by Wu Cheng-En
Nothing infuriated Monkey so much as the word “macaque,” and he was grinding his teeth in rage as he lifted his cudgel to hit them. The three demon kings brought their junior devils up to surround him, at which the four wooden beasts who were waiting to one side swung their weapons with shouts of, “Don't move, animals!”
The three demon kings were of course most alarmed at the sight of the four stars, and they all said, “This is terrible, terrible. He's found the people who can beat us. Run for your lives, little ones!” With that there was much roaring, lowing, panting and sighing as the junior devils all resumed their original appearances as yak, water-buffalo and ox spirits running all over the mountain. The three demon kings also turned back into their true selves, put their hands down to become four-hoofed creatures like iron cannons, and galloped off to the Northeast, to be followed hard by the Great Sage leading the Wooden Hyena of the Well and the Wooden Lesser Dragon of the Horn. While they were not going to relax for a moment, the Wooden Unicorn of the Dipper and the Wooden Wolf of the Strider were mopping up all the cattle spirits among the hollows, summits, ravines and valleys of the Eastern mountain. Some were killed and others taken alive. They then went into the Dark Essence Cave to free the Tang Priest, Pig and Friar Sand.
Recognizing the two stars, Friar Sand bowed to them in thanks and asked, “What brought you two gentlemen here to rescue us?”
“We came to rescue you because the Great Sage Monkey submitted a request to the Jade Emperor that we be sent,” the two stars replied.
“Why has my disciple Wukong not come in?” the Tang Priest asked with tears in his eyes.
“The three old demons are rhinoceroses,” the stars explained, “and when they saw us they fled for their lives to the Northeast. The Great Sage Sun has gone after them with the Wooden Hyena of the Well and the Wooden Lesser Dragon of the Horn. We two wiped out the oxen then came here to rescue you, holy monk.” The Tang Priest once again kowtowed in thanks then kowtowed to heaven.
“Master,” said Pig, “overdone courtesy is hypocrisy. Stop kowtowing all the time. The four star officers came at the Jade Emperor's command and as a favour to big brother. The ordinary demons have all been wiped out, but we still don't know how the senior demons are to be put down. Let's clear all the valuables out of the cave, wreck the place so as to dig out their roots, then go back to the monastery to wait for Monkey.”
“Marshal Tian Peng, your suggestion is right,” said the Wooden Wolf of the Strider. “You and the Curtain-lifting General escort your master back to the monastery to sleep while we head Northeast to fight the enemy.”
“Yes, yes,” said Pig. “With you two to help you're bound to wipe them all out. Then you'll be able to report back on your mission.” The two star officers immediately joined the chase. After Pig and Friar Sand had found a bushel of valuables in the cave-there was much coral, agate, pearls, amber, precious shells, jade and gold-they carried them outside and invited the master to sit on the top of a crag while they started a fire that burned the whole cave to ashes. Only then did they take the master back to the Clouds of Compassion Monastery in Jinping Prefecture. Indeed:
The classic says, “Disaster comes at the height of success.”
Indeed one can meet with evil in happiness.
For love of the lanterns the dhyana nature was disturbed;
The heart set on the Way was weakened by a beautiful sight.
The great elixir has always had to be permanently guarded;
Once it is lost one always comes to grief.
Shut it up tight; bind it fast; never idle.
A moment's lack of care can lead one astray.
We will tell not of how the three of them went back to the monastery, their lives saved, but of how the Wooden Unicorn of the Dipper and the Wooden Wolf of the Strider were riding their clouds Northeast in pursuit of the demons when they lost sight of them in mid air. On reaching the Western Ocean they saw the Great Sage Monkey down by the sea a long way away, shouting.
“Where have the monsters gone, Great Sage?” they asked, bringing their clouds down. “Why didn't you two come after them and help put them down?” Monkey replied. “How can you have the nerve to ask that question?”
“When we saw that you and the stars from the Well and the Horn had routed the demons and were going after them, Great Sage,” the Wooden Unicorn of the Dipper replied, “we were sure you'd capture them, so we two wiped out the rest of the devils, rescued your master and fellow-disciples from the cave, searched the mountain, burned the cave out, and entrusted your master to your two fellow-disciples to take back to the Clouds of Compassion Monastery in the city. We only came after you this way when you had been gone for such a long time.”
“In that case you did very well,” said Brother Monkey, his wrath now turned to pleasure. “Thank you for going to so much trouble. The only thing is that when we'd chased the three ogres this far they plunged into the sea. The two stars from the Well and the Horn followed close behind them while I stayed on the shore to cut off their escape. Now you're here you can block them on the shore while I go there.”
The splendid Great Sage then swung his cudgel and made a spell with his fingers as he cleared a way through the waters, plunging deep into the waves, where the three monsters were locked in a life-and-death struggle with the Wooden Hyena of the Well and the Wooden Lesser Dragon of the Horn.
“Monkey's here,” he shouted, springing forward. The evil spirits could barely hold off the two star officers, so when they heard Monkey's great yell at this moment of crisis they turned and fled for their lives into the middle of the sea. Their horns were very good at parting the waters, and they cleared their way through the sea with a whooshing noise, the two star officers and the Great Sage Monkey chasing after them.
A yaksha who was patrolling the Western Ocean with a shelled warrior saw from a distance the way the rhinoceroses were parting the waters, recognized Monkey and the two stars, and rushed back to the crystal palace to report to the dragon king in alarm, “Your Majesty, the Great Sage Equaling Heaven and two stars from the sky are chasing three rhinoceroses this way.” When the old dragon king Ao Shun heard this he said to his heir, Prince Mo'ang, “Muster our water forces at once. I'm sure it must be the three rhinoceros spirits Cold-avoider, Heat-avoider and Dust-avoider who've provoked Sun the Novice. As they're in the sea now we'd better lend a hand.” Having been given his orders Ao Mo'ang hastened to muster his troops.
A moment later a fully-armed force of tortoises, soft-shelled turtles, alligators, bream, mackerel, mandarin fish, carp, and prawn and crab soldiers charged out of the crystal palace shouting their battle-cries together to stop the rhinoceros spirits. Unable to go any further forward, the rhinoceroses made a hasty retreat, only to find their escape blocked by the stars from the Well and the Horn as well as the Great Sage. In their panic they failed to stay in a group, but scattered as they fled for their lives. Dust-avoider was soon surrounded by the old dragon king's men.
A delighted Monkey called out, “Stop! Stop! Take him alive! Don't kill him!” When Mo'ang heard this order he rushed forward, knocked Dust-avoider to the ground, put an iron hook through his snout and tied all his hoofs together.
The old dragon king then divided his forces into two to help the star officers capture the other two monsters. As the young dragon prince led his men forward the Wooden Hyena of the Well reverted to his real form to hold Cold-avoider down and start eating him in big and little bites.
“Well Star!” Mo'ang shouted. “Don't kill him! The Great Sage Monkey wants him alive, not dead.” Mo'ang shouted several times, but by then the Hyena had already gnawed right through the monster's throat.
Mo'ang ordered his prawn and crab soldiers to carry the dead rhinoceros back to the palace of crystal, then joined the Wooden Hyena of the Well in the pursuit. Heat-avoider, who was being driven back towards them by the Wooden Lesser Dragon of the Horn, ran straight into the star from the Well, at which Mo'ang ordered his tortoises,
soft-shelled turtles and alligators to spread out in the winnowing-fan formation to encircle the monster.
“Spare me, spare me!” the monster pleaded. The wooden Hyena of the Well sprang forward, grabbed the monster by the ear, seized his sword, and shouted, “I won't kill you. I won't kill you. I'll take you to the Great Sage Monkey for him to deal with you.”
The troops then went back to the crystal palace, where they reported, “We've got them both.” Monkey saw that one was lying headless and gory on the ground, while the other was being forced to kneel by the Wooden Hyena of the Well twisting his ear.
“That head wasn't cut off with a weapon,” Monkey said on going up for a closer look.
“If I hadn't shouted so hard the star officer of the Well would have eaten the whole of him up,” replied Mo'ang with a smile. “Very well then,” said Monkey.
“In that case you'd better get a saw to cut off his horns and have his hide removed for us to take. We'll leave the flesh for your worthy father the dragon king and yourself to enjoy.” A chain was then run through Dust-avoider's nose for the Wooden Lesser Dragon of the Horn to lead him by, and the same was done to Heat-avoider for the Wooden Hyena of the Well.
“Take them to the prefect of Jinping,” said Monkey. “Investigate them, question them about all the years they masqueraded as Buddhas to harm the people, then off with their heads.”
They all then did as Monkey told them, taking their leave of the dragon king and his son and emerging from the Western Ocean, leading the rhinoceroses with them. When they met the other two stars from the Strider and the Dipper they went by cloud straight back to Jinping Prefecture.
Here Monkey called out as he stood in mid air on a beam of auspicious light, “Mr. Prefect, subordinate officials, soldiers and civilians of Jinping, listen to what I say. We are holy monks sent by the Great Tang in the East to fetch the scriptures from the Western Heaven. In this prefecture and its counties you have had to make offerings in golden lamps every year to these rhinoceros monsters pretending to be Buddhas coming down to earth. When we came here and were admiring the lamps at the Moon Festival these monsters carried the oil and our master off together. I asked for some gods from heaven to capture them. We've cleaned out their cave and wiped out the monsters. They won't be able to give you any more trouble. You needn't waste the people's money making offerings in golden lamps here any more.”
When Pig and Friar Sand, who were just escorting the master back into the Clouds of Compassion Monastery, heard Monkey talking from up in the sky they abandoned their master, dropped the luggage and shot up into the air by cloud to ask Monkey about how the demons had been beaten.
“One of them was chewed to death by the star from the Well,” Monkey replied, “and we've got his sawn-off horns and his hide with us. The other two we've brought back alive.”
“Throw the pair of them down into the city,” said Pig, “for the officials and everyone else to see. Then they'll know we're gods and sages. I'll trouble you four star officers to put your clouds away, land, and come into the prefectural court with us to execute the monsters. The facts are clear and the penalty's the right one. There's nothing else to be said.”
“Marshal Tian Peng is right, and he knows the laws too,” the four stars said.
“I have learned a bit during my years as a monk,” Pig replied.
The gods then pushed the rhinoceroses, which fell wreathed in coloured clouds into the prefectural court, to the astonishment of the prefectutal officials and everyone else inside and outside the walled city, who all set up incense tables outside their houses, and bowed their heads to worship the gods from heaven. A little later the monks of the Clouds of Compassion Monastery carried the venerable elder into the court in a sedan chair.
When Sanzang met Monkey he kept thanking him, adding, “I am very grateful for the trouble I have put the star officers to in rescuing us. I had been very anxious when I did not see you, worthy disciple, but now you have returned in triumph. I wonder where you had to chase the monsters to before you caught them.”
“After I left you the day before yesterday,” Monkey replied, “I went up to heaven to make some enquiries. The Metal Planet knew that the monsters were rhinoceroses, so he told me to ask for the four beast stars that belong to the element wood. So I submitted a memorial to the Jade Emperor and he sent them straight to the mouth of the cave, where they gave battle. When the demon kings fled, the stars from the Dipper and the Strider rescued you, Master, I chased the demons with the Well and the Horn stars straight to the Western Ocean, where the dragon king sent his son out with their troops to help us. That's how the monsters were captured and brought here for questioning.” The venerable elder was full of endless praise and thanks. The prefectural and county officials and their subordinates all lit precious candles and whole containers of incense sticks as they kowtowed in respect,
A little later Pig lost his temper, pulled out his monastic knife and beheaded first Dust-avoider, then Heat-avoider, each with a single stroke. Then he removed their four horns with a saw. The Great Sage Monkey then had another suggestion to make: “You four star officers must take these four rhinoceros horns to the upper world to offer to the Jade Emperor as trophies when you report back on your mission.” As for the two horns he had brought back from the sea, he said, “We'll leave one here to guard the storehouses of the prefectural palace and as evidence that from now on no more lamp-oil will ever be levied. We'll take the other to offer to the Lord Buddha on Vulture Peak.” The four stars were delighted, and after bowing to take their leave of the Great Sage they rose by coloured cloud to report back to the Jade Emperor.
The prefectural and county officials kept the master and his disciples for a great vegetarian banquet to which all the rural officials were also invited. Notices were issued to tell the military and civil population that golden lamps were not to be lit the next year, and that the duty of serving as an oil-purchasing household was abolished for ever. Butchers meanwhile were instructed to remove the rhinoceros skins to be steeped in saltpeter and smoked dry for making into armor, while the flesh was to be distributed to the officials. At the same time money and grain that had been raised by unjust fines on innocent people were spent to buy a plot of privately-owned empty land. On this a temple to the four stars who had put the demons down, as well as a shrine to the Tang Priest and his three disciples, were to be built. Stone tablets with inscriptions were to be set up for each of them to record their deeds for ever as a mark of gratitude.
Master and disciples relaxed and enjoyed the offerings. They had hardly a moment to themselves as they had so many invitations from the 240 lamp-oil households. Pig was delighted to have so much to eat, and he always kept in his sleeve some of the treasures he had collected in the cave to give to all his hosts to thank them for their banquets. When they had stayed there for a month and were still unable to get away the Tang Priest ordered Monkey.
“Wukong, give all the remaining valuables to the monks in the Clouds of Compassion Monastery. Let's leave before dawn, without letting the rich families here know. If we are so eager to enjoy ourselves here that we delay in fetching the scriptures we may offend the Lord Buddha and cause some catastrophe. That would be terrible.” Monkey then disposed of all the objects.
When they got up early the next morning at the fifth watch Pig was woken up to get the horse ready. The idiot had eaten and drunk so well that he was still half asleep as he said, “Why get the horse ready so early?”
“The master says we've got to be going,” Monkey shouted.
“That reverend gentleman doesn't do things right,” the idiot said, rubbing his eyes. “We've had invitations from all 240 of the big families, but only had thirty or so good vegetarian meals so far. How can he be making me go hungry again?”
When the venerable elder heard this he retorted abusively, “Dreg-guzzling idiot! Stop talking such nonsense! Get up at once! If you go on arguing back like that I'll tell Wukong to smash your teeth in with his gold-ba
nded cudgel.”
At the mention of a beating the idiot gesticulated frantically as he said, “The master's changed. Usually he favours me and likes me and protects me because I'm so stupid. When you want to hit me, brother, he usually persuades you not to. So why's he dead set on telling you to hit me today?”
“The master's angry with you for being so greedy,” Monkey replied, “and holding us up on our journey. If you don't want me to hit you, pack the luggage and get the horse ready.”
As the idiot really was scared of being hit he jumped out of bed, got dressed and shouted to Friar Sand, “Get up right now! He's going to start hitting.” Friar Sand then jumped up too, and they both got everything packed.
“Keep quiet,” said the Tang Priest, waving his hands about, “and don't disturb the monks.” He quickly mounted, after which they opened the gate of the monastery and found their way out. Indeed, this departure was
Letting the phoenix escape from the birdcage of jade;
Secretly opening locks so the dragon goes free.
If you don't know what the households who still wanted to thank them did at daybreak, listen to the explanation in the next installment.
Chapter 93
In the Almsgiver's Garden Antiquity and Causes Are Discussed
In the Court of India the King Meets the Monks
When thoughts arise there surely will be desire,
Longing is certain to lead one to disaster.
Why should intelligence distinguish the three ranks of nobility?
When conduct is complete it naturally returns to the primal sea.
Whether you become an immortal or a Buddha,
All must be arranged from within.
In absolute purity, with all dust removed,