by Wu Cheng-En
As the six warriors were making their way sloppily along they suddenly noticed that the Bull Demon King was sitting in their midst. Heater and Cooker fell to their knees in a panic and said, “Your Majesty, you're here already.”
Mist in the Clouds, Clouds in the Mist, Fire-fast and Wind-speedy were also all common mortals with fleshly eyes, unable to tell the true from the false, and they too fell to their knees, kowtowed and said, “Your Majesty, we've been sent by the Sage Boy King of the Fire-cloud Cave to invite Your Senior Majesty to a meal of Tang Priest meat that will lengthen your life by a thousand ages.”
“Get up, children,” said Monkey, “and come back to my cave with me while I change.”
“There will be no need for all that trouble, Your Majesty,” said the little devils, still kowtowing. “You needn't go back. It's a long way, and I'm sure that our king would be angry with us if you did. Please come with us.”
“What good children,” said Monkey. “Very well then, lead the way. I'm coming with you.” The six little devils pulled themselves together and shouted to clear the way for the Great Sage, who was following them.
They were soon back at the cave. Wind-fast and Fire-speedy rushed in to report, “Your Majesty, His Senior Majesty is here.”
“You're capable lads to be back so soon,” said the demon king with delight. He then ordered all his commanders to parade his forces with their banners and drums to greet the Old King. All the demon in the cave obediently went out on parade. Monkey threw out his chest and acted very haughtily, braced himself, took back all the hairs he had turned into falconers and huntsmen, then strode straight in through the gates and took the central seat facing South as a monarch.
The Red Boy knelt and kowtowed to him, saying, “Your Majesty, your son pays obeisance.”
“No need for that,” said Monkey. After making four sets of kowtows the demon king stood below his father.
“What have you asked me here for, boy?” Monkey asked.
“Your stupid son,” said the demon with a bow, “caught someone yesterday-a priest from the Great Tang in the East. I've often heard tell that he is someone who has cultivated his conduct for ten lives, and that if you eat a piece of his flesh you'll live as long as an immortal from Penglai or Yingzhou. I did not dare to eat him by myself, which is why I asked Your Majesty to share the Tang Priest's flesh and extend your life by a thousand ages.”
At this Monkey looked shocked and asked, “Which Tang Priest, my boy?”
“The one going to fetch scriptures in the Western Heaven,” the demon king replied.
“But isn't he the master of Sun the Novice?” Monkey asked.
“Yes,” said the demon king.
Monkey waved his hand, shook his head and said, “Don't start trouble with him. Pick a fight with anyone else you like, but not with him. My dear boy, don't you know what sort of person he is? That ape has vast magic powers and can do all sorts of transformations. When he made havoc in Heaven the Jade Emperor sent a hundred thousand Heavenly soldiers to spread out Heaven-and-earth nets, but they could not catch him. How could you have the nerve to eat his master? Send the priest out his moment, and don't start trouble with that monkey. If he heard that you'd eaten his master he wouldn't even need to fight you. He'd just have to poke a hole in the mountainside with that gold-banded cudgel of his to bring the whole mountain tumbling down. Then where would you be able to live, my boy, and who would there be to support me in my old age?”
“What things to say, Your Majesty,” said the demon king. “You're bolstering him and making me look small. That Monkey and a couple of his fellow disciples were crossing my mountains when I did a transformation and carried his master off. He and Pig traced me to the gates here and talked some nonsense about kinship. I got into such a raging fury that we fought a few rounds. That was all there was to it. He wasn't anything very special. Then Pig came charging in so I breathed out my True Samadhi Fire and routed him. Monkey was so desperate that he went to ask the dragon kings of the four seas for rain, but they couldn't put out my True Samadhi Fire. I burnt him so badly that he passed out, then sent Pig off in a great hurry to ask the Bodhisattva Guanyin of the Southern Seas to come. I turned myself into a Guanyin and tricked Pig into coming here: he's now hanging up in the As-You-Will bag, and I'm going to steam him as a treat for all the underlings. That Monkey was back shouting at our gates again this morning. I ordered his arrest, and it threw him into such a panic that he dropped his bundle and fled. It was only then that I invited Your Majesty over to see what the Tang Priest looked like in life before we have him steamed for you to eat and become immortal.”
“My dear boy,” laughed Monkey, “you're only aware of how you beat him with your True Samadhi Fire. What you forget is that he can do seventy-two transformations.”
“No matter what he turns himself into I can always spot him,” said the demon king, “and I'm sure he won't dare try another attack here.”
“My son,” said Monkey, “you may be able to recognize him sometimes, but he won't turn into something big like a wolf, an orangutan or an elephant. If he did he wouldn't be able to get inside the cave. You'd find it hard to recognize him if he turned into something small.”
“No matter how small he made himself we have four or five little devils on every door. He'll never be able to get in.”
“You don't realize that he can turn himself into a fly, or a mosquito, or a flea, or a bee, or a butterfly, or the tiniest of insects. He could even make himself look just like me. You wouldn't possibly be able to tell.”
“Don't worry,” said the demon king. “Even if he had guts of iron and a bronze heart he'd never dare come anywhere near here.”
“In that case, dear son,” said Monkey, “what powers do you have that make you more than a match for him, so that you could invite me here today to eat the flesh of the Tang Priest? All the same, I don't think I'll have any today.”
“Why not?” the demon king said.
“I'm getting old,” said Monkey, “and your mother keeps nagging at me to do some good works. The only good deed I'm interested in is eating vegetarian food.”
“Your Majesty,” said the demon king, “is this permanent or just for a month?”
“Neither,” said Monkey. “It's called 'thunder vegetarianism'. You do it for four days each month.”
“Which four?” the demon asked.
“The three days each month with Xin in their names, and the sixth day too. Today is the day Xin You, so that means I ought to be on vegetarian food. Besides, You days are not good for having visitors. But tomorrow I could be back to scrub, wash and steam him myself, and enjoy him with you, my boy.”
This all made the demon king think, “My father usually lives on human flesh, and he's already lived to be over a thousand. How come he's now thinking about a vegetarian diet? When you consider all the evil things he's done, three or four days of vegetarian food a month could never make up for them. There's something wrong here. It's very suspicious.” He withdrew and went out through the inner gates, sent for the six warriors, and asked them, “Where was His Senior Majesty when you gave him that invitation?”
“Halfway here,” the little devils replied.
“I thought you were quick,” said the demon king. “Didn't you go to his place?”
“No,” said the little devils, “we didn't.”
“This is bad,” said the demon king. “I've been fooled. It's not His Senior Majesty.”
The little devils all knelt before him and asked, “Your Majesty, can't you recognize your own father?”
“He looks and moves just like my father,” said the demon king, “but what he says doesn't fit. I'm afraid I've been taken in and beaten by one of his transformations. I want you all to be very careful. The swordsmen among you must draw your swords, the spearmen sharpen your spears, and those of you who can use staves and ropes get ready to do so. I'm going to question him again and watch what he says. If he really is His Senior Majesty then it
doesn't matter whether we have the feast today, tomorrow or in a month's time. But if what he says is wrong, then the moment I give a hum you're all to attack at once.”
When the little devils had all been given their orders the demon king turned on his heels, went back inside and bowed to Monkey, who said, “No need for all that formality within the family, my boy. Don't bow. Just say whatever it is you have to say.”
The demon king prostrated himself before Monkey and replied, “Your foolish son actually invited you for two reasons. One was to present you with Tang Priest meat, and the other was to ask you something. When I was out for a spin on my auspicious light the other day I went right up to the ninth level of clouds and bumped into the Taoist Master Zhang Daoling.”
“Do you mean Zhang Daoling the Taoist pope?” Monkey asked.
“Yes,” the demon king replied. “What did he say to you?” Monkey asked.
“Seeing that your son is complete in all his organs and that the spacing between my forehead, nose and chin is auspiciously even,” the demon king replied, “he asked me the hour, day, month and year of my birth. Your child is too young to remember all that properly. Master Zhang is a brilliant astrologer, and he offered to cast my horoscope. That is what I wanted to inquire about, Your Majesty, so that I can ask him to cast my horoscope next time I meet him.”
This made Monkey chuckle to himself: “What a magnificent demon. I've captured quite a few since I became a Buddhist and started escorting the Tang Priest on this journey, but none of them was as sharp as this one. He's asking me all trivial family details, and I'll just have to fake up my answers. How could I possibly know when he was born?” The splendid Monkey King was extremely crafty.
He continued to sit in majesty in the central position, showing not a trace of fear as he replied with his face wreathed in smiles, “Please get up, dear boy. I'm getting so old now that nothing goes the way I want it to any more. I can't remember just now exactly when you were born. I'll ask your mother when I go home tomorrow.”
“But Your Majesty is always reeling off the details of my birth-time,” the demon king said, “and telling me I'll live as long as Heaven. You can't have forgotten now. It's outrageous. You're a fake.” He then hummed the signal and all the demons rushed on Monkey and stabbed at him with their swords and spears.
The Great Sage parried their thrusts with his cudgel, went back to looking like himself again, and said to the evil spirit, “You're the outrageous one, dear boy. It can't possibly be right for a son to attack his own father.” The demon king was so overwhelmed with shame that he dared not return Monkey's look. Brother Monkey then turned into a golden glow and left the cave.
“Your Majesty, Sun the Novice has gone,” the little devils reported.
“Oh well, that's that,” said the demon king. “Good riddance. He beat me this time. Shut the gates and say nothing to him. Let's clean, cook and eat the Tang Priest.”
Laughing aloud as he brandished his cudgel, Monkey went back across the ravine. Hearing this, Friar Sand hurried out of the woods to say to him, “Brother, you've been ages. Why are you laughing? I hope it's because you've rescued the master.”
“No, brother,” Monkey replied. “But although I haven't rescued him yet, I won this time.”
“How?” Friar Sand asked.
“The fiend disguised himself as Guanyin to lure Pig back here and hang him up in a leather bag. I was just trying to work out how to rescue Pig when the demon sent his six so-called warriors to invite the Old King to a meal of the master's flesh. I reckoned that the Old King was bound to be the Bull Demon King, so I turned myself into his double, went inside, and took the place of honour. He called me 'Your Majesty' and 'father,' and I replied; and when he kowtowed I sat up straight. It was lovely. I really did win.”
“But while you've been scoring easy points the master's life is in terrible danger,” said Friar Sand.
“Don't worry about it,” said Monkey. “I'm off to ask the Bodhisattva here.”
“But your back's still aching,” said Friar Sand.
“Now it isn't,” said Monkey. “As the old saying goes, when things go well they raise the spirits. Look after the horse and the luggage. I'm off.”
“You've made such an enemy of him,” said Friar Sand, “that I'm scared he'll murder the master. Be as quick as you can.”
“I'll be quick,” said Monkey. “I'll be back in the time it takes to eat a meal.”
Even as he was still speaking, the splendid Great Sage left Friar Sand and set off on the somersault cloud that took him straight towards the Southern Ocean. He had been flying for less than an hour when Potaraka Island came into view. He landed his cloud in an instant and went straight to Raka Crag, where the twenty-four devas asked him as he walked solemnly towards them, “Great Sage, where are you going?”
After Monkey had exchanged courtesies with them he replied, “I would like to see the Bodhisattva.”
“Please wait for a moment while we report to her,” the devas said. Hariti and the other devas went to the entrance of the Tide Cave to report, “Bodhisattva, Sun Wukong has come for an audience.” The Bodhisattva asked for him to be brought in.
The Great Sage tidied his clothes and obediently walked inside at a respectful pace. When he saw the Bodhisattva he prostrated himself before her. “Wukong,” she said, “why are you here instead of taking Master Golden Cicada to the West to fetch the scriptures?”
“Bodhisattva,” Monkey replied, “your disciple humbly reports that while escorting the Tang Priest on his journey he has reached the Fire-cloud Cave in the Withered Pine Ravine on Mount Hao. An evil spirit called the Red Boy whose title is Sage Boy King has snatched my master. I and Pig found our way to his gates and fought him, but he started a True Samadhi Fire. This makes it impossible for us to beat him and rescue the master. I hurried to the Eastern Sea and asked the dragon kings of the four seas to make rain, but it couldn't control the flames, and I was badly hurt by the smoke, which all but killed me.”
“Why did you send for the dragon kings and not for me,” the Bodhisattva asked, “if he has True Samadhi Fire and such great powers?”
“I wanted to come,” Monkey replied, “but I'd been so badly affected by the smoke that I couldn't ride a cloud. I sent Pig to come and ask you for help instead.”
“But he has not been here,” the Bodhisattva replied.
“That's just it,” said Monkey. “Before Pig reached this island the evil spirit turned himself into your double, Bodhisattva, lured him into the cave, and has now hung him up in a leather bag ready to be steamed and eaten.”
When the Bodhisattva heard this she said in a furious rage, “How dare that vicious demon turn himself into my double!” With a roar of anger she flung her precious pure vase into the sea. Monkey was so horrified that his hair stood on end. He rose to his feet, stood below the Bodhisattva's throne, and said, “If the Bodhisattva does not control her temper I'll be blamed for talking out of turn and ruining her conduct. This is terrible. You've thrown your vase away. Had I known you could have done me a big favour and given it to me.”
Before the words were all out of his mouth the waves of the sea started to dance and the vase emerged from them. It was being carried on the back of a monster. When Brother Monkey took a good look at the monster he saw what it was like:
Where he comes from he is known as Mud-carrier,
Shining in splendor alone beneath the sea,
Knowing Heaven and earth from his ancient obscurity,
And the ways of ghosts and gods from his peaceful hiding-place.
When concealed he withdraws his head and his tail,
But his legs can make him swim as fast as flying.
On him King Wen drew trigram and Zeng Yuan cast omens;
He always was offered at the court of Fu Xi.
All beauty is revealed by this primal dragon,
Calling up the breakers and making the waves.
Threads of gold sew his carapace together,
And brindling gives the color to the tortoise-shell.
Its back carries the Eight Trigram Ninefold Palace;
Scattered splendor flecks his coat of green.
The dragon king admires him for his courage when alive;
He carries the tablet of Lord Buddha after death.
If you want to know what this creature is called,
He is the wicked tortoise who causes wind and waves.
Carrying the vase on his back, the tortoise crawled ashore, and made twenty-four nods to the Bodhisattva that counted as twenty-four kowtows. Seeing this Monkey laughed to himself as he said, “He must be the vase-keeper. I suppose they ask him for the vase whenever it's lost.”
“What is that you are saying, Wukong?”
“Nothing,” Monkey replied.
“Fetch the vase,” the Bodhisattva ordered. Monkey went over to pick it up, but he had no more chance of moving it than a dragonfly has of shifting a stone pillar by even a fraction of an inch. Monkey went back to the Bodhisattva, knelt before her, and said, “Bodhisattva, your disciple cannot move it.”
“All you can do, you ape, is talk,” said the Bodhisattva. “If you can't even move a vase how can you hope to subdue demons?”
“To be honest, Bodhisattva, I would normally be able to move it, but today I just can't. I think that being beaten by the evil spirit must have weakened me.”
“It is usually an empty vase,” said the Bodhisattva, “but when I threw it into the sea it went round the Three Rivers, the Five Lakes, the Eight Seas, the Four Streams, and all the brooks, springs, pools and caves to borrow a whole seaful of water. You are nowhere near strong enough to lift a sea up. That is why you can't move it.”