OriginChapter 39
As the saying goes, the Great Sage Sun found his headache intolerable, and implored: "Master, please stop chanting, please stop, let me find a cure." The Elder asked: "How shall you cure him?" The Pilgrim said: "The only way is to go down to the underworld, check which Yama's household holds his spirit, and invite him up to save him." Bajie said: "Master, do not believe him. He originally said there was no need to go to the underworld, and that he could revive him in the mortal world, only then showing his true skill." That Elder believed the perverse wind and chanted the Tight-Fillet Curse once more. The Pilgrim was flustered and readily confessed: "We shall cure him in the mortal world, we shall cure him in the mortal world!" Bajie said: "Do not stop, just keep chanting, just keep chanting." The Pilgrim cursed: "You foolish, wicked beast, you are instigating Master to curse me!" Bajie laughed so hard he tumbled about and said: "Brother, oh brother, you only know how to toy with me, not knowing that I too can toy with your toying." The Pilgrim said: "Master, please stop chanting, please stop, let old Sun cure him in the mortal world." Sanzang said: "How shall you cure him in the mortal world?" The Pilgrim said: "I shall now take a somersault cloud, crash into the Southern Heavenly Gate, without entering the Dipper-Ox Palace or the Hall of Miraculous Mists, and go straight up to the Thirty-Third Heavens, within the Palace of Bitterness and Hatred at Tushita Heaven, to see Lord Laozi, and beg a single pill of his Nine-Turn Spirit-Reviving Elixir, which will guarantee his resurrection."
Hearing this, Sanzang was overjoyed and said: "Go at once, and return quickly." The Pilgrim said: "It is now about the third watch, and by the time I return, it will be bright daylight. It is just that this person sleeping here is so cold and dreary, not looking quite right. There must be someone mourning who watches over him and weeps, and only then will it be proper." Bajie said: "Needless to say, this monkey certainly wants me to weep." The Pilgrim said: "Fearing you will not weep? If you do not weep, neither can I effect a cure." Bajie said: "Brother, you go on your way, and I shall weep by myself." The Pilgrim said: "There are several kinds of weeping: if you shout with an open mouth, it is called wailing; if you squeeze out a few tears, it is called sobbing; you must weep with both tears and heartfelt emotion, and only then is it considered wailing and crying bitterly." Bajie said: "Let me first cry a sample for you to see." He did not know where he pulled a slip of paper from, twisted it into a paper spill, poked it up his nostrils a couple of times, and sneezed several times. You would see his eyes brimming with tears and dripping with mucus as he began to wail. His mouth kept on muttering incessantly, rambling on and on, truly just like someone who had died. When he wept over the poignant parts, Elder Tang's heart was also touched to tears and sorrow. The Pilgrim laughed and said: "That is precisely the sort of grief; you are never allowed to stop your voice. You idiot, if you trick me into leaving and then do not weep—I shall still be listening. If you weep thus, it may pass, but if you pause your voice even slightly, I will surely beat you twenty blows of the staff." Bajie laughed and said: "Go on, go on. Once this weeping of mine gets its head start, I have two days' worth of crying ahead." Seeing him rattle on, Sha Seng went to find a few sticks of incense to burn and offer. The Pilgrim laughed and said: "Good, good, good, the whole family shows some reverence, and only then can old Sun set to work."
A fine Great Sage! By this time it was the depth of night. Taking leave of his master and his three fellow travelers, he rode his somersault cloud and entered straight through the Southern Heavenly Gate. True to his word, he neither paid homage at the Hall of Miraculous Mists nor visited the Dipper-Ox heavenly palace, but followed the light of the clouds all the way until he arrived directly at the Palace of Tushita in the Heaven of Bitterness and Hatred of the Thirty-Third Heavens. Just as he passed through the gates, he saw Lord Laozi sitting right there in the elixir room, holding plantain fans with various immortal boys, fanning the fire to refine elixirs. Seeing the Pilgrim arrive, Laozi immediately instructed the elixir-watching boys: "Each of you must be careful; the elixir-stealing thief has come again." The Pilgrim made a bow and laughed: "Old fellow, why so cheerless, what are you guarding against? I no longer do such things." Laozi said: "You monkey, five hundred years ago you raised a havoc in heaven, stealing and eating my spiritual elixirs countless times. I had the lesser sage Erlang capture you to the upper realms, and sent you into my elixir brazier to be refined for forty-nine days, consuming no-one-knows-how-much charcoal. Now that you have fortunately escaped, converted to the Buddhist fruit, and are escorting Tang Seng to the Western Heaven to fetch the scriptures, earlier on Pingding Mountain you exercised demonic magic, played difficult, and refused to hand over my treasures. Why have you come again today?" The Pilgrim said: "Regarding the matter of the other day, old Sun delayed not a whit, and immediately returned those five treasures of yours at the time. Why do you instead view me with suspicion and blame?"
Laozi said: "If you are not traveling the road, what are you doing sneaking into my palace?" The Pilgrim said: "Since our parting, I encountered a certain region in the west known as the Wuji Kingdom. That king was murdered in the dark by a demon disguised as a Daoist priest who summoned wind and rain. The demon assumed the king's likeness and now sits upon the Golden Throne. As my master was sitting at night in the Baolin Temple reading the scriptures, the king's ghost came to pay respects to my master, earnestly requesting old Sun to subdue the demon for him and distinguish the false from the true. It was precisely because old Sun lacked solid proof that I entered the garden by night with my brother Bajie, smashed the flower garden, and found the burial place, which was within an octagonal glazed well. We fished up his corpse, and his countenance was unchanged. Upon returning to the temple and seeing my master, he showed compassion and bade old Sun effect a cure, forbidding me from going to the underworld to seek out his spirit, instructing me only to save and heal him in the mortal world. Thinking that there was nowhere else to bring him back from the dead, I have come especially to pay my respects. I earnestly hope the Daoist Ancestor will show pity and lend a thousand pills of the Nine-Turn Spirit-Reviving Elixir to me, old Sun, to rescue him." Laozi said: "This monkey is talking nonsense! What one thousand pills or two thousand pills—are they eaten like meals? Where were they lumped together from out of dirt clods, that this should be so easy? Bah! Begone quickly! There are none!" The Pilgrim laughed: "A hundred or tens of pills will do." Laozi said: "There are none." The Pilgrim said: "Ten or so pills will do." Laozi grew angry and said: "This unruly monkey is truly troublesome! There are none, none! Out with you, out with you!" The Pilgrim laughed: "If there truly are none, I shall go ask elsewhere." Laozi shouted: "Go, go, go!" The Great Sage turned his steps and walked straight ahead.
Laozi suddenly thought to himself: "This monkey is thoroughly shameless; if he says he goes, he goes, but I fear he might slip back in and steal." He promptly ordered the immortal boy to call him back, saying: "You monkey, light-fingered as you are, I shall present you with a single one of these reviving elixir pills." The Pilgrim said: "Old fellow, since you know old Sun's methods, hurry and bring out the golden elixir, and split it four-and-six with me—that would still be your good fortune! Otherwise, I will present you with a skin skimmer—scooping everything clean down to the last drop." That Ancestor fetched the gourd, turned the bottom upside down, poured out a single grain of golden elixir, handed it to the Pilgrim, and said: "There is only this left. Take it, take it. I present you with this single grain; reviving that emperor will simply be counted as your meritorious achievement." The Pilgrim took it and said: "Hold on, do not be in a flurry. Let me taste it first and see, lest it be fake and I am fooled by him." With a *poof*, he tossed it right into his mouth. The Ancestor was so flustered that he stepped forward, grabbed him, caught him firmly by the topknot, clenched his fist, and cursed: "If this unruly monkey swallows it down, I will beat you straight to death!" The Pilgrim laughed: "Such a sight, acting like a petty person. Who is eating your elixir? How much is it worth? There is more empty show than substance. Isn't it right here?" As it turned out, that monkey had a pouch beneath his chin; he held that golden elixir tucked inside his throat pouch while the Ancestor pinched him and said: "Go on, go on, and do not come here tangling with me again." Only then did the Great Sage thank the Ancestor and depart from the Tushita Heavenly Palace.
Watch him: a thousand strands of auspicious haze left the jade palace, and ten thousand beams of propitious clouds descended to the mortal dust. In an instant, he descended from the Southern Heavenly Gate and returned to the Eastern Lodge, and soon saw the Sun star rising. He lowered his cloud head and went straight to the gate outside the Baolin Monastery, where he heard Bajie still crying. He approached and called out: "Master." Sanzang said happily: "Wukong has come. Do you have the elixir?" Wukong said: "Yes." Bajie said: "How could he not? He would steal some from others if he didn't have any." Wukong laughed and said: "Brother, you go away, I don't need you. Wipe your tears and go cry elsewhere." He told Sha Wujing: "Get some water for me." Shaseng hurried to the well at the back, where there was a convenient bucket, and brought half a bowl of water to Wukong. Wukong took the water, spat out the elixir from his mouth, and placed it on the emperor's lips. He pried open his teeth with both hands and used a mouthful of clear water to wash the golden elixir down his stomach. After half a shichen, they heard a rumbling sound in his belly, but his body could not move. Wukong said: "Master, even my golden elixir cannot revive him—is this not trying to kill old Sun?" Sanzang said: "How could it not revive him? A corpse dead so long, how could it swallow water? This is the immortal power of the golden elixir. Since the elixir entered his belly, his bowels have rumbled; rumbling means the blood vessels are harmonized and moving, but his breath is cut off and cannot return. Not to mention a person soaked in a well for three years—even raw iron would rust. But his original vitality is completely exhausted; we need someone to give him a mouthful of breath." Bajie stepped forward to give breath, but Sanzang grabbed him and said: "No, let Wukong do it." The master had a good reason: originally Zhu Bajie had killed living beings and eaten people since childhood, so his breath was turbid. Only Wukong had cultivated since youth, eating pine and cypress, living on peaches and fruits, so his breath was pure. The Great Sage stepped forward, put his thunder-god mouth to the emperor's lips, and blew a breath into his throat, passing through the Chonglou, turning at the Mingtang, directly to the Dantian, and from the Yongquan reversing back to the Niyuan Palace. With a loud sound, the king's qi gathered and spirit returned; he turned over, curled his fists and bent his legs, and called out: "Master." He knelt on the ground with both knees and said: "I remember last night my ghost soul came to pay respects—how could I know that at dawn today I would return to yang spirit." Sanzang hurriedly helped him up and said: "Your Majesty, this has nothing to do with me; you should thank my disciple." Wukong laughed and said: "Master, why say that? As the saying goes: 'A household has no two masters.' It is not too much for you to accept his bow."
Sanzang felt very uneasy, so he helped the emperor up and they entered the meditation hall together. He then had him pay respects to Bajie, Wukong, and Shaseng before they took their seats. The monks of the monastery had prepared the morning meal and were about to present it, but when they suddenly saw the emperor in his water-soaked clothes, they were all startled and whispered in suspicion. Sun Wukong jumped out and said: "Monks, do not be so alarmed. This is the king of Wuji Kingdom, your true lord. Three years ago he was killed by a monster, and old Sun revived him tonight. Now we are going into his city to distinguish the evil from the righteous. If you have the meal, bring it out; we will eat and then be on our way." The monks then presented soup and water, washed his face, and changed his clothes. They took off the emperor's crimson yellow robe, and the monastery's official gave him two coarse cloth robes to wear; they removed his Lantian belt and tied a yellow silk cord around him; they took off his Wuyou shoes and put on a pair of old monk's sandals. Only then did they all eat the morning meal and saddle the horses.
Wukong asked: "Bajie, how heavy is your luggage?" Bajie said: "Brother, I carry this luggage every day, but I don't know how heavy it is." Wukong said: "Divide that load into two: you carry one load, and let this emperor carry the other. We'll enter the city early to get things done." Bajie was delighted and said: "Lucky, lucky. I don't know how much effort I spent carrying him here; now that he's revived, it turns out he's a substitute." The idiot then played tricks: he split the luggage, asked the monastery for a shoulder pole, took the lighter load for himself, and had the emperor carry the heavier one. Wukong laughed and said: "Your Majesty, dressed like that and carrying a load, following us—do you think it's unfair to you?" The king hurriedly knelt and said: "Master, you are like my reborn parents. Not to mention carrying a load, I would willingly hold your whip and follow your stirrup, serving you, and travel with you to the Western Heaven." Wukong said: "I don't need you to go to the Western Heaven; I have a reason for this. You just carry it for forty li into the city; after we catch the demon, you can still be your king, and we will still fetch our scriptures." Bajie heard this and said: "If that's the case, he only carries it for forty li, and I, old Pig, am still a permanent laborer." Wukong said: "Brother, don't talk nonsense; quickly lead the way outside."
Indeed, Bajie led the emperor forward, Shaseng attended to the master mounting the horse, and Wukong followed behind. The five hundred monks of the monastery, all neatly arranged, played fine music and escorted them out beyond the mountain gate. Wukong laughed and said: "Monks, you need not see us off far; I fear that if the officials learn of this and my plans are leaked, it would not be good. Go back quickly, go back. Just clean and prepare the emperor's robes and crown, and send them into the city tonight or tomorrow morning; I will ask for some rewards and gifts to thank you." The monks obeyed and each returned. Wukong strode forward, caught up with the master, and they continued on their way. Thus:
In the West there is a secret art to seek the truth,
Metal and Wood together refine the spirit.
The Elixir Mother vainly harbors foolish dreams,
The Infant ever hates his useless body.
One must seek the wise lord at the bottom of the well,
And also worship the Old Lord in Heaven.
Awakening to form and emptiness, return to original nature,
Truly the Buddha saves those with destined affinity.
The master and disciples traveled on the road; in less than half a day, they saw the city walls drawing near. Sanzang said: "Wukong, ahead is probably the Wuji Kingdom." Wukong said: "Exactly, let's hurry into the city to get things done." The master and disciples entered the city and saw the streets and markets bustling with people in orderly array, and the scenery lively and prosperous. Soon they saw phoenix pavilions and dragon towers, extremely magnificent. There is a poem as proof:
The palace towers overseas are like those of a superior realm,
The songs and dances of the mortal world are like those of the former Tang.
Flowers greet the jeweled fan, red clouds swirl around;
Sunlight shines on bright robes, emerald mist gleams.
The peacock screen opens, fragrant haze emerges;
The pearl curtain rolls up, colorful banners spread.
The scene of peace is truly worthy of congratulation;
Many officials stand quietly, with no memorials to present.
SanZang dismounted and said, "Disciples, let us go straight into court to have our travel rescript exchanged, so as to avoid the trouble of going to another office." Wukong said, "Well said. Let us all go in; with more people, it will be easier to speak." Tang Sanzang said, "If we all go in, do not be boorish. First perform the rites of sovereign and subject, and then speak." Wukong said, "Performing the rites of sovereign and subject means we must kneel and bow." Sanzang said, "Exactly, we must perform the great rite of five bows and three kowtows." Wukong laughed and said, "Master, you are not up to it. It would be unwise indeed to bow to him. Let me go in first and I will handle things. If he has anything to say, let me answer. If I bow, you bow; if I squat, you squat."
Now watch that mischief-making Monkey King lead them to the court gate and say to the gate attendant, "We are envoys sent by the Great Tang of the East, on a mission to the Western Heaven to worship the Buddha and seek scriptures. We have come here to exchange our travel rescript. May we trouble you, sir, to convey this, so that our good work may not be delayed." That Yellow Gate official then entered the main gate, knelt before the crimson steps of the throne, and reported: "There are five monks outside the court gate, claiming to be imperial envoys from the Tang kingdom of the East, going to the Western Heaven to worship the Buddha and seek scriptures. They have come here to exchange their travel rescript, and dare not enter without permission; they await your summons outside." The demon king then ordered them to be admitted.
Tang Sanzang then entered the court gate together with the resurrected ruler of the kingdom, who followed along. As they walked, the king could not help the tears streaming down his cheeks, and he thought to himself: "Alas! My kingdom, as firm as a bronze dipper and as strong as iron walls—who would have known it would be covertly seized by him?" Wukong said, "Your Majesty, do not be too grieved, lest news leak out. This staff is jumping in my ear right now; I am determined to achieve merit this time, and I shall surely beat the demon to death and sweep away all evil. This kingdom will soon be returned to you." The king dared not disobey, so he wiped his tears with his sleeve, steeled himself to follow, and they went straight to the Golden Chime Hall. There they saw the two rows of civil and military officials, four hundred courtiers, each dignified and solemn, with imposing looks.
Wukong led Tang Sanzang to stand on the white jade steps, erect and unmoving. All the officials below the steps were terrified and said, "This monk is extremely boorish—how dare he not kneel before our king, nor speak a word of greeting, nor even make a bow? How audacious and rude!" Before they finished speaking, the demon king opened his mouth and asked, "Where are those monks from?" Wukong replied boldly, "I am from the Great Tang kingdom in the East, in the Southern Jambūdvīpa, sent by imperial order to the Great Thunderclap Monastery in the Western Heaven, in the kingdom of India, to worship the living Buddha and seek true scriptures. Having come to this place, we dare not pass by idly; we have come specifically to exchange our travel pass." When the demon king heard this, he became angry and said, "So what if you are from the East? I do not pay tribute to your court, nor have dealings with your country. How dare you stand before me with such defiance, refusing to bow and pay homage?" Wukong laughed and said, "Our Eastern Tang has long been established as a celestial court, long renowned as a superior kingdom. You are but a border state of a lower region. From ancient times it is said: 'The emperor of a superior kingdom is as a father and sovereign; the emperor of a lower kingdom is as a subject and son.' You have not even received us properly, and yet you dare to dispute my not bowing?" The demon king was furious and ordered the civil and military officials, "Seize this wild monk!" At the command "Seize," all the officials surged forward eagerly. But Wukong shouted once, pointed with his finger, and said, "Stop!" With that one point, he used the Body-Freezing Spell, and all the officials were unable to move. Truly, the guards before the steps were like wooden puppets, and the generals in the hall were like clay statues.
When the demon king saw that he had frozen the civil and military officials, he leaped up from the dragon couch and came to seize him. The Monkey King secretly rejoiced, "Good, just what old Sun wanted. If he comes, even if his head were cast of wrought iron, once it meets this staff, it will get a hole." But just as he was about to move, unexpectedly a life-saving star turned up from the side. Who was it? It was the crown prince of the Kingdom of Ujjain, who hurried forward, grabbed the demon king's court robe, and knelt before him, saying, "Father King, calm your anger." The demon asked, "What have you to say, my son?" The prince said, "May I report to Father King: three years ago I heard people say that a holy monk, an imperial envoy from the Great Tang of the East, was going to the Western Heaven to worship the Buddha and seek scriptures. Unexpectedly, he has only now arrived in our kingdom. Father King, your dignity is fierce and stern; if you take these monks and behead them, I fear that one day the Great Tang will get wind of this and surely become enraged. Consider that Li Shimin styles himself emperor, rules over the whole land, and his ambition is not yet satisfied—he has already crossed the seas on campaigns. If he learns that Your Majesty has harmed his imperial younger brother, the holy monk, he will certainly raise troops and send armies to fight against you. But we have few troops and weak generals; then it would be too late to repent. I beg Father King to follow my suggestion: first question these four monks about their origins clearly, and first determine that they failed to bow to the imperial presence; only then may they be punished."
This speech was made by the crown prince out of caution, for fear that the demon might harm Tang Sanzang, so he deliberately tried to detain the demon, unaware that Wukong was planning to strike. The demon king indeed believed his words, stood before the dragon couch, and shouted, "Monk, when did you leave the Eastern Land? For what reason did the Tang king send you to seek scriptures?" Wukong replied with head held high, "My master is the imperial younger brother of the Tang king, named Sanzang. Because the Tang king had a prime minister named Wei Zheng, who, by mandate of Heaven, beheaded the Old Dragon of the Jing River in a dream. Then the Great Tang king, after a dream journey to the netherworld and his return to life, instituted a great Water and Land Mass to deliver all wronged souls and evil ghosts. Because my master expounded the scriptures and exercised great compassion, he suddenly received instruction from the Bodhisattva Guanyin of the South Sea to go west. My master made a great vow, with sincere joy and devotion, to serve his country and repay his sovereign, and the Tang king bestowed on him a travel rescript. At that time, it was the fifteenth day before the full moon of the ninth month in the thirteenth year of the Zhenguan reign of the Great Tang, when he left the Eastern Land. Earlier, at the Two-Boundary Mountain, he took me as his eldest disciple, named Sun, with the religious name Wukong, the Pilgrim. Then at Gao Village, in the border of the country of Wusi, he took a second disciple, named Zhu, with the religious name Wuneng, also called Bajie. At the shores of the Flowing Sands River, he took a third disciple, named Sha, the monk Wujing. The day before yesterday, at the Imperial Monastery of Precious Woods, he newly took on a young acolyte to carry the load." When the demon king heard this, he could not find any fault with Tang Sanzang, so he switched to crafty words to interrogate Wukong, and with angry eyes asked, "Monk, when you first left the Eastern Land, you were alone, but then you took in four others. The three monks may be allowable, but this one Taoist is hard to accept. That acolyte is certainly abducted. What is his name? Does he have a ordination certificate or not? Bring him up to give his testimony." This frightened the king so that he trembled and said, "Master, how am I to testify?" Sun Wukong pinched him and said, "Don't be afraid; let me testify for you."
Good Great Sage, he strode forward and shouted sternly to the monster, "Your Majesty, this old Taoist is mute and also somewhat deaf. Because in his youth he once traveled to the Western Heaven and knows the way. I know all the details of his origins and his ups and downs thoroughly. May Your Majesty be lenient, and let me testify for him." The demon king said, "Hurry and testify truthfully for him, lest you bring guilt upon yourself." Wukong said:
"The acolyte, in his old age and years,
Is deaf, mute, and dumb, his household in ruins.
His ancestors lived in this very land,
But five years ago, calamity fell.
Heaven gave no rain, the people were parched,
The king and his subjects all fasted and prayed.
They burned incense and bathed to call on high Heaven,
For ten thousand miles not a single cloud appeared.
The people starved, as if hanging upside down,
When from Mount Zhongnan suddenly descended a true immortal freak.
He summoned wind and rain, displaying his powers,
Then secretly took the king's life.
He pushed him into the garden well,
And usurped the dragon throne—no one could fathom.
Luckily I came, with great merits,
To revive the dead and restore life without hindrance.
He willingly took refuge as a young acolyte,
To go with the monks to worship the Western Realm.
The one who falsely became king is the Taoist;
The true king is replaced by that same Taoist in turn."
That demon king, hearing this speech in the Golden Chime Hall, was so terrified that his heart pounded like a startled fawn and red clouds rose on his face. He hastily turned to flee, but he had no weapon in his hand. Turning his head back, he saw only a palace-general guarding the hall, with a precious saber at his waist, standing there stupefied and mute, frozen by the Monkey's Body-Freezing Spell. He drew near, seized this precious saber, and rode a cloud into the air, fleeing. Sha Monk was so furious he stormed like thunder, and Zhu Bajie shouted loudly, berating the Monkey for being too hasty: "If you had spoken a bit more slowly, wouldn't you have kept him steady? Now that he has fled on a cloud, where are we to pursue him?" The Monkey laughed and said, "Brothers, do not clamor. Let me call the crown prince down to pay respects to his father, and the imperial concubines and empress out to pay respects to their husband." He then recited a spell and released the Body-Freezing Spell, saying, "Let all the officials revive and return to pay homage to their sovereign, so they may know this is the true emperor. Let them recount their former grievances, and then all will be clear. I shall go find him again." The splendid Great Sage, instructing Bajie and Sha Monk, said, "Take good care of their sovereign and subjects, father and son, consorts and empress, together with my master." No sooner had he said "I'm off" than his form vanished.
He had leaped into the Ninth Heaven clouds and, opening his eyes, looked all around for that demon king. He saw that the beast had indeed escaped with his life and was heading straight northeast. As the Monkey drew near, he shouted, "Where are you going, you monster? Your Old Sun is here!" The demon king whirled around, drew his precious saber, and cried aloud, "Sun Wukong, you are utterly perverse. I came to usurp another's imperial throne—what business is it of yours? Why do you meddle and reveal my secret?" The Monkey laughed heartily and said, "You brazen, vile fiend! Since when is the emperor's throne yours to take? Since you know I am Old Sun, you should have fled far away. Yet you dared to torment my master and demand a written confession! Was that confession of yours true or not? Do not run—if you are a true man, take this staff of your Old Sun!" The demon sidestepped to dodge, then drew his precious saber and struck back head-on. The two engaged, and this was a fine fight, truly:
The Monkey King fierce, the Demon King strong,
Saber meets staff, each matches the other.
One sky of cloud and mist veils the Three Realms,
All for the founding of a new sovereign in court.
They fought for several rounds, but the demon could not withstand the Monkey King. He hastily turned and fled back along the old path, leaping into the city and bursting into the midst of the civil and military officials ranged before the white jade steps. With a shake of his body, he transformed himself into the exact likeness of Tang Sanzang, standing there hand-in-hand with him at the steps. The Great Sage rushed up and was about to raise his staff to strike. The monster said, "Disciple, do not strike—it is I." He quickly drew back his staff to strike the other Tang Monk, who also said, "Disciple, do not strike—it is I." With two identical Tang Monks, it was truly hard to distinguish them. "If I strike and kill the monster disguised as Tang Monk, that too would count as a merit; but if I strike and kill my true master, what then?" He had no choice but to hold his hand and call to Bajie and Sha Monk, asking, "Which one is truly the monster, and which is my master? Point him out to me, so I may strike him." Bajie said, "While you were fighting and shouting in midair, I glanced aside and saw two masters—I don't know which is real and which is false."
Hearing this, the Monkey pressed his fingers together and recited a spell, summoning the Dharma-Protecting Celestials, the Six Ding and Six Jia, the Five Directional Revealers, the Four Duty Guardians, the Eighteen Guardian Deities, the local Earth God, and the local Mountain God, saying, "Old Sun has come to subdue this demon. The demon has transformed into my master, and their vital energies are identical, making it truly hard to distinguish. You who know in secret, please guide my master to the hall and let me seize the demon." Now that demon was skilled in riding clouds and mist. Hearing the Monkey's words, he quickly released his grip and leaped up onto the Golden Chime Hall. The Monkey raised his staff and swung at Tang Monk. Pitiful! Had he not summoned those deities, this one blow would have pounded even twenty Tang Monks into meat paste! Thanks be to the many deities, who held back the iron staff and said, "Great Sage, that monster can ride clouds—he has gone up to the hall first." The Monkey rushed up to the hall, but the demon leaped down again, grabbed Tang Monk, and mingled once more in the crowd, still impossible to tell apart.
The Monkey grew displeased, and when he saw Bajie smirking at the side, he flew into a rage and said, "What are you grinning about, you blockhead? Now there are two masters—you have someone to call, someone to answer you, and someone to serve—are you that happy?" Bajie laughed and said, "Brother, you call me dull, but you're even duller than I am. If you can't recognize the master, why trouble yourself? Bear with the headache for a while and have my master recite that spell. Sha Monk and I will each take one and listen. Whoever cannot recite it must be the demon—how hard is that?" The Monkey said, "Brother, you've saved the day. Exactly so—that spell is known only to three. It originated from the heart-seed of our Tathagata Buddha, was transmitted to Bodhisattva Guanyin, who then transmitted it to my master, and no one else knows it. Very well, Master, recite it." And so Tang Monk began to recite. How could the demon king know it? He merely mumbled and grunted at random. Bajie said, "This one who grunts is the demon." He released his grip and raised his rake to strike. The demon king leaped up, stepped onto a cloud, and fled.
Splendid Bajie! With a shout, he too mounted a cloud and gave chase. In a panic, Sha Monk dropped Tang Monk and drew his treasure-staff to strike as well. Only then did Tang Monk stop his incantation. Sun the Great Sage, enduring his headache and gripping his iron staff, flew up into the air. Ah! In this bout, three fierce monks surrounded one vile demon. The demon king, attacked from both sides by Bajie and Sha Monk with their rake and treasure-staff, was pinned down. The Monkey laughed and said, "If I go down and strike him face-to-face, he is somewhat afraid of me, and I fear he may flee again. Let Old Sun rise higher and bring down a pestle-garlic blow to finish him off."
The Great Sage, riding his auspicious light, rose into the Ninth Heaven and was about to deliver the finishing strike when, from the northeast, within a colorful cloud, a stern voice called out: "Sun Wukong, hold your hand." The Monkey turned to look, and it was Bodhisattva Manjusri. He quickly withdrew his staff, stepped forward, and saluted, saying, "Bodhisattva, where are you going?" Manjusri said, "I have come to subdue this demon for you." The Monkey thanked him, saying, "I trouble you." The Bodhisattva took out from his sleeve the Demon-Revealing Mirror and fixed it upon the monster's true form. Only then did the Monkey summon Bajie and Sha Monk to come and pay respects to the Bodhisattva. Looking into the mirror, they saw that the demon king was born most hideous:
Eyes like crystal cups,
Head like a smelting vat.
His whole body dark as indigo in summer's heat,
Four claws sharp as autumn frost.
Two long ears drooping,
A tail long as a broom.
Green fur bristling with keen energy,
Red eyes gleaming with golden light.
Flat teeth arranged like jade slats,
Round whiskers thrusting like stiff spears.
In the mirror his true form appeared:
It was none other than Manjusri's own Lion-Lion King.
"Bodhisattva," said Pilgrim, "this is a blue-haired lion that sits beneath you. How did it come here to become an evil spirit, and you did not subdue it?"
"Wukong," said the Bodhisattva, "it did not run away; it was sent here by Buddha's decree."
"This beast became an evil spirit," said Pilgrim, "and usurped the imperial throne, and still you say it was sent by Buddha's decree. If old Monkey has to suffer protecting Tang Monk, I ought to receive several decrees of amnesty."
"You do not understand," said the Bodhisattva. "In the beginning, this king of the Kingdom of Wuji was fond of goodness and gave alms to monks. Buddha sent me to ferry him to the Western Paradise, to attain the golden body of an Arhat early. Because I could not meet him in my true form, I transformed into an ordinary monk and asked him for some alms. When he was baffled by a few words of mine, he did not recognize me as a good person, but tied me up with a rope and threw me into the Royal River, where I was soaked for three days and three nights. Thanks to the Six Jia and Golden Body guardians, I was rescued and taken back to the West, where I reported to Tathāgata. Tathāgata ordered this monster to come here and push him into a well, soaking him for three years, to repay the grievance of my three days of water calamity. 'Every drink and every peck is predestined by former lives.' Now that you have come here, the merit is accomplished."
"You may have avenged some private grievance of 'every drink and every peck,'" said Pilgrim, "but that monster must have harmed many people."
"It did not harm anyone," said the Bodhisattva. "Since it arrived, these three years have seen favorable winds and timely rain, the nation at peace and the people secure—how could there be any harm to people?"
"That may be so," said Pilgrim, "but the three palace consorts slept and rose with it, and it defiled their bodies, ruining much of the proper order and ethics—can you still say it did not harm anyone?"
"It could not defile them," said the Bodhisattva, "for it is a gelded lion."
When Eight Rules heard this, he stepped forward and gave it a feel, then laughed, saying, "So this fiend really is a pickled-nose that won't drink wine—bearing the name in vain!"
"In that case," said Pilgrim, "take it away. If the Bodhisattva had not come in person, I would never have spared its life."
Thereupon the Bodhisattva recited a spell and shouted, "Beast! Why do you not return to the right path—what are you waiting for!"
Only then did the demon king reveal his true form. The Bodhisattva released a lotus flower to envelop the demon, seated himself on its back, and, treading on auspicious light, took his leave of Pilgrim. Truly—
Straight back to Mount Five Platforms he sped,
To hear the scriptures preached beneath the lotus throne.
But of how the Tang Monk and his disciples left the city, we shall tell in the next chapter.