by Unknown
There, in a bamboo-shaded walk,
With a good monk I fell to talk.
So in this tedious mortal round
One afternoon of peace I found.11
Let me go inside for a walk.”
Leaping down from the horse, the prince was about to enter the monastery, when those three thousand men and horses who were accompanying him also arrived. As they crowded into the monastery, the resident monks hurriedly came kowtowing to receive them into the main hall so that they could pay homage to the images of Buddha. Afterwards, they raised their eyes to look about, intending to tour the corridors and enjoy the scenery, when they suddenly discovered that there was a monk sitting right in the middle of the hall. Becoming enraged at once, the prince said, “This monk is terribly rude! Half a throne of this dynasty has entered this monastery. Though I have issued no decree for this visit so that he has been spared from meeting us at a great distance, he should now at least get up when soldiers and horses are at the door. How dare he sit there unmoved? Seize him!”
He said “Seize,” and the guards on both sides immediately attempted to catch hold of the Tang Monk so that they could bind him with ropes. Sitting in the box, Pilgrim recited in silence a spell, saying, “You various Guardians of the Faith, the Six Gods of Darkness and the Six Gods of Light, I am drawing up a plan to subdue a fiend. This prince, ignorant of the matter, is about to have my master bound with ropes. All of you must protect him. If he’s really bound, you all will be found guilty.” When the Great Sage gave such an order in secret, who would dare disobey him! The deities indeed gave protection to Tripitaka in such a way that those people could not even touch his bald head. It was as if a brick wall had come between them, so that they could not approach him at all.
“Where did you come from, monk,” said the prince, “that you dare use this magic of body concealment to mock me?” Tripitaka walked up to him instead and saluted him, saying, “This poor monk does not know any magic of body concealment. I am the Tang Monk from the Land of the East, a priest going to present treasures to Buddha and to acquire scriptures from him in the Western Heaven.” The prince said, “Though your Land of the East is actually the central plains, it is incomparably poor. What kind of treasures do you have? You tell me!” “The cassock I have on my body,” said Tripitaka, “is a treasure of the third class. But I have in addition those of the first and second classes as well, and they are even better things.” “That garment of yours,” said the prince, “covers only one side of your body, while your arm sticks out on the other side. How much could it be worth that you dare call it a treasure?” Tripitaka said, “Though this cassock does not completely cover the body, I have several lines of a poem which will reveal its excellence. The poem says:
The Buddha’s gown’s a half robe, there’s no need to say.
It hides within the Real, free of worldly dust.
Countless threads and stitches perfect this right fruit;
Eight treasures and nine pearls fuse with the primal soul.
Maidens divine did make it reverently
To give to a monk to cleanse his sullied frame.
It’s all right to see but not to greet the Throne.
But you, your father’s wrong unrequited, have lived in vain!”
When the prince heard these words, he grew very angry, saying, “This brazen Chan monk is talking rubbish! Your clever mouth and slippery tongue may boast all you will of that half a piece of garment. But since when have I not requited my father’s wrong? You tell me.”
Taking a step forward, Tripitaka folded his hands and said, “Your Highness, how many favors does a man receive as he lives in this world?” “Four favors,” said the prince. “Which four?” asked Tripitaka. “The favor of shelter and support provided by Heaven and Earth,” said the prince, “the favor of the luminous presence of the sun and the moon, the favor of provisions from the ruler and his land, and the favor of his parents’ breeding and nurture.” With a smile, Tripitaka said, “The words of Your Highness are not quite right. A man has only the shelter and support of Heaven and Earth, the luminous presence of the sun and the moon, and the provisions from the land of his king. Where does he get his parent’s breeding and nurture?”
“This monk,” said the prince angrily, “is an idle and ungrateful man, who shaves his hair only to commit treason! If a man has no parental breeding and nurture, where does his body come from?”
“Your Highness,” said Tripitaka, “this humble monk does not know the answer, but inside this red box is a treasure called the King-Making Thing. He has knowledge of events of the past five hundred years, the present five hundred years, and the future five hundred years. All in all, he knows completely the events of past and future for a period of one thousand five hundred years, and he knows that there is no such favor of parental breeding and nurture. It is he who has ordered your poor monk to wait here for you for a long time.”
Hearing this, the prince gave the order, “Bring him here for me to see.” Tripitaka pulled open the box’s cover; Pilgrim leaped out and began to hobble all over the place. The prince said, “This little midget! What can he know?” When Pilgrim heard this remark about his size, he at once resorted to magic. Straightening up his torso, he grew about three and a half feet instantly. “If he can grow that rapidly,” said the soldiers, highly startled, “it will only be a few days before he pierces the sky.” When Pilgrim reached his normal height, however, he stopped growing. Then the prince asked him, “King-Making Thing, this old monk claims that you have the knowledge of past and future, of good and evil. Do you divine by the tortoise shell, by the stalks of plants, or do you use books to determine human fortunes?” “None of these,” said Pilgrim, “for
I need my three-inch tongue solely,
When I know all things completely.”
“This fellow, too, is babbling!” said the prince. “Since the time of antiquity, the book, Classic of Change of the Zhou dynasty, has proved to be supremely marvelous in determining throughout the world good and evil for man to seek or avoid. Therefore tortoise shells or plant stalks are used for divination. But if one relies solely on your words, what evidence is there? Your empty words on luck or misfortune can only vex the minds of people.”
Pilgrim said, “Please do not be hasty, Your Highness. You are actually a prince begotten of the King of the Black Rooster Kingdom. Five years ago, you had a severe drought here and all the people were in such great suffering that your king and his subjects had to offer fervent prayers. Though not a drop of rain came, a Daoist arrived from the Zhongnan Mountain, who was an expert in summoning wind and rain and in transforming stone into gold. The king was so fond of him that he became his sworn brother. Is all this true?”
“Yes, yes, yes!” said the prince. “Say some more.”
Pilgrim said, “After three years, the Daoist disappeared, and who is he now who uses the royal ‘we’?” The prince said, “There was indeed a Daoist, with whom father king swore to be his brother. In fact, they ate together and rested together. Three years ago when they were enjoying the sights of the imperial garden, the Daoist used a gust of magic wind and transported back to Zhongnan Mountain the gold inlaid white jade token that father king had in his hands. Even now, however, father king still misses him, and because of his absence, has closed down the garden for three years. But who is now ruling, if not my father king?” When Pilgrim heard these words, he began to snicker. The prince asked him again, but instead of replying, he only continued to snicker some more. “Why don’t you speak when you should?” said the prince angrily. “Why do you snicker like that?” “I still have plenty to say,” said Pilgrim, “but there are so many people around and it’s not convenient for me to speak up.”
When the prince saw that there might be some reason for such a statement, he waved his sleeve once to dismiss the soldiers. The captain of the guards immediately gave the order to have the three thousand men and horses stationed outside the monastery gate. The hall was thus nearly emptied of people
, with only the prince sitting in the middle, the elder standing before him, and Pilgrim to his left. After even the resident monks retired, then Pilgrim went forward and said to him soberly, “Your Highness, the one who left with the wind is actually your true father, but the one who occupies the throne now is the Daoist who made rain.”
“Nonsense! Nonsense!” said the prince. “Since the departure of the Daoist, my father has governed so well that the wind and rain are seasonal, the country is prosperous, and the people are secure. But if what you say is true, then the present ruler is not my father king. It’s a good thing that I am young and I can be somewhat tolerant. If my father king hears such treasonous words from you, he will have you seized and hewn to pieces.” He dismissed Pilgrim with a snort. Turning to the Tang Monk, Pilgrim said, “You see? I said that he wouldn’t believe me, and indeed he does not. Take the treasure now and present it to him. After certifying our rescript, we can proceed to the Western Heaven.” Tripitaka handed the red box over to Pilgrim, who having received it, shook his body and the box disappeared. It was, you see, actually the transformation of his hair that was retrieved by him. With both hands, Pilgrim presented the white jade token to the prince.
When he saw the object, the prince shouted, “What a monk! What a monk! You were the Daoist of five years ago who came to cheat our household of this treasure. Now you are disguised as a monk to present it back to us? Seize him!” When he shouted the order like that, the elder was so frightened that he pointed at Pilgrim and said, “You BanHorsePlague! You have a special knack for causing trouble and bringing calamity on me!” “Don’t shout!” said Pilgrim, walking up to the prince to stop him. “Don’t let this thing leak out. I’m not called King-Making Thing, for I have a real name.” “You come up here!” said the prince angrily. “Answer me with your real name so that I can send you to the bureau of justice to sentence you.”
Pilgrim said, “I’m the senior disciple of this elder, and my name is Wukong Pilgrim Sun. Because my master and I were on our way to acquire scriptures in the Western Heaven, we arrived last night and found lodging here. My master was reading the sūtras in the night, and at about the hour of the third watch, he dreamed that your father appeared to him. Your father claimed that he was harmed by that Daoist, who pushed him into the octagonal well with the marble wall in the imperial garden. The Daoist changed into the form of your father, and this was not known to any of the court officials nor to you since you were so young. You were forbidden to enter the inner palace, and the garden was shut down so that the truth could not be discovered, I suppose. Your father king came specially in the night to ask me to subdue this demon. At first, I was afraid that the murderer was not a demon, but when I surveyed the city in midair, I could see that there was a monster-spirit all right. I was about to seize him when you came out of the city to hunt. The white rabbit that you shot with your arrow happened to be this old Monkey, who led you here to the monastery to see my master. Every word that we have said to you is the truth. If you could recognize this white jade token, how could you possibly not think of your father’s care and love and seek vengeance for him?”
When the prince heard these words, he became grief stricken, thinking to himself sorrowfully, “Even if I don’t believe him, his words seem to have at least thirty percent truth. But if I believe him, how could I face the father king now in the palace?” This is what we call
To advance or retreat is hard, so the mind asks the mouth;
To think thrice, to have patience—as the mouth asks the mind.
When Pilgrim saw how perplexed he was, he said again, “Your Highness, there’s no need for perplexity. Let Your Highness return to your kingdom, and make inquiry of your queen mother. Ask her whether the feelings between her and her husband are the same as three years before. Just this one question will reveal the truth.” Persuaded by this, the prince said, “Yes, let me go and inquire of my mother.” Leaping up, he took hold of the white jade token and wanted to leave. Pilgrim, however, tugged at him, saying, “If all these men and horses of yours return with you, someone is bound to leak out information, and it’ll be hard for me to succeed. You must, therefore, go back alone, and don’t make a show of yourself. Don’t go through the Central Gate of the Sun, but enter the palace through the Rear Gate of the Servants. When you get to see your mother in the palace, you must remember not to speak loftily or loudly; you must speak quietly and in a subdued manner. For I fear that the fiend has great magic powers, and if he ever gets wind of the news, it’ll be difficult to preserve the lives of you and your mother.” The prince obeyed this instruction; walking out the door, he gave this order to the officers; “Stay and camp here. Don’t move. I have something to attend to. When I return, we shall go back to the city together.” Look at him!
He gave his troops the order to pitch their camp,
And sped to his city on a flying horse.
As he left, we do not know what they have to say when he sees his mother; let’s listen to the explanation in the next chapter.
THIRTY-EIGHT
The child queries his mother to learn of deviancy and truth;
Metal and Wood, reaching the deep, see the false and the real.
I meet you to speak just on the cause of birth
That’ll make you one of Buddha’s assembly.
One calm thought sees Him in this realm of dust;
The whole world watches the god who subdues.
If you’d know today’s true, enlightened lord,
You must ask your mother of former years.
There’s another world you have never seen,
For each step in life may bring something new.
We were telling you about the prince of the Black Rooster Kingdom, who, after he took leave of the Great Sage, soon returned to his city. Indeed, he did not approach the gate of the court, nor did he dare announce his arrival. Going instead to the Rear Gate of the Servants, he found that it was guarded by several eunuchs. When they saw the prince approaching, however, they dared not stop him and let him pass. Dear prince! Pressing his horse, he galloped inside and went straight up to the Brocade Fragrance Pavilion, in which the queen was seated, with scores of palace maidens waving their fans on both sides. The queen, however, was reclining on the carved railings of the pavilion and shedding tears. Why was she shedding tears, you ask? For at the hour of the fourth watch, you see, she too had a dream, but she could remember only half of it. She was trying very hard to recall the other half when the prince dismounted and knelt beneath the pavilion, saying, “Mother!” Forcing herself to appear delighted, the queen cried out, “Son, what joy! What joy! For these two or three years, you have been staying in the front palace to study with your father king and I have not been able to see you. How I have thought of you! How is it that you have the leisure today to come see me instead? This is truly my greatest joy, my greatest joy! O son, why do you sound so sad? Your father king, after all, is getting on in his years. There will be a day when the dragon returns to the jade-green sea and the phoenix will go back to the scarlet heavens. You will then inherit the throne. What could there possibly be to make you unhappy?”
The prince kowtowed before he said, “Mother, permit me to ask you: who is he that is on the throne now? Who is the man who uses the royal ‘we’?” When the queen heard this, she said, “This child has gone mad! The one who is ruling is your father king. Why do you ask such questions?” Again kowtowing, the prince said, “I beseech my mother to grant her son a pardon first. Only then would I dare present a further question. If you do not, I’ll dare not ask.” “Between mother and son,” said the queen, “how could there be any criminal offense? Of course I’ll pardon you. Speak up, quickly!” The prince said, “Let me ask you this: are your relations with your husband just as warm and intimate as three years before?”
When the queen heard this question, her spirit left her and her soul fled. She dashed out of the pavilion and embraced the prince tightly as tears fell from her eyes. “My child,”
she said, “I haven’t seen you for such a long time. Why do you come to the palace today and ask this question?” “Mother,” said the prince, becoming irritated. “If you have something to say, say it. If you don’t speak up, you might jeopardize a very important affair.” Only then did the queen dismiss all her attendants and spoke, quietly weeping, “This matter, if you, son, did not ask me, would never have come to light even when I reached the Nine Springs1 down below. Since you have asked me, listen to what I have to say:
Three years ago he was loving and warm;
For three years now he has been cold as ice.
By the pillows I’ve pressed him long and hard;
He said, ‘I’m old, I’m frail, I can’t make that something rise’!”
When the prince heard these words, he at once struggled free and mounted his horse once more. Clutching at him desperately, the queen said, “Child, what are you doing? Why do you leave before we finish speaking?” Again the prince knelt on the ground and said, “Mother, I dare not speak, though I must! During the time of the early court this morning, I went out by imperial decree to hunt with falcons and dogs. By chance I met a holy monk sent by the Throne in the Land of the East to fetch scriptures. He has under him a senior disciple by the name of Pilgrim Sun, who is an expert in the subjugation of fiends. I was told that my real father king had been murdered in the imperial garden; he died, in fact, in the well with the octagonal marble walls. It was the Daoist, who falsely changed into the form of father king and usurped his dragon seat. Last night, father king appeared to the monk in a dream and asked him to send his disciple to the city to catch this fiend. Your child did not dare believe them completely and that was why I came specially to question you. Now that mother has spoken like this, I know that there must be a monster-spirit here.”
“O son,” said the queen, “how could you take the words of some stranger outside as the truth?” The prince said, “I did not, but father king left them a sign.” When the queen asked what sort of sign it was, the prince took out that white jade token inlaid with gold and handed it to her. Recognizing at once it was a treasure that had belonged to the king, the queen could not hold back the torrents of tears. “My lord!” she cried. “How could you not come to see me first, if you had been dead for three years? How could you go to see the sage monk first, and then the prince afterwards?” “Mother,” said the prince, “what are you saying?” The queen said, “My child, I also had a dream last night at about the hour of the fourth watch. I dreamed that your father king stood before me dripping wet, and he told me himself that he was dead. His spirit, he said, had gone to plead with the Tang Monk to subdue the specious king and to save his former body. I clearly recall these words, but there is another half of the dream which I just cannot remember. I was speculating just now by myself when you arrived with your questions and this treasure. Let me put away the jade token for the moment. You should go and ask the sage monk to do what he must do quickly, so that the demonic miasma may be dispelled and the perverse and true can be distinguished. That’s the way you can repay your father king’s kindness in rearing you.”