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

“This wretch has the impudence to invent fraudulent decrees and deceive eminent ministers,” exclaimed the Jade Emperor with anger and astonishment. “The Miraculous Investigator is to find out at once what he has been up to.”

The Miraculous Investigator left the palace in obedience to the edict, and by making thorough enquiries he found out all the details of what had happened.

“The wrecker of the Heavenly Palace was Sun Wukong,” he reported, and he went on to give a full account. The Jade Emperor was furiously angry, and he ordered the Four Great Heavenly Kings along with Heavenly King Li and Prince Nezha to mobilize the Twenty-eight Constellations, the Nine Bright Shiners, the Twelve Gods of the Twelve Branches, the Revealers of the Truth of the Five Regions, the Four Duty Gods, the Constellations of the East and West, the Gods of the North and South, the Deities of the Five Mountains and the Four Rivers, the star ministers of all Heaven, and a total of a hundred thousand heavenly soldiers. They were to descend to the lower world with eighteen heaven-and-earth nets, surround the Mountain of Flowers and Fruit, and capture that wretch for punishment. The gods called out their troops at once, and left the heavenly palace.

A gusty sandstorm blotted out the heavens,

Purple fog threw the earth into darkness.

Just because the monkey fiend offended the Supreme Emperor

Heavenly hosts were sent down to the mortal dust.

The Four Great Heavenly Kings,

The Revealers of the Truth of the Five Regions.

The Four Great Heavenly Kings held the supreme command,

And the Revealers controlled the soldiers' movements.

Li the Pagoda Carrier commanded the central corps,

Nezha the deadly led the van.

The star Rahu ordered the leading rands,

And the star Ketu towered behind.

The Sun revealed his divinity,

And radiance shone from the Moon.

The stars of the Five Elements were mighty in valour,

And the Nine Bright Shiners were fond of battle.

The stars of the Branches Zi, Wu, Mao and You,

Were all great heavenly warriors.

The Five Plagues and the Five Mountains were drawn up on the East and West,

While the Six Ding and Six Jia marched to right and left.

The Dragon Gods of the Four Rivers stood above and below,

And the Twenty-eight Constellations were drawn up in serried ranks:

Horn, Gullet, Base, and Chamber were the officers commanding,

Strider, Harvester, Stomach, and Mane wheeled and soared;

Dipper, Ox, Woman, Barrens, Roof, House, and Wall, Heart, Tail, and

Winnower-all able stars-

Well, Ghost, Willow, Spread, Whig and Axletree

Wielded their swords and spears, showed forth their power,

Halted their clouds and descended in mists to the mortal world,

Pitching camp before the Mountain of Flowers and Fruit.

There is a poem that runs:

Many the transformations of the heaven-born Monkey King

Happy in his lair after stealing the pills and wine.

Just because he wrecked the banquet of peaches,

A hundred thousand heavenly troops now spread their nets.

Heavenly King Li gave the order for the heavenly soldiers to pitch camp and throw a watertight cordon round the Mountain of Flowers and Fruit. Above and below they spread eighteen heaven-and-earth nets, and the Nine Bright Shiners were sent out to start the battle. They took their soldiers to the outside of the cave, where they saw the monkeys, big and small, leaping and fooling around.

The star officers shouted in harsh voices, “Little goblins, where's that Great Sage of yours? We are gods, sent from the upper world to subdue your mutinous Great Sage. Tell him to surrender at once-and if there's so much as a hint of a 'no' from him, we will exterminate every last one of you.”

The little monkeys went rushing in to report, “Great Sage, a disaster, a disaster. There are nine evil gods outside who say they've been sent from the upper world to subdue you.”

The Great Sage, who was just then sharing the immortal liquor with the seventy-two kings of the monsters and his four Stalwart Generals, paid no attention to the report, saying:

“Today we have wine so today we celebrate:

To hell with what's happening outside the gate.”

But before the words were out of his mouth another group of little devils came in. “Those nine evil gods are using foul and provocative language to challenge us to fight,” they announced.

“Never mind them,” said the Great Sage with a laugh.

“With verse and wine we're happy today;

Who cares when fame will come our way?”

But before these words were out of his mouth yet another group of devils came rushing in. “Sir, those nine evil gods have smashed the gates and are charging in.”

“The stinking gods!” exploded the Great Sage, “What nerve! I never wanted a fight with them, so why should they come here to push us around?” He thereupon ordered the One-horned Monster King to lead the seventy-two monster kings into battle while he followed them with the four Stalwart Generals. The monster king hastily assembled the devil soldiers and sallied forth to meet the enemy. They were all stopped by a charge by the Nine Bright Shiners, who held the head of the iron bridge so that no one could enter or leave.

During the tumult the Great Sage came on the scene, and shouting “Make way!” he raised his iron cudgel, shook it till it was as thick as a bowl and twelve feet long, and struck and parried as he came charging out. The Nine Bright Shiners, who were no match for him, fell back.

“You reckless Protector of the Horses,” they shouted when they were back in the safety of their own position. “You have committed the most terrible crimes. You stole the peaches and the wine, wrecked the Peach Banquet, and pilfered the immortality pills of Lord Lao Zi. On top of all this you brought some of the immortal liquor you stole back here. Don't you realize that you have piled crime upon crime?” The Great Sage laughed.

“It's true, it's true,” he said, “but what are you going to do about it?”

“In obedience to a golden edict of the Jade Emperor,” the Nine Bright Shiners replied, “we have led out troops here to subdue you. Submit at once, or else all these creatures of yours will have to pay with their lives. If you refuse, we shall trample this mountain flat and turn your cave upside-down.”

“You hairy gods,” roared the Great Sage in a fury, “what magic powers have you got to let you talk so big? Clear off, or I'll give you a taste of my cudgel.” The Nine Bright Shiners did a war-dance together, which did not frighten the Handsome Monkey King in the least. He whirled his gold-banded cudgel, parrying to right and left, and fought the Nine Bright Shiners till their muscles were weak and their strength was gone; then each of them broke ranks and fled, dragging their weapons behind them. They rushed to the command post of the central corps and reported to the Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King Li that the Monkey King was so ferocious that they had fled from the battlefield, unable to defeat him. Heavenly King Li then sent the Four Heavenly Kings and the Twenty-eight Constellations into battle. The Great Sage, not at all frightened at this, ordered the One-horned Demon King, the seventy-two kings of the monsters, and the four Stalwart Generals to draw up their line of battle outside the gates of the cave. The ensuing melee was really terrifying.

Howling winds,

Dark, sinister clouds.

On one side flags and standards colorfully flying,

On the other side the gleam of spears and halberds.

Round helmets shine,

Layered armour gleams.

The shining round helmets reflect the sun,

Like silver boulders reaching to the sky;

Gleaming layers of armour are built into a wall