The Journey to the West, Revised Edition, Volume 4

by Unknown

  With outstretched wings Pilgrim flew up and soared straight to the magistrate’s house. As he looked down, he perceived light, for the magistrate had already risen. When he flew into the central hall to look around, he saw a painting hanging in the middle, the subject of which was an official riding a horse with black spots. Behind him were several attendants, one carrying a blue umbrella and another an armchair. Pilgrim, of course, could not tell what was the story behind the painting, but he flew up to it and sett led in the middle of the scroll. Presently the magistrate emerged from his room and bent low to wash his face.

  Suddenly Pilgrim made a loud cough, so scaring the magistrate that he dashed back into his room. After finishing his washing and combing his hair, he donned a long coat and came out once more to burn incense before the painting and intone this petition: “To the divine tablet of my deceased uncle, Duke Jiang Qianyi. Blessed by ancestral virtue, your filial nephew, Jiang Kunsan, succeeded in passing the second and third degrees. He is now favored with the appointment to the magistrate of the Bronze Estrade Prefecture. To you we have offered night and day without ceasing incense and fires. Why, therefore, do you make a sound this day? I beg you not to work the work of a monster or evil spirit, lest the family members be terrified.”

  Chuckling secretly to himself, Pilgrim said, “So, this is the picture of his father’s elder brother!” He made use of the opportunity, however, to say to the magistrate, “Kunsan, my worthy nephew, you have honored your ancestral inheritance by ever being a clean and upright official. How could you, therefore, be so foolish yesterday as to have regarded four sage monks as bandits? Without making a thorough investigation, you sent them to jail. Now the god of the jailhouse, the local spirit, and the city deity are highly disturbed. They have reported the matter to King Yama, who sent me in the custody of a ghost guardian to inform you that you should examine every aspect of the case and quickly release them. If you don’t do this, you will be asked to go and answer for yourself in the Region of Darkness.”

  Alarmed by what he heard, the magistrate said, “Let my uncle withdraw his presence. When your humble nephew ascends the hall, he will immediately release them.”

  “In that case,” said Pilgrim, “go burn paper money. I’ll go back to report to King Yama.” The magistrate thus added incense and burned paper money to offer his thanks.

  Pilgrim flew out of the hall, and he found that it was beginning to grow light in the east. By the time he reached the Numinous Earth District, he saw that the district magistrate had already seated himself in the official hall. “If a midge speaks,” thought Pilgrim to himself, “and someone sees it, my identity may be revealed. That’s no good.” He changed, therefore, into the huge magic body: from midair he lowered a giant leg, which completely filled the district hall. “Hear me, you officials,” he cried, “I’m the Wandering Spirit sent by the Jade Emperor. I charge you that a son of Buddha has been wrongfully beaten in the jail of your prefecture, thus greatly disturbing the peace of the deities in the Three Regions. I am told to impart this message to you, that you should give him an early release. If there is any delay, my other leg will descend. It will first kick to death all the district officials of this prefecture. Then it will stamp to death the entire population of the region. Your cities finally will be trodden into dust and ashes!”

  All the officials of the district were so terrified that they knelt down together to kowtow and worship, saying, “Let the noble sage withdraw his presence. We will go into the prefecture at once and report this to the magistrate. The prisoner will be released immediately. We beg you not to move your leg, for it will frighten these humble officials to death.” Only then did Pilgrim retrieve his magic body. Changing once more into a midge, he flew back inside the jail through the crack between the roof tiles and crawled back to sleep in the rack.

  We now tell you about the magistrate, who went up to the hall. No sooner had he displayed the placard announcing his readiness to hear a case than the Kou brothers took it in one of their bosoms and cried aloud on bended knees. The magistrate summoned them inside, where they submitted their petition for release. When the magistrate saw it, he grew angry and said, “It was only yesterday that you filed a complaint of loss. We caught the thieves for you and the stolen property was returned to you. Why did you come today to submit petition for release?”

  Shedding tears, the two of them said, “Venerable Father, the spirit of your humble subjects’ father manifested itself last night to say to us, ‘The sage monks from the Tang court were the ones who had originally captured the bandits. It was they who recovered our possessions and released the bandits. Out of goodwill they decided to send back in person the stolen goods in order to repay our hospitality. How could you turn them into thieves and send them to jail to suffer? So overwrought were the local spirit and the city deity that they reported the matter to King Yama. King Yama told me to come in the custody of a ghost guardian to tell you to file another petition with the prefecture for the release of the Tang Monk. Only that will avert further disasters. If you don’t do this, both the old and the young of the family will perish.’ For this reason, we have come to submit our petition for release. We beg the Venerable Father to grant us our request.”

  When the magistrate heard this, he thought to himself, “Their father happens to be a corpse that’s still warm. A newly departed showing itself is not an unusual phenomenon. But my uncle has been dead five or six years. Why did he too show his spirit last night and ask me to release the prisoners? Hmmm . . . ! They must be wrongfully accused.”

  As he deliberated with himself, the district magistrate of the Numinous Earth District came running up the hall, yelling, “Your Honor! It’s bad! It’s bad! Just now the Jade Emperor sent the Wandering Spirit down here to order you to release quickly some good people from prison. Those monks you caught yesterday were not bandits. They are all sons of Buddha on their way to acquire scriptures. If there is any further delay, all of us officials will be kicked to death. Our cities, including the entire population, will be trodden to dust and ashes.” Paling with fright, the magistrate at once commanded the clerk of justice to issue a placard for the prisoners to be brought out. When this was done immediately, Eight Rules said sadly, “I wonder what sort of beating they’ll give us today!”

  With a laugh, Pilgrim said, “I promise that you won’t receive a single stroke. Old Monkey has sett led everything. When you go up to the hall, don’t you kneel, for he will step down to ask us to take the seats of honor. Let me d emand from him the return of our horse and luggage. If anything is missing, I’ll beat him up for you to see.”

  Just as they finished speaking, they arrived at the entrance to the hall. The magistrate, the district magistrate, and the officials of the prefecture and district all descended the hall to meet them, saying, “When the sage monks arrived yesterday, we did not manage to question you carefully, partly because of the urgent necessity to go meet our superiors, and partly because we were distracted by the sight of the stolen booty.”

  Pressing his palms together in front of him and bowing, the Tang Monk gave another thorough account of what had happened. The various officials all confessed, saying, “We’ve made a mistake! We’ve made a mistake! Please do not blame us! Please do not blame us!” Then they asked the Tang Monk whether he had lost anything in jail. Pilgrim now walked forward, glowering, and declared in a loud voice, “Our white horse was taken away by someone in this hall. Our luggage was snatched by the people in jail. Return them to us quickly! It’s our turn today to interrogate you all. You have wrongly seized common folks and accused them of thievery! What sort of crime should you be charged with?”

  When the officials saw how violent he had become, there was not a single one of them that was not scared. They immediately told those who had taken the horse to bring it back, and those who had taken the luggage to return it. Even after all these items were turned over piece by piece, the three disciples continued to display their pique. Look at them! T
he various officials could only use the Kou family as their excuse.

  Trying to be the peacemaker, the Tang Monk said, “Disciples, we won’t get to the bottom of this here. Let’s go to the Kou household. There we can confront and interrogate any witness. Let’s find out who it was who saw me as a robber.”

  “You are right,” said Pilgrim. “Let old Monkey call up the dead and ask him to identify his murderer.” Sha Monk at once helped the Tang Monk to mount the horse right there in the prefectural hall. In a body, they rushed out, shouting and bellowing. The various officials of the prefecture and the district all went to the Kou house also.

  Kou Liang and his brother were so terrified that they went to their front door and kowtowed without ceasing. When the visitors were received into the living room, they could see that inside the mourning parlor members of the family were still weeping behind the funeral drapes.

  Pilgrim called out: “That old woman who used slander to injure common people, stop crying! Let old Monkey summon your husband here. Let him tell us who the real person was who slew him. That ought to put a little shame in you!” Those officials thought that Pilgrim Sun was only jesting, but he said to them, “Sirs, please keep my master company by sitting here for a moment. Eight Rules, Sha Monk, take care to stand guard. I’ll be back soon.”

  Dear Great Sage! He vaulted through the door and rose immediately into the air. All that the people could see were

  Colored mists every where shrouding the house;

  The sky’s hallowed air shielding primal spirit.

  When they finally realized that this was an immortal who could mount the clouds and ride the fog, a sage who could bring life out of death, they all burned incense to worship. There we shall leave them for the moment.

  With a series of cloud somersaults, that Great Sage went to the Region Below and crashed right into the Hall of Darkness. So startled were they that

  Ten Yama Kings, hands joined, saluted him;

  Five Quarters ghost judges kowtowed to him.

  Sword-trees, a thousand stalks, were all askew;

  Dagger-hills, ten thousandfold, were all made plain.

  Goblins were saved in the Wrongful-Dead City;

  Ghosts were redeemed by the No-Option Bridge.5

  Truly like Heaven’s reprieve was one beam of divine light:

  The whole Region of Darkness now turned bright.

  The Ten Yama Kings received the Great Sage; after having exchanged greetings, they asked the reason for his visit.

  Pilgrim said, “Which one of you took away the soul of Kou Hong, the person who fed the monks in the Numinous Earth District of the Bronze Estrade Prefecture? Find out instantly and bring him to me.”

  “Kou Hong is a virtuous person,” said the Ten Yama Kings. “We did not have to use a ghost guardian to summon him. He came by himself, but when the Golden-Robed Youth of King Kṣitigarbha met him, he led him to see the king.” Pilgrim at once took leave of them to head for the Jade Cloud Palace, where he greeted the Bodhisattva King Kṣitigarbha and gave a thorough account of what took place.

  In delight the Bodhisattva said, “It was foreordained that Kou Hong should leave the world without touching a bed or a mat when his allotted age reached its end. Because he had been a person of virtue who fed the monks, I took him in and made him the secretary in charge of the records of good karma. Since the Great Sage has come to ask for him, I shall lengthen his age by another dozen years. He may leave with you.”

  The Golden-Robed Youth led out Kou Hong, who, on seeing Pilgrim, cried out, “Master! Master! Save me!” “You were kicked to death by a robber,” said Pilgrim. “This is the place of the Bodhisattva King Kṣitigarbha in the Region of Darkness. Old Monkey has come especially to take you back to the world of light so that you may give your testimony. The Bodhisattva is kind enough to release you and lengthen your age for another dozen years. Thereafter you’ll return here.” The squire bowed again and again.

  Having thanked the Bodhisattva, Pilgrim changed the soul of the squire into ether by blowing on him. The ether was stored in his sleeve so that they could leave the house of darkness and go back to the world of light together. Astride the clouds, he soon arrived at the Kou house. Eight Rules was told to pry open the lid of the coffin, and the soul of the squire was pushed into his body. In a moment, he began to breathe once more and revived. Scrambling out of the coffin, the squire kowtowed to the Tang Monk and his three disciples, saying, “Masters! Masters! Having suffered a violent death, I am much obliged for this master’s arrival at the Region of Darkness and returning me to life. His is the kindness of a new creation!” After thanking them repeatedly, he turned and saw all the officials standing there. Touching his head to the ground once more, he asked, “Why are all the Venerable Fathers in the house?”

  “Your sons at first filed a complaint of loss,” replied the magistrate, “which accused the sage monks by name. I sent people to arrest them, not realizing that the sage monks on their journey had run into those bandits who murdered you and robbed your house. They took back your possessions and were about to send them back to your home in person. My subordinates arrested them by mistake, and I sent them to jail without careful examination. Last night your soul made an appearance, and my deceased uncle also revealed himself at our home. The Wandering Spirit, too, made a descent into the district. All these epiphanies at one time led us to release the sage monks, after which that particular one went to bring you back to life.”

  Remaining on his knees, the squire said, “Venerable Father, you have truly wronged these four sage monks. There were some thirty bandits that night who broke into our house with torches and rods. When they took away our belongings, I couldn’t bear it and tried to reason with the thieves. One of them killed me with a kick at my lower parts. These four had absolutely nothing to do with the crime!” Then he summoned his wife and sons into his presence to say, “Didn’t you know who kicked me to death? How dare you file false charges? I’m going to ask the Venerable Father to convict you.”

  All the family members, old and young, could only kowtow at that time, but the magistrate was magnanimous enough to pardon all of them. Kou Hong then ordered a banquet to thank this great kindness of the prefecture and the district, but each of the officials returned to his official residence without lingering. The next day the squire once more displayed his plaque announcing his desire to feed monks and wanted to entertain Tripitaka some more. Tripitaka, however, steadfastly refused to stay, whereupon the squire invited his relatives and friends and prepared banners and canopies to send off the pilgrims as he had done before. Lo! Truly

  The wide earth may harbor vicious affairs,

  But high Heaven will a good man vindicate.

  Footloose they’re safe on Tathāgata’s way,

  Certain to reach Mount Spirit’s paradise gate.

  We do not know what will become of them when they see Buddha; let’s listen to the explanation in the next chapter.

  NINETY-EIGHT

  Only when ape and horse are tamed will shells be cast;

  With merit and work perfected, they see the Real.

  Since Squire Kou was able to return to life, he again prepared banners and canopies, drums and music, and invited relatives and friends, Buddhists and Daoists, to escort the pilgrims on their way. We shall now leave them and tell you instead about the Tang Monk and his three disciples, who set out on the main road.

  In truth the land of Buddha in the West was quite different from other regions. What they saw everywhere were gemlike flowers and jasperlike grasses, aged cypresses and hoary pines. In the regions they passed through, every family was devoted to good works, and every household would feed the monks.

  They met people in cultivation beneath the hills

  And saw travelers reciting sūtras in the woods.

  Resting at night and journeying at dawn, master and disciples proceeded for some six or seven days when they suddenly caught sight of a row of tall buildings and noble lofts. Tru
ly

  They soar skyward one hundred feet,

  Tall and towering in the air.

  You look down to see the setting sun

  And reach out to pluck the shooting stars.

  Spacious windows engulf the universe;

  Lofty pillars join with the cloudy screens.

  Yellow cranes bring letters as autumn trees age;1

  Phoenix-sheets come with the cool evening breeze.

  These are the treasure arches of a spirit palace,

  The pearly courts and jeweled edifices,

  The immortal hall where the Way is preached,

  The cosmos where sūtras are taught.

  The flowers bloom in the spring;

  Pines grow green after the rain.

  Purple agaric and divine fruits, fresh every year.

  Phoenixes gambol, potent in every manner.

  Lifting his whip to point ahead, Tripitaka said, “Wukong, what a lovely place!”

  “Master,” said Pilgrim, “you insisted on bowing down even in a specious region, before false images of Buddha. Today you have arrived at a true region with real images of Buddha, and you still haven’t dismounted. What’s your excuse?”

  So taken aback was Tripitaka when he heard these words that he leaped down from the horse. Soon they arrived at the entrance to the buildings. A Daoist lad, standing before the gate, called out, “Are you the scripture seeker from the Land of the East?” Hurriedly tidying his clothes, the elder raised his head and looked at his interrogator.

  He wore a robe of silk

  And held a jade duster.

  He wore a robe of silk

  Often to feast at treasure lofts and jasper pools;

  He held a jade yak’s-tail

  To wave and dust in the purple mansions.

  From his arm hangs a sacred register,

  And his feet are shod in sandals.

  He floats—a true feathered-one;2

  He’s winsome—indeed uncanny!

  Long life attained, he lives in this fine place;