by Wu Cheng-En
“'No matter how many the tricks she may try
She'll never escape from the nets of the sky.'
We'll think of something else when we get to the cave entrance.”
They all then started out, and after they had gone three or four miles they reached the great rock. “This is it,” Monkey said pointing at the entrance that was no larger than the mouth of a large jar.
“You'll never capture the tiger's cub unless you go into the tiger's lair,” observed the heavenly king. “Who dares go in first?”
“I'll go,” said Monkey.
“No, I'll go first,” objected Prince Nezha. “I was the one the emperor ordered to capture the demon.”
The idiot then started acting tough, shouting, “It ought to be me first.”
“Stop that din,” said the heavenly king. “I'll decide. The Great Sage Sun and the prince will go down with the soldiers while we three hold the entrance. Then we'll have a coordinated action inside and outside, which will make it impossible for her to find her way up to heaven or go further underground. That will show her a bit of our powers.”
“Yes, sir,” they all said in assent.
Watch as Monkey and Prince Nezha slip into the cave at the head of their troops. As they rode their clouds they looked around and saw that it really was a fine cave:
The pair of sun and moon as before;
A vista of rivers and hills like the other world.
Warm mists spread over pools and wells of pearl;
Much more there is to admire down here.
Crimson houses, painted halls,
Red cliffs, green fields,
Willows in the spring and lotos in the autumn;
A rare and splendid cave heaven.
An instant later they brought their clouds to a halt and went straight to the mansion where the evil spirit had lived before. They went from gateway to gateway in their search, yelling and shouting as they went deeper and deeper inside, trying one place after the next. All the grass for a hundred miles was trampled away. But where was the evil spirit? Where was Sanzang?
“The wicked beast,” everyone was saying, “she must have got out of this cave ages ago. She'll be far away by now.” What they did not know was that down underneath a dark corner in the Southeast of the cave there was another, smaller cave, where behind a pair of tiny gates there was a tiny cottage with flowers growing in pots and a few canes of bamboo beside the eaves. The atmosphere was dark and heavy with fragrance. This was where the evil spirit had carried Sanzang and was going to force him to marry her. She was sure that Monkey would never find them; none of them realized that her union was fated to be thwarted.
The junior devils were jabbering away in a great crush when a bolder one among them stretched outside the cave for a look around only for her head to butt into a heavenly soldier, who shouted, “They're here!” At this Monkey flew into a rage, grasped the gold-banded cudgel and charged straight down in. The cave was tiny and all the demons from the big cave were in there, so that when Prince Nezha sent his heavenly soldiers crowding into the attack, not a single one of the demons could hide.
Monkey found the Tang Priest, the dragon horse and the baggage. The senior demon was at her wit's end. All she could do was to kowtow to Prince Nezha, begging him to spare her life.
“We are here to arrest you at the Jade Emperor's command,” Prince Nezha replied, “which is not something to be treated lightly. My father and I were nearly in terrible trouble because of you.”
He then shouted at the top of his voice, “Heavenly soldiers, fetch demon-binding rope. Tie all those evil spirits up.” The senior demon too had to suffer for a while. They all went back out of the cave together by cloud.
Monkey was chuckling with delight when the heavenly king withdrew his guard from the mouth of the cave and greeted Monkey with the words, “Now I can meet your master.”
“Many thanks,” said Monkey, “many thanks,” and he led Sanzang to bow in gratitude to the heavenly king and the prince.
Friar Sand and Pig were all for chopping the senior devil into tiny pieces, but the heavenly king said, “She was arrested at the Jade Emperor's command, and must not be mistreated. We must go to report back on our mission.”
The heavenly king and Prince Nezha at the head of their heavenly troops and divine officers escorted the evil spirit as a prisoner to report to the heavenly court and receive the emperor's verdict on her. Meanwhile Brother Monkey guarded the Tang Priest while Friar Sand collected the luggage and Pig went over to the horse and invited the master to ride. Then they all set out along their way again. Indeed:
The silken net had been cut, the golden sea dried up,
The precious lock undone, and troubles left behind.
If you do not know what lay in store for them on their way ahead listen to the explanation in the next installment.
Chapter 84
The Indestructible Proteges of the Buddha Complete Enlightenment
The Dharma King Comes to the Truth Through His Own Nature
The story tells how Tang Sanzang kept his masculine essence intact and escaped from the terrible snare of mist and flowers. As he headed Westwards with Brother Monkey he did not notice that it was already summer: warm breezes were beginning to blow, and the early summer rain was falling. It was a beautiful sight:
Dark is the shade under tender green;
In the gentle breeze the swallows lead their young.
New lotus leaves are opening on the ponds;
Elegant bamboo is gradually reviving.
The fragrant plants join their blue to the sky;
Mountain flowers carpet all the ground.
Beside the stream the rushes are like swords;
The fiery pomegranate blossom makes the picture even more magnificent.
As the master and his three disciples traveled along enduring the heat they suddenly noticed two rows of tall willows, from under the shade of which an old woman emerged, leaning on a small boy. “Don't go any further, monk,” she called out. “Stop your horse and go back East as soon as you can. The road West leads nowhere.”
This gave Sanzang so bad a fright that he sprang off the horse, made a gesture of greeting and said, “Venerable Bodhisattva, in the words of the ancients,
'The sea's breadth allows the fish to leap;
The sky's emptiness lets birds fly.'
How could there possibly be no way to the West?” To this the old woman replied, pointing Westwards, “If you go that way you will come to the capital of Dharmadestructia in a couple of miles. The king formed a hatred of Buddhism in an earlier existence, and in his present life he is punishing it without just cause. Two years ago he made a monstrous vow to kill ten thousand Buddhist monks. In that time he's killed 9,996 unknown monks in succession. He's just waiting for four famous monks to make up his ten thousand so that he will fulfil the vow. If you go into the city you will be throwing away your lives for nothing.”
At the sound of this Sanzang was so terrified that he shivered and shook as he replied, “Venerable Bodhisattva, I am deeply moved by your great kindness and infinitely grateful too. But, tell me, is there a suitable way I could take that does not go into the city?”
“There's no way round,” the old woman replied with a laugh, “no way round. The only way you'll get past it is if you can fly.”
At this Pig started shooting his mouth off from where he stood beside them: “Don't try to put us off. We can all fly.”
Monkey's fiery eyes with their golden pupils really could distinguish good from evil, and he saw that the old woman and the little boy on whom she was leaning were in fact the Bodhisattva Guanyin and the page Sudhana. He hastily flung himself to the ground and began to kowtow, calling out, “Bodhisattva, your disciple failed to welcome you. I'm sorry.”
The Bodhisattva then rose slowly on her multicolored cloud, so startling the venerable elder that his legs gave way under him and he kowtowed as he knelt there for all he was worth. Pig and Friar Sa
nd also fell to their knees in alarm and kowtowed to heaven. A moment later she was heading straight back to the Southern Sea amid auspicious clouds.
Monkey then got up and supported his master as he said, “Get up please. The Bodhisattva's already gone back to her island.”
“Wukong,” Sanzang said, “if you knew she was the Bodhisattva why did you not say so before?”
“You ask too many questions,” Monkey replied with a grin. “When I started kowtowing wasn't that early enough?”
“It was lucky the Bodhisattva told us that Dharmadestructia, where they kill monks, is ahead of us,” Pig and Friar Sand said to Monkey. “Whatever are we to do?”
“Don't be afraid, idiot,” Monkey replied. “We've come to no harm from any of the vicious demons and evil monsters we've met already or in the tigers' dens and dragons' pools we've been in. This is just a country of ordinary people. What's there to be so scared of? The only thing is that we can't stay here. It's getting late in the day and some of the villagers are coming back from market in the town. It will be no good if they see we're monks and raise a hue and cry. We'd better take the master away from the main road to some quiet and secluded spot where we can discuss things.” Sanzang accepted Monkey's suggestion and they slipped away from the main road to a hollow in the ground where they sat down.
“Brother,” said Monkey, “you two look after the master while I turn myself into something and go into town to take a look around. I'll find a side road that we can get away along tonight.”
“Disciple,” said Sanzang, “don't take this lightly. The royal law is implacable. You must be careful.”
“Don't worry,” said Monkey with a smile, “don't worry. I can cope.”
This said, the Great Sage leapt whistling up into the air. It was very strange:
No rope to hold on to above,
No pole to support him below.
Others are all like their parents,
But the weight of his bones was low.
As he stood in the clouds looking down he saw that the city was full of the most happy and auspicious atmosphere. “What a splendid place,” Monkey said. “Why are they trying to destroy the Dharma here?” He looked around for a while, and in the gathering dusk he saw:
Bright lights at the crossroads,
Incense and bells in the ninefold hall.
The seven brightest stars shone in the blue heavens,
And the travelers stopped moving in all eight directions.
From the army barracks
The painted bugle could just be heard;
In the drum tower
The copper water-clock began to drip.
All around the evening mists were dense;
Cold fog was thick in the markets.
Two by two the couples went to their beds
As the bright moon's disk was rising in the East.
“If I went down into the streets to look for our way with a face like this,” he thought, “anyone I saw would be sure I was a monk. I'd better change.” He made a spell with his hands, said the magic words, shook himself and turned into a moth, the sort that flies into the lantern:
A tiny body, a pair of delicate wings,
Who puts out the lamp and flies into the candle when seeking the light.
Formed by changing its own original body,
It makes its magic response in grass that's decaying.
Loving the burning light of the candle's flame,
Endlessly flying around it with never a pause,
The purple-clad moth with its scented wings drives off the fireflies;
What it likes best is the windless calm of the night.
Watch him as he flutters and flies straight to the main streets and the markets, keeping close to the eaves and the corners of the buildings he passes. As he was flying along he noticed an angled row of houses on a corner with a lantern hanging above each doorway.
“They must be celebrating the Lantern Festival here,” he thought. “Why else is that line of lighted lanterns there?” Stiffening his wings and flying up for a closer look, he saw that on a square lantern outside the middle house was written, “Accommodation for Commercial Travelers,” with “Wang the Second's Inn ” beneath it. Only then did Monkey realize that this was an inn. Stretching his head forward for a closer look he saw eight or nine men inside who had all eaten their supper, taken off their clothes and hats, washed their hands and feet and gone to bed.
“The master will get through,” Monkey thought with secret delight. How did he know that? Because he was having a wicked idea: he would wait till they were all asleep, then steal their clothes and hats so that he and his companions could go into the city dressed as laymen.
Oh dear! This was one of those things that don't turn out as you want them to. While Monkey was still thinking about his plan Wang the Second went up to the merchants and said, “Please be vigilant, gentlemen. We have villains here as well as decent people. You must all be careful about your clothes and luggage.”
As you can imagine, the travelling merchants were all very vigilant, and the innkeeper's advice made them more cautious than ever. So they all got out of bed and said, “You're quite right, host. We travelers have a hard time. We're always worried that if there's some emergency when we're asleep we may not wake up; and if things go wrong we're in a mess. You'd better take all our clothes, hats and bags and look after them for us inside. Tomorrow morning you can give them back to us when we get up.”
Wang the Second then took all the clothes he could find into his own room. Monkey anxiously spread his wings, flew in there and landed on the hat stand, from where he saw Wang the Second take the lantern down from the door, lower the blinds, and shut the door and window. Only then did he go into his bedroom, undress and lie down.
Now Wang the Second had a wife and two children who were crying and making a noise, in no hurry to sleep. Wang's wife then started mending a torn piece of clothing, so that she too was still awake. “If I have to wait till that woman stops working and goes to sleep,” thought Monkey, “I'll be keeping the master waiting too.” He then started worrying that if he left it till much later the city gates would be shut, so he lost patience and flew down into the flame of the lamp. It was indeed a case of
He was ready to die when he dived at the blaze,
And with brows scarred by fire to live out his days.
Having extinguished the lamp he shook himself and turned into a rat who gave a couple of squeaks, jumped down, grabbed hats and clothes and went outside. “Old man,” the woman said with alarm, “this is terrible. A rat's turned into a spirit.”
When Monkey heard this he used another trick, blocking the doorway and yelling at the top of his voice, “That woman's talking nonsense, Wang the Second. Ignore her. I'm not a rat turned spirit. As a decent man I don't do underhanded things. I'm the Great Sage Equaling Heaven come down to earth to protect the Tang Priest while he goes to fetch the scriptures from the Western Heaven. I've come to borrow these clothes as a disguise for my master because your king is so wicked. I'll bring them back soon when we're out of the city.”
Once Wang the Second heard this he scrambled out of bed and started groping around the floor in the dark. He was in such a rush that when he got hold of his trousers he thought they were his shirt: there was no way he could put them on no matter how he tried.
By now the Great Sage had used lifting magic to escape on his cloud, which he turned round to go straight back to the hollow by the road. Sanzang was looking out for him fixedly by the bright light of the moon and the stars, and as soon as he saw Monkey approaching he called out, “Can we get through the capital of Dharmadestructia, disciple?”
Coming up and laying the clothes down in front of him, Monkey replied, “Master, you won't get through Dharmadestructia as a monk.”
“Brother,” said Pig, “who do you think you're making things hard for? It's easy to stop being a monk. All you have to do is stop shaving your head for six months and let your hair gr
ow.”
“We can't wait six months,” Monkey replied. “We're going to turn into laymen right now.”
“But that's a completely ridiculous thing to say,” said a shocked Pig. “We're all monks now, and if we turned into laymen straight away we wouldn't be able to wear hats. Even if we could pull them tight enough at the edges we've got no hair to tie the string at the top to.”
“Stop fooling about,” Sanzang shouted, “and be serious. What do you really have in mind?”
“I've had a good look at this city, Master,” Monkey replied, “and although the king is a wicked one who kills monks he is a true son of heaven. There is an auspicious glow and a happy atmosphere above the city. I know my way round the streets now, and I can understand and talk the local language. I've just borrowed these hats and clothes from an inn for us to dress ourselves up as laymen in. We'll go into the city, put up for the night, get up at the fourth watch and ask the innkeeper to fix us some vegetarian food. At the fifth watch we'll go out through the gate and head West along the main road. If we meet anyone who tries to stop us we can talk our way out of it. I'll tell him we were sent by the ruler of their suzerain state. The king of Dharmadestructia won't dare hold us up. He'll let us go on our way.”
“Our big brother has arranged things very well,” said Friar Sand. “Let's do as he suggests.”
The venerable elder did indeed have no option but to take off his monastic tunic and hat and put on a layman's clothing and headwear. Friar Sand changed too, but Pig's head was too big for him to be able to wear a hat. Monkey fetched needle and thread, tore two hats open and sewed them into a single one. Then he put the hat on Pig's head and found a garment big enough for him to wear. Finally he dressed himself and said, “Gentlemen, we must ban the words 'master' and 'disciples' on this journey.”