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

Sanzang was thrown into a panic, and his attendants were trembling with fear, when to add their terror they heard roars coming from further inside and loud shouts of, “Get'em! Get'em!” With a ferocious blast of wind a crowd of fifty or sixty fiends fell upon them and dragged them out. When the shivering and shaking Master of the Law took a stealthy look he saw a thoroughly evil demon king sitting above them. Truly he was

Mighty of stature,

Ferocious of face.

His eyes flashed like lightning,

His thunderous voice shook the four quarters.

Protruding, saw-edged teeth;

Bared fangs like chisels.

His body was clad in brocade,

And his back was covered with its patterns.

A beard of steel concealing his face,

Hooked claws sharp as frost:

The white-browed king of the Southern mountain,

Feared by the Yellow Lord of the Eastern Sea.

The sight of him frightened Sanzang out of his wits and made his two attendants feel their bones turn to jelly and their muscles go numb. When the demon king roared out an order to tie them up the fiends bound them with rope. He was just on the point of devouring them when a great noise was heard outside and the arrival of Mountain Lord Bear and Hermit Ox was announced. Sanzang looked up and saw that one of them was a dark fellow. Can you imagine what he looked like?

A hero of great courage,

Light and strong in body,

Powerful in crossing rivers,

Showing his awesome might as he runs through the woods.

Always blessed with lucky dreams,

He now revealed his unique valour.

He could uproot and snap a green tree,

And when he left cold he could change the weather.

Clearly he shows his miraculous powers, For which he is known as the Mountain Lord.

Behind him Sanzang saw a fat man. Do you know what he looked like?

A hat with two towering horns,

His shoulders squarely set.

He liked to wear dull-coloured clothes,

And his pace was always sluggish.

His male ancestors were called Bull;

His mother was known as Cow,

As he could work for farmers,

His name was Hermit Ox.

When these two came swaggering in, the demon king rushed out to greet them. “General Yin,” said Mountain Lord Bear, “I must congratulate you: you're always so successful.”

“General Yin,” said Hermit Ox, “my felicitations on being ever-victorious.”

“How have things been with you two gentlemen recently?” asked the demon king.

“Much as usual,” replied Mountain Lord.

“I get by,” answered the Hermit. These preliminaries over, the three of them sat down to laugh and joke together.

Sanzang's two attendants meanwhile were howling pitifully in their bonds.

“How did those three get here?” asked the dark fellow.

“They delivered themselves to the front door,” the demon king replied.

“Will you be serving them to your friends?” asked the Hermit with a smile.

“I should be honoured to,” answered the demon king.

“We won't need them all,” remarked the Mountain Lord. “We could eat two and keep the third.” With a “na-a-aw” of obedience the demon king told his servants to cut open the two attendants, scoop their hearts out, and chop their bodies into mince. He presented the heads, hearts, and livers to his two guests, eating the limbs himself and dividing the rest of the flesh and bones among the fiends. All that could be heard was a crunching and a munching that sounded just like tigers devouring lambs, and in a few moments it had all been eaten up. Sanzang was almost dead with fright, yet this was only his first tribulation, coming so soon after leaving Chang'an.

In his despair he noticed that the East was beginning to grow light, and when dawn broke the two monsters left, saying, “We have been handsomely entertained today, and we shall repay your hospitality in full another day.” With that they both rushed out. A moment later the red sun rose high in the sky, but Sanzang was too befuddled to know where he was. Just when all seemed lost, an old man appeared, walking towards him with the help of a stick. He came up to Sanzang, broke all his bonds with a wave of his hand, and revived him by blowing into his face. Sanzang fell to his knees and bowed low to him, saying, “Thank you, venerable ancient, for saving my humble life.”

The old man returned his bow and said, “Get up. Have you lost anything?”

“My attendants have been eaten by monsters, and I don't know where my baggage or my horse is,” replied Sanzang.

The old man pointed with his stick and asked, “Isn't that a horse with two baggage-rolls over there?” When Sanzang turned round he saw that his things had not been lost after all, which somewhat relieved his anxiety.

“Venerable sir,” he asked, “What is this place, and how did you get here?”

“This is the Double Forked Mountain, where tigers and leopards make their dens. How did you fall in here?”

“I crossed the frontier at the garrison city of Hezhou at cockcrow, not realizing that I had got up too early,” replied Sanzang. “Just as we were making our way through frost and dew we suddenly fell into this pit. A dreadfully ferocious demon king appeared and had me and my attendants tied up. Then a dark fellow called Mountain Lord Bear and a fat one called Hermit Ox came in, and they addressed the demon king as General Yin. The three of them ate up my two attendants, and their party only ended at dawn. I cannot imagine why I should have been fated with the good fortune of you coming to rescue me, venerable sir.”

“The Hermit is a wild bull spirit, the Mountain Lord is a bear spirit, and General Yin is a tiger spirit,” the old man replied. “The fiends who serve him are mountain spirits, tree devils, monsters, and wolves. The reason they did not eat you was because your fundamental nature is enlightened. Come with me and I'll show you the way.” Overcome with gratitude, Sanzang put the packs on his horse and led it by the bridle as he followed the old man out of the pit and on to the main road. Tying the horse to a bush beside the road, he turned round to bow low to the old man and thank him, but the old man changed into a puff of wind and rose into the sky on the back of a red-crested white crane. All that could be seen was a piece of paper drifting down in the wind with four lines of verse written on it:

“I am the Planet Venus of the Western Heaven,

Who came to save your life.

In the journey ahead you will have divine disciples:

Do not in your troubles feel angry with the scriptures.”

When he had read this Sanzang worshipped Heaven and said, “Many thanks, Planet, for delivering me from this danger.” This done, he continued on his difficult journey, feeling very lonely as he led his horse along. On this mountain there were

Cold rains and winds howling in the trees,

Streams splashing noisily down gullies,

Fragrant wild flowers,

Screens of rocks and boulders.

Deer and ape made raucous howls,

Roebuck and muntjac ran in herds.

Many were the songs of birds.

But there was no trace of man.

The abbot

Was trembling and uneasy;

His horse

Could barely lift its hoofs.

Sanzang did not spare himself as he pressed ahead amid the mountain peaks. He had been going for many hours without seeing any sign of a human house; he was hungry and finding the going heavy. Just at this critical moment he saw in front of him a pair of ferocious tigers roaring, while two long snakes were coiled up behind him. To his left were venomous reptiles, and to his right were terrible monsters. Being by himself and unable to think of a way out, Sanzang prepared to abandon his mind and body and let Heaven do as it would. Besides, the horse's back was now so tired and its legs so bent that it fell to its knees on the ground and collapsed. Sanzang could not move it, either by blows or by dragging at its bridle.