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

Now the fiend was good at cloud-jumping, and the moment he heard what Monkey was saying he got out by leaping on the roof of the throne hall, so that when Monkey raised his cudgel he struck at the Tang Priest. Oh dear! Had he not called in those gods he would have beaten twenty Tang Priests to pulp there and then. Luckily the gods blocked his cudgel and said, “Great Sage, the fiend is a cloud-jumper. He's got up on the roof.” But as soon as Monkey went up on the roof after him the fiend jumped down again, grabbed hold of the real Tang Priest, and got the two of them muddled up again in the crowds. They were once again indistinguishable.

Monkey was most upset, and on hearing Pig's mocking laughter from beside him he burst into a fury: “What's wrong with you, cretin? You'll have to be at the beck and call of two masters now, so why are you looking so pleased?”

“Call me stupid if you like, brother,” laughed Pig, “but you're even sillier than me. If you can't tell which is the master, don't waste your effort trying. If you can bear the headache, ask our master to say the spell. Friar Sand and I will each stand by one of them and listen. The one who doesn't know the words will be the fiend. What's the problem?”

“Good for you, brother,” said Monkey. “Only three people know the words of that spell. They came from the heart of Lord Buddha and were taught to the Bodhisattva Guanyin, who passed them on to our master. Nobody else knows them. Very well then. Say the spell, Master.” The Tang Priest then really did begin to recite it. The fiend, who could not possibly have known the words, could only mumble some gibberish.

“This one here who's mumbling is the fiend,” said Pig. Letting go of the monster and raising his rake to strike him with, the fiend leapt up into the air and flew away on a cloud.

With a great shout the splendid Pig mounted another cloud and went after him. Friar Sand too was so excited that he abandoned the Tang Priest and brandished his own staff for battle. Only then did the Tang Priest stop saying the spell. The Great Sage Monkey grabbed his cudgel and joined in the aerial chase despite his headache. In this fight three ferocious monks had one wretched fiend surrounded. As the fiend was held in check by Pig's rake and Friar Sand's staff, Monkey laughed and said, “I can't go straight up to him and hit him head-on because he's so scared of me that he'd run away. I'll go up higher, turn myself upside-down, and hit him that way.”

The Great Sage then sprang up in auspicious light to the ninth layer of cloud, and was just about to deliver his blow when a multicolored cloud appeared to the Northwest and a voice shouted loudly, “Don't hit him, Sun Wukong.” Monkey turned round to see that this was the Bodhisattva Manjusri checked his blow at once, and did obeisance.

“Where are you going, Bodhisattva?” he asked.

“I'm here to collect that fiend for you,” Manjusri replied. Monkey thanked him for his trouble. Manjusri produced the demon-revealing mirror from his sleeve to reveal the fiend's true form, then Monkey called Pig and Friar Sand to come to greet the Bodhisattva. When they all looked in the mirror they saw that the monster was quite appallingly ugly:

Eyes like glazed dishes,

A head like a steel cauldron.

His whole body blue as indigo in summer,

His claws as white as autumn frosts.

Two floppy ears,

A tail as long as a broom.

Blue hairs bristling with courage,

Red eyes shining with gold.

Flat teeth like jade flagstones,

Round whiskers sticking out like spears.

When his true image is shown in the mirror

He is Manjusri's Lion King.

“Bodhisattva,” said Monkey, “he's the blue-haired lion from under your throne. Why did he run away here to be an evil spirit, and why didn't you subdue him before?”

“Wukong,” replied the Bodhisattva, “he didn't run away. He was sent here by the Lord Buddha.”

“How could the Lord Buddha possibly have sent this beast here to become a spirit and usurp a throne? I could have done with some of his edicts to help me to put up with the misery of escorting the Tang Priest.”

“There are some things you don't know,” said Manjusri. “That king of Wuji was a benevolent man and used to feast monks. The Lord Buddha sent me here to bring him to the West, where he might become a golden arhat. Because I could not appear to him in my real form I turned into an ordinary monk and asked him for some vegetarian food. When he was unable to answer some questions I asked he took me for an evildoer, had me tied up, and immersed me in the palace moat for three days. Luckily the Six Jias saved me with their golden bodies and took me back to the West, where I reported to the Tathagata Buddha. It was he who ordered that the king be pushed into the well and soaked for three years as punishment for my three-day soaking. 'Every mouthful we eat or drink is predestined.' By coming here you have now won a great merit.”

“You may have repaid your private grudge, like repaying every mouthful, but goodness only knows how many people that monster murdered,” replied Monkey.

“He never killed anyone,” the Bodhisattva replied. “In the three years since his arrival the winds and rains have come at the right time, the state has been strong and the people have known peace. He did nobody any harm.”

“Even if all that is granted,” said Monkey, “he's been sleeping with the queen and the consorts in the harem. Surely this has sullied them and been an affront to morality.”

“He has not sullied them at all,” the Bodhisattva replied. “He's a gelded lion.”

Hearing this Pig went up to the creature and had a feel. “This evil spirit's got a bad reputation he doesn't deserve,” he chuckled, “like a teetotaler with a red nose.”

“In that case,” said Monkey, “take him with you. If you hadn't come, Bodhisattva, I'd never have spared his life.”

The Bodhisattva then said a spell and shouted, “Return to the Truth, beast. What are you waiting for?” Only then did the fiend-king return to his original form, Manjusri placed a lotus-blossom over the monster to tame him, sat on his back, and left Monkey amid golden light. Ah!

Manjusri returned to Wutai Mountain

To hear the scriptures taught beneath the lotus throne.

If you don't know how the Tang Priest and his disciples left the city, listen to the explanation in the next installment.

The Boy Fools with Transformations, Disturbing the Dhyana Heart

Ape and Horse Return with a Knife; the Mother of Wood Is Empty

The story goes on to tell how the Great Sage Monkey and his two fellow-disciples landed their clouds and went straight into the palace. Here monarch, ministers, queen and prince bowed to them in thanks, a group at a time, and Monkey told everyone the story of how Manjusri had recovered the demon. They all knelt and bowed to the ground repeatedly.

Amid all the congratulations the gatekeeper came to report, “My lord, there are four more monks at the gates.” This news threw Pig into a panic.

“Brother,” he said, “has the fiend used his magic to make a false Manjusri to fool us? Perhaps he's turned into a monk now for another battle of wits with us.”

“Nonsense,” said Monkey, ordering that they be summoned inside.

The civil and military officials passed on the order and the monks were sent in. Monkey saw that they were monks from the Precious Wood Monastery bringing the king's crown, jade belt, yellow ochre robe and no-worry shoes.

“Splendid,” said Monkey with delight, “splendid.” He then asked the lay brothers to step forward, and made the king take off his monastic headcloth and put on his crown, remove his cotton habit and don his robe of yellow ochre, replace his silk belt with the jade belt, and kick off his monastic sandals for his no-worry shoes. Monkey then told the crown prince to fetch the white jade scepter for his father to hold, and invited the king to enter the throne-hall to rule once more.