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

“Your disciple is listening to the exposition with all his attention,” Monkey replied, “but your marvellous words made me so happy that I started jumping around without realizing what I was doing. Please forgive me.”

To this the Patriarch replied, “If you really understand my marvellous words, then answer this question. How long have you been in my cave?”

“You disciple was born stupid,” Monkey replied, “so I've no idea how long I've been here. All I know is that whenever the fire in the stove goes out I go to the other side of the mountain to collect firewood and there I see a hill covered with fine peach trees. I've had seven good feeds of peaches there.”

“That hill is called Tender Peach Hill. If you have eaten there seven times you must have been here seven years. What sort of Way do you want to learn from me?”

“That depends what you teach me, master. As long as there's a whiff of Way to it, your disciple will learn it.”

“There are three hundred and sixty side-entrances to the Way, and they all lead to a True Result,” the Patriarch said. “Which branch would you like to study?”

“I will do whatever you think best, master,” replied Monkey.

“What about teaching you the Way of Magic Arts?”

“What does 'the Way of Magic Arts' mean?”

“Magic arts,” the Patriarch replied, “include summoning Immortals, using the magic sandboard, and divining by milfoil. With them one can learn how to bring on good fortune and avert disaster.”

“Can you become immortal this way?” asked Monkey.

“No, certainly not,” replied the Patriarch.

“No. Shan't learn it.”

“Shall I teach you the Way of Sects?” the Patriarch asked.

“What are the principles of the Sects?” said Monkey.

“Within the branch of Sects, there is Confucianism, Buddhism, Taoism, the study of the Negative and Positive, Mohism, medicine, reading scriptures and chanting the name of a Buddha. You can also summon Immortals and Sages with this branch.”

“Can you attain immortality that way?” asked Monkey.

“To try and attain immortality that way,” the Patriarch replied, “is like 'putting a pillar in the wall.'”

“Master,” Monkey said, “I'm a simple chap and I can't understand your technical jargon. What do you mean by 'putting a pillar in the wall?'”

“When a man builds a house and wants to make it strong he puts a pillar in the wall. But when the day comes for his mansion to collapse the pillar is bound to rot.”

“From what you say,” Monkey observed, “it's not eternal. No. Shan't learn it.”

“Shall I teach you the Way of Silence?” the Patriarch then asked.

“What True Result can be got from Silence?” said Monkey.

“It involves abstaining from grain, preserving one's essence, silence, inaction, meditation, abstaining from speech, eating vegetarian food, performing certain exercises when asleep or standing up, going into trances, and being walled up in total isolation.”

“Is this a way of becoming immortal?” Monkey asked.

“It's like building the top of a kiln with sun-dried bricks,” the patriarch replied.

“You do go on, master,” said Sun Wukong. “I've already told you that I can't understand your technical jargon. What does 'building the top of a kiln with sun-dried bricks' mean?”

“If you build the top of a kiln with sun-dried bricks they may make it look all right, but if they have not been hardened with fire and water, then they will crumble away in the first heavy rainstorm.”

“There's nothing eternal about that either, then,” replied Monkey. “No. Shan't learn that.”

“Shall I teach you the Way of Action then?” the Patriarch asked.

“What's that like?” Monkey asked.

“It involves acting and doing, extracting the Negative and building up the Positive, drawing the bow and loading the crossbow, rubbing the navel to make the subtle humors flow, refining elixirs according to formulae, lighting fires under cauldrons, consuming 'Red lead,' purifying 'Autumn Stone,' and drinking women's milk.”

“Can doing things like that make me live for ever?” Monkey asked.

“To try and attain immortality that way is like 'lifting the moon out of water.'”

“What does 'lifting the moon out of water' mean?”

“The moon is in the sky,” the Patriarch replied, “and only its reflection is in the water. Although you can see it there, you will try in vain to lift it out.”

“No. Shan't learn that,” Monkey exclaimed.

When the Patriarch heard this he gasped and climbed down from his dais. Pointing at Sun Wukong with his cane he said, “You won't study this and you won't study that, so what do you want, you monkey?” He went up to Monkey and hit him three times on the head, then went inside with his hands behind his back and shut the main door, abandoning them all. The class was shocked, and they all blamed Sun Wukong.

“You cheeky ape, you've no idea how to behave. The master was teaching you the Way, so why did you have to argue with him instead of learning from him? Now you've offended him we don't know when he'll come out again.” They were all very angry with him and regarded him with loathing and contempt. But Sun Wukong was not bothered in the least, and his face was covered with smiles.

The Monkey King had understood the riddle, and had the answer hidden away in his mind. So he did not argue with the others but bore it all without a word. When the Patriarch hit him three times he had been telling him to pay attention at the third watch; and when he went inside with his hands behind his back and shut the main door he had told the Monkey King to go in through the back door and be taught the Way in secret.

The delighted Sun Wukong spent the rest of that day with the others in front of the Three Stars Cave, looking at the sky and impatient for night to come. At dusk he went to bed like all the others, pretended to close his eyes, controlled his breathing, and calmed himself down. Nobody beats the watches or calls out the hour in the mountains, so he had no way of knowing the time except by regulating the breath going in and out of his nose. When he reckoned that it was about the third watch he got up very quietly, dressed, and slipped out through the front door away from the others. When he was outside he looked up and saw

The moon was bright and clear and cold,

The vast space of the eight points was free from dust.

Deep in the trees a bird slept hidden,

While the water flowed from the spring.

Fireflies scattered their lights

And a line of geese was stretched across the clouds.

It was exactly the third watch,

The right time to ask about the Way.

Watch the Monkey King as he follows the old path to the back door, which he found to be ajar. “The Patriarch has left the door open, so he really intends to teach me the Way,” he exclaimed in delight. He tiptoed toward, went in sideways through the door, and walked over to the Patriarch's bed, where he saw the Patriarch sleeping curled up, facing the inside of the room. Not daring to disturb him, Sun Wukong knelt in front of the bed. Before long the Patriarch woke up, stretched out both his legs, and mumbled to himself:

“It's hard, hard, hard. The Way is very obscure,

Don't make light of the Gold and the Cinnabar.

To teach miraculous spells to any but the Perfect Man,

Is to tire the voice and dry the tongue in vain.”

Sun Wukong said in reply, “Master, your disciple has been kneeling here for a long time.”

When the Patriarch heard that it was Sun Wukong who was speaking he pulled some clothes on, sat up cross-legged, and shouted, “It's that monkey. Why have you come into my room instead of sleeping out in front?”