The Journey to the West, Revised Edition, Volume 4

by Unknown

  “When Elder Brother saw that we were captured,” replied Sha Monk, “he fled.”

  “If he escaped,” said the Tang Monk, “he most certainly went somewhere to seek help. But I wonder when we might go free.” Master and disciples were overcome by sadness, and we shall leave them for the moment.

  We tell you now about Pilgrim, who mounted his cloud somersault to return to the Mercy Cloud Temple. As the priests there met him, they asked, “Have you rescued Father Tang?”

  “It’s hard to do that!” said Pilgrim. “Very hard indeed! Those monster-spirits had vast magic powers. We three brothers fought those three for a long time. Then they summoned the little monsters to capture Eight Rules first and seize Sha Monk afterward. Old Monkey was lucky enough to escape.”

  Greatly frightened, the priests said, “If someone like you, Holy Father, who could mount the clouds and ride the fog, still could not arrest them, the old master will certainly be harmed.”

  “Not necessarily!” replied Pilgrim. “My master himself enjoys the secret protection of the Guardians of Monastery, the Guardians of Five Quarters, and the Six Gods of Darkness and Light. Then, too, he once tasted the Grass of the Reverted Cinnabar.3 I doubt that his life will be harmed. It’s just that the monster-spirits are quite able, which makes it necessary for old Monkey to seek help in Heaven. You all must take good care to guard the horse and the luggage.”

  Even more intimidated, the priests said, “Can Holy Father go up to Heaven?”

  With a chuckle, Pilgrim said, “The Celestial Palace used to be my homestead, in those years when I was the Great Sage, Equal to Heaven. Because I disrupted the Festival of Immortal Peaches, I was subjugated by our Buddha. I had no choice but to escort the Tang Monk in his quest for scriptures, using my merit to atone for my sins. Throughout the journey, I have been assisting the right by dispelling the deviates. It is my master’s lot, however, that he should suffer this ordeal, something none of you know anything about.” These words moved the priests to kowtow and worship. Stepping out, Pilgrim gave a loud whistle and at once vanished.

  Marvelous Great Sage! He soon arrived at the West Heaven Gate, where he ran into the Gold Star Venus conversing with the Devarāja Virūḍhaka and the Four Spirit Officers Yin, Zhu, Tao, and Xu. When they saw Pilgrim arrive, they hurriedly saluted him and asked, “Where’s the Great Sage going?”

  “As the guardian of the Tang Monk,” replied Pilgrim, “I have reached the Compassionate Heaven District of the Gold-Level Prefecture, which is located on the eastern border of the Kingdom of India. My master was asked by the priests of the Mercy Cloud Temple to stay and enjoy the Lantern Festival. When we went to see the Golden-Lamp Bridge, we saw three golden lamps, in fact, which used as fuel a specially blended fragrant oil. Though that oil has the worth of some fifty thousand taels of white gold, it is nonetheless presented for the enjoyment of some Buddhas who make an auspicious descent every year. As we were looking at those lamps, three images of Buddha indeed appeared. Not knowing good or ill, my master immediately rushed up to the top of the bridge to make his bow, while I was trying to tell him they were no good. But they had already dimmed the lamps and abducted both the oil and my master in a gust of wind. I set off in pursuit of the wind and by dawn came upon a mountain. The Four Sentinels reported to me that it was the Green Dragon Mountain. The Mysterious Flower Cave of that mountain had three fiends with the names of Great King Cold-Deterrent, Great King Heat-Deterrent, and Great King Dust-Deterrent. Old Monkey quickly demanded my master’s return at their door, fought with the monster-spirits, but did not gain the upper hand. Then I used transformation to gain entrance. When I saw that my master was chained but unharmed, I freed him and tried to lead him out. But we were detected, and I had to flee. Thereafter, Eight Rules and Sha Monk joined me to wage a bitter battle with them, which ended with the capture of my two brothers. For this reason, old Monkey has come to request the Jade Emperor’s assistance in locating their origin and in bringing them to submission.”

  “If the Great Sage had already fought with them,” said the Gold Star, chuckling sardonically, “couldn’t he tell where they came from?”

  “Of course! Of course!” replied Pilgrim. “I could tell they were a herd of bovine spirits. But because of their great magic powers, they are difficult to subdue quickly.”

  The Gold Star said, “Those are indeed three rhinoceros spirits. Because their bodily designs bear the patterns of Heaven, long years of cultivation have wrought immortality for them, so that they too, are able to soar on the clouds and tread on the fog. Those fiends also have a penchant for cleanliness. Invariably offended by their own reflection, they would want to leap into water to take a bath. They have various names, too: like female rhinoceros,4 male rhinoceros, bull rhinoceros, striped rhinoceros, barbarian-hat rhinoceros,5 duoluo rhinoceros,6 and Heaven-reaching patterned rhinoceros. They are all endowed with a single aperture, triple hair, and two horns. When they move through rivers and seas, they are able to open a path in the water. As for your Cold-Deterrent, Heat-Deterrent, and Dust-Deterrent, they are so named because of certain precious vital forces stored in their horns. That’s why they have given themselves such titles as Great King so-and-so. If you want to catch them, you must seek help from the Four Wood-Creature Stars. Their mere presence will bring these beasts to submission.”

  Bowing hurriedly, Pilgrim asked, “And who are the Four Wood-Creature Stars? I beg Longevity to tell me plainly.”

  “These stars,” replied the Gold Star with a smile, “are stationed at that part of the universe just outside the Dipper Palace. When you have memorialized to the Jade Emperor, you will learn the truth.” After folding his hands in front of him to indicate his gratitude, Pilgrim went inside the Heaven Gate. In a moment, he reached the lower level of the Hall of Perfect Light, where he met first with Ge, Qiu, Zhang, and Xu, the Four Celestial Masters. “Where are you heading?” they asked.

  “Recently we arrived at Gold-Level Prefecture,” replied Pilgrim. “Because my master has loosened slightly his hold on the nature of Zen, he was abducted by monstrous demons while watching the lights during the Lantern Festival. Old Monkey cannot bring them to submission, and I have come especially to make this known to the Jade Emperor and request assistance.”

  The Four Celestial Masters led Pilgrim immediately into the Hall of Divine Mists to present his memorial. After the exchange of greetings and a complete rehearsal of what took place, the Jade Emperor was about to issue a decree to call up some celestial warriors. Pilgrim went forward and said, “Just now when old Monkey arrived at the West Heaven Gate, Star Longevity told me that those fiends were rhinoceroses who had become spirits. Only the Four Wood-Creature Stars are able to bring them to submission.” The Jade Emperor at once ordered Celestial Master Xu to go to the Dipper Palace and summon the Four Wood-Creature Stars to descend with Pilgrim to the Region Below.

  When they arrived outside the palace, the Twenty-Eight Constellations were there to meet them. “By the sage decree,” said the Heaven Preceptor, “I am to command the Four Wood-Creature Stars to descend to the Region Below with the Great Sage Sun in order to subdue certain monsters.” Immediately Horn the Wood Dragon, Dipper the Wood Unicorn, Straddler the Wood Wolf, and Well the Wood Hound stepped forward to answer the call. “Great Sage Sun,” they said, “where do you want us to go to subdue monsters?”

  “So, it’s you four!” said Pilgrim, laughing. “That old Longevity is so cryptic that I can’t understand him! If he had told me that I should see the Four Woods of the Twenty-Eight Constellations, I would have come directly to issue the invitation. There would have been no need for any imperial decree.”

  “How can you say that, Great Sage?” said the Four Woods. “Without the decree, which one of us dares leave his station? Where is this place you want us to go to? Let’s get there quickly.”

  “It’s a spot northeast of the Gold-Level Prefecture,” replied Pilgrim, “at the Mysterious Flower Cave in the Green Dragon Mountain. W
e have some rhinoceroses there who have become spirits.”

  “If rhinoceroses have become spirits,” said Dipper the Wood Unicorn, Straddler the Wood Wolf, and Horn the Wood Dragon together, “you don’t need all of us. Just ask Constellation Well to go with you. He can climb mountains to devour tigers, and go down to the seas to catch rhinoceroses.”

  “These are no moon-gazing rhinoceroses!” said Pilgrim. “They are ones who have attained the Way through prolonged cultivation, all enjoying the age of a thousand years. We have to have the four of you, and please do not refuse. If only one of you went along with me, you might not be able to catch them. Wouldn’t that be a waste of our efforts again?”

  “Look at the way you people talk!” said the Celestial Master. “The decree orders all four of you to go. How could you not go? Let’s start flying at once, so I can go back to make my report.” Thereupon the Celestial Master took leave of Pilgrim and left.

  “There’s no need for you to wait any longer,” said the Four Woods. “You go provoke battle first and entice them to come out. We’ll then attack.” Rushing forward, Pilgrim shouted, “You oil-stealing fiends! Return my master!” The doors, you see, had been smashed by Eight Rules, but now they had been boarded up with planks by the little monsters. When they heard Pilgrim reviling them outside, they dashed in to report, “Great Kings, the monk Sun is reviling us outside!”

  “He has already fled in defeat,” said Dust-Deterrent. “Why is he returning a day later? Could it be that he has found some help somewhere?”

  “Who’s afraid of any help he might get?” asked Cold-Deterrent. “Bring our armor quickly. Little ones, make sure that you surround him this time and don’t let him get away.”

  Not knowing any better, that herd of spirits all walked out of the cave, all holding spears and knives, waving banners, and rolling drums. “Aren’t you afraid of a beating, ape? You dare show up again?” they snapped at him.

  Now the word “ape” was most irksome to Pilgrim. Clenching his teeth in fury, he raised the iron rod to strike. The three monster-kings ordered the little monsters to fan out and had Pilgrim entirely surrounded. On this side, however, the Four Wood-Creature Stars all brandished their weapons and shouted, “Cursed beasts, don’t you dare move!”

  When those three monster-kings saw the Four Stars, they naturally became frightened. “It’s bad! It’s bad!” they all cried. “He has found our conquerors! Little ones, run for your lives!” With loud snorts and bellows, all the little monsters changed back into their original forms: they were all mountain-buffalo spirits, water-buffalo spirits, and yellow-buffalo spirits, madly stampeding all over the mountain. The three monster-kings, too, revealed their true forms. When they lowered their two hands, they had four legs once more. Their hooves thundering like iron cannons, they fled toward the northeast, closely pursued by the Great Sage leading Well the Wood Hound and Horn the Wood Dragon. Dipper the Wood Unicorn and Straddler the Wood Wolf, however, remained on the eastern slope, where they succeeded in either beating to death or capturing live all the rest of the buffalo spirits stranded on the summit, in the stream, or in the valley. Then they proceeded to the Mysterious Flower Cave and freed the Tang Monk, Eight Rules, and Sha Monk.

  Recognizing the two Stars, Sha Monk bowed with his companions to thank them. “How did the two of you manage to come and rescue us?” he asked.

  “We were ordered here by the Jade Emperor’s decree to bring those fiends to submission and rescue you,” replied the two Stars, “after the Great Sage Sun presented a memorial.”

  “Why, then,” asked the Tang Monk, shedding tears again, “didn’t my disciple Wukong come here?”

  “Those three old fiends happen to be three rhinoceroses,” said the Star. “When they saw us, they fled for their lives toward the northeast. The Great Sage Sun led Well the Wood Hound and Horn the Wood Dragon to give chase. Having mopped up the herd of buffalo, we two came here especially to free the sage monk.” The Tang Monk again touched his forehead to the ground to thank them. Then he prostrated himself once more to thank Heaven.

  Raising him, Eight Rules said, “Master, excessive ceremony becomes insincerity. There’s no need for you to keep on bowing. The Four Star Officers have done this partly because of the imperial decree of the Jade Emperor, and partly because of their regard for Elder Brother. We may have done away with the various fiends, but we have yet to find out whether those old monsters have been brought to submission. Let us take out some of the valuables in this place and then tear down the cave so that they will be permanently uprooted. Afterward we should return to the temple to wait for Elder Brother.”

  “Marshal Heaven Reeds is quite right,” said Straddler the Wood Wolf. “You and the Curtain-Raising General should protect your master and return to rest in the temple. Let us go to the northeast to fight.”

  “Exactly! Exactly!” said Eight Rules. “You two must join them in pursuit. You must exterminate all of the monsters before you go back to report to the throne.” The two star officers at once left in pursuit.

  Ransacking the cave, Eight Rules and Sha Monk took out a pile of valuables—all coral, cornelian, pearls, amber, ornamental gems, precious stones, fine jade, and gold. They asked their master to sit on the mountain ledge before starting a fire that had the entire cave reduced to ashes. Only then did they help the Tang Monk find their way back to the Mercy Cloud Temple. Truly,

  “Good’s limit begets evil,” 7 the classics say.

  Fair fortune ends in mishap? Well it may!

  Chan nature’s confused for love of floral lights;

  Pretty scenes have led the mind of Dao astray.

  The great elixir you must always guard;

  One slip and you’re rewarded with dismay.

  Never slacken your firm and tight control.

  A little indolence brings on disarray.

  We’ll speak no more for the moment about those three, who returned to the temple with their lives. Let us tell you instead about Dipper the Wood Unicorn and Straddler the Wood Wolf, those two star officers, who mounted the clouds and pursued the fiends toward the northeast. They looked this way and that in midair but could see no one. Then they looked toward the great Western Ocean and caught sight of the Great Sage Sun in the distance, hollering above the water. Lowering the direction of their clouds, the two of them said, “Great Sage, where have the fiends gone?”

  “Why didn’t the two of you join us in pursuit?” asked Pilgrim angrily. “Why do you wait till now to ask your addle-headed questions?”

  “When I saw that the Great Sage with Well and Horn had defeated the fiendish demons,” said Dipper the Wood Unicorn, “I thought that you would surely capture them. We two, therefore, made a clean sweep of the other monster-spirits, and then entered the Mysterious Flower Cave to rescue your master and brothers. We ransacked the mountain, burned down the cave, and entrusted your master to the care of your two brothers, who were going to bring him back to the Mercy Cloud Temple in the city. When we saw, however, that you did not return after all this while, we found our way here.”

  Moved to delight and gratitude by these words, Pilgrim said, “In that case, you have achieved merit. Thanks for all your trouble! Thanks for all your trouble! Those three monstrous demons, however, crawled into the ocean after we chased them here. Well and Horn went after them, but they told old Monkey to remain by the shore to stand guard. Since the two of you have arrived, you can head them off here. Let old Monkey go in too.”

  Dear Great Sage! Gripping his iron rod and making the magic sign with his fingers, he opened up a pathway in the water and went into the depths of the ocean. There he found those three monstrous demons waging the most bitter battle with Well the Wood Hound and Horn the Wood Dragon. Leaping near, he shouted, “Old Monkey’s here!”

  Those monster-spirits were already hard pressed when they had to confront the two star officers. When they heard Pilgrim’s cry, they turned immediately and fled for their lives toward the center of the ocean. Th
e horns on the fiends’ heads, you see, were excellent instruments for dividing the water. All you could hear were a loud splatter as they knifed through the billows, with the Great Sage Sun and the two star officers hard on their heels.

  We tell you now that in the Western Ocean, there were a yakṣa and a seaman out on patrol. When they saw from a distance the rhinoceroses opening up the water, and, moreover, when they caught sight of the Great Sage Sun and the two celestial constellations, whom they recognized, they hurried to the Water Crystal Palace to report to the dragon king. “Great King,” they said, somewhat apprehensively, “there are three rhinoceroses being chased by the Great Sage, Equal to Heaven, and two celestial constellations!”

  On hearing this, the old dragon king, Aoshun, summoned Prince Mo’ang and said to him, “Call up the aquatic soldiers at once! It must be that Cold-Deterrent, Heat-Deterrent, and Dust-Deterrent, those three rhinoceros spirits, have offended Pilgrim Sun. Since they have now arrived in our ocean, we should give Sun some armed assistance.” This order immediately made Ao Mo’ang call up the troops.

  In an instant, tortoises, sea-turtles, sea-dragons, breams, carps, shrimp soldiers, and crab privates all gave their battle cries and rushed out of the Water Crystal Palace, each wielding spear or sword, to block the path of the rhinoceros spirits. Unable to advance, the spirits retreated hurriedly, only to find the Great Sage closing in with Well and Horn, the two stars. They became so flustered that they were no longer able to stay together as a herd. Scattering in three directions, each tried to flee for his life.

  Soon Dust-Deterrent was surrounded by the old dragon king and his troops. Delighted by what he saw, the Great Sage Sun cried, “Hold it! Hold it! We want him alive! We don’t want to catch a carcass!” Hearing this, Mo’ang led his troops to rush forward and pull Dust-Deterrent down. An iron hook was thrust through his nose and then he was hog-tied.