by Unknown
“It hit a priest! It hit a priest!” Those standing on the tower all began to shout.
Aha! Those merchants and tradesmen at the crossroads all pressed forward to try to take the embroidered ball away. With a thunderous roar, Pilgrim gave his torso a stretch, teeth clenched, and immediately became an imposing figure some thirty feet tall and with a most ugly face. Those people became so terrified that they tumbled and fell, not daring at all to come near. In a moment they dispersed, and Pilgrim changed back into his original form. Meanwhile, the palace maidens and eunuchs, young and old, all descended from the tower to bow to the Tang Monk, saying, “Honorable man! Honorable man! Please enter the hall of the court to be congratulated!”
Tripitaka hurriedly returned their salutations and tried to raise them with his hands before turning to grumble at Pilgrim. “You ape-head!” he said. “You are making a fool of me again!”
“The embroidered ball hit your head,” said Pilgrim, chuckling, “and it rolled into your sleeve. What has that to do with me? Why blame me?”
“What am I supposed to do now?” asked Tripitaka.
“Master, please relax,” said Pilgrim. “Go into the court to have an audience with the throne, while I return to the posthouse to tell Eight Rules and Sha Monk. We shall wait for your news. If the princess does not desire to take you for a husband, you’ll simply have your travel rescript certified and leave. If she insists on taking you, you say to the king, ‘Summon my disciples so that I may give them some instructions.’ When we three are summoned into the court, I’ll be able to distinguish the true from the false. This is my plot of Subduing the Fiend through Marriage.” The Tang Monk had no choice but to agree, and Pilgrim turned to go back to the posthouse.
That elder, surrounded by the various palace maidens, was brought to the tower. The princess came down and led him by the hand to the imperial chariot, which they then rode together. The entire entourage departed for the gate of the court. The Custodian of the Yellow Gate proceeded first to memorialize to the king, saying, “Your Majesty, the princess is leading back a monk, who probably has been hit by the ball. They are now outside the gate awaiting your summons.”
The king was not pleased by what he heard. He would have liked to send the priest away, but not knowing the wishes of the princess, he felt obliged to summon them inside. The princess and the Tang Monk thus went up to the Hall of Golden Chimes. Truly, this was what happened:
Husband and wife both cried, “Your Majesty!”
Both Good and Evil bowed most solemnly.
After the ceremony, the king asked them to ascend the hall as he posed this question, “Where did you come from, priest, and how were you hit by our daughter’s ball?”
Prostrating himself on the ground, the Tang Monk said, “This humble cleric is someone sent by the Great Tang emperor in the South Jambūdvīpa Continent to go worship Buddha and seek scriptures from the Great Thunderclap in the Western Heaven. Since I carry with me a rescript for this lengthy journey, I have come especially to have an audience with the king to have it certified. My path took me past the crossing beneath the festooned tower, and I did not expect that I would be hit on the head by the ball that the princess tossed. This humble cleric is someone who has left the family and who belongs to a strange religion. How could I dare become the spouse of royalty? I beg you, therefore, to pardon the mortal offense of this humble cleric, certify my rescript, and send me off quickly to the Spirit Mountain. When I have faced Buddha and succeeded in acquiring scriptures to return to my homeland, I shall establish a perpetual memorial to Your Majesty’s Heavenly kindness.”
The king said, “If you are a sage monk from the Land of the East, you must have been, as it were, ‘Drawn through a thousand miles to marriage by a thread.’ Our princess has just celebrated her twentieth birthday and not yet married. Because it was determined that the year, month, day, and hour of this very day are all auspicious, we erected that festooned tower for tossing the ball to seek a good match for her. It just happened that you were hit. We are not pleased, but we do not know how our princess feels.”
“Father King,” said the princess as she kowtowed, “there is a proverb which says,
If you wed a chicken, you follow a chicken;
If you marry a dog, you follow a dog.
Your daughter, after all, made a vow earlier, when this embroidered ball was knitted. I made known to the deities of Heaven and Earth that I would marry whomever the ball struck, for that would be the foreordained person. Today the ball struck the sage monk. This has to be the affinity of a past life which makes possible our meeting in this one. Dare I alter fate? I am willing to take him as our royal son-in-law.”
Only then did the king show pleasure. At once he commanded the president of the Imperial Board of Astronomy to select the proper day for the wedding. He also asked for the preparation of the dowry and issued a proclamation to notify the entire kingdom. When he heard this, however, Tripitaka did not express his gratitude. All he could say instead was, “Release me and pardon me!”
“This monk is most unreasonable!” said the king. “We are using the wealth of an entire nation to take him in as a royal son-in-law. Why doesn’t he want to stay here and enjoy it? Why must every thought of his dwell on seeking scriptures? If he persists in his refusal, let the Embroidered-Uniform Guards push him out and have him beheaded!”
Scared out of his wits, the elder shook all over as he knelt down to kowtow and said, “I thank Your Majesty for your Heavenly kindness! But there are four of us altogether in our company, for this humble cleric has three disciples outside. I know I should accept your gracious proposal, but I have not yet had a chance to give them a word of instruction. I beg you, therefore, to summon them to court and certify this travel rescript, so that they may leave early and not be delayed in their journey to the West.”
The king consented and asked, “Where are your disciples?”
“They are all in the posthouse of the College of Interpreters,” replied Tripitaka. Immediately the king ordered the officials to summon the disciples to court so that they could pick up the travel rescript and and leave for the West. The sage monk, however, was to remain and become the royal son-in-law. The elder had little choice but to rise and stand in waiting to one side. For this situation we have the following testimonial poem:
The no-leak11 great elixir needs three perfections.12
Austere works are not built on hateful relations.
A sage must teach the Dao, you the self cultivate;
Blessings are Heaven’s, man must virtue aggregate.
Let not the six organs13 take their indulgent course.
Nature, suddenly enlightened, reveals your source.
Without love, without thought, you’re naturally pure—
Transcendence you’ll gain for deliverance is sure.
At that time, officials were sent at once to the posthouse of the College of Interpreters to summon the disciples of the Tang Monk, and we shall speak no more of that.
We tell you now about Pilgrim, who took leave of the Tang Monk beneath the festooned tower and walked back to the posthouse, giggling happily with each step he took. He was met by Eight Rules and Sha Monk, who asked him, “Elder Brother, why are you laughing so happily? Where’s Master?”
“Master has met great happiness!” replied Pilgrim.
“We haven’t reached our destination yet,” said Eight Rules, “nor have we seen the Buddha and acquired scriptures. Where does this happiness come from?”
Giggling some more, Pilgrim said, “Master and I walked to the crossroads where the festooned tower was erected. Right there he was hit directly by the embroidered ball tossed down by the princess of this dynasty. He was then taken by the palace maidens and eunuchs to meet the princess, who rode the imperial chariot with him to court. He will be taken in as the royal son-in-law. Isn’t that happiness?”
On hearing this, Eight Rules stamped his feet and thumped his chest, saying, “I knew I should have
gone there myself! It was all because of Sha Monk’s roguery! If you hadn’t stopped me, I would have headed straight for the festooned tower. When the embroidered ball struck old Hog, the princess would have had to take me in. Wouldn’t that be nice? Wouldn’t that be marvelous? What a handsome, comely, and proper arrangement! We’d play and play! What fun!”
Sha Monk walked forward and scratched Eight Rules’s face with his finger, saying, “Aren’t you ashamed of yourself? What a magniloquent mouth!
With three coins you buy an old donkey
And brag about its ridability!
If that embroidered ball struck you, a letter of annulment sent overnight wouldn’t be fast enough! Would anyone dare take a catastrophe like you inside the door?”
“A blackguard like you has no feeling for anything!” said Eight Rules. “I may be ugly, but my person still exudes a certain flavor! As the ancients said, ‘Though the flesh and bones are coarse, the constitution is sturdy. Each characteristic, in fact, has its own desirability.’”
“Stop babbling like that, Idiot!” said Pilgrim. “Let’s get our luggage together. I fear that Master may be so harried that he will soon be summoning us to the court to protect him.”
“You are wrong again, Elder Brother,” said Eight Rules. “If Master has become the royal son-in-law, he will go into the palace to make love to the king’s daughter. He is not going to climb mountains or traipse along the roads, where he could meet fiends or encounter demons. Who needs your protection? At his age, you think he’s so ignorant of what goes on in bed that he requires your assistance?”
Grabbing him by the ears, Pilgrim shook his fist at Eight Rules and scolded him, saying, “You lecherous coolie! What sort of bunk is this?”
As they were thus quarreling, the clerk of the posthouse arrived and said, “His Majesty has issued a decree and sent an official with an invitation for you three divine monks.” “For what specific purpose?” asked Eight Rules. The posthouse clerk replied, “The old divine monk was fortunate enough to be struck by the princess’s embroidered ball and to have been taken in as the royal son-in-law. That is why an official has come with an invitation.” “Where is this official?” asked Pilgrim. “Tell him to come in.”
The official, when he saw Pilgrim, at once saluted him. After the ceremony, however, he dared not raise his eyes to look at him. All he could say to himself was, “Is this a demon or a fiend? A thunder squire or a yakṣa?”
“Official,” said Pilgrim, “why don’t you speak up? What are you thinking of?” Trembling all over, the official held up the imperial decree with both hands and blurted out, “My princess invites you to meet her kin! My princess’s kin invite you to meet her!”
“We have no instruments of torture here,” said Eight Rules, “and we have no intention to beat you. Speak slowly. Don’t be afraid.”
“You think he’s afraid of a beating?” said Pilgrim. “It’s your face he’s afraid of. Pick up the pole and the luggage quickly, and lead the horse along. We must go into court to discuss this affair.” Truly
It’s hard to sidestep for the way is straight;
Love will certainly be turned into hate.
We do not know what they have to say after they have seen the king; let’s listen to the explanation in the next chapter.
NINETY-FOUR
Four priests are feted at the royal garden;
One fiend vainly longs for sensual joys.
We were telling you about Pilgrim Sun and his two companions, who followed the summons official to the gate of the court. The custodian of the Yellow Gate immediately notified them to enter. The three of them walked in together and stood still, without, however, even bowing.
“Which three are the noble disciples of the sage monk, our royal son-in-law?” asked the king. “What are your names? Where do you live? For what reason did you become priests? What scriptures are you seeking?”
Pilgrim strode forward and wanted to ascend to the main hall. The guardians of the throne at once shouted, “Stop! If you have anything to say, speak up at once!”
“We people who have left the family,” said Pilgrim, smiling, “will advance one step when we have the chance to take one step.” After him Eight Rules and Sha Monk also drew near. Fearing that their vulgarity might upset the throne, the elder, standing on one side, stepped forward and said, “Disciples, His Majesty is asking for your origins. You should present a proper reply.”
When Pilgrim saw that his master was standing in waiting on one side, he could not refrain from yelling, “Your Majesty, you slight others and you slight yourself! If you have taken in my master as the royal son-in-law, why do you make him stand? The world addresses your daughter’s husband as ‘Honored Man.’ How can an honored man not be allowed to sit?”
When he heard that, the king paled with fright. He would have withdrawn himself immediately from the hall had he not feared impropriety. Forcing himself to be bold, he asked his attendants to bring out an embroidered cushion for the Tang Monk to sit on. Only then did Pilgrim memorialize to him, saying,
Old Monkey’s ancestral home is located at the Water Curtain
Cave of the Flower-Fruit Mountain, in the Aolai Kingdom of
the East Pūrvavideha Continent.
My father was Heaven, my mother, Earth:
I was born when a stone burst.
Once a perfected man’s pupil,
I mastered the Great Way
Ere returning to my divine home
To congregate with my kind in the cave-heaven of a blessed land.
In the ocean I subdued dragons;
On the mountains I captured beasts.
Having wiped out the register of death
And placed our names in the book of life,
I was appointed the Great Sage, Equal to Heaven,
To enjoy the towers of jade
And roam the treasure lofts.
I joined the celestial immortals
To sing and revel every day;
Living in the sages’ realm,
I had great pleasures each morning.
For disrupting the Peaches Festival
And causing great havoc in Heaven,
I was subjugated by Buddha
And pinned beneath the Mountain of Five Phases,
With but iron pellets for my hunger
And copper juice for my thirst,
And not a drop of tea or rice for five hundred years.
Fortunately my master left the Land of the East;
As he headed for the West,
Guanyin delivered me from Heaven’s calamity.
Free of my great ordeal,
I made submission as a student of Yoga.
My old name’s Wukong,
But people address me as Pilgrim.
When the king heard such an important pedigree, he was so impressed that he left the dragon couch immediately to walk forward and take the elder’s arm. “Royal son-in-law,” he said, “this must be our affinity ordained of Heaven that we may have you as a divine kinsman.”
Tripitaka thanked him profusely and asked him to ascend his throne once more. Then the king asked, “Who is your second noble disciple?” Sticking out his snout to display his authority, Eight Rules said,
In his previous incarnation old Hog
Was most fond of pleasure and sloth;
My whole life was chaotic,
My nature confused and my mind deluded.
I never knew Heaven’s height or Earth’s thickness,
Nor could I perceive this world’s breadth and length.
In that leisurely existence
I met suddenly a realized immortal
Who, with half a sentence
Untied my net of retribution,
And with two or three words
Punched through my door of calamity.
Immediately coming to myself,
I took him at once as a teacher.
With care I cultivated the work of two-eights,1
And smelted
fore and after the time of three times three.2
My work done I ascended
Into the palace of Heaven.
By the great kindness of the Jade Emperor
I was appointed Marshal of Heavenly Reeds,
In command of the troops of Heaven’s river,
Roaming freely throughout the cosmos.
For getting drunk at the Peaches Festival
And dallying with Chang’e,
I was stripped of my rank
And exiled to this mortal world.
An erroneous incarnation
Made me born in the form of a hog.
A resident of Mount Fuling,
I committed boundless evils
When I met Guanyin,
Who pointed out the way of virtue.
I submitted to the Buddhist faith
To give the Tang Monk protection
On his way to the Western Heaven
To bow and seek the wondrous texts.
My religious name’s Wuneng,
But they call me Eight Rules.
These words made the king’s spleen shake and his heart quiver, and he hardly dared look at the speaker.
Our Idiot, however, became more energetic than ever; shaking his head, sticking out his snout, and raising both ears, he laughed uproariously. Fearing again that the throne might be terrified, Tripitaka snapped, “Eight Rules, behave!” Only then did Eight Rules lower his hands, putting one over the other, and stand there pretending to be a gentleman.
Then the king asked once more, “For what reason did the third noble disciple become a priest?” Pressing his palms together, Sha Monk said,
Old Sand was originally a mortal man.
Fear of the karmic wheel made me seek the Way,
Roaming cloudlike the edges of the sea
And wandering at the shores of Heaven.
As always my frock and almsbowl followed me;