Output:
The junior devil rushed in and reported, “The ‘Buddha’s Robe Banquet’ is off, Your Majesty. There’s hairy-faced thunder god outside the gates who’s demanding the cassock.”

The dark fellow, who had barely had time to shut the gates and had not even sat down properly since Brother Monkey chased him, away from the grassy slope, thought on hearing this news, “This wretch has come from I don’t know where, and now he has the effrontery to come yelling at my gates.” He called for his armour, tightened his belt, and strode out of the gates with a black-tasseled spear in his hands. Monkey appeared outside the gates holding his iron cudgel and glaring wide-eyed at that ferocious-looking monster.

His bowl-shaped iron helmet shone like fire;

His black bronze armour gleamed.

A black silk gown with billowing sleeves,

A dark green silken sash with fringes.

In his hands a spear with black tassels,

On his feet a pair of dark leather boots.

Lightning flashed from his golden pupils;


Output:
Lightning flashed from his golden pupils;

He was indeed the Black Wind King of the mountains.

“This wretch looks as though he’s been a brick-burner or a coal-digger,” Monkey thought as he smiled to himself. “He’s so black he must be the local soot-painter.”

“What gives you the nerve to act so big round here, monk, and what the hell are you?” shouted the monster at the top of his voice.

Monkey rushed him with his cudgel and roared, “Cut the cackle, and give me back the cassock at once, kid.”

“What monastery d’you come from? Where did you lose the cassock? Why come and ask for it here?”


Output:
“My cassock was in the rear abbot’s lodgings at the Guanyin Monastery due North of here. When the monastery caught fire you made the most of the confusion to do a bit of looting and brought it back here, you wretch, and now you’re planning to hold a ‘Buddha’s Robe Banquet’. Don’t try to brazen it out. Give it back at once, and I’ll spare your life, but if even a hint of a ‘no’ gets past your teeth I’ll push the Black Wind Mountain over, trample your cave flat, and flatten every one of you fiends into noodles.”

The monster laughed evilly and replied, “You’ve got a nerve. You were the one who started the fire last night. You were sitting on the roof of the abbot’s lodgings and calling up a wind to make it worse. What’s it to you if I did take a cassock? Where are you from? Who are you? You must have a lot of tricks up your sleeve if you have the nerve to talk so big.”


Output:
“You can’t recognize your own grandfather.” Brother Monkey replied. “I, your grandfather, am the disciple of His Highness the Patriarch Sanzang, the younger brother of the Emperor of the Great Tang. My name is Brother Sun Wukong. If you want to know about my tricks, just give me the word. I’ll slaughter you here and now, and send your souls flying.”

“I’ve never heard of these tricks of yours, so you’d better tell me about them.”

“Stand still and listen to me, my child,” Monkey replied, and went on to say:

“Great have been my magic powers since childhood;

Changing with the wind, I show my might.

Nourishing my nature and cultivating the truth,

I have lived out the days and months,

Saving my life by jumping beyond the cycle of rebirth.

Once I searched sincerely for the Way

Climbing the Spirit Terrace Mountain to pick medicinal herbs.

On that mountain lives an ancient Immortal

One hundred and eight thousand years old.

I took him as my master,

Hoping that he would show me a road to immortality.


Output:
He said that the elixir is in one’s own body—

It is a waste of effort to seek it outside.

I learned a great spell of immortality.

I could scarcely have survived without it.

Turning my gaze inwards, I sat and calmed my mind,

While the sun and moon in my body intermingled.

Ignoring the affairs of the world, I made my desires few,

When senses, body, and mind were purified, my body was firm.

Reversing the years and returning to youth is then easily done;

The road to immortality and sagehood was not long.

In three years I acquired a magic body,

That did not suffer like a common one.

I wandered around the Ten Continents and Three Islands,

The corners of the sea and the edge of the sky.

I was due to live over three hundred years

But could not yet fly up to the Nine Heavens.

I got a real treasure for subduing sea dragons:

An iron cudgel banded with gold.

On the Mountain of Flowers and Fruit

I was supreme commander;

In the Water Curtain Cave

I assembled the fiendish hosts.


Output:
I assembled the fiendish hosts.

The Great Jade Emperor sent me a decree

Conferring high rank and the title ‘Equaling Heaven’.

More than once I wrecked the Hall of Miraculous Mist,

And stole the Queen Mother’s peaches several times.

A hundred thousand heavenly soldiers in serried ranks

Came with spears and swords to put me down.

I sent the heavenly kings back up there in defeat,

Made Nazha flee in pain at the head of his men.

The True Lord Erlang, skilled at transformations,

Lao Zi, Guanyin and the Jade Emperor

Watched me being subdued from the Southern Gate of Heaven.

As he was given some help by Lord Lao Zi,

Erlang captured me and took to Heaven.

I was tied to the Demon-subduing Pillar,

And divine soldiers were ordered to cut off my head.

Though hacked with swords and pounded with hammers

I remained unharmed.

So then I was struck with thunder and burned with fire.

As I really do have magic powers,

I was not in the slightest bit afraid.

They took me to Lao Zi’s furnace to be refined.


Output:
They took me to Lao Zi’s furnace to be refined.

The Six Dings roasted me slowly with divine fire.

When the time was up and the furnace opened, out I jumped,

And rushed round Heaven, my cudgel in my hand.

No one could stop me making trouble everywhere,

And I caused chaos in the thirty-three Heavens.

Then our Tathagata Buddha used his Dharma power

And dropped the Five Elements Mountain on my back.

There I was crushed for full five hundred years,

Until Sanzang came from the land of Tang.

Now I have reformed and am going to the West

To climb the Thunder Peak and see the Buddha.

Enquire throughout the Four Seas, Heaven and Earth:

You’ll find that I’m the greatest monster ever.

On hearing this the fiend laughed and said, “So you’re the Protector of the Horses who wrecked Heaven, are you?”


Output:
Monkey, who got angrier at being addressed by this title than at anything else, was furious. “You vicious monster. You steal the cassock and refuse to give it back, and on top of that you insult your lord and master. Just hold it, and see how you like my club.” The dark fellow dodged the blow and then riposted with his spear. The pair of them fought a fine battle.

An As-You-Will cudgel,

A black-tasseled spear,

And two men showing their toughness at the mouth of a cave.

One stabs at heart and face,

The other tries for arm and head.

This one strikes cunning sideswipes with a club,

That one brandishes his spear in three swift movements.

The white tiger climbs the mountain to sink in his claws;

The yellow dragon lying on the road turns round fast.

Snorting out coloured mists,

Disgorging rays of light,

The two immortal fiends are hard to choose between:

One is the Sage Equaling Heaven who has cultivated the truth;

The other is the Great Black King become a spirit.


Output:
On this battlefield in the mountains

The pair of them fight for the cassock.

The fiend fought some ten inconclusive rounds with Monkey, and as the sun was now rising steadily towards the zenith, the dark fellow raised his halberd to block the iron cudgel and said, “Brother Monkey, let’s lay down our arms. I’ll come back and fight you again after I’ve eaten.”

“You accursed beast,” Monkey replied, “how can you call yourself a real man? If you were, you wouldn’t be needing to eat after only half a day. I never even tasted water once in those five hundred years I spent under the mountain, but I wasn’t hungry. Stop making excuses, and don’t go. I’ll let you have your meal if you give me back my cassock.” The fiend waved his halberd in a feint, withdrew into the cave, and shut the doors fast behind him. Summoning his junior goblins, he ordered that a banquet be spread and wrote invitations asking all the devil kings of the mountain to come to the celebratory feast.


Output:
Monkey charged the gates but was unable to force them open, so he had to go back to the Guanyin Monastery, where the monks had buried the old patriarch and were now all in attendance on the Tang Priest in the abbot’s quarters. Breakfast was over, and lunch was being brought in. Just as they were bringing soup and more hot water, Monkey descended from the sky. The monks all bowed low and took him into the abbot’s room to see

Sanzang.

“Ah, you’re back, Wukong,” he said. “What about the cassock?”


Output: “I’ve found the answer. We misjudged these monks. It was in fact stolen by a fiend from the Black Wind Mountain. I went to have a quiet look for him and found him sitting in front of grassy slope talking to a white-gowned scholar and an old Taoist. He’s a self-confessed monster, and he said with his own mouth that he was inviting all the evil spirits to come and celebrate his birthday tomorrow, and that as he had come by a brocade Buddha’s robe last night he wanted to celebrate that too, so he was going to give a great feast that he called an ‘Assembly for the Celebration and Admiration of the Buddha’s Robe’. I rushed him and took a swipe at him with my club, but the dark fellow turned into a puff of wind and fled. The Taoist disappeared too, and I was only able to kill the white-clad scholar, who was a white snake turned spirit. I went to the mouth of his cave as fast as I could and told him to come out and fight me. He admitted that he had carried it off. We fought for half a day without either of us


Output: We fought for half a day without either of us winning, and then the monster went back to his cave for lunch and shut the stone gates behind him. He was too scared to come out again, so I came back to give you this news, master. Now we know where the cassock is, there’s no need to worry that he won’t give it back.”


Output:
On hearing this, the monks put their hands together or kowtowed as they invoked Amitabha Buddha and exclaimed, “He’s found where it is—we’re saved.”

“Don’t be so happy about it,” Monkey warned, “I haven’t got it yet, and my master hasn’t left your monastery yet. You’ll have to wait till I’ve recovered the cassock and my master has been seen off properly from here before you can consider yourselves safe. And if there is the slightest mistake, remember that I’m a very quick-tempered boss. Have you given my master the best food and tea? Have you given my horse the best fodder?”

“Yes, yes, yes,” the monks hastened to assure him. “We haven’t been remiss in any way while looking after his Reverence.”

“While you were away all morning I’ve drunk tea three times and eaten twice, and they have not been at all offhand with me,” Sanzang explained. “You’d better go back and do everything possible to recover that cassock.”


Output: “Don’t be in such a hurry,” Monkey replied. “I know where it is, and I guarantee that I’ll capture this wretch and return the cassock to you. There’s no need to worry.”


Output: As he was talking the senior abbot came in, set out the vegetarian meal, and invited Lord Monkey to eat. After swallowing a few mouthfuls Monkey mounted his magic cloud once more and went off on his hunt. On his way he saw a junior goblin going along the main path with a rosewood box under his left arm. Guessing that there must be some kind of letter in the box Monkey raised his cudgel and brought it down on his head. The blow did not just kill the goblin: it left him looking like a hamburger. Throwing his remains aside, Brother Monkey wrenched open the box and saw that it contained an invitation: Your pupil Bear presents his humble greetings to Your Excellency, the Supreme and Venerable One of the Golden Pool: I am deeply grateful for the magnificent kindness that I have so frequently received from you. When I saw the fire last night I failed to put it out, but I am sure that your divine intelligence will have suffered no harm from it. As your pupil has been lucky enough to obtain a Buddha’s robe, I am


Output: been lucky enough to obtain a Buddha’s robe, I am giving a banquet, to which I hope you will come to appreciate the robe. I would be profoundly grateful if you would honour me with your presence at the appointed time. Written two days beforehand.


Output:
On reading this, Monkey roared with laughter and said, “That crooked old monk. He thoroughly deserved to be killed. He’d been ganging up with evil spirits, had he? It’s odd that he should have lived to be two hundred and seventy. I suppose that evil spirit must have taught him a few tricks about controlling his vital essence, which was why he lived so long. I can remember what he looked like, so I think I’ll make myself look like him and go into that cave. This way I can see where he’s put that cassock, and if I’m lucky I’ll be able to get back and save a lot of trouble.

The splendid Great Sage recited a spell, faced the wind, and made himself look just like the old monk. He hid his cudgel, walked straight to the entrance of the cave, and shouted, “Open up.”

The junior goblin opened up, and as soon as he saw him he rushed back to report, “Your Majesty, the Elder of the Golden Pool is here.” The monster was astounded.


Output:
“I’ve only just sent a youngster with an invitation for him, and the message can’t have reached him yet. How could he possibly have got here so fast? The youngster can’t even have met him. Obviously Brother Monkey has sent him here to ask for the cassock. Steward, hide that cassock somewhere where he won’t see it.”

As he came to the front gates Monkey saw that the courtyard was green with bamboo and cypress, while peach and plum trees vied in beauty amid blossoming shrubs and fragrant orchids. It was a cave paradise. He also saw a couplet inscribed on the gates that read:

In peaceful retirement deep in the hills, one is free of vulgar worries;

Dwelling quietly in a magic cave, happy in divine simplicity.


Output:
“This wretch has escaped from the dirt and dust of the world,” thought Monkey, “and is a fiend who understands life.” Going through the gates he went further inside and passed through a triple gate. Here were carved and painted beams, light windows and coloured doors. He saw that the dark fellow was wearing a dark green silken tunic over which was slung a black patterned silk cloak; on his head was a soft black hat, and on his feet a pair of dusky deerskin boots.

When he saw Monkey approaching he straightened his clothes and came down the steps to greet him with the words, “I’ve been looking forward to seeing you for days, Golden Pool. Please take a seat.” Monkey returned his courtesies, and when they had finished greeting each other they sat down and drank tea. Then the evil spirit bowed and said, “I sent you a note just now asking you to come over the day after tomorrow. Why is it that you’ve come to see me today, old friend?”


Output:
“I was on my way here to visit you when I happened to see your message that you were giving a ‘Buddha’s Robe Banquet,’ so I hurried over to ask you to let me have a look.”

“You’ve misunderstood, old friend,” replied the evil monster with a smile. “It’s the Tang Priest’s cassock, and as he’s been staying at your place you must have seen it there. Why come here to see it?”

“When I borrowed it,” Monkey said, “it was too late at night for me to be able to look at it. Since then, to my great surprise, it has been taken by Your Majesty. On top of that, the monastery has been burnt down and I have lost everything I own. That disciple of the Tang Priest’s is quite a bold fellow, but he could not find it anywhere. I have come here to look at it as Your Majesty has had the great good fortune to recover it.”


Output:
As they were talking, a junior goblin came in from patrolling the mountain to announce, “Your Majesty, a terrible thing’s happened. Brother Monkey has killed the lieutenant who is taking the invitation by the main path, and taken the chance of making himself look like the Elder of the Golden Pool to come here and trick the Buddha’s robe out of you.”

“I wondered why the elder came today,” the monster thought, “and why he came so soon, and now I see that it’s really him.” He leapt to his feet, grabbed his halberd, and thrust at Monkey. Monkey pulled the cudgel from his ear in a flash, reverted to his true form, parried the halberd’s blade, jumped out from the main room into the courtyard, and fought his way back out through the front gates. This terrified all the fiends in the cave, scaring the wits out of young and old alike. The fine combat on the mountain that ensued was even better than the previous one.

The courageous Monkey King was now a monk,

The cunning dark fellow had hidden the Buddha’s robe.


Output:
At matching words they were both masters;

In making the most of chances there was nothing between them.

The cassock could not be seen, whatever one wished;

A hidden treasure is a true wonder.

When the junior demon on mountain patrol announced a disaster,

The old fiend in his fury showed his might.

Monkey transformed himself and fought his way out of the cave,

As halberd and cudgel strove to decide the issue.

The club blocked the lengthy halberd with resounding clangs;

The halberd gleamed as it parried the iron club.

Sun Wukong’s transformations were rare on earth;

Few could rival the foul fiend’s magic.

One wanted to take the robe to bring himself long life;

One had to have the cassock to return with honour.

This bitter struggle was not to be broken up;

Even a Living Buddha could not have resolved it.


Output:
Even a Living Buddha could not have resolved it.

From the mouth of the cave the pair of them fought to the top of the mountain, and from the top of the mountain they battled their way beyond the clouds. They breathed out wind and mist, set sand and stones flying, and struggled till the red sun set in the West, but the contest was still undecided. Then the monster said, “Stop for the moment, Monkey. It’s too late to go on fighting tonight. Go away, go away. Come back tomorrow, and we’ll see which of us is to live and which to die.”

“Don’t go, my child,” Monkey shouted back. “If you want to fight, fight properly. Don’t use the time of day as an excuse to get out of it.” With that he struck wildly at the dark fellow, who changed himself into a puff of wind, went back to his cave, and fastened the stone gates tightly shut.


Output: Monkey could think of no alternative to going back to the Guanyin Monastery. Bringing his cloud down, he called to his master, who had been waiting for him anxiously until he appeared suddenly before his eyes. Sanzang was very glad, until seeing that there was no cassock in Monkey’s hands his happiness turned to fear. “Why haven’t you got the cassock this time either?” he asked.


Output:
Brother Monkey produced the invitation from his sleeve, and as he handed it to Sanzang he said, “Master, that fiend was friends with that dead crook. He sent a junior goblin with this invitation asking him to go to a ‘Buddha’s Robe Banquet’. I killed the goblin, made myself look like the old monk, went into the cave, and tricked a cup of tea out of them. I asked him to let me see the cassock, but he wouldn’t bring it out. Then as we were sitting there a mountain patrolman of some sort gave the game away, so he started to fight me. We fought till just now, and neither of us was on top, when he saw that it was late, shot back to his cave and shut the stone doors behind him. This meant that I had to come back for the moment.”

“How do your tricks compare with his?” Sanzang asked.

“I’m not much better than him,” Monkey replied, “and I can only keep my end up.” Sanzang read the invitation and handed it to the prelate.

“Can it be that your Patriarch was an evil spirit?” he said.


Output:
The prelate fell to knees as fast as he could and said, “My lord, he was human. But because that Great Black King was cultivating the ways of humanity he often came to our temple to discuss the scriptures with our Patriarch, and taught him some of the arts of nourishing the divine and controlling the vital essence. That was why they were on friendly terms.”

“None of these monks have anything satanic about them,” Monkey said. “They all have their heads in the air and their feet on the ground, and are taller and fatter than I am. They’re not evil spirits. Do you see where it says ‘Your pupil Bear’ on the invitation? He must be a black bear who has become a spirit.”


Output:
To this Sanzang said, “There’s an old saying that ‘Bears and baboons are alike’. If they are all animals, how can they become spirits?” Monkey laughed and replied, “I’m an animal too, but I became the Great Sage Equaling Heaven. I’m just the same as him. All the creatures on heaven and earth that have nine openings to their bodies can cultivate their conduct and become Immortals.”

“Just now you said his abilities were the same as yours, so how are you going to beat him and get the cassock back?” Sanzang went on to ask. “Don’t worry, don’t worry,” Monkey replied, “I can manage.” As they were talking, the monks brought their evening meal and invited them to eat. The Sanzang asked for a lamp and went to bed in the front meditation hall as before. The monks all slept under thatched shelters rigged up against the walls, leaving the abbot’s quarters at the back for the senior and junior prelate. It was a peaceful night.

The Milky Way was clear,

The jade firmament free of dust.


Output:
The jade firmament free of dust.

The sky was full of coruscating stars,

A single wave wiped out the traces.

Stilled were all sounds,

And the birds were silent on a thousand hills.

The fisherman’s light beside the bank was out,

The Buddha-lamp in the pagoda dimmed.

Last night the abbot’s bell and drum had sounded;

This evening the air was filled with weeping.

This night he spent asleep in the monastery. Sanzang, however, could not sleep for thinking about the cassock. He turned over, and seeing that the sky was growing light outside the window, got straight out of bed and said, “Monkey, it’s light, go and get the cassock.” Brother Monkey bounded out of bed, and in an instant a host of monks was in attendance, offering hot water.

“Look after my master properly,” he said. “I’m off.”

Sanzang got out of bed and seized hold of him. “Where are you going?” he asked.


Output:
“I’ve been thinking,” said Monkey, “that this whole business is the Bodhisattva Guanyin’s fault. Although this is her monastery and she receives the worship of all these monks, she allows that evil spirit to live in the neighbourhood. I’m going to the Southern Sea to find her and ask her to come here herself to make that evil spirit give us back the cassock.”

“When will you come back?” Sanzang asked.

“After you’ve finished breakfast at the earliest, and by midday at latest, I’ll have done the job. Those monks had better look after you well. I’m off now.”

No sooner were the words out of his mouth than he had disappeared without a trace and reached the Southern Sea. Stopping his cloud to take a look, he saw:

A vast expanse of ocean,

Waters stretching till they joined the sky.

Propitious light filled the firmament,

Auspicious vapours shone over mountains and rivers.

A thousand snow-capped breakers roared at the azure vault,

A myriad misty waves reared at the sky.

Water flew in all directions,


Output:
Water flew in all directions,

Torrents poured everywhere.

As the water flew in all directions it echoed like thunder;

As the torrents poured everywhere they crashed and roared.

Let us leave the sea,

And consider what lay in it:

A precious mountain in many a misty color—

Red, yellow, purple, black, green, and blue.

Then did he see the beautiful land of Guanyin,

Potaraka Island in the Southern Sea.

What a wonderful place to go—

Towering peaks

Cutting through the sky,

With a thousand kinds of exotic flowers below them,

And every type of magical herb.

The wind shook priceless trees,

The sun shone on golden lotus.

Guanyin’s palace was roofed with glazed tiles,

The gates of the Tide Cave were set with tortoise shell.

In the shade of green willows parrots talked,

While peacocks called amid purple bamboo.

On the marbled stone

The protecting gods are majestically severe; .

Before the agate strand

Stands the mighty Moksa.


Output:
Stands the mighty Moksa.

Not pausing to take in the whole of this exotic scene, Monkey brought his cloud straight down to land under the bamboo grove. A number of devas were already there to meet him, and they said, “The Bodhisattva told us some time ago that you had been converted, Great Sage, and praised you very warmly. But if you are now protecting the Tang Priest, how have you found the time to come here?”

“Because something has happened while I’ve been escorting him on his journey. Please go and tell the Bodhisattva that I’d like an audience with her.” When the devas went into the cave to report this, Guanyin summoned him inside. Monkey did as he was told and bowed to her beneath the lotus throne.

“What have you come for?” the Bodhisattva asked.


Output:
“What have you come for?” the Bodhisattva asked.

“My master’s journey has brought him to a monastery of yours,” Monkey replied, “and I find that although you accept incense from its monks, you allow a black bear spirit to live in the neighbourhood, and have let him steal my master’s cassock. I’ve tried to take it off him a number of times but got nowhere, so now I’ve come to ask you to demand it from him.”

“What nonsense, you ape,” the Bodhisattva retorted. “Even if a bear spirit has stolen your cassock, what business have you to ask me to go and demand it for you? It all happened because you wanted to show it off, you big-headed and evil baboon, in front of petty-minded people. On top of that, in your wickedness you called up the wind to spread the fire that burnt down my monastery. And now you have the nerve to try your tricks here.”


Output:
These words from the Bodhisattva made Monkey realize that she knew all about the past and the future, so he hastily bowed down in reverence and pleaded, “Bodhisattva, forgive your disciple his sins, everything you say is true. All the same, my master will recite that spell again because that monster won’t give back the cassock, and I couldn’t bear the agonizing headache. That’s why I came to bother you, Bodhisattva. I beg you in your mercy to help me catch that evil spirit, get the cassock back, and carry on towards the West.”

“That monster’s magical powers are certainly no weaker than yours,” the Bodhisattva said. “Very well then, out of consideration for the Tang Priest I’ll go there with you.” Monkey thanked her and bowed again, asked her to come out, and rode on the same magic cloud as her. In next to no time they reached the Black Wind Mountain, where they landed the cloud and headed for the cave on foot.


Output:
As they were on their way, a Taoist priest appeared on the mountain slope. He was carrying a glass salver on which were two pills of the elixir of immortality. Monkey was immediately suspicious of him, so he struck straight at his head with the iron cudgel, sending blood splattering out from brain and chest.

“Are you still as wild as this, you ape?” the shocked Bodhisattva asked. “He didn’t steal your cassock, you didn’t even know him, and he was no enemy of yours. Why kill him?”

“You may not know him, Bodhisattva,” Monkey replied, “but he was a friend of the Black Bear Spirit. Yesterday they and a white-clad scholar were sitting talking in front of the grassy mountainside. Today is the Black Spirit’s birthday, and tomorrow he was coming to the ‘Buddha’s Robe Banquet’. That’s why I recognized him. I’m sure that he was coming to greet that monster on his birthday.”


Output:
“If that’s the way it is, very well then,” said the Bodhisattva. Monkey then went to lift up the Taoist to take a look at him, and he saw that he had been a grey wolf. There was an inscription under the glass salver that lay beside him. It read, “Made by Master Emptiness-reached” .

Brother Monkey laughed and sand, “What luck, what luck. This helps me and will save you trouble too, Bodhisattva. This monster has confessed of his own free will, and the other monster there can be finished off today.”

“What do you mean?” the Bodhisattva asked.

“I have a saying,” he replied, “that goes ‘beat him at his own game’. Are you willing to let me do things my way?”

“Tell me about it,” the Bodhisattva said.


Output:
“Tell me about it,” the Bodhisattva said.

“The two pills of immortality you see on that salver will be the present we take to visit him with,” said Monkey, “and the words inscribed underneath—‘Made by Master Emptiness-reached’—are the bait we’ll set for him. If you do as I say, I have a plan for you that does not call for force or fighting. The fiend will collapse before our eyes, and the cassock will appear. If you won’t let me have my way, then you go West, I’ll go East, we can say good-bye to the Buddha’s robe, and Sanzang will be up the creek.”

“You’ve got a cheek, you ape,” replied the Bodhisattva with a smile.

“No, no, I really have got a plan,” Monkey protested.

“Tell me about it then,” said Guanyin.


Output:
“Tell me about it then,” said Guanyin.

“You know it says on the salver, ‘Made by Master Emptiness-reached,’ Well, Master Emptiness-reached must be his name. Bodhisattva, if you’re prepared to let me have my way, then change yourself into that Taoist. I shall eat one of those pills and then change myself into a pill, though I’ll be a bit on the big side. You are to take the tray with the two pills on it and go to wish the fiend many happy returns. Give him the bigger of the pills, and when he’s swallowed me, I’ll take over inside him. If he doesn’t hand the cassock over then, I’ll weave a substitute out of his guts.”

The Bodhisattva could only nod her agreement.

“What about it then?” said the laughing Monkey, and at this the Bodhisattva in her great mercy used her unbounded divine power and her infinite capacity for transformation to control her will with her heart and her body with her will—in an instant she turned into Master Emptiness-reached.

The wind of immortality blew around his gown,


Output:
The wind of immortality blew around his gown,

As he hovered, about to rise to emptiness.

His dark features were as ancient as a cypress,

His elegant expression unmatched in time.

Going and yet staying nowhere,

Similar but unique.

In the last resort all comes down to a single law,

From which he is only separated by an evil body.

“Great, great,” exclaimed Brother Monkey at the sight. “Are you a Bodhisattva disguised as an evil spirit, or a Bodhisattva who really is an evil spirit?”

“Monkey,” she replied with a laugh, “evil spirit and Bodhisattva are all the same in the last analysis—they both belong to non-being.” Suddenly enlightened by this, Monkey curled up and turned himself into a pill of immortality:

Rolling across the plate but not unstable,

Round and bright without any corners.

The double three was compounded by Ge Hong,

The double six was worked out by Shao Weng.

Pebbles of golden flame,

Pearls that shone in the daylight.

On the outside were lead and mercury,


Output:
On the outside were lead and mercury,

But I cannot reveal the formula.

The pill he changed himself into was indeed a little larger than the other one. The Bodhisattva noted this and went with the glass salver to the entrance of the fiend’s cave. Here she saw

Towering crags and lofty precipices,

Where clouds grow on the peaks;

Blue cypresses and green pines

Where the wind soughs in the forest.

On towering crags and lofty precipices

The devils come and go, and few men live.

The blue cypresses and green pines

Inspire Immortals to cultivate the hidden Way.

The mountains have gullies,

The gullies have springs,

Whose gurgling waters sing like a guitar,

Refreshing the ear.

Deer on its banks,

Cranes in the woods,

Where the reticent Immortal’s pipe is casually played

To delight the heart.

Here an evil spirit can attain enlightenment,

And the boundless vow of the Buddha extends its mercy.


Output:
When the Bodhisattva saw this she thought, “If the beast has chosen this cave, there must be some hope for him.” And from then on she felt compassion for him.

When she reached the entrance of the cave, the junior goblins at the gates greeted her with the words, “Welcome, Immortal Elder Emptiness-reached.” As some of them ran in to announce her, the monster came out of the gates to meet her and say, “Master Emptiness-reached, how good of you to put yourself to this trouble. This is an honour for me.”

“Allow me to present you with this magic pill that, I venture to say, will confer immortality on you,” the Bodhisattva replied. When the two of them had finished exchanging greetings they sat down, and the monster started to talk about the events of the previous day. The Bodhisattva quickly changed the subject by passing the salver to him and saying, “Please accept this token of my regard for you.” She observed which was the bigger one and handed it to him with the words, “I wish Your Majesty eternal life.”


Output: The monster handed the other pill to her and said, “I hope, Master Emptiness-reached, that you will share it with me.” When they had finished declining politely, the fiend picked up the pill and was on the point of swallowing it when it went rolling into his mouth. Then Monkey resumed his true form and struck up some acrobatic postures, at which the fiend fell to the ground. The Bodhisattva too resumed her true form and asked the monster for the Buddha’s cassock. As Monkey had now emerged through the monster’s nostrils, she was worried that the evil spirit might misbehave again, so she threw a band over his head. He rose to his feet, ready to run them through with his spear, but Monkey and the Bodhisattva were already up in mid-air, where she began to recite the spell. As the monster’s head began to ache, he dropped the spear and writhed in agony on the ground. The Handsome Monkey King collapsed with laughter in the sky, while the Black Bear Spirit rolled in torment on the earth.


Output:
“Beast, will you return to the truth now?” asked the Bodhisattva.

“I swear to, I swear to, if only you spare my life,” the monster repeated over and over again.

Monkey wanted to finish him off with no more ado, but the Bodhisattva stopped him at once: “Don’t kill him—I’ve got a use for him.”

“What’s the point in keeping that beast alive instead of killing him?” Monkey asked.

“I’ve got nobody to look after the back of my Potaraka Island,” she replied, “so I shall take him back with me to be an island-guarding deity.”

“You certainly are the all-merciful deliverer who doesn’t allow a single soul to perish,” said Monkey with a laugh. “If I knew a spell like that one of yours, I’d say it a thousand times over and finish off all the black bears I could find.”


Output:
Although the bear spirit had come round and the spell had stopped, he was still in great pain as he knelt on the ground and begged pitifully, “Spare my life and I promise I’ll return to the truth.” The Bodhisattva descended in a ray of light, placed her hands on his head, and administered the monastic discipline to him; then she told him to take up his spear and accompany her. The black bear’s evil intentions ceased from that day on, and his unbounded perversity came to an end.

“Sun Wukong,” ordered the Bodhisattva, “go back now. Serve the Tang Priest well, don’t be lazy, and don’t start trouble.”

“I’m very grateful to you for coming so far, Bodhisattva, and I must see you home,” Monkey said. “That will not be necessary,” she replied. Monkey took the cassock kowtowed to her, and departed. The Bodhisattva took Bear back to the sea, and there is a poem to prove it:

A magic glow shines round the golden image,

The thousand rays of glorious light.

She saves all men, giving of her pity,


Output:
She saves all men, giving of her pity,

Surveying the whole universe and revealing the golden lotus.

Many shall now preach the scriptures’ meaning,

Nor shall there be any flaw therein.

Subduing a demon and bringing him to truth, she returns to the sea;

The religion of Emptiness has recovered the brocade cassock.

If you don’t know how things developed, listen to the explanation in the next chapter.

Chapter Eighteen

The Tang Priest Is Rescued in the Guanyin Temple

The Great Sage Removes a Monster from Gao Village


Output:
Taking his leave of the Bodhisattva, Monkey brought his cloud in to land, hung the cassock on a nanmu tree, pulled out his cudgel, charged into the Black Wind Cave, and found not a single goblin inside. This was because the appearance of the Bodhisattva in her true form had so terrified them that they had fled in all directions. Evil thoughts welled up in Brother Monkey, and after piling dry firewood all around the multi-storied gate he set it alight, turning the Black Wind Cave into a Red Wind Cave. Then he went back to the North on a beam of magic light.

Sanzang, who had been anxiously waiting for him, was beginning to wonder why he had not come back. Had the Bodhisattva not come when asked to, or had Monkey just made up a story to escape? As he was being racked by these desperate thoughts, a shimmering cloud appeared in mid-air and Monkey came down and knelt before him.

“Master, here’s the cassock,” he announced, to Sanzang’s great joy.


Output:
All the monks of the temple were delighted too, and they exclaimed, “Wonderful, wonderful, our lives are safe at last.”

“Monkey,” said Sanzang as he took the cassock from him, “when you set out this morning you reckoned that it would only take the length of a meal, or until midday at longest. Why have you only come back now, at sunset?” When Monkey gave him a full account of how he had asked the Bodhisattva to transform herself to subdue the monster, Sanzang set up an incense table and bowed low to the South. That done, he said, “Disciple, now that we have the Buddha’s robe, pack our luggage as quickly as you can.”

“Not so fast, not so fast,” Monkey replied. “It’s already evening, too late to hit the road. Let’s set out tomorrow morning.”


Output:
The monks all knelt and said, “Lord Monkey is right. For one thing it’s too late, and for another we made a vow. Now that all is well and the treasure has been recovered, we would like to carry out that vow and invite Your Lordships to share in the thanksgiving meal. Tomorrow morning we’ll see you off on your way West.”

“Yes, yes,” urged Monkey. The monks then emptied their bags and produced everything that was left of what they had saved from the fire to make an offering of food. Then they burnt some paper to bring blessings and recited some sutras to ward off disaster. The ceremonies were finished that evening.

The next morning the horse was curried and the luggage packed, and then they set out. The monks escorted them a long distance before turning back, after which Monkey led the way. It was now early spring.

The grass cushions the horse’s hooves,

New leaves emerge from the willow’s golden threads.

Apricot vies for beauty with peach;

The wild fig round the path is full of life.


Output:
The wild fig round the path is full of life.

On sun-warmed sandbanks sleep mandarin ducks;

In the flower-scented gully the butterflies are quiet.

After autumn, winter, and half of spring,

Who knows when the journey will end as they find the true word?

One evening, after they had been travelling along a desolate path for six or seven days, master and disciple saw a distant village. “Monkey,” said Sanzang, “do you see the village not far over there? Let’s go and ask them to put us up for the night; we can set off again tomorrow morning.”

“Wait till I’ve made sure it’s all right before deciding.” Monkey replied, gazing at the village as his master pulled on the silken rein. He saw

Close-planted bamboo fences,

Many a thatched roof.

Outside the gates soar lofty trees;

Houses are mirrored in the waters under a bridge.

Green grow the willows beside the road,

Fragrant bloom the flowers in the gardens.

As sun sets in the West

Birds sing in the wooded hills.

The smoke of evening rises from the stoves


Output:
The smoke of evening rises from the stoves

Along the paths roam sheep and cattle.

Well-fed chickens and pigs sleep under the eaves,

While the drunk old man sings his song next door.

When he had surveyed the scene, Brother Monkey said, “Go ahead, master. It’s definitely a good village. We can spend the night there.” Sanzang urged his horse forward, and in a few moments they were at the beginning of the main street. A young man appeared wearing a silken turban, a blue jacket, a pair of trousers tied at the ankles, and a pair of straw sandals. He was carrying an umbrella in his hand and a pack on his back. He was a fine sight as he walked briskly down the street. Monkey grabbed him and asked, “Where are you going? I want to ask you something—where is this?”

The fellow, who was trying to break loose, shouted, “Why ask me? I’m not the only person in the village.”


Output:
“Don’t be angry, kind sir,” replied Monkey, all smiles. “To help others is to help yourself. What harm can it do to tell me what the place is called? We might be able to bring your troubles to an end, you know.” Struggle as he might, the fellow could not break loose, which made him leap around with fury.

“Damn it, damn it,” he shouted, “I get more bullying from the old man than I can stand, and now I’ve got to run into you, baldy. You’ve got it in for me too.”


Output:
“If you’re good for anything, get out of my grip,” Monkey said. “Do that and I’ll let you go.” The young man twisted and turned, but he could not break free—it was as if he were held in a pair of pliers. In his temper he threw down his umbrella and his bundle, and tore at Monkey with both hands, trying to get hold of him. Monkey was holding the luggage in one hand, and with the other he was keeping the young man under control, and no matter how hard the fellow tried he could not get a grip on him. Monkey, however, was now holding him more firmly than ever, and was bursting with fury.

“Monkey,” Sanzang said, “here comes someone else you can ask. Why keep such a tight grip on him? Let him go.”

“You don’t understand, master,” replied Monkey with a smile. “It would be no fun to ask anyone else. I have to ask him if there’s to be anything to be got out of this.” Seeing that Monkey would not let him go, the fellow started to talk.


Output:
“This is Old Gao Village in the country of Stubet, and it’s called that because practically everyone here has the surname Gao. Now let me go.”

“From your get-up, you’re going on a long journey,” Monkey went on. “Tell me where you’re going and what you’re up to, then I’ll let you go.”


Output: The poor fellow had no option but to tell Monkey the truth. “I’m Gao Cai from the family of Squire Gao. His youngest daughter is twenty and not yet married, but three years ago an evil spirit came and took her. He’s been staying with us for three years, and the old man isn’t at all pleased. There’s no future in having a girl marry an evil spirit, he says. It’s ruining our family, and we don’t get a family of in-laws to visit. He’s always wanted to get rid of the evil spirit, but he refuses to go. Now he’s shut the girl up in the back building for the best part of a year, and he won’t let any of the family see her. My old man gave me two ounces of silver and sent me to find a priest to capture the monster. I’ve been on the go for ages now, and asked three or four of them, but they were all hopeless monks or pimples of Taoists—none of them could control him. The old man’s just been swearing at me as an utter idiot, given me five more ounces of silver as travelling expenses, and told me to find a good priest


Output: expenses, and told me to find a good priest who’ll deal with the monster. Then I was grabbed by you, you evil star, and that’s made me later than ever. No wonder I shouted at you: I’m pushed around at home and pushed around when I go out. I never thought you’d be such a good wrestler that I wouldn’t be able to break out of your clinch. Let me go now—I’ve told you everything.”


Output:
“You’re in luck—we’re in the business,” Monkey replied. “This is quite convenient; you needn’t go any further or spend any of your money. We’re not hopeless monks or pimples of Taoists. We’ve got some real magic powers, and we know how to deal with evil spirits. This’ll do both of us a bit of good. Go back and tell the head of your household that my master is a saintly monk, and the younger brother of the Emperor of the East, who has sent him to visit the Buddha in the Western Heaven and seek the scriptures. We are very good at controlling devils and capturing monsters.”

“Don’t lie to me,” the young man replied. “I’ve had enough of being pushed around. If you’re tricking me, you haven’t really got any special powers, and you can’t capture that fiend, you’ll only be getting me into more trouble than ever.”

“I swear I’m not fooling you,” answered Monkey. “Show us the way to your front door.”


Output: The young man saw that there was nothing for it but to pick up his bundle and umbrella, turn round, and take the two of them to his gate, where he said to them, “Reverend gentlemen, would you mind sitting here on the verandah for a moment while I go in and tell the master?” Only then did Monkey let go of him, put down the carrying-pole, take the horse’s reins, and stand beside his master, who sat down by the gate.


Output:
The young man went in through the gate and straight to the main hall, where he happened to meet Squire Gao. “Well, you savage, who have you come back instead of going to find someone?” Squire Gao demanded. Putting down his bundle and umbrella, the young man replied, “I must report to you, sir, that I had just got to the end of the street when I met a couple of monks. One was on horseback, and the other had a carrying-pole on his shoulder. He grabbed me and wouldn’t let me go, and asked me where I was going. I refused to tell him several times, but he had me locked in a grip I couldn’t get out of, so I had to tell him all about the mission you gave me, sir. He was absolutely delighted when he heard about it, and wanted to catch that monster for us.”

“Where are they from?” Squire Gao asked. “He says that his master is a saintly monk, the younger brother of the Emperor of the East, who has sent him to visit the Buddha in the Western Heaven and seek the scriptures,” the young man replied.


Output:
“But even if they’re monks from far away, they may not really be capable of anything. Where are they now?”

“Waiting outside the gate.”

The old man quickly put on his best clothes and went out with the youngster to greet them, addressing them as “Venerable Elders.” Sanzang turned hurriedly round when he heard this, and found them standing before him. The older man was wearing a black silk turban, an onion-white robe of Sichuan brocade, a pair of calf-skin boots the color of unpolished rice, and a belt of black silk.

He came forward and said with a smile, “Greetings, Venerable Elders,” as he bowed, holding his hands together. Sanzang returned his bow, but Monkey stood there immobile. At the sight of Brother Monkey’s ugly face the old man decided not to bow to him.


Output: “Why won’t you pay your respects to me?” Monkey asked, at which the old man, somewhat frightened, said to the young man, “You’ll be the death of me, you little wretch. We’ve already got one hideous monster at home as a son-in-law we can’t get rid of, so why ever did you have to bring this thunder god here to ruin us?”


Output:
“Gao, old chap, you’ve been living all these years for nothing—you’ve still got no sense. It’s completely wrong to judge people by their faces. I may be no beauty, but I’m quite clever. I’ll grab that evil spirit for you, catch that demon, seize your son-in-law, and give you back your daughter. I’ll be doing you a good turn, so there’s no need to fuss about my looks.” The old man, now shaking with fear, pulled himself together and asked them in. Monkey took the horse’s bridle, told the young man to carry the luggage, and went in with Sanzang. In his usual devil-may-care way he tethered the horse to one of the pillars of an open-air pavilion, pulled up a gleaming lacquered armchair, and told his master to sit down. Then he brought over a chair for himself and sat beside him.

“The younger venerable elder has already made himself at home,” Squire Gao remarked.

“I’d feel at home here if you entertained us for six months,” Brother Monkey replied.


Output:
When they were all seated the old man said, “The boy told me a moment ago that you were from the East.”

“That’s right,” Sanzang replied. “The court has sent me to worship the Buddha in the Western Heaven and ask for the scriptures. As we are passing this way on our journey, we would like to spend the night here before continuing on our way tomorrow morning.”

“If you two gentlemen just want to spend the night here, why all the talk about catching monsters?”

“As we’ll be spending the night here,” Monkey put in, “we though it would be fun to catch a few monsters while we’re about it. May I ask how many there are in your residence?”

“Good heavens,” the old man exclaimed, “however many do you want? We’ve only got this monster of a son-in-law, and he’s ruined our lives.”

“Tell me all about this monster from the beginning,” Monkey said. “I must know about his magic powers if I’m to capture him for you.”


Output: “This village has never had any trouble from ghosts, demons or evil spirits before. It was my misfortune to have no son, and three daughters, of whom the eldest is called Fragrant Orchid, the second Jade Orchid, and the third Blue Orchid. The other two were betrothed to men from the village when they were children and have been married off. I wanted the third to marry a man who would live here to support-me in my old age, look after the household, and do jobs about the place. About three years ago a good-looking young fellow turned up who said that his name was Zhu and he came from the Mountain of Blessing. He told me that he had no parents or brothers, and wanted to marry and live with his in-laws. As he had no family commitments I offered him my daughter’s hand, old fool that I am, and from the moment he became a member of our family he worked very hard. He ploughed and hoed without using oxen or tools; and he didn’t need a scythe or a stick to harvest the crops. As day followed day, there was nothing


Output: the crops. As day followed day, there was nothing wrong with him, except that he started to look different.”


Output:
“How?” Monkey asked.

“At first he was a plump, dark chap, but later on he became a long-nosed, big-eared idiot with thick black hairs running down from the back of his head and a great, thick body. His face is just like a pig’s. His appetite is enormous, too. He needs several bushels of grain at every main meal, and over a hundred griddle-cakes for breakfast. Luckily he is a vegetarian. If he ate meat and wine he would have ruined us in six months.”

“He has to eat so much because he works so hard,” Sanzang commented.

“But that’s not the main thing.” Squire Gao continued. “He can also summon up a wind, make clouds and mist come and go, and send pebbles and sand flying. He’s terrified our neighbors, who don’t feel safe living here any longer! He’s shut my daughter away in the building at the back, and nobody’s seen her for six months. We don’t even know if she’s still alive. That is how we know he’s an evil monster, and why we want a priest to come and get rid of him.”


Output:
“No difficulty there,” Monkey replied. “Don’t worry, old chap, I guarantee that I’ll get him tonight, make him write out a document divorcing your daughter, and bring her back to you. What do you say to that?”

“Because I thought there’d be no harm in offering him my daughter, I’ve ruined my reputation and estranged all my relations,” Squire Gao replied. “If you can catch him, why bother with a divorce document? Wipe him out for me, if you please.”

“Easy, easy,” said Monkey. “I’ll get him tonight.”

The old man was delighted. He had a table and chairs set out and wiped clean, and a vegetarian meal brought in. When the meal was over and he was about to go to bed, the old man asked, “What weapons and how many men will you need? I’ll get everything ready in good time.”

“I have a weapon,” Monkey replied.


Output:
“I have a weapon,” Monkey replied.

“You two gentlemen only have your monastic staves—how will you be able to kill the fiend with them?” the old man asked. Monkey produced the embroidery needle from his ear, held it between his fingers, and shook it in the wind. It turned into the gold-banded cudgel as thick as a rice-bowl. Monkey turned to Squire Gao and asked, “How does this cudgel compare with the weapons you have in here? Will it do to kill the monster?”

“So you have the weapon,” the old man went on, “but what about the men?”

“I can do it single-handed.” Monkey replied, “though I would like a few respectable old gentlemen to come in and keep my master company while I’m away from him. When I’ve captured the monster they can witness his confession before I wipe him out for you.” The old man thereupon sent his servants to ask a few old friends over, and before long they had all arrived. When the introductions were over Monkey said, “Master, you sit here and don’t worry. I’m off.”


Output:
Just watch Monkey as with his cudgel in his hand he takes hold of the old man and says, “Take me to the building at the back. I want to see where this evil spirit lives.” Squire Gao led him to the door of the back building, and Monkey told him to bring the key at once. “Look here,” the old man answered, “if a key would have done the trick, I wouldn’t have had to ask for your services.”

“Can’t you tell at your age when someone’s joking?” Monkey asked. “I was only teasing. You shouldn’t have taken me seriously.” He felt the lock and found that molten copper had been poured into it, so he struck it a vicious blow with his cudgel and shattered it. Pushing the doors open, he saw that it was pitch-black inside. “Call your daughter’s name, Old Gao, to see whether she’s in here,” he said.

The old man summoned up his courage and called her name, and the daughter, recognizing her father’s voice, answered feebly, “Dad, I’m in here.” With a roll of his golden pupils Monkey peered into the darkness to take


Output:
a closer look at her. Do you know what she was like?

Her cloudy hair was tangled and unkempt,

Her face was filthy and unwashed.

Her orchid heart was as pure as ever,

But her beauty lay in ruins.

There was no blood or life in her cherry lips,

And her limbs were crooked and bent.

A sad frown on her forehead,

Her eyebrows pale;

Weak and frightened,

Only daring to whisper.

When she came out and saw her father, she grabbed hold of him, put her hand round his head, and wept. “Don’t cry,” Monkey said, “don’t cry. Where has the monster gone?”

“I don’t know. These days he’s been setting out at dawn and only coming back in the middle of the night. There’s always so much cloud and mist that I can’t tell where he goes. He knows that my father wants to exorcise him, so he’s always on the alert. That’s why he comes back late and leaves at dawn.”


Output:
“Of course he would,” Monkey remarked, adding, “old fellow, take the girl to the front building. You two can have a good long talk; I’m going to wait for the monster here. Don’t be surprised if he doesn’t turn up; but if he does, I’ll wipe him out for you.” The old man happily took his daughter to the front building.

Monkey then used some of his magic powers to turn himself into the likeness of the girl with a shake of his body. Then he sat down in the room to wait for the evil spirit. Before long there was a marvellous wind that sent stones and dust flying:

At first it was a gentle breeze,

That gradually became a tremendous gale.

When it was a gentle breeze, it filled Heaven and Earth;

When it grew, nothing could withstand it.

It stripped off flowers and snapped willows like stalks of hemp,

Uprooting forests as if it were picking vegetables.

It threw rivers and seas into turmoil, to the fury of gods and devils,

Splitting rocks and mountains as Heaven and Earth watched in horror.


Output:
The flower-eating deer lost their way,

The fruit-plucking monkeys did not know where they were.

Seven-storied iron pagodas fell on the Buddha’s head,

The streamers in the temple fell on the jeweled canopy.

Golden beams and pillars of jade were shaken from their roots,

Tiles flew from the roof like swallows.

As the boatman raised his oar he made a vow,

Quickly sacrificing a pig and a goat as he pushed off.

The guardian god of the city ward abandoned his shrine,

The Dragon Kings of the Four Seas bowed to Heaven.

The yaksha demons’ boats were wrecked on the coast,

And half the length of the Great Wall was blown down.


Output:
As this gale wind passed, an evil spirit appeared in mid-air. He was certainly ugly with his dark face, stubbly hair, long nose, and big ears. He wore a cotton tunic that was somewhere between black and blue, and round his waist was a patterned cotton cloth. “So that’s what he’s like,” thought Monkey with a secret smile, and without greeting him or asking him anything he lay down on the bed, breathing heavily and pretending to be ill. Not knowing who this really was, the monster came straight in, put his arms around him and was going to kiss him.

Monkey laughed to himself again as he thought, “So he really wants to screw me.” Then he thrust his hand up under the monster’s long nose to throw him off balance. The monster fell off the bed.

As the monster pulled himself up he leaned on the edge of the bed and said, “Darling, why are you so angry with me today? Is it because I’m late?”

“I’m not angry,” Monkey replied, “not angry at all.”

“If you’re not angry with me, why did you make me fall over?”


Output:
“You should have been more thoughtful and not tried hugging me and kissing me. I’m not feeling very well today. If I’d been my usual self I’d have been waiting for you at the door. Take your clothes off and come to bed.” Not realizing what he was up to, the monster undressed. Monkey jumped out of bed and sat on the pot as the monster went back to bed and groped around without finding the girl.

“Where’ve you gone, darling?” he asked. “Take your clothes off and come to bed.”

“Go to sleep,” Monkey replied, “I’m taking a shit.” The monster did as he was told. Monkey sighed and said, “What terrible luck.”


Output:
“What are you so fed up about?” the monster asked. “What do you mean by ‘terrible luck’? I may have eaten some food and drunk some tea since marrying you, but I haven’t been idle either. I’ve swept for your family and dug ditches, I’ve shifted bricks and tiles, I’ve built walls for you, I’ve ploughed and weeded your fields, I’ve sown your wheat, and I’ve transplanted your rice. I’ve made your family’s fortune. These days you dress in brocade and have golden pins in your hair. You have fruit and flowers in all four seasons, and vegetables for the pot throughout the year. But despite this you’re still not satisfied, groaning and moaning like that and complaining about your ‘terrible luck.’”

“I didn’t mean that,” Monkey replied. “Today I could hear my parents through the wall. They were smashing up bricks and tiles and pretending to curse and beat me.”

“Why should they want to do that?” the monster asked.


Output:
“They said that since we married and you became their resident son-in-law, all respectability has gone by the board. They were complaining about having such an ugly fellow as you around, and about never meeting any brother-in-law or other relations of yours. Besides, with all that wind and cloud whenever you come in or go out, they wonder who on earth you can be and what you are called. You’re ruining their reputation, and disgracing the family. That’s why they were so angry that they went through the motions of beating and cursing me.”

“I may be a bit of an eyesore,” the monster said, “but if you want me to be a good-looker I can fix that without any difficulty. When I first came I had a word with your father, and he agreed to the marriage of his own free will. Why is he talking like this now?” My home is the Cloud Pathway Cave on the Mount of Blessing. My surname, Zhu, is like my face—piggy—and my correct name is Zhu Ganglie, Iron-Haired pig. You tell them all that if they ask you again.


Output:
“He’s an honest monster,” thought Monkey with delight. “If he came out with all this without being tortured. Now I know who he is and where he’s from, I’m sure I can catch him.”

“He’s sent for a priest to come and catch you,” Monkey said aloud.

“Come to bed, come to bed, and forget about him,” the monster said with a laugh. “I can do as many transformations as the Plough, and I have my nine-pronged rake too, so what have I to fear from priests, monks or Taoists? Even if your old man were holy enough to summon the Demon-destroying Patriarch down from the Ninth Heaven, he’s an old friend of mine and wouldn’t do anything to harm me.”

“My father said that he’d asked that fellow by the name of Sun, the Great Sage Equaling Heaven who made such trouble up in the Heavenly Palace some five hundred years ago, to come and capture you.”

The monster was somewhat taken aback on hearing this name, and said, “In that case I’m off. We’re through.”

“You can’t just go like that,” said Monkey.


Output:
“You can’t just go like that,” said Monkey.

“You wouldn’t know,” the monster replied, “but that Protector of the Horses who made such trouble in the Heavenly Palace is quite a fighter. I might not be able to beat him, and that would spoil my good name.” With these words he pulled on his clothes, opened the door, and was just going out when Monkey grabbed him, gave his own face a rub, and changed back into his real form.


Output:
“Where d’you think you’re going, my fine monster?” he roared, adding, “take a look and see who I am.” The monster turned round and saw Monkey’s protruding teeth, pinched face, fiery eyes with golden pupil, bald head and hairy face. At the sight of this thunder god incarnate his hands were numbed and his legs paralyzed; then with a great tearing sound he broke free, ripping his clothes, and escaped in the form of a hurricane. Monkey rushed after him, grabbed his iron cudgel, and took a swipe at the wind. The monster then changed into ten thousand sparks and went straight back to his mountain. Monkey mounted his cloud and went after him shouting, “Where d’you think you’re going? If you go up to Heaven, I’ll chase you as far as the Dipper and Bull Palace, and if you go into the Earth, I’ll pursue you as far as the Hell of the Unjustly Slain.”

Goodness! If you don’t know how far he chased the monster, or who won in the end, listen to the explanation in the next chapter.

Chapter Nineteen


Output:
Chapter Nineteen

In the Cloud Pathway Cave Sun Wukong Wins over Zhu Bajie

On Pagoda Mountain Xuanzang Receives the Heart Sutra

The monster shot forward as a stream of sparks, with the Great Sage behind him on his coloured cloud. As he was racing along, Monkey saw a tall mountain appear in front of them. Here the monster put himself together again by reassembling the sparks, rushed into a cave, and came out with a nine-pronged rake in his hand to do battle.

“Wretch,” shouted Monkey, “where are you from? How do you know my name, you evil demon? What powers have you got? Tell me honestly, and I’ll spare your life.”

“You don’t know what I can do,” the monster replied. “Come a little nearer and stand still while I tell you:

I was born stupid,

An idler and a slacker.

I never nourished my nature or cultivated the truth,

But spent my time in primal ignorance.

Then I happened to meet a true Immortal,

Who sat down with me and chatted about the weather,


Output:
Advised me to reform and not to sink among mortals,

For taking life was a heinous sin.

One day, when my life came to an end,

It would be too late to regret the punishments in store.

His words moved me to seek reform,

And my heart longed for miraculous spells.

I was lucky enough to have him as my teacher;

He showed me the gates of Heaven and Earth.

He taught me the Nine Changes and the Great Return of Cinnabar,

As we worked by night and day with never a break.

It reached up to the Mud Ball Palace in my head,

And down to the Bubbling Spring in my feet.

The circulating magic liquid reached the Flowery Pool under my tongue,

And the Cinnabar Field in my abdomen was given extra warmth.

The Babe, lead, and the Girl, mercury, were married,

And combining together, they divided into sun and moon.

The Dragon and the Tiger were harmonized,

The Sacred Tortoise drank the Golden Crow’s blood.

The Three Flowers gathered at the top and returned to the root.


Output:
The Five Essences faced the Origin and flowed in all directions.

When their work was done, I could fly,

And the Immortals of Heaven came in pairs to greet me.

Coloured clouds grew beneath my feet,

As I faced Heavenly Palace gates with a body light and strong.

The Jade Emperor gave a banquet for all the Immortals,

And all lined up according to their grades.

I was made Field Marshal in charge of the Milky Way,

Commanding all the sailors on that river in the sky.

When the Queen Mother gave a Peach Banquet,

She invited many guests to the Jade Pool.

As drunkenness clouded my mind that day,

I lurched and staggered around.

As I charged in drunken pride into the Cool Broad Palace

I was greeted by an exquisite immortal maiden.

At the sight of her beauty my soul was captivated,

And I could not repress my mortal passions of old.

Losing all sense of rank and dignity,

I seized the beauty and asked her to sleep with me.

Three times, four times she refused,

Dodging and trying to hide in her distress.


Output:
Dodging and trying to hide in her distress.

Great was the courage of my lust, and I roared like thunder,

All but shaking down the gates of heaven.

The Miraculous Inspecting Officer reported to the Jade Emperor,

And from that day I was doomed.

The Cool Broad Palace was closely surrounded.

I could neither advance nor retreat: escape was impossible.

Then I was arrested by the gods,

But as I was still drunk I was not scared.

I was marched to the Hall of Miraculous Mist to see the Jade Emperor,

And, after questioning, sentenced to death.

Luckily the Great White Planet

Stepped forward, bowed low, and interceded.

My sentence was commuted to two thousand strokes of the heavy rod,

Which tore my flesh and all but smashed my bones.

I was released alive and expelled from Heaven,

So I tried to make a living on the Mount of Blessing.

For my sins I was reborn from the wrong womb,

And now I am known as Iron-haired Pig.”


Output:
And now I am known as Iron-haired Pig.”

“So you are an earthly reincarnation of Marshal Tian Peng,” said Brother Monkey when he heard this. “No wonder you knew my name.”

“Ha,” the monster snorted angrily. “Your insane rebellion caused trouble for very many of us, Protector of the Horses. Have you come here to throw your weight around again? I’ll teach you some manners. Take this!” Monkey was in no mood to spare him after this, and he struck at the monster’s head with his cudgel. The pair of them fought a magnificent midnight battle on that mountainside:

Monkey’s golden pupils flashed with lightning;

The monster’s glaring eyes sparked silver.

One disgorged coloured mist,

The other breathed out red clouds.

The red clouds lit up the night;

The coloured mists illuminated the darkness.

A gold-banded cudgel,

A nine-toothed rake,

And two splendid heroes.

One a Great Sage down among the mortals,

The other a marshal banished from Heaven.

One had been stripped of his honors and become a monster,


Output:
The other had been saved when he took service with a priest.

When the rake attacked, it was like a dragon stretching its claws;

The cudgel blocked it as nimbly as a phoenix flying through flowers.

Pig said,

“In wrecking my marriage your crime is as great as parricide.”

Monkey replied,

“You deserve to be arrested for raping that young girl.”

Amid these exchanges

And wild shouts,

The cudgel and the rake crossed and clashed.

They fought each other till the day began to dawn,

And the monster’s arms were tired right out.


Output:
And the monster’s arms were tired right out.

They fought from the second watch of the night until the sky began to grow light in the East. The monster, no longer able to resist his enemy, broke away and fled, turning himself into a hurricane again. He went straight back to his cave, shut the gates behind him, and did not come out. Monkey saw a stone tablet outside the cave on which was inscribed CLOUD PATHWAY CAVE. The monster did not come out again and it was now broad daylight, so Monkey thought that as his master might be waiting for him he had better go back to see him. He could come back later to catch the monster. He gave his cloud a kick and was back in Old Gao Village in an instant.

Sanzang, meanwhile, had been talking all night with the elders about things ancient and modern, and had not slept a wink. Just as he was beginning to think that Brother Monkey would not come back, Monkey appeared in the courtyard, put away his iron club, straightened his clothes, and entered the main room.


Output:
“Master, I’m here,” he announced, giving the old men such a surprise that they all fell to their knees and thanked him for his efforts.

“You’ve been out all night, Monkey,” Sanzang said. “Where did you catch that evil spirit?”


Output: “He’s no common or garden ghost, master,” Monkey replied, “and he isn’t an ordinary wild animal turned monster. He is Marshal Tian Peng, who was exiled to the mortal world. As he was placed in the wrong womb he has a face like a wild boar, but he’s still kept his original divine nature. He says that he takes his name from his looks and is called Zhu Ganglie, Iron-haired Pig. I was going to kill him in the building at the back, but he turned into a hurricane and fled. When I struck at this wind, he changed into sparks, went straight back to his cave, came out with a nine-pronged rake, and fought me all night. He broke off the engagement in terror as the dawn broke and shut himself in his cave. I was going to smash down the gates and have it out with him, but then it occurred to me that you might be worried after waiting for me so long, so I came back to put you in the picture first.”


Output: After Monkey had made his report, Squire Gao came up and knelt before him saying, “Venerable sir, I’m afraid that although you’ve chased him away, he’ll come back after you’ve gone; so this is no real solution. Please, I beg of you, catch him for me and exterminate him to prevent trouble later. I promise you that I shall not be remiss if you do this for me, and there will, of course, be rich rewards. I shall write a deed, witnessed by my relations and friends, giving you half of my property and my land. Please, please eradicate this evil weed and save the honour of the family.”


Output:
“You’ve got no sense of what’s proper, old man,” replied Monkey with a grin. “He told me that although he may have put away a lot of your rice and tea, he’s also done you a lot of good. You’ve piled up a lot of wealth in the past few years, all thanks to his efforts. He says he hasn’t been eating your food in idleness, and wants to know why you’re trying to have him exorcised. He maintains that he is a heavenly Immortal come down to earth who has been working for your family and has never harmed your daughter. I would say that he is a very fitting son-in-law for you, who does your family’s name no harm. You really ought to keep him.”

“Venerable sir,” the old man replied, “he may never have done anything wicked, but it does our reputation no good to have a son-in-law like him. Whether he does anything or not, people say that the Gaos have asked a monster to marry into the family, and I simply can’t bear to hear a thing like that.”

“Go and have it out with him, and then we’ll see what to do,” said Sanzang.


Output:
“I’ll try a trick on him this time,” Monkey replied. “I guarantee to bring him back this time for you to look at. But don’t be angry with him.”

“Old Gao,” he continued, addressing the old man, “look after my master well. I’m off.”

By the time the words were out of his mouth, he had disappeared. He leapt up the mountain and smashed the gates of the cave to splinters with a single blow of his cudgel, shouting, “Come out and fight Monkey, you chaff-guzzling moron.” The monster, who had been snoring inside, heard the gates being smashed and the insulting “chaff-guzzling moron,” and went wild with fury.

Seizing his rake and summoning up his spirit, he rushed out and shrieked, “You shameless Protector of the Horses. What have I ever done to you to make you smash down my gates? You’d better take a look at the statute book: there’s the death penalty for breaking and entering.”


Output:
“You fool,” laughed Monkey, “I’ve got a very good justification for smashing your gates—you abducted a girl by force, without matchmakers or witnesses, and without giving proper presents or observing the right ceremonies. You’re a fine one to talk about who deserves to have his head cut off.”

“Stop talking such nonsense and see how this rake of mine strikes you,” the monster replied.

Blocking the blow with his cudgel, Monkey retorted, “Is that the rake you used when you were tilling the fields and growing vegetables for the Gaos as their hired hand? What’s so wonderful about it that I should be afraid of you?”

“You don’t realize that it’s no ordinary weapon,” the monster replied. “You’d better listen while I tell you about it:

This was refined from divine ice-iron,

Polished till it gleamed dazzling white,

Hammered by Lord Lao Zi himself,

While Ying Huo fed the fire with coal-dust.

The Five Emperors of the Five Regions applied their minds to it,

The Six Dings and Six jias went to great efforts.


Output:
They made nine teeth of jade,

Cast a pair of golden rings to hang beneath them,

Decorated the body with the Six Bright Shiners and the Five planets,

Designed it in accordance with the Four Seasons and the Eight Divisions.

The length of top and bottom match Heaven and Earth.

Positive and Negative were to left and right, dividing the sun and moon.

The Six Divine Generals of the Oracular Lines are there, following the Heavenly Code;

The constellations of the Eight Trigrams are set out in order.

It was named the Supremely Precious Gold-imbued Rake,

And served to guard the gates of the Jade Emperor’s palace.

As I had become a great Immortal,

I now enjoyed eternal life,

And was commissioned as Marshal Tian Peng,

With this rake to mark my imperial office.

When I raise it, fire and light stream forth;

When I lower it, a snowy blizzard blows.

It terrifies the Heavenly Generals,

And makes the King of Hell too quake with fear.

There is no other weapon matching it on Earth,


Output:
There is no other weapon matching it on Earth,

Nor iron to rival it throughout the world.

It changes into anything I like,

And leaps about whenever I say the spell.

For many a year I’ve carried it around,

Keeping it with me every single day.

I will not put it down even to eat,

Nor do I when I sleep at night.

I took it with me to the Peach Banquet,

And carried it into the celestial court.

When I sinned my sin in drunken pride,

I used it to force compliance with my evil will.

When Heaven sent me down to the mortal dust,

I committed all kinds of wickedness down here.

I used to devour people in this cave,

Until I fell in love and married in Gao Village.

This rake has plunged beneath the sea to stir up dragons,

And climbed high mountains to smash up tigers’ dens.

No other blade is worth a mention

Besides my rake, the sharpest weapon ever.

To win a fight with it requires no effort;

Of course it always brings me glory.

Even if you have an iron brain in a brazen head and a body of steel,


Output:
This rake will scatter your souls and send your spirit flying.”

Monkey put his cudgel away and replied, “Stop shooting your mouth off, you idiot. I’m now sticking my head out for you to hit. Let’s see you scatter my souls and send my spirits flying.” The monster raised his rake and brought it down with all his might, but although flames leapt forth, it did not even scratch Monkey’s scalp.

The monster’s arms and legs turned to jelly with fright as he exclaimed, “What a head, what a head.”


Output: “You wouldn’t know,” Monkey replied. “When I was captured by the Little Sage for wrecking the Heavenly Palace, stealing the pills of immortality and the heavenly peaches, and filching the imperial wine, I was marched to a place outside the Dipper and Bull Palace, where all the gods of Heaven hacked at me with axes, hit me with maces, cut at me with swords, stabbed at me with daggers, tried to burn me with lightning, and pounded me with thunder; but none of it hurt me in the slightest. Then I was taken off by the Great High Lord Lao and put in the Eight Trigrams Furnace, where I was refined with divine fire, so that my eyes are now fiery, my pupils golden, my head brazen, and my shoulders of iron. If you don’t believe me, try a few more blows to see whether you can hurt me or not.”


Output:
“I remember you, you baboon,” the monster replied. “When you made trouble in Heaven, you lived in the Water Curtain Cave on the Mountain of Flowers and Fruit in the land of Aolai in the Continent of Divine Victory. I haven’t heard of you for a very long time. What brings you here, and why are you bullying me in front of my own gates? Surely my father-in-law didn’t go all that way to ask you to come here?”

“No,” said Monkey, “he didn’t. I have turned away from evil and been converted to good. I have given up Taoism and become a Buddhist. I am protecting the Patriarch Sanzang, the younger brother of the Great Tang Emperor, on his journey to the Western Heaven to visit the Buddha and ask for the scriptures. We happened to ask for a night’s lodging when we came to Gao Village, and in the course of our conversation Old Gao asked me to rescue his daughter and capture you, you chaff-guzzling moron.”


Output:
The monster dropped his rake to the ground, chanted a respectful “na-a-aw,” and said, “Where’s this pilgrim? Please take me to meet him.”

“What do you want to see him for?” Monkey asked.

“Guanyin converted me and told me to obey the monastic rules and eat vegetarian food here till I could go with that pilgrim, the one who’s going to the Western Heaven to worship the Buddha and ask for the scriptures. I’ll be able to make up for my sins through this good deed, and win a good reward. I’ve been waiting for him for years, but there’s been no news of him till now. If you’re a disciple of his, why didn’t you say something about fetching the scriptures before, instead of making this vicious attack on me in my own home?”


Output:
“This had better not be a trick to soften me up and make me let you get away,” said Monkey. “If you really want to protect the Tang Priest and you aren’t trying to kid me, then you’d better make a vow to Heaven, and I’ll take you to meet my master.” The monster fell to his knees with a thud, and kowtowed to the sky so often that he looked like a rice pestle.

“Amitabha Buddha,” he cried out, “if I’m not completely sincere, cut me up into ten thousand bits for breaking the laws of Heaven.”

After hearing him swear this oath, Monkey said, “Very well then, now light a brand and burn this place of yours out. If you do that, I’ll take you.” The monster piled up some reeds and brambles, lit a brand, and set the Cloud Pathway Cave on fire; it burned as well as a brick kiln that has got out of control. “I’ve no second thoughts,” he said, “so please take me to see him.”


Output:
“Give me that rake of yours,” Monkey ordered, and the monster obediently handed it over. Monkey then plucked out a hair, blew on it with magic breath, and shouted, “Change!” It turned into three lengths of hempen rope, with which he bound the monster’s hands behind his back; the monster docilely put his hands there and let Monkey tie him up. Then Monkey seized him by the ear and led him off with the words, “Quick march.”

“Take it easy,” the monster pleaded. “You’re pulling so hard you’re hurting my ear.”

“Can’t be done,” Monkey replied. “Can’t show you any favours. As the old saying has it, ‘even a good pig must be handled roughly.’ Wait until you’ve seen my master. If you really are sincere, you’ll be released then.” The two of them went back through cloud and mist to Gao Village, and there is a poem to prove it:

The Golden Vajra is stronger than Wood,

The Mind Ape could bring the Wooden Dragon to submission.

When Metal obeyed and Wood was tamed they were at one;


Output:
When Wood was loving and Metal kind they worked together.

One host and one guest with nothing to keep them apart,

With the three in harmony they had a mysterious power.

Nature and feelings both rejoiced as they joined in the Supreme Principle;

They both promised without reservation to go to the West.

In a moment they were back at the village. Holding the monster’s rake in one hand and twisting his ear with the other, he said, “Do you know who that is sitting up straight in the main hall? It’s my master.”

When Old Gao and all his friends and relations saw Monkey coming, tugging the bound monster by his ear, they all came into the courtyard and said happily, “Venerable sir, this is the son-in-law all right.” The monster went forward, fell to his knees, and kowtowed to Sanzang with his hands behind his back.


Output:
“Master,” he shouted, “Your disciple failed to welcome you. Had I known, master, that you were staying in my father-in-law’s house, I’d have come to greet you and do homage, and I’d have been saved all this agony.”

“How did you make him submit and come to pay homage?” Sanzang asked Monkey.

Monkey then let the monster go, hit him with the handle of the rake, and yelled, “Tell him, fool.” The monster then told Sanzang all about how he had been converted by the Bodhisattva.


Output:
Sanzang was so pleased that he asked Squire Gao for an incense table to be brought, which was done at once. Sanzang then washed his hands, burnt incense, bowed low to the South, and said, “Thanks be to the Bodhisattva for her divine grace.” The elders also burnt incense and bowed low in worship. When this was done, Sanzang took the seat of honour in the hall and told Monkey to untie the monster. Monkey shook himself to take his hairs back, and the ropes untied themselves. The monster bowed to Sanzang once more and vowed to go to the West with him. Then he bowed to Monkey as his elder brother because he had joined first, addressing him as “elder brother” from then on. “If you wish to earn a good reward by going with me as my disciple, I’ll give you a Buddhist name to call you by.”

“Master,” he replied, “When the Bodhisattva laid her hands upon my head and told me to obey the prohibitions, she gave me a Buddhist name—Zhu Wuneng, Pig Awakened to Power.”


Output:
“Wonderful, wonderful,” said Brother Monkey with a smile, “I’m called Wukong, Awakened to Emptiness, and you’re called Awakened to Power. That makes us members of the same sect in the Buddhist faith.”

“Master,” said Pig, “I have been instructed by the Bodhisattva and I never eat the five stinking foods and the three forbidden meats—wild goose, dog, and snakehead. I’ve eaten vegetarian food in my father-in-law’s house and never touched the stinking foods; but now that I have met you, master, I’m freed from these restrictions.”

“You are not,” Sanzang replied. “You are not to eat the five stinking foods and the three forbidden meats, and I’m giving you another name: Eight Prohibitions, or Bajie.”

“I shall obey my master’s command,” the moron happily replied, and from then on he was known as Zhu Bajie, or Eight Prohibitions Pig.


Output:
Squire Gao was happier than ever to see that he had turned from evil to good, and he ordered his servants to set out banquet with which to thank the Tang Priest. Pig went over to Squire Gao, tugged at his coat, and said, “Sir, may my wife come out and pay her respects to these two gentlemen?”

“Brother,” said Monkey with a laugh. “You’ve entered the church now and become a monk. Don’t ever talk about a wife again. Only Taoist priests can have families—we Buddhist monks never marry. Let’s all sit down and eat a vegetarian meal, then we can set off early tomorrow morning on our journey to the West.” Squire Gao had the table and chairs set out and asked Sanzang take the seat of honour. Monkey and Pig sat on his left and right, and all the relations sat below them. Squire Gao opened a pot of wine, from which he filled a cup and poured a libation to Heaven and Earth before handing it to Sanzang.


Output:
“Frankly, sir,” Sanzang said, “I have been a vegetarian from the womb, and have not consumed strong-flavoured food since my earliest childhood.”

“Venerable master, I know that you are a vegetarian,” Squire Gao replied, “which is why I haven’t pressed any meat or strong-flavoured food upon you. But this wine is made from vegetable matter, so a cup of it will do no harm.”

“I don’t drink either,” Sanzang explained, “as alcohol is the first of the prohibitions of the priesthood.”

“Master,” pig hastily interjected, “I may be a vegetarian, but I haven’t given up liquor.”

“And although I haven’t strong head for the stuff and can’t finish a whole jar of it, I haven’t given it up either,” Monkey added.

“In that case you two had better drink some; but don’t get drunk and ruin everything,” said Sanzang. The pair of them then took the first cup, after which everyone sat down again as the vegetarian dishes were brought in. Words could not describe the flowing cups, the well-filled dishes, and the splendid food.


Output: When master and disciples had eaten, Squire Gao brought pieces of gold and silver to the weight of two hundred ounces on a red lacquer tray and offered them to the three pilgrims to help with the expenses of their journey. Then he produced three brocade-collared gowns that could serve as overcoats. “We are mendicant monks,” said Sanzang, “Who beg for our food in the villages and other places through which we pass, so we could not possibly accept gold, silver, or cloth.”


Output:
Monkey then marched up and grabbed a handful of the money. Then he addressed the young man Gao Cai. “Yesterday,” he said, “I troubled you to lead my master here, and today he has recruited another disciple, but we have been unable to show our gratitude. So take these pieces of gold and silver as your fee for guiding us, and buy yourself a pair of straw sandals. If you have any more evil spirits in future, and you help us again, we’ll be able to show even more appreciation.” The young man Gao Cai took the gold and silver, then kowtowed to express his thanks.

“If you won’t take gold or silver,” Squire Gao said, “please be good enough to accept these rough clothes as a mark of our gratitude.”

“If we monks accepted a single thread, we would have to atone for it for a thousand ages,” replied Sanzang. “It will suffice if we take the pancakes and fruit that we haven’t eaten with us as provisions for the journey.”


Output:
“Master, elder brother,” said Pig, who was standing beside them, “it’s all right for you two to refuse them, but I was a son-in-law in this family for several years, and I deserves three bushels of grain to take with me. On yes, father-in-law, my tunic was torn by elder brother yesterday and my shoes have split, so please give me a black brocade cassock and a good pair of new shoes.” Old Squire Gao, who could scarcely refuse this request, gave him the new shoes and a tunic in exchange for his old ones.

Pig swaggered over to Old Gao, chanted a “na-a-aw” of respect, and said, “Please inform my mother-in-law, my sisters-in-law, my brothers-in-law, and my uncles that I have become a monk today, and ask them to excuse me for not saying good-bye to them in person. Father-in-law, look after my wife well. If we don’t get the scriptures, I’ll go back to lay life and work for you as a son-in-law again.”

“Moron,” shouted Monkey, “stop talking nonsense.”


Output:
“I’m doing nothing of the sort,” Pig replied, “I am thinking that if things go wrong I’d be wasting my time as a monk, and my wife’s marriage would have been ruined, both for nothing.”

“Enough of your idle chatter,” said Sanzang, “let’s be on our way at once.” Their luggage was hung from a carrying-pole on pig’s shoulders. When the white horse was saddled, Sanzang mounted it, and Monkey led the way with his iron cudgel over his shoulder. Thus the three of them left Squire Gao, his relations, and his friends, and headed West. There is a pome to prove it that goes:

The trees tower above the misty earth

As the Tang disciples of Buddha toil and suffer.

When hungry, they beg their food from a thousand homes;

When cold they wear cloaks with a thousand patches.

Do not allow the Thought-horse to run wild,

And don’t let the stubborn Mind-ape howl at will.

With passions stilled and one’s nature firm, all destinies are in harmony;

When the full moon of contemplation is reached, you will be pure.


Output:
After travelling peacefully Westwards for a month, the three of them left the territory of Stubet and saw a mountain soaring up above their heads. Sanzang stopped whipping his horse on, reined him in, and said, “Monkey, Monkey, that’s a high mountain in front of us, so please go and reconnoiter it.”

“No need,” said Pig. “It’s called Pagoda Mountain, and there’s a Rook’s Nest Hermit who cultivates his conduct on it. I’ve met him.”

“What does he do?” Sanzang asked.

“He has some powers,” Pig replied. “He once invited me to cultivate my conduct with him, but I didn’t go.” As master and disciples talked they were soon on the mountain. It was a splendid mountain at that:

South of it were blue pines and verdant locust trees,

To the North were green willows and red peach-blossom.

Cawing noisily,

The wild birds talked to each other;

Soaring gracefully,

The cranes flew together.

Rich in fragrance

Were the thousands of different flowers;

Softly dark

Were the endless kinds of herbs.


Output:
Softly dark

Were the endless kinds of herbs.

In the gullies were bubbling green streams,

The crags were wreathed in auspicious cloud.

It was indeed a scene of rare and elegant beauty.

Lonely, where no man came or went.

As the master surveyed the scene from his horse he noticed a grass hut in front of a fragrant locust tree. To the left of it were David’s-deer with flowers in their mouths, and to the right were monkeys holding offerings of fruit, while phoenixes of many colours wheeled around the top of the tree, in which cranes and golden pheasants had gathered. Pig pointed and said, “That’s the Rook’s Nest Hermit.” Sanzang gave his horse the rein, whipped it on, and went straight to the foot of the tree.

When the hermit saw the three of them coming he jumped down from his bird’s nest. Sanzang dismounted and bowed to him, and only then the hermit reply, helping him up, “Please arise, holy priest. I’m sorry I did not welcome you properly.”

“Greetings, venerable hermit,” said Pig.


Output:
“Greetings, venerable hermit,” said Pig.

“Aren’t you the Iron-haired Pig from the Mount of Blessing? How have you had the great good fortune of travelling with a holy monk?”

“Last year,” replied Pig, “I was converted by the Bodhisattva Guanyin, and I swore that I’d go with him as his disciple.”

“Wonderful, wonderful,” exclaimed the delighted hermit, who then pointed at Monkey and asked, “Who is this gentleman?”

“Old hermit,” said Monkey, “how is it that you know him but didn’t recognize me?”

“Please excuse my ignorance,” the hermit replied.

“He is Sun Wukong, the senior of my disciples,” explained Sanzang.

“I apologize for my discourtesy,” said the hermit.

Sanzang bowed again and asked him the way to the Great Thunder Monastery in the Western Heaven. “Far away,” the other replied, “far away. The journey is a long one and there are many tigers and leopards along the way. It will be difficult.”


Output: “How far is it?” asked Sanzang with great interest. “Although the journey is a long one,” the hermit replied, “you are bound to get there in the end. But there will be evil influences that you’ll find hard to dispel. I have a Heart Sutra, a total of 270 words in 54 sentences, and if you recite it when you encounter evil influences you will come to no harm.” Sanzang prostrated himself on the ground and begged the hermit to tell him it, and the hermit recited it to him. It went: When the Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara was meditating on the profound prajna-paramita, he perceived that all the five aggregates are void and empty, and he was thereupon freed from all sufferings and calamities.


Output: Sariputra, matter is not different from voidness and voidness is not different from matter: matter is voidness and voidness is matter. Such is also the case with sensation, perception, discrimination and consciousness. Sariputra, all these things are void in nature, having neither beginning nor end, being neither pure nor impure, and having neither increase nor decrease. Therefore, in voidness there is not matter, no sensation, no perception, no discrimination and no consciousness; there is no eye, no ear, no nose, no tongue, no body and no mind; there is no sight, no sound, no smell, no taste, no touch and no mental process; there is no category of eye nor is there a category of consciousness; no ignorance nor the cessation of ignorance; no old age and death, nor the cessation of old age and death; there is no suffering, no causes of suffering, no cessation of suffering, and no way leading go the cessation of suffering; and there is no wisdom, nor anything to be gained. As nothing is to be gained, a


Output: to be gained. As nothing is to be gained, a Bodhisattva depending on prajna-paramita becomes free in his mind, and as he is free in his mind he has no fear and is rid of dreamlike thoughts of unreality and enjoys ultimate Nirvana. By m e a n o f p r a j n a - p a r a m i t a , a l l B u d d h a s o f t h e p a s t , t h e p r e s e n t a n d t h e f u t u r e r e a l i z e anuttara-samyak-sambodhi. Therefore, we know prajna-paramita is a great, divine spell, a great enlightening spell, a supreme spell, and a spell without a parallel, that can do away with all sufferings without fail. Thus we recite the Prajna-paramita Spell and say: Gate, gate, paragate, parasamgate, bodhi, svaha!


Output:
As the Patriarch from the Tang had already the origins of enlightenment inside himself, he was able to remember the Heart Sutra after only one hearing, and it has been passed on down to this very day. This sutra is the kernel of the cultivation of the truth, and it is the gateway to becoming a Buddha. When the hermit had recited it, he started to rise up to his crow’s nest by cloud, but Sanzang tugged at him and said that he wanted to know about the way to the Western Heaven. To this the hermit replied with a smile:

“The journey will not be difficult,

If you try to follow my instructions.

There will be a thousand mountains, a thousand deep rivers.

Many evil miasmas, and many a devil.

If you reach the edge of the sky

Do not worry or be afraid.

If you come to Precipitous Cliff

Walk with your feet placed sideways.

Be careful in the Black Pine Forest,

Where many an evil fox may block your path.

The capital cities will be full of spirits,

And demon kings will live in the mountains.


Output:
And demon kings will live in the mountains.

Tigers will sit in the music rooms,

Wolves will be in charge of the accounts.

Lions and elephants will all be kings,

With tigers and leopards for ministers.

A wild boar will carry your luggage,

A water monster will lead the way.

A very old stone monkey

Has no cause to be angry.

Ask those friends of yours—

They know the way to the West.”


Output:
They know the way to the West.”

Monkey smiled bitterly and said, “Let’s go. No need to ask him; you can ask me.” Sanzang did not understand what he meant. The hermit changed himself into a beam of golden light and went up to his nest, while the venerable Sanzang bowed to him in gratitude. Monkey, now furiously angry, raised his iron cudgel and was just going up to wreck the place when ten thousand lotus flowers appeared, protected by a thousand miraculous mists. Brother Monkey, you are strong enough to stir up the ocean or turn a river upside-down; but don’t even dream of touching a twig of that nest! When Sanzang saw what he was going to do, he grabbed hold of him and said, “Wukong, what do you mean by trying to wreck this Bodhisattva’s nest?”

“He insulted us two disciples,” Monkey replied.

“He did not insult you,” said Sanzang. “He was talking about the way to the Western Heaven.”


Output:
“You wouldn’t be able to understand,” Monkey said. “When he said, ‘A wild boar will carry your luggage,’ he was insulting Pig; and ‘A very old stone monkey’ was an insult to me. You didn’t get his meaning, of course.”

“Don’t be angry,” said Pig. “That hermit knows about the past and the future as well. We don’t yet know whether his talk about a water monster leading the way will come true or not. Let him off.”

Monkey saw the lotus blossoms and the miraculous mists draw in round the nest, and could but ask his master to mount the horse and go down the mountain to the West. On this journey,

Although they knew blessings rare on earth,

There was many a demon and disaster in the hill.

If you don’t know what lay in store for them, listen to the explanation in the next installment.

Chapter Twenty

The Tang Priest Meets Trouble on the Yellow Wind Ridge

Pig Wins Mastery Halfway up the Mountain

The Dharma is born in the mind,

And in turn is destroyed by the mind.

Who do life and death come from?


Output:
Who do life and death come from?

Decide for yourself.

If it is all from your own mind,

Why do you need others to tell you?

All you need to do is work hard,

Squeezing blood out of iron.

Thread a silken rope through your nose.

And fasten yourself to emptiness.

Tie it to the tree of non-action,

To prevent it from collapsing.

Don’t acknowledge bandits as your sons,

Or you will forget the Dharma and the mind.

Do not allow yourself to be deceived by others—

Smash them first with a punch.

When the mind appears it is non-existent,

When the Dharma appears, it ceases.

When the boy and the ox both disappear,

The blue sky is absolutely clear.

All is as round as an autumn moon,

And this and that can no longer be distinguished.

This gatha refers to how the Patriarch Xuanzang came to awareness and understanding of the Heart Sutra and thus opened the gate. As that venerable elder recited it constantly, a ray of miraculous light penetrated through to him.