Journey to the West (vol. 1)

by Wu Cheng-En

  “My child, I had a happy dream last night. Your father came home and said that thanks to his salvation by the venerable monk, his sins have been wiped out and he has gone to be reborn in an important family in the rich land of China.” Husband and wife laughed for joy and her son said, “I and my wife both had this dream, and we were just coming to tell you when you called to us. So now it turns out that you it too.” They told everyone in the house to get up to thank Sanzang and get his horse loaded and ready. They all bowed to him and he said, “Many thanks, venerable monk, for recommending my father for delivery from his sufferings and for rebirth. We can never repay this debt of gratitude.”

  “What powers have I that you should thank me?” replied Sanzang.

  Boqin told him about what the three of them had been told in their dreams, and Sanzang was happy too. Then they gave him his breakfast and an ounce of silver as an expression of their thanks, but he would not take a single penny of it, although the whole family begged and beseeched him to do so.

  “If in your mercy you could escort me for the next stage of my journey I would be deeply touched,” he said. All that Boqin, his mother, and his wife could do then was to prepare some scones of coarse wheaten flour as his provisions, and make sure that Boqin escorted him a long way. Sanzang gladly accepted the food. On his mother's orders the high warden told two or three servants to bring hunting gear as they set off together along the road. They saw no end of wild mountain scenery.

  When they had been travelling for some time they saw a mountain in front of them, a high and precipitous one that towered right up to the azure sky. Before long they had reached its base. The high warden climbed it as if he were walking on level ground, and when they were half-way over it he turned round, stood beside the path and said, “Venerable monk, I must ask you to take yourself on from here. I have to go back.” On hearing this Sanzang tumbled out of his saddle to say, “Please, please, take me another stage, High Warden.”

  “You don't seem to know that this is called Double Boundary Mountain,” said the high warden. The Eastern part belongs to our Great Tang, but the Western parts is Tatar territory. The tigers and wolves on that side are not subject to my control, which is why I can't cross the boundary. You mast go on by yourself. The monk was so alarmed to hear this that he waved his arms around and grabbed hold of the hunter's clothes and sleeves, weeping and refusing to let him go. When at last Sanzang was bowing repeatedly to the hunter to take his leave, a shout like thunder came from under the mountain: “My master's come, my master's come.” Sanzang stood frozen with fear at the sound of it, and Boqin had to hold him up. If you don't know who it was who shouted, listen to the explanation in the next installment.

  Chapter 14

  The Mind-Ape Returns to Truth

  The Six Bandits Disappear Without Trace

  Buddha is the mind, the mind is Buddha,

  Mind and Buddha have always needed things.

  When you know that there are no things and no mind

  Then you are a Buddha with a true mind and a Dharma body.

  A Dharma-bodied Buddha has no form;

  A single divine light contains the ten thousand images.

  The bodiless body is the true body.

  The imageless image is the real image.

  It is not material, not empty, and not non-empty;

  It does not come or go, nor does it return.

  It is not different nor the same, it neither is nor isn't.

  It can't be thrown away or caught, nor seen or heard.

  The inner and outer divine light are everywhere the same;

  A Buddha-kingdom can be found in a grain of sand.

  A grain of sand can hold a thousand worlds;

  In a single body and mind, all dharmas are the same.

  For wisdom, the secret of no-mind is essential,

  To be unsullied and unobstructed is to be pure of karma.

  When you do no good and do no evil,

  You become a Kasyapa Buddha.

  The terror-stricken Liu Boqin and Sanzang then heard another shout of “My master's come.”

  “That must be the old monkey who lives in a stone cell under this mountain shouting,” said the servants.

  “Yes, yes,” said the high warden.

  “What old monkey?” asked Sanzang, and the high warden replied, “This mountain used to be called Five Elements Mountain, and its name was only changed to Double Boundary Mountain when our Great Tang Emperor fought his Western campaign to pacify the country. I once heard an old man say that in the days when Wang Mang usurped the Han throne, Heaven sent down this mountain and crushed a monkey under it. This monkey doesn't mind heat or cold and neither eats nor drinks. He's guarded by a local tutelary god who gives him iron pellets when he's hungry and molten copper when he's thirsty. Although he's been there since ancient times, he hasn't died of cold or hunger. It must have been him shouting; there's nothing for you to be afraid of, venerable sir. Let's go down and have a look.” Sanzang had to follow him, leading his horse down the mountain.

  A mile or two later they saw that there really was a monkey poking out his head out of a stone cell, and making desperate gestures with his outstretched hands as he shouted, “Master, why didn't you come before? Thank goodness you're here, thank goodness. If you get me out of here I guarantee that you'll reach the Western Heaven.”

  Do you know what the venerable monk saw when he went forward for a closer look?

  A pointed mouth and sunken cheeks,

  Fiery eyes with golden pupils.

  His head was thick with moss,

  And climbing figs grew from his ears.

  By his temples grew little hair but a lot of grass,

  Under his chin there was sedge instead of a beard.

  Dirt between his eyebrows,

  And mud on his nose

  Made him an utter mess;

  On his coarse fingers

  And thick palms

  Was filth in plenty.

  He was so happy that he rolled his eyes

  And made pleasant noises.

  Although his tongue was nimble,

  He couldn't move his body.

  He was the Great Sage of five hundred years ago,

  Who today could not escape the net of Heaven.

  High warden Liu showed great courage in going up to him, pulling away the grass that was growing beside his temples and the sedge under his chin, and asking, “What have you got to say?”

  “I've got nothing to say,” the monkey replied. “You just tell that monk to come over here while I ask him a question.”

  “What question do you want to ask me?” said Sanzang.

  “Are you the fellow sent to the Western Heaven by the Emperor of the East to fetch the scriptures?” asked the monkey.

  “Yes, I am,” Sanzang replied. “Why do you ask?”

  “I am the Great Sage Equaling Heaven who wrecked the Heavenly Palace five hundred years ago. The Lord Buddha put me under this mountain for my criminal insubordination. Some time ago the Bodhisattva Guanyin went to the East on the Buddha's orders to find someone who could fetch the scriptures. When I asked her to save me she told me that I was to give up evil-doing, return to the Buddha's Law, and do all I could to protect the traveler when he went to the Western Paradise to worship Buddha and fetch the scriptures; she said that there'll something in it for me when that's done. Ever since then I've been waiting day and night with eager anticipation for you to come and save me, Master. I swear to protect you on your way to fetch the scriptures and to be your disciple.”

  Sanzang, delighted to hear this, said, “Although you now have these splendid intentions and wish to become a monk thanks to the teaching of the Bodhisattva, I've no axe or chisel, so how am I to get you out?”

  “There's no need for axes or chisels. As long as you're willing to save me, I can get myself out,” the monkey replied.

  “I'm willing to save you,” Sanzang said, “but how are you going to get out?”

>   “On the top of this mountain there is a detention order by the Tathagata Buddha written in letters of gold. If you climb the mountain and tear it off, I'll be straight out.” Accepting his suggestion, Sanzang turned round to ask Liu Boqin if he would go up the mountain with him.

  “I don't know whether he's telling the truth or not,” said Boqin, at which the monkey shouted at the top of his voice, “It's true. I wouldn't dare lie about that.”

  So Liu Boqin told his servants to lead the horse while he helped Sanzang up the mountain. By hanging on to creepers they managed to reach the summit, where they saw a myriad beams of golden light and a thousand wisps of propitious vapour coming from a large, square rock on which was pasted a paper seal bearing the golden words Om mani padme hum. Sanzang went up and knelt down before the rock, then read the golden words and bowed his head to the ground a number of times.

  He looked to the West and prayed, “I am the believer Chen Xuanzang sent on imperial orders to fetch the scriptures. If I am fated to have a disciple, may I be able to tear off the golden words and release the divine monkey to come with me to the Vulture Peak. If I am not fated to have a disciple, and this monkey is an evil monster who has deceived me and will do me no good, then may I be unable to remove it.” When he had prayed he bowed again, after which he went up and gently tore the paper seal off.

  A scented wind blew in his face and carried the paper up into the sky as a voice called, “I am the Great Sage's guard. Now that his sufferings are over I am going back to see the Tathagata and hand in this seal.”

  The startled Sanzang, Liu Boqin, and the rest of them all bowed to Heaven, then went down the mountain to the stone cell, where they said to the monkey, “The restriction order has been torn off, so you can come out.”

  The delighted monkey said, “Master, please stand well clear so that I don't give you a fright when I come out.”

  On hearing this Liu Boqin took Sanzang and the rest of them to the East, and when they had covered some two or three miles they heard the monkey shout, “Further, further!” So Sanzang went much further until he was off the mountain. Then there was a great noise as the mountain split open.

  As they were all shaking with terror, the monkey appeared kneeling stark naked in front of Sanzang's horse and saying, “Master, I'm out.” He bowed four times to Sanzang, then jumped up, addressed Liu Boqin with a respectful noise, and said, “Thank you, elder brother, for escorting my master, and thank you too for weeding the grass off my face.” He then picked up the luggage and put it on the horse's back. At the sight of him the horse felt so weak and trembling that it could not stay on its feet. Because the monkey had once been the Protector of the Horses and looked after the dragon steeds of Heaven, and mortal horses were terrified at the very sight of him.

  Seeing that his intentions were indeed good and that he really was now a Buddhist, Sanzang asked him what was his surname.

  “My surname's Sun,” replied the Monkey King.

  “I'll give you a Buddhist name that I can call you by,” said Sanzang.

  “There's no need to trouble yourself,” said the Monkey King, “I've already got one: Sun Wukong-Monkey Awakened to Emptiness.”

  “That's just right for our sect,” exclaimed the monk. “As you look so much like a young novice, I'll give you another name and call you Brother Monkey. Is that all right?”

  “Yes, yes, yes,” said Sun Wukong, and from then on he was also called Brother Monkey, or Sun the Novice.

  When he saw that Brother Monkey was determined to go, the high warden turned to Sanzang, chanted a noise of respect and said, “It's splendid that you have got so good a disciple, venerable sir. He'll certainly make the journey. I must now take my leave.”

  Sanzang bowed to him in thanks, saying, “I have brought you a long way, and am deeply indebted to you. When you return home please convey my respects to your venerable mother and your wife; I caused them a lot of trouble, and hope that I shall be able to come and thank them on my return.” Boqin returned his bow, and with that they parted.

  Brother Monkey asked Sanzang to mount the horse while he ambled ahead, stark naked, carrying the luggage on his back. Before long they were over the Double Boundary Mountain.

  Suddenly a ferocious tiger rushed at them, roaring and lashing about with its tail. Sanzang on his horse was terrified. Brother Monkey, who was standing beside the path, put down the luggage and said happily, “Don't be scared, master, it's just bringing me my clothes.” He pulled a needle out of his ear and shook it in the wind, turning it into an iron cudgel as thick as a bowl.

  “I haven't used this little treasure in over five hundred years,” he said, holding it in his hand. “Today I'm bringing it out to get myself some clothes to wear.”

  Just watch as he rushes at the tiger, shouting, “Where d'you think you're going, wretch?” The tiger crouched in the dust, not daring to move, as the cudgel smashed into its head.

  Thousands of drops of red brain and many a pearly piece of tooth flew everywhere, so terrifying Sanzang that he fell out of the saddle, biting on his finger and crying, “Heavens, the high warden had to fight for ages before killing the striped tiger the other day, but this Sun Wukong has smashed a tiger to pull with a single blow. He really is a tough's tough.”

  “Sit down for a moment, master, while I strip the clothes off him to wear on the journey,” said Brother Monkey as he dragged the tiger over.

  “But he hasn't got any clothes,” Sanzang protested.

  “Don't bother yourself about it, I know how to cope.” The splendid Monkey King pulled a hair from his body, breathed some magic breath on it, and said “Change!,” on which it turned into a pointed knife shaped like a cow's ear. Cutting into the skin on the tiger's belly, he took it all off in a single stroke, chopped off the head and claws, then held up the square hide to get an idea of its size.

  “It's on the big side,” he said, “so I could make two kilts out of it,” and with these words he took his knife and cut it in two. One piece he put away, and the other he wrapped round his waist to cover the lower half of his body and tied firmly with a creeper he pulled down from beside the path.

  “Let's go on, master, let's go on,” he said. “The sewing can wait till we reach a house where we can borrow a needle and thread.” He pinched his iron cudgel to make it as small as a needle again, put it back in his ear, took the luggage on his back, and asked Sanzang to mount the horse.

  As the two of them went along the venerable monk asked from the horse's back, “Wukong, why has the iron cudgel you used to kill the tiger disappeared?”

  “What you don't know, master,” replied Brother Monkey with a laugh, “is that I got it from the dragon palace of the Eastern Sea, and that it's called the Magic Iron to Hold the Bed of the Milky Way in Place or 'As-You-Will Gold-Banded Cudgel'. When I raised my great rebellion against the Heavenly Palace in the old days it served me well. It can change into anything and be whatever size I want it to be. Just now I turned it into an embroidery needle and put it away in my ear. I only take it out when I need it.”

  Concealing his delight at hearing this, Sanzang went on to ask, “Why didn't that tiger move when it saw you? Why on earth did it let you hit it?”

  “I can tell you in all truthfulness, master, that not just tigers but even dragons have to be on their best behavior when they meet me. I know a few tricks for putting them in their place and have the power to make rivers run backwards and stir up the seas. I can tell what things are really like from appearances alone, and sort out the truth behind what is said. When I want to make myself big I measure myself against the universe, and when I shrink I can be held on a downy hair. There's no limit to the transformations I can perform, and nobody can tell when I'm going to vanish or when I'm going to reappear. There was nothing wonderful about skinning that tiger. Wait till I show you a thing or two.” This took a great load off Sanzang's mind, and he whipped his horse on. As master and disciple went along their way talking together, the sun was sink
ing in the West, and they saw:

  In the fiery glow of the setting sun

  The clouds return to ends of the sky and the sea.

  The birds on a thousand mountains chirrup and call,

  Flying in flocks to the woods for the night.

  The wild beasts go two by two;

  All species return to their dens.

  A crescent moon breaks through the dusk,

  As countless points of starlight shimmer.

  “You must hurry up, master, as it's late,” said Monkey. “There must be a house in that clump of trees over there, so let's get there as soon as possible to settle down for the night.” Sanzang whipped on his horse and galloped to the house, where he dismounted.

  Brother Monkey put down the luggage, went up to the gate, and shouted, “Open up, open up.” An old man came out, leaning on a bamboo stick, and the gate creaked as he opened it. At the sight of Monkey's ugly face and the tiger-skin wrapped around him, which made him look like the god of thunder, the old man was so terrified that his legs turned to jelly and his body went numb.

  “A devil… A devil,” he muttered deliriously.

  Sanzang went up to support him, saying, “Don't be afraid, aged benefactor. He's no devil, he's my disciple.” When the old man looked up and saw Sanzang's pure face he felt steady on his feet at once, and he asked what monastery Sanzang was from, and why had he brought that evil-looking creature to his house.

  “I come from the Tang Court,” said Sanzang, “and I am going to the Western Heaven to visit the Buddha and ask for the scriptures. As we were passing this way at nightfall we came to your mansion, good benefactor, to ask for a night's lodging. We shall be off before dawn tomorrow. I very much hope that you will be able to help us.”

  “You may be a Tang man,” the old fellow replied, “but that ugly brute certainly isn't.”

  “You've got no eyes in your head, you silly old man,” shrieked Brother Monkey. “He's my master and I'm his disciple. I'm no Tang man or Spike man, I'm the Great Sage Equaling Heaven. Some of the people who live in this house must know me, and I've seen you before.”