighty magic.

  Return my monk of Great Tang

  That we go West to see Buddha.

  Our conflict will then be ended,

  And each one can enjoy his peace.

  Don’t stir up old Monkey’s ire,

  Or your stale life will expire!”

  “You come over here for a moment” said the demon, “but I’m not going to fight with you. I’m about to call your name once. You dare answer me?” “If you call me,” said Pilgrim, chuckling, “I’ll answer you. But if I call you, will you answer me?” “I call you,” said that fiend, “only because I have a treasure gourd which can store up people. What do you have that makes you want to call me?” Pilgrim said, “I, too, have a little gourd.” “If you do,” said the fiend, “take it out for me to have a look.” Pilgrim took the gourd out of his sleeve, saying, “Lawless demon, you look!” He waved it once and stuffed it immediately back into his sleeve, for he was afraid that the demon might want to snatch it away.

  When the demon caught sight of the gourd, he was greatly shaken, saying, “Where did that gourd of his come from? How is it that it is exactly like mine? Even if it grew from the same branch, there ought to be some difference in size or shape. How could they be exactly alike?” With complete seriousness, he said, “Sun Pilgrim, where did your gourd come from?” Pilgrim, of course, did not know the history of the gourd, but he turned the question around and asked instead, “Where did yours come from?”

  Not realizing that it was a trick, the demon thought that it was an honest query and he proceeded to give a complete account of its origin, saying, “This gourd of mine came into existence during the time when chaos divided and Heaven and Earth were created. There was then a Supreme Primordial Old Patriarch,1 who through death changed himself into Nüwa and took on her name. She melted stones in order to repair the heavens and save the mundane world. When she reached a crack in the northwest region at the base of the Kunlun Mountain, she discovered a strand of immortal creeper on which was formed this red gourd of purple gold. It is, therefore, something handed down by Laozi until now.” When the Great Sage heard this story, he at once used it as a model for his own account, saying, “My gourd also came from the same spot.” “How so?” asked the demon. “Since the division of the pure and the turbid,” said the Great Sage, “Heaven was incomplete at the northwest corner, and Earth was incomplete in the southeast corner. The Supreme Primordial Daoist Patriarch through death changed himself into Nüwa.2 After she had repaired the heavens, she journeyed to the base of the Kunlun Mountain, where there was a strand of immortal creeper on which two gourds had formed. The one I have is a male, while yours is a female.” The fiend said, “No need to distinguish the sexes; if it can store up people, it’s a good treasure.” “You are right,” said the Great Sage, “I’ll let you try first.”

  Highly pleased, the fiend leaped into the air, held up the gourd, and cried, “Sun Pilgrim!” When he heard the call, the Great Sage replied in one breath eight or nine times without stopping, but nothing happened to him at all. Dropping down from the air, the demon beat his breast and stamped his feet, crying, “Heavens! And we say that only human life has not changed in the world! Even a treasure like this is afraid of her mate: when the female meets the male, it ceases to be effective!”

  “Why don’t you put yours away,” said Pilgrim, laughing, “for it’s old Monkey’s turn to call you.” Swiftly somersaulting into the air, he turned the gourd upside down and took aim at the demon, crying, “Great King Silver Horn!” Not daring to close his mouth, the fiend made his reply, and instantly he was sucked into the gourd, which was then sealed by Pilgrim with the tape bearing the words, “May Laozi Act Quickly According to This Command.” Secretly pleased, Pilgrim said, “My child, you are going to try something new today!”

  He descended from the cloud, holding the gourd, and headed straight for the Lotus-Flower Cave, every thought of his set on rescuing his master. The road on that mountain, you see, was pockmarked with holes, and he, moreover, was somewhat bowlegged. As he scurried along, the gourd was shaken repeatedly, and soon there came from within a loud swashing sound continuously. “How is it that it swashes already?” you ask. The Great Sage, you see, had a body which had been so thoroughly refined that he could not be dissolved speedily. On the other hand, the fiend might know some such paltry magic as mounting the clouds and riding the fog, but he had not been completely delivered from his mortal constitution. The moment he was sucked into t
he treasure, he was dissolved. Pilgrim, however, did not quite believe that that had been the case. “O my child,” he said, laughing, “I don’t know whether you are pissing or gargling! But this sort of business is most familiar to old Monkey. Not until after seven or eight days, when you have become thin liquid, will I lift the cover to look. Why hurry? What’s the rush? When I think of how easily I got out, I wouldn’t spy on you for a thousand years!” As he held the gourd and talked to himself like that, he soon arrived at the entrance of the cave. He gave the gourd a shake and it was swashing even more loudly. “This sounds like the rattle of a fortune-telling tube,” he said. “Old Monkey should make an inquiry to see when Master can come out of this door.” Look at him! He shook the thing in his hand constantly while reciting, “The Classic of Change of King Wen, Great Sage Confucius, Master Zhou of Lady Peach-Blossom,3 Master Ghost Valley.”4

  When the little fiends in the cave saw that, they cried, “Great King, disaster! Sun Pilgrim has stored up our Second Great King in the gourd and he’s using that for fortune-telling now.” When the old fiend heard these words, he was so horrified that his spirit left him and his soul fled, his bones weakened and his tendons turned numb. He fell on the ground and began to wail, crying, “O Worthy Brother! When you and I left the Region Above in secret and found our lives in this mortal world, our hope was to enjoy together riches and glory as permanent lords of this mountain cave. How could I know that, because of this monk, your life would be taken away and our fraternal bond be broken?” The various fiends of the entire cave all began to wail aloud.

  When Zhu Eight Rules, hanging there on the beam, heard the wailing of the whole family, he could not refrain from calling out, “Monster, don’t cry! Let old Hog tell you something. The Pilgrim Sun who arrived first, the Grimpil Sun who came next, and finally the Sun Pilgrim who came last—all three of them are in fact a single person, my elder brother. He is very versatile, knowing seventy-two ways of transformation. It was he who stole your treasure and had your brother stored up. Since your brother is now dead, there is no need for you to mourn like that. You should clean up your pots and pans quickly and fix up some dried mushrooms, fresh butt on mushrooms, bean sprouts, bamboo shoots, soybean cakes, wheat glutens, wood ears, and vegetables. Invite us master and disciples for a meal, and we will be pleased to recite for you once the Receive Life Sūtra.”