by Wu Cheng-En
Apes and birds cry out amid exotic plants;
Creepers cover the steps; magic mushrooms flourish.
Dark green floats among crags as mists disperse;
Turquoise touches the pines when a phoenix alights.
The distant line of peaks looks just like a screen;
In the folds of the mountain an immortal's cave is formed.
In this branch of the Kunlun Range are dragons born;
Only those fated to do so can enjoy this beauty.
As they approached the gate they saw a stone tablet on which was carved in big letters, FIRE-WIND CAVE, WITHERED PINE RAVINE, MOUNT HAO. To the other side a crowd of little demons were sparring with sword and spear, leaping through the air, and generally enjoying themselves. “Little ones,” shouted Monkey at the top of his voice, “tell your ruler at once that if he brings my master the Tang Priest out I'll spare all your lives, but that if so much as a hint of a 'no' comes out between his teeth I'll turn your mountain upside-down and trample your cave flat.” Hearing this, the little demons all scurried back into the cave, shut the doors, and went in to report, “Trouble, Your Majesty.”
The monster had carried Sanzang into the cave, stripped him, tied his hands and feet together, and sent little devils to fetch clean water to wash him with. He was going to put Sanzang into a steaming tray to cook, but when the alarm was raised he forgot about washing Sanzang, rushed into the main hall, and asked, “What trouble?”
“There's a monk with a hairy face as ugly as a thunder-god. He's got another monk with a long snout and big ears. He's demanding their master, who's called the Tang Priest or something, and he says that if there's so much as a hint of a 'no' he'll turn the mountain upside-down and trample the cave flat.”
“They must be Sun the Novice and Pig,” said the demon king with a cruel laugh. “They were bound to come looking for their master. But I carried their master fifty miles from the middle of the mountains to here. How did they find their way here?” The monster then told his carters to push the carts out, and the little devils responsible did so, opening up the front gates.
“Brother,” said Pig when he saw them, “I think they're so scared of us that they've brought their carts out and are going to move away.”
“No,” said Monkey. “Look-they're leaving them there.” The little devils set the carts out in the order of the Five Elements-metal, wood, water, fire and earth-checked them over, and went back inside to report.
“Ready?” the demon king asked.
“Ready,” they replied.
“Fetch my spear,” said the demon king, and two of the little devils from the armory carried in an eighteen-foot long fire-tipped spear that they handed to their king. The king tried out a few swings and thrusts with the spear. He wore no helmet or armor, just a battle-kilt of embroidered brocade around his waist, as he went out barefoot through the gates. When Monkey and Pig looked up at him they saw that the monster had:
A face as pale as if powdered,
Lips as red as from lipstick.
Hair in two tufts looking darker than indigo,
A clear-cut brow like a crescent moon.
His kilt was embroidered with phoenix and dragon,
He looked like Nezha, but a little plumper.
In his hands he wielded an awe-inspiring spear,
As he came out through the gates, protected by his aura.
When he roared it echoed like thunder,
And the glare of his eyes flashed like lightning.
If you would know this demon's true name,
He was the Red Boy of undying renown.
The Red Boy came out shouting, “Who's making that row?”
Monkey went closer, smiled and said, “Don't put on such an act, dear nephew. At the top of that pine tree this morning you were a skinny, jaundiced little baby, and you fooled my master. I carried you in all kindness, but you made a whirlwind and took my master off. Now you're putting on this big show, but I know who you are. Bring my master out at once if you don't want me to forget our kinship and turn nasty. I wouldn't like your respected father to think of me as a disgraceful bully.” These words threw the demon into, a fury.
“Vicious ape,” he roared, “you're no relation of mine. You're talking a load of nonsense. You've got no reason to claim that I'm your nephew.”
“You wouldn't know about it, lad,” said Monkey. “When your respected father and I were sworn brothers you hadn't even been thought of.”
“Rubbish, you baboon,” said the demon. “Think where you come from and where I come from. How could you ever have been my father's sworn brother?”
“You'd know nothing about it,” said Monkey. “I'm Sun Wukong, the Great Sage Equaling Heaven who made havoc in Heaven five hundred years ago. Before that I roamed all over the seas and the sky and visited all of the four continents. In those days I was a great admirer of true heroes. Your respected father, the Bull Demon King, had the tide of Great Sage Matching Heaven. He took me as his seventh brother, and I let him be the eldest brother. There were also the Salamander Demon King, the Great Sage Overturning the Sea, who was our second brother. The Roc Demon King was the Great Sage Throwing Heaven into Confusion and third brother. Fourth brother was the Camel King, the Great Sage Who Moves Mountains. The Macaque King, our fifth brother, was the Great Sage Who Travels with the Wind; and the sixth brother was the Lion King-his title was Great Sage Who Drives the Gods Away. As I was the smallest I was the seventh brother, the Great Sage Equaling Heaven. When we brothers were having a fine old time back in those days you hadn't even been born.”
The demon, refusing to believe a word of this, raised his fire-tipped spear to thrust at Monkey. With the unhurried ease of a true expert Monkey avoided the spear-thrust, swung his iron cudgel, and insulted him: “You don't know when you're out-classed, you little demon. Take this!”
The evil spirit also moved out of the way and said, “Times have changed and you've been left behind, vicious ape. Take this!” There was no more talk of their kinship as the pair of them showed their magic powers in great anger. They leapt into mid-air, and it was a fine duel:
Monkey was very famous,
The demon king was powerful.
One held a gold-banded cudgel before him,
The other thrust with a fire-tipped spear.
The fogs they breathed out darkened the three worlds;
They snorted out clouds that covered the four quarters.
It was a day of terror and of murderous shouts,
When sun, moon and stars could not be seen.
In speech neither yielded an inch;
Both were unreasonable by nature.
One was a discourteous bully,
The other forgot the obligations of kinship.
The parrying cudgel made one mightier;
The thrusting spear showed the other's savagery.
One was a true Great Sage from Primal Chaos,
The other was the page Sudhana.
The pair of them strove for supremacy,
All because the Tang Priest would worship the Buddha.
While the evil spirit fought twenty rounds with Monkey without result Pig could see clearly from the sidelines that although the demon had not been defeated he was only holding Monkey at bay and had no hope of making an attack on him. And although Monkey had not yet beaten the demon, he was wielding his cudgel with such consummate skill that he kept striking at the demon's head without ever missing his aim.
“This is no good,” thought Pig. “Monkey's a slippery customer, and if he shows the monster an opening and gets the demon to charge, Monkey'll finish him off with one blow of his cudgel and there'll be no glory for me.” Watch Pig as he summons up his spirit, raises the nine-pronged rake, and brings it down from mid-air towards the demon's head. This gave the demon so bad a fright that he fled in defeat.
“After him,” shouted Monkey, “after him.”
The pair of them chased him to the mouth of the cave, where the demon
stood on the middle one of the five little carts, brandishing his fire-tipped spear with one hand, and clenching the other into a fist with which he punched himself twice on the nose. “Shameless thing,” laughed Pig, “punching yourself on the nose to make it bleed, then wiping the blood all over your face. Are you going to bring a lawsuit against us?”
But when the demon hit his nose twice he also said a spell and breathed out fire, while he snorted thick clouds of smoke from his nose. In the wink of an eye flames were everywhere. Fire poured from the five carts. After the demon had blown a few more times a great fire was leaping up to the sky, blotting out the Fire-cloud Cave. Heaven and earth were both engulfed in the blaze. “Brother,” said Pig in horror, “this is terrible. Once in that fire that would be the end of you. I'd be baked, and he'd only need to add a few spices to make a meal of me. Let's get out of here.” At that he fled back across the ravine, ignoring Monkey.
Monkey's magical powers really were very great. Making a fire avoidance spell with his fingers he plunged into the flames in pursuit of the demon. Seeing Monkey coming after him the demon breathed out yet more fire, which was even worse than ever. That fire
Fiercely blazing filled the sky,
Covered the earth with a terrible red,
Flew up and down like a fire-wheel,
Danced East and West like sparks.
This was not the fire of the Firemaker rubbing wood,
Or of Lao Zi heating his elixir furnace,
Not a heavenly fire,
Or a prairie fire,
But the True Samadhi Fire the demon had refined.
The five carts combined the Five Elements,
And the fire was formed from their transformations.
The wood of the liver can make the heart fire blaze;
The fire of the heart can settle the spleen's earth.
Spleen's earth gives rise to metal, which turns to water,
And water gives birth to wood, completing the magic cycle.
To fire are due all births and transformations;
It makes all things to flourish throughout space.
The evil spirit had long learned to breathe Samadhi Fire;
He was for ever the first lord of the West.
Monkey could not find the monster amid the raging flames, or even see the way to the mouth of the cave, so he sprang back out of the fire. The demon, who could see all this clearly from the entrance to the cave, put his fire-making equipment away when he knew Monkey had gone, led his devilish horde back inside the cave, and shut the stone doors. He felt he had won a victory, so he told his underlings to lay on a banquet. There was music and much rejoicing, of which we will not speak.
Instead we return to Monkey, who had leapt back across the Withered Pine Ravine and brought his cloud down to land where he could hear Pig and Friar Sand talking loudly and clearly among the pines.
He went up to them and shouted at Pig, “You're no man, you cretin. You were so scared of the demon's fire that you ditched me and fled for your life. But I've long had a trick or two up my sleeve.”
“Brother,” laughed Pig, “that monster was quite right when he said that you're not up to it any more. As the old saying goes,
Only the man who can meet today's need
May be acclaimed as a hero Indeed:
That demon was no relation of yours, but you tried to force him to take you for one; and when it came to a fight he set off all that terrible fire. Instead of running away are you going to get stuck into another fight with him?”
“How do the monster's fighting powers compare with mine?” Monkey asked.
“He's no match for you,” said Pig.
“What's he like with his spear?”
“No good either,” replied Pig. “When I saw that he was barely holding out I took a swipe at him to help you. He wouldn't play and ran away. Then he cheated and set that fire going.”
“You shouldn't have come,” said Monkey. “It would be best if I had a few more rounds with him and caught him a crafty one with my cudgel!” The two of them then fell to discussing the demon's skill and his terrible fire while Friar Sand leaned against a pine trunk, grinning broadly.
“What are you grinning at, brother,” asked Monkey when he noticed. “Don't tell me you've got some power with which to capture the demon and defeat his magic fire. If you had, you'd be helping all of us. As the saying goes, 'many hands make light work.' If you can capture the demon and rescue the master you'll have something very fine to your credit.”
“I've got no magic powers,” said Friar Sand, “and I can't subdue demons. I was just smiling at the way you two were getting so desperate.”
“What do you mean?” Monkey asked.
“The demon's no match for either you in magic or at fighting,” said Friar Sand. “The only reason you can't beat him is because of his fire. If you took my advice you could catch him easily by using the principle of the elements overcoming each other.”
At this Monkey chuckled aloud and said, “You're right. We were so desperate we forgot about that. On the principle of the elements overcoming each other we'll have to beat fire with water. The question is, where do we get the water to put that fire out and rescue the master?”
“Yes,” said Friar Sand, “and we mustn't waste any time.”
“You two stay here,” said Monkey, “but don't get into a fight with him. I'll go and borrow some dragon soldiers from the Eastern Ocean to bring water to douse the devil fire.”
“Off you go, brother,” said Pig, “and don't worry. We know what to do.”
The splendid Great Sage took his cloud far away. In a moment he was at the Eastern Ocean, but he had no interest in admiring the seascape as he parted the waves with water-repelling magic. As he was going through the water he met a patrolling yaksha, who hurried back into the water-crystal palace to report to the Senior Dragon King Ao Guang. Ao Guang came out to welcome Monkey at the head of his dragon sons and grandsons and his shrimp and crab soldiers. The dragon king invited Monkey to come in and sit down. When the courtesies were over the king offered Monkey some tea.
“Please don't bother,” said Monkey. “But there is something else I've come to trouble you with. My master the Tang Priest has been captured on his way to the Western Heaven to worship the Buddha and fetch the scriptures. He's been caught by an evil spirit called the Red Boy, the Boy Sage King, from the Fire-cloud Cave by Withered Pine Ravine on Mount Hao. I went into the cave to look for my master and fight the demon, but the demon started a great fire. It was too much for me. I thought that as water overcomes fire I'd come here to ask you for some water. Could you make a torrential downpour for me that would put the fire out and save the Tang Priest?”
“You've come to the wrong place,” said the dragon king. “I'm not the person to ask for rain.”
“But you're the dragon king of the four oceans,” said Monkey, “the lord of rain. If I don't ask you who else should I ask?”
“I am in charge of rain,” replied the dragon king, “but I can't do anything without authorization. I must have permission from the Jade Emperor as to where and when and how many inches of rain I should pour down, and I've to get a lot of official signatures before I can ask the help of Grandpa Thunder, Mother Lightning, Uncle Wind and the Cloud Boys. As the saying goes, dragons can't travel without cloud.”
“But I don't need wind, clouds, thunder or lightning,” said Monkey. “All I want is some rain to put the fire out.”
“You may not need wind, clouds, thunder or lightning, Great Sage,” said the dragon king, “but I can't help you alone. What would you say if I asked my younger brothers too?”
“Where are they?” Monkey asked. “Ao Qin is Dragon King of the Southern Sea, Ao Run is Dragon King of the Northern Sea, and Ao Shun is Dragon King of the Western Sea.”
“It'd be easier to go up to Heaven and ask the Jade Emperor for an edict than to trek round all three seas,” replied Monkey with a laugh. “No need for you to go, Great Sage,” said t
he dragon king. “If I beat my iron drum and bronze bell they'll be here this instant.”
“Please sound them at once, Senior Dragon King,” said Monkey.
A moment later the three other dragon kings came crowding in. “Elder brother,” they asked, “what orders do you have for us?”
“The Great Sage Monkey is here to borrow some rain to help him subdue a demon,” said the Senior Dragon King. After the greetings were over Monkey explained why he needed water. The dragons were all delighted to comply. They mustered the following:
The brave Shark as the vanguard,
With big-mouthed Hemibagrus to the fore;
Marshal Carp who plunges through the waves,
Commander Bream who spews out mists.
Colonel Mackerel to patrol the East,
Major Culler to advance to the West.
The Cavalryman Red Eye gallops to the South,
While General Black-shell breaks through in the North.
Brigadier Croaker commands the central force;
Every unit is a crack force of heroes.
A master of strategy is Chief of Staff Turtle;
Lord Tortoise excels in subtle predictions.
Prime Minister Alligator is full of wisdom,
Garrison Commander Terrapin has great ability.
Advancing sideways, crab soldiers wield their swords,
While leaping shrimp amazons draw their bows.
Secretary Catfish looks after the paperwork,
And calls the rolls of the dragon army.
There is a poem about this that goes:
The four ocean dragons were glad to give their help
When Monkey the Sage to seek assistance came.
As the priest Sanzang was in trouble on his journey
They all carried water to put out the flame.
Monkey was soon back at the Withered Pine Ravine on Mount Hao with his dragon army. “Worthy brothers of the Ao clan,” he said, “I have brought you a long way. This is where the demon lives. Will you please stay up here in mid-air and not show your faces while I have it out with him. If I can beat him, I won't need to trouble you gentlemen to capture him for me. If he beats me, there'll be no need for you gentlemen to join in the fray. The only thing I'd like you to do is all to spurt out rain together when I call if he starts his fire.” The dragon kings did as they had been told.