by Wu Cheng-En
Amid the calls of apes and cranes.
In the morning the peak was covered with cloud,
The evening sun would set between the trees.
The streams splashed like a tinkle of jade,
Waterfalls tumbled with the sound of lutes.
In the front of the mountain were cliffs and rock-faces
At the back were luxuriant plants and trees.
Above it reached to the Jade Girl's washing bowl,
Below it jointed the watershed of the River of Heaven.
In its combination of Earth and Heaven it rivaled the Penglai paradise;
Its blend of pure and solid made it a true cave palace.
It defied a painter's brush and colours;
Even a master could not have drawn it.
Intricate were the strange-shaped boulders,
Adorning the mountain peak.
In the sun's shadow shimmered a purple light;
A magical glow shone red throughout the sea of clouds.
Cave-heavens and paradises do exist on Earth,
Where the whole mountainside is covered with fresh trees and new blossoms.
As Pig gazed at it he said with delight, “What a wonderful place, brother. It's the finest mountain in the world.”
“Could you get by here?” asked Monkey.
“What a question,” said Pig with a grin. “This mountain of yours is an earthly paradise, so how could you talk about 'getting by?'”
The two talked and joked for a while then went back down. They saw some young monkeys kneeling beside the path and holding huge, purple grapes, fragrant dates and pears, deep golden loquats, and rich, red tree-strawberries.
“Please take some breakfast, Your Majesty,” they said.
“Brother Pig,” replied Monkey with a smile, “Your big appetite won't be satisfied with fruit. Never mind though-if you don't think it too poor you can eat a little as a snack.”
“Although I do have a big appetite,” said Pig, “I always eat the local food. Bring me a few to taste.”
As the pair of them ate the fruit the sun was rising, which made the idiot worry that he might be too late to save the Tang Priest. “Brother,” he said, trying to hurry Monkey up, “the master is waiting for us. He wants us back as soon as possible.”
“Come and look round the Water Curtain Cave,” was Monkey's reply.
“It's very good of you to offer,” said Pig, “but I mustn't keep the master waiting, so I'm afraid I can't visit the cave.”
“Then I won't waste your time,” said Monkey. “Goodbye.”
“Aren't you coming?” Pig asked.
“Where to?” Monkey replied. “There's nobody to interfere with me here and I'm free to do just as I like. Why should I stop having fun and be a monk? I'm not going. You can go and tell the Tang Priest that as he's driven me away he can just I forget about me.” The idiot did not dare press Monkey harder in case he lost his temper and hit him a couple of blows with his cudgel. All he could do was mumble a farewell and be on his way.
As Monkey watched him go he detailed two stealthy young monkeys to follow him and listen to anything he said. The idiot had gone hardly a mile down the mountainside when he turned round, pointed towards Monkey, and started to abuse him.
“That ape,” he said, “he'd rather be a monster than a monk. The baboon. I asked him in all good faith and he turned me down. Well, if you won't come, that's that.” Every few paces he cursed him some more. The two young monkeys rushed back to report, “Your Majesty, that Pig is a disgrace. He's walking along cursing you.”
“Arrest him,” shouted Monkey in a fury. The monkey hordes went after Pig, caught him, turned him upside-down, grabbed his bristles, pulled his ears, tugged his tail, twisted his hair, and thus brought him back. If you don't know how he was dealt with or whether he survived, listen to the explanation in the next installment.
Chapter 31
Pig Moves the Monkey King Through
His Goodness
Sun the Novice Subdues the Ogre Through Cunning
They swore to become brothers,
And the dharma brought them back to their true nature.
When metal and Wood were tamed, the True Result could be achieved;
The Mind-Ape and the Mother of Wood combined to make the elixir.
Together they would climb to the World of Bliss,
And share the same branch of the faith.
The scriptures are the way of self-cultivation,
To which the Buddha has given his own divinity.
The brothers made up a triple alliance,
With devilish powers to cope with the Five Elements.
Sweeping aside the six forms of existence,
They head for the Thunder Monastery.
As he was being dragged and carried back by the crowd of monkeys, Pig's tunic was shreds. “I'm done for,” he grumbled to himself, “done for. He'll kill me now.”
Before long he was back at the mount of the cave, where Monkey, sitting on top of a rock-face, said to him angrily, “You chaff-guzzling idiot. I let you go, so why swear at me?”
“I never did, elder brother,” said Pig on his knees, “May I bite off my tongue if ever I did. All I said was that as you weren't coming I'd have to go and tell the master. I'd never have dared to swear at you.”
“You can't fool me,” Monkey replied. “If I prick my left ear up I can hear what they're saying in the Thirty-third Heaven, and if I point my right ear down I can know what the Ten Kings of Hell and their judges are discussing. Of course I could hear you swearing at me as you walked along.”
“Now I see,” said Pig. “With that devilish head of yours you must have changed yourself into something or other to listen to what I said.”
“Little ones,” shouted Monkey, “bring some heavy rods. Give him twelve on the face, then twelve on the back. After that I'll finish him off with my iron cudgel.”
“Elder brother,” pleaded Pig, kowtowing desperately, “I beg you to spare me for our master's sake.”
“That good and kind master? Never!” said Monkey.
“If he won't do,” begged Pig, “then spare me for the Bodhisattva's sake.” The mention of the Bodhisattva made Monkey relent slightly.
“Now you've said that I won't have you flogged,” he replied. “But you must tell me straight and without lying where the Tang Priest is in trouble-which is presumably why he sent you to try and trick me.”
“He isn't in trouble,” Pig protested, “he's honestly missing you.”
“You really deserve a beating,” said Monkey, “for still trying to hood-wink me, you moron. Although I've been back in the Water Curtain Cave, I've stayed with the pilgrim in my mind. The master must have been in trouble at every step he has taken. Tell me about it at once if you don't want that flogging.”
Pig kowtowed again and said, “Yes, I did try to trick you into coming back. I didn't realize that you would see through it so easily. Please spare me a flogging and let me go, then I'll tell you.”
“Very well then,” replied Monkey, “get up and tell me.” The junior monkeys untied his hands. He leapt to his feet and began looking around wildly. “What are you looking at?” asked Monkey.
“I'm looking at that wide empty path for me to run away along,” said Pig.
“That wouldn't get you anywhere,” Monkey said. “Even if I gave you three days' start I'd still be able to catch you up. Start talking. If you make me lose my temper, that'll be the end of you.”
“I'll tell you the truth,” said Pig. “After you came back here Friar Sand and I escorted the master. When we saw a dark pine forest the master dismounted and told me to beg for some food., When I'd gone a very long way without finding anyone I was so tired that I took a snooze in the grass; I didn't realize that the master would send Friar Sand after me. You know how impatient the master is; be went off for a stroll by himself, and when he came out of the wood he saw a gleaming golden pagoda. He took it for a monastery, but an evil spi
rit called the Yellow-robed Monster who lived there captured him. When I and Friar Sand came back to find him, all we saw was the white horse and the baggage. The master had gone. We searched for him as far as the entrance to the cave and fought the monster. Luckily the master found someone to save him in the cave. She was the third daughter of the king of Elephantia and she'd been carried off by the monster. She gave the master a letter to deliver to her family and persuaded the ogre to let him go. When we reached the capital and delivered the letter the king asked our master to subdue the monster and bring the princess home. I ask you, brother, could the master catch a monster? We two went off to fight him, but his powers were too much for us: he captured Friar Sand and made me run away. I hid in the undergrowth. The monster turned himself into a handsome scholar and went to court, where he introduced himself to the king and turned the master into a tiger. The white horse changed himself back into a dragon in the middle of the night and went to look for the master. He didn't find him, but he did see the monster drinking in the Hall of Silvery Peace, so he turned himself into a Palace Beauty. He poured wine and did a sword dance for the ogre in the hope of finding a chance to cut him down, but the ogre wounded his hind leg with a lantern, it was the white horse who sent me here to fetch you. 'Our eldest brother is a good and honorable gentleman,' he said, 'and gentlemen don't bear grudges. He's sure to come and rescue the master.' Please, please remember that 'if a man has been your teacher for a day, you should treat him as your father for the rest of his life'. I beg you to save him.”
“Idiot,” said Monkey, “I told you over and over again before leaving that if any evil monsters captured the master you were to tell them I am his senior disciple. Why didn't you mention me?” Pig reflected that to a warrior a challenge was more effective than an invitation and said, “It would have been fine if we hadn't used your name. It was only when I mentioned you that he went wild.”
“What did you say?” asked Monkey.
“I said, 'Behave yourself, kind monster, and don't harm our master. I have an elder brother called Brother Monkey who is an expert demon-subduer with tremendous magic powers. If he comes he'll kill you, and you won't even get a funeral.' This made the ogre angrier than ever, and he said, 'I'm not scared of Monkey. If he comes here I'll skin him, tear his sinews out, gnaw his bones, and eat his heart. Although monkeys are on the skinny side, I can mince his flesh up and deep-fry it.'“ This so enraged Monkey that he leapt around in a fury, tugging at his ear and scratching his cheek.
“Did he have the gall to say that about me?” he asked.
“Calm down, brother,” said Pig. “I specially remembered all his insults so as to tell you.”
“Up you get,” said Monkey, “I didn't have to go before, but now he's insulted me I must capture him. Let's be off. When I wrecked the Heavenly Palace five hundred years ago all the generals of Heaven bowed low at the sight of me and called me 'Great Sage'. How dare that fiend have the nerve to insult me behind my back! I'm going to catch him and tear his corpse to shreds to make him pay for it. When I've done that I'll come back here.”
“Quite right,” said Pig. “When you've captured the monster and got your own back on him, it'll be up to you whether you come on with us.”
The Great Sage jumped down from the cliff, rushed into the cave, and took off all his devil clothes. He put on an embroidered tunic, tied on his tigerskin kilt, seized his iron cudgel, and came out again. His panic-stricken monkey subjects tried to stop him, saying, “Where are you going, Your Majesty, Great Sage? Wouldn't it be fun to rule us for a few more years?”
“What are you saying, little ones?” replied Monkey. “I have to protect the Tang Priest. Everyone in Heaven and Earth knows that I am the Tang Priest's disciple. He didn't really drive me away. He just wanted me to take a trip home and have a little relaxation. Now I've got to attend to this. You must all take good care of our household. Plant willow and pine cuttings at the right season, and don't let things go to pieces. I must escort the Tang Priest while he fetches the scriptures and returns to the East. When my mission is over I'll come back to this happy life with you here.” The monkeys all accepted his orders.
Taking Pig's hand, Monkey mounted a cloud and left the cave. When they had crossed the Eastern Sea he stooped at the Western shore and said, “You carry on at your own speed while I take a bath in the sea.”
“We're in a terrible hurry,” said Pig. “You can't take a bath now?”
“You wouldn't understand,” Monkey replied. “While I was at home I developed rather a devil-stink, and I'm afraid that with his passion for cleanliness the master would object.” Only then did Pig realize that Monkey really was being sincere and single-minded.
After Monkey's dip they were back on their clouds and heading West again. When they saw the gleam of the golden pagoda Pig pointed at it and said, “That's where the Yellow-robed Monster lives. Friar Sand is still there.”
“You wait for me up here,” said Monkey, “while I take a look around the entrance before fighting the evil spirit.”
“No need,” said Pig, “as he's not at home.”
“I know,” said Monkey. The splendid Monkey King landed his gleaming cloud and looked around outside the entrance. All he could see was two children, one of about ten and the other of eight or nine, hitting a feather-stuffed ball with curved sticks. Without bothering to find-out whose children they were, Monkey rushed up at them as they played, grabbed them by the tufts of hair that grew on the top of their heads, and flew off with them. The sobs and curses of the terrified boys alarmed the junior devils of the Moon Waters Cave, who rushed in to tell the princess that someone, they did not know who, had carried her sons off. These boys, you see, were the children of the princess and the ogre.
The princess ran out of the cave to see Monkey holding her sons on the top of a cliff and about to hurl them over.
“Hey, you, I've never done you any harm,” she screamed desperately, “so why are you kidnapping my sons? Their father won't let you get away with it if anything happens to them, and he's a killer.”
“Don't you know who I am?” said Monkey. “I'm Monkey, the senior disciple of the Tang Priest. If you release my brother Friar Sand from your cave, I'll give you your sons back. You'll be getting a good bargain-two for one.” The princess hurried back into the cave, told the junior demons who were on the door to get out of her way, and untied Friar Sand with her own hands.
“Don't let me go, lady,” said Friar Sand, “or I'll be letting you in for trouble with that monster when he comes back and asks about me.”
“Venerable sir,” the princess replied, “what you said about the letter saved my life, so I was going to let you go anyhow, and now your elder brother Monkey has come here and told me to release you.”
At the word “Monkey” Friar Sand felt as though the oil of enlightenment had been poured on his head and the sweet dew had enriched his heart. His face was all happiness and his chest filled with spring. He looked more like someone who had found a piece of gold or jade than someone who had just been told that a friend had arrived. He brushed his clothes down with his hands, went out, bowed to Monkey and said, “Brother, you've dropped right out of the blue. I beg you to save my life!”
“Did you say one word to help me, Brother Sand, when the master said the Band-tightening Spell?” asked Monkey with a grin. “Talk, talk, talk. If you want to rescue your master you should be heading West instead of squatting here.”
“Please don't bring that up,” said Friar Sand. “A gentleman doesn't bear a grudge. We've been beaten, and we've lost the right to talk about courage. Please rescue me.”
“Come up here,” Monkey replied, and Friar Sand sprang up on the cliff with a bound.
When Pig saw from up in the air that Friar Sand had come out of the cave, he brought his cloud down and said, “Forgive me, forgive me, Brother Sand.”
“Where have you come from?” asked Friar Sand on seeing him.
“After I was beaten yester
day,” said Pig, “I went back to the capital last night and met the white horse, who told me that the master was in trouble. The monster has magicked him into a tiger. The horse and I talked it over and we decided to ask our eldest brother back.”
“Stop chattering, idiot,” said Monkey. “Each of you take one of these children to the city. Use them to provoke the monster into coming back here to fight me.”
“How are we to do that?” asked Friar Sand.
“You two ride your clouds, stop above the palace,” said Monkey, “harden your hearts, and drop the children on the palace steps. When you're asked, say they're the sons of the Yellow-robed Monster, and that you two brought them there. The ogre is bound to come back when he hears that, which will save me the trouble of going into town to fight him. If we fought in the city, the fogs and dust storms we stirred up would alarm the court, the officials and the common people.”
“Whatever you do, brother,” said Pig with a laugh, “you try to trick us.”
“How am I tricking you?” asked Monkey.
“These two kids have already been scared out of their wits,” Pig replied. “They've cried themselves hoarse, and they're going to be killed at any moment. Do you think the monster will let us get away after we've smashed them to mince? He'll want our necks. You're still crooked, aren't you? He won't even see you, so it's obvious you're tricking us.”
“If he goes for you,” said Monkey, “fight your way back here, where there's plenty of room for me to have it out with him.”
“That's right,” said Friar Sand, “what our eldest brother says is quite right. Let's go.” The pair of them were an awe-inspiring sight as they went off, carrying the two boys.
Monkey then jumped down from the cliff to the ground in front of the pagoda's gates, where the princess said to him, “You faithless monk. You said you'd give me back my children if I released your brother. Now I've let him go, but you still have the boys. What have you come back for?”
“Don't be angry, princess,” said Monkey, forcing a smile. “As you've been here so long, we've taken your sons to meet their grandfather.”