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

“It's been a long journey,” replied Pig, “and I'm afraid that the master would miss me, so I'd better not.”

“Now that you're here,” said Monkey, “you really should have a look at my mountain.” Not wanting to insist too hard, the idiot went off with him.

The two of them walked hand in hand with the monkey horde following behind as they climbed to the summit of the Mountain of Flowers and Fruit. It was a beautiful mountain. In the few days since he had been back, Monkey had made it as neat as it ever had been.

It was as green as flakes of malachite,

So high it touched the clouds.

All around it tigers crouched and dragons coiled,

Amid the calls of apes and cranes.

In the morning the peak was covered with cloud,

The evening sun would set between the trees.

The streams splashed like a tinkle of jade,

Waterfalls tumbled with the sound of lutes.

In the front of the mountain were cliffs and rock-faces

At the back were luxuriant plants and trees.

Above it reached to the Jade Girl's washing bowl,

Below it jointed the watershed of the River of Heaven.

In its combination of Earth and Heaven it rivaled the Penglai paradise;

Its blend of pure and solid made it a true cave palace.

It defied a painter's brush and colours;

Even a master could not have drawn it.

Intricate were the strange-shaped boulders,

Adorning the mountain peak.

In the sun's shadow shimmered a purple light;

A magical glow shone red throughout the sea of clouds.

Cave-heavens and paradises do exist on Earth,

Where the whole mountainside is covered with fresh trees and new blossoms.

As Pig gazed at it he said with delight, “What a wonderful place, brother. It's the finest mountain in the world.”

“Could you get by here?” asked Monkey.

“What a question,” said Pig with a grin. “This mountain of yours is an earthly paradise, so how could you talk about 'getting by?'”

The two talked and joked for a while then went back down. They saw some young monkeys kneeling beside the path and holding huge, purple grapes, fragrant dates and pears, deep golden loquats, and rich, red tree-strawberries.

“Please take some breakfast, Your Majesty,” they said.

“Brother Pig,” replied Monkey with a smile, “Your big appetite won't be satisfied with fruit. Never mind though-if you don't think it too poor you can eat a little as a snack.”

“Although I do have a big appetite,” said Pig, “I always eat the local food. Bring me a few to taste.”

As the pair of them ate the fruit the sun was rising, which made the idiot worry that he might be too late to save the Tang Priest. “Brother,” he said, trying to hurry Monkey up, “the master is waiting for us. He wants us back as soon as possible.”

“Come and look round the Water Curtain Cave,” was Monkey's reply.

“It's very good of you to offer,” said Pig, “but I mustn't keep the master waiting, so I'm afraid I can't visit the cave.”

“Then I won't waste your time,” said Monkey. “Goodbye.”

“Aren't you coming?” Pig asked.

“Where to?” Monkey replied. “There's nobody to interfere with me here and I'm free to do just as I like. Why should I stop having fun and be a monk? I'm not going. You can go and tell the Tang Priest that as he's driven me away he can just I forget about me.” The idiot did not dare press Monkey harder in case he lost his temper and hit him a couple of blows with his cudgel. All he could do was mumble a farewell and be on his way.

As Monkey watched him go he detailed two stealthy young monkeys to follow him and listen to anything he said. The idiot had gone hardly a mile down the mountainside when he turned round, pointed towards Monkey, and started to abuse him.

“That ape,” he said, “he'd rather be a monster than a monk. The baboon. I asked him in all good faith and he turned me down. Well, if you won't come, that's that.” Every few paces he cursed him some more. The two young monkeys rushed back to report, “Your Majesty, that Pig is a disgrace. He's walking along cursing you.”

“Arrest him,” shouted Monkey in a fury. The monkey hordes went after Pig, caught him, turned him upside-down, grabbed his bristles, pulled his ears, tugged his tail, twisted his hair, and thus brought him back. If you don't know how he was dealt with or whether he survived, listen to the explanation in the next installment.

Pig Moves the Monkey King Through

His Goodness

Sun the Novice Subdues the Ogre Through Cunning

They swore to become brothers,

And the dharma brought them back to their true nature.

When metal and Wood were tamed, the True Result could be achieved;

The Mind-Ape and the Mother of Wood combined to make the elixir.

Together they would climb to the World of Bliss,

And share the same branch of the faith.

The scriptures are the way of self-cultivation,

To which the Buddha has given his own divinity.

The brothers made up a triple alliance,

With devilish powers to cope with the Five Elements.

Sweeping aside the six forms of existence,

They head for the Thunder Monastery.

As he was being dragged and carried back by the crowd of monkeys, Pig's tunic was shreds. “I'm done for,” he grumbled to himself, “done for. He'll kill me now.”

Before long he was back at the mount of the cave, where Monkey, sitting on top of a rock-face, said to him angrily, “You chaff-guzzling idiot. I let you go, so why swear at me?”

“I never did, elder brother,” said Pig on his knees, “May I bite off my tongue if ever I did. All I said was that as you weren't coming I'd have to go and tell the master. I'd never have dared to swear at you.”

“You can't fool me,” Monkey replied. “If I prick my left ear up I can hear what they're saying in the Thirty-third Heaven, and if I point my right ear down I can know what the Ten Kings of Hell and their judges are discussing. Of course I could hear you swearing at me as you walked along.”

“Now I see,” said Pig. “With that devilish head of yours you must have changed yourself into something or other to listen to what I said.”

“Little ones,” shouted Monkey, “bring some heavy rods. Give him twelve on the face, then twelve on the back. After that I'll finish him off with my iron cudgel.”

“Elder brother,” pleaded Pig, kowtowing desperately, “I beg you to spare me for our master's sake.”

“That good and kind master? Never!” said Monkey.

“If he won't do,” begged Pig, “then spare me for the Bodhisattva's sake.” The mention of the Bodhisattva made Monkey relent slightly.

“Now you've said that I won't have you flogged,” he replied. “But you must tell me straight and without lying where the Tang Priest is in trouble-which is presumably why he sent you to try and trick me.”

“He isn't in trouble,” Pig protested, “he's honestly missing you.”

“You really deserve a beating,” said Monkey, “for still trying to hood-wink me, you moron. Although I've been back in the Water Curtain Cave, I've stayed with the pilgrim in my mind. The master must have been in trouble at every step he has taken. Tell me about it at once if you don't want that flogging.”

Pig kowtowed again and said, “Yes, I did try to trick you into coming back. I didn't realize that you would see through it so easily. Please spare me a flogging and let me go, then I'll tell you.”

“Very well then,” replied Monkey, “get up and tell me.” The junior monkeys untied his hands. He leapt to his feet and began looking around wildly. “What are you looking at?” asked Monkey.