by Unknown
As he thought to himself in this manner and gave praise to his master, he caught sight of a mass of black fumes boiling up from south of the forest. Greatly startled, Pilgrim said, “There must be something perverse in those black fumes! Our Eight Rules and Sha Monk can’t release black fumes like that . . .” In midair our Great Sage at once tried to determine where those black fumes came from, and we shall leave him for the moment.
We tell you instead about Tripitaka, who was sitting in the forest with mind enlightened by the vision of the Buddha-nature in all things. As he recited with utmost concentration the Mahāprajñā-parāmitāhṛ-daya Sūtra, he suddenly heard a faint cry, “Save me! Save me!” “My goodness! My goodness!” said Tripitaka, highly astonished. “Who would be crying out like that deep in the forest? It must be someone scared by tigers or wolves. Let me take a look.” Rising and striding forward, the elder went by the millennial cedars and the immortal pines; he climbed over creepers and vines to take a clear look. Tied to the trunk of a huge tree was a girl: the upper half of her body was bound by vines, while the lower half of her body was buried in the ground.
Stopping before her, the elder asked, “Lady Bodhisattva, for what reason are you bound here?” Alas! She was clearly a monster, but the elder, being of fleshly eyes and mortal stock, could not recognize her. When the fiend heard the question, she released a torrent of tears. Look at her!
As tears dripped from her peachlike cheeks,
She had features that would sink fishes and drop wild geese;
As grief flashed from her starlike eyes,
She had looks that would daunt the moon and shame the flowers.
In truth not daring to approach her, our elder asked again, “Lady Bodhisattva, what possible crime could you have committed? Speak up so that this humble cleric may rescue you.”
With clever and deceptive words, with false and specious sentiments, the monster-spirit replied hurriedly, “Master, my home is located in the Bimbāna Kingdom,4 some two hundred miles from here. My parents, still living and exceedingly devoted to virtue, have in all their lives been kind to friends and peaceable toward relatives. As this is the time of Clear Brightness, they invited various kinfolk and the young and old of our family to sweep clean our ancestral graves and offer sacrifices to the dead. A whole row of carriages and horses went out into the desolate wilds. We had just set up the sacrifices and finished burning paper money and horses when the sound of gongs and drums brought out a band of strong men wielding knives, waving staffs, and screaming to kill as they fell on us. We were scared out of our wits. My parents and my relatives managed to escape on horseback or in the carriages. Being so young and unable to run, I fell in terror to the ground and was abducted by these brigands. The Big Great King wanted me to be his mistress; the Second Great King desired me for his wife; the Third and the Fourth, too, admired my beauty. A heated quarrel thus began among some seventy or eighty of them, and when they could not resolve their anger, they had me tied up in the forest before they scattered. I have been here like this for five whole days and nights, and I expect my life will expire any moment. I don’t know which generation of my ancestors accumulated sufficient merit to acquire for me the good fortune this day of meeting the venerable master at this place. I beseech you in your great mercy to save my life. I shall never forget your kindness, even when I reach the Nine Springs of Hades!” When she finished speaking, her tears fell like rain.
Always a merciful person, Tripitaka could not refrain from shedding tears himself. In a choking voice, he called out, “Disciples!”
Our Eight Rules and Sha Monk were just searching for flowers and fruits in the forest when they suddenly heard the melancholy cry of their master. “Sha Monk,” said Idiot, “Master must have recognized one of his relatives here.” “You’re driveling, Second Elder Brother!” said Sha Monk, laughing. “We haven’t met one good man after walking all this time. Where would this relative come from?”
“If it weren’t a relative,” replied Eight Rules, “you think Master would be weeping with someone else? Let’s you and I go take a look.” Sha Monk agreed to go back to the original spot with him. As they drew near, leading the horse and toting the luggage, they said, “Master, what’s up?”
Pointing to the tree, the Tang Monk said, “Eight Rules, untie that lady bodhisattva over there so that we may save her life.” Without regard for good or ill, our Idiot immediately proceeded to do so.
We tell you now about the Great Sage in midair, who saw that the black fumes were growing thicker all the time until they had the auspicious luminosity completely covered. “That’s bad! That’s bad!” he exclaimed. “When the black fumes have covered the auspicious luminosity, it may mean that some monstrous perversity has harmed Master. Begging for vegetarian food is a small matter now. I’d better go see my master first.” Reversing the direction of his cloud, he dropped down into the forest, where he found Eight Rules busily trying to untie the ropes. Pilgrim went forward, grabbed one of his ears, and flung him with a thud to the ground. As he raised his head to look and scramble up, Idiot said, “Master told me to rescue this person. Why did you have to strongarm me and give me this tumble?”
“Brother, don’t untie her,” said Pilgrim with a laugh. “She is a monster-spirit who’s using some jugglery to deceive us.”
“You brazen ape!” snapped Tripitaka. “You’re babbling again! How could you tell that this girl is a fiend?” “Master, you may have no idea about this,” replied Pilgrim, “but it’s the kind of business old Monkey has done before. This is the way monster-spirits try to get human flesh to eat. How could you know about that?”
Pouting with his snout stuck out, Eight Rules said, “Master, don’t believe the lies of this BanHorsePlague. This girl belongs to a family here, whereas we came from the distant Land of the East. We’re no acquaintances or kinfolk of hers. How could we say that she is a monster-spirit? He wants us to abandon her and go on our way so that he can use his magic and somersault back here to have a nice time with her. He wants to sneak in through the back door!”
“Coolie, don’t you dare mouth such nonsense!” snapped Pilgrim. “During this journey to the West, since when has old Monkey ever been slothful or unruly? I’m no miserable bum like you who loves sex more than life, and who will sell out his friends for a price. Remember how dumb you were when you were deceived by that household’s offer to take you in as a son-in-law and ended up being tied to a tree?”
“All right! All right!” said Tripitaka. “Eight Rules, your elder brother has always been quite right in his perception. If he puts it that way, let’s not mind her. Let’s leave.” “Marvelous!” said Pilgrim, highly pleased. “Master will be able to preserve his life. Please mount up. After we get out of the pine forest, I’ll go to some household to beg you a vegetarian meal.” The four of them indeed abandoned the fiend and proceeded.
Still bound to the tree, the fiend said to herself through clenched teeth, “I have heard people say for several years that Sun Wukong has vast magic powers. What I can see of him today certainly confirms the rumor. Since that Tang Monk has begun practicing austerities in his youth, he has never allowed his original yang to leak out. I was hoping that I could seize him and mate with him so that I might become a golden immortal of the Grand Monad. Hardly did I anticipate that this ape would see through my disguise and take him away instead. If he had untied me and let me down, the Tang Monk would have fallen right into my hands. He would have indeed been mine, wouldn’t he? If I let him get away now just because of a few casual remarks, it means I have planned and worked in vain. Let me call him a couple more times and see what happens. Still tied up in the ropes, the monster-spirit instead employed a gentle breeze to waft some virtuous sentences faintly into the ears of the Tang Monk. What did she say, you ask? This was how she called out to him: “O Master!
If you a living human passed by and refused to free,
What Buddha or scriptures could such blindness hope to see?”
Hearing a summons like that as he rode along, the Tang Monk immediately reined in the horse and called out, “Wukong, let’s go and free the girl.” “Master, you’re moving along just fine,” said Pilgrim. “What makes you think of her again?”
“She’s calling after me!” replied the Tang Monk.
“Did you hear anything, Eight Rules?” asked Pilgrim. Eight Rules said, “My oversized ears must have blocked it. I didn’t hear a thing.”
“Sha Monk, did you hear anything?” asked Pilgrim again. Sha Monk said, “I was walking ahead, toting the luggage, and I didn’t pay any attention. I didn’t hear anything either.” “Nor did old Monkey,” said Pilgrim. “Master, what did she say? Why are you the only one who heard the call?”
The Tang Monk replied, “The way she called me makes a lot of sense. She said,
If you a living human passed by and refused to free,
What Buddha or scriptures could such blindness hope to see?
As the proverb also puts the matter,
Saving one life
Is better than building a seven-tiered stūpa.
Let’s go quickly and rescue her. It’ll be as good as fetching scriptures and worshipping Buddha.”
“Master,” said Pilgrim with a laugh, “when you want to do good, there’s no drug in the world that can cure you! Think how many mountains you have crossed since you left the Land of the East and how many monsters you have encountered since you began your journey to the West. Without fail they managed to have you captured and brought into their caves. When old Monkey came to rescue you, the iron rod he used had beaten thousands upon thousands to death. Today there’s only one life of a monster-spirit, and you can’t leave her. Do you have to rescue her?” “O disciple!” said the Tang Monk. “As the ancients said,
Don’t fail to do good even if it’s small;
Don’t engage in evil even if it’s small.
Let’s go rescue her.”
“If you put it that way, Master,” said Pilgrim, “you must assume the responsibility, because old Monkey can’t bear it. If you have made up your mind to rescue her, I dare not admonish you too much. For if I do, you’ll get mad after a while. You may go and rescue her as you please.” “Don’t talk so much, ape-head!” said the Tang Monk. “You sit here, while Eight Rules and I go rescue her.”
Returning to the pine forest, the Tang Monk asked Eight Rules to untie the ropes that had the girl bound to the tree from the waist up, and to use his rake to dig the lower half of her body out from the ground. Stamping her feet and straightening out her skirt, the fiend followed the Tang Monk out of the forest most amiably. When they met up with Pilgrim, he began to snicker uncontrollably.
“Brazen ape!” scolded the Tang Monk. “Why are you laughing?” “I’m laughing replied Pilgrim, “because
When times are right good friends you will hail;
A fair lady will greet you should fortune fail!”
“Wretched ape!” scolded the Tang Monk again. “What rubbish! The moment I left my mother’s belly, I became a priest. Now I’m journeying westward by imperial decree and trying to worship Buddha in all sincerity. I’m no seeker of profit or status. How could there be a time when my fortune fails?”
“Master,” replied Pilgrim with a laugh, “though you may have been a monk since your youth, all you know is how to read sūtras and chant the name of Buddha. You aren’t familiar with the codes and laws of a state. This girl is both young and pretty, and we are after all persons who have left the family. If we travel with her, we may run into wicked people who will send us to court. Regardless of how we profess to be scripture seekers and Buddha worshippers, they may accuse us of fornication. Even if we are cleared of that charge, they may still have us convicted of kidnapping. You will be expelled from your priesthood and beaten till you’re half-dead; Eight Rules will be sent into the army and Sha Monk will be sentenced to hard labor. Even old Monkey will find it hard to extricate himself from such a messy affair. I may be smart-mouthed, but no amount of haggling on my part will clear us of indiscretion.”
“Stop this nonsense!” snapped Tripitaka. “I’m determined to save her life. How could she involve us in any trouble? We’re taking her with us. If anything arises, I’ll assume the responsibility myself.” “You may talk like that, Master,” said Pilgrim, “but you don’t realize that what you are doing won’t save her but will only harm her.” Tripitaka said, “I rescued her out of the forest so that she might live. How could she be harmed instead?”
“When she was tied up in the forest,” replied Pilgrim, “she might have lasted five to seven days, possibly up to half a month, but without rice to eat, she would have starved to death. Even in that situation, however, she would have died with her body preserved intact. Now you’ve freed her and brought her with you, without realizing, of course, that you happen to be riding a horse swift as the wind. We may be able to follow you on our feet, not having really any choice in the matter, but the girl has such tiny feet that she moves with great difficulty. How could she possibly keep up with you? If by chance she drops behind, she may well run into a tiger or a leopard, which will swallow her with one gulp. In that case, haven’t you harmed her life?”
“Indeed!” said Tripitaka. “It’s a good thing you saw things this way. What shall we do?” “Lift her up and let her ride with you,” said Pilgrim. “How can I ride with her?” asked Tripitaka, and he fell into silent thought.
“How can she proceed?” pressed Pilgrim. “Let Eight Rules carry her on his back,” said Tripitaka. Laughing, Pilgrim said, “Idiot’s getting lucky!”
“‘A long distance has no light load!’” said Eight Rules. “How can I be getting lucky if I’m asked to carry someone on my back?”
“But you’ve such a long snout,” said Pilgrim, “long enough, in fact, to stick it behind you to flirt with her once she is on your back. Don’t you have an advantage there?” When Eight Rules heard this, he pounded his chest and jumped up and down. “That’s no good! That’s no good!” he bellowed. “If Master wants to beat me a few times, I’m willing to take the pain, but it’ll be quite messy for me if I put her on my back. All his life, Elder Brother has loved to set people up by planting false evidence. I can’t carry her!”
“All right, all right!” said Tripitaka. “I can still manage to walk a few steps. Let me get down and walk slowly with her. Eight Rules can lead the horse.” Breaking into loud guffaws, Pilgrim said, “Idiot is really getting the business. Master’s looking after you by asking you to lead the horse!”5
“This ape-head is mouthing absurdity again!” said Tripitaka. “The ancients said, ‘Though a horse can travel a thousand miles, it can’t get there without human guidance.’ If I walk slowly on the road, would you like to leave me behind, too? If I move slowly, you must also move slowly; we can certainly walk down the mountain with this lady bodhisattva. When we arrive at some human household, we can leave her there, and that will have completed our task of rescuing her.”
“What Master says is quite reasonable,” said Pilgrim. “Please proceed quickly.” As Tripitaka walked forward, Sha Monk toted the luggage, Eight Rules led the horse and the girl, and Pilgrim held up his iron rod. They had not covered more than twenty or thirty miles when it was getting late, and there came into their view again a towered building with ornate roof carvings. “Disciples,” said Tripitaka, “that must be either a monastery or temple. Let’s ask for one night’s lodging, and we can proceed tomorrow.” “You spoke well, Master,” said Pilgrim. “Let’s move along, all of us.”
As soon as they reached the gate, Tripitaka gave them this instruction: “Stand away from the door, all of you, and let me go ask for lodging. If it’s convenient, someone will come to call you.” All of them stood beneath the shade of some willow trees, but Pilgrim, gripping his iron rod, stood guard over the girl.
The elder strode forward and saw that the temple gate was so badly rotted that it was all crooked and bent. When he pushed it open to have anoth
er look, he was filled with grief, for he found
The long corridors quiet,
An old temple desolate.
Mosses filled the courtyard
And weeds choked the path.
Only the fireflies served as lanterns,
And frog-croaks acted for water clocks.
All at once the elder could not hold back his tears. Truly
The walls were unused and collapsing;
The chambers, forlorn and crumbling.
Over ten piles of broken bricks and tiles
There all bent pillars and snapped beams.
Green grasses grew both front and back;
Dust buried the incense alcove.
The bell tower stood in ruin, the drum had no skin;
The crystal chalice was cracked and chipped.
Buddha’s gold frame lacked luster;
Arhats lay prone east and west.
Guanyin, rain-soaked, was reduced to clay,
Her willow vase fallen to earth.
No priests would enter during the day;
Only foxes rested here by night.
You heard only the wind’s thunderous roar
In this hiding place of all tigers and leopards.
Walls on all four sides had collapsed,