Journey to the West (vol. 1)

by Wu Cheng-En

  It was not long before they were at the entrance to the Lotus Flower Cave and the two hairs turned chair-porters were clamoring for the doors to be opened. The little devil on the doors asked whether Mountain Tiger and Ocean Dragon were back.

  “Yes,” replied the hairs.

  “Did you persuade Her Highness to come?”

  “Can't you see her in the chair?” asked the hairs, pointing.

  “Wait a moment while I report inside,” said the little devil, who went in to announce, “Your Majesties, Her Highness is here.” At this the two demon kings had a table of incense-sticks set out to greet her. Monkey was quietly delighted to hear all this.

  “What luck,” he thought. “It's my turn to do it in style now. I had to kowtow with the invitation to the old she-devil when I turned myself into a little devil. Now that I've turned myself into her I'm their mother, and they'll have to kowtow four times to me. It may not mean much, but at least I'll be a couple of kowtows up.”

  The splendid Great Sage got out of the carrying chair, straightened his clothes, and put the four hairs back on his body. The little devil on the doors carried the empty chair inside, and Monkey walked slowly in behind him, imitating the old she-devil's affected wiggles. As he went straight in devils big and small knelt in greeting. A drum and fife band started to play, and clouds of incense rose from the Boshan burners. On reaching the main hall he sat down, facing regally South, while the two demon kings kowtowed to him with the words, “Mother, your children kowtow to you.”

  “Get up, my children,” said Monkey.

  Pig, still hanging from a roof-beam, began to roar with laughter. “You're a fine one, brother,” said Friar Sand, “laughing while hung up.”

  “I know what I'm doing,” said Pig.

  “And what are you doing?” asked Friar Sand.

  “I was afraid that when the old woman came we'd be cooked and eaten. But it's not her: it's the old story.”

  “What old story?” asked Friar Sand.

  “The Protector of the Horses is here,” said Pig.

  “How can you tell?” asked Friar Sand. “When she leant forward and said, 'Get up, my children,' a monkey's tail stuck out behind her. I can see better than you because I'm hung up higher.”

  “Stop talking,” said Friar Sand. “Let's listen to what they say.”

  “Yes, yes,” said Pig.

  “Well, boys, why have you asked me here?” asked Monkey as he sat between the two demon kings.

  “Mother,” they replied, “we've been most discourteous to you for many days and not done our duty by you. But this morning we captured the Tang Priest from the East, and we wouldn't dream of eating him by ourselves. So we invited you over to present him to you live. We'll cook him and offer him to you to eat: he'll prolong your life.”

  “I won't eat the Tang Priest's flesh, dear boys,” Monkey replied, “but they do say that Pig's ears are delicious. Could you cut them off and have them prepared? They'd go down well with a drink.”

  “A pox on you,” exclaimed Pig in panic when he heard. “So you're here to cut my ears off. What I'll have to say won't make pleasant listening.”

  Oh dear! Because the idiot's remarks gave the game away the Monkey King's cover was blown. In burst a crowd of little demons, mountain rangers and doorkeepers to report, “Disaster, Your Majesties. Sun the Novice has killed the old lady and disguised himself as her.”

  The moment the demon kings heard this there was no time for arguments: the Seven-star Sword was brought out, and it cut straight at Monkey's face. The splendid Great Sage moved in a flash: the cave was full of red light, and he was gone. A trick like that really was fun: he could concentrate himself into solid form, or disperse into vapor. The Senior Demon King was out of his wits with terror, while all the other devils hit their fingers and shook their heads.

  “Brother,” said the senior king, “let's give the Tang Priest, Friar Sand, Pig, the white horse and all their baggage back to Sun the Novice and end the quarrel between us.”

  “What a thing to say,” replied the Junior King. “Goodness only knows how much trouble we went to in our plan to capture all those monks. But now you're so intimidated by Sun the Novice's amazing transformations that you want to give everything back to him. You really are a coward. No man would act like that. You sit down and stop being so terrified. I've heard you tell of his tremendous magical powers, but I've never tried my skill against his although we did meet. Bring me my armor. I'm going to find him and fight three rounds with him. If he can't beat me in those three rounds then the Tang Priest will be ours to eat; and if I can't beat him we'll give him back the Tang Priest.”

  “You're right, brother,” said the older demon, who then ordered that the armor be brought out. This was done.

  When the Junior Demon King was fully accoutered he took his sword in his hand and went outside calling, “Sun the Novice, where have you gone?” The Great Sage, who was now up in the clouds, turned round to look as soon as he heard his name called and saw that it was the Junior Demon King. This was how he was dressed:

  The phoenix-helmet on his head outdid the winter snow;

  His battle armor shone with the glint of steel.

  The girdle at his waist was woven from dragon sinews;

  Soft leather boots had folds like plum blossom.

  A face like a living True Lord of Guankou,

  A countenance no different from the Mighty Miracle God.

  The Seven-star Sword was brandished in his fist;

  Great was his wrath that rose to the clouds.

  “Sun the Novice,” roared the Junior King, “give back our treasures and our mother and we will free your Tang Priest to go to fetch the scriptures.” The Great Sage could not restrain himself from abusing him:

  “You revolting demon, you don't know what you're up against in me. Give me back my master, my brothers, the white horse and our baggage, and throw in some travelling expenses for our journey West too. If so much as the hint of a 'no' slips out between your teeth you'd better start making your own rope to save me the trouble of doing it myself.”

  On hearing this the Junior Demon King sent a cloud shooting up and sprang into mid-air, swinging his sword round to cut through Monkey, who struck at his face with his iron cudgel. The fight between them in the sky was magnificent:

  Well-matched chess-players,

  A general against a worthy foe.

  A well-matched chess-player must show his mettle;

  Only against a worthy foe can a general win glory.

  When these divine warriors clashed

  It was like tigers fighting in the Southern hills,

  Or dragons struggling in the Northern seas.

  Where dragons struggle

  Their scales glisten.

  When tigers fight

  Claws and teeth wreak havoc.

  The claws and teeth wreak havoc, falling like silver hooks;

  The scales as they glisten are iron leaves.

  The one twists and turns,

  Performing a thousand maneuvers;

  The other moves to and fro,

  Never relaxing for an instant.

  The gold-banded cudgel

  Comes within inches of the skull;

  The Seven-star Sword

  Strives for a thrust to the heart.

  The one strikes fear into the stars;

  The other's wrath is more terrible than lightning.

  The two of them fought thirty rounds, but neither came out on top. Monkey was delighted, though without showing it. “So this vicious devil is a match for my iron cudgel. As I've already got his three treasures I'm only wasting my time slogging it out with him like this. It'd be much better to pop him into the gourd or the vase. But that's no good,” he reflected further. “As the saying goes, 'a possession is at its owner's disposal.' If they don't do what I tell them, everything will be ruined. I'll have to lasso him with the Dazzling Golden Cord.”

  Using one hand to parry the magic sword with
his cudgel, the splendid Great Sage raised the rope in the other and sent it whistling through the air to lasso the demon king. Now the king had a Rope-tightening Spell and a Rope-loosening Spell. When he lassoed others he would say the tightening spell, and nobody would be able to get free, and if he lassoed his own people he would say the loosening spell, and no one would be hurt. Recognizing this rope as one of his own family's treasures he said the loosening spell, at which the noose slid open. He got free and threw the rope back at Monkey, catching him. Before the Great Sage could apply some slimming magic to escape the demon had recited the tightening spell. Monkey was held fast, unable to free himself; he was locked tight by a gold ring at his neck. The demon jerked at the rope and pulled him over, then struck seven or eight blows at his head with the magic sword. This did not even redden Monkey's scalp.

  “If your head's that hard, you ape, I'll not hack at you any more,” the demon said. “I'll take you back to kill later. Give me my two treasures back at once.”

  “I haven't got any treasures of yours,” Monkey replied, “so why ask me?” The demon king searched him very carefully, found the gourd and the vase, and dragged him back into the cave by the rope.

  “Brother, I've got him,” he announced.

  “Who?” the Senior King asked.

  “Sun the Novice,” replied the Junior King. “Come and see.”

  When the Senior King saw that it was Monkey his face was wreathed in smiles. “It's him,” he said, “it's him. Tie him to a pillar with a very long rope and we'll have some fun with him.” And indeed Monkey was tied up while the two demon kings went into the back hall for a drink.

  Monkey's fidgeting at the foot of the pillar disturbed Pig. As he hung from his beam the idiot mocked Monkey: “So you didn't manage to eat those ears.”

  “Fool,” said Monkey, “do you like hanging up there? If I get out I guarantee that I'll rescue you all.”

  “You're shameless,” said Pig, “quite shameless. You can't escape yourself, and you want to rescue others. I've had enough. Let's all die with the master, then at least we'll be able to ask the way for him in the Underworld.”

  “Stop talking such nonsense,” said Monkey, “and watch me get out.”

  “How?” Pig asked. While the Great Sage told Pig he was keeping a sharp eye on the two demon kings, who were feasting inside while little demons brought them dishes of food and jugs of wine. The two of them were staggering all over the place, and security was very relaxed.

  Seeing that there was nobody in front of him Monkey used his magic powers to slide his cudgel out. He blew on it and said “Change!” turning it into a pure steel file. Tugging at the ring at his neck he filed it apart with four or five strokes of the file, then removed the file, freed himself, plucked out a hair, turned it into a replica of himself, and left it tied up there. Then in a flash he changed into a little devil and stood beside it.

  Up by the roof-beam Pig started to shout, “This is terrible, terrible. The one tied up is a fake. The genuine article is hanging up here.”

  The Senior Demon King put his wine cup down to ask, “Why is Pig yelling?” Monkey, now in the guise of a little devil, came forward to report, “Pig was inciting Sun the Novice to transform himself and escape. Sun refused to do so, and so Pig is yelling.”

  “Who said that Pig was well-behaved?” asked the Junior King. “Now we know just how cunning he is. He must be hit twenty times on the snout.”

  When Monkey fetched a rod to hit him with, Pig said, “Don't hit me hard, because if you do I'll start shouting again. I know who you are.”

  “It's only for your sakes that I'm making all these transformations,” replied Monkey. “Why ever did you have to give the game away? None of the demons in the cave knew who I was. It would have to be you who found out.”

  “You may have altered your face,” Pig replied, “but you can't change your backside. You have a patch of red on either cheek down there, don't you? That's how I know it's you.” Monkey went through to the inner quarters, slipped into the kitchens, rubbed the underneath of a pan, smeared the soot on both his buttocks, and went back to the front part of the cave.

  “Where's that monkey been messing around?” mocked Pig when he saw him. “His bum's all black.”

  Monkey was still standing in front of them, trying to steal their treasures. Being extremely wise he entered the main hall, tugged at the old demon's leg, and said, “Your Majesty, Sun the Novice is fidgeting around where he's tied to the pillar, trying to wear his way through the golden rope. It would be best to change it for a thicker one.”

  “You're right,” said the Senior Demon King, taking off the belt of lion-hide he wore at his waist and handing it to Monkey, who used it to tie up the imitation Monkey. The golden rope he tucked loop by loop into his sleeve before plucking out a hair, blowing on it with magic breath, and turning it into a copy of the Dazzling Golden Cord, which he respectfully returned to the demon with both hands. The demon was too preoccupied with his drinking to look at it carefully as he accepted it. Thus it was that the Great Sage used his power of improvisation and turned a hair into the Dazzling Golden Cord.

  Now that he had this treasure he bounded out of the cave as fast as he could, turned back into himself, and shouted, “You devils.”

  “Who are you, yelling like that?” the devils on the doors asked.

  “Go inside at once and announce to your lousy demon kings that the Novice Sun is here.” When the little devils passed on the message the Senior King was greatly shocked.

  “We've captured Sun the Novice, so how can there be another Novice Sun?”

  “He's nothing to be frightened of,” said the Junior King. “We have all our treasures back. I'll fetch the gourd and put him inside it.”

  “Do be careful, brother,” said the Senior King.

  The Junior King went outside carrying the gourd to see someone just like Sun the Novice except that he was a little shorter. “Where are you from?” he asked.

  “I'm Sun the Novice's brother,” Monkey replied. “I've heard that you've captured him, which is why I'm here to have it out with you.”

  “Yes, I have got him,” said the Junior Demon King. “He's tied up in the cave. As you're here you must want a fight, and I'm willing to cross swords with you. But do you have the guts to answer if I call your name?”

  “If you call my name a thousand times,” said Monkey, “I'll answer ten thousand times.”

  The demon leapt into mid-air with his treasure, which he held upside-down as he called out, “Novice Sun.” Monkey did not dare reply.

  “If I reply,” he thought, “he'll have me inside.”

  “Why don't you answer me?” the demon asked.

  “I can't hear you,” replied Monkey, “I'm a bit deaf. Shout louder.”

  “Novice Sun,” the demon shouted again. Down below Monkey pinched his own fingers as he thought things out: “My real name is Sun the Novice. Novice Sun is only a false name I've made up. With my real name I could be put in the gourd, but I reckon that with a false name I can't be.” Unable to restrain himself any longer he replied this time. With a roaring of wind he was sucked into the gourd and the label was put on it. As it happened it made no difference to that treasure whether a name was real or false: any response was enough to get you put inside.

  The Great Sage found it pitch-black inside the gourd. When he tried to raise his head he could not move it at all, so tightly was he squeezed in it. He now began to feel very anxious. “The two little devils I met on the mountain,” he thought, “told me that any one put in the gourd or the vase turns to pus in three and a half hours. Perhaps that's going to happen to me.” Then he started on another line of thought: “No problem. I won't turn into pus. When I made havoc in the Palace of Heaven five hundred years ago Lord Lao Zi put me in his Eight Trigram Furnace and fired me for forty-nine days, and this gave me a heart and liver of gold, lungs of silver, a brazen head, an iron back, eyes of fire and golden pupils. I couldn't possibly be tu
rned to pus in three and a half hours. I'll let him take me inside and see what he does.”

  Taking Monkey inside, the Junior Demon King said, “I've got him, brother.”

  “Who?” the Senior King asked.

  “I've got the Novice Sun packed in my gourd,” the Junior King replied.

  “Do sit down, dear brother,” said the Senior King, “and don't move. We must shake the gourd till we hear him sloshing around inside before taking the label off.” Hearing this, Monkey wondered, “How could they shake my body till they heard it sloshing around? They wouldn't hear anything unless I'd turned runny. I'll take a piss, then if they shake me and hear is sloshing around they're bound to take the label and the lid off, and I'll be able to get the hell out of here. No, that won't do. Piss would sound right but it would get my tunic filthy. When he shakes the gourd I'll have my mouth full of saliva that I can swish around noisily to fool him into opening up. Then I'll be off.” The Great Sage got ready, but the demons were too thirsty for their wine to shake the gourd. So he thought of a way to trick them into shaking it.

  “Heavens,” he shouted, “my knuckles have turned to pus.” But the demons still did not shake it. Then he shouted, “Mother, my waist has gone now.”

  At this the Senior Demon King said, “If he's turned to pus as far as the waist he's finished. Take the label off and let's have a look.”

  When the Great Sage heard this he plucked out another hair, told it to change, and turned it into half of his own body, which he left in the bottom of the gourd. He turned himself into a tiny insect that perched near the mouth of the gourd. As soon as the Junior Demon King took the paper cover off he flew out, did a roll, and turned into Ocean Dragon, the little devil who had gone with the invitation to the old lady. In this guise he stood beside the path while the Senior King removed the stopper from the gourd, craned his neck, and saw the half body still moving. Not realizing that it was a fake he called out in panic, “Shut it again, brother, shut it. He hasn't rotted down yet.” The Junior King put the cover back on. The Great Sage was discreetly delighted that they did not realize where he actually was.