by Wu Cheng-En
The moment the Gold-headed Revealer mounted his cloud he reached the Southern Sea. Putting away his propitious glow, he went straight to the Purple Bamboo Grove on the island of Potaraka, where he asked the Golden Armour Devas and Moksa to get him an audience with the Bodhisattva.
“What have you come for?” the Bodhisattva asked.
“The Tang Priest,” the Revealer replied, “has lost his horse in the Eagle's Sorrow Gorge, and the Great Sage Sun Wukong is desperate, because they can neither go forward nor back. When the Great Sage asked the local deity he was told that the evil dragon you sent to the ravine, Bodhisattva, had swallowed it, so he has sent me to ask you to subdue this dragon and make it give back the horse.”
“That wretched creature was the son of Ao Run, the Dragon King of the Western Sea, whom his father reported for disobedience when he burned the palace jewels. The heavenly court condemned him to death for it, but I went myself to see the Jade Emperor and asked him to send the dragon down to serve the Tang Priest as a beast of burden. Whatever made it actually eat the Tang Priest's horse? I'd better go and look into it.” The Bodhisattva descended from her lotus throne, left her magic cave, and crossed the Southern Sea, travelling on propitious light with the Revealer. There is a poem about it that goes:
Honey is in the Buddha's words that fill Three Stores of scripture,
The Bodhisattva's goodness is longer than the Great Wall.
The wonderful words of the Mahayana fill Heaven and Earth,
The truth of the prajna rescues ghosts and souls.
It even made the Golden Cicada shed his cocoon once more,
And ordered Xuanzang to continue cultivating his conduct.
Because the road was difficult at the Eagle's Sorrow Gorge,
The dragon's son returned to the truth and changed into a horse.
The Bodhisattva and the Revealer reached the Coiled Snake Mountain before long, and stopping their cloud in mid-air they looked down and saw Brother Monkey cursing and shouting at the edge of the ravine. When the Bodhisattva told him to call Monkey over, the Revealer brought his cloud to land at the edge of the ravine. Instead of going to see Sanzang first, he said to Monkey, “The Bodhisattva's here.”
Monkey leapt straight into the air on his cloud and shouted at her at the top of his voice, “Teacher of the Seven Buddhas, merciful head of our religion, why did you think up this way of hurting me?”
“I'll get you, you outrageous baboon, you red-bottomed ape,” she replied. “I was at my wit's end two or three times over how to fetch that pilgrim, and I told him to save your life. But far from coming to thank me for saving you, you now have the effrontery to bawl at me.”
“You've been very good to me, I must say,” retorted Monkey. “If you'd let me out to roam around enjoying myself as I pleased, that would have been fine. I was all right when you met me above the sea the other day, spoke a few unkind words, and told me to do all I could to help the Tang Priest. But why did you give him that hat he tricked me into wearing to torture me with? Why did you make this band grow into my head? Why did you teach him that Band-tightening Spell? Why did you make that old monk recite it over and over again so that my head ached and ached? You must be wanting to do me in.” The Bodhisattva smiled.
“You monkey. You don't obey the commands of the faith, and you won't accept the true reward, so if you weren't under control like this you might rebel against Heaven again or get up to any kind of evil. If you got yourself into trouble as you did before, who would look after you? Without this monstrous head, you'd never be willing to enter our Yogacatin faith.”
“Very well then,” Monkey replied, “let's call this object my monstrous head. But why did you send that criminal and evil dragon to become a monster here and eat my master's horse? Letting evil creatures out to run amuck like that is a bad deed.”
“I personally asked the Jade Emperor to put the dragon here as a mount for the pilgrim,” said the Bodhisattva. “Do you think an ordinary horse would be able to cross the thousands of mountains and rivers to reach the Buddha-land on the Vulture Peak? Only a dragon horse will be able to do it.”
“But he's so afraid of me that he's skulking down there and won't come out, so what's to be done?” Monkey asked.
The Bodhisattva told the Revealer to go to the edge of the ravine and shout, “Come out, Prince Jade Dragon, son of the Dragon King Ao Run, to see the Bodhisattva of the Southern Sea,” after which the offspring would emerge. The Revealer went to the edge of the gorge and shouted this twice, immediately the young dragon leapt up through the waves, took human form, stepped on a cloud, and greeted the Bodhisattva in mid-air.
“In my gratitude to you, Bodhisattva, for saving my life, I have been waiting here for a long time, but I have had no news yet of the pilgrim who is going to fetch the scriptures.” The Bodhisattva pointed to Brother Monkey and said, “Isn't he the pilgrim's great disciple?”
“He's my enemy,” the young dragon replied when he looked at him. “I ate his horse yesterday because I was starving, so he used some powers of his to fight me till I returned exhausted and terrified, then swore at me so that I had to shut myself in, too frightened to come out. He never said a word about anyone fetching scriptures.”
“You never asked me my name, so how could I have told you?” Monkey retorted.
“I asked you 'Where are you from, you bloody devil?' and you yelled, 'Never mind where I'm from, and give me back that horse.' You never so much as breathed the word 'Tang.'”
“You monkey, you are so proud of your own strength that you never have a good word for anyone else,” said the Bodhisattva.
“There will be others who join you later on your journey, and when they ask you any questions, the first thing you must mention is fetching the scriptures. If you do that, you'll have their help without any trouble at all.”
Monkey was happy to accept instruction from her. The Bodhisattva then went forward, broke off some of the pearls from the dragon's head, soaked the end of her willow twig in the sweet dew in her bottle, sprinkled it on the dragon's body, and breathed on it with magic breath, shouted, and the dragon turned into the exact likeness of the original horse.
“You must concentrate on wiping out your past sins,” she told him, “and when you have succeeded, you will rise above ordinary dragons and be given back your golden body as a reward.” The young dragon took the bit between his teeth, and her words to heart. The Bodhisattva told Sun Wukong to take him to see Sanzang as she was returning to the Southern Sea. Monkey clung to her, refusing to let her go.
“I'm not going,” he said, “I'm not going. If the journey to the West is as tough as this, I can't possibly keep this mortal priest safe, and if there are many such more trials and tribulations, I'll have enough trouble keeping alive myself. How can I ever achieve any reward? I'm not going, I'm not going.”
“In the old days, before you had learned to be a human being,” the Bodhisattva replied, “you were prepared to work for your awakening with all your power. But now that you have been delivered from a Heaven-sent calamity, you have grown lazy. What's the matter with you? In our faith, to achieve nirvana you must believe in good rewards. If you meet with injury or suffering in future, you have only to call on Heaven and Earth for them to respond; and if you get into a really hopeless situation I shall come to rescue you myself. Come over here as I have another power to give you.”
The Bodhisattva plucked three leaves from her willow twig, put them on the back of Brother Monkey's head, and shouted “Change,” on which they turned into three life-saving hairs. “When the time comes and nobody else will help you,” she said, “they will turn into whatever is needed to save you from disaster.”
After hearing all these fine words, Monkey finally took his leave of the All-merciful Bodhisattva, who went back to Potaraka amidst scented breezes and coloured mists.
Monkey brought his cloud down to land, and led the dragon horse by the mane to see Sanzang. “Master,” he said, “we've got o
ur horse.” Sanzang cheered up the moment he saw it.
“Why is it sturdier than it was before?” he asked. “Where did you find it?”
“Master, you must have been dreaming. The Golden-headed Revealer asked the Bodhisattva to come here, and she turned the dragon in the gorge into our white horse. The coloring is the same, but it hasn't got a saddle or a bridle, which is why I had to drag it here.” Sanzang was astounded.
“Where's the Bodhisattva? I must go and worship her,” he said.
“She's back in the Southern Sea by now, so don't bother,” Monkey replied. Sanzang took a pinch of earth as if he were burning incense, knelt down, and bowed to the South. When he had finished he got up and helped Monkey put their things together for the journey. Monkey dismissed the mountain god and the local deity, gave orders to the Revealer and the Duty Gods, and invited his master to mount the horse.
“I couldn't possibly ride it-it's got no saddle or bridle,” his master replied, “but we can sort this out when we've found a boat to ferry us across the stream.”
“Master, you seem to have no common sense at all. Where will a boat be found in these wild mountains? This horse has lived here for a long time and is bound to know about the currents, so you can ride him and use him as your boat.” Sanzang had no choice but to do as Monkey suggested and ride the horse bareback to the edge of the stream while Monkey carried the luggage.
An aged fisherman appeared upstream, punting a raft along with the current. As soon as he saw him, Monkey waved his hand and shouted, “Come here, fisherman, come here. We're from the East, and we're going to fetch the scriptures. My master is having some trouble crossing the river, so come and ferry him over.”
The fisherman punted towards them with all speed, while Monkey asked Sanzang to dismount and helped him on board the raft. Then he led the horse on and loaded the luggage, after which the fisherman pushed off and started punting with the speed of an arrow. Before they realized it they had crossed the Eagle's Sorrow Gorge and were on the Western bank.
When Sanzang told Brother Monkey to open the bundle and find a few Great Tang coins and notes to give the fisherman, the old man pushed his raft off from the shore with the words, “I don't want your money, I don't want your money,” and drifted off into mid-stream. Sanzang was most upset, but could do nothing except put his hands together and thank him.
“There's no need to thank him, master,” Monkey said. “Can't you see who he is? He's the water god of this stream, and I should be giving him a beating for not coming to welcome me. He should consider himself lucky to get off the beating-how could he possibly expect money too?” His master, who was only half-convinced, mounted the saddleless horse once more and followed Monkey to join the main path, and then they hurried on towards the West. Indeed:
The great truth landed on the opposite bank,
The sincere heart and complete nature climbed Vulture Peak.
As disciple and master went forward together, the sun slipped down in the West and evening drew in.
Pale and ragged clouds,
The moon dim over the mountains,
As the cold frost fills the heavens,
And the wind's howl cuts through the body.
With the lone bird gone, the grey island seems vast;
Where the sunset glows, the distant mountains are low.
In the sparse forests a thousand trees moan,
On the deserted peak a lonely ape screams.
The path is long, and bears no footprints,
As the boat sails thousands of miles into the night.
As Sanzang was gazing into the distance from the back of his horse, he noticed a farm-house beside the path. “Monkey,” he said, “let's spend the night in the house ahead of us and go on in the morning.”
Monkey looked up and replied, “Master, it's not a farm-house.”
“Why not?”
“A farm-house wouldn't have all those decorative fishes and animals on the roof. It must be a temple or a nunnery.”
As they were talking they reached the gate, and when Sanzang dismounted he saw the words TEMPLE OF THE WARD ALTAR written large above the gate and went inside.
Here an old man with a rosary of pearls hanging round his neck came out to meet them with his hands held together and the words, “Please sit down, master.” Sanzang quickly returned his courtesies and entered the main building to pay his respects to the divine image. The old man told a servant to bring tea, and when that had been drunk Sanzang asked the old man why the temple was dedicated to the ward altar.
“This place is in the territory of the Western land of Kami,” the old man replied, “and behind the temple lives the devout farm family which built it. 'Ward' means the ward of a village, and the altar is the altar of the local tutelary deity. At the time of the spring ploughing, the summer weeding, the autumn harvest, and the storing away in winter they all bring meat, flowers, and fruit to sacrifice to the altar. They do this to ensure good fortune throughout the four seasons, a rich crop of the five grains, and good health for the six kinds of livestock.”
On hearing this Sanzang nodded and said in approval, “How true it is that 'Go three miles from home, and you're in another land.' We have nothing as good as this in our country.” The old man then asked him where his home was.
“I come from the land of the Great Tang in the East,” Sanzang replied, “and I have imperial orders to go to the Western Heaven to worship the Buddha and ask for the scriptures. As our journey brought us this way and it is almost night, we have come to this holy temple to ask for a night's lodging. We shall set off at dawn.” The old man, who was very pleased to hear this, apologized profusely for having failed in his hospitality and told the servant to prepare a meal. When Sanzang had eaten he thanked the old man.
Monkey's sharp eyes had noticed a clothes-line under the eaves of the building. He went over, tore it down, and hobbled the horse with it. “Where did you steal that horse from?” the old man asked with a smile.
“You don't know what you're talking about,” Monkey replied. “We're holy monks going to visit the Buddha, so how could we possibly steal a horse.”
“If you didn't steal it,” the old man continued, the smile still on his lips, “then why do you have to break my clothes-line because it's got no saddle, bridle or reins?”
Sanzang apologized for Monkey and said to him, “You're too impatient, you naughty monkey. You could have asked the old gentleman for a piece of rope to tether the horse with. There was no need to snap his clothes-line. Please don't be suspicious, sir,” Sanzang went on, addressing the old man. “This horse isn't stolen, I can assure you. When we reached the Eagle's Sorrow Gorge yesterday I was riding a white horse complete with saddle and bridle. We did not know that there was an evil dragon in the stream who had become a spirit, and this dragon swallowed my horse saddle, bridle and all, in a single gulp. Luckily this disciple of mine has certain powers, and he brought the Bodhisattva Guanyin to the side of the gorge, where she caught the dragon and changed it into a white horse, exactly like the original one, to carry me to the Western Heaven to visit the Buddha. It's been less than a day from when we crossed that stream to when we reached your holy shrine, sir, and we haven't yet saddle or bridle for it.”
“Please don't be angry, Father. I was only joking,” the old man replied. “I never thought your respected disciple would take it seriously. When I was young I had a bit of money, and I was fond of riding a good horse, but many years of troubles and bereavement have taken the fire out of me, and I've come to this miserable end as a sacristan looking after the incense. Luckily the benefactor who owns the farm behind here provides me with the necessities of life. As it happens, I still have a saddle and bridle-I was so fond of them in the old days that I have never been able to bring myself to sell them, poor as I am. Now that I have heard, venerable master, how the Bodhisattva saved the divine dragon and changed it into a horse to carry you, I feel that I must help too, so I shall bring that saddle and bridle out
tomorrow for you to ride on. I beg you to be gracious enough to accept them.”
Sanzang thanked him effusively. The servant boy had by now produced the evening meal, and when it was over they spread out their bedding, lamp in hand, and all went to sleep.
When Monkey got up the next morning he said, “Master, that old sacristan promised us the saddle and bridle last night. You must insist and not let him off.” Before the words were out of his mouth, the old man appeared with the saddle and bridle in his hands, as well as saddle-cloth, saddle-pad, reins, muzzle and all the other trappings for a horse. Nothing was missing.
As he put it all down in front of the verandah he said, “Master, I humbly offer this saddle and bridle.” When Sanzang saw them he accepted them with delight. Then he told Monkey to put them on the horse to see if they fitted him. Monkey went over and picked them up to look at them one by one: they were all fine pieces. There are some verses to prove it that go
The well-carved saddle shines with silver stars
The jeweled stirrups gleam with golden light.
Several layers of saddle-pads are made from wool,
The lead-rope is plaited from purple silk.
The reins are inlaid with flashing flowers,
The blinkers have dancing animals outlined in gold.
The bit is made of tempered steel,
And woollen tassels hang from either end.
Monkey, who was secretly very pleased, put the saddle and bridle on the horse and found that they fitted as if they had been made to measure. Sanzang knelt and bowed to the old man in thanks, at which the old man rushed forward and said, “No, no, how could I allow you to thank me?” The old man did not try to keep them a moment longer, and bade Sanzang mount the horse. When he was out of the gate Sanzang climbed into the saddle, while Monkey carried the luggage. The old man then produced a whip from his sleeve and offered it to Sanzang as he stood beside the road. Its handle was of rattan bound with leather, and its thong of tiger sinew bound at the end with silk.