by Unknown
Terror-stricken by these words, Tripitaka said, trembling all over, “Old Bodhisattva, I’m profoundly grateful for your kindness, and I can’t thank you enough. May I ask whether there is another road that conveniently bypasses the city? This poor monk will gladly take such a road and proceed.”
With a giggle, the old woman replied, “You can’t bypass the city! You simply can’t! You might do so only if you could fly!”
At once Eight Rules began to wag his tongue and said, “Mama, don’t speak such scary words! We’re all able to fly!” With his fiery eyes and diamond pupils, however, Pilgrim was the only one who could discern the truth: the old woman and the child were actually the Bodhisattva Guanyin and the Boy Skilled in Wealth. So alarmed was he that he went to his knees immediately and cried, “Bodhisattva, pardon your disciples for failing to meet you!”
Gently the bodhisattva rose on a petal of pink cloud, so astounding the elder Tang that he did not quite know where to stand. All he could do was to fall on his knees to kowtow, and Eight Rules and Sha Monk too went hurriedly to their knees to bow to the sky. In a moment, the auspicious cloud drifted away to return to South Sea. Pilgrim got up and raised his master, saying, “Please rise, the bodhisattva has returned to her treasure mountain.”
As he got up, Tripitaka said, “Wukong, if you had recognized the bodhisattva, why didn’t you tell us sooner?”
“You couldn’t stop asking questions,” replied Pilgrim, laughing, “whereas I immediately went to my knees. Wasn’t that soon enough?” Eight Rules and Sha Monk then said to Pilgrim, “Thanks to the bodhisattva’s revelation, what lies before us has to be the Dharma-Destroying Kingdom. What are we all going to do when there’s this determination to kill monks?”
“Idiot, don’t be afraid!” said Pilgrim. “We have met quite a few vicious demons and savage fiends, and we have gone through tiger lairs and dragon lagoons, but we have never been hurt. What we have to face here is a kingdom of common people. Why should we fear them? Our only trouble right now is that this is no place to stay. Besides, it’s getting late, and if any villagers returning from business in the city catch sight of us priests and begin to spread the news, that won’t be very convenient. Let’s lead Master away from the main road and find a more secluded spot. We can then make further plans.”
Tripitaka indeed followed his suggestion; all of them left the main road and went over to a small ditch, in which they sat down. “Brothers,” said Pilgrim, “the two of you stay here and guard Master. Let old Monkey go in transformation to look over the city. Perhaps I can find a road that’s out of the way, which will take us through the region this very night.” “O Disciple!” urged the Tang Monk. “Don’t take this lightly, for you’re going against the law of a king. Do be careful!”
“Relax! Relax!” replied Pilgrim with a smile. “Old Monkey will manage!” Dear Great Sage! When he finished speaking, he leaped into the air with a loud whistle. How fantastic!
Neither pulled from above by strings,
Nor supported below by cranes,
Like us all, two parents he owns,
But only he has lighter bones.
Standing at the edge of the clouds, he peered below and saw that the city was flooded by airs of gladness and auspicious luminosity. “What a lovely place!” Pilgrim said. “Why does it want to destroy the dharma?” As he stared at the place, it gradually grew dark. He saw that
At letter-ten crossings2 lamps flared brightly;
At nine-tiered halls incense rose and bells tolled.
Seven glowing stars lit up the blue sky;
In eight quarters travelers dropped their gear.
From the six-corps camps
The painted bugles just faintly sounded;
In the five-watch tower,
By drop the copper pot began dripping.
On four sides night fog thickened;
At three marts chilly mist spread out.
Spouses, in twos, entered the silken drapes,
When one bright moon ascended the east.
He thought to himself: “I would like to go down to the business districts to look over the roadways, but with a face like mine, people will undoubtedly holler that I’m a priest if they see me. I’ll transform myself.” Making the magic sign and reciting a spell, he changed with one shake of his body into a moth:
A small shape with light, agile wings,
He dives to snuff candles and lamps.
By metamorphosis he gains his true form,
Most active midst rotted grasses.
He strikes flames for love of hot light,
Flying, circling without ceasing.
Purple-robed, fragrant-winged, chasing the fireflies,
He likes most the deep windless night.3
You see him soaring and turning as he flew toward those six boulevards and three marts, passing eaves and rafters. As he proceeded, he suddenly caught sight of a row of houses at the corner of the street ahead, each house having a lantern hung above its door.
“These families,” he thought to himself, “must be celebrating the annual Lantern Feast. Why would they have lighted lanterns by the row?” Stiffening his wings, he flew near and looked carefully. The house in the very middle had a square lantern, on which these words were written: Rest for the Traveling Merchant. Below there were also the words: Steward Wang’s Inn. Pilgrim knew therefore that it was a hotel.
When he stretched out his neck to look further, he saw that there were some eight or nine people, who had all finished their dinner. Having loosened their clothes, taken off their head wraps, and washed their hands and feet, they had taken to their beds to sleep. Secretly pleased, Pilgrim said, “Master may pass through, after all!” How did he know so readily that his master might pass through, you ask? He was about to follow a wicked scheme: waiting until those people were asleep, he would steal their clothes and wraps so that master and disciples could disguise themselves as secular folks to enter the city.
Alas! There had to be this disagreeable development! As he was deliberating by himself, the steward went forward and gave this instruction to his guests: “Sirs, do be careful, for our place caters to both gentlemen and rogues. I’d like to ask each of you to take care of your clothing and luggage.” Think of it! People doing business abroad, would they not be careful with everything? When they heard such instruction from the innkeeper, they became more cautious than ever. Hastening to their feet, they said, “The proprietor is quite right. Those of us fatigued by travel may not easily wake up once we’re asleep. If we lose our things, what are we going to do? Please take our clothes, our head wraps, and our money bags inside. When we get up in the morning, you may return them to us.” Steward Wang accordingly took all of their clothes and belongings into his own residence.
By nature impulsive, Pilgrim at once spread his wings to fly there also and alighted on one of the head-wrap stands. Then he saw Steward Wang going to the front door to take down the lantern, lower the cloth curtain, and close the door and windows. Only then did Wang return to his room to take off his own clothes and lie down. The steward, however, also had a wife sleeping with two children, and they were still making so much noise that none of them could go to sleep right away. The wife, too, was patching some garment and refused to retire.
“If I wait until this woman sleeps,” thought Pilgrim to himself, “won’t Master be delayed?” Fearing also that the city gates might be closed later in the night, he could no longer refrain from flying down there and threw himself on the taper. Truly
He risked his life to dive into flames;
He scorched his brow to tempt his fate.
The taper immediately went out. With one shake of his body he changed again into a rat. After a squeak or two he leaped down, took the garments and head wraps, and began to drag them out. Panic-stricken, the woman said, “Old man, things are bad! A rat has turned into a spirit!”
On hearing this, Pilgrim flaunted his abilities some more. Stopping at the door, he cried out in a l
oud voice, “Steward Wang, don’t listen to the babblings of your woman. I’m no rodent-spirit. Since a man of light does not engage in shady dealings, I must tell you that I’m the Great Sage, Equal to Heaven, who has descended to earth to accompany the Tang Monk on his way to seek scriptures in the Western Heaven. Because your king is without principles, I’ve come especially to borrow these caps and gowns to adorn my master. Once we’ve passed through the city, I’ll return them.” Hearing that, Steward Wang scrambled up at once. It was, of course, pitch black, and he was in a hurry besides. He grabbed his pants, thinking he had his shirt; but no matter how hard he tried, slipping them on this way and that, he could not put them on.
Using his magic of abduction, the Great Sage had already mounted the clouds to leave the city and return to the ditch by the road. In the bright light of the stars and moon, Tripitaka was standing there staring when he saw Pilgrim approaching. “Disciple,” he asked, “can we go through the Dharma-Destroying Kingdom?”
Walking forward and putting down the garments, Pilgrim said, “Master, if you want to go through the Dharma-Destroying Kingdom, you can’t remain a priest.” “Elder Brother,” said Eight Rules, “whom are you trying to fool? It’s easy not to remain a priest: just don’t shave your head for half a year, and you hair will grow.” “We can’t wait for half a year!” said Pilgrim. “We must become laymen right now!”
Horrified, our Idiot said, “The way you talk is most unreasonable, as always! We are all priests, and you want us to become laymen this instant! How could we even wear a head wrap? Even if we tighten the edges, we have nothing on our heads to tie the strings with!”
“Stop the wisecracks!” snapped Tripitaka. “Let’s do what’s proper! Wukong, what is your plan?”
“Master,” said Pilgrim, “I have inspected the city here. Though the king is unprincipled enough to slaughter monks, he is nevertheless a genuine son of Heaven, for his city is filled with joyful and auspicious air. I can recognize the streets in the city, andI can converse in the local dialect. A moment ago I borrowed several garments and head wraps from a hotel. We must disguise ourselves as laymen and enter the city to ask for lodging. At the fourth watch we should rise and ask the innkeeper to prepare us a meal—vegetarian, of course. By about the hour of the fifth watch, we will walk close to the wall of the city-gate and find the main road to the West. If we run into anyone who tries to detain us, we can still give the explanation that we have been commissioned by the court of a superior state. The Dharma-Destroying King would not dare hinder us. He’ll let us go.” Sha Monk said, “Elder Brother’s plan is most proper. Let’s do as he tells us.”
Indeed, the elder had little choice but to shed his monk’s robe and his clerical cap and to put on the garment and head wrap of a layman. Sha Monk too changed his clothes. Eight Rules, however, had such a huge head that he could not wear the wrap as it was. Pilgrim had to rip open two wraps and sew them together with needle and thread to make one wrap and drape it over his head. A larger garment was selected for him to put on, after which Pilgrim himself also changed into a different set of clothing. “Once we get moving,” he said, “you all must put away the words ‘master and disciples.’”
“Without these terms,” said Eight Rules, “how shall we address ourselves?”
Pilgrim said, “We should do so as if we were in a fraternal order: Master shall be called Grand Master Tang, you shall be Third Master Zhu, Sha Monk shall be called Fourth Master Sha, and I shall be called Second Master Sun. When we reach the hotel, however, none of you should talk; let me do all the talking. If they ask us what sort of business we’re in, I’ll say that we’re horse traders, using this white horse of ours as a sample. I’ll tell them that there are altogether ten of us in this fraternal order, but the four of us have come first to rent a room in the hotel and sell our horse. The innkeeper will certainly take care of us. If we receive his hospitality, I’ll pick up by the time we leave some bits or pieces of broken tiles and change them into silver to thank him. Then we’ll get on with our journey.” The elder had no alternative but to comply reluctantly.
The four of them, leading the horse and toting the luggage, hurried into the city. It was fortunate that this happened to be a peaceful region, so that the city gates had not yet been closed even as the time of the night watch began. When they reached the door of the Steward Wang’s Hotel, they heard noises from inside, crying, “I’ve lost my head wrap!” Another person cried, “I’ve lost my clothes.” Feigning ignorance, Pilgrim led them to another hotel, catercorner from this one. Since that hotel had not yet even taken down its lantern, Pilgrim walked up to the door and called out: “Innkeeper, do you have a room for us to stay in?”
Some woman inside replied at once, “Yes! Yes! Yes! Let the masters go up to the second floor.” She had hardly finished speaking when a man arrived to take the horse, which Pilgrim handed over to him. He himself led his master behind the lamplight and up to the door of the second floor, where lounge tables and chairs had been placed. He pushed open the shutters, and moonlight streamed in as they took their seats. Someone came up with lighted lamps, but Pilgrim barred the door and blew out the lamps with one breath. “We don’t need lamps when the moon’s so bright,” he said.
After the person with the lamps had been sent away, another maid brought up four bowls of pure tea, which Pilgrim accepted. From below, a woman about fifty-seven or fifty-eight years old came straight up to the second floor. Standing to one side, she asked, “Gentlemen, where have you come from? What treasure merchandise do you have?”
“We came from the north,” replied Pilgrim, “and we have a few ordinary horses to sell.”
“Well,” said the woman, “we haven’t seen many guests who sell horses.”
“This one is Grand Master Tang,” said Pilgrim, “this one is Third Master Zhu, and this one is Fourth Master Sha. Your humble student here is Second Master Sun.”
“All different surnames,” said the woman with a giggle.
“Indeed, all different surnames but living together,” said Pilgrim. “There are altogether ten of us in our fraternal order; we four have come first to seek lodging at your hotel, and the six others are resting outside the city. With a herd of horses, they don’t dare enter the city at such an hour. When we have located the proper place for them to stay, they’ll come in tomorrow morning. Once we have sold the horses, we’ll leave.”
“How many horses are there in your herd?” asked the woman.
“Big and small, there are over a hundred,” said Pilgrim, “all very much like the horse we have here. Only their colors vary.”
Giggling some more, the woman said, “Second Master Sun is indeed a merchant in every way! It’s a good thing that you’ve come to our place, for any other household would not dare receive you. We happen to have a large courtyard here, complete with stalls and stocked with feed. Even if you had several hundred horses, we can take care of them. You should be aware, too, that our hotel has been here for years and has gained quite a reputation. My late husband, who unfortunately died long ago, had the surname of Zhao, and that’s why this hotel is named Widow Zhao’s Inn. We have three classes of accommodation here. If you will kindly allow impoliteness to precede courtesy, I will discuss the room rates with you, so I’ll know what to charge you.”
“What you say is quite right,” said Pilgrim. “What three classes of accommodation do you have in your hotel? As the saying goes,
High, medium, and low, are three prices of goods,
Guests, far and near, are not treated the same.
Tell me a little of your three classes of accommodation.”
Widow Zhao said, “What we have here are the superior, moderate, and inferior classes of accommodation. For the superior, we will prepare a banquet of five kinds of fruits and five courses, topped by lion-head puddings and peck-candies. There will be two persons per table, and young hostesses will be invited to drink and rest with you. The charge per person is five coins of silver, and this in
cludes the room.”
“What a bargain!” said Pilgrim, chuckling. “Where I came from, five coins of silver won’t even pay for the young ladies!”
“For the moderate,” said the widow again, “all of you will share one table, and you’ll get only fruits and hot wine. You yourselves may establish your drinking rules and play your finger-guessing games, but no young hostesses will be present. For this, we charge two coins of silver per person.”
“That’s even more of a bargain,” said Pilgrim. “What’s the inferior class like?”
“I dare not describe that in front of honored guests,” replied the woman.
“You may tell us,” said Pilgrim. “We’ll find our bargain and do our thing.”
The woman said, “In the inferior class there’s no one to serve you. You may eat whatever rice there is in the pot, and when you’ve had your fill, you can get some straw and make yourself a bed on the ground. Find yourself a place to sleep, and in the morning you may give us a few pennies for the rice. We won’t haggle with you.”
On hearing this, Eight Rules said, “Lucky! Lucky! That’s old Hog’s kind of bargain! Let me stand in front of the pot and stuff myself with rice. Then I’ll have a nice damn snooze in front of the hearth!” “Brother,” said Pilgrim, “what are you saying? You and I, after all, have managed to earn a few ounces of silver here and there in the world, haven’t we? Give us the superior class!”
Filled with delight, the woman cried, “Bring some fine tea! Tell the chefs to start their preparations.” She dashed downstairs and shouted some more: “Slaughter some chickens and geese. Have them cooked or cured to go with the rice. Slaughter a pig and a lamb too; even if we can’t use them today, we may use them tomorrow. Get the good wine. Cook white-grain rice, and take bleached flour to make biscuits.”