Output:
“The evil spirit made doubles of yourself, the white horse, Pig carrying our luggage, and me,” said Friar Sand. “I was so furious that I killed the fake Friar Sand: he was really a monkey spirit. That made them all run away, then I went to tell the Bodhisattva my troubles. She sent Monkey and me back to identify the demon, but he was so much like the real Monkey that I couldn’t help in the fight, which is why I’ve come back to report to you, Master.”

Sanzang paled with horror at this news, while Pig roared with laughter. “Great, great,” he guffawed. “Just as this kind old lady said, there are several lots of pilgrims going to fetch the scriptures. They’re one lot, aren’t they?”

Everyone in the house, young and old alike, came to ask Friar Sand, “Where have you been looking for money for your travelling expenses these last few days?”


Output:
“I went to the Mountain of Flowers and Fruit in the Eastern Continent of Superior Body to look for my eldest brother and fetch the baggage,” Friar Sand replied with a smile. “Then I went to Potaraka Island in the Southern Ocean to see the Bodhisattva Guanyin and to the Mountain of Flowers and Fruit again before coming back here.”

“How long was your return journey?” the old man of the family asked.

“About 70,000 miles,” Friar Sand replied.

“That would be a very long way to walk in only a few days,” the old man said, “You must have gone by cloud to get there.”

“How else do you think he got across the sea?” said Pig.

“What you and I do is like walking compared with Monkey: he’d have been there and back in a day or two,” said Friar Sand. When the family heard this they realized that they must all be gods or immortals.

“No, we’re not,” said Pig, “We’re senior to them.”


Output:
As they were talking they were interrupted by a noisy quarrel in mid air, and when they rushed out to look they saw two Monkeys fighting. The sight made Pig’s hands itch. “I’m going up to tell them apart,” he said, and with that the splendid idiot leapt up into the air and shouted, “Stop yelling, brother, Pig’s here.”

“Hit the evil spirit,” both Monkeys shouted, “hit the evil spirit.”

All this both horrified and delighted the family, who exclaimed, “We’ve got a whole lot of arhats who can ride on clouds staying with us. Even if we’d made a vow to feed monks we would never have been able to feed such holy men as these.” They were now more generous with their food and tea than ever. Then they began to worry that if the fight between the two Sun the Novices turned nasty, heaven and earth might be turned upside down: it could be disastrous.


Output:
Seeing that behind the old man’s delight lay these deep misgivings Sanzang said to him, “There’s no need to worry or alarm yourself, benefactor. When I made him submit and become my disciple he gave up evil and turned to good. Of course we will show you our gratitude.”

“That would be too great an honour,” the old man replied, “too great an honour.”

“Stop talking now, benefactor,” said Friar Sand, “and you sit here, Master. Pig and I’ll each bring one of them back here to stand in front of you. When you say the spell the one who suffers will be the real Monkey and the one who doesn’t will be the impostor.”

“What a very good idea,” said Sanzang.

Friar Sand then rose up into mid-air and said, “Stop it, both of you. I’m taking you for the master to choose between you.” The Great Sage then let go of his opponent, and so did the other Monkey. Friar Sand held one and told Pig to hold the other, and they took them both down by their clouds till they stood in front of the thatched cottage.


Output:
As soon as he saw them Sanzang began to say the Band-tightening Spell, at which both Monkeys cried out together, “Why do you have to say that spell when we’re fighting so hard? Stop! Stop!” Being a kind and merciful man the venerable elder stopped reciting the spell before he had been able to tell them apart. The two Monkeys then broke free from Pig and Friar Sand and started fighting again.

“Brothers,” the Great Sage said, “look after the master while I fight this impostor down to get the Kings of the Underworld to tell which of us is which.” The other Monkey said likewise, and the two of them soon disappeared, grabbing and tugging at each other.

“Friar Sand,” said Pig, “why didn’t you grab the luggage off the fake Pig when you saw him carrying it at the Water Curtain Cave?”


Output:
“The evil spirits surrounded me when I killed my double with the demon-quelling staff,” Friar Sand replied. “They were going to get me, so I had to flee for my life. After I’d been to see the Bodhisattva and gone back to the cave entrance again with Monkey I overturned all their stone benches and scattered the little demons, but I couldn’t see any entrance to the cave, only a waterfall. I came back empty-handed as I couldn’t find the luggage.”

“Let me tell you something,” said Pig. “When I went there a few years ago to ask him to come back we met outside the cave. After I’d persuaded him to come he jumped down and went into the cave to change. I saw him go straight through the water: the waterfall is the entrance. I bet that’s where that devil has put our luggage.”

“As you know the way into the cave I think you’d better go and fetch our baggage from there while the demon’s away,” said Sanzang. “Even if Wukong does come back I still won’t have him.”

“I’m off then,” said Pig.


Output:
“I’m off then,” said Pig.

“There are thousands and thousands of little monkeys in front of the cave,” said Friar Sand. “It’d be terrible if they were too much for you by yourself.”

“I’m not worried,” said Pig, who rushed outside and headed off to the Mountain of Flowers and Fruit to fetch the luggage.

The two Monkeys fought their way round to the back of the Dark Mountain of the Underworld, where all the demons shivered and shook with terror as they hid themselves. The ones who managed to run away first rushed straight to the Underworld government offices and reported to the Senluo Palace, “Your Majesties, two Great Sages Equaling Heaven have come to the Dark Mountain and are fighting their way here.”


Output:
The Ring of Qinguang in the First Palace reported this with alarm to the King of Chujiang in the Second Palace. The news was passed on in turn to King Songdi in the Third Palace, the King of Biancheng in the Fourth Palace, King Yama in the Fifth Palace, King Impartial in the Sixth Palace, the King of Taishan in the Seventh Palace, the Metropolitan King in the Eighth Palace, King Wuguan in the Ninth Palace, and King Everturning Wheel in the Tenth Palace. In an instant the Ten Kings all gathered together and sent an urgent message to King Ksitigarbha. Meanwhile the Underworld forces were mustered in the Senluo Palace ready to capture the true and the false Monkey. Just then there was the roar of a mighty wind as dreary mists filled the air and the two Monkeys came tumbling and rolling to the Senluo Palace.

The Lords of the Underworld stepped forward to block their way and say, “Great Sages, why are you making such disorder in our Underworld?”


Output: To this the real Great Sage replied, “I was escorting the Tang Priest on his journey to fetch the scriptures from the Western Heaven when bandits tried to rob him on a mountain in the land of Western Liang. He got angry with me when I killed a few of them and sent me away. I went to tell my troubles to the Bodhisattva in the Southern Ocean. I never imagined that this demon would have the effrontery to turn himself into my double, attack my master on the road, and steal our baggage. When my fellow-disciple Friar Sand went back to my mountain to fetch the baggage he found that the demon had created an imitation of the master to take to the Western Heaven and fetch the scriptures, so he rushed to the Southern Ocean to see the Bodhisattva Guanyin and found me there at her side. After he’d told his story the Bodhisattva sent me back to the Mountain of Flowers and Fruit with him to see what was going on. I found that this bastard had stolen my cave. We argued all the way to the Bodhisattva Guanyin’s place, but she


Output: way to the Bodhisattva Guanyin’s place, but she couldn’t tell which of us was the real me. Then I fought with him up to Heaven, where none of the gods knew which of us was which, and after that went to see the master. When the master recited the Band-tightening Spell my double was in just as much pain as I was. That’s why I’ve brought this chaos to the Underworld in the hope that Your Majesties will look up the Registers of Life and Death for me to find out about the False Sun the Novice’s background so that I can catch his soul and end this confusion of there being two minds.” The demon then said the same thing.


Output:
The Lords of the Underworld called on the judges in charge of the records to go through them carefully from beginning to end. There was nobody under the name of False Sun the Novice. They checked through the registers of hairy beasts again, and found that under item 130 in the monkey section there was a record of how the Great Sage Sun had achieved the Way in his youth, made havoc in the Underworld and removed his name from the registers of death, so that from then on none of the monkeys were listed. When the judges had made their inspection they reported back to the palace.

Holding their tablets of office, the Lords of the Underworld said to Monkey, “Great Sage, there are no names in the records that can be checked. You will have to go back to the world of the living to be told apart.”


Output:
As they were saying this they heard the Bodhisattva King Ksitigarbha shout, “Wait, wait! I’ll send Examiner to tell you apart.” Now Examiner was the name of an animal who lay under the Bodhisattva Ksitigarbha’s sutra table. Just by lying there he could tell good from evil and wise from stupid among any of the snails, fish, hairy creatures, feathered creatures, insects, heavenly immortals, earthly immortals, divine immortals, human immortals and devil immortals in all the mountains, rivers and countries of the four great continents, in all cave heavens and in all blessed places. The animal lay on the ground in the courtyard of the Senluo Palace as Ksitigarbha instructed it.

A little later it raised its head and said to Ksitigarbha, “I’ve found the name of the demon, but I cannot say it to his face, nor can I help catch him.”

“What would happen if you identified him to his face?” Ksitigarbha asked.


Output:
“If I did,” Examiner replied, “I am afraid that the evil spirit would turn nasty, make disorder in the palace and destroy the peace of the Underworld.”

“Why won’t you help capture him?” Ksitigarbha went on to ask, and Examiner replied, “The evil spirit’s magic powers are no less than those of Sun Wukong. No matter how much dharma power the gods of the Underworld have, they would never be able to catch him.”

“In that case, how is the evil spirit to be got rid of?”

“Boundless is the Buddha’s Dharma,” Examiner replied. Ksitigarbha was now enlightened. “As you two look the same and have the same magic powers,” he said to both Monkeys, “if you want to be told apart you will have to go to Sakyamuni Buddha in Thunder Monastery.”


Output:
“You’re right,” they both replied together, “you’ve right. You and I’ll go to the Western Heaven to be told apart by the Lord Buddha.” They then took their leave of Ksitigarbha and were seen out by the Ten Kings of the Underworld as they went up to the Turquoise Cloud Palace, after which devils were sent to close the entrance to the Underworld.

Watch the two Monkeys as they fly by cloud and mist to the Western Heaven. There is a poem about it that goes,

Troubles arise if one has two minds;

Doubts cloud everything from sea to sky.

One desires fine horses and the highest rank,

Craving for eminence at the royal court.

Fighting North and South without respite,

They parry to East and West with never a pause.

In dhyana the secret of mindlessness must be learned;

Nourish the babe in silence and form the holy foetus.


Output: The two of them fought as they flew through the air, grabbing, tugging, pulling and snatching at each other, all the way to the outside of the Thunder Monastery on Vulture Peak in the Western Heaven. Even before they arrived the four Bodhisattvas, the eight vajrapanis, the five hundred arhats, the three thousand protectors, the nuns, monks, lay people and all the holy hosts were standing beneath the seven-precious lotus throne listening to the Tathagata expounding the Dharma. This is what he was explaining: There is existence in non-existence, non-existence in non-non-existence. There is matter in non-matter, emptiness in non-emptiness. What exists is non-existent, and what does not exist is not non-existent. Non-matter is matter; non-emptiness is emptiness. Emptiness is emptiness and matter is matter. Matter is not permanent matter, matter is empty. Emptiness is not permanent emptiness, emptiness is matter. Know that emptiness is not empty and that matter is not matter. This is what is meant by insight and


Output: not matter. This is what is meant by insight and understanding the Wonderful Voice.


Output:
All the host kowtowed in submission. Amid the sound of chanting the Tathagata released a shower of heavenly petals, left his throne and said to them. “You are all of one mind. Watch the struggle of two minds coming here.”

They all raised their eyes to look and saw the two Monkeys come shouting and yelling to the holy Thunder Peak. The eight vajrapanis were so alarmed that they stepped forward to block their way and say, “Where do you two think you are going?”

“This evil spirit has turned himself into my double,” Monkey replied, “so I wish to go to the lotus throne to ask the Tathagata to tell that I am the real Sun Wukong and he is an impostor.”


Output: As the vajrapanis could not stop them they yelled at each other right to the foot of the lotus throne, where they kowtowed and each of them said, “Your disciple has been escorting the Tang Priest here to fetch the true scriptures. Goodness only knows how much effort I’ve spent dealing with demons and capturing monsters along the way. Recently we were robbed by bandits, and I admit that I did twice kill some of them. The master was so angry with me that he sent me back and wouldn’t let me come with him to worship your golden self. The only thing I could do was to go back to the Southern Ocean to tell my troubles to Guanyin. I never imagined that this evil spirit would make himself look and sound just like me, knock the master over, and steal our luggage. My brother Friar Sand went to my mountain looking for me and this monster talked a whole lot of fancy nonsense about having his own holy monk to go and fetch the scriptures. When Friar Sand got away and fled to the Southern Ocean to tell the whole story to


Output: to the Southern Ocean to tell the whole story to Guanyin she sent us both back to my mountain. After that the two of us, the real me and the impostor side by side, fought our way to the Southern Ocean, Heaven, the Tang Priest and the Underworld, but nobody could tell which of us was which. That is why I’ve had the effrontery to come here to beg you in your infinite charity and mercy to identify me as the true Sun Wukong. Then I’ll be able to escort the Tang Priest here to worship you in person and fetch the scriptures to take back to the East, so that the great teachings will be made known for ever.” Hearing the two of them saying the same things in the same voice, none of the host could tell them apart: only the Tathagata himself knew. He was just about to expose the impostor when a coloured cloud brought Guanyin from the South to see our Buddha.


Output:
“Noble Guanyin,” said our Buddha, putting his hands together in front of his chest, “can you tell the true Sun the Novice from the false one?”

“I could not tell them apart when they visited my island,” the Bodhisattva replied. “Since then they have been to Heaven and the Underworld, and still nobody could say which was which. That is why I have come to beg you, Tathagata, to identify the true Sun Wukong.”


Output:
To this the Buddha replied with a smile, “You all have very great dharma powers, but you can only scan everything that happens under the sky. You cannot know all the creatures and categories under the sky.” When the Bodhisattva asked what these categories were, the Buddha replied, “There are five kinds of immortal: heavenly, earthly, divine, human and demonic. There are five kinds of beast: snail, scaly, furry, feathered and insect. This wretch is not heavenly, earthly, divine, human or demonic. He is not a snail, or scaly, or furry, or feathered or an insect. Now there are also four kinds of ape that cause confusion and don’t come under any of the ten categories.”

“May I ask what these four kinds of ape are?” the Bodhisattva asked.


Output: “The first kind is the intelligent stone monkey,” the Buddha replied. “He can do all kinds of transformation, knows all about the seasons of Heaven and earthly advantages, and can move the stars and their constellations about. The second kind is the red-rumped mandril that knows all about the Yin and the Yang and human affairs, can go into or out of anywhere, and knows how to prolong its life and avoid death. The third kind is the magic-armed gibbon that can catch the sun or moon, shrink mountains, see what is auspicious and what is not, and fool around with heaven and earth. The fourth kind is the six-eared macaque which has wonderful hearing and perception. It knows about the past and the future and understands all creatures. These four kinds of ape do not come within any of the ten categories and are not listed among the creatures that live between heaven and earth. I can see that the false Sun Wukong is just such a six-eared macaque. Wherever he stands he can know what is happening hundreds of miles away


Output: can know what is happening hundreds of miles away and hear everything that is said. That is why he has such wonderful hearing, brilliant perception, and knowledge of the past, the future, and all beings; that is why he looks and sounds just like Wukong. He is a six-eared macaque.”


Output:
As soon as the macaque heard the Tathagata Buddha say who he really was, he started shaking with fear and took a great leap to get away. The Tathagata at once ordered his hosts to strike, and the macaque was immediately surrounded by the four Bodhisattvas, eight vajrapanis, five hundred arhats, three thousand protectors, and all the monks, nuns and lay people, as well as Guanyin and Moksa. The Great Sage Monkey rushed forward too.

“Don’t hit him, Wukong,” said the Tathagata. “I shall capture him for you.” The macaque’s fur stood on end as he realized that there would be no escape, so he shook himself and turned straight into a bee who started to fly straight up, only to fall down again as the Tathagata’s golden begging bowl was clapped over him. The host all thought he had got away. “Stop talking,” said the Buddha with a smile. “The evil spirit has not escaped. He is under my bowl.” They all surged forward to see him in his true form of a six-eared macaque as the bowl was lifted.


Output:
The Great Sage could not restrain himself. Swinging his iron cudgel he killed the demon with a single blow to the head, and that is why this species is now extinct. It was more than the Tathagata could bear.

“This is terrible,” he said, “this is terrible.”

“You shouldn’t be sorry for him,” said the Great Sage. “He wounded my master and stole our bundles. According to the law he should get his head cut off for wounding in the course of theft and daylight robbery.”

“Go back at once to escort the Tang Priest here to fetch the scriptures,” said the Tathagata.

The Great Sage kowtowed to him in thanks and said, “I wish to report to the Tathagata that my master definitely refuses to have me. The journey would be a lot of trouble for nothing. I beg you in your kindness, Tathagata, to say the Band-loosening Spell. Then I can take this gold band off and give it back to you, and you can let me return to lay life.”


Output:
“Stop those silly ideas and behave yourself,” said the Tathagata. “I shall send Guanyin to take you back to him. Of course he’ll accept you. Protect him well, and when you succeed and reach ultimate bliss there will be a place on a lotus throne for you too.”

When the Bodhisattva Guanyin heard this she put her hands together to thank him for his mercy then took Wukong off by cloud followed by Moksa and the white parrot. They were soon back at the thatched cottage by the road. As soon as Friar Sand saw them he hurried out to ask the master to greet the Bodhisattva at the door.

“Tang Priest,” she said, “it was a six-eared macaque pretending to be Wukong who hit you the other day. Fortunately the Tathagata could tell who he was, and Wukong has now killed him. You must now take Wukong back. There are many demon obstacles on the way ahead and you must have his protection if you are to reach Vulture Peak, see the Buddha and fetch the scriptures, so stop being angry with him.”


Output:
“I shall respectfully obey,” Sanzang replied.

Just as he was kowtowing in thanks there was the roar of a whirlwind from the East carrying Pig with the two bundles on his back. Seeing the Bodhisattva the idiot kowtowed to her and said, “Your disciple left the master the other day and went back to the Water Curtain Cave on the Mountain of Flowers and Fruit to look for this luggage. I found the imitation Tang Priest and imitation Pig and killed the pair of them. They were both monkeys. Then I went inside and found the bundles. Nothing’s missing—I’ve checked them over. So I came straight back by wind. What happened to the two Monkeys?”


Output:
The Bodhisattva then told him how the Tathagata had told the two of them apart. The idiot was delighted and gave thanks at great length. Master and disciples then said farewell to the Bodhisattva, who went back to the sea. The four of them were now once more of a single will and a single mind; all grievances had been washed away and anger removed. They thanked their hosts in the thatched cottage, retied the luggage, saddled up the horse, and headed West. Indeed:

A separation on the journey muddled the Five Elements;

At the demon-subduing gathering enlightenment returned.

The spirit returned to the house of the mind and dhyana was calmed;

When the six perceptions were controlled the elixir was completed.

If you don’t know how long it was till Sanzang saw the Buddha and asked for the scriptures after setting out again listen to the explanation in the next installment.

Chapter Fifty-Nine

Sanzang’s Way Is Blocked at the Fiery Mountains

Monkey First Tries to Borrow the Plantain Fan


Output:
Monkey First Tries to Borrow the Plantain Fan

The many species are at root the same;

All flows into the boundless sea.

Every thought and worry is in vain;

All types and forms together blend.

When the achievement is complete

Great will be the full and shining dharma.

Do not allow your differences to divide:

Keep everything together.

Gather all into the elixir furnace,

Refine it till it is red as darkest gold.

Then in its brilliance and beauty

On dragons it may ride at will.

The story tells how Sanzang took back Brother Monkey as the Bodhisattva had instructed him and headed towards the Western Heaven, united in heart with Pig and Friar Sand. They were no longer in two minds, and the ape and the horse were firmly under control. Time shot by like an arrow; days and nights alternated with the speed of a shuttle. After the scorching heat of summer they were now in the frosts of late autumn. What they saw was:

The sparse clouds blown away by the wild West wind,


Output:
Cranes calling in the distant hills amid the frosty woods.

This is a chilly time

When mountain rivers seem longer than ever.

The swan returns through the Northern frontier passes;

Migrating birds go back to their Southern fields.

The traveler feels lonely on the road;

Monastic robes do not keep out the cold.

As master and disciples pressed ahead they began to feel hotter and hotter in the warm air. “It is autumn now, so why is it getting hotter again?” Sanzang asked, reining in his horse.


Output:
“Don’t know,” said Pig. “There’s a country in the West, Sihali, where the sun sets. People call it ‘the end of the sky’. At about six o’clock every evening the king sends people on the city walls to band drums and blow bugles to cover the sound of the sea boiling. That’s because when the fire of the sun falls into the Western Ocean there’s a great seething noise like something burning being plunged into water. If they didn’t cover the noise with their drums and bugles the shock would kill all the little children in the city. That’s where I think we are—the place where the sun sets.” When the Great Sage heard this he could not help laughing.

“Don’t talk such nonsense, you idiot. We’re a long way from Sihali yet. The way our master keeps dithering and changing his mind we won’t get there in three lifetimes, even if we go on from childhood to old age, then to childhood again, and then to another old age and a third childhood.”


Output:
“Tell me then, brother,” said Pig, “if this isn’t where the sun sets why’s it so scorching hot?”

“The seasons must be out of joint,” said Friar Sand. “I expect they’re following summer rituals here although it’s autumn.” Just as the three disciples were arguing they saw a farm by the side of the road. It had a red tiled roof, red brick walls, and red painted doors, windows and furniture. It was red everywhere.

“Wukong,” said Sanzang, dismounting, “go to that house and find out why it’s so burning hot.”

The Great Sage put his gold-banded cudgel away, neatened his clothes, and swaggered along the road like a fine gentleman. When he reached the gate to have a look an old man suddenly appeared from inside. This is what he looked like:

He wore a robe of hemp-cloth,

Not quite brown or red,

A sunhat of woven bamboo,

In between black and green.

The knobby stick in his hand

Was neither crooked nor straight.

His long boots of leather

Were not new, but not yet old.

His face was the color of copper,


Output:
His face was the color of copper,

His beard bleached white like yarn.

Long eyebrows shaded his jade-blue eyes

And his smile showed golden teeth.

The old man had a shock when he looked up to see Monkey. “Where are you from, you freak?” he asked, steadying himself on his stick. “What are you doing at my gate?”

“Venerable patron,” replied Monkey with a bow, “don’t be afraid. I’m no freak. My master and we three disciples have been sent by the Great Tang emperor in the East to fetch the scriptures from the West. As we’ve now reached your residence I have come to ask you why it’s so boiling hot here and what this place is called.”

Only then did the old man stop feeling worried and reply with a smile, “Please don’t take offence, reverend sir. My old eyes are rather dim and I failed to recognize your distinguished self.”

“There’s no need to be so polite,” said Monkey. “Which road is your master on?” the old man asked.

“That’s him, standing on the main road due South,” Monkey replied.


Output:
“Ask him over, ask him over,” the old man replied, to Monkey’s pleasure. Monkey waved to them, and Sanzang came over with Pig and Friar Sand leading the white horse and carrying the luggage. They all bowed to the old man.

The old man was at the same time delighted by Sanzang’s fine appearance and alarmed by Pig’s and Friar Sand’s remarkable ugliness. Inviting them in, he told the younger members of the family to bring tea and cook a meal. Hearing all this Sanzang rose to his feet to thank the old man and ask, “Could you tell me, sir, why it has turned so hot again although it is autumn now?”

“These are the Fiery Mountains,” the old man replied. “We don’t have springs or autumns here. It’s hot all the year round.”

“Where are the mountains?” Sanzang asked. “Do they block the way to the West?”


Output:
“It’s impossible to get to the West,” the old man replied. “The mountains are about twenty miles from here. You have to cross them to get to the West, but they’re over 250 miles of flame. Not a blade of grass can grow anywhere around. Even if you had a skull of bronze and a body of iron you would melt trying to cross them.” This answer made Sanzang turn pale with horror; he dared not to ask any more questions.

Just then a young man pushing a red barrow stopped by the gate, shouting, “Cakes! Cakes!” The Great Sage pulled out one of his hairs and turned it into a copper coin with which he bought a cake off the young man. The man accepted the money and without a worry he lifted the cover off his barrow to release a cloud of hot steam, took out a cake and passed it to Monkey. When Monkey took it in his hand it was as hot as a burning coal or a red-hot nail in a furnace.

Just look at him as he keeps tossing the cake from one hand to another shouting, “It’s hot, it’s hot, I can’t eat it.”


Output:
“If you can’t stand heat don’t come here,” the young man replied. “It’s always this hot here.”

“You don’t understand at all, my lad,” said Monkey. “As the saying goes,

If it’s never too cold and it’s never too hot

The five kinds of grain will be harvested not.”

“If it’s so hot here how do you get the flour to make your cakes?” To this the young man said,

“You ask me where we can obtain the flour for the pan:

Politely we request it from Immortal Iron Fan.”

“What can you tell me about this immortal?” Monkey asked.

“The immortal has a plantain fan,” the young man replied. “If you ask it to, the fan puts out the fire at the first wave, makes a wind blow at the second wave, and brings rain at the third wave. That is how we can sow and reap the crops to support ourselves. Without it nothing would be able to grow.”


Output:
On hearing this Monkey rushed back inside, gave the cakes to Sanzang, and said, “Don’t worry, Master: Don’t get upset about what’s going to happen the year after next. East these cakes up and I’ll tell you all about it.” Sanzang took the cakes and said to the old man, “Please have a cake, sir.”

“I could not possibly eat one of your cakes before we’ve offered you any of our tea and food,” the old man replied. “Sir,” Monkey replied, “there’s no need to give us food or tea. But could you tell me where the Iron Fan Immortal lives?”


Output:
“What do you want to know about the immortal for?” the old man asked. “The cake-seller told me just now that the immortal has a plantain fan,” said Monkey. “If you borrow it the first wave puts the fire out, the second raises a wind and the third brings rain. That’s why you’re able to sow and reap the crops to support yourselves. I want to go to ask the immortal to come so we can put out the flames on the Fiery Mountains and cross them. And you’ll be able to sow, reap and live in peace.”

“It’s a nice idea,” said the old man, “but as you have no presents the immortal wouldn’t come.”

“What sort of presents would be wanted?” Sanzang asked.

“Every ten years,” the old man replied, “we go to visit the immortal. We take four pigs and four sheep, all decorated with flowers and red ribbons, delicious fruit in season, chickens, geese and the best wine. We bathe ourselves and go very reverently to pay a respectful visit to the mountain and ask the immortal to leave the cave and come here to perform magic.”


Output:
“Where is this mountain?” Monkey asked. “What’s it called? How far is it from here? I’m going there to ask for the fan.”

“It lies Southwest of here,” the old man said, “and it’s called Mount Turquoise Cloud. When we believers go to worship at the magic mountain the journey takes us a month as it’s about 485 miles altogether.”

“No problem,” said Monkey. “I can be there and back in no time.”

“Wait a minute,” said the old man. “Have something to eat and drink first, and we’ll get some provisions ready for the journey. You’ll need two people to go with you. Nobody lives along the way and there are many wolves and tigers. It’ll take you many a day to get there. You must be serious about it.”

“No need,” said Monkey with a laugh, “no need. I’m off.” As soon as he had said that he disappeared.

“My lord!” the old man said in astonishment. “He’s a god who can ride clouds.”


Output:
We shall say no more of how the family redoubled their offerings to the Tang Priest, but tell of Monkey, who arrived at Mount Turquoise Cloud in an instant, brought his auspicious light to a stop and started looking for the entrance to the cave. He heard the sound of an axe and saw a woodcutter felling a tree in the forest on the mountainside. Hurrying forward, Monkey heard him saying.

“I recognize the ancient woods amid the clouds;

The path is overgrown; the hillside steep.

From Western hills I see the morning rain;

Returning to the South the ford’s too deep.”

Going closer to the woodman Monkey said, “Greetings, woodman.” Putting down his axe the woodcutter returned his courtesy and asked him where he was going. “May I ask if this is Mount Turquoise Cloud?” said Monkey.

“Yes,” the woodcutter replied.

“Where is the Iron Fan Immortal’s Plantain Cave?” Monkey asked.

“There’s a Plantain Cave here,” the woodcutter replied, “but no Iron Fan Immortal, only a Princess Iron Fan. She’s also called Raksasi.”


Output:
“They say the immortal has a plantain fan that can put out the flames of the Fiery Mountains. Is that her?”

“Yes, yes,” the woodman said. “She’s a sage and she has this treasure that puts out fire. Because she protects the people who live over yonder they call her the Iron Fan Immortal. We have no need of her here, so we just call her Raksasi. She’s the wife of the Bull Demon King.”

Monkey went pale with shock at the news. “Another person who’s got it in for me,” he thought. “When I subdued the Red Boy the other year he said this bitch was his mother. When I met the Red Boy’s uncle at Childfree Cave on Mount Offspring Dissolved he refused me the water and wanted revenge. Now I’m up against his parents. How am I ever going to borrow the fan?”

Seeing Monkey deep in thought and sighing endlessly, the woodcutter said with a smile, “Venerable sir, you’re a man of religion. You shouldn’t have any worries. Just follow this path East and you’ll be at the

Plantain Cave within a couple of miles.”


Output:
Plantain Cave within a couple of miles.”

“I’ll be frank with you, woodcutter,” said Monkey. “I’m the senior disciple of the Tang Priest who has been sent by the Tang emperor in the East to go to fetch the scriptures from the Western Heaven. The other year I had words with Raksasi’s son Red Boy at the Fire-cloud Cave, and I’m afraid that Raksasi may refuse to let me have the fan because she’s still nursing a grudge. That’s why I’m worried.”

“A real man knows how to play it by ear,” the woodcutter replied. “Just ask for the fan. Forget about your old quarrel. I’m sure you’ll be able to borrow it.”

Monkey made a respectful chant and said, “Thank you very much for your advice. I’m off.”

Brother Monkey then took his leave of the woodcutter and went straight to the mouth of the Plantain Cave. Both doors were tightly shut, and the scenery outside was magnificent. It was a splendid place. Indeed:

The rocks were the hones of the mountain,

And also the spirit of the earth.

Clouds at sunset held night rain,


Output:
Clouds at sunset held night rain,

And mosses lent the freshness of their green.

The towering peaks outdid those of Penglai;

The fragrant calm was like a magic island’s.

Wild cranes were perching in the lofty pines

While warblers sang in the weeping willows.

This was indeed an ancient site,

The home of immortals for ten thousand years.

The resplendent phoenix sang in the parasol trees

While azure dragons hid in the running waters.

Vines hung over the winding paths,

And creepers covered the steps of stone.

Apes on the cliffs screeched to welcome the rising moon;

In tall trees birds sang for joy at the clear blue sky.

The groves of bamboo were as cool as if it had rained;

The flowers along the path were embroidered velvet.

At times a cloud of white would blow from a distant peak;

It had no single form as it drifted in the wind.


Output:
It had no single form as it drifted in the wind.

“Open up, Brother Bull,” Monkey shouted as he went up to the doors. They opened with a creak, and out came a young girl carrying a flower basket in her hand and hoe over her shoulder. Indeed:

Though clad in rags and dressed in no fine array,

Her face was full of spirit, her heart set on the Way.

Monkey went up to her with his hands together in front of his chest and said, “Would you kindly tell the princess that I’m a monk going to the West to fetch the scriptures. I’m here to beg the loan of her plantain fan as we can’t get across the Fiery Mountains.”

“What monastery are you from,” the girl asked, “and what is your name? Please tell me so that I can announce you.”

“I’m from the East,” Monkey replied, “and my name is Sun Wukong.”


Output:
The girl went back into the cave, knelt to the princess, and said, “Your Highness, there’s a monk from the East called Sun Wukong outside who would like to see you to ask for the loan of the plantain fan to cross the Fiery Mountains.” The name Sun Wukong was like a pinch of salt thrown into a flame, or oil poured on a fire. Her face went bright red and evil anger flared up in her heart.

“So that damned monkey’s here at last,” she said with hatred. “Girl,” she shouted, “fetch me my armor and my weapons.” She then put on her armor, tied her pair of blue-tipped swords at her waist, fastened it all firmly, and went out. Monkey slipped over to the entrance to see what she looked like and this is what he saw:

A flowered kerchief tied around her head,

A cloud-patterned robe of quilted brocade.

A belt of two tiger sinews round her waist,

Revealing a skirt of embroidered silk.

Her shoes like phoenix beaks were but three inches long;

Her trousers in dragon-beard style were adorned with gold.


Output:
Brandishing her swords she gave out angry shouts;

She looked as lethal as the goddess of the moon.

“Where’s Sun Wukong?” Raksasi shouted as she came out of her cave.

Monkey stepped forward, bowed, and replied, “Monkey offers his respectful greetings, sister-in-law.”

“I’m no sister-in-law of yours,” she shouted angrily, “and I’ll have no greetings from you.”

“Your worthy husband the Bull Demon King was once my sworn brother,” Monkey replied. “There were seven of us altogether. As I learn that you are my brother Bull’s good lady, of course I must call you sister-in-law.”

“Damned ape,” said Raksasi, “if you’re my husband’s sworn brother why did you have to do that terrible thing to our boy?”

“Who is your son?” Monkey asked, as if he did not know.


Output:
“He’s the Red Boy, the Boy Sage King of the Fire-cloud Cave by Withered Pine Ravine on Mount Hao,” Raksasi replied. “You ruined him, and now you’ve come to our door to pay with your life. We’ve been longing to get our revenge on you but didn’t know where to find you. You’ll get no mercy from me.”

Putting on the broadest of smiles, Monkey replied, “You haven’t gone into it thoroughly enough, sister-in-law. You’ve no reason to be so angry with me Your good son had captured my master and would have steamed or boiled him if the Bodhisattva hadn’t taken the boy as his disciple and rescued my master. He’s now the page Sudhana on the Bodhisattva’s island and he’s accepted the pursuit of the true reward from her. He is now beyond life and death and above filth and purity. He will live as long as heaven, earth, the sun and the moon. But far from thanking me for saving his life you’re getting angry at me. That’s wrong of you.”


Output:
“You smooth-tongued ape,” Raksasi snapped back. “My boy may be alive, but when is he ever going to come here? When am I going to see him again?”

“It’ll be easy for you to see your son again,” Monkey replied, still smiling. “Just lend me the fan to put the fires out. When I’ve taken my master across the mountains I’ll go to the Bodhisattava’s place in the Southern Ocean and ask him to come here to see you and give your fan back. No problem. Then you’ll be able to see that he’s completely unharmed. If he’d been wounded at all you’d have had every right to be angry with me. But he’s as handsome as ever. You ought to be thanking me.”

To this Raksasi’s reply was: “Shut up, ape fiend! Stick your head out for me to hack with my sword. If you can stand the pain I’ll lend you the plantain fan. If you can’t you’ll be going straight down to Hell to see King Yama.”


Output:
Monkey then clasped his hands together in front of him and replied with a smile, “Enough said, sister-in-law. I’ll stretch my bald head out and you can take as many hacks as you like until you’re exhausted. But you must lend me the fan.” With no more argument Raksasi swung both of her swords around and brought them down with loud thunks a dozen or more times on Monkey’s head. He was not bothered at all. Raksasi was so frightened by this that she turned to run away.

“Where are you going, sister-in-law?” Monkey said. “Hurry up and lend me that fan.”

“My treasure isn’t something to be lent out casually,” Raksasi replied.

“Well,” said Monkey, “if you refuse now you’ll just have to try a taste of your brother-in-law’s cudgel.”


Output:
The splendid Monkey King held on to her with one hand while pulling his cudgel out from his ear with the other. With one wave it became as thick as a ricebowl. Raksasi broke free from his grip and raised her swords to strike back at him. Monkey started swinging his cudgel to hit her with and the fight began in front of Mount Turquoise Cloud. All talk of kinship was forgotten and their minds full of hatred alone. It was a fine battle:

The woman had worked hard to make herself a monster;

She loathed the ape and would avenge her son.

Although Monkey was seething with fury,

He would have made concessions for his master’s sake.

First he had asked to borrow the plantain fan,

Being patient and gentle, not fierce.

In ignorance Raksasi hacked with her sword,

While Monkey decided to speak of kinship.

Women should never fight with men,

For men are harder and can crush them.

Terrible was the gold-banded cudgel,

Fine were the movements of the blue frost-bladed sword,

With blows to face and head,


Output:
With blows to face and head,

As both of them grimly refused to yield.

Blocking to left and right they used their martial skill;

Great was the cunning with which they stood or fell back.

Just when they both were beginning to enjoy themselves

The sun set in the Western sky before they noticed.

Raksasi made ghosts and deities feel small

With many a wave of her true magic fan.

Raksasi and Monkey fought it out till evening. As Monkey’s cudgel struck so hard and his technique was so flawless she realized that she would never be able to beat him. She brought out her plantain fan and with a single wave blew Monkey right out of sight. There was no way he could stand his ground. With that she went back to her cave in triumph.

The Great Sage was thrown around in the air, unable to come down to earth or find any refuge. He was like a dead leaf in a whirlwind or a fallen blossom carried along by a torrent.


Output:
Only after a whole night’s buffeting did he manage to land on a mountain the next morning and hold on hard to a rock by putting both arms round it. He needed a long time to calm himself and take a good look around before he realized that he was on Little Mount Sumeru.

“What a terrible woman,” he said to himself with a deep sigh. “How ever did she get me here? I remember coming here once to ask the Bodhisattva Lingji to subdue the Yellow Wind Monster and rescue my master. The Yellow Wind Ridge is over a thousand miles South of here, so as I’ve been blown back from the West I must have come thousands and thousands of miles. I’ll go down and find out some more from the Bodhisattva Lingji before I go back.”


Output:
Just as he was making his mind up he heard a resounding gong, so he hurried down the mountain and straight to the dhyana monastery. The lay brother on the gate recognized Monkey and went in to announce, “The hairy-faced Great Sage who asked the Bodhisattva to subdue the Yellow Wind Monster some years back is here again.”

Realizing that this must be Sun Wukong, the Bodhisattva hurried down from his throne to greet him and lead him inside with the words, “Allow me to congratulate you. I suppose you have fetched the scriptures now.”

“It’ll be a long time yet,” said Monkey, “a long time.”

“But why are you visiting my mountain if you have yet to reach the Thunder Monastery?” the Bodhisattva asked.


Output: “Since in your great kindness you subdued the Yellow Wind Monster for me some years ago,” Monkey replied, “goodness only knows how much we’ve suffered on our journey. Now we are at the Fiery Mountains, but we can’t cross them. When I asked the local people they told me about an Iron Fan Immortal who had an iron fan that could put the fires out. I went to visit the immortal, only to discover that she’s the wife of the Bull Demon King and the Red Boy’s mother. I told her that her son is now Guanyin Bodhisattva’s page, but she has it in for me because she can’t see him. She refused to lend me her fan and fought me. When she realized that my cudgel was too much for her she waved her fan and sent me hurling through the air till I landed here. That’s why I’ve come blundering into your monastery to ask the way back. How far is it from here to the Fiery Mountains?”


Output:
“The woman is called Raksasi, or Princess Iron Fan,” replied Lingji with a smile. “That plantain fan of hers is a miraculous treasure formed by heaven and earth behind Mount Kunlun ever since primal chaos was first separated. This leaf is the very essence of the negative Yin principle, which is why it can put out fire. If she fans somebody with it he’ll be blown 27,000 miles before that negative wind drops. But this mountain of mine is only some 17,000 miles from the Fiery Mountains. You must have stopped here because you have the power to delay clouds, Great Sage. No ordinary mortal would have been able to stop.”

“She’s terrible,” said Monkey. “How ever is my master going to get across those mountains?”

“Don’t worry, Great Sage,” Lingji replied. “The Tang Priest is fated to succeed on this journey with you.”


Output:
“How can you tell?” Monkey asked. “Many years age when the Tathagata gave me his instructions,” Lingji replied, “he presented me with a Wind-fixing Pill and a Flying Dragon Staff. The Flying Dragon Staff was used to subdue the Yellow Wind Monster, but I haven’t yet tried out the Wind-fixing Pill and I’ll give it to you today. It’ll stop the fan from being able to move you. You’ll just have to ask to get it and put the fire out with it. You’ll have an instant success.”

Monkey bowed deeply and expressed profound thanks. The Bodhisattva then produced a brocade bag from his sleeve and took out of it the Wind-fixing Pill. This he gave to Monkey to sew up securely inside the lapel of his tunic. “I won’t detain you here any longer,” Lingji said as he saw Monkey out through doors. “Head Northwest and that will get you to Raksasi’s mountain.”


Output:
Taking his leave of Lingji Monkey rode his somersault cloud straight back to Mount Turquoise Cloud and was there in a moment. “Open up, open up!” he shouted, hammering on the doors with his iron cudgel. “Monkey’s here to borrow the fan.”

This so alarmed the servant girl inside the doors that she ran back and reported, “Your Highness, he’s here to borrow the fan again.” The news frightened Raksasi, who thought, “That damned monkey really has got some powers. If I fan anyone else with my treasure they go 27,000 miles before stopping. How can he be back so soon after being blown away? This time I’ll fan him two or three times and he’ll never be able to find his way back here.”

She sprang to her feet, tied all her armor firmly on, and went out of the cave with her swords in her hands shouting, “Sun the Novice, aren’t you afraid of me? Why have you come back here to get yourself killed?”


Output:
“Don’t be so stingy, sister-in-law,” said Monkey with a smile. “You’ve got to lend me it. I’ll bring it back as soon as I’ve escorted the Tang Priest across the Fiery Mountains. I give you my word as a gentleman. I’m not the sort of low creature who borrows things but doesn’t give them back.”

“Damned macaque,” Raksasi shouted back. “You’re outrageous, and you understand nothing. I’ve got to avenge the loss of my son, so how could I possibly be prepared to lend you my fan? Clear off if you don’t want a taste of my sword.” The Great Sage, not at all afraid, struck back at her hands with his iron cudgel, and the two of them fought six or seven rounds. By then Raksasi’s arms were becoming too tired to wield the swords, while Brother Monkey was feeling strong and fighting well. Seeing that the balance of the fight was tilting against her, Raksasi took out the fan and fanned it once in Monkey’s direction.


Output:
He stood unmoved, put his iron cudgel away, and said with a chuckle, “This time it’s different. Fan as much as you like. If I move an inch I’m no man.” She fanned twice more and still he did not move. By now she was so alarmed that she put her pride and joy away at once, went straight back into the cave, and shut the doors firmly.

When Monkey saw this he used magic. He tore the lapel of his tunic open, put the Wind-fixing Pill in his mouth, shook himself, turned into the tiniest of insects, and squeezed in through the crack between the doors, where he saw Raksasi shouting, “I’m thirsty, I’m thirsty. Quick, bring me some tea.” The servant girl who attended her fetched a pot of the best tea and poured a large cup of it so noisily that the surface was frothy. Monkey was delighted. With a quiet buzz of his wings he flew under the froth. Raksasi was so parched that she drained the tea in two gulps.


Output:
Once inside her stomach Monkey reverted to his own form and shouted at the top of his voice, “Sister-in-law, lend me the fan.”

Raksasi went pale with shock. “Little ones,” she called to her underlings, “are the front doors shut?”

“Yes,” they all said.

“If the doors are shut then how can Sun the Novice be inside the cave and shouting?” she asked.

“He’s shouting from inside you,” the servant girl replied.

“Where are you playing your conjuring tricks, Sun the Novice?” Raksasi asked.


Output:
“I’ve never been able to do conjuring tricks in all my life,” Monkey replied. “My magic and my powers are all real. I’m fooling around in your own in-sides, good sister-in-law. I’ve just seen your lungs and your liver. I know you’re very hungry and thirsty, so I’ll give you a bowlful to quench your thirst.” With that he stamped his foot, giving Raksasi an unbearable cramp in her stomach that left her sitting groaning on the floor. “Don’t try to say no, sister-in-law,” Monkey then said. “I’m giving you a pastry in case you’re hungry.” He butted upwards, causing such a violent heart pain that she could only roll around on the ground, her face sallow and her lips white from agony.

“Spare me, brother-in-law, spare me,” was all she could say.

Only then did Monkey stop hitting and kicking. “So you call me brother-in-law now, do you?” he said. “I’ll spare your life for my brother Bull’s sake. Get me the fan, and quick.”

“You shall have it, brother-in-law, you shall have it,” she said. “Come out and get it.”


Output:
“Fetch it and show it to me,” Monkey said. She told the servant girl to fetch a plantain fan and stand holding it beside her. Monkey poked his head up her throat to see it and said, “As I’m sparing your life, sister-in-law, I won’t smash my way out under your ribs. I’ll come out through your mouth. Open wide three times.” With that Raksasi opened her mouth and Monkey turned back into the tiny insect to fly out and alight on the fan. Not realizing what had happened Raksasi went on to open her mouth twice more.

“Come out, brother-in-law,” she said.

Monkey turned back into himself, took the fan and said, “Here I am. Thanks for the loan.” With that he strode forward while the underlings opened the doors to let him out of the cave.


Output:
The Great Sage then turned his cloud around and headed back East. A moment later he had landed the cloud and was standing by the red brick wall. Pig was very pleased indeed to see him. “Master,” he said, “Monkey’s here! He’s back!” Sanzang went out with the old man of the farm and Friar Sand to greet him, and they all went back inside.

Propping the fan against the wall, Monkey asked, “Tell me sir, is this the fan?”

“Yes, yes,” the old man said.

“This is a great achievement, disciple,” said Sanzang. “Fetching this treasure must have cost you a great deal of trouble.”


Output: “No trouble at all,” said Monkey. “Do you know who that Iron Fan Immortal is? She’s Raksasi, the wife of the Bull Demon King and the Red Boy’s mother. Her other name is Princess Iron Fan. I found her outside her cave and asked to borrow the fan, but all she could talk of were her old grudges. She took a few cuts at me with her swords, but when I gave her a bit of a scare with the cudgel she fanned me with the fan and blew me all the way to Little Mount Sumeru. I was lucky enough to be able to see the Bodhisattva Lingji who gave me a tablet that stops winds and showed me the way back to Mount Turquoise Cloud. Then I saw Raksasi again, but this time her fan did not move me an inch, so she went back into her cave and I turned into a tiny insect to fly back in after her. When the damned woman-asked for some tea I slipped in under the froth at the top, got inside her, and started giving her a few punches and kicks. She couldn’t take the pain. She kept saying, ‘Spare me, brother-in-law, spare me.’ As she agreed to


Output: me, brother-in-law, spare me.’ As she agreed to lend me the fan I spared her life and took the fan. I’ll give it back to her after we’ve crossed the Fiery Mountains.” When Sanzang heard this he was extremely grateful.


Output:
Master and disciples then took their leave of the old man and traveled about fifteen miles West. The heat was becoming unbearable. “The soles of my feet are being roasted,” Friar Sand complained.

“My trotters are getting burnt and it hurts,” said Pig. The horse was going much faster than usual too. The ground was so hot that they could not stop, but every step was painful.


Output:
“Please dismount, Master,” said Monkey, “and brothers, stay here while I use the fan to put the fire out. When the wind and the rain come the ground will be a lot cooler and we’ll be able to get across the mountains.” He then raised the fan and fanned it hard once in the direction of the fire: tongues of flame rose above the mountains. He fanned again, and they were a hundred times as high. He fanned a third time, and now they were a couple of miles high and beginning to burn him. Monkey fled, but not before two patches of fur had been burnt away. He ran straight back to the Tang Priest and said, “Hurry back, hurry back, the flames are coming.”

The master remounted and headed back East with Pig and Friar Sand some seven miles before stopping and asking, “What happened, Wukong?”

“It’s the wrong one,” Monkey said, flinging the fan down, “it’s the wrong one. The damned woman fooled me.”


Output:
When Sanzang heard this he frowned and felt thoroughly depressed. “What are we to do?” he sobbed, the tears flowing freely down his cheeks.

“Brother,” said Pig, “why did you come back in such a mad rush and send us back here?”

“The first time I fanned there were flames,” Monkey replied, “the second time the fire got fiercer, and the third time the flames were a couple of miles high. If I hadn’t run fast all my fur would have been burnt off.”

“But you’re always telling us that you can’t be hurt by thunder and lightning and that fire can’t burn you,” said Pig with a laugh. “How come you’re afraid of fire now?”

“Idiot,” said Monkey, “you don’t understand anything. The other times I was ready: that’s why I wasn’t hurt. Today I didn’t make any flame-avoiding spells or use magic to defend myself. That’s why two patches of my fur were singed.”

“If the fire’s so fierce and there’s no other way to the West what are we going to do?” Friar Sand asked.


Output:
“We’ll just have to find somewhere where there isn’t any fire,” Pig replied.

“Which way will that be?” Sanzang asked.

“East, North or South: there’s no fire those ways,” said Pig. “But which way are the scriptures?”

“Only in the West,” Pig replied.

“I only want to go where the scriptures are,” Sanzang said.

“We’re well and truly struck,” said Friar Sand. “Where there are scriptures there’s fire, and where there’s no fire there are no scriptures.”

While master and disciples were talking this nonsense they heard someone call, “Don’t get upset, Great Sage. Come and have some vegetarian food before you take your discussions any further.” The four of them looked round to see an old man wearing a cloak that floated in the wind and a hat the shape of a half moon. In his hand he held a dragon-headed stick, and on his legs were boots of iron. With him was a demon with the beak of an eagle and the cheeks of a fish carrying on his head a copper bowl full of steamed buns, millet cakes, cooked millet and rice.


Output:
The old man bowed to them on the road to the West and said, “I am the local god of the Fiery Mountains. As I know that you are escorting this holy monk, Great Sage, and can’t go any further I have brought this meal as an offering.”

“Eating doesn’t matter,” Monkey replied. “When are these fires going to be put out so that my master can cross the mountains?”

“If you want to put the fires out you must first ask Raksasi to lend you the plantain fan,” the local god said. Monkey went to the side of the path, picked the fan up, and said, “This is it, isn’t it? The more I fan the flames the more fiercely they burn. Why?”

“Because it’s not the real one,” said the local deity with a laugh when he looked at it. “She fooled you.”

“Then how am I to get the real one?” Monkey said.

The local god bowed again and had a slight smile on his face as he replied, “If you want to borrow the real plantain fan you will have to ask the Strongarm King.”


Output:
If you don’t know all about the Strongarm King listen to the explanation in the next installment.

Chapter Sixty

The Bull Demon King Gives Up the Fight to Go to a Feast

Monkey Tries the Second Time to Borrow the Plantain Fan

“The Strongarm King is the Bull Demon King,” the local god explained.

“Did he set these mountains ablaze and pretend they were the Fiery Mountains?” Monkey asked.

“No, no,” the local god replied. “If you’ll promise to forgive me for doing so, Great Sage, I’ll speak frankly.”

“What’s there to forgive?” Monkey said. “Speak frankly.”

“You started this fire, Great Sage,” the local god replied.

“That’s nonsense,” said Monkey angrily. “I wasn’t here. Do you take me for an arsonist?”


Output:
“You don’t realize who I am,” the local god said. “These mountains haven’t always been here. When you made havoc in Heaven five hundred years ago and were captured by the Illustrious Sage Erlang you were escorted to Lord Lao Zi, put in the Eight Trigrams Furnace and refined. When the furnace was opened you kicked it over, and some of its bricks that still had fire in them fell here as the Fiery Mountains. I used to be one of the Taoist boys who looked after the furnace in the Tushita Palace, but Lord Lao Zi was so angry with me for failing in my duty that he sent me down to be the local god here.”

“I was wondering why you were dressed like that,” said Pig forcefully, “you’re a Taoist turned local god.”

“Tell me why I need to find the Strongarm King,” said Monkey, only half-convinced.


Output:
“He’s Raksasi’s husband,” the local god said. “He’s abandoned her now and gone to live in the Cloud-touching Cave in Mount Thunder Piled. A fox king there who’d lived for ten thousand years died leaving an only daughter, Princess Jade, with property worth a million but nobody to manage it. Two years ago she visited the Bull Demon King and found out about his tremendous magical powers. She decided to give him her property if he’d come to live in her cave as her husband. So the Bull Demon King abandoned Raksasi and hasn’t been back to see her for ages. If you can find him, Great Sage, and persuade him to come here you’ll be able to borrow the real fan. First, you’ll be able to blow the flames out to take your master across the mountains. Second, you’ll put an end to this disastrous fire so that the land here can come back to life. And third, I’ll be pardoned and allowed to go back to Heaven and return to live under Lord Lao Zi’s command.”

“Where is Mount Thunder Piled, and how far is it from here?”


Output:
“Due South,” the local deity said, “and over a thousand miles.” Once he knew this Monkey told Friar Sand and Pig to look after the master and ordered the local god to stay with them. There was then a roaring like the wind as he disappeared.

In less than an hour he saw a high mountain that touched the sky. Bringing his cloud down he stood on the peak to look around, and this is what he saw:

Was it tall?

Its peak touched the azure sky.

Was it big?

Its roots went down to the Yellow Springs.

While the sun warmed the front of the mountain

The winds behind the ridge blew cold.

On the sun-warmed front of the mountain

The flowers and trees never knew what winter was;

In the cold winds behind the ridge

The ice and frost did not even melt in summer.

From a dragon pool a river flowed in gullies;

Flowers bloomed early by the tiger’s cave in the crag.

The river split into a thousand jade streams;

The flowers bloomed together like brocade.

On the twisting ridge grew twisted trees;


Output:
On the twisting ridge grew twisted trees;

Beside the knotted rocks were knotted pines.

Indeed there were

A high mountain,

Steep ridges,

Sheer precipices,

Fragrant flowers,

Fine fruit,

Red creepers,

Purple bamboo,

Green pines,

Turquoise willows.

It looked the same throughout the seasons;

Changeless forever, like a dragon.

After looking for a long time the Great Sage walked down from the towering peak to find his way through the mountain. Just when he was feeling bewildered a slender young woman came towards him holding a spray of fragrant orchid. The Great Sage slipped behind a grotesque rock and took a good look at her. This is what she was like:

A ravishing beauty to enchant a nation

Walking so slowly on her little lotus feet.

Her face was like Wang Qiang or the woman of Chu.

She was a talking flower,

Scented jade.

The hair was swept down from her coiffure like jade-blue crows;

The green of her eyes made one think of autumn floods.

Her silken skirt showed a glimpse of tiny feet;


Output:
Her silken skirt showed a glimpse of tiny feet;

From her turquoise sleeves came long and elegant wrists.

She would put anyone into the mood for love;

Red were her lips, and white her pearly teeth.

Her skin was as smooth and her brows as fine as the Jinjiang beauty;

She was more than a match for Wenjun or Xue Tao.

As the young woman slowly approached the rock the Great Sage bowed to her and said, “Where are you going, Bodhisattva?” Before he spoke she had not noticed him; but when she looked up and saw how hideous the Great Sage was she was petrified, unable to move forward or back.

All she could do was shiver and force herself to reply, “Where are you from? How dare you question me?”

“If I tell her about fetching the scriptures and borrowing the fan,” the Great Sage thought, “this damn woman might be some relation of the Bull Demon King’s. I’d better pretend to be some kinsman of the Bull Demon King come to invite him to a banquet.”


Output:
When he would not answer her questions the woman turned angry and shouted, “Who are you and how dare you question me?”

“I’m from Mount Turquoise Cloud,” Monkey replied with a bow and a forced smile. “I don’t know the way as it’s my first time here. Could I ask you, Bodhisattva, if this is Mount Thunder Piled?”

“It is,” she replied.

“Where might I find the Cloud-touching Cave?” the Great Sage asked.

“What do you want to find it for?” the woman asked.

“I’ve been sent by Princess Iron Fan in the Plantain Cave on Mount Turquoise Cloud with an invitation for the Bull Demon King,” Monkey replied.

The moment the woman heard him speak of Princess Iron Fan sending an invitation to the Bull Demon King she flared into a rage and went crimson from ear to ear.


Output:
“She ought to know better, the low bitch. It’s less than two years since the Bull Demon King came here, and goodness only knows how much jewelry, gold, silver, fine silk and brocade I’ve given her since then. I send her firewood every year and rice every month. She’s doing nicely thank you. So what’s the shameless hussy doing, sending him an invitation?”

When the Great Sage heard this and realized that she was Princess Jade he deliberately pulled out his iron cudgel and shouted at her, “You’re a damned bitch, using your wealth to buy the Bull Demon King. You could only get him to marry you for your money. You ought to be thoroughly ashamed of yourself instead of being so insulting.”


Output:
At this all of her souls sent flying, and she fled trembling with terror, stumbling and tripping over her shoes, while the Great Sage ran after her, shouting and roaring. Once they were out from under the shade of the pines they were at the entrance to the Cloud-touching Cave. She ran inside and the doors slammed shut behind her. Only then did Monkey put his cudgel away and take a good look:

A thick forest,

Sheer precipices,

Luxuriance of creepers,

Fragrance of orchids.

The spring washed over jade and through bamboo;

Grotesque and cunning rocks held precious stones.

The distant peaks were wreathed in mists;

Sun and moon lit up the cloudy crags.

Dragons howled, tigers roared,

Cranes called and warblers sang.

Fresh and lovely was its elegant peace,

And the scenery was radiant with precious flowers.

It was a match for Tiantai’s magic caves,

And finer than the Peng and Ying islands in the sea.


Output:
We will say nothing of how Brother Monkey admired the view but tell how the young woman, dripping with sweat after running and her heart beating wildly from terror, went straight to the study where the Bull Demon King was quietly perusing a book on cinnabar alchemy. She threw herself into his arms feeling thoroughly put out, scratched and tugged at his face and ears, and howled aloud.

“Don’t upset yourself so, my lovely,” said the Bull Demon King, all smiles. “What do you want to tell me?”

She then began to prance and jump about in her fury as she said abusively, “You’re killing me, damned monster.”

“What makes you say that?” he asked, all smiles.

“I brought you here to look after me and protect me because I’d lost my parents and people who’d been around all said that you were a tough guy,” she said. “But you’re just another henpecked hack.”

The Bull Demon King took her in his arms and said, “How’ve I done you wrong, my lovely? Take your time and tell me about it. I’ll make it up to you.”


Output: “I was taking a stroll among the flowers outside the cave just now picking orchids,” she said, “When a monk with a face like a thunder god rushed up to me and started bowing. I was so scared I couldn’t move. When I calmed down enough to ask him who he was he said he’d been sent by that Princess Iron Fan with an invitation for you. I was so angry I had something to say about that, and he started abusing me and chased me with his cudgel. He’d have just about killed me with it if I hadn’t run so fast. So you see, bringing you here was a disaster. It’s killing me.” At this the Bull Demon King apologized to her very earnestly. It took a long time and many tender attentions from his before she finally calmed down.


Output:
“I tell you the truth, my lovely,” the demon king said forcefully. “The Plantain Cave may be rather out of the way, but it’s a place of purity and elegance. That wife of mine has had the highest moral principles since childhood, and she’s also an immortal who has attained the Way. She runs her household very strictly. There’s not even a page there. She couldn’t possibly have sent a monk with a face like a thunder god. I wonder what evil fiend he is. He must have used her name to come and see me. I’m going out to have a look.”

The splendid demon king strode out of the study and into the hall to put on his armor and take his iron cudgel. “Who are you, and why are you behaving so outrageously?” he shouted as he went out through the doors. Monkey, who was watching from one side, saw that he now looked quite different from the way he had five hundred years earlier.

His wrought iron helmet shone like water or silver;

His golden armor was trimmed with silks and brocades.


Output:
The toes of his deerskin boots turned up; their soles were white.

The silken belt at his waist included three lion’s tails.

His eyes were as bright as mirrors,

His brows as elegant as red rainbows,

His mouth like a bowl of blood,

His teeth a row of copper plates.

At his resounding roar the mountain gods took fright;

Evil ghosts were overawed by his majestic power.

His fame was known throughout the seas for raising chaos;

He was the Strongarm Demon King here in the West.

The Great Sage then tidied his clothes, stepped forward, chanted a deep “re-e-er” of respect, and asked, “Can you still recognize me, eldest brother?”

“Are you Sun Wukong, the Great Sage Equaling Heaven?” the Bull Demon King replied, returning his bow.

“Yes, yes,” said Monkey. “It’s such a long time since last we met. I only got here to see you because I asked a woman some questions just now. I must congratulate you on how well everything is growing.”


Output:
“Cut that out,” the Bull Demon King shouted back. “I heard about you making havoc in Heaven and being crushed under the Five Elements Mountain by the Lord Buddha. Then you were released from your heavenly punishment to protect the Tang Priest on his way to worship the Buddha and fetch the scriptures in the Western Heaven. Why did you have to destroy my son, the Sage Boy Bullcalf? I’m very angry with you. Why are you here looking for me?”

“Please don’t misjudge me, brother,” said the Great Sage with another bow. “Your good son captured my master and was going to eat him. I was no match for him. Luckily the Bodhisattva Guanyin rescued my master and converted your boy. He’s now the page Sudhana. He’s even taller than you. He lives in a temple of great bliss and enjoys eternal ease. There’s nothing wrong with any of that, so why be angry with me?”


Output:
“Smooth-tongued macaque,” retorted the Bull Demon King. “Even if you can talk your way out of having ruined my son, what do you mean by upsetting my beloved concubine and chasing her up to my doors?”

“I made a polite inquiry of the lady because I could not find you,” Monkey replied. “I never realized she was your second wife, so when she was rude to me I acted rough. Please forgive me.”

“Very well then,” the Bull Demon King said. “I’ll let you off this time for the sake of our old friendship.”

“I’m very grateful indeed for your immense kindness,” the Great Sage replied. “But there is one thing I’d like to trouble you with. I hope you’ll be able to help me out.”

“You macaque,” the Bull Demon King shouted at him, “you think you can get away with anything! I spare your life, but instead of making yourself scarce you have to keep pestering me. What do you mean by helping out?”


Output:
“Let me be honest with you,” the Great Sage replied. “I’m stuck at the Fiery Mountains on my journey escorting the Tang Priest, and we’re not getting anywhere. The local people told me that your good lady Raksasi has a plantain fan. I tried to borrow it. I went to visit my sister-in-law, but she refused to lend it me, which is why I’ve come to see you. I beg you, brother, in the greatness of your heart to come with me to sister-in-law’s place and borrow the fan for me so that I can blow out the fires and get my master across the mountains. Then I’ll return it right away.”

At this the Bull Demon King’s heart blazed with wrath. “You told me you knew how to behave,” he said, noisily gnashing his teeth of steel. “I suppose all this was not just to borrow the fan. I’m certain my wife has refused to lend it you because you’ve mistreated her. So that’s why you came to see me. On top of that you send my beloved concubine fleeing in terror. As the saying goes,

‘Don’t push around

Your best friend’s wife,


Output:
‘Don’t push around

Your best friend’s wife,

Don’t try to destroy

The joy of his life.’

You’ve been pushing my wife around and trying to destroy the concubine who’s the joy of my life. It’s an outrage. Take this!”

“If you want to hit me, brother, I’m not afraid,” said Monkey. “All I want is the treasure. I beg you to lend it me.”

“If you can last out three rounds with me,” the Bull Demon King said, “I’ll make my wife lend it to you. And if you can’t I’ll kill you and have my revenge.”

“Good idea, brother,” Monkey replied. “I’ve been so lazy. I haven’t been to see you for ages, and I don’t know how your fighting powers now compare with the old days. Let’s have a match with our cudgels.” The Bull Demon King was in no mood for further argument, and he hit at Monkey’s head with his mace. Monkey hit back with his gold-banded cudgel. It was a splendid fight:

The gold-banded cudgel,

The rough iron mace,

Are no longer friends.

One said, “You destroyed my son, you macaque.”


Output:
One said, “You destroyed my son, you macaque.”

The other, “Don’t be angry: he has found the Way.”

“How could you be so stupid as to come to my door?”

“I am here to visit you with a special purpose.”

One wanted the fan to protect the Tang Priest;

The other was too mean to lend the plantain leaf.

Friendship was lost in the exchange of words;

In anger neither had any sense of brotherhood.

The Bull Demon King’s mace moved like a dragon;

The Great Sage’s cudgel sent gods and demons fleeing.

First they fought in front of the mountain,

Then they both rose on auspicious clouds.

They showed their great powers up in mid-air,

Doing wonderful movements in multi-coloured light.

The clash of their cudgels rocked the gates of Heaven;

They were too evenly matched for either to win.


Output:
They were too evenly matched for either to win.

The Great Sage and the Bull Demon King fought over a hundred rounds without either emerging as the victor. Just as they were becoming locked in their struggle a voice called from the peak, “King Bull, my king sends his respects and invites you to honour him with your presence at a banquet.”

At this the Bull Demon King blocked the gold-banded cudgel with his iron mace and called out, “You stay here, macaque. I’m going to a friend’s house for a meal. I’ll be back.” With that he landed his cloud and went straight back into the cave.


Output:
“My lovely,” he said to Princess Jade, “the man you saw with a face like a thunder god is the macaque Sun Wukong. A bout with my mace has sent him packing: he won’t be back. Stop worrying and enjoy yourself. I’m going to a Mend’s place for some drinks.” He then took off his helmet and armor, donned a duck-green jacket of cut velvet, went outside and mounted his water-averting golden-eyed beast. Telling his underlings to look after the palace he headed Northwest in clouds and mist.

While the Great Sage watched all this from the peak he thought, “I wonder who the friend is and where he’s gone for his banquet. I’ll follow him.” Splendid Monkey then shook himself and turned into a clear breeze to follow him. He soon reached a mountain, but the Bull Demon King was nowhere to be seen. The Great Sage turned back into himself and started to search the mountain. He found a deep pool of pure water beside which was inscribed in large letters on a tablet of stone

RAGGED ROCK MOUNTAIN

GREEN WAVE POOL


Output:
RAGGED ROCK MOUNTAIN

GREEN WAVE POOL

“Old Bull must have gone into the water,” Monkey thought, “and underwater spirits are lesser dragons, dragon or fish spirits, or else turtle, tortoise or terrapin spirits. I’d better go down and have a look.”

Making a hand-spell and saying the magic words the splendid Great Sage shook himself, turned into a medium-sized crab weighing thirty-six pounds, jumped into the water with a splash, and went straight down to the bottom of the pool. He saw an ornamental arch of delicate tracery to which was tethered a water-averting golden-eyed beast. On the other side of the arch there was no more water. Monkey crawled through and took a careful look. From one side he heard music, and this is what he saw:

Cowry gateways to a palace red,

Like nothing else in the world.

The roof tiles were of yellow gold,

The door pivots of whitest jade.

The screens were of tortoise-shell,

The balustrades of coral and of pearl.

Auspicious clouds glowed all around the throne,


Output:
Auspicious clouds glowed all around the throne,

From the sky above right down to the ground.

This was not the palace of Heaven or the sea,

Although it more than rivaled an island paradise.

A banquet for host and guests was set in the lofty hall,

Where all the official wore their hats with pearls.

Jade girls were told to bring ivory bowls,

Exquisite beauties to play fine music.

The great whale sang,

Giant crabs danced,

Turtles played pipes and drums,

While pearls shone over the goblets and boaras.

Birdlike script adorned the turquoise screens,

While shrimp-whisker curtains hung along the corridors.

From the eight notes mingled came wonderful music

Whose tones rose up to the clouds above.

Green-headed singsong girls stroked zithers of jasper

While red-eyed dragonflies played jade flutes.

Mandarin fish carried dried venison in on their heads,

While dragon girls had the wings of golden pheasants in their hair.

What they ate were

The rarest delicacies of the heavenly kitchen;


Output:
The rarest delicacies of the heavenly kitchen;

What they drank were

The finest vintages of the purple palace.

The Bull Demon King was sitting in the seat of honour with three or four lesser dragon spirits on either side. Facing him was an ancient dragon, surrounded by dragon sons, dragon grandsons, dragon wives and dragon daughters. Just as they were feasting and drinking the Great Sage Sun marched straight in, to be spotted by the ancient dragon, who ordered, “Arrest that vagrant crab.” The dragon sons and grandsons fell upon him and seized him.

“Spare me, spare me,” said Monkey, suddenly reverting to human speech.

“Where are you from, crab vagrant?” the ancient dragon asked. “How dare you come into my hall and behave in this disgraceful way in front of my distinguished guests? Tell me this moment if you want to be spared the death penalty.” The splendid Great Sage then made up a pack of lies to tell him:

“Ever since coming to live in the lake

I’ve had to make my home in cliffs and caves.


Output:
I’ve had to make my home in cliffs and caves.

Over the years I’ve learned to stretch myself out

So now I am known as the Sideways Man-at-arms.

Dragging my way through weeds and through mud,

I have never been taught correct social behavior.

If in my ignorance I have caused offence I beg

Your Majesty to show me mercy.”

When the spirits at the banquet heard this they all bowed to the ancient dragon and said, “This is the first time that the Sideways Man-at-arms has come to your palace of jasper, and he does not understand royal etiquette. We beg Your Excellency to spare him.”

The ancient dragon thanked the spirits and ordered, “Release the wretch. Put a beating on record against his name, and have him wait outside.” The Great Sage acknowledged his kindness then fled for his life till he reached the archway outside.


Output:
“That Bull Demon King is drinking for all he’s worth in there,” he thought. “I’m not going to wait till the feast breaks up. And even if I did he still wouldn’t lend me the fan. I’d do better to steal his golden-eyed beast and turn myself into a Bull Demon King. Then I can trick Raksasi into lending me the fan and I’ll be able to escort my master across the mountains. That’ll be best.”

The splendid Great Sage then reverted to his original form, untied the golden-eyed beast, leapt into the carved saddle, and rode straight up from the bottom of the water. Once out of the pool he made himself look like the Bull Demon King. Whipping on the beast he set his cloud moving and was soon at the mouth of the Plantain Cave in Mount Turquoise Cloud.

“Open up!” he shouted, and at the sound of his voice the two servant girls inside the gates opened them for him.


Output:
Taking him for the Bull Demon King they went in to report, “Madam, His Majesty’s come home.” At the news Raksasi quickly neatened her hair and hurried out on her little lotus feet to meet him. Climbing out of the saddle the Great Sage led the golden-eyed beast inside. He was bold enough to try to deceive the beauty, whose mortal eyes failed to see who he really was as she led him inside, hand in hand. The maids were told to prepare places and bring tea, and as the master was back the whole household tried its hardest.

The Great Sage and Raksasi were soon talking. “My good lady,” said the false Bull Demon King, “it’s been a long time.”

“I hope that everything has gone well for Your Majesty,” Raksasi replied, going on to ask, “What wind brings you back to your abandoned wife now that you have married your new darling?”


Output:
“There’s no question of having abandoned you,” the Great Sage replied with a smile. “It’s just that I’ve been away a long time since Princess Jade invited me to her place. I’m kept very busy with domestic matters to deal with and friends to attend to. I hear that so-and-so Sun Wukong is very near the Fiery Mountains with the Tang Priest, and I’m worried that he might come and ask you to lend him the fan. I can’t forgive him for destroying our son, I want my revenge. If he turns up, just send someone to tell me. When I get him we can cut his body up into ten thousand pieces as revenge for what we have suffered.”

“You Majesty,” replied Raksasi, in tears at what he had just said, “as the saying goes, ‘A man with no woman is risking his wealth; a woman with no husband is risking her health.’ That macaque practically killed me.”

At this the Great Sage pretended to fly into a terrible rage. “When did that bloody monkey go?” he swore.


Output:
“He hasn’t gone yet,” Raksasi replied. “He was here yesterday to borrow the fan, and as he’d destroyed our boy I put my armor on and went out to cut him to bits with my swords. But he endured the pain, called me his sister-in-law, and said that you and he were once sworn brothers.”

“He was my seventh sworn brother five hundred years ago,” the Great Sage replied.


Output:
“He said not a word when I swore at him,” Raksasi continued, “and didn’t strike back when I cut him. Finally I blew him away with the fan. Goodness only knows where he got some wind-fixing magic from, but this morning he was back shouting outside the door again, and the fan wouldn’t move him no matter how hard I waved it. When I swung my swords around and went for him with them he wasn’t being polite any more. I was so scared of the force of his cudgel I came back in here and had the doors tightly shut. Somehow or other he managed to get right into my belly and it practically killed me. I had to call him brother-in-law and lend him the fan before he’d go.”

The Great Sage put on a great show of beating his chest and saying, “How terrible, how terrible. You did wrong, wife. You should never have given that treasure to the macaque.”

“Don’t be angry, Your Majesty,” Raksasi replied. “I lent him a false fan and tricked him into going away.”

“Where’s the real one?” the Great Sage asked.


Output:
“Where’s the real one?” the Great Sage asked.

“Don’t worry,” she replied, “don’t worry. It’s safely put away.” She then told the serving girls to lay on wine and a feast to welcome him back. “Your Majesty,” she then said, offering him a goblet of wine, “please don’t forget the wife of your youth in the joy of your new marriage. Won’t you drink this cup of wine from home?” The Great Sage had no choice but to accept the goblet and smile as he raised it.

“You drink first, wife,” he said, “I’ve left you looking after the home by yourself, good lady, for too long, while I’ve been busy with my other property. Let this be a gesture of my gratitude.”


Output:
Raksasi took the goblet back, lifted it again, and handed it to the king with the words, “As the old saying goes: The wife is the equal, but the husband is the father who supports her. You don’t need to thank me.” It was only after more such politeness that the two of them sat down and began drinking. Not wanting to break his vow to avoid meat, the Great Sage only ate some fruit while he talked to her.

After they had each had several cups Raksasi was feeling a little drunk and rather sexy. She started to press herself against the Great Sage, stroking and pinching him. Taking him by the hand, she whispered tender words to him; leaning her shoulder against him, she spoke quietly and submissively. They shared the same cup of wine, drinking a mouthful each at a time, and she fed him fruit. The Great Sage pretended to go along with this and smile. He had no choice but to lean against her. Indeed:

The hook to catch poetry,

The broom to sweep away sorrow,

The remover of all difficulties is wine.


Output:
The remover of all difficulties is wine.

The man, though virtuous, unbuttoned his lapel;

The woman forgot herself and began to laugh.

Her face had the complexion of a peach,

Her body swayed like a willow sapling.

Many a word came babbling from her mouth

As she pinched and nipped in her desire.

Sometimes she tugged at her hair,

Or waved her delicate fingers.

She often raised a foot

And twitched the sleeves of her clothes.

Her powdered neck sunk lower

And her fine waist started to wiggle.

She never stopped talking for a moment

As she opened gold buttons to half show her breasts.

In her cups she was like a landslide of jade,

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


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

“Here’s the treasure,” she said.

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

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


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


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

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


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


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

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

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


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

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

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

“But if all that’s true, what about Your Majesty’s steed?” the ancient dragon asked.


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

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

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

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

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


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

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

“Your Majesty’s weapons aren’t here,” the serving girls replied.

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


Output:
The man who forgot a kindness

Tricking a doting wife;

The fiery-tempered old demon

Meeting a mendicant monk.

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

Chapter Sixty-One

Zhu Bajie Helps to Defeat a Demon King

Monkey’s Third Attempt to Borrow the Fan


Output:
Monkey’s Third Attempt to Borrow the Fan

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


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

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

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

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


Output:
“There was no need to worry,” said Monkey. “I’ve already got it.”

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

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

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


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


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

The Great Sage Equaling Heaven,

The Bull Demon King of evil,

All for the sake of a plantain-leaf fan.

When they met each showed his powers;

The careless Great Sage got the fan by a trick,


Output:
The careless Great Sage got the fan by a trick,

But allowed the Bull King to take it back.

One mercilessly raised the golden cudgel,

The other wielded with skill his blue-tipped swords.

The mighty Great Sage belched out coloured mists

While the evil Bull King breathed brilliant lights.

Well matched in courage,

Both of them wicked,

They gnashed and ground their teeth in terrible wrath.

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

Gods and ghosts alike hid from the flying stones.

“How dare you try to turn a trick against me!”

“I’ll get you for what my wife promised you!”

Coarse was their language and fierce were their tempers.

“For tricking my wife you deserve to die.”

“When I sue you the sentence will surely be death.”

The cunning Great Sage Equaling Heaven,

The murderous Strongarm Demon King:

Both of them only wanting to fight,

Neither of them willing to pause and discuss.

Equal the effort of swords and of cudgel;

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


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

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

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

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

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