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

If he misbehaves again, the journey will be hard.”

As Sanzang, Monkey, and Friar Sand read out these lines they heard loud shouts from the depths of the wood: “Master, they're tied me up and left me to die. I'll never do it again if you save me.”

“Is that Pig shouting, Friar Sand?” asked Sanzang, and Friar Sand said, “Yes.”

“Although that blockhead is obstinately stupid in mind and nature,” said Sanzang, “he is an honest fellow. Besides, he is very strong and can carry the luggage-and we should also remember that the Bodhisattva saved him and told him to come with us. I don't think he'll have the nerve to do it again.” Friar Sand then rolled up the bedding and arranged the luggage, while Monkey untied the horse and led it along as he guided the Tang Priest into the wood to investigate. Indeed:

In the pursuit of righteousness you must be careful,

And sweep away desires in your return to the truth.

If you don't know whether the blockhead survived or not, listen to the explanation in the next installment.

On the Mountain of Infinite Longevity a Great Immortal Entertains an Old Friend

In the Wuzhuang Temple Monkey Steals Manfruit

The three of them went into the wood and saw the idiot tied up under a tree, yelling and howling in unbearable pain. Monkey went over to him and said with a laugh, “What a son-in-law! So late, and you still haven't got up to thank your mother-in-law or come to tell the good news to the master. Why are you still playing around here? Where's your mother-in-law? Where's your wife? You make a fine, strapped-up, well-beaten son-in-law!”

The blockhead, burning with humiliation at being thus mocked, gritted his teeth to stop himself howling in his agony. Friar Sand was overcome with pity when he saw him, and putting down the luggage he went over and untied him. The idiot kowtowed to him in gratitude. He was suffering terrible remorse. There is a poem to the tune The Moon in the West River to prove it:

Sex is a sword that wounds the body;

Whoever lusts for it will suffer.

A pretty girl of sixteen

Is far more dangerous than a yaksha demon.

There is only one Origin,

And there are no extra profits to staff in the sack.

Better store all your capital away,

Guard it well, and don't squander it.

Pig used a pinch of earth to represent burning incense and bowed in worship to Heaven.

“Did you recognize the Bodhisattva?” Monkey asked.

“I was lying here in a faint and my eyes were seeing stars, so I couldn't tell who it was.” Monkey handed him the piece of paper, and when he saw the divine message, Pig was more ashamed than ever.

“You're very lucky,” said Friar Sand with a laugh, “you've got four Bodhisattvas as your relations now.”

“Please don't talk about it,” said Pig. “I really don't deserve to be human. I'll never misbehave again in future, and I even if the effort breaks my bones, I'll rub my shoulder and carry our master's luggage to the West.”

“That's more like it,” said Sanzang.

Monkey then led his master along the main road. After they had been going for a long time, walking and resting, they saw a high mountain blocking their way. “Disciples,” said Sanzang as he reined in the horse and stopped giving it the whip, “we must be very careful on that mountain. I'm afraid there may be fiends and demons on it who will attack us.”

“With us three followers,” said Monkey, “you needn't fear demons.” Sanzang, his worries ended, pressed forward. The mountain was certainly a fine one:

The mountain was very high

And craggy was its majesty.

Its roots joined the Kunlun range,

Its summit touched the Milky Way.

White crane came to perch in its locust and cypress trees,

Dark apes hung upside-down from its creepers.

When the sun shone bright on its forests,

It was enveloped in red haze;

When winds sprang from dark valleys,

Coloured clouds scudded across the sky.

Hidden birds called in the green bamboo,

Pheasants fought among the wild flowers.

Thousand-year peaks,

Five-blessing peaks,

Lotus peaks,

Majestically reflecting a delicate light;

Ten thousand year rocks,

Tiger-tooth rocks,

Three Heavens rocks,

Wreathed in subtle and auspicious vapours.

Luxuriant grass in front of the cliff,

The scent of plum blossom on the ridge.

Dense grew the jungle of thorns,

Pure and pale were the orchids.

Deep in the woods the birds gathered round the phoenix;

In an ancient cave a unicorn was chief of the animals.

A delightful stream in a gully

Twisted and turned as it wandered around;

Endless peaks

Coiled about in layer upon layer.

Then there were the green locust trees,

Mottled bamboo,

And bluish pines,

That had been competing in splendour for a thousand years.

White plum blossom,

Red peach,

And emerald willows

Were brilliant as they vied in beauty during spring.

Dragons called and tigers roared,

Cranes danced and apes howled.

Deer emerged from the flowers,

Pheasants sang to the sun.

This was a land of blessing, an Immortals' mountain,

Just like Penglai or Langyuan.

Flowers opened and withered on the mountain top,

Clouds came and went above the peaks along the ridge.

“Disciples,” said Sanzang with delight as he sat on his horse, “I've crossed many mountains on my journey West, and they were all steep and rocky, but none of them could be compared to the extraordinarily beautiful scenery here. If this isn't far from the Thunder Monastery, we had better put ourselves in a solemn and reverent mood to meet the Buddha.”

“It's early days yet,” said Monkey with a laugh. “That's not an easy place to get to.”

“How far are we from Thunder Monastery, elder brother?” asked Friar Sand.

“Thirty-six thousand miles,” Monkey replied, “and we haven't covered a tenth of it.”

“How many years will it take us to get there?” Pig asked.

“You two younger brothers of mine could manage it in ten days or so, and I could go there fifty times over in a single day and still be back before sunset. But for our master it doesn't bear thinking about.”

“Tell me, Monkey! how long will it take?” asked Sanzang.

“If you went from childhood to old age,” said Monkey, “and from old age back to childhood again, and you did it a thousand times over, you'd still find it hard to get there. But if you see your true nature, are determined to be sincere, and always remember to turn your head back to enlightenment, then you will have reached Vulture Peak.”

“Even if this isn't the Thunder Monastery,” said Friar Sand, “good people must live amid such fine scenery as this.”

“Quite right,” said Monkey, “there couldn't be any evil creatures here. This must be the home of holy monks or Immortals. Let's look around here and take our time over it.”

This mountain was called the Mountain of Infinite Longevity, and there was a Taoist temple on it called the Wuzhuang Temple. In this temple lived an Immortal whose Taoist name was Zhen Yuan Zi. He was also known as Conjoint Lord of the Age. The temple had a rare treasure, a miraculous tree that had been formed when primeval chaos was first being divided, before the separation of Heaven and Earth. In the four great continents of the world, only the Western Continent of Cattle-gift's Wuzhuang Temple had this treasure that was known as “Grass-returning Cinnabar” or “manfruit.” It took three thousand years to blossom, three thousand years to form the fruit, and another three thousand years for the fruit to ripen, so that very nearly ten thousand years had to pass before the fruit could be eaten. Only thirty fruit were formed each ten thousand years, and they were shaped just like a newborn baby, complete with limbs and sense organs. Anyone whose destiny permitted him to smell one would live for three hundred and sixty years, and if you ate one you would live for forty-seven thousand years.