Wu Cheng-en - Journey to the West (vol. 1)

“You know nothing, you wretch,” the monster replied, continuing:

“Great is the fame of this staff of mine,

Made from a Sala tree on the moon.

Wu Gang cut down a branch of it,

For Lu Ban to work with his unrivalled skill.

A strip of gold goes right through its heart,

And it is set with countless pearls.

It is a precious staff, fine for subduing fiends;

It could quell all demons when it guarded the Heavenly Palace.

When I was commissioned as High General

The Jade Emperor gave it me to use.

It can be any length I wish,

Thick or thin, responding to my will.

It protected the Emperor at Peach Banquets,

Attended at court in the upper world.

When I was at the palace, it met all the sages,

When I lifted the curtain, it greeted the Immortals.

I nurtured it and made it a divine weapon-

This is no ordinary earthly arm.

When I was sent down from Heaven in exile

I roamed at will throughout the world.

I do not need to boast about this staff,

Unmatched by any spear or saber in the world.

Look at that rusty rake of yours,

Only good for farming or growing vegetables.”

“I'll give you the beating you deserve, damn you,” said Pig. “Never mind about vegetable-growing-one swipe from it and you'll have nowhere left to put ointment, because your blood will be pouring out from nine holes. Even if it doesn't kill you, you'll have tetanus for the rest of your days.” The ogre dropped his defensive posture and fought with Pig from the river-bed to the surface of the water. This battle was fiercer than the earlier ones:

The precious staff whirled,

The deadly rake struck,

And no word passed between the two foes.

Because the Mother of Wood conquered the Medicine Measure

The pair of them had to fight each other twice.

With no victory,

And no defeat,

The waves were overturned and knew no peace.

How could the one hold back his anger?

How could the other bear his humiliation?

As the staff parried the rake's blows, they showed their prowess;

Each was most vicious as the Flowing Sands River rolled.

Towering rage,

Strenuous efforts,

All because Sanzang wanted to go West.

The rake was thoroughly murderous,

The staff was wielded with experience.

Pig grabbed his enemy, trying to drag him ashore,

While the other in torn tried to pull Pig under water.

The thunderous noise disturbed fish and dragons;

Gods and ghosts lay low as the sky was darkened.

The battle went on for thirty rounds, but neither emerged victorious. Pig feigned defeat once again, and fled trailing his rake behind him. The ogre charged through the waves after him as far as the bank, when Pig shouted at him, “I'll get you, you damned ogre. Come up on this higher ground where we can fight with dry land under our feet.”

“You're trying to lure me up there, damn you,” the monster replied, “for your mate to come and get me. Come back and fight in the water.” The fiend, who had more sense than to go up the bank again, stood at the river's edge, shouting it out with Pig.

When Monkey saw that the monster was not coming up on the bank he seethed with frustration at not being able to catch him. “Master,” he said, “you sit here while I do a 'Hungry Eagle Falling on Its Prey' on him.” He somersaulted into mid-air, then plummeted down to catch the ogre, who heard the noise of a wind as he was yelling at Pig, turned immediately, and saw Monkey descending from the clouds. He put his staff away, plunged into the water with a splash, and was seen no more. “Brother,” said Monkey to Pig as he landed on the bank, “the monster's made a smooth getaway. Whatever are we to do if he won't come on to the bank again?”

“It's impossible,” said Pig, “We'll never be able to beat him. Even if I put everything I've got into it, I can only hold my own against him.”

“Let's go and see the master,” Monkey said.

The two of them climbed the bank and told the Tang Priest about the difficulty of capturing the ogre. “It's so hard,” said Sanzang, tears streaming down his cheeks. “However are we going to cross?”

“No need to worry, master,” said Monkey. “The monster is lurking deep down on the river-bed, where it's very hard to move around. You stay here and look after the master, Pig, and don't fight with the ogre again. I'm going to the Southern Sea.”

“What for?” Pig asked. “This whole business of fetching the scriptures was started by the Bodhisattva Guanyin, and it was she who converted us. Now we are stuck here at the Flowing Sands River nobody but she can sort this one out. With her help we'll be in a stronger position to fight that monster.”

“Yes, yes,” said Pig, “and when you're there, please thank her for converting me.”

“If you're going to ask the Bodhisattva to come,” Sanzang said, “don't waste a moment, and be back as quickly as possible.”

Monkey then somersaulted off on his cloud towards the Southern Sea, and before an hour was up he saw Potaraka Island. An instant later he landed outside the Purple Bamboo Grove, where the twenty-four devas came forward to greet him with the words, “Why have you come, Great Sage?”

“Because my master is in trouble,” Monkey replied, “I have come for an audience with the Bodhisattva.” The deva on duty that day asked Monkey to sit down while he went in to report, whereupon he went into the Tide Cave to announce that Sun Wukong was seeking an audience on business. The Bodhisattva was leaning on a balcony looking at the blossoms in the Precious Lotus Pool with the Dragon Princess Peng Zhu when she heard the news. She went back in her cloudy majesty, opening the door and summoning Monkey to her presence. The Great Sage greeted her with grave reverence.

“Why aren't you looking after the Tang Priest,” she asked, “and why have you come to see me.?”

“My master won a new disciple at Gao Village, Bodhisattva,” Brother Monkey reported. “He's called Zhu Bajie and also has the Buddhist name Wuneng thanks to you. We have now reached the Flowing Sands River after crossing the Yellow Wind Ridge, but it's a thousand miles of Ruo River and my master cannot cross it. On top of this there's an evil monster in the river who's a great fighter, and although our Pig had three great battles with him on the surface of the water, he couldn't beat the ogre, who is still blocking our way and preventing my master from crossing. This is why I've come to see you and ask you in your mercy to help him across.”

“You have revealed your conceit once again, you ape,” said the Bodhisattva. “Why didn't you tell the monster that you were protecting the Tang Priest?”

“We wanted to catch him,” Monkey replied, “and make him take our master across the river. As I'm not up to much in the water, Pig was the only one who could find the ogre's den and did all the talking. I expect he never mentioned fetching the scriptures.”

“The ogre of the Flowing Sands River is the mortal incarnation of the Great Curtain-lifting General,” said Guanyin, “and is a believer whom I converted myself and instructed to protect those who would be coming to fetch the scriptures. If you had told him that you had come from the East to fetch the scriptures, so far from fighting you, he would certainly have joined you.”

“But the craven monster is now skulking in the river, too frightened to come out,” Monkey said, “so how are we to make him join us, and how is my master to cross the weak water?”

The Bodhisattva sent for her disciple Huian and produced a red bottle-gourd from her sleeve. “Take this gourd,” she said, “and go with Sun Wukong to the Flowing Sands River. Shout 'Wujing'-'Awakened to Purity'-and he'll come out. First take him to submit to the Tang Priest, and then make him thread his nine skulls on a string like the Sacred Palaces. If he puts this gourd in the middle of them, it will make a dharma boat to ferry the Tang Priest across the river.” In obedience to the Bodhisattva's command, Huian and the Great Sage took the gourd with them from the Tide Cave and the Purple Bamboo Grove. There are some lines to describe it: