Journey to the West

As she pinched and nipped in her desire.

Sometimes she tugged at her hair,

Or waved her delicate fingers.

She often raised a foot

And twitched the sleeves of her clothes.

Her powdered neck sunk lower

And her fine waist started to wiggle.

She never stopped talking for a moment

As she opened gold buttons to half show her breasts.

In her cups she was like a landslide of jade,

And as she rubbed her bleary eyes she did not look at her best.

Watching her get drunk the Great Sage had kept his wits about him, and he tried to lead her on by saying,
"Where have you put the real fan, wife? You must watch it very carefully all the time. I'm worried that Sun
the Novice will trick it out of you with some of his many transformations." At this Raksasi tittered, spat it out
of her mouth, and handed it to the Great Sage. It was only the size of an apricot leaf.

"Here's the treasure," she said.

The Great Sage took it but could not believe that it really was. "How could a tiny little thing like this blow a
fire out?" he wondered. "It must be another fake."

Seeing him looking at the treasure so deep in thought, Raksasi could not restrain herself from rubbing her
powdered face against Monkey's and saying, "Put the treasure away and have another drink, darling. What are
you looking so worried about?"

The Great Sage took the chance to slip in the question, "How could a little thing like this blow out 250 miles
of fire?" She was now drunk enough to have no inhibitions about speaking the truth, so she told him how it
was done: "Your Majesty, I expect you've been overdoing your pleasures day and night these last two years
since you left me. That Princess Jade must have addled your brains if you can't even remember about your
own treasure. You just have to pinch the seventh red silk thread with the thumb of your left hand and say,
'Huixuhexixichuihu.' Then it'll grow twelve feet long. It can do as many changes as you like. It could blow
250,000 miles of flame out with a single wave."

The Great Sage committed all this very carefully to memory, put the fan in his mouth, rubbed his face and
turned back into himself. "Raksasi!" he yelled at the top of his voice. "Have a careful look: I'm your
brother−in−law. What a disgusting way you've been carrying on in with me, and for what a long time too.
You're shameless, quite shameless."

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In her horror at realizing it was Sun Wukong she pushed the dining table over and fell into the dust, overcome
with shame and screaming. "I'm so upset I could die, I could die."

Not caring whether she was dead or alive, the Great Sage broke free and rushed straight out of the Plantain
Cave. He was indeed not lusting after that female beauty, and glad to turn away with a smiling face. He
sprang on his auspicious cloud that took him up to the top of the mountain, spat the fan out of his mouth, and
tried the magic out. Pinching the seventh red tassel with the thumb of his left hand, he said
"Huixuhexixichuihu," and indeed it grew to be twelve feet long. On close examination he found it quite
different from the false one he had borrowed before. It glittered with auspicious light and was surrounded by
lucky vapors. Thirty−six threads of red silk formed a trellis pattern inside and out. But Brother Monkey had
only asked how to make it grow and had not found out the spell for shrinking it. So he had to shoulder it as he
went back by the way he had come.

When the Bull Demon King's feast with all the spirits at the bottom of the Green Wave Pool ended he went
outside to find that the water−averting golden−eyed beast was missing. The ancient dragon king called the
spirits together to ask them, "Which of you untied and stole the Bull Demon King's golden−eyed beast?" The
spirits all knelt down and replied, "We wouldn't dare steal it. We were all waiting, singing or playing at the
banquet. None of us was out here."

"I am sure that none of you palace musicians would have dared to take it," the ancient dragon said. "Have any
strangers been here?"

"A crab spirit was here not long ago during the banquet, and he was a stranger."

At this the Bull King suddenly realized what had happened. "Say no more," he exclaimed. "When you sent
your messenger with the invitation this morning there was a Sun Wukong there who'd come to ask to borrow
my plantain fan as he couldn't get the Tang Priest he's escorting to fetch the scriptures across the Fiery
Mountains. I refused. I was in the middle of a fight with him that neither of us was winning when I shook him
off and came straight here to the banquet. That monkey's extremely quick and adaptable. I'm sure that the crab
spirit was him here in disguise to do a bit of spying. He's stolen my beast to go and trick the plantain fan out
of my wife." This news made all the spirits shake with fright.

"Do you mean the Sun Wukong who made havoc in Heaven?" they asked.

"Yes," the Bull Demon King replied. "If any of you gentlemen have any trouble on the road West keep your
distance from him whatever you do."

"But if all that's true, what about Your Majesty's steed?" the ancient dragon asked.

"No problem," the Bull Demon King replied with a smile. "You gentlemen may all go home now while I go
after him."

With that he parted his way through the waters, sprang up from the bottom of the pool and rode a yellow
cloud straight to the Plantain Cave on Mount Turquoise Cloud, where he heard Raksasi stamping her feet,
beating her breast, howling and moaning. He pushed the doors open to see the water−averting golden−eyed
beast tethered by them.

"Where did Sun Wukong go, wife?" the Bull Demon King said.

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Seeing that the Bull Demon King was back, the serving girls all knelt down and said, "Are you home, Your
Majesty?"

Raksasi grabbed hold of him, banged her head against his, and said abusively, "Damn and blast you, you
careless fool. Why ever did you let that macaque steal the golden−eyed beast and turn himself into your
double to come here and trick me?"

"Which way did the macaque go?" the Bull Demon King asked, grinding his teeth in fury. Beating her breast
Raksasi continued to pour out abuse: "The damn monkey tricked me out of my treasure, turned back into
himself, and went. I'm so angry I could die."

"Do look after yourself, wife," the Bull Demon King said, "and don't be so upset. When I've caught the
macaque and taken the treasure off him I'll skin him, grind his bones to powder, and bring you his heart and
liver. That'll make you feel better." He then called for weapons.

"Your Majesty's weapons aren't here," the serving girls replied.

"Then bring your mistress' weapons," the Bull Demon King replied. The servants brought her pair of
blue−tipped swords, and the Bull Demon King took off the duck−green velvet jacket he had worn to the
banquet and tied the little waistcoat he wore next to his skin more tightly. He then strode out of the Plantain
Cave, a sword in each hand, and headed straight for the Fiery Mountains in pursuit of Monkey. It was a case
of

The man who forgot a kindness

Tricking a doting wife;

The fiery−tempered old demon

Meeting a mendicant monk.

If you don't know whether this journey was ill−fated or not, listen to the explanation in the next installment.

Chapter 61
Zhu Bajie Helps to Defeat a Demon King

Monkey's Third Attempt to Borrow the Fan

The story tells how the Bull Demon King caught up with the Great Sage Sun and saw him looking very
cheerful as he went along with the plantain fan over his shoulder. "So the macaque has also tricked the art of
using the fan out of her," the demon king thought. "If I ask him for it back to his face he's bound to refuse, and
if he fans me with it and sends me sixty thousand miles away that would be just what he wants. Now I know
that the Tang Priest is sitting waiting by the main road. When I was an evil spirit in the old days I used to
know his second disciple the Pig Spirit. I think I'll turn myself into a double of the Pig Spirit and play a trick
back on him. That macaque will no doubt be so pleased with himself that he won't really be on his guard."

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The splendid demon king could also do seventy−two transformations and his martial skills were on a par with
those of the Great Sage: it was just that he was rather more clumsily built, was less quick and penetrating, and
not so adaptable.

First he hid the swords then he said the words of the spell, turned himself into the exact likeness of Pig, went
down, and met Monkey face to face. "I'm here, brother," he called.

The Great Sage was indeed delighted. As the ancient saying goes, a cat that's won a fight is more pleased with
himself than a tiger. Monkey was so confident of his powers that he did not bother to investigate why the new
arrival was here, but seeing that he looked like Pig, called out, "Where are you going brother?"

The Bull Demon King made up an answer on the spot: "You'd been away for so long that the master
wondered if the Bull Demon King's magic powers were too much for you and you couldn't get the treasure. So
he sent me to meet you."

"There was no need to worry," said Monkey. "I've already got it."

"How did you manage that?" the Bull Demon King asked.

"Old Bull and I fought over a hundred rounds without either of us getting the upper hand till he broke off the
fight and went to the bottom of the Green Wave Pool in Ragged Rock Mountain for a banquet with a whole
lot of lesser dragons and dragons. I tailed−him there, turned into a crab, stole the water−averting golden−eyed
beast, made myself look like him, and went to the Plantain Cave to trick Raksasi, She as good as married me
on the spot and I conned it out of her."

"You had to go to a lot of trouble, brother," the Bull Demon King replied. "Can I hold the fan?" Not realizing
that this Pig was an impostor, or even considering the possibility, the Great Sage Sun handed him the fan.

Now the Bull Demon King knew the secret of making the fan shrink or grow, and as soon as he had the fan in
his hands he made a spell with them that nobody could see, shrunk it back to the size of an apricot leaf, and
reverted to his true form. "Bloody macaque," he swore, "do you know who I am now?" As soon as he saw this
Monkey regretted making so terrible a mistake.

With a cry of anguish he stamped his feet and yelled, "Aagh! After all these years I've been hunting wild
geese a gosling has pecked out my eye!" He was now leaping around in a thunderous fury, and he took a crack
at the Bull Demon King's head with his iron cudgel. The demon king then fanned him with the fan, not
realizing that the Great Sage had inadvertently swallowed the wind−fixing pill he had in his mouth when he
turned himself into a tiny insect to go into Raksasi's stomach. This had made all his entrails, his skin and his
bones so solid and firm that no matter how hard the Bull Demon King fanned he could not move him. This
alarmed the Bull Demon King, who put the treasure in his mouth and fought back, swinging a sword in each
hand. The two of them fought a splendid battle up in mid−air:

The Great Sage Equaling Heaven,

The Bull Demon King of evil,

All for the sake of a plantain−leaf fan.

When they met each showed his powers;

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The careless Great Sage got the fan by a trick,

But allowed the Bull King to take it back.

One mercilessly raised the golden cudgel,

The other wielded with skill his blue−tipped swords.

The mighty Great Sage belched out coloured mists

While the evil Bull King breathed brilliant lights.

Well matched in courage,

Both of them wicked,

They gnashed and ground their teeth in terrible wrath.

Heaven and earth were darkened by the dust they kicked up;

Gods and ghosts alike hid from the flying stones.

"How dare you try to turn a trick against me!"

"I'll get you for what my wife promised you!"

Coarse was their language and fierce were their tempers.

"For tricking my wife you deserve to die."

"When I sue you the sentence will surely be death."

The cunning Great Sage Equaling Heaven,

The murderous Strongarm Demon King:

Both of them only wanting to fight,

Neither of them willing to pause and discuss.

Equal the effort of swords and of cudgel;

Had either relaxed he'd have gone straight to Hell.

The story now tells not of those two locked in their struggle but of the Tang Priest sitting by the road and
finding the heat unbearable. He was also very anxious and thirsty.

"May I ask you," he said to the local deity, "what that Bull Demon King's powers are like?"

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 Journey to the West

"He has very great magic," the local god replied, "and his dharma powers are unlimited. He and the Great
Sage Sun are well matched."

"Wukong is a very good traveler," Sanzang replied. "He can normally go six or seven hundred miles and back
in an instant. Why has he been away all day? I'm sure he must be fighting the Bull Demon King." With that he
called for Pig and Friar Sand and asked, "Which of you will go to meet your elder brother? If he is up against
an enemy you will have to help him in the fight, get the fan, and come back. I am very impatient to cross these
mountains and continue along our way."

"It's getting late," Pig replied, "and I'd like to go to meet him. The only thing is that I don't know the way to
Mount Thunder Piled."

"But I do," the local god said. "Tell the Curtain−lifting General to keep your master company while you and I
go there."

Sanzang was delighted. "I am most grateful to you for going to such trouble," he said, "and I shall thank you
again when you have succeeded."

Pig then summoned up his spirits, tightened the belt round his black brocade tunic, and took his rake in his
hands as he rose up on his cloud with the local god and headed due East. As they were going along they heard
great shouts and were buffeted by strong winds. Stopping his cloud for a good look he saw that it was all
caused by Monkey and the Bull Demon King fighting.

"Why don't you join in, Marshal Tian Peng?" the local deity asked. "What are you waiting for?"

At that the idiot brandished his rake and said with a great shout, "Brother, I'm coming."

"Idiot," said Monkey bitterly, "you've ruined things for me."

"But the master told me to come to meet you," Pig protested. "He asked the local god to guide me as I don't
know the way. That's why I'm a bit late. How can you say I've ruined things for you?"

"I'm not angry with you for being late," Monkey replied. "It's this damned bull who's a thorough disgrace. I'd
got the fan off Raksasi, but he turned himself into your double and came to meet me. I was so pleased to see
you that I passed him the fan. He turned back into himself and we've been fighting it out ever since. That's
why I said you'd ruined things for me."

This news put Pig into a flaming temper. Raising his rake he shouted abuse to the Bull Demon King's face:
"I'll get you, you pox−ridden bag of blood! I'll get you for pretending to be me, your own ancestor, to trick my
brother and stir up trouble between us."

Watch as he starts lashing out wildly with the rake. The Bull Demon King, who had been fighting Monkey all
day, was tiring, and he also realized that he would never be able to withstand the onslaught of Pig's rake, so he
fled in defeat. But his way was blocked by a force of spirit soldiers led by the local god of the Fiery
Mountains.

"Wait, Strongarm King," the local deity said. "All the gods and heavens are protecting Tang Sanzang on his
journey West to fetch the scriptures. The Three Worlds all know about him, and the Ten Directions are
supporting him. Please lend him your plantain fan to blow out the flames so that he can cross the mountains
without danger or disaster. Otherwise Heaven will hold you criminally responsible and you're bound to be
executed."

Chapter 61 842
 Journey to the West

"You haven't looked into the rights and wrongs of this at all," King Demon Bull replied. "That damned ape
has done one evil thing after another: he's stolen my son, bullied my concubine, and defrauded my wife. I
wish I could swallow him whole and turn him into shit to feed to the dogs. I'll never lend him my treasure."

Before the words were all out of his mouth Pig had caught up with him and was saying abusively, "I'll get
you, you poxy bull. The fan or your life!" The Bull Demon King had to turn round to fight Pig off with his
swords while the Great Sage Monkey wielded his cudgel to help him. It was a fine fight they had there:

A boar turned spirit,

A bull become monster.

A monkey who had robbed Heaven and found the Way.

Dharma−nature can always overcome what has been created;

Earth must be used to combine with the prime cause.

Pointed and sharp were the nine teeth of the rake;

Flexible and keen were the two sword blades.

The movements of the iron cudgel dominated the fray;

The local god formed the cinnabar head.

The three of them struggled to overcome,

Each of them scheming to give play to his powers.

Metal money is best at making the bull draw the plough;

If the boar goes in the oven, wood is finished.

Unless the heart is in it the Way cannot be completed;

To keep the spirit controlled the monkey must be tied up.

Amid wild shouts and desperate pleas

The three types of weapon whistled through the air.

There was no kindness in the blows of rake and sword;

The gold−banded cudgel rose for good reason.

Their fight put out the stars and dimmed the moon;

The sky was filled with a cold, dark dreary fog.

Chapter 61 843
 Journey to the West

The demon king fought hard and courageously for mastery, falling back all the while. When the dawn came
after a whole night of battle there was still no victor, and in front of them now was the entrance to the
Cloud−touching Cave on Mount Thunder Piled. The ear−splitting noise that the three of them, the local god
and the spirit soldiers were making alarmed Princess Jade, who sent her serving girls to see who was causing
the din.

The little demons on the doors came in to report, "It's our master. He's fighting the man with a face like a
thunder god, another monk with a long snout and big ears, and the local god of the Fiery Mountains and his
men." The moment Princess Jade heard this she ordered the senior and junior officers of the guard to take
their swords and spears and help their lord.

"Good to see you," said the Bull Demon King with delight, "good to see you." All the demons rushed wildly
into the attack. It was more than Pig could cope with and he fled in defeat, trailing his rake behind him. The
Great Sage sprang aloft out of the multiple encirclement on a somersault cloud; the spirit soldiers broke and
ran. Old Bull led his host of demons back to the cave in victory and the doors were shut tightly behind them.

"He's tough, damn him," said Monkey. "He started fighting me at about four yesterday afternoon and we were
nowhere near a result when you two came along to help last night. He fought for half a day and a whole night
without showing any sign of tiring. And that bunch of little devils who came out just now were a rough lot
too. Now he's shut the doors of his cave and won't come out. What are we to do?"

"It was about ten yesterday morning when you left the master, brother," Pig said, "so why was it four in the
afternoon when you started fighting him? What were you doing for the six hours in between?"

"I reached this mountain soon after I left you," Monkey replied, "and saw a woman. When I questioned her
she turned out to be his favorite concubine Princess Jade. I gave her a bit of a fright with my cudgel, so she
fled into the cave and sent her Bull Demon King out. He and I swapped a few insults then started fighting.
We'd been at it for a couple of hours when someone came to invite him to a banquet. I tailed him to the
bottom of the Green Wave Pool on Ragged Rock Mountain and turned into a crab to do a little spying. Then I
stole his water−averting golden−eyed beast and changed myself into the Bull Demon King's double to go back
to the Plantain Cave on Mount Turquoise Cloud, where I conned Raksasi into giving me the fan. I went
outside to try the magic spell out on the fan and made it grow, but I didn't know how to make it shrink again.
As I was walking along with it on my shoulder he turned himself into your spitting image and tricked it back
off me again. That's how I wasted six hours."

"As the saying goes," Pig replied, "it's just like a boatful of beancurd sinking: it came out of the wet and it
disappeared into the wet. Easy come, easy go, But how are we going to take our master across the mountains
if we're having so hard a time getting the fan? We'll just have to go back and make a bloody detour."

"Don't get impatient, Great Sage," the local god said, "and don't try to be lazy, Marshal Tian Peng. If you
make a detour that will mean leaving the straight and narrow: you'll never cultivate your conduct that way. As
the old saying goes, 'In walking never take a short cut.' You mustn't talk about detours. Your master is waiting
by the main road, desperate for your success."

"Yes, yes," said Monkey, his resolve stiffened, "don't talk nonsense, idiot. The local deity is right. As for that
Bull Demon King, we'll have to"

Chapter 61 844
 Journey to the West

Straggle for mastery,

Use our powers,

Until we can make the whole earth change.

Since coming to the West he has never met a rival:

The Bull King was originally the mind−ape transformed.

Only today do the sources flow:

We must hold out till we borrow the fan.

Put out the flames in the cool of the dawn,

Smash through obstinate emptiness to visit the Buddha.

When all is fulfilled we will rise to heavenly bliss,

And all go to the assembly under the Dragon−flower Tree."

These words braced Pig's spirits too, and eagerly he said,

"Yes, yes, yes!

Go, go, go!

Never mind what the Bull King's powers are,

Wood grows in the nor'nor'west and is matched with a pig;

The bull−calf will be led back to the earth.

Metal was born in West sou'west and was an ape,

Without any conflict or conquest and full of peace.

We must use the plantain leaf as if it were water

To put out the flames and bring harmony.

Hard work by night and day with never a rest

Will lead us to success and the Ullambana feast."

Chapter 61 845
 Journey to the West

The two of them led the local deity and his spirit soldiers forward, then battered the doors of the
Cloud−touching Cave to pieces with the rake and the cudgel. This so terrified the guard commanders that they
rushed inside to report, "Your Majesty, Sun Wukong's brought his troops here and has smashed down our
front doors."

The Bull Demon King was just then telling Princess Jade what had happened and feeling thoroughly fed up
with Monkey. The news of the front doors being smashed made him beside himself with fury, so he put his
armor on immediately and went outside with his iron mace in his hands shouting abusively, "Damned
macaque! You must think you're a very big shot indeed, coming here to play the hooligan and smash down
my front door."

"Old skinflint," retorted Pig, going forward, "who do you think you are, trying to put other people in their
place? Don't move! Take this!"

"Idiot!" the Bull Demon King replied. "Chaff−guzzler! You're not worth bothering with. Tell that monkey to
come here."

"You don't know what's good for you, cud−chewer," called Monkey. "Yesterday you were still my sworn
brother, but today we're enemies. Watch this carefully!" The Bull Demon King met their onslaught with spirit,
and the ensuing fight was even finer than the one before. The three heroes were locked in a melee. What a
battle!

Rake and iron cudgel showing their might,

Leading the spirit soldiers to attack the ancient beast.

The beast displayed his terrible strength when fighting alone,

Reviving his powers that rivaled those of Heaven.

The rake hit hard,

The mace struck,

The iron cudgel showed its heroic powers.

The three weapons rang against each other,

Blocking and parrying, never giving way.

One said he was the champion,

Another claimed, "I am the best."

The earth soldiers who were watching could hardly tell them apart.

As wood and earth were locked in combat.

Chapter 61 846
 Journey to the West

"Why won't you lend us the plantain fan?"

"You had the effrontery to mistreat my wife,

To ruin my son and terrify my concubine.

I haven't punished you for all of that yet,

And now you harass us and beat down my doors."

"Be on your guard against the As−You−Will cudgel:

A touch of it will tear your skin open."

"Mind you avoid the teeth of my rake:

One blow, and nine wounds all gush blood."

The Bull Monster fearlessly gave play to his might,

Wielding his mace with skill and with cunning.

Their movements turned the rain clouds upside−down,

As each of them snorted out his mists and winds.

This was indeed a battle to the death,

As they fought it out together with hatred in their hearts.

Taking new stances,

Offering openings high and low,

They attacked and they parried with never a mistake.

The two brother disciples were united in their efforts;

The solitary mace showed its might alone.

They battled from dawn till eight in the morning

Till the Bull Demon had to abandon the fight.

With death in their hearts and no thought of survival the three of them fought another hundred or so rounds till
Pig took advantage of Monkey's miraculous powers to put all his brute strength into a rain of blows from his
rake that were more than the Bull Demon King could withstand. He turned and fled defeated back to his cave,
only to find the entrance blocked by the local god and his spirit troops.

Chapter 61 847
 Journey to the West

"Where do you think you're going, Strongarm King?" the local god shouted. "We're here." As he could not get
into his cave the Bull Demon King fled, only to be pursued by Pig and Monkey. In his panic the Bull Demon
King tore off his helmet and armor, threw away his mace, shook himself, turned into a swan and flew away.
Monkey looked around and said with a grin, "Pig, Old Bull's gone."

The idiot had not the faintest idea of what had happened and neither had the local god as they looked all
around and aimlessly searched Mount Thunder Piled. "Isn't that him flying up there?" said Monkey, pointing.

"It's a swan," Pig replied.

"Yes," said Monkey, "it's what Old Bull turned himself into."

"So what are we going to do about it?" the local god asked.

"You two charge in there, wipe all the demons out without quarter and tear down his den," Monkey replied.
"That will cut off his retreat while I go and match transformations with him." We shall say no more of Pig and
the local god smashing their way into the cave as they had been instructed.

Putting away his gold−banded cudgel and saying the words of a spell while making the necessary hand
movements, Monkey shook himself and turned into a vulture who soared up into the clouds with his wings
beating noisily, then swooped down on the swan, seizing its neck and gouging at its eyes. Realizing that this
was Sun Wukong transformed the Bull Demon King braced himself and turned into a golden eagle who
gouged, back at the vulture. Then Monkey turned into a black phoenix to chase the eagle, only to be
recognized by the Bull King, who turned into a white crane and flew off South with a loud call. Monkey
stopped, braced his feathers, and turned into a red phoenix, who called loudly too. At the sight of the phoenix,
the king of all the birds whom no bird dared treat with disrespect, the white crane swooped down beside the
precipice with a beat of his wings, shook himself, and turned into a river−deer grazing in a timid, stupid way
at the foot of the cliff. Monkey spotted him, came swooping down too, and turned into a hungry tiger that
came running after the river−deer, swishing his tail hungrily. The demon king had to move fast as he
transformed himself into a huge leopard with spots like golden coins who turned to savage the hungry tiger.
Seeing this, Monkey faced the wind, shook himself, and turned into a golden−eyed lion with a voice like
thunder, a brazen head and an iron brow. He spun round to devour the leopard, at which the Bull Demon King
immediately became a giant bear that ran after the lion. Monkey then rolled himself up and became an
elephant with tusks shaped like bamboo shoots, and a trunk like a python that he stretched out to wrap round
the bear.

The Bull Demon King chuckled and switched back into his own original shape as a great white bull with a
craggy head and flashing eyes. Each of his horns was like an iron pagoda, and his teeth were rows of sharp
swords. He was about ten thousand feet long from head to tail and stood eight thousand feet high at the
shoulder.

"What are you going to do to me now, damned macaque?" he shouted to Brother Monkey at the top of his
voice; at which Monkey too reverted to his own form, pulled out his gold−banded cudgel, bowed forward and
shouted "Grow!" He then grew to be a hundred thousand feet tall with a head like Mount Taishan, eyes like
the sun and moon, a mouth like a pool of blood and teeth like doors. He raised his iron cudgel and struck at
the Bull Demon King's head; and the Bull Demon King hardened his head and charged Monkey with his
horns. This was a ridge−rocking, mountain−shaking, heaven−scaring, earth−frightening battle, and there is a
poem to prove it that goes:

Chapter 61 848
 Journey to the West

The Way grows by one foot, the demon by ten thousand;

The cunning mind−ape puts him down by force.

If the Fiery Mountains' flames are to be put out,

The precious fan must blow them cool.

The yellow−wife is determined to protect the primal ancient;

The mother of wood is set on wiping out the demons.

When the Five Elements are harmonized they return to the true achievement;

Evil and dirt are refined away as they travel to the West.

The two of them gave such a great display of their magic powers as they fought on the mountain that they
alarmed all the deities, the Gold−headed Protector, the Six Jias, the Six Dings and the Eighteen Guardians of
the Faith, who were passing through the air, came to surround the demon king. He was not in the least afraid
as he butted to East and West with his straight, shining, iron horns, and lashed to North and South with his
strong and hairy tail. Sun Wukong stood up to him head on while all the other gods surrounded him till in his
despair the Bull Demon King rolled on the ground, turned back into his usual form, and headed for the
Plantain Cave. Monkey too put away his magical form and joined in the chase with all the gods, but once in
the cave the demon king shut the doors fast. The gods then threw a watertight encirclement around Mount
Turquoise Cloud. Just when they were all about to storm the doors they heard the shouts of Pig arriving with
the local god and his spirit soldiers.

"How are things in the Cloud−touching Cave?" Monkey asked, greeting him.

"I finished off Old Bull's woman with one blow from my rake," grinned Pig, "and when I stripped her I found
she was a jade−faced fox spirit. Her demons were all donkeys, mules, bulls, badgers, foxes, raccoon dogs,
river−deer, goats, tigers, elk, deer and things like that. We killed the lot of them and burnt down all the
buildings in the cave. The local god tells me he's got another woman who lives here, so we've come here to
wipe her out too."

"You've done well, brother," said Monkey. "Congratulations. I tried competing with Old Bull in
transformations, but I couldn't beat him. He turned into a simply enormous white bull, and I made myself as
big as heaven and earth. We were just battling it out when all the gods came down and surrounded him. After
a long time he turned back into himself and went into the cave."

"Is this Plantain Cave?" Pig asked.

"Yes yes," Monkey replied, "Raksasi's in here."

"Then why don't we storm the place and wipe the lot of them out to get the fan?" said Pig, his blood still up.
"Are we going to let the two of them live to be any older and wiser and love each other with tender passion?"

The splendid idiot then summoned up his strength to bring his rake down on the doors so hard that doors,
rock−face and all collapsed with a mighty rumble. The serving girls rushed inside to report, "Your Majesty,

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someone's smashed the doors in and we don't know who he is." The Bull Demon King himself had just run
panting in and was still telling Raksasi about his fight with Monkey for the fan when he heard this report,
which made him very angry indeed.

At once he spat out the fan and gave it to Raksasi, who took it in her hands and said tearfully, "Your Majesty,
give the macaque the fan if he'll call his troops off."

"Wife," the Bull Demon King replied, "it may only be a little thing in itself, but I hate and loathe him. Wait
here while I have it out with him again." Once more the demon put on his armor, chose another pair of
swords, and went out to find Pig smashing the doors down with his rake. Without a word Old Bull raised his
swords and cut at Pig's head. Pig parried with his rake and fell back a few paces till he was outside the doors,
where Monkey swung his cudgel at the Bull Demon King's head. The Bull Monster then mounted a storm
wind and sprang away from the cave to fight Monkey once more on Mount Turquoise Cloud. All the gods
surrounded him, while the local god's soldiers joined in the fray from either side. It was a splendid fight:

Mists obscured the world,

Fog shrouded heaven and earth.

A whistling evil wind sent sand and pebbles rolling;

Towering wrath had the ocean's waves breaking.

With a newly−sharpened pair of swords,

And a body encased in armor once more,

His hatred was deeper than the sea,

And loathing made his fury greater than ever.

In his pursuit of glory the Great Sage Equaling Heaven

No longer regarded the other as an old friend.

Pig was using his might to obtain the fan

While the gods and protectors tried to capture the Bull.

Neither of the Bull King's hands could rest

As he blocked to left and right with heavenly skill.

Birds folded their wings, unable to fly past;

Fish stopped leaping and sank to the bottom.

Ghosts wept, gods howled; the earth and sky were dark;

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Dragons and tigers were terrified and the sun was dimmed.

The Bull Demon King fought over fifty rounds for all he was worth till he abandoned the field and fled North,
unable to hold out any longer. He was soon blocked by the Vajrapani Bofa from the Hidden Demon Cave on
Mount Wutai whose magical powers were very extensive. "Bull Monster," he shouted, "Where are you going?
I have been commanded by the Lord Sakyamuni Buddha to spread out heaven−and−earth nets and arrest you
here."

As he spoke the Great Sage, Pig and all the gods caught up. In his desperation the demon king turned and fled
South only to find his way blocked by the Vajrapani Shenzhi of the Cave of Cool Purity on Mount Emei, who
shouted, "I am here on the Buddha's orders to take you."

The Bull Demon King was now so terrified and exhausted that he turned and fled East, only to be blocked by
the Vairocana monk, the Vajrapani Dali of Mo'er Cave on Mount Sumeru, who shouted, "Where are you
going, Old Bull? I am on a secret mission from the Tathagata to catch you."

The Bull Demon King withdrew in terror once more, this time to the West, where he came up against the
imperishable king, the Vajrapani Yongzhu from the Golden Brightness Ridge on Mount Kunlun, shouting,
"Where are you going, damn you? I have been personally instructed by the venerable Buddha of the Thunder
Monastery in the Western Heaven to cut off your escape this way. Nobody will let you pass."

The Old Bull was now trembling with fear, but it was too late for regrets. On all sides he was surrounded by
the Buddha's troops and heavenly generals. It really was as if he were caught in a high net from which there
was no escape. In his despair he heard Monkey coming after him at the head of his forces, so he sprang on his
cloud and went up.

At just that moment Heavenly King Li the Pagoda−carrier was encamped in the sky with Prince Nezha, the
Fish−bellied Yaksa and the Mighty Miracle God.

"Not so fast," he shouted, "not so fast. I am here on the mandate of the Jade Emperor to exterminate you." In
his extremity the Bull Demon King shook himself, turned back into the giant white bull, and tried to gore the
Heavenly King with his iron horns, while the Heavenly King hacked at him with his sword. Soon Brother
Monkey arrived.

"Great Sage," Prince Nezha shouted at the top of his voice, "I can't greet you properly as I'm in armor.
Yesterday my father and I went to see the Tathagata Buddha, who sent a note to the Jade Emperor. It said that
the Tang Priest was held up by the Fiery Mountains and that you couldn't subdue the Bull Demon King, Great
Sage. The Jade Emperor then ordered my father to bring his forces here to help."

"But this damned creature's magical powers are tremendous," Monkey replied, "and he's turned himself into
this. What are we going to do about him?"

"Have no doubts," replied Nezha with a smile. "Watch me catch him."

The prince then shouted, "Change!" gave himself three heads and six arms, and took a flying leap upon the
Bull Demon King's back. With one swing of his demon−beheading sword he had the bull's head off before he
even realized he had done it. The Heavenly King threw down his sword and went to meet Monkey. But
another head grew out from the Bull Demon King's throat, its mouth breathing black vapors and its eyes
flashing golden light. Nezha cut again, but as the head fell a new one appeared. Nezha's sword cut a dozen

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heads off and a dozen new heads immediately grew again. Nezha then hung his fire−wheel on the bull's horns,
blew on the magic fire, and made it blaze so fiercely that the Bull Demon King bellowed in desperate pain,
shaking his head and tail and trying for all he was worth to escape.

Just when he was about to do another transformation and get away his true image was fixed in Heavenly King
Li's demon−revealing mirror. Now he could make no more changes and he had no way of escape.

He could only call out, "Spare my life! I wish to be converted to the Buddhist faith."

"If you value your life, hand the fan over at once," said Nezha. "My wife is looking after it," the Bull Demon
King replied.

Hearing this reply, Nezha undid his demon−binding rope and slipped it round his neck, then took him by the
nose, ran the rope through it, and led him along by hand. Monkey meanwhile gathered together the four
vajrapanis, the Six Dings, the Six Jias, the Guardians of the Faith, Heavenly King Li, the Mighty Miracle
God, Pig, the local god and the spirit soldiers to crowd around the white bull and lead him back to the
entrance to the Plantain Cave.

"Wife," Old Bull called, "bring the fan out and save my life." As soon as she heard this Raksasi took off her
jewelry and bright−coloured clothing, dressed her hair like a Taoist nun and put on a white silk habit like a
Buddhist one.

She came out through the doors carrying the twelve−foot fan with both hands, and at the sight of the
vajrapanis, the gods, the Heavenly King and Nezha she fell to her knees in terror, kowtowing in worship and
saying, "I beg you Bodhisattvas to spare my husband and me. I present the fan to my brother−in−law Monkey
for him to win his glory with." Monkey went forward, took the fan, and rode back East by auspicious cloud
with the others.

Sanzang and Friar Sand had been waiting a very long time, sometimes sitting and sometimes standing, for
Monkey to come back. They were extremely anxious by the time the sky was suddenly filled with auspicious
clouds and the earth was lit up by blessed light as all the gods came whistling through the air towards them.
"Wujing," said the venerable elder in terror, "whose divine soldiers are coming from over there?"

"Master," said Friar Sand, who could recognize them, "it's the four vajrapanis, the Golden−headed Protector,
the Six Jias, the Six Dings, the Guardians of the Faith and all the other passing gods. The one leading the bull
is Prince Nezha, and there's Heavenly King Li the Pagoda−carrier holding a mirror. My eldest brother is
carrying the plantain fan, and that's second brother and the local god behind him. The others are all escort
troops."

Hearing this, Sanzang put on his Vairocana mitre and his cassock then went with Friar Sand to welcome the
gods and thank them with these words: "What merits do I, your disciple, have that I put all you holy ones to
the trouble of coming down to earth?"

To this the four vajrapanis replied, "Congratulations, holy monk. The great task has now been achieved. We
were sent to help you on the Buddha's orders. You must now continue your self−cultivation and not slacken
for a moment." Sanzang replied amid kowtows that he accepted their commands.

The Great Sage Sun took the fan close to the Fiery Mountains, waved it as hard as he could, and put the
flames out. Their glare disappeared. He waved the fan again and the rustle of a cool breeze could be heard;
and at the third wave the sky was overcast with cloud and a fine rain began to fall. There is a poem that bears
witness to this:

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For hundreds of miles the mountains of fire

Lit heaven and earth with notorious flames.

When fire roasts the five passions the elixir cannot be made.

When flame burns the three passes the Way is not pure.

To borrow the plantain fan and bring down rain,

Heavenly gods had to help with their spiritual power.

When the bull is led to the Buddha it must stop being evil;

When water and fire are allied the nature is calm.

Having been relieved of his cares Sanzang stopped worrying. All the hosts then reverently thanked the
vajrapanis, who all returned to their mountains, and the Six Dings and Six Jias went back into the sky to give
their protection. The deities who had been passing by all went on their way; and the Heavenly King and
Nezha led the bull back to hand him over to the Buddha. This left only the local mountain god waiting there
with Raksasi under his guard.

"Why aren't you on your way, Raksasi?" Monkey asked. "What are you standing there waiting for?"

"I beg you in your mercy, Great Sage," she replied, "to give me back the fan."

"You've got a cheek, damned bitch," roared Pig. "We've spared your life and that should be enough for you.
What do you want the fan for? When we've crossed the mountains we'll be able to sell it for food. Do you
think we're going to give it to you after all the trouble and effort we've been to? It's raining, so be off home
with you."

She bowed again and said, "But the Great Sage promised to give it back when he'd put the fire out. I'm very
sorry about all that has happened. It was only because I was feeling so upset that I put you to all that trouble.
We too have learned to live like human beings. The only thing is that we had not been converted to the pursuit
of the true achievement. Now our true bodies have turned to the West, and we will not dare do anything
wicked again. I beg you to return the fan so that I can reform and cultivate myself."

"Great Sage," said the local deity, "let us make full use of this woman's knowledge of the art of extinguishing
fire to put these fires out for good, and give her back her fan. Then I will be able to live here in peace, help the
people who live here, and be given offerings of blood and food. This would truly be a great kindness to me."

"I heard the local people saying that when the fan puts the flames out in these mountains they can only gather
one harvest before they start burning again," said Monkey. "How are we going to be able to put them out
forever?"

"All you have to do to put the flames out forever," said Raksasi, "is wave the fan forty−nine times. Then
they'll never burn again."

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Now that Brother Monkey knew this he took the fan and fanned the mountains with it forty−nine times as
hard as he possibly could, whereupon heavy rain began to pour down. The fan really was a treasure: where
there were flames it rained, and where there were not the sky was clear. By standing where there no flames
master and disciples avoided getting wet. After spending the night sitting there they got the horse and luggage
ready the next morning and returned the fan to Raksasi.

"If I don't give it back to you," Monkey said, "people might say I don't keep my word. Take the fan with you,
go back to your mountain and don't make any more trouble. As you've achieved human form I'll spare your
life." Taking the fan from him Raksasi said the words of the spell, pinched the thread so that it shrank back to
the size of an apricot leaf and put it in her mouth. She then thanked them all and prepared to cultivate her
conduct as a hermit. Later she too achieved the true reward and her name was made eternally famous through
the scriptures. Raksasi and the local god expressed their deep gratitude to the four sages and escorted them
along their way. As Monkey, Pig and Friar Sand escorted Sanzang along his way their bodies felt cool and the
ground under their feet was pleasantly damp. This was indeed a case of

With the help of trigrams Kan and Li the primal is compounded;

When fire and water are balanced the Great Way is completed.

If you don't know how many years it was till they returned to the East, listen to the explanation in the next
installment.

Chapter 62
Cleansed and with a Washed Heart He Sweeps the Pagoda

The Devils Are Captured and Converted; the Body Is Cultivated

Through all the hours it must never be forgotten:

When success is won all time will be put away.

For five years and sixty thousand miles

Do not let the holy water dry up,

Do not allow the fire to flag.

When water and fire are in balance no harm will arise;

The Five Elements are joined as if with hooks.

Ying and Yang in harmony climb the cloud tower,

Riding the phoenix to the purple palace,

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And flying on the crane to magical Yingzhou.

This lyric is set to the tune Lin jiang xian. It tells how Tang Sanzang and his disciples with the help of water
and fire cooled their natures and borrowed the fan that was pure Yin to blow out the flames on the distant
mountains. It took them many days to cover the 250 miles as they made their way West feeling relaxed and
free of care. It was now the time when late autumn was becoming early winter, and this is what they saw:

The petals of wild chrysanthemums wilting,

The tender new blossom of the plum.

In all the villages crops are gathered in;

Delicious broth is everywhere enjoyed.

As the trees are stripped of leaves distant forests can be seen;

Ravines are thickly frosted and the quiet valleys pure.

In response to the cold season

The silkworms are put away to hibernate.

In pure Yin and Yang

The moon rules over the primal ocean;

Where water is at the full

Shun's sun shines with merciful brightness.

Earth vapors sink,

Sky vapors rise.

The rainbow is no more to be seen,

While slowly ice forms over the pond.

Flowers fall from the creepers on the cliff,

While bamboo and pine show still greener in the cold.

When the four of them had traveled a lot further they approached a walled and moated city. Reining in the
horse the Tang Priest spoke to his disciples: "Wukong, what sort of place is that with all those tall and

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magnificent buildings?" Monkey looked and saw that the city was like this:

A wall of bronze, shaped like a dragon,

And in the form of a crouching tiger,

From all directions fine carriages approach

And many a wheel has smoothed the roads to it.

Amazing beasts are carved on the balustrades of marble;

Statues of great men stand on pedestals of gold.

This is indeed a blessed capital,

A true metropolis.

Its vast domains are firmly held;

The dynasty has flourished for a thousand years.

To the monarch's goodness the barbarians submit;

Here is the holy gathering from islands and from sea.

Before the palace steps is purity;

Peace reigns on the highways.

The bars are full of noise and song;

Bliss is found in the houses of pleasure.

Outside the palace grow trees of eternal spring

Where phoenixes sing their greetings to the dawn.

"Master," said Monkey, "that city is a royal capital."

"The world is full of prefectural cities and county seats," laughed Pig. "What makes you so sure that this is a
royal capital?"

"You don't seem to realize that royal capitals are different from prefectural cities and county towns," Monkey
replied. "Just look. It's got over ten gates and the wall must measure twenty or thirty miles around. Those
towers are so high they disappear into the clouds. How could anything except a royal capital be as grand as
that?"

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"You're right, brother," said Friar Sand, "it is a royal city. But what's it called?"

"How can I tell?" Monkey replied. "There aren't any signs or banners. We'll have to go into it and ask."

The venerable elder whipped on his horse and was soon at a gate, where he dismounted to cross the bridge
and go in to look. They saw the six main streets and the three markets, where commerce was flourishing, as
well as the imposing clothes of the noble and great. Then as they were walking along they saw a dozen or so
Buddhist monks in chains and cangues, heavy boards locked round their necks, begging from door to door.
They were dressed in rags.

"The fox mourns for the death of the hare," sighed Sanzang. "All things are sorry for their own kind. Go and
ask them, Wukong, why they are being punished like that."

Doing as he had been told, Monkey asked, "What monastery are you from, monks? Why are you in cangues
and chains?"

"My lord," said the monks, all falling to their knees, "we are from the Golden Light Monastery and we have
been wronged."

"Where is the Golden Light Monastery?" Monkey asked.

"Just round the corner," they replied.

Monkey led them to the Tang Priest and asked them, "How have you been wronged? Tell me."

"We don't know where you're from, but you look a little familiar to us, my lords," the monks replied. "We
don't dare talk here. Please come to our poor monastery where we can tell you our woes."

"Very well," said the venerable elder, "we shall go to their monastery and ask them all the details." They went
with them to the monastery gate, over which was a board on which was written in letters of gold

NATION−PROTECTING GOLDEN LIGHT MONASTERY

FOUNDED BY ROYAL COMMAND

When master and disciples went inside to look around this is what they saw:

Cold were the lamps in the ancient hall;

Wind blew the leaves along deserted cloisters.

A thousand−foot pagoda touched the clouds;

Pine trees grew to nourish the nature.

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Fallen blooms carpeted the unvisited grounds;

Spiders span cobwebs all over the eaves.

The drum−stand was empty,

The bell hung in vain,

And the frescoes could barely be seen through the dust.

Still was the pulpit where no priest could be seen,

Silent the dhyana hall except for the birds.

The desolation made one long to sigh;

Its dreariness caused great pain.

Although an incense burner stood before the Buddha

All was cold ash, withered flowers and desolation.

All this made Sanzang miserable, and he could not help his tears flowing. The monks in their cangues and
chains pushed open the doors of the main Buddha−hall and invited him to step inside and worship the
Buddha. Sanzang entered, offered the incense of his heart and said the recitation three times. Then he turned
round again to see six or seven young monks locked to the pillars outside the abbot's lodgings. It was more
than he could bear.

When he entered the abbot's lodgings and all the monks came to kowtow to him they asked, "You reverend
gentlemen look rather different. Are you from Great Tang in the East?"

"You must have second sight," Monkey said with a laugh. "We are indeed, but how could you tell?"

"We don't have second sight, my lords," the monks replied. "It's just that because we're so distressed at the
injustice we've suffered and because there's nowhere else we can turn, we have been calling on heaven and
earth for days on end. Some heavenly deity must have been moved by us because last night we all had the
same dream. We were told that a holy monk was coming from Great Tang in the East who would save our
lives and right our wrongs. We knew who you were today because you looked rather unusual."

This pleased Sanzang greatly. "What country is this, and what injustice have you suffered?" he asked.

"My lord," said the monks on their knees, "this country is called Jisai, and it's one of the biggest in the West.
In the old days the foreign states all around used to send tribute: Yuetuo in the South, Gaochang to the North,
Western Liang in the East, and Benbo to the West. Every year they used to offer fine jade, bright pearls,
beautiful women and magnificent horses. We never had to resort to arms or send expeditions against them:
they naturally acknowledged us as their suzerain."

"If they did that your king must understand the Way and your civil and military officials be wise and good,"
Sanzang said.

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"My lord," the monks replied to Sanzang's question, "our country's civil officials are not wise, our generals are
not good, and our monarch does not understand the Way. Auspicious clouds used to gather round the pagoda
of our monastery and mists of good omen rose high above it. The glow above it at night could once be seen
from thousands of miles away; the coloured vapors were admired by the countries all around. That was why
this was a divinely−appointed capital to which all the foreigners sent tribute. But three years ago at midnight
on the first day of the first month of autumn it rained blood. The next morning everyone was terrified and
miserable. All the ministers submitted a memorial to the throne: they didn't understand why heaven was so
angry with us. Taoists were asked to perform purifications and Buddhist monks to recite sutras as an offering
to heaven and earth. Goodness only knows why, but our golden pagoda has been contaminated, and for the
last two years no foreign countries have sent tribute. Our king wanted to send armies to punish them, but the
officials said that the reason why foreign countries weren't sending tribute was that the auspicious clouds and
mists of good omen had disappeared, and this was because we monks had stolen the treasure from the pagoda
in our monastery. The stupid king did not investigate, and those corrupt officials had all us monks arrested.
We have been beaten and tortured in every possible way. There used to be three generations of us monks in
this monastery, but the two older generations both died off because they couldn't take the beating and torture.
Now we've been arrested and made to wear these cangues and chains. Your Honour, we could never be so
wicked as to steal the treasure from the pagoda. We implore you to take pity on your fellows and in your great
mercy and compassion make wide use of your dharma powers and save our lives."

At this Sanzang nodded and said with a sigh, "This is an obscure business that will be hard to sort out. The
court is ruling badly, and you are suffering a calamity. If it was the rain of blood that contaminated your
pagoda why did you not report the fact to your king at the time? Instead you let yourselves in for this
calamity."

"We are only common mortals, your lordship, and had no way−of telling what heaven had in mind. Besides,
our elders didn't understand. What could we be expected to do about it?"

"What's the time, Wukong?" Sanzang asked.

"About four in the afternoon," Monkey replied.

"I would like to see the king to present our passport," Sanzang said, "but I cannot solve these monks' problem
and report on it to His Majesty. When I left Chang'an I made a vow in the Famen Monastery that on my
journey West I would burn incense at every temple I passed, worship the Buddha in every monastery I came
across, and sweep every pagoda I saw. Today I have met these monks who have been wronged on account of
their pagoda. Will you get me a new broom while I take a bath? I shall then go up to sweep it and find out
what has contaminated it and why it does not gleam any longer. Once I have found out the truth it will be
much easier to report on it in person to the king and rescue them from their misery."

As soon as the monks in cangues and chains heard this they hurried to the kitchen to fetch a big vegetable
chopper that they handed to Pig.

"Take this chopper, your lordship," they said, "and cut through the iron locks holding the young monks to the
pillars so that they can prepare you some food and tea and wait on your master while he eats and bathes.
Meanwhile we shall go out on the streets again to beg for a new broom for your master to sweep the pagoda
with."

"There's no problem about opening locks," laughed Pig. "We don't need knives or axes. Just ask the
hairy−faced gentleman: he's been opening locks for years." Monkey then stepped forward and used
lock−opening magic: one touch and the locks all fell open. The young monks all ran into the kitchen to clean
up the cooking pots and stove and prepare the meal. When Sanzang and his disciples had eaten and it was

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gradually getting dark the monks in cangues and chains came in with two brooms to Sanzang's great delight.

As they were talking a young monk came in to light the lamp and invite Sanzang to take his bath. By now the
sky was bright with the moon and the stars, and from the look−out towers the watches of the night were being
beaten out on the drum. It was indeed the time when

Cold breezes blow around the walls,

And lamps are lit in every house.

Along the streets all the doors are shut;

The gates of the three markets are all closed.

The fishing boat is sheltered under the trees;

The ploughing ox is let off its rope.

The woodman gives his axe a rest,

While the schoolboy can be heard reciting his lessons.

When Sanzang had bathed he put on a narrow−sleeved tunic, tightened the belt around his waist, put on a pair
of boots, and took the new brooms. "You sleep here while I sweep the pagoda," he said to the monks.

"The pagoda was contaminated by the rain of blood," Monkey said, "and it hasn't shone for many a long day.
There may be evil things living up there. If you go up by yourself on this cold and windy night I'm worried
that something might go wrong. Why don't I go with you?"

"Very good idea," Sanzang replied, and each carrying a broom they first went up into the main Buddha hall,
where Sanzang lit the glazed lamp, burned incense, and bowed to the Buddha saying, "Your disciple Chen
Xuanzang has been sent by the Great Tang in the East to worship out Tathagata Buddha on Vulture Peak and
fetch the scriptures. I have now reached the Golden Light Monastery in the kingdom of Jisai, where the monks
tell me that their pagoda has been contaminated and that they have been unjustly punished because the king
suspects them of having stolen the treasure. Your disciple is now going devoutly to sweep the tower in the
hope that my Buddha in his great responsiveness will reveal the cause of the contamination and spare these
folk from injustice."

When he had prayed he and Brother Monkey opened the door of the pagoda and began to sweep it from the
ground upwards. That pagoda

Towered to the stars,

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Thrust up into space.

It was called the glazed tile pagoda,

The golden sarira spire.

The stairway spiraled like the inside of a cave;

The door seemed to be the door of a coop.

The gleam of the vase reached the moon at the horizon;

The sea breeze carried the sound of its bells.

Look at the eaves and corbel brackets,

The finial in the clouds.

The eaves and corbel brackets

Were of masonry through which the scented breezes blew.

The finial in the clouds

Had mist dragons coiling around the pagoda.

The view stretched out for hundreds of miles;

To climb it was to climb to the heavens.

At the doors of every story were set glazed lamps,

But full of dust, not light.

All around under the eaves ran marble balustrades,

Covered with filth and insects.

Inside the tower,

By the Buddha statues,

Incense no longer burned.

Outside the windows,

In front of the divine face,

Cobwebs covered all.

The incense−burners were full of mouse−droppings,

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The lamps untouched by oil.

Because the treasure had been spirited away

Many a monk had died for nothing.

Sanzang was determined to sweep out the pagoda

And restore to it the beauty that it had before.

When he had swept one story the Tang Priest went on to sweep the next, and so he continued till he reached
the seventh story. By now it was the second watch of the night and he was beginning to feel exhausted.

"You're tired," Monkey said. "Sit here and let me sweep it for you."

"How many stories does it have?" Sanzang asked.

"About thirteen I suppose," Monkey replied. Overcoming his weariness the Tang Priest said, "I must sweep it
myself to fulfil the vow." By the time he had swept another three stories his back and his legs were aching. At
the tenth he collapsed and said, "Sweep the last three floors for me, Wukong."

Monkey summoned up his energy, went to the eleventh floor, and a moment later up to the twelfth. As he was
sweeping there he heard voices from in the roof. "That's odd," he thought, "Very odd indeed. It's the third
watch. They can't be people talking up there as late as this. I'm sure it's evil spirits. Let's have a look."

The splendid Monkey King put his broom quietly under his arm, tucked up his clothes, slipped out through
the door, and stepped on a cloud to take a better look. Sitting in the middle of the thirteenth story were two
evil spirits with a dish of food, a bowl, and a jug of wine. They were playing the finger−guessing game and
drinking.

Monkey used his magic powers to get rid of the broom and bring out his gold−banded cudgel, with which he
barricaded the entrance to the pagoda and shouted, "So you're the ones who stole the pagoda's treasure, you
monsters." The two of them jumped up in their panic, grabbed the jug and bowl, and flung them at him.
Monkey deflected them with his iron cudgel and said, "I won't kill you because I need you to give evidence."

He just used his cudgel to force them to talk. The devils were pinned against the wall, unable to struggle or
even move. All they could do was to repeat, "Spare us, spare us. It was nothing to do with us. The thief isn't
here."

Monkey used holding magic to carry them single−handed down to the tenth story, where he said, "Master, I've
got the thieves."

This news woke up Sanzang, who had been dozing, with a start of pleasure. "Where did you catch them?" he
asked.

Dragging the demons over and forcing them to kneel to his master Monkey replied, "They were drinking and
playing finger−guessing up in the roof. When I heard the din they were making I shot up by cloud to the roof
and blocked their escape. I wasn't rough with them because I was worried that a single blow would kill them
and we'd have nobody to give evidence. That's why I brought them here nice and gently. You can take

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statements from them, Master, and find out where they're from and where the stolen treasure has been
hidden."

The demons were still shivering and shaking and saying, "Spare us!" Then they made this true statement. "We
were sent by the Infinitely Sage Dragon King of the Green Wave Pool on the Ragged Rock Mountain. His
name's Benborba and mine is Baborben. He's catfish spirit and I'm a snakehead fish spirit. Our Infinitely Sage
Ancient Dragon has a daughter called the Infinitely Sage Princess. She is as lovely as flowers or the moon and
brilliant as well. The Ancient Dragon got a husband for her who would live in the palace. He has tremendous
magic powers and he's called Prince Ninehead. He came here the other year with the dragon king to
demonstrate his powers by making a blood rain that contaminated the pagoda and stealing the precious sarira
relic of the Buddha. The princess then went up to the Daluo Heaven and stole the Queen Mother's nine−lobed
magic fungus plant from in front of the Hall of Miraculous Mist. We keep it at the bottom of the pool, and it
shines day and night with golden light and a coloured glow. Recently we've heard that Sun Wukong is on his
way to fetch the scriptures from the Western Heaven. They say his powers are enormous, and that all along
the way he has been looking out for wrongs to right. That's why we keep getting sent here to patrol and stop
him when the comes. If that Sun Wukong turns up we're ready for him."

At this Monkey gave a mocking laugh. "What an evil beast," he said. "He's unspeakable. No wonder he
invited the Bull Demon King to his place for a banquet the other day. He's been extending his contacts among
all these damned demons because he's up to no good."

Before he had finished speaking Pig and two or three of the young monks came up the steps from the bottom
of the pagoda with lanterns.

"Master," Pig said, "why don't you go to bed now that you've swept the pagoda instead of staying here
talking?"

"You've come at just the right moment, brother," said Monkey. "The pagoda's treasure was stolen by the
Infinitely Sage Ancient Dragon. He sent these two little devils I've just captured to patrol the pagoda and keep
their ears open for news of us."

"What are they called, and what sort of spirits are they?" Pig asked.

"They've just confessed everything," Monkey replied. "This one's called Benborba and he's a catfish spirit,
and that one's Baborben and he's a snakehead fish spirit." Pig then lifted his rake to strike them.

"If they're evil spirits and they've already confessed," he said, "what are we waiting for? Let's kill them."

"No," said Monkey, "you don't understand. Keep them alive so that they can tell it all to the king and lead us
to catch the thieves and get the treasure back." The splendid idiot then put his rake down again. He and
Monkey each carried one of them down the stairs.

"Spare us," the demons kept pleading.

"I'd like to turn you two fish into soup for those monks who've been mistreated so unjustly," muttered Pig.

The two or three young monks, who were thoroughly delighted, led the venerable elder down the pagoda
stairs with their lanterns. One of them ran ahead to tell the other monks.

"Good news," he shouted, "good news! Our troubles are over. The reverend gentlemen have caught the evil
spirits who stole the treasure."

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"Fetch chains," Monkey said, "run them through their shoulder−bones, and lock them up here. Watch over
them while we get some sleep. We'll decide what to do next tomorrow." The monks then kept a very close
watch on the demons while Sanzang and his disciples slept.

Before they knew it it was dawn. "Wukong and I will go to court to present the passport," Sanzang said, and
he put on his brocade cassock and Vairocana mitre. When he was dressed in his majestic vestments he strode
forward, accompanied by Monkey, who had tightened his tigerskin kilt and straightened up his tunic and was
carrying the passport.

"Why aren't you taking those two demons with you?" Pig asked.

"We'll submit a memorial to the throne first," Monkey replied, "then I expect the king will send men for
them." They then went to the palace gates, seeing no end of red birds and golden dragons adorning the deep
red gateways of the pure capital.

At the Gate of Eastern Splendor Sanzang bowed to the officer in charge and said, "May I trouble Your
Honour to report that a monk sent from Great Tang in the East to fetch the scriptures from the Western
Heaven begs an audience with His Majesty to present his passport?"

The gate officer did indeed make this report, going to the steps of the throne to say, "There are two Buddhist
monks with strange faces and strange clothes outside who say they have been sent by the Tang court in the
East of the Southern Continent of Jambu to go to the West to worship the Buddha and fetch the scriptures.
They request an audience with Your Majesty in order to present their passport." The king then sent for them.

As the Tang Priest took him into the palace all the civilian and military officials were alarmed at the sight of
Monkey. Some called him the monkey monk, and others the thunder−god monk; they were all too terrified to
look at him for very long. The Tang Priest bowed to the king with a dance and a loud chant of obeisance,
while the Great Sage stood leaning to one side with his arms crossed, not moving.

The venerable elder then submitted this memorial: "I am a priest who has been sent by the Great Tang in the
East of the Southern Continent of Jambu to worship the Buddha and fetch the true scriptures in Thunder
Monastery in the land of India in the West. As my route lies across your distinguished country I would not
dare cross without authorization, and I beg you to verify the passport I have with me and allow me to
proceed."

The king was very pleased to hear all this, so he summoned the holy priest from Tang to the throne hall,
where an embroidered stool was set for him to sit on. Sanzang went into the hall by himself and handed over
the passport before gratefully accepting the courtesy stool.

When the king read the passport through he was delighted. "It appears that when your Great Tang emperor
was ill he could choose an eminent monk who would not flinch from a long journey to worship the Buddha
and fetch the scriptures. But all the monks in our country want to do is to steal, thus destroying the country
and ruining their sovereign."

When Sanzang heard this he put his hands together and replied, "How can you be so sure they are destroying
the country and ruining their sovereign?"

"This country of ours is the leading one in the Western Regions. The foreign states all around always used to
send tribute because of the golden pagoda in the Golden Light Monastery in this capital. A multicolored glow

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used to shine from the pagoda right up to the sky. But recently the pagoda's treasure has been stolen by the
wicked monks in the monastery, and for three years now there has been no coloured glow and no tribute from
the foreigners. It is all extremely upsetting for us."

"Your Majesty," said Sanzang, smiling as he put his hands together in front of his chest, "a little mistake can
lead to a great disaster. Soon after entering the gates of your heavenly capital yesterday I saw a dozen or so
monks in cangues. When I asked them why they told me that they were from the Golden Light Monastery and
were the victims of injustice. On close investigation in the monastery I found that it was no fault of the monks
there. When I swept the pagoda in the middle of the night I captured the thieving devils who had stolen the
treasure."

"Where are they?" asked the delighted king.

"My disciples have them locked up in the Golden Light Monastery," Sanzang replied.

The king ordered royal guards to be sent at once to the Golden Light Monastery to fetch the thieving devils so
that he could interrogate them himself. "Your Majesty, I think it would be best if my disciple went with the
guards."

"Where is he?" the king asked.

"Standing by the steps of the throne," Sanzang replied.

The king was shocked by what he saw. "How can your disciple be so ugly when you, reverend sir, are so
handsome?" he asked.

When he heard this the Great Sage Sun shouted at the top of his voice, "Your Majesty, you should no more
judge people by their faces than you'd measure the sea with a bucket. Good looks would never have captured
the thieving devils."

This calmed the king's alarm, and he said, "You are right, holy monk. We do not know how to select men of
talent here. The ones who catch the thieves and recover the treasure are best." He then ordered his aides to
have a carriage prepared and told the royal guards to look after the holy monk as he went to fetch the thieving
devils. The aides had a large palanquin with a yellow canopy got ready in which eight guardsmen carried
Monkey with eight more as escorts who shouted to clear the way to the Golden Light Monastery. By now the
whole city had heard the news; everyone came out to see the holy monk and the thieving devils.

Hearing the shouts Pig and Friar Sand, imagining that the king must have sent some of his officials, hurried
out to meet them, only to see Monkey riding in the palanquin. "Now you're yourself again, brother," laughed
Pig.

"What do you mean?" Monkey asked, putting his hand on Pig to steady himself as he stepped out of the chair.

"There you are, being carried by eight men in a carrying chair under a royal yellow canopy," said Pig. "Isn't
that the way the Handsome Monkey King should travel? That's why I said you're yourself again."

"Stop joking," said Monkey, who then had the two devils brought for him to escort to the king.

"Won't you take me along too?" Friar Sand asked.

"You stay here and look after the luggage and the horse," Monkey replied.

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"My lords," said the monks in cangues and chains, "why don't you all go to see His Majesty? We can look
after your things here."

"In that case we'll all go to report to the king," said Monkey, "and then have you released." With Pig
manhandling one devil and Friar Sand the other, Monkey got back into the palanquin, and led the devils to the
court.

They were soon at the steps of the throne hall, where the king was told that the devils had arrived. He came
down from his dragon throne to examine them with the Tang Priest and his civil and military officials. One of
the devils had bulging cheeks, black scales, a pointed mouth and sharp teeth. The other had slimy skin, a fat
belly, a big mouth and long whiskers. Although they had legs and could walk it was obvious that they had
only assumed a certain appearance of humanity through transformation.

"Where are you from, you thieving devils, you evil spirits?" the king asked. "How long have you been preying
on this country? Which year did you steal our treasure? How many of you bandits are there? What are your
names? I want it all, and I want the truth." The two devils fell to their knees before him, and although blood
was gushing from their necks they did not feel the pain. This was what they had to say:

"Three years ago, on the first day of the seventh month, the Infinitely Sage Dragon King brought a crowd of
his relations to live in the Southeast corner of this country, in the Green Wave Pool on Ragged Rock
Mountain about forty miles from here. He has an extremely attractive daughter for whom he found a husband
to live in our palace, Prince Ninehead. His magic powers are unbeatable. He knew that you had a rare treasure
in your tower, so he plotted with the dragon king to steal it. First he made it rain blood and then he stole the
Buddha relic. Now it lights up the dragon palace, which is as bright as day even in the darkest night. Then the
princess used her powers to sneak up and steal the Queen Mother's magic fungus to keep the treasure warm in
the pool. We two aren't the bandit chiefs. We're just private soldiers sent here by the dragon king who were
captured last night. This is the truth."

"As you have made this confession," the king said, "why don't you tell me your names?"

"I am Benborba," one of them replied, "and he is Baborben. I am a catfish monster and he is a snakehead
monster."

The king then told the royal guards to keep them safely behind bars and ordered, "Release all the monks of the
Golden Light Monastery from their cangues and chains, and have the Office of Foreign Affairs prepare a
banquet in the Unicom Hall to congratulate the holy monks on their great achievements in catching the
thieves. We shall now invite them to capture the ringleaders."

The Office of Foreign Affairs then laid on a double banquet of both meat and vegetarian food, for which the
king invited Sanzang and his disciples to take their places in the Unicorn Hall.

"May I ask your title, holy monk?" he said to Sanzang, who replied, his hands together, "My lay surname is
Chen, and my Buddhist name Xuanzang. My emperor granted me the surname Tang and the title Sanzang."

"What are your disciple's titles?" the king asked.

"They do not have titles," Sanzang replied. "The senior one is called Sun Wukong, the second one Zhu
Wuneng, and the third Sha Wujing. These were the names the Bodhisattva Guanyin of the Southern Sea gave
them. When they became my disciples I called Wukong Sun the Novice, Wuneng Bajie and Wujing Friar
Sand."

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The king then asked Sanzang to take the place of honour while Monkey sat at his left and Pig and Friar Sand
at his right. Their banquet was all vegetarian: fruit, vegetables, tea and rice. In front of them was a table of
meat dishes at which sat the king, and below him were a hundred or more tables set with meat dishes for all
the civil and military officials. The officials all thanked the king for his kindness, and the disciples sat down
with the permission of their master. When all were seated the king raised his goblet, and though Sanzang
would not drink his three disciples all drank to the success of the banquet. Woodwinds and strings then began
to sound as the court musicians performed.

Just watch Pig as he eats for all he is worth, gobbling his food down whole like a tiger or a wolf and emptying
the table. Soon more soup and food was brought, only to disappear in the same way. Every time servants
brought more wine he drained the cup, never refusing. The feast went on till after midday before it broke up.

When Sanzang expressed his thanks for the sumptuous banquet the king wanted to keep him longer. "It was
just a gesture to thank you holy monks for catching the demons." He then ordered the Office of Foreign
Affairs to move the banquet to the Jianzhang Palace so that he could discuss with the holy monks how the
ringleaders were to be captured and the treasure brought back to the pagoda.

"If we are to capture the thieves and recover the treasure," Sanzang said, "another banquet won't be needed.
We shall take our leave of Your Majesty now and set off to catch the demons."

But the king insisted on taking them to the Jianzhang Palace for another banquet. "Which of you holy monks
will lead the force that is to capture the monsters?" he asked, raising his goblet.

"Send my senior disciple Sun Wukong," Sanzang replied. The Great Sage raised his clasped hands and bowed
in acknowledgement.

"If the venerable Sun is going how big a force of cavalry and foot will he need," the king asked, "and when
will he be setting out?"

At this Pig could not restrain himself from shouting, "We won't need any soldiers, and we don't care when we
go. With a good meal and a few drinks inside us he and I can go and catch them right now, just by laying our
hands on them."

"Bajie," said Sanzang with delight, "you're getting very keen."

"Very well then," said Monkey. "Friar Sand, you guard the master while we two go."

"Even if you two venerable elders don't need troops," the king said, "surely you need weapons."

"We don't need your weapons," laughed Pig. "We carry our own." On hearing this the king fetched two huge
goblets and drank a toast to them on their journey.

"We won't have any more to drink," said Monkey. "But we'd like the royal guards to bring those little demons
to us. We need them as guides." The king gave the order and they were brought out at once. Then Monkey
and Pig, each firmly grasping a demon, rode the wind and used carrying magic to take them off to the
Southeast. Indeed:

Only when king and court saw the magical clouds

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Did they realize that the four of them were truly holy monks.

If you don't know how the capture went and what they found, listen to the explanation in the next installment.

Chapter 63
Two Monks Wipe out the Demons in the Dragon Palace

The Sages Destroy Evil and Recover the Treasure

The story tells how the king of Jisai and his officials high and low watched as the Great Sage Monkey and Pig
disappeared by wind and cloud, carrying the two demons with them. Then all of them bowed in homage to
heaven, saying, "Their fame is well founded. Only today can we really believe that such immortals and living
Buddhas exist." As Monkey and Pig vanished into the distance the king bowed again to thank Sanzang and
Friar Sand.

"Our mortal eyes were only able to see that your illustrious disciples had the power to capture thieving devils.
We never realized that you were superior immortals with the power to ride on winds and clouds."

"I do not have any dharma powers," Sanzang replied. "On my journey I have depended very much on my
three disciples."

"I tell you the truth, Your Majesty," said Friar Sand. "My senior fellow−disciple is the Great Sage Equaling
Heaven who has been converted. He once made havoc in Heaven, and none of the hundred thousand heavenly
troops was a match for his gold−banded cudgel. He had the Supreme Lord Lao Zi and the Jade Emperor both
scared. My next senior fellow−disciple is Marshal Tian Peng, now a faithful Buddhist. He once commanded
80,000 sailors on the River of Heaven. I'm the only one of us with no magic powers: I was the Curtain−lifting
General before I took my vows. We're useless at everything except capturing demons and monsters, arresting
thieves and runaways, subduing tigers and dragons, and kicking the sky into a well. And we know a thing or
two about stirring up the sea and turning rivers upside−down. Oh yes, and then there's riding clouds and mists,
summoning wind and rain, moving the stars around in the sky, carrying mountains, and chasing the moon: but
those are just extras." All this made the king treat them with very great respect Indeed:

Inviting Sanzang to take the place of honour, he kept addressing him as "Buddha" and referring to Friar Sand
and the others as bodhisattvas. All the civil and military officials were delighted, and the citizens of the
country kowtowed to them.

The story switches to the Great Sage Monkey and Pig riding their storm wind to the Green Wave Pool on the
Ragged Rock Mountain, where they stopped their clouds.

Blowing a magic breath on his gold−banded cudgel Wukong told it to change and turned it into a monk's knife
with which he cut an ear off the snakehead and the lower lip of the catfish, then threw the two demons into the
water with a shout of, "Tell the Infinitely Sage Dragon King that Lord Sun, the Great Sage Equaling Heaven,
is here. If he wants me to spare the lives of him and his family he'd better hand over the treasure from the
pagoda of the Golden Light Monastery in Jisai at once. If there's even the hint of a 'no' from him I'll give this
pool such a stirring that there'll be no water left in it and then exterminate his whole family."

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Having been given this order the two little devils fled for their lives in great pain, jumping into the water,
chains, ropes and all, to the alarm of the various turtle, alligator, shrimp, crab and fish spirits, who crowded
round them to ask, "Why are you roped and chained?"

Once of them shook his head and waved his tail with his hand over his ear; the other stamped and beat his
chest as he covered his mouth. There was much shouting and commotion as they both went to the dragon
king's palace to report, "Disaster, Your Majesty."

The Infinitely Sage Dragon King was drinking with his son−in−law Prince Ninehead when the two of them
arrived. "What disaster?" the dragon king asked, putting down his cup.

"We were on sentry duty last night," they reported, "when the Tang Priest and Sun the Novice captured us as
they were sweeping the pagoda. We were chained up and taken to see the king this morning. Then Sun the
Novice and Pig dragged us here. One of us had an ear cut off and the other a lip. Then they threw us into the
water to come to ask for the treasure from the top of the pagoda." They then told the whole story in great
detail. The news about Sun the Novice, the Great Sage Equaling Heaven, gave the ancient dragon such a
fright that his souls left his body and were scattered beyond the sky.

"Son−in−law," he said to the prince, shivering and shaking, "anyone else would have been easy enough to
deal with; but if it's him it's terrible."

"Relax, father−in−law," the prince replied. "I've been studying the martial arts since childhood and made
friends with quite a few of the world's heroes. He's nothing to be scared of. After three rounds with me I
guarantee the wretch will surrender with his head hanging so low he won't even dare look you in the face."

The splendid demon jumped to his feet, put on his armor, took the weapon he used, a crescent−bladed
halberd, walked out of the palace, parted the waters, and when he reached the surface called out, "What's all
this about a 'Great Sage Equaling Heaven'? Come and give yourself up at once." Standing on the bank, Pig
and Monkey saw how the evil spirit was dressed:

A silver helmet on his head,

Outshone the whitest snow;

The suit of armor that he wore

Was higher than autumn frost.

Over it was a battle−robe of brocade,

With dragons, cloud−patterns and pearls;

The rhinoceros−patterned belt at his waist

Was like a python wrapped in gold.

He held a crescent halberd

That flew and flashed like lightning;

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The pigskin boots on his feet

Moved as smoothly as water or waves.

From a distance he seemed to have only one face and head,

But seen from close to there were faces all around him:

Eyes in front and eyes behind

That could see in all directions;

Mouths to the left and mouths to the right,

Nine of them, all talking.

One shout from him would make the sky shake

Like the call of the crane resounding through the stars.

As nobody answered he shouted again, "Which of you is the Great Sage Equaling Heaven?"

Touching the golden band round his head and fingering his iron cudgel, Monkey replied, "I am."

"Where do you live?" the demon asked. "Where are you from? What brought you to Jisai to look after the
king's pagoda? Why did you have the effrontery to capture and mutilate two of our officers? And why are you
here demanding battle now?"

"Thieving devil," replied Monkey abusively, "it's obvious you don't know who I am. Come a little closer and
I'll tell you:

My people come from the Mount of Flowers and Fruit,

From the Water Curtain Cave in the middle of the sea.

Since childhood I have made my body indestructible;

The Jade Emperor created me Heaven−equaling Sage.

When I made havoc in the Dipper and Bull Palace

All the gods of Heaven were not enough to beat me.

The Buddha then was asked to use his great and subtle powers;

His infinite wisdom went beyond the mortal world.

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When I matched my powers with his and made my somersaults

His hand turned to a mountain and crushed me underneath.

There I was kept for full five hundred years,

And only was released when converted by Guanyin

Because Sanzang was going to the Western Heaven

To seek the Buddha's words at distant Vulture Peak.

She freed me then to escort the holy monk,

To clear up all the monsters and purify my conduct.

Our journey led to Jisai in the regions of the West

Where there monkish generations have been cruelly mistreated.

When in our mercy we asked them what had happened

We learned that the pagoda no longer shone with light.

My master swept it clean to find out the reason.

In the deep silence of the night's third watch,

We captured the demons and extracted their confessions:

They said you were the thief who had stolen the great treasure,

Conspiring to be a robber with the ancient dragon king

And the princess who is also known as Infinitely Sage.

Your rain of blood washed out the pagoda's magic light

And you brought the treasure back to use it here yourselves.

The confession that they made was true in every detail,

And we have come here now on His Majesty's own orders.

That is why we looked for you and challenge you to battle:

Never will you need to ask my name again.

Give the king back his treasure this instant

If you want to save the lives of all members of your family.

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Should you in your folly try to make resistance

Your pool will be dried out and your palace smashed to ruins."

When the prince heard all this he replied with a touch of a mocking smile, "If you're monks going to fetch the
scriptures you shouldn't be trumping up charges where it's none of your business. So what if I stole their
treasure? You're going to fetch your Buddhist scriptures and it's nothing to do with you. Why are you here
looking for a fight?"

"Thieving devil," said Monkey, "you've got no idea of right and wrong. The king's done us no favours. We
don't drink his kingdom's waters or eat its grain. We were under no obligation to do thing for him. But you
have stolen his treasure, contaminated his pagoda, and brought years of misery to the monks in the Golden
Light Monastery. They are our fellow believers, so of course we'll make an effort for them and right their
wrong."

"So it looks as though you want a fight," said the prince. "As the saying goes, the warrior avoids unnecessary
combat; but once I start there'll be no mercy, you'll be dead in next to no time, and that will be the end of
going to fetch the scriptures."

"Bloody thieving devil," Monkey cursed back, "you must think you're quite a fighter, talking big like that.
Come here and take this!" The prince was not flustered in the least as he blocked the cudgel with his
crescent−bladed halberd. A fine battle ensued on the Ragged Rock Mountain.

Because the monster stole the treasure the pagoda was dark;

Monkey went to catch the demons for the sake of the king;

The little devils fled for their lives back into the water;

The ancient dragon took counsel in his terror.

Prince Ninehead showed his might

As he went out in armor to exercise his powers.

The angry Great Sage Equaling Heaven

Raised his gold−banded cudgel that was very hard Indeed:

In the monster's mine heads were eighteen eyes

Shining bright as they looked in all directions.

Monkey's iron arms were immensely strong

And auspicious lights glowed all around.

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The halberd was like a new moon's crescent,

The cudgel like flying frost.

"Why don't you give up trying to right wrongs?"

"You were wrong to steal the pagoda's treasure.

Behave yourself, damned devil,

And give me back the treasure if you want to live."

Cudgel and halberd fought for mastery:

Neither emerged as victor in the fight.

The two of them fought hard for over thirty rounds without either of them emerging as winner. Pig, who was
standing on the mountain admiring the sweetness and beauty of their fight, raised his rake and brought down
on the evil spirit from behind, Now the monster's nine heads all had eyes in them, and he could see Pig
coming behind him very clearly, so he now used the butt−end of his halberd to block the rake while holding
off the cudgel with the blade. He resisted for another six or seven rounds until he could hold out no longer
against the weapons that were swinging at him from before and behind, when he rolled away and leapt up into
the sky in his true form as a nine−headed bird. He looked thoroughly repulsive: the sight of him was enough
to kill one with horror:

His body all covered in feathers and down,

His girth was some twelve feet measured around,

And he was as long as an old crocodile.

His two feet were as sharp as book−shaped blades,

And his nine heads were all set in a circle.

When he opened his wings he could fly superbly:

Not even the roc could match his great strength.

His voice could resound to the edge of the sky,

With an echo even louder than the call of the crane.

Bright flashed golden light from his many pairs of eyes;

His pride far outstripped that of ordinary birds.

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The sight alarmed Pig, who said, "Brother, I've never seen anything as ugly in all my days. What sort of blood
could that monstrous bird have been born of?"

"There's nothing like him," Monkey replied, "nothing. I'm going up to kill him." The splendid Great Sage then
leapt up on his cloud into mid−air, where he struck at the monster's head with his cudgel. The monster now
displayed the power of his body as he swooped down, his wings outspread, then turned with a roaring noise to
come low over the mountain and shoot out from his waist another head with a mouth open wide like a bowl of
blood. His beak gripped Pig's bristles at the first attempt, then he dragged Pig to the pool and pulled him in.

Once back outside the dragon palace he turned himself back into what he had been before, threw Pig to the
ground, and said, "Where are you, little ones?"

Thereupon the mackerel, trout, carp, mandarin fish, hard and soft−shelled tortoises, and alligators, who were
all armored demons, rushed forward with a shout of, "Here!"

"Take this monk and tie him up for me," said the prince. "This will be revenge for our patrolling sentries."
Shouting and pushing, the spirits carried Pig inside, to the delight of the ancient dragon king, who came out to
meet the prince with the words, "Congratulations, son−in−law. How did you catch him?" The prince then told
him the whole story, after which the ancient dragon ordered a celebratory banquet, which we need not
describe.

Instead the story tells how Monkey thought in terror after the evil spirit had captured Pig, "This monster is
terrible. But if I go back to the court to see the master the king will probably laugh at me. But if I challenge
him to battle again how will I deal with him single−handed? Besides, I'm not used to coping in water. I'll just
have to turn myself into something to get inside and see what the evil spirit has done with Pig. If it's possible
I'll sneak him out of there to help me."

The splendid Great Sage then made magic with his fingers, shook himself, turned into a crab again, and
plunged into the water till he was outside the archway again. He knew the way from when he had come here
the previous time and stolen the Bull King's water−averting golden−eyed beast. When he reached the gateway
to the palace he walked in sideways to see the ancient dragon king, the nine−headed monster and their whole
family drinking together to celebrate. Not daring to go too close. Monkey crawled under the eaves of the
Eastern verandah, where several shrimp and crab spirits were fooling around and amusing themselves. He
listened to them for a while then said, imitating their way of talking, "Is the long−snouted monk the prince
brought here dead or alive?"

"He's alive," the spirits all replied, "and tied up. Can't you see him groaning under the Western verandah over
there?"

Monkey then crawled quietly over to the Western verandah, where he did indeed find Pig tied to a column and
groaning. "Can you recognize me, Pig?" he asked. Pig knew who it was from Monkey's voice.

"This is terrible, brother," he said. "The monster got me." Looking all around to make sure there was nobody
there Monkey cut through the ropes with his claws and told Pig to go. "What am I to do, brother?" Pig said.
"He's got my rake."

"Do you know where he put it?" Monkey asked.

"I think he must have taken it into the main hall of the palace," Pig replied.

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"Wait for me under the arch," said Monkey, and Pig slipped quietly out to save his skin. Monkey climbed up
on the roof of the main hall, from where he saw the intense glow of Pig's rake down on the left, made himself
invisible, and sneaked it out of the palace. Once under the archway he called, "Pig, take your weapon."

"You go on ahead, brother," said Pig, now reunited with his rake. "I'm going to attack that palace. If I win I'll
capture the whole family of them, and if I lose you'll be waiting by the bank to rescue me." Monkey, who was
delighted at the suggestion, urged him to be careful. "I'm not scared of him," Pig replied. "I know a thing or
two when it comes to water." Monkey then left him and came up through the water.

Pig meanwhile tightened the belt round his black tunic, grasped his rake with both hands, and charged in with
a great war−cry that sent all the members of the watery tribe rushing into the palace and shouting, "Disaster!
The long−snouted monk has broken free from his bonds and is charging back in." The ancient dragon king,
the nine−headed monster and the rest of the family were caught off their guard, and all they could do was
jump to their feet and flee for cover. The idiot, not fearing for his life, charged into the hall, laying about him
with his rake as he went. He smashed everything: doors, tables, chairs, wine−cups and all else too. There is a
poem to prove it that goes:

When the mother of wood was taken by the water monster

The mind−ape did not flinch from a difficult rescue.

One used his secret skills to open the locks;

The other one showed his might in hatred and wrath.

The prince fled, taking his princess to safety;

Not a sound was heard from the shivering dragon.

The palace's crimson windows and doors were all smashed;

The dragon's descendants were all scared out of their wits.

Pig smashed the tortoise−shell screens to powder and the coral trees to fragments.

When the nine−headed monster had hidden his princess safely inside he grabbed his crescent−bladed halberd
and went for Pig in the front of the living quarters of the palace, shouting, "Bloody idiot! Swine! How dare
you terrorize my family?"

"Thieving devil," retorted Pig. "How dared you capture me? This was none of my fight till you brought me
into it. Give the treasure back at once for me to take back to the king and that'll be that. Otherwise every last
member of your family will be killed." The demon was in no mood for kindness: he ground his teeth and
started fighting Pig. Only then did the ancient dragon calm down enough to lead his dragon sons and
grandsons to surround and attack Pig with their spears and swords. Seeing that things were going badly for
him Pig feinted and fled, followed by the ancient dragon and his host. A moment later he shot up through the
water and they all surfaced at the top of the pool.

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Monkey, who had been waiting on the bank, suddenly saw them coming out of the water after Pig, so he put
one foot on a cloud and brought out his iron cudgel with a shout of, "Stay where you are." His first blow
smashed the ancient dragon king to pulp. It was a terrible sight: his corpse and the scales that had come off it
floated on the surface of the pool, which turned red with his gore. His sons and grandsons all fled for their
lives in terror, while Prince Ninehead took the body back to the underwater palace.

Brother Monkey and Pig did not pursue them but went back to the bank to discuss what had happened. "I've
knocked a bit of the stuffing out of him," said Pig. "I went charging in with my rake and smashed everything
to smithereens. They were all scared witless. I was just fighting the prince when the ancient dragon king went
for me. Thanks for killing him. Now those bastards have gone back they'll be too busy with mourning and the
funeral to come out again. Besides it's getting late now. What are we going to do?"

"Never mind about it being late," replied Monkey. "This is our chance. Get back down there and attack again.
You must get the treasure so that we can go back to court." The idiot was feeling lazy so he made all sorts of
excuses to get out of going down again, but Monkey insisted: "Don't worry so, brother. Just draw him out
again as you did just now and I'll kill him."

As the two of them were talking they heard the roar of a mighty wind as dark and gloomy clouds came from
the East, heading South. When Monkey took a closer look he saw that it was the Illustrious Sage Erlang with
the Six Brothers of Plum Hill. They had falcons and hounds and were carrying foxes, hares, water−deer and
deer that they had killed. All of them had bows and crossbows at their waists and were carrying sharp swords
as they arrived on their wind and clouds.

"Pig," said Monkey, "here come my seven−sage−sworn brothers. Let's stop them and ask them to help us in
this fight. This will really stack the odds in our favour."

"If they're your sworn brothers they owe you that," said Pig.

"The only trouble is that the eldest of them, the Illustrious Sage, once made me surrender, so I feel too
embarrassed to face him," said Monkey. "I'd like you to go up, stop the clouds and say, 'Wait a moment
please, True Lord. The Great Sage Equaling Heaven would like to pay his respects.' I'm sure he'll stop then. I
can only face him after he's landed."

The idiot then shot up on his cloud to the top of the mountain to stop Erlang. "True Lord," he shouted at the
top of his voice, "could you slow down for a moment? The Great Sage Equaling Heaven would like to see
you." On hearing this Lord Erlang ordered the six brothers to stop and exchanged polite salutations with Pig.

"Where is the Great Sage Equaling Heaven?" he asked.

"Awaiting your summons at the foot of the mountain," Pig replied.

"Brothers," said Erlang, "go and ask him up at once."

The six brothers Kang, Zhang, Yao, Li, Guo and Zhi all came out of their camps and said, "Great Sage, our
eldest brother has sent us with an invitation for you."

Monkey went forward, paid his respects to them, then accompanied them to the top of the mountain, where
Lord Erlang received him, took him by the hand and returned his courtesies.

"Great Sage," he said, "allow me to congratulate you on being rescued from your terrible sufferings and being
converted to the Buddhist faith. Soon you will have succeeded and will be sitting on your lotus throne."

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"I don't deserve your congratulations," Monkey replied. "I am under enormous obligations that I've hardly
begun to repay. I've been rescued and am heading West, but it's too soon to say whether we'll succeed. As we
agreed to rescue some monks from disaster in the kingdom of Jisai we are here to capture a demon and
demand the return of a treasure. Seeing that you are passing this way, eldest brother, I wonder if I could
persuade you to stay and help us. May I ask where you have come from and whether you'd be willing to
help?"

"I'm just on my way home from a hunting trip with my brothers because I had nothing to do," Erlang replied.
"I'm grateful to you, Great Sage, for asking me to stay out of consideration for our old friendship. Of course
I'll help subdue a demon if that is what you wish. What kind of demons are there here?"

"Have you forgotten?" the six brothers asked. "This is the Ragged Rock Mountain, and below it is the Green
Wave Pool, the Infinitely Sage Dragon's palace."

"The Infinitely Sage Ancient Dragon is no trouble−maker," said Erlang with astonishment. "How could he
have robbed the pagoda?"

"Recently he's had a son−in−law living with him," Monkey replied, "a nine−headed monster turned spirit. He
plotted it all with his father−in−law. They made it rain blood on Jisai then stole the sacred Buddha relic from
the top of the pagoda in the Golden Light Monastery. The king in his ignorance had the monks arrested and
tortured. I captured two of their underlings in the pagoda who'd been sent out on patrol when my master in his
mercy swept it out one night, and they confessed everything in the palace this morning. When the king asked
our master to capture these monsters we two were sent here. In the first fight the nine−headed monster grew
another head that shot out from his waist and carried Pig off. I had to transform myself to go into the water
and rescue him. Then there was another big fight in which I killed the ancient dragon king. The swine have
recovered the body and are now in mourning. We two were just discussing how to draw them into battle again
when we saw you arriving. That's why I have had the effrontery to ask to see you."

"As you've killed the ancient dragon king you'll have to hit them so hard that the monster won't know what to
do," Erlang replied. "Then you can clean up the whole den of them."

"Yes," said Pig, "but it's late now."

"There's a soldier's saying that you should never put off an attack," Erlang replied. "It doesn't matter that it's
late."

"Don't be so impatient brother," said Kang, Yao, Quo and Zhi. "The demon's family is here, so we don't think
he'll run away. Brother Monkey is a distinguished guest, and Iron−haired Pig has been converted too. We
have wine and good food in our camp. Why don't we tell the little ones to light the stove and set out a banquet
here? It would be a way of congratulating them and a chance to talk at the same time. After a good night's
feasting there'll be plenty of time for the battle tomorrow."

Erlang was very pleased with the suggestion: "An excellent idea, brothers." The underlings were then ordered
to set out the banquet.

"We couldn't possibly refuse you gentlemen's generous invitation," Monkey replied. "But now we're monks
we may only eat vegetarian food. We can't eat meat."

"We have vegetarian food in plenty," Erlang replied, "and monastic wine too." All the brothers then drank and
talked of the old days under the light of the moon and the stars; when the sky was their canopy and the earth
their mats.

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How true it is that the night is long in loneliness and short in pleasure. Soon the East started to become light
and Pig, feeling very cheerful and energetic after a few drinks, said, "It's getting light. I'm going down to
challenge them to battle."

"Be careful, Marshal," said Erlang. "Just lure him out for my brothers and me to deal with."

"I understand," grinned Pig, "I understand." Watch as he tucks up his clothes, grabs his rake, makes
water−dividing magic, jumps in, goes straight to the archway, and charges into the palace with a great
war−cry.

The dragon sons were wearing the hempen clothes of mourning as they watched and wept over the dragon's
body while the dragon grandsons and the prince were preparing the coffin at the back. Then in came Pig,
roaring abuse at them. He landed a terrible blow from his rake that made nine holes in a dragon son's head.
The dragon's widow fled inside in terror with the rest of them.

"The long−snouted monk's killed my son now," she howled, and on hearing this the prince led the dragon
grandsons out to fight, wielding his crescent−bladed halberd. Pig raised his rake to parry the halberd and
fought a fighting retreat till he jumped out of the water. The Great Sage Equaling Heaven and the seven sworn
brothers all leapt into the fray, thrusting furiously with sword and spear. One of the dragon grandsons was
chopped up into mincemeat.

Seeing that things were going badly the prince rolled in front of the mountain, turned back into himself,
spread his wings, and started circling around. Erlang then took his golden bow, fixed a silver pellet to it pulled
it to its full extent, and fired it in the air. The monster pulled in its wings and swooped down to bite Erlang
with the head that shot out from its waist. Erlang's slim dog leapt up, barked, and bit off the head, which
dripped blood. The monster fled for his life in great pain, heading straight back for the Northern Sea. Pig
wanted to go after him but Monkey stopped him.

"Don't chase him," he said. "Never corner a defeated enemy. Now the dog's bitten that head off I'm sure he'll
be more dead than alive. I'm going to turn myself into his double. I want you to part the waters and chase me
in there to find the princess and trick the treasure out of her."

"You don't have to chase him if you don't want to," said Erlang and his six sages, "but by letting a creature
like that stay alive you are only creating trouble for the future." The nine−headed gory monsters that are still
found today are its descendants.

Pig did as he was told and parted a way through the waters for Monkey, looking just like the monster, to flee
with himself in noisy pursuit. They soon reached the dragon palace, where Princess Infinitely Sage asked,
"Why are you in such a state, prince?"

"Pig beat me," Monkey replied, "and chased me in here. I'm no match for him. Hide the treasures somewhere
safe."

Not realizing in her alarm that he was an impostor, she fetched a golden casket from the rear palace that she
gave to Monkey with the words: "This is the Buddha relic." Then she fetched a white jade box that she gave to
Monkey saying, "This is the nine−lobed magic fungus. Hide the treasures away where they'll be safe while I
fight two or three rounds with him to cover you. When the treasures are safe come and join in the fight."

Monkey then tucked the treasures into his clothes, rubbed his face, and turned back into himself. "Have a
good look, princess," he said. "Am I really your husband?" As the princess made a desperate grab for the
boxes Pig ran up and knocked her to the floor with a blow on the shoulder from his rake.

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The ancient dragon's widow was fleeing as Pig grabbed her and raised his rake to smash her. "Stop!" said
Monkey. "Don't kill her! Keep her alive for when we go back to announce our victory at court." Pig then lifted
her up out of the water while Monkey followed him to the bank with the two boxes.

"Thanks to your power and prestige, elder brother, we have recovered the treasures and wiped out the thieving
devils," said Monkey.

"That was no credit of ours," said Erlang. "In the first place the king's good fortune equaled heaven, and in the
second you worthy brothers showed your boundless powers."

The brothers then all said, "As you have now succeeded, Brother Monkey, we shall take our leave of you."
Monkey expressed his thanks profusely and tried to persuade them to go to see the king. None of them agreed,
and they led their forces back to Guankou.

Monkey carried the boxes and Pig dragged the dragon wife back to the city in next to no time, travelling by
cloud and mist. The liberated monks of the Golden Light Monastery were waiting for them outside the city,
and when they saw the two of them suddenly alight from the clouds, they went up and kowtowed, ushering
them into the city. The king was then sitting in the main hall of the palace talking with the Tang Priest.

A monk came ahead and took his courage in his hands to go in through the palace gates and report, "Your
Majesty, Lords Monkey and Pig are back with one of the thieves and the treasures." The moment he heard this
news the king hurried down from the throne hall to welcome them with the Tang Priest and Friar Sand. He
was full of expressions of gratitude for their amazing achievement and he ordered a thanksgiving banquet.

"We don't need any drinks now," said Sanzang. "We can only feast when my disciples have returned the
treasure to the pagoda." He then asked Monkey why it was that they were only back then as they had left the
day before, Monkey then told him all about the battle with the prince, the death of the dragon king, meeting
the True Lord Erlang, the defeat of the evil monsters and how he had got the treasures through trickery and
transformation. Sanzang, the king and all the civil and military officials were delighted.

"Can the dragon wife talk in human speech?" the king then asked.

"Of course she knows human speech," Pig replied. "She was married to a dragon and had a lot of dragon sons
and grandsons."

"In that case," said the king, "she'd better tell us the whole story of their crimes."

"I don't know anything about the theft of the Buddha relic," she said. "That was all done by that husband of
mine, the dragon who's a ghost now, and our son−in−law the nine−headed monster. They knew that the light
from your pagoda came from the Buddha relic that they stole under cover of the blood rain."

When asked how the magic fungus was stolen she answered, "My daughter the Infinitely Sage Princess
sneaked into the Daluo Heaven and stole the Queen Mother's nine−lobed magic fungus from in front of the
Hall of Miraculous Mist. The magic vapors of the fungus have nourished the relic, which will now be
indestructible and shine for tens of thousands of years. Even if it's buried or put in a field it will give out
thousands of beams of coloured light and auspicious vapors the moment it's brushed. You have now taken it
back and killed my husband, all my sons, my son−in−law and my daughter. Please spare my life."

"There'll be no mercy for you," Pig replied.

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"There's no such thing as a family that's all criminal," said Monkey. "I'll spare your life on one condition: you
look after the pagoda for me for ever."

"A poor life is better than a good death," the dragon wife replied. "Spare my life and I'll do whatever you
want." Monkey sent for an iron chain that was fetched by one of the aides.

He put it through the dragon wife's collarbone and said to Friar Sand, "Please ask the king to come and watch
the treasures being put back in the pagoda."

The king then had his carriage prepared and left the court hand−in−hand with Sanzang, accompanied by the
civil and military officials. He went to the Golden Light Monastery and climbed the pagoda, where the relic
was placed in a precious vase on the thirteenth floor just under the roof. The dragon wife was chained to the
central column of the pagoda. Spells were then said to summon the local deities and city gods of the capital
and the Guardians of the monastery, who were ordered to bring the dragon wife food and drink once every
three days to keep her alive. If she tried any tricks they were to execute her on the spot. The gods all secretly
accepted their orders. Brother Monkey used the magic fungus to sweep out the thirteen stories of the pagoda
one by one, then put it in the vase to look after the relic. Then and only then did the pagoda shine anew with
coloured light and an auspicious glow that could be seen from all directions and admired by the countries all
around.

When they came down out of the pagoda the king thanked them with the words, "If you, venerable Buddha,
and your three Bodhisattvas had not come here this matter would never have been cleared up."

"Your Majesty," Monkey said, "Golden Light is not a good name as it's not something permanent. Gold can
melt and light is only shining vapor. As we monks have gone to some trouble on your behalf we would like to
change the name to Subdued Dragon Monastery. This will ensure that you live for ever." The king ordered
that the name be changed and a new board hung up that read.

NATION−PROTECTING

SUBDUED DRAGON MONASTERY

FOUNDED BY ROYAL COMMAND

He then commanded that a banquet be laid on and sent for painters to paint portraits of the four of them. Their
names were recorded in the Tower of Five Phoenixes. The king then had his carriage brought out to see the
Tang Priest and his disciples on their way. He tried to give them gold and jewels, but they firmly refused to
accept anything. Indeed:

Evil had been wiped out;

Now calmness once more reigned.

Sunshine had been brought back,

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The pagoda's light regained.

If you don't know what happened on the journey ahead listen to the explanation in the next installment.

Chapter 64
Wuneng Works Hard on Thorn Ridge

Sanzang Talks of Poetry in the Wood Immortals' Hermitage

The story has been told how the king of Jisai thanked Tang Sanzang and his three disciples for capturing the
demons and pressed on them gold and jade, none of which they would accept. The king therefore told his
aides to have made for each of them two suits of clothing like those they were wearing, two pairs of socks,
two pairs of shoes and two belts. They were also provided with dry rations, and their passport was duly
examined and returned. They were seen out of the city by a procession of carriages, the civil and military
officials, the common people of the city and the monks of the Subdued Dragon Monastery. There was also
loud music. After six or seven miles they took their leave of the king, to be accompanied for a further six or
seven miles by everyone else. Then all the others turned back except the monks of the Subdued Dragon
Monastery, who were still with them after twenty miles. Some of the monks wanted to accompany them to the
Western Heaven and the others wanted to cultivate their conduct and wait on them.

Seeing that none of them was willing to turn back Monkey decided to use his powers. He pulled out thirty or
forty of his hairs, blew on them with magic breath, shouted, "Change!" and turned them into ferocious striped
tigers that leapt roaring about on the path ahead. Only then were the monks scared into going back. The Great
Sage then led the master as he whipped his horse forward and they were soon far away.

At this the monks began to weep aloud, shouting, "Kind and honorable sirs, fate must be against us since you
won't take us with you."

Let us tell not of the wailing monks but of how the master and his three disciples headed along the main path
West for a while before Monkey took his hairs back. Once again the seasons were changing, and it was now
the end of winter and the beginning of spring, neither hot nor cold. As they were making their way along
without a care they saw a long ridge in front of them over which the road led. Sanzang reined in his horse to
look. He saw that the ridge was overgrown with brambles and creepers. Although the line of the path could be
made out there were brambles and thorns all over it. "How are we going to manage that path, disciples?" he
asked.

"No problem," Monkey replied.

"But, disciple, the path is covered with thorns. We could only manage it by crawling on our bellies like snakes
or insects. Your backs will be bent with walking, and I'll never be able to ride the horse."

"There's nothing to worry about, Master," Pig replied. "I'll clear the thorns away with my rake. It'll be just like
gathering up kindling for the fire. Never mind about riding your horse−−I promise we could even get up there
in a carrying−chair."

"You are very strong," the Tang Priest replied, "but it is a long way and it will be hard. I don't know where
you'll find the energy to do that distance: goodness only knows how far it is."

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"There's no need to guess," said Monkey. "I'll go and have a look." When he jumped up into the air he saw it
stretching away endlessly. Indeed:

Vast was its size;

It was covered in mist and rain.

Soft was the carpet of grass on the path;

The mountain was covered in brilliant green.

New leaves were sprouting in dense abundance,

Fragrant creepers climbed all around.

When seen from afar no end was in sight;

From close to it seemed a mass of verdant cloud,

Luxuriant, mysterious and green.

The winds soughed everywhere

As the ridge shone bright in the sunshine.

There was pine and cypress and bamboo,

Many a plum and willow, and mulberry too.

Climbing figs coiled round ancient trees,

While creepers entwined the weeping poplars,

All twisted together like a frame,

Woven together in a bed.

Here the flowers made living brocade;

Far spread the scent of boundless blossom.

Everyone's life has brambles and thorns.

But none are as tall as those in the West.

Having looked for a long time, Monkey brought his cloud down and said, "Master, it's a very long way."

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"How far?" Sanzang asked.

"I can't see any end to it," Monkey replied. "There must be at least three hundred miles of it."

"That's terrible," said Sanzang.

"Don't be miserable, Master," said Friar Sand with a laugh. "We know how to burn undergrowth. Set fire to it
with a torch and all the thorns will be burned away. Then we'll be able to cross."

"Don't talk nonsense," Pig replied. "You can only clear the ground that way in November or later when the
grass has withered and there are dead trees. The fire won't take otherwise. It'd never burn now, when
everything's growing."

"Even if it did burn it would be terrifying," said Monkey.

"Then how are we to get across?" Sanzang asked.

"You'll just have to depend on me," said Pig with a grin.

The splendid idiot made a spell with his hands and said the words of it, leaned forward, and said, "Grow!" He
grew two hundred feet tall, then waved the rake and shouted. "Change!" It became three hundred feet long.
Then he strode forward and wielded the rake two−handed to clear the undergrowth from both sides of the
path. "Come with me, Master," he said. Sanzang was delighted to whip the horse along and follow close
behind while Friar Sand carried the luggage and Monkey used his cudgel to help clear the way. They did not
let their hands rest for a moment all day long, and they had covered over thirty miles when near nightfall they
came to an empty stretch of ground where a stone tablet stood in the middle of the path.

On the tablet the words THORN RIDGE were written large, and under them two lines of smaller writing read,
"Two hundred and fifty miles of rampant thorns; few travelers have ever taken this road."

When Pig saw this he said with a laugh, "Let me add a couple more lines to that: 'Pig has always been good at
removing thorns; he's cleared the roads right to the West.'" Sanzang then dismounted in a very good mood.

"Disciples," he said, "I've put you to a lot of trouble. Let's stop here for the night and carry on at first light
tomorrow."

"Don't stop now, Master," said Pig with a smile. "It's a clear sky and we're in the mood. It's all right if we
carry on all bloody night." The venerable elder had to accept his suggestion.

While Pig was working so hard in the lead all four of them pressed ahead without stopping for the night and
another day until it was evening once more. In front−of them the trees and undergrowth were densely tangled
and the wind could be heard rustling in the bamboos and soughing in the pines. Luckily they came to another
patch of empty land where there stood an old temple outside whose gates pine and cypress formed a solid
green shade, while peach and plum trees rivaled each other in beauty. Sanzang then dismounted and went with
his three disciples to examine it. This is what they saw:

Before the cliff an ancient shrine stood by a cold stream;

Desolation hung all around the hill.

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White cranes in the thickets made the moon seem brighter;

The green moss on the steps had been there for years.

The rustle of green bamboo seemed like human speech;

The remaining calls of the birds seemed expressions of grief.

Dogs and hens never came, and few human souls;

Wild flowers and plants grew all over the wall.

"This place strikes me as very sinister," said Monkey. "Let's not stay here long."

"You're being overcautious, brother," remarked Friar Sand. "As this is deserted and I don't think there are any
monsters, wild beasts or fiends, there's nothing to be afraid of." No sooner were the words out of his mouth
than there was a gust of sinister wind and an old man emerged from the temple gateway. He wore a turban, a
pale−coloured gown and grass sandals, and he held a crooked stick. He was accompanied by a devil servant
with a blue face, terrible fangs, red whiskers and a red body who was carrying on his head a tray of cakes.

"Great Sage," said the old man as they both knelt down, "I am the local god of Thorn Ridge. As I knew you
were coming but had nothing better to offer you I have prepared this tray of steamed cakes for your master.
Do all have some. As there are no other houses for hundreds of miles I hope you will accept a few to stave off
the pangs of hunger."

This was just what Pig wanted to hear: he went up and was just stretching out his hands to take a cake when
Monkey, who had been taking a long, hard look at all this, shouted, "Stop! He's evil! Behave yourself!" He
was now addressing the local god.

"You're no local god, trying to fool me like that. Take this!"

Seeing the ferocity of his attack, the local god turned round and transformed himself into a howling gust of
negative wind that carried the venerable elder flying off through the air. Nobody knew where he had been
taken. The Great Sage was desperate because he did not know where to look for the master, while Pig and
Friar Sand stared at each other, pale with shock. Even the white horse was whinnying with fright. The three
brother disciples and the horse were in utter confusion. They looked all around as far as they could see but
without finding him.

We will not describe their search but tell how the old man and his devil servant carried Sanzang to a stone
house that was wreathed in mist and gently set him down. Holding him by the hand and supporting him the
old man said, "Don't be afraid, holy monk. We aren't bad people. I am the Eighteenth Lord of Thorn Ridge. I
have asked you here on this cool, clear moonlit night to talk about poetry and pass the time in friendship."
Only then did Sanzang calm down. When he took a careful look around this is what he saw:

From where the banks of cloud set out

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Stood a pure house for immortals, a place

To purify the self and refine elixir,

To plant groves of bamboo and grow one's flowers.

Cranes often came to the emerald cliff,

And frogs called in the pool's blue waters.

This was a match for the cinnabar furnace on Mount Tiantai,

And made one think of the sunsets at Mount Huashan.

Forget the vain effort of ploughing the clouds and fishing for the moon;

Here there is admirable privacy and ease.

Sit here for long enough and your mind becomes sea−vast;

The rising moon can be half seen through the gauzy curtains.

As Sanzang was looking around and noticing how brightly the moon and the stars were shining he heard the
sound of voices saying, "The Eighteenth Lord has brought the holy monk here." Sanzang looked up and saw
three old men. The nearest one was white−haired and distinguished; the second one's temples had a green
gloss and he was full of vigor; and the third had a pure heart and blue−black hair.

Their faces and clothes were all different, and they all came to bow to Sanzang, who returned their courtesy,
saying, "I have done nothing to deserve this great affection you are showing for me."

To this the Eighteenth Lord replied with a smile, "We have long heard, holy monk, of how you have found the
Way and we've long been waiting for the good fortune of meeting you that we have enjoyed today. I hope that
you will not be grudge the pearls of your wisdom, but will make yourself comfortable, sit and talk. Then we
may learn about the true Dhyana teachings."

"May I ask the titles of the immortals?" Sanzang asked with a bow.

"The one with white hair," the Eighteenth Lord replied, "is known as the Lone Upright Lord; the one with
green temples is Master Emptiness; and the one with a pure heart is the Ancient Cloud−toucher. My title is
Energy."

"How old are you four venerable gentlemen?" Sanzang asked. To this the Lone Upright Lord replied,

"I am already a thousand years old;

I touch the sky and my leaves are always spring.

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Elegant are my fragrant branches

Shaped like dragons and snakes;

My shadow is broken into many parts;

My body is covered in snow.

Since childhood I have stood firm and endured;

Now I am happy to cultivate the True.

The birds and phoenixes that perch are not mere mortal ones;

I am free and far from the dust of the normal world."

Master Emptiness spoke next with a smile:

"I've borne wind and frost for a thousand years,

Strong in my tall body and the vigor of my limbs.

In the still of the night comes the sound of raindrops,

And the shade spreads like a cloud in autumn sunlight.

My gnarled roots have the secret of eternal life;

I have been given the art of never aging.

Storks stay here and dragons, not common creatures:

I am green and full of life, as in immortals' land."

Then the Ancient Cloud−toucher said with a smile,

"Over a thousand autumns have I passed in emptiness;

Lofty is the view that grows ever purer.

Here there is no commotion, but eternal cool and calm;

I am full of spirit and have seen much frost and snow.

The seven worthies come to talk about the Way;

I sing and drink with my friends, the six men of leisure.

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Lightly beating the jade and the gold

My nature is one with heaven; I roam with immortals."

Then Energy, the Eighteenth Lord, smiled as he said,

"My age is also over a thousand,

I am hoary, pure and natural.

Rain and dew give admirable vigor;

I borrow the creative power of heaven and earth.

Alone I flourish in ravines of wind and mist,

Relaxed and at my ease through all four seasons.

Under my green shade immortals stay

For chess and music and books on the Way."

"All four of you immortals have lived to most advanced ages." Sanzang said, "and the old gentleman Energy
is over a thousand. You are ancient, you have found the Way, you are elegant and you are pure. Are you not
the Four Brilliant Ones of Han times?"

"You flatter us too much," said the four old men. "We're not the Four Brilliant Ones: we're the four from deep
in the mountains. May we ask, worthy monk, what your illustrious age is?" Sanzang put his hands together
and replied,

"Forty years ago I left my mother's womb,

Fated to disaster since before my birth.

Escaping with my life I floated in the waves

Until I reached Jinshan where I renewed my body.

I nourished my nature and studied the sutras,

Sincere in worship of the Buddha, not wasting time.

Now that His Majesty has sent me to the West,

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I am deeply honoured by you ancient immortals."

The four ancients then praised him, saying, "Holy monk, you have followed the Buddha's teaching since you
left your mother's womb. By cultivating your conduct from childhood you have become a lofty monk who has
found the Way. We are very happy to see you and would like to ask you to teach us. Could you possibly tell
us the rudiments of the Dhyana dharma? It would be a great comfort to us." When the venerable elder heard
this he was not at all alarmed, and this is what he said to them:

"Dhyana is silence; the dharma is that which saves. Silent salvation can only come through enlightenment.
Enlightenment is washing the mind and cleansing it of care, casting off the vulgar and leaving worldly dust.
Human life is hard to obtain; it is hard to be born in the central lands; and the true dharma is hard to find.
There is no greater good fortune than to have all three. The wonderful Way of perfect virtue is subtle and
imperceptible. Only with it can the six sense−organs and the six forms of consciousness be swept away.
Wisdom is this: there is no death and no life, no excess and no deficiency, emptiness and matter are all
included, holy and secular both dismissed. It has mastered the tools of the Taoist faith and is aware of the
methods of Sakyamuni. It casts the net of phenomena and smashes nirvana. Perception within perception is
needed, enlightenment within enlightenment, then a dot of sacred light will protect everything. Light the
raging fire to illuminate the Saha realm; it alone is revealed throughout the dharma world. Being utterly subtle
it is firmer than ever: who crosses the pass of mystery through verbal persuasion? From the beginning I
cultivated the Dhyana of great awareness: I was fated and determined to attain enlightenment."

The four elders listened with cocked ears and were filled with boundless joy. Each of them kowtowed and was
converted to the truth, saying with bows of gratitude, "Holy monk, you are the very root of the enlightenment
to be found through Dhyana meditation."

The Ancient Cloud−toucher said, "Dhyana may be silence, and the dharma may well save, but it is necessary
for the nature to be settled and the mind sincere. If one is a true immortal of great awareness one has to sit in
the Way of no−life. Our mysteries are very different."

"The Way is not fixed; its form and function are one. How is yours different?" Sanzang asked. To this the
Ancient Cloud−toucher replied with a smile:

"We have been firm from birth: our forms and functions are different from yours. We were born in response
to heaven and earth and grew through the rain and the dew. Proudly we laugh at wind and frost; we wear out
the days and nights. Not one leaf withers, and all our branches are full of firm resolve. What I say has no
emptiness about it, but you cling to your Sanskrit. The Way was China's in the first place and only later
looked for more evidence in the West. You are wearing out your straw sandals for nothing: you don't know
what you are looking for. You are like a stone lion cutting out its own heart, or a fox salivating so hard it
digests the marrow of its own bones. If in your meditation you forget your roots you will pursue the Buddha's
reward in vain. Your words are as tangled as the brambles on our Thorn Ridge and as confused as the
creepers. How can we accept a gentleman such as you? How can one like you be approved and taught? You
must reexamine your present state and find a life of freedom in stillness. Only then can you learn to raise
water in a bottomless basket, and make the rootless iron−tree flower. On the peak of the Miraculous Treasure

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my feet stand firm; I return to the assembly at Longhua.

When Sanzang heard this he kowtowed in thanks, and the Eighteenth Lord and the Lone Upright Lord helped
him back to his feet, Master Emptiness said with a chuckle, "Cloud−toucher's remarks revealed things a little
too clearly. Please get up, holy monk: you don't have to believe every word of it. We didn't intend to use the
light of the moon for serious discussions. We should chant poems, feel free, and let ourselves relax."

"If we're going to recite poems," said Cloud−toucher with a smile, pointing towards the stone house, "why
don't we go into the hermitage and drink some tea?"

Sanzang answered with a bow and went over to look at the hermitage, above which was written in large letters
TREE IMMORTALS' HERMITAGE. They all then went inside and decided where to sit, whereupon the red
devil servant appeared with a tray of China−root cakes and five bowls of fragrant tea. The four old men urged
Sanzang to eat some cakes, but he was too suspicious to do so, and would not take any till the four old men
had all eaten some: only then did he eat a couple. After they had drunk some tea it was cleared away. Sanzang
then stole a careful look around and saw that everything was of a delicate and intricate beauty in the
moonlight:

Where waters flowed beside the rocks,

And fragrant scents from the flowers curled,

The scene was one of cultured peace,

Free from the dust of a lower world.

Sanzang took great pleasure in gazing on this sight: he felt happy, relaxed and exhilarated. He found himself
saying a line of poetry: "The dhyana heart revolves in moonlike purity."

The couplet was completed by Energy, who said with a smile: "Poetic inspiration is fresher than the sky."

To this Lone Upright added: "By grafting on each line embroidery grows."

Then Emptiness said: "Pearls come when naturally the writing flows."

Cloud−toucher continued: "The glory is now over: Six Dynasties disappear. The Songs are redivided to make
distinctions clear."

"I shouldn't have let those silly words slip out just now," said Sanzang, "I was only rambling. Really, I am a
beginner trying to show off in front of experts. Having heard you immortals talk in that fresh and free−ranging
way I now know that you old gentlemen are true poets."

"Don't waste time in idle chat," said Energy. "A monk should take things through to the end. You started the
verse, so why don't you finish it? Please do so at once."

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"I can't," Sanzang replied. "It would be much better if you completed it for me, Eighteenth Lord."

"That's very nice of you, I must say!" commented Energy. "You started the verse so you can't refuse to finish
it. It's wrong to be so stingy with your pearls." Sanzang then had no choice but to add a final couplet:

"Waiting for the tea lying pillowed in the breeze,

Spring is in the voice now that the heart's at ease."

"I like 'Spring is in the voice now that the heart's at ease,'" said the Eighteenth Lord.

To this Lone Upright replied, "Energy, you have a deep understanding of poetry, and spend all your time
savoring its delights. Why don't you compose another poem for us?"

The Eighteenth Lord generously did not refuse. "Very well then," he replied, "let's make up chain couplets.
Each person has to start his couplet with the last word of the couplet before. I'll lead off:

Without spring's glory there would be no winter's death;

Clouds come and mists depart as if existing not."

"Let me tack another couple more lines on," Master Emptiness said.

"Not any breath of wind to rock the spreading shade;

Visitors enjoy the Wealth and Long Life picture."

Cloud−toucher now joined in with his couplet:

"Picture it like the strong old man of the Western hills,

Pure as the hermit of the South, the heartless man."

Lone Upright added his two lines:

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"The man is a roof−beam as he has side−leaves

To build the office of the censorate."

When Sanzang heard all this he could only sigh and say, "Indeed, your superb poems have a noble spirit that
rises up to the heavens. Despite my lack of talent I would like to add a couplet to that."

"Holy monk," said Lone Upright, "you are one who has found the Way and a man of great cultivation. You
need not add another couplet. Instead you can give us a whole verse so that we can try as best we can to match
the rhyme pattern." Sanzang had no choice but to recite the following regulated verse with a smile:

"Travelling West with my staff to visit the Dharma King

I seek the wonderful scriptures to spread them far and wide.

The golden magic fungus blesses the poetry circle;

Under the trees is the scent of a thousand flowers.

One must go higher from the top of a hundred−foot pole,

Leaving one's traces in ten regions' worlds.

Cultivate the jade image and majestic body:

Before the gate of bliss is the monastery."

When the four old men had heard this they were full of high praise for it. "Although I'm stupid and
untalented," the Eighteenth Lord said, "I'll take my courage in both hands and try to match your rhymes:

Vigorous and proud, I smile as king of the trees:

Not ever the tree of heaven can match my fame.

A dragon and snake shadow for a thousand feet in the mountains;

The spring has flowed for a thousand years with its amber fragrance.

My spirit is at one with heaven and earth:

I gladly cover my traces in the wind and rain.

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Now I am old I regret having no immortal bones

And rely on China−root alone to maintain my years."

"That poem started off heroically, and the next couplet had some strength," said the Lone Upright Lord. "But
the last line was too modest. Admirable! Most admirable! Let me try rhyming one too:

"I happily give a perch in the frost to the king of the birds;

My talent is displayed before the Hall of Four Perfections.

The pearly tassels of heavy dew obscure the green carpet;

In the light breeze stone teeth crush chilly fragrance.

A delicate voice intones in the corridor at night;

Pale autumn shadows are put away in the ancient hall.

I used to be offered for long life at the New Year;

In old age I stand proudly on the mountain."

"What a fine poem, what a fine poem," said Master Emptiness. "Truly, the moon was working together with
heaven to write it. How could such a clumsy fool as I am hope to match its rhymes? But I must try to patch a
few lines together: I don't want to waste this chance:"

"The timber of roofbeams is close to kings;

Its fame is spread in the Palace of Great Purity.

The sunlit hall seems filled with azure blue;

Green fragrance always pervades the dark wall.

Strong, cold and ancient in my beauty,

My roots go down to the Underworld's nine springs.

My spreading shade gives cover like cold clouds.

I don't compete in prettiness with flowers."

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"You three gentlemen's poems," said Cloud−toucher, "are elegant and pure, like a whole sackful of
embroidery and brocades being opened out. Although I have neither strength nor talent you three gentlemen
have removed the block for me. If you insist I'll put a few lines of doggerel together. I hope they won't make
you laugh:

In the bamboo grove I delight wise kings;

A hundred acres of me by the Wei brings fame.

My green skin is naturally marked by the tears of the Xiang Goddess;

My scaly shoots pass on the scent of history.

My leaves will never change their color in frost;

The beauty of my misty twigs can never be concealed.

Few have understood me since the death of Wang Huizhi;

Since ancient times I have been known through brush and ink.

"You venerable immortals have all composed poems like phoenixes breathing out pearls," Sanzang said.
"There is nothing I can add. I am deeply moved by the great favour you have shown me. But it is late now and
I do not know where my three disciples are waiting for me. I cannot stay any longer, and I must start finding
my way back. I am profoundly grateful for your boundless love. Could you show me my way back?"

"Don't be so worried, holy monk," replied the four ancients, laughing. "An encounter like this is rare in a
thousand years. The sky is fresh and clear, and the moon makes the night as bright as day. Relax and sit here
for a little longer. At dawn we shall see you across the ridge. You will certainly meet your distinguished
disciples."

As they were talking in came two serving maids in blue, each carrying a lantern of crimson silk. Behind them
followed a fairy who was holding a sprig of apricot blossom as she greeted them with a smile. What did the
fairy look like?

Her hair had the green of jade,

Her face was pinker than rouge.

Her starry eyes were full of light and color;

Her elegant eyebrows were like moth antennae.

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She wore a red skirt with plum−blossom designs;

And a light jacket of gray shot with red.

Her curved shoes were shaped like phoenix beaks,

And her silk stockings were marked with mud.

This witch was as lovely as the woman on Tiantai,

No less a beauty than the Zhou king's concubine.

"To what do we owe the pleasure of your visit, Apricot Fairy?" the old man asked as they bowed to her.

Returning their bows she replied, "I hear that you have a distinguished guest here and are exchanging poems
with him. May I meet him?"

"Here he is," said the Eighteenth Lord, pointing him out. "You don't need to ask." Sanzang bowed to her but
dared say nothing.

"Bring in the tea at once," she said. Two more serving girls in yellow, carried in a red lacquer tray on which
were six fine porcelain tea−bowls with rare fruits in them and spoons lying across the top, as well as a
copper−inlaid iron teapot in which was hot and fragrant tea. When the tea had been poured the woman
showed glimpses of finger as delicate as spring onion shoots as she presented the porcelain bowls of it first to
Sanzang and then to the four ancients. The last cup she kept for herself.

Only when Master Emptiness invited the Apricot Fairy to sit down did she do so. After they had drunk the tea
she leant forward and said, "As you ancient immortals have been having so delightful an evening could you
tell me some of the choicest lines you've composed?"

"Our stuff was just vulgar rubbish," Cloud−toucher replied. "But this holy monk's verses were truly superb
examples of high Tang poetry."

"Please let me hear them if you will," the fairy said, whereupon the four ancients recited Sanzang's two poems
and his exposition of the Dhyana dharma. The woman, whose face was all smiles, then said, "I'm completely
untalented and shouldn't really be making a fool of myself like this, but hearing this wonderful lines is an
opportunity too good to waste. Could I cobble together a verse in the second rhyme pattern?" She then recited
these lines:

The Han Emperor Wu first made my name;

In Zhou times Confucius taught under my shade.

Dong Feng loved me so much he planted a wood of me;

Sun Chu once offered my jelly in sacrifice.

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Soft is my pink and rain−fed beauty;

The misty green is shown and yet concealed.

When over−ripe I have a touch of sourness;

Each year I fall beside the fields of wheat."

When the four ancients heard the poem they were all full of admiration for it. "How elegant it is," they said,
"and how free of worldly dust. At the same time the lines have something of the awakening of spring in them.
'Soft is my pink and rain−fed beauty.' That's good. 'Soft is my pink and rain−fed beauty.'"

"You're too kind−−it quite alarms me," she replied. "The holy monk's lines that I heard just now were like
brocade from the heart or embroidery in words. Could you be generous with your pearls and teach me one of
those verses?" The Tang Priest dared not reply.

The woman was evidently falling for him and moving closer and closer, pressing herself against him and
whispering to him, "Noble guest, let's make the most of this wonderful night for love. What are we waiting
for? Life is short."

"The Apricot Fairy admires you completely, holy monk," said the Eighteenth Lord. "You must feel something
for her. If you don't find her adorable you have very poor taste."

"The holy monk is a famous gentleman who has found the Way," said the Lone Upright Lord, "and he
wouldn't possibly act in a way that was at all improper. It would be quite wrong of us to do things like that. To
ruin his reputation and honour would be a very mean thing to do. If the Apricot Fairy is willing
Cloud−toucher and the Eighteenth Lord can act as matchmakers while Master Emptiness and I act as the
guarantors of the wedding. It would be excellent if they married."

Hearing this Sanzang turned pale with horror, jumped to his feet and shouted at the top of his voice, "You're
all monsters, trying to lead me astray like that. There was nothing wrong with talking about the mysteries of
the Way with well−honed arguments, but it's disgraceful of you to try to ruin a monk like me by using a
woman as a bait." Seeing how angry Sanzang was they all bit their fingers in fear and said nothing more.

But the red devil servant exploded with thunderous fury, "You don't know how honoured you're being, monk.
What's wrong with my sister? She's beautiful and charming. Her needlework aside, her gift for poetry alone
would make her more than a match for you. What do you mean, trying to turn her down? You're making a
terrible mistake. The Lone Upright Lord's idea was quite right. If you're not prepared to sleep with her on the
quiet I'll marry the two of you properly."

Sanzang went paler still with shock. None of their arguments, however outrageous, had the slightest impact on
him. "We've been talking to you very nicely, monk," the devil servant said, "but you don't pay the slightest
attention. If we lose our tempers and start our rough, country way of doing things we'll drag you off and see to
it that you can never be a monk any longer or ever marry a wife. After that your life will be pointless."

The venerable elder's heart remained as hard as metal or stone and he obdurately refused to do as they asked,
wondering all the time where his disciples were looking for him. At the thought his tears flowed
unquenchably. Smiling and sitting down next to him the woman produced a silk handkerchief from her
emerald sleeve with which she wiped away his tears.

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"Don't be so upset, noble guest," She said. "You and I are going to taste the pleasures of love." Sanzang
jumped up and shouted at her to go away and would have left at once if they had not held him there by force.
The row went on till daybreak.

Suddenly Sanzang heard a call of, "Master! Master! We can hear you. Where are you?" Monkey, Pig and
Friar Sand had been searching everywhere all night, leading the white horse and carrying the baggage. They
had gone through all the thorns and brambles without a moment's rest and by now had reached the Western
side of the 250−mile−wide cloud−capped Thorn Ridge, This was the shout they gave when they heard
Sanzang's angry yells. Sanzang broke free, rushed outside, and called, "Wukong, I'm here. Help! Help!" The
four ancients, the devil servant, the woman and her maids all disappeared in a flash.

A moment later Pig and Friar Sand were there too. "How ever did you get here, Master?" they asked.

"Disciples," said Sanzang, clinging to Monkey, "I have put you to a lot of trouble. I was carried here by the
old man who appeared last night and said he was a local deity bringing us vegetarian food−−the one you
shouted at and were going to hit. He held my hand and helped me inside that door there, where I saw three old
men who had come to meet me. They kept calling me 'holy monk' and talked in a very pure and elegant way.
They were marvellous poets, and I matched some verses with them. Then at about midnight a beautiful
woman came with lanterns to see me and made up a poem herself. She kept calling me 'noble guest'. She liked
the look of me so much she wanted to sleep with me. That brought me to my senses. When I refused they
offered to be matchmakers and guarantors, and to marry us. I swore not to agree and was just shouting at them
and trying to get away when to my surprise you turned up. Although they were still dragging at my clothes
they suddenly disappeared. It must have been because it was dawn and because they were frightened of you
too."

"Did you ask them their names when you were talking about poetry?"

Monkey asked. "Yes," Sanzang replied, "I asked them their titles. The oldest was Energy, the Eighteenth
Lord; the next oldest was the Lone Upright Lord; the third was Master Emptiness; and the fourth the Ancient
Cloud−toucher. They called the woman Apricot Fairy."

"Where are they?" Pig asked, "where've they gone?"

"Where they have gone I don't know," Sanzang replied, "but where we talked about poetry was near here."

When the three disciples searched with their master they found a rock−face on which were carved the words
"Tree Immortals' Hermitage."

"This is it," said Sanzang, and on looking carefully Brother Monkey saw a big juniper, an old cypress, an old
pine and an old bamboo. Behind the bamboo was a red maple. When he took another look by the rock−face he
saw an old apricot tree, two winter−flowering plums, and two osman−thuses.

"Did you see the evil spirits?" Monkey asked.

"No," said Pig.

"It's just because you don't realize that those trees have become spirits," said Monkey.

"How can you tell that the spirits were trees?" Pig asked.

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