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

Palace-style ivory combs shone with red and green,

And two golden pins adorned her hair.

Her half-grey tresses soared like a phoenix in flight,

Two rows of pearls hung from her ear-rings.

Free of powder and paint, her beauty was natural;

She was as attractive as a younger girl.

When she saw the three others she was more pleased than ever, and she invited them into the main room. When all the introductions had been made, she asked them to sit down and have some tea. A servant girl with her hair in plaits came in through the door leading to the back of the house; she was carrying a golden tray on which were set white jade cups of steaming hot tea as well as exotic fruits that smelt delicious. Her sleeves were wide, and with her fingers as slender as bamboo shoots in spring she handed each of them a jade bowl and bowed. When the tea had been drunk, the mistress ordered a meatless meal to be prepared.

“What is your name, venerable Bodhisattva?” asked Sanzang, spreading out his hands. “And what is this place called?”

“This is the Western Continent of Cattle-gift, or Godaniya,” she replied. “My maiden name is Jia and my husband's name was Mo. In my childhood I had the misfortune of losing both my parents, and I married to continue the ancestral enterprise. Our family is worth ten thousand strings of cash, and we own fifteen thousand acres of good arable land. We were not fated to be given sons, and we only had three daughters. The year before last I suffered the great misfortune of losing my husband. I have remained a widow, and this year I have come out of mourning. There are no other relations to inherit the family estate besides myself and my daughters. I would like to remarry, but not at the price of abandoning the estate. Now that you have come here, venerable sir, with your three disciples, I think it should be you. I and my three daughters want to marry while staying at home, and you four gentlemen would suit us nicely. I wonder if you would be prepared to consent.” Sanzang sat there pretending to be deaf and dumb, with his eyes shut and his mind kept calm. He made no reply.

“We have over four thousand acres each of irrigated land, dry land, and orchards on hillsides,” she continued, “as well as over a thousand head of oxen and water buffalo, herds of mules and horses, and more pigs and sheep than you could count. There are sixty or seventy farm buildings and barns. We have more grain in the house than we could eat in eight or nine years, and more than enough silk to clothe us for a decade-to say nothing of more gold and silver than you could spend in a lifetime. You'll be even better off than those ancients who 'stored spring behind brocade curtains' and kept girls whose 'hair was heavy with golden pins'. If you and your disciples are prepared to change your minds and live in this house as our husbands, you can enjoy wealth and ease. Wouldn't that be better than a difficult journey to the West?” Sanzang sat there silent, as if he were an imbecile.

“I was born at the hour you of the third day of the third month of the year dinghai, ” she continued. “My late husband was three years older than me, and I am now forty-four. My eldest daughter, Zhenzhen, is nineteen; my second, Aiai is seventeen; and Lianlian, the youngest, is fifteen. None of them have been betrothed. Although I am rather ugly myself, the girls are all quite good-looking, and they have all the feminine accomplishments. As my late husband had no sons, he gave them a boy's education, teaching them to read the Confucian classics from an early age and training them to recite poems and make couplets. Although they live in this mountain farmhouse you couldn't consider them boorish, and I think that they would be good partners for all you reverend gentlemen. If you are willing to broaden your outlook and let your hair grow, you could be head of the family and wear silks and brocades. Wouldn't that be far better than your earthenware begging-bowl, rough clothes, straw sandals, and rain-hats?”

Sanzang sat in the place of honour as still as a child terrified by thunder or a toad soaked in a rainstorm. He seemed to be in a trance as he leant back with his eyes turned up towards the sky. Pig, however, felt an itch in his mind that was hard to scratch when he heard about all this wealth and beauty. He fidgeted on his chair as if needles were being stuck into his backside, and finally could bear it no longer.

He went up to his master, tugged at his clothes, and said, “Master, why are you paying no attention to what the lady is saying? You really ought to take some notice.” Sanzang glared at him angrily, made a furious noise, and shouted at him to go away.

“Evil beast,” he said, “We are men of religion. It's disgraceful to allow yourself to be moved by the thought of wealth, honour or sex.”

“Poor, poor things,” said the woman with a smile. “What good can there be in being men of religion?”

“What good can there be in being of the world, Bodhisattva?” Sanzang replied.

“Please sit down, reverend sir, while I tell you about the advantages of being in the world,” she said. “There is a poem to describe them that goes:

In spring we cut out linked diamond patterns and wear new silk;

In summer we change to light gauze and admire the lotus;

In autumn comes meat and delicious rice-wine,

In winter the house is warm, and our faces are red with drink.

We have all that's needed in the four seasons,

The treasures and delicacies of the whole year.

Brocade clothes, silken sheets and a wedding night

Are better than plodding along and worshipping Maitreya.”

“Bodhisattva,” said Sanzang, “it is, of course, very good to enjoy wealth and honour with plenty of food and clothes and a family. But what you don't realize is that the religious life has advantages, which are described in this poem:

It is no light matter to decide to enter religion:

You have to demolish the love and gratitude you felt before.

Externals are created no longer, and your mouth is tightly shut.

Negative and positive exist within your body.

When all has been achieved, you face the golden gates;

See your nature, clarify your mind, and return home.

This is better than staying in the world to be greedy for blood and food

While your stinking flesh grows aged and decrepit.”

“You insolent monk,” the woman said in great anger. “If it weren't for the fact that you've come a long, long way from the East. I'd drive you out of my house. I invite you four with all sincerity to marry us and enjoy our wealth, and you repay my kindness with insults. If you have accepted the prohibitions and made your vows, you could at least let me have one of your underlings as a son-in-law. Why are you being such a stickler for the rules?”

As she had lost her temper, Sanzang had to soothe her, so he said, “Monkey, you stay here.”

“I've never been able to do that sort of thing,” Monkey replied.

“Why not let Pig stay?”

“Stop teasing, elder brother,” Pig said. “We should all decide what's the best thing to do.”

“If neither of you will stay, I must ask Friar Sand to stay,” said Sanzang; but Friar Sand replied, “What a thing to say, master. I was converted by the Bodhisattva, agreed to obey the prohibitions, and waited till you came, and since taking me as your disciple you've taught me more. I haven't been with you for two months yet, and I've had no time to win any merit at all. How could I possibly want wealth and position? I want to go to the Western Heaven even if it costs me my life, and I'm certainly not going to frustrate my hopes by doing that.” In the face of their refusals the woman turned round, went out through the door leading to the back of the house, and slammed it behind her, leaving master and disciples outside with neither food nor tea. Nobody else came out to see them.