The Journey to the West, Revised Edition, Volume 2 (29 page)

As Pilgrim led the way toward the West, the monster, who was watching on top of the mountain, almost fell over with fear. Scared out of his wits, the monster blurted out, “I have heard about Pilgrim Sun for several years, but today I know that this is no false rumor.” Drawing closer to him, the various fiends said, “Great King, why do you ‘magnify the determination of others to diminish your own authority’? Of whom are you boasting?” “Pilgrim Sun,” said the second demon, “truly possesses vast magical powers. We won’t be able to eat the Tang Monk.” “Great King,” said the fiends, “if you don’t have the abilities, let a few of us go and report to the Great, Great King. Ask him to call up all the fighters, young and old, of our cave, and we will all join to form a solid battle front. You fear that he’ll be able to escape then?” “Can’t you all see that iron rod of his?” asked the second demon. “It’s powerful enough to vanquish ten thousand foes. We have but four or five hundred soldiers in the cave, and they won’t be able to take even a single stroke of his rod!”

The fiends said, “If you put it that way, the Tang Monk certainly will not be our food. Doesn’t that mean that we have also made a mistake in seizing Zhu Eight Rules? Let’s return him to the monks.”

“We
haven’t quite made a mistake,” said the second demon, “nor should we send him back so easily. In the end, we are determined to devour the Tang Monk, but we can’t do it just yet.” “If you put it that way,” said the fiends, “should we wait for a few more years?” The second demon said, “No need for a few more years. I perceive now that that Tang Monk must be sought for with virtue and not be taken by violence. If we want to use force to catch him, we won’t be able to get even a whiff of him. The only way we can move him is to feign virtue, so that his mind will be made to fuse with our minds, in the process of which we shall plot against him, exploiting the very virtue of his.” The fiends said, “If the Great King wants to devise a plan to catch him, will you want to use us?” “Each of you may return to our camp,” said the second demon, “but you are not permitted to report this to the Great King. If you disturb him and leak the news, my plan may be ruined. I have my own power of transformation, and I can catch him.”

The various monsters dispersed; the demon by himself leaped down from the mountain. Shaking his body by the road, he changed into an aged Daoist. “How was he dressed?” you ask. You see

    
A shining star-patterned cap,

    
And tousled whitish hair;

    
A feathered gown wrapped in silk sash,

    
And sandals tied with yellow coir;

    
Nice features and bright eyes like a man divine,

    
A light, healthy body as the Age Star’s.

    
Why speak of the Blue Buffalo Daoist?
¹

    
He’s as strong as White Tablet Master
²
—

    
A specious form disguised as the true form,

    
Falsehood feigning to be the honest truth!

By the side of the main road, he masqueraded himself as a Daoist with a bloody, broken leg, whimpering constantly and crying, “Save me! Save me!”

We were telling you about Tripitaka, who, relying on the strength of Great Sage Sun and Sha Monk, was proceeding happily when they heard repeatedly the cry, “Master, save me!” When this reached the ears of Tripitaka, he said, “My goodness! My goodness! There is all around not a single village in the wilderness of this mountain. Who could it be that’s calling? It must be, I suppose, someone terrified by the tiger or the leopard.” Reining in his fine horse, the elder called out, “Who is the person facing this ordeal? Please show yourself.” The fiend crawled out of the bushes and at once banged his head on the ground without ceasing, facing the elder’s horse. When Tripitaka saw that it was a Daoist, and an elderly one at that, he felt sorry for him. Dismounting at once, he tried to take hold of him with his hands, saying, “Please get up! Please get up!” The fiend said, “It hurts! It
hurts!”
When Tripitaka released his hold, he discovered that the man’s leg was bleeding. “O Master,” said the startled Tripitaka, “where did you come from? How is it that your leg is wounded?”

With clever speech and specious tongue, the fiend answered falsely, saying, “Master, west of this mountain is a clean and secluded temple, of which I am a Daoist.” Tripitaka said, “Why are you not tending the incense and fires or rehearsing the scriptures and the rituals in the temple? Why are you walking around here?” “A patron at the southern part of this mountain,” said the demon, “invited the Daoists to pray to the stars and distribute the blessings day before yesterday. Last night my disciple and I were walking home when we ran into a ferocious striped tiger in a deep canyon. It seized my disciple and dragged him away in its mouth, while your terrified Daoist, madly attempting to flee, broke his leg when he fell on a pile of rocks. I couldn’t even find my way back. But it must be a great Heavenly affinity that caused me to meet Master today, and I beseech you in your great compassion to save my life. When I get to our temple, I will repay your profound kindness even if it means selling myself into slavery!”

When Tripitaka heard these words, he thought they were the truth and said to him, “O Master, we two belong to the same calling—I’m a monk and you’re a Daoist. Though our attire may differ, the principles in cultivation, in the practice of austerities, are the same. If I don’t save you, I shouldn’t be ranked among those who have left the family. But though I intend to save you, I see that you can’t walk.” “I can’t even stand up,” said the fiend, “so how can I walk?” “All right, all right!” said Tripitaka. “I can still walk. I’ll let you take my horse for this distance. When you get to your temple, you can return the horse to me.” The fiend said, “Master, I’m grateful for your profound kindness, but my inner thigh is hurt. I can’t ride.” Tripitaka said, “I see,” and he said to Sha Monk, “Put the luggage on my horse, and you carry him.” “I’ll carry him,” said Sha Monk.

Stealing a quick glance at Sha Monk, the fiend said, “O Master, I was so terrified by that ferocious tiger. Now that I see this priest with such a gloomy complexion, I’m even more frightened. I dare not let him carry me.” “Wukong,” said Tripitaka, “you carry him then.” Pilgrim immediately answered, “I’ll carry him. I’ll carry him.” Having made certain that it was Pilgrim who would carry him, the monster became very amiable and did not speak anymore. “You cockeyed old Daoist!” said Sha Monk, laughing. “You don’t think it’s good for me to carry you, and you want him instead. When he is out of Master’s sight, he’ll smash even your tendons on a sharp, pointed rock!”

Pilgrim, meanwhile, had agreed to put the monster on his back, but he said, chuckling, “You brazen demon, how dare you come to provoke me! You should have made some inquiry on how many years old Monkey has been around! Your fib can deceive the Tang Monk, but do you really think
you
could fool me? I can tell that you are a fiend of this mountain who wants to eat my master, I suppose. But is my master an ordinary person, someone for you to eat? And even if you want to devour him, you should at least have given a larger half to old Monkey!”

When the demon heard Pilgrim muttering like this, he said, “Master, I am the descendant of a good family who has become a Daoist. It’s my misfortune this day to have met this adversity of the tiger. I’m no monster.” “If you fear the tiger and the wolf,” said Pilgrim, “why don’t you recite the Scripture of the Northern Dipper?”
³
When Tripitaka heard these words just as he was mounting, he chided, “This wanton ape! ‘Saving one life is better than erecting a seven-tiered pagoda.’ Isn’t it enough that you carry him? Why speak of the Classic of the Northern Dipper or the Classic of the Southern Dipper?”

When Pilgrim heard him, he said, “Lucky for this fellow! My master happens to be someone who is inclined toward compassion and virtue, but also someone who prefers external appearance more than inward excellence. If I don’t carry you, he’ll blame me, so I’ll carry you, all right. But I have to make it clear to you: if you want to piss or shit, tell me first. For if you pour it down my back, I can’t take the stink, and there is no one around to wash and starch my clothes when they are soiled.” “Look at my age,” said the fiend, “you think I don’t understand what you said?” Only then did Pilgrim pull him up and put him on his back before setting out on the main road to the West with the elder and Sha Monk. When they reached a spot in the mountain where the road became bumpy, weaving up and down, Pilgrim took care to walk more slowly, allowing the Tang Monk to proceed first. Before they had gone four or five miles, the master and Sha Monk descended into a fold of the mountain and became completely out of sight. More and more annoyed, Pilgrim thought to himself, “Master is such a fool even though he’s a grown man! Traveling this great distance, one gets weary even if one were empty-handed—and he tells me instead to carry this monster! I wish I could throw him off! Let’s not say he’s a monster; even if he were a good man, he should die without regret for having lived so long. I might as well dash him to the ground and kill him. Why carry him any further?”

As the Great Sage was about to do this, the monster knew instantly of his plan. Knowing how to summon mountains, he resorted to the magic of Moving Mountains and Pouring out Oceans. On Pilgrim’s back he made the magic sign with his fingers and recited a spell, sending the Sumeru Mountain into midair and causing it to descend directly on Pilgrim’s head. A little startled, the Great Sage bent his head to one side and the mountain landed on his left shoulder. Laughing, he said, “My child, what sort of
press-body
magic are you using to pin down old Monkey? This is all right, but a lopsided pole is rather difficult to carry.”

The demon said to himself, “One mountain can’t hold him down.” He recited a spell once more and summoned the Emei Mountain
⁴
into the air. Pilgrim again turned his head and the mountain landed on his right shoulder. Look at him! Carrying two mountains, he began to give chase to his master with the speed of a meteor! The sight of him caused the old demon to perspire all over, muttering to himself, “He truly knows how to pole mountains!” Exerting his spirit even more, he recited another spell and sent up the Tai Mountain to press down on Pilgrim’s head. With this magic of the Tai Mountain Pressing the Head, the Great Sage was overpowered as his strength ebbed and his tendons turned numb; the weight was so great that the spirits of the Three Worms
⁵
inside his body exploded and blood spouted from his seven apertures.
⁶

Dear monster! After he used his magic power to pin down Pilgrim, he himself mounted quickly a gust of violent wind to catch up with the Tang Monk. From the edge of the clouds, he stretched down his hand to try to seize the rider of the horse. Sha Monk was so startled that he threw away the luggage and whipped out his fiend-routing staff to block the attempt. Wielding the sword of the seven stars, the demon met him head on and it was some battle!

    
The sword of seven stars,

    
The fiend-routing staff,

    
All flashed golden beams as lightning bright.

    
This one, eyes glowering, seemed the black god of death;

    
That one, iron-faced, was the true Curtain-Raising Captain.

    
The fiend before the mountain showed his power,

    
Solely bent on catching Tripitaka Tang.

    
This man, earnestly guarding the true monk,

    
Would not let go e’en at the threat of death.

    
The two belched fog and cloud to reach Heaven’s Palace;

    
They sprayed dirt and dust to cover the stars.

    
They fought till the red sun grew dim and lost its light—

    
The great earth, the cosmos, turned dusky all.

    
Back and forth they scuffled for eight, nine rounds:

    
’Twas quick defeat for which Sha Monk was bound!

The demon was exceedingly ferocious; the thrusts and slashes of his sword fell on his opponent like meteor showers. Growing weaker by the moment, Sha Monk could no longer withstand him and turned to flee, when the precious staff was forced aside and he was seized by a huge hand. Wedging
Sha
Monk beneath his left arm, the demon dragged Tripitaka off the horse with his right hand; with the tip of his feet hooked on to the luggage and his mouth tugging at the mane of the horse, he used the magic of removal and brought them all to the Lotus-Flower Cave in a gust of wind. Shouting at the top of his voice, he cried, “Elder Brother, all the monks are caught and brought here!”

When the old demon heard these words, he was very pleased, saying, “Bring them here for me to have a look.” “Aren’t these the ones?” asked the second demon. “Worthy brother,” said the old demon, “you caught the wrong ones again.” “But you told me to catch the Tang Monk,” said the second demon. The old demon said, “It was the Tang Monk, all right, but you did not manage to catch the able Pilgrim Sun. We have to catch him first before we can enjoy eating the Tang Monk. If we haven’t caught him, be sure not to touch any of his companions. That Monkey King, you see, has vast magic powers and knows many ways of transformation. If we devour his master, you think he’ll accept that? He will certainly come to quarrel with us at our door and we will never be able to live in peace.” “Elder Brother,” said the second demon with a laugh, “you know only how to exalt others! According to your words, that monkey is unique on Earth, and rare even in Heaven. But as I see him, he’s so-so only, with not many abilities.” “You caught him, then?” asked the old demon. “He has already been pinned down by three large mountains that I summoned,” said the second demon, “and he can’t move even an inch. That’s how I managed to transport the Tang Monk, Sha Monk, the white horse, and even the luggage back here.” When the old demon heard these words, he was filled with delight, saying, “What luck! What luck! Only after we have caught this fellow can the Tang Monk be food in our mouths.” He thereupon said to the little fiends, “Prepare some wine at once. Let’s present to our Second Great King the goblet of merit.” The second demon said, “Elder Brother, let’s not drink wine yet. Let’s order the little ones to scoop Zhu Eight Rules out of the water and hang him up.” Eight Rules was thus hung up in the east side of the cave, Sha Monk in the west side, and the Tang Monk in the middle. The white horse was placed in a stable while the luggage was brought inside the cave.