Patriarch said. "Which branch would you like to study?

" "I will do

whatever you think best, master," replied Monkey. "What about
teaching you the Way of Magic Arts?" "What does 'the Way of Magic
Arts' mean?" "Magic arts," the Patriarch replied, "include summoning
Immortals, using the magic sandboard, and divining by milfoil. With
them one can learn how to bring on good fortune and avert disaster."
"Can you become immortal this way?" asked Monkey. "No, certainly
not," replied the Patriarch. "No. Shan't learn it." Journey to the
West Chapter 2 22 "Shall I teach you the Way of Sects?" the Patriarch
asked. "What are the principles of the Sects?" said Monkey. "Within
the branch of Sects, there is Confucianism, Buddhism, Taoism, the
study of the Negative and Positive, Mohism, medicine, reading
scriptures and chanting the name of a Buddha. You can also summon
Immortals and Sages with this branch." "Can you attain immortality
that way?" asked Monkey. "To try and attain immortality that way,"
the Patriarch replied, "is like 'putting a pillar in the wall.'"
"Master," Monkey said, "I'm a simple chap and I can't understand your
technical jargon. What do you mean by 'putting a pillar in the
wall?'" "When a man builds a house and wants to make it strong he
puts a pillar in the wall. But when the day comes for his mansion to
collapse the pillar is bound to rot." "From what you say," Monkey
observed, "it's not eternal. No. Shan't learn it." "Shall I teach you
the Way of Silence?" the Patriarch then asked. "What True Result can
be got from Silence?" said Monkey. "It involves abstaining from
grain, preserving one's essence, silence, inaction, meditation,
abstaining from speech, eating vegetarian food, performing certain
exercises when asleep or standing up, going into trances, and being
walled up in total isolation." "Is this a way of becoming immortal?"
Monkey asked. "It's like building the top of a kiln with sun−dried
bricks," the patriarch replied. "You do go on, master," said Sun
Wukong. "I've already told you that I can't understand your technical
jargon. What does 'building the top of a kiln with sun−dried bricks'
mean?" "If you build the top of a kiln with sun−dried bricks they may
make it look all right, but if they have not been hardened with fire
and water, then they will crumble away in the first heavy rainstorm."
"There's nothing eternal about that either, then," replied Monkey.
"No. Shan't learn that." "Shall I teach you the Way of Action then?"
the Patriarch asked. "What's that like?" Monkey asked. "It involves
acting and doing, extracting the Negative and building up the
Positive, drawing the bow and loading the crossbow, rubbing the navel
to make the subtle humors flow, refining elixirs according to
formulae, lighting fires under cauldrons, consuming 'Red lead,'
purifying 'Autumn Stone,' and drinking women's milk." "Can doing
things like that make me live for ever?" Monkey asked. Journey to the
West Chapter 2 23 "To try and attain immortality that way is like
'lifting the moon out of water.'" "What does 'lifting the moon out of
water' mean?" "The moon is in the sky," the Patriarch replied, "and
only its reflection is in the water. Although you can see it there,
you will try in vain to lift it out." "No. Shan't learn that," Monkey
exclaimed. When the Patriarch heard this he gasped and climbed down
from his dais. Pointing at Sun Wukong with his cane he said, "You
won't study this and you won't study that, so what do you want, you
monkey?" He went up to Monkey and hit him three times on the head,
then went inside with his hands behind his back and shut the main
door, abandoning them all. The class was shocked, and they all blamed
Sun Wukong. "You cheeky ape, you've no idea how to behave. The master
was teaching you the Way, so why did you have to argue with him
instead of learning from him? Now you've offended him we don't know
when he'll come out again." They were all very angry with him and
regarded him with loathing and contempt. But Sun Wukong was not
bothered in the least, and his face was covered with smiles. The
Monkey King had understood the riddle, and had the answer hidden away
in his mind. So he did not argue with the others but bore it all
without a word. When the Patriarch hit him three times he had been
telling him to pay attention at the third watch; and when he went
inside with his hands behind his back and shut the main door he had
told the Monkey King to go in through the back door and be taught the
Way in secret. The delighted Sun Wukong spent the rest of that day
with the others in front of the Three Stars Cave, looking at the sky
and impatient for night to come. At dusk he went to bed like all the
others, pretended to close his eyes, controlled his breathing, and
calmed himself down. Nobody beats the watches or calls out the hour
in the mountains, so he had no way of knowing the time except by
regulating the breath going in and out of his nose. When he reckoned
that it was about the third watch he got up very quietly, dressed,
and slipped out through the front door away from the others. When he
was outside he looked up and saw The moon was bright and clear and
cold, The vast space of the eight points was free from dust. Deep in
the trees a bird slept hidden, While the water flowed from the
spring. Fireflies scattered their lights And a line of geese was
stretched across the clouds. It was exactly the third watch, The
right time to ask about the Way. Journey to the West Chapter 2 24
Watch the Monkey King as he follows the old path to the back door,
which he found to be ajar. "The Patriarch has left the door open, so
he really intends to teach me the Way," he exclaimed in delight. He
tiptoed toward, went in sideways through the door, and walked over to
the Patriarch's bed, where he saw the Patriarch sleeping curled up,
facing the inside of the room. Not daring to disturb him, Sun Wukong
knelt in front of the bed. Before long the Pa