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

“You're right,” said the Senior Demon King, taking off the belt of lion-hide he wore at his waist and handing it to Monkey, who used it to tie up the imitation Monkey. The golden rope he tucked loop by loop into his sleeve before plucking out a hair, blowing on it with magic breath, and turning it into a copy of the Dazzling Golden Cord, which he respectfully returned to the demon with both hands. The demon was too preoccupied with his drinking to look at it carefully as he accepted it. Thus it was that the Great Sage used his power of improvisation and turned a hair into the Dazzling Golden Cord.

Now that he had this treasure he bounded out of the cave as fast as he could, turned back into himself, and shouted, “You devils.”

“Who are you, yelling like that?” the devils on the doors asked.

“Go inside at once and announce to your lousy demon kings that the Novice Sun is here.” When the little devils passed on the message the Senior King was greatly shocked.

“We've captured Sun the Novice, so how can there be another Novice Sun?”

“He's nothing to be frightened of,” said the Junior King. “We have all our treasures back. I'll fetch the gourd and put him inside it.”

“Do be careful, brother,” said the Senior King.

The Junior King went outside carrying the gourd to see someone just like Sun the Novice except that he was a little shorter. “Where are you from?” he asked.

“I'm Sun the Novice's brother,” Monkey replied. “I've heard that you've captured him, which is why I'm here to have it out with you.”

“Yes, I have got him,” said the Junior Demon King. “He's tied up in the cave. As you're here you must want a fight, and I'm willing to cross swords with you. But do you have the guts to answer if I call your name?”

“If you call my name a thousand times,” said Monkey, “I'll answer ten thousand times.”

The demon leapt into mid-air with his treasure, which he held upside-down as he called out, “Novice Sun.” Monkey did not dare reply.

“If I reply,” he thought, “he'll have me inside.”

“Why don't you answer me?” the demon asked.

“I can't hear you,” replied Monkey, “I'm a bit deaf. Shout louder.”

“Novice Sun,” the demon shouted again. Down below Monkey pinched his own fingers as he thought things out: “My real name is Sun the Novice. Novice Sun is only a false name I've made up. With my real name I could be put in the gourd, but I reckon that with a false name I can't be.” Unable to restrain himself any longer he replied this time. With a roaring of wind he was sucked into the gourd and the label was put on it. As it happened it made no difference to that treasure whether a name was real or false: any response was enough to get you put inside.

The Great Sage found it pitch-black inside the gourd. When he tried to raise his head he could not move it at all, so tightly was he squeezed in it. He now began to feel very anxious. “The two little devils I met on the mountain,” he thought, “told me that any one put in the gourd or the vase turns to pus in three and a half hours. Perhaps that's going to happen to me.” Then he started on another line of thought: “No problem. I won't turn into pus. When I made havoc in the Palace of Heaven five hundred years ago Lord Lao Zi put me in his Eight Trigram Furnace and fired me for forty-nine days, and this gave me a heart and liver of gold, lungs of silver, a brazen head, an iron back, eyes of fire and golden pupils. I couldn't possibly be turned to pus in three and a half hours. I'll let him take me inside and see what he does.”

Taking Monkey inside, the Junior Demon King said, “I've got him, brother.”

“Who?” the Senior King asked.

“I've got the Novice Sun packed in my gourd,” the Junior King replied.

“Do sit down, dear brother,” said the Senior King, “and don't move. We must shake the gourd till we hear him sloshing around inside before taking the label off.” Hearing this, Monkey wondered, “How could they shake my body till they heard it sloshing around? They wouldn't hear anything unless I'd turned runny. I'll take a piss, then if they shake me and hear is sloshing around they're bound to take the label and the lid off, and I'll be able to get the hell out of here. No, that won't do. Piss would sound right but it would get my tunic filthy. When he shakes the gourd I'll have my mouth full of saliva that I can swish around noisily to fool him into opening up. Then I'll be off.” The Great Sage got ready, but the demons were too thirsty for their wine to shake the gourd. So he thought of a way to trick them into shaking it.

“Heavens,” he shouted, “my knuckles have turned to pus.” But the demons still did not shake it. Then he shouted, “Mother, my waist has gone now.”

At this the Senior Demon King said, “If he's turned to pus as far as the waist he's finished. Take the label off and let's have a look.”

When the Great Sage heard this he plucked out another hair, told it to change, and turned it into half of his own body, which he left in the bottom of the gourd. He turned himself into a tiny insect that perched near the mouth of the gourd. As soon as the Junior Demon King took the paper cover off he flew out, did a roll, and turned into Ocean Dragon, the little devil who had gone with the invitation to the old lady. In this guise he stood beside the path while the Senior King removed the stopper from the gourd, craned his neck, and saw the half body still moving. Not realizing that it was a fake he called out in panic, “Shut it again, brother, shut it. He hasn't rotted down yet.” The Junior King put the cover back on. The Great Sage was discreetly delighted that they did not realize where he actually was.

The Senior Demon King took the gourd, filled a cup to the brim with liquor, and offered it with both hands to the Junior King, saying, “Please accept this drink from me.”

“Elder brother,” replied the Junior King, “I've drunk a great deal. I can't accept another.”

To this the Senior King said, “Your capture of the Tang Priest, Pig and Friar Sand was nothing special; but I insist on offering you some drinks to congratulate you on your achievement in tying up Sun the Novice and putting the Novice Sun into your gourd.” As his elder brother was showing him so much honour and respect the Junior King would have to accept the cup. But he was still holding the magic gourd, and it would have been rude to accept the cup in one hand. So he passed the gourd to Ocean Dragon to allow himself to receive the cup with both hands, unaware that Ocean Dragon was Monkey in disguise. Just watch Monkey respectfully holding the gourd as he stands in attendance. When the Junior King had drunk the liquor he wanted to return the courtesy.

“No need,” said the Senior King, “I'll drink one with you.” They were both being very modest. Monkey held the gourd and fixed his gaze on the two of them as they lost count of how many drinks they were giving each other. He slipped the gourd up his sleeve, pulled out a hair, and turned it into an exact facsimile of the gourd that he offered to the kings. After giving each other so many drinks the two kings did not check its authenticity but simply took their treasure, went to their places, sat down, and carried on drinking. The Great Sage got away. He was very pleased at having captured the treasures.

“In spite of these demon kings' magic powers, the gourd is now mine,” he thought.

If you don't know what he had to do to save his master and destroy the demons, listen to the explanation in the next installment.

The Power of Heterodoxy Oppresses the True Nature

The Mind-Ape Wins the Treasures and Beats the Demons